Recently created my own ranger build for WvW

Recently created my own ranger build for WvW

in Ranger

Posted by: killahmayne.9518

killahmayne.9518

Well, I was kind of bored so I recently dusted off my ranger and decided to make my own ranger build for WvW. I mostly like to roam either myself or in groups of two or three so I made the build to tailor that. So here it is.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARTnUqAlsg1CCWsActgBKhyf8J4y/foCy8OAWgEogHTA-TFDFwAA3fgxFAQqSCsKBnrJAwRAApSMnKHQp+zgDBwiHAgIdAkCwcRWA-w

I was mostly dissatisfied with the zerker ranger builds as I didn’t really like the playstyle all too much. I felt it was too much of a kill or be killed type of deal that wasn’t really effective when outnumbered or by myself. So I made something that could handle that type of situation a little bit better.

You will notice that I did not go skirmishing or Markmanship, as an LB user. Some may think I am crazy but I felt as time passed I didn’t really need these things. Lead the Wind I don’t think is necessary at all for the LB unless you are a zerker ranger trying to stay away from damage as much as possible. I didn’t miss the longer cooldowns or the faster velocity at all surprisingly. The only thing I do miss is the piercing because it doesn’t go through things like pets and clones, etc. Moment of Clarity would be nice to have too but everything else is kind of meh.

Skirmishing IMO is a worse trait line, at least when this build is concerned. It doesn’t really offer much more than it already has. This build already has alot of fury and swiftness so the minors are unneeded. Spotter is OKAY but this build already has good crit chance and Quickdraw is just OKAY as well. I guess I could make use of Primal Reflexes for extra vigor.

But yeah with this build I decided to go with Wilderness Survival, Nature Magic and Beastmastery.

For Wilderness Survival I went Expertise Training, Shared Anguish and Empathic Bond. I guess for the Adept line you could go Oakheart Salve but this build already has a lot of regen and the 5% reduced damage isn’t game breaking. then again, neither is the extra condition duration of Expertise Training. You could switch Shared Anguish for Refined Toxins since this build already has alot of stability in order to introduce poison into your build. Mine and my pet openings could stack chill, poison, vulnerability, taunt in 1-2 moves.

For Nature Magic I went Bountiful Hunter, Evasive Purity and Lingering Magic. You could replace Nature Magic with Marksmanship if you want to (I think it would be the best choice) but Nature Magic gives me extra survivability. Bountiful Hunter the only trait worth taking, I usually have 3-5 boons on me so the extra damage helps. Evasive Purity is amazing however. A lengthy cripple, a bad blind and perma poison really sucks, and EP removes all of those. This build pretty much maintains perma regen so removing poison is really good. It also helps Empathic Bond by removing some of the more damaging conditions instead of the blinds and cripples. It sort of mitigates the so called “condi bombs”. Protective ward is an OKAY trait, not the best but It does help mitigate some of those opening bursts and placing weakness on them. The minors are useful too and help compliment the beast mastery line. Lingering magic is nice for that extra Quickness, Stability, Regen, Fury and Swiftness, but moreso for your pet with Fortifying Boon as well.

For Beastmastery, Resounding Timbre, Two-Handed Training and Beastly Warden. Everything about this traitline is amazing and nothing is wasted here, it is key to this build basically. Resounding Timbre basically gives you perma regen and perma swiftness, and the CD on shouts is amazing too. Two-Handed training I get mostly CD on GS. You can outrun most things except maybe a thief, maybe a warrior and an FGS ele. Beastly Warden I can’t tell you enough how great this skill is and how clutch it is. It sets up skills like Rapid Fire and Maul perfectly. It is AoE as well too and in my experiences it rarely misses. I messed with Zephyr’s Speed for a bit and while that is also a good trait IMO it doesn’t beat Beastly Warden.

As for the build overall, I chose to go a bit more tanky (2600 armor) and even chose to opt for a bit of healing power. I’m not sure how much it actually helps but due to signet of the wild and my perma regen, I figured it would be a good choice. I guess it could be replaced for cavalier pieces for more toughness/crit dmg though.

Despite not having MM and Skirmishing, it actually does deal decent damage. Having quickness on the utility bar helps too for those stealth/quickness rapid fire combos. I can still get 8K rapid fires with this build depending on the build. Ranger runes, Two-Handed training and Bountiful Hunter also help for percentage damage increases. Damage isn’t a huge issue although that may be one’s initial thoughts.

As for runes, I feel like Ranger runes are slightly better than Pack due to the % dmg increase. But Pack offers you more fury and swiftness uptime which is very useful. For food you can also switch it for the – condition duration for more survivability, conditions will almost usually get you in the end.

As for pets, the owl hits hard as a mofo, I’ve hit as hard as 2k x 2 with the owl and the chill on it lasts something ridiculous like 5-6 seconds. I also use the alpine wolf because it’s F2 is on a short CD and I found it redundant to use the krytan drakehound with the immob because I already taunt when I use F2. But yeah, melee pets are needed to take advantage of Beastly Warden.

Might not be the best build, but I’ve had a lot of fun with it and I’ve seen pretty good success.

Mace/Greatsword Video (Sept Patch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoAjKtD6MLY

Recently created my own ranger build for WvW

in Ranger

Posted by: killahmayne.9518

killahmayne.9518

Also, i’ve debated using Survival of the Fittest but in the end I thought this was the better choice. I prefer the burst and the short CD heal of Heal as One. I still wanted the perma regen and swiftness as this build doesn’t have much of it inherently. Protect me is a great invulnerability at a relatively short CD of 48 seconds. Signet of the Wild for more Damage, More stab and more healing though that utility is more interchangable for something like Sick Em or Lightning Reflexes.

On another note too, the single-target CC is pretty awesome although I’m sure most ranger builds are like that. In roaming parties it isn’t bad due to the regen and swiftness you are giving and the AoE Taunt.

Mace/Greatsword Video (Sept Patch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoAjKtD6MLY

(edited by killahmayne.9518)