Guild Wars 2

Hey guys Titan here,
Some of you may know me from the Warrior forums.
Lately I’ve been having a longing to give ranger another shot. I played GW1 extensively as a ranger for 7 years and understand the flaws and differences that it has in this game. I also understand that power builds are in a “bad” place currently.

That being said I’d appreciate your guys’ help to alter and help create the most viable 5 man WvW roaming build for a Power ranger.

Here is what I was thinking currently.Note This build has not been tested and only been played with in sPvP for around 200-300 hours.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVV29VOWs2BilCCFomCNZJ2D+zoFB-j0xA4uARiCUCsIasVuioxqrxUuJVFLILDg+YA-w

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

Believe or not, LB ranger is not good for 5 men roaming. Power-LB can be good as zerg snipers, but in 5-men roaming, everyone has to be count all the time.
Using LB = tell OP you are not bunker build(most likely DPS), thus 90% time you will be the 1st targeted. Then you either have to stealth or L-reflex + swap to GS and get out of of the fight temporarily, which leads a bad situation to your teammates.
If you insist on using LB (if it fits your play style well), get either protect me or traited SoS. You gonna make sure you can survive the 1st initial burst towards you and stay in the fight while hoping your teammates burst some of them down quickly.
Also I can’t imagine a power-LB ranger w/o QZ. w/o QZ you are not even considered as a DPS. Then you are neither a bunker nor a DPS or CC/healing master, what you bring to your team?

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

CRrabbit.1284:

Believe or not, LB ranger is not good for 5 men roaming. Power-LB can be good as zerg snipers, but in 5-men roaming, everyone has to be count all the time.
Using LB = tell OP you are not bunker build(most likely DPS), thus 90% time you will be the 1st targeted. Then you either have to stealth or L-reflex + swap to GS and get out of of the fight temporarily, which leads a bad situation to your teammates.
If you insist on using LB (if it fits your play style well), get either protect me or traited SoS. You gonna make sure you can survive the 1st initial burst towards you and stay in the fight while hoping your teammates burst some of them down quickly.
Also I can’t imagine a power-LB ranger w/o QZ. w/o QZ you are not even considered as a DPS. Then you are neither a bunker nor a DPS or CC/healing master, what you bring to your team?

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

For starters it seems you didn’t look at my build very well.
Secondly it sounds like you’ve never played nor-encountered a balanced build.
Thirdly if the enemy team targets you then that is going to be their downfall. This build has more than enough “get out of Jail” cards for any competent player. If the team wastes their entire rotation on you only to have you evade backward and stealth. That gives your team a free gib on a player. Also to note 10k+ Rapid Fires are definitely considered burst, 2-3k Auto attacks aren’t a joke either.

Longbow is a fun weapon to use, but it’s more of a zerg weapon and not so much a small group one imo. Shortbow has the evade and the daze which is much more useful. If you can make longbow work, go for it though. I find it’s amazing against thieves, but doesn’t cut it against most other classes.

I also agree with the above poster, I would try to fit empathic bond unless you’re running with a completely prearranged group which will include a guardian or 2. Conditions are the bane of this class.

I think the more common roaming builds are 30/20/20/0/0 (if you plan to run signets) and 20/20/30/0/0 if you prefer empathic bond. Also is 30/10/30/0/0

For skills, I would try and squeeze in protect me if you can. Drop LR imo for it. If you run signets, take Stone instead of protect me.

Good luck.

lol to be honest, did you ever land 10k rapid fire on any competent player? (even with QZ) BTW, a single thief sticking on you basically will make you busy enough to use out of your “get out of jail” cards and contribute almost no dps.

Xsorus.2507:

CRrabbit.1284:

Believe or not, LB ranger is not good for 5 men roaming. Power-LB can be good as zerg snipers, but in 5-men roaming, everyone has to be count all the time.
Using LB = tell OP you are not bunker build(most likely DPS), thus 90% time you will be the 1st targeted. Then you either have to stealth or L-reflex + swap to GS and get out of of the fight temporarily, which leads a bad situation to your teammates.
If you insist on using LB (if it fits your play style well), get either protect me or traited SoS. You gonna make sure you can survive the 1st initial burst towards you and stay in the fight while hoping your teammates burst some of them down quickly.
Also I can’t imagine a power-LB ranger w/o QZ. w/o QZ you are not even considered as a DPS. Then you are neither a bunker nor a DPS or CC/healing master, what you bring to your team?

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

For starters it seems you didn’t look at my build very well.
Secondly it sounds like you’ve never played nor-encountered a balanced build.
Thirdly if the enemy team targets you then that is going to be their downfall. This build has more than enough “get out of Jail” cards for any competent player. If the team wastes their entire rotation on you only to have you evade backward and stealth. That gives your team a free gib on a player. Also to note 10k+ Rapid Fires are definitely considered burst, 2-3k Auto attacks aren’t a joke either.

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

1. More Condition Removal is always nice, You’re not getting a Huge benefit from Moment of Clarity, in fact if you’re not an Asura, i don’t recommend it as it doesn’t increase the daze duration on our Greatsword/Shortbow enough in my opinion. Now if you’re Asura, it is flat out one of the best Traits we have as it makes Technobabble just Obscene.

2. I always disliked it, But that’s just me, Maybe because I disliked the Cast Animation and the Cast time of it.

3. Both, the increased poison is nice, because you lack it, But 4 seconds of Immo every 20 seconds is just nasty.

Xsorus.2507:

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

1. More Condition Removal is always nice, You’re not getting a Huge benefit from Moment of Clarity, in fact if you’re not an Asura, i don’t recommend it as it doesn’t increase the daze duration on our Greatsword/Shortbow enough in my opinion. Now if you’re Asura, it is flat out one of the best Traits we have as it makes Technobabble just Obscene.

2. I always disliked it, But that’s just me, Maybe because I disliked the Cast Animation and the Cast time of it.

3. Both, the increased poison is nice, because you lack it, But 4 seconds of Immo every 20 seconds is just nasty.

Thank you Xsorus,
Glad that someone can constructively add to this post.

By chance would you make any gear alterations?

CRrabbit.1284:

lol to be honest, did you ever land 10k rapid fire on any competent player? (even with QZ) BTW, a single thief sticking on you basically will make you busy enough to use out of your “get out of jail” cards and contribute almost no dps.

Xsorus.2507:

CRrabbit.1284:

Believe or not, LB ranger is not good for 5 men roaming. Power-LB can be good as zerg snipers, but in 5-men roaming, everyone has to be count all the time.
Using LB = tell OP you are not bunker build(most likely DPS), thus 90% time you will be the 1st targeted. Then you either have to stealth or L-reflex + swap to GS and get out of of the fight temporarily, which leads a bad situation to your teammates.
If you insist on using LB (if it fits your play style well), get either protect me or traited SoS. You gonna make sure you can survive the 1st initial burst towards you and stay in the fight while hoping your teammates burst some of them down quickly.
Also I can’t imagine a power-LB ranger w/o QZ. w/o QZ you are not even considered as a DPS. Then you are neither a bunker nor a DPS or CC/healing master, what you bring to your team?

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

For starters it seems you didn’t look at my build very well.
Secondly it sounds like you’ve never played nor-encountered a balanced build.
Thirdly if the enemy team targets you then that is going to be their downfall. This build has more than enough “get out of Jail” cards for any competent player. If the team wastes their entire rotation on you only to have you evade backward and stealth. That gives your team a free gib on a player. Also to note 10k+ Rapid Fires are definitely considered burst, 2-3k Auto attacks aren’t a joke either.

You clearly didn’t read my original post at all. The part about Power builds not being the best and all.

If a “single” thief jumps on me and doesn’t get bursted I simply call it out and have my other 4 team mates converge on me. Its called teamwork, part of what makes an organized 5 man so strong.

Atherakhia.4086:

Longbow is a fun weapon to use, but it’s more of a zerg weapon and not so much a small group one imo. Shortbow has the evade and the daze which is much more useful. If you can make longbow work, go for it though. I find it’s amazing against thieves, but doesn’t cut it against most other classes.

I also agree with the above poster, I would try to fit empathic bond unless you’re running with a completely prearranged group which will include a guardian or 2. Conditions are the bane of this class.

I think the more common roaming builds are 30/20/20/0/0 (if you plan to run signets) and 20/20/30/0/0 if you prefer empathic bond. Also is 30/10/30/0/0

For skills, I would try and squeeze in protect me if you can. Drop LR imo for it. If you run signets, take Stone instead of protect me.

Good luck.

Thanks for your advice.

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

1. More Condition Removal is always nice, You’re not getting a Huge benefit from Moment of Clarity, in fact if you’re not an Asura, i don’t recommend it as it doesn’t increase the daze duration on our Greatsword/Shortbow enough in my opinion. Now if you’re Asura, it is flat out one of the best Traits we have as it makes Technobabble just Obscene.

2. I always disliked it, But that’s just me, Maybe because I disliked the Cast Animation and the Cast time of it.

3. Both, the increased poison is nice, because you lack it, But 4 seconds of Immo every 20 seconds is just nasty.

Thank you Xsorus,
Glad that someone can constructively add to this post.

By chance would you make any gear alterations?

Gear Wise its fine for what you’re wanting to do, which is do a Power Build on Ranger.

I don’t know if I’d use Healing Spring, unless you’re grouped of course, then its not that bad.

Hats off to you Titan for going power for small scale most rangers don’t.

My favorite thing to do in game is to try new power/crit ranger builds.

Here’s my 2 cents:

1. You have good armor rating. I also always try to stay as close to 3k as possible.

2. Some good utility skills choices there. LR and MT are nice. MT is nice in group play. Better than traps in the opening of a fight since you can cast it from further range. Also better to slow runners at the end of the fight. However sometimes I find it is a pain in solo combat esp if someone is on your kitten due to the cast time. I personally also always have one movement speed utility such as either SotH or traited guard for perma swiftness.

3. Base vitality? Not good Titan. As a ranger you better be ready to be focused since most rangers are free bags (not saying you will be but you can expect peeps to target you more frequently). A low vitality pool also leaves you more vuln to conditions. Once you pop your SoR you really dont have much buffer. I always shoot for at least 20k.

4. Crit chance too low. 40% is respectable but not enough for power crit builds unless you have perma fury. You want a min of 50%. . I personally only run 100% crit chance power/crit chance builds now. I have since moved away from the 50% crit/70-90% crit damage builds. To me having every shot count helps me as a power/crit ranger esp when my damage coefficients are lower by default. This helps keep RNG at bay and opens more options for me.

5. Zero sustain. Not counting Healing Spring (good choice there) since you cant count standing in it for the full duration. Having at least one source helps in smaller engagements and in solo ops.

6. Food choice. I never think its a good idea to go with main stats via food choice. Too many other good options. Food slot is too important of a choice and you can solve number 5 for example by going with omnomberry pie or mano pie. Omnom is better for power crit users since you get more health/sec (assuming good crit chance and always attacking).

7. You are overdoing the vigor. We are capped at 100% regen. You already have 50%. I personally feel that you should drop at least one of the vigor traits. I would personally drop both esp vigorous renewal and grab wilderness knowledge. That reduces the cool down of two of your utility skills one of which is a critcial stun breaker. Some peeps get down on reduce cool down traits. The longer you live the more you can spam a skill with reduced cooldowns. I feel if I really need vigor that sigil of energy is better as it is instant upon weapon swap and is only limited by the weapon swap timer (not a regen so its not fighting for the 100% regen cap like vigor is).

If I were you I would drop what you have in markmanship so you can finish out wilderness survival and grab EB. Then I would dump the remaining 10 in Nature Magic grabbing Nature’s Protection (a small protective measure against spike). I would also reconsider your gear choices to boost your weak areas.

Guff. I gotta ask. what is your build like? Ive never heard of 100% crit rate ever for power crit. Also, what example would you have for sustain anyway? I am kinda in the odd end from playing Ele and Necro so it is hard to grasp where to pull sustain from.

@Loyo

Like we talked about in game, I need perma fury/full prec sigil stacks/base 68% crit chance to get there. I am also sacrificing power allowing me me to hit my crit chance/armor/health baselines.

Sustain can come from multiple sources. You can get it from regen boon, food, runes, sigils etc. Basic premise is to gain health over time giving you staying power. It is harder to add sustain as a ranger with power builds compared to condi builds since with condi you can boost it easier while still getting damage/toughness (ie settlers gear).

Looking forward to testing new ascended gear. Time to dust off old builds that didn’t quite meet my standards before, maybe soon I can make them work.

Keep testing new builds/gear and have fun on Ranger!

Isn’t Brazil the Ranger who made the berserker video with 100% crit chance? I’m at work and youtube is blocked so can’t find it. But there’s a guide on youtube for gearing and spec advice to do what Guff describes.

GUFF.5692:

Hats off to you Titan for going power for small scale most rangers don’t.

My favorite thing to do in game is to try new power/crit ranger builds.

Here’s my 2 cents:

1. You have good armor rating. I also always try to stay as close to 3k as possible.

2. Some good utility skills choices there. LR and MT are nice. MT is nice in group play. Better than traps in the opening of a fight since you can cast it from further range. Also better to slow runners at the end of the fight. However sometimes I find it is a pain in solo combat esp if someone is on your kitten due to the cast time. I personally also always have one movement speed utility such as either SotH or traited guard for perma swiftness.

3. Base vitality? Not good Titan. As a ranger you better be ready to be focused since most rangers are free bags (not saying you will be but you can expect peeps to target you more frequently). A low vitality pool also leaves you more vuln to conditions. Once you pop your SoR you really dont have much buffer. I always shoot for at least 20k.

4. Crit chance too low. 40% is respectable but not enough for power crit builds unless you have perma fury. You want a min of 50%. . I personally only run 100% crit chance power/crit chance builds now. I have since moved away from the 50% crit/70-90% crit damage builds. To me having every shot count helps me as a power/crit ranger esp when my damage coefficients are lower by default. This helps keep RNG at bay and opens more options for me.

5. Zero sustain. Not counting Healing Spring (good choice there) since you cant count standing in it for the full duration. Having at least one source helps in smaller engagements and in solo ops.

6. Food choice. I never think its a good idea to go with main stats via food choice. Too many other good options. Food slot is too important of a choice and you can solve number 5 for example by going with omnomberry pie or mano pie. Omnom is better for power crit users since you get more health/sec (assuming good crit chance and always attacking).

7. You are overdoing the vigor. We are capped at 100% regen. You already have 50%. I personally feel that you should drop at least one of the vigor traits. I would personally drop both esp vigorous renewal and grab wilderness knowledge. That reduces the cool down of two of your utility skills one of which is a critcial stun breaker. Some peeps get down on reduce cool down traits. The longer you live the more you can spam a skill with reduced cooldowns. I feel if I really need vigor that sigil of energy is better as it is instant upon weapon swap and is only limited by the weapon swap timer (not a regen so its not fighting for the 100% regen cap like vigor is).

If I were you I would drop what you have in markmanship so you can finish out wilderness survival and grab EB. Then I would dump the remaining 10 in Nature Magic grabbing Nature’s Protection (a small protective measure against spike). I would also reconsider your gear choices to boost your weak areas.

1: Agreed, I’m aiming to be somewhere in-between 2,800-3,200. The exact amount won’t be determined until I actually get out there and see what feels most comfortable.
2: LR and MT to me are a must for a 5v5 Power build. While extra move speed would be nice I should have perma-swiftness from our Warrior running Warhorn. MT is solo situations just has to be used properly, ex. after your spider Immoblizes your target.
3: Unsure about the vitality so far. I’ve always ran at base vitality on my warrior which ends up being around 18.5k.
4: So here is where I have a different opinion. To get those Crit chance thresholds you end up sacrificing survivability or critical damage. Either way you either lose damage or your die easily, both which I would like to avoid. This is meant to be a “Balanced” build, not zerker, nor tank.
5: My sustain would primarily come from teammates, 1 Support Staff Guardian, 1 D/D Aura Share Ele, 1 Shout Heal Warrior. While my “Personal” sustain would come from me being a backline DPS. Superior positioning and watching enemy movements is going to be key to not getting focused, as well as perfectly timed Hunter’s Shots.
6: Sustain food is by no means bad, though it defeats the purpose of my build. Since I’m going a more Balanced route than zerker I need to increase that damage gap by any means necessary.
7: While I do agree with this on some points, I feel that 100% Vigor uptime is more important than 66%. I would take extra dodges over regeneration anyday. Sigil of Energy also wouldn’t work on this build seeing as Battle is needed to top off my might at a perma 25 stacks while in groups.

I’m more than open to take a look at a suggested build if you’d like to post one.

Atherakhia.4086:

Isn’t Brazil the Ranger who made the berserker video with 100% crit chance? I’m at work and youtube is blocked so can’t find it. But there’s a guide on youtube for gearing and spec advice to do what Guff describes.

I’d be interested in taking a look, I’m guessing it either is lacking in critical damage or toughness though. Some Knights/Zerker Combo.

Xsorus.2507:

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Lord Titan.3791:

Xsorus.2507:

Drop Moment of Clarity, and pickup 10 more points in Wilderness for Empathetic Bond

Get rid of Muddy Terrain, you’ll find its annoying to use usually.

Drop Signet Mastery, Pickup Malicious Training and use Spiders

1: I can see how that would be beneficial. But you also have to take into consideration the team mates you are running with. If I end up playing with a shout warrior or shout guardian the additional condition cleanse may be unnecessary.

2: To be honest I find Muddy Terrain extremely easy to use and by far one of our best utilities in group fights.

3: Now this is something I haven’t looked into. I have been running atleast 1 spider lately. Would this be picked up for the increased Immob. duration or simply flat out more poison?

1. More Condition Removal is always nice, You’re not getting a Huge benefit from Moment of Clarity, in fact if you’re not an Asura, i don’t recommend it as it doesn’t increase the daze duration on our Greatsword/Shortbow enough in my opinion. Now if you’re Asura, it is flat out one of the best Traits we have as it makes Technobabble just Obscene.

2. I always disliked it, But that’s just me, Maybe because I disliked the Cast Animation and the Cast time of it.

3. Both, the increased poison is nice, because you lack it, But 4 seconds of Immo every 20 seconds is just nasty.

Thank you Xsorus,
Glad that someone can constructively add to this post.

By chance would you make any gear alterations?

Gear Wise its fine for what you’re wanting to do, which is do a Power Build on Ranger.

I don’t know if I’d use Healing Spring, unless you’re grouped of course, then its not that bad.

Healing Spring is just too good to pass up in groups. Also TU doesn’t help against organized spikes.

The Brazil Build is pure Zerker for PvE only.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVR2VWOWs2Bi2DNZJMxewfGtIXB/nxSnMTC-jEyAorhoRiGiW6rIasVxioxqtxUxER1GcFNbuQtUAjKMC-w

The build above tries to keep as much as possible similar to the build you posted minus the amount of power. Advantages of the build above:

1. Much higher health. Creates a better buffer against conditions and spike.

2. Gain EB which is a nice passive condition cleanse

3. Lyssa runes turn your elite into a nice “oh kitten” button as well as giving you a full condition cleanse on demand

4. You pick up Natures Protection for additional spike protection

5. Since you mentioned you will have perma swiftness I Slotted Quickening Zephyr Speed for additional spike damage output or for quick stomps/rezzing.

Damage difference?

Assuming a 3k armor target you lose about 1k off your rapid fire and barrage. You lose about 600 off your Greatsword auto attack chain and maul. Is the reduction in damage worth the survival increase? Only you can decide that Titan. Good luck!

GUFF.5692:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVR2VWOWs2Bi2DNZJMxewfGtIXB/nxSnMTC-jEyAorhoRiGiW6rIasVxioxqtxUxER1GcFNbuQtUAjKMC-w

The build above tries to keep as much as possible similar to the build you posted minus the amount of power. Advantages of the build above:

1. Much higher health. Creates a better buffer against conditions and spike.

2. Gain EB which is a nice passive condition cleanse

3. Lyssa runes turn your elite into a nice “oh kitten” button as well as giving you a full condition cleanse on demand

4. You pick up Natures Protection for additional spike protection

5. Since you mentioned you will have perma swiftness I Slotted Quickening Zephyr Speed for additional spike damage output or for quick stomps/rezzing.

Damage difference?

Assuming a 3k armor target you lose about 1k off your rapid fire and barrage. You lose about 600 off your Greatsword auto attack chain and maul. Is the reduction in damage worth the survival increase? Only you can decide that Titan. Good luck!

Biggest question here is simply this.

Is losing Piercing going to be detrimental to team fights?

Lord Titan.3791:

Atherakhia.4086:

Isn’t Brazil the Ranger who made the berserker video with 100% crit chance? I’m at work and youtube is blocked so can’t find it. But there’s a guide on youtube for gearing and spec advice to do what Guff describes.

I’d be interested in taking a look, I’m guessing it either is lacking in critical damage or toughness though. Some Knights/Zerker Combo.

Not lacking in toughness but it is in power and crit damage. That said against a 3k armored target my rapid fire and barrage come out to the same average damage after the bleeds are factored in. I do more average damage to higher armor valued targets since a portion of my damage bypasses armor. I didn’t factor in pet damage since it can be unreliable but it tilts way towards my favor if pets land hits. Basically you can put more pressure on a target yourself in a short amount of time where I can put more pressure over a longer period of time.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNBjYD7koiug7rwyCWLDItCcC7hhwIJi7h/1JhYBnqA-j0yAYMioZKDMRYIapvhsmAjYZsIas6aM97Qk1woGcFNbuQtMAMLA-w

Advantages:

1. RNG is taken out of the equation for direct damage attacks.

2. Synergizes very well with Companion’s Might. Easy to get 25 stacks of might on my pet after popping RaO and keeping 10-15 isn’t hard at all especially when I use the sword(sigil of strength)

3. Sharpened Edges helps take down heavy armored targets faster and adds to the constant direct damage pressure. We push RNG out the way here as well leaving just the built in 66% percent proc chance along with number of attacks landing limiting the bleed procs. I can get 15 stacks pretty easily after a CotW and Rapid Fire more if barrage hits land. Average is around 6 stacks assuming constant pressure.

4. Good Armor Value. Damage reduction also helped by Natures protection trait.

5. Good Health Value for protection against conditions/spike

6. Melandru + Lemongrass is the condition mitigation tool here.

7. Near perma regen via Nature’s Voice Trait and the shout “Guard”. This is our source of staying power.

8. Perma swiftness and fury helped by the boon generation and multiple boon sources

9. Tougher/stronger pet thanks to guard and sharing of boons via Fortifying Bond

10. Full Condition clear and two stun breakers.

11. In the future every point I add in crit damage will help my bottom line in a guaranteed way while lower crit chance builds can get hurt by RNG where the crit damage stat is basically “wasted” serving no purpose upon a non crit attack.

Disadvantages

1. Spike damage is limited

2. EB not slotted. EB is our best passive condition removal tool.

3. No CC utility skills. Must rely on pets and snares via sword/barrage.

4. Once SoR is popped you have to rely on the multi-layered defense of higher vit pool and melandru/lemongrass as your condition defenses.

5. Damage boosts for pets via traits/boons can sometimes feel useless against stealth professions or highly mobile opponents who can reduce pet uptime significantly.

6. Condition damage is very low. Condition duration very low. We are relying completely on frequently applying these small conditions instead of landing larger and longer conditions.

7. Relies on a full stack of precision sigil bonus which takes time to get.

I have another version of this build that uses EB and Quickness but I scrapped it since it didn’t have enough toughness/vit for my tastes. Looking forward to tweaking more once more ascended gear is out.

Lord Titan.3791:

GUFF.5692:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVR2VWOWs2Bi2DNZJMxewfGtIXB/nxSnMTC-jEyAorhoRiGiW6rIasVxioxqtxUxER1GcFNbuQtUAjKMC-w

The build above tries to keep as much as possible similar to the build you posted minus the amount of power. Advantages of the build above:

1. Much higher health. Creates a better buffer against conditions and spike.

2. Gain EB which is a nice passive condition cleanse

3. Lyssa runes turn your elite into a nice “oh kitten” button as well as giving you a full condition cleanse on demand

4. You pick up Natures Protection for additional spike protection

5. Since you mentioned you will have perma swiftness I Slotted Quickening Zephyr Speed for additional spike damage output or for quick stomps/rezzing.

Damage difference?

Assuming a 3k armor target you lose about 1k off your rapid fire and barrage. You lose about 600 off your Greatsword auto attack chain and maul. Is the reduction in damage worth the survival increase? Only you can decide that Titan. Good luck!

Biggest question here is simply this.

Is losing Piercing going to be detrimental to team fights?

I don’t think that’s the biggest question. But i did forget to mention that. My reasoning is simple. Smaller groups of people in larger spaces are harder to hit with piercing shots. People are going to spread out. Piercing arrows is very very nice against a huge zerg ball standing on a bridge or in the lord’s room in hills for example. Ask yourself how often does that happen.

I don’t like traits that only help in certain situations. I always prioritize traits that always help. Thats why I feel piercing arrows/eagle eye/steady focus are subpar. They are nice when you can take advantage. But what about when you can’t?

I was zerker for the first four months of the game with the above traits. I rarely touch them anymore. Once again though, up to you to decide.

I always use piercing. There is nothing more annoying than critter blocking your arrow, especially considering LB RoF.

mmm let me think… LB/GS… power build… did you never see a thread called “A Ranger Guide -power build-”?
I wrote this entire guide + build for all those who need help with power builds ^^

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/A-Ranger-Guide-Power-Build/first#

it’s all explained inside, enjoy.

Kjeldoran.3849:

mmm let me think… LB/GS… power build… did you never see a thread called “A Ranger Guide -power build-”?
I wrote this entire guide + build for all those who need help with power builds ^^

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/A-Ranger-Guide-Power-Build/first#

it’s all explained inside, enjoy.

Tbh I saw your post before I posted mine. None of my questions were answered, nor did I like the looks of your build. You make some good points but you also overlook many as well.

Also don’t come into a thread trying to brag about a long writeup, it belittles yourself.

GUFF.5692:

Lord Titan.3791:

GUFF.5692:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVR2VWOWs2Bi2DNZJMxewfGtIXB/nxSnMTC-jEyAorhoRiGiW6rIasVxioxqtxUxER1GcFNbuQtUAjKMC-w

The build above tries to keep as much as possible similar to the build you posted minus the amount of power. Advantages of the build above:

1. Much higher health. Creates a better buffer against conditions and spike.

2. Gain EB which is a nice passive condition cleanse

3. Lyssa runes turn your elite into a nice “oh kitten” button as well as giving you a full condition cleanse on demand

4. You pick up Natures Protection for additional spike protection

5. Since you mentioned you will have perma swiftness I Slotted Quickening Zephyr Speed for additional spike damage output or for quick stomps/rezzing.

Damage difference?

Assuming a 3k armor target you lose about 1k off your rapid fire and barrage. You lose about 600 off your Greatsword auto attack chain and maul. Is the reduction in damage worth the survival increase? Only you can decide that Titan. Good luck!

Biggest question here is simply this.

Is losing Piercing going to be detrimental to team fights?

I don’t think that’s the biggest question. But i did forget to mention that. My reasoning is simple. Smaller groups of people in larger spaces are harder to hit with piercing shots. People are going to spread out. Piercing arrows is very very nice against a huge zerg ball standing on a bridge or in the lord’s room in hills for example. Ask yourself how often does that happen.

I don’t like traits that only help in certain situations. I always prioritize traits that always help. Thats why I feel piercing arrows/eagle eye/steady focus are subpar. They are nice when you can take advantage. But what about when you can’t?

I was zerker for the first four months of the game with the above traits. I rarely touch them anymore. Once again though, up to you to decide.

Thanks for the help GUFF, I think from here its all gonna be about testing and molding the build around my play-style and my teammates.

GUFF.5692:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNBjYD7koiug7rwyCWLDItCcC7hhwIJi7h/1JhYBnqA-j0yAYMioZKDMRYIapvhsmAjYZsIas6aM97Qk1woGcFNbuQtMAMLA-w

Advantages:

…

@Guff

REALLY nice looking build! I’ve recently abandoned the condition-regen builds and have been working on power builds. I have one that is sort of a defensive variant of yours:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMEQNAT8YjAVJ2VWCWs2Bk2DOxSwkXhZx9w/6kQsgHJA-jkyAYMBZCCMJKQJwioxWJLiGreBTVCoUXUt3YIrukILDAzYA-w

It is amazingly survivable and has incredible sustain, especially against multiple opponents. As I get more comfortable, I’ve been adding more damage, giving up healing power. I may try yours, without ascended trinkets.

How survivable is it? Do you have enough healing to recover from a few hard hits or a mistake?

Thanks for your thoughts on power builds!