Guild Wars 2

I’d like to come up with a lvl 80 build for maximum survivability — toughness, vitality, condition removal.

I guess what I’m after is what people call a “bunker build” right?

So what are the weapons, armor, trinkets, upgrades, and consumables that optimize for survivability protecting from both direct damage and conditions.

My theory here is that any outgoing damage is better than what you’ll be doing if you’re down or running back from a waypoint, right?

My favored weapons are longbow (keep enemies at a distance or knock them back) and axe/torch or axe/warhorn.

I tend to like spiders and devourers with their ranged and AOE attacks, although lately I’ve learned to appreciate the damage output of the raven and owls. So maybe a small concession to some DPS there with the birds.

The one other wrinkle is movement speed. I really, really appreciate being able to get around the map faster.

A guildie gave me a tip the other night — a full set of Rune of the Traveller gives you 25% increased speed, so perhaps I’ll make that one of the cornerstones of this build. Any other hints there? Any way to get a movement speed buff even higher than 25%?

So tl;dr most survivable Ranger that can move fast.

Thanks! And I welcome all suggestions

The traditional ranger bunker setup uses either Apothecary/Settlers or Clerics (depending on your preferences for power or condition damage). and normally a trait setup of 0-0-30-10-30 with some more or less popular variations.

Your post didn’t say, so i took the liberty of posting a build I mainly use in WvW roaming situations, but I run it with Celestial armor and weapons, and various trinkets depending on specialization, but changed it to use all soldiers gear, since your main goal besides moving fast was to survive.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRnAVUZZVQ+VwaZAZVAQaPyEJBTcP8vOJEPZTXoB-jECBofDRjEZIaZPFRjtMsIasKbYqXER1WzC1W0KaSB4jyI-w

The only checkbox on your list it doesnt tick is that I opted for using Greatsword (instead of Axe + torch/Warhorn) as secondary weaponset, mainly due to Swoop for higher mobility and hiltbash for an extra interrupt.

You can basically use whatever pets you like with it, but spiders and devourers are not a bad choice at all.

I choose to go with Cave spider and Carrion Devourer mainly due to the fact they both offer a poison field, that you can combo with swoop to give weakness. Cave Spiders F2 also gives weakness which helps alot vs. direct damage.

For general purpose healing skill, Troll unguent is pretty good. Healing Spring has its uses aswell, if you are running in a party where there are some blast finishers availible I’d take healing spring, but if not, then Troll will probably help you stay alive better.

Utilities, are pretty much open to your preference, I normally run Lightning reflexes, a great disengage tool. Sick em, well this one is kinda iffy, I am trying to get used to it, since the coming update might make it viable (Reveal debuff), and it gives me a trigger for Nature’s voice. Sure 10s of swiftness and Regen (you do have 45% boon duration, so its more) might not be super awesome, but it can be a useful tool to have at your disposal. Signet of Renewal is a given, you want condition removal, you need signet of renewal.

As far as traits go, it’s a 10-0-30-30-0 setup, Malicious Training to lengthen conditions from your pets, the spiders immobilize gets to be pretty evil with it.

30 points in Wilderness survival, thats pretty much a given, it gives you toughness, something you want and it gives you access to some traits that drastically enhances your ability to survive, shared anguish all rangers secretly hates their pet, so why not have them suffer from stuns applied to you? coupled with Hide in plain sight it gets another use tho, the stun will transfer to your pet, and you will be invisible, it’s not amazing, but it makes your enemy drop target and offers you a chance to turn the fight to your favor. One thing about shared anguish + Hide in plain sight that is very useful is for stomping enemies, more often than not a downed enemy will try to interrupt you while you are stomping, and to some extent this trait combo will help you get past that, for instance it works on the guardian push.

30 points in Nature magic, gives you an extra 3000 HP, and some spike mitigation and condition clearing (Blind and Poison from Evasive purity) + Nature’s Voice (which I already talked about).

So what you are left with is a setup that will do what you asked for you won’t be an easy target, you will be able to zoom across the map, and you still have high power to actually kill stuff.

Hope my random ramblings atleast gives you something to think about, and adapt to your playstyle.

Hugs,
Dru

Thanks for the build. Looks great. Yes, I like the greatsword as well and sometimes use that in favor of the axe/torch.