Guild Wars 2

Alright fellow rangers, I think we should now take a moment to address the elephant in the room.

Since launch of GW2 I have played a ranger exclusively. For a majority of my time I have played as a condition ranger in one capacity or another and have only recently (past couple months) switched to the LB/GS meta build everyone had been raving about.

It was everything I ever wanted and more. As someone who has been an avid archer for over 11 years, this build suited me and my playstyle perfectly. Then today’s patch hit, and I was confused.

Confused, but not disappointed. On the contrary, I am delighted! I am no longer bound to traitlines and can instead pick and choose those which fit my playstyle. I am still however, lost.

Last night, I completed crafting an entire set of ascended berserker armor and zojja’s longbow.

My question, TL;DR What traits fit in best with the old power ranger stats and playstyle? What traits should I use or which ones have you elected to use and why?

It doesn’t feel as though this build lost any viability, but is the class now weaker by comparison to others who presumably have been buffed as well? What slot skills do you utilize?

You want the good news or the bad news?

ElRazz.1823:

You want the good news or the bad news?

Yes.

The LB power Ranger as we knew is gone (there goes my main -.-)
Now the LB power Ranger relies mostly on the buffs it creates and in “situations” (doing something to earn this buff in order to increase dmg)

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Ranger-Zerk/first#post5197440

I created that post a while ago, but after studying a little I’ve manly deciphred the trait line. Check the build posted by Sebastien in that post.

People are experimenting right now, but WS line is the one that is really set in stone for PvP or WvW.

I think that eventually we will settle for WS, NM and BM lines.

Oakheart salve, Deadly Toxins, Wilderness Mastery, quickness on 50% hp, evasive purity, protection trait, GftE, Wilting strike and Quickening zephyr.

Chokolata.1870:

People are experimenting right now, but WS line is the one that is really set in stone for PvP or WvW.

I think that eventually we will settle for WS, NM and BM lines.

Oakheart salve, Deadly Toxins, Wilderness Mastery, quickness on 50% hp, evasive purity, protection trait, GftE, Wilting strike and Quickening zephyr.

Samesies. Even running a zerk melee build I wound up using similar traits. The gear change is kind of weird; at first I was excited about being able to take non-defensive traits and actually do damage, but in zerker gear you’re just too fragile. Remorseless will be tough to fit into a lot of my build ideas.

This is mostly WvW for me, I go through phases of not playing any PvP at all.

What traits are you guys mostly using?

With the ones i’m using to maximize everything, the damage seems pretty low,
Was doing 7-9k dmg total on rapid fire, now i’m doing 3-5k.

Seeing as how WvW is my primary ambition I’m trying my hardest to fit this build into that environment but… Thieves.

Got ganked earlier today. Thief poked me twice with his knife and I was down. Thieves were always hard for us I imagine, but now it will seem to be more challenging.

Nicknobreak.7543:

Seeing as how WvW is my primary ambition I’m trying my hardest to fit this build into that environment but… Thieves.

Got ganked earlier today. Thief poked me twice with his knife and I was down. Thieves were always hard for us I imagine, but now it will seem to be more challenging.

From what i’ve seen, thiefs are gods on this one.

For pvp I’m running this: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Jo-g;1sE-u-d2cDV-0;9k1E;1YZb;0257136247;4LBl6I;1Z;55K for the time being

Gildos.8460:

For pvp I’m running this: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Jo-g;1sE-u-d2cDV-0;9k1E;1YZb;0257136247;4LBl6I;1Z;55K for the time being

Hows it running?

Sound like you might be missing some crit. Missing out on spotter can make a big difference.

pretty decently, I have spotter do I not? Still deciding between berserker and marauder trinket but working will in my 5 man team as team fight dps.

Nature Magic and Wilderness Survival are probably the best combination of survival oriented traitlines you can run if getting jumped is the main issue.

The last option as far as I can tell at this point is really player preference.

I feel like condi ranger has had its survivability lowered possibly too much with a loss of a decent chunk of HP and about half the amount of condi cleanse it used to have. Possibly just my opinion though.

I just tested my mesmer and figure out how op they becomes..

10 secs of AOE stealth, 10 targets, 1200 range.
GS1 grant auto might, free 10~14 stacks of might by just spamming auto-attack, phatasm causing permanent cripple, insane damage spike (I literally got 15k hp→ down in 1.5 second), free invulnerable (distortion), shatter spam.

This is just too much…

Gildos.8460:

I feel like condi ranger has had its survivability lowered possibly too much with a loss of a decent chunk of HP and about half the amount of condi cleanse it used to have. Possibly just my opinion though.

I can say doing some solo roaming in WvW with my former trap build I was going down rather quick. Too quick. I’m not sure how much of that is just bad luck or some classes being a bit over the top. For all the Guardian whining in their forums they seem to be hitting like a MAC truck

LB/Axe/Torch with about 1400 or so condition damage. Forget traits off the top of my head but so far, it is different and death comes quickly. I’m sure it is just adjusting or some small tweaks.

Some things when I played well by leading them into the traps seemed to go rather well. I’m sure better players are having better luck.

Eirazz posted my build, and so far i’ve been having a ton a fun and success! I only have a little troube with heavy condi engineers and mesmers that suprise you out of nowhere and burst you down before you can react. In my util im running LR, QZ, and stone signet. QZ is amazing now! Basically, in team fights just pew pew from range to your heart’s content.
When you’re outnumbered or outmatched, you have so many options to disengage without dying, so i just swoop out and hit another point. I’ve only died when i give up or burst down while my util are on cd. The mobility is a LOT better than before.
In 1v1, im using quickdraw to alternate between mauls and rapid fire, and the damage output is disgustingly beautiful
Haven’t had too much problems with thieves, i generally pop signet of stone when they pop out, they get downed before it wears off
Vs condition, now that troll unguent is a survival skill i have more than enough cleanses

Crapgame.6519:

I can say doing some solo roaming in WvW with my former trap build I was going down rather quick. Too quick. I’m not sure how much of that is just bad luck or some classes being a bit over the top. For all the Guardian whining in their forums they seem to be hitting like a MAC truck

Yeah I was going down very fast in pvp too, and guards still hit hard thats the thing. Shame cause condi ranger was my main build, but, the one I linked earlier will probably become my main build.

Sebastien.2631:

Eirazz posted my build, and so far i’ve been having a ton a fun and success! I only have a little troube with heavy condi engineers and mesmers that suprise you out of nowhere and burst you down before you can react. In my util im running LR, QZ, and stone signet. QZ is amazing now! Basically, in team fights just pew pew from range to your heart’s content.
When you’re outnumbered or outmatched, you have so many options to disengage without dying, so i just swoop out and hit another point. I’ve only died when i give up or burst down while my util are on cd. The mobility is a LOT better than before.
In 1v1, im using quickdraw to alternate between mauls and rapid fire, and the damage output is disgustingly beautiful
Haven’t had too much problems with thieves, i generally pop signet of stone when they pop out, they get downed before it wears off
Vs condition, now that troll unguent is a survival skill i have more than enough cleanses

Did you updated the build?

(Need to rework alot my mindset, 5 months of ranger is too much)

Just wondering on utilities – seems a few choices.

ElRazz.1823:

Sebastien.2631:

Eirazz posted my build, and so far i’ve been having a ton a fun and success! I only have a little troube with heavy condi engineers and mesmers that suprise you out of nowhere and burst you down before you can react. In my util im running LR, QZ, and stone signet. QZ is amazing now! Basically, in team fights just pew pew from range to your heart’s content.
When you’re outnumbered or outmatched, you have so many options to disengage without dying, so i just swoop out and hit another point. I’ve only died when i give up or burst down while my util are on cd. The mobility is a LOT better than before.
In 1v1, im using quickdraw to alternate between mauls and rapid fire, and the damage output is disgustingly beautiful
Haven’t had too much problems with thieves, i generally pop signet of stone when they pop out, they get downed before it wears off
Vs condition, now that troll unguent is a survival skill i have more than enough cleanses

Did you updated the build?

(Need to rework alot my mindset, 5 months of ranger is too much)

Still figuring out if i want enlargement or call of the wild on petswap. Usually i alternate based on how coordinated my team is (enlargement is great for solo fight, but the other is more team support. I dont really need it for the fury cuz i have plenty of other sources for it)
Also took refined toxin, i never had problems with stuns/disables so shared anguish was kinda redundant.

Hmm. After testing a while my stuff, I can’t decide what to take now.. since I based my ranger in full zerker, but with 2 “support” skills, since I dont like to be always changing my skills between pve/pvp.

Anyone who wants to help me decide?

Utility skills are the hardest to decide on now. It seems there’s less synergy between skills and traits, or if you take a trait to benefit your skills, you miss out a hugely impactful trait in the same spot.

What you guys think?

This a full berserker character with some support in it (HS and LR are my combo support to drop HS in the middle of a combat).

The only difference with the new patch, is the traits (ofc) and I changed Entagle for Rampage as One (to maximy dmg).

So what you guys think? Suggestions?

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VLo-V;1wEFx-d2kDV-0;9F5E;1YZ_;0237036157;4IJ;4G3G3G3G35c

Decent build eirazz, but not crazy about running BOTH the LB and SB. Maybe replace SB with S/WH? Just a thought.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VLg-o;1sEVu-d2kDV-0;9k-P;1Y_b;0238156246;4UkW4I;1F-03F-035R

I went for that build. People curse me for taunt which also change their target to pet.

Gildos.8460:

I feel like condi ranger has had its survivability lowered possibly too much with a loss of a decent chunk of HP and about half the amount of condi cleanse it used to have. Possibly just my opinion though.

At least in PvE, I easily mitigated this with a pair of exotic dire rings (with sinister gems), and an azurite amulet. This made up for the loss that came with taking away the tanky stats from trait lines. Actually ended up with just under 1k more HP doing this, without losing much condi damage at all.

ETA: I am feeling the loss of Evasive Purity however… but since I run Krait runes, I need the WS trait for entangle cooldown more than EP.

I’ll still run pure zerker and deal with the consequences.

Run the valkyrie amulet with wurm rune (26.6k hp / 1,150 ferocity) with gs/longbow and sigil of intelligence on GS with remorseless and SOTF .. with the fury generation you’re getting tons of crits … it hits like a truck and massive HP .. build around that base and you should have a good power build.

Also run bird pets … Their f2 + your GS or longbow burst is insane…. It’s really a huge amount of dmg w/ remorseless up. Make sure to run taunt so you’re interrupting them as well.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VLo-g;1wEFx-d2kDV-0;9F5E;1YZ_;0237036157;4IJ;4G3G3G3G35L

It’s changed now. It was LB and GS not SB lol

blitzkrieg.2451:

Run the valkyrie amulet with wurm rune (26.6k hp / 1,150 ferocity) with gs/longbow and sigil of intelligence on GS with remorseless and SOTF .. with the fury generation you’re getting tons of crits … it hits like a truck and massive HP .. build around that base and you should have a good power build.

Also run bird pets … Their f2 + your GS or longbow burst is insane…. It’s really a huge amount of dmg w/ remorseless up. Make sure to run taunt so you’re interrupting them as well.

this is such a fun build. super tanky, tons of utility with BW. I tried MoC as well for that 3s stun, which pretty much guarantees the kill.

blitzkrieg.2451:

Run the valkyrie amulet with wurm rune (26.6k hp / 1,150 ferocity) with gs/longbow and sigil of intelligence on GS with remorseless and SOTF .. with the fury generation you’re getting tons of crits … it hits like a truck and massive HP .. build around that base and you should have a good power build.
So with valkyrie armor and equibment

Also run bird pets … Their f2 + your GS or longbow burst is insane…. It’s really a huge amount of dmg w/ remorseless up. Make sure to run taunt so you’re interrupting them as well.

is it possible to use this build at WvW? it sounds nice

^YES. maybe a mix of valk and cavalier? it would really good for zerging if u go gs/s/a, or even just roaming with gs/lb. I think heim posted his wvw build +stats somewhere. I cant recommend enough running 2-3 shouts and QZ.

But with valk and cavalier i have no critchance or?

Remorseless doesn’t have any internal cooldown, so each time u proc it by getting fury, u get a crit and damage bonus. now u just gotta figure out how you can get as many fury procs as possible.

i like using 3 shouts and 2 survival skills with this build. but for zerging id probably slot more signets. QZ is too good though.

mistsim.2748:

Remorseless doesn’t have any internal cooldown, so each time u proc it by getting fury, u get a crit and damage bonus. now u just gotta figure out how you can get as many fury procs as possible.

i like using 3 shouts and 2 survival skills with this build. but for zerging id probably slot more signets. QZ is too good though.

Using this I can get a lot of fury procs, as I get it every 15 seconds for changing pets and every 9 for changing weapons (although you obviously dont change weapons every 9 seconds)

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Jo-g;1sE-u-d2cDV-0;9k1E;1YZb;0257136247;4LBl6I;1Z;55K

Gildos.8460:

mistsim.2748:

Remorseless doesn’t have any internal cooldown, so each time u proc it by getting fury, u get a crit and damage bonus. now u just gotta figure out how you can get as many fury procs as possible.

i like using 3 shouts and 2 survival skills with this build. but for zerging id probably slot more signets. QZ is too good though.

Using this I can get a lot of fury procs, as I get it every 15 seconds for changing pets and every 9 for changing weapons (although you obviously dont change weapons every 9 seconds)

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Jo-g;1sE-u-d2cDV-0;9k1E;1YZb;0257136247;4LBl6I;1Z;55K

Might want to look at those numbers again mate. Just saying.

I’m going in the opposite direction. I want to be clicking as little buttons as possible and have as many passive buffs as possible.

I won’t be taking advantage of Remorseless, nor any of the pet F2 or pet swap synergies or weapon swapping.

They’re all good, but I’m just too lazy to bother. Ranger Longbow is still good without all those things.

This is the build I have settled on for now:
http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgUBrAJYA6g~

Quick Draw doesn’t work with Swoop so I’ve ditched it. Pretty boring, but still an upgrade from what we had before the update.

This is an excellent burst build:
http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgUB7AR4Beg~
It requires you to stow your pet before entering combat every time though. If pets would auto-stow outside of combat, I would be running this instead. I can’t be bothered to stow my pet manually all the time though, so I reverted to the more passive build. Also, good luck with getting rid of conditions, so switch Nature Magic with Wilderness Survival.

on my pewpew toon as I tried last night I tried running marksmanship, skirmishing, and wilderness survival on full ascended zerks. I can’t dent any other class except for some eles, rangers, and thieves. Rapidfire and auto can dent during the time when “read the wind” was newly introduced about a year and a half ago.

Now:
3k-6k rapidfire (instead of 8-10k pewpew fire rapid when they are out of endurance)

1.1k crits on auto 1200-1500 range on a necro/cheese mesmer, (before this update pewpew could hit heavy armor tank guards/ warriors for 1.8k crits per auto on 1200-1500)

2.5-2.7k damage auto on a glass or valk thief used to be 2.8-3k.

T_T.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Gildos.8460:

mistsim.2748:

Remorseless doesn’t have any internal cooldown, so each time u proc it by getting fury, u get a crit and damage bonus. now u just gotta figure out how you can get as many fury procs as possible.

i like using 3 shouts and 2 survival skills with this build. but for zerging id probably slot more signets. QZ is too good though.

Using this I can get a lot of fury procs, as I get it every 15 seconds for changing pets and every 9 for changing weapons (although you obviously dont change weapons every 9 seconds)

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Jo-g;1sE-u-d2cDV-0;9k1E;1YZb;0257136247;4LBl6I;1Z;55K

Might want to look at those numbers again mate. Just saying.

whats wrong with them?

Gildos.8460:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Gildos.8460:

mistsim.2748:

Remorseless doesn’t have any internal cooldown, so each time u proc it by getting fury, u get a crit and damage bonus. now u just gotta figure out how you can get as many fury procs as possible.

i like using 3 shouts and 2 survival skills with this build. but for zerging id probably slot more signets. QZ is too good though.

Using this I can get a lot of fury procs, as I get it every 15 seconds for changing pets and every 9 for changing weapons (although you obviously dont change weapons every 9 seconds)

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Jo-g;1sE-u-d2cDV-0;9k1E;1YZb;0257136247;4LBl6I;1Z;55K

Might want to look at those numbers again mate. Just saying.

whats wrong with them?

I’m not trolling or anything but weapon swaps are 10s, not 9. You just don’t see the 10 when it starts counting down. Also, pet swaps are 16s and Clarion Bond has a 30s CD unless you take Windborne Notes which reduces it to 24s.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Gildos.8460:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Gildos.8460:

mistsim.2748:

Remorseless doesn’t have any internal cooldown, so each time u proc it by getting fury, u get a crit and damage bonus. now u just gotta figure out how you can get as many fury procs as possible.

i like using 3 shouts and 2 survival skills with this build. but for zerging id probably slot more signets. QZ is too good though.

Using this I can get a lot of fury procs, as I get it every 15 seconds for changing pets and every 9 for changing weapons (although you obviously dont change weapons every 9 seconds)

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Jo-g;1sE-u-d2cDV-0;9k1E;1YZb;0257136247;4LBl6I;1Z;55K

Might want to look at those numbers again mate. Just saying.

whats wrong with them?

I’m not trolling or anything but weapon swaps are 10s, not 9. You just don’t see the 10 when it starts counting down. Also, pet swaps are 16s and Clarion Bond has a 30s CD unless you take Windborne Notes which reduces it to 24s.

oh oops, yeah, point still stands that I get a lot of fury so a lot of opening strikes, and using two canines means that brutal charge basically always crits if it hits, which is pretty powerufl.

yeah, must be pretty nice with the quickness leap too

And quick draw maul and rapid fire hits like a truck, shame there are so many other classes that do it better ;-;

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Clarion Bond has a 30s CD

No, it has the “cooldown” of pet swap. The cooldown of 30s is on the horn itself (wich is used as a tooltip.)

Gildos.8460:

And quick draw maul and rapid fire hits like a truck, shame there are so many other classes that do it better ;-;

not so sure. and u don’t really need quickdraw to burst people down. with Remorseless and your bird’s f2, you can land 10k damage instantly without any might stacks especially if theyre taunted, and then another 5-7k with rapid fire + quickness if you quickly swap over. ive been one-shotting thieves, not just the baddies either.

Anyone made some thoughts on Lead the Wind vs Remorseless? Im just so fond of LtW for its cd reduction, that lil thing is nifty to get that 2nd kd or stealth off before having to swap to GS in a 1v1. Is remorseless 25% dmg incr that much better, does it affect a whole RF? How often can u gain fury on average with that trait?

Also, what pets are people running with as power LB? Im having slight mixed results with Beastly warden unless I really pay attention that my pet is close to its target vs the 3 sec swiftness on pet swap GM trait

I thought for sure id be going LTW with LB. and it does have its role, it’s kinda niche. u get more RF, better AA and piercing. probably useful for something.

but I see Remorseless really shining for players who prefer to use the GS a little more. the other thing is, the more fury procs you have, the more bonus dmg u get. so u wanna go into WK and Resounding Timbre to get fury and reduce SotP CD. u also maybe wanna get two-handed training for more fury and reduced CD’s. then u might as well grab BW.

regarding pets, I use snow owl when I wanna kill someone, and brown bear if I need to use Protect Me. it’s much better than SoS due to lower CD and stun breaking. it can suck getting stuck with the owl though with swap on CD.

Another thing to point out, use taunt for thieves in stealth if you’re going into beastmastery, it makes them attack the pet and puts them out of stealth and it’s good against many classes for diverting burst from you. I can’t stress how well it works. Taunt is a very useful thing to have, and is very good for active play.

My current setup is

Marks / BM / Wilderness Survival… amulets I’ve been trying: Marauder, Sentinel’s, Valkyrie. All pretty good amulets with some tradeoffs between dmg and health. Sentinel’s is actually really good with remorseless because of the toughness and health it offers.

I use raven / white raven as bird pets.

This is obviously for PVP … In WvW you’ll have alot more options in terms of gear and more dmg overall because of that and food.