Guild Wars 2

I’m gonna be honest with you and many will probably say the same. For pve as a ranger you can use any weapons you want or like using. I use both bows LB/SB and a greatsword. As far as a build goes its pretty much the same, in pve rangers are one of the strongest class. I have played with all builds and never noticed a difference really in pve. WVW is a different story but for pve do whatever you want and have fun.

30,30,5,0,5 is a support build now?

if your leveling still then
axe/dagger with conditions is gd for survival (chill and weakness)
i use traps with this since conditions and this gives me great aoe dmg, pull mobs 3-4 at a time and aoe till dead

GS is a Great all round weapon better with power then condition imo and swoop is amazing for moving around the map

shortbow gives you solid dps while keeping at range i like to use this with a snow leopard(chill) or lynx (more bleeds f2 hits like ravens) and spec for cat bleeds while flanking to maximise condition dmg, i wouldn’t advise using jaguar with this as half the dmg comes from flanking and invisble pets cant tank

Longbow, not my favourite weapon for leveling tbh but id build around marking a target with all that vulnerability and then knocking them down with a hard hitting pet like lynx,raven,lightning drake, use SoTW and sic em (in that order) if u want ridiculous dmg

Sword/wh gd dps for u and pet with fury buff and swiftness to help get around, sword is our highest dps weapon AFAIK and if u dont mind the root or turn off autoattack it has no problem shreading mobs quickly, id build for power with this and just use autoattack, time spend using skill 2 and 3 is dps wasted, use em to dodge only

that about covers it id use either X/WH or GS combined with a ranged weapon so u have mobility my favourite for leveling atm is Axe/WH with shortbow and traps use a jaguar unless u need the pet to distract mobs (such as when trying to shoot em in the back with SB) the jaguar crits with every attack while stealthed its best used with sic em atleast, with SoTW and zephy making mobs melt, other gd pets are lynx, raven and marsh drake they all do gd dmg, lynx and raven f2 will take a mob down to 50% straight away if BM build.

couple final notes for leveling

queensdale atleast on my server is really popular, lots of people run this maps events constantly calling out troll and oakheart it can be a gd place to level fast and break up the monotony of heart quests, dynamic events will level u quick if u can complete 1-2 every 5 mins.

Do starter maps, i have a rule of upgrading my green armor every 10 levels but when i get to lvl 20 i do all the starter zones tills im lvl 50 ish this saves on armor and u will move through those maps quickly

if u can get a good guild with ppl who wouldn’t mind u taking ur lvl 10-X character through citadel of flame on their speed runs you will level up very quickly (10 lvls an hour approx)

leveling efficiently is equal parts speed, dmg and survivability, while u can take ur time leveling and just enjoy the games content if ur aiming to reach 80 in a couple days it helps to build for a fast character that kills mobs in 8 seconds max and has just enough survivability to not die, either by stunning, kiting or weakening mobs to death or in the rangers case healing and dodging most of the dmg away, if u run queensdale or work with others u can relax on survivability and just focus on running like Bolt and hitting like a challenger.