Guild Wars 2

Since last patch, my interest in Ranger has returned. Been over a year, good to be back.

We’ll start with the build and I’ll ask questions from there.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQRAnY8fnMqQDL2vC2CCVLGAQoWFAtThmNsfPGV72myvSxbVA-TZxCwAAOIAXODAbLDQ5BAMb/BA

1) Malicious Training: Now, in the build editor it shows duration increases but in game (pvp) it doesn’t effect my pets conditions at all. Tested in combat too, not just checking the tooltips but the conditions on the target. Is it bugged? Not work in PvP? Would I be better off swapping in Keen Edge?

2) Master’s Bond: How does this trait work exactly? I’ve tried killing stuff with it and there’s no stack shown like a bloodlust stack would. Does it just not show it? Also, does it reset when the pets are swapped or only when it dies/stowed?

3) Beast Mastery: I’m just wondering how worth it the trait line is in general. Do pets have a noticable difference when traited in? Or would I be better off putting 2 into Skirmishing for Sharpened Edges?

4) I have it set up a/d & s/t at the moment to spread out the evade and poison between the two sets. What works best for you guys?

5) I’ll be holding points with a bunker guardian that focuses on team healing and cleansing so I’m sure I’m good in those regards, but what are some things to take into consideration when finalizing my build?

Thanks for your time guys. Oh, and if any one else has ranger questions feel free to ask. I might learn something else that will help me.

2) It stacks on your pet, if you click your pet you can see it. It is removed if you swap pets or if it dies, so it’s not very good for PvP.

3) Uh, that’s a pretty mixed opinion around here. If you’re playing against premade teams, I personally would focus more on your own damage and consider the pet a happy side benefit, used mostly for CC or whatever you get out of it. For 1v1s pets are pretty strong though.

4) That weapon set up is pretty well accepted as one of the best.

5) Might want lightning reflexes over PM, and the shriek from drakes is difficult to land, but those are mostly my own preferences. Wolf is widely considered one of — or the best PvP pet.

I have had similar issues with Malicious Training not working properly after some patch many months ago but never knew if it was intended. Unfortunately that fix/bug wrecked my build so I’ve had to adapt since then.

Imo, you should move the 6 in BM into NM for survival of the fittest, evasive purity, and maybe circle of life or nature’s protection. I would drop PM for LR and I would use fear wolf (always) and either drake hound or river drake.

I haven’t tested Malicious Training recently so it is possible it is bugged, but it’s worth pointing out that build editors display Pets Condition Duration all wrong because they apply +ve condition durations you as the ranger get to your pet. To see this just look at your Lynxs F2 on your build, then remove your Krait Runes and look at it again.

In game your runes and condition duration don’t work on your pet, but the editor will say they do.. so If you’re basing what you are expecting off that then that might be the problem.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Lethal Njection.8741:

I have had similar issues with Malicious Training not working properly after some patch many months ago but never knew if it was intended. Unfortunately that fix/bug wrecked my build so I’ve had to adapt since then.

So trait worked at one point in time, has been bugged for months now and the devs show no interest in fixing it any time soon. Sounds about right.

Eurantien.4632:

Imo, you should move the 6 in BM into NM for survival of the fittest, evasive purity, and maybe circle of life or nature’s protection. I would drop PM for LR and I would use fear wolf (always) and either drake hound or river drake.

Condition removal isn’t an issue for me as I’ll be standing next to a guardian, and would probably swap some things around if I were to be on my own. Like more regen, SotF, some different utilities, etc.

I was testing the waters on BM to see if it would make it worth it for the pet. I usually use wolf/drake hound on my power build. I’m not sure if I should focus on myself ignoring my pet or build into it. And if it can improve condition output over what my survivability would gain.

Cufufalating.8479:

I haven’t tested Malicious Training recently so it is possible it is bugged, but it’s worth pointing out that build editors display Pets Condition Duration all wrong because they apply +ve condition durations you as the ranger get to your pet. To see this just look at your Lynxs F2 on your build, then remove your Krait Runes and look at it again.

In game your runes and condition duration don’t work on your pet, but the editor will say they do.. so If you’re basing what you are expecting off that then that might be the problem.

Yeah I figured runes wouldn’t effect condition duration for pets as stats in general (unless specifically traited) don’t effect them. But as it was a trait intended to extend the duration I figured it was a bug.

Shanks.2907:

2) Master’s Bond: How does this trait work exactly? I’ve tried killing stuff with it and there’s no stack shown like a bloodlust stack would. Does it just not show it? Also, does it reset when the pets are swapped or only when it dies/stowed?

Be warned that going into water counts as a pet swap. So the trait is pretty worthless in zones with small ponds and puddles which briefly drop you into swimming mode.

Overall, it’s a really strong trait while you’re leveling. It does not scale with level when I checked it earlier in the year. So the +200 to your pet’s stats from a full stack can be pretty substantial when your pet is low level and only has ~500 power. But since it does not scale, by the time you’re 80 it’s pretty mediocre.

3) Beast Mastery: I’m just wondering how worth it the trait line is in general. Do pets have a noticable difference when traited in? Or would I be better off putting 2 into Skirmishing for Sharpened Edges?

If you’re going for a BM build, I’d argue the most important thing is to put 3 points in NM. That gets you Fortifying Bond, which gives your pet a copy of your buffs.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fortifying_Bond

The buffs the pet gets aren’t an exact copy. They’re a fixed duration, instead of inheriting the actual buff’s duration. Of particular note, the copy of might your pet gets lasts 10 sec regardless of source. Couple that with the might you get from axe autoattack and it’s pretty easy to get your pet 25 stacks of might, which is +875 power, +875 condition damage. That’s far more powerful than the +150 power, toughness, vit, and +7% crit chance the pet gets from putting 6 points into BM.

In general I don’t think the BM line is worth it. If pets had better AI and/or hit more consistently, BM might be worthwhile. But with the current state of pets you’re just transferring DPS from something you completely control (your ranger) to something totally outside your control (the pet) that only works well against stationary targets. Also, it looks like rather than fix pets, Anet has decided to just buff the ranger skills so they’re about on par with the other classes head-to-head, with the pet just being bonus damage and utility. So I don’t see this changing in the near future, if ever.

4) I have it set up a/d & s/t at the moment to spread out the evade and poison between the two sets. What works best for you guys?

Play around with off-hand axe as well. The #4 skill technically exceeds Maul in burst damage since it hits twice (sometimes 3 times).