Guild Wars 2

Salamander.2504:

NtD=Near to Death, the trait which reduces the DS CD from 10 s to 6 s. By shroud dancing, he’s taking advantage of the low 6 s cooldown to constantly switch into and out of DS.

ahhh, alrite
I have to admit I have not even looked at alternative traits and builds so far, as I wanted to get comfortable with the classic Power Necro first. Could you post the build you are using? I will definitely have a look at that.
Boon stacking in a 6 second interval sounds pretty cool.

NeXeD.3042:

basically you will puss off teammates in soloq all the time if you play correctly. Every game I’ve got morons telling me to stand on point or to take home at the beginning. Sure I’ll take home as a zerker necro with no lifeforce, 10 seconds later I get insta gibbed from stealth, to which my team mates usually call me bad. =(

That was a really good advice! I have put that into action and it worked great for me!
I never went to keep home point at the beginning and had the ‘courage’ to fight off point, tolerating a decap rather than dying in AoE and wasting my wells and marks in order to controll it. I so was able to take the opponent down ( in case of thieves even 2) and just recap the point.

robertul.3679:

You say you have 1k games but you don’t know where to go? That makes no sense.

I certainly know where to stand as a Ranger or Guardian. For they e.g. have excellent 1vs1 potential and (in case of rangers) mobility. You yourself pointed out that Power Necro, besides being a DPS build is not very good 1v1. I am hence faced with a new situation here which I have trouble to handle and so I ask for help form experienced players

robertul.3679:

D/d ele has reflects? Except ring of earth(which blocks doesn’t reflect projectiles) they got nothing.

I was referring to Magnetic Aura, but your right, thats a Staff skill.

robertul.3679:

You want to use staff for ranged pressure or if you need the utility from marks. Chillblains is great for kiting and poison the downed too. Putrid mark is a blast finisher so you can combo area weakness and it’s also the highest damaging mark.

I prefer using spectral walk instead of armor and plague form instead of lich. Spectral walk is good to run away, kite and do fancy tricks like ninja immobilizes for decaps and whatnot.

I will take that to heart! I actually am using the staff #3 and #4 marks in exactly that way. Chill is awesome in deed, I will have to make better use of it.
As for spectral walk: I can see what you mean but I think I prefer the protection and higher life gain for now. Maybe I will switch to S. Walk in the long run. Are you able to teleport back up any ledge with it? that would be pretty cool.

Rym.1469:

Answer yourself if you can make use of your utilities in the fight.

Sometimes Wells are not useful at all. You may not like them.
Sometimes they will be brilliant.

Never copy Necromancer builds 1:1. Once you get more familiar with how Necromancer works, you’ll be able to adjust the build to your playstyle.

Personally, I find Wells useless in my Power playstyle. I also run one of the forgotten runesets (Speed) and make little use of Life Blast, focusing on Shroud dancing eith NtD.
And I’m pretty successful with that.

you are very right with that. I just went with it since I saw how well the build performed ( was my reason to make a necro) but will certainly customize it more in the long run.
but what is " Shroud dancing eith NtD." ?

Positioning is something I heard quite a few times as well, when talking to Necro players …
That is something you can only learn by experience, I guess? or are there certain rules of conduct that tell me when to stand where?

KrHome.1920:

• I am using Traveller Runes out of convenience:

Why travellar? Take pack runes! If you need swiftness warhorn 5 and spectral walk is enough.

Do I rotate points, am I a Home Point defender, or a Mid Point fighter? Or do I even go straight for far? It was my understanding in sPvP in general: you do not fight off point, you do not engage 1vX unless you know you can win, you don’t camp an uncontested point unless you are a bunker. So how does Power Necro fit in there?

Your best place most of the time is at close and mid dealing massive damage, corrupt boons, interrupt stomps. Try to focus enemy thieves. This helpes your squishy team mates a lot.

But in solo queue everything can happen. I find myself very often at decapping far because my team plays some strange strategy and going for far is the best option to contribute something helpful (even as a necro).

I agree, from what was said before I think my place will be in between Home and Mid point trying to add fights, rather than seeking 1v1, trying to contribute with my massive damage and boon stripping.
I also agree that Pack runes are a much better choice for that, especially since I have access to Speed through the WH.

KrHome.1920:

• When do I use Dagger/WH, when Staff?

Staff is more like a second utility bar. Use it on demand (like mentioned above). Its damage is negligible.

Btw.:
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Guide:Rated_PvP_basics_-_Conquest

Yeah, from what I have read now it becomes very clear to me that you never bring Staff for the damage in a Power build but for the Chill, Condi transfer and the Fear as an interrupt. thanks for clearing that up for me!
Thanks for the link, I never saw that on meta battle! I will study that thoroughly

Roe.3679:

Wells are very tempting to get off quickly, but anyone who is a threat to you will dodge roll out of a well if they can.

That is exactly where my question of ‘how to use the utilities’ arose. Thanks for the application tips! I will try to use the wells more on certain occasions rather than as a damage tool you just ‘throw out’!

KrHome.1920:

Gorath.5076:

• I avoid fighting D/D Eles and Shout/bow Warriors

Why are you avoiding D/D Eles? Chill of Death, Chill in general, Corrupt Boon, Condition Transfer is perfect against D/D Eles, who rely heavily on boons and rotations.

I guess the Ele thing is a heritage from playing Guardian. There I felt them to be my worst enemy and hence Power Necro is also a DPS class I transferred that experience onto him. I agree, though that Necros have some great tools to counter D/D Ele.
Yet, due to my general problem of making right use of the Necros tools I have trouble fighting them.
I don’t (didn’t ) know how to use Well of Corruption properly and Eles hence just ‘floated’ out of them. when you talk about transferring Conditions you mean the Staff #4? That does work pretty well!
What sources of Chill do I have access to, though, apart from Staff #3?

KrHome.1920:

• my main Damage comes from DS #1 and (if I use it) Lich #1, those are the only two skills I use when in the respective form unless I have a specific reason to use e.g. Fear to prevent a stomp/ress, DS #5 to immobilize someone in my wells etc.

Your Dagger autoattack is a great source of damage. If chill of death procs you can 50 to 0 thiefs, guards, mesmers… in 1 to 2 seconds with the dagger while rebuilding life force.

Warhorn 5 cripples all enemies around you for 10 seconds (good in team fights).

Replace Lich with Plague. Lich sucks at higher level spvp. Your enemies know how to deal with this form and kill you in 5 seconds, even 1vs1. Plague 20 sec. perma blind is a great support in team fights. Besides that your best support is massive damage.

I noticed that the Dagger AA hits like a truck! It’s also the base of any Power PvE Necro build for that reason, right? I am just having trouble getting melee hits off on the target I normally pick (Mesmer, Thief, Ranger, Guardian is easier) and hence use it seldom … I will change that now Especially in conjunction with Warhorn #5!

As for Lich: I am switching it for Plague depending on my mood. the 5k hits of the Lich are pretty awesome I agree though that Plague has a lot more applications, be it the AoE Blind, Bleed stacking or just a safe stomp in a tight situation. I will also use that more!

KrHome.1920:

• I use my Wells and Staff Marks to control a point

Bad! Use your staff for chill, condi transfer, interrupt! Putting marks on the ground for area control is a waste. Enemies can simply doge over them.

Wells… well, i don’t like them. Most enemies doge out of them and then they are useless and block an area for just 5 seconds.

Yeah, that goes with what you said above. I guess the only good way to use marks is to just place them right under the target so they are immediately triggered. I find that very hard to accomplice though. I guess practice makes the master here

• I was also feeling that 1v1 is easier as a necro, so thats the situation I will seek.
• Pack Runes where the ones in the metabattle.com build. I might give them a shot. I am so used to the 25 % speed from Traveller Runes that I didn’t even try them.
• I guess I will just have to practice bombing. I got 2 immobilizes after all, just have to learn to make good use of them.
• thanks for clarifying the Staff for me! I find the ‘mark thing’ very odd and often found myself just auto attacking + kiting to get Life Force …
  I will try to make better use of the Chill/Poison mark.

I guess that leaves only the DS and Lich abilities: is it worth using anything but #1 and the Fear?

That is already very helpful, Thanks Roe!
I was in the whole ‘Focus down other DPS at all cost’ from Guardian game play.
You are right about Warriors. They don’t do much but it just takes long to kill them for me.
I will try to find those fights more often and even try my luck against the much feared D/D Ele.

What still isn’t quite clear to me is when to use the wells most effectively and when to use my weapon skills properly.
I am also having a very hard time against classes with a lot of CC (Engi + Mesmers, mainly).

EDIT: And as for different classes: I always have the Guardian and Ranger to fall back to if there are e.g. 2 Necros in my team. But since I am trying to become better at Necro I try to limit the class changes to those occasions, even thought you are right for the DPS heavy enemy team.

Hey everyone.

I would like to ask a few very basic questions about Necro gameplay in sPvP (solo Q).

About me:
I’ve been around GW2 since release (with a 1 year break), did a lot of WvW but also sPvP (rank 54, over 1000 Games, don’t know the number by heart) on Ranger and Guardian but am far from being at expert at either, as you will see below .
I am pretty new to the Necro and am having trouble finding my spot in a match.

I am using the Standard Power Necro Build of metabattle.com.

What I have understood so far:
Obviously the build is a DPS build, where my main DMG comes from #1 in DS.
Its fully glass geared, but still pretty durable due to the Necros Class mechanics and Utilities (DS 2nd Health bar, Spectral Armour, Plague Elite).
So my guess on sPVP behaviour is the following:

• My main target is other DPS classes (Thieves, shatter Mesmer, Meditation Guardians, LB/GS Ranger, etc.)
• I avoid fighting D/D Eles and Shout/bow Warriors
• my main Damage comes from DS #1 and (if I use it) Lich #1, those are the only two skills I use when in the respective form unless I have a specific reason to use e.g. Fear to prevent a stomp/ress, DS #5 to immobilize someone in my wells etc.
• I use my Wells and Staff Marks to control a point
• if I get a Dagger #3 immobilize off, I Well-Bomb the target to gain Life Force.

That’s about what I ALWAYS do in a match and what I think I saw Noscoc do on his stream.

Where I am deeply uncertain:

• Is the Power Necro a better Team or solo fighter? I have so much AoE Damage and utility that I don’t know how to use it properly (Staff Marks, wells, DS #4 and #5)
• I am using Traveller Runes out of convenience:
  Do I rotate points, am I a Home Point defender, or a Mid Point fighter? Or do I even go straight for far?
  It was my understanding in sPvP in general: you do not fight off point, you do not engage 1vX unless you know you can win, you don’t camp an uncontested point unless you are a bunker. SO how does Power Necro fit in there?
• How and when do I use my Utilities? Do Last Gasp and Spectral Armour share a cooldown? When do I Well-Bomb?
• When do I use Dagger/WH, when Staff? The only time I am certain is when I have to fight a D/D Ele, since they reflect so much I try to stay D/WH.
  I also try to use Staff #4 for condi remove and as blast finisher.
  do I apart from that just rotate through the skills like I would on an Axe/Torch + Sword/Dagger Ranger?

Sorry for the long post, I would really like love to improve my game and hope you guys can help me with that!

Maesto.9103:

Tiny is still on Tour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jRz8r7k5Bs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C9rNQyjfNY

Nordish by Nature …

Love your music choices mate! (and ofc u are and excellent ranger!)

Sube Dai.8496:

In current meta melee rangers would compete with thief as a side-point fighter.

You would be equally/more mobile on the ground and be slightly less glassy.

However thief has vertically mobility, boon strip/sharing, stealth, and more damage.

It doesn’t have any place in the current meta. Who knows what will happen with HoT though…

+1
Yet: ‘slightly less glassy’?
A ranger is a bloody full tank compared to a thief. Thieves only have the ability to reset fights/step back to top up health again, but are by no means able to sit through/mitigate damage during an on-point-fight.
Hence I doubt whether that competition is as direct as you make it seem.

But apart from the general role of a Ranger in an sPvP match:
I understand the OP’s request that he wants to know if he will be able to win fights in that environment.
And having read about 100 of the over 200 posts in the Let’s Talk PvP Builds Thread of Jcbroe on these forums: There are Melee based ranger builds.

I have tried most of the Melee stuff out there and iam not convinced at all that they work.

• If you go Power you lack a second melee set that does pure Power damage (even S/S has tons of condition attacks on it and just AAing aint enough in my eyes).
• If you go Condi (with either Rabid or Celestial) you lack a second melee set with conditions, I ve seen a build running GS/ + S/T, trying to get some condition out with SoDoom, SoTorment, SoGeomancy + Sharpened Edges Trait as well as 2 leap finishers + a leaping Pet (canines)

I main a Guardian and none of the above options in my eyes are able to pressure any decent player enough, compared to what a Medi Guard can do, e.g.

So I really want Melee Ranger to be viable in sPvP, and I love the Greatsword and want to make it my primary weapon, but I just cannot find a build to make it work.
If anyone here can show me how to make it work, I would be a very happy person

If not I will just wait for HoT and run a GS/Staff druid, for all it’s worth

Black Box.9312:

Medi guard is terrible against anyone that can kite. It’s also pretty bad against sustained condi pressure. Combine the two (i.e. engineer) and you’re little more than a sitting duck.

I am playing a 2/5/6/0/1 build with Rune of the Traveler and do not have problems with being kited at all.
AoE spamming can be an issue, that is true but as long as the ‘spammer’ remains solo I have always found a way to still get a DPS chain off and kill him.
So with traveler runes and 3 gap closers I do not feel the need for any CC on the Sword, especially since GS #5 is not exactly reliable at it either.

Guardian in sPvP (solo queue) just feels very sound and I frequently get accused of ‘medi guard being easy mode’ when I single handedly defeat high ranked players in matches.

Black Box.9312:

Drennon.7190:

It’s purely ascetics for me. I really don’t enjoy the play style anymore, but it’s hard to walk away from something that I’ve already dedicated so much time to.

It’s kind of this for me too, sadly. I love playing the battlemage archetype, and guardian fits it so well. It’s just such a shame that the class is slowly being left behind as the balance (slowly) iterates.

I do not want to spark a debate over the viability of Guardians, but can you elaborate on that?
I am currently running a Medi DPS variant (GS + S/F with damage traits) and whenever I lose a 1 v 1 i am pretty sure:
it’s because I am just a bad player. I never feel powerless or extradited, but have plenty of tools at my hands to react to any opponent I face in sPvP or WvW.
So I am convinced that Guardians currently are quite strong tbh!

I always loved the idea of a Greatsword-wielding-Melee using Magic as a supplement.
Was always the type of character I had the most fun with in other MMO’S and RPG’s ( Paladin in D2, Champion and Warden in DAoC, Paladin in WoW, Herald of Xotli in AoC, etc … )
I also loved my Druid back in WoW Wrath of the Lich King:
even though not nature themed, the healing aspect of Guadrians hence really appealed to me as well. But due to this preference I since day 1 in GW2 have been torn between Ranger and Guardian, since Rangers have the Nature theme as well as some nice Regen-based healing, where Guardians are more ‘direct’ and are more fashioned towards melee-combat.

And ofc: Blind, Blind, Block, Block, Blind, Dodge, Blind, Blind …..
The active defense of guardians is just so super cool, what has recently made them my favorite choice for sPvP over Rangers!

ha, ok! that actually makes sense to me!
Still: is it worth using an entire utility slot for a few seconds of aegis and speed only? But then you said you have traited shouts and use pure of Voice, right?

And concerning the tomes you also got a point: they grant you more time on point. I am just no fan of them since you lose your entire weapon set + cant swap for its duration. And since I haven’t seen any build using it lately I thought the ‘general guardian public’ would agree with me.

thanks for shedding some light

could someone comment this video for me?

Why is he using healing signet over Shelter?
Why is he using Tome of Courage over Renewed Focus?
Why is he not doding?
And what is the purpose of using ‘Retreat!’ in an sPvP match?

I am only familiar with bunker or Meditation Guardians and do not recognize the build of playstyle :/

Cufufalating.8479:

Just to play devil’s advocat, Gorath

that is exactly what I am doing here
to be fair: I ofc switch Sword for Axe frequently cause even after 2 years I still haven’t mastered the sword auto attack … and will get some bleeds here.

but apart from that, that was exactly my point:
you get a stat you don’t need, but get an over all plus in stats.
For arguments sake,
If I was aiming for:

• 1600 Power
• 2700 Armor
• 22+k health
• 30 Crit
• 180% crit damage
• 700 healing power

Is there any other way than using celestial gear? I have tried and could not make it work!
And if the OP is planning to run a build that makes use of more than 4 stats, i think from a WvW perspective, celestial gear will actually make sense.

I think the main benefit Celestial gear provides is, that it just carries more stats.

The trade is: You get an equal share of each stat and will hence always end up with something you dont need (i.e.: some 500 odd condition damage on a power- build), but in return you gain more stats per piece of armor.

(I am mostly a WvW Zerg/small scale/solo and casual sPvP player)

I used to be a big fan of the 0/0/6/2/6 beastermaster-regen-condition bunker builds and since they aren’t meta anymore ran something like this on my ranger:

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNUQNBhYDbkQlOWbZxiFqWDwJUtCg3jwmOquzgCYlLYyB-T1BBABScRAwT9HAeCAmp8zOdDOqEUm9HCAcAwv/+7v/+bpAMTkF-w

I am aware that it is far from anything you will find on metabattle.com.
Yet, through the celestial gear I can make good use of all the Regen I get from Signet of the Wild, Troll Unguent and Natural Healing (Mango Pie and Dolyak Runes do not scale of Healing power),
all while maintaining a high amount of toughness and HP to give me the time to actually live to regenerate anything

Additionally you get a nice 30% odd crit + 180% crit damage + a very hard hitting pet.
I personally love the birds one for style and because they are often just being ignored by people, even though they are the hardest hitting land pets Rangers have access to, as far as I am informed?

So to answer your question: everything said here is very true:
For PvE I’d just go full Zerker, and since the only place where you will really need ascended armor is high level Fractals of the Mist, you might as well go with a full Berserker set.

In WvW the step from Exotic to Ascended is minute when it comes to armor. (well worth it for weapons and trinkets though! Weapons: higher base damage= higher multiplier; trinkets= get better stat compositions)

correct me if my impressions are wrong, of course.

thanks for the link. I will read through that!

I guess he took the Sword for what else it does:
an extra Evade, and extra Leap-finisher/evade.
And: The Sword is more geared towards Power damage, while in my (dusty) playbook, Axe is a condi weapon?

So this Build:

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Ranger_-_Exuberance_Frontliner

popped up on www.metabattle.com .

I am just getting back into the game after a break for about a year.
So far, I have tested the build only in sPvP (with runes of Hoelbrak) and it was quite fun! Pretty sustainable, actually decent damage through high power + high Fury uptime, plenty condi-removal, some CC, stability.

I guess its meant to be a WvW, non-roaming build.

Since I lack oversight, I wanted to get the oppinion of the Ranger Community on this one
What do you think about the build?

Gorath.

5 targets cap maybe?
If a spirit Ranger with 3 spirits + pet is standing right next to you, you can be lucky and end up with no damage at all. But the targets are recalculated each tick if I am not mistaken.

pza.8024:

oh and @ OP:
a 40 people spike on one player would NOT be fun. no way to counter that.

Well if both sides did it It would certainly add a whole new depth to larger scale WvW.
I mean the bombing of an area with AoE that has replaced the ‘bubbeling’ under the Guardian Refuge of the early days, that is employed by most WvW guilds isn’t much different. I am merely suggesting to make an advance and progress from senseless AoE spamming to focus targeting.
I can only make reference to this, since I haven’t played any other organised large scale pvp MMO that deserves the name:
In DAoC there were ridiculously powerful ground target AoE s (PbAoE) that where used to demolish bigger groups.
But once people got the hang of it these were simply avoided and the casters slaughtered.
But that’s a different game. I am merely pointing out that there are alternatives to zerging and area control through AoE damage.

ah yeah, i totally forgot about that, thaoo … Focus targets can still only be seen by your party, not by the entire Commander Squad …
And in small scale it is commin ofc. In sPvP at least. But there you have max 3 team mates on the same spot at most times, so you could hardly call that a ‘train’.

Hey. I came across a video of Dark Age of Camelot 8 vs 8 pvp and was reminded of something that was very common back then:

Assist train. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Assist%20train)

As you can derive from the awesome urban dictionary it basically meant that the group leader would pick a target which a certain part of the group (those not occupied with healing or cc) would also attack.
This would easily work on larger scale clashes as well. The term ‘assist train’ was actually derived from an entire zerg assisting it’s leader.

I understand that this was made particularly easy since there was an /assist macro in DAoC, but something similar is possible in gw2 with the focus target if I am not mistaken?

But from my (surely limited) experience this is not used to the extend (compulsory back then to assist) in gw2 as it was back then, despite both pursuing a similar PvP concept (WvW & RvR).

Do you think this would be a viable strategy for gw2?
Instead of nuking areas with AoE , picking single target and burst them down?

Bullocks, wrong forums… Can some please move this to the pvp forums?

Hey. I came across a video of Dark Age of Camelot 8 vs 8 pvp and was reminded of something that was very common back then:

Assist train. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Assist%20train)

As you can derive from the awesome urban dictionary it basically meant that the group leader would pick a target which a certain part of the group (those not occupied with healing or cc) would also attack.
This would easily work on larger scale clashes as well. The term ‘assist train’ was actually derived from an entire zerg assisting it’s leader.

I understand that this was made particularly easy since there was an /assist macro in DAoC, but something similar is possible in gw2 with the focus target if I am not mistaken?

But from my (surely limited) experience this is not used to the extend (compulsory back then to assist) in gw2 as it was back then, despite both pursuing a similar PvP concept (WvW & RvR).

Do you think this would be a viable strategy for gw2?
Instead of nuking areas with AoE , picking single target and burst them down?

very nice video!

Mind sharing your build?

i lay down my sword.
you are right. It is a kittenty trait.

:)

Are we talking about the same thing?
Enlargement

With Signet of the Beastmaster and Signet Mastery that will grant you and your pet Stability ( 8 seconds) and + 25% damage at 25% health on a 42 second cooldown.

thinking of mistsim Sentinel Builds/CC bomb with high vitality gear,
2 Dogs (Krytan + Wolf), MT (since the patch it hits 5 targets again) and Entangle for CC
Combined with Sw/Axe and GS and SotW and SoS I thought it might be a nice addition?

ofc I am aware that rangers do not necesarrily shine in large scale surroundings, but if you wanted to do it, this would be the way to go and maybe Enlargement can be good here!

CRrabbit.1284:

My experience is —- it sucks. Go to sPVP to test then you know why.
The threshold is too low, usually at 25% HP you are already in extremely danger situation, what you need now is invul, stability and damage increase won’t save you in most of time. Never mention that it’s not instant, it will use 1 sec to activate it, so usually you get the stability with less than 15% HP (near death) if you were getting hits meanwhile (most likely).

So you either won’t use it (you will never want to drop to 25% for activating it) or even you activate it but still can’t save you. It did help a bit, but not worth the trait.
I would say if it’s activating SoS or threshold change to 50% it will be much more useful.

Agreed for spvp, tested it there.
But Rabbit, if I remember right you are also playing Ranger in large scale WvW, right?
What about there? With a cc tank build you can easily reach 25k there and a quarter of that is still around 7k. Ofc you are not supposed to use this offensively but it gives you something nice to fall back to. Cause usually if you drop low in large scale WvW it’s not because of conditions but it’s because you can’t get out of the think fast enough due to cc

I’ve been looking at that trait as well!
I think it to be especially appealing to a high vitality Frontline build.
But doesn’t Signet of the wild Not only affect your pet? So to actually gain the benefit you will need 30 in marksmanship and 20 in Nature Magic.
You won’t be able to get Bark skin then but if you pack ~24k live, stability at 25% along with significant power boost might still be pretty good.

Did anyone try this?

check this post

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/More-Group-love-for-ranger-after-zerker-nerf/first#post3597381

they are talking about viable PvE builds.

+1 for that
/post

Alfred Hitchkitten would be proud
though I have to admit i dont really see the purpose of this build? Apart from that your target is going to go : WTF?!

hey Coarr,
I agree that the rangers lacks on demand condition remove.
The reason why Anet didn’t change this I believe to be that every class has one Healing skill that removes Conditions somehow.
For Guardian ist Signet of Resolve, for Warriors its Mending and for Rangers its Healing Spring. I am aware that this is a fickle argument since esp. Guardians have a ton of other active condition removes, but I think thats Anets logic.

For active Condition Remove:

• For one, we have Signet of Renewal. ok, that will probably kill your pet but you can also just swap it and the conditions will be gone. Ofc your pet will have to be alive (which as you stated it probably won’t be) and its on a 60sec cool down.
• I will make a few assumptions, correct me if I am wrong:
  But most condition rangers will use a Torch as one of their off hand weapons in conjunction with the ‘off-Hand Training’ Trait.
  so if you use a large Bonfire and try to trigger burning projectiles with it you will also encounter a reduction in mobility, why not use the same mechanic for healing spring? its not as easy as Mending, but if we wanted easy we would just roll a warrior, won’t we?
  → Hence I don’t see the ‘staying in one place’ to be so much of an issue.

• and lastly: Why is active condition removal so important for you? With Empathic Bond, Singet of Renewal, Runes of Melandru and Lemongrass Soup we will hardly have any lingering conditions anyway?
  And in scenarios where you have to eat a lot of damage while under a condition (e.g. one of those 100000 seconds immobilises -.-) most condition rangers pack enough Regeneration to withstand it.

ah that originall post past actually from me -.-

thanks mate I will definetly try your build

Demus.4218:

I disagree that you need offhand training. If your spamming your traps you won’t have a problem with cooldowns. The reduced cooldown won’t have any effect and oakheart salve will keep your regen up 100% of the time.

Off hand training also makes the effects of your off-hand weapons stronger, e.g. doubling the radius of your Bonfire which makes it quite worth its while.

Hey guys,

I’ve been off GW2 for a while and just getting back into the game.

Quite some time ago I’ve seen a build in this forums:

Its been centered around:

• ‘Remorseless’ the Grandmaster Marksmanship trait that give you back Opening Strike everytime you kill a foe or gain stealth.
• Sigil of Fire: 30% Chance on Critical: Trigger a Flame Blast for AoE Damage
  (Cooldown: 5 Seconds)
• and Valyrie Armor, for the + Crit Damage

The idea behind this was using a longbow and just deal AoE damage through the 100% Crit chance you get from Opening Strike.

Did anyone test that and does it actually make sense to center a build around this?

(for reference, the build would look something like this:
http://tinyurl.com/ouu8xd3 )

Kumpel, du bist im englischen Forum gelandet

but the build looks pretty good!
If I am not mistaken something pretty similar is already up in the Compilation thread.
I think he is using Greatsword instead of Sword/Axe though. Maybe you wanna give that a try since GS #5 will give you another opportunity to set up a Moment of Clarity Burst.

What Pets are you planning to use?

Also what you have to keep in mind is: in WvW roaming, mobility is key. Right now your build is lacking that as well as a reliable condition remove.
apart from that: thumbs up! Like the build.

Hey Guys,

I’ ve had a short debate on the usefulness of the Virtues Adept Major Trait ‘Consecrated Grounds’, which makes your Consecrations ground targeted in open WvW and especially GvG.

He believes its awesome, I believe its crap.
we both run a 0/0/10/30/30 build with different gear ( i am healway, he knight)
his position:

• Especially in competitive WvW (GvG, on T1 servers also just 2 guild groups on the open field) mobility is key. You have some very powerful Consecrations in your kitten n a l (bloody filter..) which you can only use to its full potential if you don’t have to run to the position where you want to place them but can drop them while heading somewhere else (=avoiding AoE fields).
• in detail: wall of reflections position is key to its usefulness. You can’t just ’drop it behind, but have to place it carefully. Even more true for Sanctuary: you can use it to slit the enemy group or prevent them from regrouping.

My Position:

• I agree that mobility is key, but you run in the melee train anyway. The only position of Wall of reflection is either in front or Behind. either can be reached with a leap/teleport : no need for Ground targeting. even though I would also agree that you can place it in the enemy group, which is nice but can Mesmer do better >> Not my task
• this however is NOT true for Sanctuary: i just feel like its really high CD of 120 does not make it a usefull tool in WvW, if you are NOT playing healing.ball. You spent a trait to ‘buff’ this excessively long cooldown utility for a purpose that I think can be achieved much easier with just using a Staff. Line of Warding is 1 second shorter but: has a 1200 Range, as opposed to 900 and has a 40 sec (traited: 38) cooldown.

What do you think? In the end I have to admit that I haven’t got much experience in GvG’s from the guardians persepctive and am just applying what I found in open WvW.

I am curious about your thoughts!

I know, DeceiverX, you love the pet but I really think there is more to the problem .
Yes, it is insane to split character damage (btw: because someone asked for how we knowthis: i think some developer said it after they nerves the skill co-efficients if GS, which btw where identical to those of Spear, which remained untouched, I think in that same interview the guy also said that ranged dps is supposed to be lower than melee due to the lower risk involved →dodge or die meta).
But: I could live with that! And even with the bad Ai. But did you ever read other forums? Guardians talking about how they have to be revamped since theY can’t handle the condition meta due to their low base health
Or mesmers as-ing how they have lost their spot in GvG since the confu need?!
Man! Rangers have 1(!!!!!1) active condition remove

• They finall got a freaking blastfinisher.
• rangers main condition damage source: traps are in the bloody crit and critical damage line?!
• our 2 on demand invulnerablilities either sacrifice our pet (40% damage!) Or require 30 points ?

I think there is much more wrong with the ranger than the pet.

Dina Van Heyr.3018:

the only place where ranger is at least a bit good is water combat but the’ve taken lake from www so no more fun for ranger and no free kills of stupid mesmers warriors eles and other not broken classes who realized too late that that they will not win and trying swim to shore..
one thing I got hit by mesmer smoke bomb for 8.9k while having 2.7k armor ..wtf … I thought they fixed that crap..

yes!
Splinter Shot on the Harpoon gun!!!
Just take a useless Grandmaster trait away (Moment of Clarity or Remorseless) and put in Splinter Shot: Make the Shortbow autoattack hit 3-5 targets!
Not much effort and large effect, giving rangers finally some O.K. actuall RANGED AoE!

Decklan.7540:

If rangers are so terrible, then why do I still see a lot of them roaming in T1/T2 with full Apoc and getting plenty of kills?

because ( at lest in European T1 roaming) its a lot of mindless Zerging and 50 vs 50 Head bashing and most players you will meet on your own are specced for large scale combat with lots of sustain and no burst damage making them easy targets for condi heavy BM bunkers. And ask Xsorus & Co., they will tell you that even Regen Rangers get their kitten kicked from time to time by a CC Warrior or good Thief.

Decklan.7540:

I admit we have our problems, but we are not this in this absolutely terrible state that most people make us out as.

And I mean come on, at least we as a profession were a part of the fastest speed clear of CoF! That has to hold some weight somewhere!

well that News hasn’ t become viral, cause I ve repetitevly been kicked from dungeon groups for refusing to bring my Mesmer or Guardian.

Chopps.5047:

I think ranger is both hard to see what the good builds are and hard to play making warrior or thief more popular choices for most players. Ranger is a skill profession.

Chopps, you know I have great respect for you and your work and I also truly believe you are a great Ranger player,
yet sometimes you are just full of kitten …

How can it be an argument that Ranger is a ‘skill’ profession?
Mesmers e.g. are also not very easy to play and neither are (if you want to go beyond 222222) Thiefs, Engineers or Staff Elementalists. Ever tried a full glass Warrior or Guardian?
Can it be the purpose of a class to have to spent 3000 hours of playtime into it to simply be SO GOOD that you can triumph over others simply by your advantage of experience?
If GW2 has a Rock/Paper/Scissors/ PvP system, ranger is Paper/Paper/Paper, and when ever you want to do something different you have to fold the Paper to become either a Blade or a Shield … and that doesnt change anything about it falling to pieces when it gets wet ….
Rangers just aren’t naturally excelling at anything.

Ryan.9387:

By the way, rangers were represented as 23% of the players in MLG, higher than any other class. Certainly this isn’t the result of a poorly balanced weak class. I think your frustration is coming from you not wanting to improve and find things that work, rather than you making an effort to adapting to the gw2 ranger.

Thats only because 22% of people are idiots and the remaining 1% is debating on these forums.
No seriously:
with Ranger in GW2 its a bit like it was in World of Warcraft: It’s a pet class with a lot of self-sustain, which makes it convinient to get around in the world. So its very attractive for casual gamers that prefer playing by themselves rather than participating in the competetive aspects of the game.
And those kind of people are perfectly fine with the class and its balancing, since they a) dont give a kitten about it or
b) dont have reason to complain since ranger IS one of the smoothest solo PvE classes.

always did Aegis, as far as I am informed?

Arthos Ravron.3796:

The gear is quite independent from the build. So you can use Soldier’s or Cleric’s.

that was a very good advice, tried your spec with both the propsed berserker setup and clerics. It fulfills different roles but both work equally well! thanks for the advice.
Having been reading the forums over the past few days, I figure I am not the only Guardian trying to get away from AH+ tripple shouts

Hi Zelcova!
Very nice video
Concerning your clicking, I am actually amazed that you have TIME to click In half the situations where you went to click your heal I simply would have dien in the meantime

May I ask what build you are using? I find it hard to derive from what I see in the video. That might be a key to improve your play
I ve seen you blink-stomping so you propably know this:
you can start channeling GS #5, Hammer #3,#4,#5 and then jump to your target with JI, especially nice with Hammer #3 since it gives you a 2400 range Immoibilise. JI will always teleport you 1200 yards into the direction of your target, regardless if its within range or not.
But again, your propably know this.

/signed op * 15 signs

• or alternatively fix our bloody skill coeficents in general instead of giving Maul its 3rd Buff -.-

well, thanks for the build and the link!
What you have posted is a pure DPS build, if I am not mistaken? That certainly is a step away from the AH build and I will definetly give it a shot!
But is there anything less squischy ( I am absolutely certain than in good hands, a glass Guardian is more than viable in PvE) for competetive gameplay, especially guild group WvW/small scale WvW?

Hey Guys.

I picked up my guardian again after maining Ranger and Mesmer for the better Part of the past year.
I dropped my Guardian because I was falling a sleep during raids, due to the face rolling gameplay and went looking for a challenge in a Melee Ranger and Mesmer.
I cant make them work they way I want so I am returning to my Guardian to see what he can do
I understand that the meta of 0/5/30/30/5 with Hammer/Staff and tripple shouts + Renewed Focus hasen’t changed one bit. I ve tried this build again for bunkering in sPvP and found it to be fun, yet it already bores me to death in WvW (small scale and Zerg).

Hence I am looking for alternatives.
Is there an alternative, more versatile and less ‘spammy’ playstyle of the guardian?
I had a look around the forum and found Christos Healingway Guardian which seemed pretty nice but again is centered around shouts etc.

or maybe I am doing something wrong?
Unleash your balled kowledge of the class upon me for I am stupid and seek enlightment

too few Norn in here