Guild Wars 2

Hello all, just pondering how worthwhile it is to get better at my ranger in pvp. I would like to hear your guys’ opinion, as you are the experts. I have an 80 ranger and I have been playing him frequently in pvp for about a week now. I’ve tried many builds and have settled on power ranger, but I just don’t feel like I am too useful. Sure, I can rapid fire and maul the kitten out of people, but when it comes to a team fight I seem to go down quickly, and even in some 1v1s. I’m not a bad player, I know what’s going on in a fight, I know what I need to dodge and break out of. I’m just wondering the class’s skill ceiling, does it come to a point where we just can’t keep up with other classes? Or am I just playing wrong? Also keep in mind I’m not saying I am a great player either, I don’t necessarily suck though.
Thanks in advance!

As fun pew pew ranger is, it’s quite hard not to get killed in pvp. I would recommend to try out condi builds with Entagle in teamfights (some usefulness, eh?).

Here’s one I’m using, quite fun once you get the hand of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIJWo1MNm78

I think longbow ranger is going to be very strong when stronghold comes out, that game mode favors us a lot more than sitting on points. You should be able to kill pretty much everyone except an equally skilled cele ele in a 1v1, medi guards can be tough too but they don’t hard counter us like the ele’s.

The bow is great for getting some damage in before they close in on you, maybe dropping a barrage to fight under, but you should be able to beat most people with your melee weapon, then if they try to run you can always burn them down with the longbow again.

I’d say the best way to improve is to try running a full melee build for awhile, get the feel for the timing on those weapons and learn how to best use your evades.

Zavik -
- there definitely is a reason to master the Ranger class.

Not many people will tell you this – but rangers ARE superior to plenty of his fellow classmen.
But here comes the “but”. The usefulness of ranger does not come in mechanics but rather his “counter-counter-play” kit. You see – you are the best at mind games. Even better than thieves – because everyone expects a thief to do that.

With the ranger – most of your damage output comes out passively. You do not have to worry about you and your cooldowns. As a ranger – you care about your enemy’s cooldowns. And if you are able to read them – You are going to be the downfall strategically, mechanically and tactically.

You’ll have to pay 10 times the effort, but you’ll get probably twice the reward as with any other class if you do it right.

P.S.
I do not recommend raw Power Builds. Those are strategically useless. You’ll offer only and only constant Power Pressure, and that one is much lower than condi pressure. Even the condi bomb is usually higher than Zerk Rapid Fire.

Okay, so I loaded in the build Panncakez suggested and I have a few questions. When do I decide to go melee? As I must get close anyway to get a full damage Poison Volley off, and shortbow is a somewhat close range weapon. And when should I pop Troll Unguent? I’ve had difficulty running this heal before as I’d use it too late or too early so I ultimately changed to healing spring. But I’d like to use it for this build, but I don’t know when. And what is so great about running Jaguar on this build? Should I just go back to spider for the immob?
Thanks for the replies though guys, helped me a lot

Also, what about Sharpening Stone? Do I just use it as an opener? OR wait for their initial condi cleanse and then pop it?

I usually switch to axe when target is rooted for Splitblade, sometimes sharp. stone + splitblade. Troll unguent used as sustain, at around 50%-60% hp (atleast I do so). Sharpening Stone is better used after the enemy clears conditions.
I’ve posted the build for you to make your own base upon, I personally run dog/wolf pets – both great for flanking an opponent for bleed application.

I used to be a short bow fan. But i have recently been doing alot better running Sword/Torch and Axe/Dagger. Fire damage is OP in PvP right now. i run this….

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQRAsf3YjEq0yaHLOsQ1aADhqdLEslArAwd8+CXdBbqA-TJhHwAAeCAILDE4kAAa/BA

The number of dodges (from Energy Sigils) and evades (from sword and dagger) helps handle direct damage. Empathic Bond, Survival of the Fittest, and Evasive Purity should handle conditions without any problems.

Use entangle (plus krait runes) > torch 5 > sword leap in fire field> Weapon Swap > Split Blade. Can add in another pet immob or muddy terrain to ensure the condi explosion continues. I also like to use a couple axe autos toward the end of this combo to boost damage.

i try and alternate between dodges and sword/dagger evades and its enough to almost perma evade. Feels like sword dagger acro thief. Save SoS till you are pinned down and have no choice. Was able to take on 2 Warriors simultaneously with this build / play style.

I tried out your torch build, Treeoflife, and I am loving it. Lots of fun to condi burst the hell out of people. Used to have a lot of trouble with Mesmers and now they are pretty cake if I can get the first burn rotation off. Thanks a ton!

Glad you like it! Make those mesmers fear the ranger! haha

I also run traveler runes sometimes if im on one of the larger maps or spirit watch (traveler runes + all our immobs are great for running the orb!)

The theoretical skill ceiling is super high, too high. I say this because the ranger has nearly limitless potential with pet synergy in terms of crippling that guy, saving a kd interrupt for someone’s heal, body blocking that inc rapid fire, etc. However, I’ve spent thousands of hours in ranger and all I can really manage to do it control the knock down (and only in 1 v 1s or 2 v 2s). However, under pressure, it seems impossible to me to be able to micromanage the pet that quickly in order to pull off those things that could really make the ranger AMAZING. Of course, I will always continue to work on the pet, increasing the aa speed via F1, F3 to increase the mobility because the AI will run weird if I let it control itself, using F1, F3 to bait dodges with kd or a howl, or even saving a kd until its needed. But again, there are still some things that are just super hard to keep track of, when is the kd coming if the fight is going on for a couple minutes? If I’m under pressure and I have to watch all the enemy animations AND my pet’s and I lose track of what my pet is doing, then it just comes down to what is the skill ceiling of the ranger without god tier pet control? In which case, the skill ceiling is too low.

At the end of the day, if you don’t want to be god tier then isn’t some other class just better than the ranger? You want DPS? Thief, mesmer, guardian? They are all better. You want condi pressure? Engineer is better. You want to be able to 1 v 1? D/d ele is better.

What we need:
- better pet control options (give us the ability to control all pet skills and ideally faster pet reaction times).
- balance (small buffs to ranger and small nerfs to other things)
- an amazing druid specialization to make us worthwhile!

Should you practice ranger? At the moment, I don’t know man. I don’t know.

I practice the class everyday, and to me it is worth it as it is my favorite class in the game.

If you still don’t know if this class is for you tho, like Eura said it’s hard to recommend this class as all the other classes can do what rangers do just far more simpler thanks to not having pet micromanagement. When in huge team fighting it is hard to focus on both the enemy and what your pet is doing, making the pet skill cancels a lot harder.

That being said, I still believe ranger has great potential competitively.

Rangers really have to be carried in any team at the moment, because it is difficult to be useful in team fights, (condi or power). Condi rangers really are 1 person focus fire as opposed to engis where the can just spam nades and burn everybody. Power rangers rely on their teammates to peel for them.

I think rangers really have to rely on their teammates to do the right thing to be useful atm. Its hard to carry a team being a condi ranger or power ranger (unless its foefire). I find most of the time that if my team is doing poorly in any team fight, I’m by myself running around the map trying to get a good position to get caps and 1v1’s. But when my team is rolling well, I find it easier to pick up match ups. You can’t really carry teams with a ranger as well as with a guard, ele, or engi.

Panncakez.1290:

As fun pew pew ranger is, it’s quite hard not to get killed in pvp. I would recommend to try out condi builds with Entagle in teamfights (some usefulness, eh?).

Here’s one I’m using, quite fun once you get the hand of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIJWo1MNm78

It’s actually surprisingly easy if you don’t use the garbage Meta build. Try this instead:

http://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEq0waHLusQ1ag+ga9CEAjdrfw9VEEp9AqA-TpBFwACuAAIOCA12fYxhAoaZAAPAAA

Irene Jane.9605:

Rangers really have to be carried in any team at the moment, because it is difficult to be useful in team fights, (condi or power). Condi rangers really are 1 person focus fire as opposed to engis where the can just spam nades and burn everybody. Power rangers rely on their teammates to peel for them.

I think rangers really have to rely on their teammates to do the right thing to be useful atm. Its hard to carry a team being a condi ranger or power ranger (unless its foefire). I find most of the time that if my team is doing poorly in any team fight, I’m by myself running around the map trying to get a good position to get caps and 1v1’s. But when my team is rolling well, I find it easier to pick up match ups. You can’t really carry teams with a ranger as well as with a guard, ele, or engi.

Why would they need someone to peel for them?

They have:

Hunter’s Shot
Swoop
Counter Attack
Signet Of Stone
Entangle
Fear (Pet)
Immobilize (Pet)
Muddy Terrain

That’s more than most classes have to survive.

I do regret playing ranger in gw2. I feel if I invested as much time into another class I could play pvp with better results.

I still love ranger though. It fits my 1v1 play style nicely.

Lewis Burnell.2493:

It’s actually surprisingly easy if you don’t use the garbage Meta build. Try this instead:

http://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEq0waHLusQ1ag+ga9CEAjdrfw9VEEp9AqA-TpBFwACuAAIOCA12fYxhAoaZAAPAAA

This build does not feel manly enough to me :/ but hey if it works for you then that’s what counts!

It’s actually not that hard to survive using 6/6/2/0/0 once you get used to kiting and know what to dodge.

6/2/6/0/0 or 6/4/4/0/0 are also other variations some can run if they feel they die too easily.

Skullface.7293:

Lewis Burnell.2493:

It’s actually surprisingly easy if you don’t use the garbage Meta build. Try this instead:

http://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEq0waHLusQ1ag+ga9CEAjdrfw9VEEp9AqA-TpBFwACuAAIOCA12fYxhAoaZAAPAAA

This build does not feel manly enough to me :/ but hey if it works for you then that’s what counts!

It’s actually not that hard to survive using 6/6/2/0/0 once you get used to kiting and know what to dodge.

6/2/6/0/0 or 6/4/4/0/0 are also other variations some can run if they feel they die too easily.

This variant build isn’t about feeling manly, it’s about being clever with build design. By not taking Traits in the Skirmishing line, you lose some Precision but gain the following:

Additional power from Strength of Spirit
Condition removal from dodging (Poison and Blindness)
x2 Condition removal for EACH Survival skill you use
Fury on EACH Survival skill you use
Fury and condition removal on Keen Edge (Trait)
30% extra Boon duration (applies to said Fury)
Lots more health

Taking the traditional Read The Wind Meta Build (as you describe) makes absolutely no sense. It has almost no condition removal, you have less health and don’t deal much more damage.

Zavik.9751:

Also, what about Sharpening Stone? Do I just use it as an opener? OR wait for their initial condi cleanse and then pop it?

What I try to do is preload it ~20 seconds before a fight. You’ve got 30 seconds to use it on a 36 second cooldown, so it’s basically a free 5 bleeds to start the fight. By the time it comes off cooldown you’ll be ready for your main burst after you’ve baited out their first round of cleanses. Just use a Stalker’s Strike > Split Blade > Throw Torch to load up some conditions first and wait to use Entangle on the second round with Bonfire.

I’ve got my condi survival build in my signature if you want to compare to others you’re looking at.

Lewis Burnell.2493:

Skullface.7293:

Lewis Burnell.2493:

It’s actually surprisingly easy if you don’t use the garbage Meta build. Try this instead:

http://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEq0waHLusQ1ag+ga9CEAjdrfw9VEEp9AqA-TpBFwACuAAIOCA12fYxhAoaZAAPAAA

This build does not feel manly enough to me :/ but hey if it works for you then that’s what counts!

It’s actually not that hard to survive using 6/6/2/0/0 once you get used to kiting and know what to dodge.

6/2/6/0/0 or 6/4/4/0/0 are also other variations some can run if they feel they die too easily.

This variant build isn’t about feeling manly, it’s about being clever with build design. By not taking Traits in the Skirmishing line, you lose some Precision but gain the following:

Additional power from Strength of Spirit
Condition removal from dodging (Poison and Blindness)
x2 Condition removal for EACH Survival skill you use
Fury on EACH Survival skill you use
Fury and condition removal on Keen Edge (Trait)
30% extra Boon duration (applies to said Fury)
Lots more health

Taking the traditional Read The Wind Meta Build (as you describe) makes absolutely no sense. It has almost no condition removal, you have less health and don’t deal much more damage.

It can deal the difference in damage between “dead” and “not dead”. There’s +23% crit damage, +25% damage in multipliers and on top of that SotW can add another 25% damage. I’d consider that “much more damage”.

Take sword/warhorn and fury will never become an issue. A full condition cleanse with SoR > a couple small cleanses, plus it’s a stun break.

In my experience, I’ve found that not going deep into both marksmanship and skirmishing takes a lot of damage away from the longbow. I’d rather get the job done from range (mind you my job is to assist other fights, not 1v1) quickly and move on. The whole point is to not need to enter melee combat and rely on the crutch of Signet of Stone.

The most I’m willing to invest into sustain is 3 points into wilderness survival for Companion’s Defense, Lightning Reflexes and Signet of Renewal. Works great too.

If you are still interested in power ranger you can check out past broadcasts on my twitch channel. You will see positioning and decisions at highest mmr level on EU.

http://www.twitch.tv/dhunis

Lewis Burnell.2493:

This variant build isn’t about feeling manly, it’s about being clever with build design. By not taking Traits in the Skirmishing line, you lose some Precision but gain the following:

Additional power from Strength of Spirit
Condition removal from dodging (Poison and Blindness)
x2 Condition removal for EACH Survival skill you use
Fury on EACH Survival skill you use
Fury and condition removal on Keen Edge (Trait)
30% extra Boon duration (applies to said Fury)
Lots more health

Taking the traditional Read The Wind Meta Build (as you describe) makes absolutely no sense. It has almost no condition removal, you have less health and don’t deal much more damage.

No matter what, I still like to feel pretty manly when I play zerker ranger

Alright I’ll stop my manly talk as you seem to not appreciate it.

There are builds with your variation you won’t be able to do enough damage for you to kill. You have good condition removal, but your job is not to stay on a point, which makes the condi removes not really that great honestly. It really depends how you want to play it tho, if you want to be more on point often then yeah it is good, but other specs are better than you to fill that job anyways. I know it’s a lot better to deal with condis (I have played with every possible variations of zerker ranger), but I never had problems to deal with condi specs. I actually think your build has too much condi cleanse for nothing for the job you’re supposed to fill. Also keep in mind your team (shoutbow, dagger/dagger ele) can condi cleanse for you, it’s not as if you are alone in the team.

Also with SotF variant you will lose mobility. I find the on swap swiftness helps alot when you want to travel from point to point to kill the next target.

Not killing your enemies fast enough can be the difference between you or your friend getting in the downed state or getting saved. The point I’m trying to make is there is no reason for me to take those defensive traits if I don’t need it in the first place.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEq0yaDL+rQ1ag+ga9DEAjd7fYFuBW/bJrIK-TpBFwACuAAMOCAIOEA12foaZAAPAAA
Here is a variation I would recommend using if you have hard times to deal with conditions. Shadowpass, Infantry and other good rangers use these traits as well and it works out pretty well for them too.

Ranger can be competitive. How competitive is what people debate. At least one Ranger was in the most recent tournament. He frequents the forums, so look for him if you’re interested.

Ultimately, it comes down to if you enjoy the playstyle. If it clashes with you, it won’t matter if it’s the most competitive class in the game as you likely won’t enjoy it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEq0yaDL+rQ1ag+ga9DEAjd7fYFuBW/bJrIK-TpBFwACuAAMOCAIOEA12foaZAAPAAA
Here is a variation I would recommend using if you have hard times to deal with conditions. Shadowpass, Infantry and other good rangers use these traits as well and it works out pretty well for them too.

I’m not in the same league as those guys but fwiw, I run this exact setup (now including HiPS) when I play power. I primarily queue solo or with one friend, so the personal condition removal helps significantly. In a proper team, I’d be more inclined to run 6/6/2/0/0 or 6/5/3/0/0.

HiPS is now quite nice on a power build.

Malhavoc.8976:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEq0yaDL+rQ1ag+ga9DEAjd7fYFuBW/bJrIK-TpBFwACuAAMOCAIOEA12foaZAAPAAA
Here is a variation I would recommend using if you have hard times to deal with conditions. Shadowpass, Infantry and other good rangers use these traits as well and it works out pretty well for them too.

I’m not in the same league as those guys but fwiw, I run this exact setup (now including HiPS) when I play power. I primarily queue solo or with one friend, so the personal condition removal helps significantly. In a proper team, I’d be more inclined to run 6/6/2/0/0 or 6/5/3/0/0.

HiPS is now quite nice on a power build.

I have never taken HiPS, and I dont understand why it’s good. Let say you get jumped by a thief who hit u with a immobilize skill, u become camouflaged at the location if you were hit, any movement will reveal you(is that correct), what does that do for you to survive the attack? Thief can just keep swinging away at where you are camo’d.

Can some expand on why HiPS is good?

Rome.7124:

I have never taken HiPS, and I dont understand why it’s good. Let say you get jumped by a thief who hit u with a immobilize skill, u become camouflaged at the location if you were hit, any movement will reveal you(is that correct), what does that do for you to survive the attack? Thief can just keep swinging away at where you are camo’d.

Can some expand on why HiPS is good?

Now Hide in Plain Sight is good because the trait has now been changed since the last patch. It does not give you a camouflage anymore, it gives you stealth. So you can move and not get revealed now for 3s.

playing a glassbow perfectly is very rewarding. id say it’s worth getting good at it. but i feel the xpac and the druid will mix things up a lot. everything will change.

mistsim.2748:

playing a glassbow perfectly is very rewarding. id say it’s worth getting good at it. but i feel the xpac and the druid will mix things up a lot. everything will change.

Than why playing a Mesmer perfectly is 3 times as rewarding in mechanics AND objective control?
You can’t even compare the potential of these two. A ranger only brings damage. Mesmer not only brings damage, but also the portal that turns tables.