Guild Wars 2

Im struggling to find what works for me in pvp on my ranger. ATM my ranger is 37 with longbow and axe/horn weapon swap. traits are 10 marken 10 skirmish 7 nature magic at my current level.

im having a hard time finding what utility skills are really going to be good for pvp. sso far only ones i find remotly useful is lightning reflexes, signant of wild, spike trap and entangle.

all the other utilities just seem trivial in pvp becuase they’re so situational or just look flat out useless.

also im having a hard time trying to decide over long bow or short bow. long bow has the number 2 ability which is nice, when its up, but long bow auto attack just seems so low in damage due to it firing slower than a snail moves and the damage is just that, low.

short bow auto attack is fantastic, but the other skills feel fairly lackluster damage wise. they got some ok-decent utility, but im just really not finding anything that makes me think anyone is going to fear me shooting arrows at them the damage just does not feel good there.

i want that feeling that if people see a ranger their like “oh s***” and i just dont feel like my ranger gives off that feeling.

help!

I use the 20/25/20/0/5 build for spvp and tourneys, couple with a spider and the cougar.

This build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fMAQNBlODbkoKyuvyyC1SAsUkXgNkittenJnxhM+FUyC6C;TsAA2CnoKyUkoIbRuikFtEZgxGEA

My utility uses is as follows: Quickening Zephyr (must have for any type of burst damage), Signet of Renewal ( condition remover , obvious traits), and Ligthening reflexes (this will save you against classes with roots and stuns, especially with the endurance regen it gives)

The 5 points in beast mastery basically adds a 2 second quickening zypher.

Entangle is also a must have and will turn the tides when fighting thief’s and warriors.

I honestly have no problems with 1v1 point assaults unless its a backstab thief or a good to amazing mesmer. This build also had better survivability then one might think.

link is bad cant go to it. but also what weapons are you using??

bassnectar.7193:

link is bad cant go to it. but also what weapons are you using??

If I had to guess, he’s probably using Short Bow & Axe/Warhorn which is pretty generic for Rangers right now.

Copy and paste it I do not know why it is not working from these forums.

is longbow for rangers just plan bad atm or something?

Longbow is great when traited for WvWvW, for sPvp the short bow has the same range(untraited), More condition damage, A interrupt/stun , a evade, and a cripple. It also does more damage since it shoots faster.

The long bow has higher base damage, a knock back, a subpar AOE, and decent burst. The longest range in the game when traited.

All in All the short bow wins hands down.

thanks guys appriciate the help ill see where this goes
will prob be back for more advice lol

Depends on whether you mean WVW or sPvP when you say PvP. I can provide some general advice for sPvP:

• One of your weapon sets should definitely be Shortbow. Damage output is higher than any other weapon available to the class, and the bleeds are solid.

• Axe/Warhorn is a really solid secondary choice for sPvP because Warhorn 5 provides Swiftness for getting from point to point quickly and is a solid group buff. It’s my secondary set of choice in sPvP. In WvW, Longbow is the best secondary weapon because of its range and AoE capability.

• As tempting as it might be, don’t use Greatsword. After nerfs, its damage is lower than Shortbow and is melee range versus 1200 range.

• One of your pets should be a Wolf. AoE fear is very strong for controlling points and preventing enemies from stomping allies.

• Put at least 20 points into Marksmanship for the Piercing Arrows Trait. It’s one of the only talents I consider absolutely mandatory in PvP. It’s a huge damage increase and gives you incidental AoE damage in group fights.

• Shared Anguish and Hide in Plain Sight in the Wilderness Survival Tree are both amazing Traits for sPvP. Less good in WvW, but in sPvP they’ll save your bacon against people trying to lock you down with CC and burst you to death while you’re incapacitated. I consider at least one of these talents mandatory. I run both.

• Don’t bother trying to make a pet based build. Pet AI is too wonky for it to be viable. Aside from being a glorified DoT, your pet’s most important role is in soaking up damage and providing some extra cc.

• Unless you’re planning to play a total solo roamer build, run Healing Spring as your heal. It’s the best group heal in the game, providing heals for your allies as well as AoE condition removal. It’s very strong for point defense as well.

• Quickening Zephyr and Sharpening Stone (in that order) are your biggest dps utilities available. If you want to play a burst damage spec, run at least QZ, and probably both. Flame Trap is also good DPS, but I wouldn’t run it unless you’re running a trap build supported by traits.

• I consider Signet of Renewal mandatory in competitive sPvP. It removes a condition every 10 seconds, and on use it will remove all conditions from you. This is amazing against people playing condition based builds, Necros and Engis in particular.

• Lightning Reflexes is a very popular survival utility, as it breaks stuns and evades. Personally, I prefer Protect Me in that role. Lightning Reflexes doesn’t break immobilizes, which are some of the most common ways that Thieves and Warriors will set you up for huge burst. As long as you have an active pet, Protect Me will give you 6 seconds of damage immunity, regardless of the cc being used against you. Both utilities are strong; use both and see what you like.

• I prefer Rampage as One as my elite utility. It provides Swiftness when you need it, and more importantly, it’s the Ranger’s only means of gaining Stability, which can be vital for stomping downed enemies.

There’s a whole lot more to be said, obviously, but hopefully this stuff will help you get started.

mouse.1689:

Depends on whether you mean WVW or sPvP when you say PvP. I can provide some general advice for sPvP:

• One of your weapon sets should definitely be Shortbow. Damage output is higher than any other weapon available to the class, and the bleeds are solid.

• Axe/Warhorn is a really solid secondary choice for sPvP because Warhorn 5 provides Swiftness for getting from point to point quickly and is a solid group buff. It’s my secondary set of choice in sPvP. In WvW, Longbow is the best secondary weapon because of its range and AoE capability.

• As tempting as it might be, don’t use Greatsword. After nerfs, its damage is lower than Shortbow and is melee range versus 1200 range.

• One of your pets should be a Wolf. AoE fear is very strong for controlling points and preventing enemies from stomping allies.

• Put at least 20 points into Marksmanship for the Piercing Arrows Trait. It’s one of the only talents I consider absolutely mandatory in PvP. It’s a huge damage increase and gives you incidental AoE damage in group fights.

• Shared Anguish and Hide in Plain Sight in the Wilderness Survival Tree are both amazing Traits for sPvP. Less good in WvW, but in sPvP they’ll save your bacon against people trying to lock you down with CC and burst you to death while you’re incapacitated. I consider at least one of these talents mandatory. I run both.

• Don’t bother trying to make a pet based build. Pet AI is too wonky for it to be viable. Aside from being a glorified DoT, your pet’s most important role is in soaking up damage and providing some extra cc.

• Unless you’re planning to play a total solo roamer build, run Healing Spring as your heal. It’s the best group heal in the game, providing heals for your allies as well as AoE condition removal. It’s very strong for point defense as well.

• Quickening Zephyr and Sharpening Stone (in that order) are your biggest dps utilities available. If you want to play a burst damage spec, run at least QZ, and probably both. Flame Trap is also good DPS, but I wouldn’t run it unless you’re running a trap build supported by traits.

• I consider Signet of Renewal mandatory in competitive sPvP. It removes a condition every 10 seconds, and on use it will remove all conditions from you. This is amazing against people playing condition based builds, Necros and Engis in particular.

• Lightning Reflexes is a very popular survival utility, as it breaks stuns and evades. Personally, I prefer Protect Me in that role. Lightning Reflexes doesn’t break immobilizes, which are some of the most common ways that Thieves and Warriors will set you up for huge burst. As long as you have an active pet, Protect Me will give you 6 seconds of damage immunity, regardless of the cc being used against you. Both utilities are strong; use both and see what you like.

• I prefer Rampage as One as my elite utility. It provides Swiftness when you need it, and more importantly, it’s the Ranger’s only means of gaining Stability, which can be vital for stomping downed enemies.

There’s a whole lot more to be said, obviously, but hopefully this stuff will help you get started.

How can I thank you? Thanks to you I won 3 tourneys in a row. Just… thank you so much.

Can I ask something? Which traits you think its better besides the 20 points at Marksmenship?

Movezigg.1238:

Which traits you think its better besides the 20 points at Marksmenship?

Glad the information was useful to you. This is the build I currently run for Roamer / Point Defense: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.6.10.4.0.21.20.20.0.33.133.301.138.145.151.2.2.8.378.383.0.394.400.0.408.414.0.423.0.0.0.0.0.20.20.20.10.0

It’s a fairly standard build. A few points to note:

• The main thing I do differently than most people is that I run a full set of Dwayna Runes, combined with the Natures Bounty (III) trait from the Nature Magic line. This makes regeneration you apply last 50% longer. Using this combination, the regeneration from Healing Spring lasts 36 seconds – 6 seconds longer than the cooldown of Healing Spring itself. This can be very useful for 1v1 or 1v2 point defense, because as long as you’re fighting on top of your Healing Spring you have permanent regeneration, and it ticks every second for about 158 healing.

• If you don’t care about point defense and want to get more aggressive as a pure roamer, you can drop the 10 points in Nature Magic and put 5 into Beast Mastery for 2 seconds of Swiftness every time you swap pets (very good) and 5 more points into Skirmishing for added damage while flanking. If you do this, I’d also swap to Divinity or Lyssa Runes as well.

• When I want to play a little more defensively or focus more on point control, I swap out the Berserker’s Amulet for Knight’s Amulet + Berserker’s Jewel for a little more survivability.

Hope this info is useful to you. Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions. I’m always trying to learn more about the class and find new ways to play it.