There’s a funny one-shot build with Norn ranger (not effective on duration (for long fights), but nice troll build).
But otherwise, race really don’t matter (racial skills have been made weaker than professions skills to avoid having race/profession schemes)
Now, all professions have their ups and down.
If you want to play with people and be welcomed everywhere, War or Guardian are the way to go.
To play just for fun, though, any class will do.
Rangers have awesome animations, and ok power or condi or support builds, so we can play it pretty much any way and have fun with the content.
Beware, though, of the description :
Rangers rely on a keen eye, a steady hand, and the power of nature itself. Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows. With traps, nature spirits, and a stable of loyal pets at their command, rangers can adapt to any situation
It is not the most accurate description (though that is true for most professions).
- We are the “archer class” because we have access to both bows, but, as for anything in GW2, range is making less damage than melee.
- They are indeed “capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows”, as long as they are PvE mobs, or new players.
- Traps need to be traited to be good (main good point about them is that foes do not see them until they are triggered), spirits bring nice buffs, but they die easily.
- Pets buffs are nice, but, as of now, buggy. Anet stated they would work on their responsiveness for the upcoming patch (feature pack).
We do, indeed, have the capacity to adapt to any situation, on paper (with our vast array of abilities). But, we need traits to make most of our utilities really usefull. The upcoming patch will help with that.
If you enjoy having two characters to care for (you and your pet), I’d say go ahead. If you can’t accept to “lose” somewhat 30% of your DPS in a pet AI on which you have few controls (eg, if you want those big numbers all for yourself), I’d advise you look at other classes.
Now, about stats, it really will depend on what you like to do.
PvE (high level and rushes) is as much Power, crit chance and crit damage as you can do with, with as few vita and toughness as you need to survive (which is true for all professions)
Roaming: I personally like alterations / traps, but there are a few good healing/regen ones – some direct damage, some alterations.
PvP – casual, any build will do, but the high level current meta is spirits, not sure of the exact spec.
I also like to play a mix of alterations/power, but it is not optimal, so it’s just when I play alone.
The fact that the pet do not scale with the ranger helps to make some nice dual builds (eg: ranger alterations with a power pet) without loosing.
Hope it helps you!
