Guild Wars 2

8561

hey all,
just wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on ranger survivability all around. All other classes seem to have a pretty reliable “panic button” which results in them taking no dmg at all and/or being invulnerable, or just being amazing defense/control when being focused by one or more enemies.
my opinion of strong panic buttons for particular classes:
thief = warrior steal skill (thieves literally look for warriors to steal from for this skill)// stealth…so much stealth
mesmer = moa // stealth
warrior = endure pain // shield stance
engineer = elixers // tool kit shield
necro = lich form // armor
guardian = no explanation needed
ele = mist form // many more I’m sure (i don’t play ele)
ranger = “protect me” // [[dead pet in 1 second]]……

The ranger’s “oh kitten” button doesn’t seem that useful to me at all compared to these other skills. I personally feel that the ranger got short changed in this department and it really hurts our ability to take a beating by more than one person. I suppose protect me is our best option, but i don’t even think it’s worth a spot on your bar to kill your pet (which have VERY low survivability as it is) and probably still take half of the combo anyways.
thoughts?

uhm is traited signet of stone not included in the panic button list?

Signet of the beastmaster lvl 30 power skill combined with Signet of Stone – 6 seconds of immunity, followed by the lesser protect me. You’d probably get 10 seconds of immunity out of it all, used separately.

As Oldgrimm stated, the signet to give pet invulnerability works if traited fully in the Marksmanship line – however that stinks that it requires such a deep investment to get.

However, as a ranger I think it’s expected that the majority of our panic button is non-existent since we start fights from range. Maybe if were were in fact the masters of ranged, and not out-shined by most any other class for range damage we might all be ok with that.

I’m assuming you meant Death Shroud for Necros, not Lich form?

Back on topic, our HOLY KITTEN button is supposed to be Signet of Stone. It’s invincibility for 6 seconds, which is quite handy.

However, it’s on a 120 second CD, and requires a Grandmaster Trait to affect us.

Protect Me! works too, but you need to bring a tank pet like a Bear in order for it to work. Using a DPS pet with Protect Me! doesn’t work very well.

For me, I use protect me and lightning reflexes. There really isn’t one skill for us to use, but a combination of them.

I choose specific traits and utility skills for survival though. It is a trade off I made.

so the possibility exists i guess for us to have the same effect as other defensive skills. but it seems that we need to drop 30 trait points in a useless trait line or some other ridiculous requirement to get them. other classes just have to tap a button and they get the same defensive power…….not really fair IMO

Get use to it. It’s the “ranger tax”

In all seriousness though, I think most of the ranger’s “panic button” type escapes are intended to allow us to weather the storm as opposed to slip away unscathed.

For me, I use the following:
Nature’s Protection – Protection when spiked.
Hide in Plain Sight – Stealth when CCed. Really useful and has actually saved me from a down a few times. Just be careful of channels and aoe.

If you want to avoid damage, I can suggest the following.
Lightning Reflexes – Standard stun break with the added benefit of Vigor.
Natural Vigor – More endurance=more dodge= less damage.

I only wish Lightning Reflexes broke immobilize too. That would be a dream.