Guild Wars 2

I have just about finished fine tuning my fisherman engg (magnet net chill chill net net … repeat). I have come back to my ranger because I still want a GS using class (that was different: you expect to see wars and guards swing a GS, but not a ranger).

I look at the ranger utilities in wvw and here is what I see:
- trap cd’s are too long and do too little to be noticed in zergs
- signets and shouts don’t do anything because the pet dies too fast
- survival keeps you alive but then what?

With my fisherman I have a clear goal. I pull and immobilize while my team kills. What specific goal can I aim for with a GS ranger?

Seetoo.9316:

I have just about finished fine tuning my fisherman engg (magnet net chill chill net net … repeat). I have come back to my ranger because I still want a GS using class (that was different: you expect to see wars and guards swing a GS, but not a ranger).

I look at the ranger utilities in wvw and here is what I see:
- trap cd’s are too long and do too little to be noticed in zergs
- signets and shouts don’t do anything because the pet dies too fast
- survival keeps you alive but then what?

With my fisherman I have a clear goal. I pull and immobilize while my team kills. What specific goal can I aim for with a GS ranger?

GS ranger is fun as a chaser/roamer, which is what I mostly use it for. Signet of the hunt with swoop makes you pretty fast around the map, even without swiftness. Also running a high toughness build when I use GS, I often lead the charge for my group and pop entangle, and then me and my pet play a little whack a mole (I try to find synergy with my pet). GS ranger can be pretty mobile, and can solo camps/ lead charges in a survival build. I usually do small scale combat and roaming with it, but if I do find a big battle, I usually try to head a flank. You kinda have to be on the front line to do damage with GS. This is all just me though.

Honestly everyone has a play-style that fits them the best, you should explore and try to find yours, once you find it the game becomes that much more fun.

Most likely a pin cushion. Face the fact that your imminent death will happen quick and abruptly.

Jazenn.7526:

Seetoo.9316:

I have just about finished fine tuning my fisherman engg (magnet net chill chill net net … repeat). I have come back to my ranger because I still want a GS using class (that was different: you expect to see wars and guards swing a GS, but not a ranger).

I look at the ranger utilities in wvw and here is what I see:
- trap cd’s are too long and do too little to be noticed in zergs
- signets and shouts don’t do anything because the pet dies too fast
- survival keeps you alive but then what?

With my fisherman I have a clear goal. I pull and immobilize while my team kills. What specific goal can I aim for with a GS ranger?

GS ranger is fun as a chaser/roamer, which is what I mostly use it for. Signet of the hunt with swoop makes you pretty fast around the map, even without swiftness. Also running a high toughness build when I use GS, I often lead the charge for my group and pop entangle, and then me and my pet play a little whack a mole (I try to find synergy with my pet). GS ranger can be pretty mobile, and can solo camps/ lead charges in a survival build. I usually do small scale combat and roaming with it, but if I do find a big battle, I usually try to head a flank. You kinda have to be on the front line to do damage with GS. This is all just me though.

So basically you simply take up a wvw slot? Seriously, small scale battles do nothing but waste time (in wvw). Combat only matters if it happens on an important location (places that contribute points). Taking a camp by yourself is not ranger specific. Any one can do this.

I can understand “being the bait” though. But, it was pretty easy to get a ranger killed after fishing him out of a crowd (all bow users though so maybe it will be diff with a GS).

Jazenn.7526:

Honestly everyone has a play-style that fits them the best, you should explore and try to find yours, once you find it the game becomes that much more fun.

It’s not about finding a play style. It’s about finding your role so you don’t feel like getting carried. And even more specific, its about finding a role as a ranger.

Seetoo.9316:

Jazenn.7526:

Seetoo.9316:

I have just about finished fine tuning my fisherman engg (magnet net chill chill net net … repeat). I have come back to my ranger because I still want a GS using class (that was different: you expect to see wars and guards swing a GS, but not a ranger).

I look at the ranger utilities in wvw and here is what I see:
- trap cd’s are too long and do too little to be noticed in zergs
- signets and shouts don’t do anything because the pet dies too fast
- survival keeps you alive but then what?

With my fisherman I have a clear goal. I pull and immobilize while my team kills. What specific goal can I aim for with a GS ranger?

GS ranger is fun as a chaser/roamer, which is what I mostly use it for. Signet of the hunt with swoop makes you pretty fast around the map, even without swiftness. Also running a high toughness build when I use GS, I often lead the charge for my group and pop entangle, and then me and my pet play a little whack a mole (I try to find synergy with my pet). GS ranger can be pretty mobile, and can solo camps/ lead charges in a survival build. I usually do small scale combat and roaming with it, but if I do find a big battle, I usually try to head a flank. You kinda have to be on the front line to do damage with GS. This is all just me though.

So basically you simply take up a wvw slot? Seriously, small scale battles do nothing but waste time (in wvw). Combat only matters if it happens on an important location (places that contribute points). Taking a camp by yourself is not ranger specific. Any one can do this.

I can understand “being the bait” though. But, it was pretty easy to get a ranger killed after fishing him out of a crowd (all bow users though so maybe it will be diff with a GS).

Jazenn.7526:

Honestly everyone has a play-style that fits them the best, you should explore and try to find yours, once you find it the game becomes that much more fun.

It’s not about finding a play style. It’s about finding your role so you don’t feel like getting carried. And even more specific, its about finding a role as a ranger.

Just trying to help lol, but okay man, nevermind then. Hm. As a specific role my ranger does especially is like I said, tank and capture, hm I guess finding some “role of the ranger” wasn’t something I thought about. Anyone can win in WvW without being carried, regardless of class, but I suppose the ranger has it’s role.

Don’t knock on small scale battles though, they can be just as important. Things like capturing camps or towers with a party is just as useful as doing it with a zerg, and actually makes you feel less carried. Even if it isn’t at an important point. Small scale battles can hold reinforcements, cause distractions, flank, capture objectives, gather pugs, defend points, block/escort supply, you name it.

EDIT: Maybe finding a “role for the ranger” isn’t as important as just playing WvW and doing what is best for your server.

Swoop + Entangle / Mud, that’s the role of a GS ranger (as I see it).

Jarul.8635:

Swoop + Entangle / Mud, that’s the role of a GS ranger (as I see it).

More or less this if we’re talking zerg warfare. You’re job is to get in there and make a mess. If it’s too dangerous at the moment send in a canine to mess with some squishy in the back and pop F2 while you plink away with a bow of some sort (better than nothing).

If you’re going to do this though you pretty much have to be running full tanky stats so you don’t die horribly (I’d suggest cleric’s personally).

Live bait it is then. So pvt gear?

Seetoo.9316:

Live bait it is then. So pvt gear?

You’ll hit like a wet noodle, with pvt gear.

I’ve not found the stats I like yet … but currently I’m trying to get my crit + crit dmg up a bit. Might be an idea for a pvt setup to mix some gear out with crit + crit dmg.

Do I really want damage as live bait?

If you don’t want to take up space in WvW … as you stated earlier … i would try to dish out a little dmg. Hell or just run with drakes and let them do the dmg for you :P

…but GS is not for damage…

like all the other ranger weapons, apart from the underwater ones.

Greatsword is a defensive weapon. True, Swoop is an amazing gap-closer, but you’re better off switching to Sword once you’ve reached your enemies.

My GS is not open/closeing combat but…
It between.

[open fight]<——————[My GS fight here]—————>[close fight]

Come later when fight and move out combat when it near finish.
Let’s open job to some1 and let’s it close party to some1.
I just hunt somebody who need to victim or who is worst enemy for our team.
Yes…look at them and make choice who is enemy game maker.
Go to find and say hello time to say goodbye mate >:D !!

2sec or 4sec is enough to down somebody who let’s their guard down…

The GS has a very specific role for me in WvW, it’s a fantastic escape mechanism. I run full berserker with LB/GS in WvW, and when I get swarmed I swoop away with GS3. I hardly ever die thanks to this skill, when I do it’s always because I either stick around longer than I know I should, or because I forget to cancel my target and swoop at him instead of away from him. I don’t use it for anything else though, can’t even remember the last time I actually hit someone with hit.

Jarul.8635:

Swoop + Entangle / Mud, that’s the role of a GS ranger (as I see it).

Yep I run these skills. Clerics gear. Pet does most of my damage as I catch opponents with immo/chill/stun/cripple.

Any reason in particular that you prefer power toughness healing over power toughness vitality?

Seetoo.9316:

Any reason in particular that you prefer power toughness healing over power toughness vitality?

I think with the ptv you get a little extra power, and with the clerics gear you get a little more survivability. Healing power and toughness allows you to take so much more damage, and with the GS being a great defensive weapon(in my opinion), it goes well with this. With healing spring, you can keep up condition removal and perma regen, and the leap on GS adds even more heal. My GS build has 1200 healing power and almost 3k armor. I lose out on damage, but I use my pet to make up for that.

I would say that I like defensive combat, so maybe that’s why I chose survivability over damage. If you want to kill more, go ptv. If you want to survive more, go clerics.

The GS is a terrible defensive weapon….the sword does more damage then the great sword, you get 2 evades from the sword and can also have dagger offhand which has another evade, if i see a ranger running with a greatsword i know its an instant win for me lol.

Casey.9687:

The GS is a terrible defensive weapon….the sword does more damage then the great sword, you get 2 evades from the sword and can also have dagger offhand which has another evade, if i see a ranger running with a greatsword i know its an instant win for me lol.

Hm. Greatsword has an evade built into auto attack that comes faster than you can spam those 3 skills from sword dagger. Not only that, but it has swoop, which is one of the best escapes a ranger has, and block that is for 3 seconds against range and an interrupt against melee. And an interrupt via stun/daze. I have to disagree with you, I actually think the Greatsword is more defensive than sword. Sword/dagger can definitely avoid damage, and I use it as my secondary weapon set, but I switch to it when I want to be offensive, I just use the evades to avoid a hit while still putting out damage. They seem to help control an opponent. But you experience the game differently. I won’t declare my experiences as universal law though.

Jazenn.7526:

Casey.9687:

The GS is a terrible defensive weapon….the sword does more damage then the great sword, you get 2 evades from the sword and can also have dagger offhand which has another evade, if i see a ranger running with a greatsword i know its an instant win for me lol.

Hm. Greatsword has an evade built into auto attack that comes faster than you can spam those 3 skills from sword dagger. Not only that, but it has swoop, which is one of the best escapes a ranger has, and block that is for 3 seconds against range and an interrupt against melee. And an interrupt via stun/daze. I have to disagree with you, I actually think the Greatsword is more defensive than sword. Sword/dagger can definitely avoid damage, and I use it as my secondary weapon set, but I switch to it when I want to be offensive, I just use the evades to avoid a hit while still putting out damage. They seem to help control an opponent. But you experience the game differently. I won’t declare my experiences as universal law though.

Have you never used the sword as an escape weapon? your 2 works just like greatsword leap….turn towards your opponent leap backwards then turn around and use the lunge and leap away and then if you have a horn you can use the speed buff so that beats out swoop. Also nobody but a warrior or guardian are goin to let you set there and hit them with melee….rangers are the weakest melee and guardians and warrior trump them by far….it is not smart to run 2 melee sets on a class that isn’t designed to run them. The fact that your saying you never lost to a ranger 1v1 in another post while running these 2 weapon sets is an utter lie or you just wait in WvW and camp the low lvls. A Trapper ranger or Bunker would easily put you in your place if you went melee like that.

Casey.9687:

Jazenn.7526:

Casey.9687:

The GS is a terrible defensive weapon….the sword does more damage then the great sword, you get 2 evades from the sword and can also have dagger offhand which has another evade, if i see a ranger running with a greatsword i know its an instant win for me lol.

Hm. Greatsword has an evade built into auto attack that comes faster than you can spam those 3 skills from sword dagger. Not only that, but it has swoop, which is one of the best escapes a ranger has, and block that is for 3 seconds against range and an interrupt against melee. And an interrupt via stun/daze. I have to disagree with you, I actually think the Greatsword is more defensive than sword. Sword/dagger can definitely avoid damage, and I use it as my secondary weapon set, but I switch to it when I want to be offensive, I just use the evades to avoid a hit while still putting out damage. They seem to help control an opponent. But you experience the game differently. I won’t declare my experiences as universal law though.

Have you never used the sword as an escape weapon? your 2 works just like greatsword leap….turn towards your opponent leap backwards then turn around and use the lunge and leap away and then if you have a horn you can use the speed buff so that beats out swoop. Also nobody but a warrior or guardian are goin to let you set there and hit them with melee….rangers are the weakest melee and guardians and warrior trump them by far….it is not smart to run 2 melee sets on a class that isn’t designed to run them. The fact that your saying you never lost to a ranger 1v1 in another post while running these 2 weapon sets is an utter lie or you just wait in WvW and camp the low lvls. A Trapper ranger or Bunker would easily put you in your place if you went melee like that.

I have beaten warriors and guardians with this build. And swoop is an easier escape. Did I say I never lost to a ranger? While I can’t recall a particular instance at the moment, I won’t confidently say I never lost to one.

Just to clarify since the choice is between spending g or spending ac tokens, isn’t healing only good if you have multiple sources of heal?

Seetoo.9316:

Just to clarify since the choice is between spending g or spending ac tokens, isn’t healing only good if you have multiple sources of heal?

I have healing spring and regen from runes, traits, and signet, so it works out for me.

Jazenn.7526:

Jarul.8635:

Swoop + Entangle / Mud, that’s the role of a GS ranger (as I see it).

Yep I run these skills. Clerics gear. Pet does most of my damage as I catch opponents with immo/chill/stun/cripple.

cleric’s gear is overall a terrible idea on the ranger. it only works in spvp where you can access to double raven (unless you have white raven in WvW as well, which case it’s cool).

i run something similar with gs/sword/torch, but i use apothecary gear. u can actually kill stuff this way.

that being said, sword/gs with reduced cooldowns and SoH is the fastest thing in the game.

If I was planning on running a regen build, solo or party roaming, I would get the Apotho set out of the bank again.

Anything above that, I doubt regen and/or healing power is going to save your bacon.

GS is better at roaming then zerg. It has amazing closing and escape utility. I have axe/horn paired with it.

If you have GS, I suggest tanky BM. You will tank hits like none other and your pet will still dish tremendous damage (roaming, your pet is typically and foolishly ignored).

The best part about fighting in melee, is your opponent will hold still for your pet. Rangers IMO shine far more in melee than at range.

WvW role for a GS ranger?

Hmmm... maybe, lulz generator?

DaisyRogers.6837:

GS is better at roaming then zerg. It has amazing closing and escape utility. I have axe/horn paired with it.

If you have GS, I suggest tanky BM. You will tank hits like none other and your pet will still dish tremendous damage (roaming, your pet is typically and foolishly ignored).

The best part about fighting in melee, is your opponent will hold still for your pet. Rangers IMO shine far more in melee than at range.

Rangers are not built for melee and they are far from ever being the best class for melee. No one is going to hold still for you in combat unless they are a warrior or guardian. People need to stop spreading that the GS is a reliable weapon because it is far from that and its not going to get fixed if people keep getting on here and saying its good. The sword has better damage then the greatsword, and better escape and dodge ability. I understand that you guys go into WvW and get some good kills on lowbies and people with less skill and think this weapon is great, but its not…you have never fought a hardcore guardian, warrior, thief, mesmer, or bunker ele if you think this weapon is great.

Learn to use the 2 skill on the sword for when you need to escape…use the launch back and then turn around and launch forward….works just as good if not better then the greatsword.

Well the roaming/escaping is indeed great (blocks are always nice and the swoop range is good).

The point is … the damage is freaking awful.

Casey.9687:

DaisyRogers.6837:

GS is better at roaming then zerg. It has amazing closing and escape utility. I have axe/horn paired with it.

If you have GS, I suggest tanky BM. You will tank hits like none other and your pet will still dish tremendous damage (roaming, your pet is typically and foolishly ignored).

The best part about fighting in melee, is your opponent will hold still for your pet. Rangers IMO shine far more in melee than at range.

Rangers are not built for melee and they are far from ever being the best class for melee. No one is going to hold still for you in combat unless they are a warrior or guardian. People need to stop spreading that the GS is a reliable weapon because it is far from that and its not going to get fixed if people keep getting on here and saying its good. The sword has better damage then the greatsword, and better escape and dodge ability. I understand that you guys go into WvW and get some good kills on lowbies and people with less skill and think this weapon is great, but its not…you have never fought a hardcore guardian, warrior, thief, mesmer, or bunker ele if you think this weapon is great.

Learn to use the 2 skill on the sword for when you need to escape…use the launch back and then turn around and launch forward….works just as good if not better then the greatsword.

I actually for a time used both the sword and the GS on swap with each other. Swapped the sword for axe for a little more versatility with range.

I love both weapons to pieces. Play style though I am more at one with GS. It feels better with my skill rotations and the cleave is awesome. Personal preference I will admit. And again, I love the sword too.

As far as ranger being horrible in melee, that I will not agree with. I have little problem mixing it up in melee. And no, enemies won’t hold still for you, but you can control the direction your opponents kite much easier fighting as melee then fighting with a bow. You can force your opponent to choose the swipe of your blade or the snapping maw of your pet, often times it winds up being both. I will admit, it wasn’t well stated that opponents will take your beating standing still. But it still stands, I’ve found melee much more synergistic with playing with melee pets.

Most opponents have no idea what a melee ranger is capable of.

if you use GS in WvW, you wont be able to get any personal kills, period. its damage output is paltry, #5 is extremely unreliable due to wind-up, #4 cripple roots you and misses most of the time. so offensively, GS is next to useless. ive been using it WvW for months.

GS role in WvW is for running, tanking, or chasing people down for your team to kill. if youre glass cannon LB, GS would be best choice as a second weapon for swoop and #4. you can do a bunker build for lulz (no real purpose) and GS would be essential. finally, GS with sword, SoH, muddy terrain/traps/entangle is the best chase in the game. you can also do trap/entagle bombs using swoop to get in or get out.

my suggestion is that GS gets a bleed for every first attack of its #1 chain. it would make a great condition/defense hybrid weapon.

DaisyRogers.6837:

Most opponents have no idea what a melee ranger is capable of.

honestly, not much. ive been playing a melee ranger in tpvp and wvw for months now. it works in spvp. it can work for tanking a few bad opponents in WvW (wont get u any kills). but in most situations you will get instagibbed the moment someone lands a lucky immobilize on you.

nerva.7940:

Jazenn.7526:

Jarul.8635:

Swoop + Entangle / Mud, that’s the role of a GS ranger (as I see it).

Yep I run these skills. Clerics gear. Pet does most of my damage as I catch opponents with immo/chill/stun/cripple.

cleric’s gear is overall a terrible idea on the ranger. it only works in spvp where you can access to double raven (unless you have white raven in WvW as well, which case it’s cool).

i run something similar with gs/sword/torch, but i use apothecary gear. u can actually kill stuff this way.

that being said, sword/gs with reduced cooldowns and SoH is the fastest thing in the game.

Not really, it’s a different build than conditions/ravens. I run a power build with a lil bit of might, double cats and I kill just fine.

Casey.9687:

DaisyRogers.6837:

GS is better at roaming then zerg. It has amazing closing and escape utility. I have axe/horn paired with it.

If you have GS, I suggest tanky BM. You will tank hits like none other and your pet will still dish tremendous damage (roaming, your pet is typically and foolishly ignored).

The best part about fighting in melee, is your opponent will hold still for your pet. Rangers IMO shine far more in melee than at range.

Rangers are not built for melee and they are far from ever being the best class for melee. No one is going to hold still for you in combat unless they are a warrior or guardian. People need to stop spreading that the GS is a reliable weapon because it is far from that and its not going to get fixed if people keep getting on here and saying its good. The sword has better damage then the greatsword, and better escape and dodge ability. I understand that you guys go into WvW and get some good kills on lowbies and people with less skill and think this weapon is great, but its not…you have never fought a hardcore guardian, warrior, thief, mesmer, or bunker ele if you think this weapon is great.

Learn to use the 2 skill on the sword for when you need to escape…use the launch back and then turn around and launch forward….works just as good if not better then the greatsword.

They are actually built for range or melee. I’ve fought and defeated each profession with my build plenty of times. I have used the build in sPvP and WvW. The greatsword has it’s own merits that the sword doesn’t. In addition to evades, it has a block and potentially 2 interrupts and a potential cripple. I use both and they work great together for a melee build. For me at least. I would recommend it because I was able to do well with it.

nerva.7940:

if you use GS in WvW, you wont be able to get any personal kills, period. its damage output is paltry, #5 is extremely unreliable due to wind-up, #4 cripple roots you and misses most of the time. so offensively, GS is next to useless. ive been using it WvW for months.

GS role in WvW is for running, tanking, or chasing people down for your team to kill. if youre glass cannon LB, GS would be best choice as a second weapon for swoop and #4. you can do a bunker build for lulz (no real purpose) and GS would be essential. finally, GS with sword, SoH, muddy terrain/traps/entangle is the best chase in the game. you can also do trap/entagle bombs using swoop to get in or get out.

my suggestion is that GS gets a bleed for every first attack of its #1 chain. it would make a great condition/defense hybrid weapon.

DaisyRogers.6837:

Most opponents have no idea what a melee ranger is capable of.

honestly, not much. ive been playing a melee ranger in tpvp and wvw for months now. it works in spvp. it can work for tanking a few bad opponents in WvW (wont get u any kills). but in most situations you will get instagibbed the moment someone lands a lucky immobilize on you.

While I am often chasing, whether it is people who decide to run from my GS ranger or with a party, it is true that it is an excellent choice for roam/chase. At the same time, I get kills plenty via the pet.

Seetoo.9316:

Any reason in particular that you prefer power toughness healing over power toughness vitality?

three words: heal as one.

Heal as One

Is this right? The coef for healing power on this is 100%?

I tried using heal as one last night, maybe it’s just me but I do much better with TU and the cooldown isn’t far off. It was nice to have the burst heal though.

As for greatsword, I’m never one to tell someone they are doing something wrong so I’ll just say PERSONALLY I just can’t get my head around greatsword, other than getting around the map nice and fast I find a single sword has better damage, better escape and better evasion and also has a better option choice with an off hand.

I find nothing funner than locking down a thief with a well place stun, swapping to sword and pet swapping zephyring my chain #1 the hell out of him with my pet being close enough to get the benefit of the zephyr because you’re in melee (great tactic that, lots of burst).

It’s not like I don’t want to like it, I have a great skin on mine (hur), I love the mobility but I just can’t get it to work for me.

capuchinseven.8395:

I tried using heal as one last night, maybe it’s just me but I do much better with TU and the cooldown isn’t far off. It was nice to have the burst heal though.

As for greatsword, I’m never one to tell someone they are doing something wrong so I’ll just say PERSONALLY I just can’t get my head around greatsword, other than getting around the map nice and fast I find a single sword has better damage, better escape and better evasion and also has a better option choice with an off hand.

I find nothing funner than locking down a thief with a well place stun, swapping to sword and pet swapping zephyring my chain #1 the hell out of him with my pet being close enough to get the benefit of the zephyr because you’re in melee (great tactic that, lots of burst).

It’s not like I don’t want to like it, I have a great skin on mine (hur), I love the mobility but I just can’t get it to work for me.

I find the opposite, GS works really well for me. Swoop is instant and I can see exactly where I’m going without having to rotate the camera. Block basically provides 3 secs of invulnerability, and 5 is like an evade with free interrupt. Sword, on the other hand, I have real difficulties playing with due to the root bug. No way am I turning off autoattack and mashing the 1-key just to use it.

GS/SB, 0/0/30/10/30, TU, Flame Trap/Spike Trap/SotW, Rampage as One, Jungle Stalker/Jaguar, Full Cleric’s, 4x Altruism 2x [Fire/Strength/Hoelbrak], and Blood sigils bunker here.

In a big fight my role will be either holding the line, preventing any attempted pushes from the enemy, or charging in, breaking through, and disrupting their line, forcing them to divide their focus between me and my allies and two different directions. More often than not, the latter will completely reroute, thin out, or outright wipe zergs, especially because the attention I’m given is generally a panicked one, with everyone who’s targetting me blowing all of their CC cooldowns and throwing their conditions at me (which my pet then removes from me). This reaction is natural considering I’ll generally do this charge in once I’ve downed one of their squishies with my shortbow/maybe pet while holding the line, and then pop rampage as one, [Swoop] in, swap my pet, go for a quickness spike, and then continue from there laying my traps, cleaving,, blocking, dodge rolling, and Troll Unguenting through their focus.
Or [Swoop]ing back out if necessary, but generally I like to stick with a feverish tenacity that throws off those who are unfamiliar with me and inspires my allies to join in the fun.

In a small fight, nobody can chase down and subsequently lock down a target into downing while simultaneously garnering and sustaining focus as effectively.

When it comes to a sieges, it seems they’ve patched pets climbing walls so the usefulness has dropped there, but that really just makes me more available for building and operating rams (something squishies just get downed doing, and most people are playing squishy because they want their coveted damage), defending catapult arrays, and quickness reviving downed (not defeated) allies.

With roaming, at this point single people will just run, they know they can’t take me solo unless they’re a Necro with boss quality skill (or if they’ve never seen me before, in which case they die if they can’t get away). A good d/d ele will know that neither of us can kill each other no matter how hard we try and how long we fight. Thieves will try and then run for their lives when their burst only brings me to half health, yes even the best of them, their level of skill in this situation is determined purely by whether they can get away in one piece or not after they make their move.
Mind you this is speaking on terms of land combat, in the water you run no matter who you are, unless you have about 5 guys with you, otherwise you will be dying

Zerg surfing is a lot of fun with this but solo capping camps, bulding/destroying weathernodes, and capping Temple of Storms is probably the thing I’d point to and say that ranger outperforms every other class in, and those things generally get the least focus from the playerbase. Either they’re too scared of running into a couple (dozen) people while doing them, or they simply can’t even handle the mobs alone, or they just want to follow the zerg/a commander tag around because “that’s where the action is at”. So most usually, I will see these objectives getting ignored and proceed get right to them while the zergs do their thing. Due to this, there’s always something for me worth doing at any given time that I am very effective at.

The high mobility that Swoop grants also make it great for snuffing out yaks across the map, there’s a reason why I can spearhead any traveling zergs.

Granted, this build and playstyle does posess a steep learning curve, you need to have your keybinds right and have quick decision making reflexes and have a good sense of what both you and your pet can take both separately and as a whole. It isn’t for anyone who wants a simpler approach.

I ran a very tanky GS ranger. 1k healing power, heal as one, water runes. It held its own but…

It wasn’t as tanky as a guardian and did less damage.

Then I played a guard and realized why it wasn’t working. Guards have multiple skills that take advantage of their Healing. Their F2, their utilities, their weapon skills, and ofc their main heal. They have green numbers flying all the time. Rangers just CANT do that. SO Healing on a ranger is compartively speaking a waste.

So I switched Clerics for Knight’s and HUGE improvement. Troll Unguent heals great without any healing at all and the extra armor protects that healing better. Of course, the precision gives much better dps. Overall, small sacrifice in tank for big gain in dps.