Guild Wars 2

So I came back not too long ago and started messing around in sPvP again. I played Ranger extensively before I left, in all realms of the game. I wanted to see what the current meta is for Rangers in sPvP, looks like there are a few power builds here and there… but has there always been a shortage of Rangers in sPvP? I usually see Thieves, Mesmers, and Engineers as well as Warriors but there are very few Rangers where I could spectate as I want to try to learn a new thing or two.

I know we aren’t “meta” but that’s really disheartening. Anyone have sPvP builds they have that they find effective? I been trying power builds only, which is alright.

Huh, that’s odd. I play Ranger in sPvP, and I’m normally in-game with at least one other Ranger, either on the enemy team or my own. Right now, PewPew seems to be the preferred meta (Longbow Rapid Fire spam, general massively annoying range spam), with wolf pets, simply because how well they work with Beastly Warden. I have a slightly different Condition build I like to run, but I’d rather not reveal it on the forums – pop me a message in-game and we can do some stuff together

Thanks, yeah! I’ve tried Longbow and GS which is pretty good but I find it kinda hard to survive. I use to play a bunker condi spec, with axe/torch and shortbow but I’ve yet to find a build that gel’d like it use to. I am going to bed but I’ll hit you up tomorrow maybe you can give me a few pointers.

Cause all the pewpew train rangers rolled pu mesmers probably.

I also usually see 1 ranger on each team, sometimes two :o RNG is everywhere.

I don’t know, it is hit or miss but I usually see at least one other ranger most games. As someone said, they are typically LB focused but I see others. In fact, when they come across me they usually kitten a brick because I’m running a sustain / double melee build that totally throws them off. So the dialog starts after the came and idle chit chat follows – which is good.

To be honest I mostly play unranked and it is a toss up of who you are going to get. When I queue up with friends that is typically when I bust out the LB because I’m the primary damage dealer on the /assist. So in that case speed kills

I think maybe ranked you would find fewer of other classes because of the meta and/or favorites. But open/unranked, I think rangers are well represented.

Crapgame.6519:

I don’t know, it is hit or miss but I usually see at least one other ranger most games. As someone said, they are typically LB focused but I see others. In fact, when they come across me they usually kitten a brick because I’m running a sustain / double melee build that totally throws them off. So the dialog starts after the came and idle chit chat follows – which is good.

To be honest I mostly play unranked and it is a toss up of who you are going to get. When I queue up with friends that is typically when I bust out the LB because I’m the primary damage dealer on the /assist. So in that case speed kills

I think maybe ranked you would find fewer of other classes because of the meta and/or favorites. But open/unranked, I think rangers are well represented.

I think I might have run into you a few days ago. Spent the last minute and a half on spirit watch fighting a double melee sustain ranger until the clock finally ran out. I was a little black asura running heyena and pirate runes.

Jericho.4598:

So I came back not too long ago and started messing around in sPvP again. I played Ranger extensively before I left, in all realms of the game. I wanted to see what the current meta is for Rangers in sPvP, looks like there are a few power builds here and there… but has there always been a shortage of Rangers in sPvP? I usually see Thieves, Mesmers, and Engineers as well as Warriors but there are very few Rangers where I could spectate as I want to try to learn a new thing or two.

I know we aren’t “meta” but that’s really disheartening. Anyone have sPvP builds they have that they find effective? I been trying power builds only, which is alright.

I also came back a while ago after a long break and I play mostly ranger because I like the skills.
One of the most important things that changed is now we have taunt from our pet’s F2 skill, taunt is the new CC that’s a reverse fear forcing people to attack your pet, very useful in many situations as you can use it defensively, when CC’d to redirect the burst on your pet, or offensively to disrupt a mesmer/thief that’s trying to stealth, by forcing him/her to attack your pet therefore getting revealed.

Rangers are under-represented simply because they are one of the weakest profession out there. The dmg coefficient are all lower because our pet is supposed to be part of our dps. But it can die or fail to reach its target (very) often.
And we don’t bring much to a team compared to stuff like d/d ele, d/p thief, PU mesmer and so on..

We do have decent builds for random pugs, however you’ll see that Beastmastery and Wilderness Survival are basically mandatory picks for any build.
The most commonly used is Longbow/Greatsword because it offers both high dmg from 1500 range (but single-target) along with high survivability.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARTjUqQLLWyCOsAXLGyEKPxTgG/rhI/x7kNAOgSWRXA-TpBFABiXGggLAQbHBgFeAA6s/AAHCAA

For a bunker build try this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAsYRnUqA1CiNsAusActgBMhyX8F4x/boBi8eZ70A4kXdrVA-TpBHwALLDA4IAk4BA0b/hyHCgBnAAA

For a condi burst try this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV3YjEqQNL2yCmsAVLGMEqP3v9avf3gtF4AY0bgCWlA-TZRAwAAuAAUeIAdOCAlLD0b/BA

Puck.9612:

Crapgame.6519:

I don’t know, it is hit or miss but I usually see at least one other ranger most games. As someone said, they are typically LB focused but I see others. In fact, when they come across me they usually kitten a brick because I’m running a sustain / double melee build that totally throws them off. So the dialog starts after the came and idle chit chat follows – which is good.

To be honest I mostly play unranked and it is a toss up of who you are going to get. When I queue up with friends that is typically when I bust out the LB because I’m the primary damage dealer on the /assist. So in that case speed kills

I think maybe ranked you would find fewer of other classes because of the meta and/or favorites. But open/unranked, I think rangers are well represented.

I think I might have run into you a few days ago. Spent the last minute and a half on spirit watch fighting a double melee sustain ranger until the clock finally ran out. I was a little black asura running heyena and pirate runes.

Was the Melee Sustain Ranger an Asura all in white with red trim, Ochit McGoogle?? Because the min long spirit watch fight vs black Asura Ranger sound VERY familiar.

Sarlack.4096:

Puck.9612:

Crapgame.6519:

I don’t know, it is hit or miss but I usually see at least one other ranger most games. As someone said, they are typically LB focused but I see others. In fact, when they come across me they usually kitten a brick because I’m running a sustain / double melee build that totally throws them off. So the dialog starts after the came and idle chit chat follows – which is good.

To be honest I mostly play unranked and it is a toss up of who you are going to get. When I queue up with friends that is typically when I bust out the LB because I’m the primary damage dealer on the /assist. So in that case speed kills

I think maybe ranked you would find fewer of other classes because of the meta and/or favorites. But open/unranked, I think rangers are well represented.

I think I might have run into you a few days ago. Spent the last minute and a half on spirit watch fighting a double melee sustain ranger until the clock finally ran out. I was a little black asura running heyena and pirate runes.

Was the Melee Sustain Ranger an Asura all in white with red trim, Ochit McGoogle?? Because the min long spirit watch fight vs black Asura Ranger sound VERY familiar.

I don’t think it was an asura but I can’t really remember. It is just always surprising when I run into a ranger that can hold his own so those fights tend to stand out to me.

Came back today to find not only has the trait system completely changed, my old ranged-trap build is no more. So, I’m in the same boat of looking for something to replace it with. It seems some trap-related traits were removed as well…but I’m going to see if I can make a workable non-ranged version. I see there is a new trap-based rune, that’s some compensation I suppose…

The sticky build compendium is actually up to date, so you can check that for ideas. It just got stickied.

Yeah saw that. Put this together, will give it a try and see how it goes.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAsf3YjMqQ3K2wC+rAVLGYEqv1H2UvH3aNp5C4yDgD+d6B-TJhHwADOJAl3fAwTA4YZAA

I love this condi build one of my team mates gave me. The amount of damage poison can put on someone is huge with Viper’s Nest.

I see the opposite, way too many rangers…most pewpew longbow, all bad. The sad part is, they’re consistently getting the most kills because people refuse to focus them in teamfights >.>

That’s odd. I play trap-ranger & they always focus me in the early game :-)

Sina.9208:

That’s odd. I play trap-ranger & they always focus me in the early game :-)

:P probably because they know you don’t have room for invulns/stun breaks.

Anthrage.2519:

Yeah saw that. Put this together, will give it a try and see how it goes.

Sigil of bursting doesn’t stack, putting 2 on the same weapon is a waste, you could use a corruption sigil and maybe some + duration or “on swap” sigils. What does stack is burning, you might want to consider replacing frost trap with flame trap.
Why are you running longbow? Any other weapon would work better here, sword dagger would offer more condi and higher evasion, even GS would offer evasion, control and mobility.

Skullface.7293:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAsf3YjMqQ3K2wC+rAVLGYEqv1H2UvH3aNp5C4yDgD+d6B-TJhHwADOJAl3fAwTA4YZAA

I love this condi build one of my team mates gave me. The amount of damage poison can put on someone is huge with Viper’s Nest.

I’ve seen you run that build on stream and it definitely looks interesting, but why pick snake trap over flame trap? I think flame trap does more damage even with poison master, and the cd is shorter too. It also opens up the WS grandmaster trait, so you could use survival skills for condi removal (this might be personal preference, but I hate SoR).

Yes, I noticed that mistake after the post, the 2nd Sigil is of Fire, for the AoE on crit.

As for Frost Trap, it’s used in favor of a 2nd Fire field for it’s Chilling Effects and additional CC. Longbow is used for it’s utility in WvW/sPvP, with range being the desired advantage over GS for example. This is just a tweak to an existing build I ran previously to good effect, it’s just been modified for the various game changes since then. Ran it last night and even without the Trapper runes, it works well, as expected.

Puck.9612:

Anthrage.2519:

Yeah saw that. Put this together, will give it a try and see how it goes.

Sigil of bursting doesn’t stack, putting 2 on the same weapon is a waste, you could use a corruption sigil and maybe some + duration or “on swap” sigils. What does stack is burning, you might want to consider replacing frost trap with flame trap.
Why are you running longbow? Any other weapon would work better here, sword dagger would offer more condi and higher evasion, even GS would offer evasion, control and mobility.

But with full dire players can literally ignore any damage you are doing with the longbow. You might want to consider crafting sinister gear and running a crit bleed build, it would work a lot better with your set up.

It’s my first day back, I’ll definitely by trying and testing various things, but in my hours of play last night it worked well. The longbow damage is only part of the equation, it’s main usage – both in WvW and sPvP, is for it’s non-damage utility. Now that arrows pierce, it’s damage in a group fight is not inconsequential.

Ultimately, it’s more about what best suits my playstyle, than what is best as a build.

Anthrage.2519:

It’s my first day back, I’ll definitely by trying and testing various things, but in my hours of play last night it worked well. The longbow damage is only part of the equation, it’s main usage – both in WvW and sPvP, is for it’s non-damage utility. Now that arrows pierce, it’s damage in a group fight is not inconsequential.

Ultimately, it’s more about what best suits my playstyle, than what is best as a build.

What exactly is it you are looking to do in WvW?
I’m sorry, I’m not trying to sound mean but the only way your build makes sense is if your whole play style revolves around running with the pug zerg and trying to tag as many things as possible.

BolshoiBooze.3406:

I’ve seen you run that build on stream and it definitely looks interesting, but why pick snake trap over flame trap? I think flame trap does more damage even with poison master, and the cd is shorter too. It also opens up the WS grandmaster trait, so you could use survival skills for condi removal (this might be personal preference, but I have SoR).

I use Viper’s Nest over Flame trap because it actually does more damage than flame trap. You can stack so much poison with your pet swaps, viper’s nest and weapon skills. I really don’t feel like i need anymore condi clear when I have Healing Spring and Signet of Renewal. I can get poison to tick to 2.5k fairly well on top of the burning and bleeding I already can put with my weapons. The difference in CD is only by 4s which isn’t a whole lot when the trap does more damage and reduces heal effectiveness.

I tested this build versus good d/d eles and it can kill them extremely fast with the constant poison.

Skullface.7293:

BolshoiBooze.3406:

I’ve seen you run that build on stream and it definitely looks interesting, but why pick snake trap over flame trap? I think flame trap does more damage even with poison master, and the cd is shorter too. It also opens up the WS grandmaster trait, so you could use survival skills for condi removal (this might be personal preference, but I have SoR).

I use Viper’s Nest over Flame trap because it actually does more damage than flame trap. You can stack so much poison with your pet swaps, viper’s nest and weapon skills. I really don’t feel like i need anymore condi clear when I have Healing Spring and Signet of Renewal. I can get poison to tick to 2.5k fairly well on top of the burning and bleeding I already can put with my weapons. The difference in CD is only by 4s which isn’t a whole lot when the trap does more damage and reduces heal effectiveness.

I tested this build versus good d/d eles and it can kill them extremely fast with the constant poison.

I had never considered this, does it really out damage flame trap? Must try this..Would it be worth getting poison duration at all?

I just tested it, and Hiro’s right. Snake trap outdamages flame trap even without poison master. I’m going to have to try this build now. The only gripe I have with it is SoR, I really don’t like that skill.