Guild Wars 2

I use Windows Movie Maker, and FRAPs.

Three traps is a bad idea. Mostly because you have no stunbreak…so I’d swap in LR for one of those.

Also, I run hybrid myself (1700 condi dmg, 1900 power with food / buffs). Works quite well.

Yeah, Terromancers are the worst. So many conditions on you at one time…and I have 3 active condition cleanses.

Warrior’s aren’t too bad, we certainly have enough dodges.

Probably because it reinforces the ‘noob ranger’ stereotype. Think about it, they just gave bearbows an ‘I win button’ against bad players. I mean, before Ranger = loot bag no matter what. Now even loot bag Rangers can beat you with one button if you are terrible.

So…rage ensues.

Fair point. TBQH I think both of our usable elites aren’t that awesome though. As you can corrupt RAO and you can stealth out of Entangle, so really its all about timing as you said.

I’d be curious to see a video of this build in action.

I’m with arnon here. For instance, why entangle over RAO? Sure it’s on a low CD because of the trait, but the small condi ticks are going to make it do paper damage.

Also, not a lot of condition removal here. I would think a condi ranger or condi necro would be very hard to fight.

Seriously, this kind of thread pops up every time ranger’s have some sort of advantage. The old ranger’’s remember the crying when our pets could chase you across the BL, when catsassin was a thing, when SB was powerful, etc. etc.

Rapid fire is like the lamest crying yet. To even say that closing the gap is impossible is just dishonest.

Hopefully Anet ignores this crap, as we still do not see any rangers on successful pvp teams. That alone should tell you something.

I wouldn’t call 1H sword a power weapon. It has a cripple and a poison on it, both which would benefit from condi duration. It might work ok in a power build though.

Not traiting in to NM though might make it a bit harder to survive. Along with missing SOTF, you are missing vitality and boon uptime.

It also cripples you (swiftness), blinds you (fury), and depending on when it is used those might stacks turn into weakness really fast.

But yeah, you have to bring something that is going to hit (like birds) to even get the might benefit from RAO. The majority of pets have horrible tracking so you aren’t getting that buildup.

I think it is sub-optimal because of the way the game works. LB is a ‘power weapon’, if you stick that with condition skills or traits you end up losing effectiveness.

This is not to say you can’t hybridize. I myself run with ~1900 power on a condition heavy build (~1750 condition damage in WvW with food / buffs). The problem lies with the weapon itself.

It is sort of like taking torch on a power build. Sure it would function, but you also are not gaining nearly as much as you would by just taking a ‘power weapon’.

We forum users also know how to mess with builds and min/max. The average LB Trapper just throws flame trap or something in with trapper runes, a bear, and a LB.

It is this: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Corrupt_Boon

Have to trait around Entangle to get it to be worth anything. If traited properly it is 48s and removes 2 conditions. Can use it 2.5 times to 1 RAO. RAO also has a long cast time as well and you glow red so everyone knows to avoid you until it goes away.

The stability on RAO is nice. Probably the main reason to use it I guess.

EDIT: Also Corrupt Boon exists. Turns Rampage as One into Die as One…

SB gives access to positional bleeding, poison, an evade, a cripple, and a stun.

Axe gives access to a shotgun bleed, and a chill. It also gives fairly negligible might stacking in 1v1 situations. If you don’t pair it with dagger you do not get an evade or access to poison.

What Tricare may be getting at (albeit in a forward way) is that since LB is currently a ‘meta’ weapon, it gives rise to builds that normally would not see the light of day otherwise.

Such as LB trapper or dual bow. In WvW such builds are often accompanied by bears. Because bears are meta for all the wrong reasons.

Manekk.6981:

Gotejjeken.1267:

Quakeman.9378:

Rangers are good yes, however…

Pew Pew rangers are cancer.

This.

It’s not because they are hard to down or defeat…its because they ALWAYS are running with 2 or more people backing them up. Talking WvW that is.

I despise LB rangers in WvW, because it promotes the ‘no skill’ mentality. I have seen probably 1 in 10 that can legit roam or at least hold their own. The rest…goes like this:

1. Rapid Fire
2. Barrage
3. Hunter’s Shot
4. Run around in a circle while invisible
5. Repeat

That’s right, never pull out the GS I know they have. Just spam LB and collect bags as the people around them do all the work.

Oh and to be somewhat on-topic…yes Rangers are in a lot better place than they have been previously. Could still use buffing here and there (SB for instance). But…I have a feeling Anet’s ‘attention’ will be ‘look staff!’.

Well to be honest if you don’t have to pull out the GS or wichever melee set you use you really shouldn’t or you’d be doing it wrong, the longbow does the most burst damage and it does it while taking the least in almost all cases.

Yes, taking the least amount because the user is standing at 1200+ range behind 4 other people. How again does that help the general population’s view of the class?

It’s ok though, extra money for me in the form of loot bags.

Agreed with Entangle being our Elite trap. Just make it somewhat harder to escape or fix it so you can’t stealth out of it and I’m good.

People used to run S/T and A/D a lot. Not sure if they still do. I used to use MH axe quite a bit, but now I am becoming more fond of my SB.

Tricare.2946:

You didn’t use your entangle enough, stopped after engi fight. Which you didn’t even use it against the thief or engi.

It’s on a 46 second CD, imo use it as an opener or 5-10 seconds into a fight, it will be back up quick and they will have used a condi clear.

It’s unblockable, remember that. That engi was reflecting your shots, should have popped entangle on him while he thinks he’s safe.

Thanks for the advice.

I did actually use it against the thief, they just stealthed out of it and were smart enough to stay out of it. I didn’t use it against the first engi (there is another later) as I felt a little bad for them.

I do use it later against the second engi to better effect. That is an overall better fight, but it seemed more fitting to end the video with.

I also wouldn’t call it anywhere near OP…at least in WvW. I too mostly use it as a condition clear rather than an elite. The rooting and stuff is a bonus, but most people worth anything don’t get trapped in it.

Ironically enough, I find 80% of Rangers getting stuck in it…which makes me sad.

Entangle isn’t that horrible. Just have to be very careful when using it. Although, if RAO wasn’t on such a terrible cooldown I would probably take it over Entangle every time, just for the stability.

I haven’t really tried RAO with Krait runes. It may work a bit better since the root on Entangle kind of messes with torment. Although, it won’t remove conditions and is on that terrible CD…so I’m not really sure.

Jelzouki.4128:

A cooler mechanic than dual longbow would be giving rangers special arrows that serve different purpose i.e fire arrow, etc.

Used to have that in GW1. Was called preparations.

Yeah, they can also stealth out (thief did this). I tried to compensate by bringing Krait runes…so if they walk out or get out by other means than condi-removal, hopefully the torment will stick and still hurt.

Here is a video of my first attempts at really using Entangle while roaming:

http://youtu.be/z8110OTbn2w

Effectiveness seems to vary greatly. That is, either it is quite effective or not effective at all (but at least it removes conditions!).

Gotejjeken.1267:

Please no. I say that because this is what they did with LB and SB. They ‘buffed’ the LB by nerfing the SB range. So knowing ANet they will ‘buff’ the GS by doing something irresponsible to the MH Sword.

mtpelion.4562:

They should nerf Sword damage (it has too much utility for a high damage weapon) and buff Greatsword damage (perhaps at the cost of losing the auto-evade).

For those who think I am crazy with my ‘nerfed SB to buff LB’…maybe now my point is more clear. At least in this case people actually currently use the GS, so such a situation is less likely to happen. And for that I am thankful.

Yeah, they nerfed it because there are two bows and one was the redheaded stepchild since inception. LB was something you saw bearbow hackers use to farm kessex endlessly.

Then we got the ‘animation fix’ and the range nerf, and zero positive updates for the weapon. They have literally ignored it. Is it still useable? Yeah. Is it fair? No.

I seriously wouldn’t put it past a majority of players to run LB on a condi trait setup. Because, LB is a must in WvW (or so they would have you think).

LB just…angers me as a Ranger. Not because it is hard to beat, but the opposite. Now granted I have come across a few good Ranger’s that know how to use it. The rest…the rest all trail someone else and rapid fire you. If you catch them alone they die in just a few seconds.

It’s Anet’s fault for not including swappable skills to begin with. LB must be power and SB must be condi. If you do the opposite you might as well just be afk, as that is how effective you will be.

Solandri.9640:

Gotejjeken.1267:

Please no. I say that because this is what they did with LB and SB. They ‘buffed’ the LB by nerfing the SB range. So knowing ANet they will ‘buff’ the GS by doing something irresponsible to the MH Sword.

That’s just not true. It’s a revised history put forth by those who refused to see anything positive in the changes Anet implemented. Repeating it doesn’t make it true. The June 25, 2013 release notes are as clear as day:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-June-25th-2013

• Long Range Shot: Reduced the aftercast from .5 seconds to .25 seconds. Increased the arrow speed by 15%.
• Rapid Fire: Reduced the initial cast time by .4 seconds. Increased the arrow speed by 15%.
• Point Blank Shot: Increased the arrow speed by 15%.
• Barrage: Increased the cripple duration by 50%.
• Crossfire: Decreased the range to 900.
• Poison Volley: Decreased the range to 900.
• Quick Shot: Decreased the range to 900. Increased the damage by 14%.
• Crippling Shot: Decreased the range to 900. Increased the damage by 14%.
• Concussion Shot: Decreased the range to 900. Increased the damage by 14%. Reduced the aftercast by .25 seconds.

Coincident with SB’s reduction to 900 range, they basically gave Longbow a 20% DPS buff. The autoattack’s rate of fire was reduced from 1.25 sec/shot to 1.00 sec/shot. RF and Barrage were improved as well.

No, there is a reply somewhere here by a dev (and its on one of the streams I believe) that literally says they nerfed SB range to make LB more appealing .

You just reinforced the point. The patch notes are part of making the LB more appealing. If you were indeed around back then you would remember the dev reply about the SB, and also would remember the dev reasoning on why they couldn’t make the LB go farther than it does now or the entire game would break (I’m serious).

FrownyClown.8402:

Fluffball.8307:

A bird is one if not the best pet for leveling. The do the 2nd highest damage and they give you swiftness so you can go explore faster.

which does the highest damage?

IIRC, Jaguar. Cats die too fast for me though, so I do not usually take them.

For WvW I take Wolf/Raven as they provide access to the two conditions I do not have (Fear and Blind). Quickening screech can get a little annoying if you are wanting to kill something fast, but it doesn’t get in the way all that often.

Totbot.4583:

I’d rather they just buffed GS some more instead of changing sword. Let those who enjoy sword’s unique play style keep it while giving those of us who don’t like it a viable alternative.

Please no. I say that because this is what they did with LB and SB. They ‘buffed’ the LB by nerfing the SB range. So knowing ANet they will ‘buff’ the GS by doing something irresponsible to the MH Sword.

EDIT: Also, don’t get me wrong…I see why the thread exists. Most of the game is ‘easy mode’, and when players try MH Sword, it seems utterly broken. It fits ranger perfectly though. Everything is an uphill battle, and if you win…you can say with almost certainty you were better than what you just beat.

Firstly, I can think of PBS as something 99% of the player base HATES to see a Ranger use. Ill effects include…well anything you wouldn’t want KB’d, now gets KB’d way out of range.

As far as the sword, It is like that because of the leap chains. You cannot just cancel out of a leap. It just so happens your ‘overwhelming majority’ thinks everything in the game stands still, and thus gets stuck in a leap animation when that thing eventually moves.

What I am getting at is, spamming in general is bad. Yes, it may have worked in situations such as early dungeon runs where you shove something in a corner and spam at it. That does not mean its good game design. As a result something like the Ranger’s 1H sword suffers…because it punishes you for spamming.

A video would be good.

My biggest problem is if someone closes on you, you have like one evade (shortbow #3).

I take that back, my biggest problem is you have no way to break stun, or immobilize. So let another Entangle using Ranger get within like 900 units of you (SB range) and you are going to be in a lot of trouble. Let any Warrior near you and prepare to eat hundred blades, etc. etc.

Shortbow and Longbow also. If they pop reflection or retaliation you best stop auto-attacking them.

Unless you mean from a PvE standpoint, then yeah, spamming #1 is probably the way to go.

But from a PvP / WvW standpoint, wisely using even the #1 skills is a must.

There is a time to mindlessly spam and a time not to…sometimes you can’t just ‘maximize DPS’ (what I call spam). This is honestly why most other Rangers anger me…it is always ‘maximize DPS’ with every weapon…long bow spam, short bow spam, sword spam….

All the while we disregard the fact that those chain attacks from the sword will lock on to your target (that is, the sword does NOT root you). This makes them excellent for chase down. Somehow I’m expecting the ‘OMG but it threw me off a cliff!’ reply now.

Maxwell.7843:

Faux.1937:

The game is gold based tho… he made 1100g.

he can buy full sets of ascended armor.

He made 1100g from 6 weeks of intensive farming.
Of course a thousand gold is a lot, but let’s put things into context. He spent a lot of time doing this.

Also, through normal playing most players don’t come even close to having that many bags of loot. So you gotta look it that way too: if I play normally, what are my chances of getting some nice loot?

I think that a lot of players that complain about loot, do so because they feel that playing “normally” is not rewarding in terms of loot.
While poor loot is something that right now doesn’t bother me that much (I think I never posted in threads about unrewarding loot), I can understand these players’ point of view.

Osteg.8915:

Maxwell.7843:

How many hours did it take to open them all and sort everything out?

I spent over 10 hours on opening them all.

Thanks for answering, and thanks for taking the time to conduct this research, with the drops on the blog and all.

naiasonod.9265:

For over hour’s worth of my salaried time, which is roughly $17.50/hour, 24/7/365, I could buy as of the time of this posting one $15 gem card for most of an hour’s worth of my employed time. That’s 1200 gems.

To buy 1200 gems with gold at this moment, I would have to spend 187g 20s.

To convert those 1200 gems to gold, I would make almost an even 120g.
[…]

Can’t argue with maths.
But not all players have disposable income (students, young adults, etc). Moreover, the parallel is bit flawed because playing is something people do in their free time, working has timetables: you can’t phone your boss at 3am and say “hey boss, imma work 1hour now, send me 15€, kthanks gnite”.
So “time is better spent working rather than farming” is not an absolute rule, because the time you spend farming cannot be always converted in time spent working.

Some people can find farming relaxing or fun: in that case it makes sense to do it.

I have to agree with naiasonod here…as you only live once. If you are a young adult / student, then the time IMO is better spent studying rather than farming. This gives you a lot of disposable income later. If you are an adult and have a job, then chances are you have more taking time away from gaming than giving it, so that time you must spend at work could be used to speed up your game time.

Really though, they hit the nail on the head with the point about anet and farming. There is zero reason for anet to make farming lucrative, especially when the game is pay once and has a cash shop.

So if one finds farming relaxing and has the time to do it, so be it. However, it most certainly is akin to walking everywhere instead of taking some form of modern transportation.

Don’t mindlessly mash the AA and you will be fine.

Yes, the first song is quite different from what it was. But its ‘youtube approved’ and actually turned out hilarious IMO.

Also, thanks for the tip. I still have a bit of trouble with thieves, and I will definitely try the sword #2 tip.

As for the ele…I did actually run back after I stopped recording, because I realized that he didn’t attempt to help his world mate (if he did I may not have won that first one). We tussled a bit and separated as the rest of the world zergs joined in.

Still, I am trying not to run fron 2 v 1’s now. Will see if I can win / record a few of those in the future as I improve. I am also trying out Entangle due to the low c/d and condi remove…should have some footage of that in the future also.

Edited. Please see opening post.

Ugh. Sometimes I really hate big corporations. Will alter the music and re-upload…

Here is another roaming video…with mostly the same build as last time, however some usage off offhand axe:

http://youtu.be/xs_wYP-Darw

Brown Bear. You need to use Brown Bear.

Wow, a topic about Ranger being OP. Seriously.

Anyway, LB is a terrible weapon IMO. But fear not, it will be replaced in a few months by the staff XD.

Yeah, GW1 had way more tracks. Different for each area.

NPE is just preparing you for when your actual pet goes MIA while the enemy is beating the crap out of you.

Yeah you will definitely need to use this in a group setting. The lack of stun breaker would seemingly hurt as well.

Harnel.6810:

Gotej, in theory every class is a support focused class. Spirit ranger, shout warrior, well necro, and others. chances are, we’re looking at something entirely different from a simple and basic support. Furthermore, guardians have different armor art, abilities, and are going to be getting a specialization all their own. There’s no real chance of stepping on toes here.

Really hope you are right. From what we know so far I am still skeptical. Staff seems so boring. Not to mention if they want to go different it seems they have to go back towards the original Monk concept. Healing Monk was the most boring job to have.

And yes, I realize they wanted to get rid of the Monk and have everyone be able to heal. Also the Monk concept seems more fitting for a Guardian specialty….I guess I’m just trying to fit what this all means like everyone else.

I still go back to the staff though. That is the most uninteresting weapon to me…just be the buff guy why everyone else gets to have fun. I hope I am wrong.

I have a very bad feeling this is going to be ranger / guardian, and nothing more. Colin said the words ‘almost like a secondary profession’, so why would they invent new mechanics?

I also have a bad feeling that this will either make guardians obsolete, or make no one play druid. Why would you need two support focused classes?

It is somehow really odd to read a topic like this. I sometimes forget not everyone is level 80….

It is true though, a good thief has to make a mistake to lose. Mostly because of the disengage factor with stealth.

WvW takes practice, especially if you go the power / LB route. If you are just after the vistas and such you do not need to roam, just wait it out as you said. If you want to roam, well you’ll die for a while, no real way around that.

Oh and if you have not figured this out already, you NEED at least one stunbreaker for any pvp. Lightning reflexes is probably the go to choice.

I’m not a fan of LB in WvW at all as it is seemingly 99% of the time a one way ticket to the downed state.

Somehow I think I am against the popular here as every ranger I take out or see taken out uses a LB. I have quite simply not run into a ranger that did not have LB as one of his/her weapons. I’m not sure of the appeal other than it was the weapon that got tweaks last?

In any case, to put my two cents in on the question at hand, I would run with a small group prior to roaming. This being because you are a new 80 to WvW and will be eaten alive by the dedicated roamers at this point. That is unless you come from a thief or something and already are used to roaming…if so you might be alright.

How would one buff crappy pets? Take bear for example as its the most loved to hate. It seems the entire thing with it is to be a tank, however that doesn’t work against other players who just avoid it.

Remember, ‘more damage’ isn’t the option Anet looks at. They already nerfed pet output badly once, so its not like crappy pets can just be buffed in the damage department.

Which leads me to believe some pets are just unfixable.