Guild Wars 2

Hey guys. I just got back to GW2 after about a year away. Have a lvl 80 Thief but am rolling a ranger ( 25 atm ) as a new main class. I’m really enjoying the class but i’ve been reading up on it and have been discouraged by the number of complaints against it. Read up on one particular high lvl ranger’s bad experiences in PVE and how its one of the most hated classes in GW2 at the moment and that makes me wonder whether i rolled the wrong class

Its going to be used more for WvW but also for some dungeons and PVE stuff. Did I choose right?

Abusive.1849:

Hey guys. I just got back to GW2 after about a year away. Have a lvl 80 Thief but am rolling a ranger ( 25 atm ) as a new main class. I’m really enjoying the class but i’ve been reading up on it and have been discouraged by the number of complaints against it. Read up on one particular high lvl ranger’s bad experiences in PVE and how its one of the most hated classes in GW2 at the moment and that makes me wonder whether i rolled the wrong class

Its going to be used more for WvW but also for some dungeons and PVE stuff. Did I choose right?

Ranger is fine in PvE if you’re willing to learn how to use the sword and adapt to the meta. It’s hated among the community and lfg’s with “No ranger/engi/necros” are fairly common, but you can always just make your own group or join a dungeon guild to avoid this issue. Try not to to play in PvE with the same mindset/build that you do in WvWvW though.

What do you want to do in wvw? Do you want to roam? You’d probably have more success on the thief.
If zerging is your thing then ranger is about the worst by a long shot right now and into the foreseeable future so I would say that it’s the wrong choice for that. It will work, but we don’t do anything in a zerg that another class doesn’t do better. Our best zerg build is just a flat weaker warrior with none of the team utility.

I don’t know much about pve (hopely someone can clarify) but I’m pretty sure as long as you’re using onehanded sword+spotter’s trait+feline pets, you won’t get any complaints in dungeon runs. As for WvW, ranger is a strong 1v1 class and imho pretty mediocre everywhere else. Some matchups are very challenging for a ranger due to our odd condition removal (look at empathic bond). I also have trouble with dps guardians but that just might be me personally. I tend to beat about 95% of the warriors I meet and the majority of thiefs I run into but as soon as someone else jumps in, you’re probably gonna have a bad time because ranger lacks aoe control.

Feline pets will get nuked in dungeons, and most other places really. I found devourer’s / spider’s work well in dungeons as they are ranged, and dogs work well in WvW due to the knockdowns. If you really want cat, Jaguars work decently in WvW as long as you stealth them. If something targets them…or if you are running empathetic bond too long with them, forget about it.

You know, I have mine up to 41 now…and I am still wondering if I am just wasting my time. However, honestly…it’s been fun leveling it. I am easily amused by having a little buddy following me around, he might be a little slow in the head but he’s mine

I joined that new ranger’s guild and it’s helped keep me going. Helps to be able to talk to others who aren’t going to just continue to tell you that you should just roll up a warrior. Give the class a shot and keep your fingers crossed that they do good things to us on Monday.

No such thing as rolling the wrong class. It’s not like getting it to 80 is going to keep you from playing the game. If you end up not liking it as much as thief or feel like you would have more fun on another class, then play on your thief or bring another class to 80. In all honesty, I’d argue it’s in your best interest in the long term to get every class to 80 that you can, but that’s just an opinion.

Thanks a lot for all the opinions and thoughts guys. Feeling a bit better about it now. Leveling is a chore and getting to 80 (without crafting) requires a lot of time invested into your character and I dont want it to feel like i’m wasting my time leveling an unpopular/underpowered class. I’ll stick with the class for now and wait till they announce some changes ( for the better i hope ). Its a fun class but I want to know that it’ll be at least a good, solid class with all the time put into it.

Its all mixed opinions atm, mostly negative but I do hope AN have been listening and see if appropriate changes are needed for the ranger to be a bit more useful.

Rangers ain’t bad in dungeons, when built and played correctly. The issue with rangers in dungeons, is that many rangers just sit at 1500 range (even insisting on using the longbow on melee situations), do very little dmg, while not benefiting from group buffs. And if they ever bring some form of group buff, they are way too far away to affect the group.
Also they tend to allow the pet (bear most of the time) to randomly aggro stuff.
All of this, along with a seemingly random choice of traits and gear. This spawns the infamous Bearbow.

A properly built and played ranger is a great asset to your dungeon group. A fully buffed ranger does atleast equal dps as a warrior.

The best advice I can give you: re-roll while its not too late!

Gotejjeken.1267:

Feline pets will get nuked in dungeons, and most other places really. I found devourer’s / spider’s work well in dungeons as they are ranged, and dogs work well in WvW due to the knockdowns. If you really want cat, Jaguars work decently in WvW as long as you stealth them. If something targets them…or if you are running empathetic bond too long with them, forget about it.

Devourer/Spider damage is low, I can’t think of a dungeon instance aside from HOTW P1 last boss that it might be better to have a ranged pet.

Alternative to Feline are Birds when it comes to damage, Drakes if you want cleave and AoE F2, and a blast finisher on pet swap(I use this myself because I often have an ele providing fire fields in my party & healing spring + 2 blasts for oh kitten situations).

Specially after the pet HP buff, if you’re having trouble keeping pets alive, all you need is to press F4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4 and did I say F4?

TL:DR learn to micromanage pets and they won’t die in PvE at least

@op

Ranger is perfectly fine in PvE. Most people have the wrong notion that they are bad because the class needs specific builds/skill cap to play efficiently.

You need to learn how to cancel auto-attacking on 1h sword, micromanage pets & use support effectively(warhorn 5, spotter, traited frost spirit, your pet F2(might, fury etc.), torch 5 crappy fire field, healing spring condi cleanse+water field, etc.), but once you take all those into account, a ranger has lots to offer to a party.

As for WvW, I’d say if you’re zerging, there are other classes that stand out more.
As for roaming, it’ll always be a game of rock, papers & scissors, but with diff skill requirements to be successful for each classes’ builds.

@OP
IF you have to ask such a question, you should have rerolled something else a long time ago.
Looking for approval on these forums is like looking for a single special grain of sand in the Sahara. Asking such questions only shows that you lack confidence in your abilities with the profession. Lack of confidence leads to bad performance, bad performance leads to frustration which again usually spills over into RL matters and ruin your or somebody else’s day.

Abusive.1849:

Hey guys. I just got back to GW2 after about a year away. Have a lvl 80 Thief but am rolling a ranger ( 25 atm ) as a new main class. I’m really enjoying the class but i’ve been reading up on it and have been discouraged by the number of complaints against it. Read up on one particular high lvl ranger’s bad experiences in PVE and how its one of the most hated classes in GW2 at the moment and that makes me wonder whether i rolled the wrong class

Its going to be used more for WvW but also for some dungeons and PVE stuff. Did I choose right?

you are in the exact same boat i was in about a month ago when i started playing this game again

I already had an 80 ele as my main, while it was fun, I just wanted something new and more exciting.. so I rolled ranger as well

a Month later I can honestly say i’m glad i made the choice..

Rangers are OK in dung if you don’t use range. LB is complete crap. don’t ever use it in dungs (unless you literally have no choice except ranging on a boss)

The melee version of ranger is so fun (with sword ofc) and can really pump sum damage

Rangers bring decent utility (when i spec for dung runs on my ranger, always take spotter + frost spirit + healing spring + stalker/owl for good dps and stalkers group stacks of might)

Now I’ve done some WvW (haven’t done roaming yet, not quite finished getting all the gear I want and i’m grinding for Bolt anyways atm).

But I usually hop in a zerg every once in a while – The only build i do is all out YOLO mode glass cannon with Longbow/GS (gs exclusively for escape)

The thing about zerging with ranger is….you just flat out suck at support for zerg (outside of spotter which is the only zerg buff we realistically provide…frost spirit/pets die instantly in zerg fights so that doesnt matter.
So I just decided on being a “sniper” of sorts.. just sit back and pew pew away and take as many DPS traits as possible. I usually GS for mobility/escape + block when I’m in danger

I usually stay alive fairly long.. again im in backline of zerg with 1500 range + peircing arrows so I can hit plenty of targets and barrage is great for zerging IMO.
ive seen some pretty high crits with my auto attack, upto 4k (im not at absolute max dps but nonetheless, almost always see 2-3k auto attack crits than rapid fire when you lockdown on a paper target like ele..

So yea, Zerg with ranger is pretty much useless, all you can do is a selfish role by just standing in the back and pew pewing from safety… I mean you could build to be a frontline zerger but lol, you don’t do a kitten thing in the front line that scares anyone one bit or provide support (outside traps/healing spring i guess) so meh, that’s ineffective compared to frontline guards/wars

PvE…. you will have fun.. I love it with ranger more so than my ele even though ele is more effecient at dungs/fracs… I think ranger is almost as good and provides some unique things to PvE ( i do both dungs/fracs and they are not bad in either)

They are decent at farming events that require alot of tagging as well (the axe auto attack + sigil of fire for flame blast AOE is sweet for tagging. Flame traps/Spike traps can be placed around the area where mobs spawn so you always get a tag in there as well… all in all pretty good for tagging, and PvE.

WvW… if you wanna zerg, they suck lol. all you can do is LB + full out dps and just snipe targets (which to me is actually fun lol, but they provide little support for zerg). Haven’t truely tested WvW roaming or sPvP but I see a lot of talk about rangers being a great class for small skirmished so they do fine there as well…

If you are having fun, keep goin with ranger, I know I did, and I don’t regret it… but I can’t wait for the new balance patch so I can finally decide on what kind of gear/build i want to settle on

Not only are rangers first in line for a planned overhaul/buff, but they are also not NEARLY as kittenome on the forums will make it out to be. You are NOT going to get kicked from a party for running a ranger unless you just don’t know how to play at all. My high achievement points may offer me some stereotype protection, but I never, ever get kicked.

PvP wise, rangers are very strong and hopefully the upcoming changes will give us more build options as well.

Did you roll the wrong class? If you are enjoying it, no. If you spend too much time looking at the forums, listening to all the downers, and drowning in the math of this stat vs that stat or trait, you can start to doubt your choice.
At the end of the day however, numbers and anyone else’s opinion aside, it’s a game. Are you having fun? That’s the important thing in the end.

rabidsmiles.5926:

I joined that new ranger’s guild and it’s helped keep me going. Helps to be able to talk to others who aren’t going to just continue to tell you that you should just roll up a warrior. Give the class a shot and keep your fingers crossed that they do good things to us on Monday.

Hahah sorry I just had to point how much this statement sounds like an AA(Alcoholics Anonymous) member.

Ranger was my main since launch and it was very rewarding to play before all the nerfs. The worst for me being the Zephry’s speed nerf where it went from a minor trait, adept i think, all the way to GM level. That pretty much killed my interest along with the continuing hate in dungeons. PvP wise it seems fine but for PVE you can just stick to S/WH or S/A and do just fine damage wise, although the only thing we can really bring to groups is Spotter/healing spring/Frost Spirit, which are all mediocre compared to other professions.

@Fluffball

Most pugs rarely kick ppl, mostly because they don’t know or don’t care. I have joined “zerk only” groups many times, only to find a bunch pvt players. When i tell the leader about it after the run, he’d be totally surprised.
Unless someone is a total jerk or really really dragging the group down, they won’t kick anybody.

I never kick anyone from daily dungeons runs because it’s simply not worth the effort. On the rare occasion someone is just AWFUL, it’s not really going to affect that ~10 minutes run time.

A well played ranger brings FAR more to the group than a badly played anything else. Get a zerker warrior laying on the floor all run and nobody is glad they took that guy.

the ranger is a wrong class for just about anyone, with the exception of a few fanatics and a drove of new players. this profession is banned by all top WvW guilds. sooner or later you will realize that everything the ranger can do, others can do much better and much easier.

if you want to wvw, yes you have rolled the wrong profession because no matter how much skill you gain, no matter what build you play, you will be outplayed by players dedicated to other professions.

mistsim.2748:

the ranger is a wrong class for just about anyone, with the exception of a few fanatics and a drove of new players. this profession is banned by all top WvW guilds. sooner or later you will realize that everything the ranger can do, others can do much better and much easier.

if you want to wvw, yes you have rolled the wrong profession because no matter how much skill you gain, no matter what build you play, you will be outplayed by players dedicated to other professions.

Wait, what?? That’s what the new CDI is about. Go post your suggestions….

mistsim.2748:

the ranger is a wrong class for just about anyone, with the exception of a few fanatics and a drove of new players. this profession is banned by all top WvW guilds. sooner or later you will realize that everything the ranger can do, others can do much better and much easier.

if you want to wvw, yes you have rolled the wrong profession because no matter how much skill you gain, no matter what build you play, you will be outplayed by players dedicated to other professions.

i could easily prove you wrong, but you wouldn’t belive me.
And yes, it is true that rangers are a profession only for the select few. Mostly reserved for those who are willing to work with what they got instead of getting everything served on a silver platter with a pat on the head.

Work at it you’ll be fine. I scratch my head at all the ranger hate since I see pretty clearly my contribution, and even though I’m not built for 1-1 hold my ground very well there too. Its true I dont give out any buffs, but then how many guardians and warriors do you need for that?

Just gonna talk on PVE side(Dungeons)
It´s a lot of hard work (right pet for right encounter, spirit up, spotter up, sword up, argh pet dying change pet… ops dodge, kitten sword animation.. pet retreat!, pet attack!, horn buff/axe reflect) compared with other “faceroll” classes, but yes u can be usefull in dungeons, get your story mode done and start your own dungeons, with your own rules and try to get to know your class and you will be fine

Few thoughts:

1. Rangers are in a bad spot. . . but being actively looked at as the first class to redesign.

2. If you like ranged, this ranger may disappoint and I would tend to create something else. The ranger is far more melee oriented than bows. Range just isn’t as important as it should be. And the weapons don’t perform to par.

3. If you like roaming in WvW, this is a heck of a good surprise and counter class. The only real issue is the relative lack of swiftness without a gimmicky combination.

4. If you like PvE AND enjoy ranged, this is a frustrating experience in that the dynamic is to share buffs in a short range. Choose something different.

5. If you like PvE in general, your build is going to be “strange” and “disjointed” to add value (a spirit, spotter, melee etc). It won’t “feel” like what you expected a ranger to be.

6. If you like wvw large scale, the ranger just lacks AE and the pet just melts. You are basically on the low end of any sort of real effectiveness.

I love my ranger, but I play her only in very limited roles.

Ultimately only you can really answer that. Effective will always change in an mmo, sometimes your class ‘sucks’, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s balanced to the point of being boring…. rarely it’s at a sweet spot. If I am to put down my personal opinion it is that the class is one of the better rangers I have seen conceptually, but it still has some design to go to be completely realized with the actual mechanics.

If you don’t like what you’re playing you’re just gonna burn out a lot faster with the overall game enjoyment. And i guess there is no huge shortcuts to find out if you do enjoy a class but to play it, aside from looking at vids etc to find out if the general theme suits you.

Either way good luck with your ranger if you keep going!

Prysin.8542:

mistsim.2748:

the ranger is a wrong class for just about anyone, with the exception of a few fanatics and a drove of new players. this profession is banned by all top WvW guilds. sooner or later you will realize that everything the ranger can do, others can do much better and much easier.

if you want to wvw, yes you have rolled the wrong profession because no matter how much skill you gain, no matter what build you play, you will be outplayed by players dedicated to other professions.

i could easily prove you wrong, but you wouldn’t belive me.
And yes, it is true that rangers are a profession only for the select few. Mostly reserved for those who are willing to work with what they got instead of getting everything served on a silver platter with a pat on the head.

For those willing to work with a band-aided handicapped class mechanic instead of having a class mechanic that works as intended is what you meant to say, right?

After maining my Ranger for well over 1,000 hours my Ranger sees very little play. If you take someone who is able to excel at being a Ranger and put them on a warrior, guard, or mes, they will be so much more useful to a dungeon run with 500 hours of play time less than the Ranger it borderline insanity. I know, seen it personally how much better I can be on a guardian and warrior. I’ve since rolled a mes, engi, ele, and thief. I’ve seen the same with a couple of guildies. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Ranger. I love playing my Ranger. I loving playing melee with my Ranger with S+WH because of the timing skills involved, but I hate… no…. I loathe that pet. Everything about the Ranger that is or could be a problem takes a backseat to the band-aided class mechanic that needs to be completely recoded or we need the option to opt out of. That’s really all there is to it. Until the pet actually works as intended the class will be forever handicapped no matter what game mode you play. You can live in denial all you want or have multiple classes to play like I do and enjoy what other professions bring to the table to so you can know that the grass can be greener.

thefantasticg.3984:

Prysin.8542:

mistsim.2748:

the ranger is a wrong class for just about anyone, with the exception of a few fanatics and a drove of new players. this profession is banned by all top WvW guilds. sooner or later you will realize that everything the ranger can do, others can do much better and much easier.

if you want to wvw, yes you have rolled the wrong profession because no matter how much skill you gain, no matter what build you play, you will be outplayed by players dedicated to other professions.

i could easily prove you wrong, but you wouldn’t belive me.
And yes, it is true that rangers are a profession only for the select few. Mostly reserved for those who are willing to work with what they got instead of getting everything served on a silver platter with a pat on the head.

For those willing to work with a band-aided handicapped class mechanic instead of having a class mechanic that works as intended is what you meant to say, right?

After maining my Ranger for well over 1,000 hours my Ranger sees very little play. If you take someone who is able to excel at being a Ranger and put them on a warrior, guard, or mes, they will be so much more useful to a dungeon run with 500 hours of play time less than the Ranger it borderline insanity. I know, seen it personally how much better I can be on a guardian and warrior. I’ve since rolled a mes, engi, ele, and thief. I’ve seen the same with a couple of guildies. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Ranger. I love playing my Ranger. I loving playing melee with my Ranger with S+WH because of the timing skills involved, but I hate… no…. I loathe that pet. Everything about the Ranger that is or could be a problem takes a backseat to the band-aided class mechanic that needs to be completely recoded or we need the option to opt out of. That’s really all there is to it. Until the pet actually works as intended the class will be forever handicapped no matter what game mode you play. You can live in denial all you want or have multiple classes to play like I do and enjoy what other professions bring to the table to so you can know that the grass can be greener.

1. If you loathe the pet so much, why did you play Ranger for 1000+ hours?
2. Opt out for pet would break the spirit of the class…you should know this.
3. IMO redistribute power and make the F2 responsive…then who cares what the pet is currently doing until you need it?

1. Because as I have said the Ranger is just that fun to play. It is the most fun to play. It is why despite having fully geared lvl 80s of everything else but Necros I keep coming back to my Ranger if just to run world events for a little while.
2. The pet already doesn’t work as intended so the “spirit of the class” was never achieved.
3. I care. That’s how much I love the Ranger. I want this class to be better.

thefantasticg.3984:

1. Because as I have said the Ranger is just that fun to play. It is the most fun to play. It is why despite having fully geared lvl 80s of everything else but Necros I keep coming back to my Ranger if just to run world events for a little while.
2. The pet already doesn’t work as intended so the “spirit of the class” was never achieved.
3. I care. That’s how much I love the Ranger. I want this class to be better.

That pretty much nails it. The reason people want the choice to stow pets isn’t because they don’t like pets …it’s because pets don’t work right, and it’s a problem that Anet has acknowledged. So if Anet can’t solve the problem…and they say they can’t, then another solution has to happen.

Just wait the end of the ranger CDI. But atm ranger is the worst class for wvw.

@thefantasticg
Rolling a mes, warr, guard, ele, necro, thief or engi are not some guarantee that you will perform better with these. Your individual playstyle, reaction time, preferences (range vs melee, vs passive play, vs active play) is what decides which profession you excel with.
In your case, you simply couldn’t excel with the ranger, it probably isn’t your most optimal profession. However just because you couldn’t, doesn’t mean it cannot be done.

Personal ability=/=profession strength

Fair enough Prysin but seen it in more than one case that a player who is great on a Ranger will be that much better on another class. I also didn’t I say it was guaranteed. I didn’t say every single person who has a Ranger right now will be that much better with other classes. I specifically refered to people who excel with a Ranger are much much much more likely to be much much much better with another class regardless of anything else. I was also basing it off of my and others that I play with personal experiences with Ranger and then playing other classes.

thefantasticg.3984:

Fair enough Prysin but seen it in more than one case that a player who is great on a Ranger will be that much better on another class. I also didn’t I say it was guaranteed. I didn’t say every single person who has a Ranger right now will be that much better with other classes. I specifically refered to people who excel with a Ranger are much much much more likely to be much much much better with another class regardless of anything else. I was also basing it off of my and others that I play with personal experiences with Ranger and then playing other classes.

“Former” Rangers generally appear better because they play a profession that relies on incombat mobility and evasive actions rather then cheesy invluns and stun-locking people from hurting you. This is why they can play any other profession with ease, they learnt how to defend themselves without too much cheese involved.
I do it myself on my ele, lvl 26 uplevel D/D Conjuration. Steamrolled a warrior and mesmer yak-slapper duo couple of days ago. Made a enemy zerg back off a tower untill they had a blob, by just using simple staff rotations to cover the fields in AOE before rushing in with the hammer. Its not that Ele is some super uber class, its just that i dont have issues playing paper professions after being used to playing zerker ranger in WvW.

When you cannot rely on the profession to carry you, you learn to carry the profession and that skill will always be carried onto other professions. However i know for a fact that if i stay too long on my ele, i get carefree and start screwing up. You gotta keep yourself on your toes, but as soon as you get comfortable with “easy” your skills degrade into that of “ezmode cheese heroes”

Prysin.8542:

thefantasticg.3984:

Fair enough Prysin but seen it in more than one case that a player who is great on a Ranger will be that much better on another class. I also didn’t I say it was guaranteed. I didn’t say every single person who has a Ranger right now will be that much better with other classes. I specifically refered to people who excel with a Ranger are much much much more likely to be much much much better with another class regardless of anything else. I was also basing it off of my and others that I play with personal experiences with Ranger and then playing other classes.

“Former” Rangers generally appear better because they play a profession that relies on incombat mobility and evasive actions rather then cheesy invluns and stun-locking people from hurting you. This is why they can play any other profession with ease, they learnt how to defend themselves without too much cheese involved.
I do it myself on my ele, lvl 26 uplevel D/D Conjuration. Steamrolled a warrior and mesmer yak-slapper duo couple of days ago. Made a enemy zerg back off a tower untill they had a blob, by just using simple staff rotations to cover the fields in AOE before rushing in with the hammer. Its not that Ele is some super uber class, its just that i dont have issues playing paper professions after being used to playing zerker ranger in WvW.

When you cannot rely on the profession to carry you, you learn to carry the profession and that skill will always be carried onto other professions. However i know for a fact that if i stay too long on my ele, i get carefree and start screwing up. You gotta keep yourself on your toes, but as soon as you get comfortable with “easy” your skills degrade into that of “ezmode cheese heroes”

^^^^ So true. My main is a Ranger. I do alright with him but not as good as some of the people here. Tried out a Warrior for a change of pace. When i came back to Ranger I got slaughtered. Warrior spoiled me. I still haven’t got back to where I was.

That’s pretty much the why of what I said, Prysin. So, we actually agree on it