Guild Wars 2

for the propose of map completion

Ranger
Pro’s
Pets
GS#3, MH S#2, SotH (gap closes and speed increases)
Pets
our down state (pet rez) means that we rarely need to run back from a way point
Pets
we can use our pets to distract things that we need to commune with
Pets

Con’s
you need to remember to press 1 before going afk
ugly trench coats

thief
Pro’s
none

Con’s
your playing a thief
ugly trench coats

If all you are doing is map completion rangers pretty much win at doing this and alot of that is due to the pet. Oh and don’t use a bear to tank use a cat and you tank for it, if you really need a tank pet use a drake as it actually fights back.

TL;DR: map compleation takes a long time so play the charter that has the nicest bum, as you are going to be staring at it for quite some time

Prysin.8542:

Glassbow – hard to play, but massive rewards.

it my not be the most effective build, but it is one of the most fun to play.

I love it when you come across an opposition glassbow ranger and you do the GS#4 salute to each other

Prysin.8542:

Eggyokeo.9705:

Prysin.8542:

Eggyokeo.9705:

jcbroe.4329:

Eurantien.4632:

Yes. Every time I see a ranger on the other team I think “free win”.

And here I thought I was the only one lol.

You are not the only one

I have that feeling whenever i see a warrior + ranger on other team. Free kills for sure.

Warriors are absolutely free kills. i like seeing thief’s in the opposition because it’s funny watching them keel over and die when my pet dog farts.

glassbow – 3 to 4 autos and thief is a goner…. it never fails to amuse me that one

I do enjoy seeing a thief lying on the ground before they even make to the circle that your capping, the only problem is if you kill them to far away you have to leave the circle to go stomp them, I normally just continue auto attacking them.

Prysin.8542:

Eggyokeo.9705:

jcbroe.4329:

Eurantien.4632:

Yes. Every time I see a ranger on the other team I think “free win”.

And here I thought I was the only one lol.

You are not the only one

I have that feeling whenever i see a warrior + ranger on other team. Free kills for sure.

Warriors are absolutely free kills. i like seeing thief’s in the opposition because it’s funny watching them keel over and die when my pet dog farts.

jcbroe.4329:

Eurantien.4632:

Yes. Every time I see a ranger on the other team I think “free win”.

And here I thought I was the only one lol.

You are not the only one

I ran travelers runes from its current incarnation until about 3 days ago (changed to pirate runes, that bird).

On top of what durzilla said there is agility training as well. travelers runes are great as you get boon duration and and condi duration as well.

i have a full set of wupwup weapons, armor and trinkets very useful for wvw havoc. but for just 1 weapon i would make it a short bow

hears a quick build that I sometimes use as my roaming group gets near to a full party, it has a bit of CC, some aoe healing, aoe condi cleanse, aoe rez and some aoe vigor, might, swiftness and fury,

sick em is a handy skill to have in a small group stops any trolly thifes from stalking you all over the map, but it can be swapped for what ever you need at the time (SotH, SoR or spirit)

You could also change invigorating bond for spotter

use what ever gear you have, power or condi

TurtleDragon.3108:

I think DEKeyz mentioned somewhere 4/5/5 is the best personal dps spec (though it comes at the cost of untraited spirits). 4/5/5 is also what the rangers in my guild use to solo Arah.

what traits do you pick up in WAS trait line for this? VI and X?

good thing about these sort of builds is that you can check you opposition comp and quickly change a trait or 2, eg if you opposition is full of necros and engis you can change bark skin for ep and such

jcbroe.4329:

You can shortbow all day in PvP and WvW.

I do, my favorite weapon, its not like being killed by a ranger is bad enough but rainbow pony paws :o

i wish they would update the long bow, i want to use my kudzu more.

Savoy.6824:

I know, Im weird, cause ill put in the work to level a character but I dont want to change up a build and waypoint on a character I already have. But leveling characters is fun for me and I like playing fashion wars 2 as well.

If you are just making a farmer only toon, that you will leave in the flavor of the month farming location. Why not just make another guard, they are the best choice for that purpose.

I’m not saying don’t make a ranger, rangers are one of the more fun classes to play. but if you want a pure mob farmer use a make a second guard

Fluffball.8307:

TurtleDragon.3108:

The guide on dulfy’s website is pretty decent and should probably be linked instead of mine:

Not to toot your horn (I have a wife after all) but I think your guide is a lot easier to read. Hers provides some additional info, but you simplified it to get it the point across.

what he said

though it might worth putting in a link in you op. either way what ever gets more people playing appropriate build is a good thing

i don’t think that you need all of them all at once

you do not need piercing arrows and RtW as one is firing arrows of in to a group the is making sure that you hit that 1 moving target

eagle eye vs spotter (i know you didn’t mention it) one is just buffing the lb the other is “I’m going to be spending some time using my close range swap weapons”

you can have quick draw if you want it and i don’t see how sotbm is mandatory for playing longbow

madassassin.1604:

This map pretty much ruined WvW though! Nobody really plays the real WvW maps anymore because you can just grind on this map.

It maybe time for you to change servers my friend, there are plenty of people still playing wvw maps

Chokolata.1870:

It just makes for unsatisfactory gameplay. *

I think this comment somes it up the best.

I get very little enjoyment fighting a thief when roaming and they are the majority of the available fights, participating in a fight where you are just waiting for you opponent to make a mistake is not rewarding, other classes i can often find away to get upper hand, but a thief if i get an upper hand they just stealth and run away and come back 2-5min later and and try again only to run away.

With other classes if i lose i can safely assume that they are a better player then me, or i did something silly. With a thief i can not be sure whether they are a better player then me or that it was just there class the carried them.

in sPvP i have no problem with thiefs as stealth can be a hindrance, but in roaming there is no down side to stealth.

You pretty much have the right idea, if you look through the forum for anything titled 6/0/2/6/0 you will find different people option and there is a few ways of going about it.

this build is a good stock standard starting point. Change you amulate depending on desired tankyness a lot you survivability comes from traits and game play

i use this build

Jamais vu.5284:

Eggyokeo.9705:

I have to agree, the map is fantastic it just a pity about the people that use it.

So you think if you swapped the current users out for a new megaserved bunch like a set of batteries the map would suddenly not incentivize karmatrainining anymore?

Arenadrones will go to any length to justify major flaws with the game I swear.

I don’t really understand what you said.

but why not just take away or reduce karma and loot incentives.

A least now we have tangible evidence as to why the rewards for WvW should not be increased

I was not saying the ranger is better, nothing is better then a staff guard spamming 1 (except maybe an arrow-cart in a choke point) i was more rebutting the comment that rangers aren’t good. we are adequate.

I remember that vid

1. boon sharing priority
2. damaged delt
3. what is the benefit of not being in a party?
4. give you some ppl to talk rubbish with while you wait

explanation of 2. some times if you only hit something once you might deal enough damage to class as a tag and get credit for it (MH Axe bounce damage hits like a pool noodle) but if other people in you party hit it as well then you will get credit of the kill.

example go in Grenth’s or beacon 2 do it with out a party then do it with a party you will notice the difference.

if you are going to troll you might as well go all out

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNBMhV6kQFaZxWBxjF4axAHCFrA4dxusXt73tFq6CmcA-TVSDAB+q+je7PAsyvdN/VxTAgX9BYcIAUQJIAnAASB41yI-w

anabasis.7346:

Rangers, on the other hand, lack ranged-low-cd AoE skills.

Main hand axe bounces between 3 foes, tags almost as much as a loot stick. Drakes have and AOE cleave and F2 ability and LB/SB can have piercing arrows and then there is fire sigils

tagging machine

The trick to farming lots of mobs such as Grenths is to make sure that you are in a party and spam tab and 1 with an AOE auto attack.

Fluffball.8307:

If you’re going to pick one, it’s definitely better to be good at sword. If you’re going to be bad at sword, greatsword is easy to be good at and still a great weapon.

This is a very good point, coming someone who has used primarily gs as their defensive/gap closing/escaping alternate weapon set for roaming 1.5 years. Getting use to the main hand sword is not that easy where as going the other way would be a lot easier

I have to agree, the map is fantastic it just a pity about the people that use it.

Fluffball.8307:

Why not both?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Moment_of_Clarity

this is great for lolz and i some times use it for hot join amusement

kiwituatara.6053:

Sword isn’t a good idea if you’re going glass cannon. The SwordAA roots you down and makes it difficult to dodge. Its generally used in PvE on mobs/boss with obvious patterns and animations, but it won’t work as well when used against a player with less predictable movement.

Contrary to popular belief, Sword#2 leap for traveling is barely faster than running in a straight line, and thats only if you’re very good at it. GS#3 is a much better option.

Offhand axe is no good in roaming. Axe#4 hits like a truck and looks good on paper, but it just doesn’t work that well in combat. That being said, its easier to land than than GS#2.

Axe#5 roots you down so its not something you’d want in a glass cannon. Its not a reliable reflect. you’ll have a better time defending yourself with GS#4.

Conclusion: I’d take the GS

I’m going to rebuttal some of this as a lot of the short comings can be over come with practice and a bit of thought and I am currently going through the process of getting better and learning the main hand sword.

The sword AA attack root problems can be reduced by turning AA attack off, also you can break out of the attack chain by weapon swap or LR.

For the sword leap, to me it appears faster because I have a ranger friend that I sometimes roam with and he uses S/D and he is faster then me using gs3 untraited on recharge and travelers runes, be it only a little bit.

off hand axe (and gs2 + 5) hit a lot more often if you use MT, dogs or spiders.

I agree with you statement about Axe5 vs gs4 i don’t use it except in zerging and pve.

my conclusion: take the time to get used to both because playing with the exact same build and weapons all the time is boring.

I’ve always thought of Natures Protection as a anti gank trait, there for when you don’t see them coming, backstab for example.

when you are in the fight you have to rely on evades, S/D or kiting SB and vigor.

i aggree other people have there own way of doing things and there reasons.

Omnitek.3876:

I have a question about this build. You take 2 in marksman for keen edge at 75% health on a 45sec cd instead of taking EB or Barkskin? I just don’t see that trade off being worthwhile. Imo, you can’t have too much condi clear, but if you do think it is too much, why not grab barkskin for the pesky burst class that shows up on occasion? Am I overlooking something obvious?

A fair question, a bit of a taking something vs give some something up type of scenario

Keep in mined that in this build keen edge clears 2 condis and proc’s fury (more crit chance of bleed proc’s) form SotF as well as bleeds every 36s against foes at 75% health or less.

Your main deference against bursty players are ‘natures protection’, MT and s/d. if you want more condi clears you could drop LR for SoR, swap Sigil of agony for purity and use healing spring.

you kinda got to look at you opponets comp before the game starts to make those sort of decisions, each to there own and no build is final i guess.

Pure Heart.1456:

Hi Shoz, I don’t mean to be unkind as such, but you could put in a little effort and look through the available traits and runes here using this site;

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/

Love you work

try this

Reddit Link

There are some pretty nice [and one might be slightly op] new foods in this patch for roamers.

I generally use celestial hybrid bm type builds so the +40% condi duration life steal is going to be pritty solid for me. i typically use omnom pies anyway (cheap and effective) but the condi duration is going to make soft cc’s and poison stronger.

The might on cirts will soild on builds the goes at least 3 (even better 5) in to NM for pet buffs. possible the best choice of the 4/5/0/5/0 frost-spotter pve build?

I could see the power-condi duration being a strong food for slightly tanky 6/0/2/6/0 long bow builds by extending the duration icy sigils, MT and such.

The toughness-boon duration will be good for NV builds and really strong for support Guards

and the Toughness-Regen is a solid replacement for mango pies

thanks for the suggestions,

I have not problem with it being a need more practice thing i just wanted to make sure that was practicing a good way of doing.

think I’m going to practices a few of the different ways of turning with the mouse, i just feels slow at the moment

Cufufalating.8479:

With the exception of bunkering on a point in PvP (and it’s probably not even available in PvP, is it?) I can’t imagine any class has much use for a full set of this. Rangers probably have it best since we could go and pour every trait into buff our pet in every possible way and have it still doing halfway decent damage

was think the same thing you could do this as something like 0/2/0/6/6 Sotf (or NV) and invigorating bond and go duel bird and wepone set designed for cc.

though why you wouldn’t just do this with clerks, Pvt, apoth or dire i’m not sure (i use my celestial gear with this)

I haven’t had a chance to play yet, but this is available? whats the primary stat?

to me this seem like a good stat to blend with for example you could mix and match this set with zerker to get a celestial feel without condi damage (currently we need to use a mix of zerker, knights, val, soldiers and calervers.

if ascended accessories are/become available i would proberly spend some commendations and at least get trinkets to mix with my full set of celestial to add more defense if i want to, i already do this with zerker accessories

hears quick description of commonly use pets for pvp

dogs: in general are our cc pet is it has a cripple and a knock down on 40s timer. one thing to note is the dog will use the knock down when available so you can get an intentional knock down when you pet swap.

Wolf: this is proberly the most used pet for pvp it has fear as its f2 ability which you can find many uses for.

Drakehound: this is hand like all dogs and has an AOE immobilization

Birds: are dps pet that have a burst, they inflict vulnerability and have a skill the grants swiftness in combat (i think it get use on recharge) but does not damage so they may look like there lagging.

Raven/White Raven: single target spike pet its f2 ability is a hard hitting blind

eagle/hawk: have a condi damage f2 skill on a short cool-down

owl: (my favorite pet) has a hard hitting f2 skill the causes chill

Cats: a consistent damage dps pet that inflicted vulnerability and bleeding. has a slow animation the may miss if you opponent is moving freely

Jaguar: this pet has a stealth as it f2 ability which increases its crit chance and make it harder to kite. this pet was a staple in beast master builds abit over a year ago.

Drakes: this is our AOE pet the has a blast finisher that can be use in a way similar to the dogs KD.

River Drake: has a hard hitting AOE f2 that is handy in a team fight in the center point.

some other pets are use for niche reasons/builds.

Common pet choices for non beast master builds are Wolf/Drakhound or Wolf/River Drake.
Common pet choices for beast master build are Wolf/Bird, Wolf/Jaguar or Duel birds

If you are playing a beast master build (particularly if using a cat) you need to have some cc (soft or hard) in you build so Main had Axe, sword, Dagger, short bow, traps and muddy terrain.

it’s not the initial escape that i have a problem with, I am used to turning and clicking off in the distance from heavy use of the gs in roaming.

it’s the keeping it up when I’m being chased that i have trouble on the second or third rotation i will mess it up and get caught.

i big problem for me is the turnaround button doesn’t work when your holding down right click that is what often cause me grief.

when running between objectives i don’t have to many problems 1 because it does matter if i do and 2. I’m using auto run.

just a general question. For those of you who use a main hand sword in WvW how do you use it to cover distance.

At the moment when i use it, i have turnaround bound to ‘z’.
So i press ‘z’ press ‘2’ press ‘z’ again and press ‘2’ again, some time even throughing in the occasions LR.

While it works i find i can’t reliably execute it in a panic to escape, i can usually get it as a disengage (as i don’t have to worries about the first spin) but while I’m running away i will eventually mess it up.

Does any one have a better way or do i just need to practice more?

I’m not a fan of longbow in a zerg fight i find the safest place to stand and the place the yields the most bags is right on top of the commanders head. I prefer to put survival above all else as the most detrimental thing you can do is rally a heap of down opponents. that being said often use this build

why not shorten your cast to 30min instead of an hour so it doesn’t seem so daunting to find things to talk about.

hear are some topics that could last the full 30 mins or 15mins
- Our pve meta build of 4/5/0/5/0 why don’t we just use 6/6/x/x/x bearbow?
- 1v1’s ranger v’s X 15min for each of the 8 classes
- tips on wvw roaming as a ranger builds and what you can achieve
- tips on how to play top tier pvp builds spirts/trapper/bunker
- spend 5 mins discussing each weapon
- spend 5 mins dicussing each weapon combo (even the not so common one)
- Ranger in dungeons/fractals
- Underwater combat

I like spiders for melee builds for there ranged CC it helps stop ppl for kiting you all day, if you went spiders it would be a good idea drop sharpen edges for pet condi duration in Marks.

Do you really need bark skin in this build as you have alot of evade. you could take WS down to 2 points for WS skills cool down and use those 4 point elsewhere such as BM for F2 cool down and spider buff or vigor or put in to skirmishing for vigor and/or Pet might or got all the way up in marks for signets and take stone

My view on small group wvw is that the composition is not as important as each players skill and knowledge of there class, so it best not get person to play a class they are less familiar with because you think its a ‘better comp’, but have them play the class they are best at.

well played classes > not so well played ‘ideal’ classes
also, Team in voice comms and working together > then a team not working together

A variety of classes is you best bet, and make sure that you have some AOE soft and hard CC, some AOE damage some, AOE heals and buffs and some high single target damage.

I am also an advocate for Celestial gear on a ranger for wvw roaming and spvp. Alot of the builds i use a have a basic set up

Here is my current favorite bird and short-bow for offense and GS and dog for deference switch “sic-em” to some thing more situational if you can pick your fights

Some other options
Melee-Spider
Full BM bird

there is know reason that you can not use clestial for common builds as well LB-GS or 2/0/6/6/0 bunker

this threads need a bump to the first page (still think it should be sticky-ed)

when i do zerker builds for Roaming or sPvP, I use either Dogs or Spiders. Reason being I don’t need alot of damage form them as i am doing it and the CC from them will help me keep alive abit longer and get more attacks to land.

if you want to go all out glass canon you could use birds and cats.

Nemic.8341:

Piercing arrows mainly because I wanted to tag more enemies in ZvZ fights, but I love both ZvZ & Roaming.

Update Quick question, Superior sigil of earth & Superior sigil of torment, do they stack? Aren’t those in the same sigil tier?

you should not be using the same build for roaming and zvz they are very different beasts.

sigil’s of the same tier are fine it sigil’s the same ‘function’ that don’t work together. Superior sigil of earth will share a cool down with a major sigil of earth but not with a superior(or Major/minor) of torment.

to me short bow is a hybrid utility weapon, that matches whit celestial perfectly. Like alot of our weapons it not just a power weapon or a condi weapon.

One thing to note about the short bow is the high rate of attacks, leading to lots of chances to proc stuff. here is an example of abusing that fact

Rabid 2/2/4/6/0

the thing about a build like this is the it doesn’t not matter how many condi cleanses they have you can still maintain a high bleed stack, and there short bow Auto-Attack (power side of it) does a bit more then tickel

I play in the front-line when i roll with my guild (T1) though i don’t command (have on occasions for short periods when commander goes down or afk)

The build i use is 6/2/6/0/0

Staying alive is first damage is second (as the longer you live the more damage you do). RaO is for stability on initial engagement and signet is stability when needed. Stone is a panic button as is Lightning reflex. axe-wh is for bags and blast finisher and gs is to help keep you alive. Use drakes for and extra blast finisher on pet swap other then that pets a useless

TL;DR roll a warrior for commanding

took me a while to work out how to add pitcures

Pet are the reason i am so attached to this class (well that and i love our weapon skills).

Ive been favoring the owl of late in SPvP and wvw roaming so much fun. almost all of my builds (aside for pve) have at least 4 points in bm just because mighty swap and vigor are so good.

first off, set either your War or Guard as a zerger they are better suited to that task. I use a Warrior.

1. My current build is 2/2/0/6/4 it works for me.

2. For solo roaming, i would pick that class that you most enjoy playing and understand the best. Rangers can do it with the best of them (engineers are very good to).

Leveling a ranger is quite easy.

Up until about level 60ish

Any time you have trait points to spend put them in the beast master line if you can. The first trait you want is either “Mighty Swap” if you are swapping (F4) you pets constantly or “Master’s Bond” if you stay on the same pet. When you get to 4 points get “Rending Attacks”.

Any points that you have left over after you put as much as you can in BM, put leftover points in Marksmanship and Skirmishing. In Marks get “Steady Focus” then “Spotter” in Skirmishing get “Pet’s Prowess” then “Companion’s Might”.

For pets use Drakes and Cats most of the time, drakes are good for multiple mobs and cats a good for single targets. River Drake and Jungle Stalker are good choices.

Weapons either Greatsword and Sword-War horn or Greatsword and Longbow. Spend as much time as you can practicing using 1 hand Sword it’s our heights DPS weapon, the Greatsword is a great weapon for moving around the map and multiple Mobs.

Leveling is a time for learning so make sure you try all the weapons and pets.

After you reach around level 60-70ish start using TurtleDragons [Guide] PvE Meta Ranger as the basis for you setup

pick a few

Susanoo.2586:

We lack effective condi clear, not to mention once again this is a Nature magic tree…………………………..

Natures magic has some of my favorite traits in it, i have trouble deciding on only 2 once i pick SotF