Guild Wars 2

I would like to let Anet know that I personally have been enjoying the Ranger class so far.

I do not think we are the best class out there. I also do not think the ranger is finished, as we have many bugs that when fixed will add more to the Ranger class. The game is still very young, and I am willing to allow some time for these bugs to be fixed (especially considering that we don’t pay a monthly sub).

That being said, I enjoyed leveling up going through zones. Our power level was good and everything I have needed to do could be accomplished by the ranger class.
I have had decent success in sPvP. I do not do it very often, but when I do I have a 50% winning ratio and am in the top third of the players.
I have greatly enjoyed WvWvW. I feel like the ranger has a lot of tools to have success out there in small group pvp. I have not had too much experience in over-large zerg fights or keep takes/defences, purely because my computer can’t handle it as well as I would like.
I do know that many of my deaths from pvp are from my own mistakes and lack of knowledge of other classes, and not because of limitations of the ranger. I also think the ranger works well with other classes and can be a real asset in a wvwvw group.

This purpose of this post is to show some positivity with the ranger class. I am sure I haven’t logged as much time as many players, but I have never felt like the class has held me back or been unplayable due to bugs or balance.

Notes on my gameplay:
80 exotic weapon, 3 pieces of 80 exotic gear (in progress, sub-par pieces slowly being replaced)
Hit 80 about a month after the game came out.
8-12 hours of playtime a week.
Focus on WvWvW.
Currently specced for pet dps and survivability
Been playing pvp MMO’s since daoc.

Flame away boys and girls.

I’m not here to flame, but these posts aren’t generally helpful given the current state of the Ranger. Sure we have somethings going for us like early PvE is really easy for a Ranger.

But if you look at a wide variety of our builds, our skills, our utilities we just aren’t up to snuff. The reason many of us are posting the problems we are having with the class is because we Love the class and want it to work.

Having spent the past couple of days playing a thief and a warrior…Ranger has some holes that need to be fixes and fixed quickly.

You’re doing okay and enjoying it because you’re specced to pet dps and survivability. I’m assuming you have the 30% swiftness for your pet which is why you’re okay with the pet dps. I think this is now the only currently viable build.

In reality a ranger should be able to be dps (crits and/or conditions), support (spirits or traps), and control (cc and traps).

I think traps and pet build (only w/ the 30% mov increase) is viable now.

Well Im glad you are enjoying the class, I admit it is fine for casual players, for serious pvp tho its lacking. However you play what you love, and I love the ranger, so Im gonna play it till it gets buffed. Picking up a raven pet definitely makes it easier to stomach until buffs come.

Trap build. THATS IT! I don’t like the fact that other classes pretty much laugh at us and run away in WVW. FIX IT!

But is every build viable for all the other classes? I personally don’t know, but I highly doubt they are much different then ours.

Call me casual or whatever, I am still a competitive pvper. I have not seen classes “laugh and run away” from me. In fact, I’ve had very close fights with every class I’ve run into solo. Usually my losses in such scenarios is because I did something wrong, not because I’m a ranger.
This post is a reminder that the ranger world is not a wasteland, just the ranger forums.

Other classes get more then 1 variation of a cookie cutter build, which has been the ranger story since launch.

I don’t think rangers are bad either. I’ve been enjoying success with a power precision berserker build AND surviving well because of many skillsets that include alot of evasions and defensive tricks. I prefer ranger melee as well personally rather than warrior, guardian, thief, and i’ve tried all of them. The skillsets in my swords, i love. The evasions, mobility is just wonderful.

Many complain we have no damage and feel like wet noodles. But I burst dps quite well, not as well as a one hit 14k+ thief but i can do 14k in 4 seconds myself, if i manage to play my cards right and manage to stick to or root the target. Other strategies like positioning, the right timing where their skills are on cooldown and on wards, is all important.

Otherwise, the steady damage is also quite significant and abundant. All not including pet damage. Often, with this power build you can grab aggro as well straight out of a zerg, and that says something. People also say about levelling through the zones being much slower than other classes… But my personal experience for example in Orr, i am killing targets at almost the same speed as my warrior friends or thief friends. In swarms, rangers stand much longer because we are two targets instead of one and the pet distracts and takes some aggro away from me. We’re not that bad on all fronts

Again, if compared to other classes, stat wise we may look underpowered but it’s not thaaat bad. Many experiences, in many situations the ranger is able to remain the longest standing as well because of our survivability and smart skillsets.

So the concept may be that we do well in longer stand offs. Yes, many things can be improved, and there are very (few but) successful rangers out there with different builds, condition builds and onwards that are doing well in pvp, wvw and so forth.

It is a tough world for the ranger, but with enough effort you can make it work for now. And hope that there will be further improvements to make us even more viable for a larger majority of players with different play styles.

I tried all the classes a bit around launch and stuck with thief. I made it to 80 and thought it was a great class. After awhile I realized I want to go for a legendary someday and playing asura, my daggers are small and clip while stowed. Lots of work for something so tiny.

Played warrior to a little over 50, mesmer to 45, and messed around some more. I didn’t really give ranger a shot cause on these forums there are a lot of people talking about pets being near useless.

I don’t know about pets being bad but ranger, what a fun class! I really love the GS animations and abilities. I think I like them better then the warrior and guardian.
Also, I love collecting pets. I think underwater combat is a lot more fun with a shark in your pocket.

I tried not to rush my first time through but i know I missed a bunch of DEs. I focused mainly on map completion. Now I think I will go slower. I am loving the ranger!