Guild Wars 2

Hi there, I’ve been playing since release and I’ve had some real trouble playing anything lately.

I’ve only played Charr since release and now I am just…sick of them. I’ve grow very bored of how they look, I love them but I want to actually look different for once!

I’m very stuck on what to play Race and Profession wise, can someone give me some pros and cons as a Thief/Ranger? I’m a PVE player.

Like pets?

Yes → Ranger
No → Thief

Cant decide… read further

Rangers are hated by pug. They are very good for soloing, but do not expect to be accepted in pug teams very often. Thieves are more tolerated.

If you run a sword/warhorn ranger with frost spirit and spotter, you will definitely be welcomed by PUGs. I have never been kicked from a PUG and I run dungeons or fractals almost every day.

But Kilger’s post is the first and last question of ‘ranger or thief?’. Their gameplay feel is very similar other than the pet.

Ranger
+ 2 unique damage buffs
+ tons of utility
+ 16.5k-17.5k health with meta builds
- Pet can feel like a handicap at times
- Lack of control when using sword

Thief
+ Really high DPS
+ Perma blinds
+ Stealth
- Squishy with 10.8k health
- Lack of group boons/buffs

Ranger is the underdog profession. It has many downsides and very few upsides. If played correctly and enough time is invested in to understanding their mechanics the Ranger can be a very rewarding profession. I avoided making a Ranger for the longest time because of all the bad things I had heard. Then one day I said screw it I’ll give it a go… Now I’m mad I didn’t try Ranger sooner. Although I see where they are lacking and why they are disliked by many, I also feel that many people dislike them because they don’t have the patience to learn them.
So if you feel you can invest extra time in to understanding the profession, I would recommend Ranger. Properly grasping the utilities and character as a whole can feel very rewarding when succeeding in duels especially.
If you feel you cannot invest extra time in to understanding a profession: Thief = stealth, heartseeker spam = win. It’s difficult to do poorly with a Thief unless you’re trying to face tank everything which they simply cannot do.

Make both, they have absolutely different feel to them. Main difference? Thief depends on escaping and re-engaging (stealth/blinds/etc) during combat. Ranger depends on a strong combination of ranged and melee combat, lots of dodging to avoid damage and pet support.