Jellies are the gods of the sea. Seriously, they can even tank on top of the kitten it applies to all enemies around it. Best part, if you have 2 jellies and traited 15 into BM you can use it every 15 seconds to really melt mobs.
Outside that I’ve heard drakes hit like a truck if you can CC for it, haven’t messed with this much because I prefer the CC of wolves and single target melting while I focus on weakening the surrounding mobs with GS.
Pets are exceptionally good contrary to nay sayers and I rarely lose them in dungeons, even less common to lose both.
My only suggestion is to swap out signet of stone for signet of wild. you will get far more out of the regen on your pet and yourself then the minor deflection in damage from the pultry toughness increase.
Also the active rarely comes into play if you are keeping aware of your pets health and swapping and healing on time. For me, general rule of thumb is if pet reaches half health it is heal skill (use them for both, healing spring is great because it still provides its passive over time to you if you didn’t need it), if heal is long ways away to cool down then swap. Half health is about when pets are at risk of being one shotted. This coming from another BM uber buffed pet.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNBhYDbkoqrusSxC0OQ0eoJLd+3D0Tr27KMqCWNB;TEBA1ymEMJZS1kiJqbM3Iuxej7G5NrNGbc2YDybDA
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Amazing melee tank support build. I run as primary tank for our dungeon runs and also provide a huge amount of utility through Spirits (I swap out ice and sun pending on group running with, if someone dumps burns often then sun spirit becomes useless as the burns only stack in duration and more utility and damage is thus gained from ice spirit). The best part concerning spirits is that they really don’t need to be traited to work exceptionally. All they need is proper placement.
You can also act as designated rezzer as you can take some pretty solid hits all the while keep dps up via pets.
I take wolves because they are fairly hardy and pack more damage than bears. Swapping them often will prevent them from going down most instances as well as timing dodge rolls for the protection buff to help pet tank through AoEs.
i tested the kitten out of GS. it’s only good for bunkering. utility weapons dont have much of a role in this game. swords just hit like wet noodles, you’ll never kill anyone who has some skill. even for bunkering, it’s better to go offensive and just do a lot of condition damage.
if they buffed GS #1 damage by about 150% then it might be a useful weapon. as things stand now, it’s just pointless to use it.
I believe you are failing to add into the equation how much damage your pet is doing. The GS hits pretty hard when you add in the pet damage. It is spot on with what other classes are pulling with similar builds. Will it burst? No, as you said it’s greatest benefit comes from utilities. Upside is that through it you can negate enemy spikes and combos with ease all the while continuing to apply pressure through your pet.
If you take out the pet and compare numbers, then all ranger weapons hit like noodles.
three times I’ve used it has worked. I’ve yet to trigger the just stand here and watch master die bug.
have the pets ever been hit with an interrupt? I wonder how many of them were this.
another work around is to set your pet on passive and use f1 to send the pet after targets you actually want.
well thought of point, shouldn’t be that hard to implement either since pets recieve buffs with ease.
although there is a trait that passes all buffs from player to pet, I think it is 15 or 20 into nature magic (evil line I know). Does this share food buffs? Does anyone know?
BM GS tank. I rolled it from lvl 11 onward to 80. Rarely die. [edit] most of my deaths were jumping from too high. Soloed just about all the [group] content, soloed all but two champs.
key skills to pick up are healing spring, and signet of the wild. The regen will keep your buffed pet alive much longer and can easily tank 5+ enemies at a go.
Its stupid the stuff I’ve been able to get away with using this.
I used to think pets were sucky. But then I started getting used to pressing F1 and F3 constantly. Also keeping my pet on passive so it doesn’t attack stupidly. I find that my pets live quite a lot longer when I’m actually focusing on it as much as my ranger, and my damage is pretty good, too. I started to realize how stupid it was to just keep your pet constantly attacking and having it die. Eventually, instead of my pet feeling like a dumb gimmick, it’s starting to feel more like playing 2 characters at once!
The 2 reasons I see people complaining about pets are
1. They die too fast
2. If you have it run, you’re losing 50% of your damage.
I hate to sound like a jerk… But all I can say to that is, you’re playing the class wrong.
Of course, that’s not to say there are no issues with rangers, because there most certainly are! I just don’t see pets as one of the bigger issues. I hope I’m not hurting people’s feelings by what I said. I come in peace!
took me six different rangers to figure this one out. It is now by far my favorite class, I love playing two characters at once. Only other class I find remotely interesting now is elementalist. All the other classes just seem vanilla and bland with how lack luster their class gimmicks are.
pretty sure the banners are made of cloth… just saying
The key too the ranger is realizing that you need to focus on three health bars instead of two.
For most classes it is character and target. For us it is character, pet, and target. (advantage for the ranger is our pets health bar is right next to ours, other classes don’t have this)
Things that help with survival, signet of the wild. I love this thing, the regen goes a long way with prolonging pet life in between swaps. Its active is relatively meh for its long cooldown and loss of passive so I don’t use active.
Traiting into the final line is an option and if you go 30 in you will aside from having a super buffed pet also get another source of regen on pet making it even more sturdy. I would suggest going at least 15 into the line for reduced pet swaps, this alone will keep you from watching one pet die and then the other because of long timers.
Also, use your heals not just for you but for your pet as well, all heals are shared. Healing Spring is the best because its effects last 30s allowing for more healing should you wind up getting focused after healing your pet or if your pet is focused after healing yourself.
Always pop heal when your pet is at half health or swap, when it reaches that level it is reaching the critical stage of one shot potential. Never allow your pet to go down, it is the beginning of the end of the ranger.
Use your f1 f3 to call back surge forward your pet on targets, if you are pulling back to avoid AoE get your pet out as well. Also pull him back if you see the purple butterflies floating over his head this means he has been confused and will be hurting himself and hard.
Another series of trait points I suggest if you are serious about your pet is 15 into wilderness survival. It grants you extra endurance regen and allows protection (33% damage reduction) on dodge rolls for 2s. This is primarily for your pets benefit. You will spend most of boon in dodge animation. This allows your pet to tank AoEs should he be caught in them.
These are some of the things I have learned in the six some rangers I have created and deleted out of frustration with how lame and boring the class “appeared”
The pet does take a lot of focus if you want to use it properly, and why my sixth and final ranger has become my main, I am never bored in combat and take great pride in the fact I can keep my pets fighting fit through most fights and haven’t had both pets dropped in a single fight in the last month of play.
I’ve heard a lot of love for the winter scout in festival land. Honestly, I wouldn’t be opposed if they simply made it into another archer focused class, the 9th available. That way archers can play without the pet and Rangers who love there pet can frolic in the fields like they already do.
As it was mentioned, it is kind of unfair to compair weapons of this class to another class without placing consideration for pet. It is amazing when traited into and still okay otherwise. the ranger class was designed to utilize this mechanic we have 4 control buttons to do it. The damage paired with ranger damage puts it spot on with other professions. Most rangers I watch around the world fail to use 3 of the 4 control buttons and suffer because of it when their pet goes down. Some fail to use all 4. It takes a lot of finesse to play ranger to its full potential.
Pet complaints (just read before posting), for the love of pete we have a huge arsinal of pets at our disposal. Take the right pet for the instance. Ranged pets where melee won’t work or will refuse to work. Swap to Moas or Brown bear on passive for buffs and what not. Long Battles it doesn’t matter if you aren’t pew pewing like a boss. those that pew pew like a boss go sploot like ice cream on mid july high noon.
Jelly on Krait fractal… seriously, just swap the kitten pet. Again, use all the bloody kitten controls. The flipping pet is not a fire and forget missile. It IS a bloody party of the ranger, an integral part of the ranger, a member of a two man team.
(edited by Moderator)
I guess I’ve never used cast traps with rangers. I’ve always done melee so I am setting as I approach to drop right at there feet. There in lies my ignorance, it would be nice if they just gave spirits the bonus health off the bat and set this as a trait instead so its on par with traps or deployed similar to traps.
It would just really screw with my combat style if I always had to ground target them instead of doing them on the fly.
it could get kind of hairy because i summon them on the run as I circle the battle field while my wolf tanks.
I like the idea of ground targeting but they would have to alter the animations so that it can still be used on the run. I am not standing around waiting for the thing to go off, cast times are too long to stand in melee risking interrupts.
Good before better now. Our last two patches have done a lot to strengthen the ranger. The big one this last patch was making LB more effective at range and making pets more reliable in PvP.
Wilderness Survival Master minor trait. Useful bonus, the 2 secs bonus doesn’t do a whole lot for the Ranger who spends most of it in dodge animation. Its primary and most useful aspect I have found is that it actually benefits the pet more. It allows the pet to tank through some painful AoE attacks. This is your pets dodge roll folks, use it wisely.
It also helps that you already have bonus endurance regen going into this line so you will already be able to dodge more often. Use them often and use them wisely for you and your pet.
My Norn wants her pet Moose
sea turtles
Warg would be fun too.
I wouldn’t be opposed
I utilize Healing Spring, melee is really easy to fight inside entire duration is all the condition removal I typically need.
Signet of the Wild, good for ranger as it allows to sources of Regen at once and Pet will be recieving three sources of regen making it godly (I am heavy healing traited through runes, cleric jewlery, and maxed BM line).
Signet of Stone I’ve been using for the few times i need to stretch out my pets life between pet swaps. Thinking of swapping for Stone Spirit as I rarely get any use out of it and I’ve been running more dungeons as of late and want to bring more utility to the group.
Sick’em and RaO. Swap to sword/horn pop RaO, Horn 4 and sword auto. In a matter of seconds your pet will be at 25 stacks of might (max allowed). Pop Sickem swap to GS and GS 5. Next pet attack does 50% extra on top (drakes raven f2 are great for timing with GS 5). Really nice Burst combo.
Debating swapping that combo for elite spirit and another spirit for group utility in dungeons. Burst combo is great for PvP and PvE champs but in dungeons whenever you would utilize it the burst will do little to actually expediate the battle. I prefer survibility for dungeons as I typically act as group support tank with my GS.
Signet of Wild I will keep, because again I and my Pet becomes Gods with all the regen.
Pets: Fern Hound for Regen Howl when I am stretching for time, and Alpine Wolf (purely cosmetic for my Norn). That is what I typically run for PvE Dungeons and WvW roaming. I’ll swap to passive Moas when I zerg or Devourers when facing Epic battles that melee cannot survive in (also why I pack the Long Bow in my Pack).
I’ve debated using trap but I’ve enjoyed focusing around my pet and have done so to great success. Since I am not traited at all in condi outside of default trait line it packs little extra punch. Water field is typically the only field I need.
I see where you are going with the fire field fire armor. I just get better use out of face tanking and rolling most everything that can’t keep up with my regen and mobility (when I need regen to catch up).
(edited by DaisyRogers.6837)
I’ve had great luck partnering my BM tank build ranger with a condi thief. I kitten off and hold aggro while he melts things down with AOE bleeds and caltrops. Most trash melts instantly and champs are also a breeze.
Haven’t had a chance to run in WvW but when we do we will running small raids on camps and what not. Ranger shines best here as pets are more viable then in zerg slug fests and sieges.
I tried greatsword+sword before and I have to say it’s not very viable. First of all, going into a fight without a ranged weapon is not a good idea. If you’re low on health and wait for your healing skill to recharge you just stand there awkwardly and can’t contribute anything to the fight.
You are failing to take into account that while you back out your pet is still tearing the living Jesus out of your enemies. As a ranger you are always contributing damage (really nice when you are rezzing stupid glass kitties).
that being said, I run a BM tank build so I rarely have to retreat and when I do it is for the 5 seconds I need to get Healing Spring back up, I can keep regen up 100% uptime, not including the regen from Signet of Wild which I also have. After backing out I swoop back in as if I never left. GS/S is extremely viable for rangers and I’ve rocked it from lvl 35-80.
edit: I will clarify and say that I carry a Long Bow in my pack on standby for those fights where melee gets chewed to pieces or is counter intuitive for dungeon instance. Also handy when I feel like being a zergling.
I run GS/S Horn with a 0|0|30|10|30 build.
I swap to S Horn for bursts when RaO is up as well as supply boons to nearby allies. GS is primary for its huge defensive benefits. Pro Tip sword becomes much more powerful when auto is turned off, you can leap and slash where you please without being locked out of your dodge.
0/0/30/10/30 pack toughness on armor and healing on jewelry. Healing Spring. Get Signet of Wild for passive regen as quickly as possible. Your pet will become insanely tanky and dish incredible damage all the while you remain tough as nails.
There have only been two champs I have not been able to solo. I Solo most [group] events. Important since most none end game zones are fairly sparce in population.
I found BM build far more survivable in long fights than trap condi build. Its stupid some of the stuff I’ve survived.
I went Dwayna (at least that is what I think I’ve got going) the bonus regen duration ontop of the one from nature magic means I can keep regen up 100% with healing spring. Combine with Signet of the Wild and you have a brilliant attrition build that takes hard core burst to take out or constant stacking poisons, which are pretty easy to clear for ranger.
make sure you die on the pavement?
JK, they did a temporary stop gap that honestly made it quite powerful when it works, they still need to figure out slopes and what not.
I played BM Tank all the way to 80 for my second ranger. Holy cow it was so much easier then condi trap build for lvling.
The amazing thing about ranger is that through your pet you can still do pretty substantial damage while you focus purely on defense, regen, and healing. There have only been two champs i have been forced to retreat from (not defeated) and most group events I have soloed.
Final build was 0|0|30|10|30. Get regen bonus, healing spring, and BM bond, and which ever signet grants regen. I have healing runes on my armor now, cleric jewelry, and vital/tough/power armor/weapons. It makes for a pretty sturdy bunker build while keeping DPS via pets which are also pretty sturdy (wolves). I’ve been designated tank the last couple dungeon runs I’ve done.
Go away, it tickled before and I actually lost healing rate whenever I activated it because it canceled my own heal going on. It is pretty spot on now.
I was having a blast with ranger prior to update. Now I am plain out pleased.
Yes there is still some work to be done tweaking things. But both of our latest patches have been huge boons to Ranger.
I am Beast Master Build FYI, so pet survivability has never really been an issue for me. And I melee, so if my pet is getting smashed so am I typically. I press return whenever I need to escape, works like a charm most instances and gives me the few secs I need to swap. Short pet cooldowns on swap are also a huge plus for pet survivability.
Within wilderness survival at 15pts you get 2s protection on dodge roll. This is meant more for your pet then for the ranger. (already have increased endurance regen at this point). Pop off a dodge roll whenever your pet is about to eat AoE (since I melee, its when I am about to get eaten by AoE anyways so it is quite nice).
Ranger was dangerous before, now we are awesome. Looking forward to them working out some of the other builds to bring more to the table, looking at you spirits.
After finally learning to play ranger with the pet as a partner and not a utility (This final attempt is my 4th birth of the ranger), I really can’t get into any other profession now. I love my dynamic duo and I feel so lame running around as anything else. I’ve attempted everything, just seems so vanilla with out my little buddy.
(It helps that I am a pet lover, they are quite powerful when you utilize them properly)
I want my Moose
I will give you my perspective, I play with both GS and Sword/Horn and switch regularly between the two in combat.
GS is what I typically have out as it requires less micro managing and the auto evade is great for mob fighting. In PvE you can actually get it to sync with Enemy attacks to go off everytime they attack. Just toss in a #2 from time to time to keep it in sync and you will be laughing at Champs in no time. The #4 is amazing for closing on ranged when #3 is on cooldown and the #5 comes with a bonus with pets next hit does 50% more damage.
Sword after watching videos and experimenting with it, it is extremely mobile weapon especially if you take auto target off and auto attack. The amount you bounce around makes it really hard for enemies to pin you down. The #1 chain stacking might is also great with pets especially when paired with RaO and Horn #4 you can get 25 stacks of might up on you pet in a short time. I then Swap to GS and #5 and watch my pet get an insane hit (if I lined it up right with its attack chain for its big hit attack, paired with raven f2 which you can time is godly).
I pack the LB in my sack for when I know that there is no way I am getting into melee and back out alive. They are both extremely powerful weapons. My general experience is for general defensive survival play the GS is my go to. If I want to switch up and apply more pressure to my targets and can forgo defense (single target 1v2 etc.) I switch to the sword/horn. Sword/horn is also my swap when I want to turn my pet Super Sayan with RaO.
I do believe you are having fun but a ranger’s role especially in dungeons is to dps from a distance. That’s all they can do actually…all the “support” builds even the one with the spirits is quite weak and does not compensate for the loss of dps
Wrong, I am group tank with my Ranger and pull it off quite well. Actually I am tank support healer for my group and pull it off quite well.
To the OP, I am glad you have found a build that you enjoy and provides you with the roles that you desire to play, and even ways to improve upon them in play style. Ignore all the nay sayers who try to pidgeon hole classes into Trap spec or go home. A class is only as pidgeon holed as you let it be, and believing as such will only garuntee to be so as you will never experiment outside of it.
My favorite experience?
My entire career as a Ranger I can only remember two instances I’ve had to run from a champion fight, Orr is included (not talking World Bosses). The rest I have soloed or had some bum join in just as I was about to gank it. I honestly can’t remember the last time i had support during a Group Event a (accomplish most unless enemies are spawning too quickly for me to make progress).
Rangers are unique in that they can trait heavy into armor and defense without losing too much offensively. Thankfully the Pet is not tied to ranger stats. BM I have found to be the ultimate build for PvE. PvP starts running into issues because of pathing issues (which devs are working on), but there are ways to mitigate this. WvW I stick to small group raids when ever I play it.
But yeah, I love the independence of the ranger while at the same time supplying awesome support in groups (whenever I manage to stumble across one). And I do love the pet, I feel so naked playing other classes without it, it is a mechanic I have come to love bugs and all. I like team play, and as a ranger I get it even when I am solo. Many of your weapon skills are meant to compliment the pet as well. It is a One Team one fight for me and my wolves.
This is exactly what I use point allocation anywho. Didn’t actually look at build. One of the things I’ve discovered that have helped my pets tremendously is the 2 secs of protection on dodge roll. I use it all the time to keep my pets from being splattered by AoE. The two seconds for the ranger isn’t much as most of it is spent in dodge animation. But for the pet it is a huge buff to survival with 33% damage mitigation, on top of the improved stats from the BM line.
For all the nay sayers who complain about the pets blowing up in AoE, for now this is it for mitigation. Most people I’ve talked too trait around 20 into the line anyway so I know you have it. Use it.
WASD – Movement
Fire – Z
Water – X
Air – C
Earth – V
Weapon – 1-5
Heal – E
Utilities – Shift+1-3
Elite – R
Z-V are the easiest for me to reach all in an organized row so I used that for atunement swapping. Since I swap often it made it easy for me.
Utilities with their cooldowns are used less so Shift+X is that.
So when is the next patch?
It’s been over a month since JonPeters posted here and he hasn’t come back since…
Honestly don’t blame him for not wanting to post anything with the juvenile tantrums thrown and the huge amount of personal attacks levied against him.
Honestly… what else would you expect?
Agreed with Jay and Sleepy.
Also, if you’re running with less than a full BM build, I would really not recommend using a feline or bird pet since they’re really squishy. Instead, consider a canine (Wolf, Alpine Wolf, or Krytan Drakehound, not Hyena). They don’t look like a heavy dps pet from their stats, but they have a fast attack speed with a short attack animation that allows them to land a lot of hits. They also bring some good utility with their cripple, knockdown, and CC F2 ability.
Hyena only gets its max effect after its f2. It is incredible in PvP as you now have two pets tossing around CCs instead of just one. It takes both hyenas to equal the damage of one of the other cannines.
It sounds like you play a ranged version of what I do (I go swinging melee). I use tough/vitality/power armor/weapons and cleric tough/power/healing jewelry. I also have 30 in BM to maximize healing potential and give my pet more survivability as it does what it does.
I also use 30 in WS to improve toughness and cash in on the reduced damage when you get low (awesome for zerg fighting as it gives you a chance to rotate to the back and heal up). 10 into Nature Magic for improved regen uptime. I have Runes of Dwayna for more healing and regen duration. I can keep regen up with 100% uptime. Combined with rune of the wild passive and it becomes really tanky.
I likewise run around and heal all the glass kitties when I do dungeon runs WvW. The armor health and regen gives you a good bit of survivablity as you rez and you rarely have to worry about dying unless you find yourself out of position.
Swoop, I feel like Yoda as i leap from victim to victim. Also fun to piss zergs off as you go flying in a mere second out of range from all their attacks and watching on the animations stop just behind you as you continue to flee. Eagle animation is sweet to boot.
GS Block/Counter attack, great pre-buff epic post
crossfire, I enjoy the positional aspect of the effect. What i wish is that all autos would provide some sort of condi on flanking, and that your pet would get a flanking effect on its auto. It would force opponents to work more to keep us at their front and actually take our pets into account. It would also reinforce the mobility aspect of our class.
Nah, bears are the sturdiest; they’re the tanky ones, with massive toughness and more importantly, a skill that gives them regen and another that lets them ignore damage for 6 seconds.
Drakes are good for clobbering groups
Dogs are good crowd control I find; the howls cripple/fear/ect and they can do a KD pounceI hope you don’t misunderstand me, I’m not really arguing your point Daisy, I’m just saying if you want something to take a walloping, the bears are definitely the pet to use. The arctodus with it’s bleeding F2 is the more offensive orientated one if you want a bit more damage from them.
Good call, I probably should have clarified more, see my above suggestions for a balance between damage and survivability. Bears are straight up beasts for tanks especially when traited. I swapped out bears when I took a more tanky build as I needed to crank out more DPS on the pet end to compensate and bear simply wasn’t dropping targets fast enough. Awesome though when you want to front load damage to your ranger.
If you want to maximize your damage you really need to utilize the pet to its fullest potential. Your damage is built around it. I tend to favor less squishy pets because they stay up the longest (I love me some hounds). If you want more damage I suggest anything but bears. Devourers, drakes, and wolves tend to be the sturdiest with their higher toughness and if you are traited into healing passive pet and have signet of wild it will last a good long while.
Keep your pet alive and your DPS will stay up. Your pets go down, your DPS goes down with it.
If you want to see your real DPS you need to add pets damage and your damage together. comparing our weapons straight up to other classes is pointless because you are missing a major portion of our damage (yes warrior weapons do more, but they also do not force enemies to fight two targets at once).
Spirits give their passives to everyone in range. What I did notice is when someone else dropped the same spirit, I would get 2 buffs(1 each each from both spirits).
Good to know, I forget where I heard it from and it bummed me out. At least it shares. with all or at least 5.
Going to have to definitely play with this some more. Use GS ands Sword and it was more a swap to if I was being ignored and wanted to buff up pet somemore. Was alway wary of switching off auto and losing some of the dps but seeing all the mobility really helps my build out.
Lose internal cooldown and most spirits will be spot on for effect if they are proccing often and even more so traited. As it stands the effects are lack luster with how often they trigger (dead often before second pulse) and spirits really function as nothing more than second rate trigger detonation traps.
Also move the trait for spirit walking down the chain to first tier, its not worth using spirits until then and by then most rangers have already settled into a different build.
Also heard Spirit passive only targets one person (need confirmation)? If that is the case then these things are useless in a support build.
Less squishiness is always a plus.
I would be greatly saddened if they toss out the damage the pet has. The Ranger will be in a completely different situation once they get Pet AI sorted out on moving targets. Our DPS will be where it is supposed to be. If you want to get your pet to respond better apply more CC and kite in a fashion that leads your opponents into the snapping jaws of your pet.
Improved Pet Toughness, I could see it being tweeked a bit but they need to be careful. A BM pet is about as survivable as any playable profession, it gets one shotted in all the same instances that a player gets one shotted in regards to bosses. If you invest in wilderness survival you get a trait for protection on dodge rolls for you and the pet. It is only 2 secs but it provides a hefty dose of mitigation for pets. If they give them too much extra toughness the BM pets will be approaching unkillable (wouldn’t complain but most PvE content would become a joke then, most PvE content is already a joke as a BM ranger).
I will say that ranger with its current class mechanic will never be Ranged King, especially in WvW zerg fighting and seige. Our DPS needs the pet (and I believe it is an awesome mechanic and why I have fallen in love with my ranger). When in comes to WvW ranger functions best as a roamer and small party raids on secondary targets (supply lines, camps, reinforcements, etc.) where it can utilize the pet to the fullest potential, or playing more of a support role in zerg fights (what i have gathered in my play as a ranger).
I Tank PvE dungeons for the group I run with using Ranger. 0/0/30/10/30 GS/Sword&Horn. I have Power/Vit/Tough Armor and weapons and Tough Power Healing Jewelry. Runes of Dwayna on Armor and Sigils of Water on Weapons.
It tanks really well and I can keep regen with 100% uptime. My pet obviously is primary DPS and helps me with tanking as I often swap aggro with it. Run Dual Canines mostly (Fern and Alpine). Signet of Wild (extra source of regen), Signet of Stone (mostly to keep pet up if I am begging for a few more secs to swap, free tough doesn’t hurt), and Sick’Em (Makes good burst if you can get 25 stacks of might on pet through RaO, combined with GS#5 and you can get some good burst out of the pet).
The nice thing with the build is that I can rez people while keeping DPS up through the Pet.
You switched from 0/0/20/20/30? (yes, I recognize you from the Guru forums, lol: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/74991-gs-tank-pet-build/)
One and the Same lol.
I did, In PvE I rarely get down low in health to benefit from last 10 in nature magic and when I am I am usually healed up again so my pet rarely benefits from the bonus DPS. So I opted for the full 30 in survival. Now I take reduced damage at 25% health to stretch out my life and pets until my next heal is up. More bang for the buck and my build becomes that much tankier. The extra damage reduction paired with a few well aimed dodge rolls granting protection and I’ve escaped a couple close calls that would have otherwise been me a gonner.
I should probably update that on GW2GURU
I Tank PvE dungeons for the group I run with using Ranger. 0/0/30/10/30 GS/Sword&Horn. I have Power/Vit/Tough Armor and weapons and Tough Power Healing Jewelry. Runes of Dwayna on Armor and Sigils of Water on Weapons.
It tanks really well and I can keep regen with 100% uptime. My pet obviously is primary DPS and helps me with tanking as I often swap aggro with it. Run Dual Canines mostly (Fern and Alpine). Signet of Wild (extra source of regen), Signet of Stone (mostly to keep pet up if I am begging for a few more secs to swap, free tough doesn’t hurt), and Sick’Em (Makes good burst if you can get 25 stacks of might on pet through RaO, combined with GS#5 and you can get some good burst out of the pet).
The nice thing with the build is that I can rez people while keeping DPS up through the Pet.
Bumming around with classes and things I noticed that thief gets some fun bonus’s on each weapon for attacking out of stealth, for utilizing one of the class mechanics to its full potential.
Ranger seems to be based around flanking and working with your pet to attack enemies from two directions at once, to overwhelm your opponents. There is a trait that gives bonus damage on flanking, and SB has a bonus when flanking, a little something extra.
My thoughts were why isn’t this done for all our weapons. Our class is built around mobility and getting behind our enemies, why is it that only one weapon rewards us for it?
My thoughts are to add a bonus condition to each auto attack for each weapon which procs upon flanking. The code for figuring out flanking is already in the game courtesy of SB.
I’m one that definitely needs to work on my specs much better.
I play mostly WvWvW, and feel like I always need to have the long bow primarily equipped. I was doing sword/torch combo, but unfortunately gave up the torch for the war horn speed boost that you need just to keep up in a zerg.
The long bow has great uses in WvW but again the damage seems really low, as do pretty much all of our weapons. If you are focusing on the needs of a long bow all of your other abilities such as traps and pets are useless, especially in castle warfare, so you’re kind of kittened from that aspect.
I guess a huge portion of our usability is supposed to come from the traps and pets…? But those require you not be ranged, and even those have such little damage they are no deterant for anyone coming after you – i’m thinking the pets are more of a flag TO attack you.
If I’m solo and get attacked it’s usually over for me. Doesn’t matter if you drop all your traps on them, have the pet hitting them, even do the knock back shot to get some range on them they just keel you fast, or just try running away with every speed buff or snare trap on you… forget about it.
If you are playing lvled up to 80 than chances are you will lose every 1v1 or close to it you enter. Rangers actually do better outside the zerg as it is there we can see our full potential come to fruition. There no longer is the AoE fest to blow your pet up so you are free to maximize your damage. Move for you pet, force your opponent into your pet, CC your opponent, do whatever is necessery to spoon feed your enemies into the mouth of your pet.
Again though, if you are playing lvled up, you cannot compete with a lvl 80 maxed out roamer looking to gank the lowbies straggling behind the zerg.