Guild Wars 2

I’ve tried running bunker builds in wvw without it but i always come back. No matter your build - condi, healing, power - the Skirmishing line is best mainly because of QD. It applies to every possible build and therefore almost has to be used.

Jim Hunter.6821:

Irenio:
We’re able, but it is a question of time tradeoffs.
- Tweaking something requires quite a bit of testing to see that it will not have dangerous consequences.
- Re-working something entirely requires even more testing for those dangerous consequences as well as functionality and potential bugs.
If it is needed and we have the time resource then we’ll do a re-work, but we’ll use tweaks when they’re deemed sufficient.

What this says to me is that some of our skills with ridiculous cast times are going to stay that way indefinitely. Yay.

A small pull sounds like a nice addition to this lackluster skill. Way back in the day I used to abuse it before the change to stability. I’d love to run MT again as I enjoy being a CC bot.

anduriell.6280:

yep meh like changes: our pets will keep instadying in wvw because the complete lack of cleanses and stun breaks. And it is still yet to see if they will be able to hit anything yet.

We got again our damage nerfed and all other classes got buffs in general.

No real improvements/rework in anything. Even the lighting reflexes is all wrong. For an skill that is practically an extra evade should have no more than 20 secs cd.

More bleeds in SHarpening stone will not make this skill desirable or useful and the same goes for muddy terrain.

Seriously 6 months waiting for this….

+1

Thanks for the offensive updates to pets, I guess, but that’s only half the problem. Any skill or trait relying on my pet being alive is useless in a decent-sized wvw fight. And the other changes? It’s like they don’t understand the class at all.

Varyla.1592:

Since I used before Spirit of nature and sometimes Signet of nature, I benefited a lot of a +560 healing power. And my team too with the spirit. But everyone seems to say that spirit are wrong choices (even if few said why), that is why I changed.

But then, you are right. Without spirit of nature, +560 healing power is useless. Do you think I shoudl change survival for druid in order to keep a bit of healing for support ?

I tried today druid. It is not that bad, but I don’t like staff. What trait would you chose ? I feel few are really interesting. Maybe I do not know how to use them well.

Staff is an acquired taste. The Druid traitline is centered around healing and support, so if you want to make use of your healing power then you might try to stick with it. I personally run WS, NM and Druid right now (in WvW).

As for the spirits, I just don’t see them as viable alternatives to other useful utilities. I’d rather take a signet or two than any spirit for PvP/WvW, and the traited Survival skills are great. Just doesn’t leave room for spirits, honestly. Can you still make use of your healing power without Spirit of Nature? Sure. You’ve got Healing Spring and Call of the Wild both on a reduced cooldown in your Sk/WS/NM build. You should have no problem keeping regen on you and your team this way. Want to give out more healing? Throw a sigil of water on each weapon set.

My current build is centered on axe/horn as well, so let me offer some thoughts on your questions:

1. Regarding greatsword, realize that it is more of a defensive weapon but Maul can hit hard when you get damage multipliers factored in. It won’t take advantage of your condi damage, though. Have you thought about shortbow instead?

2. I’d take torch over dagger if you’re stuck between the two.

3. For utilities, I know you like Healing Spring to heal allies and that’s great. Consider also We Heal As One to work with the boons you’ve shared with your pet. Flame trap is nice but also consider the spike trap. I like Lightning Reflexes too so why not keep it. For your last utility, maybe a signet like Stone or Renewal would round things out nicely.

4. Elite can be Entangle or Strength of the Pack, depending on what you’re going against. Entangle is great for the immob and condi damage but it’s easy for a lot of classes to get out of. SotP is a great damage modifier for you and your pet (and if you use it, let it build then use We Heal As One... you have a lot of boon stacks).

Traits
1. I would get rid of Strider’s Defense in favor of Hidden Barbs, especially if you want some condi damage. Spotter is also a solid choice for a bit more precision if you or your team need it.

2. Keep Quick Draw, it’s one of the best traits we have. If you have Skirmishing, you basically have to take that trait.

3. In Wilderness Survival, I would personally take Oakheart Salve as you’ll basically have perma regen which means 5% less damage taken. I typically play more defensively, though, so if you’re offensive then maybe Expertise Training is the way to go.

4. Keep Windborne Notes but drop the spirits and the spirit trait. I think that’s just too much going on and honestly the benefit isn’t worth it. That frees up a utility and allows you to take Protective Ward.

5. I take Bountiful Hunter and here’s why: you’re granted to always have four boons thanks to warhorn so there’s 4% extra damage. Now, if you get more boons from allies or from your pet (SotP, WHaO) then that allows you to set up a bit of a burst attack because you’re getting 1% more for each boon. That’s how I use it and I enjoy it.

I would honestly leave it at that. Trying Beastmastery just seems like it would spread you too thin. Lastly, I’m not crazy about Dolyak runes. I’d rather see something like Leadership, Melandru, Undead, Krait, Sunless, etc.

Would look something like this... http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRBHhx+1IjKUuitsgDLQ1iBGhy/8S/05C4yDgOCq1Q4EkGVKA-TpgRABAs/gzlBAA

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+1 just because reasons

100% Verdant Brink... no map completion reward.

Just happened to me as well... 100% map completion in core Tyria, just finished Verdant Brink and got no reward. Pretty game breaking when I’m working on the elite weapon.

Druid had some nice variety in builds during BW3. Since the launch of HoT, ANet has nerfed everything halfway-viable from Ranger/Druid (CAF, pets, traits) into oblivion. Mind you, all of this has occurred within the first week of the expansion which screams "knee-jerk". Now the only grandmaster trait that heals allies on an elite spec designed around healing is no longer viable.... What in the actual kitten, ANet?

Irenio, I first want to say thanks for the communication. It is a breath of fresh air to have a dev make a post in the Ranger forum, especially after the busy weekend.

Now, for my concerns... Smokescale F2 was changed in the first weekend even though we had it in BW3. Given the weekend I’m sure the dev team had, that’s a knee jerk reaction if I’ve ever seen one. CAF was in a decent spot on BW3 and it gets gated before launch with no communication. Your post means a lot but the mood in this forum is understandably angry due to these unannounced changes and no communication about either. The ranger has been overlooked for so long and this weekend it seemed like the class had a bullseye on it... in a negative way. I hope your contributions to the Ranger put us on par with other classes, which is where we’ve asked to be for 3 years now. Thanks.

Anyone use Staff 3 for mobility outside of combat? Apparently when you land, it puts you in combat.

Seriously, if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it. Leave reset on Friday evening where it belongs.

Seems healing power will only pay off for CA skills and Lingering Light. If we’re encouraged to invest in HP at the cost of other stats, there should be more reward than that. I hope HP will scale better for things like Live Vicariously, SotW, all our sources of regen, etc. Also, please make things like Sigil of Water work with Druid traits. Things like that would open up play styles and help us feel like we’re contributing while we’re healing.

Raven.9603:

Let regen tics contribute towards AF gain. They have been our primary means of healing other people up to now, and suddenly they dont count for much.

Yes. Any healing coming from us should count – that means traits, skills, sigils, runes, etc.

Also curious about this... I have a build in mind using Sigil of Water.

Hi all, if this has been reported already then please delete. On testing Druid, activating Signet of the Wild while in Celestial Avatar breaks the CA form and immediately reverts player back to normal form. Pet becomes visibly enlarged whereas player does not. The icons for stability and enlargement both appear. It seems that the visual enlargement of player doesn’t take place. This leads me to believe the animation is breaking CA form.

Not sure if it’s been reported yet but activating Signet of the Wild while in Celestial Avatar breaks the CA form.

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

Levetty.1279:

In regards to swapping Glyph of the Tides effects around, I disagree. Pulling them in, hitting them with Lunar beam for a double dose of CC and finally using Skill 5 seems like one of the few decent uses of this spec line.

These glyphs are all about when to use but i perfer the pull In combo than push away , as for push away that takes away from the Team by not letting it set up a spike attack.

in a sense , i want other players to use caution when closing in on a druid because he can pull/interrupt+damage chain CC with team cleaves then swap to astral and tank any left over damage while supporting the team at close range, then when the target or targets back away Out pops the LB.

so I also agree that the glyph should not change and should Pull in Normal ranger form.

In normal Ranger form, the glyph knocks enemies back. The celestial avatar form of the glyph is what pulls enemies in. So you’re in agreement the glyph should change? Your second paragraph embodies my play style (minus the LB) and reversing the effects of the glyph as they are now will allow for that. Normal druid should be setting the table for what’s about to happen next. We shouldn’t have to wait for avatar to be ready to accomplish that. I’d also like to see the knockback get changed to a knockdown but that’s personal preference.

It’s been mentioned elsewhere but I’ll strongly suggest that Glyph of Tides gets reversed. Its regular form should be drawing enemies in to set up whatever is about to happen next (Maul, Splitblade, coordinated bomb). In Avatar form, I’m focusing on healing me and/or my group so it’d make the most sense to get the enemies away. This could be made into a knockdown instead as Rangers are already hated for our usage of knockbacks...

Halan.7931:

Also, why SOLAR beam (staff one) is white-blue? It should be golden yellow.

Kehlian.4380:

yeah our star is yellow, but some are blue :p

Umm, what color is our sun again?

Plan A - if the druid spec actually puts us in a better spot, I’ll consider pre-ordering HoT to reward ANet for finally doing the class justice.

Plan B - No expansion, log in for dailies and wait for Fallout 4. Maybe enjoy the nice fall weather.

Guys, just remember this is for everyone to test out the Druid and ANet will tweak some numbers to make sure we’re good to go on Oct. 23.

Informer.5213:

I did a little looking around, just out of curiosity. Here’s a list of the most recent red post from the class forums:

Elementalist: Page 3
Engineer: Page 1
Guardian: Page 2
Mesmer: Page 1
Necromancer: Page 1
Revenant: Page 1
Thief: Page 1
Warrior: Page 3
And finally Ranger: Page 16.

Take that how you will.

I wanted to expand on this a little since some of those red posts are from old threads. From a quick glance in each forum, here are the last dates for red posts:

Ele: August 14
Engi: August 16
Guard: August 20
Mes: August 27
Necro: August 25
Rev: August 26
Thief: August 29
Warrior: August 21

Ranger: JULY 5

Maybe too tanky for some people but here is what I run. Tweak it as you see fit.

If you’re swapping your frontline sustain/CC warrior for ranger, you can still use that play style. It’s what I run in WvW in skill groups. I run GS and axe/horn and I love the feel of it. You could build somewhat tanky and take plenty of CC, maybe Healing Spring for your group if needed.

Send me one too. I need some other rangers to theorycraft and cause mayhem with.

Felix Faunus
TC
PvP/WvW

I’m curious as well. Pre-patch I was running a sentinel frontline build with Hoelbrak runes using Wilderness Survival, HS, MT, Entangle, etc. I’ve been hearing how real the burst and condi are right now so maybe sentinel is still viable? What traits and runes would be top-notch go to with it?

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Virtute.8251:

There is no way that ranger can be made to work near frontline the way necro can be, due to what you’ve already pointed out.

The difficulty in slotting ranger for GvG is simply in the trade-off of the class utility that you lose vs. what you gain. It’s the same reasons that engineer isn’t used yet.

I won’t bother saying Ranger is an ideal front liner for a GvG of any size, but I will argue that it can be viable. GS is getting buffed and Maul’s cleave will hit 5 enemies now. MH axe will stack might and OH axe is a solid option. Warhorn still has a blast finisher if your team is short on them. Entangle is about to have a much shorter cool down. Signets will now affect Rangers by default so we can run stability or invulnerability (or both) without traiting/using an elite/relying on our team. (The stability signet also grants +25% damage for the 8-second active duration.) Muddy Terrain and Healing Spring are welcome additions. Spotter is a nice little perk and Bark Skin will keep you in the fight longer. Add in a little protection on dodge roll and we’re set.

I won’t bother beating the dead horse that we don’t exactly bring what other classes bring, but don’t completely count us out as front liners. There is more to the Ranger class than full zerk pew pew.

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Couldn’t agree more about LR removing immob then immediately clearing two conditions. We shouldn’t have to wait til the end of the animation. Just like casting MT, which also has an absurd animation time that it waits on to clear conditions. Once I cast either of these, clear my conditions like it’s supposed to!

I also seemed to notice once in wvw that Entangle didn’t clear my conditions with SotF equipped. I just went to the Mists to verify and popping Entangle would not clear conditions or grant me fury. Entangle is still listed as a survival skill, so what’s the deal?

Toolbox.9375:

should damage not even be a consideration, and the focus should be more on its utility?

I won’t echo what everyone above has said but I’ll focus on this question. I run GS/axe+axe in an organized group in WvW. My focus is on how much I can lockdown the enemy and let the real damage-dealers do their thing. Axe 3 and 4 are great for getting the occasional straggler... chill them, pull them, switch to GS and finish them. But I feel axes shine when paired with all the Immobilize we have access to. Snare your enemies in place and use Axe 1, 2 or 5 and watch the numbers tick. They may not be massive numbers but like I said, that’s the job for the real damage-dealers in my group.

1. Ranger
2. Pets
3. NPCs

Hrmmm....

I lose Entangle or RAO to take Signet of the Beastmaster? I can only assume this would mean they’d ditch the grandmaster trait and force us to take this instead. I’ll just kiss my six second invulnerability goodbye now.

Atherakhia.4086:

What matters is DPS. While longbow and greatsword may attack slower than say a shortbow, the DPS is reasonably close. The issue has always been a lack of burst and AE. No power class in any game can ever function without burst and/or AE.

The only form of burst available to the Ranger overall is really Maul. However, switching to greatsword to Maul someone has fail written all over it. For starters, Maul is probably the most telegraphed skill in the entire game so it’s VERY easy to avoid. On top of this, every other skill for the GS, including the auto attack, is more useful defensively than offensively. So you switch to greatsword and are stuck for 10s with a pitiful weapon.

It’s funny but even if ANet just gave Rangers a weapon swap cooldown trait like Warrior’s have more people would at least try to use a power Ranger in this game. It would still be ineffective because Maul burst alone isn’t enough, but it wouldn’t be total fail like it is now.

At a bare minimum, a power Ranger simply doesn’t have the tools to stand on its own against the other classes in this game. They will always outshine it.

It desperately needs some real, on-demand burst.

This. All of this. Pretty much everything about the Ranger needs some serious looking into. The OP has given ANet a good place to begin looking, and it’s things like this (weapon swap cooldown) that could be a great end result for Rangers to feel a little more balanced. As it is now, we simply don’t compare with other classes on things that Atherakhia mentioned like burst, AE, etc. Then there’s on-demand condition cleanses…

rkarcheologist.8953:

Dean Calaway.9718:

You can’t roam around alone in WvW, even if you’re mapping.
After all, you have to get inside towers and keeps and there’s no way you’ll Di that alone.
So take it from someone that was spouse to start mapping the WvW last week for the 5TH time if it wasn’t so busy:

Go with the zerg.
Be patient, use map rotations for your advantage.

And bows will work if you map like that, make sure you stay in the back DPSing.
If you have some good friends that play melee classes team up and have him target who ever he’s fighting, that makes a killer combo.

I have never zerged in WvW. I imagine its just loading up and asking where people are, or is it best to see if there is a forum for my server?

Definitely search out a forum for your server, if they have one. Great way to network and see who’s doing what. When you load up one of the WvW maps, look for a commander icon… that’s a good way to see where a group of people may be on the map.

Also, as someone else stated, use map rotation to get to 100%… meaning, start on your home borderland this week. If your server is doing decently and holding down the home borderland, you can pop in and out of all the towers and keeps without much of a problem. Then do the same for your server’s corner of Eternal. Next week, if your server has changed colors (i.e. from blue this week to red next week) then do the same thing – borderland map completion is simply based on the colors, not which server is actually assigned to the color.

As to your build… you’re using signets but not Signet of the BM so I’m automatically confused. Entangle is nice when it works but also consider Rampage as One for the stability, fury and might stacking. Then again, if you’re a norn, consider the shape-shifting elites to speed you across the map. As for traits, I’d move to something like a 30/20/20/0/0 build… 20 points in Skirmishing gets you Quick Draw and fury on swap, 20 in WS gets protection on dodge and Oakheart Salve/Hide in Plain Sight. Plus, you’re going to want some survivability in WvW and 20 in WS is a good start. Add some PVT gear and you’re doing okay.

jcbroe.4329:

8) Trait reorganization stressing hybridization over heavy investment – This one seems pretty straightforward too. Basically, Signets, Spirits (more so previously than now), and Traps all require 30 trait points to make otherwise pretty mediocre utilities useful (only 20 with Spirits now). Heck, signets don’t even work on the player without a grandmaster trait. For rangers, this is probably the biggest hindrance to build diversity that needs to be addressed. The utilities already require heavy investment in the utility slots to be worthwhile (Traps and Spirits both typically work better with at least 2, to even 3 slots). Adding another 30 point trait requirement on top of that makes ranger builds have to build with heavy investment in order to be successful, for the most part. Just as Spirits Unbound was moved down to the master tier, Trap Potency and Signet of the Beastmaster really should be looked at for similar reworks/repositions to open up more build opportunities.

I don’t have any ideas but this does need bumped to stay on the first page. Come on red post, where are you??

I do feel pigeonholed into taking heavy 30-point investments in WvW just to survive, without any great payoff. 30 point investment in MM to get six seconds of invulnerability once in a while? (If any ranger is using other signets for Signet of BM, please say so but that’s the only one I use.) The rest of the MM trait line is a mess, especially the minor traits. No big return there. 30 into the WS line does yield some payoff with Bark Skin, which is what I opt for over Empathic Bond. (I know, shame on me for not using EB but the passive random removal doesn’t cut it for me… Bark Skin saves my hide.) So I’m running 30/x/30/x/x just to survive… doesn’t leave me a lot of options for build diversity now does it?

Aveneo.2068:

(this is a post I made almost a year ago)

While I fully agree that Ranger Traits are probably the worst random collection of crap, here is a small list for some of the other changes the Ranger needs in my humble opinion

• A Camouflage utility (be it as an opener or escape) – 3s Stealth + 10s Swiftness (similar to the Wintersday Scout ability). Could replace the active effect on Signet of the Hunt because currently that active effect is pretty pointless.
• Point Blank Shot: Change name to Sniper Shot and add a secondary effect. If you tap it once it will function as it currently does, but if you choose to press and hold the ability, it will channel and fire one shot dealing massive damage (as per the Wintersday Scout ability).
• Signets should apply their active component to Pet and Ranger by default without requiring you to use Signet of the Beastmaster.
• A utility or effect that allows Rangers to see stealthed targets. At present time stealth has no counter and is not fun to play against. The Ranger would be most befitting to provide that counter (being a tracker and having pets). See the video on Counterplay: http://youtu.be/BRBcjsOt0_g
• [i]for the above, if signets would apply their active effects to Pet+Ranger without the need for Signet of the Beastmaster, that Grandmaster trait could be changed to Sight of the Beastmaster, allowing stealth detection as a passive ability and make stealthed targets appear in a similar fashion as we now see stealthed allies (that Predator like camouflage) if players spend 30 points in Marksmanship and choose the trait[i]. In my humble opinion the Ranger should be the direct counter to a Thief.
• Some signet active effects need a rework because some of them are pointless (even dangerous) to use (try Signet of Renewal with Signet of the Beastmaster active).
• Some shouts need a rework as they mostly revolve around sacrificing your pet (~30% of your damage potential) at present time.
• A ‘fix’ for all the OBSTRUCTED messages when firing arrows when there’s absolutely no reason for them to become obstructed.
• More reliable AI and pathfinding for our pets and being able to hit moving targets (maybe increase their effective attack radius and cleave?).
• 75% reduction of AoE damage for our pets (with the option to trait it to 95%).
• F2 abilities that fire near-instantly. The pet just has to cancel any current action and immediately go through the F2 command.
• Some traits need to switch position as it makes no sense in having Trap traits in Skirmishing when they should be in Wilderness Survival. Same with traits like Martial Mastery which should have been in Skirmishing instead of Wilderness Survival. As stated above, trait lines are just one gigantic mess at the moment and make no sense nor offer any form of synergy.

Would love to see some of these implemented… especially having the Ranger see stealthed targets. Would really give the Ranger a niche role to fulfill.

Great write-up jcbroe, thanks for taking the time to compile this!

Felix’s Wishlist for Ranger changes in 2014:

Pet
1st Wish = Improve response time on activated abilities
2nd Wish = Attack/Heel toggle on F1, second activated ability on F3
3rd Wish = Improve ability to hit a moving target
4th Wish = Improve HP pool in WvW to be on par with rest of PVE
5th Wish = Find a way, any way, to not insta-kill pets in AOE

Weapons
1st Wish = No longer root to cast Barrage (cd or damage buff would also be nice)
2nd Wish = Slightly increase damage on GS autoattack
3rd Wish = Warhorn #4 should blind, or torment, or some similar condition
4th Wish = MH Axe autoattack needs buffed in some way
5th Wish = Remove positional bleeds on SB autoattack

Trait system
1st Wish = Signet of BM needs gone... traits should affect ranger first, then pets
2nd Wish = MM minor traits need rolled up... 5 and 15 together on 5, move 25 down to 15, and move Remorseless to 25. Hello, new GM traits!
3rd Wish = Empathic Bond shouldn’t be a 30 point investment
4th Wish = Change up Eagle Eye... Rangers are masters of bows, give us 1500 LB and 1200 SB by default. Eagle Eye can improve damage, or crit, or something else.
5th Wish = Clean up all the trait lines to make some real synergy

Utility Skills
1st Wish = Entangle should work underwater and on stealthed players.
2nd Wish = LR should break movement-impairing conditions.
3rd Wish = Shouts. Make them viable instead of just spamming Guard as trigger.
4th Wish = Search and Rescue would be great to actually use.
5th Wish = Give us abilities that synergize with our pet if we’re forced to have them.

If you’re going to get serious about WvW, then soldier/sentinel is where it’s at. I just finished making my full ascended sentinel set today and I play primariliy in WvW. Expensive as hell, yes, but with ascended cavalier trinkets and guard stacks I have no shortage of toughness and vitality. Often I am one of the last ones standing in fights, especially with Bark Skin.

Why make ascended armor for PVE? Sentinel is going to be overkill and rather expensive. I’d stick to what you’re using now if it’s working for you.

Check the vendors in your area or look for weaponsmiths in the city. You can also look for cheap low level bows on the tradepost. Then there are just the random drops from monsters.

Durzlla.6295:

3 random condis or 3 specific condis? I know I’d rather be able to use it to drop immob cripple chill EVERY time rather than a grab bag of 3, would also make it a lot more amazing for my great escape ability lol.

I’d take it either way. But since the skill is called Lightning Reflexes, it probably should cleanse those three specifically. And then it would have a welcome spot on my utility bar where Signet of Renewal sits now.

Paz Shadow.9715:

If you had to choose three out of the following, which would you choose: signet of stone, signet of wild, frost trap, qz, lr, muddy terrain.

…. another question, sword on auto-target of have auto-target disabled?.

Once you learn to play with auto-targeting off, you’ll wonder why you ever played with it in the first place. I run HS, Muddy Terrain, Signet of Renewal (gotta cleanse) and Signet of Stone with Entangle (RaO as needed). It may not be optimal but I run Runes of the Traveler (dat speed) to go with 30 in MM, koi cakes and toxic sharpening stones… condition duration ftw.

Sounds like you want more of a frontline ranger build so IMO you’re better off running a 30/x/30/x/x signet build. Take Signet of the BM for stability and the 6-sec invulnerability and Barkskin (recently buffed). Get in a party with four of your zergmates and run Spotter for more support than just your warhorn. Entangle can be nasty but swap it for RaO as needed for extra stability. I’m running full PVT gear and working on ascended Sentinel’s armor. Think something like this.