Guild Wars 2

I was tired of rangers complaining about doing crap damage so i decided to make a guide to show how can rangers have best single target rdps in the game
of course haters are still gonna hate that’s life…

marksmanship 30 traits 1,X, X1
skirmishing 25 1 or V1, X
wilderness 10 , V1
nature 0
BM 5

Gear: berserker all the way…it’s a pew pew guide after all
runeset : rune of the ranger OR lyssa rune (i have a preference for lyssa)
weapon : longbow and shortbow
sigil : fire on longbow (air is good too) and generosity on shortbow
utility skills : quickening zephyr, lightning reflex, signet of stone
elite skill: both entangle and rampage as one are good. I do prefer entangle tho
How to play?

this build rely a lot on longbow so you need to understand how it works first… The rotation 4,3,2 used with a pet switch or quickening zephyr is amazing on that weapon if you run that build it is even enough to take down a squishy player that doesn’t bother to dodge (picking a target that used his dodges is always a good idea).
number 4 skill will destabilize your ennemy this is why i usually start by it and it also ensure that number 3 skill connect which the most important skill in the rotation.
what if the invader dodge number 4?
Doesn’t matter what’s important is that number 3 connect…he most likely won’t use 2 dodge in a row.

Why does number 3 need to connect?

because it does 10 vulnerability stacks…with opening strike it’s 15 stacks with one skill…it goes up to 20 if your pet hit too!
then the fun starts with rapid fire burst it can easily go up to 10K damages in 2 seconds on a squishy with all those vulnerability stacks if you used pet switch or quickening zephyr.
All that is nice in theory but what if the oponent dodge twice during that rotation?

Players that aren’t experienced tends to panick when they see that their burst didn’t have a big effect…they are like “ kitten what should i do now”
In this case if your oponent indeed dodge twice you won’t take more than 10-25% of his health with that rotation but the thing is…HE CAN’T DODGE ANYMORE and you are ahead of him by 10-25% in health isn’t that great? Now you have to options he will most likely try to jump on you or try to rpds you if he is range. if he is melee use number 5 skill around you…that skill in itself can take down a stupid target that stays in it.

Yes but most target aren’t stupid and that kitten is too long to cast bro i’m gonna get killed…

Don’t worry you still have signet of stone if you are in trouble but only use that kitten in last resort. you can speed up the cast time with a pet switch and just after pet switch use your pet skill wolf or dog are amazing…Since they have quickness too when you switch they will almost cast their kitten instant…so in a nutshell you aoe around you and speed the cast by switching to wolf or dog then use aoe fear or immobilize on that pet trapping your ennemy in a nasty rain of arrow that ticks between 800-1100 damage each .5 sec and remember that ennemy is either heavily wounded or has no more dodge.
if the ennemy is range don’t bother with that aoe damage thing around you just skip to next step.

after 432 or 4325 on LB it’s time to switch to SB…cauz number 1 skill is crap on LB…unless you are in a big zerg fight or you need the extra 300 range but most of the time you won’t need it.
When you switch to SB you have to keep in mind that your ennemy just took your burst or wasted his dodges but still took some damage. IF he has more than 75% of his life use number 5 skill to buy some time as well as a pet switch and use your pet skill asap to crossfire him to at least 60% then do skill number to cauz he will try to heal. Remember that both your canines pets have a 2 sec KD which helps a LOT and make sure you use your pet skills when there are ready. Also make sure to STAY around your pet when you order him to do aoe immobilize or fear. Also number 3 skill is amazing for kiting since it avoid you wasting a dodge. Lightning reflexe is also another dodge and gives you 100% endurance regen so even more kiting.

If the target is almost dead when you switch to SB you can either use number 5 to stun him then number 2 to reduce his healing or do number 2 first then try to interrupt his healing with number 5 if you feel pro. Then do a pet switch and crossfire untill 432 LB skills get off cooldown.

I could still explain more details for 4-5 pages but i don’t feel like it

Q&A
I don’t like signet of stone cauz it require so many points in marksmanship to make it work on me…does it matter if i use protect me instead?

Yes it does your pet will do nothing that duration and will die in 2 seconds and you will take all damage for the other 4 secs…

Signet of stone has a long CD i don’t like it

Well, that kitten can be the only thing that protect you from a one shot thief or a one shot warior, play safer when it’s on CD.

I die a lot with that build what should i do?

Just change build if you do…this build is meant for experienced players that are good at dodging…it might be hard at first but believe me if you get used to it you will still have high survivability and be a pain in the kitten to kill

can i replace lighning reflex with signet of the hunt? i love movement speed in WvW

I use a horn for number 5 skill that gives me movement speed in wvw then i switch back to regular wep once i have the buff. once you are in combat signet of the hunt is pretty much useless.

Is your build good for PVP, PVE, WVW zerg, WVW solo roam?

this build is awesome in all these aspect of the game except maybe solo roam. You should be able to kill most targets in 1v1 fights if you are good (except maybe retaliation guardians and good mesmers), but when it comes to 1v2 or 1v3 this build isn’t that great since it require more toughness and vita in order to perform. BUT if you are running with a good warior or guardian you can do 2v4 or 2v5 depending on how skilled your oponents are. But ya this build shine much more if you have 3-4 players with you to act as meat shield while you snipe the kitten out of everyone.

i love your guide but i prefer having 20 points in wilderness…
Well good for you, but don’t blame me if you get one shotted because you don’t have enough points in marksmanship to afford signet of stone.

Can you post a video of you playing your ranger?
No, i play on a laptop and i don’t want it to explode

I have a defensive build on my ranger and i have great sucess…
Great for you bro…this is a pew pew build, so if you like defense play defense if you like pew pew play pew pew.

why using lyssa rune?
Cause you can go inside a zerg, then entangle all those players in the face. During 5 sec you will gain godlike powers that will make you able to aoe them then gtfo

final note
Rangers rely a lot on their pets…learn to use their skills and to switch them at the right time they can be such a great pain in the kitten of your oponent when you know how to use them. If you suck at using pets then practice…if you don’t want to use them roll another class and stop complaining.

Also the key to be good in this game is to anticipate what your oponent is trying to do to YOU. By being one step ahead you can counter pretty much everything (except very skilled mesmers and retaliation guardians). This is why doing pvp is very good since this is the fastest way to experiment that build and see how other classes will react to you.

Actually not dissimular at all to what I use. At the moment prefer using a SB + GS though, but historically I have used LB + SB more. If I am using LB I usually dont get signet of stone and rather use my traits to incrase LB range to 1500. Doing that works much much better in zerg fights but less well in 1v1 or 2v2 scenarios because you are so much more vulnerable.

I also cant live without Signet of the Hunt, so I have either signet of stone or lightning reflexes, but never both.

But in general.. I can confirm this work very well with some practice

I run with Salocinn in WvW, tPvP, and many other things. Have to say this build works great.

This is my build exactly and it works really well for me, the only difference is that I trait Piercing Arrows over Eagle Eye most of the time and run with Signet of the Wild instead of Lightning Reflexes for the +25% damage on active (with Signet of Beastmaster trait). I also often swap shortbow out for GS in WvW for more defense.