Guild Wars 2

I’m currently leveling a ranger and have a question…

Is my pet always going to die so easily? The time to swap pets seems a bit much too. Is there any way to reduce that so I don’t end up with 2 useless dead pets in a long fight?
The best thing that I’ve done to get around it is to have a spider and a devourer for my pets. With them being ranged they stay out of the PBAoE stuff from bosses/events. I thought rangers used to be able to revive their pets. What happened to that?

…Ok so multiple questions.

Kind of miss the way pet care/healing worked in GW1.

Sadly ANet removed the ability to rez your pet( though I wish it hadn’t been removed ), but to help with your pet not dying so much use trait points in Beastmastery. Thee is a trait that gives your pet natural health regen, also in the skirmishing line there is a trait that gives health when your pet deals critical hits. Equip Heal as one or healing spring as well as they will heal your pet as well as yourself. If my heal is in a cooldown and my pet is pulling so much aggro that he cannot regen fast enough I recall him to my side and put him on standby until he has a decent amount of health, try some of these out I hope they help. Oh and also Moa, arctodus, and bear are good for being able to take more damage than some other pets.

I’ll keep that in mind! Thank you!

Not a problem at all if you need further assistance add me in game, good luck!!!

I’ll echo this. As I gradually level up I noticed that I’ve been gradually getting worse so I decided to start rethinking a few things. Bears and arctodus were more or less the only pets that aren’t simply a liability up until I focused on regeneration traits and now even my Moa can tank to an extent. I still have to check how it works out with the flying birds but hopefully they aren’t completely useless anymore.

I’m still only mid-level, but I’m finding that glass cannons of any sort do not work in this game… at all. Not on the surface, definitely not in dungeons and NO WAY in PvP. The thing is most of the pets come to you in this frail state so anything that helps out their durability is invaluable for any prospective beastmaster.

I’m still working on it so I’m in need of advice as much as anyone, naturally.

A few points into BM go a long way. If you are leveling up, do 10 points into BM and get Master’s Bond. Makes even DPS pets tanky.

I would suggest for any ranger build to get 15 pts into BM. A) more stats on pet means hardier pet and easier life. at 15 pts you get your swaps CD shorted to 15s and I forget what the reduced downed pet swap penalty is (rarely happens now). Huge boost ease of life though for ranger. 5 pts also give you quickness on pet swap which is God Mode for 2s, great if you have a more offensive build in mind.

30 pts in and your pet will have a self regen keeping it going longer. Stack it with regen from signet of wild, and regen from healing spring. It takes an army of mobs to out DPS all the green numbers ticking.

PvE never second guess using a heal for your pet if you are waiting for a swap CD, troll unguent and healing spring have lingering effects so your ranger still benefits from side healing after. recall it and tank a bit for your pet if you still need time (put your body in front of pet.

PvP you need your heal for yourself. Most players will foolishly ignore the pet though so it isn’t much to worry about. About half health if you are still waiting on swap recall it so that it has enough to clear the AoE no man’s land in 1 piece.

15 in survival will also give you protection for you and pet on dodge roll. 5 into survival is buffed endurance regen for dodge rolling. 10 into nature magic is vigor on heal. Each pulse you receive in the healing spring counts counts and stacks the vigor. You can permanently keep protection up for 15 seconds while healing spring is going.

30 into survival is reduced damage for you or your pet at 25% health. You’ll want a larger hit pool to benefit more (bears wear this one best with their insane vitality). Really great for stretching out your pet a bit for swap. Saved my bacon more occassions than I can count.

also what may help is remapping your f1-4 to be easier to reach. I moved them down to zxcv and moved my utilities to f1-3. I use my commands way more often than I use utilities and the change has streamlined my play tremendously as a ranger for twitch control of the pet. also great if you ever try elementalist.