Guild Wars 2

The consensus seems to be that spirits is no longer the best ranger build, or even the best support build for PvP. This is mostly due to the massive amounts of AOE being put down by, well pretty much everyone else.

The question is then, what is a ranger’s best support build right now? Or should rangers stick to side point builds?

I have had limited success with a/t, Natures Voice, 0/0/6/6/2…but I don’t think I would call it meta:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQRBHfxG2JjK0viVsgvgQ1iBwEq2JQnGAvuB3N7CMxDoB-TpxCwAWOIAAOBATOCASeAAz2fIbZAA

Is anyone else running a support build, successfully?

spirit ranger is still the best support build for rangers. just a small alteration is needed. instead of using settler, rabid, or carrion, i use celestial for it’s balanced stat. i have noticed that the storm spirit still crits up to 3.9k. you guys should try it.

this is my build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJAVRjMq0sanK+qQ0aAMhq9AUABArk19G8BZQFrkC-TJBBABVcJAA4JAAWZgB3fAA

Sube Dai.8496:

The consensus seems to be that spirits is no longer the best ranger build, or even the best support build for PvP. This is mostly due to the massive amounts of AOE being put down by, well pretty much everyone else.

The question is then, what is a ranger’s best support build right now? Or should rangers stick to side point builds?

I have had limited success with a/t, Natures Voice, 0/0/6/6/2…but I don’t think I would call it meta:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQRBHfxG2JjK0viVsgvgQ1iBwEq2JQnGAvuB3N7CMxDoB-TpxCwAWOIAAOBATOCASeAAz2fIbZAA

Is anyone else running a support build, successfully?

that is good strong , effective , its got condi damage + evasive skills though i suggest you use Dagger off hand with sword you’ll need the evades to stay in the bonfire.

your team mates can help stack mights on you too , in pvp having 25might max is a pipe dream never expect to reach the limits when there are necros on the opposite team.

check the opposing classes , choose pets on what you might think help rather than sticking to set pets, I find using a Pig+snow leapord is good for the build you posted , the extra leap damage/chill will boost bonfire give the pet a aura on command f2 and keep them in the fire longer ,while main hand axe provides Burn projectile damage.

or run it as Sword+torch , then Axe+dagger depends on how much evade you wish to have or how Aggressive you want to fight on point , the more Aggressive option would be to use Sword+dagger and only bonfire while your not being pressured.

the soimoth pet pig will allow you to stealth+plasma boon yourself during weapon swaps making the most of the 6 in NM, boosting you and the pet plus team mates if they know how to eat the plasma.

you have protection on dodge and vigor every 15secs , change natures protection to circle of life and provide a focal point if you go down , gaining quickness while downed also increases pet lick wounds speed and the circle of life will keep the pet alive longer means it will get you up faster without having to swap pets or it breaking away, if you can get back up quick enough you’ll have 2-3secs of quickness left over and that can be quite nasty to quickly finish off a downed target in those Dual both down situations.

if the opposing team decide to aoe bomb you. changing the balance in the fight as this leaves your team in a stronger postion for a counter offensive.
or even use Natures bounty if you go with the move Evasive sword+dagger version it’ll let you stack lots of regen on your team on point while avoiding most damage.

with the current D/D Aoe and turret meta going around i think your build is better suited currently.

thats my review of your build it looks great.

There is no top tier support build for rangers at the moment. They all flounder in mediocrity.

Build above:
1) SoR condi clear?? (Prob not happening)
2) Entangle
3) Limited cc from pet.
4) Water field
5) AoE regen, swiftness, and fury

Spirits + shortbow (best option as ranger):
1) Water field
2) Burns
3) Protection
4) Limited cc

d/d ele
1) Perma 25 might stacks on ele and 12-18ish on allies.
2) Aoe heals on low cooldown
3) Aoe condi clear on low cooldown
4) Reliable cc

They aren’t mirrors of eachother, but it is apparent that the bar for support builds is set very very high. The spirits can be killed far easier than the boons can be cleansed. The entangle is an annoyance to most classes and regen is pretty abundant.

Ryan.9387:

There is no top tier support build for rangers at the moment. They all flounder in mediocrity.

Build above:
1) SoR condi clear?? (Prob not happening)
2) Entangle
3) Limited cc from pet.
4) Water field
5) AoE regen, swiftness, and fury

Spirits + shortbow (best option as ranger):
1) Water field
2) Burns
3) Protection
4) Limited cc

d/d ele
1) Perma 25 might stacks on ele and 12-18ish on allies.
2) Aoe heals on low cooldown
3) Aoe condi clear on low cooldown
4) Reliable cc

They aren’t mirrors of eachother, but it is apparent that the bar for support builds is set very very high. The spirits can be killed far easier than the boons can be cleansed. The entangle is an annoyance to most classes and regen is pretty abundant.

Main condi clear for the Natures Voice build is EB, SoR is for the team clear + stunbreak. It has fire field as well. Also entangle is much more reliable if you use it at the right time, ie. after dodges and stun breaks have been used. Combined with Krait runes its a nice condi bomb. IMO it is a lot stronger than spirits…

Is it worth taking though…maybe not.

I started using a supportive ranger build lately since ranger is by far my favourite class even though I played mostly warrior and mesmer in the last months. I’m currently using the build Red Tamyr from Made in Meta uses.

It’s basically a celestial spirit build but the strong point are the runes of mercy making you the perfect “Ress Bot”. It’s a very versatile build: you can bunker points for quite a while if you know what you’re doing; you’re great for resses of course and you bring a lot of poison pressure against warrs/eles/engis which is always a good thing; the proper use of jungle spider, wolf and stone spirit gives you a decent amount of cc to support your team spikes on targets.

In conclusion: is this build better than Warrs/Eles/Engis at the moment? NO but it is viable. It’s much more difficoult to make a difference with ranger than with other classes but it is definetely possible so….go go support ranger.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAV8YjMq0yavKOrQ0aADBp9pPlYFw9vh9KZFRB-TJhHwAp2fAwVAIwDBwYZAA

i run shout regen build 0/0/6/6/2,, with clerics ammy,, rune of water, weapons GS, sw/dagger,, sigil leeching/sigil of purity on both. pets.. river drake and marsh drake.
utilite’s ,, healing spring, protect me,,sic’em,, signet of the wild or renewal…

i can basically sit on a point and 1v1 most ppl for while. you have to use your evades and dodges just right,, timing your regen and healing springs. Leaping through your spring and swapping your pets to blast your spring.

I play to survive as long as possible while sitting on a point and holding it,, i may not kill anyone,, but 1v1 they will have a hard time killing me.

Group wise well everyone loves some form of regen…

Xanderis.2369:

i run shout regen build 0/0/6/6/2,, with clerics ammy,, rune of water, weapons GS, sw/dagger,, sigil leeching/sigil of purity on both. pets.. river drake and marsh drake.
utilite’s ,, healing spring, protect me,,sic’em,, signet of the wild or renewal…

i can basically sit on a point and 1v1 most ppl for while. you have to use your evades and dodges just right,, timing your regen and healing springs. Leaping through your spring and swapping your pets to blast your spring.

I play to survive as long as possible while sitting on a point and holding it,, i may not kill anyone,, but 1v1 they will have a hard time killing me.

Group wise well everyone loves some form of regen…

Cleric’s is only for bunking right? I mean you’ll never kill anything with it.

Sube Dai.8496:

Xanderis.2369:

i run shout regen build 0/0/6/6/2,, with clerics ammy,, rune of water, weapons GS, sw/dagger,, sigil leeching/sigil of purity on both. pets.. river drake and marsh drake.
utilite’s ,, healing spring, protect me,,sic’em,, signet of the wild or renewal…

i can basically sit on a point and 1v1 most ppl for while. you have to use your evades and dodges just right,, timing your regen and healing springs. Leaping through your spring and swapping your pets to blast your spring.

I play to survive as long as possible while sitting on a point and holding it,, i may not kill anyone,, but 1v1 they will have a hard time killing me.

Group wise well everyone loves some form of regen…

Cleric’s is only for bunking right? I mean you’ll never kill anything with it.

Yes it is .. i have killed a few people with chaining my pets breathes and just keeping poison on them and fighting aggressively. It does take awhile depending on the class.

You could switch to valk ammy for a little more power less healing though.
i have played with ptv ammy and celest,, for fun. but the amount of healing power from clerics is too nice. I wouldnt mind having a nomad ammy..

Cleric hits hard if you play it right. I run it in wvw, does around 1k damage with LB AA (mid range) against heavy armored units. Cleric is pretty strong for self sustain and aggression, but it does not fare too well in PvP because you cannot rely on the cleansing from secondary sources like you can in WvW (sigil of cleansing/lemongrass).

However there is a way to make clerics VERY scary to fight against in PvP. It relies on a quick rotation BM setup that makes you stack might FAST. It will apply pressure, very effectively, and can seriously hurt people if you stack quickly and then burst. It IS possible to get 5k bursts on heavy golems with it using maul.
Using 2x battle sigil + hoelbrak runes and mighty swap, a ranger can with swapping alone sustain up to 12 stacks of might, if you add in some axe autos, you can sustain 17-19 against lone targets and 25 against multiple targets.

Sube Dai.8496:

Cleric’s is only for bunking right? I mean you’ll never kill anything with it.

Depends. There’s a build that goes into BM and focuses on GreatSword Maul (2) paired with Sigil of Intelligence.
That way you can crit for some nice pressure amounts while also being almost immortal thanks to the Water Field (3 leaps + X blasts depending on Warhorn/Drake choices, which are all viable), nice Condi Cleanse, and sick amounts of evades on both GreatSword and Sword itself (dagger for more utility is also viable).

So basically, ye. You can kill your opponent in a Cleric’s build. It will take time, and it will require rotations and cooldowns – but it’s definitely a viable way to kill people. It’s basically a way to wear people down by staying alive longer than them. Your pets deal stable DPS by themselves anyway.