Guild Wars 2

I purchased this game when it was first launched some years ago. Back then, ranger’s pets suffered from poor AI, doesn’t have enough damage output and have poor survivability, which made ranger a rather mediocre profession.

I am thinking of playing Guild Wars 2 again. Are the ranger’s pets finally viable now?

I just started last weekend again too. Went to the new area, silver wastes. Within 5 seconds, my pet needs help.. And I thought o yeah that again
I have no idea why they just dont make it invulnarable in PvE, it does not do a lot of damage to be against that I think.

Things have improved slightly over the past 2 years, but overall the pet is still more of a hindrance than a asset. Especially if you do anything involving more than 2-5 targets in a confined area.

They’ve made changes to base health / damage and pet skill cast times. They’ve also fixed bugs (no more ninja kitties attacking people inside keep walls, or self buffing with continuous 3 hours of regen/fury). They’ve also reduced the pet-tether distance… so no more mauling people from 3k range.

While there are rare situations where a pet simply can’t survive, most cases it does fine, especially if traited with guard or signets.

Most, if not all, of the traits in the beastmastery line have been revamped since release.

AI is the same.
Players got a little smarter about which pets to use when, although you will still see the KB spamming bearbow from time to time.

Pet AI isn’t any better. Survivability can be spec’d for. I do rather well with a beastmaster/shortbow combo, and my pets can quasi-tank a fair number of champions in open world.

Unfortunately, some pets have long cooldown abilities that shouldn’t be on AI-spam. :\ Wolf’s knockdown is cute ‘n all, but I’d rather have control over it than the frost howl.

Short answer: pets still aren’t worth using, for the most part. Sadness.

I play a 6-2-0-0-6 Zealots ranger. Using a fern hound I don’t have any trouble keeping it up and it does a rather massive chunck of damage as well. If you invest in the pet it becomes very worth having. But if you ignore it. Yeah it’s gunna be sub par. At that point your abandoning part of the class to focus on another no duh the abandoned part is gonna be weak.

If you make a build that takes the pet into equal account as your weapon. Youl find that the synergy between you and the pet gets ALOT better. Also realizing that a bird or a cat aren’t the best solution to everything just cause they hit harder. There fine in a stand and shoot scenario. But in combat with a plethora of aoes your gonna either want to bring “Guard” or something similar to keep it alive if you decide to bring a squishy pet for the damage.

I’ve seen alot of rangers complain about there pets when they somehow magically expect they can bring the glassiest pet for damage only and somehow be in the right to kitten about it when a mob wacks it. Not saying bringing glassy pets is bad. But if you bring one…don’t trait into its survivability at all, and don’t use a utility slot to account for your choice. Then you are actually CHOOSING to have your pet dead just because you don’t want to be bothered with it. And im gonna laugh at you when I see you running around with a dead animal when my fern hound is eating mordrem face.

Shadelang.3012:

…when my fern hound is eating mordrem face.

Cannibal! T_T
I kid, I kid.

I do have to say I like my beast ranger. Learning to work with a pet keeps the game from being a “spam 111” snooze. I find with shortbow that I pay attention to the field more because my position matters. At the same time, I hardly ever get hit, because even when my less survivable pets are out, they do quite well.

AI still sucks, and if WoW was any indication, it will for at least another 4-6 years. =P

Rauderi.8706:

Shadelang.3012:

…when my fern hound is eating mordrem face.

Cannibal! T_T
I kid, I kid.

I do have to say I like my beast ranger. Learning to work with a pet keeps the game from being a “spam 111” snooze. I find with shortbow that I pay attention to the field more because my position matters. At the same time, I hardly ever get hit, because even when my less survivable pets are out, they do quite well.

AI still sucks, and if WoW was any indication, it will for at least another 4-6 years. =P

Well I originally wanted to teach it to eat meat. However there was an incident…And now my party is short one asura (heheheheh)

Pet AI is still bad. Pets still run ahead of you in into the aoe in WvW and die in seconds, or wallow in it when you move or dodge out of it. Pet f2 abilities proc faster than at launch, but still not instantly as they should be. Pet abilities are still wonky and unreliable. Overall pets tend to be more a liability than an asset, given the cost in dps we pay for them. Still no option to perma-stow pets to protect them when they are useless, such as on walls.

Shadelang.3012:

I play a 6-2-0-0-6 Zealots ranger. Using a fern hound I don’t have any trouble keeping it up and it does a rather massive chunck of damage as well. If you invest in the pet it becomes very worth having. But if you ignore it. Yeah it’s gunna be sub par. At that point your abandoning part of the class to focus on another no duh the abandoned part is gonna be weak.

If you make a build that takes the pet into equal account as your weapon. Youl find that the synergy between you and the pet gets ALOT better. Also realizing that a bird or a cat aren’t the best solution to everything just cause they hit harder. There fine in a stand and shoot scenario. But in combat with a plethora of aoes your gonna either want to bring “Guard” or something similar to keep it alive if you decide to bring a squishy pet for the damage.

I’ve seen alot of rangers complain about there pets when they somehow magically expect they can bring the glassiest pet for damage only and somehow be in the right to kitten about it when a mob wacks it. Not saying bringing glassy pets is bad. But if you bring one…don’t trait into its survivability at all, and don’t use a utility slot to account for your choice. Then you are actually CHOOSING to have your pet dead just because you don’t want to be bothered with it. And im gonna laugh at you when I see you running around with a dead animal when my fern hound is eating mordrem face.

Can I get your build? I’d love to see what you have setup and I’ve been looking for a decent BM build for a while.

Can I get your build? I’d love to see what you have setup and I’ve been looking for a decent BM build for a while.[/quote]

Im afraid that due to issues on my side using the standard build website is currently a no go for me. But I can atleast type it out

I generally run zealots gear with assassin’s weapons. Either sword axe/longbow or GS/Longbow. I have a set using ranger runes for PvE and a set using water runes in wvw. Generally I use HAO or Troll ungeant. (with the water rune proc HAO becomes as MASSIVE heal in a 62006 setup)

My utilities are (again USUALLY) Signet of the wild, signet of stone, and sic-em
In marksmanship I have signet mastery, eagle eye, and either RTW or Predators onslaught depending on the situation and what im trying to do.

My skirmishing trait is always companions might.

Beast mastery is where I tend to diverge a bit.

In PvP Ill usually go with Masters bond (stacks very quickly in tpvp and generally quite quickly in wvw as well.) turns a fern hound into a juggernaut but makes pet swapping an issue. In situations where pets are SURE to die ill just grab mighty swap.

If the group doesn’t have a support person ill usually grab commanding voice for shorter f2 cooldown as my second. If im only worried about performance ill grab speed training instead for shorter attack cooldowns (many a thief have been one shot by a suprise knockdown leap that crits with 25 stacks of masters bond signet of hte wild proc AND sic em all active at the same time. Not to mention any might stacks. it hits like an effing truck.)

Finally ill always have invigorating bond. This makes keeping a fern hound alive outside of massive oh kitten moments EXTREMELY easy (making fern hound probably the best pet for masters bond trait. The fact that its an aoe heal as well for the group as well as an aoe small heal + regen with a fern hound is amazing. With reduce cooldown you can combine the howl and HAO to both go off at once. Either causing a massive heal (HAO+Water rune proc+Regen Howl+Invigorating bond) or if you or the pet get ccd youl still 99% of the time get 2 of those four heals going off. Making having your heals negated much less likely)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRnUqQFL2wCuCCXLGoPoW/ABwYzKDeftpxaPgH-TlCEABPpkTPdBOpcggLAgBHCAiPCANt/gnq/AwDAwQlgAA-w

Actually I might have managed to get it to work. heres hoping

Edit: It might be better to just use a full zealots setup. The conversion from healing power to power really shows up at the higher numbers. I prefer to keep just a little toughness though if I need time to get one of the heals off and im being bursted.

how the hell are you guys getting zealots? I need a set for my necro but since the clockwork dropping conent is gone, I don’t see how a full set is achievable in less than a year?

I have the clockwork node in my home instance and mine it every day. its how people are still producing it to this point >.< People still produce and sell the armor. Although its easiest to make it yourself if you can.

Shadelang.3012:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRnUqQFL2wCuCCXLGoPoW/ABwYzKDeftpxaPgH-TlCEABPpkTPdBOpcggLAgBHCAiPCANt/gnq/AwDAwQlgAA-w

Actually I might have managed to get it to work. heres hoping

Edit: It might be better to just use a full zealots setup. The conversion from healing power to power really shows up at the higher numbers. I prefer to keep just a little toughness though if I need time to get one of the heals off and im being bursted.

How’s your survivability in sPvP? I ‘ve been using Spirit and Survival builds that are both (2)/(2)/6/6/0 so I’m used to being very tanky.

EDIT:
I’d probably run something more hybrid-y focused on bleeds+shortbow for more bleeds, crits, and crippling strike (pets next three attacks bleed)

I like that huge amount of heals you have though- so kind of working on that:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAV3XnMqQrgWxCOsAXLIIRoadBsCg3/6wO1O/hZYAPA-TJRAwAAeCAduIA92fQdZAA

In spvp I cant use zealots. But Ive used hte same build both with assassin’s and clerics amulet. Cleric turns you into a kitten fine bunker and since half your damage is outsourced and kitten near unavoidable you can still kill just fine with a wolf.

I don’t usually need much condi removal since the things that can overpower the sheer kittenton of heals I have would have killed me even if id been using a standard condi bm build using empathic bond.

I can see what your saying on the hybridy and its your own thing. For me personally though ive never been able to stand using condi builds. I generally try to make Power/Support or Power/Control hybrids instead of Power/Condi ones.

One thing I have to say is ALOT of hte damage from this build comes from using SotW to turn your pet into an absolute monster. Not having signet mastery makes your burst harder to implement for each fight. Id really have to reccomend having that trait if your gonna use the utilities I laid out. Other than that your build looks well setup. Id be interested in fighting it.

Edit: The premise behind my build was to use zealots (pve,WvW) or clerics (TPvP) To increase my survivability and the useability of my pet without sacrificing too much of my damage. So I outsourced part of my damage to the pet itself (since its more reliable with this setup) And worked to make sure I could turn it into something capable of killing a player. During fights I act as a sustained damage platform to keep pressure on the enemy player while the pet nukes (SotW+25 stacks of masters bond+10-15 stacks of might+sic’em=dead kitten near anything not a bunker)

In Tpvp Ill usually trade companions might for hte pet speed increase however. just to help it stay on target.

Edit: My overal survivability is weak to burst but has some pretty long sustain. Itl require you to be good at active defense and positioning. But other than that your raw healing will help you in MANY situations despite your lower than average health and toughness pools.

I am also looking for some suggestion as to pet selection.

I am currently running 2/6/6/0/0 trap build.

I don’t know what pet will help, any ideas?

Thanks

Elleven.6541:

I am also looking for some suggestion as to pet selection.

I am currently running 2/6/6/0/0 trap build.

I don’t know what pet will help, any ideas?

Thanks

Id probably reccomend a bird as its what ive seen most trappers using. Adding high physical damage to your condi damage. However it would prob be best if one of the rangers that main condi/hybrid builds put there two cents in here. I don’t usually play those so I can’t say for sure.

Shadelang.3012:

In spvp I cant use zealots. But Ive used hte same build both with assassin’s and clerics amulet. Cleric turns you into a kitten fine bunker and since half your damage is outsourced and kitten near unavoidable you can still kill just fine with a wolf.

I don’t usually need much condi removal since the things that can overpower the sheer kittenton of heals I have would have killed me even if id been using a standard condi bm build using empathic bond.

I can see what your saying on the hybridy and its your own thing. For me personally though ive never been able to stand using condi builds. I generally try to make Power/Support or Power/Control hybrids instead of Power/Condi ones.

One thing I have to say is ALOT of hte damage from this build comes from using SotW to turn your pet into an absolute monster. Not having signet mastery makes your burst harder to implement for each fight. Id really have to reccomend having that trait if your gonna use the utilities I laid out. Other than that your build looks well setup. Id be interested in fighting it.

Edit: The premise behind my build was to use zealots (pve,WvW) or clerics (TPvP) To increase my survivability and the useability of my pet without sacrificing too much of my damage. So I outsourced part of my damage to the pet itself (since its more reliable with this setup) And worked to make sure I could turn it into something capable of killing a player. During fights I act as a sustained damage platform to keep pressure on the enemy player while the pet nukes (SotW+25 stacks of masters bond+10-15 stacks of might+sic’em=dead kitten near anything not a bunker)

In Tpvp Ill usually trade companions might for hte pet speed increase however. just to help it stay on target.

Edit: My overal survivability is weak to burst but has some pretty long sustain. Itl require you to be good at active defense and positioning. But other than that your raw healing will help you in MANY situations despite your lower than average health and toughness pools.

Thank you so much. I feel a lot more comfortable experimenting with builds based on your insight.

Always be willing to experiment. Keep in mind that the meta builds are simply the well worn paths. They aren’t popular because there the best performing or the most fun. There metas because there Well performing despite being simple to pull off.

I.E The average player can play them and still feel like there in the top league.

Keep experimenting even if it takes you away from the meta until you find something that works for you. The moment the majority of the class settles in one thing we we end up with hambows. Very few people can play hambow perfectly but ANY warrior can play hambow “well”.

Another thing with experimenting and creating unique setups is your less likely to be horribly butchered by nerf bat. So theres a sense of security in playing a little know build as well. Or having a build that takes a little from multiple trees. Any one nerf round doesn’t hit as hard that way.

Pets was bad and still bad. I piece of us controlled by the game.

Some things have improved:

• they don’t take damage from large AoE fields like the once from the Golem Mark II. Though they still take damage from the new Mordrem enemies killing even tanky pets withing a couple of seconds. So they need to do something there. Just make them invulnerable to all AoE in PvE…

• Pet executes F2 pretty immediately. Much better than before. In normal PvE it’s okay with the pet.

Oh this thread again… we should just title it "People who never press F1-F4… "it’s your lazy fingers not your pets….

aspirine.6852:

I just started last weekend again too. Went to the new area, silver wastes. Within 5 seconds, my pet needs help.. And I thought o yeah that again

It’s not only your pet dying in 5sec. If I have 2 Teragriffs charging at me and then add a few Wolves like in the waves that come through Blue Oasis’ paper door I’m dead, too. That’s why I only switch out Signet of Stone when we go for the champs.

Also, pets can’t deal with Thrashers. Ranged will stay in the trail and die and melee will run after them through the trail and die.

if you havn’t put anything into protecting your pet, like protection on dodge or shared boons your pets going to die.

but if you use shared boons only for the might on crit , there is still no protection / damage migration for the pet typicaly with 6,5,0,3 the only thing your pet will be getting from you is fury , might swiftness using that trait set up (mostly typical of full beserker users .

with full gear you can still do the best dps just don’t use 6,5,0,3 , use somthing like 6,2,3,3 or 6,4,4,0 or even 4,2,2,6,0 .

pets will always die when hammered on , but adding some form of protection even if its minor will make it last the attack till you can swap again or recall get it to stand in your healing spring while you CC the target to let your pet heal and send it back out again to avoid the 60sec death penalty.

Remember to rotate your pet effectively. You only receive a 15 second cooldown if you rotate them while they are alive over the 60 second penalty if they die. I think many players forget to do this. I saw a ranger in a dungeon dragging around his dead bird the entire way. I don’t really think it’s the pet, but some players may need to learn to micro manage their pet efficiently.

How does the zealot’s build work in PVE as compared to WvW…I am not much of a WvW player.

Lager the zealots works really well for me in pve. I can keep a pet that would normally die on certain fights in and hitting for longer periods of time or even permanently if im paying attention. Id reccomend mixing in some assassin’s or zerkers to get the ferocity up a bit. And take things that proc on crit. (Like the companions might trait) I like to use strength sigil to further up my damage.

You wont have hte super high crits. But being able to maintain higher stacks of might on both you and the pet as well as keeping the pet alive in situations that would normally kill it seems to make up for that. Its closer to to my mental picture of a BM ranger archetype that much of what is usually considered BM in this game.

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

with full gear you can still do the best dps just don’t use 6,5,0,3 , use somthing like 6,2,3,3 or 6,4,4,0 or even 4,2,2,6,0 .

Or, just learn to manage and choose the right pet for the situation, instead of gimping your own dps.

If you pew pew from afar and not into melee at all, it’s easier to make your pet survive through F1 and F3… but then you’re doing **** damage compared to melee and not sharing in the group buffs. F1 and F3 don’t work if you and the pet are in melee range. The pet is still going to eat it.

Pets will always be bad until we have 100% control… which means more than four buttons. I mean, it’s stupid that we don’t have a keybind for active/passive. The reasoning? Too much control will scare away noobs. Great. Thanks for hampering my ability to control the pet and making it work better for me because it is going to scare the super casual away from the class. THAT kittenes me off the most.

It would be better if pets had immunity from NPC aoe… like, stated above, Golem Mark II.

Basically I need the AI to play the pet like I play my Ranger…. even when I drunk play my Ranger would be better than it currently sits.

Lazze.9870:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

with full gear you can still do the best dps just don’t use 6,5,0,3 , use somthing like 6,2,3,3 or 6,4,4,0 or even 4,2,2,6,0 .

Or, just learn to manage and choose the right pet for the situation, instead of gimping your own dps.

Never said about gimping dps did i, that is a WvW / Pvp point of view , you’ll loose 10% for what , the pet that will Survive a dead pet is loosing more than 10% .

if you run a build with No CC’s then you will loose Dps (pointing at typical full Zerk traited LB ranger with a pet that hits for wet kitten because of no extra damage or might stacks out side of Rampage as one , one trick pony)

most ranger players will be better off loosing a little dps because the pet can Compensate for it , if you use CC correctly.

For PvE , Meh do what every you like , the Dps rate is only good for a small Portion of the Dungeon community and meta Events.(like teq and tri-wurm) other world bosses 10% isn’t going to make much difference. they already die with 10mins still on the timer.