Guild Wars 2

Was wondering what is better for ranger. Always wanted berseker, but ranger dps isnt that good and some good players were asking me to try bunker(since ranger has some OP abilities to dodge), using GS/Sword and Dagger.
I am almost completing twilight, so wanted to know what builds you guys prefer, and why, etc.

Well, we can do REALLY good dps, you just wont see as big of numbers as you will from other profs because not only do we have a pet, but ranger also deals their damage through a storm of smaller attacks instead of a handful of really big attacks.

That being said, I prefer being more bunker, but then again i prefer being more support/being eternal (never dying) than i do killing things.

We can do both, and if you want to reap the rewards of berserker you’ll probably wanna use something more like sword/axe (or war horn) for your damage instead of a ranged weapon because ranged weapons will NEVER deal as much damage as a melee weapon. That being said, longbow GC are also extremely powerful, but atm lack defense, so once that gap is closed you’re pretty much screwed.

Bunker or a hybrid. If you’re going GS/S+D, I’d probably go for some sort of hybrid so you can still hit worth something without getting downed at the same time/immediately after.

Durzlla.6295:

Well, we can do REALLY good dps, you just wont see as big of numbers as you will from other profs because not only do we have a pet, but ranger also deals their damage through a storm of smaller attacks instead of a handful of really big attacks.

That being said, I prefer being more bunker, but then again i prefer being more support/being eternal (never dying) than i do killing things.

We can do both, and if you want to reap the rewards of berserker you’ll probably wanna use something more like sword/axe (or war horn) for your damage instead of a ranged weapon because ranged weapons will NEVER deal as much damage as a melee weapon. That being said, longbow GC are also extremely powerful, but atm lack defense, so once that gap is closed you’re pretty much screwed.

Well, “ranged weapons will NEVER deal as much damage as a melee”…but as far as I know, shortbow is the best weapon to dps for a ranger. And greatsword just sucks at it. This is what annoys me. GS is a dps weapon to every class that can use it, with one exception, rangers.

I’ve always prefered berserker with LB and/or SB mainly because with some practice you can use it anywhere in WvW (which is all I really do). You can fight 1v1s, even against close combat fighers if you know what you’re doing, and in large battles you can easily pick off targets one at a time. You are correct in saying range doesnt have a huge burst like some other classes, but you will hit constant high damage and use your range and pets to not let them escape.

I found bunkering very limiting because it depends on your enermy bringing the fight to you. If they decide to just walk off your dont have the dps to actually hunt them down, and in large battles I could never kill anyone because it took too long and they just retreated back into their zerg to heal.

So for me, from a purely WvW perspective, berserker is the way to play a ranger. You of course have weaknesses, primarily I find skilled theives or mesmers a challenge, but with practice you can usually overcome them, and no build is perfect against everyone.

And there is personal preference as well :P

AreUMadBro.6907:

Durzlla.6295:

Well, we can do REALLY good dps, you just wont see as big of numbers as you will from other profs because not only do we have a pet, but ranger also deals their damage through a storm of smaller attacks instead of a handful of really big attacks.

That being said, I prefer being more bunker, but then again i prefer being more support/being eternal (never dying) than i do killing things.

We can do both, and if you want to reap the rewards of berserker you’ll probably wanna use something more like sword/axe (or war horn) for your damage instead of a ranged weapon because ranged weapons will NEVER deal as much damage as a melee weapon. That being said, longbow GC are also extremely powerful, but atm lack defense, so once that gap is closed you’re pretty much screwed.

Well, “ranged weapons will NEVER deal as much damage as a melee”…but as far as I know, shortbow is the best weapon to dps for a ranger. And greatsword just sucks at it. This is what annoys me. GS is a dps weapon to every class that can use it, with one exception, rangers.

Your information is wrong. Melee weapons deal more DPS. The difference really only is that you cannot equip as glasscannon as you can when ranged.

To be or not to be, that is the question.

I personally run a hybrid build that works pretty well for me using the Greatsword and Sword/dagger. I use zerker armor and then spec into Wilderness Survival and Skirmishing for decent armor, lots of vigor, and rely on crit for damage.

A build like that also allows you to to swap different weapons in depending on the situation (in FotM and WvW I am constantly swapping out my GS for a long bow, axes, or shortbow; varies depending on what I need for the situation at hand and what I am preparing to accomplish).

Unfortunately this means that you have no points in BM (well you can, but it really depends on what you want to put those last 10 points into), which means that your pet goes from being sometimes useful to pancake against any champion level enemies in pretty much one shot (especially in dungeons where I don’t have too much of a problem going without dying, yet my pet eats it every time lol). In order to kind of counter this I have been in the habit lately of stowing a pet with an f2 that I need and leaving my other pet dead until I need their ability (get downed in WvW, swap to wolf after first stun and fear them for a bit of extra time lol).

Then again we are good at open world where mass zergs roam easy enemies (where are all my vets?). Although, I did find a fun little village in Diessa with a certain giant problem that is fun to solo…

I run shortbow and sword/dagger and mostly play WvW. I ended up with more of a hybrid, with a focus on condition damage rather than critical. I tend to try out every build I can possibly imagine once I get access to three stat gear (level 60 I believe) and usually end up with something that complements my playstyle well.

This is what I ended up with. edit: the effective power stat the site shows does not refer to attack power. Or, if it does, it is not accurate. In game, on this defensive build, I have ~3k attack power. This is the build I am currently running.

I also have a bit more offensive of a build, which I am starting to like more and more here

The only issue I have with going full power/pre/crit damage is that it seems, proportionally, not as good of an investment since our total damage is reliant on a large percentage from the pet. Whereas investing into toughness/vitality and condition, we get the full benefit of the stats equal to other classes. Our skills are programmed to have a lower damage specifically because of our pets. So, our base damage is lower inherently. But for stats like toughness, they are directly applied just like any other class.

At least, thats how I convinced myself!