Guild Wars 2

I have 4 80s, (I main ele in pve, and necro in wvw, but also have mesmer, and thief, who I don’t play much anymore). I’m deciding what I want to make for my last free character slot, and ranger seems like a good choice, but I was wondering what you guys can tell me of the class.

I’ve honestly heard a lot of bad things about rangers, but my friends that main it swear by it. What is the frostspotter pve build that I’ve heard so much about (I’v eonly seen it a few times) and what other sorts of builds and weaponsets are good for wvw and pvp?

Also about pets, are some better than others? Because if they are just aesthetic I’d probably go with fern hound since I’d probably play a sylvari xD

Ranger definitely has it’s downsides, but if you can work around them the class is still very good in pvp and small scall wvw. The frost spotter build would use a frost spirit and the spotter trait to support allies by giving them buffs. Frost spirit has a chance to increase damage dealt by attacks and spotter is the prescision equivalent to strength in numbers and empower allies.

pets are very very different. You have your more bursty pets include felines and birds. Your more constant damage pets include canines and drakes. Support pets include moas. Bears are absolute tanks, but don’t do much damage. Spiders are sort of in between, they have a nice immob and the ranged attack can sometimes be beneficial, but don’t expect any big numbers. Same goes for the devourers. Pig family is pretty.. well, there’s no putting this lightly, useless.

My favorite type of pets are birds and canines. Birds are very good damage wise and can crit pretty high, they are pretty squishy however, and aside from a short amount of swiftness, don’t provide much support. Canines have an opening attack which is a knock down as well as a cripple, this can really help you keep control of you enemy. As well 3/5 canines have CC F2’s which is why imo they are the kings of CC pet wise.

Drakes have the potential to hit hard, they are also the only pet with a blast finisher (which isn’t the most reliable as you have no control over it), however they sometimes have an issue sticking with the target. They are pretty tanky, only beaten by bears really, and can hurt the enemy so long as their attacks land. The only thing I would use a moa for is it’s F2, blue moa can offer protection, and red moa can offer fury. Both have nice initial durations which can be extended through traits.

Felines are very powerful as well. I personally prefer birds to felines, but those cats are still very strong. Felines can crit pretty high and often (they have the same stats as birds) but they can also have some trouble keeping up with a moving target. The jungle stalker can also provide some support with it’s F2 granting 5 stacks of might.

When you are making a ranger build, never forget about the pet, the pet is a third weapon set for the ranger. Some pets are better for some situations than others, that’s why we get the choice.

Alright thanks for the comments. What would you say are the biggest strengths and weaknesses for the ranger?

Ranger is hands down the most fun profession to play. I’ve played every profession there is and I come no where near enjoying myself as much as I do on Ranger on any other profession.
They are admittedly not the most effective but in the right hands they can do great things. And personally, I’d rather have fun failing than being bored of winning.

Rangers are awesome for open world content because it’s basically autopilot. Your pet holds aggro while you snipe from a distance. Dungeons require Spotter, Frost Spirit, warhorn and greatsword or sword to provide your group with the best support, given you’re using these tools properly of course. PvP, Rangers are the underdog but certainly not “bad.” They are difficult to master but are fierce duelists and if you take the time to practice I’m sure you’ll find how powerful they can be. And in WvW they are the worst. They provide little to no group support, their roles are filled by other professions and they are easily outmatched solo. However, as I’ve said, in the right hands they can be very formidable. I’ve mained a Ranger for a long time and 90% of what I do in WvW is roam and 95% of what I do in GW2 in general is play WvW. After many, many hours getting myself in to trouble, winning or losing on a Ranger is fun any way you slice it so, I highly recommend you give it a shot. It might not be your favorite profession but I can almost guarantee you’ll at least enjoy yourself with it.

As for your questions:
Dungeons; Frost Spirit, Spotter, Healing Spring, greatsword and sword/warhorn (remember to blast finish those healing springs with warhorn!), 6/6/-/-/-, Jungle Stalker and Crimson Moa for pets (fury and might ) and most importantly remember to manage your pets! Use the passive button regularly so they don’t pull unwanted aggro.
WvW ; many viable builds however trapper has stood the test of time. I personally run full Rabid 2/6/6/ shortbow and axe/torch. Condition cleanses are important so it’s a good idea to take Empathetic Bond.
Pets; all pets are good in their own light given you manage them properly. Wolf, Krytan Drakehound, Jaguar and the Jungle Spider are the most appealing pets for their utility. However I have used each pet extensively and have found the majority of them to have use in their own way. I run with two spiders in WvW and love those girls ( : Immobs on their regular attacks make it a lot harder for people to run.

I love it. After leveling every class to 80, I started a ranger and now have not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 level 80 rangers because of animations and I just love the class that much. I highly recommend learning the class, but whatever you do DON’T use a longbow and a bear!

nearlight.3064:

Alright thanks for the comments. What would you say are the biggest strengths and weaknesses for the ranger?

From a PvE POV:

Strengths: Unique damage buffs that no other classes can provide. Decent provider of group fury.

Weakness: Struggles on Max melee range fights. Some fights render pets useless and pets suffer from scaling problems.

if anyone says weak group support, they mean:
not only do we have access to the lamest aoe boons ever that everyone has ez access to (swiftness, fury, regen, + 1 stack of might), we have very low aoe dmg as well.

I also have lvl 80s in every profession (multiple of some) and outside of Engi the Ranger is my favorite to just run around and solo stuff. I enjoy all the weapon sets. OH Sword auto locking is super annoying sometimes and can get you killed in some situations but it is still a lot of fun. I usually use the Jungle Stalker for the AoE might stacks and heavy dps. For the second pet it is whatever the mood is. The poison and lightening Drakes are good for AoE and can tank decent while providing good dps. The Wolf (found in Eternal Battle grounds) is really good or the sylvari hound for the AoE heal as a back-up support. The other hounds are all good as well. The Jaguar has the highest dps from what I gather but the F2 skill never seems all that useful. The (Red?) Moa that grants AoE Fury is the only moa I ever use and it is not all that often. For big fights or for WvW I like the devourers since they have range attacks and can usually avoid being killed awhile longer. I always liked the raptors but never seem to use them much. Ranger is really fun to play so enjoy it!

Thanks for the comments! I played around with ranger in pvp last night and it was a lot of fun. I need to learn how to control the sword skills so I don’t fly all over the place!

I think that once I level this alt I’ll mostly use it in pve though. I normally play ele so I’m used to giving tons of might and fury but I’m sick of relying on fire fields and conjured weapons and I just want to try something different for a change

Lastly, are axes useful for any builds? They seem like a really cool ranged weapon but they don’t really have a clear place compares to bows.

Axes are best for condition builds but they are okay for power as well. If you’re using a power build (which if you’re using your Ranger for PvE I’d imagine you are) I’d say it’s best not to use the axe.
However, in some situations it has good utility. For example, when I run Twilight Arbor and we don’t have a Guardian, “ricochet” the axe #1 skill is really good for clearing blossoms. It is obviously slower than a staff Guard but it’s still very handy to have.
Oh and I totally forgot I’m sorry, lol, offhand axe is awesome for power, mainhand is awesome for condition. Offhand axe “Path Of Scars” can crit for some mad high numbers.

nearlight.3064:

I have 4 80s, (I main ele in pve, and necro in wvw, but also have mesmer, and thief, who I don’t play much anymore). I’m deciding what I want to make for my last free character slot, and ranger seems like a good choice, but I was wondering what you guys can tell me of the class.

I’ve honestly heard a lot of bad things about rangers, but my friends that main it swear by it. What is the frostspotter pve build that I’ve heard so much about (I’v eonly seen it a few times) and what other sorts of builds and weaponsets are good for wvw and pvp?

Also about pets, are some better than others? Because if they are just aesthetic I’d probably go with fern hound since I’d probably play a sylvari xD

I Highly recommend sylvari! Don’t forget to set your glow effects during character creation (so cute). :-)

The class is absolutely amazing, but you will need to master the mechanics of the game to have an enjoyable time. Many of the players on the forums have pretty bad advice, as far as the class is concerned, so I would take most things with a grain of salt. Prysin has some wonderful builds posted, so you can follow his posts for a start.

Also check out the build guide sticky (at the top) in the Players helping Players forum. You will really need to maximize the effects of what one would call support/control effects. The class is hard to use, but becomes fluid when mastered.

nearlight.3064:

Thanks for the comments! I played around with ranger in pvp last night and it was a lot of fun. I need to learn how to control the sword skills so I don’t fly all over the place!

I think that once I level this alt I’ll mostly use it in pve though. I normally play ele so I’m used to giving tons of might and fury but I’m sick of relying on fire fields and conjured weapons and I just want to try something different for a change

Lastly, are axes useful for any builds? They seem like a really cool ranged weapon but they don’t really have a clear place compares to bows.

Yes. Offhand axe is very very useful in PvP. Skill 5 grants you retaliation and you can drop people when they try to spike you. Sometimes they will die before realizing what happened.

Mainhand axe works well in chaotic fights where you need to evade frequently and can’t get a clear line of sight. You can almost throw the thing backwards and it will bounce all around you. I find it a bit risky in PvP. If you can land the weakness from winter’s bite and hit a foe with split blade at point blank range it’s usually GG, but I find this hard to pull off in practice. This may be more about my skill, than then weapon, though.

nearlight.3064:

Alright thanks for the comments. What would you say are the biggest strengths and weaknesses for the ranger?

I’m not sure if it’s a strength or a weakness but seems like all the people who mains rangers are mad in one way or another. For example..

Viking Jorun.5413:

I love it. After leveling every class to 80, I started a ranger and now have not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 level 80 rangers

Aw yiss. He has lost it. Yeah. The question is, are you mad enough to be one of us?

FrouFrou.4958:

nearlight.3064:

Alright thanks for the comments. What would you say are the biggest strengths and weaknesses for the ranger?

I’m not sure if it’s a strength or a weakness but seems like all the people who mains rangers are mad in one way or another. For example..

Viking Jorun.5413:

I love it. After leveling every class to 80, I started a ranger and now have not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 level 80 rangers

Aw yiss. He has lost it. Yeah. The question is, are you mad enough to be one of us?

I love imogen heap froufrou. I think I’m mad enough.

Viking Jorun.5413:

I love it. After leveling every class to 80, I started a ranger and now have not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 level 80 rangers because of animations and I just love the class that much. I highly recommend learning the class, but whatever you do DON’T use a longbow and a bear!

Or if you don’t give a kitten what the popular infamy suggests, bear does have it’s place. AoE weakness, AoE condi clears in melee, durable as the day is long?

Bad players are bad. Bears can be pretty awesome though.

But I think you mean: If you’re going to be LB/SB (and then never weapon swap), never move around, can’t dodge, don’t use your utilities, or you have this notion that you should never go melee ever, yeah.

Don’t pick bear. Smokey begs you. He’s tired of the negative attention. It hurts his self-esteem.

Don’t touch any Bows or Bears and you might be okay.

Ranger, oh irony, is a melee fighter.

Rym.1469:

Don’t touch any Bows or Bears and you might be okay.

Ranger, oh irony, is a melee fighter.

Hahahaha I’ve noticed! And thats kind of why I was drawn to this class, since I really like the sword and GS skills, although I feel like the sword 2 leaps are a little spastic.

Right now, I’m probably going to level from tomes on knowledge gained in PvP, and a little bit of world explo to unlock traits, so for pvp I’m trying out a bunch of different builds. The spirit ranger build didn’t really impress me to be honest. Next I tried a trap condition build with axe/torch and s/d which worked out decently, but I felt a little squishy even with rabid gear. Then I tried a longbow/GS power build that actually worked out really well, but I want to try something a bit different.

Do you guys know of any power based regeneration builds that are decent? If not I’ll just play condition/regen tank, but even then are traited shouts and the troll unguent the best way to make this playstyle work?

I haven’t tried regen builds very extensively but I do know that if you have a regen stat Troll Unguent is a must. I will sometimes (depending on the situation) use it on my trapper build even though I have no regen stat just because I like giving the illusion that I’m more tanky than I actually am.

nearlight.3064:

Do you guys know of any power based regeneration builds that are decent?

I’ve been using Nature’s Voice in WvW lately on a berserker ranger. The healing isn’t nearly as strong as my condi PvP ranger setup, but 2k heals every 10 seconds or whatever it is plus the regular heal skill is not too shabby.

It really doesn’t matter what traits you take other than the 6 in NM. Maybe 6 in MM for signets. Or 6 in skirmishing for MoC and then take offhand axe and/or greatsword. Any number of things you can do with it.

Fluffball.8307:

nearlight.3064:

Do you guys know of any power based regeneration builds that are decent?

I’ve been using Nature’s Voice in WvW lately on a berserker ranger. The healing isn’t nearly as strong as my condi PvP ranger setup, but 2k heals every 10 seconds or whatever it is plus the regular heal skill is not too shabby.

It really doesn’t matter what traits you take other than the 6 in NM. Maybe 6 in MM for signets. Or 6 in skirmishing for MoC and then take offhand axe and/or greatsword. Any number of things you can do with it.

Okay thanks a lot, I’ll play around with it in hotjoin later. I might take warhorn over axe for “team support”. Which shouts should I use? And would longbow be the ideal other weapon to take or would greatsword be better?

For regen, you only need guard. Protect me is a good shout if you need an invuln, but it’s not good for regen.

I personally don’t like LB for PvP, but I guess a lot of people do. When I’ve used power builds in PvP in the past I usually used dual melee sets. Or mainhand axe is not terrible for team fights when you need to drop back for a couple seconds to survive before diving back in to melee. I’ve used s/d and a/wh for a sort of best of both worlds.

Edit: I mentioned offhand axe because MoC needs an interrupt to trigger.

nearlight.3064:

Fluffball.8307:

nearlight.3064:

Do you guys know of any power based regeneration builds that are decent?

I’ve been using Nature’s Voice in WvW lately on a berserker ranger. The healing isn’t nearly as strong as my condi PvP ranger setup, but 2k heals every 10 seconds or whatever it is plus the regular heal skill is not too shabby.

It really doesn’t matter what traits you take other than the 6 in NM. Maybe 6 in MM for signets. Or 6 in skirmishing for MoC and then take offhand axe and/or greatsword. Any number of things you can do with it.

Okay thanks a lot, I’ll play around with it in hotjoin later. I might take warhorn over axe for “team support”. Which shouts should I use? And would longbow be the ideal other weapon to take or would greatsword be better?

If you’re taking warhorn I’d highly suggest you take no heal other than Healing Spring to make actual use of that blast finisher if you’re taking it for team support. A 2.6k heal for you and all nearby allies isn’t too shabby, either. Don’t forget that Swoop counts for 2 leap finishers, and if positioned properly in your Healing Spring it gives you alone a solid 5.2k burst heal at the end of the animation on top of the initial heal and regeneration of the Spring.

do not run sylvari, they only look good in cultural armor (imo) and that stuff is expensive… I learned that the hard way QQ bye-bye gold…

For me, my ranger is the only class I really have fun with when I roam, but other than roaming and the occasional pve…..yikes….