Guild Wars 2

I saw this thread on other forums and I didn’t find it on the ranger board. Maybe its because I didn’t look hard enough or because it doesn’t exist lol. But why do you play ranger and what keeps you with the profession?

Because i like having a pet I can utilise and control and for Ranged combatwith my Bow….

…Why I play a Ranger here? God knows…

I made a ranger to be able to play a ranged archer type character for the first time in a MMO.

Besides the “I always have a ranger” their versatility is bar none the highest. I can play this class in so many different ways it feels like several classes. Also I like a challenge and ranger has that

I’ve been playing ranged characters in pretty much every MMO since Ultima Online. Not always an archer, but always ranged. I was not a fan of Elementalists in this game because when the game first came out only D/D was really viable and Staff wasn’t bursty enough so I chose Ranger as my first character.

Unfortunately they changed a lot of stuff early on that made ranged combat for the Ranger not only boring to play, but largely ineffective as well. So I’ve pretty much been in a constant state of change since then.

I’ll give the class another honest shot after the next balance patch, but I’m not as blown away by the changes as others are.

Funny thing is I disliked the GW1 ranger so I had no desire to play one in GW2. After trying all the other classes and just couldn’t settle. I eventually tried a sylvari ranger…and that lasted a whole seven levels.

So, around December 2012, on a whim, I made an Asura ranger with a big pink moa named Flamingo Rex. What was suppose to be a half-hearted joke turned into amazing fun. I then found out about Krytan Drake Hounds and ran my little level 6 Asura from Rata Sum, to LA, to Divinities Reach, then all the way to Beetleton to tame one. For some reason, me running around with my pet brought out the explorer instinct in me. Since then Zonian has been my main.

In addition, my daughter wanted to make a character, so she made a human ranger. Funny thing, I find myself playing it often, enjoying the leveling experience again. They are not without their faults (cough…pet AI) but I still enjoy them greatly. Rangers are just a fun class.

Gets lonely exploring out there alone. Gotta have some company.

Long time thief player that is enjoying playing ranger. I noticed the community is humble and supportive. I hope they stay the underdog, because I love it. I love the fact that I dont have trouble with any classes in WvW besides the usual condi meta’s, unlike the general consensus of rangers being weak.

I like kiting. I like to pretend I’m a Longbow Matador and when silly GS warriors come running at me full-speed, I stealth and dodge through them and /wave before I knock them back and have my spider immobilize them for four seconds just that it can all be done again in just another few seconds.

Weapons and spec versatility.

Every class in the game has at least some weapons that are total garbage and most classes are locked into just 1 or 2 specs for WvW / PvP.

Except Rangers.

Every single ranger weapon is good and serves a purpose (SB could use improvements, but its not awful). Sword, dagger, GS, these all have dodges and movements that make them fun, longbow has stealth that makes it fun. Fun, as in not just simply “useful.”

In regards to specs, Anet messed up VERY badly giving classes different healths / armors but the same damage outputs. This forces thieves to spec for stealth, its kept ele’s in a single spec SINCE RELEASE just so they can have some hit points and heals to make up for the low hitpoints, engie’s right now have a single base spec with only 10 flexible points, guardians really only have honor valor and virtues as legit options, mesmers only have PU, necros have a couple spec options now but that has not always been the case.

Other than absolutely despising the horrible spirit system and the horrible pet system and traps requiring too much investment, there is a lot to love about the way the class feels.

Eurantien.4632:

Gets lonely exploring out there alone. Gotta have some company.

This was actually the reason why I picked ranger! I started as a solo player so figured that a silly looking pixel companion could be my trusty sidekick till I find some people to play with.

I still play my ranger not only because I invested so much time and money on it, but I also like how tricksy rangers are. You have to know what you are doing to be able to survive, there is no easy way out.

I like playing WvW on Expert mode.

It is probably the only challenging class to play because of its many faults with how bad the pet AI and the ranger’s reliance on them for dmg or support. Versatility is great. LB, SB, Axe, Dagger, Warhorn, Sword, torch, and Greatsword. plenty of weapons to choose from and they are hard to master in spvp setting.

I start out at launch as a ranger through process of elimination.
- I generally don’t like playing casters
- Guards did not make sense to me
- I hate every thing the thief stances for (don’t like playing sneeky trolly classes)
- I didn’t want to play engineer as I’m an engineer for a living

I was left with Warrior and Ranger. previous games including GW1 I mained Worriers so i went ranger.

I continue to play Ranger because it is some much fun with a huge variety of ways to play it. I have invested so much time in to it and it the class the i understand by far the most. I’m about to start leveling my last class (engi) so I have at least played all others classes a little.

Sreoom.3690:

I like playing WvW on Expert mode.

And this lol

Because I love being a Ranger, it’s my favourite fantasy archetype.

Someone asked this when the fake CDI thread came up. The results were centered around the evades/mobility and the pet mechanic if I recall correctly, but that may be me just remembering what I like about it.

I actually think bows are pretty stupid in most games. I was a main thief and wasn’t completely thrilled with my weapon sets until I found ranger sword/dagger. Ranger is everything I want in a thief and then a hundred times more.

The range on the longbow in WvW.

Read the Wind + Eagle Eye are required for the build. I also like to go for maximum damage, aka glasscannon, which also makes it pretty exciting to play because the only real advantage I have is my range.

A variety of reasons.

I’m a defensive player. I prefer to be at range or out of harms way while in combat.
I enjoy skirmishing in WvW which is something the Ranger excels at.
I enjoy the uniqueness of pets as our profession specific mechanic (despite their unreliability).
I’m a big fan of experimenting with builds and I enjoy the versatility the Ranger has.
I also very much love the hidden depths the Ranger has. It can appear easy to use, but there are a lot more layers to it that actually give the profession a very high skill cap.

Overall, I have the most fun as a Ranger. I’ve played every profession extensively and have not enjoyed myself nearly as much on any of the others as I do on my Ranger (the Necromancer is a close second mind you). I’m not sure if it’s the pet, the feel of our weapons, the versatility or what it is exactly that makes me love it so much, but I swear by this profession and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

With 1k hours logged, I am working on my first legendary, 1k+ skill points accumulated, Champion Hunter title, a commander tag, all ascended weapons/accessories, extra bag slots, world completion, and I have experimented and theory crafted every build imaginable, I’m pretty sure I’ve put a lot of time and love in to my Ranger.

It’s my favorite archetype in fantasy RPG’s even if it tends to be kind of bad in a lot of games.

I like it in GW2 because of the ability to make use of quick close combat and very long range combat in the same build and the complexity that the pet brings. It does have it’s issues, but it’s rarely a boring class to play which to me is more important than bleeding edge performance.

gorilla warfare, with my PvT, Cav+zerk set up i can go ranged or melee close for Crippling effect when zerg fighting.

its always been the Diversity of the ranger class gw1 and gw2 also the pet can’t go without my pets i just like attacking two things at one in different locations.

This game could use more gorilla warfare.

Sevans.4619:

This game could use more gorilla warfare.

Just never leave the general area around the jungle in Orr and the Melnadru Temple.

To play an archer focused on ranged DPS and mobile combat as I have done so for over a decade and in some games have taken the #1 position in the game at the role.

Unfortunately I was displeased with the results here and re-specced a thief, and have been enjoying my assassin which can burst extremely well and retain excellent combat mobility.

I decided early on that I would rather play 1 class to perfection than many to mediocrity. I picked ranger and have stuck with it since.

I like the challenge of coordinating two living beings at the same time. I didn’t even manage to level other characters because it is such a no-brainer in open world PvE to control just one living being. I simply lost interest.

Also I love the evasive playstile. Sword/Dagger is so incredibly funny in PvP. Some sort of dancing around while the enemy can’t hit you.

Well bows… I don’t use them anymore since I saw how little damage they are doing to me. I can pass a longbow ranger in WvW shooting at me without even recognizing it…

I played Warcraft with Hunter up to Season 11, having great time in PvP. I guess nostalgia.

Because it was the first profession I chose :/

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

gorilla warfare, with my PvT, Cav+zerk set up i can go ranged or melee close for Crippling effect when zerg fighting.

its always been the Diversity of the ranger class gw1 and gw2 also the pet can’t go without my pets i just like attacking two things at one in different locations.

guerilla*

solrik.6028:

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

gorilla warfare, with my PvT, Cav+zerk set up i can go ranged or melee close for Crippling effect when zerg fighting.

its always been the Diversity of the ranger class gw1 and gw2 also the pet can’t go without my pets i just like attacking two things at one in different locations.

guerilla*

Maybe he was hoping for a new pet?

Because I made a mistake at character creation and rolled with it.

Ragnar.1546:

Because I made a mistake at character creation and rolled with it.

Lol

I play one due to the versatility they bring to the table. I enjoy a lot of their skill sets and some of the animations are my favorite in the game. Rangers get a lot of hate and are one of the most overlooked/underestimated prof in the game. I hear ppl go "ranger, free loot bag " on a daily basis… I just enjoy throwing it in their face for under estimating me and prove them wrong

CountzuCrytus.7256:

Ragnar.1546:

Because I made a mistake at character creation and rolled with it.

Lol

I play one due to the versatility they bring to the table. I enjoy a lot of their skill sets and some of the animations are my favorite in the game. Rangers get a lot of hate and are one of the most overlooked/underestimated prof in the game. I hear ppl go "ranger, free loot bag " on a daily basis… I just enjoy throwing it in their face for under estimating me and prove them wrong

Most Rangers are free kills really. It’s always the 1% who know what they are doing and end up decent or better.

To answer honestly I rolled one for the archer class (having played one in GW1) but it feels like something’s missing. I did enjoy it pre BM nerf, but not so much anymore I find it boring.

Because the description said they were “Unparalleled archers”……

ItIsFinished.9462:

Because the description said they were “Unparalleled archers”……

Unparalleled to a quadriplegic maybe.

Ragnar.1546:

ItIsFinished.9462:

Because the description said they were “Unparalleled archers”……

Unparalleled to a quadriplegic maybe.

Even that’s an overstatement.

ItIsFinished.9462:

Ragnar.1546:

ItIsFinished.9462:

Because the description said they were “Unparalleled archers”……

Unparalleled to a quadriplegic maybe.

Even that’s an overstatement.

Stephen Hawking made the Ranger and George Bush assisted with the Pets.

Ragnar.1546:

ItIsFinished.9462:

Ragnar.1546:

ItIsFinished.9462:

Because the description said they were “Unparalleled archers”……

Unparalleled to a quadriplegic maybe.

Even that’s an overstatement.

Stephen Hawking made the Ranger and George Bush assisted with the Pets.

Now I want to rename my Spirit of Nature to “Obamacare” .

Rym.1469:

Ragnar.1546:

ItIsFinished.9462:

Ragnar.1546:

ItIsFinished.9462:

Because the description said they were “Unparalleled archers”……

Unparalleled to a quadriplegic maybe.

Even that’s an overstatement.

Stephen Hawking made the Ranger and George Bush assisted with the Pets.

Now I want to rename my Spirit of Nature to “Obamacare” .

Here’s a heal tick for you….here’s one for you….Oh here you go, have a rez…

I play my ranger when I’m bored of my ele. I like how some people expect to kill you so easily, that they hardly try. I’ve killed skilled players on my ranger with less than 100 hours of experience.

My first thief was a norn, and it was horrible. Last thing you want is to see your hunter of the wild, slayer of issomir die every 3 steps to regular mobs (didn’t know how to play thief back then).

Much later i decided i want a ranger, and since i didn’t have a norn and wanted one, that was a perfect choice – durable, hard to kill job that fits norn lore and won’t make me a laughing stock at the next moot;) Things went very well from there on;)

Because my ranger can wear clothes that i actually like, unlike my warrior who i simply have to settle with “hmm, its ok” but also use the weapon i love, greatsword. Only reason really, if they made inter-weight transmuting or the ability to just “all or nothing” transmute different armor weights then yeah i might just stop playing my ranger. Ranger greatsword skills are more fun than warrior’s but doesnt even compare in terms of damage and traiting.

Long range combat, trenchcoats and pet. Not to mention the freedoms that other professions don’t have.

Pretty much that.

My ranger was my 4th character, after my guard, mesmer and ele. I usually don’t play ranged classes and I don’t like pets that much, but I do enjoy to play what might be looked at as gimpy classes. That’s why I wanted to try out a ranger.
I hated the sword at first and it got me killed while leveling up a few times. Now I love it, jumping all over the place, dodging left and right. It’s just something about the way the class plays that I really like. The class also turned out to be pretty good at solo roaming in WvW, which is what i like to do the most.