Guild Wars 2

I’m considering swapping to traveler runes when the patch comes out, as then I can drop SotH and have Quickening Zephyr or Sic ’em without losing move speed. Is that worth the loss of ranger runes?

I don’t go full glass, and I don’t know if the damage increase post patch will make up for the loss of dps from changing runes basically. I’m playing around with a lot of power builds atm as I’m still working out what I like, so what would be the better choice for a range of builds?

This is my current build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNMQJATRnEqQtgWwCusANcGYPoWHAFwZ3uHehdw1BXyKiC-TFTDwAH3f4xhAYm6PCVil4CA8U5RljAAINBLUCCXHAATcDeAABAQAYiTcihMAFbB-w

Thanks in advance for any replies ^-^

I think so. One way or the other you’ll want that extra run speed, and there are too many useful utilities for that bar to use the runspeed sigil imo.

An alternative is to swap it in when needed but theres times you’ll be stuck with something you dont like… so I find it a bit messy to do it that way.

IMO, if you are roaming, movement speed is non-negotiable unless your class is so slow you were never going to escape anyway (necro, guardian).

Either you bring enough swiftness, or you get a passive 25% from hunt, runes of speed or runes of traveler.

Is worth it for a ranger? Sure. Does it fit with your build? No
1)Your build doesnt make use of the other good bonuses of traveler like the boon/condi duration nor it benefits from the “+ to all stats”. If you realy want 25% speed bonus go with rune of speed for the extra HP(16k is abit low) also runes of speed are alot cheaper.

2)Your build can manage without the speed bonuse from runes, Why? a. you use GS for land/combat mobility and your ulty to run away. b. after patch you’ll get some value out of Soth+maul combo. c. some players like to Soth -> shapeshfit -> charge attack, with “precise attack” bonus+ Soth you can deal like 15k damage in 1 hit.

3) Keep in mind that speed bonus from runes doesnt apply for pets(in comabt), its fine with spider but the poor wolf will have trouble running especially after eating the cill and cripple from you.

If roam alot and condi builds are giving you hard time you can can use a twiked version of your build post patch:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNMQJATRlMqohlFswlF0wNQfQt+ACgxu9PEw3grmokVEF-TlCEABMcIAsZ/BCuAAJq+jBPAgmU+BoSw20B0hmAAOCABAQAYiTcihUAMJMC-w

For spvp its nice if you can afford a utility slot, which is stuff if you run spirit, traps, shouts, or survival builds. I don’t think sacrificing the rune for movement speed in pvp is worth it as you need to focus your damage or survivability with your rune, and missing out on that extra bit of damage, sustain, or duration will hamper you in actual fights.

For example on my rabid condition ranger, I can use traveler runes or krait runes. Krait runes will let me destroy with entangle, and have much greater condition damage and damage over time from longer bleeds.

I used traveler runes on my condition necro once, but the terror procs weren’t even hitting for 1000 without might, and since I was running carrion, my overal damage output compared to nightmare was abit lower than what I needed. I also run wurm and spectral walk, which lets me pop a good amount of swiftness when I need it for going from place to place.

I find they are best for longbow-centric builds. Quick Draw puts Hunter’s Shot at a 9 second CD, making it a permanent source of swiftness for your pets, since they aren’t getting the same speed bonus from the runes.

I also think they’re better if you use Sword/Dagger. They have nice, long conditions that benefit from the extra duration the runes give.

If you want to roam, yes. In every build apart from Nature’s Voice.

For other things – nah.

No worries, I won’t bother with traveler for this build then. I actually forgot that the move speed signet will get much more useful post patch, kitten . Thanks for the replies all ^^

After the patch hits I want to try Lyssa runes in a LB build (30/0/10/30), with Entangle. But if that doesn’t pan out Ill probably switch to Speed runes.

I find signet of hunt is much better than giving up the rune slot. Signet of the hunt affects your pet too so you’re increasing your pet dps this way as well as mitigating their stupid AI a bit by getting them through their scenic route faster.

^My thoughts exactly.

Don’t forget about the signet change in a few days as well.

IIRC, the problem with Traveler Runes on a Ranger is that they speed you up but not your pet.

Be aware that runes of the traveler are expensive and also do not provide the speed bonus in combat. Although it is not stated a number of people in the community have stated this and most of my alts run traveler and it appears correct. The time in combat and the time it takes to become OOC reduce your movement back to normal. However swiftness and signet of the hunt provide the 25% movement increase universally regardless of whether your in combat or not.

If you run Longbow in your setup, or shortbow, or any swiftness + FBond really, your pet should have constant uptime on swiftness which overwrites +25% speed anyway. Traveler runes aren’t only speed increase, but also bonus duration to your CC and more boon uptime.

I’ve tested Traveler runes and they work exactly like supposed to.

I would never use Signet of the Hunt again, personally. Lost utility slot for a single attack of opportunity. Once you use it, regardless if you miss next skill or it procs of anything (IF it placed a mark ON the target, that would be better), you lose that passive speed and you’re in deep, dark hole.

This is all going to depend on your environment. There are better rune options you don’t have available as a utility. In such cases it may be worth it to you if you want or need the 25% speed to suck it up as a utility and take the more useful rune set.

Xavi.6591:

IIRC, the problem with Traveler Runes on a Ranger is that they speed you up but not your pet.

^ This

Is it worth the lower stat boost to have access to a third utility slot? Can you trait for Agility Training? If yes to A but not B, is it worth it to have a pet that is slow as molasses?

Depends a lot on your build and what you are doing. In WvW, I don’t find the need great enough to give up better rune sets and/or pet speed. I mean, you can always swap Hunt to something else before engaging an enemy if you have the chance. I almost always swap it to stone/wild before diving into a zerg.

The bonus from SoTH paired with damage runes post-update will be more beneficial to you than Traveler/Speed runes and QZ.

QZ is actually kind of mediocre after the patch lands relative to everything else available. I don’t think I’ll be using it any longer.

DeceiverX.8361:

The bonus from SoTH paired with damage runes post-update will be more beneficial to you than Traveler/Speed runes and QZ.

QZ is actually kind of mediocre after the patch lands relative to everything else available. I don’t think I’ll be using it any longer.

LOL.

• QZ is still going to be a 50% damage buff after the patch hits, which makes it stronger for sustained burst like rapid fire or autos than signet of the wild.
• Its still going to synergize with SotF, one of the most important traits for anyone not running empathic bond
• taking survival cd reduction is generally more viable than signet cd reduction, because it doesnt compete with malicious training, keen edge or steady focus.

As far as whats better for anyone that depends upon the situation. Substance E nailed it. If youre in pve or spvp or large scale wvw, pet speed doesnt matter. if you are roaming, it matters a lot, so the question becomes “should i take this signet or should i apply swiftness or should i combine the run speed runes with agility training or do I apply enough snares to avoid needing this” and the answer will vary from build to build.

people taking signet of the hunt on the premise that it makes their pet run faster and then popping signet for “utility” on a maul burst or something (most people?) are missing the point of pet run speed.

i have these runes on another class, and they are useful. But i find that having SoH on my bar, when i’m running running, and hot-swapping it out for something else when i need to not only saves me 50+ gold in rune prices, allows me to slot better runes, and gives me more options for utilties.

but 99% of the time, i just forget and leave SoH on anyway, lol…

Raven.9603:

• QZ is still going to be a 50% damage buff after the patch hits, which makes it stronger for sustained burst like rapid fire or autos than signet of the wild.

How does one reach “sustained” using a utility that has a short duration and a fairly long CD (for a non elite utility)?

Bow users will use anything to try and eek out some dps.

GOSU.9574:

Raven.9603:

• QZ is still going to be a 50% damage buff after the patch hits, which makes it stronger for sustained burst like rapid fire or autos than signet of the wild.

How does one reach “sustained” using a utility that has a short duration and a fairly long CD (for a non elite utility)?

Bow users will use anything to try and eek out some dps.

not “sustained.” “sustained burst.” i gave the example of what i meant by sustained burst in the description you quoted: something that applies across rapid fire or auto attacks.

sustained burst as in “high damage burst for a short duration” (found in skills like SotW, QZ) works for rapid fire or sword auto attack sustained burst, as opposed to a single hit like SotH or omen of clarity, which is generally only valuable for maul or a max range LB auto.

Raven.9603:

GOSU.9574:

Raven.9603:

• QZ is still going to be a 50% damage buff after the patch hits, which makes it stronger for sustained burst like rapid fire or autos than signet of the wild.

How does one reach “sustained” using a utility that has a short duration and a fairly long CD (for a non elite utility)?

Bow users will use anything to try and eek out some dps.

not “sustained.” “sustained burst.” i gave the example of what i meant by sustained burst in the description you quoted: something that applies across rapid fire or auto attacks.

sustained burst as in “high damage burst for a short duration” (found in skills like SotW, QZ) works for rapid fire or sword auto attack sustained burst, as opposed to a single hit like SotH or omen of clarity, which is generally only valuable for maul or a max range LB auto.

I think after the patch, everyone will run power rangers for a week before realizing how they’ll still be lackluster in the conquest game mode compared to any condition or hybrid build. And thats mostly due to being outclassed by eles and mesmers for ranged “burt” or general ranged DPS.

nearlight.3064:

Raven.9603:

GOSU.9574:

Raven.9603:

• QZ is still going to be a 50% damage buff after the patch hits, which makes it stronger for sustained burst like rapid fire or autos than signet of the wild.

How does one reach “sustained” using a utility that has a short duration and a fairly long CD (for a non elite utility)?

Bow users will use anything to try and eek out some dps.

not “sustained.” “sustained burst.” i gave the example of what i meant by sustained burst in the description you quoted: something that applies across rapid fire or auto attacks.

sustained burst as in “high damage burst for a short duration” (found in skills like SotW, QZ) works for rapid fire or sword auto attack sustained burst, as opposed to a single hit like SotH or omen of clarity, which is generally only valuable for maul or a max range LB auto.

I think after the patch, everyone will run power rangers for a week before realizing how they’ll still be lackluster in the conquest game mode compared to any condition or hybrid build. And thats mostly due to being outclassed by eles and mesmers for ranged “burt” or general ranged DPS.

agree that people will try them for a week and fail miserably, but it really depends on the team and the map. figure 2 point holders and either 1 or 2 roamers and 1 or 2 team support classes.

LB ranger is easily the strongest roamer you can bring on Foefire, very good on Temple, Spirit Watch, average on Khylo (still strong, but not as strong as teleport classes), and below average to bad on Forest. It’s only going to get better with signet and rapid fire buffs.

Personally i think spirits are weaker than condi builds, trappers, and power rangers, but the LB buff helps them out too.

Long term, i think the changes that matter most are entangle becoming the “basilisk venom” elite option for powerful rune combos like lyssa, krait, etc (dramatically increasing the power of condi rangers); and signets, which will introduce burst and immunity options to all game modes.

I’m waiting patiently for some complaints about a signet boosted maul hitting for eviscerate level damage on a much shorter cooldown. Something like an out of stealth SotH powered maul followed 4 seconds later by a MoC powered maul that triggered off of hilt bash followed 5 seconds later by a MoC powered maul that triggered off of counter attack… This skill already can hit people for evis level damage with signets or MoC, the only reason its rare now is because of the 30pt power marksmanship requirement.

Raven.9603:

DeceiverX.8361:

The bonus from SoTH paired with damage runes post-update will be more beneficial to you than Traveler/Speed runes and QZ.

QZ is actually kind of mediocre after the patch lands relative to everything else available. I don’t think I’ll be using it any longer.

LOL.

• QZ is still going to be a 50% damage buff after the patch hits, which makes it stronger for sustained burst like rapid fire or autos than signet of the wild.
• Its still going to synergize with SotF, one of the most important traits for anyone not running empathic bond
• taking survival cd reduction is generally more viable than signet cd reduction, because it doesnt compete with malicious training, keen edge or steady focus.

As far as whats better for anyone that depends upon the situation. Substance E nailed it. If youre in pve or spvp or large scale wvw, pet speed doesnt matter. if you are roaming, it matters a lot, so the question becomes “should i take this signet or should i apply swiftness or should i combine the run speed runes with agility training or do I apply enough snares to avoid needing this” and the answer will vary from build to build.

people taking signet of the hunt on the premise that it makes their pet run faster and then popping signet for “utility” on a maul burst or something (most people?) are missing the point of pet run speed.

I don’t think anyone using SoTH is using it for pet run speed. QZ is 50% more DPS but will make RF and longbow in general perform worse on an opponent dodging. It’s also only useful IF you run a 6 NM spec. There are plenty who don’t since the gains really just come from the condition clears. It offers nothing but condi clears over other utility and build options.

DeceiverX.8361:

Raven.9603:

DeceiverX.8361:

The bonus from SoTH paired with damage runes post-update will be more beneficial to you than Traveler/Speed runes and QZ.

QZ is actually kind of mediocre after the patch lands relative to everything else available. I don’t think I’ll be using it any longer.

LOL.

• QZ is still going to be a 50% damage buff after the patch hits, which makes it stronger for sustained burst like rapid fire or autos than signet of the wild.
• Its still going to synergize with SotF, one of the most important traits for anyone not running empathic bond
• taking survival cd reduction is generally more viable than signet cd reduction, because it doesnt compete with malicious training, keen edge or steady focus.

As far as whats better for anyone that depends upon the situation. Substance E nailed it. If youre in pve or spvp or large scale wvw, pet speed doesnt matter. if you are roaming, it matters a lot, so the question becomes “should i take this signet or should i apply swiftness or should i combine the run speed runes with agility training or do I apply enough snares to avoid needing this” and the answer will vary from build to build.

people taking signet of the hunt on the premise that it makes their pet run faster and then popping signet for “utility” on a maul burst or something (most people?) are missing the point of pet run speed.

I don’t think anyone using SoTH is using it for pet run speed. QZ is 50% more DPS but will make RF and longbow in general perform worse on an opponent dodging. It’s also only useful IF you run a 6 NM spec. There are plenty who don’t since the gains really just come from the condition clears. It offers nothing but condi clears over other utility and build options.

Even if it becomes somewhat redundant with rapid fire, it is still the best way to DPS a target using the 1h sword.

It’s also still handy as a stunbreak in desperate situations. Note that most of what I’m talking about comes from a wvw zergling perspective.

All of the above was referring to the longbow, though. Yea, QZ is a great skill for sword mainhand, and frankly, such a build will have the traits to spare since it won’t need MMS.

That’s all I was saying, though. In regards to longbow, I really don’t think QZ post-patch is going to be a utility worth taking, especially with the RF changes in mind. LR is already necessary on so many levels, and signet of the wild is going to have a much more useful effect over QZ in all forms due to the stability and DPH increase making the ranger less vulnerable to effects like retal while blasting RF and autos so much harder. SoTH or any 25% mobility effect is a must and mathematically speaking, SoTH makes more sense over traveler runes or sigil of swiftness for optimal DPS and durability with in-combat reliability.

Worth it to me. I actually run a set on each of my toon’s drunk set of armor. On the sober set for each toon I run scholar.

I just slap on Signet of the Hunt in place of a signet that helps me more in combat when I don’t think I’m going against anything deadly. If I really did need the extra damage, at least I can pop a surprise moment of clarity maul on them…

Traveler will be worth it post patch since most signets will finally become abit more useful
Before, there’s really not much a ranger can choose from in outdoor pvp, that bringing signet of hunt and use highest dps rune is the way to go since ranger don’t have those utilities to enhance their damage.

Now signet of stone and wild will have some uses even in outdoor pve content, so traveler will be a viable choice. Do note that your pet speed will be pretty slow if you use traveler instead of signet of hunt.

You can get around the pet speed issue with Agility Training.

^ If you have spare points for that, then sure.

Well I had a set of account bound traveller runes sitting in my bank forever so have put them on my “running around Tyria zerker” armor. It doesn’t matter about stats for mapping. I can’t stand being slow, and I opened up another skill slot.