Guild Wars 2

Hey,
I wanted to start a poll on what you believe Rangers can do.

All areas are open, just make clear on which aspect of the game you are pointing, to not confuse the reader (WvW, Small scale, Zerg or Roaming/tPvP, sPvP/ PvE Dungeon, PvE Open World)

Many might think ‘gosh not another ’Rangers are so useless’ thread!’. And rightly so.

I have often made clear on these forums that I consider my Ranger more as a passion than a ‘competetive Class’ which I play to win. Hence I am not seeking the most overpowered class in order to show off my manliness in tPvP or any other competitive aspect of the game. For that I have my Mesmer

Its more about taking a ‘sturctural survey’ of the status of the Ranger class right now. Especially in WvW, the aspect I take the most part in in GW2, I often thought the Rangers spot to be with in CC area rather than AoE Damage (be it powerbased or condtion) or full out support through boons an heals while doing some damage (thinking Guardians here).
Now I read about the current Hammer CC Warrior meta (https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Video-Solo-Roaming-Hammer-Warr-WvW), and begin to question everything I held true.
Those guys are just so much better at AoE CC, and without having to put much thought into it. The trait lines are just MADE for it. They have the cooldown reduction, survivability and damage increases all in the right spot to synergize smoothly with one another.
Looking back at the ranger just feels like a joke in comparison. Not do we have no single Weapon directed to CC, but we have to trait into traits which have nothing to do with CC, simply to be able to survive a ‘condition bomb’ (Signtes) …
I am really questioning why the ranger is in this game for I simply cannot accept that its only purpose is supposed to be an outstanding dueling class and PvE support.
That is where I am coming from ankitten ow very curious on your opinions!

What do you think Rangers can do?

PvE: One role:

• Spotter / frost spirit / fury / DPS / aoe removal and healing

WvW: roles include roaming, tower defense, and zerging

• Beastmaster roamer, fast and tanky
• remoresless-valkryie DPS in zerg
• condi trapper in zerg, rabid
• bleed roamer, fast and efficient with both rabid and rampager
• spirit group buffs
• Dire ranger roamer or zerg trapper
• amazing tower defender/attacker, great from long range and also best seige user

Spvp: Usually plays harassment/point pressure role, ranger, in theory, should be good at peeling people off points

• Spirit beastmaster / group buffs
• rabid / bleeds / traps
• longbow / ranged pressure

Ranger drawbacks: Long cooldown on pet death, occassionally clunky ai—requires more micro effort than the reward you get, passive playstyle in some respects, weird 2 body profession means balance changes are usually small and uneventful. Also, lack of access to stability, reflection, stun breaks, and condition removal. We get a bigger health pool to compensate though, as well as a soft and hard invuln.

In WvW you can add taking down some sieges others can’t, like inner cannon on garri WG when you are still raming outer.

Terkov.4138:

In WvW you can add taking down some sieges others can’t, like inner cannon on garri WG when you are still raming outer.

Shhhhhhh anet will nerf it

thanks chopps for making the start.

WvW aspect:
I agree concerning the roaming builds. Ranger is really good at that.
I don’t agree concerning Zerg play:

• Spirits are not viable in Zerg situations: lots of AoE fields that I at least cannot always avoid. and hence: your spirits will die sooner or later, leaving you with 3 25 seconds cooldowns and you dont have any utility slot for stun-breakers/condition clenses left which I believe to be impotant to have for every class in Zerg fights.
• I dont know the remorseless build you are refering to. could elaborte that point?
• and Traps …. Traps are difficult in WvW, especially in Zergs. you have to spent 30 points to make them usable, you have to take at least 2, only 2 acutally create a field (I wont count the pulsing poison trap). Their range is soo short, only 600, their activation radius is smaller than the actual effect, they have a cast time and dont apear instantly but have a flying animation while you throw them..
  I really think traps are not only a pain in the kitten to use in Zergs but are not that effective, just think about the necro with his marks. Thats just a weapon, his marks are instant and he only has to take 2 traits to reduce their cooldowns and make them bigger …
• amazing tower defender: I come from Dark Age of Camelot where it really was a great advantage to be able to shoot AoE from the battlements since a Tower fight would take hours. But seriously: Who every gets killed from player AoE during a siege is just stupid. Dont get me wrong, happens to me all the time but its stupid non the less. GW2 sieges are not real sieges but ‘taking by storm’. If you cannot take a target within minutes you just move on (at least thats true for towers) and arrowcarts are simply a much more effective way to defend a keep. I have never heard that a keep has not been taken cause 5 rangers where casting barrage on the gate …

Remorseless build I run:

Valkryie gear with scholar runes, bud of pale tree type ascended trinkets (beryl exos should be fine, probably more power with those) along with longbow/greatsword (valkryie stats) and sigils of fire on both. Since ranger only gets like, a little more than 1/2 buff from might type sigils that other professions would (not counting pet) sigil of fire is awesome because it just depends on crit. Ranger is great with “on crit” type sigils.

Use stength of spirit (+5% vital to power) and two handed training. Use dragon’s breath buns for more power and crit dmg. Use tough/vital to power oils or stones for nourishment.

I run troll, signet of renewal, lightening reflexes, and protect me with two porcine (siamoth for more stealth).

When you take “remoresless” grandmaster, you get opening strikes on kill or stealth. Precise strike (25 in marks) will always proc a crit on opening strikes. This is how you crit a lot without much precision.

Elite: spirit of nature or your preference

Build: I like 30/30/10/0/0 or 30/0/10/30/0 (both with wilderness knowlegde) yet I’ve been experimenting with masters bond again (10 in BM).

Regarding your last point, just a couple rangers can keep people off the gate long enough for the cavalry to arrive. I don’t know about you but on JQ we’re almost always supply limited and defense seige isn’t always an option right away.

Chopps.5047:

Remorseless build I run:

Valkryie gear with scholar runes, bud of pale tree type ascended trinkets (beryl exos should be fine, probably more power with those) along with longbow/greatsword (valkryie stats) and sigils of fire on both. Since ranger only gets like, a little more than 1/2 buff from might type sigils that other professions would (not counting pet) sigil of fire is awesome because it just depends on crit. Ranger is great with “on crit” type sigils.

I run troll, signet of renewal, lightening reflexes, and protect me with two porcine (siamoth for more stealth).

When you take “remoresless” grandmaster, you get opening strikes on kill or stealth. Precise strike (25 in marks) will always proc a crit on opening strikes. This is how you crit a lot without much precision.

Elite: spirit of nature or your preference

Build: I like 30/30/10/0/0 or 30/0/10/30/0 (both with wilderness knowlegde) yet I’ve been experimenting with masters bond again (10 in BM).

that sounds like a really cool roaming build for me! But stealth and mostly offensive stats in Zerg? I dont know if thats a good idea …

Vitality negates condis very well, also LR and 3 stun breaks on bar really helps avoid burst damage. Usually you are flanking with theives and barraging their back or front lines. So the goal is to avoid damage/snipe backline weaklings instead of stacking and eating it on pin like some kind of filthy guardian or warrior casual. Eat your hearts out warriors. :p

I love seeing 5 people drop in my powerful, aoe firing barrage and then typing “HURTS DOESNT IT!” I THOUGHT RANGER BARRAGE SUCKED HAHAH". Makes me happy inside.

Gorath.5076:

Chopps.5047:

Remorseless build I run:

Valkryie gear with scholar runes, bud of pale tree type ascended trinkets (beryl exos should be fine, probably more power with those) along with longbow/greatsword (valkryie stats) and sigils of fire on both. Since ranger only gets like, a little more than 1/2 buff from might type sigils that other professions would (not counting pet) sigil of fire is awesome because it just depends on crit. Ranger is great with “on crit” type sigils.

I run troll, signet of renewal, lightening reflexes, and protect me with two porcine (siamoth for more stealth).

When you take “remoresless” grandmaster, you get opening strikes on kill or stealth. Precise strike (25 in marks) will always proc a crit on opening strikes. This is how you crit a lot without much precision.

Elite: spirit of nature or your preference

Build: I like 30/30/10/0/0 or 30/0/10/30/0 (both with wilderness knowlegde) yet I’ve been experimenting with masters bond again (10 in BM).

that sounds like a really cool roaming build for me! But stealth and mostly offensive stats in Zerg? I dont know if thats a good idea …

Best defense a LB ranger has is range and stealth, not to mention there’s 3 stun breaks so if he wants to disengage and get the kitten out he can lol.

Ya the only issue with it is you need a little coordination for swiftness but realistically in a team you get that. If I’m alone, you might see me with signet of the hunt instead. Alsomyou have to know when to disengage because some 1v1 you won’t be able to win but you can evade/stealth/leap away.

In my experience:

• greatsword leap is fast enough to keep up with 25% run
• greatsword leap with 25% run is comparable to swiftness
• gs leap with swiftness is really good
• gs leap with reduced cooldown and swiftness might be fastest long distance runner in game

Speed is very important in wvw, swiftness is one of the most used boons there. Mesmers are freaking out right now bc of traveler runes.

TBH, I have played many different builds in WvW. Trap builds vs zergs is not difficult, it just lackluster because of the MASSIVE condition removal; therefore, damage from traps becomes nil, yet I use Spike Trap and Frost Trap more for there CC affects.

My showcase WvW build:
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-F;4wEVx-e2kDF-0;9F3I;1TJJ;036A38-56;5_VH8-NV06TsW6TsWGokKN435-V_u7XVaWfXk2r3x_97WAN-5V8;0V5P;1kc1;9;9;9;9;9-4k3T

This is a true frontline build:

Ranger’s Defense:

Signets of the Beastmaster with Signet of the Wild active (48 sec CD) and Signet of Stone active (64 sec CD) are the best defensive CDs versus large zergs.

Greatsword – Power Stab (auto attack 3) evade attacks, Swoop (12 sec CD) for gap closing or disengaging fights, Counterattack (15 sec CD) block range abilities.
edit: (3 or maybe 5 stacks of Vulnerability)

Axe (off hand) – Whirling Defense (20 sec CD) – blocks projectiles, 12 stacks of Vulnerability, Retaliation (4 sec) Whirl Combo Finisher.

Group support
Healing Spring (30 sec CD) – Water field, condition cleansing, regeneration.

Spotter (trait) – Increase precision of nearby allies by up to 150 points.

Axe (off hand) – Whirling Defense (20 sec CD) – blocks projectiles and Whirl Finisher[use when healing is called for(or stacking)] protects group from projectiles and healing bolts to surrounding players because it’s a Whirl Finisher.

Ranger’s damage abilities (cleaves or AoE damage) :
Greatsword: Auto attack (1) ability & Maul (2) ability

Axe/Axe: Ricochet (1) ability, Path of Scars (4) ability, Whirling Defense (5) ability

Stacking Weapon sigil: Perception

Crowd Control:

Muddy Terrain (20 sec CD) – Immobilized (2sec at creation) – Crippled (2sec per pulse) and stays on the ground for 10 seconds.

Entangle (120 sec CD) – Foe’s are immobiled until the vines are destroyed.

Path of Scars (12 sec CD) Pull back targets of the return flight of the Axe

It takes sometime to get used to but once you do, you are a silent monster.

Imagine if our pet skills where a factor with this build too

you got a point. Maybe I am too much into the ‘condensed’ group thinking, that everyone sticks together, only together we are strong.
(ofc this comes from the idea that when you gather you are less likely to be hit by an AoE attack)
So if you live that mantra and actually play as a flanker, i believe you that it works.
And regarding Vit as a defensive stat: With the current condi-heavy meta it is certainly wise to stack a bit of viatiliy, but every attack that applies a condi also deals damage. is it wise to drop toughness entirely?

Maybe I also just have a problem with longbow

Gorath.5076:

you got a point. Maybe I am too much into the ‘condensed’ group thinking, that everyone sticks together, only together we are strong.
(ofc this comes from the idea that when you gather you are less likely to be hit by an AoE attack)
So if you live that mantra and actually play as a flanker, i believe you that it works.
And regarding Vit as a defensive stat: With the current condi-heavy meta it is certainly wise to stack a bit of viatiliy, but every attack that applies a condi also deals damage. is it wise to drop toughness entirely?

Maybe I also just have a problem with longbow

Most condi applying moves do a negligible amount of direct damage, the condi is what you really need to worry about. And I hate that mantra, so dumb, I’ve always preferred ganking the enemy team with a small group of highly mobile individuals, much better tactic than bashing faces with each other as the long range squishes kill the front lines.

@AydenStar
like your build but cant other classes do much better CC with less effort? Have a look into that warrior video I posted … made me pale.

Apart from that that you are right about traps, that conditions from traps will also most likely be removed I forgot to mention above

Durzlla.6295:

Gorath.5076:

you got a point. Maybe I am too much into the ‘condensed’ group thinking, that everyone sticks together, only together we are strong.
(ofc this comes from the idea that when you gather you are less likely to be hit by an AoE attack)
So if you live that mantra and actually play as a flanker, i believe you that it works.
And regarding Vit as a defensive stat: With the current condi-heavy meta it is certainly wise to stack a bit of viatiliy, but every attack that applies a condi also deals damage. is it wise to drop toughness entirely?

Maybe I also just have a problem with longbow

Most condi applying moves do a negligible amount of direct damage, the condi is what you really need to worry about. And I hate that mantra, so dumb, I’ve always preferred ganking the enemy team with a small group of highly mobile individuals, much better tactic than bashing faces with each other as the long range squishes kill the front lines.

I dont like that mantra either. But does disliking it change anything about reality?
When playing as a guild group we try not to play a pain-train but try to out-maneuver the enemy. so we play something linke a ‘flanking’ tactic, but condensed.

I’d gladly try remorseless, but I simply can’t use LB without piercing and eagle eye
I can’t understand how they could give us more traits than we can slot for a single weapon…

Rangers can pull. Hunter’s Shot is just about the best pulling skill in the game. Get just within range, Hunter’s Shot, so you’ve successfully agroed whatever but now it can’t target you and sits still, nothing around it even notices and forgets. Dodge back twice and run just far enough away in those three seconds so it doesn’t lose agro but all its friends continue to not notice you. Stealth fails and you have one mob to play with.

I consistently did this to champions during Scarlet, and with tougher mobs in dungeons. It’s a lot of fun.

Gorath.5076:

@AydenStar
like your build but cant other classes do much better CC with less effort?

My build is a little of everything which plays on the strengths of the Ranger and this build probably makes the Ranger the 2 best bunker zerger in WvW next to a Guardian. If Rangers had access to there pet skills in zerg warfare, I think the Ranger would be the best controller in WvW, but that is just my honest option.

Warriors hammer is really good for AoE damage and CC, but there CC can be countered to stability which is on most organized zergs all the time. I think Rangers being the Jack of all Trades is super undervalued in WvW.

Gorath.5076:

When playing as a guild group we try not to play a pain-train but try to out-maneuver the enemy. so we play something linke a ‘flanking’ tactic, but condensed.

My build is all about this type of gameplay

AydenStar.4216:

Gorath.5076:

When playing as a guild group we try not to play a pain-train but try to out-maneuver the enemy. so we play something linke a ‘flanking’ tactic, but condensed.

My build is all about this type of gameplay

Alright I will give you that you can play the ranger as a frontliner if you try really hard. But tell me if I m wrong but no competetive Guild uses a Ranger in their GvG build, as far as I know, since (at least thats what Pryda of former Red Guard told me once) Ranger cannot do anything another class cant do better, or with less effort and hence has space for other tasks.

lets talk one aspect that didn’t count in so far: The Pet. Our grand ‘Class mechanic’ or ‘Class Hindrance’ as some might put it.
In almost every aspect of the game I hear people complaining about its randomnes. Even in duels, where it should be an advantge to have 2 acting enteties, it appear to cause trouble due to the lack of control we have over it. That becomes even worse in large Scale WvW or AoE heavy PvE events. (Dragons e.g.)

In accodrance to the Pet-Problem there’s another Criterium that shoudl be added:
What can we do that other classes cannot do better
in this context all solo oriented tasks wont be included cause obviously, when your on your own, you cannot be replaced

Also @ Ayden: this might not belong here but why do you use moas in your build? And Why do you have healing power gear?

I love how “everything is too difficult and too many actions for a ranger” while simultaneously, “ranger is too passive and easy to play”. The doublethink in the guild wars 2 community never ceases to amaze me.

@Chopps. My ‘too hard and too difficult’ agrument is refering to that we have to spent a lot of trait points and get a lot of specific equipment to be good at a task we want to fullfill, while I am under the impression that other classes (in concreto Warrior in my initial post) have it easieer on these grounds.

I never said that the Ranger was easy to play. I think you can do an aweful lot and the more effort you put into your play, the better the results you get!
I e.g. believe condition Mesmers are very easy to play. They gain their defensive boons passively, and apply their conditions with almost every singe attack. A BM e.g. has to time his stuff pretty carefully in my opinion. I think the ‘to passive’ argument was mainly directed at the facerolling spirit ranger players in medicore sPvP.

• Hold Shade aggro during Grenth Temple fight against Priest — Lick wounds will literally out-heal the majority of Shades still attacking you while downed. No other classes can easily get out of Downed in this exact sort of scenario without other players helping them. …though Fire-Salsa is sometimes required when you retain the aggro of more than 20 shades… (Evades also help by preventing stacks of corruption without losing their aggro like Stealth would)

• Cover 2 entrances into a Town at the same time using Guard during trickier smaller Dynamic Events. Again, something that no other class can really do. Necros can get close by laying down lots of Well & Marks, but they still have to pingpong back and forth between locations.

• Search & Rescue to rez an Ally while pulling Boss in ANOTHER direction away from the downed ally … especially important during Lupicus fight.

• Rez multiple NPCs, multiple times in a row using Nature’s Renewel on Spirit Elite. … very useful for difficult escorts like Warmaster Chan in Orr or when soloing something like the reclaiming of inner Zintl holygrounds & retaking Karka camps.

• Nature’s Voice — inexplicably working under water (apparently we really ARE Aquaman) …to give NPC’s and Submarines lots of Regen where very few other regen skills can ever be used.

• Sword/Greatsword lunge-spam roaming & gathering … Not exactly as mobile as FS Ele’s… but just as good since we don’t have to burn an Elite (Conjure) just to cover the same ground in roughly the same time

How does nature’s voice work underwater?

Apparently b/c Sic ‘em and Protect me still work there too….
I’m not questioning it too much …. b/c again: Aquaman … :p

(I really wish we were Cheetah [Post-Crisis “God” version] or Wolverine instead though :p )

Cool beans I should try that

Gorath.5076:

Also @ Ayden: this might not belong here but why do you use moas in your build? And Why do you have healing power gear?

Moa’s for group buffs. (group oriented)
I mainly use Hounds, Drakes or Moa as my pets in WvW

I don’t use healing gear, put power. I looked at the link I posted and its the same link from my blog.
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-F;4wEVx-e2kDF-0;9F3I;1TJJ;036A38-56;5_VH8-NV06TsW6TsWGokKN435-V_u7XVaWfXk2r3x_97WAN-5V8;0V5P;1kc1;9;9;9;9;9-4k3T

I will answer your 1 post once I have a moment.

Chopps.5047:

How does nature’s voice work underwater?

its doesn’t

Edit: Yes Nature’s Voice does work underwater. When I read the post, the only thing that I was in my head was "Guard "and that doesn’t work underwater but Sic’em, Protect me and Search and Research. I don’t have much time to think straight thought when I was focusing on one post mainly.

I apologized for my blatant ignorance.

Gorath.5076:

Alright I will give you that you can play the ranger as a frontliner if you try really hard. But tell me if I m wrong but no competetive Guild uses a Ranger in their GvG build, as far as I know, since (at least thats what Pryda of former Red Guard told me once) Ranger cannot do anything another class cant do better, or with less effort and hence has space for other tasks.

Yes, when you are optimizing team composition for a 20vs20 death match, a Ranger is kinda lackluster but I am not a fan of GvG because we all know this game’s profession balance centers around sPvP. And yes, we have to work harder to pull some skills off that other profession can do easier yet I play a Guardian and that class is a snooze cruise.

Gorath.5076:

lets talk one aspect that didn’t count in so far: The Pet. Our grand ‘Class mechanic’ or ’Class Hindrance as some might put it.
In almost every aspect of the game I hear people complaining about its randomnes. Even in duels, where it should be an advantage to have 2 acting entities, it appear to cause trouble due to the lack of control we have over it. That becomes even worse in large Scale WvW or AoE heavy PvE events. (Dragons e.g.)

I agree, the lack of control of the pet is major issue. If you look at one of my last forum post I tried calling out ANet about our pet mechanics vs zerg warfare.

Gorath.5076:

In accodrance to the Pet-Problem there’s another Criterium that shoudl be added:
What can we do that other classes cannot do better
in this context all solo oriented tasks wont be included cause obviously, when your on your own, you cannot be replaced

Ranger is a scapegoat profession. So if you lost a match, it is the Rangers fault even if you weren’t there :P The world can end and it will still be the Ranger’s fault On paper the Ranger is kinda lackluster but once you master it in ZvZ we bring somethings better that just get overlooked.

Ranger can increase a groups damage potential through Spirit of Frost(this is better from the recent change), Spotter trait (7%), and vulnerability stacks—this is never looked at

What you need to understand is that we do a little of everything with better survivability than other profession.

Warrior/Guardians/Necros might have good CC similar to the Ranger but do they have water field—No

Elementalists might have all the fields and similar CC but are they easy to kill—Yes

Elementalists have Static field but they have to switch attunements from Water to Air most of the time—Rangers don’t, plus Muddy Terrain is not a combo field which is useful during initial bursting when the group need to blast certain fields.

I don’t GvG because I am never going to get a chance to because I play a Ranger. I have theory crafted this profession to the point I need a vacation. I think Rangers will be a great profession once they revamp our pet mechanics. I just hope its in the near future.

Beside that I live by a motto:
Bring the player not the class/profession

Wise words aydenstar. Enjoy your time off!

AydenStar.4216:

What you need to understand is that we do a little of everything with better survivability than other profession.

Beside that I live by a motto:
Bring the player not the class/profession

so Rangers are kind of the Swiss Army Knife of GW2? Our Blade might not be as long or as sharp but instead we also bring a Saw, Scissors, a corkscrew and a toothpick?
I am convinced
And you are dead right to live by that motto of yours! But what this thread was supposed to be about was to give Rangers a few hard facts in hand to justify their position

AydenStar.4216:

Chopps.5047:

How does nature’s voice work underwater?

its doesn’t

Gain Swiftness & Regen when you use a Shout…. What’s not to believe here?
Do I have to record a video? Some expert you are…

ilr.9675:

AydenStar.4216:

Chopps.5047:

How does nature’s voice work underwater?

its doesn’t

Gain Swiftness & Regen when you use a Shout…. What’s not to believe here?
Do I have to record a video? Some expert you are…

A lot of traits (natures voice is not one of them) that don’t work underwater or work vastly different underwater, like Mesmer mantras…. Who still have a 3s cast time…

ilr.9675:

Gain Swiftness & Regen when you use a Shout…. What’s not to believe here?
Do I have to record a video? Some expert you are…

Durzlla.6295:

Gain Swiftness & Regen when you use a Shout…. What’s not to believe here?
Do I have to record a video? Some expert you are…

A lot of traits (natures voice is not one of them) that don’t work underwater or work vastly different underwater, like Mesmer mantras…. Who still have a 3s cast time…[/quote]

Yes Nature’s Voice does work underwater. When I read the post, the only thing that I was in my head was "Guard "and that doesn’t work underwater but Sic’em, Protect me and Search and Research. I don’t have much time to think straight thought when I was focusing on one post mainly.

I apologized for my blatant ignorance.

what you believe Rangers can do.

on my WWW exp.

-Cook enemy alive by my trap.
-Snip yak,enemy commander,sentry,node,wander victim.
-Suppression angry mob at front gate,choke point,wall,etc…
-Make all party regen-swiffness by pure voice.
-Good water to ground/Ground to water combat.
-Combo with another class.
-Best friend yak caravan.

Gorath.5076

so Rangers are kind of the Swiss Army Knife of GW2? Our Blade might not be as long or as sharp but instead we also bring a Saw, Scissors, a corkscrew and a toothpick?
I am convinced
And you are dead right to live by that motto of yours! But what this thread was supposed to be about was to give Rangers a few hard facts in hand to justify their position

With the new meta coming to WvW, there are going be less zerging ( I mean less 90+ blobs) and more havoc teams/35-45 man zergs oriented, and the Ranger is going to be a nice place because they can branch off the zerg and join a smaller team at times which Rangers have always been good at. Being the Jack of all Trades and one of the tankiest/mobile professions in the game, we are going to be very useful for sure.

My guild has been preparing for this meta change for a while and its going to be fun being micromanaged around the boarderlands.

AydenStar.4216:

I apologized for my blatant ignorance.

I wouldn’t go that far…. ya just substituted one word while skimming. Don’t worry about it

AydenStar.4216:

Gorath.5076

so Rangers are kind of the Swiss Army Knife of GW2? Our Blade might not be as long or as sharp but instead we also bring a Saw, Scissors, a corkscrew and a toothpick?
I am convinced
And you are dead right to live by that motto of yours! But what this thread was supposed to be about was to give Rangers a few hard facts in hand to justify their position

With the new meta coming to WvW, there are going be less zerging ( I mean less 90+ blobs) and more havoc teams/35-45 man zergs oriented, and the Ranger is going to be a nice place because they can branch off the zerg and join a smaller team at times which Rangers have always been good at. Being the Jack of all Trades and one of the tankiest/mobile professions in the game, we are going to be very useful for sure.

My guild has been preparing for this meta change for a while and its going to be fun being micromanaged around the boarderlands.

I don’t think it’s going to open up that many opprotunities honestly (the new bloodlust orb thing). The zerg is just going to make a pit stop in the middle on it’s standard BL loop and obliterate everything there.

They’re really strong underwater! Their spear autos are 50% stronger than their GS autos, even though they do the exact same thing and are affected by the same traits while still having access to their high dps pets.

Xhyros.1340:

They’re really strong underwater! Their spear autos are 50% stronger than their GS autos, even though they do the exact same thing and are affected by the same traits while still having access to their high dps pets.

100% agreed. Especially Bm Bunker rangers are King under water. Damage and survivability are simply unmatched.

The upcoming patches seem to bringe quite a few changes to the Ranger with a distinct focus on support. I am really looking forward to that!

Today I discovered I can clear Kolvan lords room siege from hill nearby with my LB Siege was in middle and on closer side, I guess I wouldn’t hit it if it was on the other side of lord.

aparently we can also Bunker pretty hard,
according to Prysin on Kjeldoran’s call for a Bunker Ranger!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNAR8XnIVUFcgFGWwaZAZVYPaP0EL58cPQFPJEB-jEyAofBZCSgoPwZvioxWZLiGryGT9SEVb9LiWtUACqMC-w

That sounds pretty decent on paper. Anyone tried this?
Also, Chopps, your Valkyrie build really got me startled. In large scale WvW this must be awesome! Would you mind to post your full build?

WvW:

• Zergs: Healing Spring… that is about it. The pet is mostly useless here.
• Hardcore Skill Groups: They don’t want a ranger in their midst but may tolerate one (none that I know of will). They move too much to make Healing Spring useful, they plow through zergs making pets useless. This isn’t just a ranger thing though.
• Skirmish… not enough synergy or DPS IMO to really fit in here.
• Solo… If they have a place it is typically heavy bunker and camp capping.
• Siege… Gah, elementalists do it WAY better and that lip on towers frequently interfere with ranged attacks
• Underwater… one of the better classes but engi’s are more scary

Dungeons:

• No speed runs that I know of want a ranger. Pet again is pretty useless in these.

PvE:

• I think rangers excel here. They are pretty fast (assuming GS is in the mix), easy to play, the pet makes the player never feel “alone” even during low pop hours, the pet frequently tanks making kills pretty easy. There may be better classes but few as fun to play at least against trash mobs.
• They can do surprisingly well soloing champs. It is a slow process but doable.

sPvP:

• I know squat about it so no comment

My Ranger is basically my daily/monthly PvE kittenoon as I go into WvW, I grab a different class. I do sometimes run into a really good ranger but I suspect that player is more player skill than ranger ability.

Straegen.2938:

Dungeons:

• No speed runs that I know of want a ranger. Pet again is pretty useless in these.

There are definitely speedruns that use rangers

Granted they’re normally premades rather than pugs but there you have it.

Apothecary BM is still the best in 1v1 of all ranger builds , especially in WvW