WvW glass cannon LB/SB build
The problem with ranger glass cannon builds is that we have no real escape mechanisms, cc and condition removal, and pets are rather weak. While I’m sure this build works decently (I tried a very similar build before I adapted it to what I have now), I know you hate fighting in small groups against thieves, warriors, guardians, and mesmers, especially 1v1 because they all counter this build. Thieves and warriors get in your face with gap closers and you can practically do nothing about it. Guardians out last you. Mesmers are similar to thieves but at ranged and constantly spam illusions. I found shortbow is much more effective than longbow at close ranger, but the lack of damage proves it fairly useless still (especially after the “nerf”).
My build is similar but migrated to LB/GS 30/25/15/0/0. Sure, I don’t deal as much damage, but I have 200 more defense, about 1k more health, gain protection on dodge, and am overall much tankier while still being a “glass cannon”. Jewelry: Ruby Orichalcum Amulet of the Berserker, 2x Ruby Orichalcum Ring of the Berserker, Emerald Orichalcum Earring of the Knight, Beryl Orichalcum Earring of the Valkyrie. I’m thinking making earrings berserker instead of ring for slightly more tankiness, but I don’t think it’s worth the cost.
Maybe it’s because I play Ranger a lot, but I can solo about any thief, warrior, and mesmer. Bunker guardians are a bit of a problem though. I solo’d (and won) 2 thieves today in wvw, 1 was using condition build (tough long fight), and the other glass cannon (very quick fight). To beat glass cannons, you need to roll when you think they will use steal, pull out GS, hit 4, then 3, 5, 111111111. If using a wolf hit f2 right after you block with 4 and they should go down because they won’t be able to stealth.
GS is a lot stronger than what some rangers what you to think, it just requires a smart player behind it (ranger in general requires a smart player in its current state to be effective).
thief is 50/50, if they render on my screen or i see them coming or they don’t do 15k of backstab i can kill them doing some magic, if they popup behind me and they still attack while on stealth(rendering issue) i am done since that usually happen when you are focused on another 20 ppl. Best friend vs thief is entangle, but only if u survive enough to cast it.
elementalist…never fight one on 1v1 except on spvp, but i was running a build focused on pet/survivability/signet-share with sword/warhorn/LB
10 minute each fight, he won 3:0, very much not my fault since pet was rolling around with no purpose, no matter how much i spammed f1/f2.. and sword..i lost one of the fight because i could literally not move to finish him off
Mesmer…now that’s funny, i hate them, but the penetrating arrow help a lot, if you position yourself good those illusion are good to go, pretty hard to hit the mesmer with rapid fire, some time i end up wasting QZ since he disappear on my face
warrior,guardian depend if they spec full defense is going to be a long fight and i cant endure like they do, and my damage is very low vs them.
100b warrior other hands, are silly, all u need to do is stunbreak but only when they activate frenzy, then u have to choice, entangle, QZ, rapidfire, then knockback, swap on SB, swap pet(dog) immobilize. finish it.
necromancer…rarely fought some on 1vs1, but i remember once a guy that completely out-damaged me while on transformation elite, he was doing 3,5k cit with that flying hand, he facemelted me
I’d say LB/SB might have the issue of LB being ideal for Berserker gear and SB being ideal with Rampager gear.
I personally use LB/GS. GS being my main weapon for skirmishes and LB for WvW long distances, AoE, and knockback. 30/15/20/0/5
I’m using traited signet of stone for 6s of damage immunity, Quickening Zephyr for burst, and Signet of Renewal + Healing Spring for condition removal. Signet of Renewal is also a stun break, Healing Spring is also the fastest casting heal. I use Entangle offensively to hold enemies while I burst and it’s also a good escape mechanic. GS charge also is good for traveling, chasing and escaping.
I trait deep into marksmanship to get increased LB distance, reduced cooldown on signets, and of course improved signet of stone. I trait semi-deep into Wild Survival for reduced cooldown on Entangle + QZ, the pet eats CC trait, and the passive toughness. I put 5 points into beastmastery for quickness of pet swap, and lastly invest my last points into skirmishing for passive crit + crit damage with 30% pet crit damage and swiftness/fury on weapon swap.
My pets of choice are Owl and Raven. Birds are superior DPS pets, they are smaller, and Owl has a kitten cripple while Raven has a long blind. Birds also crit harder than I do and in pairs, I’m talking 2-4k damage x2.
(edited by neoxide.7320)