Guild Wars 2

What is the most effective profession for a ranged style of play in PvE content?

I understand that builds may have to change depending on world content, dungeons, or fractals, but I want to be able to play a ranged style regardless to the type of PvE content.

I’m interested in playing one of the Adventurer professions, and I have given all three of them a test drive through some of the lower level content (between levels 15 and 20). I enjoyed facets of all of them, but I want to settle on one profession and really dig into it.

I don’t want to play a profession just because I like the style of play, and struggle because it is not a solid build. Yet, I also don’t want to play a style I don’t like because it is considered the current meta build.

Here are my impressions from doing a little bit of research on each profession, as well as my low-level experiences. The weapon(s) I primary used are in parenthesis.

• Ranger (Longbow): Fun, but I am concerned that too much of my DPS is tied to a pet that I have little control over.
• Thief (Shortbow and Dual-Pistols): Also fun, but in my short time playing this toon I found myself dying a lot.
• Engineer (Rifle and Turrets): I had a lot of fun with turrets and a rifle, but sort of backed away from the character after reading about how difficult of a profession it is to play.

Back when I was playing WoW there wasn’t a choice in style of play. If you were a Hunter you used a ranged weapon. If you were a Rogue you used daggers. With all of the choices available in GW2 I want to play a style I enjoy and still be highly effective.

Thank you in advance.