Hey guys,
I have been inspired by all the naysayers to post and explain a build i have been using recently . I would like to give a big shout to lordhelmos.7623 and his catsassination build for inspiring me to actually go through with this build and playing and testing it .
The logic :
-The ranger is stuck with the pet, for better or for worse , overwhelming opinion is for worse at the moment
-The only good innate advantage the ranger has , is that the class has no advantage what so ever… it just does all things moderately well , but it does them at the same time
-solid benefits to swapping weapons and mutual boon sharing with the pet when traited
-awesomeness of the cat pet class
So this build aims to play on those not so advantages to their full advantage …. haha
The Traits : 0 15 10 15 30
The selectable bonuses : pet prowess, vigorous healing , nature protection , rending attacks , natural healing , commanding voice
The build :
The build of gear is not really important and it is left to players preference and their budget . There are a few goals however :
1)one should aim to have over 1500 toughness
2)one should aim to have over 600 healing
3)one should aim to have under 400 condition damage
I personally run a full knight gear , with clerics coat and divinity trinkets .
The runes , however , are important :
Depending of whether you want to go more tank or balanced you have a choice between 2 runes . Melandru for tank , Hoelbrak for balanced *. The goal here is to get the reduced condition duration on self and combine it with Lemongrass poultry soup . This is because when not taking full wilderness survival you lose out on Emphatic bond , and thus have limited condition removal .
I am however using Hoelbrak as it dirrectly benefits my rotation, and i will explain how in the next section .
THE WEAPONS: Shortbow , Longbow , Panther, Sigils of battle on both weapons
THE SKILLS: Healing spring , signet of the wild, signet of the hunt , MATTER OF CHOICE , entangle or RaO
THE ROTATION : *
-The goal of the rotation is to keep your PANTHER in combat as long as possible , you do not utilize pet swaps unless Kuroneko is about to die . This is important to understand
-Your main advantage comes from staying in combat for more then one cycle by constantly swapping weapons and thus buffing self and pet . After the 3rd cycle you have perma 6-9 might and fury and speed uptime of 50% from weapons swapping only .
-Both the shortbow and Longbow have utilities that easy getting pet hits on enemy . Be it cripple , stun , speed , knockdown , or AOE cripple .
Say you open up with the longbow . You send your pet in first and apply pressure , if he comes to you unload hunter shot , rapid fire and if possible point blank shot . If facing mesmers or an annoying charger class like warrior or thief, Shoot barrage arround yourself . Swap to Shortbow , … unload whatever .. , switch to longbow…rinse repeat .
The end result is the 100% uptime of might and swiftness on your pet , constant CC pressure on your opponent and 50% uptime of fury . Sometimes you win, sometimes you die , as it should be .
Some practical observations
-It can be very useful to see what your opposing hero , or group is . If you see classes that are known to be good at condition damage i would advise using Signet of Renewal or Prayer to Kormir
-if you see a warrior , or general raw DPS class or group , lightning reflexes are your friend
-in WvW zerg the only thing you can really contribute is a lot of crowd controll , i suggest swapping vigorous healing for 20% survival reduction, and placing muddy terrain and entangle on . You will bring 3 AOE CC to the fight and multiple single target ones .
Final Notes
-This build is made for versatility , getting your pet to actually hit and 1v1 or 1v2 duels
-You are not a tank nor a glass cannon , but you can take hits and do good damage .
-Mesmers are a problem because they are gayy and i hate them
-warriors , engineers are food
-Thiefs can only win if they outplay you in a very tight room
-Guardians are annoying and unkillable if they went full tank, otherwise they are food .
If you need more advice on how to manage your pet , take a look at this topic
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Introducing-the-Phantom-Catmaster/first
Enjoy