Guild Wars 2

Heyo rangers,
so to be honest I’m still quite new to ranger but really like it. I’m quite lazy, so the only pets I have are my first pet and juvenile wolf that I randomly found in WvW :P The class mechanic is quite hard to get the hang of for me, but apart from that ranger is one of the funnest (yes, funnest) classes out their (well, at least this particular build IMO).

I main necro, and played it in WvW, but it is just sooooo lackluster when you realize that is just has limited mobility and escapes. So as a YouTuber I was just browsing the web and came upon some Ranger WvW video with traps. Now I’ve never really encountered these traps so I was intrigued. It was amazing, and after watching it I had to do the same :P

I made my ranger, practiced a bit in PvP, crafted those trapper runes and rabid gear, used 80 ToKnowledge and hoped into WvW. Now 4-5 months later I’m very happy with what I have achieved. I swear, this has to be one of the, if not, the best roaming build out there (excluding teef builds because… you know…) Decent condi clear, huge condi bursts, tons of AoE, decent to good mobility, awesome survivability and excellent kiting abilities!

My build: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQRAsf3YjEq0ua5K2rQ1aADhq9JEslA7AICmAXx7JHpSrA-TlSHABEcQAMRVin3fYRVCuQ/ALqpEwTA4OlgAcCAOS5XAAEAO6RP6Mn5MLFAMrBA-w
(Ideally I would have torment instead of leeching, but that extra sustain + raw damage is quite good. plus, I’m a poor ’ol fellow)

Shortbow could work very well too, but it’s so easy. Spam auto attack, drop trap to create distance, spam AA, etc etc. Going sword/axe is more challenging AND fun!

Usual combo is: Trow torch – dagger 4 – axe 3 – entangle – split blade – fire and spike trap – dagger 5 – bonfire – sword 3 – etc etc.

Now just to show off what I have achieved so far:

(Including: 3v1, 3v2, chased by zergs, escapes, huge condi bursts and more

Like I said b4, I’m still quite a ranger newbie so let me know any tips/feeback that you might have! (but have mercy)

-Hollts

Great use of that stealth! You did fine in those skirmishes. That escape from getting ganked in EB was awesome. But use your pet! He just sat there as a condi sponge and nothing more. I’ve grown to really like the shortbow, but I understand the appeal of the sword/dagger.

nice. I haven’t played around with trap ranger much but the trapper runes make me want to try it.

Don’t regret leeching sigil.

I think I need to make a trapper runes ranger ;-)

Great video, almost makes me want to switch back to a trapper build. How do you do against condition roamers though? I found that the trapper build gave up too much condi survivability to work against rabid engis, terrormancers, and condi mesmers.

I’ve been running a similar one with shortbow and axe/torch. How do you survive vs a sword/dagger thief? they hop around so much it’s extremely hard to stack condis, they pop out of entangle and they clear condis like crazy. it feels almost impossible to win. Also certain variations of hammer warrs with a bunch of condi clear are pretty much impossible to kill.

Also does the drake’s f2 ever actually land?

Marsh drake? That’s poison projectile that bounces. Of coarse it lands.

Justine.6351:

Marsh drake? That’s poison projectile that bounces. Of coarse it lands.

massive cast time though

vespers.1759:

Justine.6351:

Marsh drake? That’s poison projectile that bounces. Of coarse it lands.

massive cast time though

how does that matter if the projectile aims at end of cast not at start? If anything it would be the projectile speed that would cause problems. That’s a matter of using it at closer range and not against a super trolly twitchy player moving all crazy. Even then it can still land depending on orientation (player moving towards or away from pet) &/or you crippling/chilling/immobilizing/stunning, but I mean if you don’t do any of those things then drake landing f2 poison bouncy ball is the least of your probs.

Trapper runes are probably the best in the game, but that is, of course, a personal opinion I have a set and love them although I run a slightly different build:

2/6/6 in which I take keen edge whereas you take Nature Magic / natures protection. I run long bow, axe, and torch. You run with both melee sets (I’m horrible at melee. I play it like I’m on my Guardian which never ends well – lol). Slightly different sigils and I’m running full dire whereas it looks like you are mixing and matching (not complaining).

A lot of people don’t know what to make of you when you run a trap set. It isn’t want they expected and a lot of times end up grouping and asking how you gained stealth so much. You know you did well when they chase you half way across the map…

Deepfreeze.1048:

Great video, almost makes me want to switch back to a trapper build. How do you do against condition roamers though? I found that the trapper build gave up too much condi survivability to work against rabid engis, terrormancers, and condi mesmers.

My friend and I both roam with SB | A/T condi rangers, except I have a survival build and he plays trapper. He usually just has EB for condis which he makes work, but admits it’s on the edge vs the condi heavy opponents. Swapping in the Spring might be wise if you know you’re about to fight one. I run EB and SotF so I have a bunch of condi clears, but I’m the one who always gets ganked in an overrun situation.

After this rune got introduced I got called a hacker soo many times haha. Sorry brah for not reading patchnotes huh.

Why the leeching sigil though? Does it heal that much when you swap? I would have thought that Torment would be a better offensive choice?

Leeching sigil is ~1k dmg and heal. It isn’t affected by armor rating.

Deepfreeze.1048:

Great video, almost makes me want to switch back to a trapper build. How do you do against condition roamers though? I found that the trapper build gave up too much condi survivability to work against rabid engis, terrormancers, and condi mesmers.

Thanks! I avoid nec’s, unless I know that they are power. Engi’s are having just as a hard time as you, one condi burst after HT and they are rip. Haven’t encountered condi mesmers yet :/

Justine.6351:

Don’t regret leeching sigil.

I think I need to make a trapper runes ranger ;-)

So worth it

FrownyClown.8402:

nice. I haven’t played around with trap ranger much but the trapper runes make me want to try it.

Go for it! 100% worth it

perko.8309:

Great use of that stealth! You did fine in those skirmishes. That escape from getting ganked in EB was awesome. But use your pet! He just sat there as a condi sponge and nothing more. I’ve grown to really like the shortbow, but I understand the appeal of the sword/dagger.

But that’s what I need him to be! A big condi AI sponge (jk, but yea I’m still learning pet-stuff, wolf on ‘agressive’ is awesome with the knockdowns) Thanks btw

aspirine.6852:

Why the leeching sigil though? Does it heal that much when you swap? I would have thought that Torment would be a better offensive choice?

tbh, i was too poor at that moment to buy torment. But after getting leeching I can’t live without that 1k raw damage AND heal every ~20 sec. But torment would be a great cover condi yea :/ I think I’m gonna switch to reef drake for the confusion condi cover.

perko.8309:

Deepfreeze.1048:

Great video, almost makes me want to switch back to a trapper build. How do you do against condition roamers though? I found that the trapper build gave up too much condi survivability to work against rabid engis, terrormancers, and condi mesmers.

My friend and I both roam with SB | A/T condi rangers, except I have a survival build and he plays trapper. He usually just has EB for condis which he makes work, but admits it’s on the edge vs the condi heavy opponents. Swapping in the Spring might be wise if you know you’re about to fight one. I run EB and SotF so I have a bunch of condi clears, but I’m the one who always gets ganked in an overrun situation.

Trapper runes give you a lot of breathing room, so if a condi vs condi fight is looking bad its an easy disengage

Crapgame.6519:

Trapper runes are probably the best in the game, but that is, of course, a personal opinion I have a set and love them although I run a slightly different build:

2/6/6 in which I take keen edge whereas you take Nature Magic / natures protection. I run long bow, axe, and torch. You run with both melee sets (I’m horrible at melee. I play it like I’m on my Guardian which never ends well – lol). Slightly different sigils and I’m running full dire whereas it looks like you are mixing and matching (not complaining).

A lot of people don’t know what to make of you when you run a trap set. It isn’t want they expected and a lot of times end up grouping and asking how you gained stealth so much. You know you did well when they chase you half way across the map…

+1, I don’t like keen edge cause you have no wilderness traits, but it is the best other option for sure. Also, longbow? Isn’t this a condi build? :P

vespers.1759:

I’ve been running a similar one with shortbow and axe/torch. How do you survive vs a sword/dagger thief? they hop around so much it’s extremely hard to stack condis, they pop out of entangle and they clear condis like crazy. it feels almost impossible to win. Also certain variations of hammer warrs with a bunch of condi clear are pretty much impossible to kill.

Also does the drake’s f2 ever actually land?

Spike trap > Splitblade is what made me win against one S/D i remember. But tbh haven’t seen many. And yea, it hits, but I think I’m gonna go reef drake for the cover condi…

Holl.3109:

aspirine.6852:

Why the leeching sigil though? Does it heal that much when you swap? I would have thought that Torment would be a better offensive choice?

tbh, i was too poor at that moment to buy torment. But after getting leeching I can’t live without that 1k raw damage AND heal every ~20 sec. But torment would be a great cover condi yea :/ I think I’m gonna switch to reef drake for the confusion condi cover.

perko.8309:

Deepfreeze.1048:

Great video, almost makes me want to switch back to a trapper build. How do you do against condition roamers though? I found that the trapper build gave up too much condi survivability to work against rabid engis, terrormancers, and condi mesmers.

My friend and I both roam with SB | A/T condi rangers, except I have a survival build and he plays trapper. He usually just has EB for condis which he makes work, but admits it’s on the edge vs the condi heavy opponents. Swapping in the Spring might be wise if you know you’re about to fight one. I run EB and SotF so I have a bunch of condi clears, but I’m the one who always gets ganked in an overrun situation.

Trapper runes give you a lot of breathing room, so if a condi vs condi fight is looking bad its an easy disengage

Crapgame.6519:

Trapper runes are probably the best in the game, but that is, of course, a personal opinion I have a set and love them although I run a slightly different build:

2/6/6 in which I take keen edge whereas you take Nature Magic / natures protection. I run long bow, axe, and torch. You run with both melee sets (I’m horrible at melee. I play it like I’m on my Guardian which never ends well – lol). Slightly different sigils and I’m running full dire whereas it looks like you are mixing and matching (not complaining).

A lot of people don’t know what to make of you when you run a trap set. It isn’t want they expected and a lot of times end up grouping and asking how you gained stealth so much. You know you did well when they chase you half way across the map…

+1, I don’t like keen edge cause you have no wilderness traits, but it is the best other option for sure. Also, longbow? Isn’t this a condi build? :P

vespers.1759:

I’ve been running a similar one with shortbow and axe/torch. How do you survive vs a sword/dagger thief? they hop around so much it’s extremely hard to stack condis, they pop out of entangle and they clear condis like crazy. it feels almost impossible to win. Also certain variations of hammer warrs with a bunch of condi clear are pretty much impossible to kill.

Also does the drake’s f2 ever actually land?

Spike trap > Splitblade is what made me win against one S/D i remember. But tbh haven’t seen many. And yea, it hits, but I think I’m gonna go reef drake for the cover condi…

Quick question, Superspeed increases your speed by 33% in normal condition, but if you’re chilled or crippled, do you still run in 33% speed despite being soft CCed? (I heard it suppose to increase your movespeed by 100%, so 66% is canceled out and still remain the 33% speed)

You kept on speeding the video so it’s hard to tell.

Please, when you use A/D use #4 and then #2. It sets it up for stacking 5 bleeds instantly on them.

Using #4 then #5 is kind of a waste because #5 has nice range and can be used anytime really. While splitblade should be used while making sweet sweet love to their faces.

Oh and don’t neglect your poor pet even if you just use the drake f2 on downed players (which one of the better ways to use it because drake pets are a fickle beast)

And swap before it dies! Also pro tip: you can swap while downed and also use pet skills while downed. So if you have drake out and are about to get stomped swap to wolf and press f2 for another interrupt.

How do you swap pets in a downed state? I hate to admit it, but I honestly have no clue.

Crapgame.6519:

How do you swap pets in a downed state? I hate to admit it, but I honestly have no clue.

Just push the normal swap pet key. You’re probably going down with the swap on cooldown so it does nothing. Same for the pet F2, still just press F2.

Same way you do when not downed. You have full control over pets when you’re downed.

Ok, thanks. I hate to admit this also but I’m pretty sure I don’t have my pet key bound I use the UI. Don’t judge me

Consider yourself judged

Did someone call for a JDGE?

Jokes aside, I can’t believe how well you can actually survive without a stunbreaker! I’d just stop, drop and die in a heartbeat.

Aomine.5012:

Holl.3109:

aspirine.6852:

Why the leeching sigil though? Does it heal that much when you swap? I would have thought that Torment would be a better offensive choice?

tbh, i was too poor at that moment to buy torment. But after getting leeching I can’t live without that 1k raw damage AND heal every ~20 sec. But torment would be a great cover condi yea :/ I think I’m gonna switch to reef drake for the confusion condi cover.

perko.8309:

Deepfreeze.1048:

Great video, almost makes me want to switch back to a trapper build. How do you do against condition roamers though? I found that the trapper build gave up too much condi survivability to work against rabid engis, terrormancers, and condi mesmers.

My friend and I both roam with SB | A/T condi rangers, except I have a survival build and he plays trapper. He usually just has EB for condis which he makes work, but admits it’s on the edge vs the condi heavy opponents. Swapping in the Spring might be wise if you know you’re about to fight one. I run EB and SotF so I have a bunch of condi clears, but I’m the one who always gets ganked in an overrun situation.

Trapper runes give you a lot of breathing room, so if a condi vs condi fight is looking bad its an easy disengage

Crapgame.6519:

Trapper runes are probably the best in the game, but that is, of course, a personal opinion I have a set and love them although I run a slightly different build:

2/6/6 in which I take keen edge whereas you take Nature Magic / natures protection. I run long bow, axe, and torch. You run with both melee sets (I’m horrible at melee. I play it like I’m on my Guardian which never ends well – lol). Slightly different sigils and I’m running full dire whereas it looks like you are mixing and matching (not complaining).

A lot of people don’t know what to make of you when you run a trap set. It isn’t want they expected and a lot of times end up grouping and asking how you gained stealth so much. You know you did well when they chase you half way across the map…

+1, I don’t like keen edge cause you have no wilderness traits, but it is the best other option for sure. Also, longbow? Isn’t this a condi build? :P

vespers.1759:

I’ve been running a similar one with shortbow and axe/torch. How do you survive vs a sword/dagger thief? they hop around so much it’s extremely hard to stack condis, they pop out of entangle and they clear condis like crazy. it feels almost impossible to win. Also certain variations of hammer warrs with a bunch of condi clear are pretty much impossible to kill.

Also does the drake’s f2 ever actually land?

Spike trap > Splitblade is what made me win against one S/D i remember. But tbh haven’t seen many. And yea, it hits, but I think I’m gonna go reef drake for the cover condi…

Quick question, Superspeed increases your speed by 33% in normal condition, but if you’re chilled or crippled, do you still run in 33% speed despite being soft CCed? (I heard it suppose to increase your movespeed by 100%, so 66% is canceled out and still remain the 33% speed)

You kept on speeding the video so it’s hard to tell.

Ummm.. No one bother to answer my question?

Superspeed increases your movement speed additively up to the cap of +33%. Chill reduces movement speed by 66% which is the “wasted” duration from superspeed so you won’t even notice being chilled.

I’m a bit scared about his first sentence. New to ranger, and already play better than 99% of them. I cant wait for you next vid Holls.

vespers.1759:

Justine.6351:

Marsh drake? That’s poison projectile that bounces. Of coarse it lands.

massive cast time though

The river drake’s F2 is the bouncing one with a long cast time. Works to your advantage against stealth classes though, just like rapid fire and others(?) channeled attacks. F2 on a visible thief, and he’ll be on the wrong end of the lightning bolts even if stealthed in the meantime.

aspirine.6852:

I’m a bit scared about his first sentence. New to ranger, and already play better than 99% of them. I cant wait for you next vid Holls.

xD I’ll take that as a big compliment. But to be honest this build is quite forgiving.
Did something wrong? Ganked? Drop ice trap and GTFO.

Aomine.5012:

Quick question, Superspeed increases your speed by 33% in normal condition, but if you’re chilled or crippled, do you still run in 33% speed despite being soft CCed? (I heard it suppose to increase your movespeed by 100%, so 66% is canceled out and still remain the 33% speed)

You kept on speeding the video so it’s hard to tell.

Ummm.. No one bother to answer my question?[/quote]

I’m not sure, sorry for the late reply btw. But I think you are pretty much not affected by cripple/chill while you have superspeed.

Did someone call for a JDGE?

Jokes aside, I can’t believe how well you can actually survive without a stunbreaker! I’d just stop, drop and die in a heartbeat.

Haha, that extra stealth is wayyy better than a loussyyy stunbreak

Tricare.2946:

Oh and don’t neglect your poor pet even if you just use the drake f2 on downed players (which one of the better ways to use it because drake pets are a fickle beast)

And swap before it dies! Also pro tip: you can swap while downed and also use pet skills while downed. So if you have drake out and are about to get stomped swap to wolf and press f2 for another interrupt.

Yea, still need to improve my AI control skillz. What pet would you reccomend instead of my drake? I think reef drake for the confusion, but you know your stuff so what is your opinion?

Tricare.2946:

Please, when you use A/D use #4 and then #2. It sets it up for stacking 5 bleeds instantly on them.

Using #4 then #5 is kind of a waste because #5 has nice range and can be used anytime really. While splitblade should be used while making sweet sweet love to their faces.

Great tip! Didn’t even think about it >.> Before I would have used spike trap/entangle, but this is another good setup for it.

The drake pets are great for f2’ing on downed players because the players don’t move around and the channeled attack will land.

The way drake pets work (unless they’ve been changed, I haven’t used them in ages) is once you press f2, your pet will stop in it’s tracks and start to cast it’s channeled attack.

If the player is not in front of the drake, the attack will fail, the drake will not track it’s target.

If the attack starts and the player moves out from in front of the drake, it will stop channeling.

The lightning drake use to be awesome, it could hit for up to 5k but they nerfed it down to like 3k. Not sure why, it was a pain in the butt to land, it took a lot of skill to set your opponent up for it.

I used to use drakes all the time, now i’ve switched the the wolf for the f2 fear, which I believe is standard for all rangers to run.

The 2nd pet I like to use it the krytan wolfhound, I’m sure i spelled that wrong. I like the aoe immob and the random knockdown both pets bring.

If you’re lucky while downed, you can switch pets to the wolfhound and if he’s a good pet it will do it’s knockdown right away and interrupt a stomp.

The other pet is the spider with f2 immob (i don’t know all the pets names) instead of the knockdown from the wolfhound it brings another immob of it’s own, so you have a controlled immob and one it does randomly.

Another Pro Tip: you can body block downed attacks from warriors/engies by having your pet attack them, then stand behind your pet and start the stomp

Tricare.2946:

The drake pets are great for f2’ing on downed players because the players don’t move around and the channeled attack will land.

The way drake pets work (unless they’ve been changed, I haven’t used them in ages) is once you press f2, your pet will stop in it’s tracks and start to cast it’s channeled attack.

If the player is not in front of the drake, the attack will fail, the drake will not track it’s target.

If the attack starts and the player moves out from in front of the drake, it will stop channeling.

The lightning drake use to be awesome, it could hit for up to 5k but they nerfed it down to like 3k. Not sure why, it was a pain in the butt to land, it took a lot of skill to set your opponent up for it.

I used to use drakes all the time, now i’ve switched the the wolf for the f2 fear, which I believe is standard for all rangers to run.

The 2nd pet I like to use it the krytan wolfhound, I’m sure i spelled that wrong. I like the aoe immob and the random knockdown both pets bring.

If you’re lucky while downed, you can switch pets to the wolfhound and if he’s a good pet it will do it’s knockdown right away and interrupt a stomp.

The other pet is the spider with f2 immob (i don’t know all the pets names) instead of the knockdown from the wolfhound it brings another immob of it’s own, so you have a controlled immob and one it does randomly.

Thanks for the tips! I need a drake, or tanky pet to be my condi sponge… So I switched to reef drake and so far, together with the wolf it has been pretty darn good.

Holl.3109:

Thanks for the tips! I need a drake, or tanky pet to be my condi sponge… So I switched to reef drake and so far, together with the wolf it has been pretty darn good.

The reef drake skill is nice but wouldn’t it be even harder to land because it shoots in a cone instead of a tracking projectile?

do you entangle and then use it or what?

vespers.1759:

Holl.3109:

Thanks for the tips! I need a drake, or tanky pet to be my condi sponge… So I switched to reef drake and so far, together with the wolf it has been pretty darn good.

The reef drake skill is nice but wouldn’t it be even harder to land because it shoots in a cone instead of a tracking projectile?

do you entangle and then use it or what?

Yup, or a spike trap. Most people will condi clear right after that so if they remove the confusion and not the bleeds I’m happy >:)

Holl.3109:

Heyo rangers,
so to be honest I’m still quite new to ranger but really like it. I’m quite lazy, so the only pets I have are my first pet and juvenile wolf that I randomly found in WvW :P The class mechanic is quite hard to get the hang of for me, but apart from that ranger is one of the funnest (yes, funnest) classes out their (well, at least this particular build IMO).

I main necro, and played it in WvW, but it is just sooooo lackluster when you realize that is just has limited mobility and escapes. So as a YouTuber I was just browsing the web and came upon some Ranger WvW video with traps. Now I’ve never really encountered these traps so I was intrigued. It was amazing, and after watching it I had to do the same :P

I made my ranger, practiced a bit in PvP, crafted those trapper runes and rabid gear, used 80 ToKnowledge and hoped into WvW. Now 4-5 months later I’m very happy with what I have achieved. I swear, this has to be one of the, if not, the best roaming build out there (excluding teef builds because… you know…) Decent condi clear, huge condi bursts, tons of AoE, decent to good mobility, awesome survivability and excellent kiting abilities!

My build: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQRAsf3YjEq0ua5K2rQ1aADhq9JEslA7AICmAXx7JHpSrA-TlSHABEcQAMRVin3fYRVCuQ/ALqpEwTA4OlgAcCAOS5XAAEAO6RP6Mn5MLFAMrBA-w
(Ideally I would have torment instead of leeching, but that extra sustain + raw damage is quite good. plus, I’m a poor ’ol fellow)

Shortbow could work very well too, but it’s so easy. Spam auto attack, drop trap to create distance, spam AA, etc etc. Going sword/axe is more challenging AND fun!

Usual combo is: Trow torch – dagger 4 – axe 3 – entangle – split blade – fire and spike trap – dagger 5 – bonfire – sword 3 – etc etc.

Now just to show off what I have achieved so far:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoWsdVUbFZ0

(Including: 3v1, 3v2, chased by zergs, escapes, huge condi bursts and more

Like I said b4, I’m still quite a ranger newbie so let me know any tips/feeback that you might have! (but have mercy)

-Hollts

Thanks for the condi build which is harder to find than hen’s teeth.

Best PVP vid I’ve seen. Love your work man!

I’d imagine with a build like that and your play style you’d be better served with a spider and a wolf. The spider would poison and root and the wolf would fear. Unless you’re using the drake to blast finish some of your traps.

hyjaxxx.1584:

I’d imagine with a build like that and your play style you’d be better served with a spider and a wolf. The spider would poison and root and the wolf would fear. Unless you’re using the drake to blast finish some of your traps.

The drake is sometimes used to blast the viper’s nest or flame traps for weakness/might. Spider is normally more useful though for the ranged immob.

Well played. I know you’re new to ranger, but you might wanna work on your pet management though.

Lazze.9870:

Well played. I know you’re new to ranger, but you might wanna work on your pet management though.

Working on it

hyjaxxx.1584:

I’d imagine with a build like that and your play style you’d be better served with a spider and a wolf. The spider would poison and root and the wolf would fear. Unless you’re using the drake to blast finish some of your traps.

Well that, plus I need a pet with some vitality to be a condi sponge. All those dogs/hounds and spider/ravens die too fast :/

Rolco.6319:

Best PVP vid I’ve seen. Love your work man!

Thanks for the big compliment!