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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Hello fellow Bearbows!

Ask any and all questions you guys might have regarding this class in PvP/WvW here!
I will answer questions about:
Gameplay, mechanics, builds, combat… anything! Just no PvE please!
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A bit of background about myself… I have:
1. mained ranger since release and have extensive knowledge of its gameplay and mechanics
2. played at a high level in PvP for years
3. a deep understanding of every class in the game since I play them all, thus I can answer any questions regarding how to fight them with ranger
4. acted as the guild leader of the largest all ranger guild in the game for 2 years, with membership peaking at 250+ players

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

(edited by shadowpass.4236)

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Posted by: Ralkuth.1456

Ralkuth.1456

I’m excited and greedy, but I don’t think asking for general tactics against all classes is a good idea!!

I’m mostly an sPvP player, in gold tier, played since 2012 casually. Now running Menders Druid.

1. While I know Druids are fairly good at pushing far, I’m not doing as well as I should fighting side-node builds. I find myself kiting and giving up the node too often. Advice against Condi Mes 1v1 when I cannot avoid (please answer this if nothing else) and handling Thief +1’s would be nice. Is there a way to stay on point with a DH popping traps?

2. Should I be 1v1’ing the Engi at all? What are our best matchups?

3. Is there a way to cancel pet F2s? When would you recall your pet in a fight?

4. What is our best damage pressure tool as a Menders Druid? And what are some of our best bait-casts?

5. How would you do a solid power rez under heavy cleave?

6. Teammate on point is around 20% health under focus and needs emergency spike heal. What should I do in terms of skill priority?

7. Compared to Engi, what unique skill set do we offer to the team?

5 useless class titles
Carrying enemy team since 2012
“Multiclass implies you can actually play the class” – a certain royalty

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

1. While I know Druids are fairly good at pushing far, I’m not doing as well as I should fighting side-node builds. I find myself kiting and giving up the node too often. Advice against Condi Mes 1v1 when I cannot avoid (please answer this if nothing else) and handling Thief +1’s would be nice. Is there a way to stay on point with a DH popping traps?

2. Should I be 1v1’ing the Engi at all? What are our best matchups?

3. Is there a way to cancel pet F2s? When would you recall your pet in a fight?

4. What is our best damage pressure tool as a Menders Druid? And what are some of our best bait-casts?

5. How would you do a solid power rez under heavy cleave?

6. Teammate on point is around 20% health under focus and needs emergency spike heal. What should I do in terms of skill priority?

7. Compared to Engi, what unique skill set do we offer to the team?


1. Side-node builds? Generally, kiting and giving up the point to neutral is perfectly fine in 1vX situations. If you are using a longbow correctly, the person(s) you are fighting should be unable to cap the point, thus both sides are fighting on a neutral cap. The difference being, in a 1vX situation, you are forcing an advantage for the rest of your team as they will be fighting 4v3 on the rest of the map. If you do push far in a 1v1, as long as your team is winning/doing okay on the rest of the map, fighting on a neutral point is okay as long as you know you are able to win the 1v1 and survive a +1.

As for 1v1ing a condition mesmer, use the terrain to your advantage. Clones can’t jump so they have to path around obstacles you as a player can jump over. Stealth as often as possible because clones can’t track you in stealth and they will end up standing around doing nothing until you appear again. If you stealth and move when the mesmer shatters, the clones will explode at the position you were at the moment you entered stealth so use this to your advantage.

Chronomancers generally have a lot of evades/invulnerability/blocks/distortion so target a clone for easier stealths with longbow because they can’t dodge.

Thief +1s can be best handled if you keep an eye on your surroundings. If you see a thief approaching, look away to make them think you don’t see them, then just land an easy knockback or stealth in order to mess up their opening. When stealthing vs. a thief, make sure you dodge as soon as you shoot the arrow so you ensure your ability to reposition after stealthing. This goes when fighting other classes as well. Nothing is worse than landing the stealth but getting hit by a hard cc or immobilize, stopping you from utilizing the stealth to its full potential.

Also, if you want to kill a d/p thief easily, use rapid fire and pet swap into bristleback f2 as soon as they drop black powder. Both skills track stealth and thus the thief will still technically be targetted even while invisible. I’ve killed many thieves with this.

Depends on which traps. If it’s just Test of Faith, don’t walk in and out of circle, dodge the longbow knockback, shield knockback, and Spear of Justice and you’ll be fine. If they are using Procession of Blades, don’t stand in it if you are taking too much damage. If not, it is fine to tank or avoid everything with s/d. Also, if they are using multiple damage traps they are probably sacrificing a lot of survivability or movement so take advantage of that.
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2. Druids can 1v1 any class. Just make sure you kite a lot vs. engis so they can’t hit you with hammer. When they hammer 3, just dodge or use ancestral grace to get out of range. Also, because engis have a lot of reflect and block, you can just send the smokescale to attack the engi the entire time. Another tactic that works is staying in longbow and autoattack and cancel knockback to bait dodges. The engi will blow reflect/block cooldowns trying to counter your longbow. As soon as the engi runs out of these defenses, knock back, swap to bristleback, and burst.
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3. You can cancel pet f2s by calling them back with f3. I keep my pet on passive 100% of the time so I have better control over its position. Any time there is a lot of aoe or condi pressure, I will call my pet back in order to prevent it from taking too much damage. Or, if it is low on health I will call it back to prevent it from dying. Not having the pet for 60 seconds is a lot worse than losing out on its damage. Smokescale can naturally avoid a lot of damage with Smoke Assault and they cannot be hit while standing in its f2.
__________________________________________________________________

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236


4. Although pets were nerfed, the best tools for damage on a menders druid is smokescale’s Smoke Assault, bristleback’s f2, and quickness rapid fire.
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5. Assuming you are using Allies’ Aid, go into Celestial Avatar, 2, 3, leave for stealth, swap pets for quickness, and rez. If need be, use Signet of Stone to invuln and make sure you have stability through either CA 5 or SotP before rezzing so you don’t get interrupted.
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6. If your teammate is under ranged pressure such as another druid shooting at them with a longbow or a rev chasing after them with sword, using staff 5 and 3 not only stops the pressure, but also provides a blast finisher in a water field for a decent small heal. Follow this up with CA 2, 3 and leave if you want a quick heal into stealth so they can get away. If you aren’t under too much pressure, CA 2, 3, and then 4 before leaving for stealth can also work. In any other situation, CA 2 and 3 are your best bet for spike heals. CA 4 should be rarely used as it is an easy interrupt. Only use it in team fights if you desperately need to heal someone/heal yourself or you have a team that has a large number of blast finishers.
__________________________________________________________________

7. Higher mobility, ranged pressure.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

As for general advice vs. all classes:

Elementalistpoison and cc them off point as much as possible

Warriorkite and avoid headbutt/skullcracker and their ccs and burst skills in general, bait shield blocks by cancelling longbow skills like the knockback

Rangeruse terrain to avoid the pet, dodge knockback/stealth, rapid fire and bristleback f2 when a druid is about to leave Celestial Avatar for stealth

Necromancerknock them back and stay out of range of their staff, stealth to reposition and waste their marks, kite their death shroud by pinging with staff, sending pet to attack, and knocking back/stealthing with longbow

Guardianhave pet attack from one side, and you attack from the other, this renders their Shield of Courage useless on one side, avoid their ccs, dodge or use ancestral grace through them to trigger them

Thiefdodge the steal. although it is an instant cast 1200 range teleport that can be used from stealth, steal is actually fairly easy to predict if you have enough experience fighting thieves. other than this, cc, stealth, and aoe daze as much as possible in order to prevent their bursts/burst them and use rapid fire and bristleback f2 when they are going to stealth

Engineerdon’t attack when they reflect, cc a lot, have pet deal most of the damage

Mesmerstealth off clones, dodge the shatters

Revenantknock them back as soon as they use shiro phase transversal. this makes it 10x harder for them to close the gap, stealth as soon as they start to cast s3 so they waste it

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: Ralkuth.1456

Ralkuth.1456

Thank you! That was extremely helpful advice, and I’ll be sure to put them into practice for sPvP. I can see that Druid has seen better days, but Ranger as a class is so fun – mobility, evades, quickness, pet bursts, good sustain. Think I’m here to stay.

Not to mention the interesting builds possible in WvW with the freedom to tweak stats.

I hope the new elite of the future expansion will also be fun to play.

Edit: the answer quality is so high I think it needs a sticky.

5 useless class titles
Carrying enemy team since 2012
“Multiclass implies you can actually play the class” – a certain royalty

(edited by Ralkuth.1456)

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Thank you! That was extremely helpful advice, and I’ll be sure to put them into practice for sPvP. I can see that Druid has seen better days, but Ranger as a class is so fun – mobility, evades, quickness, pet bursts, good sustain. Think I’m here to stay.

Not to mention the interesting builds possible in WvW with the freedom to tweak stats.

I hope the new elite of the future expansion will also be fun to play.

Edit: the answer quality is so high I think it needs a sticky.

Your welcome! Druid has definitely seen better days. I used to be able to win 1v3s consistently at far all game in high platinum/legendary back in the earlier PvP seasons. Repeated heavy nerfs to pet and player damage, cooldowns, and healing really butchered my style of play. Now, 1v3s are a lot harder to pull off and 1v2s are a lot less manageable than they were before. Even 1v1s take a lot longer because of how low our damage has gotten.

Thank you! A sticky would be great. A dev comment on this would also help more people see this thread if any are lurking around this forum.

If anyone else has any questions, feel free to ask. It can be as specific as you want or very general. You will get a detailed response from a very experienced ranger player. I will also tailor specific builds to your needs or watch gameplay videos and comment on things that could be done better. If anyone wants me to reinstall the game, I wouldn’t mind training people in game as well. I play on NA servers.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: Bast Bow.2958

Bast Bow.2958

Don’t have any questions for now, just wanted to say this is a really nice initiative

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Don’t have any questions for now, just wanted to say this is a really nice initiative

Thanks! I’m surprised that there’s only been one question so far. But I’ll still keep checking the thread nonetheless.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: Acantha.8634

Acantha.8634

Hey there!

I’m aspiring to be a supporty Druid that still can holds it’s own in 1v1/open world etc.

But before I’ll be a Druid, I have to be a ranger (unfortunaly). An tips on weapon builds to make the path to level 80 ’bear’able (you see what I did there?) without a too boring pewpewpew beartank build? I think when I’m a Druid the best choice will be staff + longbow (for ranged attacks) right?

Any recommendations on a weapon that’s fun to level as long as I don’t hav the staff?

P.S.: Any ideas about classes that play very similar to the Druid playstyle?

Thanks!

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Hey there!

I’m aspiring to be a supporty Druid that still can holds it’s own in 1v1/open world etc.

But before I’ll be a Druid, I have to be a ranger (unfortunaly). An tips on weapon builds to make the path to level 80 ’bear’able (you see what I did there?) without a too boring pewpewpew beartank build? I think when I’m a Druid the best choice will be staff + longbow (for ranged attacks) right?

Any recommendations on a weapon that’s fun to level as long as I don’t hav the staff?

P.S.: Any ideas about classes that play very similar to the Druid playstyle?

Thanks!

Hi!

I actually don’t know too much about PvE unfortunately. I levelled my first character (a ranger) to 80 by grinding cows in Queensdale every day for 8 months (not a wise decision). Ranger doesn’t have very strong physical AoE. If you want to go physical, gs/a-a would be a good bet. gs/s-a could also be used for more movement. If you want to kill things easily, I’d suggest a condition trapper build using s/wh a/t such as:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRBMhd+1IlK0yitrg3KQ1iBGhiLgLPA+nYYT9ecr1QIjiH55D-e
Cheap and effective gear for this build would be full rabid.

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In general, when going through open world, permanent swiftness and a lot of movement skills is really handy for moving around. Fortunately, ranger has plenty of swiftness and movement skills to choose from. For movement, I’d recommend this build skeleton:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAR83iUqQLLWyiBGh6fiSQTIwO6AoEF2F-e
If you are comfortable with surviving on ranger, I’d recommend full berserker stats with this build.

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Additionally, a shortbow could be kept in your inventory for quick swapping. Using sb3, “Quick Shot,” off cooldown is an easy way to maintain permanent swiftness. When using sword, using the “About Face” keybind twice while using the skills “Hornet Sting” and “Monarch’s Leap” can be used to gain additional distance.
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From personal experience, one of the best ways to level and get experience fighting in 1v1s is through playing PvP. As you progress through the ranks and reward tracks, you will earn Tomes of Knowledge that grant whichever character consumes it 1 additional level. Thus requiring 78 Tomes of Knowledge total after finishing the tutorial to hit level 80. This does take a little bit of dedication and time, but I find is a lot easier than playing PvE and 10x more rewarding because of the combat experience you’ll get.
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For Druid using ranged attacks, staff/lb will be your best bet.
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Greatsword is decent without staff.
_
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I personally enjoy warrior, necromancer, mesmer, and thief a lot. If you want a class that has a lot of mobility, warrior and thief are both good choices. Damage wise, necromancer is very good with AoE. Mesmer is interesting to play as well.
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That’s the best advice I can give you for PvE. I’ve been playing PvP and WvW since release so this area is not really my forte.
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If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: Odokuro.5049

Odokuro.5049

Looking for advice on making a Power Druid build for WvW, Solo Roam and Small-Group play.

The Self-Proclaimed Pervy Sage of Yaks Bend.
https://www.twitch.tv/amazinphelix

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Looking for advice on making a Power Druid build for WvW, Solo Roam and Small-Group play.

The stats on my personal WvW build are as follows:
2500 power
50% critical chance
2,800 armor
18,000 health
200% critical damage
100% boon duration


Those are the stats without any stacking sigils, boons, or additional toughness from Signet of Stone.
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After the healing nerfs, I would recommend sacrificing some of those stats for around 300-700 additional healing power. This will not only help with self sustain while roaming solo, but provide additional support in small-group play as well. The build I linked has less base power and critical chance, but more healing power and critical damage.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqA1Ci9CCOsActglOBzpvFAKcPtgQ1CDelGT3pl8s0A-TVSGQB0T9n+oEMaHBAAcJAQ3+D/7BAUQlGERZG50FEAABYn7MduzADdoD9n/8ntzjuzjuzdWKgA3ZB-w
__________________________________________________________________

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

Ranger Questions? Ask here!

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Posted by: Odokuro.5049

Odokuro.5049

Looking for advice on making a Power Druid build for WvW, Solo Roam and Small-Group play.

The stats on my personal WvW build are as follows:
2500 power
50% critical chance
2,800 armor
18,000 health
200% critical damage
100% boon duration


Those are the stats without any stacking sigils, boons, or additional toughness from Signet of Stone.
__________________________________________________________________

After the healing nerfs, I would recommend sacrificing some of those stats for around 300-700 additional healing power. This will not only help with self sustain while roaming solo, but provide additional support in small-group play as well. The build I linked has less base power and critical chance, but more healing power and critical damage.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqA1Ci9CCOsActglOBzpvFAKcPtgQ1CDelGT3pl8s0A-TVSGQB0T9n+oEMaHBAAcJAQ3+D/7BAUQlGERZG50FEAABYn7MduzADdoD9n/8ntzjuzjuzdWKgA3ZB-w
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If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

Nice build, I did a bit of digging last night, and came across, Donee’s Shout Trooper Druid build on Metabattle and the YouTube version of the Updated version.

Here is his: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBmYD7kSFoWQsXQwkFgrFsMLYw/zC6D1JqNnyaPBg603qEnnG-T1SGQB/7KAoQlDDUJVRUioP1AgoSwxpbAAHEg6p6jCeAAAZ/BSBE4yI-w

Now I don’t mind farming, doing event trains, ect. to do what I need for either build. I am “New” to Ranger/Druid outside the time that I spent use the Glass-Cannon LB build several months ago lol.

His build has been labled, “Good” by Metabattle standards and is, “Newbie” friendly, any thoughts on his, and would you just recommend that I go directly for yours?

The Self-Proclaimed Pervy Sage of Yaks Bend.
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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Nice build, I did a bit of digging last night, and came across, Donee’s Shout Trooper Druid build on Metabattle and the YouTube version of the Updated version.

Here is his: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBmYD7kSFoWQsXQwkFgrFsMLYw/zC6D1JqNnyaPBg603qEnnG-T1SGQB/7KAoQlDDUJVRUioP1AgoSwxpbAAHEg6p6jCeAAAZ/BSBE4yI-w

Now I don’t mind farming, doing event trains, ect. to do what I need for either build. I am “New” to Ranger/Druid outside the time that I spent use the Glass-Cannon LB build several months ago lol.

His build has been labled, “Good” by Metabattle standards and is, “Newbie” friendly, any thoughts on his, and would you just recommend that I go directly for yours?

Thank you! I’ve watched some of Donee’s videos in the past.
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As far as his build goes, it has 4k more health at the cost of significantly less damage, defense, and support. The gear he uses in his build requires more effort to obtain as well. While it is a decent build, he could definitely do a lot better in terms of gear choices. Personally, I find the critical damage he has very lacking.

The build I linked is a very solid build for WvW. It is a strong roamer, can hold its own in 1v1s and 1vXs, and can help the team out as well.

I would definitely recommend going for my build first. It is not only stronger, but easier to get the items and stats required.
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When creating a build for ranger, I’d recommend at least hitting these base stats:
2.4k power
40% critical chance
2.7k armor
18k health
200% critical damage
67% boon duration
300-700 healing power

__________________________________________________________________

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: SpellOfIniquity.1780

SpellOfIniquity.1780

I’ve been playing Ranger for about 3 and 1/2 years by now so I don’t think I need advice. However, it’s always nice to see another players train of thought and it can’t hurt to have things echoed back to me for confirmation or even learning something new entirely.

Since you’ve done a lot of high level PvP, I’m sure you could tell me something I’d want to know. I’ve never bothered with being competitive in PvP and have never participated in the seasons. But I’ve done a ton of WvW and solo roaming, mostly (and still) with glass vanilla Ranger.

Speaking from a small scale WvW perspective, I’ll start by listing some problems I have and maybe you can help me out.

  • What would you say the best way to deal with a Sword/Shield + Longbow, Medi-trap DH is? Can you give me any tricks I should know to turn these fights in my favor?
  • Against tanky meta Druids, besides interrupting Rejuvenating Tides -> Rapid Fire before they leave CA, what are some important things I can do to gain the upper hand? I find these fights are often a battle against time which, with very little defence, I can’t win.
  • Roaming Tempests, though rare, give me a lot of trouble. Besides trying to keep them Poisoned, sheathing my longbow when they’re reflecting and not wasting bursts while they’re in Water, can you give me any advice on how to win? Just in general to be honest because unless they’re glassy or I catch them before they catch me, I don’t know what to do against them at all really. I know nothing about Ele as it’s the class I’ve played the least of.
  • Lastly, a question a bit different from the others, here’s my build. I tweaked it a little bit recently and I haven’t noticed much of a difference in performance. So I’m wondering if you could tell me: Do you think Bloodlust would be better than Cruelty? And do you think the first build is better than this one? Note that I try to reach 100% Precision with all buffs but I’m on the fence about it being worth the investment. All I know is that I enjoy guaranteed crits when people are trying to get away from me because Long Range Shot can go as high as 4k on squishys.

I think I know the answers to most of what I’ve asked but again, it can’t hurt to ask!

Necromancer, Ranger, Warrior, Engineer
Champion: Phantom, Hunter, Legionnaire, Genius
WvW rank: Diamond Colonel | Maguuma

(edited by SpellOfIniquity.1780)

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Posted by: RedCobra.7693

RedCobra.7693

My question is about astral force generation. theres one mechanic which im unsure of. the 0.75% generation from attacks (power). is there an internal cooldown to this.

if there isnt i would expect to see it fly up when using Hunters call and bristleback special at the same time but i dont notice it.

from both attacks you get 26 hits so it should recharge in combat about 20% but it looks more like 10% to me

RedCobra – Ranked PVP Druid
Current Season – Platinum (Soloq)
Retired GW2 ESL Tournament Admin

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Posted by: Pvt Frosty.6973

Pvt Frosty.6973

My question is about astral force generation. theres one mechanic which im unsure of. the 0.75% generation from attacks (power). is there an internal cooldown to this.

if there isnt i would expect to see it fly up when using Hunters call and bristleback special at the same time but i dont notice it.

from both attacks you get 26 hits so it should recharge in combat about 20% but it looks more like 10% to me

Pet attacks do not count

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Posted by: RedCobra.7693

RedCobra.7693

ughhhh i feel woozy. I need to knuckle down and learn the intricate details of druid theres so many of them. for the record anet thats total bs they count pet healing but not damage.

RedCobra – Ranked PVP Druid
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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

@Spell of Iniquity,

I am going to the beach for July 4th so I was only able to type half of my full response. I’ll post what I have so far and finish the rest later.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

I’ve been playing Ranger for about 3 and 1/2 years by now so I don’t think I need advice. However, it’s always nice to see another players train of thought and it can’t hurt to have things echoed back to me for confirmation or even learning something new entirely.

Since you’ve done a lot of high level PvP, I’m sure you could tell me something I’d want to know. I’ve never bothered with being competitive in PvP and have never participated in the seasons. But I’ve done a ton of WvW and solo roaming, mostly (and still) with glass vanilla Ranger.

Speaking from a small scale WvW perspective, I’ll start by listing some problems I have and maybe you can help me out.

  • What would you say the best way to deal with a Sword/Shield + Longbow, Medi-trap DH is? Can you give me any tricks I should know to turn these fights in my favor?
  • Against tanky meta Druids, besides interrupting Rejuvenating Tides -> Rapid Fire before they leave CA, what are some important things I can do to gain the upper hand? I find these fights are often a battle against time which, with very little defence, I can’t win.
  • Roaming Tempests, though rare, give me a lot of trouble. Besides trying to keep them Poisoned, sheathing my longbow when they’re reflecting and not wasting bursts while they’re in Water, can you give me any advice on how to win? Just in general to be honest because unless they’re glassy or I catch them before they catch me, I don’t know what to do against them at all really. I know nothing about Ele as it’s the class I’ve played the least of.
  • Lastly, a question a bit different from the others, here’s my build. I tweaked it a little bit recently and I haven’t noticed much of a difference in performance. So I’m wondering if you could tell me: Do you think Bloodlust would be better than Cruelty? And do you think the first build is better than this one? Note that I try to reach 100% Precision with all buffs but I’m on the fence about it being worth the investment. All I know is that I enjoy guaranteed crits when people are trying to get away from me because Long Range Shot can go as high as 4k on squishys.

    I think I know the answers to most of what I’ve asked but again, it can’t hurt to ask!

Ooh. I love these questions. I’ll do my best!

First things first, core ranger isn’t something I’ve played in a long, long time. That said, I still have years of experience with it! When using core, and especially glass ranger, outranging your opponents is your best bet.
__________________________________________________________________

“What would you say the best way to deal with a Sword/Shield + Longbow, Medi-trap DH is? Can you give me any tricks I should know to turn these fights in my favor?”

  • When dealing with s-sh/lb medi trap DH, the most important skill you want to avoid is Spear of Justice. The pull and cripple will really hurt your chances of fighting back as instead of being able to do damage, you will have to find a way to escape instead. Regardless, it will really only mess you up if you: don’t have stab, your Lightning Reflexes is off cooldown, you’re not sure if you want to pop Signet of Stone, can’t gs3 away without taking damage from Test of Faith, got knocked back with longbow 3, etc. etc. To avoid this, look at the icons under the DH’s health bar. If you see the passive icon for Spear of Justice under it, just watch out for the common setups for the spear, and be ready to dodge it when it comes.
  • I’m assuming that you know when to predict the teleport from sword 2 but I’ll tell you just in case. The range on the skill is 600, thus many DHs will have to run closer in order to actually hit you with the skill. Assuming they already used Judge’s Intervention, this is how you know they are going to use it. It is harder to out-range it with gs3 than with staff 3 because of the slower cast time. That said, the blind is blockable and using counterattack as soon as the DH gets in range to use sword 2 will not only block the blind and initial strike of sword 2, but also knock them back and interrupt the sword 3 that usually follows, giving you a moment to burst them with maul, stun + maul, or knock them back with your longbow.
  • Wings of Resolve is exceptionally easy to interrupt. Most save this for the heal or to close the gap/escape, so keep an eye out for when their health is a bit lower and knock them back to cancel the heal.
  • Aside from this, your gs is a better counter to their s-sh and your longbow is a better counter to their longbow. The range on a DH’s longbow is 1200 range while yours is 1500, so they can’t even hit you from your max range. Avoid True Shot, Deflecting Shot, and Hunter’s Ward and you’ll be fine.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

(edited by shadowpass.4236)

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

“Against tanky meta Druids, besides interrupting Rejuvenating Tides -> Rapid Fire before they leave CA, what are some important things I can do to gain the upper hand? I find these fights are often a battle against time which, with very little defence, I can’t win."

  • This is difficult because fighting a well-played druid with a good build is very hard to win against. This goes for every class, of course, but I know personally I would have to mess up very badly to lose against a full glass core ranger while I’m running my tanky, high damage, high healing, mobile druid spec with a lot of stealth and permanent boon uptime. With my build, I essentially do the same damage as you, but I’m also 10x tankier as well.
  • However, assuming they are running staff/longbow, there are several ways to completely counter their attacks.
  • First off, use greatsword when they use longbow. Using the block when they rapid fire completely negates one of the sources of their burst damage. Although it requires a decent reaction time, make sure you dodge their knockback. It becomes fairly easy with enough practice and it is telegraphed so make sure you keep an eye out for when they are in longbow. Dodging the knockback makes the fight a lot easier. After all is said and done, close the gap and try to maul to make them waste a dodge.
  • Second, while using longbow while they are in staff might seem counterintuitive at first glance, it’s actually one of best things you can do. Initially, it seems like a poor decision because staff has built in projectile denial. However, longbow has built in projectile denial… denial, in the form of barrage. Since you are full glass, your barrage does do a lot of damage. Thus, dropping it on their Sublime Conversion forces them to move out of its protection, lest they take a lot of damage. Furthermore, their pings do a lot less damage than your autoattacks and can only be used from 1200 range. Attacking them with longbow while they are using staff forces them to go on the defensive. If they try to close the gap using staff 3, knock them back as soon as the animation ends to ruin their plans.
  • Stealth off the pet because it cannot avoid it.
  • A neat trick to pick up while playing ranger is to use your own pet as line of sight. Druid longbow, if running a meta build, does not pierce, thus by sending your own pet to attack while calling it back repeatedly, and having it stand between you and the person you’re dueling will completely negate all of their damage as they will be targeting you, but hitting your pet with all of the arrows. Having your pet in passive and just letting it follow you around works well also.
  • Since you use Smokescale, dropping its f2 and then using Rapid Fire through it has a 20% chance to blind per shot. This is helpful for both longbow vs. longbow and longbow vs. staff.
  • These strategies have worked for me as I have heavy experience dueling druids using core ranger. I didn’t actually have HoT at the time for several months after it came out. During this period, I was still in charge of the all ranger guild and was dueling some of the best rangers in NA on a daily basis. Using greatsword to counter longbow and longbow to counter staff will help your chances greatly.
I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

(edited by shadowpass.4236)

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Posted by: GUFF.5692

GUFF.5692

For WvW:

1. What’s your weirdest power build that surprised you with how well it worked (Not meta but very different) in WvW?

2. Same question as above except condi (even though condi is cancer in WvW )?

I like seeing off the wall builds!

Sarhaz [CDS]

I was a ranger before shortbow had 1200m range AND after it didn’t…

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

“Roaming Tempests, though rare, give me a lot of trouble. Besides trying to keep them Poisoned, sheathing my longbow when they’re reflecting and not wasting bursts while they’re in Water, can you give me any advice on how to win? Just in general to be honest because unless they’re glassy or I catch them before they catch me, I don’t know what to do against them at all really. I know nothing about Ele as it’s the class I’ve played the least of.”

  • I’m assuming you are mainly talking about d/f tempests. Tempests are fairly easy to fight once you know how to counter their counters. First things first, fire and water attunement do not have any projectile denial. They have Swirling Winds in lightning, Ring of Earth and Magnetic Wave in earth, and Aftershock as a utility. These 4 methods are the only ones available to a tempest to counter projectiles. As such, there are ways to work around this and bait a lot of cooldowns.
  • Fire is their most vulnerable attunement. FD3 is not an evade, interrupting this skill with your knockback negates both a movement and damage skill, allowing you to burst them in return.
  • Have you ever wondered why every time you are in longbow, it seems like the tempest has a reflect up? It’s because once they pop a reflect, they expect you to swap weapons and engage in melee range or use staff for pings. That’s a whole 9 seconds you give them on their cooldowns so that when you do swap back to longbow, they have a fresh utility/weapon skill ready to throw your arrows back.
  • Starting off the fight with longbow and using rapid fire right off the bat is a great way
    to bait a reflect.
    Most eles would expect you to swap weapons and try a different approach by this point. Don’t. If they use Swirling Winds, use barrage to get them to come out. If they use a reflect, sheath your weapon but do not swap it. As soon as their reflect ends, go right on back to shooting! If they pop another reflect, wait it out again and fire away. Using this method screws up their rotations as they are forced to pop their reflects and projectile denials one after the other in order to protect against heavy longbow hits. This not only throws their attunements out of whack, but puts them at a disadvantage as they now have long periods of time while they wait for their reflect cooldowns to finish. All the while, you’re happily pew-pewing them in the face.
  • Also, try to keep at range no matter what projectile denial spell they use. Swapping into a melee set and trying to go face to face is exactly what they want. Keep in mind, Lightning Flash and Burning Speed are the only movement skills available to d/f Tempests. By engaging in melee range, you’re willingly going into range of their attacks! By staying at max range, there is little a Tempest can do.
I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

(edited by shadowpass.4236)

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

“Lastly, a question a bit different from the others, here’s my build. I tweaked it a little bit recently and I haven’t noticed much of a difference in performance. So I’m wondering if you could tell me: Do you think Bloodlust would be better than Cruelty? And do you think the first build is better than this one? Note that I try to reach 100% Precision with all buffs but I’m on the fence about it being worth the investment. All I know is that I enjoy guaranteed crits when people are trying to get away from me because Long Range Shot can go as high as 4k on squishys.”

  • The first build has significantly higher damage than the second. I forget the exact number for the critical chance, but I believe at 2500 power and 50% critical chance, stacking critical damage is more beneficial than stacking power in terms of damage output.
  • As for 100% critical chance, hitting that threshold is a ton of fun! There’s nothing more satisfying than every single hit critically hitting. While satisfying, digging around for min max values in terms of damage output would be your best bet if you are trying to max out your damage. 100% critical chance is great for consistency nonetheless.
  • I personally used this build when I went glass cannon:
    http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqA1Ci9CCOsActglFBD+pWV/qPRhi1Lb5yFAOalI9zA-TlSBQBA4BAgHdBJUllHcBAMjSwLcIAey+Dl7IAQJ1JuiyvNDDAnhZAmZmZakRGhUARszC-w
I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: SpellOfIniquity.1780

SpellOfIniquity.1780

“Lastly, a question a bit different from the others, here’s my build. I tweaked it a little bit recently and I haven’t noticed much of a difference in performance. So I’m wondering if you could tell me: Do you think Bloodlust would be better than Cruelty? And do you think the first build is better than this one? Note that I try to reach 100% Precision with all buffs but I’m on the fence about it being worth the investment. All I know is that I enjoy guaranteed crits when people are trying to get away from me because Long Range Shot can go as high as 4k on squishys.”

  • The first build has significantly higher damage than the second. I forget the exact number for the critical chance, but I believe at 2500 power and 50% critical chance, stacking critical damage is more beneficial than stacking power in terms of damage output.
  • As for 100% critical chance, hitting that threshold is a ton of fun! There’s nothing more satisfying than every single hit critically hitting. While satisfying, digging around for min max values in terms of damage output would be your best bet if you are trying to max out your damage. 100% critical chance is great for consistency nonetheless.
  • I personally used this build when I went glass cannon:
    http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqA1Ci9CCOsActglFBD+pWV/qPRhi1Lb5yFAOalI9zA-TlSBQBA4BAgHdBJUllHcBAMjSwLcIAey+Dl7IAQJ1JuiyvNDDAnhZAmZmZakRGhUARszC-w

I appreciate the effort and detail put in to the responses. Things were learned and will be practiced, thank you!

Also glad to hear that my build is solid, ignoring the fact that it’s highly vulnerable, lol. But nothing wrong with being all in as long as you know how to play it, right.

Necromancer, Ranger, Warrior, Engineer
Champion: Phantom, Hunter, Legionnaire, Genius
WvW rank: Diamond Colonel | Maguuma

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

For WvW:

1. What’s your weirdest power build that surprised you with how well it worked (Not meta but very different) in WvW?

2. Same question as above except condi (even though condi is cancer in WvW )?

I like seeing off the wall builds!

Weirdest power build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAVRjUqQFLWwCOsAXLW+DslX3CIAAfWbr31n0wP4oVi0DD-TVCEAB+r+DR7PAwRAwddBMcIAaS5HgKBR4BAQwFAIAACghe0je0je025RP6RP6RLFQE7sA-w

Full signet is a ton of fun. You and your tiger can both land 12k mauls, easily 1 shotting people.
__________________________________________________________________

Weirdest condi build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAT8YjEqQLL2xC2sAVLWMEsm3VwqFwEAGdNA4s6XNtWi0PD-TlyCABhvwwEHEg90NolyPPV/RhLAAjKBpafAkfAAAcEAyMMAMCCBYu7enxFXVSB03yK-w

Condi longbow ftw!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

I appreciate the effort and detail put in to the responses. Things were learned and will be practiced, thank you!

Also glad to hear that my build is solid, ignoring the fact that it’s highly vulnerable, lol. But nothing wrong with being all in as long as you know how to play it, right.

Thank you! Happy to help!

Many of the tricks I know are instinctual by this point. Asking specific questions really helps to bring some of the more obscure ones to light since it is impossible to recall of them off the top of my head. Aside from that, scenario questions are also rather fun to answer.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Happy hunting.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

My question is about astral force generation. theres one mechanic which im unsure of. the 0.75% generation from attacks (power). is there an internal cooldown to this.

if there isnt i would expect to see it fly up when using Hunters call and bristleback special at the same time but i dont notice it.

from both attacks you get 26 hits so it should recharge in combat about 20% but it looks more like 10% to me

The fastest way to generate astral force passively is by using Signet of the Wild, Natural Healing, Dolyak runes, and shouts for permanent regen.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
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Posted by: RedCobra.7693

RedCobra.7693

My question is about astral force generation. theres one mechanic which im unsure of. the 0.75% generation from attacks (power). is there an internal cooldown to this.

if there isnt i would expect to see it fly up when using Hunters call and bristleback special at the same time but i dont notice it.

from both attacks you get 26 hits so it should recharge in combat about 20% but it looks more like 10% to me

The fastest way to generate astral force passively is by using Signet of the Wild, Natural Healing, Dolyak runes, and shouts for permanent regen.

I miss Signet of the wild being unblockable. it was so fun lol pretty broken though however all those utilities give over the 100% for 15secs a bit overkill xD the internal cooldown is something ill need to test but its almost impossible to measure it

RedCobra – Ranked PVP Druid
Current Season – Platinum (Soloq)
Retired GW2 ESL Tournament Admin

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Posted by: Ralkuth.1456

Ralkuth.1456

Hello, thanks again for the advice regarding sPvP. Knowing what to watch out for and where I’m headed has made learning Mender Druid very enjoyable.

I have a build request for WvW – since I’m in a T1 server and the roamers are usually in pairs or 5 mans built for heavy conditions, I would like to know if a Survival build with the condition removal would hold up better than a support druid relying on CA + Signet of Renewal.

I’ll admit I’m completely new to setting up gear outside of PvP, so relatively inexpensive options, as well as modest survivability so I can learn the ropes would be awesome.

5 useless class titles
Carrying enemy team since 2012
“Multiclass implies you can actually play the class” – a certain royalty

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Hello, thanks again for the advice regarding sPvP. Knowing what to watch out for and where I’m headed has made learning Mender Druid very enjoyable.

I have a build request for WvW – since I’m in a T1 server and the roamers are usually in pairs or 5 mans built for heavy conditions, I would like to know if a Survival build with the condition removal would hold up better than a support druid relying on CA + Signet of Renewal.

I’ll admit I’m completely new to setting up gear outside of PvP, so relatively inexpensive options, as well as modest survivability so I can learn the ropes would be awesome.

Your welcome! Glad to know my answers were helpful.
__________________________________________________________________

If you want to try core ranger, this is a great, inexpensive build to run:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAR8YjEqQLLWyCesAVLGYEKP0HhTnD3jOA6xtWDhSk+ZA-TVCEQBE4gAAgjAQKVCaFlfJS9H/obgI7P8gLAADeAABAQAu5Nzm1ZwRP6RP6RPa3co78n78nlCQQdWA-w

It’s very tanky and it does good damage. Although it does lack stab, you have so many evades, blocks, and movement skills that it shouldn’t really matter.
__________________________________________________________________

However, if you do the math, those survival utilities I selected would clear a total of around 60 conditions in 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Druidic Clarity in comparison would clear 140 conditions in the same time frame and even more with Signet of Renewal’s passive/active.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: Odokuro.5049

Odokuro.5049

Another question, from me:

What are some good weapon/armor sets to use in the meantime before you can get your hands on HoT stat gear?

The Self-Proclaimed Pervy Sage of Yaks Bend.
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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Another question, from me:

What are some good weapon/armor sets to use in the meantime before you can get your hands on HoT stat gear?


Berserker weapons and armor, Cleric accessories:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqA1Ci9CCOsActglOBDelGT3pPtgQ1CzpvFAKclI9zA-TFCEABtpLAgjAgVK/CUJYiq/QwlAAhHAQ87PEAAB4m3MbezAH9oH9oH9od0de0dO0hWKAv2ZB-w
__________________________________________________________________

Berserker weapons, Cavalier armor, Zealot accessories:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqA1Ci9CCOsActglOBDelGT3pO9tAQh7pFEqWYl8s0A-TFCFQBA4SAYtjAwjU/hTK/yoSw2t/Qa0FQgHAQAAEgduz05ODM0hO0hO0h2Qv5Qv5RPapA8anF-w
__________________________________________________________________

These are both good pre-hot stats to use on your gear as you are farming.
__________________________________________________________________

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: Eros.6801

Eros.6801

Hello

I’m currently planning on bring my ranger to WvW, im already have a necro/reaper and a guard fully geared for WvW but i looking for something new, so my questions are :

1. Which is better in Zerg vs Zerg, large scale fight condi or power ?
2. Which is better in small scale fight like 5v5 or 10v10, condi or power ?
3. If so which stat of choice and build is better in large scale/small scale ?

I already tried glass cannon with full zerk but i believe this one is mostly for roaming and i don’t do much of roaming nowadays. The damg is awesome but In zerg i melt like in 2s and shame of my uslessness.

I’m just looking for any advice and a better build to enjoy my ranger in WvW.

(edited by Eros.6801)

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Posted by: RangerThings.9810

RangerThings.9810

I’m a power/regen LB/staff druid. I exclusively solo roam in WvW. Love it.

1. Is it ever appropriate to use Staff 2?

2. Sometimes I can’t shake Warriors, they just keep closing gap, lock me down, burst me. What gives?

3. I dueled a smart condi druid 5 times last night. I lost every time. I couldn’t create distance, I ran out of cleanse. He predicted and stealthed during bursts. He was just better. How should a power ranger approach?

4. When 1v2+, do you have a rubric for who to target first?

5. When 1v2+, what’s best approach to stomps? I’m relatively glassy and stomps are dangerous. I stealth, but that’s no guarantee.

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

Hello

I’m currently planning on bring my ranger to WvW, im already have a necro/reaper and a guard fully geared for WvW but i looking for something new, so my questions are :

1. Which is better in Zerg vs Zerg, large scale fight condi or power ?
2. Which is better in small scale fight like 5v5 or 10v10, condi or power ?
3. If so which stat of choice and build is better in large scale/small scale ?

I already tried glass cannon with full zerk but i believe this one is mostly for roaming and i don’t do much of roaming nowadays. The damg is awesome but In zerg i melt like in 2s and shame of my uslessness.

I’m just looking for any advice and a better build to enjoy my ranger in WvW.

Which is better in Zerg vs Zerg, large scale fight condi or power?

  • Conditions aren’t great in Zerg vs. Zerg. Resistance being thrown around completely negates your damage and rangers don’t have any boon corrupt. As such, power is much more effective and allows you to stay in range and snipe squishy targets.

Which is better in small scale fight like 5v5 or 10v10, condi or power?

  • In 5v5s, both condition and power builds work well on ranger. However in 10v10s I would say power is better. Generally, the more people involved in a fight, the more effective power builds are.

If so which stat of choice and build is better in large scale/small scale?


If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

I’m a power/regen LB/staff druid. I exclusively solo roam in WvW. Love it.

1. Is it ever appropriate to use Staff 2?

2. Sometimes I can’t shake Warriors, they just keep closing gap, lock me down, burst me. What gives?

3. I dueled a smart condi druid 5 times last night. I lost every time. I couldn’t create distance, I ran out of cleanse. He predicted and stealthed during bursts. He was just better. How should a power ranger approach?

4. When 1v2+, do you have a rubric for who to target first?

5. When 1v2+, what’s best approach to stomps? I’m relatively glassy and stomps are dangerous. I stealth, but that’s no guarantee.

Hi! Great questions, I’ll do my best!


Is it ever appropriate to use Staff 2?

  • I use staff 2 to generate additional astral force. If you are attacking with Smokescale, this skill not only provides additional sustain for your pet, but also helps you hit 100% astral force a little quicker.

Sometimes I can’t shake Warriors, they just keep closing gap, lock me down, burst me. What gives?

  • When fighting warriors, it is important to maintain your distance. As a melee oriented class, they do a significant amount of their damage up close. If you kite well, use line of sight, and your mobility and stealths correctly, it is entirely possible for the warrior to not even hit you once over the length of a duel. I have won many duels against warriors at 100% of my health simply because the warrior was unable to get into melee range and hit me.
  • Generally, avoiding Skull Grinder and Headbutt should be your main concern when fighting a m-sh warrior. Skull Grinder’s blind can cause our stealth and knockback to miss, and the cripple makes it harder to run away.
  • Warriors also have a significant amount of passive defense and sustain through Adrenal Health, Healing Signet, and stances. It is very important to keep the pressure up when fighting a warrior to either negate or damage them through their healing until you have a chance to burst. Fortunately, many of their skills require pathing. As such, using mobility skills, stealth, and line of sight at the right times will make it very hard for them to actually connect with any of their skills.
  • Rush is a very telegraphed ability. If a warrior has stability while casting this, your best bet is to stealth with Hunter’s Shot and dodge the tracking hit. If the warrior doesn’t have stability, knocking them back with Point Blank Shot and continuing to deal damage is just as effective.
  • Bait Shield Stance by using Rapid Fire and then cancelling as soon as they begin to cast it.
  • Bait Balanced Stance and dodges by cancelling knockback.
  • As always, practice makes perfect. Dueling good warriors in 1v1 servers is a great way to practice fighting them.

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

(edited by shadowpass.4236)

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

I dueled a smart condi druid 5 times last night. I lost every time. I couldn’t create distance, I ran out of cleanse. He predicted and stealthed during bursts. He was just better. How should a power ranger approach?

  • Condition rangers rely on shotgunning tactics in order to burst condis. Although shortbow can sustain bleeds from a distance, outranging it with longbow is a great way to counter it. Axe-dagger can be avoided simply by kiting and dodging Splitblade and Crippling Talon. Sword-x is not much of a threat.
  • If you keep your distance through skills like Ancestral Grace, stealth + super speed, and knockbacks, you should have a fairly easy time avoiding a condi druid’s damage.
  • As a power ranger, baiting dodges is one of the best things you can do in a fight. By cancelling knockback and rapid firing to bait dodges, landing the skills you actually want to land becomes significantly easier.
  • If you do feel like the condi druid is closing on you, make sure you save CA’s condi clear for when you really need it, so you don’t waste it on conditions such as chill or 2 stacks of bleed. If you cleanse at the right times and reposition, there’s not much the condi druid can do.

When 1v2+, do you have a rubric for who to target first?

  • Always focus the squishiest targets first. Classes like necromancers or elementalists are always good targets. Avoid focusing classes with a large amount of stealth or invulnerabilities. Save the tankier ones for the end once all of the other ones have been dealt with.
  • If you are running staff/longbow, maintaining your distance from all enemies in a 1vX is extremely important. Try to change targets often so people don’t get too comfortable that you’re not targeting them. The element of surprise is very important when fighting multiple people as a sudden knockback into a burst can catch a player off guard.

When 1v2+, what’s best approach to stomps? I’m relatively glassy and stomps are dangerous. I stealth, but that’s no guarantee.

  • If you do a lot of damage, it’s best to cleave rather than stomp. If you down someone in a 1vX, the other person will usually try to revive the downed player. When this happens, Natural Convergence + pet swap Bristleback f2 on the player reviving is a great way to burst damage and potentially down the other player(s) while cleaving the downed target at the same time.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

@RangerThings

If it helps…
__________________________________________________________________

In terms of 1vXing, one of my most memorable fights was in Alpine Borderlands near an enemy’s spawn. I stomped people repeatedly in a 1vX over the course of an hour and a half. Every time I stomped, more and more people came off of respawn until I eventually got bored and left. By this time, I was fighting upwards of 6 people at once. Although they weren’t outstanding players, they weren’t uplevels either. It was then I was asked by several people from the guild JOY if I streamed and I responded with “My computer can’t handle it, otherwise I would.”

I only had exotic gear at the time but I was able to do well in that 1vX because I had extremely good positioning and was able to burst targets down before they could react. When people went to revive, I cleaved them down and stealthed away before people could catch me. A lot of 1vXs come down to awareness. If you can pull several people off to the side, then blow up the straggler, you can take those 1vXs easily.
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Although slightly off-topic, I felt it was worth sharing to demonstrate the capabilities of the ranger class and possibly inspire some aspiring druid player lurking on the forums.

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: Fluffball.8307

Fluffball.8307

I’m only skimming this thread but IMO its rarely ever NOT appropriate to use staff 2 on someone other than like a mesmer or necro. If you’re fighting a thief or warrior, put a dang autoheal bot on them. You have what, a staff auto to lose? Oh lord forbid you lose 400 damage@!!

I’ve beat many a staff + s/d druid using staff + lb using staff 2, and that’s a fight I’m supposed to lose.

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Posted by: Pvt Frosty.6973

Pvt Frosty.6973

I’m only skimming this thread but IMO its rarely ever NOT appropriate to use staff 2 on someone other than like a mesmer or necro. If you’re fighting a thief or warrior, put a dang autoheal bot on them. You have what, a staff auto to lose? Oh lord forbid you lose 400 damage@!!

I’ve beat many a staff + s/d druid using staff + lb using staff 2, and that’s a fight I’m supposed to lose.

In pvp 100% super strong skill. Especially vs melee classes. So many druids disregard its power to top off astral force at the start of the match.

Your playing menders lb? Then you shouldn’t be losing against s/d. Menders s/d doesn’t kill anything that also uses menders

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Posted by: Fluffball.8307

Fluffball.8307

Not in a reasonable amount of time, no. We’re talking unreasonable amounts of time! Nearly everything in druid is an unreasonable amount of time.

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Posted by: Odokuro.5049

Odokuro.5049

@Shadowpass

Is there any interest in or would you mind doing, a compiled guide on how to best use a Ranger/Druids combo fields, what to prioritize using at “Specific” time. As well as a, “How to engage/counter X class/spec”, that way people can read down through it, and use it as a reference point to return to when looking to, “Getting Good”?

The Self-Proclaimed Pervy Sage of Yaks Bend.
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Posted by: Ralkuth.1456

Ralkuth.1456

While I’ll be all for a current-meta reference point for Rangers, a compiled guide which is to some degree exhaustive, could take some time.

Getting questions answered in detail like this, especially scenario questions, is really valuable, and I love the interactive feel.

5 useless class titles
Carrying enemy team since 2012
“Multiclass implies you can actually play the class” – a certain royalty

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Posted by: DerJoker.9081

DerJoker.9081

Hey ShadowPass. I just posted a build on the ranger forum, and im curious of what you think about it it is a hell of a lot of text, feel free to not go through if you dont want to, the build is linked at the very beginning I mained ranger since launch as well and i am also quite sure about what i am doing, but it never hurts to get some more things told, i might not saw myself that time

Heres the link to the thread, ty in advance

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Guide-Condition-Druid-PvP/first#post6640682

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Posted by: TwistedFate.8705

TwistedFate.8705

Hi ShadowPass. I would like to pick up a new class and ranger looks like alot of fun but how is it for small / solo scale roaming in the current meta? Would you be able to help me come up with a build that can roam well in the current Condi meta? I can acquire any stat combo so doesn’t matter what gear is needed just aslong as it can fight the other Condi cheese builds lol. Thanks in advance. =)

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Posted by: Bast Bow.2958

Bast Bow.2958

Ha! awesome shadowpass! You should start hiring employees for this thread.

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

@Shadowpass

Is there any interest in or would you mind doing, a compiled guide on how to best use a Ranger/Druids combo fields, what to prioritize using at “Specific” time. As well as a, “How to engage/counter X class/spec”, that way people can read down through it, and use it as a reference point to return to when looking to, “Getting Good”?

There is definitely an interest! This was actually my goal when creating this thread. I was hoping that enough questions would be asked to turn this thread into a good reference guide for up-and-coming rangers. While I wouldn’t mind doing a compiled guide, it would be easier if someone were to create a list of specific points to address, rather than me doing a broad overview of every possible combination/scenario. Though, that wouldn’t be much different than what I’m doing now.

Combo fields is a good idea, what to prioritize using at “specific” times may be a little too broad for a highly detailed answer as there are so many possible “times” to address, and counters to every class and their specs is fairly broad as well. If someone were to ask what to do in a specific scenario or what to do vs. a specific spec, I would be able to give a much more detailed answer.
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If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]

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Posted by: shadowpass.4236

shadowpass.4236

While I’ll be all for a current-meta reference point for Rangers, a compiled guide which is to some degree exhaustive, could take some time.

Getting questions answered in detail like this, especially scenario questions, is really valuable, and I love the interactive feel.

Thank you for the feedback! I would love to do a compiled guide, though you are right in the amount of time required. The guide would be easier to create if people were to suggest specific points to cover. However, this would be relatively similar to what I’m doing now in this thread.
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If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Best of luck!

I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]