Guild Wars 2

The simple partial answer to why rangers are unwanted in some cases comes from the time a ranger plays from level 1 to 80. From 1 to 80 the pet takes 90% of the attacks which prevents the ranger from learning how to avoid damage or utilise his skills.

Every other class is forced to learn playing correctly because there isn’t any pet that tanks for you.

This leads to a trinity-based ranger (referring to the player). The ranger learns how to do most damage (to be DPS) and not how to play the other roles.

Conclusion;
We have bearbows because the longbow/shortbow can be built for maximum damage from a safe place and bears are the easiest to choose from because they are fat.

Dear, I am afraid you are new to the Ranger family and you simply depict your own play style.
“because they are fat”

I used birds when I played through the open world from 1-80 because it seemed to make no difference what I used and they looked the coolest

While the OP is probably right stating that most players probably use the bear for leveling, it turns out to be a comfort thing. They are just used to using that pet.

One advantage the bear has over every other pet is that it tends to use it’s skills in more appropriate situations and when they are needed. Someone else pointed this out in another thread. While most pets use their skills when they aren’t needed or completely unnecessary, the bears on the other hand activate when certain conditions are met (from what I understand).

The bear however is still weak, it’s damage is dismal at best, the condition removal is ok as long as you keep it by your side. It can and will take a few more hits than other pets. An alive pet will do more damage than a dead one.

I still always laugh though when my bear is chasing after someone doing 200-400 damage and the player is running away in a panic as if it’s a threat lol.

Cufufalating.8479:

I used birds when I played through the open world from 1-80 because it seemed to make no difference what I used and they looked the coolest

See I used a bear because, well, I love bears. And at first people said ‘bears are the best tanks, use bears!’ so I was pleased my sentimental choice was useful, and then it changed to ‘bears suck and are for noobs!’ and then poor Cookie was sad. Heck, in beta when there were plans for that ‘have 3 pets out at once’ skill I was tempted to roll a character called Goldilocks just for that purpose, although nowadays I run with a fern hound a lot, and if I really need tanking I’ll use a drake.

In some ways I feel like it would be nice if pet stats were standardised and you just chose the ‘skin’, or if they were divided into a few types a la WoW rather than all being so different/specific. Then people could take the pet(s) they wanted, rather than having to take whichever one is most expedient. Or at least if we could get some ranged pets that weren’t creepy-crawlies (spitting cobra would be ace!)

And T-rexes, because you can never have too many T-rexes.

Deepcuts.9740:

Dear, I am afraid you are new to the Ranger family and you simply depict your own play style.
“because they are fat”

I have 700 hours on my ranger and I can’t see your point.

In case you don’t know what a metaphor is, look it up. That is was “because they are fat” is.

In short; Rangers are forced less at learning because it’s possible to just pew-pew everything to death while the pet is taking the hits.

I was in no way implying that the bear is bad. It can be useful. I use it for condition cleanse sometimes.

I’ve run into rangers in wvw who literally replied “It works in pve” when asked why they never swap from LB and pets.

EDIT: I also wrote “partial answer”

solrik.6028:

In short; Rangers are forced less at learning because it’s possible to just pew-pew everything to death while the pet is taking the hits.

Level a guardian or a s/p thief. They don’t need to learn anything either.

I dunno why everyone assumes all rangers just level up with a bear, i personally leveled up from 1-80 using mainly my starter wolf (as norn) and my secondary pet was switched between : snow leopard, drake and fern hound. Never once used a bear except when I got it I tried the skills it had. When I got to 80 and found out how underperforming bows were (after SB nerf) I just stopped playing my ranger bec. the playstyle I wanted was ranged bow dps.

Erm, you can level almost any of the classes from 1 to 80 in the open world with little more than skill 1, because mobs are extraordinarily stupid and weak. Ranger is a little easier than most, maybe, but I find it hard to believe anyone is forced to learn much during PvE levelling.

In WvW bearbow makes sense.

Longbows are pretty good in zerg environments, however most pets are as good as worthless in any zerg environment.

The bear can still be a useful pet however, as it’s the best pet to use in combination with Protect Me. Protect Me with a bear is more likely to last its full duration (depending on how much zerg you’re getting hit by) + a stun breaker + a shorter cooldown than Signet of Stone.
Signet of Stone is 6 seconds invulnerability and 100% reliable independent of pet, however it also requires 1 Grandmaster trait to use (at the cost of Piercing Arrows or Eagle Eye) and isn’t a stun breaker and has a longer cooldown.

So, bears can still be pretty good, if you use Protect Me.

Plain and simple people use bears for the same reason people go soldier instead of zerk.

Dead DPS is no DPS.

Makes them feel smart at first until they finally try micromanaging themselves AND their pets.

I lvld a thief to 80 before I went ranger levelling in the open world. Bears, longbows, and signets made it alot more convenient as you can solo some champs with that. It’s even easier now cause hunter’s shot has stealth now. I just played with builds, pets combinations, weapons, traits after I got to 80 and went pvp, wvw, dungeons, etc.

nagymbear.5280:

solrik.6028:

In short; Rangers are forced less at learning because it’s possible to just pew-pew everything to death while the pet is taking the hits.

Level a guardian or a s/p thief. They don’t need to learn anything either.

I would like to see you stand in one place with thief or guardian while fighting 10-15 at once without dodging or using anything defensive.

Now do the same with the ranger using a pet that has at least one aoe ability and piercing arrows.

solrik.6028:

I would like to see you stand in one place with thief or guardian while fighting 10-15 at once without dodging or using anything defensive.

Now do the same with the ranger using a pet that has at least one aoe ability and piercing arrows.

Having leveled every class to 80 the easiest, by FAR, were Warriors and then Guardians.

High DPS and innately high survivability. Who cares about the pet tanking when I can tank while doing double the DPS?

The really absurd thing is that Arenanet WANTS ranger to be a very easy low skillcap proffession. Basically they promote the bearbow with their design decision because they think this helps new players but actually it just stigmatizes them together with the whole class.

At this point of the game it is (and one could argue it alway was) the most flawed class with the most construction sides/unfinished work. The whole pet mechanic is just one thing.

I run bears every now and then because i like bears, because they’re “Protect Me” HP sponges, because sometimes i want the condition clear or the aoe weakness, or because sometimes, there’s such a ‘bearbow’ stigmata that i enjoy running it out of spiteful contrarianness.

As for the longbow, well it’s the signature weapon of the class archetype. And like it or not, many people like that archetype. The hunter dude(tte) with his(her) friggin’ maulin’ fluffy bear is cool. Deal with it.

But OMG, it’s not optimal! We get a bad image because of it! Sword has more DPS and (insert favourite pet) has better DPS! Well, guess what, we’re not all here for min-maxing (and were we, that’s the stupidest possible class choice for it, haha). Bears, like bows are enjoyable, and still do a job in what is a tremendously easy game.

ProxyDamage.9826:

solrik.6028:

I would like to see you stand in one place with thief or guardian while fighting 10-15 at once without dodging or using anything defensive.

Now do the same with the ranger using a pet that has at least one aoe ability and piercing arrows.

Having leveled every class to 80 the easiest, by FAR, were Warriors and then Guardians.

High DPS and innately high survivability. Who cares about the pet tanking when I can tank while doing double the DPS?

Shall I assume that you did not use an utility skills and only pew-pew’d from 1 to 80?

solrik.6028:

Shall I assume that you did not use an utility skills and only pew-pew’d from 1 to 80?

No, but I can assume you never leveled a warrior or guardian. Correctly at least.

… Although how one can level a soldier or guardian incorrectly is beyond me. Bloody things practically auto-pilot. Maybe if you do a condition build for PvE…?

More terribads=more people qq about rangers=everyone who encouters me in WvW think’s I’m free points=He runs for his life 5 seconds later=priceless.

Here’s to bearbow’s!

solrik.6028:

. . .bears are the easiest to choose from because they are fat.

Que Sir Mix a lot.

Yelloweyedemon.2860:

More terribads=more people qq about rangers=everyone who encouters me in WvW think’s I’m free points=He runs for his life 5 seconds later=priceless.

Here’s to bearbow’s!

Though I hate the fact you use the term “terribads”, I completely agree with you. The fact so many people play the ranger in this fashion or make us seem to be a complete inferior class, just makes me smile. It just makes non-educated over-confident players not take 1v1s with rangers serious and leads to plenty of opportunities to show them their lack of knowledge.

Keep “bearbowing”!!!

Addixx

solrik.6028:

nagymbear.5280:

solrik.6028:

In short; Rangers are forced less at learning because it’s possible to just pew-pew everything to death while the pet is taking the hits.

Level a guardian or a s/p thief. They don’t need to learn anything either.

I would like to see you stand in one place with thief or guardian while fighting 10-15 at once without dodging or using anything defensive.

Now do the same with the ranger using a pet that has at least one aoe ability and piercing arrows.

I would argue that getting 10-15 mobs to attack your pet takes a lot of effort, which is the opposite of what you suggest bearbow rangers are investing in this game. But I guess there is no convincing you. I also don’t think a bear can tank 10-15 mobs. I could be wrong there though. I know that you can totally get 8 coyotes to attack you on a pistol thief, stand in blinding powder and just autoattack though.

nagymbear.5280:

solrik.6028:

nagymbear.5280:

solrik.6028:

In short; Rangers are forced less at learning because it’s possible to just pew-pew everything to death while the pet is taking the hits.

Level a guardian or a s/p thief. They don’t need to learn anything either.

I would like to see you stand in one place with thief or guardian while fighting 10-15 at once without dodging or using anything defensive.

Now do the same with the ranger using a pet that has at least one aoe ability and piercing arrows.

I would argue that getting 10-15 mobs to attack your pet takes a lot of effort, which is the opposite of what you suggest bearbow rangers are investing in this game. But I guess there is no convincing you. I also don’t think a bear can tank 10-15 mobs. I could be wrong there though. I know that you can totally get 8 coyotes to attack you on a pistol thief, stand in blinding powder and just autoattack though.

Convince what???
The main point is that it takes zero effort to take down mobs. Target → F1 → pew pew with bow and occasional pet swapping. This also includes veterans and some champions. One has to worry about damage mitigation with other classes. Just like you said a thief has to use blinding powder.

Yes, other classes are easy too, but it’s not possible to just #1 your way to the end.

I am leveling my power necro with dagger/focus. Guess how much I have to worry about damage mitigation. I can just dagger #1 and run around mobs untill they drop. Its not just rangers. That is what I meant by there is no convincing you. Other classes don’t have to learn much either. But feel free to blame it on rangers and bears. The problem is that there is a huge leap from open world pve to wvw or tpvp. Have you seen a warrior with suboptimal build in wvw? Yeah… they are trash like every other class with sub optimal builds. Just run AC with a group of fresh 40+ guys and you’ll see that there are others who are just as bad on their own profession.

I personally use a brown bear and a moa for WvW. Sometimes I’ll switch the moa for a wolf if I need the fear. However, I play in a T1 server, and pets are always useless if you use them for anything other than utility. I keep my pets on passive the entire time so their F2 skills work more reliably. I only use my pet for damage if the fights are small scale and it can survive. Otherwise, their revive timer is longer than the cooldown on their F2, so I can get more AoE condition clear for people on rams, or people trying to hold circles with bear if I keep it on passive, send it to attack a target, interrupt it with a retreat command, then use F2, and then make it retreat again. Condition clear is very important in WvW. I do the same thing with the wolf if we need more CC. I’ll just send it in after the train’s stability has expired and fear, then make it retreat again. The Moa’s fury ability, I’ll pop when we restack during fights and such. That’s about as useful as I can make pets in WvW, because they sure aren’t there to do damage, and brown bear tends to be the most useful.

I use axe/warhorn + greatsword, however in WvW. I find I do relatable damage with axe and sigil of fire than I do speccing into piercing arrows and trying to get people with longbow auto attacks. Greatsword is just our best defensive/offensive/mobile weapon for WvW. In T1, anything that requires you to have a target can be detrimental, since the targeting system in this game is wretched, so the cleave/ evasion on the 1 is nice for running through enemy blobs. None of the skills require targeting to be effective, and that’s a good thing.

I can’t comment on PvE, Dungeons, or Fractals. I’ve never ran a dungeon or a fractal since this game’s launch. I just used traps, river drake f2, and longbow barrage to kill anything in PvE.

Bear can tank 2 lupi swipes and an aoe. Bear OP!

Am about to take my L45 ranger into wvw for the first time and was planning to go longbow – sword/warhorn, and, yes, bear.

What is it that new players do, or don’t do, when running ‘bearbow’ that makes it so unpopular?

Thanks

I think the problem comes from the fact that alot of players who play gw2 are just people who enjoy games and not the meta following, BiS seeking, number crunching MMO gamer. They pick classes like the warrior or ranger because (like said with lotr) have seen these types in fantasy films or other fantasy games. They also probably dont even look at the pretty numbers on screen alot so dont realise that melee damage is superior.

Thats the reason i think warrior, ranger and “rogue” are the most played classes, its also the reason i think they have the most “bads” and its not just because of the population difference.

A good ranger spends more time in melee than range, a bad ranger spends more time playing indie steam games than gw2…if you get my drift

Neoheart.2750:

I think the problem comes from the fact that alot of players who play gw2 are just people who enjoy games and not the meta following, BiS seeking, number crunching MMO gamer. They pick classes like the warrior or ranger because (like said with lotr) have seen these types in fantasy films or other fantasy games. They also probably dont even look at the pretty numbers on screen alot so dont realise that melee damage is superior.

Thats the reason i think warrior, ranger and “rogue” are the most played classes, its also the reason i think they have the most “bads” and its not just because of the population difference.

A good ranger spends more time in melee than range, a bad ranger spends more time playing indie steam games than gw2…if you get my drift

The part I bolder is totally false, you know where rangers die? Melee range , you know where a ranger isn’t beaten? At ranged, I run LB, Axe/dagger for a reason and it’s sure as hell not for the min/maxing damage nonsense it’s to survive and win.

I run SB, Axe/Dagger, and it will outdamage you with no difference in survivability.

Mobs do not hit in their back arc, even at melee range. Stay there.

If you can’t stay in a mob’s back arc, you’re using the wrong pet.

If you’re in a dungeon and you’re still using a bear for anything other than F2 when there’s already a dedicated tank in the party, you’re using the wrong pet.

If you don’t live long enough, you’re not running a build you can use.
If you don’t do enough damage, you’re not running the ranger’s specs properly.

Every class in the game can stay in melee range and survive. Even the elementalist.

Durzlla.6295:

Neoheart.2750:

I think the problem comes from the fact that alot of players who play gw2 are just people who enjoy games and not the meta following, BiS seeking, number crunching MMO gamer. They pick classes like the warrior or ranger because (like said with lotr) have seen these types in fantasy films or other fantasy games. They also probably dont even look at the pretty numbers on screen alot so dont realise that melee damage is superior.

Thats the reason i think warrior, ranger and “rogue” are the most played classes, its also the reason i think they have the most “bads” and its not just because of the population difference.

A good ranger spends more time in melee than range, a bad ranger spends more time playing indie steam games than gw2…if you get my drift

The part I bolder is totally false, you know where rangers die? Melee range , you know where a ranger isn’t beaten? At ranged, I run LB, Axe/dagger for a reason and it’s sure as hell not for the min/maxing damage nonsense it’s to survive and win.

I was talking about dungeon/fractal running sorry i wasn’t clear on that. I think this is where most of the people have a problem with bearbow and why people get kicked etc. Granted there are situations where ranged is required in instances but if the rest of the party are melee then there is no need for LB, sorry. Also this is not “my” opinion and im quite happy for anyone to use anything they like when PuG’ing but 99% of the groups i join want to play optimally so they have a big problem with sub par builds/weapons and this is why and where the problem with “bearbow” lies.

Other content is another matter. My statement in bold regarding dungeons is infact correct.

Anyone knows whether piercing arrows hits more mobs than 3? Because that is one part where it could beat melee, even if it deals less damage. If you can hit 5 instead of 3…. I dunno. Maybe the more experienced dungeon runners are gonna enlighten us on that.

I’m not sure I understand this thread. It goes from qqing because players using rangers don’t know what they’re doing to rangers’ “bearbow” being OP.

A youtuber named, Brazil, argues that taking a ranger over a mesmer in dungeon runs is a viable position (due to the precision and frost spirit buffs); If I’m not mistaken.

Nevertheless, I must be somewhat the oddity because I’m not even sure if I have a bear in my pet inventory… I am, however, sure that I’ve never used a bear for anything. My reason being, I just don’t like how clunky they are… (Snow leopard/Lynx). I play how I want to though. Good day.

Neoheart.2750:

Durzlla.6295:

Neoheart.2750:

I think the problem comes from the fact that alot of players who play gw2 are just people who enjoy games and not the meta following, BiS seeking, number crunching MMO gamer. They pick classes like the warrior or ranger because (like said with lotr) have seen these types in fantasy films or other fantasy games. They also probably dont even look at the pretty numbers on screen alot so dont realise that melee damage is superior.

Thats the reason i think warrior, ranger and “rogue” are the most played classes, its also the reason i think they have the most “bads” and its not just because of the population difference.

A good ranger spends more time in melee than range, a bad ranger spends more time playing indie steam games than gw2…if you get my drift

The part I bolder is totally false, you know where rangers die? Melee range , you know where a ranger isn’t beaten? At ranged, I run LB, Axe/dagger for a reason and it’s sure as hell not for the min/maxing damage nonsense it’s to survive and win.

I was talking about dungeon/fractal running sorry i wasn’t clear on that. I think this is where most of the people have a problem with bearbow and why people get kicked etc. Granted there are situations where ranged is required in instances but if the rest of the party are melee then there is no need for LB, sorry. Also this is not “my” opinion and im quite happy for anyone to use anything they like when PuG’ing but 99% of the groups i join want to play optimally so they have a big problem with sub par builds/weapons and this is why and where the problem with “bearbow” lies.

Other content is another matter. My statement in bold regarding dungeons is infact correct.

Ah, my bad I’m a PvPer lol, I read that and immediately thought you were talking about PvP xD.

I use ranged in dungeons too granted, but then again that’s because I don’t give a rats kitten about what’s optimal in dungeons and as such I tend to stick with running with a group of friends to avoid headache xD.

nagymbear.5280:

Anyone knows whether piercing arrows hits more mobs than 3? Because that is one part where it could beat melee, even if it deals less damage. If you can hit 5 instead of 3…. I dunno. Maybe the more experienced dungeon runners are gonna enlighten us on that.

Trash mobs aren’t what the focus is on, its highest single target damage that “people” care about.

Durzlla.6295:

I use ranged in dungeons too granted, but then again that’s because I don’t give a rats kitten about what’s optimal in dungeons and as such I tend to stick with running with a group of friends to avoid headache xD.

Yeah your absolutely right, i wasnt trying to be an elitist just pointing out how they think and may act. If i pug i rarely kick people outside of being afk and will usually have a go at the group for instigating a kick for not using specific skills etc. “he bought his copy of the game, not you”

I only kick people if they go offline or they’re so bad (and not listening to anything we say) that I’m at risk of getting cancer lol.

Durzlla.6295:

The part I bolder is totally false, you know where rangers die? Melee range , you know where a ranger isn’t beaten? At ranged, I run LB, Axe/dagger for a reason and it’s sure as hell not for the min/maxing damage nonsense it’s to survive and win.

This is so incredibly, utterly, completely false, it’s not even funny. Greatsword is one of the ranger’s best weapons. In dungeons, Sword/Warhorn is very common for good reason – best power scaling, good party buffs and a blast finisher.

Axe/dagger is a crap combo. Especially if you’re also using Longbow. Longbow is a power weapon. Axe/dagger are condition weapons (and meh even for that) with absolutely horrible power scaling. You also got no mobility and no melee, so someone puts up a reflect and you do nothing. Someone gets close to you and you do nothing.

If you were talking about PvE then you are the “bearbows” any decent dungeon runner runs away from like the godkitten plague.

We’re also not “unbeatable” at range by any stretch of the word or imagination.

ProxyDamage.9826:

Durzlla.6295:

The part I bolder is totally false, you know where rangers die? Melee range , you know where a ranger isn’t beaten? At ranged, I run LB, Axe/dagger for a reason and it’s sure as hell not for the min/maxing damage nonsense it’s to survive and win.

This is so incredibly, utterly, completely false, it’s not even funny. Greatsword is one of the ranger’s best weapons. In dungeons, Sword/Warhorn is very common for good reason – best power scaling, good party buffs and a blast finisher.

Axe/dagger is a crap combo. Especially if you’re also using Longbow. Longbow is a power weapon. Axe/dagger are condition weapons (and meh even for that) with absolutely horrible power scaling. You also got no mobility and no melee, so someone puts up a reflect and you do nothing. Someone gets close to you and you do nothing.

If you were talking about PvE then you are the “bearbows” any decent dungeon runner runs away from like the godkitten plague.

We’re also not “unbeatable” at range by any stretch of the word or imagination.

Uh, you can be hybrid damage you know this right? I prefer not to put all my eggs in one basket….

And no mobility? You don’t even know the rest of my build, not to mention axe does a good job of punishing anyone who gets in Melee by split blading their face… Not to mention you can keep people away from you using these fancy things called snares and immobilizes…. Also, this is for PvP, not PvE, if you read the post pretty much right above yours you’d know that.

And we deal more ranged damage than any other profession, if we went into a max ranged duel with anyone else we’d win hands down, ESPECIALLY if the pet is also involved (that’ll push us above literally everyone including warriors).

Splitblade on a condition ranger can do 5 bleeding for ~ 10 seconds, after bonuses, without critting. If all five crit, 10 bleeding. In that time, five noncrits do 5865 bleeding damage, five crits do 11730 bleeding damage to up to five targets. All this in a single one second attack. It’s easily one of the strongest AoE attacks on its disposal. It’s not meant for direct damage, which does a lousy 679 damage on my build, and up to maybe 2000 on the more extreme power builds – which still sucks.

NPCs, in general, do not condition cleanse.

Piercing arrow attacks, and most piercing attacks in general, hit for up to 5 targets each, as far as I can tell. Then again I haven’t really had that much experience with much more than 5 targets in a single line.

Overall between swapping between axes and the shortbow to use condition skills off cd, I can maintain a very high bleed stack. Every second, the shortbow’s AA stacks two to four bleeds depending on whether it crits. Ultimately I stack for up to 11 bleed from normal attacks, 7 bleed from the crits, 3-6 more from crippling shot in shortbow mode – for a total of potentially 24 bleeds. In axe mode, it’s potentially 16 bleeds from crippling talon and splitblade alone, and about 3 from ricochet. Furious Grip Furies the main two damagers per weapon set – splitblade and poison volley – giving them a 66% crit chance every time they’re used. And my pet uses poisoning and bleeding attacks as well., which are under the effects of Might from every crit I make.

Hayashi.3416:

Splitblade on a condition ranger can do 5 bleeding for ~ 10 seconds, after bonuses, without critting. If all five crit, 10 bleeding. In that time, five noncrits do 5865 bleeding damage, five crits do 11730 bleeding damage to up to five targets. All this in a single one second attack. It’s easily one of the strongest AoE attacks on its disposal. It’s not meant for direct damage, which does a lousy 679 damage on my build, and up to maybe 2000 on the more extreme power builds – which still sucks.

Piercing arrow attacks, and most piercing attacks in general, hit for up to 5 targets each, as far as I can tell. Then again I haven’t really had that much experience with much more than 5 targets in a single line.

Conditions cannot crit. Only direct damage can.
If you spec for direct DPS, you are better off with sword. Axe are only a option if you run celestial + rampager mix.

Prysin.8542:

Hayashi.3416:

Splitblade on a condition ranger can do 5 bleeding for ~ 10 seconds, after bonuses, without critting. If all five crit, 10 bleeding. In that time, five noncrits do 5865 bleeding damage, five crits do 11730 bleeding damage to up to five targets. All this in a single one second attack. It’s easily one of the strongest AoE attacks on its disposal. It’s not meant for direct damage, which does a lousy 679 damage on my build, and up to maybe 2000 on the more extreme power builds – which still sucks.

Piercing arrow attacks, and most piercing attacks in general, hit for up to 5 targets each, as far as I can tell. Then again I haven’t really had that much experience with much more than 5 targets in a single line.

Conditions cannot crit. Only direct damage can.
If you spec for direct DPS, you are better off with sword. Axe are only a option if you run celestial + rampager mix.

I never claimed conditions crit, Prysin. The crit effect adds additional bleeding via Sharpened Edges. Every single axe adds one bleed if it crits, and a piercing attack like that can crit 5 times per axe per target, or 25 times in total.

And celestial isn’t enough. Condition rangers must run Carrion with Rampager or face being overwritten by another player with higher condition damage. The higher condition damage value is needed so full Rampager doesn’t work. In addition full Carrion, while not only being impossible to make, also doesn’t work because crit-on-bleeding requires a higher critrate.

Prysin.8542:

Honestly, in PvE/Dungeons, the best DPS builds would most likely be 20/20/0/0/30, my beast cannon build. And given how it performed against the Queens Pavillion bosses, i’d say im right. (all bosses short of Liadri defeated in less then 12 seconds, 30% failure rate, mostly due to not know how the bosses fought)

No Vigorous Spirits in that build for the party in dungeons… Wouldn’t use the Pavillion as a bar either especially with a 30% failure rate. That mean party members will be picking you off the floor 30% of the time, too?

[quote=3454593;Prysin.8542:]

Prysin.8542:

Honestly, in PvE/Dungeons, the best DPS builds would most likely be 20/20/0/0/30, my beast cannon build. And given how it performed against the Queens Pavillion bosses, i’d say im right. (all bosses short of Liadri defeated in less then 12 seconds, 30% failure rate, mostly due to not know how the bosses fought)

srsly ?

you still think you deal more dmg than melee ranger ?
come on guy it´s old and not true.
it´s a nice build and your worked on it but it´s not the best pve/DUNGEON build

nagymbear.5280:

solrik.6028:

In short; Rangers are forced less at learning because it’s possible to just pew-pew everything to death while the pet is taking the hits.

Level a guardian or a s/p thief. They don’t need to learn anything either.

Guardian, Warrior, S/P Thief, Nade Engineer, Minionmaster Necro, Shortbow/Longbow Bearbows… all same stuff. Still, Ranger class just suck so average player is just better with playing another of those classes and isn’t that terrible.
I spoke to couple of those so-called “bearbows” and figured out couple reasons why do they like this type of gameplay:
-It’s essentialy holy duo – tank and dps. Tank takes hits, you do dps. That’s something most players are familiar with
-It’s passive – many of those run things like triple signets, never using any (well, they still suck if you use them, but…but…) or other abilities.
-It’s something that has been described when you choose the class. That’s almost purely definition of something they play.

3rd reason was most popular.

Hayashi.3416:

… In addition full Carrion, while not only being impossible to make, also doesn’t work because crit-on-bleeding requires a higher critrate.

Also, Carrion exotics are cheap.

I’m ranger main, since beta, I have not even ONCE put bear on my bar for pet. I don’t like bear, it’s attack to me is far to slow, and does a lot of growling which grates on my ears. To me, it’s to lumbering slow.

I used a bear with LB/SB up through probably level 50 or so, until I started to understand a bit more about weapon/armor attributes, etc. The bear held aggro nicely so I could apply dps.

In the long run for both PvE and WvW I tend to run a LB/GS combo with birds (usually owl with eagle on backup)
P/P/CD with ranger runes.

I don’t know if it’s the best set up for how I play, but it lets me enjoy how I play. With Piercing traits it becomes a game to kite things in a manner that allows me to line them up if I’m against more than one target in PvE. Birds do good dps, but don’t last real long, so I have to manage them along with kiting.

Is it an optimal build? Very likely not, but I’m not out to solo champions or such, but I can move around in Orr without having to constantly skirt around stuff.

Maybe people are playing things wrong in the eyes of others, but looking back at my lower levels as a ranger, the bear is great if you aren’t into pet management and using the F keys. They are tough, and hold aggro decently. As such it’s likely the easy path for a lot of folks who just want to explore and have fun without having to obsess over their stats.

I usually run the good old fashioned melandru stalker for the buff. I havn’t had a single complaint on buffs if I’m in a party. And second pet is either juvenile wolf, or Hound. Either I can fear the enemy, allowing my buddies/allies to rally and give breathing room, or with the Hound I will root the enemy to the spot. And if you go hound, you put in Entangle, and if the enemy breaks the bonds from hound, you entangle, and the enemy might not have any more stun/breaks to use up allowing us to finish them off.

I’m well aware of the use of each pet. I seen quite a few fire drake teams in a zerg that turned a lords room into a scene from Apocolypse now with flames licking the enemy in every single direction. The one vid of two dozen rangers running hyena was…hate to say very very very funny. Would have loved to have been on the opposing team just to hear their comments/confusion/ or outright fear.