Guild Wars 2

Hey fellow Rangers-

I’ve been having a great deal of success and fun with this build and thought I’d share via YouTube.

http://youtu.be/f3MJaE0oax0 (gameplay starts at 3:16 if you want to skip to that)

The build is strong in most 1v1 situations, especially if you get to throw your traps down ahead of time. The combination of multiple conditions, cc effects, and some autoattacks applies alot of pressure; honestly I think alot of people panic and condi-cleanse a bit early, allowing me to load them up again. The weakness of this build is vs. long-ranged Rangers who never close, thus never run through any traps, and perhaps a Necro if they can “out condition” me. Of course player skill is usually more important than build.

I must apologize in advance, as during the video I neglected to mention my preferred pets (wolf and jungle spider) and rune (Rune of the Krait).

In a time of longbow/power builds, I’ve enjoyed mixing in this build and catching people off guard with well-placed traps and pressure from multiple angles… hope you guys like the vid.

Fun vid thanks for sharing.

very nice vid, show us some more footage if you have!

Cool. I love the surprise element of running non-LB builds. There is a false assumption out there that all rangers run LB, and I’ve been in PvP games where there are 3 or more rangers all NOT running LB… melee traps, melee, condi, beastmaster, spirit, cele, etc. People don’t know what to expect.

Would you be better off with an offhand dagger? It give you some “oh kitten” defense you sorely lack and you already have a lot of burning via flametrap. It would also free up one of your doom sigils, if not both since you would have poison on both weapons plus the trap plus the spider.

Yeah Fluffball, you could definitely give that a try. I like your theorycraft there. In fact, I was previously running shortbow with sword/dagger and Celestial amulet – basically using s/d to dodge around and buy time. I never felt like the dagger was doing much for me except for the occasional dodge, but I do think it’s a viable option in this build. I think you could also make a similar argument for sword as well to increase your mobility/evasion.

It looks like you’re spamming everything on CD, 99 % of random dodges (virtually dodging nothing). The most interesting part would have been to know how you failed against the ranger.

Decimus.1829:

hope you guys like the vid.

Nope.

Wow, I can’t believe that you manage to survive with axe+torch/SB and no panic utility (LR, SoS). On a trap build, i need sword+dagger to compensate for the missing utilities myself, and that’s in wvw with the stealth from the Trapper runes.

cafard.8953:

Wow, I can’t believe that you manage to survive with axe+torch/SB and no panic utility (LR, SoS). On a trap build, i need sword+dagger to compensate for the missing utilities myself, and that’s in wvw with the stealth from the Trapper runes.

In WvW I run axe/torch/LB believe it or not with 3 traps + trapper runes. Most cases I’ll get away and make them chase me half way across the map. I think SB would be better and probably the sigils I use (incapacitation I don’t think is working much with my low crit).

Nice vid, ty for sharing.

Crapgame.6519:

cafard.8953:

Wow, I can’t believe that you manage to survive with axe+torch/SB and no panic utility (LR, SoS). On a trap build, i need sword+dagger to compensate for the missing utilities myself, and that’s in wvw with the stealth from the Trapper runes.

In WvW I run axe/torch/LB believe it or not with 3 traps + trapper runes. Most cases I’ll get away and make them chase me half way across the map. I think SB would be better and probably the sigils I use (incapacitation I don’t think is working much with my low crit).

Nice vid, ty for sharing.

I have to see this. LB + A/T is one of the lowest mobility setups you can have, and you don’t use SoH. I cannot fathom how you outrun a thief or warrior

Crapgame.6519:

cafard.8953:

Wow, I can’t believe that you manage to survive with axe+torch/SB and no panic utility (LR, SoS). On a trap build, i need sword+dagger to compensate for the missing utilities myself, and that’s in wvw with the stealth from the Trapper runes.

In WvW I run axe/torch/LB believe it or not with 3 traps + trapper runes. Most cases I’ll get away and make them chase me half way across the map. I think SB would be better and probably the sigils I use (incapacitation I don’t think is working much with my low crit).

Nice vid, ty for sharing.

Lol, i’d die a horrible death with that setup too. When running away, I often need S3/D4 to buy some time and S2 to create the gap.

It was a fun video and I won’t criticize too much especially since you haven’t asked for it but you’re doing something you should try to avoid ever doing with a trapper build. Using all your traps at once. One or two traps at a time is good enough, space out the cooldowns otherwise if someone goes invuln or dodges through your traps or somehow you can’t manage to kite them through your traps (which can happen) you’re going to be out of a lot of damage until you can use them again.

Trapper Ranger is similar to condition Necromancer in the sense that it has great burst potential but it also has great attrition potential. You can spike people down but if someone knows how to bait out your damage your DPS is going to go waaay way down and you’ll be left vulnerable after.

Work on wearing people down instead of making them explode. You can still use basically the same build, although honestly I don’t ever recommend using torch unless you’re not using flame trap, and just throw one or two traps at a time, preferably one, throwing the next when the first one is about halfway through it’s cooldown. Troll Unguent is also a better choice than Healing Spring although I imagine you took that since you’re not using Empathetic Bond.

I’m sorry to be “blah blah do this do that” because I hate when people do it to me but I’ve been playing a trapper Ranger for a very long time. Just want to help you hone your skills a bit if you so choose to continue using this build.

Still, nice showcase of the damage capabilities. Trapper in WvW, especially with trapper runes, is insanely powerful, especially if you know how to throw your traps in such a way that people will back in to them or run through them when they’re starting to go defensive.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

… I don’t ever recommend using torch unless you’re not using flame trap, and just throw one or two traps at a time, preferably one, throwing the next when the first one is about halfway through it’s cooldown. Troll Unguent is also a better choice than Healing Spring although I imagine you took that since you’re not using Empathetic Bond.

I’m sorry to be “blah blah do this do that”…

No need to apologize! In fact, thank you for the good feedback! You seem to know the build well. Well, I am using Empathic bond, I just like the Spring b/c it benefits teammates more and helps manage conditions. For what reasons do you prefer Troll Unguent?

As far as torch, I simply figured once they step into the flame trap, why not increase the burning with more burning!? Is it redundant? Torch 5 in particular feels like it’s doing outstanding damage when it lands, and I like to activate it after I see an opponent clear their initial conditions.

Would love to hear your thoughts on these two topics, and improve the overall build.

Gotejjeken.1267:

Crapgame.6519:

cafard.8953:

Wow, I can’t believe that you manage to survive with axe+torch/SB and no panic utility (LR, SoS). On a trap build, i need sword+dagger to compensate for the missing utilities myself, and that’s in wvw with the stealth from the Trapper runes.

In WvW I run axe/torch/LB believe it or not with 3 traps + trapper runes. Most cases I’ll get away and make them chase me half way across the map. I think SB would be better and probably the sigils I use (incapacitation I don’t think is working much with my low crit).

Nice vid, ty for sharing.

I have to see this. LB + A/T is one of the lowest mobility setups you can have, and you don’t use SoH. I cannot fathom how you outrun a thief or warrior

The trap runes give you speed + stealth. That is all you need. Stash pet and just be smart where you toss the traps so ambient creatures or yellow’s don’t walk into them. I’ve been chased half way across the map. Few times I just figured they wouldn’t give up so sat down and gave them their kill. You know it is good when they drop siege on you for wasting their time

Yes, LB/A/T grants no leaps or speed but like I said what the trapper runes bring is an escape option. That and traps (frost, spike, and flame) slow them down. Almost like chasing a slinky – you know. You get the jump, they chase, then you drop a few traps to slow them down, they recover, chase again and start to gain, and you drop some more.

Rinse and repeat until you find safety or friends. Honestly, not really that difficult once you put it into perspective.

Well tonight I ditched the Torch in favor of a Dagger… with much success! It played well, and the extra evade did in fact come in handy. I admit I got super lucky doing solo queue and went 8-1 on the night! Time to buy a lotto ticket, but the dagger is staying.

Just a quick update, now with off-hand dagger for an additional evade; and sometimes replacing spike trap with the condi-removal signet when playing vs. condi-heavy teams.

Enjoy – https://youtu.be/3JjDgMHG6ic