Guild Wars 2

Note: This build is primarily focused on WvW but is also effective in PvE.

There are many ways to build your characters. Some better than others and some plainly suited to the person behind them. The build I will explain here is what has served me best and has since convinced me that hope for the Ranger isn’t completely lost.

Your Pets
As a Ranger, your pets are (unfortunately) a big part of your damage dealt. They can provide you with damage bonuses, boons or cleanses but the majority of the time they’re limping behind you dead. However, if properly managed they can be a decent asset. Learn when to call your pet back to you and when to send it in for an attack. Eventually, it will become second nature using your pet more like an Engineer might use their kits, swapping in and out in battle.
I have chosen, and continue to chose over and over, the drakes. They pull great aggro (awesome for flipping camps in WvW) can survive the aggro they pull with good toughness/vitality, and even untraited they do some pretty nasty damage.
I would like to add however, that pets are highly situational. And can be changed to suit your current needs. I have just found that after giving all the species a fair run that the drakes are the most reliable for both damage and survivability. Bears can tank, but do pitiful damage unless traited, which is a waste. Birds/felines do great damage, but eyeballing their healthbars is far too risky when in combat.

Weapons
Longbow
As a Ranger, I try to stay true to the image I hold in my mind of a times long forgotten sniper. One who sits atop the hills, on tower walls or just out of sight of the enemy. And when the time is right, they take their shot dealing critical damage and if properly executed defeating their enemy before they can get within melee range.
Thus your main weapon will be the Longbow. Treat it as your trusty rifle, not your machine gun. You won’t be standing five feet from your enemy with this weapon, you will be standing out of reach carefully picking and choosing your targets. After you have gained 25 stacks of Accuracy, a single Rapid Fire with every arrow landing can crit for up to or exceeding 12k. The more vulnerability on your enemy the higher the numbers will climb. You may also consider using the Cave Spider for it’s “Weakening Venom” which applies additional vulnerability.
Let me stress before I move on to the next weapon that; you are not front line material. You are not to be using your bow as a machine gun. As a wise Ranger once said on these forums, there should be but one thing on your mind at all times, position. Position, position, position.

Axe and Warhorn
For those close encounters, a Ranger must be skilled both at range and in close quarters. You are a slippery S.O.B. but sometimes the enemy is just too slimey to keep away. When they manage to get in your face, show them the error of their ways. Use “Call Of The Wild” when the time is right and let the boons do their job. Hopefully at this point you haven’t forgotten that position is still a very important strategy. Flanking your opponent will grant you with 10% additional damage (Hunter’s Tactic’s trait). “Honed Axes” trait will also grant you with a 10% critical damage increase while wielding an axe in your main hand. To top this off, you have a Superior Sigil Of Force, 25 stacks of Accuracy to increase precision(assuming you have gained your Accuracy), Might and Fury from “Call Of The Wild” and if your endurance is full… Another 10% damage increase. This is without including food and oil buffs. Which means handled properly you’ll hit like a semi on jet fuel.
POSITION.

Utility
Troll Unguent is awesome… The end… With a build that’s on the softer side, this skill can really reduce the feeling of being fragile. Use it with care though!
Prayer To Kormir is a utility only available to humans, so… If you’re not of the human race this won’t be an option. Why I’ve chosen to place this here is that I haven’t traited for any passive condition removals. And if you’ve been a Ranger for long you probably know by now conditions are our achilles heel. If used properly, this little gem can be a life-saver.
Signet Of The Hunt is optional. In WvW, fast travel is crucial. This signet is great for peeling across the map and gaining distance between you and your foes. Although with a Warhorn equipped you also have access to swiftness, it’s nice not to have to rely on cooldowns.
Signet Of Renewal once again will be focusing on our weakness, conditions. To be honest, I don’t find that those 10 seconds ping in at just the right time very often. I don’t see conditions being removed when I’d like them to but it does have it’s moments. Not only that, if your pet is still alive and you feel like risking it’s life (and that +5% damage that you’ll get from having it alive), you can send all the conditions it’s way.
Rampage As One, well… I guess I’m just bias about this but I consider just about all of the other Ranger elites to be garbage. That’s just my opinion so take it as you will. People just walk clean out of Entangle half the time and because we’re not a spirit build Spirit Of Nature can be used as little more than a healing turret (which can actually be pretty useful from time to time but still fails in comparison to Fury, Stability and Swiftness.)

Traits
Marksmanship
Any self-respecting Ranger will have this trait line maxed… It just has everything our profession could ask for. For what I’ve organized here, we’ll have a 10% damage increase with full endurance as I’ve stated previously, “Spotter” which will increase our own, as well as our allies precision and “Eagle Eye” which will allow us to better snipe down our enemies from a safe distance (for bonus damage stand at absolute max range and watch 3 – 4k become your regular hits with “Long Range Shot.”)

Skirmishing
A great trait line for critically based builds or trappers, Skirmishing will provide us with the following: Fury and Might when swapping weapons in combat. Although it’s benefits rarely prove themselves, they aren’t without virtue. “Sharpened Edges” will grant us a 66% chance to cause bleeding on critical attacks. And, with the build’s high chance of that already, you can count on causing a lot of bleeds. After this we have “Honed Axes” and “Quick Draw.” The first, as mentioned earlier, will give us a nice damage increase with our axes. The latter will allow us to more effectively utilize “Rapid Fire” which will be our main source of DPS.

Nature Magic
The 10 points spent here can also be spent in Wilderness Survival. I however have chosen to spend them in Nature Magic for the benefit of regeneration when health reaches 75% and a respectable bonus to power from our vitality. If you wish to trait in to Wilderness Survival for “Shared Anguish” and increased endurance regeneration it won’t hurt the build any.

Armor
I have been told that assassins isn’t the best way to go, but after trying my current set up with PTV and Berserker, I’ve come to prefer PTV and Assassins. Why, is because with Berserker weapons and the majority of your trinkets also Berserker, the high precision of Assassins compliments the high power of Berserkers very nicely. And with both you of course get that sweet bonus to critical damage. If you prefer to use Berserkers in place of Assassins, I’ve tried it and the difference isn’t massive. Still, I would recommend what I’ve listed here over Berserkers.
Why I haven’t chosen to go full Power or full Assassins/Berserker is because you need a good balance of damage and survivability. Although a good Power build can deal some great damage as well as maintaining awesome survivability, it seriously lacks that oomph that critical damage and precision provides. And to go full glass well, in WvW that’s just asking to get rolled. Even as a Ranger who should be as far from the spinning blades and casting flames as possible, projectiles and a well trained thief can still sneak up on you. So I would really recommend against going full glass for WvW.

Runes
Superior Rune Of The Ranger
Why: Look at the title… +5% damage while you have a companion, keep it alive and boom, 5% extra damage. Precision and Critical Damage to boot.

Superior Rune Of The Scholar
Why: Too much precision is a bad thing. You want that extra power or your critical attacks are going to be just as lack luster as an all power build would be. That’s not to downplay power builds as they’re highly effective, just as I’ve said before they lack that “oomph.” And without power to compliment your precision, the same thing will happen.
And you know that +10% damage while health is above 90% is pretty awesome too…

Thus concluding my build. I imagine there are greater ones out there, especially considering I’ve only been playing a Ranger for a relatively short period of time. Still, of the professions I’ve had experience with (all of them save Elementalist), I’ve enjoyed my time most with the Ranger and this set up. If I could provide a video of it in action I would, unfortunately my computer hardly supports the game itself let alone a recording program in the background…
Feel free to comment or to try it out and don’t forget … ~

P O S I T I O N

~ Link to the build below ~

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMEQNBjODrEoSd9AL+VYtGIWP2z+7D7hhKEjcFQVG7ECMH-jkDBYLERzUEBjIAmKIRZPKrJSCiFVCiFXKrKbYKXLqW9CwaOYmzKqG0wSBMqwI-w

Ranger runes are bugged and give the 5% extra dmg regardless of your pet status. Intact it works on every class even if they don’t have companions.

Not to bring hate but i fail to see how this build is effective in PvE?

Do you mean openworld etc because pretty much any build is. As for fractals, dungeons etc i would go as far as to say this build is very ineffective.

As for WvW, there are much more effective builds solo or roaming. With the traits/weapons i could see it being useful in zerging but then again this is an area the ranger already is pretty ineffective, as a class.

Sorry.

“Allow us to more effectively utilize “Rapid Fire” which will be our main source of DPS.”

Autoattack has a slightly higher dps than rapid fire. In close-mid range, rapid fire is also easily stopped mid-cast by strafing out the line of sight.

The only time you should use rapid fire is on stealthed folks or if you’re applying vulnerability for your party.