Guild Wars 2

I don’t find active effects of signets useful enough to warrant a signet build, personally. I do use traited SoS a lot, but I hardly ever have more than one signet on my skill bar. My utilities are usually 2 traps + QZ or 1 trap + SoS + QZ in areas where I’m likely to take high damage, like dungeons and open field WvW. I’ll probably use the new SoH for roaming PvE and WvW, and swap it out before entering combat.

Why don’t these create a poison combo field? Fire and ice traps create combo fields, I really don’t see why poison traps shouldn’t do the same.

Piercing arrows is extremely effective once you get used to lining up mobs, and the trap traits are nice too. They’d be a lot better if they were in wilderness survival though. Strangely, rangers’ best offensive trait (quickness on pet swap) is in a defensive trait line, while best defensive trait imo (active effects of signets also benefit you, particularly in conjunction with signet of stone for 6 secs invulnerability) is in an offensive trait line.

Increased projectile speed and 25% SoH speed? Where do I sign? This would already be a huge step forwards, even without any other changes. But do keep in mind he mentioned PROJECTILE speed, not attack speed, so unless they make additional changes it shouldn’t affect weapon damage, only probability of hitting moving targets.

That’s just too cool, my ranger’s dream is to bring my shark Nibbles onto dry land.

I put 30 in marksmanship and wilderness for max power, toughness, condition dmg and duration. Obligatory 5 in beastmastery for quickness on pet swap and 5 to spend as you wish. Undead runes for more condition damage and toughness, plus 5% of toughness becomes bonus condition damage. SB + anything but LB or GS and you will be doing tons of base damage and DoT, while being very hard to kill.

Added bonuses (with appropriate traits): signet of stone now gives you 6 sec of total invulnerability, and recharges 20% faster. Bark skin gives you a whopping 30% less damage in the ‘red zone’, or if you prefer, empathic bond removes all conditions every 10 secs. The all powerful QZ recharges 20% faster. Disables get transferred to pet. Traps benefit from maxxed out condition damage and duration.

Now if only Arenanet would move trap traits into a trait line that actually benefits them…

PS: you can also drop 5 points from marksmanship or wilderness survival to put 15 into beastmastery, for 20% faster recharge of pet swap quickness buff.

Easy…

1. Fix pets so they can hit moving targets
2. Fix sword root bug
3. Increase projectile speed so we can hit moving targets

And because it’s the holiday season….

4. Increase pet survivability so they last longer in dungeons and WvW

Anything else is just candycanes, with those fixes rangers would be competitive.

nldixon.8514:

Sword is actually really, really awesome. It is hands down the best PvP weapon we have. No joke. You don’t even have to turn off auto-attack. You just have to get used to timing your dodges.

As long as you’re running with melee assist and auto-targeting off, you’ll be good.

Yeah a lot of people say that and I do believe it, but personally I don’t want to bother with a broken weapon. I’d rather just wait for Anet to fix it to be honest, I get along pretty well in sPvP with SB and Axe/WH anyway.

Well a lot of people just really like warhorn for the spike and buff. That doesn’t make dagger or off-hand axe bad weapons, in fact they’re both really useful. I often find myself in situations in sPVP where I wish I had the dagger’s evade or the axe’s projectile reflection, unfortunately you can’t have everything.

The only Ranger weapon IMO that is outright terrible is the sword, due to the root bug. I know some people remove autoattack, but mashing the 1 key on my keyboard just isn’t worth it to me. It’s a shame though, I reckon sword could be a really fun and effective weapon if only it worked properly.

Heh, yeah definitely doesn’t seem worth the hassle. Now that I think about it though, if you waited to be out of combat couldn’t you swap your utility skills around and drop all 5 traps at once? I never tried it.

I use it as a backup weapon to longbow in WvW and PvE. Seems a logical secondary for the longbow as I can focus on power and precision without feeling the condition damage loss that I would on axe or sword. In normal PvE, most trash mobs that don’t go down with a quickened longbow 2 will generally drop after I swoop in and maul them. I feel like this is the fastest kill combo with the LB thanks to the amazing range of Swoop, and it also makes looting less frustrating, particularly if you trait Eagle Eye. But yeah, personally I wouldn’t use GS with any other weapon but LB.

Apparently if you switched in and out of a certain trait, you could lay two instances of the same trap on top of each other without the first instance disappearing. Basically, if you weren’t aware of this bug and exploiting it then you won’t notice the fix.

If you like playing a GS ranger then go for it!! Getting a legendary takes an enormous amount of time and effort, simply getting that far with any given profession is more than enough proof that it’s the right legendary for you.

@GEOX…

GeoX.5046:

Its a good idea im gana get one too
any one who says ranger is under powder, is an idiot .-. … a bit lackluster and buggy at times but not under powered
A greatsword ranger in my mind is among the best to use in spvp and WvW roaming.

I’d say that opponents being able to strafe away from arrows and pets being unable to hit moving targets makes us “under powder”, yes. Are you suggesting that Anet shouldn’t fix these issues, lest we become overpowered? Bugs and broken game mechanics clearly prevent us from being able to do Anet’s intended levels of damage for the class in PvP, so I think one could be excused for calling a ranger underpowered without being dubbed an “idiot”.

99% of people complaining about this misread the patch notes and believe that they can no longer drop two traps.

Wasdclick.1764:

I’m surprised they didn’t show the stealth-fix that they applied to Opening Strikes (essentially, it’s working as intended now instead of only at melee range) that makes bow-users happy.

My guess would be that Anet is reluctant to disclose small fixes as the Ranger community is likely to moan and squeal if they don’t see a big effort from the devs. If you see nothing at all, then you can reasonably keep hoping in a single big push of fixes in one of the upcoming patches.

Totally depends how (and where) you play, if you want to go glass cannon then Berserker is a good choice for GS/LB, since they’re your two weapons that rely least on condition damage. Berserker gear with GS/LB on a Power/Precision build works great for me in WvW and PvE, I only really have trouble in dungeons when I draw aggro from multiple mobs.

I’ve been having the same issue for the past two days. I disconnected about 5 times during a dungeon raid last night, and tonight it happened within 10 minutes after I logged in. Never had this problem before.

I gave up on pet names a long, long time ago, as I think most rangers have. I seem to see far more Juvenile Whatevers around than named pets, it’s a shame because it would really do a lot for roleplay and flavor. I’d rather be able to permanently name the original pet I rolled with only, than lose all pet names each time I swap them out of the rotation.

nldixon.8514:

Daemon.4295:

I believe the OP is asking about Longbow’s viability specifically in sPvP, he says he already uses it in WvW and PvE. I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a decent Ranger running longbow in sPvP, your opponents will close the gap with you really quickly making it a very weak weapon in terms of damage, while it doesn’t offer the same defensive advantages as other weapons. I suppose you could slot it as a secondary weapon for quickened barrages over capture points and the occasional knockback, but I personally find other options to be far more effective in this context. Keep in mind that if shortbow is your main weapon in sPvP you might want to consider traiting for condition damage, making longbow even weaker as a secondary weapon in comparison to mainhand axe or sword, or even greatsword. Longbow definitely has its advantages in WvW and PvE though.

The longbow definitely isn’t as effective in sPvP as it is in PvE and W3, but it can be used pretty effectively.

It’s really great when used in combination with other professions that can lay down massive AoE (Elementalists and some Necros) as you can use Barrage to keep the area being bombarded crippled.

It’s not a fantastic one on one weapon. It’s great in group situations.

I definitely see what you’re saying, I just find Longbow inferior to Shortbow in terms of both damage and control in sPVP, while as a secondary weapon I personally would choose either Greatsword for its defensive skills or Axe/Warhorn for the superior damage and chill. Basically, if I’m switching out of Shortbow in sPvP it’s usually because my opponent has managed to get into melee range and I need to struggle to survive, I don’t feel like I have the luxury of slotting a secondary weapon for its AoE.

I believe the OP is asking about Longbow’s viability specifically in sPvP, he says he already uses it in WvW and PvE. I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a decent Ranger running longbow in sPvP, your opponents will close the gap with you really quickly making it a very weak weapon in terms of damage, while it doesn’t offer the same defensive advantages as other weapons. I suppose you could slot it as a secondary weapon for quickened barrages over capture points and the occasional knockback, but I personally find other options to be far more effective in this context. Keep in mind that if shortbow is your main weapon in sPvP you might want to consider traiting for condition damage, making longbow even weaker as a secondary weapon in comparison to mainhand axe or sword, or even greatsword. Longbow definitely has its advantages in WvW and PvE though.

Aethersong.5189:

Here is a post from Reddit relating to these bows.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/13ryxb/shortbow_vs_longbow_damage_outputs_ranger_data/

The short bow is overall better than the long bow because of its consistency. Also, when using long bow skills, you actually decrease your dps.

The key statement in that post is this: “If you are in PvE and can maintain distance, the LB will be able to out burst the SB”. In any situation in which your opponents (mob or player) are likely to close the distance gap, LB becomes a severely underpowered weapon. Shortbow is almost always superior in terms of DPS due to the distance penalty on Longbow, but in certain circumstances (namely WvW) LB’s utility skills are invaluable. Barrage is great for defending walls against zergs, and Eagle Eye allows you to safely take down wall defenses from a distance. In sPVP, on the other hand, LB is almost completely useless, I would never slot it even as a secondary.

I disagree, barrage is very useful in WvW and so are traps. Just last night I downed and/or defeated at least 10 invaders defending a single keep (before getting yanked off the wall and torn to shreds). If your opponents are at full health then barrage is no more than an inconvenience, but if you have a few tanks outside the gate weakening invaders you can quickly down multiple targets with QZ + barrage. Defenders, on the other hand, like to jump off the wall, do some quick damage and run straight back in through the gate. Muddy terrain + ice trap in front of the entrance can really mess with their plans, your allies will rip them apart before they can get back inside.

On the other hand I don’t feel at all useful as a tank. It’s not that rangers can’t tank, it’s just that other classes can do it so much better. Personally I feel far more effective as a glass cannon with the above mentioned tactics, or hanging back in open combat to weaken and cripple multiple opponents. Pet and horn buffs are important too, they can mean the difference between sucess and failure, if used correctly in a large group.

You should always check the wiki for questions about specific skills and traits.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Eagle_Eye

garethh.3518:

JaceTheAce.9875:

The real issue is that Anet seems so focused on buffing clsses that are already strong enough as is and yet classes like the ranger and elementalist are still weak as hell for DPS.

Rangers, the main problem is that next to every spec isn’t viable, one or 2 are, but that’s a far cry from many…

None of our specs are really viable, no matter how we spec we’re still the weakest profession in PvP. My concern is that the devs will work on improving the weakest aspects of the Ranger profession (spirits and shouts, for example), while what we really need is for at least one or two options that allow us to compete with other professions. Shouts and Spirits can wait, but the broken pet mechanics and ranged damage are killing the class.

It’s great to see creative suggestions for the Ranger profession, but I can’t really see this particular one happening as it suggests a complete overhaul of the Ranger profession mechanic. It would take Anet months to completely rework and balance a profession this way, there are a variety of faster and simpler solutions they can adopt to fix our core problem of overall damage output. You’d be removing the role of the pet as tank and thus completely altering the ranger’s gameplay, the player would instantly draw aggro in PvE and be absorbing 100% of damage. Keep in mind that you’re also removing a second attacker from combat, Anet could buff the Ranger’s damage output to compensate but the player can be CC’d and evaded, whereas pets, by design, are a totally separate source of damage. So essentially we’d just be weaker warriors with some access to traps and a permabuff from spirits. Plus, as a couple of people have already mentioned, a lot of players rolled a Ranger because they like the idea of having a live pet fighting by their side, I’d be really sad if I lost my poor Fern Hound that’s been with me since I was a young Sylvari seedling

Durzlla.6295:

spirits amplify the groups power SIGNIFICANTLY MORE then any war banner can

But war banners are invincible, and can be picked up and repositioned by any character. Spirits are squishy and die as soon as they get targeted or AoE’d.

The reason why you’re seeing such low damage output is that theoretically you should be adding pet damage to the equation. Unfortunately, as we all know, pets aren’t functioning as intended so our dps suffers immensely. Evidently the devs are having a really tough time fixing this problem.

That’s a great idea, if LR stunned I might actually keep it on my skillbar. As is it’s just a second shortbow 3, but without the swiftness.

Heh, I feel like whoever published that video should be admonished for taking our trash outside of the official forums, but it’s just too funny. He could have avoided dishing dirt on Jon Peters on youtube though, the poor devs are just trying to do a difficult job as best they can.

Heh, yeah huge repair bill, I definitely lost a lot of silver tonight. Really fun event IMO, but we really should have gotten experience and loot off kills.

That’s the impression I had as well but wasn’t sure. Is anyone getting experience from veterans?

I’m in the middle of phase 3 on one of the overflow servers, and I’ve been getting 0 experience off kills for a good half an hour now. Is this happening to others as well?

Also, in PVE lick wounds can often get you killed as mobs will continue to attack your pet as it stands on top of you, hitting you with AoE. I almost never use it in PvE for this reason, and because as long as my pet is alive and fighting it will draw aggro giving me time to heal with skill 4.

Thanks for that, I too missed all the NPC conversations at Lion’s Arch. Still had a great time during the event though, exploring Southsun Shore, protecting workers while they built bridges and cleared roads, and setting up camps. I don’t really see how people could get lost, the tasks were pretty clear and all you had to do was follow the massive zergs.

Good recap but don’t forget that we really need trap traits to be moved to the Wilderness Survival trait line, I personally consider that secondary only to the major bug fixes (pet, projectiles, sword root). They have no purpose being in a trait line that develops precision and crit damage, as reaching Trap Potency prevents you from maxing condition damage and duration.

Well it’s a good joke, thieves are certainly laughing. They’re literally joking in the official forum about how they got away with negligent nerfing and openly stating that they probably should have been nerfed harder. And laughing at the plight of the ranger of course

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Confused-about-15-nov-patch-on-Thieves

What about sPVP, do you ‘pwn’ there too?

Arrys.7145:

Sword is IMHO the illusion of controlled mobility with some built in defensives. GS is actual mobility under your control, a passive defense in your 1 chain and an active defense with KB in your 4 plus a daze stun(2 interupts). Which do you want.

Too bad it does about as much damage as a wet towel. GS is good for getting away or holding off long enough for a double-team kill, sword/dagger would give you a better chance of actually defeating your opponent in 1v1.

Maybe it’s already an NPC name?

Gryphons? I want to tame juvenile charr!

Sword is too buggy to use right now, the auto-attack animation locks you in place and prevents you from dodging or using other skills, but it’s highly likely that’ll be fixed in the November 15th patch. If it weren’t bugged, the sword / dagger combo would give you a whole set of evades while doing decent damage, so it’d be good for PvP. Greatsword on the other hand is just too weak to be a viable offensive weapon, but it has some really good defensive and control skills on it that make it a good option in both PvP and PvE. It’s always fun to unload all your bow skills with QZ on mobs in PvE, then switch to GS and swoop in on them, whereas in PvP you can cancel target and use swoop to get away. The range on that skill is just amazing.

Ranger has a lot of viable options though so you might want to try them all out, the axe is fun and effective (main hand and offhand), warhorn gives you a really useful buff and a skill that does some nice damage, and a lot of people seem to like offhand torch, though I don’t use it much myself.

Trap expertise is pretty useless anyway, I was really excited about that trait while I was leveling and couldn’t wait to get it, only to discover that the range was so limited it just made it more complicated to drop traps in a pinch. I untraited it almost immediately, it was really disappointing. I never realized you could place traps on the ramparts from below though, I might give that a try. Thanks for the tip!

Yeah it would make a world of difference if you could drop traps from the ramparts. I guess you might have time to run out the door and drop them in the middle of the zerg, if you trait signet of the beastmaster and activate signet of stone. Seems risky though, and not sure how useful it would really be.

@OP: I wouldn’t expect to ever be much of a sniper as arrows are easily dodged and don’t do enough damage to be anything more than an inconvenience, but as an attacker you can keep defenders off the wall and take down defenses, while as a defender you can barrage the zerg for decent overall damage. In the open field, mass cripple on a bunch of opponents can really give your group an advantage, so overall I personally felt useful in WvW even at lower levels. sPVP is tougher, in a 1 on 1 situation you have to be considerably more skillful than your opponent to stand a chance.

So what are people’s thoughts on the Trap Potency trait, in terms of sPVP? Worth investing 30 points in skirmishing, or do you feel more effective maxing out Marksmanship and Wilderness Survival? I know it depends on specific preferences but I’d be curious to know other rangers’ thoughts on this trait, and traps in sPVP in general.

Hi all,

At first glance it would appear that trap traits (trapper’s expertise, trap potency, trapper’s defense) ought to be in the marksmanship or wilderness survival trait lines, as these increase condition duration and condition damage. I’ve seen people complain about this a number of times, but I wonder if I’m missing something here. Are traps actually affected by precision or crit damage % in any way? Or can we assume Anet deliberately placed them in the skirmishing line to cap trap power, as spending 30 points in skirmishing for the Trap Potency trait prevents you from maxing out condition damage and duration?

Also, is Trap Potency generally considered to be worth the 30 point investment, for rangers that make heavy use of traps in sPVP? I’ll keep experimenting with different builds and see what suits me best, but was wondering what others’ opinions on this trait are.

Thanks.

Sword 2 is good the way it is, instantly leaping out of battle is a useful option and if you want a gap closer you have GS3. The sword is a fun and fairly effective weapon all around, they just need to fix that rooting issue on the autoattack.

For what it’s worth, here are my ideas on useful fixes and tweaks to the ranger profession that I don’t think would overpower it.

1. Fix Pet auto-attack bug to hit moving targets
2. Fix Pet F2 response time
3. Fix Sword1 root
4. Increase LB max range un-traited (maintaining EagleEye trait for additional range)
5. Either increase LB1 base damage, or increase firing speed. Alternatively, reduce effects of LB distance penalty (it’s supposed to be a distance bonus…)
6. Increase GS1 base damage
7. Boost spirits’ health (or maybe make them invulnerable, reducing duration to 20s or less?)
8. Increase Signet of the Hunt passive effect to +20% movement speed. Replace active effect with 10s swiftness
9. Move Quick Draw trait to Marksmanship trait line

I too am willing to bet gold that pet bugs, Sword1 root, and LB damage output in some form will be addressed. Whatever they choose to do I’m sure ArenaNet have a better grasp on game balance than we do, and as far as I’m concerned they can take as long as they need to really fix up the Ranger’s game. I’d happily wait a few extra weeks for a single, comprehensive patch if it truly balanced the profession.