Guild Wars 2

Atherakhia.4086:

Keep in mind that Sword’s rotation is mostly auto attack with horn thrown in because the other skills lower DPS whereas GS’s rotation is actually the auto+maul combo. Once you factor those in, the DPS between the 2 weapons is very close. This means increasing the auto chain or maul’s damage will likely invalidate the existence of the sword. From PvE anyway.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Ranger has a fair bit of room to make up for before it encrouches on the top 5 classes so there is room for increase in sword and GS.

Now that all said, I do agree with you on counter attack. I also agree that if you move vuln off maul you could beef up its damage some to compensate and it may not overtake Sword in PvE because you’ll want to use Swoop in your rotation at that point which is a DPS loss over the auto attack chain.

Personally, I’d much rather see Maul turn into a blast finisher than a Weaken though. Could always attach the weaken to hilt bash if you really wanted it on the set.

But the sword has its own advantage in staying on target due to the two leap skills.

And isn’t the point of a great sword to be a high damage burst weapon? Why is sword the best dps we have when it should be great sword?

If by some miracle anet did decide to implement these changes, I really don’t think the sword would become invalidated from a PvE standpoint. Its damage is still totally consistent and it has the pet might advantage as well as the WH for offhand.

I really do love the ranger greatsword, but I can’t deny that it is currently underperforming a bit. For one, many players consider this to be a defensive or utility weapon, which should immediately show its lack of potential. Greatswords across all classes are meant to be high damage, bursty weapons. Currently, the greatsword isn’t our highest dealing damage weapon nor is it really bursty (it can be, but I’ll explain later). Our highest damage dealing weapon is actually the sword. Now, I would be okay with this IF the greatsword fulfilled its role to some point, but it doesn’t.

The only situation where the greatsword can achieve considerable burst is if the wielder is signet spec’d and has both Signet of the Wild and Signet of the Hunt popped, which have 48 and 24 second cooldowns if traited. Let’s also not forget that that the ranger “burst” skill (maul) isn’t a channel like 100b or Whirling Wrath, which means all its damage can be negated by a single block, blind, or evade. So, if all these conditions are met, then sure, the weapon is “bursty”. And even then, this burst is only repeatable every 48, and to a lesser degree, 24 seconds. No one should have to trait so much just to have their weapon function as it naturally should. With that in mind, I’d really like arenanet to consider a few changes I have proposed.

First of all, the auto attack needs a base damage boost. I’d suggest a boost of around 15%. As it stands, it deals little damage compared to the auto’s of other weapons such as sword and shortbow, thanks in part to its casting times and aftercast.

Secondly, I think that maul should be reworked a significant amount. It is too easy to negate the weapon’s burst, and the skill itself deals too little damage. And as such, I propose that Maul’s damage is increased significantly, probably around 20% but in return, to prevent signet spec’s from having one shot bursts (I know I’m complaining about weak burst, but Maul can crit for over 10k in WvW on glassy targets), maul counts as two strikes instead of one. This way, non signet specs can actually have some decent bursts, signet spec’s don’t receive too much burst (the damage boost from Signet of the Hunt count’s on one strike, not skill), and a mere blind/block doesn’t entirely negate the burst. Also, it makes no sense to have vulnerability on Maul when it is the weapon’s burst skill. Instead, have the skill weaken for around 3 seconds or so (if you get mauled by a bear, youll probably be weakened) and move the vulnerability to Swoop. Because Swoop has twice as long a cooldown as maul, give it 10 stacks instead of 5. This would also give incentive to use the skill as more than a gap closer/creator.

Lastly about the greatsword, please allow the knockback portion of Counterattack to be usable while moving and reduce it’s aftercast slightly, as a QoL change.

The sword doesn’t need a damage boost. Its base damage and co-efficients may be nearly on par with the GS (in regards to the AA), but it has a much faster attack speed thanks to a lower casting time and after cast.

If anything, the GS auto could use a ~15% damage boost.

Also, I think that swoop should be given 10 stacks vulnerability and then maul loses its vulnerability but causes weakness on hit for like 3 seconds (since it has such a short recharge).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAR8YjUq0waFLGsw1aA/AZdjALanLWNXVvYlVqA-TVSBwAbOIAXuAAp09Mc/BjK/wp+jElgAeSBsN/RIABjBA-w

This is an all melee power build. It will do you very well for roaming and small group play.

Here are some vids of it. Unfortunately I only have solo roaming on tape.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1c7syc_guild-wars-2-signet-ranger-roaming_videogames

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1c7umv_guild-wars-2-signet-ranger-roaming-2_videogames

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1c84hr_guild-wars-2-signet-ranger-roaming-3_videogames

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1cbape_guild-wars-2-signet-ranger-roaming-4_videogames

This isn’t about a specific food. I know many people complain about +/-40% foods all the time, but I only want to see them all go in order to reduce some power creep and stop some class complaints.

WvW will still be as unbalanced as you’d like.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAnYVjEq0ua9KmrQ1aADhqdLkBlA7AICmAXx7FrsSF-TZxCwAAeCAKOEAC3fYyJAYbZAA

This should do you well. A lot of things can be changed about the trapper build as there isn’t a standard, so play around with whatever you want.

Edit: Made a mistake in the first build; had a wrong sigil equipped on the shortbow.

Bombsaway.7198:

Keep food in wvw. It adds a lot of build variety.

This really isn’t true, at all.

Very few foods are necessary to a build. The majority of them simply complement a build.

The only build I can think of which requires a food is total anti-condition warrior. But I’m not making this thread for warriors, I’m making it for all classes and specs.

Certain foods really help a build (such as a regen rangers and mango pies) but do not nullify the purpose of a build if it isn’t used.

But even in both those cases, the builds would still be highly effective without the food.

dancingmonkey.4902:

Food is fine. Stop whining. If your going to start an aimless complaint thread, at least have the decency to post a thorough explanation and demonstrate some applicable math to support your argument.

There doesn’t need to be a thorough explanation. Anyone who has spent a considerable amount of time in WvW will immediately understand what I’m talking about. And I know you do too.

This topic has been talked about several times before. I’m just trying to keep it alive in hopes a-net might change it.

After all, the less a topic is discussed, the more it falls off of a-net’s radar.

If we do get a staff, I want it to be more “druidic” than “magical”, if you understand me.

Wasbunny.6531:

Soilder.3607:

Silvos.8653:

I dont think this is something they will fix, since it is not broken. The auto attack roots you deliberatly. (I think I read that somewhere, forgot where) You can still get out of the lock by switching weapons.

Yes, it is deliberate and anet has stated so before.

You have to realize that the swords ability to stay on target is insane. And in my opinion it outweighs its minor effect on evading.

ArenaNet has also stated (when talking about Ranger sword #1) that the control of your character is the most important part of the combat system in GW2 and that this skill violates this concept, and while working as intended is being looked at in order to bring it inline with the rest of the combat mechanics of the game.

The main problem being since 2&3 in the auto-attack chain are leaps they cannot be interrupted by a dodge. Maybe changing these to blinks/shadowsteps might be the solution but in any case that’s the main fly in the unguent.

Why can’t they just change it so (in this situation only) skills two and three can be canceled by a dodge, even though they’re a leap? It may not make sense, dodging in mid-air, but really who cares.

They’ve probably said something in regards to this before, but I can’t recall anything.

Also, I don’t want to hear from them that it would cause tons of game breaking side effects, because they said that would happen if pet f2’s were instant cast, and look what happened.

I don’t think foods should be usable in WvW. They only seem to add more balancing issues and power creep which tend to fall on changing classes instead of the foods themselves.

Some specific foods, such as condition duration boosters or negators, can single handedly make a spec too powerful, such as anti-condition warriors (they can become virtually immune to cripple, chilled, and immobilize) or, in the case of a cd booster, many condition based builds.

I think a simple fix to many of these problems would just be to remove foods from WvW in their entirety. It may cause a slight decrease in build variety, but overall, it’s worth it.

Carighan.6758:

Soilder.3607:

After all, in the first guild wars, many builds ran around a few meta skills with additional niche skills serving whatever needed purpose.

Yes, and from the perspective of long-term wanting new players or make existent players return this is not a good thing.

You end up with a ton of skills, for very little actual gameplay value per skill. It’d be more useful to have way fewer, way more useful and way more defined skills. Instead of having 7 skills to deliver some form of feedback damage to the target depending on X, Y and Z, have one. Just that one. Want to deal feedback damage? Take that skill.

I’m not saying there should only be niche skills.

What I am saying is that there should be more niche skills than meta skills, as that is how I preferred it.

For example, in the first guild wars you were tempted to constantly create and change builds because of how many skills niche there were. Each one had its own small purpose and you never knew when it would come into play.

And I find it to be a lot more fun when you have a large, varying pool of skills to choose from.

Harper.4173:

New skills would be great – but they should also be useful.

Remember that new healing skill we got with the Tower of Nightmares? – yeah the useless one.

If they add more skills ( and they will) they better make them worth the wait.

Also – new weapons would be fantastic – halebards, battleaxes are just two awesome suggestions.

I wouldn’t mind having a bunch of niche skills.

After all, in the first guild wars, many builds ran around a few meta skills with additional niche skills serving whatever needed purpose.

Silvos.8653:

I dont think this is something they will fix, since it is not broken. The auto attack roots you deliberatly. (I think I read that somewhere, forgot where) You can still get out of the lock by switching weapons.

Yes, it is deliberate and anet has stated so before.

You have to realize that the swords ability to stay on target is insane. And in my opinion it outweighs its minor effect on evading.

It should be like this.

1st minor = Gain opening strike when entering combat. Opening strike causes 5 vulnerability. Resets on weapon swap.

2nd minor = Your pet gains opening strike.

3rd minor = Opening strike always criticals and is unblockable.

A combination of all your ideas.

Honestly, rangers have a large variety of play styles.

They’re not always the most optimal, but they work and they’re really fun. You just gotta keep your mind open.

The only thing I think traps need is some trait compression. Cause face it, without traits, they’re not much of use.

Chaosbroker.3860:

nekretaal.6485:

Hell, the warrior longbow pierces as standard.

Nope … no it doesn’t actually.

#1 Two shots, no pierce.
#2 3 projectile Shotgun effect with burning attached, still no pierce
#3 AoE Blast finisher, pierce pointless
#4 Blind on a single target, yep … still no pierce
#5 6 Bleed stacks and a 4 second immobilize on a single target, powerful yes, pierce no.

That said I don’t disagree with you for the most part. Just clearing up a misconception.

What lol?

1. Yes, it doesn’t pierce.
2. Fan type shots always pierce on every weapon
3. AoE
4. Single target AoE (targets near the blast will be blinded and damaged)
5. This skill pierces…

Compared to the Ranger

1. Doesn’t pierce
2. Doesn’t pierce
3. Doesn’t pierce
4. Doesn’t pierce
5. Our only AoE

I really don’t think adding new traits, at present, is a good idea. I understand that we need new, fresh material to keep us going, but there is a lot of balancing to be done and I feel as if five new grandmaster traits for each profession is just a mess of unbalance waiting to happen.

I’m not going to point out any traits in particular because I haven’t actually seen them all, but very often the most unbalanced builds revolve around not just one trait but a multitude of skills and abilities. Giving each class a new GM trait for each traitline will more than likely add more unbalance than balance because, what starts out as simple additions as first, ends up becoming broken as someone finds a way to exploit these traits in combination with other powerful abilities.

I’m sure I’m likely to get ignored, but can we please leave the new traits for release until far after the balance patch?

We needed more condition removal, so they make it a grandmaster trait in competition with EB?

This is the stupidest change I’ve ever heard of. New condition removal needs to be easily accessible, not a kittening 30 point grandmaster trait. Who’s going to run a build running around survival skills? No one.

They should’ve scrapped the five point minor trait in BM and changed it to a trait that cures 2 cd’s when pet swapping imo. This would’ve gone a long way for rangers as it’s easily accessible for many builds.

And not only that, but we need trait COMPRESSION. We did not need another trait competing in the marksmanship line. Four longbow traits is RIDICULOUS. Piercing arrows and Quickdraw should’ve been merged, the new lb trait should be scrapped, then increase base arrow speed by like 10% and make a new trait.

And for christ’s sake, get rid of Signet of the Beastmaster. You guys are bad at balancing.

My god, we need trait COMPRESSIONS. I’m not ok with four longbow traits.

adasda.2059:

Soilder.3607:

Personally, I believe we’re about to receive massive buffs across the board. And knowing arenanet, we might possibly be launched into op territory.

In the history of the team designing this aspect of the game, what has led you to believe they are anything short of laughably incompetent, and given that, what would make you believe it were even possible for them to do anything right this time around?

Because, we all know for a fact that they are going to buff us. There is no way they’re going to do it correctly. They are going to make some change that, in combination with other changes, will give us atleast one op spec.

A-net either throws you on one side of the board or the other, there’s no inbetween. Look at the warrior god mode buffs and the ele nerfs. Ele’s go from top tier to almost bottom, while warriors go from good pvers to gods everywhere.

This is kittened. One balance patch every half a year?

You should all remember this music

Absolutely love those flutes (I think) in the beginning.

Luke.4562:

Nerf Ranger Traps! They’re invisible, they have low cooldowns, they promote just spamming strategy, they don’t allow counterplay! Lol

Invisibility is the whole point of traps lol.

Zorby.8236:

First of all, March 18 is only a “clean up” build. They’ll remove glory and the current LS, not much more. Then there are 2 other builds coming, the feature build and a balance patch. The ranger CDI will be seen in none I think. The CDI discussion must go through the entire development pipe-line, so I don’t expect to see any of that no less than half a year down the line.

They moved the balance patch?

Do you guys think the CDI went well? Personally, I believe we’re about to receive massive buffs across the board. And knowing arenanet, we might possibly be launched into op territory.

It can bounce off of non-player objects. One example is the houses in the battle of khylo map.

I know the balance patch is only two days away, but pleaseee consider the following. It’s from an old thread of mine and I would’ve posted it earlier but I’ve been locked out of my account for a month.

I really do love the ranger greatsword, but I can’t deny that it is currently underperforming a bit. For one, many players consider this to be a defensive or utility weapon, which should immediately show its lack of potential. Greatswords across all classes are meant to be high damage, bursty weapons. Currently, the greatsword isn’t our highest dealing damage weapon nor is it really bursty (it can be, but I’ll explain later). Our highest damage dealing weapon is actually the sword. Now, I would be okay with this IF the greatsword fulfilled its role to some point, but it doesn’t.

The only situation where the greatsword can achieve considerable burst is if the wielder is signet spec’d and has both Signet of the Wild and Signet of the Hunt popped, which have 48 and 24 second cooldowns if traited. Let’s also not forget that that the ranger “burst” skill (maul) isn’t a channel like 100b or Whirling Wrath, which means all its damage can be negated by a single block, blade, or evade. So, if all these conditions are met, then sure, the weapon is “bursty”. And even then, this burst is only repeatable every 48, and to a lesser degree, 24 seconds. No one should have to trait so much just to have their weapon function as it naturally should. With that in mind, I’d really like arenanet to consider a few changes I have proposed.

First of all, the auto attack needs a base damage boost. I’d suggest a boost of around 20%. As it stands, it deals little damage compared to the auto’s of other weapons such as sword and shortbow, thanks in part to its casting times and aftercast.

Secondly, I think that maul should be reworked a significant amount. It is too easy to negate the weapon’s burst, and the skill itself deals too little damage. And as such, I propose that Maul’s damage is increased significantly, probably around 25%, but in return, to prevent signet spec’s from having one shot bursts (I know I’m complaining about weak burst, but Maul can crit for over 10k in WvW on glassy targets), maul counts as two strikes instead of one. This way, non signet specs can actually have some decent bursts, signet spec’s don’t receive too much burst (the damage boost from Signet of the Hunt count’s on one strike, not skill), and a mere blind/block doesn’t entirely negate the burst. Also, it makes no sense to have vulnerability on Maul when it is the weapon’s burst skill. Instead, have the weapon weaken for around 3 seconds or so and move the vulnerability to Swoop. Because Swoop has twice as long a cooldown as maul, give it 10 stacks instead of 5. This would also give incentive to use the skill as more than a gap closer/creator.

Lastly about the greatsword, please allow the knockback portion of Counterattack to be usable while moving and reduce it’s aftercast slightly, as a QoL change.

Now, I think the Longbow is almost in a good spot. Its received numerous buffs over the past year, but is lacking in the same aspect as the greatsword. Burst. To make the longbow a viable damage weapon, you pretty much have to go zerk. And this is precisely because Rapid Fire is not a burst skill. Before the longbow buffs, this skill was used to maintain decent dps when within close range of your target. Now, this really doesn’t apply anymore. If it were made a burst skill, then you could stray from being glassy and actually have good dps with the weapon.

Fixing this isn’t really a tough thing to do. Simply reduce the cast time of Rapid Fire by 50% by making it only shoot five arrows, and in return, reduce its total damage output by around 25-33% to prevent the burst from being too strong. The rest of the weapon skills are fine in my opinion. Stealth and knockback on 12 and 15 second cooldowns are very good, and so is Barrage with its large radius, damage, and cripple. However, as I stated before, it doesn’t make much sense to have a weapon’s burst skill deal vulnerability. Instead move it back to Hunter’s Shot or to Point Blank Shot, since both these skills can be used to open up a Rapid Fire with.

And lastly, you would need to spend 50 trait points and acquire three traits to fully trait the Longbow, something that is atrocious considering we are supposed to be “unparalleled archers.” The Marksmanship line is the only trait line which should contain bow traits considering it’s name. Please merge QuickDraw into Piercing Arrows and leave it in the Marksmanship line. I think this would do wonder’s to open up more power specs for Rangers.

Spike trap should be a blast finisher, imo. Makes sense and could give trap rangers another niche (AoE frost armor anyone?).

Also, I think that the 5 pt trait in beastmastery should be scrapped and swapped with something that cures conditions when pet swapping.

Hammerguard.9834:

I don’t know where RaO fits into this but the heal could be more interesting. Same said of so many skills in the game though.

It’s their names. One has a unique and interesting function, the other doesn’t. I figured, if RaO does this, then so should HaO, but defensively.

I didn’t want to make an entire thread just for one skill, but I’m doing it in hopes that arenanet will buff this skill.

As it stands, it has no function. It literally just heals. Well, that does makes a lot of sense considering it’s a healing skill, but every single healing skill in the game has some other function to it aside from healing. I can’t speak on behalf of the entire ranger community, but I’m pretty certain most rangers use TU considering regen builds are a ranger staple and since it heals for more (albeit over time) in addition to a 25% shorter cast time. I’d really like it if arenanet considered buffing this skill because it really does need one.

Rampage as One could be a good place to look at. RaO is an offensive skill which gives offensive buffs and a unique buff that grants might on hit. Heal as One should be modeled the same way. Instead of its currently bland function, it should provide a short duration defensive boon or boons followed by a unique buff which grants something defensive on hit, like health or condition removal.

This is the most logical way to look at it. Of course, you need not follow the design of RaO for this skill. But either way, please consider buffing it.

Mates, debate not in this thread but in the video thread I posted. There you can actually see the build in action and judge for yourself.

Sneakier.9460:

Your lack of damage is disturbing

For the gear you have and against the targets you were hitting, if you had valkyre gear you would 1 shot then with the signet combo+maul

And then as I miss that highly telegraphed combo I am stuck with half as much survivability. This build performs very well and those videos are proof. You can’t even say otherwise.

Yes, I’m not zerk, but the damage is good and so is the survivability.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1c7syc_guild-wars-2-signet-ranger-roaming_videogames

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1c7umv_guild-wars-2-signet-ranger-roaming-2_videogames

I used dailymotion because I don’t like youtube and their google+ intergration bs.

Well here are some videos to prove that this build is not trash; I would’ve posted it in the first thread but there was no room left to edit my first post.

I’ll probably put up some more later.

Here’s another, but with much better quality http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1c84hr_guild-wars-2-signet-ranger-roaming-3_videogames

And here’s a fourth, also with better quality http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1cbape_guild-wars-2-signet-ranger-roaming-4_videogames

Edit: Make sure you click the highest quality; don’t have the video run in auto. I could’ve uploaded at 1080p but didn’t because of time constraints.

Sol.4310:

Soilder.3607:

Sol.4310:

Soilder.3607:

First off, I’m not saying this is godlike hambow status build.

Secondly, if you think this build is that bad, then please, 1v1 me. My IGN name is Elite Rouge (I know it’s spelt Rogue) and I’ll probably be on within the next few hours (client is downloading, deleted due to error issues). Just PM me in game and we can head to a dueling server.

Whatever build you been running in SPvP isn’t working for you. I ran into you other day while fighting someone else 1v1 on a point, I changed target killed you stomped you then finished winning the point fight..

Yea sure. I don’t recognize your name and I highly doubt I’d lose a 2v1 (the 1 being you)

But please, 1v1 me mate.

And people, please just try the kittening build. If it sucked kitten and gets me 100% stomp, I wouldn’t be posting it. People tell me I’m very good and are shocked to hell that I run a power build.

And I already said this build was for just small group play and roaming. I KNOW a soldiers guardian or warrior or maybe even ele will bring more to the table, I’m just posting so us ranger lovers can actually play our kittening class.

Dude it was you cause the very next game I got stuck on your team, this isn’t WvW power builds DO NOT WORK IN SPVP! You can keep telling yourself they do but they don’t trust me.

Look I shouldn’t be talking kitten to ya, you found build you enjoy and that’s cool mate. Hopefully with upcoming focus on Ranger’s you can throw some idea’s towards Anet, and help them get power ranger working better in place’s like SPvP where its more or less useless.

Well, you are competely wrong because the build does work. Does it work meta level? No, absolutely not. Can you run this build and do well? Yes, you can.

Everyone has simply gone along with the meta and is afraid to try anything subpar. Just because something is subpar doesn’t mean it’s complete trash free loot. I’m not reinventing the bar here with ranger power builds nor raising it, but I’m giving you a build that actually will work. Just try it out and give it and time. I can point to every single ranger build ever made and make out numerous flaws, because they all have them.

Swear to god this is the most hostile forum I’ve been on. No wonder no one likes us.

Sol.4310:

Soilder.3607:

First off, I’m not saying this is godlike hambow status build.

Secondly, if you think this build is that bad, then please, 1v1 me. My IGN name is Elite Rouge (I know it’s spelt Rogue) and I’ll probably be on within the next few hours (client is downloading, deleted due to error issues). Just PM me in game and we can head to a dueling server.

Whatever build you been running in SPvP isn’t working for you. I ran into you other day while fighting someone else 1v1 on a point, I changed target killed you stomped you then finished winning the point fight..

Yea sure. I don’t recognize your name and I highly doubt I’d lose a 2v1 (the 1 being you)

But please, 1v1 me mate.

And people, please just try the kittening build. If it sucked kitten and gets me 100% stomp, I wouldn’t be posting it. People tell me I’m very good and are shocked to hell that I run a power build.

And I already said this build was for just small group play and roaming. I KNOW a soldiers guardian or warrior or maybe even ele will bring more to the table, I’m just posting so us ranger lovers can actually play our kittening class.

warriorjrd.8695:

The build is an old signet build, simple yet effective. Conditions WILL be your downfall, empathic bond or not, which is why signets aren’t as effective as assumed. Yes your first hit will be big, 6 might stacks + signet buffs from SoW and SoH, but after that it’s a war of attrition, I ran this before in spvp and fights never ended, unless I faced conditions.

The thing is there are builds that can bunker better than this, which is good for staying @ home point in tpvp, and then there are more damaging builds whether it by power or condi. A trapper build would destroy anybody running this, and so would a beastmaster bunker, both better builds imo for spvp/tpvp. WvW however, signets are very good all around.

Edit: looking at the new link you posted and seeing it’s wvw based I can give more input. S/D for wvw is horrible for frontline zerging so you would want to ditch that. For roaming, again conditions will end you faster than anything. I’m sorry but a signet ranger is a warrior that does less damage, CC, and has less survivability. A full PVT ranger is not accessing it’s already limited strengths. And I know this from experience in wvw, and on a ranger.

You really don’t know this build at all. It’s NOT a battle of attrition. It gets dps. It doesn’t get zerk because zerk rangers can’t sustain. Condition builds are tough for any ranger, this fact isn’t unique at all for my build. Considering that the majority of condition builds are ranged, I have a very good amount of block uptime from counterattack to help me handle that. When played well enough, only certain cd builds are an auto death sentence, specifically the ones I mentioned previously.

Everyone in this thread is very much underestimating the build. Don’t tell me I don’t know it well enough because I have played it inside and out over the last half year. It is ALL I play when I play ranger.

I think it’s time you all drop the training wheels and actually try to run something other than regen bm or any cd build for that matter.

And once again, I said that this build is not for zerging. Please read.

Substance E.4852:

A zerg warrior with none of the hammer stun, party buffs, dogged march, and less life and armor…

May or may not work but then why not just run a warrior? The GS does more damage, it has more mobility with GS/S-WH, and Healsig offers much better sustain.

I said this build was for roaming and small group play only.

Rangers don’t belong in zergs.

First off, I’m not saying this is godlike hambow status build.

Secondly, if you think this build is that bad, then please, 1v1 me. My IGN name is Elite Rouge (I know it’s spelt Rogue) and I’ll probably be on within the next few hours (client is downloading, deleted due to error issues). Just PM me in game and we can head to a dueling server.

Sevans.4619:

It looks pretty solid. I don’t like a few things (Greatsword, No stunbreakers, crit chance, or crit damage,) but I imagine it does well despite that.

The thing is, for a ranger power build to have sustain, you need to go soldier’s. You could go cleric’s and pick up some nice regen, but you’d lose out in a lot of damage. If you were to head knight’s, then, frankly, I wouldn’t find there to be suitable dps with the loss of survivability you’d face. And everyone knows a full zerk ranger can’t take much of a hit.

The reason I take greatsword is for it’s tremendous survivability value in addition to the fact that I can trait for it (can’t trait for bows without losing either signets or EB) and because maul sync’s well with SoH and SoW.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQNAR8YjIVF2JWCWs2Bg1DC9bw2DNtETXBUvYlVqA-jEyAoLioZCEMVYIaZvioxWILiGreBTXSEV7xLiWtQACGDA-w

Incase TL;DR – Yes, it works, and it works well.

1. Why this build? I am 100% confident that it is the most efficient power build rangers have for roaming and small group play. I have been playing it since August and am only posting it because I actually am tired of all the negativity associated with power rangers.

2. But why? Because, you have near warrior levels of tankiness (24.3k hp, 3,158 armor) in addition to solid stability uptime and the ability to have insane opening strike bursts (expect 7-9k mauls when SoW and SoH are popped). And to top it off, mobility rivaling that of a thief (no joke, traited GS and sword make for nasty swoop —> hornet’s sting/monarch’s leap combos) all combined with 2751 power. I HAVE outrun shortbow thieves with this build and greatsword warriors, so don’t underestimate it because it’s power.

3. Why Heal as One? If you don’t want to use this skill and prefer TU, then go ahead and change it. In fact, you can modify this build as much as you’d like. The only reason I take HaO is for the higher vigor uptime.

4. Can you expand on your survivability? Aside from base stats, S/D offers a solid amount of evasion spam in addition to a good ability to escape. The greatsword is made unique not only by it’s three second block and low cooldown gap closer/creator, but because if you miss the evade portion of your auto-attack, you get to recast it immediately, allowing for a solid two seconds of evasion per auto chain. Condition removal is a bit weak, as are most ranger builds, but you just have to play smart when going up against a condition class. Keep in mind that most condition builds use ranged weapons, so use GS#3 liberally.

5. I might be sold, but I’m afraid to try a power build. Don’t be afraid kitten it. I do agree that rangers need buff, especially power rangers, but they are not free bags. This build has the sustainability you need in addition to the dps. +25% damage for 8 seconds and +50% on next hit is not something to laugh at. Sure, I may not be zerk, but god knows a zerk ranger won’t last a second when focused. And if I am focused, I can just run away like the pretend thief/war I am.

6. Do you have any hard-counters? Yes, there are a few. If you run into a P/D thief, do not fight him. It becomes a very long fight of attrition that he WILL win. Franky, it is very unfair. No spec should have such an amazing ability to kite. But thieves are kittening thieves so that’s that. At first glance, D/P specs may seem impossible considering their blind fields, but they are not a huge threat. Just watch your positioning and know when to interrupt. Dire Staff PU mesmers are very broken so don’t even bother as well. 3 Kit condition engi is a tough fight, and mostly comes down to keeping you pet alive as much as possible, otherwise you will lose that condition removal and possibly cede the fights. When he swaps nades/bombs, always hop out of melee range and block/kite.

7. Can I use this in soloq/tPvP? Yes, you actually can. It works decently well because, in a nutshell, it can bring good pressure while having extreme mobility in addition to the ability to bunk points. If you do go pvp, I highly suggest you swap out HaO for healing spring because on point fights guarantee you’ll stand in the field for most of it’s duration, not to mention the help it gives your team. I have played this build extensively in both soloq and tPvP. It is NOT the most efficient ranger build for pvp (spirits duh), but that doesn’t mean it’s unviable (things like condition ele are unviable).

Lastly, if you haven’t played power builds before, you have to give it some time. I am telling you, it is a very good spec. Some minor tips before you go 1. Remember to use double evades on GS auto when needed 2. Don’t be afraid to stop attacking and hop out of melee range if you need to recover 3. This build isn’t the usual regen bm ranger, keeping your pets alive is a tougher challenge 4. Always start a fight with the snow leopard, reason being, the best way to ensure that the wolf’s howl will go off is to call him in mid fight WHILE standing still, and then IMMEDIATELY pressing f2 after pressing f4 5. Certain builds will hardcounter an all melee spec, and when you lose to them, don’t get kittened off. Just understand that hard counters are hard counters and that all specs have them. 6. Lastly, only use maul when both Signet of the Wild and Signet of the Hunt are triggered, unless you have more than 24 seconds of swiftness. This is because losing that speed buff in combat and allowing your opponent to more easily kite/run from doesn’t make up for the damage increase. However, with both signets popped, it really is one hell of a hit (crit or not).

Well, that’s it mates. Good luck and have fun.

Edit: This photo’s outdated, I have 1000+ hours.

Mate, ranger power builds are extremely underrated. I mean they really are. If you want, I can post a few specs for you to try out.

Edit: DanSH.6143,
I can only post once every hour and a half due to a prior forum ban, but come 1v1 me if you really think power rangers are that bad. My IGN is Elite Rouge (I know rouge is spelt wrong). I’ll probably be online around 4 p.m tomorrow.

Play any class or spec you want, except P/D thief. I will just flip kitten if I see a P/D thief.

Totally agree with this

+1

caveman.5840:

lol i have seen elements kill thieves with one ride the lightning in wvw

-1

Swagg.9236:

Would you mind if I folded a few of these ideas into my thread on Ranger balance? I can give you credit for the inspiration if you want.

Sorry mate but no. I think your thread is well designed and innovative, but I’m afraid my suggestions would get lost under a large cluster of ideas.

CRrabbit.1284:

Soilder.3607:

I know I’m complaining about weak burst, but Maul can crit for over 10k in WvW on glassy targets

It’s not only on glassy targets, it’s on anyone/anything as long as it crits.
My maul build was guaranteed hit anyone w/o protection boon for 10k+ when crit, my record of maul is 19.5k vs a lv80 GC thief (someone got 22k , I haven’t got anything >20k yet)
GS can be specified to be an extreme DPS weapon for ranger, but it also casues the ranger to be extreme squishy too as compensate.

Yes it’s possible, but it’s taking the weapon to a very extreme level. Ask any zerk thief, and they will tell you that backstab usually crits for around 4-6k. Are there 10k backstab builds however? Yes, but those are, once again, very extreme and not typical. And as you said, they leave the user without any defense.

We shouldn’t be talking about extremes, but more of the weapon’s effectiveness in general.

Atherakhia.4086:

Rapid Fire is there because it gives you more damage than short-ranged shot if the enemy is closer. The reason rapid fire doesn’t really work as burst is because of the long channel time. When all is said and done, it does roughly the same amount as your normal auto attack would have done over the same period of time if at max range.

To make Rapid Fire fill the void as a burst skill you need to reduce the channel time but leave the damage alone. So with the OP’s suggestion is actually counter productive because reducing both damage and channel time is likely not going to have any real impact on anything.

I’m also not sure I agree with the OP’s approach to solving the greatsword. While I would absolutely love for the weapon to not suck and to lose its stigma as a support/defensive weapon, is it really going to be balanced for the weapon to do XX% more damage on the auto attack chain while maintaining the evade as well? I’m not sure, but probably not.

So then we have to ask ourselves… is getting more damage on the auto chain worth losing the evade? You’ll probably meet a lot of resistance with this from the Ranger community because a lot of people use the weapon as the Ranger’s ‘tanking’ weapon. I personally wouldn’t mind. But it’s still a question that needs to be asked.

Right now the reason the Longbow/Greatsword Ranger isn’t much of a threat is because both weapons are really support weapons in nature. They do poor damage, offer a reasonable amount of utility, etc. On top of that, the traits to support these weapons are very poorly designed, too numerous, and in too many different trees.

Mate, I think you’re overestimating the impact these greatsword changes would have. 20-25% damage boosts aren’t going to suddenly launch us into OP territory, especially not without across the board survivability changes. I’m pretty sure it’s universally agreed that our greatsword lacks damage, so I don’t understand why you’d be against it. Yes, we have an onboard evade, but that is the advantage of the ranger class, quick and evasive.

Also, reducing the channel time of Rapid Fire by 50% AND the damage by 50% would leave you in the same situation as before. Not reducing the damage but reducing the cast time by 50% would leave you with way too strong of a burst, especially from range. My suggestion would improve the overall dps of Rapid Fire and retain it’s valuable utility as a stealth tracker.

I really do love the ranger greatsword, but I can’t deny that it is currently underperforming a bit. For one, many players consider this to be a defensive or utility weapon, which should immediately show its lack of potential. Greatswords across all classes are meant to be high damage, bursty weapons. Currently, the greatsword isn’t our highest dealing damage weapon nor is it really bursty (it can be, but I’ll explain later). Our highest damage dealing weapon is actually the sword. Now, I would be okay with this IF the greatsword fulfilled its role to some point, but it doesn’t.

The only situation where the greatsword can achieve considerable burst is if the wielder is signet spec’d and has both Signet of the Wild and Signet of the Hunt popped, which have 48 and 24 second cooldowns if traited. Let’s also not forget that that the ranger “burst” skill (maul) isn’t a channel like 100b or Whirling Wrath, which means all its damage can be negated by a single block, blade, or evade. So, if all these conditions are met, then sure, the weapon is “bursty”. And even then, this burst is only repeatable every 48, and to a lesser degree, 24 seconds. No one should have to trait so much just to have their weapon function as it naturally should. With that in mind, I’d really like arenanet to consider a few changes I have proposed.

First of all, the auto attack needs a base damage boost. I’d suggest a boost of around 20%. As it stands, it deals little damage compared to the auto’s of other weapons such as sword and shortbow, thanks in part to its casting times and aftercast.

Secondly, I think that maul should be reworked a significant amount. It is too easy to negate the weapon’s burst, and the skill itself deals too little damage. And as such, I propose that Maul’s damage is increased significantly, probably around 25%, but in return, to prevent signet spec’s from having one shot bursts (I know I’m complaining about weak burst, but Maul can crit for over 10k in WvW on glassy targets), maul counts as two strikes instead of one. This way, non signet specs can actually have some decent bursts, signet spec’s don’t receive too much burst (the damage boost from Signet of the Hunt count’s on one strike, not skill), and a mere blind/block doesn’t entirely negate the burst. Also, it makes no sense to have vulnerability on Maul when it is the weapon’s burst skill. Instead, have the weapon weaken for around 3 seconds or so and move the vulnerability to Swoop. Because Swoop has twice as long a cooldown as maul, give it 10 stacks instead of 5. This would also give incentive to use the skill as more than a gap closer/creator.

Lastly about the greatsword, please allow the knockback portion of Counterattack to be usable while moving and reduce it’s aftercast slightly, as a QoL change.

Now, I think the Longbow is almost in a good spot. Its received numerous buffs over the past year, but is lacking in the same aspect as the greatsword. Burst. To make the longbow a viable damage weapon, you pretty much have to go zerk. And this is precisely because Rapid Fire is not a burst skill. Before the longbow buffs, this skill was used to maintain decent dps when within close range of your target. Now, this really doesn’t apply anymore. If it were made a burst skill, then you could stray from being glassy and actually have good dps with the weapon.

Fixing this isn’t really a tough thing to do. Simply reduce the cast time of Rapid Fire by 50% by making it only shoot five arrows, and in return, reduce its total damage output by around 25-33% to prevent the burst from being too strong. The rest of the weapon skills are fine in my opinion. Stealth and knockback on 12 and 15 second cooldowns are very good, and so is Barrage with its large radius, damage, and cripple. However, as I stated before, it doesn’t make much sense to have a weapon’s burst skill deal vulnerability. Instead move it back to Hunter’s Shot or to Point Blank Shot, since both these skills can be used to open up a Rapid Fire with.

And lastly, you would need to spend 50 trait points and acquire three traits to fully trait the Longbow, something that is atrocious considering we are supposed to be “unparalleled archers.” The Marksmanship line is the only trait line which should contain bow traits considering it’s name. Please merge QuickDraw into Piercing Arrows and leave it in the Marksmanship line. I think this would do wonder’s to open up more power specs for Rangers.

CRrabbit.1284:

My experience is —- it sucks. Go to sPVP to test then you know why.
The threshold is too low, usually at 25% HP you are already in extremely danger situation, what you need now is invul, stability and damage increase won’t save you in most of time. Never mention that it’s not instant, it will use 1 sec to activate it, so usually you get the stability with less than 15% HP (near death) if you were getting hits meanwhile (most likely).

So you either won’t use it (you will never want to drop to 25% for activating it) or even you activate it but still can’t save you. It did help a bit, but not worth the trait.
I would say if it’s activating SoS or threshold change to 50% it will be much more useful.

And let’s not forget that to have the Signet of the Beastmaster trait equipped needed to activate Enlargement, you won’t be able to grab empathetic bond, thereby guaranteeing your defeat against any condition damage player.