Dodger Rule Ranger – Fort Aspenwood
New to Ranger
For general PvE I like using my drake. It has some AoE and you usually don’t have to worry too much about it pooping out against normal foes. If you plan to invest some points into Beastmastery a pet like the Jaguar can really come in handy and due to the extra stat bonus. It gets a bit more sustain from increased stats and on demand stealth (which seems to path them to move behind their target, although not all the time) and deals pretty decent damage. There’s a trait you get at lvl 40 that allows you to throw your traps a short distance so if you’re up there with an axe that will really help out. Leveling a Ranger can make you feel like you don’t really have good utilities to use but at later levels you can specialize in a type of utility skill and that will pretty much define you instead of your weapon choice. (I know, not like the other professions. Welcome to Ranger). One major problem about using the Longbow is that other than spam #1 there isn’t a whole lot you can do at range. You can’t drop a Healing Spring, Trap, Spirits typically don’t even reach that far, and Rapid Fire isn’t really a DPS increase unless your target is close (simply because #1 losses power).
Unlike other professions you’re defined more by your mechanic and utility skills than weapon choice so while not having access to those utility skills or traits that make them even worth using you may feel a little empty or directionless like you described. That’ll pass as you progress though and you’ll get more and more pets you can play around with.
Also, if you have any questions feel free to send me a PM on the forums as well. I’m on here pretty often