Guild Wars 2

So I’ve been researching classes for the past couple of weeks to try to find a main class and I’m down to Ranger and Thief. I was wondering if anyone could please take their time and help me with some questions.

I mainly PvE, Dungeons and WvW and I’m looking for a class that is good in Melee and Ranged. So here are my questions…

1. I like swords, I can’t handle being a profession that can’t use a sword, with that said… How are Rangers in Melee using swords in PvE and WvW (1v1)?

2. I’m thinking of using a Shortbow and then Sword + (Any Offhand, all ranger offhands look good), will this be viable in PvE and WvW?

3. How are Rangers in WvW roaming? 1v1?

if you like feeling dirty and guilty roll thief. if you like feeling dead roll ranger.

The sword is currently dealing with (what I feel is) a minor bug in its auto attack chain (the #1 skill). Sometimes, trying to use the dodge button or other skills does not break the slash/jumpkick/leapingslash attack that it does. For the most part I get around this by saving the #2 and #3 skills (both of which naturally evade) for the times where I need to dodge, rather than using them whenever they are off cooldown.

Swords currently deals some of our strongest damage (the shortbow beats this by a mile thanks to the bleeds it can do), however I get some enjoyment from knowing that the third attack in my chain grants Might to my pet. I am unsure if it is one stack of Might per target hit or just one stack for the entire attack, but for now I’ll continue on in blissful ignorance. I have fun with the sword.

In dungeons, most players will say that Rangers are weak compared to the Thief, Warrior, or Elementalist. This is probably true, but if the reasons for playing a Ranger are similar to mine, it’s probably not because you want to top the damage charts. Despite this, being able to drop a Healing Spring in the middle of melee combat is a HUGE boon to your buddies in close combat. Traited for Vigorour Renewal (IV) in the Wilderness Survival line grants everyone inside the field vigor, on top of all its wonderful, natural effects.

I don’t dabble much in WvW, but for massive fights you probably won’t last too long in close combat. All the evasion we can get is really nice, but it doesn’t do well against focus fire. However, I have 1v1’d a couple people in sPvP with a GS & S/D combo, and it works out quite nicely. You can dodge almost whenever you want, and stick to your target infinitely with the sword (provided they don’t dodge roll away).

As far as pets go, I enjoy swapping wolves on cooldown to make use of the quickness boost in the Beastmastery trait line, as well as their knockdowns, to take out foes in PvP-type situations. When in dungeons or roaming between large events in Orr, I make use of two bears for their naturally (and immensely) high Vitality. I rarely if ever get the 60 second swap penalty for a dead or downed pet when running with two bears.

I hope I have been helpful!

Go ranger; they get pets, a variety of weapons, and are overall very good for all modes.

The Ranger is great if you’re after a fun relaxing class to play. But for Roaming WvW, PvP and 1v1 Thief would be the better choice for you. I’ve been in the same situation as you and kind of still am in the same position the thing keeping me as Ranger is it’s survivability compared to a Thief. As a Ranger you’re able to live PvE a lot more than a Thief can, you can solo Champions a lot easier than a Thief can if it agros your pet not you. And you can generally relax a lot more when playing. As a Thief, though strong and fun can be stressful when you’re dying a lot of the time, especially early on in the game

What Keyce said about swords and DancinPuppeh about Ranger versus Thief.

Additionally, I think one of the key differences between the Ranger and the Thief (or really any other class) is the fact that the Ranger has a built-in, non-removable pet, and success as a Ranger in any mode is greatly determined by how well you can control that pet and keep him doing something, anything other than limping behind you after getting stepped on by a boss. Because like it or not, that sometimes brainless fleabag accounts for 1/3 or 1/4 of a Ranger’s total damage output, and a good bulk of the Ranger’s traits have to do with him, so to discount Fido/Mittens/Pooh, no matter how stupid or squishy he can be, is almost like limiting a Thief to only one single-handed weapon.

swords are defensive/utility weapons for the ranger, know that. rangers are excellent in 1v1 and small roaming groups/skirmishes.

nerva.7940:

swords are defensive/utility weapons for the ranger, know that. rangers are excellent in 1v1 and small roaming groups/skirmishes.

They make good Power weapons, but you’re also right. Secondly, I wouldn’t suggest the OP traits/gears for a condition-heavy build when running a sword, unless perhaps it is combining with the Torch. The sword on its own is not a good condition weapon.

sword is used defensively in condition builds. in power builds it hits like a wet noodle and the long animations of #1 get you killed.