Guild Wars 2

I’ve seen them.

You’ve fought them.

You’ve heard them – shhhhh – no I won’t share my build.

I don’t just want the build, I want a video of gameplay solo and as a Commander.

Learning to play any character well is only going to happen for some if they have a good example to follow – like a person with a mentor does far better in a job when they are groomed and given a pattern to follow that works.

Right now I am a Condi Build – I just kept changing things until it worked for me from builds I researched over and over again.

The 15 April nerf was painful – I lost right off the bat – without changes over 20% of my condi damage while others gained more than we did in damage – far more.

My tag is a good tool but I can’t put it use until I am better at not dying and doing some damage in combat with a larger group.

Converse of that, I will put the build in here that I have been using – does not work well solo – works very well in smaller groups – melted if I get too close in a zerg even with condi removal.

So a solo build is also very much on my research radar – so I am asking for two builds – one for commanding and one for going completely solo on a map full of thieves and amazingly powerful engineers and warriors.

You can solo roam on anything. There’s no “OP” build for solo roaming on ranger other than the usual regen ranger. That, I can post if you need it… or, u can send me a mail on the forums explaining what you would like in a build and I’ll make one for you.

As for commanding, here’s one of the builds I used to run:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAR3XjUq0ya/Kesw1agChq9LMsFLzCIAceDzQGH9xrI-TlSBABlquSQ7PolStrUWExTAwGdD3oSxCXAAAOIARqEUMAMB-w

This build, I played like once and never touched it again, it was also a waste of laurels getting the ascended clerics trinkets… but w/e:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAR3XjEq0wa/KWsw1aANhqdAkpb67a4FiZXNQG/8wrI-TVSDABOcBAMUJYWKZGV5EOq0c8TAAU1kittenAky+juBxAYG-w

The second build I posted is a good build for tanking. You will honestly like, never, die. You regen an insane amount but hit like a wet noodle. Sooooo… might as well go for the gold and swap out the zealots stuff for cleric… haha, you hit like 300 damage on the 4% chance you do crit if you went that way, and its not that much of an increase with the zealots stuff… so w/e u want lol

I don’t have a build or a video, but general ideas from a front line ranger who runs occasionally with organized groups.

first of all, solo builds and group builds are and should be completely different. different situations call for different tactics

second, it’s common knowledge that condi builds are near-useless in groups/zergs

I like putting 6 into the wilderness tree for the bark skin, and at least 4 into nature magic

if you think you can use a sword/x in a zerg you are sadly mistaken. greatsword is the best (only?) choice if you’re commanding/front lining. Longbow with piercing arrows is good if you are sticking with the lights in your composition, though I think rangers preform better frontline.

and this part is coming from someone who hasn’t commanded in wvw, so this may be wrong, but imo commanders should focus completely on defense and only offense when they run out of defensive options. especially with pug groups, as soon as the commander drops, your team will fall apart quickly/slowly. your job is to lead

I’m not sure what server you’re on but my server offers commander training, perhaps there’s something like that where you are? there’s bound to be someone with knowledge on it.

as for solo-ing… even though I solo roam a lot, most of my advice would just be complex forms of the dreaded “l2p”. as for thieves, which from that last bit sounds like a problem you have, longbow can wreck their faces. remember that channeled skills will go straight through stealth, and rapid fire can hit 10k+ even with a semi-tanky build. if you can predict when they will drop shadow refuge, or when they heal and such, be sure to pbs them. as well if they drop that blinding aoe no-where near you, as 9 times out of 10, they’re going to heartseeker through it for stealth

p.s. if you really want to, I can give you my current hybrid build that works decently for both solo roaming and group oriented things (though granted, I use different traits when in a group), but I have a feeling you probably won’t care for it (most people i’ve recommended it to in game just trash it. which is surprising since most people ask me because they saw me owning someone :/)

I play in the front-line when i roll with my guild (T1) though i don’t command (have on occasions for short periods when commander goes down or afk)

The build i use is 6/2/6/0/0

Staying alive is first damage is second (as the longer you live the more damage you do). RaO is for stability on initial engagement and signet is stability when needed. Stone is a panic button as is Lightning reflex. axe-wh is for bags and blast finisher and gs is to help keep you alive. Use drakes for and extra blast finisher on pet swap other then that pets a useless

TL;DR roll a warrior for commanding

Commander build? I think its the most serious bunker/tank with AOE Buffs and minor damages hypertagged. A commander needs to survive everything…

For commander I would go for power-toughness signet build, should be pretty easy to make and to experiment with for most rangers.

For solo wvw I prefer the condi-bleeding build, regen shout build, poison master build and survivalist bunker build (see signature for references).

You don’t ever want to be ranged as a commander, so your weapon choices are very limited. You can’t stand behind your ranks and hide like a little girl, so grab some Sentinel gear, get out your spiders and devourers (they aren’t the ones commanding, let them hide all they like), and make use of all of the support and survivability you’ve got.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNBMhFakRl+VbZxjFqWDMJUtDgDIVfVDuv2KonT5FLhpGA-TVhXwA33fAgyPHKBdpPoi6PAA-w

You should look something like this. You may swap out Exuberance for Sanctuary to combat hammer trains, it’s just a rough idea of what you should be going for. The two pets I’ve chosen both give access to frequent poison fields to reduce enemy healing, and you’ve got the best water field in the game. Make use of those finishers.

http://www.twitch.tv/samanosuke3_3/c/3920394

builds are outdated. and i stopped twichting might start again.
also in this video do spam one alot xD its not always case only that moment i more focused on commanding then playing .

I command on my guardian, but have thought about going for a tag on ranger. Ranger has big advantadge over the guardian with the easy acces fire and water field. (Healing Spring and Bonfire) This is amazing when you are in a teamspeak session with your zerg.

When you trait for signets you can have six seconds without taking damage with Signet of Stone. Don’t underuse this signet, do not use it as a stress button for when you ‘might’ die, probably better to use it when entering combat. When you equip “Protect Me!” you get another six seconds (or however much HP your pet has) of non-damage (use this right after you swap pets to get full use) It’s like having an additional 35k health when using Drakes.

And you should use Drakes, because their Tail Swipe is a blast finisher. When activated Drakes will always start with this attack, so swapping pets right after you activate Bonfire or Healing Spring gives you the Might or Health you need. They also deal major damage with their activated ability (Salamander Drake is just ridiculous) And with their 2k toughness and 3,5k vitality they last quite a while (also have an attack that will heal themselves)

And like every build suggested before, use a Greatsword. The auto-attack has a build-in evade, the Counter Attack is another 3 sec block against all ranged attacks. Best of all, what every commander should equip in my opinion, it has a leap. Leaps are much needed when commanding. It is important to stay alive, it is also of vital importance that you are the first person to charge in. They need a tag to follow, so you should always be first. The leap gives you the mobility to jump into combat so the zerg know where you need to go, it also gives you (once you get handy) to jump out of combat. So you can regather your zerg and use healingspring to heal up and start over again. The Maul and Hiltbash are your weapons against siege users (together with the leap) Jump to a siege user and smack him down including the siege. Greatsword is a fantastic weapon for a commander.

As for your second set. Warhorn or Torch both have a good purpose. A 8 second firefield allows your entire zerg to find and use their blast, making it easy to have 15-25 stacks of might on every player. Throw Torch is not quite as usefull. The warhorn has a Blast finisher that gives might/fury/swiftness. Which is always good for a zerg. But again, Hunter’s Call is an attack that is useless for commanding.

For your main hand. If you are confident in your Sword skills, I would use the sword. But being rooted with your auto-attack is dangerous if you want to get out. But the sword has an attack that evades and a leap out of combat, wich are two usefull skills. If you opt for the Axe you deal more damage to more opponents. If you want lootbags and are not confident in your Sword skills you should find this a good option. It also gives you the oppertunity to attack Canons and Oils.

Bows just wont do. You need to be at the frontlines. Off-hand Dagger or Axe isn’t really valuable for zerging either. The Axe will root you on the spot, wich you dont want. And the dagger has no extra benefit beyond the evade.

For traits I would go: 6/0/6/2/0 http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAR8fnMqQtgWxCOsAXLGYQoWPAxbA0uFO2k119mxPh86B-TVCDAB/o8LG1kittenAY1+DiobYBlgT8EAKz830XAAA-w

If you have troubles with the lack of condition removal, you can equip armor with Rune of Melandru and have some anti-condition food as well. I just like the extra option of stability. This is probably far from perfect (not tested as commander) But then again you need to play alot to find out what works best, these are just theories.
Good luck!

@Silvos: I agree with you here, I took your build and retouched it since there is only so much you can do, it should still be pretty solid overall:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAR8fnMqQtg2vCOsAXLGYQoWPAxbA0+FO2k119mxPh86B-TFCDAB/o8LG1fA4hAIiOhFUCWm5PV2fY6LAAA-w

Note that if you really had to you could drop signet of renewal for something of your choosing (muddy terrain, stun breaker, signet of the wild… it’s a bit difficult to say what will work best just by looking at the build. One thing is clear however, I wonder if sacrificing power for healing power will be a better choice for a commander. It surely can’t help to be able to stay alive a little longer. With regards to weapon choice it’s just as you said: Greatsword will be your go to weapon, the other set will be situational (torch or warhorn).

I thought of signet of renewal, but I think you pull conditions to yourself when you use the grandmaster trait?
And about healing power. Healing power won’t help you much, if you go for full Cleric Gear on weapons/runes/trinkets/armor. You will only heal for 1k more health on your heal. And if you drop a waterfield (Healing Spring) with all the Blast finishers, everyone gets full HP anyhow (also leaps heal in an area as well, don’t forget that when leaping into a fight from a combo field) I think that going for that extra 1k power, deals significantly more damage then the extra healing you would get from the healing power.
However, if you have the funds to go for sentinel armor, I would go for that.