Guild Wars 2

I haven’t been playing all that long, so I mostly main with my first character (ranger). I run full zerker and use the standard Read the Wind power build from metabattle. In the beginning when I was playing against other newish players it was really easy to burst them down, but now as I find myself up against way better players, I’m seriously falling short behind. Each battle becomes heavily dependent on my teammates, and I feel like I either spend myself dead/downed most of the time, or we do pretty well.

I’m also noticing that after a while, it seems very few other rangers are running the power build, and are going spirits. So I’m wondering, are power build rangers just not viable in sPvP after a certain point? Or is it just one of those things where I just need to improve my skill level, and it has nothing to do with the build?

Ranger runes, LB , S+D , normal meta traits , spotter or Eagle eye ether will do.

Quick draw (improve dps), Read the wind or Remorseless+soimoth pig for combo stealths to chain Vunrability stacks better for faster spikes more often while combined with RF and barrage it supports team with AoE vun stacks if you stealth>barrage.
6,4,4,0 , slot condi clear sigils on /sword/dagger
Valk amulet ,

utilities.
Survival of the wild (about 82hp per second)
Healing spring or Troll ungent (use troll ungent untill you feel safe enough to use spring)
Lightening reflexes
1 free slot , depend on your choice , my favs are Signet of the hunt(make sure to use this with the Vun + pig RF combo mentioned above for mass Aoe stacking + spike damage .

or Muddy terrain , used for CC control while kiting with S+D you are able to Sword 2 away Use muddy terrain and continue using the LB after swap without using up a Lighting reflexes (this is your Get out of combat stun breaker)

with the extra toughness+healing power combined with Troll ungent you will have Warroir like Regen while still providing Damage support and buffs in the form of Vunrability stacking every time you stealth.

try this out it is much better than that fullglass build , you can even last a while not long though but long enough to ether finish someone off or hold untill support arrives.

Ranger in general becomes less useful at higher levels of play as other classes seem to always offer something more. That being said, it can still be viable with enough practice. Granted, since this is a team game the right teammates help as well. Specifically I would say power ranger is harder at higher levels of play than tankier condi builds since you can’t really make mistakes without getting punished. That doesn’t mean zerker ranger isn’t viable… it just means it’s harder.

@Eurantien would know as he plays zerk ranger in tourneys.

As he says though, you need a team that can accommodate your power build.

Playing ranked solo you are unlikely to land in many teams where your zerk longbow is the best option.

The best builds for this type of play, and this is true for most classes, is a more support orientated build like spirits/natures voice.

Assume that your team is bad and you need to carry them = bring a support build. This is generally the mindset for solo play.

Thanks for the replies guys! I’ll freely admit that I’m probably as raw as they come (Gw2 is my first real PC game, and I only just learned you could turn by clicking last month…I’d been keyboard turning before) so I know there’s still a long ways for me to go.

I usually run with healing spring (I find troll ungent too slow since I usually get targeted and burst down pretty quickly), quickening zepher, lightning reflexes, signet of stone (to pop against thieves, or for stomps) and entangle. I sometimes switch to muddle terrain depending on the enemy/map.

Actually I found when I solo played, I did pretty well. Probably because everyone was less experienced. It was only when I started queuing with my guild and playing against more experienced players that I realized how huge of a skill gap there was. Now I’m just really motivated to improve myself so my team isn’t always carting my corpse around the map. I’ll try experimenting with that more survivable builds by Zenos Osgorma, but I also really enjoy how quickly power builds can help take people down.

I’ll check out vids with Eurantien in them, I definitely want to see how power rangers are played at a higher level.

On a different note and sort of off topic, but is there anything power rangers can do alone against a bunker guardian? I’ve ended up in a few situations where it’s just me and a bunker guardian fighting over a point, and there was practically nothing I could do to get him off. I can’t knock him off, and he can’t get rid of me, so it’s basically a stalemate.

There aren’t any videos of my direct game play since I play on a toaster, though you might find some games on twitch.tv/guildwars2. A power ranger can beat a bunker guard although it takes awhile. The main thing to do is just to wait until they don’t have stability up and knock them off the point so that you are at least fighting over a neutral point. However, in most games I would never expect to finish the fight before help arrived. The bunker guard can kill you if you stand in all his symbols, so don’t do that.

@bloodpyrope First thing do not give up on your Ranger and Power build if you prefer it playstyle like me. I love both LB and GS they both work very well. You need to understand that you are first target and adjust. I have tried many variations of meta builds until I changed to fit my play style. I run my own version which has almost 22k health, 2 breaks stuns, condi removal from 3 skills + signet. I really do not feel weak against any class sure Hambows are annoying but that is for everyone.
Check my youtube channel I have full matches of my Ranger mostly Ranked Solo and I will keep adding more.

I also love Gs so you will see me charging to enemy Entagle and phewe signet of stone helps :P. My play style is much different then many people who use GS mostly for defense. It is great defense and offense tool.
You can use GS 3 to run or catch enemy, 4 is proper block when used on ranged but also push when used near you can push tank out of point using it. 5 is daze but also stun from behind.
I often burst my target but longbow then stealth and use GS 3 maul stun/daze , block etc.
If you have any questions about build or anything let me know on youtube or here.

Rariz

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjMq0yaFLOsQ1ag+ga9CEAjNr/19AnEpdBraA-TZBFwAIOEAy3fYxRAoaZAAfAAA

Unless you can sneak up on someone, not very. Since the update to point blank shot, most people will dodge that as well as most of your rapid fire. Then you are stuck with autos and the #5. Also most gank will counter you pretty hard, and will continue to rotate to do so to make you entirely a non factor. Not to say it cant be done, its just a lot harder then other choices, and the other choices either bring better sustained burst (if that makes sense) or something else.

Stand The Wall.6987:

Unless you can sneak up on someone, not very. Since the update to point blank shot, most people will dodge that as well as most of your rapid fire. Then you are stuck with autos and the #5. Also most gank will counter you pretty hard, and will continue to rotate to do so to make you entirely a non factor. Not to say it cant be done, its just a lot harder then other choices, and the other choices either bring better sustained burst (if that makes sense) or something else.

sword+axe plays well against that. A thief who eats a path of scars is a dead thief.

Problem is power ranger brings little good utility and crap aoe (barrage is a disgrace of a skill next to ele or warrior aoe or even thief cleave with sword). And he’s vulnerable to getting trained.

A couple evades<the sheer damage blocks or escapes berk warriors or thieves bring.

And then there’s sustained damage problem. Warriors and thieves can self might stack pretty competently to do solo damage well, rangers are entirely group reliant for many important boons.

Ranger stunbreaks also have massive cooldowns for some reason, as do their condi clears and besides point blank shot they don’t bring much in term of shutdown/boons to the group. Also power ranger is the one class with virtually no boon strip whatsoever so any bunkerish class with access to prot can easily shrug them off.

@Stand The Wall Yes our burst from rapid fire is easiest to counter in game that is why ideally you do not want to use it unless you have your target CC or at least he used dodge once or twice. For this point blank, fear root from pets, charge x2 from pets really helps. For sneaking stealth and then rapid fire.
I am not really a fun of auto attacks and we have nice damage from maul so I would prefer to use that. You are dps if you do not burn your target then whole point of being bursty falls off. That is my take.
@Zenith Yes power ranger do not bring much utility to team but is not that far from other dps class. Barrage you do not use mostly for damage (which is ok) but for aoe cripple.
Most of problems you mention is when you sign as team where you meet teams on ts which coordinated very good then you can get trained. In Solo que I do not feel that way.
Would I bring my Power Ranger to team depends on composition but I do feel that in this case Spirit Ranger brings more to team still prefer to play power ranger.
In the end you need to remember that Ranger as class is closer to bottom then top :
Top tier: Ele,Eng,Warrior, Guardian
Lower Tier: Mesmer, Thief, Ranger, Necro
Differences are not that big and not all of us run meta builds so have fun with what you like and when you play team not solo you need proper team composition anyway so pick what best support your team.

I do very well with my zerker ranger in spvp. Its just a very squishy high burst build. If you can use that massive range to your advantage its great. Problem is most people that play rangers are just bad. They don’t weapon swap they dont know when to use rapid fire. All they do is hit auto attack and rapid fire. They use entagle then knock them out of it with point blank shot because its a skill off cooldown.

@Chuck Zitto Rangers tend to be very easy to level because pets takes all agro from mobs so it does not teach even on simple level how to play class where other classes has to be more on their toes. It is also very popular class I suppose plus it is not the strongest for sure. All this adds to that. So ye I do agree but some classes makes you good even when you are not so good

Here’s an endorsement for power/zerk rangers: As someone who plays the despised Cele Engi most of the time in PvP, the #1 one thing that frustrates me the most after Necros are LB Rangers who can keep me at distance.

First of all, ledges are you’re best friend in most fights; if you are on a ledge and dodge/Stab/Shared Anguish my Magnet (which IMO has a bigger tell than Point Blank Shot) you already have a massive advantage against me. Also, remember you have more ways to keep me away than just Point Blank Shot and the wolf’s fear. You can stealth with Hunter’s Shot and reposition while I’m trying to find you, you can cripple with Barrage to give you more time, You can use immobilizes from Drakehound, Jungle/Black widow Spider and Entangle (IMO Entangle ruins me more than Rampage as One does; Stability from RaO might limit my own CC options, but it doesn’t do much to stop me from closing the distance and unleash my burst) to keep me in place (just make sure it’s not the first condi you apply, or it might get eaten by Transmute) and if you get desperate, there is always lightning reflexes.

Just remember range is the key vs. Cele Engi; More than half of my 1v1 wins vs. Zerk Rangers comes from them thinking they’ve done enough at range and switch to GS to finish me off, only to find out to their horror that my ability to disrupt and burst them down at that range far exceeds their own ability to do the same to me. Only switch to GS if I managed to get close when all the ranger skills I mentioned before are on cooldown, using Counterattack and Hilt Bash as last-ditch efforts to block or interrupt a Pry Bar or Rifle skill before switching back to LB and try to land a PBS or Hunter’s shot again.

Foefaller.1082:

Here’s an endorsement for power/zerk rangers: As someone who plays the despised Cele Engi most of the time in PvP, the #1 one thing that frustrates me the most after Necros are LB Rangers who can keep me at distance.

First of all, ledges are you’re best friend in most fights; if you are on a ledge and dodge/Stab/Shared Anguish my Magnet (which IMO has a bigger tell than Point Blank Shot) you already have a massive advantage against me. Also, remember you have more ways to keep me away than just Point Blank Shot and the wolf’s fear. You can stealth with Hunter’s Shot and reposition while I’m trying to find you, you can cripple with Barrage to give you more time, You can use immobilizes from Drakehound, Jungle/Black widow Spider and Entangle (IMO Entangle ruins me more than Rampage as One does; Stability from RaO might limit my own CC options, but it doesn’t do much to stop me from closing the distance and unleash my burst) to keep me in place (just make sure it’s not the first condi you apply, or it might get eaten by Transmute) and if you get desperate, there is always lightning reflexes.

Just remember range is the key vs. Cele Engi; More than half of my 1v1 wins vs. Zerk Rangers comes from them thinking they’ve done enough at range and switch to GS to finish me off, only to find out to their horror that my ability to disrupt and burst them down at that range far exceeds their own ability to do the same to me. Only switch to GS if I managed to get close when all the ranger skills I mentioned before are on cooldown, using Counterattack and Hilt Bash as last-ditch efforts to block or interrupt a Pry Bar or Rifle skill before switching back to LB and try to land a PBS or Hunter’s shot again.

a lot of them use Rampage as one for their LB opening by the time they get to the GS fight they have no Self support to finish off Cele engis , the way i trained myself as a Ranger since gw1 was Ranged is only half the fight , if they can’t Sustain themselfs in combat dont go Melee just yet.

also Cele Engis tend to have Two waves , first Defence , then when the target closes in offense begins.

if they are the usual Turret Engi i just ignore them or Apply the pressure fast try to avoid the thumper turret only huntershot my way in to avoid the flame/net/rocket and then barrage quickly > swap Sword+dagger Entangle > sword 3 > Dagger 4 > sword 2 leap back ( by the time i get to the Sword 2 leaps the engi has broken entangle and repostioned then i use Sword 2 to leap back to my target still suffering from the chain attacks > then apply Rampage as one at the end to bide out the thumper Turret+rocket turrets and swap back to LB to repeat the chain.

using Rampage as one at the start would mean the death of me as the build i use would not have Stability between Combos and i would end up dying from the CC’s of the engi and the damage kb’s of the turrets.

other reason why i use a Pig its beefy its powerful when stacked on might and it lasts a good time vs anything while providing item support for me to pick up after the Sword 2 leap back in, if it drops a plasma those boons will be enough to tide me over for a few more secs of damage proberly getting me the kill.

though most new rangers make the Fatal Mistake of using Rampage as one first.

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

though most new rangers make the Fatal Mistake of using Rampage as one first.

I agree. It’s too great of an ace in the hole to waste on an opening burst. That’s one of a couple reasons I always run sword/warhorn as my secondary so I can apply some fury to myself instead of wasting RaO. The other of course being my preferred method of escape (LR > HS > ML).
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I really enjoy running full zerk but it really depends on the team’s composition and your positioning. I see so many longbow rangers trying to hold points and it’s just not effective in my opinion. There’s just too much damage to give up to build into sustain and you lose the viability of side casting with high damage.

More often than not, condi survival is the better choice in a solo environment. It’s more versatile and doesn’t rely on your team to hold the points.