Guild Wars 2

Hello Everyone,

Current Build/Trait Selection http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mVoc0zmzMoMmxmMoGgMGxG9MMazRqcs

I’ve recently gotten to lvl 80 on my ranger and tried out wvw

I really enjoy using traps and applying conditions during wvw combat and am just wondering what armour and runes other rangers with a similar build use.

Also is there any changes I could make to my build to maximise my damage or survivability for wvw combat

Thanks in Advance

I used the Nightmare runes/set from TA, but now I use the glass cannon build.

I use pre/tough/condition armor from karma vendors in orr, undead runes, and carrion jewelry. I’m short two jewelry items, but my stats from those items so far is 1,549 pre, 1,557 toughness, 18.5k hp, and 1,425 condition damage.

Generally speaking, you want either rabid (con/pre/tou), carrion (con/pow/vit) or maybe rampager (pre/pow/con), if you plan to use traits or sigils that rely on critical hits to proc at some point. Carrion and rampager gear can be crafted but rabid gear is much harder to come by

1.) Keep in mind that condition duration only deals more damage when the condition duration in question is an integer (1,2,3 etc.), meaning that 1.5 or 1.75 seconds of bleed still tick only once. Non-damage conditions like chill or cripple are not affected by this rule.

2.) Personally, I think runes are somewhat overrated and crests or gems often offer a superior solution which is also much more flexible since you don’t have to stack a specific type. Not to mention that some of the special abilities runes give you are of dubious value. Needless to say, they are also much less expensive than most runes.

• Crest of the Rabid/Chrysocola Orb/Coral Orb
  All of these give 20 to their primary stat and 14 to the second and third one. Resulting in 120/84/84 for 6 matching crests or orbs.

• Rune of the Krait
  The absolute budget variant. It’s one of the cheapest runes there is and that for good reason. 183 condition damage plus 15% bleed duration are solid but you also get a 5% chance of causing bleed on getting hit as well as 100 power when underwater, which is not exactly impressive.

• Rune of the Necromancer
  Provides 183 condition damage as well as 50 vitality. Sadly, the sixth rune only boosts fear duration. You can still use 5 runes plus another upgrade component if you really want this combination. At least they are cheap.

• Rune of the Undead
  These runes are the favourite of many condition builds, not just rangers. You get 183 condition damage, 50 toughness and on top of that 5% of your overall toughness is added as condition damage. This makes it synergize very well with our wilderness survival trait line and rabid gear. Definitely one of the best choices and very cheap.

• Rune of the Lich
  Kind of an odd choice as it seems to have been made for necromancers in mind. However, 165 vitality and 10% condition duration are solid. The final rune adds a 5% chance to summon a minion on hit. Not too impressive and in WvW your enemy might be able to rally off of it.

• Rune of the Centaur
  165 power and 15% bleed duration are okay but the real reason to pick these runes is the +20% swiftness duration plus AoE swiftness for 10s when using a healing skill. A more utility orientated rune set for WvW purposes.

• Rune of the Nightmare
  The only rune that grants both condition damage and condition duration and is thus the best choice if you simply wish to maximize your damage. Additionally you get a 5% to cause fear when hit. Can only be gotten from Twilight Arbor chests, tokens or from the mystic forge.

• Rune of the Afflicted
  Another popular choice amongst condition rangers. The obligatory 183 condition damage increase plus 15% duration increase for bleed and poison. Obviously, it’s more for shortbow rangers. You also cause a death nova (AoE poison) when downed. I doubt this ability has ever made much of a difference.

• Rune of the Elementalist
  Very niche. You get 165 power, 57 condition damage as well as 20% duration increase for both burn and chill, so if you use axe/torch together with flame and ice trap it might make for an interesting combination. Sadly, these runes are fairly expensive as they require destroyer lodestones.

• Rune of the Adventurer
  183 condition damage, 50 power and 50% endurance gain when using a healing skill make these runes another popular and versatile choice for many rangers.

• Rune of the Orrian
  I really want to love this rune but sadly it only boosts poison duration by 15%. Besides the obligatory condition damage increase you also get a 5% to poison when hit and on top of that 5 seconds on quickness when your health falls under 20%. Doesn’t really help that you have to go to Arah to get those.

• Rune of Lyssa
  165 precision, 10% condition duration, random boon when using a healing skill and, most importantly, losing all conditions and gaining all boons when using your elite skill make for a very impressive set of runes.

• Rune of the Mad King
  The newcomer. Introduced during the Halloween event, these runes offer 165 power, 10% condition duration and 15% bleed duration on top. It also summons ravens when you use your elite skill but I don’t really know what it does, exactly.

Note: There is nothing stopping you from just using the first two runes of multiple rune sets to maximize condition duration.
Also, all of this is based on personal observation, draws upon limited data and is likely to be biased.

Really nice runes review!
I crafted/bought my condition armor set some days ago and I had to decide which rune to put on.
I came to your same considerations… and I bought 6 runes of the Undead. I think they are really nice. They are cheap and they seems one of the best choices.
I dislike rune of Nightmare… Condition duration is not really effective on ranger cause our conditions, especially bleeding, last too short to gain improvements from condition duration… I think it’s wiser to go for condition damage!

I’m addicted to swiftness, and the ability to give it out AoE style with 100% uptime is too much awesome in WvW to pass up for me. I use Centaur. And an offhand horn. Whenever I’m roaming the map looking for trouble, I get where I’m headed quickly, and so does anyone who is dumb enough to join me.

I used to use 3 krait/3 afflicted when I was using the shortbow and focused more on bleeds. It was amazing for that with the +30% bleed duration, and 166 condition damage. I’ve also used Undead runes, and honestly, have no complains there whatsoever. It adds more condition damage than any other set, depending on your gear, it might add more by a huge margin too. I kinda miss how rediculously potent my conditions were when I had these runes, and will probably go back to them again at some point.

But right now, 100% uptime aoe swiftness is just too much utility for me to pass on. So Centaur it is. The power it gives isn’t exactly nothing either, even when focused on conditions, you are still going to have regular attacks, and it is never a bad thing for them to hit harder.

It has been touched upon already. But I wanted to mention it again. It is ok to mix and match runes if you do it right. Look at what some of them offer at varous set numbers and see if the perfect “set” for you isn’t just scattered between 2, or even three sets.

2/2/2 generally gives really big duration bonuses, but at a cost of attributes and other utility. 2/4 gets decent duration bonuses, probably has some minor utility, but some attribute loss. 3/3 gets good duration, and nearly full attributes, but rarely has utility. 1/5 is usually just if you don’t like the final set bonus and you just tack on a divinity rune, or gem etc to fill the gap for an otherwise perfect set. A full 6 set is generally well rounded, has some duration, some utility, and attributes. Gems have more attributes but no durations or utility at all.