Guild Wars 2

I’ve been trying to create a character and decided on a ranger, however I can’t decide on a race. Should I be a human or norn? I like both races, and their lore. Which do you think would fit a ranger more and which race is better in your opinion? Your feedback is appreciated.

Sylvari ranger 4ever!!)

Sylvari rangr looks awasome :P

Norn was much better before they nerfed leopard speed but its still a useful elite if you want to look at that angle.

But Norn is just straight up cooler looking too. And thats a fact!

While running norn toons kind of look like they have the most uncomfiest pants on.

Human if you want to look better in my opinion

Norn if you want to look better in my opinion

I made myself the smallest and thinnest norn possible with an older (i.e. not baby) face.
I have nothing to regret!

The story is a bit more interesting because it’s about making yourself a name and not about being the big hero from the beginning.

People basically just heard of you and some of them help you with your legend
Also, the bows are huge.

solrik.6028:

I made myself the smallest and thinnest norn possible

My short norn warrior is the same height as my tall human guardian if I remember right. It kind of gives you another “human” body type to play with. Or at least the ladies do, I assume the dudes look ridiculously jacked at any size.

Charr ranger all the way Rrrawwr

Also the female charr voice acted is my favorite voice actor, if that matters to you when you play.

My first ranger was a minimum height mushroom head sylvari.

I also have a charr ranger that I made more recently.

Really, you should just pick the race based on the flavor you want. A norn ranger would be more like one of their shamans with a strong connection to the animal spirits, or a mighty hunter who seeks fame by exploiting the beasts of the wild. A human ranger could be a priest of Melandru or a famous drakehound breeder.

Granted I’m also a roleplayer, so I put more thought into things like this than most.

I fully understand the problem you have, because I have both human and norn rangers. It seems I can’t decide which one to choose although they are both in the middle of the road to 80 O_O

I can only tell you about my preferences. Also don’t know if you’re talking about females or males. My human female ranger is nice, because she seems to run fast (animation wise), she looks awesome in almost every medium armor and all outfits and what’s more important – animals she charms are big and actualy look like her companions.

My norn female ranger – shortest/skinniest one – looks like a slightly bigger human but stil has slower running animations. That and her low IMO unpleasant voice really bugs me. Most of animals also look more like pets and minis, then her companions. The thing I like about her is the lore and that raw kind of look. Human females look like princesses – all their faces are childishly pretty with annoying angry or bored with life grimace.

If you imagine what kind of roleplay would you like with both of them, it will probably help you decide. I think I’ll end up with playing human ranger, but will level norn as well just to dress her up in cultural norn armors that i love

Sylvaris and charr choice is obvious 8D

I have both an human and norn 80 rangers, and the norn is definately the stand out. Humans are just so.. mundane.

But I agree you need to always have some kind of run speed buff with Norn or they look like they are runnnig in slow motion which can be aggravatingly to watch.

Look at the racial armor options. Pick whichever race has the better look. Still can’t decide? Norn has a better story than human.

That being said, I love my Sylvari Ranger.

The Norn rock and the larger weapons like the longbow and greatsword look much better on them. They also have a viking feel to them so the axe and war horn feels natural on them too.

The downside is they feel slow so you need a speed buff. Luckily rangers have a signet and war horn for that. The smaller weapons like many of the shortbows also look odd on them.

I think Norns are better for rangers then the humans. I mean yes when they run they look like they are in slow motion but on the other hand they seem to fit the profile of a ranger quite well. Not to mention using a makeup kit on them can boost how cool they can look. Made a ranger norn and she’s in her early lvl 50s. My main was a slyvari guardian. But I think charr’s could work too…just choose what’ll be more fun to play as. Story wise I do think the norn has the better one.

I’ve had several female norn and human characters, my (kinda) “main” is a human female ranger. All i can say is humans look better in most of the medium armors that are coats (more feminine proportions, and on norn, the coats look strange at the hip) but norn have some really-really awesome cultural armor that fit rangers perfectly. Norn have a closer relationship with nature too, but (to me at least) their voice and lines are very annoying.
Overall, lore-wise norn would be better, average armor-wise humans are better, and cultural armor-wise norn get another point :P

I got sylvari and norn ranger. Soon human as well (is now lvl 20). I like all, but norn is my favorite. Because you use bow, and shoot arrows, somehow being bigger, feels like you have better overall view were your arrows go, even if that’s just a feeling and not truth. And Kudzu much bigger on norn I also love the norn themes that have their corresponding pets (bear, wolf, raven, snow lepeord.)

I used to love sylvari, but somehow, I dislike the way they hold greatsword. They keep it curved in front of them, rather then the straight way human/norn does. Hard to explain. But it feels like overstretching their hands to the right side.

I’ve been both Norn and Human ranger, and in the end I’ve settled for Sylvari ranger. I’m quite satisfied with my choice. My first ranger was actually a Norn ranger (back in beta) it was fun and I really liked the story but I felt she was a little to tall for me (personal preference problem) it wasn’t bad tho. Next I made human ranger, that was also nice, the story imo was a little lacking but I can over look that seeing as its not my main focus. My human ranger felt right when running and shooting bows, I actually prefer the way human females shoot bows compared to how males do. They stand more upright. I played her for a while but eventually moved on.(I wasn’t to keen on the voice acting, thought that’s not why I stopped playing her) My third Ranger is a sylvari, I still play him. He’s a cutie, and lots of fun, I really enjoy the creativity put into sylvari and the story. I still don’t like how he shoots the his bow exactly but I’ll have to get over it.

They all played well and each have their own issues so its really up to your own preference. Just Make one of each and try it out for yourself!

Max-sized Norn using traited Whirling Defense looks awesome.

For racial skills, thinking glass cannon anyhow

Norn = snow leopard
Asura = technobabble or maybe D series golem
Charr = battle roar, hidden pistol or warband support
Human = prayer to kormir or reaper of granth
Sylvari = grasping vines, sylvan hound or take root

Some of these are questionable but certainly not worthless depending on what you want to achieve/ need to cram into build. Stacking lightning reflexes with hidden pistol would be hilarious gap maker. Grasping vines on a thief would be murder. 6 sec daze with technobabble ;-) solid condi cleanse with prayer to kormir so I can dump freaking healing spring. Battle roar for on demand fury/might before a signet of the wild/rapid fire burst. Reaper of grenth for getting in close with the gs ;-)
Many options to consider :-)

Justine.6351:

For racial skills, thinking glass cannon anyhow

Norn = snow leopard
Asura = technobabble or maybe D series golem
Charr = battle roar, hidden pistol or warband support
Human = prayer to kormir or reaper of granth
Sylvari = grasping vines, sylvan hound or take root

Some of these are questionable but certainly not worthless depending on what you want to achieve/ need to cram into build. Stacking lightning reflexes with hidden pistol would be hilarious gap maker. Grasping vines on a thief would be murder. 6 sec daze with technobabble ;-) solid condi cleanse with prayer to kormir so I can dump freaking healing spring. Battle roar for on demand fury/might before a signet of the wild/rapid fire burst. Reaper of grenth for getting in close with the gs ;-)
Many options to consider :-)

You are underestimating the ranger…
The best elite for norn rangers is bear form. There was a vid(which sadly has been deleted for no apparent reason) where a norn ranger would constantly dish out 22k crits against opponents in wvw.
The charge skill of the bear form has such a ridiculous damage coefficent that when combined with lots of might, signet of the hunt and opening strikes, something crazy will happen on impact.

naphack.9346:

Justine.6351:

For racial skills, thinking glass cannon anyhow

Norn = snow leopard
Asura = technobabble or maybe D series golem
Charr = battle roar, hidden pistol or warband support
Human = prayer to kormir or reaper of granth
Sylvari = grasping vines, sylvan hound or take root

Some of these are questionable but certainly not worthless depending on what you want to achieve/ need to cram into build. Stacking lightning reflexes with hidden pistol would be hilarious gap maker. Grasping vines on a thief would be murder. 6 sec daze with technobabble ;-) solid condi cleanse with prayer to kormir so I can dump freaking healing spring. Battle roar for on demand fury/might before a signet of the wild/rapid fire burst. Reaper of grenth for getting in close with the gs ;-)
Many options to consider :-)

You are underestimating the ranger…
The best elite for norn rangers is bear form. There was a vid(which sadly has been deleted for no apparent reason) where a norn ranger would constantly dish out 22k crits against opponents in wvw.
The charge skill of the bear form has such a ridiculous damage coefficent that when combined with lots of might, signet of the hunt and opening strikes, something crazy will happen on impact.

I think you’re referring to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TaWQrRPEPo

I have used the build myself, and was able to do 15-30k crits from 5000 range away. However, this has been nerfed in the recent balance patch and is no longer worth using.

I’d take Asura’s Technobabble if you’re looking for strong racials.

The other issue is that the charge is so slow the without stealth it will never connect.

Norn has way superior armors in my opinion, but as some others also mentioned movement is very diffrent between them, you should probably make 1 male and female of both and test how you feel about their respective movement.

naphack.9346:

You are underestimating the ranger…
The best elite for norn rangers is bear form. There was a vid(which sadly has been deleted for no apparent reason) where a norn ranger would constantly dish out 22k crits against opponents in wvw.
The charge skill of the bear form has such a ridiculous damage coefficent that when combined with lots of might, signet of the hunt and opening strikes, something crazy will happen on impact.

It’s been double-nerfed since, though. First with the Crit Damage->Ferocity change, and more recently with the Norn Elite nerf (charge speed and damage scaling).

I dislike norns.

Those tree trunk necks