Guild Wars 2

I just started playing my ranger, only mid level 20s right now. I plan to keep it mostly to PvE, but if I can get skilled enough, I might try WvW roaming.

I hear everyone saying how terrible rangers are in everything, but that can’t be true. I know there are good rangers out there. Saying the ranger class is bad, must be like saying the thief class is OP. Ridiculous statements.

1. I want to have a fernhound as my main pet. Is this viable? I’ve heard that the fernhound is preferred as a secondary pet.
——If I do go with a fernhound as a primary pet, what build would compliment it?

2. What is the general meta build for rangers? Zerker, Valkyrie, Condi, PTV?

3. I’ve seen other rangers send their pets to their doom to save themselves. But I’m a softie who doesn’t want to condemn my cute and loyal virtual pet to that fate. Would I end up having to rely on this tactic…?

4. LB feels more like a PvP weapon and SB for PvE. Is this the general idea?

5. What is a ranger strong in? Where do they really shine? Dungeons, pvp, WvW, fractals, boss fights….which one?

All your questions except #3 will take a lot of time for me to answer honestly and informatively, so I’ll just answer #3

Your pets are your tools. They are not virtual care-bears nor anything worthy of being considered cute. They are simply the tools of which you will use greatly and frequently. Whenever the kitten you have to abuse your pet, be it suiciding them or whatever, you god kitten do it. The ranger is about using the pet to his advantage, not cuddly cuddly adore time.

God kittening kitten it

…Wow…so much kittens.

Ya know, your statement doesn’t really help convey the message with all the kitteny kittens.

(my poor pet)

Arikyali.5804:

…Wow…so much kittens.

Ya know, your statement doesn’t really help convey the message with all the kitteny kittens.

(my poor pet)

Mate, kitten is used as a filter for “bad” words.

Soilder.3607:

Arikyali.5804:

…Wow…so much kittens.

Ya know, your statement doesn’t really help convey the message with all the kitteny kittens.

(my poor pet)

Mate, kitten is used as a filter for “bad” words.

Heh, I know. What I meant is with all the kittens in your post, it undoes the actual seriousness of ‘pets are only utility’.

Arikyali.5804:

I just started playing my ranger, only mid level 20s right now. I plan to keep it mostly to PvE, but if I can get skilled enough, I might try WvW roaming.

I hear everyone saying how terrible rangers are in everything, but that can’t be true. I know there are good rangers out there. Saying the ranger class is bad, must be like saying the thief class is OP. Ridiculous statements.

1. I want to have a fernhound as my main pet. Is this viable? I’ve heard that the fernhound is preferred as a secondary pet.
——If I do go with a fernhound as a primary pet, what build would compliment it?

2. What is the general meta build for rangers? Zerker, Valkyrie, Condi, PTV?

3. I’ve seen other rangers send their pets to their doom to save themselves. But I’m a softie who doesn’t want to condemn my cute and loyal virtual pet to that fate. Would I end up having to rely on this tactic…?

4. LB feels more like a PvP weapon and SB for PvE. Is this the general idea?

5. What is a ranger strong in? Where do they really shine? Dungeons, pvp, WvW, fractals, boss fights….which one?

1. Fern is nice for PvE, boss farming, etc. Secondary? I don’t know. For pve I do like to run a group friendly pet (boon), and a dps pet.

2. Depends what part of the game you want a meta for? PvE (fotm), WvW, spvp? I will only make one ascended set so I chose Celestial setup/build, but I mostly just LS & WvW.

3. Usually if they sent their pet to die they lack control of the pet, don’t care, or for “Beastmasters Bond” in the Marksmanship tree.

4. Depends on the build, LB is a pretty good defensive weapon that slowly w/recent patch is getting better dps must be paired w/quickening Zephyr, hunters tactic, gear, etc to produce best dmg.

Shortbow is a "range’ condition control weapon used in cond or zerk builds.

5. Solo WvW we’re pretty strong in some builds, high lvl fotm don’t expect to pug w/open arms, dungeons don’t matter what class you bring, World bosses don’t matter either, spvp we have some pretty solid builds out there too.

my 2cents, hope it helps.

Keeping your pet as loyal ally is really hard in GW2. I tried to get that feeling to have a companion but its not really working because you switch your pets all the time.
The mechanics force you to switch pets, since otherwise they simply die. You will also change the pets alot depending on situations.
All that makes it hard to get that feeling of a companion at your side.
The fern hound offers a 1000 heal on his F2 which can be increased to 1350 with the 350 healing power trait. The maybe shown 2000 Heal is wrong because the tooltips show the values with the rangers healing power instead of the healing power of the pet itself.
The regen is also with 0 or 350 healing power which is 133 or I think it was something like 180 if skilled.
The Fern hound has a knockback and is I would say average tanky. The drakes and the bears are alot more tanky and especially the drakes deal more damage and they are the only pets which deal AoE damage + have a blast finisher.
You should chose the pets for the situation where you need it. If you need a really tough tank go for bear or drakes, if you need crowd control canines or spiders, if you can use squishy damage pets you can use birds or felines.

The other points take lots of time to answer and there are different point of views. I think the ranger is quite good in roaming and solo camp capping in wvw since we have a decent tank, the pet.
Overall the ranger is not considered top tier in PvE and WvW, rather lower tier. But still my main is ranger and it is fun to play and I think the ranger performs quite well.
I’m using a power shout spec and switch gear between cleric and berserker, depending on how much survivability/support or damage I need. I use longbow and Greatsword.
But there are also many people who use condition builds or spirit builds on ranger. You should find some builds on these forums.

/e If you want to offer offensive support you can use the red moa as 2nd pet for 15 seconds of fury all 25 sec. You can trait it for even more uptime.

Arikyali.5804:

I just started playing my ranger, only mid level 20s right now. I plan to keep it mostly to PvE, but if I can get skilled enough, I might try WvW roaming.

I hear everyone saying how terrible rangers are in everything, but that can’t be true. I know there are good rangers out there. Saying the ranger class is bad, must be like saying the thief class is OP. Ridiculous statements.

1. I want to have a fernhound as my main pet. Is this viable? I’ve heard that the fernhound is preferred as a secondary pet.
——If I do go with a fernhound as a primary pet, what build would compliment it?

2. What is the general meta build for rangers? Zerker, Valkyrie, Condi, PTV?

3. I’ve seen other rangers send their pets to their doom to save themselves. But I’m a softie who doesn’t want to condemn my cute and loyal virtual pet to that fate. Would I end up having to rely on this tactic…?

4. LB feels more like a PvP weapon and SB for PvE. Is this the general idea?

5. What is a ranger strong in? Where do they really shine? Dungeons, pvp, WvW, fractals, boss fights….which one?

If you decide to spvp you’ll start getting frustrated with thieves, same goes for WvW.

1. Fernhound isn’t a bad pet and a heal is always welcome but you do have to remember that switching pets often depending on your situation is the best way to play. Don’t be stubborn and ONLY use your fernhound. It can be a primary pet but make sure to switch when necessary.

2. General meta for rangers is berserkers if your doing PvE maybe rampagers. Basically power, precision, condition damage, critical damage are all what your aiming for especially if your using a bow. If you decide to go GS or S/x maybe try some vitality in there but remember in PvE DPS and support are key so gear yourself for that.

3. RARELY do I ever send in my pet for a suicide because they are 1) part of our DPS 2) Good rangers utilize pet F2 VERY OFTEN. I rarely ever want my pet dying unless I am trying to run past some enemies so I have him occupy them while I run past and then switch pets as soon as I am clear. Many bash the constant presence of the pet but remember their F2 is meant to be used often as is micro management of them you can’t just attack and let them auto attack also.

4. LB is a power weapon vs SB is a condition/control weapon. I use LB+SB and I start of attacks with LB hit them with raw power and when they start closing in range I switch to SB. To be a good ranger you need to consistently be weapon swapping to fit the necessary scenario and switch pets depending on what is needed. That is why there are few good rangers out there simply because the class needs more micro managing than other classes.

5. Rangers really shine in PvE roaming. You can also be pretty handy in dungeons if you know what you are doing and SPvP rangers are pretty darn good. Especially with the LB update you can be very effective in dungeons now if you keep your pet alive/use group friendly utilities and pets. Just because you have 1200 range doesn’t mean stand back there and fire away. Engage the enemy from 1200 but remember as soon as they start closing in you should be changing your own method of attack to counter them. In PvP the pet especially felines and birds prove to be really good burst attacks along with yourself allowing you to be a pretty strong SPvP player. Spirits used to be dominant but got nerfed a bit. They are still viable just not even close to how much they used to be. WvW we are pretty decent in small groups with a LB + GS. Overall ranger playstyle is very different when compared to other classes and does need more micro management especially after the recent updates making the ranger more on par with other classes now.