Guild Wars 2

With nods to the great Alamo.

Ok, I’ve maxed up my druid spec.. and now I’m scratching my head a bit trying to figure out if it’s possible to viably solo (without falling asleep) with just a pure druid. That is, fighting through content with just your pets and staff.

And if so, what darn armour would you use? Minstrel stats appears to be the “druid” armour. Has anyone tried to have a solo druid build through HoT content? And if so, what utilities, skill rotations, weapon and armour stats do you use? And pets? Strategies?

I’m thinking that you put your tiger between you and the mob, and just use staff 1. That will keep your tiger healed while he does his business. That’s situational, though.

Anyone else have a secret, super effective druid setup for soloing content?

It’s a secret, but I’ll tell you I use Berserker stats.

Full zerker druid, complete with scholar runes? Are you using the staff? What utilities?

Early to tell yet but full zerk S/A and LB with marksmanship/skirmishing druid, heal as one, frost spirit, glyph of empowerment, signet of the wild, and strength of the pack will prob make it to meta since the buffs are now just too high to ignore.

Maybe the build will be even better with sinister and torch but still.. too early.

Think is that PvE wise the “berserker” meta will probably never change.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNUQJATWnEqAtCi1sCuqActgFDBDurOWLrP5unVOjJAsuaAlMtzA-TRyDABMcEAMZ/hKOEAZq+DAPAAuUCulyP/0FYxFAAA-e

it’s probably not going to be anywhere near meta, but this is what i’ve been running in open world recently. I’ve had literally no trouble not dying, and keeping my pet alive is relatively easy. along with that, the pet and you both put out good enough damage that it doesn’t take ages to kill something (you can easily get 10k rapid fires with this still with RaO)

I only fear either the damage or the heals won’t be enough for raids. we’ll have to wait and see.

small edit: while i said for open world, this is also really good for fractals/dungeons. it provides really good team support (IMO) and still outputs decent damage (you might want to take nature magic over beastmastery in dungeons/fractals though)

Between resounding timbre, cultivated synergy, and lingering light, you can heal your party for 3k in full zerker just by healing yourself. That’s about as far as you need to take it until something harder comes along. LB/melee swap.

I running a full Clerics build and have been fine soloing 90% of content so far.
Smokescale as a pet with his field and evades plus your hwals is amazing. Soloing a champion becomes a matter of skill and positioning.

I can even drag a group of under levels through dungeons without a problem.

People need to start realising that yes, Druid is a heal class that lacks DPS, but you need to learn how to use your pets, because they complete us.

Slartibartfast.5416:

Full zerker druid, complete with scholar runes? Are you using the staff? What utilities?

I am running full ascended Berserker with Staff, yes, but I keep my builds mostly to myself.

It’s basically my Longbow/GS build in which I replaced my Longbow with a Staff and made some adjustments. So I guess any old Longbow build would work. You can also run Longbow/Staff I suppose, which I might do in WvW when I get back to it, but I just like GS for the extra mobility, which is also very useful in WvW.

If you need more survivability, get more survivability, otherwise, get more damage output.

Just because Druid is advertised as a healer doesn’t automatically mean you have to run it with Healing Power stats. But you can of course.

Renn.8241:

…they complete us.

You lost me at hello.

Holland.9351:

…but I keep my builds mostly to myself…

Aww, why? It’s not like there are any secret builds, there are only so many choices for things that actually work. Share the wealth, brother!

No one has a secret build, I promise you. There are 9 druid traits… 9.

No one is a unique flower that has found something no one else has. :P

Fluffball.8307:

No one has a secret build, I promise you. There are 9 druid traits… 9.

No one is a unique flower that has found something no one else has. :P

Which sucks. I used to get asked all the time after RA matches what I was running, I used to run some pretty weird stuff. R/Me Echo Debilitating Shot with Seeking Arrows was one that comes to mind and it was pretty devastating against the spell casters, especially Monks.

No really unique builds in GW2, unfortunately, it has been dumbed down so people cannot make useless builds, pretty much. GW1 was the thinking man’s MMO, imo.

If you are serious about just pewpewing with only staff and dealing reasonable dmg to complete things then go:

Rapamager stat, (skirmishing line) Sharpened Edges & Hidden Barbs traits, sigil of earth on the staff.

If you are feeling adventurous then get 2 staves and pickup druids staff trait and ancient seeds trait. Put sigil of geomancy on both staves. Anytime you swap, and the daze isn’t negated, you will proc some nice aoe bleed.

But that has to be the most boring way to play ranger ever.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Which sucks. I used to get asked all the time after RA matches what I was running, I used to run some pretty weird stuff. R/Me Echo Debilitating Shot with Seeking Arrows was one that comes to mind and it was pretty devastating against the spell casters, especially Monks.

No really unique builds in GW2, unfortunately, it has been dumbed down so people cannot make useless builds, pretty much. GW1 was the thinking man’s MMO, imo.

Ya I have a big gripe with the new trait system. Oh well, life goes on.

Justine.6351:

If you are serious about just pewpewing with only staff and dealing reasonable dmg to complete things then go:

Rapamager stat, (skirmishing line) Sharpened Edges & Hidden Barbs traits, sigil of earth on the staff.

If you are feeling adventurous then get 2 staves and pickup druids staff trait and ancient seeds trait. Put sigil of geomancy on both staves. Anytime you swap, and the daze isn’t negated, you will proc some nice aoe bleed.

But that has to be the most boring way to play ranger ever.

I actually think that could be such a fun way to play Druid if you had a few Druid mates with you in WvW. You could play it sort of like the Manly Spike build in FoW, if you were the Warrior porting in to do the AoE, but using Ancestral Grace to do it, then Quick draw Ancestral grace to get outta there.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Holland.9351:

…but I keep my builds mostly to myself…

Aww, why? It’s not like there are any secret builds, there are only so many choices for things that actually work. Share the wealth, brother!

That stems from the days when Ranger got nerfed every single patch. No point in sharing anything that works for you.

Kinda easy to figure most pvp druid builds out. Everyboudy that doest use staff, use TU and therefore WS trait line. So probably NS(no WHAO, for timbre).

I think most druid, GS/LB builds will look somthing like:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATBjEqQLLWyCOsYZRwgfqZ1v6ylLAc0aKXdgRwISD-TZg9AAQZAA

Most staff builds will be:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQFAmiUqAXLUmFM4/pG6TAorZEpB-TZAZAAQZAA

Left some room for variations to each build, OfC there are also the condi and trap versions.

I don’t think Lingering Light is worth it anymore, even if your build has no CC. I’d rather have a random chance for Ancient Seeds to proc than for a single random blind. So, just get a pet with a bit of CC like Smokescale and you’re good, or just assume your allies will CC from time to time to proc it.

LL still heals, contributes to AF, does a 4s Blind on a 12s CD per ally. So that is two per 12s on just you and your pet, not totally useless but it should totally be 6s, not 12.

Holland.9351:

I don’t think Lingering Light is worth it anymore, even if your build has no CC. I’d rather have a random chance for Ancient Seeds to proc than for a single random blind. So, just get a pet with a bit of CC like Smokescale and you’re good, or just assume your allies will CC from time to time to proc it.

Its ok in team fights, it procs for every ally once every 12 sec.

LughLongArm.5460:

Its ok in team fights, it procs for every ally once every 12 sec.

Every ally has its own cooldown?

Holland.9351:

LughLongArm.5460:

Its ok in team fights, it procs for every ally once every 12 sec.

Every ally has its own cooldown?

Yup!

Then 12s cooldown sounds fine. Very unusual behaviour.

On a side-note, does anyone have any idea what the name of this topic means?

Holland.9351:

Then 12s cooldown sounds fine. Very unusual behaviour.

On a side-note, does anyone have any idea what the name of this topic means?

I still think it should be a shorter CD, since you need to heal someone for it to proc. This trait works the same as ele’s Blinding Ashes, in which the ele only has to apply a burn to get the blind, something they can do with every weapon set and with multiple traits. It has an 8s ICD.

And yeah, no clue what that means.

Holland.9351:

Then 12s cooldown sounds fine. Very unusual behaviour.

On a side-note, does anyone have any idea what the name of this topic means?

http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Alamo

Basically, it was a famous character named Alamo back in WoW who did up a druid guide in a very funny format. Even if you don’t play WoW, it’s still funny reading what he wrote.

So the topic was “Alamo speak” for asking about a dps version of a druid.

Slartibartfast.5416:

Holland.9351:

Then 12s cooldown sounds fine. Very unusual behaviour.

On a side-note, does anyone have any idea what the name of this topic means?

http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Alamo

Basically, it was a famous character named Alamo back in WoW who did up a druid guide in a very funny format. Even if you don’t play WoW, it’s still funny reading what he wrote.

So the topic was “Alamo speak” for asking about a dps version of a druid.

Now I almost wish I had played WoW & druid ;-(

Justine.6351:

Slartibartfast.5416:

http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Alamo

Basically, it was a famous character named Alamo back in WoW who did up a druid guide in a very funny format. Even if you don’t play WoW, it’s still funny reading what he wrote.

So the topic was “Alamo speak” for asking about a dps version of a druid.

Now I almost wish I had played WoW & druid ;-(

Druid was my main way back when I played WoW. They were initially primarily healers by design (sort of like druids in GW2 now), but had other, suboptimal builds that allowed them to dps. Even though at the time the dps builds were suboptimal, I still enjoyed playing a druid as a dps class. This is sort of what I was wishing for here in GW2.. that I could viably play druid as adequate dps if I so chose. And that was why I started this thread the way I did.

Yes, I know I can still go full longbow ranger with melee weapon swap and do adequate damage. But I can’t seem to do that as a druid, which is what I am after. In any MMO I played that had a druid class, I always made that as my main. In this game at the moment, that is extremely difficult to do. Or seems to be. Hence, my question.

Let’s get the “Sum durids is 4 fite!” movement going!

Solo Druid is quite weak at the moment, especially with the nerf to Lingering Light, poor staff damage, and inconsistent CAF generation. By themselves, Druids do not have good damage or self-sustain. You can use base Ranger traits/utilities (Wilderness Survival, Nature Magic, etc.) to help with the sustain, but this means you lose more damaging trait lines and your DPS is even lower.

Scrimschaw.5784:

Solo Druid is quite weak at the moment, especially with the nerf to Lingering Light, poor staff damage, and inconsistent CAF generation. By themselves, Druids do not have good damage or self-sustain. You can use base Ranger traits/utilities (Wilderness Survival, Nature Magic, etc.) to help with the sustain, but this means you lose more damaging trait lines and your DPS is even lower.

I’m confused. You don’t need any sustain at all for open world (which is the only place in PvE you’d be solo obviously.) There also isn’t any reason you have to use staff on druid.

You can run a normal viper or zerker ranger with utility on druid, like the 33% move speed.

Fluffball.8307:

Scrimschaw.5784:

Solo Druid is quite weak at the moment, especially with the nerf to Lingering Light, poor staff damage, and inconsistent CAF generation. By themselves, Druids do not have good damage or self-sustain. You can use base Ranger traits/utilities (Wilderness Survival, Nature Magic, etc.) to help with the sustain, but this means you lose more damaging trait lines and your DPS is even lower.

I’m confused. You don’t need any sustain at all for open world (which is the only place in PvE you’d be solo obviously.) There also isn’t any reason you have to use staff on druid.

You can run a normal viper or zerker ranger with utility on druid, like the 33% move speed.

…If you’re having an easy time sustaining yourself while soloing events and exploring in in HoT maps in Zerker or Viper stats, you are among a very small minority. If you’re implying there is no opportunity for solo play in the new maps, I would argue otherwise. As a solo dungeoneer and fractal player, I can assure you that there are challenging solo options in PvE, even if you choose not to take them.

There is also the issue of CAF generation being strongly influenced by Staff use, especially in solo play. This is why I mentioned using staff. If you can’t generate enough CAF to enter Avatar form, there is no point in using the Druid trait line at all for solo play.

Alamo teechs u 2 play DURID!

WoW druids were a blast to play. And yes, they could fite.

Scrimschaw.5784:

If you’re having an easy time sustaining yourself while soloing events and exploring in in HoT maps in Zerker or Viper stats, you are among a very small minority. If you’re implying there is no opportunity for solo play in the new maps, I would argue otherwise. As a solo dungeoneer and fractal player, I can assure you that there are challenging solo options in PvE, even if you choose not to take them.

There is also the issue of CAF generation being strongly influenced by Staff use, especially in solo play. This is why I mentioned using staff. If you can’t generate enough CAF to enter Avatar form, there is no point in using the Druid trait line at all for solo play.

I am in full zerk gear and not having any trouble, but I really don’t think I’m in the minority. Ranger is extremely easy in the open world, especially if you have LB on swap. I have only found 1 hero challenge that wasn’t easily solo-able by just brain-dead plinking away with a LB while hiding behind a cat, and that’s only because the cave was too small to maneuver. I probably could have gotten it with some practice, but whatever, someone came along.

I power CA via WHaO. It’s very rare I need it, so building it once every 45 seconds or so it fine.

Got a PM about how to solo champs and events in HoT, so I figured I’d share my answer. This is not a new build, but it may be helpful to others.

“I use a jungle stalker, traited WHaO, clarion bond and zephyr’s speed, which means you can get 22 stacks of might on both you and your pet and reasonable quickness length without even using strength of the pack. That makes your damage go WAY up. Just keep spamming WHaO whenever your pet has might on it, you can maintain quite high stacks through the fight, and it keeps your 2 cats alive by swapping every 16 seconds or so (don’t swap if one has a lot of might and isn’t low on health of course.)

I’m also in 100% ascended gear with power infusions, that makes a huge difference (especially the weapons), but I’m sure you can pull it off with exotics as well.

Finally definitely take at least 1 stun breaker or invuln for if you mess up kiting something. A lot of champs will chain you, so if you get CCd, their next attack might kill you.

Oh, if you’re comfortable with sword, warhorn can help your might stacking as well. GS can get you easy fury and is easier to use though. I’ve been using both depending on mood. I have bloodlust on my sword to further bump my damage."

Fluffball.8307:

I am in full zerk gear and not having any trouble, but I really don’t think I’m in the minority. Ranger is extremely easy in the open world, especially if you have LB on swap. I have only found 1 hero challenge that wasn’t easily solo-able by just brain-dead plinking away with a LB while hiding behind a cat, and that’s only because the cave was too small to maneuver. I probably could have gotten it with some practice, but whatever, someone came along.

I power CA via WHaO. It’s very rare I need it, so building it once every 45 seconds or so it fine.

You may find it hard to believe, but you ARE in a very small minority if you are having no trouble with the new content, unless your interpretation of “trouble” is vastly different than mine. People are getting kicked in the teeth (to put it politely) in the new maps—including rangers. I’m sure you have seen this yourself. To make an old joke, “I see dead people” all over the maps.

I am also unsure of what Druid is bringing to your build that is above and beyond base ranger. CAF every 45 seconds does not seem worth the tradeoffs. I’m soloing Druid right now on a lot of content, and I have used it to solo every hero challenge (sometimes more than once), but I certainly do not find it more effective than base Ranger, and it is significantly less effective than my solo champ fights on other classes (Dragonhunter, Engineer, and Elementalist in particular have been standouts for those).

If you are soloing every HoT hero challenge then you really have no reason to say bad on druid.

Justine.6351:

If you are soloing every HoT hero challenge then you really have no reason to say bad on druid.

I can solo challenges on every class I have played. It takes significantly more time and effort on some versus others, but since the timers have been increased (generally, I did most before the timer changes), it is possible even on many bunker builds (Guardian and Warrior bunkers at least). I am comparing my experience on Druid to that of other elites and other base classes—including the Ranger base. Completing hero challenges solo is more a test of blind stupidity and perseverance than my actual skills as a player. Try them enough times and you learn the tells, and eventually you get lucky enough to complete them.

I want to love Druid, but Druid is in a worse place than other elite specializations in most solo content, including Hero challenges. This is most noticeable on timed, high-vitality/toughness enemy fights, since the Druid specialization is a DPS loss. Enemy mechanics make it so that you cannot rely on your pet for DPS at all times—one challenge I had to complete with my pet turned to passive the whole time. Overall, the Druid needs adjustment to meet the level of even base Ranger in most content. I feel qualified to say that at this point.

Scrimschaw.5784:

Justine.6351:

If you are soloing every HoT hero challenge then you really have no reason to say bad on druid.

I can solo challenges on every class I have played. It takes significantly more time and effort on some versus others, but since the timers have been increased (generally, I did most before the timer changes), it is possible even on many bunker builds (Guardian and Warrior bunkers at least). I am comparing my experience on Druid to that of other elites and other base classes—including the Ranger base. Completing hero challenges solo is more a test of blind stupidity and perseverance than my actual skills as a player. Try them enough times and you learn the tells, and eventually you get lucky enough to complete them.

I want to love Druid, but Druid is in a worse place than other elite specializations in most solo content, including Hero challenges. This is most noticeable on timed, high-vitality/toughness enemy fights, since the Druid specialization is a DPS loss. Enemy mechanics make it so that you cannot rely on your pet for DPS at all times—one challenge I had to complete with my pet turned to passive the whole time. Overall, the Druid needs adjustment to meet the level of even base Ranger in most content. I feel qualified to say that at this point.

So what you are saying is the Druid Healing Spec needs to do MOAR damage, so it can compete with other classes at completing HoT hero challenges, for players that don’t really have any skill.

Justine.6351:

So what you are saying is the Druid Healing Spec needs to do MOAR damage, so it can compete with other classes at completing HoT hero challenges, for players that don’t really have any skill.

No. I want every class to reward skillful play equally. At the moment, skillful play by Guardians/Dragonhunters, Elementalists, Reapers/Necromancers, Engineers, and Mesmers/Chronomancers (at the very least—these are classes I am most familiar with) is rewarded much more than skillful play by Druids. This is due to several reasons, but the prime factor is versatility. Druid is still a one-trick pony.

I am admittedly less skilled with Tempest, Scrapper, DD/Thief, Berzerker/Warrior, and Revenants, so I cannot judge how higher skill caps are rewarded on these classes. However, Revenant in particular is very rewarding even at very low skill levels.

I thought you were taking a break from the forums, by the way?

Scrimschaw.5784:

Justine.6351:

So what you are saying is the Druid Healing Spec needs to do MOAR damage, so it can compete with other classes at completing HoT hero challenges, for players that don’t really have any skill.

No. I want every class to reward skillful play equally. At the moment, skillful play by Guardians/Dragonhunters, Elementalists, Reapers/Necromancers, Engineers, and Mesmers/Chronomancers (at the very least—these are classes I am most familiar with) is rewarded much more than skillful play by Druids. This is due to several reasons, but the prime factor is versatility. Druid is still a one-trick pony.

I am admittedly less skilled with Tempest, Scrapper, DD/Thief, Berzerker/Warrior, and Revenants, so I cannot judge how higher skill caps are rewarded on these classes. However, Revenant in particular is very rewarding even at very low skill levels.

I thought you were taking a break from the forums, by the way?

I did take a break. If you want I can take another one. Id get less cheap laughs but I can manage.

Justine.6351:

Scrimschaw.5784:

Justine.6351:

So what you are saying is the Druid Healing Spec needs to do MOAR damage, so it can compete with other classes at completing HoT hero challenges, for players that don’t really have any skill.

No. I want every class to reward skillful play equally. At the moment, skillful play by Guardians/Dragonhunters, Elementalists, Reapers/Necromancers, Engineers, and Mesmers/Chronomancers (at the very least—these are classes I am most familiar with) is rewarded much more than skillful play by Druids. This is due to several reasons, but the prime factor is versatility. Druid is still a one-trick pony.

I am admittedly less skilled with Tempest, Scrapper, DD/Thief, Berzerker/Warrior, and Revenants, so I cannot judge how higher skill caps are rewarded on these classes. However, Revenant in particular is very rewarding even at very low skill levels.

I thought you were taking a break from the forums, by the way?

I did take a break. If you want I can take another one. Id get less cheap laughs but I can manage.

Nah, I was just surprised to see you again so soon. I am not a person who would try to infringe on other people’s enjoyment of things, and what you do with your time is up to you. Posting helps me clarify my own thoughts and I enjoy discussing things. I’m glad that you get entertainment out of it, too.

Scrimschaw.5784:

You may find it hard to believe, but you ARE in a very small minority if you are having no trouble with the new content

I do find it hard to believe because you are assuming your statement is true. Other than the whining posts in the HoT forum — which is par for the course on these forums no matter what the topic — neither one of us have much evidence of how well people are doing. I find other players soloing events all the time, and I’m not seeing the floor littered with bodies. I’ve stumbled across quite a few people soloing champs.

It may be that inexperienced players have been driven from the new content and now only competent players remain, or people simply adapted. Who knows. I definitely don’t find the new open world content harder than say, high level fractals or even some dungeon paths so I did not adapt to anything other than learning the new AI attacks.

And you’re sort of right, druid isn’t adding much to my build, but it’s not taking away much either. I want to practice with the new skills and the traits and utilities can be very useful. The movement boost is amazing for open world and the healing even in full zerk is enough for escort missions that can fail, like that cannon thing in TD. I have more than enough damage to complete everything, so: “why not?”

Fluffball.8307:

Scrimschaw.5784:

You may find it hard to believe, but you ARE in a very small minority if you are having no trouble with the new content

I do find it hard to believe because you are assuming your statement is true. Other than the whining posts in the HoT forum — which is par for the course on these forums no matter what the topic — neither one of us have much evidence of how well people are doing. I find other players soloing events all the time, and I’m not seeing the floor littered with bodies. I’ve stumbled across quite a few people soloing champs.

It may be that inexperienced players have been driven from the new content and now only competent players remain, or people simply adapted. Who knows. I definitely don’t find the new open world content harder than say, high level fractals or even some dungeon paths so I did not adapt to anything other than learning the new AI attacks.

And you’re sort of right, druid isn’t adding much to my build, but it’s not taking away much either. I want to practice with the new skills and the traits and utilities can be very useful. The movement boost is amazing for open world and the healing even in full zerk is enough for escort missions that can fail, like that cannon thing in TD. I have more than enough damage to complete everything, so: “why not?”

IDK what to say—I just saw a group of 20 wipe all at once in in front of me at Tarir South yesterday due to an …unfortunate combination of circumstances. A group of 10 wiped at the Legendary Wyvern today. People are definitely having a hard time, and I hear about it on mapchat and Reddit in addition to the official forums.

Call me crazy, but I would also like Druid to offer a little more than “why not?” The movement speed boost isn’t enough for me to slot it, since I run a permaswift build for exploration, and the healing for me doesn’t offset the usefulness of simply killing things faster to avoid damage.

Well… then don’t run druid. I’m not trying to convince you to, I want to practice the skills for raids or PvP and it’s fun to have new toys.

The whole “I saw this” “no I saw this” is boring. We’re having a different experience, but neither of us have any metrics.

Fluffball.8307:

Well… then don’t run druid. I’m not trying to convince you to, I want to practice the skills for raids or PvP and it’s fun to have new toys.

The whole “I saw this” “no I saw this” is boring. We’re having a different experience, but neither of us have any metrics.

To be honest, I was kind of hoping that someone could convince me to play Druid. I really do want to love it, and I think it has potential, but it’s not doing a whole lot for me right now. I don’t play Ranger in PvP, but I might give bunker Druid a shot. I’m still hopeful that raids might have a slot for Druid, too.

I didn’t want to argue about the general difficulty level, but I do think it’s important to take other players’ feedback into account—even the complaints about difficulty. And I certainly don’t want to insult people who are having a hard time by calling the new content trivial. I’m always trying to keep a healthy perspective of other players’ experiences, and I’m sorry if I came off as trying to devalue your experience.

I can convince you to play druid in WvW, raids, or PvP. But for open world solo play, a group support character obviously isn’t going to be in his element. That said, it works just fine if you want to use it. The traits are not wasted on me, and if nothing else it’s an extra personal heal. Or even a heal for your pet, which I have used it for against things like champ teragriffs or chak. The ease of soloing champs with a LB goes away if you get your pet killed.

HoT is obviously more difficult than core Tyria, I just don’t see ranger as being a profession that’s affected by it much. For a zerker d/d ele? I imagine that’s rough if you’re not very good with it . But a newbie bearbow can waltz through HoT without really noticing what all the fuss is about.

Fluffball.8307:

I can convince you to play druid in WvW, raids, or PvP. But for open world solo play, a group support character obviously isn’t going to be in his element. That said, it works just fine if you want to use it. The traits are not wasted on me, and if nothing else it’s an extra personal heal. Or even a heal for your pet, which I have used it for against things like champ teragriffs or chak. The ease of soloing champs with a LB goes away if you get your pet killed.

HoT is obviously more difficult than core Tyria, I just don’t see ranger as being a profession that’s affected by it much. For a zerker d/d ele? I imagine that’s rough if you’re not very good with it . But a newbie bearbow can waltz through HoT without really noticing what all the fuss is about.

Ah, perhaps this is where the crux of our different views lies. I wasn’t specifically talking about longbow Rangers. I should have made that clearer, apologies. Anyone who uses minions to tank damage while DPSing from afar is definitely going to have an easier time.

Fluffball.8307:

Ranger is extremely easy in the open world, especially if you have LB on swap. I have only found 1 hero challenge that wasn’t easily solo-able by just brain-dead plinking away with a LB while hiding behind a cat, and that’s only because the cave was too small to maneuver. I probably could have gotten it with some practice, but whatever, someone came along.

Ya that’s what this was about.

It also gives you a clear view to see mechanics that can be awkward to see due to the camera in melee. Which means you can almost instantly learn tells and then apply them in melee the next time.

Fluffball.8307:

Fluffball.8307:

Ranger is extremely easy in the open world, especially if you have LB on swap. I have only found 1 hero challenge that wasn’t easily solo-able by just brain-dead plinking away with a LB while hiding behind a cat, and that’s only because the cave was too small to maneuver. I probably could have gotten it with some practice, but whatever, someone came along.

Ya that’s what this was about.

It also gives you a clear view to see mechanics that can be awkward to see due to the camera in melee. Which means you can almost instantly learn tells and then apply them in melee the next time.

Again, my apologies. In my comments to another individual, I had mentioned my experience with Druid versus several of the other elite specializations in open-world PvE, and I mistakenly thought you were addressing these comments.

Scrimschaw.5784:

To be honest, I was kind of hoping that someone could convince me to play Druid. I really do want to love it, and I think it has potential, but it’s not doing a whole lot for me right now. I don’t play Ranger in PvP, but I might give bunker Druid a shot. I’m still hopeful that raids might have a slot for Druid, too.

That sort of expresses my sentiment. I’ve already expressed here that I just like the concept of druid.. I play it as my main in any MMO that has one. And I am really scrambling to find a way to do that here. However, Anet’s vision of what a druid is and brings to the table does not appear to include elements that allow me to solo AS a druid. Yes, as mentioned, I can solo as a ranger primarily with some druidic elements tossed in as an afterthought.. but I wanted to MAIN as a druid. And I still do.

My fantasy is that Anet will do something to make maining as a full druid spec more viable. Not better than base ranger, but at least as good. I’d be happy with that.

Spiral Architect.6540:

Alamo teechs u 2 play DURID!

WoW druids were a blast to play. And yes, they could fite.

Hehe, they sure were. They’re probably the only thing that I really miss about WoW. They could turn into a cat and fight like a thief, a bear to tank and hold aggro, a tree to heal people, a moonkin to cast spells at range, a bird to fly, a cheetah to run fast, and some kind of seal to swim. Very versatile and very fun to play, no matter what your playstyle.

Now, I’m not asking for anything like that here, nor would I expect it. But if Anet’s vision is that the only role for druids is to heal in the upcoming raids, then I guess that’s what their role is and I should probably stop trying to find ways to make it a main outside of raids.

I’m using Zealot armor + weapons and zerker trinkets. Staff and Axe + Warhorn. Sword is just too risky in HoT imo, and I’m too lazy and poor atm to get a torch for solo. Also I just use staff most of the time even though I have a longbow, because staff is the only reliable way to have CA ready to go if I need it and it has some other uses. It’s not a horrible weapon if you manually target enemies in the back, though I wish the beam would just pierce or even not require a target at all.

No super secret build, nature magic + skirmishing and I typically run frost and sun spirit on my bar even when soloing. Even though I don’t have condition damage, sun spirit is absolutely vital for decent dps in addition to sharpened edges from skirmishing.

Tip: You don’t need Natural Stride with this setup either. Staff 3 puts you in combat briefly so you can swap to horn and use up Quick Draw with Call of the Wild every 11s or so. Throw in an electric wyvern and you’ll have perma-swiftness effortlessly.

Soloing actually hasn’t been bad at all with this setup. Is it the best damage ever? No, but it’s still pretty high and there’s pretty much no risk involved.