Showing Posts For Leetsaws.2108:
So according to some people GS on a Ranger is worthless…then why do I see so many good rangers running with it?
It really doesn’t take much to be a “good” ranger, get gear and you can run terrible builds and still clear easy content. That would make people think you’re “good.”
@Puandro
You act like rangers already do good DPS. In PvE, rangers are lower-middle of the pack. Raising GS 1 by 10% of damage still won’t even put us in the top 3 for DPS builds. In PvP, most of the ranger’s damage will come from either pets or condition. Raising GS1 damage affects neither of those things. You act like rangers will be the strongest prof by such a wide margin if a trivial part of our damage in PvP is increased. Has it ever occurred to you that shifting damage from pets to the ranger would increase our quality of life, make it easier to balance, and could solve the disparity between PvE and PvP?
Not every weapon needs to be useable in PvE.
Why not? If all weapon builds were equivalent in damage, wouldn’t that solve this “min maxing” that you claim to hate so much? You’re trying to justify pigeonholing PvE rangers into one build and weapon choice. After you were proven wrong about GS being viable in PvE you changed subjects and tried to say that we were wrong in wanting PvE buffs. I don’t understand why you’re so inclined to being contrarian and argumentative just because you don’t like PvE. You’re not trying to find a solution to the problem, you’re just denying there’s a problem to begin with, all the whole making nonsensical points about why we’re wrong.
And in how many scenarios can you run that setup, and with how many builds besides Cleric?
Greatsword is a great weapon as a defensive weapon for any Power Build.
Do you use Power?
Do you want a defensive weapon?Take GS. GS has advantages even Sword + Dagger dont have. Swoop and #4 being 2 of them. GS is only useless if you are running condi.
If I run pve, I don’t use GS, period. My optimal melee is s/h, and my optimal ranged weapon is shortbow in berserker gear.
In spvp, I don’t use GS. I use shortbow+s/offhand.
The only place I might ever use greatsword is WvW for the projectile block and swoop mobility. Otherwise, swoop isn’t anything special in other formats if you use your monarch’s leap properly.
It’s got good utility skills like #4 and swoop, but the other downsides don’t make up for being overshadowed by mainhand sword or shortbow one way or another.
And I say this as a person who has loved the idea of the greatsword even since beta (when it was ridiculously OP and then they broke it with nerfs).
If they raised the autoattack more to match mainhand sword and spiced up a bit Maul, I’d use it a lot more, or even as my main weapon on my berserker builds. That way you’d trade GS as the more bursty offensive control/cc weapon with built in evade autoattacks, while mainhand sword is the weapon with more versatility (can customize with offhand choices, has more utility conditions) and active evades.
Yes GS has much more use in WvW SB+GS is a great Combo to use in Hybrids.
I only use GS in sPvP when i want to bunker.
I don;t agree with increase auto attack damage, its perfect as it is.
If it was perfect it would be better or equal to S/H in PvE. It isn’t. It’s not perfect.
What you guys aren’t grasping is that there is a hierarchy when it comes to builds. One build is better than the others, and the rest are mediocre. If you want to compete in high level PvE, you have to select the best build, or you are hurting your group.
ANet preached against min/maxing in their design, but it was inevitable to happen. There is a superior build, and it’s zerker S/H.
Talking about dungeons and fractals, etc.
lol
Quite the data sample there.
S/T is Sword/Torch weapon combo, S/H is Sword/Horn weapon combo.
I don’t see how S/T and S/T affect your decision between Power or Condition. I mean, if you are going to use torch you need to know how to use your evades or trust in your toughness. As a ranger you sometimes have to be the melee person for the group, but that is something you can plan for prior to entering dungeon fights and such. In the case you do not then you consider your own play style. I moved away from S/T and S/H a long time ago, I prefer SB and GS for dungeons, switching the GS for A/T since axe has a very good aoe which you can easily combine with a good condition build or a smart power build. In the end Power is always good, but conditions allow you to throw all that extra power into places that benefit you and your party (healing power… etc). The only place where you can go wrong is in choosing the wrong weapon set for your build and keeping your toughness too low if you know you will be dealing with taking heavy damage, which is the case in almost every dungeon run.
Torch is all condition damage. Sword is all power damage, aside from 3 but that’s only used as an evade. Building condition when 99% of your damage is power is stupid.
S/H is the most synergistic weapon combination in the game for rangers. Horn buffs your party, your pet, and your 1 attacks. 4 allows for some off target damage in case of PBAoEs. Sword also grants might to your pet on rotation.
All SB has going for it is its range, which allows for easier dodging. You can use whatever build you want, but it’s not optimal. S/H outdamages all other combinations for the ranger right now. If you disagree, consult spreadsheets.
I disagree, but I will pass on the spreadsheets for now. Here’s why:
- Leap finisher through fire field gives flame aura which gives me several stacks of might each time (35 condition per stack)
- S3 poisons, and condition builds utilize longer poisons
- S1 roots and cripples. Condition builds generally focus on short-range combat, so an enemy that can’t get away is at your mercy
- S2 for the reasons of its awesome mobility, a cripple, and leap finisher as described above
S/T gives a lot to a condition build. It’s not so clear cut as power versus condition damage. Having that kind of tunnel vision really limits your ability as a ranger.
Note: I’m talking about organized PvE. This means dungeons and fractals. You can use whatever build you want in solo PvE, it doesn’t matter. To an extent, this is true of most dungeons as well. In [high level] fractals, each player is expected to perform to a certain degree of ability for the group to succeed.
- S2 is useless aside from PBAoE dodging because you will be off target for too long for it to be of any use for damage. The Leap combo finisher is only useful if you’re taking damage to proc its boon. If you take more than 2 hits (which would begin to make it effective), you will probably die anyway.
- S3 is used for evasion in PvE. The damage is negligible on its own accord; compared to the number of 1s you could have gotten off in the time it takes to execute, it is dwarfed. You mentioned the duration as well: condition duration rounds down, unless you stack +duration very meticulously, you will either have too much or too little. This makes it inefficient to build with gear.
- In dungeons and fractals you will never have any mobs running away from you. Roots and snares are irrelevant. Regardless, how does this make condition builds superior to zerker builds? The highest damage ranger build is zerker S/H, they would have the same snare available.
- Once again, if you’re using S2 at all in combat you’re probably doing less damage than is optimal. S2 isn’t even a condition damage attack. I don’t understand your argument at all; zerker rangers still have a sword, they can still use it if needed.
S/T is Sword/Torch weapon combo, S/H is Sword/Horn weapon combo.
I don’t see how S/T and S/T affect your decision between Power or Condition. I mean, if you are going to use torch you need to know how to use your evades or trust in your toughness. As a ranger you sometimes have to be the melee person for the group, but that is something you can plan for prior to entering dungeon fights and such. In the case you do not then you consider your own play style. I moved away from S/T and S/H a long time ago, I prefer SB and GS for dungeons, switching the GS for A/T since axe has a very good aoe which you can easily combine with a good condition build or a smart power build. In the end Power is always good, but conditions allow you to throw all that extra power into places that benefit you and your party (healing power… etc). The only place where you can go wrong is in choosing the wrong weapon set for your build and keeping your toughness too low if you know you will be dealing with taking heavy damage, which is the case in almost every dungeon run.
Torch is all condition damage. Sword is all power damage, aside from 3 but that’s only used as an evade. Building condition when 99% of your damage is power is stupid.
S/H is the most synergistic weapon combination in the game for rangers. Horn buffs your party, your pet, and your 1 attacks. 4 allows for some off target damage in case of PBAoEs. Sword also grants might to your pet on rotation.
All SB has going for it is its range, which allows for easier dodging. You can use whatever build you want, but it’s not optimal. S/H outdamages all other combinations for the ranger right now. If you disagree, consult spreadsheets.
I think you should go for finding a good balance between Power and Condition damage, as much as you want to see big numbers you cannot leave yourself too open to low toughness or vitality. Choose one more than the other depending on your approach and learn to value toughness. A ranger can be good but a ranger that is far too squishy is of no use to anyone, not even your pet. There are equipment and accessories out there that will boost power and condition damage while granting toughness or vitality or healing power. Those last ones are pretty valuable in group play especially PvE and dungeons.
Why would you ever build power and condition? If you’re going S/H like you should be, you’re getting almost no benefit from condition. I can see going S/T on trash packs for the AoE, but you can’t build for trash without gimping boss fights. S/T would be stupid for boss fights because you should be 1 spamming with boons up anyway. Power builds allow you to use GS on trash for the cleave (still no benefit for condition here).
Your damage is going to be insufficient if you build any more toughness/vit/healing than 2 pieces of gear, and even that is stretching it. Healing is also useless without either toughness or vitality because if you’re taking enough damage to warrant extra healing, you’re going to be one shotted without either of those; if damage is too low to one shot you, you can just heal through it with the regen signet or healing abilities.
Which would be better for a sword in a S/H build in PvE?
I’m a bit confused by your question. How did you level in the first place?
Definitely referring to dungeons/fractals. Would I really ask how to solo mobs in open world zones? Really?
Just hit 80 on my first character and I would like some advice as to what I need to do to start getting into PvE and how to start preparing for it. I’m an MMO veteran but I’m new to the GW franchise so I really have no idea what to do.
Any advice/instructions would be appreciated.
Hey guys, I just hit 80 on my ranger (also happens to be my first 80) and I was wondering what the most viable builds are for the class.
Answers for open world, WvW, sPvP, and dungeons/fractals would all be really appreciated.