Guild Wars 2

I am contemplating between creating a 2nd warrior (cause first asura was too small) or a mesmer then i saw the patch notes about ranger and engineer buffs.

i tried rangers and i gotta say it feels kind of like a warrior except the sword auto is a little too shocking for my taste.

i mainly zerg wvw. do you think LB barrage will be viable? i kind of like the idea of 1500 range LB barraging the zerg. Does it do crazy damage like the ele meteor?

Zackie.8923:

do you think LB barrage will be viable?

Pretty much the topic of debate since the info about the next big patch came out. (Well, the viability of any LB builds)

Don’t think we have a conclusive answer as of yet for the overall concept, but Barrage still roots you to the spot which makes you a sitting duck

yea i guess 2 seconds cast but at 1500 range and btw, does retaliation still kills barrage?

just so you now only the Longrange shot skill , is effected by the 1500yard damage boost. you can easly use Eagle eye+barrge at very short range and still do the same amount of damage.

best timed when a Static field goes down for longer (in circle time and added Cripple for a zerg)
PvE barrge Lacks out of tagging mobs , kills Trash very well (if you build for atleast 180-190% crital damage to get 1k per hit x 12 maybe higher if you got air or Fire.

the only time you should be autoing with a LB is if you have to get out of Combat to Re-postision or reduce pressure so you can heal.

this best damage at 1500 yards will be not of best use , when the new patch comes out for rangers.

it will be a Dps loss at Max range, compaired to At this current time , where it only just Breaks even with a sword.

the Question is do you like the gorilla warfare style , of middle to long range, and flitting Between melee and that Medium Range combat.

it takes some getting use to as just sitting on a sword auto is a dps loss for a ranger if he don’t use his Pre-channels , Hunters call/Barrge+QZ+rapid fire> then sword auto rather than going long for Range , going Melee after this Burst you’ll get boons and lots lots more dps damage in a Extreamly short time.

but after that you’ll have to get the hell out of combat because Rangers arn’t made for Sustainted melee combat for too long , then needs support to stay in melee.

Retaliation Will kill you if you Scale your Base damage too high as it Redirects damage to you on a % of damage delt, so yes it will and it will never change , its the counter to these type of attacks.

best way to avoid the Retaliation is just keeping a eye on the boons, but Currently you can Survive it with basic , SotW and some regen (though the retal will counter any hp gain for the time you attack when the boon is Active.

There’s no such thing as a too small asura. You’re just using the wrong golem.

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

Retaliation Will kill you if you Scale your Base damage too high as it Redirects damage to you on a % of damage delt,

I’m sorry, but that’s not entirely true. Yes, Retaliation may kill you (if you’re unlucky/not careful enough). But it doesn’t make any difference if you hit each opponent for 5k total damage or if you hit each opponent for 500 total damage. Retaliation scales with the power-stat of the player you are hitting; not with your own power or the damage you’re dealing.

ah i thought it was own power

Retaliation is manageable, but watch out if a Reflect gets thrown your way though. I imagine that a lot of players are going to end up downing themselves because they used Rapid Fire and didn’t pay attention.

Chrispy.5641:

Retaliation is manageable, but watch out if a Reflect gets thrown your way though. I imagine that a lot of players are going to end up downing themselves because they used Rapid Fire and didn’t pay attention.

Not paying attention gets you killed regardless of class to be fair…

but as i’ve said before, there will be many uninitiated Rangers Rapid Firing their own faces to death and then wondering wtf

AdziH.2360:

Chrispy.5641:

Retaliation is manageable, but watch out if a Reflect gets thrown your way though. I imagine that a lot of players are going to end up downing themselves because they used Rapid Fire and didn’t pay attention.

Not paying attention gets you killed regardless of class to be fair

Yeah, but Rangers do it way too often compared to others for some reason. I’ve killed my share of Rangers by using Whirling Defense. Other professions….not so much.

yes, because i can sit at a distance and fire my longbow and nothing can hurt me its fi…. oh i’m down

Yup! That’s exactly why

Personally, I can’t wait for Rangers to try to do it with Quickness and Read the Wind, They’ll drop themselves in about a second and wonder why I’m running over to finish them off.

For a positive, Rapid Fire should be even more fun against Thieves, since they normally stop trying to dodge the moment they stealth for some reason (or wasted their evades, then entered stealth thinking it would save them). I’ve downed countless thieves just by letting Rapid Fire auto-track them.

I’d say nows a good time to bandwagon ranger. To be honest, I never made a ranger for the longest time because they seemed to be all about bows, and I honestly hate using bows on any character in any video game 90% of the time. Then a month and a half a go I made a ranger to try it out, and I was delighted by all the fun viable builds for pve and spvp that don’t use a bow! I’m excited to finally finish leveling my ranger to try its PvE frostspotter builds.

I feel like the main reason a lot of people play this class is for the bows, since thats what they’re into, but I think that there is so much more to rangers than mindlessly spamming arrows. You can play how you want, and so will I, and I doubt I’ll ever use a ranged weapon besides the soon-to-be buffed axe on ranger for any serious build in any game mode, mostly because shortbow will be pretty much outclassed as a hybrid weapon by axe, and longbow puts you out of range to share buffs with your group, which sucks in my mind.

It only puts you out of range for buffs , if you constantly think sitting at 1500 yards does the most damage, when only 1 skill on the LB gets the extra bonus doing so, the rest are ether

close range-long aoe(barrage Damage not effected by distance)
Rapid fire ( damage not effected by distance)
Point blank shot(damage not effected by distance)

bad longbow players do the Range thing consistantly because they think its safe , while doing so Gimps the player in so many otheer ways.

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

just so you now only the Longrange shot skill , is effected by the 1500yard damage boost. you can easly use Eagle eye+barrge at very short range and still do the same amount of damage.

best timed when a Static field goes down for longer (in circle time and added Cripple for a zerg)
PvE barrge Lacks out of tagging mobs , kills Trash very well (if you build for atleast 180-190% crital damage to get 1k per hit x 12 maybe higher if you got air or Fire.

the only time you should be autoing with a LB is if you have to get out of Combat to Re-postision or reduce pressure so you can heal.

this best damage at 1500 yards will be not of best use , when the new patch comes out for rangers.

it will be a Dps loss at Max range, compaired to At this current time , where it only just Breaks even with a sword.

the Question is do you like the gorilla warfare style , of middle to long range, and flitting Between melee and that Medium Range combat.

it takes some getting use to as just sitting on a sword auto is a dps loss for a ranger if he don’t use his Pre-channels , Hunters call/Barrge+QZ+rapid fire> then sword auto rather than going long for Range , going Melee after this Burst you’ll get boons and lots lots more dps damage in a Extreamly short time.

but after that you’ll have to get the hell out of combat because Rangers arn’t made for Sustainted melee combat for too long , then needs support to stay in melee.

Retaliation Will kill you if you Scale your Base damage too high as it Redirects damage to you on a % of damage delt, so yes it will and it will never change , its the counter to these type of attacks.

best way to avoid the Retaliation is just keeping a eye on the boons, but Currently you can Survive it with basic , SotW and some regen (though the retal will counter any hp gain for the time you attack when the boon is Active.

You bleb alot but you have no idea of what you’re talking about.

1. Currently, if you exclude the vulnerable stacks, the 4.5 channel of Rapid Fire has lower damage than LB’s AA at 1000+ range. LB AA at max range is NOT a dps lost.

2. By decreasing the channel time of Rapid fire from 4.5 to 2.5, the dps almost doubled if you understand what DAMAGE PER SECOND means.
You also have 2 additional seconds to shoot out 2 more arrows, and the CD of Rapid fire is also decreased by 2 thanks to shorter channel time.

3. Retaliation’s damage is base solely on the target’s power. It has NOTHING to do with how much damage you do.

Stop spreading false information.

first off – MAX LB damage occurs at 900+ range. NOT 1500. There is NO BONUS DAMAGE BEYOND 900+ RANGE. NONE. The trait gives a flat +10% to ALL damage, be it 0 or 1800 range.

second off – silly OP, it’s always a good time to create a ranger.

I’ve been enjoying Longbow Ranger alot in WvW since the April update which added Read the Wind and dual sigils.

You can already burst with Rapid Fire by using Quickening Zephyr. I consider Quickening Zephyr mandatory, so I’m very happy to see it become baseline. It makes Rapid Fire very good.

After the update I’ll have to reconsider my skillbar choices, since Quickening Zephyr won’t be mandatory and other skills will have been improved: Signet of Stone, Signet of the Wild, Entangle and Sic ’em.

So yes Ranger will be a lot of fun in WvW, but I’m having a lot of fun already. If you can’t have fun in its current state, then I’m not sure the update will be able to change your opinion.

Ranger has been good for a long time. The skill-ceiling is just very underestimated to play the Ranger/Pet efficiently and well. That’s how we ended up with the controversial ‘Bearbow’ epidemic in PvE. Now might be a good opportunity for some to give Ranger a(nother) shot if they want to play primary bow though. Ranger being terrible, though, has just been a lot of ignorance about the profession from Rangers and non-rangers alike. At one point, “4Wars/1Mes” or “heavies only” were considered the ‘dungeon Meta’. O.o LOL! A lot has been rectified for different professions/etc since then.

Zackie.8923:

i mainly zerg wvw. do you think LB barrage will be viable? i kind of like the idea of 1500 range LB barraging the zerg. Does it do crazy damage like the ele meteor?

No to your first statement and no to the second.

The first because rangers will unfortunately never be a viable zerg class with their current skills. They have pretty much no fields or finishers for the benefit of others, which are absolutely essential in zerg combat. Physical projectile is just too weak and unreliable. Long-range rangers will also not be desired since they are extremely vulnerable to reflect effects which are pretty common, bring little CC, and ultimately deal medicore damage at best. Their escape/stealth is unreliable with so many bodies, and their pets are quick to die. Group retal also makes them suffer from immense damage on barrage, and its sub-par DPS on most players (people dodge roll) makes the skill underwhelming in most cases. It also has a hidden 5 person target cap as per most AOE’s.

Meteor Shower has the potential to deal about ten times the damage of barrage, and usually reaches around five to six times as much.

Even if the damage got buffed to astronomical levels, LB ranger won’t find a home in zergs just due to the lack of utility and how easily-countered it is.

Longbow is a good zerging weapon, but don’t ever expect barrage to hit anything close to meteor shower. I personally think barrage needs a damage buff because it’s really lackluster. Just because it has a cripple it has lower damage than other Aoe’s but the cripple doesn’t compensate for the gap in damage between, say, staff ele aoe’s and barrage’s damage.

thank you Prysin, +1

Ps please Read the whole thread before commenting, I yes did clearly get the Retal boon backwards, and i did point it out in a earlier post.

in other threads i do understand that you get two more shots , but the op mentions does rapid fire do more Damage , (dps is a different matter just beacuse the dps is higher in a shorter time don’t mean the total damage is higher, EXCLUDING the extra two shots from a auto)

and as Prysin mentioned there is not bonus for over 900+ yards , so trying to sit at any higher range than that is pointless, so you may as well hop forward a few yards and use Hunters call+warhorn > swap back or even just go for Melee.

with Party boons , in Combat theroy the person sitting beyond 900+ is the one loosing out.

Rangers, Engineers and Elementalists have, IMO, the highest skill caps. The thing with Rangers however, is that people treat their pets like meat shields and nothing else. It would be like if an Elementalist never used any of their F skills and just did #1 with staff all day. Sure, you’ll do damage, but there’s so much more to explore that you’re being ignorant about because a few weapon skills do decent damage and you’re too lazy to figure out what else the profession has to offer (none of this directed at OP btw.)

So, remember not to neglect your pet. It’s not just there to soak up damage, use it actively and learn to keep it alive. Play with the different weapon sets and utilities and you’ll find what’s most comfortable for you. People can think that Rangers are bads all they want, there’s a hidden skill cap with them that if understood, will make the player a massive threat to any who challenge it.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Rangers, Engineers and Elementalists have, IMO, the highest skill caps. The thing with Rangers however, is that people treat their pets like meat shields and nothing else. It would be like if an Elementalist never used any of their F skills and just did #1 with staff all day. Sure, you’ll do damage, but there’s so much more to explore that you’re being ignorant about because a few weapon skills do decent damage and you’re too lazy to figure out what else the profession has to offer (none of this directed at OP btw.)

So, remember not to neglect your pet. It’s not just there to soak up damage, use it actively and learn to keep it alive. Play with the different weapon sets and utilities and you’ll find what’s most comfortable for you. People can think that Rangers are bads all they want, there’s a hidden skill cap with them that if understood, will make the player a massive threat to any who challenge it.

This is about zerging, though. And as I mentioned above, rangers bring literally nothing to zergs that another class can’t do better.

DeceiverX.8361:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Rangers, Engineers and Elementalists have, IMO, the highest skill caps. The thing with Rangers however, is that people treat their pets like meat shields and nothing else. It would be like if an Elementalist never used any of their F skills and just did #1 with staff all day. Sure, you’ll do damage, but there’s so much more to explore that you’re being ignorant about because a few weapon skills do decent damage and you’re too lazy to figure out what else the profession has to offer (none of this directed at OP btw.)

So, remember not to neglect your pet. It’s not just there to soak up damage, use it actively and learn to keep it alive. Play with the different weapon sets and utilities and you’ll find what’s most comfortable for you. People can think that Rangers are bads all they want, there’s a hidden skill cap with them that if understood, will make the player a massive threat to any who challenge it.

This is about zerging, though. And as I mentioned above, rangers bring literally nothing to zergs that another class can’t do better.

True but I think AoE immobilize is worth mentioning, as necro immob is short and delayed, and warrior sword flurry is single target or short cleaved right? Granted that won’t be good until the CD is released, and it won’t warrant Rangers use in GvG, but it’ll still bit a bit more viable with might stacking axes and GS. I don’t think I’ll ever see any reason to use longbow over midline axe/GS or semi gank sword/axe.

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

and as Prysin mentioned there is not bonus for over 900+ yards , so trying to sit at any higher range than that is pointless, so you may as well hop forward a few yards and use Hunters call+warhorn > swap back or even just go for Melee.

with Party boons , in Combat theroy the person sitting beyond 900+ is the one loosing out.

What a silly statement. In actual combat there is a huge advantage to being able to hit people from 1500 range.

@op, rangers have a place in the zerg, there are certain siege spots that ele’s can’t hit but rangers can. They are also great for picking off glass ele’s in a zergs back line, or Perma stealth thieves harassing a zerg.

Oh and they also have a nice long water and fire field along with being able to give people Perma regen and swiftness, and they have a good amount of soft and hard cc.

thanks jim , but thats a Opinion and it is true that veing at 1500yards can be a Advantage but its also a Disadvantage at the same time.

Jim Hunter.6821:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

and as Prysin mentioned there is not bonus for over 900+ yards , so trying to sit at any higher range than that is pointless, so you may as well hop forward a few yards and use Hunters call+warhorn > swap back or even just go for Melee.

with Party boons , in Combat theroy the person sitting beyond 900+ is the one loosing out.

What a silly statement. In actual combat there is a huge advantage to being able to hit people from 1500 range.

@op, rangers have a place in the zerg, there are certain siege spots that ele’s can’t hit but rangers can. They are also great for picking off glass ele’s in a zergs back line, or Perma stealth thieves harassing a zerg.

Oh and they also have a nice long water and fire field along with being able to give people Perma regen and swiftness, and they have a good amount of soft and hard cc.

If you’re in an organized group being in that range is a death sentence in my mind. It means you can’t move with your group when they peel out of fights, it means that gank forces can easily lock you down and kill you with you having little of escape, and it means you can’t recover with group (ie receiving Water field blast heals).

For pug zergs I guess it’s okay, but in the real deal you don’t want to be more than two dodges from your driver, or else you’ll get picked off rather easily.

@OP:

Ranger will still be less than average in WvW. No one will be asking for rangers there.

In PvP, this is a different story. They could bright the DPS, but we need to see the upcoming changes to other classes first.

nearlight.3064:

Jim Hunter.6821:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

and as Prysin mentioned there is not bonus for over 900+ yards , so trying to sit at any higher range than that is pointless, so you may as well hop forward a few yards and use Hunters call+warhorn > swap back or even just go for Melee.

with Party boons , in Combat theroy the person sitting beyond 900+ is the one loosing out.

What a silly statement. In actual combat there is a huge advantage to being able to hit people from 1500 range.

@op, rangers have a place in the zerg, there are certain siege spots that ele’s can’t hit but rangers can. They are also great for picking off glass ele’s in a zergs back line, or Perma stealth thieves harassing a zerg.

Oh and they also have a nice long water and fire field along with being able to give people Perma regen and swiftness, and they have a good amount of soft and hard cc.

If you’re in an organized group being in that range is a death sentence in my mind. It means you can’t move with your group when they peel out of fights, it means that gank forces can easily lock you down and kill you with you having little of escape, and it means you can’t recover with group (ie receiving Water field blast heals).

For pug zergs I guess it’s okay, but in the real deal you don’t want to be more than two dodges from your driver, or else you’ll get picked off rather easily.

Pretty easy to reposition in a power build, all you have to do is stealth and gs leap back to your group if you have too much pressure on you.

Jim Hunter.6821:

nearlight.3064:

Jim Hunter.6821:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

and as Prysin mentioned there is not bonus for over 900+ yards , so trying to sit at any higher range than that is pointless, so you may as well hop forward a few yards and use Hunters call+warhorn > swap back or even just go for Melee.

with Party boons , in Combat theroy the person sitting beyond 900+ is the one loosing out.

What a silly statement. In actual combat there is a huge advantage to being able to hit people from 1500 range.

@op, rangers have a place in the zerg, there are certain siege spots that ele’s can’t hit but rangers can. They are also great for picking off glass ele’s in a zergs back line, or Perma stealth thieves harassing a zerg.

Oh and they also have a nice long water and fire field along with being able to give people Perma regen and swiftness, and they have a good amount of soft and hard cc.

If you’re in an organized group being in that range is a death sentence in my mind. It means you can’t move with your group when they peel out of fights, it means that gank forces can easily lock you down and kill you with you having little of escape, and it means you can’t recover with group (ie receiving Water field blast heals).

For pug zergs I guess it’s okay, but in the real deal you don’t want to be more than two dodges from your driver, or else you’ll get picked off rather easily.

Pretty easy to reposition in a power build, all you have to do is stealth and gs leap back to your group if you have too much pressure on you.

I mostly agree with you on the GS leap, but the stealth from longbow isn’t the most reliable stealth skill in the game by a longshot, and if you really do use the longbow at 1200-1500 range, by the time you realize your group is peeling out and moving defensivly away, that leap won’t be enough to effectively reposition.

But its fine if you’re on a server filled with people of lesser skill. In T2, enemy guilds are more skilled, organized, and aggressive, and many run extremely well organized gank groups. But thats just my opinion, although with the axe changes I feel like maintaing some extra might on top of empower is nice, but you can easily argue for the longbow QOL buffs as well. Its just my opinion that I’ll be much more effective and useful to my group in WvW at mid/semi-melee range, but my experiences as a well necromancer may have biased me towards that.

Edit: Ah anvil rock I see. Then you should be pretty safe with LB. I doubt you’ll find too many legit gank squads in that tier. The ones in T2 coordinate CC’s and bursts so well that you need to blow your cooldowns just to have even a chance of surviving.

In wvw I play an"archer". I always play solo. Only person you can depend on is yourself.

I HIGHLY recommend norn for snow leopard. Great for reposition/escaping outnumbered and since you are glass its great for fighting too ! That charge & leap are ~ 7k dmg together. That 5sec stealth on a 10sec CD is amazing.

Justine.6351:

In wvw I play an"archer". I always play solo. Only person you can depend on is yourself.

I HIGHLY recommend norn for snow leopard. Great for reposition/escaping outnumbered and since you are glass its great for fighting too ! That charge & leap are ~ 7k dmg together. That 5sec stealth on a 10sec CD is amazing.

aye snow leo or bear is awesome skills. Shame that the CD is so long.

The only real LB buff for wvw zergs that matters is the reduced channel time on barrage.

The signet and GS buffs are the real meat of the patch but it still really won’t be enough for us to be “wanted”. Not when pets are still garbage in a zerg and that’s what our class is built around. We’ll be better, but don’t expect anyone to actively seek out ranger zerglings any time soon. Not until pets/spirits get massive reduction, or immunity, from AoE damage and we are able to function at 100% and/or bring hefty team utility.

DeceiverX.8361:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Rangers, Engineers and Elementalists have, IMO, the highest skill caps. The thing with Rangers however, is that people treat their pets like meat shields and nothing else. It would be like if an Elementalist never used any of their F skills and just did #1 with staff all day. Sure, you’ll do damage, but there’s so much more to explore that you’re being ignorant about because a few weapon skills do decent damage and you’re too lazy to figure out what else the profession has to offer (none of this directed at OP btw.)

So, remember not to neglect your pet. It’s not just there to soak up damage, use it actively and learn to keep it alive. Play with the different weapon sets and utilities and you’ll find what’s most comfortable for you. People can think that Rangers are bads all they want, there’s a hidden skill cap with them that if understood, will make the player a massive threat to any who challenge it.

This is about zerging, though. And as I mentioned above, rangers bring literally nothing to zergs that another class can’t do better.

Ah, true, my bad.
I would definitely agree that they don’t have much to offer in terms of zerg-play, but as someone has mentioned before me, mass immobilization is something we have access to via Entangle, Spike Trap (if traited) and Muddy Terrain. Conditions are shed pretty quickly in large scale fights but I can tell you from experience that a well timed immobilize, even if unintentional on the casters part, can really ruin your day. Rangers have their part in ZvZ even if it’s the most minor part of all the professions. Full glass Rangers are also great for assassinating enemy commanders. I’ve been in groups of all Rangers more than a few times where we locate and harass the enemy commander with Long Range Shot and Rapid Fire. Of course we’re squishy as hell, but bring that commander down and the enemy zerg falls to pieces.

if you actually run an organized guild zerg the ranger is viable right now. rangers are very powerful in gank teams against mesmers, thieves, necros, eles.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

if you actually run an organized guild zerg the ranger is viable right now. rangers are very powerful in gank teams against mesmers, thieves, necros, eles.

What do you find works best for gank on ranger? I’ve been thinking about it lately and to me it seems sword/axe with MoC or a rabid trapper build would work the best, although that build its up defensive utility slots a bit too much.

nearlight.3064:

Jim Hunter.6821:

nearlight.3064:

Jim Hunter.6821:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

and as Prysin mentioned there is not bonus for over 900+ yards , so trying to sit at any higher range than that is pointless, so you may as well hop forward a few yards and use Hunters call+warhorn > swap back or even just go for Melee.

with Party boons , in Combat theroy the person sitting beyond 900+ is the one loosing out.

What a silly statement. In actual combat there is a huge advantage to being able to hit people from 1500 range.

@op, rangers have a place in the zerg, there are certain siege spots that ele’s can’t hit but rangers can. They are also great for picking off glass ele’s in a zergs back line, or Perma stealth thieves harassing a zerg.

Oh and they also have a nice long water and fire field along with being able to give people Perma regen and swiftness, and they have a good amount of soft and hard cc.

If you’re in an organized group being in that range is a death sentence in my mind. It means you can’t move with your group when they peel out of fights, it means that gank forces can easily lock you down and kill you with you having little of escape, and it means you can’t recover with group (ie receiving Water field blast heals).

For pug zergs I guess it’s okay, but in the real deal you don’t want to be more than two dodges from your driver, or else you’ll get picked off rather easily.

Pretty easy to reposition in a power build, all you have to do is stealth and gs leap back to your group if you have too much pressure on you.

I mostly agree with you on the GS leap, but the stealth from longbow isn’t the most reliable stealth skill in the game by a longshot, and if you really do use the longbow at 1200-1500 range, by the time you realize your group is peeling out and moving defensivly away, that leap won’t be enough to effectively reposition.

But its fine if you’re on a server filled with people of lesser skill. In T2, enemy guilds are more skilled, organized, and aggressive, and many run extremely well organized gank groups. But thats just my opinion, although with the axe changes I feel like maintaing some extra might on top of empower is nice, but you can easily argue for the longbow QOL buffs as well. Its just my opinion that I’ll be much more effective and useful to my group in WvW at mid/semi-melee range, but my experiences as a well necromancer may have biased me towards that.

Edit: Ah anvil rock I see. Then you should be pretty safe with LB. I doubt you’ll find too many legit gank squads in that tier. The ones in T2 coordinate CC’s and bursts so well that you need to blow your cooldowns just to have even a chance of surviving.

I learn it the hard way that T1 , especially BG, people most often only roam in a group of 5… They do just moderate or borderline ok in 1 v 1 like all the other server, but they’re pretty good at ganking in 5, with each of them focus fire, group stealth, burst one target, chain CC and such.

nearlight.3064:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

if you actually run an organized guild zerg the ranger is viable right now. rangers are very powerful in gank teams against mesmers, thieves, necros, eles.

What do you find works best for gank on ranger? I’ve been thinking about it lately and to me it seems sword/axe with MoC or a rabid trapper build would work the best, although that build its up defensive utility slots a bit too much.

LB ranger, piercing arrows, with read the wind. sic’ em for stealthers, break stun utility and when the new buff comes around bring speed signet because activating will give a substantial burst shot. GS for escape and invuln from ranged pressure.

Gank teams don’t get focused and if you are trying to be a gank team and you are getting attacked you are doing it wrong and your positioning on the battlefield is really bad. You should not have to bring all defensive utility skills..

Wolf, and a bird, extra speed boost and the fear helps out alot.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

nearlight.3064:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

if you actually run an organized guild zerg the ranger is viable right now. rangers are very powerful in gank teams against mesmers, thieves, necros, eles.

What do you find works best for gank on ranger? I’ve been thinking about it lately and to me it seems sword/axe with MoC or a rabid trapper build would work the best, although that build its up defensive utility slots a bit too much.

LB ranger, piercing arrows, with read the wind. sic’ em for stealthers, break stun utility and when the new buff comes around bring speed signet because activating will give a substantial burst shot. GS for escape and invuln from ranged pressure.

Gank teams don’t get focused and if you are trying to be a gank team and you are getting attacked you are doing it wrong and your positioning on the battlefield is really bad. You should not have to bring all defensive utility skills..

Wolf, and a bird, extra speed boost and the fear helps out alot.

Thanks for your response. I’ve mainly played necro so I’ve never truly been on gank before.

In the WvW thread some people were discussing the merits of rangers in GvGs for the future, and seemed to agree that longbow sniper is the best way to go, but in an actual GvG its essentially a one trick pony for one round, as your enemy gank squad would be able to counter it and lock it down when they know its coming. But in open field that problem wouldn’t exist. I’d just be worried about longbow range putting you too far away from your group, but without eagle eye thats not as much of an issue.

Oh and for defensive utilities I meant that I’d have to give them up if I ran traps, which I realize is a kittenty idea.