Guild Wars 2

A lot of players seem to have trouble dealing damage with longbow, so I decided to share my build for WvW. It’s very straight-forward: take every possible damage-increasing trait and piece of gear. Ranger longbow has the biggest range in game (1500) so you don’t need to get close. Stay on top of elevated positions. Enemies won’t chase you as long as there’s closer targets.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNBjODbkoqwOySwi1OAsesXg9xeYoiM6KgaJ2SL-j0xAYrhIjzwIIAJvioxWcLiGruGT5SEVDA-w

Some options and alterations:

• Signet of Stone can be changed to anything. If your character is Charr, I recommend taking Battle Roar for damage buff. Muddy terrain is also excellent crowd control ability.
• Piercing arrows trait can be swapped to Spotter. I’m not sure if there’s a limit how many targets it affects, but most characters benefit from increased critical chance.
• Swap longbow sigil to +5% damage and put bloodlust sigil on secondary weapon set. This will give you the maximum damage on longbow but can be harder to stack.

Note that the build is not yet complete. This is the stuff I have and what I’m using to satisfying playing experience. It’s possible to reach over 3000 power with equipment and food. Maximum I counted is 3153 with food and wxp buffs:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNBjODbkoqwOySwi1OAsesXg9xeYoiM6KgaJ2SL-jUCBYfAYLKy4MYEEAZmFRjt4qIas6aYKXER1WzFRrWKgIGDA-w

Tips and playstyle:

• Think of yourself as the army’s sniper. High single-target damage from long range.
• Always utilize high ground when possible. Your arrows fill fly farther and melee professions can’t get to you.
• Stay at the edge of fights as your autoattacks deal more damage from there.
• Long Range Shot deals more DPS than Rapid Fire.
• Accept that you won’t win any short range 1v1 fights. That’s not your role with this build. If you opt to take defensive items and skills it’ll water down your primary role as damage dealer. Defense comes from range and positioning.

Agree you will do some damage. I will disagree enemies won’t chase you because you are 1500 units away. The truth is you will be an absolute magnet for Thieves and the resulting quick death.

Not sure why you have a bear pet.

IMO

Ditch QZ. Unless your gona burst down a target in that time or you have a friend who can also deal damage with your low HP its kinda pointless. Want a Break stun? Use LigReflex.

Ditch Signet of the Hunt. The 50% increase is nice but unless your gona use Maul on the GS then that extra 50% isn’t really gona save you and that speed increase isn’t either. Signet of the Wild IMO is better for the Stability and increased 25% damage over 6 secs. Better use with Rapid Fire then Signet of the Hunt.

Drop Agility Training and put Quick Draw there. Use Moment of Clarity instead so unless its out of combat your very likely to get an interrupt on a player with PntBlkSht so that 50% extra coming from that trait instead of the SotH (They don’t stack) means you can combine it with SotW for even more damage on that first hit.

Drop Either Eagle eye or Peirceing Arrows for Signet of the Beastmaster. That 6 sec Immu with the extra damage you can get from SoS and the 6 secs increased damage + Stability from SotW is very very nice.

Drop Sharpened Edges. Using Condis on a Zerker Build IMO is a waste. Your better of with Compaions Might or Primal reflexes. Depending if you like using your pet.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjAVF2VWKWs2Bi1j90nBxewfGtIXBUdyKaQL-j0xAYLhIEGGBBI5VEN2ibR0Y11YKXioaZA0HDA-w

Forzani.2584:

Not sure why you have a bear pet.

Because bearbows are OP.

Taku.6352:

Forzani.2584:

Not sure why you have a bear pet.

Because bearbows are OP.

I have much to learn. I feel shame

lol..and the next free frag build you got zero escape ><

lol..and the next free frag build you got zero escape ><

Forzani.2584:

Not sure why you have a bear pet.

- Bear has most attribute points and best tankiness. I’m not expert on pets. Do you have better suggestion?

Spiders. They have immobilize. Makes LB that much better.

Zenith.6403:

Forzani.2584:

Not sure why you have a bear pet.

- Bear has most attribute points and best tankiness. I’m not expert on pets. Do you have better suggestion?

You tell me. you are going pretty much full glass/zerker build to do big damage. Yet your pet does the least damage of any pet that I know of. Why would you need a tanky pet when whoever you are fighting will be going after you?

From my experiences pets are next to useless. The bear just stays nearby whenever I’m attacking cannons and won’t go past obstacles. Pet skills have horrible lag and downed pet won’t revive for the rest of the fight. Should it hit anything at any point I consider it a bonus. I just listed it there for the sake of being comprehensive.

A ranger with a bear is next to useless. How do u want to deal “high singel target dps” with a bear?

The problem of the LB damage is that LB is supossed to be a power weapon and his damage is average when you run a full zerker , and as Anet reduced pet leash range you cant attack with your pet at 1500 range, so ,you lose 30% of your damage.

Norjena.5172:

A ranger with a bear is next to useless. How do u want to deal “high singel target dps” with a bear?

- Use the bow.

Zenith.6403:

From my experiences pets are next to useless. The bear just stays nearby whenever I’m attacking cannons and won’t go past obstacles. Pet skills have horrible lag and downed pet won’t revive for the rest of the fight. Should it hit anything at any point I consider it a bonus. I just listed it there for the sake of being comprehensive.

This is a mistake. While I will be the first to say that pets suck and they need to be reworked/buffed. They are NOT useless. Equip a jungle spider for 2 immobilizes, equip a wolf for AoE Fear. If you can drop the endurance for damage buff, pick up malicious training for increased pet duration.

Only equip bears when running in a zerg (if they’ll even take rangers) and at that point, set it to passive and use it for the AoE 2 condition cleanse.

This is a stereotypical ‘bearbow’, which is held in very low regard by the entire GW2 community. It’s also called a ‘rallybot’ (you have zero defense.)

If you enjoy this playstyle, maybe try a staff ele.

Imo, every longbow user should use fear wolf and immob spider, the self peeling potential is godly in small fights. If you’re talking about zerging I’d use lightning drake and fear wolf, the tanky/dps of the drake is too good and the CC from the wolf is good as well.

Well I guess we need some more clarification. If you are on the outside of a zerg trying to pick people off then your pet should be on passive and by your side. When someone does jump you you will need a pet that can contribute to keep you alive.

Fluffball.8307:

It’s also called a ‘rallybot’ (you have zero defense.)

If you enjoy this playstyle, maybe try a staff ele.

If you are dying all the time with a selfish 1500 range build like this you are doing something VERY wrong, then again many players running this are new-ish to the game, so fumbling around in fractals is normal.

Whoever really plays WvW knows Rangers are just broken there.
Just as this build. Yes, you can damage as mutch as a thrown cow pie.
You’ll also die between two frame rendered =)

If I am running with the zerg, the main problem with LB is not the damage. Honestly, I think in zergs, damage is never the real problem. What i lacked was the aoe abilities to get more bags/wvw experience. Even if I get the piercing arrows, the aoe dmg is so limited that the sniping is actually not worth the time i put on it.

Then i tried adding a Sigil of Torment to my LB and i think now i do far better in wvw. Torment stays for 8 seconds so even though i have a power build, it last enough for me to enter battle. I just try to spread as much torment as possible in zerg fights and then enter the combat with sword/warhorn which gives me more damage output and ability to escape from danger (Sword 2 and LB has many good combinations that can save my life).

Pudding.8756:

If I am running with the zerg, the main problem with LB is not the damage. Honestly, I think in zergs, damage is never the real problem. What i lacked was the aoe abilities to get more bags/wvw experience. Even if I get the piercing arrows, the aoe dmg is so limited that the sniping is actually not worth the time i put on it.

Then i tried adding a Sigil of Torment to my LB and i think now i do far better in wvw. Torment stays for 8 seconds so even though i have a power build, it last enough for me to enter battle. I just try to spread as much torment as possible in zerg fights and then enter the combat with sword/warhorn which gives me more damage output and ability to escape from danger (Sword 2 and LB has many good combinations that can save my life).

I understand everyone has their own objectives when playing. In GW2 though why care about bags or experience? …especially experience. You mention the word sniper…and that is exactly the class, and the build you are playing. When I run that build I hang back and have patience with my target selection. I look for someone that has strayed to far to the sides …or, I especially look for Thieves trying to gank someone near me. That’s when the sniping begins.

If I want to AOE I use my LB Warior, Necro or Staff Ele. My play style depends on my class and build at that time. They all play differently.

You’re a sniper man. Be patient. One shot, one kill !

Forzani.2584:

One shot, one kill !

poor critters

Norjena.5172:

Forzani.2584:

One shot, one kill !

poor critters

Hey, some of those chickens in north supply camp are pretty tough !

In zerg, the whole point is to support your group and fight as one. To snipe, as far as i understand is dealing damage on single foe. But on zerg, this is irrevelant. Zerg fights are done with aoe dmg, that is why most people think ranger is bad on wvw and that is why i explained how i played in zerg.

On the other hand, you can roam in wvw with a longbow i belive, sniping people alone, but i dont think you will be any succesful, considering every melee class has multiple gap closers in this game.

Staying 1500+ range behind zerg and trying to snipe is a bad idea, not only because you will be focused by everyone but also, your piercing arrows will be useless since you are on the edge of your range.

Even with piercing arrows, staff eles are much much better. They can deal awesome dmg double/tripledmg of LB rangers and everything is aoe! And they have more support/cc if it´s needed.

Pudding.8756:

In zerg, the whole point is to support your group and fight as one. To snipe, as far as i understand is dealing damage on single foe. But on zerg, this is irrevelant. Zerg fights are done with aoe dmg, that is why most people think ranger is bad on wvw and that is why i explained how i played in zerg.

On the other hand, you can roam in wvw with a longbow i belive, sniping people alone, but i dont think you will be any succesful, considering every melee class has multiple gap closers in this game.

Staying 1500+ range behind zerg and trying to snipe is a bad idea, not only because you will be focused by everyone but also, your piercing arrows will be useless since you are on the edge of your range.

…“to support your group and fight as one” Yet earlier you said your biggest problem with LB was not enough XP or bags. So adding Torment solved that problem. You’re still not adding very much to “support your group” Sorry, but a LB Ranger isn’t a support class.

I would very much argue that a LB Ranger can support better by protecting the big hitters in the back. Glass Ele’s and Necros. If you keep the Thieves away then your glass cannons can keep blasting, healing and CC.

Forzani.2584:

Pudding.8756:

In zerg, the whole point is to support your group and fight as one. To snipe, as far as i understand is dealing damage on single foe. But on zerg, this is irrevelant. Zerg fights are done with aoe dmg, that is why most people think ranger is bad on wvw and that is why i explained how i played in zerg.

On the other hand, you can roam in wvw with a longbow i belive, sniping people alone, but i dont think you will be any succesful, considering every melee class has multiple gap closers in this game.

Staying 1500+ range behind zerg and trying to snipe is a bad idea, not only because you will be focused by everyone but also, your piercing arrows will be useless since you are on the edge of your range.

…“to support your group and fight as one” Yet earlier you said your biggest problem with LB was not enough XP or bags. So adding Torment solved that problem. You’re still not adding very much to “support your group” Sorry, but a LB Ranger isn’t a support class.

I would very much argue that a LB Ranger can support better by protecting the big hitters in the back. Glass Ele’s and Necros. If you keep the Thieves away then your glass cannons can keep blasting, healing and CC.

This is far the worst misunderstanding i have ever seen

First of all, doing aoe dmg is our point. I am telling we need to do aoe and support eachother with boons. I do deal torment and then enter fight with warhorn and sword to give boons to allies and recieve them back. LB ranger is not a damage class for sure, since our damage is noticeably low compared to our variants. But as i said before, it is not the deal. All you have to do is aoe’s since the aoe’s are what kills enemies in zerg fights.

LB with its current state can not be a main weapon for ranger. It has long cooldown for its autoattcak, has ridiculous damage at low range, barrage makes you stand at a point and rapid fire takes too long to deal damage it is often get evaded easily. Using lb as a secondary weapon and entering the wvw with more viable sword/smthing is really more reasonable. Not only because more damage output, but also because you receive boons from your zerg and you can give your spotter a good use.

Secondly; it is not nice to pull a word from the comment and talk about it like it is the main thing.

Thirdly; as i said above, you can only deal damage to melee tanks if you stand 1500 range, since glass eles or necros are not up on front. If you come and stack with zerg, then you are again insta dead…

And last of all, MY biggest problem was exp and bags. BUT IT IS STILL TRUE THAT ZERG FIGHTS ARE ALL ABOUT SUPPORTING YOUR GROUP AND FIGHTING AS ONE. I cant see the revelance between me wanting more wvw experience and bags and the way how zerg should play.

Pudding.8756:

Forzani.2584:

Pudding.8756:

In zerg, the whole point is to support your group and fight as one. To snipe, as far as i understand is dealing damage on single foe. But on zerg, this is irrevelant. Zerg fights are done with aoe dmg, that is why most people think ranger is bad on wvw and that is why i explained how i played in zerg.

On the other hand, you can roam in wvw with a longbow i belive, sniping people alone, but i dont think you will be any succesful, considering every melee class has multiple gap closers in this game.

Staying 1500+ range behind zerg and trying to snipe is a bad idea, not only because you will be focused by everyone but also, your piercing arrows will be useless since you are on the edge of your range.

…“to support your group and fight as one” Yet earlier you said your biggest problem with LB was not enough XP or bags. So adding Torment solved that problem. You’re still not adding very much to “support your group” Sorry, but a LB Ranger isn’t a support class.

I would very much argue that a LB Ranger can support better by protecting the big hitters in the back. Glass Ele’s and Necros. If you keep the Thieves away then your glass cannons can keep blasting, healing and CC.

This is far the worst misunderstanding i have ever seen
……
.

That is one thing we can agree upon. I read what you wrote then and now and I get dolphin clicks. I still don’t really get what point you are trying to make. All I really get from your tirade is that LB sucks and does low damage in WvW. Obviously we disagree on that.

I will apologize ahead of time since it is likely English is a second language for you. Which might be the reason I am having a tough time understanding

Sina.9208:

Fluffball.8307:

It’s also called a ‘rallybot’ (you have zero defense.)

If you enjoy this playstyle, maybe try a staff ele.

If you are dying all the time with a selfish 1500 range build like this you are doing something VERY wrong, then again many players running this are new-ish to the game, so fumbling around in fractals is normal.

My point is he doesn’t have a back up plan at all. I use LB for roaming, and will often go all “special forces” on a zerg fight. I can confidently get towards the squishy underside of a zerg or not die if the zerg heads right towards me because I’ve got things like a 1H sword, lighting reflexes, muddy terrain, vigor, protection, better pets, etc. The posted build can only survive if no one targets you.

There. I modified it a bit.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATBjEVN2VWs2Bi1j90nA1PMJOD+zoUmRFajB-jkCBYfQYLBBnBjgAiKAI1UQM5RZtoqIas6aYKXER1SBExYA-w

threw in some pieces of soldier gear to bolster the hp a bit, put 5 points from skirmishing and 10 from natures magic into wilderness survival for the protection on dodge and changed the offhand to greatsword(though sword+warhorn works too).
Also dropped the scholar runes, cause honestly, who stays above 90% hp against retal spamming gigablobs?

Swapped QZ for LR, tossed the signets for muddy terrain and a free slot, which can be used to slot:
-SotH when moving around
-Sick ’em, when facing thieves
-Protect me or Signet of Renewal, when things get rough

It no longer is a bearbow, it now is a three-tailed devourer with a surprise dog for whoever manages to get into melee range.

Things, which can be changed:
-remove another 5 points from skirmishing, getting martial mastery to improve the utility of the defensive sidearm
-drop piercing arrows or eagle eye for remorseless, when you expect things to get messy
-toy around with the third utility slot, as mentioned above

edit: skirmishing 20pt trait fixed

I would use SOTH and LR and change the third slot as needed. Sick’em for when you’re alone and likely to run into thieves, muddy terrain when you’re zerg surfing, spirits when you’re tower camping. I would only take SOTH off if you’re camping a keep for the long haul. You need to gtfo out of dodge when things go south when you run zerker LB. The alternative of running traveler runes gimps the damage too much so I have to waste a slot on it.

Not a fan of RaO. I think you get more out of entangle when solo and + muddy terrain when you zerg surf. It’s pretty fun to try and immobilize bomb while playing chicken with the other zerg.

And there’s no point to run anything but Scholar if you’re sniping. I don’t remember the exact numbers but the threshold to have the best DPS is pretty low vs Ruby Orbs even when you can’t keep HP above 90% half the time. Plus it makes no sense to go precision when you know Anet is nerfing Crit dmg in the upcoming patch. Precision centric stats will get hit even harder in the nerf.

Norjena.5172:

Even with piercing arrows, staff eles are much much better. They can deal awesome dmg double/tripledmg of LB rangers and everything is aoe! And they have more support/cc if it´s needed.

First of all I do love playing my ranger, but for the sake of honesty… Staff eles can do way more ranged/aoe damage than rangers can and have possibly the best support skills in the game on one weapon set. Almost every single ability on staff is good (if not fantastic) in a zerg setting. Oh yeah and the best aoe in the game.

Based on how the crit damage and rune changes go, I was thinking about Divinity runes. It’s way too early to tell right now though since they said 100% of runes are getting changed. I recommend getting some cheap runes for the time being. You’d hate to drop a fortune on Scholar runes and have them be worthless in a few months.

What?! They already stole 6% Crit DMG from me on Rune of Divinity sets.
I’m using those. Hell don’t dare to nerf it!! Its expensive for a reason, but not sharpes on berzerking or anything else, its just a celestial like sigil that keeps me good balanced O.o

Fluffball.8307:

Based on how the crit damage and rune changes go, I was thinking about Divinity runes.

- Divity runes are effective if you can utilize all of the stats. That is a mixed condition build on a character that gets into close range. Necromancer is prime example. On longbow ranger the damage you’re receiving comes mostly from retaliation procs and doesn’t warrant sacrificing damage for defense.

Most of the damage I take is from players seeing a glass LB ranger and going for an ‘easy’ kill. If I see another longbow ranger I usually target them even before the eles just because so many people run builds like the one you posted.

For your build it would be unavoidable death when someone targets you. Again zero escape plans, you have no mobility skill, no stun breaker, no condition removal, no vigor, no protection, no CC, no blocks, no invulnerability, no anything. For naphack’s modification, you can at least survive long enough for them to lose interest, if not properly defend yourself and kill them.

And what makes your build even weirder is that your damage is barely higher than mine or naphack’s builds, yet yours is helpless and ours can win 1v1s.

AoE and bags are nice, but I see rangers main contribution is singling out a target for death. This is what a longbow build does really well. Some zerg vs zerg is a stalemate and getting those individual downs is what tips the balance in your teams favor. We may not have the highest dps, but we can maintain that dps wherever that target goes (within 1500).

Per the OP’s build I wouldnt leave your defense so lacking, its what makes us the first ones targetted. You’ll lose a bit of damage but at that point you can gain a lot of vit/tough for a little bit sacrificed.

Kilger.5490:

AoE and bags are nice, but I see rangers main contribution is singling out a target for death. This is what a longbow build does really well. Some zerg vs zerg is a stalemate and getting those individual downs is what tips the balance in your teams favor. We may not have the highest dps, but we can maintain that dps wherever that target goes (within 1500).

Per the OP’s build I wouldnt leave your defense so lacking, its what makes us the first ones targetted. You’ll lose a bit of damage but at that point you can gain a lot of vit/tough for a little bit sacrificed.

That is my outlook also when playing LB. What I would like to get to is what I did when I played Scout in Daoc. Two Rangers focus firing on one person. Quick kills, less risk, more fun.

Haven’t found anyone interested in that yet though

Forzani.2584:

Kilger.5490:

AoE and bags are nice, but I see rangers main contribution is singling out a target for death. This is what a longbow build does really well. Some zerg vs zerg is a stalemate and getting those individual downs is what tips the balance in your teams favor. We may not have the highest dps, but we can maintain that dps wherever that target goes (within 1500).

Per the OP’s build I wouldnt leave your defense so lacking, its what makes us the first ones targetted. You’ll lose a bit of damage but at that point you can gain a lot of vit/tough for a little bit sacrificed.

That is my outlook also when playing LB. What I would like to get to is what I did when I played Scout in Daoc. Two Rangers focus firing on one person. Quick kills, less risk, more fun.

Haven’t found anyone interested in that yet though

The issue is the lack of controllable ranged burst. Most of my time in GW2 was running with 5 (then 3, then 2, and now I’m solo since everyone quit) Rangers attempting to do just this. Warrior does it infinitely better

Atherakhia.4086:

Forzani.2584:

Kilger.5490:

AoE and bags are nice, but I see rangers main contribution is singling out a target for death. This is what a longbow build does really well. Some zerg vs zerg is a stalemate and getting those individual downs is what tips the balance in your teams favor. We may not have the highest dps, but we can maintain that dps wherever that target goes (within 1500).

Per the OP’s build I wouldnt leave your defense so lacking, its what makes us the first ones targetted. You’ll lose a bit of damage but at that point you can gain a lot of vit/tough for a little bit sacrificed.

That is my outlook also when playing LB. What I would like to get to is what I did when I played Scout in Daoc. Two Rangers focus firing on one person. Quick kills, less risk, more fun.

Haven’t found anyone interested in that yet though

The issue is the lack of controllable ranged burst. Most of my time in GW2 was running with 5 (then 3, then 2, and now I’m solo since everyone quit) Rangers attempting to do just this. Warrior does it infinitely better

I don’t think I agree man. I player my Ranger or Warrior 80% of the time. I pretty much always use LB with Warrior. I Think the single target burst of a Ranger > Warrior (with LB). Now to Warriors with rifle? That might be a different story …..and i would be up for a duo Warrior rifle team also !

Warriors have bigger burst with a rifle, but I’ve found rangers to be more practical because of the huge range. What is the real range of a longbow? I’ve heard 2100.

1800 is max range

4 killshot warriors and a thief to stealth them. Time to go hunt that enemy commander.

Taku.6352:

4 killshot warriors and a thief to stealth them. Time to go hunt that enemy commander.

No doubt. That kind of stuff makes me laugh. Would love to be a part of that.

That sure is strong damage but you’re amazingly squishy, I wouldn’t recommend this build to everyone, unless you make tons of effort not to get ganked and unless you have a lot of people to support you and not let you die easily.

U should look at other classes range dmg. Even guardians can do much more (Scepter AA is easy to avoid but “good” dps).

Engineers are much better, they can burst, they have cc and so on. 1500 range is rly not needed. Warriors are better to “snipe out” singel people. They can down the players, and finish them.
Staff Ele deals double/triple dmg of a LB ranger and everything is AoE.

Only Mesmers and Necromancers have worse range dps.

Norjena.5172:

Only Mesmers and Necromancers have worse range dps.

Unless you count epidemic and confusion stacking, then they do WAY more damage than barrage.

For single target, the ranger is excellent. Max range is extremely important for zerg fights. A half dead player soon becomes a full health player.

Zenith.6403:

• Long Range Shot deals more DPS than Rapid Fire.

does this claim account for vulnerability? (assuming group situation)

If u need vulnerability 2 is better. But that´s it. Rly rly weak skill 4 1/2sec channel to tickle your enemys.