Guild Wars 2

I love the Ranger as a class, but I keep going back to my Mesmer due to the fact that, as a Mesmer, I can encounter 3+ players, get a kill (or more), and escape alive.

On my Ranger, I can win 2vMe solidly, but 3+vMe doesn’t seem to work well. I’ve tried the Cleric’s gear tanky beastmaster spec and have converted over to Rabid as well, but the issue seems to be a lack of ways to mitigate being focused while counterattacking.

Furthermore, when I’m roaming on my Ranger, there doesn’t seem to be options for me when I’m roaming and encounter an enemy zerg heading my way while on my Mesmer I have so many tricks I feel fine.

What I’m looking for is advice on WvW to help me change this, assuming it’s possible, as, if I could roam just as well on my Ranger as on my Mesmer I’d switch to my Ranger as my main in a heartbeat. I’m just not sure if it’s because of what each class can/can’t do and/or if it’s my larger amount of experience with my Mesmer.

Much thanks ahead of time.

there are few builds that allow you to do this as a ranger, and theyre both bunker based. one is a cleric/sword/bird build. you can happily tank 5-10 people (more if theyre bad), get a kill or two and escape. however, this spec just doesnt contribute enough to wvw overall.

the other builds revolve around 0/0/30/10/30 variations and apothecary gear. u have pretty insane condition damage with a sweet tank, which makes it perfect for small skirmishes and roaming. currently im playing a bunker/sword trap bombing build, with quite a bit of success. my main roaming build is SB/axe/torch, survival utilities and entangle on reduced CD.

these builds are high skillcap and you’ll likely find your mesmer more effective in the end. just saying. the ranger is my passion, but if i wanna be effective, i just hop on my burst meditation guard to down multiple opponents almost instantly.

overall though, the condition bunker ranger is one of the most effective small skirmish specs due to high sustain and excellent damage, and there’s no spec in the game that can take you 1v1. the downfall of this prof is that it contributes next to nothing in larger, more meaningful engagements, which is why it sucks for wvw in general.

As said above, if you’re any good and you’re lucky enough to meet a bunch of bad players you can dance the around for a long while and even totally escape if you need with the right build. I kept 8 players on me last night until my backup showed up.

My, off the norm build, has vigor constantly running with many sword dodges that can be used while immobilised and I can still keep up my damage with conditions even with my pet down.

Stuns are your worst enemy though, or mine at least. Large damage incoming doesn’t bother me.

If you are good with high healing, toughness and condition damage no one should be able to best you 1v1 and the few that you can’t kill shouldn’t be able to kill you.

As far as escaping enemy zergs, I find I can cover ground plenty fast with Sig of the Hunt, Call of the Wild, and a Great Sword. I usually have the GS equipped for travel, and just swap in the Short Bow when I’m ready to fight. It’s nice to be able to move from the back of a zerg I’m in all the way to the front, and it’s especially easy if you trait the 20% cooldown for sword skills.

I was finding that enemy zergs abundance of immobilize/cripple/stun/daze were my issue.

On my Mesmer I have blink, decoy, etc. to not only get out of them but invis or get in a better position.

Are you guys taking the traits Shared Anguish or Hide in Plain Sight? I’d be dodging wonderfully with sword+dagger when suddenly I was immobilized, stunned, etc. and died. I also sometimes seem to still be taking damage when I’m doing sword #2 and #3 which confuses me since those are supposed to be evades.