Guild Wars 2

Hello, ive been taking a long break, and now kinda feel like starting again, fresh with a new character.

The problem is ofcourse to find the class/race. I wanted to use the opportunity to use my Fiery Dragon Sword skin from HoM.
I was checking out Rangers and notice that alot of people recommended 1h sword by far, if you wanted to maximize your DPS. And this was apparently proven with math and not baised opinions. After seeing people soloing arah with it, i became convinced. 1h Sword/Warhorn it is!

Im not a complicated person, i go with what most people recommend. I know that it requires a certain way of playing to survive in this game. But having some sort of plan instead of going down the complete wrong path is somthing i want to avoid

So a build for this set is highly appreciated. (PVE)
• Sword/Horn, full zerker. (will probably add more as i see fit in different situations)
• Pet choices?
• Race choices? (Are racial skills important at all in the end game?)

And please try stick with the topic and avoid kitty fights :p

And if for some reason i was reading outdated information and it actually sucks now, please do recommend a class with a sword as primary weapon.

Thank you!

I don’t know much about ranger in pve so I can’t help you there, but racial skills aren’t that good and are almost never chosen over something else. People choose races based on animation and looks.

The only racial skill that is useful is the Norn’s Become the Bear for the fire room in the Thermunova fractal island. That’s about it as far as I know… so all my toons I plan on using in Fractals I make Norn for that reason.

This is a pretty good build to start with then modify to your playing abilities/skill:
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Ranger_-_S/A_LB_Spotter

I use a variant of it.

Thanks alot for quick replies!
If it dosent matter too much id strongly go with Sylvari just for one reason, looks really good in hellfire set :p combining that with the Fiery Dragon Sword will probably melt my brain :P

Thanks guys!

Feline pets for deeps. Stalker for might stacks, jaguar for pure deeps.

Im sorry, but by deeps you mean dps right?

TheFantasticGman.9451:

The only racial skill that is useful is the Norn’s Become the Bear for the fire room in the Thermunova fractal island. That’s about it as far as I know… so all my toons I plan on using in Fractals I make Norn for that reason.

I use a variant of it.

Why would you bother? Ranger can solo the Fire Room regardless o.O
Anyways, Asuras are quite viable if you intend to play WvW with the Ranger later. There is the Remorseless stunlock build that people usually hate. Technobabble has nice synergy with that.

Apart from that, I don’t really see any use for any Racial skills. I had my bright days with Sylvarian Take Root since it is a DPS boost that is increased beyond 25 might stacks and Fury, and the utility of 3 seconds of immortality has the uses.

Well, I haven’t felt like “I really need that!” about any racial ability, at all. It doesn’t really matter I suppose.

Tragic Positive.9356:

TheFantasticGman.9451:

The only racial skill that is useful is the Norn’s Become the Bear for the fire room in the Thermunova fractal island. That’s about it as far as I know… so all my toons I plan on using in Fractals I make Norn for that reason.

I use a variant of it.

Why would you bother? Ranger can solo the Fire Room regardless o.O

True, a lot of classes can solo the fire room, but it’s just a helluva lot easier with Become the Bear.

I find Charr racial skills pretty nice for PVE. Not so much in a dungeon group setting, but in solos, duos, and the open-world side, stuff like Hidden Pistol is useful and Shrapnel Mine can have some place when using condition Ranger.

Sword/Horn is a perfectly viable way to run your ranger for PvE. You’ll want to equip a longbow in the other weapon slot as well.

Currently the PvE ‘meta’ build is this: http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Ranger_-_S/A_LB_Spotter

While it does use an axe for it’s offhand, the warhorn can be used instead if you prefer. The meta builds are just all about as much damage as you can put out. You will want to be sure to take the trait Spotter and the utility Frost Spirit if you plan on joining dungeon runs…as those two are the only reason most groups will let a ranger into the party. Tough to hear, but groups can be super picky these days and most don’t want a kitten build you are running for funsies.

Pets recommended are the Jungle Stalker for it’s F2 Mighty Roar that gives the group 5 stacks of might and the Jaguar, as it’s F2 stealths the pet and it does the highest amount of damage pet wise. If your group has an ele who is proficient with the might stacking or a PS warrior…you can swap out the Jungle Stalker for a River Drake for trash mobs and it’s tail blasting.

No racial skills are worth taking over the Ranger utilities so choose whatever race you enjoy playing. There is some PvP advantage to an Asura, they have a daze racial that can let you daze lock with the Moment of Clarity trait. It’s a minor advantage, and they are small so it can be harder to see their casting animations.

Edit – Also if you plan on running dungeons on your Ranger, you will want to find a tonic that you can use to drop your pet when you are doing stealth runs. The tonic will perma stow your pet and not have to worry about your pet not being stealthed with you. I use a Cat tonic, but that costs 100 laurels so not the wisest of investments if you don’t already have your full ascended set of trinkets. Wish I could remember what tonics would do it…some will knock you out of the tonic when you take damage. An endless one is preferable so you can always use it. It just makes the whole pet aggro thing simpler for skips.

Good luck with your ranger!

Thanks alot! Really appreciate the help!

Isnt it possible to just dismiss the pet during stealth stage tho?

Endless Arid Devourer tonic does the trick. It’s less than a silver on TP and will do what RabidSmiles was referring to keep the pet hidden during stealth runs.

Arccai.4870:

Thanks alot! Really appreciate the help!

Isnt it possible to just dismiss the pet during stealth stage tho?

Not so much, if you jump down while stealthed and take falling damage, the pet will pop out of being stowed. Basically, any time you are damaged in any manner and the pet has been stowed it will come out. You cannot restow while you are in combat either. It’s really irritating and wish they’d not let the pet just do that :/

It’s really important to have it when you are in the Arah paths. There is a part right before the boss named Lupi that you have to stealth through and drop down, taking falling damage. The moment that pet pops out, its ruined because the Eye stalk things will target your pet and start the aggro for the whole group. It’s just better to take the tonic for dungeons.

Good note Wonderouswall! I will have to remember that tonic for later…

Ahh i understand, well ill keep that in mind :]

And i gotta say , i LOVE the new feature where you can store your skins,dyes,pets and everything is now account bound :] i had so many dyes on my alt that i was ready to delete :p really sweet news!

You should try torch as your offhand. Not for any particular combat reasons. It just looks wicked with the fiery dragon sword.

Last Halloween I got on my sylvari ranger, put on the Mad King Halloween outfit, and used that weapon combo in a burn based trapper build for SPVP. I had a ton of fun as a flaming pumpkin king.

If you play around with torch you’d probably want sinister gear though. I’m really not a PVE player. I’m just a man with an appreciation for the dramatic.

last I checked sword/warhorn were very solid for PvE, and don’t worry about your race choice, just play what you enjoy the most, racial a are beyond niche in their uses, and are mostly just for fun.

Arccai.4870:

Im sorry, but by deeps you mean dps right?

Yes, sorry.