Guild Wars 2

Hey!

Need a bit of help.
My Ranger is 37 right now and I leveled with a full-Signet build which is tons of fun for me (casual gamer, map events, PvE only). Everything with a longbow.

Now: I’d like to try new builds and I trained a bit with Sword + Horn, which is nice (i think) for buffs and melee aggression. I got the spirits skills, but here come some doubts.

1. Is there any convenient way to switch a whole set of armor? Since while I use longbow + signets (or whatever I’ll get to buff my long-range dps) I want Power-precision-ferocity boosts and when I go into “melee-support” I’d like to boost vitality and healing. Should I get specific sets? Is there the ability to keybind a “swap all” kinda thing? Or I just switch stuff depending what I’m gonna do?

2. Is it the Melee + buffs viable as a solo strategy? I don’t care a lot about meta, but I like some theory crafting and since I’m not a lot into the math of the games I play, I need at least some direct experiences.
In the end I’d start soon dungeons (at least the Catacombs) and there I’d like to be of some help.

3. Any “combined” strategy longbow + buffs you found funny/reliable?

General advices are welcome.

Cheers!

I play mainly condition rangers and use the following; Axe/Torch and Axe/Axe. To round out the build, I use three traps (Frost, Viper’s Nest and Flame) and two shouts (“We Heal as One” and "Strength of the Pack). Armour runes used are anything that increases condition duration and/or the condition stat. Gear overall tends to be Carrion (mostly) and maybe some Dire/Rampager thrown in. Weapon sigils used are anything that increases condition damage, vulnerability/weakness duration, (or on hit) and might on weapon swap.

This build is extremely effective against mobs, for holding a position and against large slow moving opponents. It’s also good for combat in relatively close quarters and small areas (chambers, hallways etc…). The traps mentioned earlier are great for laying down fields for combos as well.

Experiment and have fun.

Anything will work in open world. Probably the first set of gear you should start working on is berserker, it will work for the majority of the game content including WvW (might want to mix in some valk/knight/cav/soldier for WvW).

Try out sword/axe instead of warhorn. Off hand axe brings some solid damage, axe 4 is helpful against break bars and axe 5 will block projectiles and give you different affects when used in various combo fields.

When using longbow think about when it is appropriate to use point blank shot. If you are playing with a group of players and they just dropped a ton of aoe on something do not randomly knock it out of the area.

If you decide to stick with the game you may want to work on getting some viper gear, but you have a little way to go before worrying about that and depending on when the next expansion hits that gear may be outdated.

The one other thing I need to mention is invest in beastmastery and learn how to control your pets. When used properly they will bring some decent damage and utility, when used improperly they draw unwanted agro and cause problems. Don’t be that guy running around with a bear that you fully ignore.