Guild Wars 2

With all my characters I tend to carry every weapon they have skills for – which is silly because with my Ranger I mainly just use shortbow & longbow.

I guess I like having the longbow for distance and AoE, while I use the shortbow for condition stacking.

What weapons combos do you use? What weapons do you carry with you?

I carry all usable weapons on every character I have. I enjoy switching weapons with a certain degree of frequency, gives variety.

My favorite Ranger weapons are Axe / Warhorn, Sword / Torch, and Greatsword, with my favorite actual pair of weapon swaps being A/W and S/T, but as above I do use all of the weapons.

No bow O.o well thats new i used sword/axe and longbow for a while but now going back to the most coomenly used either GS/long bow or shortbow/longbow

Longbow/Shortbow (PvP), Sword+Horn/Shortbow/Longbow (PvE)

I carry a longbow b/c all of our weapons are garbage so I just take the one that looks cool on my back as I kite mobs while my pet misses them and allies mow them down. ^.^

Axe/Torch, and Sword/Dagger with flame trap, spike trap, and signit of renewal for utilities. The result is being able to easily keep up flames constantly against single targets, and most of the time against groups.

Axe/Axe for wave and escort events, Sword/Warhorn for boss fights, Shortbow for everything else.

Main is Shortbow/Greatsword with a Axe/Warhorn on the side.

I use longbow and axe/torch. I use flame and free traps. I have sharpening for bleeding. I have the binding as my elite. Like being able to use longbow from distance then torch flames and traps if a mob member gets too close. Love the basic axe skill being able to bouce off multiple targets. Am level 77 and all my weapons are close to that. I have bought new weapons from the Trading Company since about level 50 and always up to my current level. Found this to be more efficient than making do with looted weapons.

CJ

I carry all exotic lv 80 Longbow, Shortbow, Axe, Horn and Torch. I primary use Shortbow and Axe/Torch with traps. I generally only WvW in this game now, so Horn is just for swiftness and fury, while Longbow is just for the occasional Barrage on enemy siege up on walls.

Much like Maniac.5163 i carry longbow, shortbow, axe, torch, and warhorn. Option’s are alway’s a good thing.

axe/warhorn and shortbow.

longbow, short-bow, war-horn on WvW, everything on sPVP. 2 different build ofc

Carry all usable weapons on all characters (I even carry torch on my Mesmer which is quite easily the worst weapon in the game).

With my Ranger I am just general open world PvEing with her so I use Axe/Torch Sword/Warhorn along with Traps as its the only thing that works and isn’t 100% tied to my Pet for damage.

SB+Axe/Horn

I just really like the speed increase and buffs from the horn. I could wish they laster longer, but stacked with “Rampage as One” it’s usually long enough to take care of whatever needs to be done.

I would like to try Sword+torch for melee, but sword is very crap, as most rangers already know. Hopefully the ranger update will address this so we have more options.

i personally hate ranged weapons for my ranger so for pve i use sword and horn/GS, for pvp its GS/SB right now until the improve sword damage. although sing target sword beats axe for me any day. imho axe torch and short bow are for condition specs while sword dagger and gs are for power builds. hate conditions but longbow is jsut silly and shortbow is the only ranged option that can do damage. axe is almost like short bow except axe is shorter range slower attack speed, and lacks utility of shortbow.

SB /Axe Warhorn.

Sometimes LB. (WvW anti-siege)
Sometimes Sword (vs. special dungeon bosses)

Axe/warhorn and sword/torch with a shortbow in the bag for those few fights where melee is just a really bad idea.

Axe/torch with SB
LB for Orr loot tagging (barrage)

What is gained by using axe/warhorn offset sword/torch that going axe/torch and sword/horn doesn’t do better? I’m not seeing it, can someone fill me in?

I’d think axe/torch is preferable for easier projectile-fire combos, and sword/horn for mobility. It isn’t a huge difference, I’m just curious why you want to use them in the order some have listed.

Ravnodaus.5130:

What is gained by using axe/warhorn offset sword/torch that going axe/torch and sword/horn doesn’t do better? I’m not seeing it, can someone fill me in?

I’d think axe/torch is preferable for easier projectile-fire combos, and sword/horn for mobility. It isn’t a huge difference, I’m just curious why you want to use them in the order some have listed.

I would imagine throwing the bonfire at their feet and then fighting them in it would do more damage then the procs you would get from throwing an axe through it.

I do go Axe/torch and Sword/warhorn, my reasoning was that axe/torch would be for procs and aoe while sword/warhorn would be for single target burst. Next time I play my Ranger I will be trying it the other way to see how it works though.

I use sword/horn/whatever weapon i have at hand (im still leveling).
i like stacking lots of might on my pet with rampage as one, warhorn 4, QZ and that might on crit trait. I havent really found a weaponset that I liked for AoE options though (any suggestions?)

Shortbow / Shortbow . First I up my condition by 250 with sigil of Con. Then I switch over to a cit shortbow with bleed and rely on my traps for most my damage and combo fields and my good old pet to tank if he feels up to it. At first I didn’t buy into traps went with Qz like everyone else but after trait traps things change .I can have a trap up and going non stop one after another. Chill trap is highly underestimated once its and used as a combo field its 5 sec from trap plus 1 sec per hit in where I can get 11 to 17 seconds of chil that will give you enough time to get up get a drink take a piss to come back and finish off what your pet left you .

I tend to carry them all, but Primarily:

Shortbow
Greatsword
Axe/Torch

I really like Sword/Warhorn and Sword/Dagger, but am holding off due to the Sword animation bug that prevents dodging. I’m pretty sure that’ll be fixed in the near future.

Levetty.1279:

Ravnodaus.5130:

What is gained by using axe/warhorn offset sword/torch that going axe/torch and sword/horn doesn’t do better? I’m not seeing it, can someone fill me in?

I’d think axe/torch is preferable for easier projectile-fire combos, and sword/horn for mobility. It isn’t a huge difference, I’m just curious why you want to use them in the order some have listed.

I would imagine throwing the bonfire at their feet and then fighting them in it would do more damage then the procs you would get from throwing an axe through it.

That would be logical, but burning doesn’t work that way in this game. Burning is burning, and additional stacks only increase duration, not damage, so Axe/Torch is a better combo than Sword/Torch by far. Sword pairs best with Warhorn and Dagger in my experience, and particularly with Warhorn.

I usually carry most of the weapons we can use at least masterwork versions as I am slowly gearing up. I have rares of the main sets I uses/used axes, war horn, short bow, greatsword and a random longbow I got when I first hit 80.

Tomkatt.1684:

Levetty.1279:

Ravnodaus.5130:

What is gained by using axe/warhorn offset sword/torch that going axe/torch and sword/horn doesn’t do better? I’m not seeing it, can someone fill me in?

I’d think axe/torch is preferable for easier projectile-fire combos, and sword/horn for mobility. It isn’t a huge difference, I’m just curious why you want to use them in the order some have listed.

I would imagine throwing the bonfire at their feet and then fighting them in it would do more damage then the procs you would get from throwing an axe through it.

That would be logical, but burning doesn’t work that way in this game. Burning is burning, and additional stacks only increase duration, not damage, so Axe/Torch is a better combo than Sword/Torch by far. Sword pairs best with Warhorn and Dagger in my experience, and particularly with Warhorn.

I’m not sure what your reasoning is there, the combo from throwing an axe procs the burning effect too, so that provides no benefits over them standing in it. Also bonfire has a direct damage to it as well.

I prefer sword/torch to sword/horn simply because I like the feel of it better. Warhorn has longish cast times which don’t really fit melee in my opinion. I also prefer axe/warhorn since I can better move to buff nearby allies because I’m not suck in melee range.

And who’s to say you can’t drop bonfire then weapon swap to axe/horn to take advantage of burning projectiles. I run with a rune of battle in each weapon set so I swap frequently to maintain 10+ might stacks.

I like the Axe / Warhorn combo as my “primary” weapon set because I’m using a Beastmaster build and A/W is the best pet supporting weapon set available, IMO. Weakness from Winter’s Bite is very helpful to help your pet tank better and Warhorn provides buffs to pets as well (as long as you’re close enough, really wish the offhand trait would increase buff range). I also like the fact that Axe / Horn is full ranged, where Torch is at least partly melee due to Bonfire (I want to get enemies in the fire, not just use the fire for 20% combo chance).

Sword pairs with either Horn or Torch perfectly fine (heck, it pairs with pretty much any offhand weapon well really) but Torch is my favorite offhand for Sword because of the ability to throw down Bonfire, jump out with 2, use Torch Throw, then jump back in with 2 to activate a Fire Barrier. Its a really fun ability string to me.

I use Longbow and Axe/Axe on mine, with the Longbow being my go-to weapon in most situations. I prefer sending my pet in to tank while I pepper enemies full of arrows, and against large groups, I open up with Barrage, then charge in and use Whirling Defense for a good amount of AoE damage, following it up with normal axe throws.

I also carry a Shortbow for situations where I need conditions, although I hardly use it.

shortbow and sword/warhorn

i like it. sword is a great parry-reactionary weapon

a warrior (sword and board + GS) comes barreling toward you? hit sword 3 then horn 5, horn 4 sword 2 (a) then switch to bow, lay a trap and watch as your hound knocks his kitten to the floor letting you cast a heal. he charges again hit bow 3 and start kiting him.

Yeah, the difference between which horn/torch you pair up with sword or axe isn’t really a major one really, especially if you weapon swap frequently. It’s nice to hear the reasoning people have for which they choose though, to gain additional perspective on how other people do things.

With these four weapons equipped, I’m generally not trying to fight from long range anyway, my “sweet spot” is just outside melee range, and adjusting as the situation requires. I don’t really use the sword to “attack” so much as to stay out of the melee range of others. And with axe/torch find I’m generally close enough to drop the aoe from torch and nab my target with it, plus extra combos.

I can see the axe/horn being a better setup for a more pet centric default set, that seems like it’d work rather well. And sword/dagger would be rather incredible for an avoidance/condition set. I really wish i could work that into my setup, but the horn is just too much awesome to pass on most of the time.

Levetty.1279:

Tomkatt.1684:

Levetty.1279:

Ravnodaus.5130:

What is gained by using axe/warhorn offset sword/torch that going axe/torch and sword/horn doesn’t do better? I’m not seeing it, can someone fill me in?

I’d think axe/torch is preferable for easier projectile-fire combos, and sword/horn for mobility. It isn’t a huge difference, I’m just curious why you want to use them in the order some have listed.

I would imagine throwing the bonfire at their feet and then fighting them in it would do more damage then the procs you would get from throwing an axe through it.

That would be logical, but burning doesn’t work that way in this game. Burning is burning, and additional stacks only increase duration, not damage, so Axe/Torch is a better combo than Sword/Torch by far. Sword pairs best with Warhorn and Dagger in my experience, and particularly with Warhorn.

I’m not sure what your reasoning is there, the combo from throwing an axe procs the burning effect too, so that provides no benefits over them standing in it. Also bonfire has a direct damage to it as well.

Bonfire has a small radius and drops right at your feet, so if you want the direct damage sword is best for this. However, if you are using axe and drop the bonfire, you can stack burning on multiple foes due to the axe bounce. Each bounce causes burning after the axe passes through the field, and the enemies can still end up standing in the bonfire. Maybe it’s a playstyle choice, but in my experience axe/torch is much more powerful when facing multiple foes.

I use lvl 80 exotics LB/GS.

I carry all the others around but rarely use them. I don’t like shortbow and sword/x, and axe/x is very situational for me.

I upgrade them with loot drops, but not with dropped rares or exotics. Those I either sell on the TP or salvage for ecto and the sigils.

Shortbow or Longbow + Sword and Torch. Torch drop is too good not to have in combination with the elite root, then use longbow skill 5, dead stuff everywhere.

I’ve found Bonfire to not be so tiny when also using the offhand mastery trait. Plus with boon duration runes/spec the warhorn 5 buffs have ~4 second downtime.

Does no one use sword/dagger? I usually run with sword/horn for the speed buff, but the dagger has some pretty neat stats.

Combined with sword, you have 3 evades, 2 cripples, 1 bleed, and 2 poisons. It has little aoe potential though(unless you count the perma-crippling for someone else to aoe), but it’s very nice for 1v1 matches.

I actually like the “bug” that sticks you to your target with the sword…you just have to time the evade right.

personally i use a LongBow and shortbow combo, both Ebon Bow’s looks. as the Short Bow and Long Bow share the same Model, so visually there is no change between the 2 bows

I ran sword/dagger for a little bit. That evade on the dagger is also a short lunge in addition to the evade + poison is nice. Very handy since the sword doesn’t have a gap closer unless you try to get tricky with the about face keybind.

And yeah, the lunge built into the auto attack on the sword mainhand would be perfect imo if we could hit the dodge button and actually dodge even while in the middle of the lunge.

I carry sbow and axe/warhorn. I also have a longbow but only use that with AC burrows or keeps in WvW

Thanks other rangers!

I dusted off my Axe/warhorn combo (after seeing it listed here several times) the other night for some PvE play. It is pretty fun, I’ll be using it more often.

Still using shortbow, will probably still use longbow in PvP though.

longbow & axe+torch

Longbow and Sword+Warhorn. Still have a shortbow in my inventory because I used it for the volatile blossoms when I was still running TA. I don’t anymore, so I will probably get rid of it, now that I came to this realization. lol

for me is best:
longbow + axe / horn – PvP
shortbow + sword / horn – PvE

Longbow + sword / warhorn or greatsword.

I only carry a Short Bow and a Long Bow, no other weapons. I’m not a melee fan, I like ranged combat which is why I play ranger or Sniper, depending on the type of game.

Axe/torch when faced with groups, the amount of AOE you can dump is epic when paired with traps and melts most trash mobs allowing you to switch to Short Bow to then focus down whatever Vet champ is left standing.

As mentioned Short Bow is my second and actual primary, axe is brought out to thin crowds and tag during events.

I carry Long Bow for WvW. Haven’t really gotten around to sPvP yet.

Condition / Crit build using high crit chance to proc extra conditions from traits and runes.

I’ve rolled Horn but find it over all meh after popping both skills it just kind of sits there in my hand, torch has much more friendly CDs.

Sword, greatsword, shortbow, warhorn and longbow. Switching to GS and Warhorn is great for moving around and sword+shortbow is great for dealing with fights.

For pve, I carry everything but dagger. I just can’t get into dagger.
SHORTBOW is my favorite for it’s range/mobility so it is always my first won set.
AXE/AXE Is my crowd killing set. I particularly love the boomerang ace ( xe4?), hence the dual wielding.
SWORD/TORCH I like to open with a thrown torch, and then drop a bonfire when a crowd shows up. Also, fiery dragon sword and a torch looks awesome.
LONGBOW extreme range situations, crowds outside axe range.
WARHORN travel
GREATSWORD looking like a kitten, when I get tired of dual welding fire.

I mostly PVP so a shortbow and sword/torch

With a condition damage build the torch fire field gives a great damage boost to the shortbow.