Guild Wars 2

I am not gonna lie, I have been having a lot less fun with my ranger in WvW after the last balance pass. The SoTW change along with SoR and Empathic Bond changes really have left me frustrated since the last update.

For condi defense I have pretty much have been forced in WS skills which I find very lack luster with long cool downs. I do not value TU as much as a heal since they removed Bark Skin and we all know its weak when you face opponents who can spike damage.

Don’t get me wrong, there were upgrades. For example, we have access to more ferocity now than ever. However, I feel like I am in limbo mode until PoF in order to regain things that were taken from us.

I heard that the intent was for us to not camp BM, that swapping in and out is the desired game play. There really is not enough incentive to hop in and out currently. If there was enough incentive to do so maybe people would be more happy with SB. I kinda felt that unstoppable union sort of achieved this but having a bonus for dropping out of BM is also needed.

Overall stances seemed pretty weak. Bear stance was not enough to survive the condi meta and it’s on a long cooldown. However, was hard to give a full opinion about stances since we could not even try dolyak stance due to it not working. Griffon and Vulture seem very lackluster with way too long of cool downs. Moa stance seemed ok for the most part. Should be a stun breaker though.

Most of the animations and cast times are too long for the BM pet skills. Cool downs seem way to long for most of the them. Kinda wish I could select which pets were what archetype. Also the archetype stat bonus should really be permanent if you are a SB. This is especially true since you can’t use two pets of the same archetype without shared cool downs on the archetype skill.

Overall I liked the player control in WvW offered by SoulBeast but would like to see major improvements for the fluidity in combat and overall effectiveness.

Wondrouswall.7169:

Player can pet swap when out of Beastmode, so this is no surprise. It’s everything else that surrounds Soulbeast is more concerning.

Looking forward to a net DPS increase in pvp since the player can control more of the outcome of the battle. Our CC and some burst will now be much more controllable in beastmode while allowing second chances at both when leaving BM with standard pets. To me that alone makes Soulbeast super worth it.

Wasn’t expecting pet swap benefits when entering beast mode or weapon sigils but it’s great that weapon sigils will work that way just like when entering CA with druid did.

Decent stat allocation with gear. However, I would be running double bird’s for the nice swoop gap openers since a double bow build is slow as molasses in February. Stealth is not enough. Would also drop clarion bond for stoneform trait with SOS on bar too. LR will also be a must and I’m sure you will take Doly Stance right?

Not sure if I agree with building around MOC with such low damage attacks commonly found on bows. Instead I would concentrate more on might and vuln stacking (helps both power and condi). Some of the new SoulBeast traits will also help both pow/condi.

Yeah condis could still be a prob without second skin and good protection up time or more clears.

Good work so far let us know how testing goes!

4 with TU if I am not mistaken….Problem is massive loss of stability

Hepatolith.6389:

As I’m on EU ankitten ot able to play atm, I have a Question:

Do the Lesser Muddy Terrain and Lesser QZ still count as Survival-skills? Or do they belong to no Category and won’t trigger Wilderness Knowledge?

Excellent question and one we need to test. If it does then that helps lessen the blow form losing some passive condi clear somewhat.

mistsim.2748:

I get your point about Remorseless builds, as I always tried to make them work. I love the mechanic. but they have never been viable, at least not in HoT. and are we suddenly gonna start using the Skirmishing line? dont think so. we need shouts from BM, we need Druid, we need NM.

Yeah I have never been able to get a remorseless build to work as well. Might try again with the changes but its hard to make it work when your best damage attack is maul by a wide margin which is very inconsistent at least from a pvp perspective. Need a few more weapons to help us compete with GS maul for burst. OH axe path of scars is very underwhelming.

From a WvW perspective:

Gonna need to test Melandru runes and poultry soup along with the new Empathic Bond. Need to answer whether it will be a 50% condi duration reduction + 45% (runes and food) = 95% duration reduction. Even at 95% i have my doubts as I hardly notice just the 45% from the food/runes. My previous testing clearly showed condi clears > condi duration reduction. Considering we lost the potential for 4 every 10s I am worried.

Not liking Signet of Renewal passive change but the active could be interesting as we now have a source of resistance. However, it seems using your heal as one right after poping SoR is mandatory so you at least get some resistance back.

It could be a rough two weeks in WvW until we can try out bear stance with soulbeast. Hopefully there is some type of condi defense trait in one of the unmentioned soulbeast traits.

Interesting changes to multiple traits regarding fury generation. May make remorseless build more viable?

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

jcbroe.4329:

Even though we know some skills will be altered, let’s make the quick assumption that the pets skills will be the same exact skills you can use in beastmode.

Here’s just an obvious combo with the meta pets; unmelded, smokescale F2, double dagger leap (assuming finisher) through smokefield, meld. Now you get a long stealth and stealth opener. Melded knockdown from stealth into melded smoke assault into dagger 2 then unmeld Smokescale AI smoke assault into knockdown while continuing to weapon combo.

I mean, that’s just 1 pet. There’s going to be so much combo opportunity…

Yeah, then you can throw in WH/Clarion Bond blast too, or Swoop on GS.

We have some pretty great combos available.

Fire field on Wyvern F2, Double blast from WH and Clarion (9 might + Fury + Swiftness), Meld (3 might + quickness from Zephyrs Speed), Hunter’s Call, Dagger leap for Fire Aura & more Quickness), Wing Buffet to knockback, leap again for more quickness, swap weapons to D/T, drop Bonfire with Quick Draw, drop out of BM, Electric Wyvern F2 to knockdown, wing buffet again, leap lightning field for Daze & quickness, Bonfire again… etc etc etc.

Do we know for sure if melding is considered a “pet swap” to gain Zephyrs Speed from the BM traitline?

OGDeadHead.8326:

Wonder if pet F2 will have charges…

That would be epic.

I hope signets get them too. I’m OK with longer cool downs actually. May make taking Brutish Seals trait in MM actually worth it.

CETheLucid.3964:

GUFF.5692:

Wondering if your pet is dead if you can even go into beastmode. If not, imagine if both are dead. 45-60s of no beastmode? That would be 45-60s where you can’t even get the benefit of Eternal Bond. Warrior would never have that issue. They would have gone through multiple cycles of Berserk mode.

We used to be able to rez our pets but that was squashed when players complained of targeting issues when your pet was above an ally you wanted to rez. We were never compensated for that change.

You’re a terrible ranger if both of your pets are dead and on CD. Heal your friends, man.

To be fair it’s only happened to me in pvp while using emphatic Bond and getting condi spiked twice hard within 10-20s of each other. I usually always have natural healing slotted which helps but it has still happened. Fight against great players using condi burst builds and it can happen for sure. Condi can have some serious spike potential.

It has never been a problem for me in PVE. Only one pet sometimes dies which means I wasn’t paying attention.

I am hoping many things get a second look during this expansion.

Some trait love would be awesome! Would love strider’s defense to be usable with any melee weapon. If they do that they could increase the cool down between procs as it could be OP with the new dagger stacking condis with so much quickness so easily.

Can people on the ground with ranged weapons target people in the air in gliders or will ballistas only be able to do this?

Great change. I now have a different opinion on the armor, its very much worth getting now! Good long term goal.

Wondering if your pet is dead if you can even go into beastmode. If not, imagine if both are dead. 45-60s of no beastmode? That would be 45-60s where you can’t even get the benefit of Eternal Bond. Warrior would never have that issue. They would have gone through multiple cycles of Berserk mode.

We used to be able to rez our pets but that was squashed when players complained of targeting issues when your pet was above an ally you wanted to rez. We were never compensated for that change.

InsaneQR.7412:

we get a weapon we wanted (melee condi) with condis that helps stacking our core condis….

For sword they just should make hornet sting a standalone skill and chain monarchsleap with the remaining skill together.

Speak for yourself, I did not want a condi weapon. I wanted a new power weapon that would help us be able to actually have a melee spec where we can stand toe to toe with others in pvp instead of hide and seek pew pew. Maybe soulbeast will aid in this, maybe not.

Sword needs no changes.

Anyone else annoyed we don’t know any minor or adept traits yet but other profs like warrior and necro already have HD wallpapers with their entire new traitline/skill info on reddit?

So far every video I have watch passed on ranger or talked about it for 30s.

Sorry for the salt, just feel a little marginalized.

I don’t think its too bad. Most rangers are super used to swapping pets at certain times.

That said, the risk/reward better be there or soulbeast is gonna flop.

Will Soulbeast allow ranger a spot in a zerg in WvW finally? I am ok with it not as I love to roam primarily.

If the stances/traitlines give some condi defense/direct damage defense and/or offensive capabilities this could be my go to E-spec.

Awesome Vid!

Why do I get the feeling my next ranger will be a Norn?

Would have been cool if you had “bear necessities” for the song!

zomgbuffalo.5276:

@GUFF, so you’re saying shortbow, with his incredible attack speed, is no good in PvP? I thought Shortbow would be king.

By the way, thanks for sharing this detailed build. It looks very interesting and it is something I would like to try out myself. Cheers.

Short bow is fun, it’s fairly recent buffs help that’s for sure but I feel it works better with skirmishing trait line so you can pick up the light on your feet trait for even better short bow awesomeness.

Short bow also works better with crit chance and some on crit bleed but it’s hard to fit that in my build due to the healing power and boon duration/trait lines choices.

Short bow is a decent weapon in pvp buts needs a certain build/gear setup to enhance it.

Wilderness Survival trait line with the ambidextrous trait work way better with the weapons I had selected and provides more bunker type play.

I think traps are not very good for ranger. If you are fighting anyone with half a brain in WvW they will not engage you close range if they know you are condi ranger due to traps. If they do that your traps are now useless and you are forced to close the distance rendering them wasted. Not a big deal in Spvp.

Wouldn’t be as much of an issue if we had more access to pulls like DH. No, I am not counting OH Axes path of scars because: a) its a power weapon b) its very unreliable with its super small hit area. Wish we could still throw traps.

Here’s my next Condi Build for WvW:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAsf3YjEqQHLWzCWsAVLWoEsmAQpKC4M5mAXO4e6RtpWi0rA-TFyCQBI7EAAgjAgQ2fogq/csHCAXU+RIlg1T/w7gDgraVraVwart2artWDY1VXd1VlCIz5WA-w

Keys:

-Heavy CC with ranger skills and pet choices
- Decent healing power for CA skills, good for group play or when you get spiked after burning TU
-Decent Boon Duration at 45%
-Multiple Condi Defense Layers CA – WK – Evasive Purity
-Decent Damage Reduction with respectable armor, decent Protection uptime and Knashblade Food
-Decent Condi dmg 2193 after corruption stacks and 5 stacks of might from Axe AA
- Okish Health at just under 20k

One big negative is low condi duration, it was sacrificed for more healing and other stats (IE boon duration).

Also no skirmishing means no super spike torch combos! No beast mastery means a somewhat squishier pet, gotta pay more attention to pet positioning (although the increased healing potential offsets this somewhat).

No good swiftness/Movement Speed Increase sources due to weapon/rune choices means we were forced to take natural stride instead of celestial shadow so no group/self stealths or superspeed. Only stealth option is leap finisher from monarch’s leap with sword into Pet smoke field. This can be hard to pull off under heavy pressure (CC) or if you lose track of your pet in chaotic situations.

Not as much condi spike/pressure but it offers more group support and healing potential with decent bunker power.

How about adding this to Sic Em:

“You and your pets next three attacks are critical hits.”

or

“For the next three seconds you and your pets attacks are critical hits.”

Pip Squeak.3418:

This build isn’t meta, and I’m sure most would say it’s trash, but I have a great time with it and never die. And yes, it can kill people, just not as fast as a true power build.

https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Ranger_-_Bunker_Druid_Roamer

Interesting Build Pip, you run the exact same traits as I do. However, your weapon choices and gearing choices are way different.

Can you link a build editor load out? I am curious on your total health and boon duration.

Edit: NM, I put in the gear into an editor and got my answers!

For WvW:

1. What’s your weirdest power build that surprised you with how well it worked (Not meta but very different) in WvW?

2. Same question as above except condi (even though condi is cancer in WvW )?

I like seeing off the wall builds!

FYI – WvW perspective only:

I don’t mind if it has resource management, I just want something that has power spike damage potential along with un-killable pets (pet spirits?). It sucks always having to go with BM just to have somewhat durable/dangerous pets. Without BM ranger feels very subpar. Un-killable pet spirits or mechanics could allow us a spot in larger groups. However, if that does come to fruition I won’t lose sleep over it. I would still value additional DPS for Havoc/roaming.

I also really want a durable melee option because if you want to do damage right now you have to gear squish which does not work against opponents with brains. Our highest damaging melee weapon GS is quite easy to avoid. I do not know any serious players who consider rangers a threat, only nuisances. I am hoping that will change and we will be a feared threat on the battlefield.

Depends on match up but when I am roaming against mainly power based opponents I go with: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBlYD7kSFoWQsiFwhFgrFs0JYO/tAQh7pFEqWYwr0Y6OtkVkG-TVCGQBRUJIAuoCEU5H9UpYfqDYPVUS3+DrT3TCeSBBAQA+tvx38Nf7bf7bH9oH9oH9o9df7bf7bfTKgylaB-w

Against condi similar to above except with Wilderness survival Traitline and Emphatic Bond along with possibly swapping SotW with SoR.

The full food/sigil life leech load out really helps against heavily armored targets and give you a nice a sustain boost without stacking healing power. Especially since life leach procs Live Vicariously which gives you a double whammy of damage and boosted healing leach + LV proc (I have tested this). I am pretty sure life leach also gives you more AF regen since it counts as damage and healing (not tested or recorded). It sure feels that way because along with perma regen I am always at full AF after cool down ends.

1) Trait that gives a bonus to ferocity based on precision

2) Trait that gives a chance to life steal on attack

3) Trait that gives a chance to remove a condition on attack

4) Shield offhand

5)Throwing Spear mainhand weapon (one handed, ground use only)

6) Elite trap skill

7) Traps buffed to Dragonhunter levels

8) More pets that have usable fields on their F2s

9) Signet love (slight cooldown reduction, etc) and elite signet/healing signet options

10) Hummingbird Pet With swarm attack (calls in 3 more hummers) and aoe reveal F2 skill (can’t think of anything else right now lol)

Swagger.1459:

Chaba.5410:

OriOri.8724:

Chaba.5410:

OriOri.8724:

In fact, it would be identical except with the condition specific stats instead of power specific stats.

That’s terrible design.

You clearly didn’t read the rest of my comment. You asked how it could be incorporated, and I showed you how it could be incorporated into the formula. I never said it was balanced, I in fact stated that what I threw out was not balanced. It was just to be used as an example of how a mitigation stat could be incorporated.

I wrote in an earlier post before asking how it could be incorporated that making an identical formula becomes an argument for not having the two different damage types in the first place. Because it’s terrible design.

Want to know what bad designs are? Bad designs are all these pve designed rulesets and pve raid balanced professions, elites and skills shoved into competitive pvp modes such as wvw and spvp… What was also a bad design was neglecting major issues since launch, and now only making stronger efforts to balance spvp, not wvw as well…

Condition damage here is called DoT in other games… that’s “damage over time”… The rate a player can apply condition DoT vastly outweighs another players ability to defend against them. Even built for highest condi defenses, it’s just a matter of time before all those defenses are exhausted, leaving a player sol.

Everything needs checks and balances. If a player can build to do lots of condi DoT through gear, then another player should have the ability to build condi DoT defense through gear. All other condi defenses can be modified around that.

Most game companies do not know how to handle cc systems in their game, and anet is no exception, but at least they can finally start making some attempts to achieve a healthier cc system for wvw like they are going to do for spvp…

@Swagger

Agree 100%, power creep with condis is real and hurting the pvp scene especially WvW.

Anet desperately needs to take a look at conditions and their respective counters and bring parity to the situation. Currently, it is slanted in favor of conditions.

However, I also agree that the resistance boon would need to be reworked if they did a re-balance on conditions

I would like to see the following:

1. Detailed and complete analysis of the Druid vs each profession and top 3 most common builds of those professions

2. Detailed and complete information about what to do in your rotation cycles when things go wrong

@Aussieheals

Interesting build. Gives me an idea of a build to try in WvWvW but with more armor/crit chance. Seems like life steal is a power ranger’s “condi” bypassing armor…

@ awge

What is the bug? Is it the one listed on the wiki?

“Bug: When an armor piece is damaged and then repaired, you must unequip all armor pieces and equip them again otherwise the 4th bonus will not work. You will no longer see the Leech indicator.”

I have been using sharpened edges in many of my recent power builds with good results against heavies. Short Conditions constantly applied can help beat condi removal methods. Poison is another must have against heavies, esp signet warrirors.

What traits are you running and what food/sigils as well?

@ Oak

Indeed, the build i posted was single target focused. Good call about the axe, I do use the axe with my mid line builds. Great for tagging and bagging!

You raise good points about the power/crit chance relationship. I went back and made a spreadsheet to compare different set ups and dropping ferocity for more power is the way to go. I also made a version of the build using spotter to help keep the precision at the minimum while also getting more power. I was able to increase power almost 400 points while also dropping the sigil of accuracy on each weapon freeing up a slot.

Below is a link to the one i’m currently eyeing at trying first.

Ascended 100% Crit Chance Build

I’m always open to viewpoints from a different angle…

@ Holland

You read my mind regarding those runes. I have a set ready and waiting to test. I have seen other professions use them to great effect.

6. Sustain via omnomberry pie (warning math bomb incoming). The clear choice here. With 100% crit we remove the crit chance problem and are left with the 66% chance on crit (in other words no more chance of a chance). 325 health when proc occurs with 1s internal cool down. Therefore we have a 66% chance for 325hp/s.

Ex: Over 100s during a fight assuming all attacks land and 1 attack per second/no condis taken into consideration:

66 attacks proc effect x 325 health = 21450 hp

compared to perma regen over 100s:

130 hp/sec (base) x 100 seconds = 13000 hp

with 100% crit you are ahead by a good margin. This comparison is real world due to the fact that you can’t stack healing power to high values with the build i listed above without losing the 100% crit and/or other major stats(power/tough).

But How much healing power until we match the omnom pie being used by our 100% crit build?

Regen formula from wiki: 130 + (0.125 * HP) per sec

Final math is 1560 healing power plus perma regen being required to equal omnom pie being used by a 100% crit build over 100s.

The reason this matters is because you cannot maintain the stats of the build posted above and achieve similar results. You would have to sacrifice in other areas too much (power/toughness).

The crit damage/ferocity changes hurt a build like this. We don’t get as much benefit from stacking ferocity as we used to. I think some of recent updates to ranger help offset this slightly. I don’t think there is any doubt in my mind this is the better path for pwr/crit builds for me.

Rangers are built for applying constant pressure, not spike. A build like this allows you do it but with pwr/crit instead of condi damage. Of course, condi damage does this easier as you can you apply conditions then avoid combat while still doing damage.

I like the synergy with a build like this. Buffs the ranger and pet while maintaining respectable numbers all around going pwr/crit. I have a full ascended version I may try with more sustain and better condi removal (multi-prong approach). It’s in my top three final builds as I finish gathering the last of my ascended materials for a full set (armor, 5 weapons).

Tzhify you are on getting closer to being on the right track.

I would also recommend taking the NM Line like Awge posted.

However, I disagree with what some people have said above.

I only test pwr builds in WvW. I am not the best ranger but i put a lot of effort into creating the best pwr builds i can. I test them against every profession and in every situation.

Everyone knows Rangers are better at smaller skirmishes but if you want to run with the zerg i recommend you play your ranger as a mid line. You can try to run front line but honestly you would have to give up too much and offer less in return. Leave it to the heavies, they are made for that.

Same goes for the other end of spectrum. I don’t recommend playing your ranger as a back line. Rangers are not built for heavy spike damage (aka sniper). Damage coefficients are lower due to the pet. You go glass you will rally the enemy zerg. I don’t care how good you are, it will happen and this is one of the reasons (of several and yes i know the other causes) we have a bad rap from commanders.

Check out the build below for my 2 cents:

Non Ascended 100% Crit Build

Highlights:

1. Multiple sources of fury combined with 80% base crit chance for 100% crit chance

2. Superior sigil of strength becomes a guaranteed stack of might every second (assuming attacks connect). With constant attacks all landing you will hit a 13 stack maximum but will be able to maintain it easier. Works well with channeled skills (aka reason to actually use rapid fire/barrage instead auto boting).

3. Combine #2 with Fortifying Might and Fortifying Bond and you are double stacking might for your pet for each attack that lands. Swap GS or LB for 1HS for even more pet might stacking. RaO will help out pet even more not to mention helping yourself to get closer to 25 stacks.

4. With might stacks and/or fury always present we take advantage of 5% dmg boost from bountiful hunter. This allows dropping the sigil from your version for a more powerful option. Pet also benefits (see #3).

5. 100% crit chance also helps sharpened edges have a 66% chance to proc every attack that lands. This turns it into a chance instead of a chance of a chance (See #2/6). These quick bleeds will benefit from your sigil of strength. Your might stacks will boost your condi damage without you having to spend precious stat points on condi damage. Will your bleeds make your condi brothers jealous? Doubt it. But don’t underestimate short and constantly reapplied condition damage. That is how you beat constant cleansing and like all condi damage it will bypass armor. This boosts dmg on heavies.

Is it me or did they “take away” stats from us since ascended weapons were coming out?

I’m about 60 power/precision/toughness lower than pre patch. I haven’t checked yet to see if the new ascended weapons will be 60 higher or not. Maybe I’m wrong since I didn’t spend a lot of time checking since I noticed it right before I logged tonight. Can anyone else confirm?

Lord Titan.3791:

GUFF.5692:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVR2VWOWs2Bi2DNZJMxewfGtIXB/nxSnMTC-jEyAorhoRiGiW6rIasVxioxqtxUxER1GcFNbuQtUAjKMC-w

The build above tries to keep as much as possible similar to the build you posted minus the amount of power. Advantages of the build above:

1. Much higher health. Creates a better buffer against conditions and spike.

2. Gain EB which is a nice passive condition cleanse

3. Lyssa runes turn your elite into a nice “oh kitten” button as well as giving you a full condition cleanse on demand

4. You pick up Natures Protection for additional spike protection

5. Since you mentioned you will have perma swiftness I Slotted Quickening Zephyr Speed for additional spike damage output or for quick stomps/rezzing.

Damage difference?

Assuming a 3k armor target you lose about 1k off your rapid fire and barrage. You lose about 600 off your Greatsword auto attack chain and maul. Is the reduction in damage worth the survival increase? Only you can decide that Titan. Good luck!

Biggest question here is simply this.

Is losing Piercing going to be detrimental to team fights?

I don’t think that’s the biggest question. But i did forget to mention that. My reasoning is simple. Smaller groups of people in larger spaces are harder to hit with piercing shots. People are going to spread out. Piercing arrows is very very nice against a huge zerg ball standing on a bridge or in the lord’s room in hills for example. Ask yourself how often does that happen.

I don’t like traits that only help in certain situations. I always prioritize traits that always help. Thats why I feel piercing arrows/eagle eye/steady focus are subpar. They are nice when you can take advantage. But what about when you can’t?

I was zerker for the first four months of the game with the above traits. I rarely touch them anymore. Once again though, up to you to decide.

Lord Titan.3791:

Atherakhia.4086:

Isn’t Brazil the Ranger who made the berserker video with 100% crit chance? I’m at work and youtube is blocked so can’t find it. But there’s a guide on youtube for gearing and spec advice to do what Guff describes.

I’d be interested in taking a look, I’m guessing it either is lacking in critical damage or toughness though. Some Knights/Zerker Combo.

Not lacking in toughness but it is in power and crit damage. That said against a 3k armored target my rapid fire and barrage come out to the same average damage after the bleeds are factored in. I do more average damage to higher armor valued targets since a portion of my damage bypasses armor. I didn’t factor in pet damage since it can be unreliable but it tilts way towards my favor if pets land hits. Basically you can put more pressure on a target yourself in a short amount of time where I can put more pressure over a longer period of time.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNBjYD7koiug7rwyCWLDItCcC7hhwIJi7h/1JhYBnqA-j0yAYMioZKDMRYIapvhsmAjYZsIas6aM97Qk1woGcFNbuQtMAMLA-w

Advantages:

1. RNG is taken out of the equation for direct damage attacks.

2. Synergizes very well with Companion’s Might. Easy to get 25 stacks of might on my pet after popping RaO and keeping 10-15 isn’t hard at all especially when I use the sword(sigil of strength)

3. Sharpened Edges helps take down heavy armored targets faster and adds to the constant direct damage pressure. We push RNG out the way here as well leaving just the built in 66% percent proc chance along with number of attacks landing limiting the bleed procs. I can get 15 stacks pretty easily after a CotW and Rapid Fire more if barrage hits land. Average is around 6 stacks assuming constant pressure.

4. Good Armor Value. Damage reduction also helped by Natures protection trait.

5. Good Health Value for protection against conditions/spike

6. Melandru + Lemongrass is the condition mitigation tool here.

7. Near perma regen via Nature’s Voice Trait and the shout “Guard”. This is our source of staying power.

8. Perma swiftness and fury helped by the boon generation and multiple boon sources

9. Tougher/stronger pet thanks to guard and sharing of boons via Fortifying Bond

10. Full Condition clear and two stun breakers.

11. In the future every point I add in crit damage will help my bottom line in a guaranteed way while lower crit chance builds can get hurt by RNG where the crit damage stat is basically “wasted” serving no purpose upon a non crit attack.

Disadvantages

1. Spike damage is limited

2. EB not slotted. EB is our best passive condition removal tool.

3. No CC utility skills. Must rely on pets and snares via sword/barrage.

4. Once SoR is popped you have to rely on the multi-layered defense of higher vit pool and melandru/lemongrass as your condition defenses.

5. Damage boosts for pets via traits/boons can sometimes feel useless against stealth professions or highly mobile opponents who can reduce pet uptime significantly.

6. Condition damage is very low. Condition duration very low. We are relying completely on frequently applying these small conditions instead of landing larger and longer conditions.

7. Relies on a full stack of precision sigil bonus which takes time to get.

I have another version of this build that uses EB and Quickness but I scrapped it since it didn’t have enough toughness/vit for my tastes. Looking forward to tweaking more once more ascended gear is out.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVR2VWOWs2Bi2DNZJMxewfGtIXB/nxSnMTC-jEyAorhoRiGiW6rIasVxioxqtxUxER1GcFNbuQtUAjKMC-w

The build above tries to keep as much as possible similar to the build you posted minus the amount of power. Advantages of the build above:

1. Much higher health. Creates a better buffer against conditions and spike.

2. Gain EB which is a nice passive condition cleanse

3. Lyssa runes turn your elite into a nice “oh kitten” button as well as giving you a full condition cleanse on demand

4. You pick up Natures Protection for additional spike protection

5. Since you mentioned you will have perma swiftness I Slotted Quickening Zephyr Speed for additional spike damage output or for quick stomps/rezzing.

Damage difference?

Assuming a 3k armor target you lose about 1k off your rapid fire and barrage. You lose about 600 off your Greatsword auto attack chain and maul. Is the reduction in damage worth the survival increase? Only you can decide that Titan. Good luck!

@Loyo

Like we talked about in game, I need perma fury/full prec sigil stacks/base 68% crit chance to get there. I am also sacrificing power allowing me me to hit my crit chance/armor/health baselines.

Sustain can come from multiple sources. You can get it from regen boon, food, runes, sigils etc. Basic premise is to gain health over time giving you staying power. It is harder to add sustain as a ranger with power builds compared to condi builds since with condi you can boost it easier while still getting damage/toughness (ie settlers gear).

Looking forward to testing new ascended gear. Time to dust off old builds that didn’t quite meet my standards before, maybe soon I can make them work.

Keep testing new builds/gear and have fun on Ranger!

Hats off to you Titan for going power for small scale most rangers don’t.

My favorite thing to do in game is to try new power/crit ranger builds.

Here’s my 2 cents:

1. You have good armor rating. I also always try to stay as close to 3k as possible.

2. Some good utility skills choices there. LR and MT are nice. MT is nice in group play. Better than traps in the opening of a fight since you can cast it from further range. Also better to slow runners at the end of the fight. However sometimes I find it is a pain in solo combat esp if someone is on your kitten due to the cast time. I personally also always have one movement speed utility such as either SotH or traited guard for perma swiftness.

3. Base vitality? Not good Titan. As a ranger you better be ready to be focused since most rangers are free bags (not saying you will be but you can expect peeps to target you more frequently). A low vitality pool also leaves you more vuln to conditions. Once you pop your SoR you really dont have much buffer. I always shoot for at least 20k.

4. Crit chance too low. 40% is respectable but not enough for power crit builds unless you have perma fury. You want a min of 50%. . I personally only run 100% crit chance power/crit chance builds now. I have since moved away from the 50% crit/70-90% crit damage builds. To me having every shot count helps me as a power/crit ranger esp when my damage coefficients are lower by default. This helps keep RNG at bay and opens more options for me.

5. Zero sustain. Not counting Healing Spring (good choice there) since you cant count standing in it for the full duration. Having at least one source helps in smaller engagements and in solo ops.

6. Food choice. I never think its a good idea to go with main stats via food choice. Too many other good options. Food slot is too important of a choice and you can solve number 5 for example by going with omnomberry pie or mano pie. Omnom is better for power crit users since you get more health/sec (assuming good crit chance and always attacking).

7. You are overdoing the vigor. We are capped at 100% regen. You already have 50%. I personally feel that you should drop at least one of the vigor traits. I would personally drop both esp vigorous renewal and grab wilderness knowledge. That reduces the cool down of two of your utility skills one of which is a critcial stun breaker. Some peeps get down on reduce cool down traits. The longer you live the more you can spam a skill with reduced cooldowns. I feel if I really need vigor that sigil of energy is better as it is instant upon weapon swap and is only limited by the weapon swap timer (not a regen so its not fighting for the 100% regen cap like vigor is).

If I were you I would drop what you have in markmanship so you can finish out wilderness survival and grab EB. Then I would dump the remaining 10 in Nature Magic grabbing Nature’s Protection (a small protective measure against spike). I would also reconsider your gear choices to boost your weak areas.

@Kjeldoran

Decent build but I strongly feel the armor and vitality are much to low. You also really don’t have any good condition removal or mitigation of any sort. Lemongrass works decent when combined with Melandru runes and a high vit pool preferably along with some form of sustain.

You have good crit damage and decent crit chance. However, after spending a month testing high crit damage ranger builds I have since moved away from stacking that super high. High crit damage is worthless if you don’t crit. Of course, its super cool to land the big mauls especially after you trigger Moment of Clarity. But honestly, how many times can you do that to a smart well played opponent of equal or greater skill level? Now think how many times you can do that to stealth classes where your up time is limited.

Durzlla.6295:

So, Muddy Terrain is the greatest thing ever in WvW, so many lives ended today with this…. so many bags..

Yeah, MT is one of our most underated skills by far.

It was funny, last night in EB i was running with one of the larger guilds who were short on peeps for once. I landed a few nice MTs and the commander said “Nice Static!” Normally the commander would have been right, they would have multiple eles dropping it like it was hot. Problem was there were no eles only warriors, guardians, and me the lone ranger. I banged my head on table the second time he said that.

Granted, MT can be blocked while static can’t but static can be negated with stability so it evens out.

I personally do not feel its worth it running glass in WvWvW. I moved away from those types of builds long ago. Smarter players can safely negate most spike damage long enough to kill or force a retreat especially against a zerker ranger. I call builds like these FBBs or Free Bag Builds.

If you prefer to run glass because of the challenge no problems there. Everyone can choose to play how they want. However, trying to run glass like this in a zerg can lead to some angry commanders. Especially when you are the one who rallied the enemy zerg. This is most important against a larger enemy force that is well coordinated and organized. Having some cushion in your defenses can help limit those occurrences and you can still have respectable damage for a ranger.

Terrahero.9358:

I think the problem with this suggestion is that the Ranger can to a greater extend abandon his pet, his profession mechanic. I dont think Anet wants rangers to do that, your pet is there and using him poorly should should be a drawback, and to play to full potential would involve mastering your pet aswell.

If pets for non-BM builds play an even smaller role, those who disregard their profession mechanic will be punished less for doing so. Probably less then ANet wants them too.

I don’t think that’s a fair assessment. Have you every tried to roam with a GS/LB Build? In order to land your hits you really need to have some CC and using pets for that helps. You have to control your pets perfectly however to pull this off. Some of that comes from the responsiveness of the pets but it still requires skill and an active engagement with your pets. You act like I can just press one button and afk while the pet does all the work. Hardly the truth when you are using your pets even as extra utility.

The OP’s remedy is a very good near term fix that I would support to help bring power builds up the same level currently enjoyed by our condition brothers and sisters.

Tricare.2946:

Edit: oh and I forgot, making maul a blast finisher wouldn’t do anything to help team support really. If you are being a team player, you would have warhorn on, which is a blast finisher and awesome boons. And, if you’re using warhorn your weapon swap shouldn’t be to GS because that’s just a kittenty weapon anyways.

Warhorn is a good offhand choice with it’s buffs and now blast finisher but adding a blast finisher to maul helps buff a pretty lackluster skill. Its vulnerability stack is small and the attack is still on the slow side, it needs some sparkle. Adding a blast finisher to maul is much better than nothing and I would welcome it.

There have been times in WvWvW where I am one of the few left after a semi wipe. I end up dropping my water field since the Eles are dead as well as a chunk of our front lines limiting the amount of blast finishers available to help us heal back up. Having a blast finisher on a shorter cool down would allow me to contribute more in situations such as these.

Do not discount the GS especially in organized open field WvWvW combat. It really is the rangers best melee weapon in that situation by far. The sword is nice but it really is more suited to skirmishing and smaller engagements.

I really like my GS, especially for WvW.

It is a great defensive weapon and the mobility with swoop is great.

It does lack offensively but mainly because of the slow attacks. The damage coefficients are actually pretty kitten good for most the attacks at least for a ranger weapon that is.

To make the most of them I think you really need to focus on Crit Damage and other sigils/traits that help boost the damage. You also need heavy CC to help you land attacks (utility and pet CC skills are a must).

Even if you do the above it can still be very hard to land the bigger slower hits with the GS especially against other dodgy/mobile opponents like other rangers. Stealth professions can make thing more difficult as well since you have less up time to land the hits.

It would help if they sped up the maul attack and added extra distance to hilt bash. I really don’t think we need more damage but things to help land the hits. The change to Counterattack/throw GS helped but it doesn’t seem to be enough.

I am drooling at the thought of a blast finisher on maul….

Agree 100%.

It’s something ANET needs to keep working on.

Part of the problem is how easy it is to stack defensive and offensive stats for condi builds (condition damage, toughness, healing power) compared to direct damage builds (power, precsion, crit damage, toughness, healing power).

I have more fun with my direct damage builds but its disappointing I can’t use them as well in small group combat

Chokolata.1870:

Well, the longbow has 2 100% , and rapid fire has 10x 20% . It procs

Well, with all due respect using PBS while your opponent is in your trap is very counter productive. Why would you want to knock him out of the trap? Its great for knocking peeps back in but then you dont get the projectile finisher bonus since they were outside the trap.

The long casting time of rapid fire also increases the chance an enemy can move out of your trap before projectile finisher can proc.