Guild Wars 2

Hello, friends!

There seem to be a lot of Rangers on the forums recently claiming that Rangers have no place in PvP and are “useless” outside of PvE. This is patently untrue.

A lot of Rangers don’t want to share their builds because they’re afraid of not being a unique snowflake or something. I don’t know. In any case, I’m here to share my Ranger PvP build. This is what I use in sPvP and tPvP and it’s pretty spectacular. I know that at least one or two other Rangers on the forums run something incredibly similar, so I don’t have to worry about being a unique snowflake.

There are a few variations, but they all do essentially the same thing: provide high survivability through damage mitigation, non-removable healing, and condition removal. Damage is medium to medium-high with on command burst potential and tough, high damage pets.

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcoVMzm9MmvagMmvagM9MxaxcRqcmsb

Weapon Selection:
Weapons are highly variable, as there is no specific focus on any particular weapon, just on survivability. There is a slight benefit to using weapons which benefit from condition damage as there is +300 condition damage right off the bat from Wilderness Survival. I personally prefer direct damage as the only way to avoid it is through high armor or complete mitigation (block, dodge, etc.).

• Sword
  Sword provides a lot of burst potential due to the high attack speed. Burst can be drastically improved on command via quickness through either Quickening Zephyr every 60 seconds or Zephyr’s Speed every 15 seconds. In addition, on demand evasion potential is gained through weapon skills.

• Off Hand Options
• Dagger is an ideal pairing for sword. The extra evasive attacks pair very well with the sword. Crippling Talon prevents targets from easily escaping and the poison from Stalker’s Strike can prevent an opponent from healing as effectively.
• Torch can provide extra damage for a condition build as well as a fire combo field that can benefit axe main hand by applying burning or sword via fire aura. Not as useful for a direct damage build.
• Axe has limited usefulness for most builds. Whirling Defense is an excellent counter to ranged attackers, but has limited usefulness in melee combat as it greatly limits mobility. On the upside, it can apply up to 12 stacks of vulnerability to anyone dumb enough to stay in melee range and is excellent inside combo fields. Path of Scars is also an excellent AoE column attack.
• Warhorn is the second best choice for pairing with sword, assuming it isn’t taken as an off hand for the axe in the second weapon set. Call of the Wild is arguably one of the best boons in the game. Hunter’s Call provides an excellent amount of burst and is unlikely to be obstructed while in melee range.

• Greatsword
  Greatsword is an excellent defensive option and has the potential for the highest burst when used in combination with QZ and ZS. Evasion is excellent during quickness, but otherwise requires auto attack to be turned off to use reliably on demand, which hurts overall damage. Excellent ranged defense with Counterattack.

• Ranged Options
• Axe is an excellent choice to pair with sword/dagger as it allows warhorn to be used as well. Off hand options for the axe are the same as above, though anything other than torch or warhorn are not highly recommended.
• Longbow is an effective tool to control an opponent headed into melee range. Barrage can be used to slow and damage an approaching opponent while they are softened up with Hunter’s Shot and Rapid Fire.
• Shortbow can be used as a primary weapon in a condition build. Sword/torch makes an excellent secondary weapon for shortbow, allowing the placement of a fire field which allows fire aura, as well as burning from the shortbow while an enemy is in melee range.

Sigils:
Personal preference plays a large part here. I personally put Hydromancy on melee weapons coupled with Fire if dual wielding. Energy on ranged weapons coupled with Fire if dual wielding. The reasoning is that swapping will happen in melee range and Hydromancy causes an AoE chill effect and damage. After finishing an opponent in melee combat, the switch back to a ranged weapon should happen, replenishing any energy lost through dodge rolling. Fire is my preferred damage sigil as it does a good amount of damage and it’s an AoE.

Gear:
Gear selection is dependent on which weapons you intend on using. Stat distribution for armor should be focused on Soldier (power, toughness, vitality) or Cleric (healing power, power, toughness) for direct damage weapons. Weapons which benefit from condition damage should focus on Shaman (vitality, condition damage, healing power) and Apothecary (healing power, toughness, condition damage).

Accessories should be focused on damage attributes. Berserker (power, precision, critical damage) is ideal for direct damage weapons. Carrion (condition damage, power, vitality) or Rabid (condition damage, precision, toughness) for condition weapons.

Runes:
Runes should focus on survivability, but personal preference may vary. Damage runes can be substituted if survivability is already at a desirable level.

Defensive runes of note are Dolyak, Dwayna, Monk, and Water.

Experiment with different combinations.

Traits and Utilities:
There is quite a bit of room for variation in this build. The build, as listed, provides excellent passive condition removal at the expensive of some survivability when health is low. This can be changed by removing Empathic Bond and taking Bark Skin to provide 30% extra damage reduction while at low health and swapping Quickening Zephyr to Signet of Renewal. This provides decent passive condition removal and excellent on demand condition removal.

A case can be made for taking Hide in Plain Sight over Oakheart Salve, but against savvy players Oakheart Salve will save your skin more often than HiPS.

Nature’s Protection can be taken over Nature’s Bounty, which can be helpful in sPvP where there are Thieves coming out of the woodwork. Intimidation Training can be swapped to whichever variety of pet is preferred.

Quickening Zephyr can be swapped out for any number of utilities depending on personal preference. The best options are “Protect Me”, Muddy Terrain, or Signet of Renewal.

Pet Selection:
Canines. No other pet performs as well in PvP due to the high amount of control they provide. Cripples and knockdowns not only prevent opponents from escaping, but it allows the pet opportunity to do more damage. Canines also have a fast attack speed, meaning that they are better at hitting on the run than other pets.

The AoE immobilize on the drakehound is arguably the best offensive special ability of the canines. Wolves have an AoE fear that is excellent for clearing opponents off of points in sPvP and for fearing away opponents attempting to stomp or res. Fern hounds can provide an extra bit of healing if needed. Hyenas are interesting in that they can provide even more control potential with the addition of a second “pet”. The alpine wolf has a decent AoE chill. All of the canine special abilities also do damage, with the exception of the fern hound and hyena.

How to play this build?
Part of how this build is played is based on weapon selection. That part comes with time, practice, and patience. Instead I’ll cover the basics of combat with this build.

Combat with this build is fairly fluid, but there are certain things that must be kept in mind. It’s always preferable to start combat at range, as it presents an opportunity to inflict some extra damage before closing to melee range. It also allows the triggering of Hydromancy when swapping in melee range. Troll Unguent should be used within the first few seconds of combat. Chances are that most players will be attempting to burst (it’s a Ranger! lol!) quickly and the passive healing coupled with Troll Unguent will negate a lot of damage. Starting the CD on TU early also allows for it to be used more frequently.

Rampage as One should be saved for opponents with lots of CC abilities. Avoid using it for stomping, as on demand quickness is available from pet swaps for stomping.

Stay near the pet! I can’t stress this enough. The pet is a major part of the build survivability. Without the pet nearby, nearly all condition removal is lost. In addition, the pet provides a considerable amount of control and damage.

Feel free to ask questions, express concerns, or provide (constructive) criticism.

I can attest to this build’s usefulness. It’s fantastic!!

I tried it out on 8v8 spvp today. I don’t know why but nobody seemed to focus on me. I’ll try it out on 5v5 some more before tournaments. It was a lot of fun though.

I used s/d a/w. When you’re in s/d, how do you pump out consistent damage? Is it through conditions or sword 1?

smug.3895:

I tried it out on 8v8 spvp today. I don’t know why but nobody seemed to focus on me. I’ll try it out on 5v5 some more before tournaments. It was a lot of fun though.

I used s/d a/w. When you’re in s/d, how do you pump out consistent damage? Is it through conditions or sword 1?

Yes, the majority of the damage comes from the sword auto attack. Quickness from pet swap and QZ turns you into a blender of doom.

So I tried it out some more in 5v5 s/tpvp. The build works great, but I had a few questions.

1) How much regen does Signet of the Wild provide? Is it necessary for the build?

2) Would a oh crap button be better as a replacement for Signet of the Wild for when you are focused/CC?

3) The build seems ironically weak against other rangers. They can kite you, cure all your numerous conditions, do more damage from range (if I am equipped with an axe), and without a decent gap closer against an elusive kiter, it’s very difficult to stay on a kiting ranger. Is this just a weakness in the build, or can this be fixed by switching axe/warhorn for a shortbow?

4) For a bunker, it’s hard to hold a position against even two good players. Is this an expected result, or are other people seeing different results?

However, I’m very impressed with the 1v1 capability. For a person just using the build, I did very well against all classes except rangers. It was interesting to not be afraid of thieves and mesmers.

Also, the axe was lots of fun in group fights with quickness enabled.

smug.3895:

So I tried it out some more in 5v5 s/tpvp. The build works great, but I had a few questions.

1) How much regen does Signet of the Wild provide? Is it necessary for the build?

2) Would a oh crap button be better as a replacement for Signet of the Wild for when you are focused/CC?

3) The build seems ironically weak against other rangers. They can kite you, cure all your numerous conditions, do more damage from range (if I am equipped with an axe), and without a decent gap closer against an elusive kiter, it’s very difficult to stay on a kiting ranger. Is this just a weakness in the build, or can this be fixed by switching axe/warhorn for a shortbow?

4) For a bunker, it’s hard to hold a position against even two good players. Is this an expected result, or are other people seeing different results?

However, I’m very impressed with the 1v1 capability. For a person just using the build, I did very well against all classes except rangers. It was interesting to not be afraid of thieves and mesmers.

Also, the axe was lots of fun in group fights with quickness enabled.

1) Signet of the Wild gives around 135 healing per second if you have 300 BM and a clerics amulet, so i wouldn’t drop it.

2) our only two “Oh crap!” buttons are lightning reflexes and “Protect Me!” and seeing as how this build relies heavily on the pet swapping thing for swiftness i could not even touch “Protect Me!” unless running a bear, otherwise you’ll kill your pet and be stuck with a 60s CD on swapping which is NEVER good.

3) do NOT swap axe/warhorn to shortbow, it’ll weaken the build as a whole by not only removing an easily applied weakness +chill, but by making you have to move around a lot in order to deal damage instead of throwing your axe at an enemy near a wall or another enemy it can bounce off, if you have issues against ranged drop the warhorn and pick up another axe, whirling defense will give you 5s of invulnerabilty from ranged attacks, and will actually PUNISH enemies who shoot you during that time, if they decide to close in for melee either let them eat the 12 stacks of vuln that the whirling D will apply or swap to sword/dagger and continue the evasion dance

4) with an axe/axe i have little to no issue against 2v1, however i run barkskin + healing spring instead of empathetic bond, i also run with a Pig (elixir of heroes ftw) and Warthog (fields everywhere!) for my bunker build and doing so drastically increased my survivability.

Additional build alterations: My bunker build brings Spirit of Stone instead of Quickening Zephyr because i don’t see a reason for QZ in a bunker build, and it also has the elite spirit because when i drop him down i have over 1k in health regen per second, making me incredibly difficult to bring down before i start popping my other CD’s, however RaO is also a good elite i switch out with my spirit quite often, really depends on opposing team and how many launches they can have/do have.

EDIT: The runes i run with are Melandru, toughness + -25% condi duration and stun duration just helps SO much against everyone out there it’s ridiculous, it also makes 1s stuns not even worth breaking out of because they’re done before they’ve even really begun, not only that but the 25% is applied AFTER condi duration increase is, so say they buff up their 10s duration up to 13s, you then knock it down to 9.75s making it lower then it was pre buff, VERY nice.

NOTE: -25% duration on stuns also appears to work on launches/KD/KB (also seems to affect distance last i played with it), blowouts (doesn’t affect distance), and dazes.

Thanks for the feedback. So to clarify, you recommend the cleric am with Melandru runes. You also would swap warhorn to another axe. I am assuming then that you would use different sigils since two of them were based on critical hits.

Is the elite spirit really effective? When I played other classes, I just took out the spirit first. It was easy to do, even when it was a moving one, and the ranger wasted a long CD skill. The damage you can dish out while the other person takes out your spirit is very negligible especially without any hard CC or QZ.

Your modifications seem more bunker-like, at the cost of movement and flexibility. Do you use it outside of tournaments?

I’ll try it out tomorrow. Thanks again for the input.

smug.3895:

Thanks for the feedback. So to clarify, you recommend the cleric am with Melandru runes. You also would swap warhorn to another axe. I am assuming then that you would use different sigils since two of them were based on critical hits.

Is the elite spirit really effective? When I played other classes, I just took out the spirit first. It was easy to do, even when it was a moving one, and the ranger wasted a long CD skill. The damage you can dish out while the other person takes out your spirit is very negligible especially without any hard CC or QZ.

Your modifications seem more bunker-like, at the cost of movement and flexibility. Do you use it outside of tournaments?

I’ll try it out tomorrow. Thanks again for the input.

The build i suggested is a legit bunker, if they want to run away i can’t do to much to stop them but if they want to stand toe to toe and fight me on my point they WILL lose, i used it a bit in WvW and it was great for defense and the such, and i could take on and beat anybody who didn’t start losing and run, so in other words just about everyone in WvW lol (if they fled, like i said, i couldn’t do to much to stop them).

As for the amulet i would usually run with clerics however if you want a bit more offense go with the Shamans because of how much conditions you’ll be able to throw around, you can also swap out QZ with frost/fire trap instead if you really want to drive home the “Get the kitten off my point!” mentality of the build, that’s more up to you though, LR could also be swapped out for the second trap if you decide to go with the trap/trap build (LR and me ran into -some- issues before because it’d throw me off the point when i’d want to stand on it, but it’s our only stun break so meh…)

As for the spirit, i’ve hardly seen anyone kill it with ease, and if the spirit was moving it’s usually a sign of a BAD spirit ranger, because that’s by far the worst trait you can take for spirits, and any damage they waste trying to down your spirit the better, it means they’re blowing damage on something else other than you!

One other thing to note about the pig, he provides a heal that can give you up to 4k health (depending on healing power) and essentially a second healing spring that has less duration and less direct healing, and then elixir of heroes, then the warthog can create a smaller, more random, chaos storm (this doubles as an etheral field which actually is the source of most my kills, so many idiots keep attacking the tanky ranger while they have 15 stacks of confusion… dumb kitten #8230;), a poison area that your pigs and you can applie weakness through by leaping, as well as completely crippling their healing, and then the scale, oh the infamous scale, that item alone is enough to make most people have to retreate, it applies 10s of weakness with the build i said, which will actually become 100% uptime (it gives you just enough to up your axes #3 to 100%) making it impossible for them to take you down unless they’re a crit build, it also rips the balls right off of their energy regen making it so they can dodge you less. (#1 advantage of this build is the pigs you can take full advantage of their F2 because neither you nor the pig should be very far from each other making the whole picking up their item of absolute no consequence)

EDIT: lol and i completely blanked on saying my sigils again xD, i normally run the weakness increase on one of the axes (or both if you’re feeling especially mean) and a poison increase on the dagger and then run either life or corruption on both the main hand weapons.

PS: Leap through your frost field if you take frost trap and everytime they attack you they’ll get hit with 2 seconds of chill, if they’re stupid and/or fast attacking they’ll quickly ramp up to much chill to deal with and have no chance of getting their burst off if the skills are on to many different CDs (45s—> 74.7s CD 60s —> 99.6s CD 25s —> 41.5s CD) if you can keep it up the whole duration because it makes their skills recharge 66% slower

This build is just ridiculous. I can easily 2v1 with this build, soak up Warrior and Thief burst damage, and take silly Glass Ranger LB pokes while capturing a point and staring at him. ALSO: Trebuchets don’t mean kitten but boats and more kittens.

How does it make you feel that an elementalist/guardian bunker build is ten times as effective as a ranger bunker build?

I know how it makes me feel. It makes me feel sad.

Agadar.4931:

How does it make you feel that an elementalist/guardian bunker build is ten times as effective as a ranger bunker build?

I know how it makes me feel. It makes me feel sad.

Makes me feel ok?

Rangers aren’t really supposed to be bunkers, they don’t have enough skills to support that playstyle unlike Guardians and Elementalists.

Excidium.6712:

Makes me feel ok?

Rangers aren’t really supposed to be bunkers, unlike Guardians and Elementalists.

That was not how this game was advertised. No holy trinity and all that jack. And yet guardians, warriors, and guardians can make themselves incredibly tanky, and not only that, but guardians and elementalists can also make themselves pretty effective healers in a game which supposedly has no healers.

It’s frustrating. Just comparing rangers with elementalists, you see that they can outdamage us, outlive us, and outheal us. And don’t even make me start about guardians.

Agadar.4931:

That was not how this game was advertised. No holy trinity and all that jack. And yet guardians, warriors, and guardians can make themselves incredibly tanky, and not only that, but guardians and elementalists can also make themselves pretty effective healers in a game which supposedly has no healers.

That there isn’t a trinity doesn’t mean everyone is equal. Some professions are meant to excel at particular roles, you don’t need more than a peek at the guardian skillset to notice he works best as a supportive frontline character. That rangers don’t excel at anything is an issue with this particular class. In an ideal world rangers should be among the best roamers in the game, if not THE best.

Agadar.4931:

It’s frustrating. Just comparing rangers with elementalists, you see that they can outdamage us, outlive us, and outheal us. And don’t even make me start about guardians.

They also need to put twice as much effort as any other profession to do anything, and have a selection of skills and traits that rival rangers in awfulness. They’re just more viable because the attunement system gives them a lot more versatility.

I’d argue that a ranger also has to put in twice as much effort to do something. Playing on my friend’s guardian for example, I oftentimes find myself lazely forgetting to even dodge or block attacks and still whack the absolute living chocolate milk out of people.

If this game has a hard mode, it’s called ‘rolling a ranger’.

Well I find rangers rather straightforward.

It’s just that the class is so weak in a pvp situation that it feels like you’re fighting handicapped.

By the way, does Compassion Training affect Natural Healing? I thought it was just for actual pet healing skills like the ones on the moas or the fern hound’s howl.

Wouldn’t that make it useless for this build unless you run with the cabbage dog?

Hey, you ruined my perfect snowflake!

J/k. I’ve been running this exact build for over a month now. It isn’t really new, just a bit under the radar. It is a variation of builds listed here:

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/72411-i-have-an-interesting-new-build-ive-started-running/

Yes, it is incredibly strong in 1v1 and small scale encounters. I would call it borderline OP in the hands of a good player. Naturally, you trade offense for bunker stats and survivability, but improved pets help mitigate this loss in damage.

Some key points:

— I stack PVT on my armor and currently sit at around 20k health and 3k armor for both WvW and sPvP. Combined with decent protection up-time from frequent dodging, you will be able to take quite a beating. (A reviving machine in keep/tower AoE)

— Empathic Bond handles conditions, a VERY strong trait. Perhaps OP. I often combine it with Signet of Renewal for even more condition removal.

— Evade, evade, evade. Sword plus Dagger is just incredible with all the evades. You can go toe to toe with just about anyone. I like to imagine my opponents raging when they blow key abilities. A not so small side benefit is increased pet DPS due to stationary opponents (unless they’re smart).

— Regen! The massive health regen synergizes beautifully with the overall tankiness of this build. From passives Natural Healing and Signet of the Wild, to runes (I choose Dwayna) and trait procs, you end up with a TON of it ticking away from many small and not so small sources.

— DPS. Along with being a great defensive weapon, the Sword is very fast for decent damage. The self root really isn’t bad once you get used to it. I leave auto-attack on since DPS is lost when turned off. I swapped to Axe+WH/Torch for a long time, but recently switched back to Shortbow which is better overall in most encounters (my opinion). It throws ’em off to alternate kiting with getting in their face.

— Healing. I run with Healing Spring (occasionally Troll Unguent in sPvP). It’s just phenomenal in so many ways, and it helps allies as well. With it, I keep proc’d regen up nearly 100% of the time. Spike heals from Monarch’s Leap finishers are an added bonus.

— Pets. I run dual canines, or sometimes birds for a change. Spiders in zerg WvW encounters. Canines are just a sweet combination of CC, damage and survivability.

This build isn’t for everyone. Some just can’t handle the loss in offense. But if you can get past that, you will be a force in 1v1. Especially if you have good evasion skills coming from glass cannon builds.

It’s great fun to roam around WvW zones. Would be gankers (looking at you, thieves) lick their chops thinking here’s another free kill ranger. Too bad for them…

About time someone posted this. I should have weeks ago… I now use a variation of this build and a lot can be done with variation. Don’t be afraid to innovate! Eventually you’ll come out with something perfect for your play style.

Agadar.4931:

It’s frustrating. Just comparing rangers with elementalists, you see that they can outdamage us, outlive us, and outheal us. And don’t even make me start about guardians.

And yet in a 1v1 situation against a ranger they get taken down fast. I’ve yet to be killed by a elementalist in a 1v1 fight…

RyuDragnier.9476:

Agadar.4931:

It’s frustrating. Just comparing rangers with elementalists, you see that they can outdamage us, outlive us, and outheal us. And don’t even make me start about guardians.

And yet in a 1v1 situation against a ranger they get taken down fast. I’ve yet to be killed by a elementalist in a 1v1 fight…

I second this.

Eurantien.4632:

RyuDragnier.9476:

Agadar.4931:

It’s frustrating. Just comparing rangers with elementalists, you see that they can outdamage us, outlive us, and outheal us. And don’t even make me start about guardians.

And yet in a 1v1 situation against a ranger they get taken down fast. I’ve yet to be killed by a elementalist in a 1v1 fight…

I second this.

I’ve never -lost- to an ele in a 1v1 but i sure as hell have been in a fight with one for an entire match… god that was the most intense fight ever… i think i downed him in the end… maybe… hell i think we might’ve actually both been around half health…

Eurantien.4632:

RyuDragnier.9476:

Agadar.4931:

It’s frustrating. Just comparing rangers with elementalists, you see that they can outdamage us, outlive us, and outheal us. And don’t even make me start about guardians.

And yet in a 1v1 situation against a ranger they get taken down fast. I’ve yet to be killed by a elementalist in a 1v1 fight…

I second this.

Same here. I’ve never lost to a bunker Guardian one on one either. It can sometimes take a while to kill a good one, but I am in (literally) zero danger of dying unless my mouse dies (wireless mouse is bad) or I lose consciousness.

nldixon.8514:

Eurantien.4632:

RyuDragnier.9476:

Agadar.4931:

It’s frustrating. Just comparing rangers with elementalists, you see that they can outdamage us, outlive us, and outheal us. And don’t even make me start about guardians.

And yet in a 1v1 situation against a ranger they get taken down fast. I’ve yet to be killed by a elementalist in a 1v1 fight…

I second this.

Same here. I’ve never lost to a bunker Guardian one on one either. It can sometimes take a while to kill a good one, but I am in (literally) zero danger of dying unless my mouse dies (wireless mouse is bad) or I lose consciousness.

This is so true… this is also one main reason i like bunkering on my ranger, can i stand there and take as big of a beating as a good bunker guardian? no of course not, but i sure as hell can take a beating as well as butcher my attacker and send them back to their team in nice bite sized pieces.

1) I can’t say is not a good build, however, u r become totally useless in tournaments in my opinion. it looses the best utilities from a ranger (traps) and the support factor in team fights of range support. A trap ranger can easily outclass any warrior, thief glass cannon ele and guardian out there hands down, no need for this melee nonsense with s/d-a/a. Any good player will counter melee ranger, is not hard.

2) And u might want to consider the traits in beast mastery, U r going to be swaping pet every 15 seconds, pet rarely will die on die on 15 seconds no matter what, unless u r standing right below burst, and either way, they have passive regen with the last trait i bet u can be more than effective in 15 seconds.
Swap Compassion Training (IV) for Mighty Swap (VI) and u will see your pet actually kill things, plus, sword gives might to your pet, making it a super silly burst with pet along (and they do freaking kd as well) 3 might on swap and who knows how many more with sword autoattack and quickness

3)U r going to be swaping pet every 15 seconds, no need for the cripple upon F2 use, by the time the pet is done using the skill, u r going to swap it out, plus, wolfs cripple anyhow, and sword does cripple as well. Your are better of with swaping Intimidation Training (IX) for Commanding Voice (V) or Speed Training (I) , u want to use those F2 as a way to keep people on the edge and the KD alone on ur pet with the quickness on swap is just op.

4)I have seen something like this in youtube, a ranger roaming with s/d-a/t beating the kitten of people in WvW. Cool with scaleting and all of that, try in a tournament, u won’t keep up.

5)If u want to slow down the enemy, good for u, but i can bet u won’t keep that node defended for long, since u rely in dodges and evasion from sword to avoid burst, specially against any shatter mesmer, condition necro, even condition thief (quite popular at the moment) and a trap ranger like me, u won’t out heal the amount of conditions and burst.

nldixon.8514:

Same here. I’ve never lost to a bunker Guardian one on one either. It can sometimes take a while to kill a good one, but I am in (literally) zero danger of dying unless my mouse dies (wireless mouse is bad) or I lose consciousness.

of course u won’t loose to a bunker guardian, they don’t freaking do any damage, they stale people and keep a node secure, u will out damage him, eventually, even if it takes 5 mins.

I have tested the builds out in tournaments. In my opinion,

1. You never lose 1v1 against any class.

2. You do lose 2v1, unless you are up against very bad players.

3. I would not call it a bunker. Other than not dying quickly 1v1, the point gets neutralized very quickly (I don’t know if this is because of the “evade bug” mentioned before in spvp boards), the ranger goes down fairly quickly under focus fire, and is extremely weak to CC (esp immobilize) and bursts (Durzlla’s build).

4. The OP’s build is better for tournaments. It can actually kill people and the stability is nice. The other bunker one can only kill if the opponent decides not to run after 4 minutes.

5. The build is not very good for tournaments. At best, it could be used as a side bunker, but it lacks mobility compared to others (unless your team is built upon the side bunker staying on point the whole game). Also, as I mentioned, it doesn’t hold points very well.

6. The quickness is great for stomping and rezzing. I think the build might be better off in bigger fights than stuck 1v1 at side.

I love playing the build, though. I guess it could be modified to be a support roamer with a little bit more speed and perhaps a hard cc (maybe the weapon swap one will do) to get the rezzes in.

This build has a very similar playstyle to the one I use. I have done some experimentation with a 0/030/10/30 Clerics build as well, but have found my over all durability and utility to be lower than that of my regular 0/0/30/25/15 Soldiers build.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/66729-how-to-be-a-great-greatsword-ranger/

In SPvP I swap out the Axe/Warhorn for a Shortbow, giving me: two knockdown (Canines), a knockback (Greatsword block), a fear (wolf), and two dazes/stuns (Greatsword and Shortbow #5). It’s truly an attrition build, and I win most of my skirmishes by interrupting my enemy’s heal.

Your mileage may vary.

Vecuu.2018:

This build has a very similar playstyle to the one I use. I have done some experimentation with a 0/030/10/30 Clerics build as well, but have found my over all durability and utility to be lower than that of my regular 0/0/30/25/15 Soldiers build.

Your mileage may vary.

Greatsword is terrible against anyone with stability or a way around the block…
Outright terrible… its like a low dps, low mobility version of warrior greatsword then…

I dunno, I just don’t like weapons so easily hard countered with only marginal gain otherwise :/

garethh.3518:

Vecuu.2018:

This build has a very similar playstyle to the one I use. I have done some experimentation with a 0/030/10/30 Clerics build as well, but have found my over all durability and utility to be lower than that of my regular 0/0/30/25/15 Soldiers build.

Your mileage may vary.

Greatsword is terrible against anyone with stability or a way around the block…
Outright terrible… its like a low dps, low mobility version of warrior greatsword then…

I dunno, I just don’t like weapons so easily hard countered with only marginal gain otherwise :/

My choice in weapons doesn’t invalidate the build. Weapons are variable and can be adjusted according to preference.

I find the Greatsword to be great for longer conflicts, which is what most ‘bunkery’ builds look for. The incredible CC aside (which have lower cooldowns than most Stability granting abilities), it has high evasion up-time just from the auto attack.

Lelouch.8452:

1) I can’t say is not a good build, however, u r become totally useless in tournaments in my opinion. it looses the best utilities from a ranger (traps) and the support factor in team fights of range support. A trap ranger can easily outclass any warrior, thief glass cannon ele and guardian out there hands down, no need for this melee nonsense with s/d-a/a. Any good player will counter melee ranger, is not hard.

2) And u might want to consider the traits in beast mastery, U r going to be swaping pet every 15 seconds, pet rarely will die on die on 15 seconds no matter what, unless u r standing right below burst, and either way, they have passive regen with the last trait i bet u can be more than effective in 15 seconds.
Swap Compassion Training (IV) for Mighty Swap (VI) and u will see your pet actually kill things, plus, sword gives might to your pet, making it a super silly burst with pet along (and they do freaking kd as well) 3 might on swap and who knows how many more with sword autoattack and quickness

3)U r going to be swaping pet every 15 seconds, no need for the cripple upon F2 use, by the time the pet is done using the skill, u r going to swap it out, plus, wolfs cripple anyhow, and sword does cripple as well. Your are better of with swaping Intimidation Training (IX) for Commanding Voice (V) or Speed Training (I) , u want to use those F2 as a way to keep people on the edge and the KD alone on ur pet with the quickness on swap is just op.

4)I have seen something like this in youtube, a ranger roaming with s/d-a/t beating the kitten of people in WvW. Cool with scaleting and all of that, try in a tournament, u won’t keep up.

5)If u want to slow down the enemy, good for u, but i can bet u won’t keep that node defended for long, since u rely in dodges and evasion from sword to avoid burst, specially against any shatter mesmer, condition necro, even condition thief (quite popular at the moment) and a trap ranger like me, u won’t out heal the amount of conditions and burst.

nldixon.8514:

Same here. I’ve never lost to a bunker Guardian one on one either. It can sometimes take a while to kill a good one, but I am in (literally) zero danger of dying unless my mouse dies (wireless mouse is bad) or I lose consciousness.

of course u won’t loose to a bunker guardian, they don’t freaking do any damage, they stale people and keep a node secure, u will out damage him, eventually, even if it takes 5 mins.

1. I’m not even sure what to say to this, because it’s wrong. If trap Rangers were as good as you seem to think they are, they’d be everywhere in tourneys. I rarely see Rangers in tourneys at all.

2. Don’t completely understand what you’re saying here. Are you saying that you don’t need Natural Healing in the build because your pet isn’t going to die in 15 seconds? Natural Healing adds healing to the pet and the Ranger. The self healing is incredibly valuable.

Compassion Training actually affects Lick Your Wounds (when it works) and I assume Search and Rescue too, but since it’s awful I’ve never bothered to test it. Mighty Swap is a close second, but since pets have issues hitting moving targets it’s still second in my opinion.

3. There is absolutely no reason to take Commanding Voice. F2 resets every time you swap pets, so it’s absolutely the most pointless trait ever. The Beastmastery line is full of traits with absolutely zero synergy. Same thing with Speed Training. No point in having your pets attacks recharge faster when all of their attacks have more than 15 second cool downs.

Finally, cripple stacks in duration, so you can never have enough cripple.

4. It works just fine in tourneys.

5. You’d be surprised how much healing this build has, most of which can’t be stripped or stolen. Every single class you mentioned either dies or runs away unless they come with friends. If they’re glass cannons they’ll usually die within the first pet swap.

Thanks for the feedback, but you should really try the build before you comment on it. It may not look like much on paper, but it’s pretty killer.

smug.3895:

3. I would not call it a bunker. Other than not dying quickly 1v1, the point gets neutralized very quickly (I don’t know if this is because of the “evade bug” mentioned before in spvp boards), the ranger goes down fairly quickly under focus fire, and is extremely weak to CC (esp immobilize) and bursts (Durzlla’s build).

That’s why I put bunker in quotes. It’s not really a bunker the way most people think of a bunker, but I wasn’t really sure how else to describe it and people kept asking me about my “bunker build” so… Yeah. Heh.

@nldixon, yeah mines not really a “bunker” build either, it’s just a plant your feet and go to town build, it works really well as a “bunker” though because you get to plant your roots at one point and pretty much just hold that point, however it also is quite good at “bunker busting” because the bunkers advantage is also its weakness against a heavy field build…

I can vouch for the viability of this build. Its amazing! I was becoming bored with ranger but found another interesting build to keep me happy. The regen through various means (I use spring, signet, nature spirit, runes, dodge roll, and fern hound) is nice, but I think the real defense here comes from the evasion skills from sword/dagger, as well as traits and lightning reflexes that give vigor. Traits are 0/0/30/10/30 and I run sword/dagger and axe/axe and optimize defensive stats, so it takes me a while to get a health bar down.

On the plus side, I was able to successfully 2v1 more than once and not die( the longest being at 4-5 minutes!), rarely dying. This is all in one day of sPvP just trying out the build. Shortbow seems an interesting option, but I think my build would lose some power in not being able to attack multiple targets. The offhand axe I dont use too much though, I may switch to torch or warhorn. Mobility out of combat sucks, but its a price to pay. You won’t get obscene amount of kills, but it easy to whittle down someones health. Toughest opponents are heavy CC and condition builds. I am eager to try this in WvW once I get the gold.

Thank you for your wonderful insights for the ranger. I am happy there is still a worthy build that traits beastmaster. Been doing a lot better in matches. Damage is still decent while being pretty good at surviving.

glad to see others posting builds up

this is very similar to the build i put together link here

i also did a lil bit of math on the healing.. the numbers really surprised me!

also if think that taking bark skin (-30% damage when under 25%hp) is far more useful compared to the 3 conditions removed every 10 secs.. especially for a bunker build..

nldixon.8514:

smug.3895:

I tried it out on 8v8 spvp today. I don’t know why but nobody seemed to focus on me. I’ll try it out on 5v5 some more before tournaments. It was a lot of fun though.

I used s/d a/w. When you’re in s/d, how do you pump out consistent damage? Is it through conditions or sword 1?

Yes, the majority of the damage comes from the sword auto attack. Quickness from pet swap and QZ turns you into a blender of doom.

Love doing this, spoken about it many times myself, it’s like a heatseeker and your target just can’t get away from it, makes me laugh at the “omg sword is broken and it’s not my fault” posts.

Hey Mates,

I’ve made a similar build using a greatsword/shortbow combo and its working out great, im using on spvp the Melandru rune is it a bad choice, if so any suggestions?