Guild Wars 2

I was bouncing around the class forums, I’m always trying to discover ways to counter or play other classes, and I came across a post in the elementalist section titled, “How can we defeat a SB/GS Ranger?” Say what????

It was an interesting read. I quote the OP:

I’m almost embarrassed to make this thread but I’m now at a complete loss on how to deal with this problem. I run a bunker build on my D/D Ele and though I’m still fairly new to being a level 80, I tend to hold my own most of the time. That is, unless I run into a SB/GS Ranger with half a brain.
Last night, one of these Rangers personally wiped out 3 of us as we were trying to run him down in such a way that we looked like complete fools. I’ve never been killed so fast! What made it worse was that he took us all out and then found the time to run back and drop the stomp. Pathetic isn’t it? Even though I love my Ele, this almost made me go back and start working on my Ranger again.
The other point of concern is that I’ve seen this class/build just tear through one of our roaming groups like we weren’t even a threat. In normal PvP, I never had much concern about Rangers but in WvW, I just about /crapmypants whenever I see one now.

Now I just started playing SB/GS and I am having fun with it but I have yet to 1v1 an elementalist. For you more seasoned SB/GS rangers out there have, you had a high success rate against D/D elementalist?

Original post link here –
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/How-can-we-defeat-a-SB-GS-Ranger

edited question for clarity.

The post right after it is:

Sekai.2987:

well first i suggest you to go spvp with your ranger and take a close look at the traits and skils , and maybe watch some youtube videos of them to understand the playstyle…

second..i also get the feeling that gs arngers do more dmg then “normal” rangers, but i still don´t have a problem fighting them , in my opionion ranger is the weakest class in wvw in small combat (5man group or lower) , i always targer ranger first in a group.. they srsly need a buff..

i dont know what you did wrong so taht you died to that ranger , maybe you have to less experience in d/d or did some vital mistakes..who knows..
i can just say , play lnger ele , d/d or s/d , normaly rangers sould not be a problem

Sebrent.3625:

The post right after it is:

Sekai.2987:

well first i suggest you to go spvp with your ranger and take a close look at the traits and skils , and maybe watch some youtube videos of them to understand the playstyle…

second..i also get the feeling that gs arngers do more dmg then “normal” rangers, but i still don´t have a problem fighting them , in my opionion ranger is the weakest class in wvw in small combat (5man group or lower) , i always targer ranger first in a group.. they srsly need a buff..

i dont know what you did wrong so taht you died to that ranger , maybe you have to less experience in d/d or did some vital mistakes..who knows..
i can just say , play lnger ele , d/d or s/d , normaly rangers sould not be a problem

True. I’m not contending the OP needs to brush up on his skills but it was interesting other folks agreed with him. Muppet’s post surprised me most.

I’m wanting to know if rangers who are experienced with SB/GS builds have been able to routinely defeat D/D eles.

I kill elementalist all the time

If you’re a trap build, a dagger+dagger elementalist is going to hate you. You can kite them with shortbow, force them into your traps since they have no real good range, and your pet provides more damage and/or CC that frustrates them.

The chill build works well against elementalists as well as slower recharge on skills hurts a class whose mechanic is their various skills.

Whenever I run a power-based build, I run with greatsword+shortbow. When I see a zerg, I try to pick off someone on the edges of it and lure them and maybe one other away from the zerg for me to kill. If more come, I swoop out. If they try to ignore, I bleed them with the shortbow and harass with the pet. It allows you to disrupt and weaken a zerg and gives you ample opportunity for 1vMe and 2vMe fights and helps you better learn the class.

For new rangers, don’t be afraid to go so on the defensive that you are out of range of your foe(s). Your pet can still apply pressure while you get out of range/sight long enough to recover/heal.

As a bunker BM condi ranger, it’s easy. If they let themselves get killed. A d/d ele can disengage from a BM ranger whenever he wants, and bunker ones who don’t forget cleansing fire and roll extra condi removal instead of aura share can safely bunker rangers.

But, BM bunker rangers are useless in group fights. It annoys me to no end when people complain that this one build whose only use is roaming should be “OP”. It has crap group utility, can’t kill fast enough, and in larger engagement the pet is dead anyways.

And I have come to realize that many people care less about balance and more whether their class is best at 1v1/roaming. You don’t see people complaining about guardians despite the fact that they are the most broken OP class in teamfights.

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

I’m LB/GS in WvW using 0/20/20/0/30 with knight gear and I’m hit and miss against d/d eles. I win some and lose some. Most of the time they run away though.

Try fighting some of upper tier ele’s that run hybrid bunker builds, you will be in for rude shock.

I absolutely destroy Elementalists on my Ranger with the Shortbow. That is one thing the Ranger has going for it. We’re one of the few classes that can dominate the Elementalist.

The key is to move in a semi-circle, constantly, never stopping while keeping Chill up as long as you can.

Chokolata.1870:

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

+1 much harder than any elementalist I ever came across.

For d/d elementalists, all you have to do is time your evades perfectly and lead them right into your pace, into your traps and into your pet. I get how it can be tricky if you are not used to them, or if it’s a group of them and they are very well coordinated + bunker build.

My own hell in WvW are good mesmers… can’t ever survive for long enough and their clones shattering everywhere non stop sucks hard.

Eles 1on1 are easier than the kitten HGH engineer build. Good players running that build is about as OP as it gets.

Any profession can beat another profession if you are better than your opponent (yes, even warriors).

Let me quote the more important parts for you:

“I’m still fairly new to being a level 80” => not a lot of experience
“wiped out 3 of us” => 3 new players when it comes to PvP
“start working on my Ranger again” => most likey does not know a lot about Rangers

In this case I would say the OP needs more PvP experience.

In general D/D bunker eles are not invincible. Rangers can do very well against them, especially if you are more experienced and know what you are doing.

Here are a few things which help a lot against D/D bunkers:

- burst
- boon removal
- CC (Immobilize, Knock Down,…)
- forcing the ele to use his cantrips
- knowing the ele skill rotations (especially the water skills because they are mainly used for healing)

Things which do not help a lot in most cases:

- low damage output
- condition builds (there are simply to many condition removals)

If you include some of the things mentioned above in the build you should have no problems against most players. Anyway, unless you are playing on a “professional” level you should just play the build you enjoy the most.

That thread didn’t offer any advice regarding pets…so abuse that extra CC that they aren’t paying attention to I guess.

Most DD eles I encounter in WvW (on any class) jump in against the odds and if they start losing they run away and become impossible to catch. The guy that lost against that ranger was just horrible.

I always use SB/GS with my Ranger in PvP and I destroy most people. Why and how is that possible you may ask? There are so many new people to PvP that it’s almost comical to watch them try to defeat an experienced PvP player. With the right build, such as I have, I can take down an Elementalist fairly quickly due to the quick damage output I can do against him within a short amount of time. Don’t be misled when I say that the Ranger actually does damage. It’s more like I’m trying to tickle the Elementalist to death compared to other classes which just dominate the field. Like I said, new players are pretty much the only reason that happened. Other than that, I can almost guarantee Elementalist’s will always be better than Rangers.

Manekk.6981:

Chokolata.1870:

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

+1 much harder than any elementalist I ever came across.

Agreed, although HGH engis are in a whole new nightmare league

But you know trap ranger is already the hardest counter among all classes against mesmers (although the chance of win is still pretty low, but compared to other classes’ almost 0 chance we are already the best).
ele is never a problem for ranger, usually it’s just a never-end fight.

Wanderer.5471:

Manekk.6981:

Chokolata.1870:

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

+1 much harder than any elementalist I ever came across.

Agreed, although HGH engis are in a whole new nightmare league

Manekk.6981:

Chokolata.1870:

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

+1 much harder than any elementalist I ever came across.

This is why you run LB in WvW skirmishing.

Dojo.1867:

Manekk.6981:

Chokolata.1870:

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

+1 much harder than any elementalist I ever came across.

This is why you run LB in WvW skirmishing.

I’m terrible with a longbow I can’t make it work against rats in the starting zone let alone skilled players, it might have some specific uses sure but most times it’s a terrible weapon for anything but sniping from the safety of a keep in my opinion.

To be honest if had to pick the opponent and the weapon that I think would be the easiest to fight it would be a ranger with a longbow.

Wonder how you guys would go in SPvP duel’s I’ve found it allot harder in SPvP then unbalanced WvW.

One of my mesmer mate which I beat in WvW, I rarely beat in SPvP same goes for the d/d ele, there are some really outstanding players in SPvP compared to WvW, its why I’ve made the change away from the unbalanced WvW

Ive had a half success rate with killing D/D’s I used to play one so I know the rotations. Depends on thier skill, some are really, really bad and just jumping on the bandwagon of a good build with no idea how to play it. Those are the ones I kill. The other half though… I’m lucky to come out alive. I run SB/1hsWarhorn, tactics usually include evading and keeping distance. Pew pew with SB, when they get close 1H sword out, Warhorn birds, turn around 1H sword connection skill further out again, watch for frost armor, save your interrupt on SB for their heal or when you are in a tough spot.. all that jazz.

I’ve seen this ranger in one of the old T2 dueling events that wrecked some of the best D/D eles I knew. Took a P/D thief (me, xD) to take him down. I think his build focused on lots of healing, evade. His damage looked like it came from fury and might.

Sol.4310:

Wonder how you guys would go in SPvP duel’s I’ve found it allot harder in SPvP then unbalanced WvW.

One of my mesmer mate which I beat in WvW, I rarely beat in SPvP same goes for the d/d ele, there are some really outstanding players in SPvP compared to WvW, its why I’ve made the change away from the unbalanced WvW

Stats in spvp are different. In spvp there’s no vit/tough/condidmg amulet, for example. There are crit caps and confusion is nerfed. In the case of rangers with apothecary gear in wvw you can get far more bunker stat stacking than you can get from an amulet. Food also makes a huge difference.

1)It WvW, God knows what his 2 other friends is geared. They maybe lvl 1 for all we know.
2)New to lvl 80 aka not geared.

Typically D/D Elementalist will kill a ranger or run away with Lightning flash ride the lightning double swiftness . (Running away is not an option is Spvp)

WvW is about killing and running away. The battle zone is also very big and open.

Spvp is more on control pt or objective. Getting kill is fine if you get the objective. Spamming range dmg on someone in the control point however is not an option even if you are able to kill him 20sec later.

Manekk.6981:

Dojo.1867:

Manekk.6981:

Chokolata.1870:

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

+1 much harder than any elementalist I ever came across.

This is why you run LB in WvW skirmishing.

I’m terrible with a longbow I can’t make it work against rats in the starting zone let alone skilled players, it might have some specific uses sure but most times it’s a terrible weapon for anything but sniping from the safety of a keep in my opinion.

To be honest if had to pick the opponent and the weapon that I think would be the easiest to fight it would be a ranger with a longbow.

Yes that is a common missinformed opinion. Used right you drop nearly no DPS but hit thiefs and mesmers for twice the damage (the damage you miss with SB when they stealth). Your primary weapon should never be the longbow. It is a “use it when the opportunity is there but don’t keep it active too long” kind of weapon. A real secondary choice. Basically you have to master your skill rotation in a way that you don’t have to autoattack with it ever (which is possible).

I main an ele in pvp, and I agree that rangers are one of the toughest classes to defeat in a 1v1. This is only in pvp tho, where you’re forced to fight in a tiny circle that is conveniently the right size for traps, healing spring, and entangle.
I play a tough/healing/cond. dmg spec and its a nightmare trying to apply conditions to rangers only to see them drop a healing spring and shrug off conditions for the next 15 seconds. The only way to guarantee that my conditions last more than 5 seconds is to somehow connect with churning earth (lol obvious animation) then chain cc the ranger with earthquake and updraft and stack as much bleeds/burns as I can.

I’m not complaining tho, it seems that this specific build is meant to hard counter eles – not many other classes can do that. It’s a nice challenge

on a sidenote, can an elementalist really outrun a gs sb ranger?
The ranger will probably catch up soon(~3 swoops max), cause swoop has a way better uptime AND moves faster than RTL. The only thing, the ele got to increase the distance further is swiftness. Lightning flash will only give him a headstart. If the ranger got any source of swiftness(birds, RaO, …), the ele might not get away that easily.
Hell, after a swoop, the ranger might be in shortbow range already and lay down the pressure with cripples and crossfire(hurts from behind).

Its WvW and the OP says new to level 80, so the most logical explanation is that the OP and his group were completely outgeared.

In spvp its hard to beat a bunker ele even if you are traps or beastmaster/bunker.

I think he can. 2 leaps + teleport create the initial distance. If this is enough to get out of combat his swiftness will put his movement speed 8% over Sigil of the Hunt which is enough for the leaps to cooldown until the ranger could reach him in my experience. It is close though and traited cooldowns vs untraited cooldowns can make a difference.

Sometimes I end up being equally fast as the ele allowing me to ranged attack him with my bow. Not enough to really close up to melee range though let alone pin him down to the fight. When I beat them it is because they decide to fight themselves thinking they can win.

Xsorus.2507:

I kill elementalist all the time

Same, with huge amounts of vigor and wvades, don’t get the big deal over them. Of course if they want to get away, without a greatsword they pretty much can and it’s pretty hard for me to stop them.

If you are a condition build and run into a dagger+dagger bunker ele, you need to try to apply pressure on them but wait to apply the big pressure for after they have attuned to water and used their cleansing wave (and maybe even the on-dodge version from evasive arcana). This leaves them with only their cantrips for removing conditions. The fight will take a while and a good ele may never die to you :-/

I have PI, so that tends to hurt Elementalist alot cause they switch atunements

Xsorus.2507:

I have PI, so that tends to hurt Elementalist alot cause they switch atunements

Oh God, yes. This is why my Mesmer laughs at Elementalists … that and he can remove those precious boons ;-)

To be honest even really good elementalists aren’t that hard (d/d situation), cause they are pretty predictible. I’m elementalist for my own so I know everything I should know and attack’s animations are pretty long. So if you’re not stuned/knocked it’s easy to avoid.
On the other hand, condition or burst/condi mesmers are nearly impossible to win as ranger, even if they aren’t really good.

The biggest advantage Rangers have against D+D elementalist is the ability to kite. The elementalist has 2 (3 if you count Lightning Flash) closers. Without these, they have trouble dealing with a mobile ranger who can constantly apply cripple/chill/immobilize/knockdown/fear.

Which brings me to another point I forgot to mention. If you are a condition build, I highly recommend not just focusing on condition damage but also on condition duration.

• Condition damage does not benefit your chill, cripple, immobilize, weakness, vulnerability, blind, etc.
• Condition duration benefits all conditions and helps counter Runes of Melandru and Lemongrass
• Adding +1 sec to a 3 second bleed (making it now 4s) is a +33% potential damage increase on that bleed. Only potential because the enemy could die, cleanse, etc. before the end.

Sebrent.3625:

The biggest advantage Rangers have against D+D elementalist is the ability to kite. The elementalist has 2 (3 if you count Lightning Flash) closers. Without these, they have trouble dealing with a mobile ranger who can constantly apply cripple/chill/immobilize/knockdown/fear.

Which brings me to another point I forgot to mention. If you are a condition build, I highly recommend not just focusing on condition damage but also on condition duration.

• Condition damage does not benefit your chill, cripple, immobilize, weakness, vulnerability, blind, etc.
• Condition duration benefits all conditions and helps counter Runes of Melandru and Lemongrass
• Adding +1 sec to a 3 second bleed (making it now 4s) is a +33% potential damage increase on that bleed. Only potential because the enemy could die, cleanse, etc. before the end.

Pretty much this. I routinely defeat d/d eles in WvW using conditions, but it only happens once I’ve started eating veggie pizza and focusing them with freezes from pets. I fight with Axe/Dagger and Sword/Torch, so my build is heavily focused on conditions. Still, the fights are long, but they end up dying in the end after burning their stabilities and mistform.

You can be built for defense as well, using mostly defensive traits. I focus on healing power/toughness/vitality with a 0/0/30/10/30 build and still do plenty of damage to them.

Tip: Use entangle. There’s also a 7-second roots utility that will get them pretty good too. The perfect time to burst them down with conditions and your pet is after they’ve used mistform and burned their stabilities.

Usually when i’m fightin an elementalist he will keep curing my conditions, but he’s swapping a lot to Water Attunement to do it.

It usually goes fire then water, then fire.. and they don’t get to do Air and Earth that often because the amount of conditions I can put out very quickly.

Eventually they die from t.

Honestly, we should be counting our blessings that Elementalists haven’t gotten smart about the fact that their Focus is SICK … they prefer to just mash buttons and copy the Dagger+Dagger build.

Let me elaborate on what the Focus gives that makes it so mean:

• Flamewall - Create a wall of flame at the target area that burns foes.
• Fire Shield - Envelop yourself in a shield of fire that burns foes and grants might each time you are struck (cooldown of 1 second per attacker).
  • Attacking this quickly with your shortbow is going to burn you and give them plenty of might
• Freezing Gust - Chill your foe for a brief time.
• Comet - Drop a comet of ice on the target area and daze foes. (900 range 2s daze that has a small AOE).
  • 900 range chill and damage … they are copying us! :-p
• Swirling Winds - Create a swirling wind that destroys projectiles.
  • Does this in a large area for them and their allies in/behind it.
• Gale - Knock down your foe with a charged wind blast.
  • A 900 range 2 second knockdown
• Magnetic Wave - Damage foes, cure three of your conditions, and reflect projectiles with a magnetic surge.
  • It’s also a blast finisher and on a 25s cooldown.
• Obsidian Flesh - Envelop yourself in stony armor, making yourself invulnerable.
  • 5 seconds of invulnerability.

Yeah … between Swirling Winds, Magnetic Aura, and Obsidian Flesh you have 6s/3s/5s on 30s/25s/50s cooldowns. What would you do to someone that is able to be immune to your projectiles for 14s. They can reduce all of those cooldowns too.

This is one of the reasons I try to have 1 projectile and 1 melee weapon in most of my builds. Melee only worries about that obsidian flesh.

However, if you go melee, they use flamewall, chill, knockdown. If you go ranged, they have the above. Focus is mean and it’s just their off hand. Be happy Elementalist has attracted the “flavor of the month” copy-and-paste-build crowd.

Sebrent.3625:

What would you do to someone that is able to be immune to your projectiles for 14s.

What I do most of the time anyway, swap to sword and perma snare them with a blurry jumping kick and slash blender.

capuchinseven.8395:

Sebrent.3625:

What would you do to someone that is able to be immune to your projectiles for 14s.

What I do most of the time anyway, swap to sword and perma snare them with a blurry jumping kick and slash blender.

Yes :-) If you’re a tough power build, this isn’t a bad idea. Especially if you have buds around. Chain cripple is mean.

Here is an example of what happens when someone with a brain thinks outside the cookie cutter flavor of the month for the elementalist

Sebrent, as I like your opinions I can’t agree with comment above you made.

D/D is simply the best for vs and small actions.

The video you pasted is example of almost full zerker elementalist killing almost only thieves. I this case any opponent with a brain would get him down within seconds (after lighting flash and mist form).

Focus on versus with ranger might seem good in theory, but then you’re losing the most powerful skills dagger have:
Fire grab (fire#5)
Cleasing Wave (Water #5) and quite decent aura (8sec fury&swiftness with build for that).
RtL is no doubt good. (air#4 and following that air#5 for combo)
And both #4 and #5 earth.
Fire grab and Churning earth deals the most damage.
Cleasing Wave and Ride the Lightining are probably the best self supporting skills with dagger set.

That’s the reason why people tent to use D/D set for these kind of fights.

@Xsorus, you must have been fighting with very bad elementalists then if they use only 1/2 of their potential (attunements) and probably cannony ones if they have to switch to water every 9sec.

PS: Today on my server is “Duel Night”. I’ll try to record some versuses against thieves, eles staying on my ranger most of the time (instead of ele).
I wouldn’t place d/d ele in top of the hardest vs opponents against ranger.
Mesmer would be for sure top#1. Then maybe some thieves along with guardians and engies (last both due to retaliation and pretty tanky play style).

That’s fine, Lert. If we agreed, there wouldn’t be much to discuss ;-)

The difference between Dagger and Focus is offense versus defense. Focus allows you to not get hit and also makes you not have to close into melee to benefit from your skills. Since Scepter and Focus are both 900 range on their skills, they work well together.

Those times he was having to use lightning flash in order to get the knockdown from Earthquake he simply could have used Gale from up to 900 range away. It’s much harder to see that coming too, so less likely to be dodged and he doesn’t have to change attunements afterwards in order to get off his lightning burst so he has more time to do damage during the 2s knockdown.

While Churning Earth is very powerful, you don’t often land it against good players, even if you use lightning flash to land it as they know this and are ready to dodge roll it. On the other hand, the 5 seconds of invulnerability from Obsidian Flesh can’t be undone by your opponent. It’s in your hands. The same can be said for Magnetic Wave and Swirling Winds. They also don’t require the use of 1+ utilities to be effective … saving those for when you really need them.

While Earthquake can knock down up to 5 enemies, Swirling Winds is even better in that it helps support an unlimited number of people on your side and it doesn’t require you to dive into enemy forces and hope there are 5 people in range of the AOE, don’t have stability, and don’t dodge roll the attack.

Honestly, I love fighting against a player that blows all their utilities and such trying to burst me down. Now they have their stuff on cooldown, I’m still standing as I’ve evaded it, and my stuff is not on cooldown. Game on.

If you look at the guy’s build info that he posted, he is not full glass cannon:

Air- 30- VI, IX, X
Water- 20- V, IX
Arcana-10- V
The last 10 points can go into Fire, Water or Arcana

*Gear:
Same thing change it daily. The base setup is this:
Armor =Soldier’s
Jewelry= Knight’s with Exquisite Ruby Jewels
Weapons= Berserker

Full burst build:
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-…

Full Burst gear:
Armor= Soldier’s
Amulet= Ascended Berserker/Valk
Rings= Ascended Berserker
Accessories= Knight’s with Exquisite Ruby Jewels
Back Piece= Ascended Berserker
Weapons= Berserker

*Sigils:
Main Hand: Sigil of Fire OR Sigil of Energy (if I need more survivability)
Off Hand: Sigil of Force

*Runes:
Crit damage runes of your choice, with Ruby Jewels giving the best bang for your buck.

*Consumables:
Bowl of Butternut Squash Soup OR Bowl of Truffle Ravioli (if I need more survivability)
Quality Maintenance Oil

Dojo.1867:

Manekk.6981:

Dojo.1867:

Manekk.6981:

Chokolata.1870:

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

+1 much harder than any elementalist I ever came across.

This is why you run LB in WvW skirmishing.

I’m terrible with a longbow I can’t make it work against rats in the starting zone let alone skilled players, it might have some specific uses sure but most times it’s a terrible weapon for anything but sniping from the safety of a keep in my opinion.

To be honest if had to pick the opponent and the weapon that I think would be the easiest to fight it would be a ranger with a longbow.

Yes that is a common missinformed opinion. Used right you drop nearly no DPS but hit thiefs and mesmers for twice the damage (the damage you miss with SB when they stealth). Your primary weapon should never be the longbow. It is a “use it when the opportunity is there but don’t keep it active too long” kind of weapon. A real secondary choice. Basically you have to master your skill rotation in a way that you don’t have to autoattack with it ever (which is possible).

I knew what you meant the first time I just don’t think having a good aoe on a long cd or an ability that channels through stealth makes up for being terrible in everything but long range sniping, I use one ranged and one melee weapon range is my main fighting mode in general I melee if I have to only the longbow in it’s current form will never fit that style I don’t think that’s being misinformed I think it’s just my opinion and it carries some weight too.

That’s why I said “almost”. It’s not same with thief cannoniness (50% c. chance. 110 c. damage), but thief has much better survivability even with such low health and armor (15k, 2-2.4k).
It’s sure pretty enjoyable to watch something new (not d/d ele who is lacking of skills and still killing 2-3 rookies), but I think we could agree that in real world (against any better player who isn’t 100% cannon) he wouldn’t stand any bigger changes.

But well, nevermind. It’s pointless to talk about elementalist builds in one of the threads from ranger section, heh.

yes, we can take this discussion elsewhere :-p

It’s propaganda.
Probably a thief or ele that doesn’t want ranger to get buffed, so he makes threads that make the class look strong.
It’s actually clever.

Manekk.6981:

Dojo.1867:

Manekk.6981:

Dojo.1867:

Manekk.6981:

Chokolata.1870:

Good thieves and good mesmers , my own personal hell .

+1 much harder than any elementalist I ever came across.

This is why you run LB in WvW skirmishing.

I’m terrible with a longbow I can’t make it work against rats in the starting zone let alone skilled players, it might have some specific uses sure but most times it’s a terrible weapon for anything but sniping from the safety of a keep in my opinion.

To be honest if had to pick the opponent and the weapon that I think would be the easiest to fight it would be a ranger with a longbow.

Yes that is a common missinformed opinion. Used right you drop nearly no DPS but hit thiefs and mesmers for twice the damage (the damage you miss with SB when they stealth). Your primary weapon should never be the longbow. It is a “use it when the opportunity is there but don’t keep it active too long” kind of weapon. A real secondary choice. Basically you have to master your skill rotation in a way that you don’t have to autoattack with it ever (which is possible).

I knew what you meant the first time I just don’t think having a good aoe on a long cd or an ability that channels through stealth makes up for being terrible in everything but long range sniping, I use one ranged and one melee weapon range is my main fighting mode in general I melee if I have to only the longbow in it’s current form will never fit that style I don’t think that’s being misinformed I think it’s just my opinion and it carries some weight too.

I tried to point out that your dps will NOT drop if you do not autoattack compared to longbow. So you basically can have the utility without losing damage if you use it correctly. The whole “only longrange dmg” thing doesn’t matter if you don’t autoattack.