Guild Wars 2

Let me preface this by stating Im not concerned with what is Meta, and instead, just in what is “fun” and viable.

So im a returning player, came back for HoT and am getting some more characters up to 80 to prepare for the launch. I haven’t decided which class I’ll play yet as my main, and will probably play multiple for a short time after launch until I get a feel for each.

I mainly play PvE doing world events, WvWvW, and just screw around and try to have “fun”

In other MMOs, I typically play the “hybrid” type classes (Bard, Ranger, Monk, etc.) These classes typically are DPS focused with some other unique utilities. I also often play the Druid class, and even RP’d my early GW2 Ele as a druid.

So naturally, Im looking at Ranger, Guardian, and Warrior. These three classes have the “flavor” im looking for from a RP’ing perspective, but now its time to decide which is the best fit. I’d like to stick with Ranger as my main, but it currently seems like the worst choice. Even ignoring all the Meta talk, it just doesn’t “feel” right.

Questions
1)What (if anything) can the ranger do better than the other two?
After playing Ranger up to 80, and starting to level my guardian, it seems like guardian is all around better. Granted, this is just for PvE leveling, but my guardian has great burst damage, both single target, and AoE. She has decent mobility (on par with the ranger) plus the class utilities synergize well with various builds and add to survivability.

The only advantage I can see to the ranger is that having the pet and a longbow, you can avoid damage all together most of the time. This is ok in PvE in most situations, but isn’t going to do much in PvP.

This is my biggest gripe with the Ranger. Since we have the pet, our personal DPS must be reduced. Controlling the pet is clunky, and if you want them to survive, you basically MUST spec into beastmastery.

2)What is a “fun” Ranger build that involves a bow?
For me, Ranger MUST use a bow. This is more important than the pet even. In other MMOs, typically, the bow is what makes the Ranger, and the pet is sometimes an option or specialization that can be taken.

But in GW2, its sort of backwards. The focus is put on the pet, and the bow is just another weapon. And to me, longbow is sort of boring. I was thinking something combining LB and traps could be fun, but then I see they changed the trap mechanics.

Anyone else thinking along the same lines as me. I WANT to stay with Ranger/Druid, but Dragonhunter seems like it might be better and more fun. I guess that will depend on what Druid has to offer.

You’re going to have to focus a bit on what you want answered, your post is kind of all over the place.

This is what I use for PvP http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRjUqQJL2wCusAVLGyEKPxTgG/rhF4x7kNAOgDWF5B-TZBFABCcIAEvMQbXBAAeAAzt/AA

WvW roaming http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqA9Ci9rAusActgh/gaf9FIA+04HGeefz3N4gVJeA-TVTBABWqOSh6AEVlgHeAAmpEMiDBwVKz8UFDsUagnmAq2fYhjAAAXAACBYeBA-w

WvW havocking near a zerg http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqA9Ci9rAusActgh9gav9A4s/44IeaegD4R4gVfeA-TVTBABWqOSh6AEVlgHeAAmpEMiDBwVKz8UFDsUagnmAq2fYhjAAAXAACBYeBA-w

PvE dungeon build http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Ranger_-_S/A_LB_Spotter

They all use a bow and I find them all to be fun. If you want something with longbow and traps there is a sinister bleed build floating around that you might be interested in.

Don’t lose sleep over it until they reveal druid next week :P

dankid.9321:

Let me preface this by stating Im not concerned with what is Meta, and instead, just in what is “fun” and viable.

So im a returning player, came back for HoT and am getting some more characters up to 80 to prepare for the launch. I haven’t decided which class I’ll play yet as my main, and will probably play multiple for a short time after launch until I get a feel for each.

I mainly play PvE doing world events, WvWvW, and just screw around and try to have “fun”

In other MMOs, I typically play the “hybrid” type classes (Bard, Ranger, Monk, etc.) These classes typically are DPS focused with some other unique utilities. I also often play the Druid class, and even RP’d my early GW2 Ele as a druid.

So naturally, Im looking at Ranger, Guardian, and Warrior. These three classes have the “flavor” im looking for from a RP’ing perspective, but now its time to decide which is the best fit. I’d like to stick with Ranger as my main, but it currently seems like the worst choice. Even ignoring all the Meta talk, it just doesn’t “feel” right.

Questions
1)What (if anything) can the ranger do better than the other two?
After playing Ranger up to 80, and starting to level my guardian, it seems like guardian is all around better. Granted, this is just for PvE leveling, but my guardian has great burst damage, both single target, and AoE. She has decent mobility (on par with the ranger) plus the class utilities synergize well with various builds and add to survivability.

The only advantage I can see to the ranger is that having the pet and a longbow, you can avoid damage all together most of the time. This is ok in PvE in most situations, but isn’t going to do much in PvP.

This is my biggest gripe with the Ranger. Since we have the pet, our personal DPS must be reduced. Controlling the pet is clunky, and if you want them to survive, you basically MUST spec into beastmastery.

2)What is a “fun” Ranger build that involves a bow?
For me, Ranger MUST use a bow. This is more important than the pet even. In other MMOs, typically, the bow is what makes the Ranger, and the pet is sometimes an option or specialization that can be taken.

But in GW2, its sort of backwards. The focus is put on the pet, and the bow is just another weapon. And to me, longbow is sort of boring. I was thinking something combining LB and traps could be fun, but then I see they changed the trap mechanics.

Anyone else thinking along the same lines as me. I WANT to stay with Ranger/Druid, but Dragonhunter seems like it might be better and more fun. I guess that will depend on what Druid has to offer.

The biggest misconception that I see people having is believing the class has to use a Lb just because it resembles the archetype of a archer. I personally rarely use the LB and prefer a melee ranger with gs/s+x. It tends to be a lot more fun and is a much more active style of gameplay. Lots of dodging/evading blocking and counter attacking.
The LB is ok but there’s much more to a ranger in gw2 than being an archer.

I wouldn’t say the ranger is better at anything than the other 2 but I like the animations of the abilities a LOT more than the ones of the war/guard.

Since you mentioned rp one thing ranger could bringer the table is, unique ways to role play by incorporating the pet instead of just you yourself.

What makes the Ranger unique is the range on the longbow. It’s the longest range in the game. Dragonhunter longbow has less range.

The pet shines in 1v1, but not much else.

Pet doesn’t even shine in 1v1, where it can’t even hit moving opponents thanks to the animation lock on autoattacks making them stand in place as they perform them while the opponent simply steps away.

The main thing rangers have that guardians and warriors lack is long range damage potential. Guardians famously lack a long ranged option, and the warrior’s longbow is a support/AoE tool while their rifle is considered by many to be a lackluster option. The ranger longbow has strong single target damage, the best range in the game, and somewhat decent utility with the stealth, knock back, and AoE cripple.

This may change with the introduction of the Dragonhunter which gives guardians a longbow build.

The pet offers the ranger a lot of utility even if most on this forum resent it. You need to learn to micro manage the pet properly to get the most out of it, but depending on what pet you choose it can offer a lot of extra control (Canines bring fear/immobilize and a knock down that can allow for chain control and spiders bring two immobilizes and a poison field), burst damage (birds can hit hard and hit more frequently than other pets due to constant swiftness), and many other options depending on what sort of pet you prefer (I like drakes for the strong F2 and blast finisher on Tail Swipe). If you invest in beastmastery the pet is a pretty strong companion, but can fall victim to the pathing issues other AI have so you need to work around it and lead the enemy into the pet’s attacks.

In melee the big benefit rangers have is they have a ton of evades baked into their melee weapon sets. While warriors and guardians wade into battle with blocks and invulnerability to negate damage rangers dart between enemies constantly evading attacks and dancing around our opponents. A good melee ranger is impressive to watch and the playstyle is a lot of fun.

So if you like a profession that ranges from fairly straight forward (Long range sniper build) to extremely fast paced and skill intensive (double melee BM ranger) this is the right profession for you.

dankid.9321:

Let me preface this by stating Im not concerned with what is Meta, and instead, just in what is “fun” and viable.

Questions
1)What (if anything) can the ranger do better than the other two?

2)What is a “fun” Ranger build that involves a bow?
For me, Ranger MUST use a bow. This is more important than the pet even. In other MMOs, typically, the bow is what makes the Ranger, and the pet is sometimes an option or specialization that can be taken.

Answer 1:
Ranger can 1v1 better than both, in fact, a good Ranger can utterly destroy warriors and guardians.

Ranger can use pet as distraction, or to attack a different foe. You can do two things at once. Warriors and guardians can’t.

Ranger’s mobility is much much better than guardian and pretty much the same as Warrior.

Ranger is much faster in combat than warriors and guardians. Our evasion is leaps and bounds (pun intended) better.

Answer 2:
Eh? How fun would Guardian be if you said it must use scepter? That would be very BORING. Same goes for Ranger. If you feel this is a must, you should roll a Guardian or Warrior. Especially if you don’t like the pet mechanic. Ranger will never be effective vs Guardian or Warrior without pet.