Guild Wars 2

Hello my fellow rangers,

I’ve always been a fan of the ranger and even if the class isn’t in a good spot at the moment in term of balance, i still enjoy playing it greatly.

To introduce the build i’ve always strayed of meta game build, and experiment with builds to fit my playstyle.

I call my build the swapper, warriors swap weapons to get buffs, ele swap attunements to do the same thing, so i figured rangers could swap pets to gain some utility and damage. Since we all know pet AI is faulty and need to be reworked swappy pets on cooldown has the advantage of keeping your pet alive.

Shortbow has always been my all time favourite and i’m not ready to give it up.

here is the build :
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNAV8fnAVEZZWQKWgaZAppgTMPmCDhRePSP2TEL4UF-jUBBYhCyUFApoFRjVLjIqWvEDA-w

Pets are use for cc, I swap “protect me” often depending on the situation for LR or signet of renewal.

The build is used for wvw roaming and i’m having a hard time choosing what sigils and what runes i should take.

I’ve already restricted my choices and i would like you guys to gives your opinion on what should i take or what not. Do not hesitate if your see something usefull i could have missed.

Shortbow :
Here sigil of earth is a must have.

Sword and torch :
- sigil of geomancy with sigil of malice ?
- sigil of smoldering on torch ?
- sigil of torment considering the crit chance and for condition cover ?
- sigil of intelligence or hydromancy are also a possibility.

Runes :
- Rune of antitoxin for might stacking with pet swap and condition reduction ?
- Rune of perplexity as it is OP at the moment and can be aplied every 15 seconds with the bow interupt.
- Nightmare runes and undead runes are possible but i like runes with an added effect.

I’m also not sure about the trinkets and i may consider going straight apothecary.
Thanks for your help.

Swapping weapons is a great idea for more buffs on ranger. However if I were you I’d stick to cheap sigils and runes, probably even ruby orbs or kitten jewelerie, since there will be a complete rune / sigil rework soon. To save money, just wait for that Comes in March / April~

thanks for the advice however that means i’m less competitive in the mean time and i don’t mind spend 20g on sigils and runes even if i have to change them in a month or two. And i mainly swap pets really often beacause weapon swapping is normal and naturally obliged if you want to keep some pressure on your opponent.

You lack condition removal, but have the means to keep your pet alive. Why not pick Emphatic Bond? And since you put 30 points into Beastmastery already, why you did not take Pet’s Prowess is beyond me. Quick Draw is not exactly required just because you use a Short Bow, in fact, dropping that makes the build a bit more versatile because the weapon and gear choice can be changed on the fly.

About the sigils and runes, I would say that is up to personal preference.

I run Sigil of Battle on both of my weapon sets. Every time I swap weapons I get swiftness, fury, and three stacks of might; The might tends to last long enough to sit at 6 stacks through an entire fight, but I think you’re right in keeping Sigil of Earth on Shortbow, so maybe give it a try on your Sword/Torch set. Combined with Mighty Swap, you’ll still be hitting 6 stacks for the whole fight.

Hey thanks for your input guys it’s giving me ideas which is awesome.

JorneMormel : you’re clearly right when you say quick draw is useless in the build, it was there mainly if i chose to go for perplexity runes since it made the interupt on a 15 sec cooldown. So i dropped that and took empathic bond for better condi removal.
This conbined with antitoxin runes should be more that enough to handle enough conditions .

Sevans : Since i decided to go for runes of antitoxin, Sigil of battle is a great idea since i can now have a potential of 11 stacks of might (3 from mighty swap, 3 from sigil, and 5 from the runes)

thanks for your help once again.