Guild Wars 2

I hit level 80 on my ranger a few weeks ago, since then I’ve been getting into new areas of play like dungeons and fractals. I’m not so great at coming up with builds for myself so I usually stick to the meta. I read about how sword/axe is the current meta but I find the layout very confusing and hard to manage. I’ve fallen off areas by pressing the wrong button sometimes.

I’ve read that ranger is undesirable for dungeons which makes me very sad, so I thought I’d go with a meta build for my DPS at least.

Any advice for me? Is not using sword/axe on a ranger (or a ranger in general) going to hinder my ability to be taken seriously? Should I switch classes perhaps? I wanted to spend a lot of time developing my ability to do dungeons, and work my way up to difficult dungeons. I’m trying to decide now if it’s worth it to invest in sword and axe and just keep practicing, or try greatsword or just switch to another character.

Currently the other build that offer equivalent DPS (maybe even higher) is an axe/torch sinister build.
Your damage will come primarily from burning with torch + sun spirit + flame trap and from bleeding, but imo this build has a very boring playstyle since both your weapons will be the a/t (a/nothing + nothing/torch equipped) to take advantage of the on swap sigils and traits.
For a power build anything else than s/a will be a significant DPS loss.

Sword has learning curve. Once you mastered it, it’s very rewarding.

Sinister build is competitive but has big down side when it comes to coexisting with ele’s conjured weapons. Icebow 4 is massive dps. It means when you are on sinister, you aren’t optimized for Icebow (so don’t pick it up).

N no, ranger is actually pretty good in dungeons. Obviously not ele warrior and guardian level. Play it right, you’ll do massive damage.

This game is filled with stereotyping due to huge amount of bad players. Ranger and Necro suffer from this the most.

Whatever you do, don’t camp longbow bearbowing. Bears are situational pet, for example Mai Trin fight when pair with stealth strategy.
Best pet when it comes to balance is drake which is tanky nuf, good dps, cleave, blast finisher.

Remember, pet is 1/3 of your dps. Rotate your pets (use the f2 skills) and rotate your weapons. Put pets to always on passive, bind attack n return to buttons. Pet control is important to being a good ranger.

And don’t forget spotter and frost spirit (position it properly to avoid damage)

Read this on how to take full control of your sword.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Unable-to-dodge-correctly-using-sword/first#post4575922

Thank you! These tips help immensely. I might also start playing warrior or guardian soon, but for the time being I’m going to give my ranger a sword/axe and start practicing.

If you are not into the pet idea then don’t chain yourself to the ranger. Warning though, necro doesn’t get much love in pve from other players either.

In groups,
A good ranger can contribute to the parties success.
A bad ranger will be blamed for the parties failures.

Justine.6351:

If you are not into the pet idea then don’t chain yourself to the ranger. Warning though, necro doesn’t get much love in pve from other players either.

In groups,
A good ranger can contribute to the parties success.
A bad ranger will be blamed for the parties failures.

I love pets? I love having one pet to micromanage and using longbows, so ranger is really my ideal class.

auramorte.3147:

Justine.6351:

If you are not into the pet idea then don’t chain yourself to the ranger. Warning though, necro doesn’t get much love in pve from other players either.

In groups,
A good ranger can contribute to the parties success.
A bad ranger will be blamed for the parties failures.

I love pets? I love having one pet to micromanage and using longbows, so ranger is really my ideal class.

I was speaking in general. You didn’t mention liking the pet in OP.

If you like “pets” there are:
engi: turrets
ele: elementals
necro: minions
mesmer: clones/phantasms
guardian: spirit weapons
thief: thief summons
Racial skills: some arnt horrible really

I wont speak on the viability or micromanaging of them though ;-)