Guild Wars 2

Heya I have been running different variations of the BM bunkers for months and months. Just discovered dreamthistle longbow skin and I freakin love it, so I bought it on impulse and then I remembered lb is meh.
So I am coming to you guys for haylp! lb + x/x roaming build, power based, what should my baseline traits look like?

Someone has to have come up with something semi viable to roam around with., come on.. Tell me (:

Jhughes.8341:

Someone has to have come up with something semi viable to roam around with., come on.. Tell me (:

So, I play this build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMEQNAT8YnAV0FclF+VwaZAp9YSsEMhVwQcP8PUJELYTF-jUDBYgBCjJzUgwEEYkIBKBqIasVSFRjVvAT5SIWDLqWzB2gOqeDYyAwMGA-w

It is a shout build with 0 healing. You rely on evasion and the utility of the longbow to stealth, knockback and kite. It is extremely fun, survivable and very effective. You can fuss around with sigils (generosity vs. force) and pets to suit your situation. I enjoy it much more than condition/bunker specs.

It is a very active build that requires active defensive and well timed dodges and evades. I’ve posted a few videos of the build in action if you are interested.

I can vouch for Bredin’s build being incredibly good for roaming; I used it for a while before switching to my own build. This was after getting my kitten handed to me by him several months ago.

Do yourself a favor and give it a shot.

Will do. I was running something very similar actually but using zerk/valk. I completely forgot knights existed.

Oh and I was getting my kitten handed to me

Bredin,

I’d be interested in seeing some videos; tried searching for them myself to no avail. The build seems really fun to play and I’m looking forward to trying it. Currently amassing the gear.

These are old videos, poorly edited and they have no cool music. But they do show the essential game play. I’ve updated the build a couple times since these videos ankitten ow running a more offensive version that Sevans shared with me—less forgiving but it packs more punch.

This is a video of 1v1s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUL5Ferww4I

This is a video of 1vxs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUACn5w3LYQ

Hope this is helpful and you find this or a related power build fun and effective!

I play like this nowadays:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMUQNAV8fjAVV29VGWo2Bi1DBRoB1ewJzf+Xh0fyKi2K-jgCBofBGJURj8II0HRjABOPqIasVTFRjVJjIqWdDzeuIa1CBIdNA-e

I find it more solid than BM bunker, using pet as a support rather than the main source of damage, since the pet damage can be mitigated by experienced players and most blind/stealth thiefs. Access to signets helps with ‘uh oh’ moments and buys time, decent healing power, decent power to dish out when fighting enemies with strong condi-removal, and strong condi damage + access to lots of conditions.

Bredin’s build, using shouts there has little to no real benefit.
The HPS (HP per second) from that amount of regen is really really low, less then 150. Which is too little to negate any form of damage except conditions on power builds.
If using shouts, get at the very least 800 Healing Power. That way you are getting around 220HPS regen. Which is much much more worth it.
As usual, Bredin, like most others, are completely screwing his pet(s) over using Empathic Bond. Dogs + Empathic bond = failing against ANY condition build user. Don’t try and say otherwise, that trait is the epitome of irony. Sure it’s great, aslong as you do not have to rely on pets for any functions other then dieing.
The crit damage levels are waaaay too low compared to what you CAN achieve with a little tweaking. 37% with 3.3k power (3.6k w/bloodlust) will get you around 3.5-4K max, crits against squishy targets with LB. Sword will be at around 1.5-2.2k however that only applies to very squishy targets. Against a PVT warrior that LB/Sword will do max 1.2-1.6k if you are lucky.
Poorly optimization of utilities and traits. Not taking -20% CD on Survival skills when using LR is a really really bad choice.
Why you didnt choose Nature’s bounty and Evasive Purity is beyond me, but hey, ain’t my build.

Empathic bond is as Prysin says, awful because it destroys our class mechanic! What other class has to deal with that?

That said, we have few other good choices. HS in practice is tricky to use, as it has a long cooldown and you need to sit in for condition clears. I’m looking forward to promised tweaks for 2handed weapons and sigils—we might be able to replace EB with sigils of purity/generosity. It is possible to manage EB and keep your pets alive against condition builds. The problem arises when fighting a smart player who specifically target and kills your pet—leaving you screwed.

The shout serves several functions. First, it gives you perma swiftness, freeing up a utility slot—the swiftness also applies to your pet. Second, it gives protection to your pet, making them MUCH more robust. Third, it gives your pet stealth, making it somewhat easier for them to land their attacks and to get them out of harms way. And fourth, you and your pet get regen. Granted over 10 seconds, you are only getting back about 1.3k, but that i still nothing to sneeze at over a lengthy fight.

About the traits—Nature’s bounty is a complete waste with a shout build. You have on demand, nearly perma regen. Evasive purity is a good choice, but I’ve found it to be of less use than I hoped for against blind or poison builds. As is often the case, they can re-apply the conditions too fast given the 10 second Evasive Purity cooldown.

The -20%CD for LR is very nice, and definitely what I run in duels. But for roaming, I’ve found it much more useful to have the reduced damage on falls. I can’t tell you how many kills I’ve gotten by luring people over high drop offs!

And I agree that crit damage is low. I’m currently running Sevan’s build which has me sitting >60% crit chance, at the cost of some toughness and HPs.

My build is definitely NOT optimized for dueling. But I’ve found it effective for roaming. It provides good mobility, good sustain and acceptable damage, though the damage output is definitely the weak link.

try glass lb/gs

Natures Bounty is ideal for any regen. Thanks to that 33% increase, your shouts should do about 250 HP more healing, and coupled with healing spring, you can get proper perma uptime as healing spring becomes a beast with it.

Bredin’s build is IMO one of the strongest ranger roaming builds out there. Seriously, I’m surprised this build isn’t more popular. It’s so much more fun those condi BM bunker builds and a lot more affective then those glassier builds.

Honestly, if you’re a ranger and you feel desperately under powered then give this build a go. And trust me, you’ll be able to take on most people in WvW with it.

Sevans.4619:

I can vouch for Bredin’s build being incredibly good for roaming; I used it for a while before switching to my own build. This was after getting my kitten handed to me by him several months ago.

Do yourself a favor and give it a shot.

Would you mind posting your build, Sevans? My ranger will hit 80 soon and like the OP, I have zero desire to play BM bunker.

Bredin. I don’t know what made you decide on this build but it is amazing. I just tried it out all throughout today with a minor adjustment (I just made it fit with my melandru runes by going an extra 10 in Skirmishing and picking up longbow trait instead of empathic bond). I love it. I just did a clean 2v4 against some thieves,warriors and an engie and it went swell. Also had some decent 1v1s and better ability to stay alive from my other build. Thank you sir because this is god fun and its pretty good.

Glad you are enjoying the build! I’ve run your exact variant before and it works great—though as perverse as empathic bond is, I’ve found it hard to do without in the current condition meta.

I think the key features of this build are the LB and S/D weapon sets. They synergize amazingly well. I’ve been trying this build without Shout, and although it is less robust, I’ve noticed my pets landing more attacks. I wonder whether casting “Guard” screws up the pets attack sequence, putting key attacks (eg knockdown) on cooldown.

Anyway, keep me posted about how you like the build and what tweaks you made to it. I’m excited about what possibilities for ‘classic’ ranger builds the new patch and CDI will bring.

cheers!

This looks very interesting, I have already been using longbow and sword/dagger (or sometimes sword/warhorn) and canine recently in WvW so I may have to give this a go! Thank you for sharing this!

I’m playing similar power shout build but with GS/sword+warhorn instead, gots tiny bits of healing power but the bits of regen I get out of guard spam still keeps me going. Of course the more healing power the better but having massive regen isn’t always the best option either, since you have to sacrifice other things for it. Experiment and try to figure out where you feel most comfy with it. I know I can’t run without it, but I don’t need huge amount either to survive most of the time.

Power build with heavy focus on bow for solo roam:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMQQNBjYDrEoS09KL+VYtIIWKAUfaF0E7B/Z0icF8fJjqC-jUDBYfAofRmgAjwAgABmIAKzsIaslhFRjVXDT5CQFbR1WzDZ2gOqyAwMGA-w

group roam version:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMQQNBjYDrEoS09KL+VYtIIWKAUgaF0E7B/Z0icF8fJjqC-jUDBYfAofRmgAjwAgABmIAKzsIaslhFRjVXDT5CQFbR1WzDZ2gOqyAwMGA-w

shout version:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMQQNBjYD7EoiugrCyvCWLDI9DaCnB/xIuH+HqEilMqKA-jUDBYfAofRmgAjwAgABmIAKzsIasVWFRjVXDT5CQFbR1WzDZ2gOqyAwMGA-w

enjoy

Bredin, love the build. Took it for a test drive in spvp with soldiers ammy/ rampager jewel and had much success. Currently massing a full knights set to have much fun in wvw… thanks for the build.

One question, why battle runes? Might is always a good thing but I opted for energy as dodging/ evading is the most important part of the build imo.

Energy works great, but I’ve found that once you master the sword evades the extra energy doesn’t help as much as a bit more damage. I picked battle because those might stacks also apply to your pet, giving them a bit extra punch. You also have good boon duration, so those stick for a long time.

But use energy if you want, they are a good choice, as are sigil of force. Once the balance update comes (march 18th), everything might change. So don’t break your bank on completely gearing up for this build—especially on sigils for your weapons.

here is a sword+dagger / shortbow build I made. I get told it’s a beast in sPvP and it does just as well in WvW. The only issue is bunker builds especially those using Hammer/bow… you can’t kill them without some serious work because they’ll just heal if you don’t keep the dps up.

stealth thieves run over the traps, so getting them down is simple enough without having to really attack them.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNAV8YjIV11VWyVo2BilCBFo2DNZeLxUwfGVwnJ-ToAgyEap0yplRLpWWtGksoYTB

I run a S/A+GS with PVT/Sent when I roam. It’s very effective and has really good burst, amazing mobility, and great survivability. Plus I can switch out to LB+GS when I wanna join a zerg and still do good damage. I can even keep S/A+GS and jump into the middle of an enemy zerg and still come out alive.

But I run from Necros and Engies. Too much condi damage.

Played a build derived from Bredin’s one yesterday.
Longbow + Sword/Warhorn with Healing Spring (combo with Sword 2 and Warhorn 5)
Really fun, hard to catch (LB’s knockback, stealth, muddy terrain, sword, lightning reflexes …) and pretty durable.
Sometimes I wasn’t “bursty” enough to kill my opponent though … but at least I didn’t die a single time !