Guild Wars 2

I’m coming from playing a thief for about 1k hours. I love thieves but I am kind of burnt out and wanted something new. I re rolled to ranger – I literally haven’t touched one since the game came out. From a thief’s standpoint, ranger was easy bait and so I came in expecting it to be a weak class. It actually is a decent class with a lot to learn about – something that got me really excited. I like all the micromanagement of our pets and working really hard to get a kill. It makes actually getting the kill worthwhile.

Anyways, with 1k hours of thief in me, I’m so used to roaming and bursting targets down in PvP and WvW that I think I’m translating it wrong to ranger. I tried the GS/LB glass cannon and to be honest it was boring to me.

One weapon set that really caught my eye was Sword and Dagger. Reminds me of an S/D thief and so I’ve been trying to play with that weapon combo since. Something that I really really want to keep is the power aspect of PvP. Condition is fun but I like instant results, I like countering someone’s burst with my own using skill.

I am almost certain Sword Dagger and offhand Shortbow is not a powerspec at all but I just love the combo. I really want to keep sword dagger and I want a ranged weapon whether it be longbow or short.

Am I playing the wrong class? Or can I make this work?

I’ve also tried Sword Warhorn/ Greatsword – it was a fun spec but I need some range to kiting and what not.

TL;DR

I want to find and/or create a power build for PvP/WvW that encompasses Sword Dagger and either shortbow or longbow. Is it possible?

GS Sword/horn or sword/dagger is a lot of fun and very viable with the traditional glass build. I would suggest you always run sic-em though to deal with thieves and mezmers.

You said lb glass was boring, why?

Pugsley.9627:

GS Sword/horn or sword/dagger is a lot of fun and very viable with the traditional glass build. I would suggest you always run sic-em though to deal with thieves and mezmers.

You said lb glass was boring, why?

I was more referring to the GS/LB glass build.

I just played a couple of games with Sword Dagger/ Long Bow glass (6/6/0/2/0) and I’m pretty impressed. I really like all the skills on the LB, with 3 allowing me to reposition and 2 for my burst. If brought into melee range I can switch to S/D and evade and kite back with 2.

I feel like G/S does this but I feel more interactive with S/D.

I run lb sword/warhorn because I like to buff with the warhorn so my lb crits more consistently. 6 6 0 2 is what I run as well and have for several weeks now. Have you swapped your ascended gear to the ranger yet? Like me you probably found your new main.

You should do some comparisons with 1 vs 2 on the longbow you might be surprised which one is higher dps in the same amount of time. What utilities are you running for wvw?

I’ve been playing ranger for over 1.5k hours and this is the power build that has been the most succesful. It does lack on demand condi clear but the condi reduction is definetely noticeable. TU, SoW and Oakheart Salve gives you a very warrior-like feel. I hope you find it as useful as I have.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNIQNAT8YjEq0waFLGsw1agBha9AEvBQzWoeZmATQB+8A-TlCBwAC3fIn6PNOIAQuAAYV+kWJokHAgXlQAOCA51NQGAmxA-w

javi.4963:

I’ve been playing ranger for over 1.5k hours and this is the power build that has been the most succesful. It does lack on demand condi clear but the condi reduction is definetely noticeable. TU, SoW and Oakheart Salve gives you a very warrior-like feel. I hope you find it as useful as I have.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNIQNAT8YjEq0waFLGsw1agBha9AEvBQzWoeZmATQB+8A-TlCBwAC3fIn6PNOIAQuAAYV+kWJokHAgXlQAOCA51NQGAmxA-w

Perfect! This is exactly what I wanted to see. I’ll book mark this link so I can come back to it when I’m all geared out.

Since you really like Thief and burst dmg, i think you will find interesting this build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNBjYDbkQlWWrYxfFuWDAIU7Cg2nwMEDcz3MogPVA-T1SDwA9UCR5hAATtCCHBgg7P8U5zLVVApZAuOgFXAQJIATYkBwcLA-w

Dont get yourself fooled by the low toughness. You have insane regen because of the sigil of leeching and the sigil of blood. You also use the vampiric rune so you have even more regen. Watch out for empatic bond tough,it screw the pet and as a ranger you must be able to swap the pet before it can be killed.

Math behind this:

Out of 10 sec when attacking you get :

mango pie: 80 × 10
signet of the wild: 62 x10
sigil of blood (2 proc): 325 x2
sigil of leeching (if you swap) : ~975

Which is ~3045 health per 10 without healing. Throw in your troll ongent and you get huge amount of sustain despite being zerker style.
If you run sylvan hound you can get an extra 1000 every 25 sec and regen.

And as you probably know, you should focus on avoiding the burst because they can down you quickly. So time well the dodge of S/X.

Finally Lb tips :
-stand still when you want to complete a rapid fire, it will follow the enemy.
-Stay in stealth the whole 3 sec because its 3 sec you receive less dmg and its 3 sec of free “healing” (from mango/signet of the wild) and it help confuse the enemy players.

That being said gl!

Ranger benefits from a combination of damage types better than a lot of professions do. If you go with something like Rampager’s or Celestial, you’ll be able to get some use out of the conditions that are default on sword and dagger as well as getting plenty of physical damage. You of course will be very glassy, but coming from a Thief I imagine you know your limits, so it shouldn’t be too hard to manage.
Also remember to play with different pets. There are a few that are widely agreed upon to be the “best” such as the wolf, but a lot of other pets can be very useful as well. Personally, I’m always changing up my pets to suit my needs. Of course some have better utility than others, but just because their special attacks might sound underwhelming doesn’t always mean that they actually are.

Very nice to see that someone who comes from a Thief background is appreciating the Ranger though! Despite all our hatred, we are an effective and fun profession. It’s very easy to recognize a good Ranger when you see one because it takes a lot more skill than people give it credit for. Good luck and I hope you continue to enjoy yourself ( :