Guild Wars 2

Hey guys, I’m thinking of making ranger, tried it a couple of times and had much fun.
I wonder what race should i choose, someone told me Norn cause their Elite skill is important for class, but i just hate those big things. Can I go sylvari and dont lose anything?

Norns get to do that silly signet ranger one shotting people for 20,000 damage with a dash that travels across the map.

I use a Sylvari ranger. I actually use Druid Spirit sometimes in duels because it draws conditions from you and immobs the enemy. Occasionally I’ll use Jungle Spider, Drakehound, Grasping Vines, Muddy Terrain, and Entangle for the ultimate immobilize fest. It really, really trivializes some open world champions, it’s kind of silly.

EDIT: Thematically I would say both races are great choices.

For power builds take Norn

Rangers have pretty good elites as is, I wouldnt let that be deciding factor. We also have good mobility. That said radiation field is pretty potent.

So power build will be not possible without being a Norn?

It’s completely possible without being Norn, you just don’t get access to gimmicky one-shot builds.

Ranger elites are better than any racial elite.

LLaG.9218:

So power build will be not possible without being a Norn?

Race does not matter, playing different content you should be swapping around your elites.

Nature’s Renewal- I have used in some pretty bad spots and has helped.
RAO-Stability
Vines- handy in pvp some boss fights like turret defense during Tequatl etc.
Norn- Pow/signet/bearform hit pretty hard (that’s what he meant if you wanted to use bearform spec).
Norn- Snow leopard allows you to use stealthx3 and 1500yrd gap closer (or get away)x2 within one cd.

Shortest Norn body slider is the same as the tallest human. But play the race you like best, racials can’t be used in spvp either, so choose what you like.

Okay, thanks guys.

Pick the race you like, not for the racials.

so what race did you pick?

Well just for future reference

I do suggest asuran for, if nothing more, Pain Inverter. Access to confusion when you’re in a conditional trapper build is amazing. That said I have a sylvari just due to their med armor T3

ranger sylavri with pirate hat is the coolest thing i have ever seen

My Ranger is a Norn. One pleasant discovery I found was that many of the Ranger weapon skills summon animal “spirits”, which ties in very nicely to the whole Norn Spirits of the Wild theme.

Norn elites are great but I also can’t stand the male model for Norns. I just went with human…

I mustered up pretty awesome norn ranger and am quite happy with him:3

If you’re gonna ask which races are best for ranger, then i guess i would have to say sylvari (binding roots, take root), asura (radiation field is always epic!, golems don’t hurt either), or norn (transformations giving some spike damage, stealth, bleeds or long dazes). I guess charr and summon warband would make sense too (not to mention their deep voice when commanding pets!). Human? i really see nothing great there for ranger.

If you’re gonna ask which profession is best for a norn, then hands down a ranger:) You accuallly ARE the “hunter of the wild”, and feel like a real norn with ranger’s survivability, rather then play a towering legend that gets downed every few secs when choosing mesmer, elementalist or thief (least in early stages). Trust me playing a norn on a squishy profession is a total buzzkill.

Norn has the lore thing with the Hunt and the spirits. With the ranger skills showing some of these animal spirits, it’s a great fit, as is having a pet companion from that spirit species. Also, a max sized norn using signet of the wild with off-hand training equipped gets to show off the biggest bubble possible for Axe5. And then there’s abusing Bear Form and Signet of the Hunt to crit-a-lot in a gimmicky one-shot way. It’s fun, though it’s going to pay the incoming crit damage changes.

Sylvari fits naturally lore-wise, and the fern hound looks designed for Sylvari rangers. Racial skills wise, roots are nice for additional cc, and Take Root is a fun elite worth slotting depending on what you’re doing.

A Charr could be from the blood legion beast tamers, in a “i’ll bend nature my way”. Not sure the Shrapnel Mine is worth slotting over a trap, but it’s there, Hidden Pistol is a 15s cooldown evade for evade-spam builds, Charzooka finally gets your ranger to wield firearms, and Call Warband summons 2 additional ‘pets’ to add to your 4 spirits and your regular pet (preferably a hyena that duplicates itself) for the ultimate pet zoo.

Asuras, i have no idea lore-wise, but game wise, you get confusion access with Pain Inverter (i think?) and an extra daze with Technobabble, whose duration you can double with 30 in skirmishing. Plus you get to play with a model that is smaller than your pets.

Humans now are sadly rather plain. They get the Hounds of Balthazar on elite to play the same pet zoo as the charrs, but aprat from that… If we ever got hold of rifles, then one could finally play a proper Human Hunter: a rifle, a dog, a mustache and a monocle. But as of now, the pro-rifle crowd is massively outvoiced by the druid-crowd, so that’s not gonna happen tomorrow.

Sevans.4619:

Ranger elites are better than any racial elite.

This.

Rampage as One simply out competes any racial skill.

Ranger elites are great but I really wish we had an elite that doesn’t have a ridiculous cd (lowest is 120 secs) which is kinda silly.