Guild Wars 2

Just for fun, I played a 30/30/0/10/0 build and have been chain running 48 level fractals because I am bored (Note that I am at 55 AR and capped).

This is currently the highest damage longbow build that a ranger can run while also bringing spirit of frost for group support. I ran dual spiders or dual cats in most runs.

In the groups that I was able to get into, I found myself having to cycle through multiple groups.

So here is the break down of my personal experiences according to my tallies:

Total Number of 48 Fractals Run: 20

Total number of times instantly kicked after joining a group: 18
Total number of times told to get off longbow and stack in melee range by a group: 9
Total number of times kicked from a group for running longbow: 4 (I consider myself a good ranger player, very rarely died, was screamed at considerably by 2 different groups because I was not stacked in melee. I also always placed the frost spirit in range of the group for support).

The experiences were not very good ones. I was kicked by groups 18 times when I ran 20 fractals, which is almost the total number of dungeons I ran. Note that these kicks were done instantly, before I was able to place anything in chat.

Make of it what you will, good or bad, this is just how it was.

I know I hear alot of Rangers on these boards claim that there isn’t profession prejudice, but it’s clearly not true at all. Most pugs simply wont tolerate Rangers, because decent ones are few and far in-between.

And when a decently experienced Ranger joins a group it’s almost as if just the Ranger must prove his or her worth to the fullest extend humanly possible, and no one else; like kitten man, as if that Guardian or Warrior couldn’t be more of a screw up than me… way to completely judge someone based on their kittening exterior. Sometimes I wonder if the human race really is intellectually progressing.

I feel your pain. My solution was to stay with a loving guild for my entire time in the game since 3-day headstart. Most pugs suck anyways. I’d rather communicate and lead runs with my guild through SE2, Arah 1 and 4, CoF2, etc. than deal with self-righteous kittens.

I recommend not doing level 10, 20 or 48 fractals as a ranger. Those are the “zerker war only” farm groups doing dailies and the players are absolutely awful.

I use a glass cannon s/d a/w usually, although I do have several situations where I prefer LB, especially as you get higher and higher. Highest I’ve done is 67 and it gets very difficult to survive even as a warrior against some things. Get me the f away from a level 67 mossman.

disclaimer: i dont condone kicking before seeing how someone performs and advising them on how to better help the team, then again, wvw is the true endgame for me anyway.

If the vast majority of rangers are bad, and the vast majority of bad rangers use longbow, is it really appropriate to disdain your groups for kicking you as a longbow ranger? 90% of the time, kicking the longbow ranger results in a better experience for the other 4 players. they are doing what is right for the team. especially if you are using longbow over shortsword and intentionally making a suboptimal choice that holds back your unit. thats like the warrior coming in and only using rifle, he doesnt deserve to be carried and isnt contributing as much as he could.

but youre not alone in being wrong, anet is wrong too. by overloading all support onto the guardian, by giving the warrior almost the same dps as theives and ele’s with twice the survivability and half the skill cap, they created a pve meta where there is simply a right group and a wrong group. compare to wow (for the lols), where each class has something relatively unique they bring to a raid that is needed to maximize the raids potential. class diversity is something that people strive for there (which also creates a right group and a wrong group, but better to encourage variety than stacking just the pro-classes).

Raven.9603:

disclaimer: i dont condone kicking before seeing how someone performs and advising them on how to better help the team, then again, wvw is the true endgame for me anyway.

If the vast majority of rangers are bad, and the vast majority of bad rangers use longbow, is it really appropriate to disdain your groups for kicking you as a longbow ranger? 90% of the time, kicking the longbow ranger results in a better experience for the other 4 players. they are doing what is right for the team. especially if you are using longbow over shortsword and intentionally making a suboptimal choice that holds back your unit. thats like the warrior coming in and only using rifle, he doesnt deserve to be carried and isnt contributing as much as he could.

but youre not alone in being wrong, anet is wrong too. by overloading all support onto the guardian, by giving the warrior almost the same dps as theives and ele’s with twice the survivability and half the skill cap, they created a pve meta where there is simply a right group and a wrong group. compare to wow (for the lols), where each class has something relatively unique they bring to a raid that is needed to maximize the raids potential. class diversity is something that people strive for there (which also creates a right group and a wrong group, but better to encourage variety than stacking just the pro-classes).

You get the point of all this. This is why I ran the longbow, why I tallied the numbers. Most rangers see the longbow as the iconic weapon of our class. Can you imagine a game where the warrior 2 handed sword doesn’t work or gets your group kicked for it? That is the position that the ranger is in.

Its to the point where you will get group denied for just being a ranger without even having a chance to perform because of what this above posted stated about “pro classes.” When you use the symbolic longbow you risk your performance with the group, even when you overachieve with the weapon and push it to its maximum potential.

I have to reiterate the type of group you were joining, level 48 fractals are supposed speed clears that very specific people want to do. “CoF1 P1 zerker war ONLY!!!#!@#!” The players there are usually dumb and have no idea what they’re doing. Anything that doesn’t fit the template will be kicked. You could be a 20k achievement point engi with every support skill available and you’d be at risk for getting kicked.

If you had joined a level 51 fractal 20 times with a bear bow, I think you would have been kicked 0 times. It’s worth trying.

If you camping 1200+ spot you not getting any party buffs and not providing any buffs for party. This is the reason to be insta kicked in a good group. Any weapon that can only be used at 300+ range is very selfish by nature and useless in party from a team play perspective.

You can blame players but imho blame is on you, and I used to main a ranger and kinda know what I’m talking about

Skady.5916:

If you camping 1200+ spot you not getting any party buffs and not providing any buffs for party. This is the reason to be insta kicked in a good group. Any weapon that can only be used at 300+ range is very selfish by nature and useless in party from a team play perspective.

You can blame players but imho blame is on you, and I used to main a ranger and kinda know what I’m talking about

This.

You are using one of the most selfish builds in this game and playing with pugs “just for fun”. And then you wonder how rangers have managed to get such reputation.

Even if you put down your frost spirit in range of your groups melee players then either A they’ll be missing out on your spotter which is one of the 2 unique and useful party supports that we have because you are camping at +1000 range or B you are in range with spotter to support your team but then your LB will do a subpar DPS and you might as well be in melee range with your sword/warhorn & dagger to provide the max possible amount of DPS available to us.

not mentioning that he is not getting any might/fury from group and his dps is lower just because of that. A good group comp should easily maintain perma 20+ stacks of might and fury

Horn + sword , HS + vigor renewal , frost and stone spirit . I run high fractals with rampager/celestial gear and i never get kicked .

Also , offhand axe for shaman fractal instead of horn

Funny how the point of this thread seems to go over most peoples heads.

Zorby.8236:

Funny how the point of this thread seems to go over most peoples heads.

Yeah I noticed that as well, but it was to be expected……….

I feel like it didn’t go over the head of most of us. Rangers are welcome at level 80+ fractals and they are banned from level 10 fractals.

If you want to do a level 10 fractal, do a level 11 instead and stop dealing with these idiots.

I do lvl 48 fotm with my warrior using longbow. Never been kicked.

last weeks i start playing much frac´s again, good groups loved me, bad groups cryed so hard even if the guards dont know what he have to do
the ranger is the reason why you failing xD

bad groups or people cant be helped i done 79 some times with 3 ranger and we got no problems..so let them cry and just play..but longbow is a playstyle that i even did not support, it´s not that i have problems with lb ranger, but most people that play this sucks hard and the problem with partybuffs ><

but dont understand me wrong i have problems with every people that cant even stay in buff range or run away when they low hp and you cant rezz them

Solid Gold.9310:

Zorby.8236:

Funny how the point of this thread seems to go over most peoples heads.

Yeah I noticed that as well, but it was to be expected……….

The point of this thread wasnt even stated until the OP’s second post, which basically argues that longbow shouldn’t equate to group kick. In order for it not to, Anet would have to abandon their (admittedly terrible) ideology that range weapons are inferior to melee weapons just because melee has more risk, and instead adopt a wow-esque system of spreading risk and responsibility appropriately among both the melee and the range, and in doing so, equalize the damage and increase the radius of group buffs.

Which is a good point, but quite a pipe dream.

Pets in GW2 will never, ever be decent, because its too much work.

Ranged weapons in GW2 will never, ever be decent, because it requires a change in risk distribution (work) and risk/reward ideology.

Party composition in GW2 will never, ever be enjoyable, because it would require admitting multiple huge mistakes that have been known for more than a year (mainly, that guardians are the only support class wanted, and that warrior damage + survivability + low skill cap makes them the only dps class wanted).

Unless guardians lose boons or other classes get strong unique ones, unless warriors get a damage nerf to coincide with their survivability, group comp in GW2 will remain the least interesting of any MMO ever made.

The problem with Longbow is that it is a very selfish weapon that does not even do solid DPS . It has some utility functions for WvW or PvP with knockdown , stealth and rapid fire tracking … ofc barrage for bag tags in WvW as well . Sword + warhorn is the way to go , but then again u cant do covering melee with kitten groups .

I don’t allow rangers in my groups, especially if I am playing on mine. Too much of a liability. You’re better off picking up a terrible warrior that just smashes 1 in terms of just about everything of value for PvE.

Indoles.1467:

I don’t allow rangers in my groups, especially if I am playing on mine. Too much of a liability. You’re better off picking up a terrible warrior that just smashes 1 in terms of just about everything of value for PvE.

I think this is what the OP is talking about. No matter the effort put forth by the Ranger, it’s more efficient to take a Warrior, even a brain-dead one, to faceroll through the content. Is Warrior overpowered? Not according to ANet, so by contrast Ranger’s should be brought up to match Warrior in usefulness. However, most of the Ranger community now knows, have known for months, that this is not going to happen in the forseeable future.

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I don’t allow rangers in my groups, especially if I am playing on mine. Too much of a liability. You’re better off picking up a terrible warrior that just smashes 1 in terms of just about everything of value for PvE.

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I really hope the ranger devs look at responses like these and really take them to heart. I posted this topic in hopes of showcasing the real ugliness of the community when it comes to rangers. Mission accomplished.

When you really think about the longbow, its the best vulnerability stacker in the game and raises the group’s damage by a significant margin. Additionally if you are running points in BM, a significant subset of damage comes from the pet (which is still within group buffs).

Of course, none of these points are mentioned at all. While I think there is a problem with the ranger class in groups, I don’t think that it is just the class that is broken. Moreover, its the people who play this game that are equally broken as well.

Anet can fix the game at some point, but I don’t know about fixing the poisonous community and this seeded idea they have of the ranger class.

lordhelmos.7623:

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I don’t allow rangers in my groups, especially if I am playing on mine. Too much of a liability. You’re better off picking up a terrible warrior that just smashes 1 in terms of just about everything of value for PvE.

*

I really hope the ranger devs look at responses like these and really take them to heart. I posted this topic in hopes of showcasing the real ugliness of the community when it comes to rangers. Mission accomplished.

When you really think about the longbow, its the best vulnerability stacker in the game and raises the group’s damage by a significant margin. Additionally if you are running points in BM, a significant subset of damage comes from the pet (which is still within group buffs).

Of course, none of these points are mentioned at all. While I think there is a problem with the ranger class in groups, I don’t think that it is just the class that is broken. Moreover, its the people who play this game that are equally broken as well.

Anet can fix the game at some point, but I don’t know about fixing the poisonous community and this seeded idea they have of the ranger class.

You mention some of the very reasons I avoid them. Bearbow rangers think they are helpful way back there dealing minuscule dps but applying vulnerability. I’d much rather have a warrior that can pump out twice the damage. Pets are nearly worthless because the only real ways to use them in PvE are sitting way back (spiders and devourers) or constantly swapping, which reduces the damage output. Pets won’t get most buffs because of the 5 man cap anyway.

Now if Anet buffs the longbow as stated in the Dec 10 preview, they would be up to a level I would consider tolerable. I still wouldn’t search for them but if they joined I wouldn’t kick them after I ask what build they are using and I deem it worthwhile. Elitist? Yeah, and I don’t like my time wasted either. Why spend an hour doing something that can be done in 20 minutes? I don’t know about you guys, but I stay busy enough so that when I play Guild Wars 2, I want to get the most content done as quickly as possible.

There is no reason that a ranger cant adapt. LB aside if the group is stacking then the ranger should stack as well. Not playing well with a group is in itself a reason to get kicked. Cause mobs to scatter or boss to trigger aoe attack is a reason to get kicked.

Not adapting to a fight shows bad form. You have two weapon sets use them. I run long bow and sword/x. There are bosses you melee and bosses you range not know which is which makes you ineligible to call yourself a good player.

Yes I have been kicked from group but I having been kicked for refusing to glitch. Doing so I know I will most likely be kicked. You went against the group and are surprised you were kicked.

It is more this then any weapon performance issue. Doing this you have now made a name for yourself among those who do fractals 40 +. If you would have conformed to basic group tactics you would of had less issues.

lordhelmos.7623:

When you really think about the longbow, its the best vulnerability stacker in the game and raises the group’s damage by a significant margin.

Can you stack and maintain 20+ stacks of AoE vuln with longbow? I would like to see the video!

p.s. Check grenades engies you will be very sad when you see what they can do with vuln stacks

Skady.5916:

lordhelmos.7623:

When you really think about the longbow, its the best vulnerability stacker in the game and raises the group’s damage by a significant margin.

Can you stack and maintain 20+ stacks of AoE vuln with longbow? I would like to see the video!

p.s. Check grenades engies you will be very sad when you see what they can do with vuln stacks

Moment of clarity + rapid fire can stack vulnerability (with cat pets, which deal vul on their basic attack). You should switch piercing arrows to moment of clarity vs. single target bosses. It is easy to maintain high stacks of vul this way because you are refreshing opening strikes.

Skady.5916:

If you camping 1200+ spot you not getting any party buffs and not providing any buffs for party. This is the reason to be insta kicked in a good group. Any weapon that can only be used at 300+ range is very selfish by nature and useless in party from a team play perspective.

You can blame players but imho blame is on you, and I used to main a ranger and kinda know what I’m talking about

Blame is on the community. There’s not good reason in the universe to insta-kick anyone for anything, and there’s no “selfishness” other than that of the players involved in the kicking-UNLESS it was specified they didn’t want a Ranger from the beginning in which case the Ranger player shouldn’t have joined and leave them to their ignorance.

Indoles.1467:

Why spend an hour doing something that can be done in 20 minutes? I don’t know about you guys, but I stay busy enough so that when I play Guild Wars 2, I want to get the most content done as quickly as possible.

I bet you all the money you want that no “bearbow” will transform a group’s experience from 20 to 60 minutes, unless he/she is intentionally trolling the group. It would more likely be everyone else’s fault at that point, not the Ranger’s alone.

And lastly, while EVERYBODY’s real-life time is limited, that’s no reason to assume that speedrunning GW2 is the playstyle everybody should adopt. Every other player’s “slower” approach to the game doesn’t mean they have “little” to do so they like to “waste” time-they are just enjoying the game differently than you do (in short, people can be different than you, and that’s fine.)

I play ranger A LOT (i tend to play my ele more in PvE stuff like fractals because ele staff is really fun in PvE), and i gotta say everytime i group with another ranger i just cringe, i tend to give them the benefit of the doubt, but all my friends on skype always laugh and say, “Just tell us when you decide he needs to go durz.”

shivers so many bad rangers…. so many dead pets… so much stupid….. so much stupid….why must so many pug rangers be so stupid?!?! WHY!?!? Why do they do this to us!?!? curls up in the feeble position and cries.

Star Ace.5207:

Indoles.1467:

Why spend an hour doing something that can be done in 20 minutes? I don’t know about you guys, but I stay busy enough so that when I play Guild Wars 2, I want to get the most content done as quickly as possible.

I bet you all the money you want that no “bearbow” will transform a group’s experience from 20 to 60 minutes, unless he/she is intentionally trolling the group. It would more likely be everyone else’s fault at that point, not the Ranger’s alone.

And lastly, while EVERYBODY’s real-life time is limited, that’s no reason to assume that speedrunning GW2 is the playstyle everybody should adopt. Every other player’s “slower” approach to the game doesn’t mean they have “little” to do so they like to “waste” time-they are just enjoying the game differently than you do (in short, people can be different than you, and that’s fine.)

I totally understand that. My point is that when I play, I want to move quickly through content. I agree that a single bad ranger won’t bring a party from 20 to 60 minutes, but what I meant by this is if I start inviting just anyone to parties for dungeons then I’ll be stuck with slow runs. This doesn’t just apply to rangers. Actually, the only profession it really doesn’t apply to is warrior. So, there is no room for another ranger, at least in their current state if I want to move fast. And as Durzlla states, I have too fund that the majority of rangers have no idea how to play their profession in an efficient manner, further worsening their usefulness in a group.

Star Ace.5207:

Indoles.1467:

Why spend an hour doing something that can be done in 20 minutes? I don’t know about you guys, but I stay busy enough so that when I play Guild Wars 2, I want to get the most content done as quickly as possible.

I bet you all the money you want that no “bearbow” will transform a group’s experience from 20 to 60 minutes, unless he/she is intentionally trolling the group. It would more likely be everyone else’s fault at that point, not the Ranger’s alone.

And lastly, while EVERYBODY’s real-life time is limited, that’s no reason to assume that speedrunning GW2 is the playstyle everybody should adopt. Every other player’s “slower” approach to the game doesn’t mean they have “little” to do so they like to “waste” time-they are just enjoying the game differently than you do (in short, people can be different than you, and that’s fine.)

Segueing, just like the OP is assuming that the longbow is considered the iconic weapon of the ranger, when in reality the vocal community seems almost literally split between a pure archer/aragorn viewpoint, beyond that many don’t specify what bow type a ranger should be using, even if they envision bows.

It would be like saying that mesmer, being a caster, has the iconic weapon of the staff or scepter, and that because those are the iconic weapons, they should be the ones that do the most damage, when in reality that just isn’t the case.

There are no primary or secondary weapons in this game. There are just weapons. Also, there isn’t a single recognizable “classic,” or classically/traditionally styled class in the game. Every single class has their perceived “quirks” and subtle nuances that overall make this game different from others.

That being said, I recognize the point being made by the OP. But the truth is that a group saying “no bearbows” and kicking a person for a using a longbow is just as bad as assuming that ranger needs to proficient with the longbow because it is the “iconic” weapon (I played guild wars 1 for a decade as a ranger in every single aspect of the games content and never once used a longbow. Recurve Bows, Shortbows, Scythes, Daggers, Hammers, and Staffs, but never a longbow).

jcbroe.4329:

Star Ace.5207:

Indoles.1467:

Why spend an hour doing something that can be done in 20 minutes? I don’t know about you guys, but I stay busy enough so that when I play Guild Wars 2, I want to get the most content done as quickly as possible.

I bet you all the money you want that no “bearbow” will transform a group’s experience from 20 to 60 minutes, unless he/she is intentionally trolling the group. It would more likely be everyone else’s fault at that point, not the Ranger’s alone.

And lastly, while EVERYBODY’s real-life time is limited, that’s no reason to assume that speedrunning GW2 is the playstyle everybody should adopt. Every other player’s “slower” approach to the game doesn’t mean they have “little” to do so they like to “waste” time-they are just enjoying the game differently than you do (in short, people can be different than you, and that’s fine.)

Segueing, just like the OP is assuming that the longbow is considered the iconic weapon of the ranger, when in reality the vocal community seems almost literally split between a pure archer/aragorn viewpoint, beyond that many don’t specify what bow type a ranger should be using, even if they envision bows.

It would be like saying that mesmer, being a caster, has the iconic weapon of the staff or scepter, and that because those are the iconic weapons, they should be the ones that do the most damage, when in reality that just isn’t the case.

There are no primary or secondary weapons in this game. There are just weapons. Also, there isn’t a single recognizable “classic,” or classically/traditionally styled class in the game. Every single class has their perceived “quirks” and subtle nuances that overall make this game different from others.

That being said, I recognize the point being made by the OP. But the truth is that a group saying “no bearbows” and kicking a person for a using a longbow is just as bad as assuming that ranger needs to proficient with the longbow because it is the “iconic” weapon (I played guild wars 1 for a decade as a ranger in every single aspect of the games content and never once used a longbow. Recurve Bows, Shortbows, Scythes, Daggers, Hammers, and Staffs, but never a longbow).

My bow of choice in GW1 was a longbow, but then again i had a ton of points in beast mastery so i didn’t really want, nor did i need to be, near the action, i just sat in the back spreading conditions and yelling at my pet lol.

That or i used a staff, daggers, hammer, or if i was running solo (IE petless) with a recurve… but mostly longbow i’d say. Or Hornbow, those were fun >=D

@Durz;

That’s exactly my point though lol. Two rangers who put in decent time into a game and with combined experience, shared playstyles in almost every way except which bow is getting used.

What I’m indirectly suggesting is that the test be repeated with the Shortbow and see if rangers are truly getting kicked for playing a “ranger” (bow using) playstyle, or if that it shows that a group is actually kicking players because those groups actually understand how poor of a choice the longbow in itself is for group play.

Because I can concede that a bow is what most people think when they think ranger. But not longbow haha.

jcbroe.4329:

@Durz;

That’s exactly my point though lol. Two rangers who put in decent time into a game and with combined experience, shared playstyles in almost every way except which bow is getting used.

What I’m indirectly suggesting is that the test be repeated with the Shortbow and see if rangers are truly getting kicked for playing a “ranger” (bow using) playstyle, or if that it shows that a group is actually kicking players because those groups actually understand how poor of a choice the longbow in itself is for group play.

Because I can concede that a bow is what most people think when they think ranger. But not longbow haha.

To be honest, my current bow skins are so similar that in a kicking scenario where players would kick based on seen weaponry would assume I am a “bearbow” when using Trossa’s bow, if they don’t know the difference due to not playing Ranger enough. For I am sure you can play Ranger “efficiently” with any of the two bows, as long as you have a nice melee set equipped as well. In short, kicking due to biased assumptions is silly, unfair, and shouldn’t occur in the first place.

Finally, I feel bad for all those players who use bear and bows just fine and are belittled for it, as if they had no right to do so because it’s not the meta. We don’t play to satisfy a meta but for our own enjoyment, regardless of the weaknesses of such builds. There’s way more to a Ranger than his/her chosen pets and weapons-the player behind them, no matter what math says, or how much more “efficient” they could be with an alternate choice.

Yes, I don’t use bears often, but not to feel superior or necessarily be the most efficient (much less to meet metas, which I have little concern about)-I just have come to love the Jungle Stalker for his Roar. However, I see no need to belittle anyone that doesn’t play the Ranger the way I do, or the way they are “supposed to” according to a meta that not all must follow.

No offense to those who follow metas, of course, but play and let play.

While skill can definitely hide certain aspects of a class that were just designed poorly, it doesn’t actually do anything to fix core issues. Part of the problem lies with the player, but there is also huge part of the problem that lies with Anets’ design of the class.

One of the significant ongoing issues with the ranger is the Ranger Longbow: sub-par damage, sub-par utility, the distance away from the rest of the group means less group unity, pet synergy is low if existent at all in many key scenarios.

Here are some desperately needed fixes to the ranger class to remedy several of the major issues other players have with our class:

• Any buff the ranger receives is shared with the pet and any buff the pet receives is shared with the ranger as a basic elementary function of the class.
• Dual points of origin for certain ranger provided buffs; select buffs such as Spotter would provide the buff to those around the ranger as well as those close to the pet.
• Signets should affect both player and the pet as a rudimentary function; the Grandmaster trait would then boost/extend these effects in some manner. (They can balance the signets after they make this change. The way they have it now is like having Endure Pain protect a Warriors’ adrenaline unless they heavily trait into that trait line… and that would make so much sense right?)

This would go a long way to making pets an actual class mechanic… not to mention solve many of the issues other classes have with a Ranger playing at a distance.

Another function I would personally love to see are more ways to remove conditions from both player and pet. Using them as a condition dump trashcan just doesn’t seem to be what the ranger should be doing…

I have played my ranger almost exclusively since launch and have used every weapon the ranger has available to them to a decent extent in PvE, WvW, and dungeons. While there have been some cases of elitist prejudice against my Ranger, most of the time I am allowed to run and have received regular compliments for my class (FoTM tends to be the only place I really seem to find the extreme elitism that trouble many players).

Unfortunately for us, Anet doesn’t seem very interested in making sure the ranger class is balanced, healthy, and not looked down upon as a joke due to a the screwed up mechanic, some bad and/or just awkward trait placement, awkward weapon balancing, etc.

Well, maybe one of these days…

jcbroe.4329:

@Durz;

That’s exactly my point though lol. Two rangers who put in decent time into a game and with combined experience, shared playstyles in almost every way except which bow is getting used.

What I’m indirectly suggesting is that the test be repeated with the Shortbow and see if rangers are truly getting kicked for playing a “ranger” (bow using) playstyle, or if that it shows that a group is actually kicking players because those groups actually understand how poor of a choice the longbow in itself is for group play.

Because I can concede that a bow is what most people think when they think ranger. But not longbow haha.

I use a longbow and have yet to be kicked, hell I’ve even got 3 longbows on my character at all times, I even run a brown bear in most scenarios in PvE (dat condi cleanse and meat shield) lol.

shrugs idk why I’ve managed to dodge getting kicked, maybe it’s cause I don’t come off as a “baddie” in my HoM gear or something xD.

Granted even though I haven’t been kicked I’ve sure as hell butted heads (and have hijacked groups) because people would try and skip/exploit stuff which I just don’t out up with lol.

Star Ace.5207:

Indoles.1467:

Why spend an hour doing something that can be done in 20 minutes? I don’t know about you guys, but I stay busy enough so that when I play Guild Wars 2, I want to get the most content done as quickly as possible.

I bet you all the money you want that no “bearbow” will transform a group’s experience from 20 to 60 minutes, unless he/she is intentionally trolling the group. It would more likely be everyone else’s fault at that point, not the Ranger’s alone.

And lastly, while EVERYBODY’s real-life time is limited, that’s no reason to assume that speedrunning GW2 is the playstyle everybody should adopt. Every other player’s “slower” approach to the game doesn’t mean they have “little” to do so they like to “waste” time-they are just enjoying the game differently than you do (in short, people can be different than you, and that’s fine.)

this is where you are wrong. Any PLAYER that is bad at their class can bring an experience from 20-60 min. say in a fotm 48. At any of the fotm dungeon, it be mossman or shaman or whatever, if a bad player dies in the first 5 mins without contributing anything except maybe auto attack or hit the boss a few times. Then the rest of the players has to take time to res him, there for slow dps down and have a chance to get downed as well, because they might have gotten hit while ressing.

and I am saying bad players not the class ranger. Just to make it clear.

also. RANGERS please get the idea out of your head that you are suppose to only range and contribute nothing else to the party. if you are in a party and you bring nothing good to the party then expect to be kicked.

when the party need aoe, we go aoe (traps). (some pets have aoe)
when the party need heal we got heals (healing spring + war horn blast for extra).(pets heals extra/pet blast extra)
we can even give fury(war horn 5 + pets for verious other buffs) and extra precision through trait.
not to mention spirits.

if you want to play alone go and play with yourself but if you are in a party bring something that can benefit the party like other classes can or else people will ofc prefer other classes over a lone ranger.

Our weapons are all such low damage coefficients (anet expecting pet to make up difference) its really a drop in the bucket as to which you use.

…except axe, axe is significantly worse unless you get bounce.

pho.9412:

Star Ace.5207:

Indoles.1467:

Why spend an hour doing something that can be done in 20 minutes? I don’t know about you guys, but I stay busy enough so that when I play Guild Wars 2, I want to get the most content done as quickly as possible.

I bet you all the money you want that no “bearbow” will transform a group’s experience from 20 to 60 minutes, unless he/she is intentionally trolling the group. It would more likely be everyone else’s fault at that point, not the Ranger’s alone.

And lastly, while EVERYBODY’s real-life time is limited, that’s no reason to assume that speedrunning GW2 is the playstyle everybody should adopt. Every other player’s “slower” approach to the game doesn’t mean they have “little” to do so they like to “waste” time-they are just enjoying the game differently than you do (in short, people can be different than you, and that’s fine.)

this is where you are wrong. Any PLAYER that is bad at their class can bring an experience from 20-60 min. say in a fotm 48. At any of the fotm dungeon, it be mossman or shaman or whatever, if a bad player dies in the first 5 mins without contributing anything except maybe auto attack or hit the boss a few times. Then the rest of the players has to take time to res him, there for slow dps down and have a chance to get downed as well, because they might have gotten hit while ressing.

and I am saying bad players not the class ranger. Just to make it clear.

also. RANGERS please get the idea out of your head that you are suppose to only range and contribute nothing else to the party. if you are in a party and you bring nothing good to the party then expect to be kicked.

when the party need aoe, we go aoe (traps). (some pets have aoe)
when the party need heal we got heals (healing spring + war horn blast for extra).(pets heals extra/pet blast extra)
we can even give fury(war horn 5 + pets for verious other buffs) and extra precision through trait.
not to mention spirits.

if you want to play alone go and play with yourself but if you are in a party bring something that can benefit the party like other classes can or else people will ofc prefer other classes over a lone ranger.

One does not need to meet a meta to play in a way beneficial to a group. If you are still contributing, but a random player thinks you not because you are not doing things the way he/she thinks, that’s that player’s problem. Kicking should be reserved for extreme, intentional trolling, to be honest with you, which happens.

BTW, I am all for group play, just not for build dictatorships. I usually build my Ranger and all other Professions thinking about the possibility of someone else tagging along or groups of 5, even when doing solo stuff.

20 to 60 minutes is still a grand exaggeration-such player (if it indeed can even exist) must have been a)super inexperienced or b)WANTING to slow you down. And if you had fun during those 60 minutes, it doesn’t matter anyway (I know you wouldn’t, but some people would.)

@Durz;

I totally understand lol. I’m just trying to make the point that it’s unfair to assume that a longbow is rangers iconic weapon. Bows in general, yes. But what about a recurve bow, or the shortbow, or a hornbow? Since Guild Wars 2 has guns in it, it wouldn’t be out of reach to say a even a crossbow.

Most people do picture a ranger with a bow in their hands, but I would say that it’s very limiting to assume that it has to be a longbow. I’d be willing to bet more than anything that actually, those players picture a ranger with access to multiple bows, because since they are a ranger, they picture themselves as being the most proficient ranged class with a bow, and therefore deserving of the most versatile kitten nal of bows available.

@Star Ace;

I agree while I also disagree. In an ideal world, yes, nobody should be kicked from any group ever for however they play or however they are assumed that they are going to play based on a visible setup headed into content.

But at the same time, since it is not an ideal world, we have content that forces players to play a certain way in order to achieve a certain outcome that isn’t always possible with every playstyle and setup they have access to. Players creating groups now have to decide what their goal for playing is, and create a group accordingly, and invitees unwilling to adapt in order to meet that goal are going to get kicked if others don’t feel they fall within those requirements.

Is that fair? Absolutely not. But instanced content does tend to invite the most elitist players in a community, regardless of what game it is. And it in no way justifies the stigma that is immediately attached to ranger players by a very decent portion of the community. I’d say there are probably more terrible warrior and guardian players out there who role “heavy armor damage tank” and then die on the front lines over and over again because they think this is every other MMO than there are rangers.

Just like Indoles made mention at though, for whatever poor balance reason, if you take equally bad players and put one on a ranger and one on a warrior, a warrior is still more of an asset than the ranger because they can faceroll smash their autoattack more effectively.

@jcbroe oh I absolutely agree, personally though I hate the apperance of most the shortbows in this game so my shortbow is actually a sling shot xD, I play my ranger as a master of ranged weaponry! Be it a bow, slingshot, thrown weapons you name it lol!! If only I could add pistols and rifles to that as well as a scepter and/or staff….

That being said I also think sword/dagger is iconic for rangers, but that’s just because I’ve played DnD and know rangers tend to be proficient with a bow or dual wielding shrugs

Since day 1, I felt Arena.net hunger for our blood; why? you ask.

Simple;

To shed our innocent blood.

(they’ve already shed our companion blood, now..they’re in the hunt, until our blood is shed)

Why do you think we are always the first to be preyed on, by everyone, including Arena.net?

As the saying goes, ‘the innocent, are always first to be sacrificed by the hand of blood thirsty men’

In other word, Rangers were made to bleed to death… our final end.. is to be Sacrifice.

(Short bow or no Long bow, glass or no glass, melee or no melee, kicked or not kicked, will not change anything for us, will not prevent our shortcoming)