Guild Wars 2

Hi, new to Ranger, just wondering what’s the recommended weapon sets for pve leveling? Or does it even matter?

Ideally, I’d like it to go as fast as possible.

Thanks

Greatsword by any means necessary.

The other fine choice would be… Longbow or Sword/Axe.
These are the best you can get for leveling.
Also, take Signet of the hunt.

For leveling it doesn’t really matter, but the best you could take – these are the options that would make it the fastest.

If you plan on doing dungeons, sPvP or WvW later on, I would, like TP, suggest you get a sword and learn it, paired with anything OH. Axe is the most DPS, but WH is often better for PvE due to the swiftness and fury.
Actually I would suggest you get all weapons, play with all combinations and find ones that you like the best, then you can find a build to suit your style. Make one of them the sword though, its a steep learning curve, but awesome when you can pull it off.

Heimskarl’s definitely hit the nail on the head. For leveling you should use the weapons you most enjoy using or are most comfortable with. I often find myself trying to force myself into using a specific weapon so I can work towards an incomplete weaponmaster achievement, but that usually leads to a very uncomfortable leveling experience that makes me not enjoy the profession I’m playing. I don’t recommend trying to forcibly multitask the weaponmaster achievements with leveling, as it can easily ruin your perception of the profession.

I most certainly recommend experimenting with all the weapons, find the ones you like and build around them. As a ranger our weapons don’t have a high learning curve, they’re not as simple as hit buttons and win, but our learning curve primarily comes from micromanaging our pet. Our sword however is another story, every skill on that thing has its own tricks and pitfalls with no other weapon like it across all professions.

Again, enjoy experimenting with the profession and find out what about playing makes you happy, then expand from there.

Thanks for all the responses, much appreciated -

It’s a bit strange coming from Mesmer and having almost all weapons bring something to the table in pve ^^

What do I need to look out for with regards to pet, anything I should know about managing them?

Ben Delat.8415:

What do I need to look out for with regards to pet, anything I should know about managing them?

For starters, keep them passive and remember to manually make them attack. It will benefit you later both in pve and pvp. And learn their attack animations.

Also, remember that your pet is not a clone and must be managed at all times, sending it in, bringing it back, F2 skill & swapping. It helps to have keys bound for those last two at least.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

If you plan on doing dungeons, sPvP or WvW later on, I would, like TP, suggest you get a sword and learn it, paired with anything OH.

This.

I wish I would’ve used the sword from the beginning instead of dual bow, since it’s the hardest weapon to master (I still struggle with it).

You’ll most likely die a lot more by going melee and using sword as your primary weapon, but you’ll be greatful for it further down the road.

+1 Heimskarl

Ben Delat.8415:

What do I need to look out for with regards to pet, anything I should know about managing them?

I’m really rubbish at managing my pet, but there is one trick I know. Put whichever pet you want to open up combat with in the top slot. Since you can stow your pet while out of combat, you can prevent it from getting clipped by random attacks and putting you in combat. If you allow your pet to be unstowed automatically by entering combat, you can get a “free” activation of any pet swap trigger traits, Mighty Swap, Vigorous Training, Zephyr’s Speed and Poison Master. Your pet will stand there kitten ily for a second unless you give them a command, even just F1 “attack my target” will cut out that standing around time.