Guild Wars 2

When playing a LB Power Ranger, it can be tough to get to your team to support them if you are caught on the way.

When you die in sPvP, what procedure to you follow leaving the base to get back to the action?

Do you just run to the high ground to an important spot and look and wait for action to come near you?

Depends on the map, really.

Sometimes I rush to places that needs help and force the enemy to leave it just to chase me down – allowing my team to take it.
Or simply get back to my vantage point as you mentioned.

It’s hard to say. I usually go for the 1st variation, though. It’s always nice to be at points without being able to reach the high ground. Just being far away is enough – forcing people out of the point is sometimes more important than dealing higher damage – but than again, this depends on how good are you at surviving (the standard GlassBow wouldn’t pull that out. The Survival Fury one can pull that easier)

Laserbolt.6731:

When playing a LB Power Ranger, it can be tough to get to your team to support them if you are caught on the way.

When you die in sPvP, what procedure to you follow leaving the base to get back to the action?

Do you just run to the high ground to an important spot and look and wait for action to come near you?

I think you might see this as a yellow flag for the build you are using. An organized team or experienced solo group will spot you as high damage output early on and call you out: “laser is glass!” or “will somebody get that stinking glassbow.” At which time you will be marked for death and someone will enter stage left with a sharp knife.

Newer teams will sort of ignore you, but the better ones will get someone to b-line you or just start using you as a rally bot. If they can kill you before you get to the fight, or shortly after, they’ll win the match. It just takes a little coordination or thought on their part.

The longbow glass ranger build is well balanced in that it is has overly powerful attacks, but exploits the Rangers weakness, which is the ability to counter CC abilities, especially when they are chained.

You can use GS leap (away from attacker), LR and pet abilities to try to slow down someone who jumps you but you might have more fun by switching to a build that will end up slaughtering them instead. Ranger is one the strongest (maybe strongest) 1v1 class.

I have changed my build to a celestial build that retains a pretty good LB DPS while having solid melee with survival of the fittest that deals 1400 condition damage. I like axe/dagger. Just a style I like as I have never gotten comfortable with the sword. I know a lot of people like the torch, but better players tend to dance outside it.

It is fun to surprise them when they come for the “glass LB Ranger” and find I am not easy to take on.

Laserbolt.6731:

I have changed my build to a celestial build that retains a pretty good LB DPS while having solid melee with survival of the fittest that deals 1400 condition damage. I like axe/dagger. Just a style I like as I have never gotten comfortable with the sword. I know a lot of people like the torch, but better players tend to dance outside it.

It is fun to surprise them when they come for the “glass LB Ranger” and find I am not easy to take on.

Great idea! Celestial SOTF LB is an excellent build. With this you can win most fights with skill. Not an easy cheesy win, but you can take on almost anyone and won’t have to worry about getting picked off between points.

Edit: Axe/dagger is a solid choice as well. You can try sword dagger when you are facing someone you must keep poison on 100% of tiime, but doom sigil can do same.

Laserbolt.6731:

I have changed my build to a celestial build that retains a pretty good LB DPS while having solid melee with survival of the fittest that deals 1400 condition damage. I like axe/dagger. Just a style I like as I have never gotten comfortable with the sword. I know a lot of people like the torch, but better players tend to dance outside it.

It is fun to surprise them when they come for the “glass LB Ranger” and find I am not easy to take on.

Celestial would somehow be the best option you could play in the current meta.
But the thing is that Longbow will become only a utility weapon. The damage drops noticeably.

But yes, we had a discussion some time ago, and came to a conclusion that celestial with SotF would probably be the meta. There were some cool builds posted, but I don’t remember the name of the thread. You’d still find it if you searched through. It wasn’t that long ago.

Tragic P.,

I did indeed read that thread by Jcbroe, and that is where I got the idea.

That was one great thread. One of the best I have seen on the forums.

But it also became obvious to me:

1) How complex it is to find the optimal build for a given profession and strategy. I mean, this was just LB Ranger!

2) That you really have to discern who in a thread knows what they are talking about, and who drops in with strong opinions based on little apparent evidence. Tragic, you and the OP and a couple others seemed to really know what you were talking about. Some others seemed to be just chiming in confidently without facts or compelling logic. (In typical forum fashion! . One can easily be misled. )

@Laserbolt
Well, there are lots of people out there who’ll find me disturbing.
I’m aware of that just as I am fine with it. I always do my research and make the results and I feel particularly confident about it. I am a scientist after all.
But I always do try my best to help anyone who needs or appreciates it. By any means necessary.

But there is one thing that you need to consider. People claim their ideas to be true….. Because they are true. For the person speaking – they are the most true you can get. Everyone has a different play-style, and I remember myself getting better results in my Nuclear Bomb BM build that is unreliable than my current that I claim to be the best.
Because everyone has something different he is good at. If a player is displeased by condition builds, he won’t get the results ever. His whole physical and mental state will just repel it up to a certain point.

However, I always do my best to get the analytical results. Not based on personal opinion but facts.

If you think it would help you, you can give me a word in-game and I’ll help you out making a build that would suit you the best.

Tragic, thanks. Sending a PM.

Laserbolt.6731:

Tragic P.,

I did indeed read that thread by Jcbroe, and that is where I got the idea.

That was one great thread. One of the best I have seen on the forums.

But it also became obvious to me:

1) How complex it is to find the optimal build for a given profession and strategy. I mean, this was just LB Ranger!

2) That you really have to discern who in a thread knows what they are talking about, and who drops in with strong opinions based on little apparent evidence. Tragic, you and the OP and a couple others seemed to really know what you were talking about. Some others seemed to be just chiming in confidently without facts or compelling logic. (In typical forum fashion! . One can easily be misled. )

In regard to #2, you’ll just have to take everything with a grain of salt and try the more interesting builds you see for yourself. Some are better than others, but eventually you’ll start to anticipate and counter your foes movements at which point you should be able to win with a wet noodle. The build will only take one so far.

There is nothing wrong with using a variety of weapons, skills, and utilities. When you get really good you will be able to win with sub-optimal builds. This may be the reason people swear by so many different kinds of builds, as well.

I’d say that one of the more basic ideas is to “follow the team fight.”

Granted, it isn’t always the best option, but it is an option that has the least risk as far as “throwing the game” is concerned (compared to somebody that plays suicide farpoint and never gets the decap/cap).

Basically, if you die, just take a look at the map and see where your team is or the majority of the players on your team are, and take a glance at your party information and try to understand whether you should push to them or not. Generally speaking, if you see your team about to all drop into downstate, you probably want to rotate out to a different area to try to break enemy team map control. However, if it seems like your team is holding their own, you’d want to +1 the fight and hopefully win it, and then push with your team from there.

In general, unless you are having to carry your team (which WILL happen if you are solo queued from time to time), you can pretty reliably depend on rotating out of base this way.

The other thing you can do from time to time is to just rotate with somebody else who died or is about to die from the base, unless one of you is going for a free cap. But in general, you can both reinforce a fight or create a 2v1 somewhere, which has immense value.

There are a lot of nuances to rotational strategy though. Maybe not nuances, that probably isn’t the right word (more like particulars and conditionals), but still.

Something that could potentially be helpful to you is honestly just watching the right livestream. Not to say that other players don’t make mistakes, and you absolutely have to find the right people to watch, but in general, I’d say that if you can find Chaith or Phantaram streaming on twitch, they reason out a lot of their rotating and positioning when they are talking through their gameplay (which they both do and most other streamers that I can think of don’t). Regardless of which class these guys play, they are pretty good at covering the general strategy behind the decisions they make (why the pushed far, why they are doing what they are doing, where they are going on spawn, etc). I think that both seeing the gameplay from another persons perspective (who isn’t bad at the game) and hearing them reason out their playing has sort of a “contact high” sensation where you learn through them simply by experiencing what they experience and hearing what they think.

Just my 2 cents though, I hope all that advice you are getting helps!

Thanks for the advice! It has helped.

Here is my latest experience in using my now celestial hybrid build (that was further polished up a bit by Tragic for me). Even though score is a weak indicator, getting this high means you are doing something right for the team (I believe it was 5×5 and someone left at the screenshot):

Anytime, Sir.
Good luck in your future games. Make our community proud.

Depends on the game. Solo queue I do what I want and trust I have the skill to win my fights. That being said, if I want to win I will recognize others builds at start and judge my movements accordingly. If we have multiple glass then I will attempt to hold points and engage in roads more. If I am the only glass and then I will roam to where my team needs help. That’s the biggest thing as glass. If your team is getting snowballed by the other team, you won’t help them by recapping far. Your job is to roll into that fight and turn it around with sheer damage. Therefore, off reslawn you probably want to go to whatever fight your team is in that will still be on going when you arrive. If someone is there you know will die before you can help, then fighting outnumbered is the wrong choice. You need to come in, even the numbers and turn the fight with damage.

As an aside: there is not much reason to run cele over zerker with the lb.

Eurantien.4632:

…

As an aside: there is not much reason to run cele over zerker with the lb.

You’ll live long enough to decap the point and you’ll sill deal the damage that is needed. Celestial still hits semi-armored targets (2500+-) for 3-4 K. With additional bleeds that will tick it out for bonus 2500.
And you still pressure the target when your Rapid Fire is on cooldown.

Also, I know that you basically were right about the presence part, saying that turning the table on mid will help you better…
But that would not be true as a celestial decapper. You do not turn the table at all. You’d be the bonus one target to slowly tear the enemies down. Which will not help when your team is getting snowballed.

There – decapping and forcing people to leave other points just to get rid of you is what changes the game and won me countless of battles as well as games. Actually, I felt that at a moment I lost the point by being outnumbered – we won the game.

I’ve been thinking that when comparing two amulets and their effect on a skill’s DPS…often the difference in damage is less than 1/4 of one shot’s worth of damage. For example, the “high” damage amulet is 3800, and the “lower” damage amulet is 3000.

800 damage can be more than “made up for” if you are able to take just one extra shot along the line of the fight due to gaining better defense, or toughness, or another ability. Or take 800 less yourself.

That extra shot means extra time, maybe that even means a heal. All of a sudden you have to do more shots, taking more time. On the flip side, If you are using a longbow and get collapsed on, how much does armor help? Are you gonna tank through it and run away? Nope. Are you gonna return the damage? Nope. If you get jumped as a lb ranger you are in trouble. If you aren’t in trouble, because of tankiness, then you won’t contribute much. So instead of waiting for that extra shot, I believe players should advance themselves not through playing amulets that allow them to eat more damage but instead through avoiding they damage in the first place. This can be accomplished via map awareness, positioning, and better skill use. There are therefore, more options to mitigate damage through personal growth than there are to do more damage, which is why Rangers with lb should wear zerker.

The only time we didn’t need to was the BM meta, but we still had the damage to win fights then. That’s not the case anymore. You can still 1 v X as a zerker. You just gotta play better.

I see your point. I guess I am not good enough that I am riding right on the edge where losing 800 damage changes my effectiveness much. Seriously. The survivability and gain of “thinking time” helps me, personally.

I’ve tried full glass. When I can free cast it feels godly. But just one decently played thief who decides to come for me and I cannot survive those bursts, particularly the ones that I cannot see coming.

Normally I am spending a lot of time in pugs as full glass Zerker, running; not pew-pewing. With some bark skin and SotF and condis, I last a lot longer and sometimes even down the thief.

I think that’s conpletely reasonable. It took me a very long time to get comfortable with full zerker. I started zerker ranger at launch with 0/6/6/0/2. I needed the empathic bond to live, yet, I couldn’t help but feel they were training wheels. I think that the meta shift to BM at the time when I ran a lb/gs BM build really helped me get some great pet control. With those two things, I was able to comfortably play zerker at the end of the spirit meta. My teammates have often commented on my behavior in teamfights. If a thief is gonna jump me I call my pet back or swap and keep it close. Before he jumps me I go invis. Before he jumps me again I use pet cc. Jumps again then I try to reposition and skill cancel to get a good wolf kd. Surviving on a ranger is way more preemptive than any other class. For Mesmer you have distortion and invis. For thief you have shadow step and steal. Ranger only has SoS for o kitten defense. And it is very easy to see if they have it and if it is being used.

Thanks, Eurantien. You bring glass full power ranger to a much higher level, for sure.

The full GlassBow is still not anywhere near Glass Mesmer or thief, though.
Still no reason to bring one instead of them whatsoever.

It’s comfortable, but brings less results. Playing GlassBow ranger instead of shatter mesmer is playing training wheels itself, to me.

I only think it’s inferior on Forest. For the other maps, I only think it’s inferior because in the GW2 culture we have fostered, people are not used to having a class that isn’t 100% self reliant on their team. The other drawback is the class mechanic, not having something that responds instantly is tough. Ranger might not be the best class stats wise, but I think it can be 1 or the best classes performance wise, especially on Kyhlo, despite needing a team that knows how to play with a ranger.

You are still missing a point that Ranger forces his team to help him in order to be efficient.

Mesmers and thieves are the other way round – they are the ones to help their team in various ways, damage included, and are self-reliant. So not only they bring more burst damage than the ranger, more utility, they don’t even need to be babysat like rangers … And the only drawback is that Rangers have bonus range that is irrelevant since you need to be helping at a point, not away from it.

The mesmer can port > reflect / evade the ressurrection target > port out safely.
Ranger will only be able to go in and die to condi pressure anyways.

The standard Glass Ranger sincerely does literal Zero in terms of team support or team objectives. He does not secure stomps, he does not help rally, he does not help revive… He only helps getting people downed > which is not the objective. The objective is to kill and not get killed.
And rangers lack both.

That’s why duelist celestial ranger that can contribute by decapping is far superior in all terms of game goals. Because he also deals damage, and I dare to say that since the damage is mixed it is harder to be countered and still deals the same amount. But yes, the burst is lower. That is the only tradeoff that I’d pay any and every single day.

@ Tragic Positive,

You seem to have a misconception that the ranger is the only class in need of support. The mesmer meta build, shatter, has no condi clear and limited escapes in terms of mobility. Mesmer has blink, decoy, distortion, and often phase retreat. Ranger has hunter’s shot, swoop, pet CC, signet of stone, LR, and even has condi clear.
For straight survivability, I would say mesmer and ranger are similar. If they get pushed in on they will eventually die, they cannot out run their aggressors.

Ranger provides condi clear, not only for itself but for his teammates as well through signet of renewal. In terms of support, for defensive support the ranger wins over the mesmer for this reason.

In terms of CC support, I would argue ranger wins again.
Ranger: Mesmer:
Point blank shot, ranged Illusionary wave, cone
Wolf fear, aoe* Chaos storm, aoe ground targeted
Dog immob, aoe*
Canine KD x 2*
Entangle, aoe

• These skills can be skill cancelled, have clear animation that can be used to bait dodges. If the skills won’t land, they can be interrupted and saved till later.

In terms of terms of offensive utility, mesmer wins.
Mesmer has portal and the ability to boon rip. While the ranger just has more access to CC.

In a game scenario, all zerker classes need some support from their team. Ranger provides a unique aspect of being able to do significant ranged damage. This forces 2 things, the other team to either cower behind LoS or try to over extend on the ranger. No other class can force a team to overextend. This provides a great opportunity for the ranger’s team, despite its high risk. The ranged damage also allows the ranger to be pressured and still DPS another target. This is something mesmer can do (not to the extent of ranger in terms of sustained damage) but something thief cannot do. To say zerker ranger provides nothing for the team is something I find unsettling.

When comparing zerker ranger vs other ranger builds, I think it becomes clear why zerker ranger is rationally our best option. This can be illustrated through questions.

What can other ranger builds besides zerker ranger do?
Condi ranger can hold a node and can 1 v 1 everything except warrior.
However, condi ranger provides less team support than the zerker ranger in terms of CC support and cannot decap. Once the fight grows beyond a 1 v 1, condi ranger becomes significantly less effective compared to other classes that offer similar damage and similar support, actually providing nothing unique for the team.

As for celestial (with a lb) vs zerker, there is no reason to run celestial. You say it is because the celestial can “duel” while the zerker ranger cannot. This is untrue:
On point 1 v 1:
Zerk ranger vs ele: ele wins
Zerk ranger vs war: war wins
Zerk ranger vs engi: 50/50
Zerk ranger vs everything else: ranger wins.

Cele ranger vs ele: ele wins
Cele ranger vs war: war wins
Cele ranger vs engi: 50/50
Cele ranger vs everything else: ranger wins

So if both cele and zerker ranger can 1 v 1 with the same effectiveness, yet zerker ranger provides more for the team in a team fight, the logical conclusion would be to say zerker is superior.

As for the cele offers more damage because of added condi pressure argument, every class or team or whatever will have condi clear. That means the condi pressure is insignificat, moreover, it also means that there is more incentive to clear the condis of your teammates as well (given the player will see higher bleeds stacks and be more inclined to clear them) thus reducing your teammates damage as well. The only argument in favor would be that it blows condi clears so your teammates can do more condi damage. Given the accessibility of condi clear, however, that is a statistically low probability. In fact, it remains a disadvantage for your team because your bleed stacks are just putting your allies bleeds back at the top of the clear list, thus increasing the probability of your enemy clearing not only your bleed stacks but also your allies.

So to summarize:
Does zerk ranger provide something unique?
Yes, ranged damage and forces overextension.

Does zerk ranger need team support?
Yes, but arguably less than a mesmer.

Do other zerkers provide more team utility?
Yes, both mesmer and thief do for sure.

Does ranger provide any team support?
Yes, condi clear and a lot of CC.

What does zerker ranger provide more of than cele?
Damage

Is the survivability the same?
Essentially, neither can disengage if the other team really wants them dead.

Is the utility the same?
Yes, both can 1 v 1 to the same effectiveness and both would die to a 1 v 2.

Moving on, you say that glass ranger cannot secure stomps, help rally, or help revive. Yet the ranger does this frequently. Can rez with SoS, can clear the rezzers or the corpse of condis to either save them after getting the corpse up, or to clear poison off the corpse so they can rez faster. Ranger can secure stomps in terms of stealth stomp or interrupting an interrupter with CC. Ranger can CC enemies that are trying to rez. Ranger can put people in the downed state. The objective you said is to kill and not get killed and when zerker ranger is compared vs other ranger builds. It’s the only way to go.

Ranger is far inferior in melee range.
By going melee – you kill every single purpose to pick a Glass Ranger.
Also – I don’t remember ANY zerk build on ranger to stick to Signet of Renewal. None.

So once again – if you intend to play ranger with benefits into melee – you are willingly killing the only advantage that Glass ranger gives – range – and that’s stupid.

I’m just wondering why would you compare Signet of Stone on a 80 sec CD (62 traited) to Shadow Refuge of Thieves when we all know the effectiveness. Also – Ranger really is horrible at escaping. Thief and Mesmer will gladly rotate and enemies won’t be able to follow. The mobility can’t be compared. Even the stealth usability and reliability to combine.

But I’m aware of your points. So let me ask you …
… Why are the builds themselves called glassBOW or Fury LONGBOW builds? Isn’t it because they are horrible in melee range? Unlike the eternally mentioned other zerk classes.
And yet – all benefits you mentioned work ONLY in melee range where ranger himself sux if played Zerk. As a Zerk – you can only go in, or out (you only have 1 swoop). You can’t do both unlike the eternally mentioned other zerk classes.

Eurantien.4632:

So to summarize:
Does zerk ranger provide something unique?

The highest range possible. Forced overextension goes for mesmers, too.

Does zerk ranger need team support?

Not necessarily. He does need, however, something to compensate for this lack. Be it better burst, or advantage of some kind.

Do other zerkers provide more team utility?

Yep, as you said – this can’t be compared

Does ranger provide any team support?

Almost none. Not if he plays the class for it’s purpose. Most of mentioned team support abilities are required for defense in case the enemy comes to get you

What does zerker ranger provide more of than cele?

Burst. Damage is close to same.

Is the survivability the same?

In terms of stats – Rangers are more durable. In high level of play – Rangers are light years behind. No real escapes, only dashes, and no re-access to high ground (no port)

Is the utility the same?

In Zerk setup – rangers would be a lot behind. That changes if you build accordingly to gain access to on-point fights that Zerk cannot afford.

I only know of 1 ranger that has played at the highest competitive level and that ranger used SoR…

I also don’t think ranger “sucks” at melee range. GS is a great weapon with utility, etc. Sure, the ranger cannot constantly disengage and reengage but neither can mesmer. Ranger can disengage and reengage with swoop and LR as well, not to mention that those can both be used as disengages followed by reengagement with the bow. I don’t know who named them “glassbow” or “fury bow” I don’t think of them as that way. I think of it as a zerker power ranger. I am equally comfortable in a fight with lb or gs, sure I prefer lb because then I can kite my opponent and my ranged damage is superior to theirs. I think people just refer to it as glassbow, etc because you could arguably be a zerker double melee power ranger, it provides description.

Though as you say you know of no rangers that use SoR on their zerker power rangers, I am lead to believe we might be disagreeing because my perspective is coming from a higher level of play.

Eurantien.4632:

I only know of 1 ranger that has played at the highest competitive level and that ranger used SoR…

I also don’t think ranger “sucks” at melee range. GS is a great weapon with utility, etc. Sure, the ranger cannot constantly disengage and reengage but neither can mesmer. Ranger can disengage and reengage with swoop and LR as well, not to mention that those can both be used as disengages followed by reengagement with the bow. I don’t know who named them “glassbow” or “fury bow” I don’t think of them as that way. I think of it as a zerker power ranger. I am equally comfortable in a fight with lb or gs, sure I prefer lb because then I can kite my opponent and my ranged damage is superior to theirs. I think people just refer to it as glassbow, etc because you could arguably be a zerker double melee power ranger, it provides description.

Though as you say you know of no rangers that use SoR on their zerker power rangers, * I am lead to believe we might be disagreeing because my perspective is coming from a higher level of play.*

That might be true. I did not spend that much time in PvP, so the builds may vary with the rank gap.
Several rangers I encounter run that signet, but none of those were Zerks. Zerks I see in my games either run double signets (Stone, Wild) + LR, or they run the Fury (SotF) variation with Muddy Terrain / Zephyr instead of Signet of the Wild.

You still haven’t denied a single of my points, though.
Zerk Ranger’s melee performance is good… But still undeniably worse than other Zerks. So why would I bring him instead?
Because he has something that others do not have > range.
And is that trade-off worth? That is debatable. Highly depends, because there are some cases where you’d like this trade off. But majority of the scenarios would be no.

Simply because you are doing a good job when you are far away. If the ress / stomp is needed, you need to blow your one-way-ticket to get into the fight and even that will take several seconds that you can’t afford. And if anything screws up – you are going to die in 8 seconds after your Signet wears off because your only ticket is on cooldown.
And not only you didn’t help anyone – you died in the process resulting in further snowballing.

I am not saying that Zerk ranger is useless and only blocks a space in the team. What I am saying is that the build is far inferior in it’s offerings compared to other Zerk options. Because as I said – Ranger only brings Damage. The CC he provides (Let’s add Renewal from here on) is held on danger purposes – because you can’t use them when damaging form afar. They are usable only in melee – that you are constantly trying to avoid.

I’m saying that zerker ranger, although somewhat inferior to other zerker classes, is more beneficial for a team than a ranger that isn’t running zerker. In other words, having a GOOD zerker ranger on a team is better than having any other ranger because any other ranger is out done more by other professions than a zerker ranger is by other zerker classes.

Eurantien.4632:

I’m saying that zerker ranger, although somewhat inferior to other zerker classes, is more beneficial for a team than a ranger that isn’t running zerker. In other words, having a GOOD zerker ranger on a team is better than having any other ranger because any other ranger is out done more by other professions than a zerker ranger is by other zerker classes.

Well, if that’s what you think =)

Man Eurantien, you are making want to revisit LB power ranger again! :-) I usually get frustrated when I feel like I can’t decap or stomp when running LB power. I do like being able to use the landscape and such to advantage but am more comfortable with celestial style builds. I feel the full Zerker build can be a hindrance when the match maker puts me on team with newer players where, if I am fighting on point with tankier builds, I can give better support. I usually queue ranked as solo. Do you think LB power is good in ranked as solo player as well? I am asking honestly. No sarcasm. :-)

Quick question, do you ever use Assassin amulet? Why or why not?

Longbow is especially better against unorganized groups.
Things get rough right after you meet a premade and will turn into nightmare if they communicate via a medium.

To the assassin amulet – I do not think it’s such a big difference, but the main “burst” from Ranger comes from rapid fire and sigil procs. That are almost guaranteed on 10-hit rapid fire stream.
So taking assassin’s amulet wouldn’t really change the performance or damage output much. Your on-crit stuff basically will proc on cooldown – but at a cost of lower burst (Sigils will deal less damage since less Power).

This is a matter of game-play. The difference isn’t that big. I’d prefer zerker because Burst is what Zerks bet on. Not the statistical pressure.

In solo queue it comes down to the luck of the draw. Even if you are the best power ranger ever, if you get paired up with players who don’t stand on point and only tunnel vision it’s going to be hard. That being said, you can always adapt to the weaknesses of your solo queue team. That might mean you have to try to hold a point or something, which of course won’t be fun with a zerker ammy on. In the end though, you should just play with what you want and always strive to improve.

As for assassins, it can work, I have just been so used to the higher power dmg and the extra health that I don’t like taking off zerker. Since they removed steady weapons, I don’t have an easy way to test the damage, I just always go with what feels right, for me that means zerker. That leads to certain variations of power ranger, I always ran 6/6/2. 6/4/4, 6/x/x6, and 6/x/x/0/6 are all strong variants and I think comes down to personal play style. Each one has its own strengths. The same thing kind of goes for amulets too, except you have seen that I argue for more dps amulets because the game provides you with so much defense anyway, you just have to always try to learn to use it to its fullest. Could sins work? Sure. Will I run it? Not unless I use it and it happens to feel superior.

The biggest thing is always personal factor.
Everyone has potential for playing a different build to the fullest. So you all will basically end up with your own variations eventually.

Forum builds are basically a starting point to save some time to get the right direction straight off the bat.