(edited by Adzekul.3104)
Advice desired for solo survival build
My ranger is my first character. I have learned a lot with the LB/SA spotter build on metabattle.com but I am looking to improve my survivability for the menial “first charcter” type of stuff: gathering + crafting, loot trains, exploring + map completion, getting stuck with a few too many enemies, and the often painful and not-so-solo-newbie-friendly Living Season 2 story (shakes fist at Chapter 5).
I currently use Berserker armour, weapons and accessories with Scholar runes (mostly exotic but a few ascended and rare items). For me, this is a bit too DPS-focused. I need to find something a bit more “tanky” or “hybrid-y” I guess.
I have been reading up on Celestial gear + Traveler runes, and have also wondered about Soldier’s gear + Dolyak runes (probable overkill for most people).
WvWvW and PvP are simply not on the radar for this character. I will make others for that, when I feel I am ready to explore those mini-games. I do dungeons and fractals often enough, but a dungeon-focused build is not what I need at the moment.
I cannot find any builds, anywhere which cover my needs. And so I have come to these forums asking for advice. Please be aware that gold is a limited resource for me (20-50 is my current range) and so I need to have reasonable confidence in “the new gear” before I craft/buy/acquire it.
Possibly of note is that my Leatherworking and Huntsman skills are each in the 420-435 range and that I have over 200k Karma, possibly for buying exotic Soldier (or other set) gear.
As a relative newcomer to the game, I am looking to develop a fairly detailed understanding of gear in the game, so please do not short-cut the explanations in the hope that I might understand (I probably won’t, for the record).
Many thanks in advance for the suggestions, advice and discussion.
Adzekul of Seafarer’s Rest
Hi,
Celec is not a good stat for most LB builds and also not recommendable for PVE.
you want survivebility? stick with your zerk armor and just trait for tankiness its much cheaper and the result might be even better compared to run offesive traits with celec gear and dolyak rune.
somthing like …
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAT8XjUqQLLWyCOsAXLG4EK/vHgD/fhFPx7htvDgL+ZvH-TFBXgAA7PK/C1N0r+zjSQA-w
You can even switch LR/ QZ for “protect me” for even more defence.
Hmmh, well, this would be difficult to determine.
In PvE, you simply do not tank. Or heal. Or whatever.
Your goal is to kill. The faster you kill your target – the faster you achieve your initial goal – to farm.
And the biggest thing is. If you succeed and your target dies – you and everyone around you get revived. And that’s a thing.
If you want a suggestion on how to improve your survivability – you should definitely practice Quick Draw mechanics. Also, for survivability, the greatsword should be just enough. The problem is, even with tanky stats you would die just as easily. But being a DPS anchor for your party at the same time.
The only thing we can recommend is probably using Quick Draw for stealth on LB#3, or GS block #4. Survival in GW2 is designed on active mechanics. Not stats. In order to survive, you need to pay attention to boss animations, AoEs and your cooldowns.
“Observe, learn and counter.”
If you enjoy Power builds then go full berserker (Power prec ferocity), theres little use going anything else currently. You’ll see plenty of defense comming from your active abilities once you get into it. Mayeb spec into beastmastery and pick up pets that can support you, like the bear in case you want to tank champion mobs.
Power Ranger PvP
I used to be a power ranger, now not sure anymore
I used to be a power ranger, now not sure anymore
If you enjoy Power builds then go full berserker (Power prec ferocity), theres little use going anything else currently. You’ll see plenty of defense comming from your active abilities once you get into it. Mayeb spec into beastmastery and pick up pets that can support you, like the bear in case you want to tank champion mobs.
It’s tons better if it is a Black Bear or Murellow.
Combo Leap into Poison Field for Weakness, Black Bear does it easier though.
“Observe, learn and counter.”
I am prepared to consider the possibility that Ranger might not have been the best choice to accomplish what I want to accomplish as a first character.
Could u be more specific please of what you want to accomplish? I see you shake your first at season 2 living world, but much of that “challanging” content is based of mechanics with a pattern you need to overcome – which is highly possible/ideal for a renown ranger (berserker).
Vanilla GW2 open world content is pretty much tank and spank, but living world 2 stands a bit out since you need to think/be aware of your sorroundings a bit more, in order to progress. Being tanky in those scenarios wont always help you, and in some cases could mean you deal less damage and having to sit in those phases longer. If you understand the mechanics you can counter them with your active defenses/abilities while doing high damage.
Ranger is a highly soloable class, like any other class, it comes down to your prefered playstyle. If longbow (berserker) isnt your thing, maybe try a condition build focused more on axe and torch.
Power Ranger PvP
I used to be a power ranger, now not sure anymore
I used to be a power ranger, now not sure anymore
My ranger is my first character. I have learned a lot with the LB/SA spotter build on metabattle.com but I am looking to improve my survivability for the menial “first charcter” type of stuff: gathering + crafting, loot trains, exploring + map completion, getting stuck with a few too many enemies, and the often painful and not-so-solo-newbie-friendly Living Season 2 story (shakes fist at Chapter 5).
I currently use Berserker armour, weapons and accessories with Scholar runes (mostly exotic but a few ascended and rare items). For me, this is a bit too DPS-focused. I need to find something a bit more “tanky” or “hybrid-y” I guess.
I have been reading up on Celestial gear + Traveler runes, and have also wondered about Soldier’s gear + Dolyak runes (probable overkill for most people).
It takes practice to be good, but honestly ranger is one of THE best classes for what you are describing.
The first thing I would do is get a set of Rare lvl 80 Soldier’s armor (i’m only saying rare because of your money issue, soldier’s armor is pretty cheap at the exoctic level too). Keep the zerker stuff in your backpack for doing dungeons.
For tanking open world PvE, you are going to want to consider your pet setup. Good ideas:
1 dps pet / 1 tank pet
2 mid level pets.
Pets should be melee unless the fight demands they stay away. Drakes are behind cats and birds for damage, doing about the same as canines but are WAY tougher and they cleave with their attacks. For open world pve, consider at least 1 drake. Also consider pet healing: Signet of the Wild, Natural healing, etc, and the Guard shout which gives your pet perma-protection buff.
You can drop GS in that build for 1h sword / axe / warhorn (much better dps), but GS gives a bit more surivability and swoop is nice for map movement / exploration.
You will get:
On demand condi removal from shouts (runes). Nice for some tougher stories.
Perma swiftness and GS for moving around quickly.
Perma regen and SotW to keep your pets health up.
Good cleaving pet tanks.
LtW for arrow piercing is very strong. Most of the open world zone bosses have places where arrows can hit them multiple times but normal cleave cannot, effectively doubling the damage of longbow. Its also a ton of fun against groups of mobs.
If you are trying to solo something tough, mango pie is very cheap (regen’s 85 hp / sec).
And if you need to be an efficient killing machine, you can always throw your zerker gear and 1h sword back on. good luck!
SBI | Oceans | Ranger – Thief – Ele – Eng – Nec – Guard – Rev
Celestial Avatar is like an old man: Takes forever to get up and is spent in 4 seconds
Celestial Avatar is like an old man: Takes forever to get up and is spent in 4 seconds
(edited by Raven.9603)