Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone! I’ll be showing you my (maybe it has already been posted but oh well :P) spirit ranger build that’s super effective for defending nodes

So why spirits? Well for the buffs and control and burst of course :P Spirits also make the ranger a portable node fighter and team fighter that can rotate anywhere and be of use due to buffs plus Nature’s Renewal

Build: (if you wanna skip the explanation click here http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAV8YjMq0savKeqQ0aAMhqdB0pBArk19G8BZQGL9xLJ-TJxHwACeIALLDA4KAEc/BA )

Final Stats:
24500 hp
3000 armor
1838 attack
perma protection ( from dodge rolling and stone spirit )
burst of up to 10k ( if landed )
3 evades excluding dodges and more dodges from sigil of energy
control

Weapons:
Shortbow
Sword/Dagger
You can go torch if you want but that would mean less survivability but more dot

Utilities: Healing Spring, Stone Spirit, Sun Spirit, Storm Spirit = AOE heal plus regen plus condi clear plus vigor, protection, burning and burst If you want more survivability simply swap to Lightning Reflexes for stun/immob break and vigor

Traits:
0
2 IV
6 IV, VII, XI
6 IV, VII, XI
0
= vigor on getting crit, protection on dodge roll and passive condi clear!

Gear:
Soldier Amulet
Rune of the Forge
Sigil of Energy and Leeching for both

Pets:
River Drake (must!)
Jaguar or Wolf

I use River Drake as the F2 skill is simply amazing. It can potentially do 4-8k dmg, its bolts bounces and the range is pretty high! Although like all Pet Skills the line of sight and target has gotta be perfectly lined up otherwise it won’t activate :P Use this pet for group fights as its tanky and has an AOE attack. Mainly use Jaguar as the F2 skill stealths it (opponent don’t know whats mowing them :P) and when stealthed gains a 25% crit chance increase so it hits for nearly 1k every second! Use this pet for 1v1 or 1v2s as its squishy and will die quick.

Pros:
Evidently, this build is perfect for defending nodes and also useful in team fights. Defense wise you have near permanent protection, high armor, large health pool and lots of control (cripple, blind, immob, daze). You also have a AOE revive Furthermore, you have a burst which if you land can deal up to 10k damage, on top of condis from your SB, sun spirit and sword/dagger.

Really really effective and i have won numerous 1v2s and survived 1v2/3s in top tier play, just gotta get them evades and heals right

Cons:
Your heal Healing Spring has a 30sec cooldown and often in fights you’re only gonna be able to trigger it once so you gotta time it well No stun breaks at all too so you really gotta be able to read your opponent’s movements although with your tanky stats you should be able to take a few hits. Condi isnt really an issue since you have 3 condi clear per 10 sec and healing spring so :P Lack of stability also makes it hard to stomp in group fights which is why it isn’t a bunker :P

To counter CC chain, swap rune of the forge for melandru although you’ll get less burn and protection For team fights you’ll need a warr,guard,ele to stomp and for 1v2 gotta cleave ":>

Burst:
Activate Stone Spirit skill for immob and then Storm Spirit’s for 2k+ damage followed by River Drake F2 skill for 4-8k dmg

Rotations:
Nothing to special, wanna stay in Shortbow to apply bleeds, cripple and daze. When you’re getting overwhelmed or your opponent is low swap to sword for continuous pressure and for the 3 evades. Activate Storm and Stone spirit’s abilities when you see the enemy in range and save the Sun Spirit’s activated skill for massive melee pressure.

So yea this is the overview of the build and if y’all want i will make videos showcasing gameplay and extras! Hope y’all like it and do leave any feedback or improvements!

PS Hate people who say spirits are cheese as you still need to rotate and be skilled to play an effective one. Spirits are literally walking, killable Signets with cooldowns and active skills. Heck, they dont give a passive buff like Signets but only a limited one on attack so how are they cheese when they also wont help you attack ._.

-Reaperlistic aka The Handsome Ranger :PP

Another Con i wanna add is that Spirits don’t have too high a health pool so you definitely cannot rush into the middle of a group fight, gotta either range and shoot or guide your spirits in, activate abilities, and move out or let them stay there so they die and activate their abilities again!

I’m not an expert on ranger but I’d say storm spirit isn’t as useful as a stunbreak in my opinion, and that going tanky settlers with more condition damage focus would be better overall. It gives you more point holding potential if you use high healing power to your advantage.

I also prefer axe/dagger to SB for many reasons and to take torch with sword. I’ve also ran the same build as I described with celestial too when tanking a point wasn’t needed as much.

Put on a condi amulet. For storm spirit vs stone. I advocate for storm. I prefer the damage 4k with nature’s vengeance when used well over the protection because a lot of times you need the protection when you are getting stun locked and are therefore not proccing it. If you need it to eat AoE, get out of the AoE.

Eurantien.4632:

Put on a condi amulet. For storm spirit vs stone. I advocate for storm. I prefer the damage 4k with nature’s vengeance when used well over the protection because a lot of times you need the protection when you are getting stun locked and are therefore not proccing it. If you need it to eat AoE, get out of the AoE.

Its 4K :O

Well I guess I learn something new every day! I just looked at the swiftness and thought that was meh.

nearlight.3064:

Eurantien.4632:

Put on a condi amulet. For storm spirit vs stone. I advocate for storm. I prefer the damage 4k with nature’s vengeance when used well over the protection because a lot of times you need the protection when you are getting stun locked and are therefore not proccing it. If you need it to eat AoE, get out of the AoE.

Its 4K :O

Well I guess I learn something new every day! I just looked at the swiftness and thought that was meh.

It’s like 2-2.5k atm. But if you do things like dodge through the node, use it, it will run up to the node and cast, proccing the dmg, then die in the aoe, proccing the dmg again.

nearlight.3064:

I’m not an expert on ranger but I’d say storm spirit isn’t as useful as a stunbreak in my opinion, and that going tanky settlers with more condition damage focus would be better overall. It gives you more point holding potential if you use high healing power to your advantage.

I also prefer axe/dagger to SB for many reasons and to take torch with sword. I’ve also ran the same build as I described with celestial too when tanking a point wasn’t needed as much.

Agree with you on the stunbreaker one so it’s all up to your preference, lightning reflexes or extra dps. There are many variations of the Spirit Ranger including the celestial one and also this build is more for surviving and defending so the extra dodges would be useful. Alternatively using Warhorn as suggested by luck is also great for the blast finisher and added dps

nearlight.3064:

I’m not an expert on ranger but I’d say storm spirit isn’t as useful as a stunbreak in my opinion, and that going tanky settlers with more condition damage focus would be better overall. It gives you more point holding potential if you use high healing power to your advantage.

I also prefer axe/dagger to SB for many reasons and to take torch with sword. I’ve also ran the same build as I described with celestial too when tanking a point wasn’t needed as much.

I logged in just to say I completely agree with this post. Wow.