Yes, you can. Just don’t expect to get into most end game parties where your BM build is next to useless as pets die instantly. Not much better in wvw where most of the time if you try and attack anyone in a zerg your pet will be coming back within seconds having died.
Sadly the ‘main mechanic’ doesn’t function very well in end game situations unless you like solo.
Id disagree with that. signets and 30 in beast mastery works really well in both high level pve stuff and wvw. As for the pets I run a drake and devourer for wvw and a bear and drake for pve and I find that they don’t die often at all. also you would be surprised just how many people don’t focus ranger pets.
As for op all i can give is play what you enjoy and dont be put off by posts saying ranger is underpowered you should play X instead