Guild Wars 2

Could someone better at crafting builds than me, edit this build so that it’s viable for roaming/skirmishing in WvW? (Please don’t direct me to Metabattle btw)

What’s already on it are items/traits/utilities I’d like to keep. But I need more toughness/health, or something that will allow me to survive longer in a fight.

Currently I’m 100% Berserker with Scholar runes. I only use my Ranger to zerg right now, sniping squishies. I used to do a lot of solo roaming with my Ranger but back then, I was a condition trapper build. I’d like to try a power Druid now but to be 100% honest I’m not certain where to start in terms of a decent build. I’ve been kind of lost as of what to do with her lately so I’ve just been running full glass and pew pewing in groups.

NOTE: I’ve played plenty of Ranger, not a newbie. Just unsure of how to build right now and would love if someone could give some input. Do I need more toughness, health, would defensive runes be good or what’s a good idea? Thieves pretty much 2 shot me and same with Dragonhunters. It doesn’t matter how well I play, being full zerk is just way too risky when roaming so I need to change this build.

This is what I’m running right now on my Longbow Ranger. I use him to roam, do smallscale stuff and occasionally pew pew things with pug zerg.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQJARTnUqANsgtCC2CCctgFCBbp0FAqawd1xab95LMt6Zl8s0A-TlCBQBA4SAUJ1dukKBQ4IAgl9H0oSMG8AAyjugso84MKBJEggtA-w

I used to have him tankier but found the extra toughness pretty useless against enemies now that everything hits harder (thanks HoT) but LB4 and Ancient Seeds helps keep targets rooted enough to hit them with LB2 and you can generally kill enemies before they kill you, if not then Signet of Stone will buy you time to get more damage into them or run away if you can’t win.

Forget who’s build I took but I’ve modified it a bit to fit my personal play style. May not be ideal but it allows me to solo roam, scout, flip camps, NPC’s, and just do what I want. It is also good for small group play say 3 – 5. A few times I’ve merged with the larger zergs to fight, defend, or hold a point for a while, and it works.

NM – 2, 1, 2 (Instinctive Reaction, Evasive Purity, Protective Ward)
Beastmastery – 3, 2, 2 (Resounding Timbre, Two Handed Training, Zephy’s Speed)
Druid – 1, 2, 2 (Druidic Clarity, Seed of Life, Lingering Light)

With Beastmastery I have Two Handed Training, I was using GS but I don’t like it so just have not swapped it out yet. More than likely I’ll dump it on Natural Healing. Just saying why it is there when you see I run LB and Staff

Ascended Celestial armor with Superior Rune of Durability. Power, Toughness, Healing accessories. All combined I’m 3100 -3200 armor and 22/23k health. Mix that with LB/Staff hobbling/chilling sigils and hydromancy / intelligence sigils I get a bit of cc on weapon swaps.

We heal as one, glyph of alignment and equality, protect me, and strength of the pack. Pets are bristleback (nerf hurt) and smokescale. I’ll take a look at the electric wyvern to replace bristleback or tiger maybe. We’ll see.

Play here is really one of duration/sustain and outlast. Pets do 90% of the work since most players are so focused on the player. They forget the pet so it is just a matter of soft cc and engage with pets. In most cases I’ll come out alive and finish off the player. That is unless they run away. If it is two on one, I can manage. Even with being outnumbered greater than that in most cases I can get away or at least take one down with me. Its sort of like that Jack Reacher moment when in the fight scene in the parking lot and he explains what is going to happen. You just pick the softest target or player and focus on them. 9 out of 10 times you at least get one and feel ok.

Good players will still be tough. Meaning, this isn’t easy mode and you have to play well. There is enough room for error on my part which is why I like it. I’m not great so it gives me a bit more comfort. Nothing you can do against better than average or skilled players which is perfectly fine

Works for me anyway. Good luck. Oh, WvW only.

Crapgame.6519:

-snip-

Hm…

See, I have my Ranger in full ascended Berserker right now and my Engineer in full ascended Celestial, accessories included… I could just swap them if need be.

I was thinking about going Celestial Ranger at one point in time but wasn’t sure it’d be worth it.

As is, more defense is just absolutely necessary for my Ranger because we simply don’t possess the means to escape that Thief focus fire unless we’ve got some defensive stats, lol. Be it extra health, toughness, healing power, just something that will cushion the blow so… Maybe Celestial would be a decent choice.

How does this look for a Celestial set up to you?

Have just made it as I’d find it comfortable but let me know if you think there’s anything I could change. (P.S. I <3 Ranger 1h sword so don’t worry about suggesting to change that :P)

try cleric druid as long your opponent cant do BURST damage you can dance with him for more then 10min

or he got really kittened off and decided to walk away knowing that he have no way to kill you and you have no way to kill him …. unless you lure him to the nearest cliff and give him a good knockback

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAT8XjEqQLL2wCmsAXLGYEq3wm6c4e0BQPudeIUyHOD-TlSBQBUSVlEqWBe0NgGlgdRp3EuIAPZ/BsoMAAPAANcEACAgAczbmNbzgje0je0je0azje0bezyAwMGA-w (all 3 adept bm traits can work, i personally like go for the eyes)

Unless you go with a roaming party druid is unnecessary for wvw, only notable thing it provides in a solo situation are ancient seeds and mobility both of which you can get elsewhere (biggest thing hot gives ranger are the pets and those do not require druid).
Druid is only mandatory in spvp (still debatable since it is dictated by the meta, and this meta is about bunkers) because you are forced to stand in a 400 range circle, on the open battlefield that is wvw it is not nearly as useful as ppl make it out to be.

The build above has everything you need for solo roaming (or going in with a small group): kiting ability and mobility (quick draw hornet sting/hunter’s shot), damage and respectable defensive stats so that you do not get one shot.
The bigest weakness are some condition builds but they are not unbeatable, you just have to manage your utility cooldowns and make good use of quick draw in order to get the most burst or to kite while your cd’s come back (qd and double hunter’s shot or point blank for creating distance or qd and rapid fire/path of scars for burst combined with a taunt from fern hound, ect).

I’m not really a WvW player, so I’m sorry beforehand. But I’ll try to help if I can.
Which playstyle do you prefer?
I remember that Knight Sniper (LB+Staff) was pretty effective. Power/Preci/Toughness. You’ll trade mobility and some evades for Stealth which is not a bad form of defense.

Most of Ranger damage comes from Sigil of Fire and Sigil of Air. These two paired on Longbow are the most reliable source of damage. People might evade 75% of Rapid Fire but they can’t dodge the sigil procs, regardless of situation.

Your pet will do the same damage regardless of your stats. So going full berserker is simply not efficient. The part of the damage you are looking for in stats is already in pets. But Sigils and Defensive stats are as efficient as on any other character in the game.

Tragic Positive.9356:

Your pet will do the same damage regardless of your stats. So going full berserker is simply not efficient.

It’s not in PvP, but in WvW your pet damage is complete peanuts compared to what you can do in full ascended berserker with consumables. WvW is much more instagib than PvP is, you can kill a thief with a single maul.

Fluffball.8307:

Tragic Positive.9356:

Your pet will do the same damage regardless of your stats. So going full berserker is simply not efficient.

It’s not in PvP, but in WvW your pet damage is complete peanuts compared to what you can do in full ascended berserker with consumables. WvW is much more instagib than PvP is, you can kill a thief with a single maul.

Oh. That makes a lot of sense.
Does the S/D + GS work in WvW? I mean. It is extremely slippery, it has the damage, it has the mobility (less than with a staff but staff has no real damage nor does it help building CAF without people around; and with people around Ranger is usually the last parson to be brought for damage).

As I said, I haven’t really played WvW myself in a reaaaaaally long time. Just trying to figure out what might help.

Sure, S/x + GS is probably the series of builds I’ve spent the most amount of time on in WvW. I don’t use it much anymore because staff is a thing, but back in the day when movement speed affected leaps, the mobility was nearly unstoppable.

Fluffball.8307:

but back in the day when movement speed affected leaps, the mobility was nearly unstoppable.

How I miss those days…

Not a fan of OP builds but… I had some of the greatest fun in Gw2 with the stealth trapper build before swiftness/super speed nerfs on mobility.

Outrunning full 50+ person blobs was a daily activity for me and it was glorious. Still heartbroken to this day about the change ):

Don’t use zerker staff. Use something with Toughness main stat and healing power as secondary. +251 toughness on a glass character can save you.

on condi longbow I use settler: toughness, condi dmg, healing power,
for a power build I would just do something like nomads: toughness, vita, healing power

if you keep SoS that’s even more toughness when off CD, suddenly you are not so glass.

Tragic Positive and I both have threads with a list of builds. If you’re in the neighborhood for a build, check those out.

I’ve put something together and have found the build I’m comfortable with. Although it’s still full glass, it has great kiting potential and sustain via staff/CA. Pets provide good CC and staff is good for staying out of reach. QZ + Rapid Fire is an awesome burst and with Fury I have 97% critical chance.

I’ve been having great fun with this. Earlier last night a few people were attacking a tower and they split up. I killed all 5 of them by myself, 2 of them at once.

Seems I just needed to find that happy medium balance (: Thanks for the help!

For WvW guild groups, I basically just use my Zealots/Clerics gear. Not that Zealots is a necessity, it’s personal preference, but the build is this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQJAWRn0rCFsiVsCOsActgFGBzZ0NCOdMhrvVAAupWVzql480A-TVyGABA8AAiUXwkq/skyPyvAA4pE0gDBQBHBgh2fAA-w

On my damage build, I’ve been using this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQJAWRjEqQLLWyCOsAXLWyEM4ZaO9n2ksCAHAnEXCoxVy0OD-TFCFABIt/o8rQ1fA4CAQwDAohDBwVKBZ4IAkmuAA-w
I’d swap to Ancient Seeds if I was alone, though Grace of the Land is never bad, and Allies Aid to Bountiful Hunter. This same advice would apply to the build I’m thinking of gearing towards now that shouts have been reworked:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQJAWRnUqA9Ci1CCOsActglOB7pFMAWYOBuAQhDelGTvplMtzA-TVCFABFt/ABPAAkU+dlSwGOEAMcEAKU9n00FAwFAAA-w

I probably don’t need to change the runeset, but then the build would lack cleansing and favor pure damage.

My personal preference is to run glass, and I’ve never had any issues with WvW and only die in situations where, really, anybody else geared any other way would die as well. The builds are “handcrafted” to fit my own personal playstyle though.

There are better food options.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Omnomberry_Pie
Then can swap out sigil of accuracy for air.

Just one different food option.

Fluffball.8307:

Tragic Positive.9356:

Your pet will do the same damage regardless of your stats. So going full berserker is simply not efficient.

It’s not in PvP, but in WvW your pet damage is complete peanuts compared to what you can do in full ascended berserker with consumables. WvW is much more instagib than PvP is, you can kill a thief with a single maul.

Hmm…sort of agree I guess but if truth be told but it depends on how you are fighting. If you are with a large group, say greater than 5, than yeah, pets are worthless. However, if you are solo, duo, or playing in a HAVOC squad, pets are the peanut butter to your jelly Especially if you are playing a more defensive or support oriented build. That pet is making up for your lack of DPS.

So yeah, I actually agree but for the build I run I need the pet and his damage to whittle down the enemy while they try their earnest to kill me. It isn’t going to happen unless I make a mistake or get bored.

Also, if you haven’t done so, to OP or anyone else, I strongly suggest looking at the HoT runes and sigils if you haven’t already done so. I have been using the runes for a while, and they are just too good to pass up. Sigils, well, after skirmishing with Arrow, I’ve added a few to my weapon sets.

I’ve been finding condi longbow to be pretty good for solo roaming and small groups. With good area control you can end most fights relatively unscathed. Now if only sharpening stone gave a few more bleed stacks to put our damage on par with other classes -.-

Well to be fair you are using a 100% power weapon as a condi weapon. You can look at is an interesting quirk ranger can do that at all.

Abubs.8152:

I’ve been finding condi longbow to be pretty good for solo roaming and small groups. With good area control you can end most fights relatively unscathed. Now if only sharpening stone gave a few more bleed stacks to put our damage on par with other classes -.-

Last night I “ganked” a diamond reaper and a gold reaper who had ring up in a camp. Needless to say, they tower hugged for the next 30min until I logged off. That huge aoe bleed from barrage/entangle/Madking runes is crazy.

Justine.6351:

Last night I “ganked” a diamond reaper and a gold reaper who had ring up in a camp. Needless to say, they tower hugged for the next 30min until I logged off. That huge aoe bleed from barrage/entangle/Madking runes is crazy.

Ya I’ve had many similar experiences throughout the years on power LB. Even way back, several years ago before LB was “viable”. And the old entangle was just a 2 minute long death sentence for necros. They are just utterly helpless against rangers in WvW, I could beat Nos in an open field.