Guild Wars 2

Without leading you all into pointless backstory which I had typed up and deleted, I have a very-soon-to-be 80 ranger.

I have loved playing this class on my own or with a friend and have had heaps of fun fighting and exploring (PvE only so far) with it, but I started doing some reading on here last night and i am now in a terrible predicament: Rangers are apparently terrible and unwanted.

I’m quite fond of my character but, for the sake of PvP/WvW/dungeons, should I use a ‘better’ or ‘more useful’ class?

the ranger forum is full of people complaining for some reason.
.PvP the ranger is actually in quite a good place
.wvw … well there’s 2 kinds roaming where the only class better than ranger is the thief. and zerging where the.rangers water field and longbow (if traited) give put you in a much better spot than most classes
.dungeons I’m not an expert but personally I’ve never once been kicked for “being a ranger”. long story short, don’t believe most of what you read on the forums and keep saying the class you enjoy.

Rangers are easy to pick up and play but hardest to master and reach the same level of group support/control/dps. Right now rangers are in a rather good place when it comes to PvE/WvW/sPvP but most people don’t realize it and insist on sticking to the old bear/bow ranger prejudice.

But mostly play the class that you enjoy the most and find people who have the same ideals. I’ve never been kicked out of a dungeon for being a ranger (or any other reason) mainly because I run with guildies/friends.

I know it was said above but it bears reiterating. Play the class you enjoy the most. I think that’s paramount. Whether or not warrior or thief are “the best” at PvE or PvP won’t change the fact that you still enjoy playing ranger more. Just be the best ranger you can be. Which sounds lame but seriously, it’s easy to play ranger but to master any class takes ingenuity and experience.

Also, don’t ever let the forums get you down on a class cuz every one of them gets ragged on here.

The Ranger is not unwanted. It’s a bad rumour that everyone seems to pick up on, every time they read it here. Just like you are doing now. “I read it on the forum, so it must be true!”. I’ve never had any problem finding a group, or been kick from a group for being a Ranger. But because I write something positive, I won’t sound as truthful, as someone who writes something negative. So if you’re only going to read into the negative posts, then please stop spending time on the forum, and go back to enjoying the game. For you own good.

You should be fine in pvp as long as you are willing to give up your honor to run meta builds. For wvw, you are paying one of the worst classes for the format. Since Rangers rely on their pets for damage then you will underperform compared to non pet classes. You can be decent at roaming though, but there is terrible balance with runes of perplexity killing everything.

I agree with the previous threads in that u should play the class u are most comfortable with. Whether it is GW2, WOW, or any other MMO, there will always be players looking to play the “flavor of the month” simply b/c it has the greatest dps for a given avenue of the game. They will run those toons until the next patch and never really master any class/profession b/c they don’t take the time to learn all of the little details that make the class enjoyable. You will contribute much more to a group if u know how to play your class, something that only comes from experience and trial and error along the way. Rangers are a very fun class to run once u l2p. In WvW you will notice the top players are always on the same toon while the lowbies usually represent the “flavor of the month” crowd, they die quickly not b/c they are low lvl but b/c they don’t know how to play the class. In the end if u like your ranger then by all means stick with it.

You have to realize the people who post on the forum are the vocal minority. The most common reason to post on the forum is because you’re not happy.

I personally don’t enjoy this class because I’m forced to play it in a way I don’t want to play it. I find it very boring, too straightforward, filled with bugs, and forgotten by the devs. I still play it because GS+Longbow is still fun for me no matter how ineffective it is and I hold out hope that at some point the class will be improved. So while most of my time is spent with a shortbow or in melee range, the limited time I actually do play with longbow I enjoy and I find it worth it.

If you enjoy the class then stick with it. People who complain about this class being kicked from a group were likely trying to get into a CoF speed run and you’d have found every class but a Warrior being kicked from a group. Yes, doing Fractals with 3 rangers is a headache. Yes, most dungeons you’re handicapped because of the pet.

But if you’re having fun and playing with friends who cares? On the plus side, gearing out in exotics and rolling alts is easy. Just don’t devote resources to ascended gear until you’re satisfied.

Ryan.9387:

You should be fine in pvp as long as you are willing to give up your honor to run meta builds. For wvw, you are paying one of the worst classes for the format. Since Rangers rely on their pets for damage then you will underperform compared to non pet classes. You can be decent at roaming though, but there is terrible balance with runes of perplexity killing everything.

Perhaps, I still like my ranger for wvw. LB/GS is fun for me, and i do not need to be the same performance wice with other. I need to have fun