Guild Wars 2

As some of you no doubt feel, the Ranger traits – the way the lines are packaged with the stat effects and the specific trait-granted abilities – are not ideal, and in fact, seem quite counter intuitive. Here’s a quick recap:

Marksmanship – Power, Condition Duration
Skirmishing – Precision, Critical Damage
Wilderness Survival – Toughness, Condition Damage
Nature Magic – Vitality, Boon Duration
Beastmastery – Healing Power, Pet Attribute Bonus

So, a few notable, questionable arrangements:

Skirmishing, the line which describes itself as being trap-related, with 3 trap-based traits, is not the line with either of the the Condition bonuses. It also contains the Shortbow-related trait, again which could benefit from a Condition bonus but does not.

Nature Magic, is the line which grants a Boon Duration bonus…but has almost no boons associated with it, unlike the 4 found in Wilderness Survival, or the 3 found in Skirmishing or those in Marksmanship.

Longbow Range trait and Timer reduction trait are in two different lines…

As an example of good synergy, Skirmishing, which is Precision and Critical Damage, does have several crit-related traits.

But, this is not necessarily a bad thing…traits are about more than their stat bonuses or related effects or synergies, but also about abilities granted. For the ranger, in the context of ‘hot-swapping’ – stepping out of combat to change your skills and traits, and even gear and pet – this opens up a whole set of possibilities.

As example, something I have been doing of late – I am currently traited 20/30/20/0/0 – on a ‘ranged trapper’ build, with this as my default traiting:

Signet Mastery, Eagle Eye
Primal Reflexes, Trapper’s Expertise, Trap Potency
Soften the Fall, Off-Hand Training

Range for the Longbow, Trap traits, and offhand for the Warhorn. Skills are usually Heal as One, Flame Trap or Signet of the Hunt or Signet of Stone, Viper’s Nest and Spike Trap, Entangle as Elite, with a condition-heavy gear set (1400+ condition damage). This is well-suited for ‘ground work’, where traps and mobility are important, but it is not good at all for ‘wall work’ – attacking down from walls.

Since in most cases, when setting up to defend a fortification beforehand or between running in and getting up onto the walls you will have a moment where you are out of combat and can make loudout changes…doing so can complete alter how your character is ‘slanted’. For fighting from walls down, I switch to:

Steady Focus or Beastmaster’s Bond, Eagle Eye
Sharpened Edges, Quick Draw, Moment of Clarity
Wilderness Knowledge, Off-Hand Training or Hide in Plain Sight

Skills are switched to Healing Spring, Guard or Protect Me, Muddy Terrain and Quickening Zephyr, with Rampage As One or Spirit of Nature as Elite. Gear – all of it – is switched from a Condition Damage and Vitality/Toughness/Power/Precision balanced set (1400 CD, 20k HP, 2400 Armor, 2600 Attack, 30/30 Crit) to a Power and Precision/Vitality/Toughness/Crit Damage set (200 CD, 18k HP, 2400 Armor, 3350 Attack, 37/71 Crit)…these numbers do not take food into account etc.

So as you can see, because of how our traits are set up, you can significantly change your loadout and get very different results, just by making these changes. Granted switching these things is not as easy as in some games – but it’s well worth doing I think. We may get screwed on being optimal, but there is a silver lining to that cloud!