Guild Wars 2

So would zerker be better for greatsword/longbow ranger or should i run ac for the p/t/v? and what runes you guys think i should use on them?

This is such an opinionated question…

First of all, you’re using the 2 worst weapons in the game.
Secondly, is this for dungeons? Open world PvE? WvW? Specify.
Thirdly, When in doubt, go with Knight’s armor with zerker jewelry and orbs
[Moderated]

I use those two weapons for dungeons and WvW.
At first I tried to go full P/V/T but then I realized that I was loosing too much damage output (and backstab thieves were still instagabing me)
ATM, I’m runing with P/V/T gear, amulet and rings, ranger runes, and ruby (berserker’s) jewerly and earings
Stats:

nice post i need it for my ranger :P

I predominately use GS/SB, and a mixture of Berserker’s armor and Knight’s accessories and weapons. However, I would seriously recommend deciding how you want to spec first, then use your armor to compliment. My trait distribution in most of my builds tends to be pretty balanced, or biased toward defense , so I usually want the extra damage from zerk’s.

I tend to see toughness as the single most important trait you can stack as a ranger simply because your pet is an always available damage source when managed well, rangers have some of the best heal skills in the game, and they have a lot of options when it comes to dealing with conditions. So, imo, if you are running a damage oriented build, I would go with Knight’s armor, or something like Cleric’s that enhances your healing even more.

As a long-term solution, you may want to look at maxing your leatherworking and jewelry crafts. As you gather mats, craft different sets and mix it up a little. You’ll find a comfortable spot in there.

Rannulf.9417:

So would zerker be better for greatsword/longbow ranger or should i run ac for the p/t/v? and what runes you guys think i should use on them?

Longbow and greatsword aren’t even close to the worst weapons in the game. Just remember that there aren’t really any bad Ranger weapons, just bad Ranger players.

I tend to go for survivability over damage. Surviving is one of the things Rangers do incredibly well, so (in my opinion) it’s better to play to your strengths.

I use power, vitality, toughness armor from AC with all Monk runes. I was thinking about switching it up to two Monk, two Dwayna, two Water, but I haven’t crunched the numbers yet to see if that’s even a good idea.

I personally use sword/dagger with fire/hydromancy and axe/warhorn with fire/energy. If were going to run with longbow and greatsword I would use fire on the longbow and either hydromancy or energy on the greatsword.

I use greatsword/longbow in all forms of gameplay with Cleric armor (Healing/power/toughness) and dwayna runes. I survive just fine usually. Counterattack on greatsword, point blank shot on longbow, and protect me do a good job at countering 100 blade warriors and bursty thieves.

Instead of stacking more cleric armor for my jewels and accessories, I am thinking about getting some precision on my accessories to boost my crit chance as it is currently only 4% right now.

I’m full zerk with some valkyre on jewes for vitality LB/GS
i survive bursts by using stone signet traited so it works for me also
then i just knockback and quckening+rapid fire they go down fast since most don’t have much hp/armor

Totally depends how (and where) you play, if you want to go glass cannon then Berserker is a good choice for GS/LB, since they’re your two weapons that rely least on condition damage. Berserker gear with GS/LB on a Power/Precision build works great for me in WvW and PvE, I only really have trouble in dungeons when I draw aggro from multiple mobs.

This timely for me cos I am considering swapping out my full berserker armour for a mix of Knight and Valkyrie. Something like this:

helm Valkyrie
shoulder Knight
coat Valkyrie
gloves Knight
leggings Valkyrie
boots Knight

My accessories are currently a mix of Knight and Valkyrie as well:
2 Knight rings
2 Valkyrie earrings
1 Valkyrie amulet

My build is 30/30/10/0/0
The above will provide me with the most balanced amount of toughness and vitality, without loosing too much precision. I will add in a full set of rune of ranger’s.

EDIT: I will be crafting these myself and splitting the inscriptions like this means needing less of one type of T6 creature part when spread across 2 of them

nldixon.8514:

Rannulf.9417:

So would zerker be better for greatsword/longbow ranger or should i run ac for the p/t/v? and what runes you guys think i should use on them?

Longbow and greatsword aren’t even close to the worst weapons in the game. Just remember that there aren’t really any bad Ranger weapons, just bad Ranger players.

I tend to go for survivability over damage. Surviving is one of the things Rangers do incredibly well, so (in my opinion) it’s better to play to your strengths.

I use power, vitality, toughness armor from AC with all Monk runes. I was thinking about switching it up to two Monk, two Dwayna, two Water, but I haven’t crunched the numbers yet to see if that’s even a good idea.

I personally use sword/dagger with fire/hydromancy and axe/warhorn with fire/energy. If were going to run with longbow and greatsword I would use fire on the longbow and either hydromancy or energy on the greatsword.

There aren’t any bad weapons?

Then you simply must tell me why I’ve literally never seen rangers use swords, daggers, or off-hand axes in-game besides myself.

I like sword/dagger a lot if you want to stick to someone like glue and have great evades and condition apply.

For thieves, great sword for the block, stun, swing radius, and awesome gap closer(Swoop). So instead of losing everytime to a thief I merely lose 90% of the time now. Yay for progress!

Well a lot of people just really like warhorn for the spike and buff. That doesn’t make dagger or off-hand axe bad weapons, in fact they’re both really useful. I often find myself in situations in sPVP where I wish I had the dagger’s evade or the axe’s projectile reflection, unfortunately you can’t have everything.

The only Ranger weapon IMO that is outright terrible is the sword, due to the root bug. I know some people remove autoattack, but mashing the 1 key on my keyboard just isn’t worth it to me. It’s a shame though, I reckon sword could be a really fun and effective weapon if only it worked properly.

Daemon.4295:

Well a lot of people just really like warhorn for the spike and buff. That doesn’t make dagger or off-hand axe bad weapons, in fact they’re both really useful. I often find myself in situations in sPVP where I wish I had the dagger’s evade or the axe’s projectile reflection, unfortunately you can’t have everything.

The only Ranger weapon IMO that is outright terrible is the sword, due to the root bug. I know some people remove autoattack, but mashing the 1 key on my keyboard just isn’t worth it to me. It’s a shame though, I reckon sword could be a really fun and effective weapon if only it worked properly.

Sword is actually really, really awesome. It is hands down the best PvP weapon we have. No joke. You don’t even have to turn off auto-attack. You just have to get used to timing your dodges.

As long as you’re running with melee assist and auto-targeting off, you’ll be good.

Work towards getting full berserker armor. If you’re dying too much, then you can always get some Power/Vit/Tough gear from the karma vendors, which is easy. As you farm gold to get berserker gear, you’ll probably get plenty of karma at the same time, which makes this possible.

Personally, I think you ideally want to get your defense from your traits and your offense from your gear (as a general rule of thumb), but if you’re running up in melee, it may be prudent to have a decent amout of defense on gear too.

@ Nldixon: You’re putting sword over short bow? Seriously? It’s good, but short bow is still king.

nldixon.8514:

Sword is actually really, really awesome. It is hands down the best PvP weapon we have. No joke. You don’t even have to turn off auto-attack. You just have to get used to timing your dodges.

As long as you’re running with melee assist and auto-targeting off, you’ll be good.

Yeah a lot of people say that and I do believe it, but personally I don’t want to bother with a broken weapon. I’d rather just wait for Anet to fix it to be honest, I get along pretty well in sPvP with SB and Axe/WH anyway.

Im going with with koda armor with thief hood and a quiver, or inquest armor.

Dahkeus.8243:

@ Nldixon: You’re putting sword over short bow? Seriously? It’s good, but short bow is still king.

Absolutely. The only reason I’d ever use shortbow over a sword is if I had The Dreamer, because it shoots rainbows and it is the most kitten weapon ever.

The damage is comparable, but sword brings way more utility to the table, especially in combination with dagger. Which is what I use 95% of the time in PvP.

I’m not saying I don’t like shortbow, because I do, but I just prefer other weapons over it.

Daemon.4295:

Yeah a lot of people say that and I do believe it, but personally I don’t want to bother with a broken weapon. I’d rather just wait for Anet to fix it to be honest, I get along pretty well in sPvP with SB and Axe/WH anyway.

Yeah, honestly it’s about using what you’re most comfortable with. I don’t mind getting in somebody’s grill and going to town with a sword and dagger. It’s especially fun because after you shred somebody a couple of times, they start avoiding you or just plain running. when they see you.

Dahkeus.8243:

Personally, I think you ideally want to get your defense from your traits and your offense from your gear (as a general rule of thumb), but if you’re running up in melee, it may be prudent to have a decent amout of defense on gear too.

For my ranger, I built her in the opposite way, offense from traits (30/30/10/0/0) and weapons (Berserker); defense from armour and accessories (Knight & Valkyrie), but with offensive runes (Rangers).

My reasons are due to poor trait options in the defense trait lines and the role I want to play as a ranged damage dealer, at least as much as I can. I can maintain a 50% crit chance without being too squishy.

I don’t PvP or WvW, so this is for solo PvE and dungeons …

bri.2359:

Dahkeus.8243:

Personally, I think you ideally want to get your defense from your traits and your offense from your gear (as a general rule of thumb), but if you’re running up in melee, it may be prudent to have a decent amout of defense on gear too.

For my ranger, I built her in the opposite way, offense from traits (30/30/10/0/0) and weapons (Berserker); defense from armour and accessories (Knight & Valkyrie), but with offensive runes (Rangers).

My reasons are due to poor trait options in the defense trait lines and the role I want to play as a ranged damage dealer, at least as much as I can. I can maintain a 50% crit chance without being too squishy.

I don’t PvP or WvW, so this is for solo PvE and dungeons …

bri what weapons do you use with that build?

@woodt
I use Berserker stats for all my weapons, except for my shortbow. That currently has Rampager stats.

Primary: Longbow, for general PvE and farming or Shortbow for close quarter skirmish situations

Secondary 1: Greatsword
Secondary 2: Axe/warhorn
Secondary 3: Shortbow (when not used as primary)

I use the Dwayna set, seems to keep me alive longer then anything else, plus the stats are decent. It is light on DPS, but what good am I dps’n if I’m waiting on a rezz.

bri.2359:

My reasons are due to poor trait options in the defense trait lines and the role I want to play as a ranged damage dealer, at least as much as I can. I can maintain a 50% crit chance without being too squishy.

Rangers have some of the best defensive traits in the game. You crazy!

nldixon.8514:

bri.2359:

My reasons are due to poor trait options in the defense trait lines and the role I want to play as a ranged damage dealer, at least as much as I can. I can maintain a 50% crit chance without being too squishy.

Rangers have some of the best defensive traits in the game. You crazy!

Not the first time I have been told that!

When I look at the options in the Nature Magic and Beastmaster trait-lines, yes, there are a couple of possibilities, but I see nothing that makes me want to shift 30 or more points of offensive options to access them. The all seem a bit meh too me …

bri.2359:

nldixon.8514:

bri.2359:

My reasons are due to poor trait options in the defense trait lines and the role I want to play as a ranged damage dealer, at least as much as I can. I can maintain a 50% crit chance without being too squishy.

Rangers have some of the best defensive traits in the game. You crazy!

Not the first time I have been told that!

When I look at the options in the Nature Magic and Beastmaster trait-lines, yes, there are a couple of possibilities, but I see nothing that makes me want to shift 30 or more points of offensive options to access them. The all seem a bit meh too me …

You should try it. The Ranger offensive traits are actually pretty terrible for the most part. You really don’t lose much damage output by choosing a more defensive build.

It actually speaks volumes about just how terrible our damage traits are when they make no noticeable (or barely noticeable) difference in damage output versus a defensive build.

Piercing arrows is extremely effective once you get used to lining up mobs, and the trap traits are nice too. They’d be a lot better if they were in wilderness survival though. Strangely, rangers’ best offensive trait (quickness on pet swap) is in a defensive trait line, while best defensive trait imo (active effects of signets also benefit you, particularly in conjunction with signet of stone for 6 secs invulnerability) is in an offensive trait line.

Daemon.4295:

Piercing arrows is extremely effective once you get used to lining up mobs, and the trap traits are nice too. They’d be a lot better if they were in wilderness survival though. Strangely, rangers’ best offensive trait (quickness on pet swap) is in a defensive trait line, while best defensive trait imo (active effects of signets also benefit you, particularly in conjunction with signet of stone for 6 secs invulnerability) is in an offensive trait line.

The layout of traits is pretty strange, I will definitely agree with that. Beastmastery is the absolute worst for traits and synergy, but Marksmanship is a close second.

I’ve never really liked Signet of Stone. It does provide six seconds of immunity, but doesn’t wipe conditions, so it practically requires you to either have 30 points in Wilderness Survival or run with Signet of Renewal. Even with the lowered cool downs you’re still looking at six seconds of invulnerability every minute and a half.

It’s not bad, but again, it requires you to put points into an offensive line to get defensive traits. What?

Jay.3284:

This is such an opinionated question…

First of all, you’re using the 2 worst weapons in the game.
Secondly, is this for dungeons? Open world PvE? WvW? Specify.
Thirdly, When in doubt, go with Knight’s armor with zerker jewelry and orbs
[Moderated]

Greatsword and Longbow are two of the top weapons for Ranger. Barrage does 20k+ and slows, it’s amazing for WVW because of range. Greatsword is the most powerful melee/close combat weapon. The only other option is Shortbow, and it doesn’t have enough burst.