Guild Wars 2

Knight.3714:

Greetings GW2 Community,

I am interested in playing Ranger despite in all of the hate im seeing..

But i have a really easy question tho, what Weapon should i Go for PvE and PvP?

Oh and Please bundle it with stats to go too, Thank you and Have a nice day!

PvE
Open Boss PvE : Power, Vitality, Toughness ;
<Longbow / Greatsword / Sword+Warhorn or Axe>
Every other PvE (including dungeons, Fractals, Events): Zerk = Power, Precision, Ferocity;
<Longbow / Greatsword / Sword+Warhorn or Axe>
Keep in mind that PvE basically requires you to bring Spotter and Frost Spirit (traited) and a viable power weapon. The rest is optional

For PvP:
There are over 4 meta builds that I’m currently aware of, every one uses different weapons and stats.
Here’s everything you’ll need: http://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki

vespers.1759:

Tragic Positive.9356:

Crapgame.6519:

It is better than rapid fire is over powered or the class is broke But honestly maybe they are just looking for tips/tricks, etc.

I doubt it that this is the case with that kind of attitude of his.
It resembles a letter of complaint.

About something that… Is not even that bad, actually. Subpar, maybe, but we all know that everything will be subpar to Eles and Guardians concerning WvW.

Nobody is saying conditions is required. The point of this is to show the imbalance between classes. If nobody says anything there’s no reason for Anet to change anything.

Because I like playing ranger, I want to see it brought up to snuff and it is unfortunate that condition ranger is in the poor state it is right now.

I would like to see it given some buffs so it doesn’t need to rely on power based weapons (i had to lol when the one guy said use GS/warhorn on a condi ranger) for mobility and i would like it to be given an effective way to stomp that once again doesn’t require heavy investment into power based skills.

Then why is condi ranger one of the best condi bombers in sPvP environment, so far?
… I dare to wonder.

Moreover, I’m still amazed that people keep bringing Power Rangers into sPvP where they lack lots of potential. You can’t really expect every single build to be “best” at all parts of the game. That’s not how games (nor anything in this world) work.

Condition rangers are still viable in in WvW. Ever heard of full regen Ranger? That nasty heavy condi build that has permanent AoE swiftness and heals up through everything?
Yep, that’s one example of how Ranger is “not viable”.

Sometimes, you just have to adapt. Asking others and especially the developers to do it for you is pretty short-sighted. Because in my opinion, the possibilities they gave you – which includes playing anything you want and being able to play it competitively – is unique to this game since I haven’t seen such a game ever. And I’ve played a lot.

Crapgame.6519:

It is better than rapid fire is over powered or the class is broke But honestly maybe they are just looking for tips/tricks, etc.

I doubt it that this is the case with that kind of attitude of his.
It resembles a letter of complaint.

About something that… Is not even that bad, actually. Subpar, maybe, but we all know that everything will be subpar to Eles and Guardians concerning WvW.

I just want to ask…
… Who said that we are forced to play conditions for WvW?

No one even says that banner warrior is the way to go because he is played that way in PvE… Conditions is the same for Ranger, but from sPvP perspective.

Longbow ranger, however, excels at roaming.
Why would you sacrifice that for a mere condition build?
I would know why… But if it satisfies you, I have no idea why did you create this thread in the 1st place.

Sandzibar.5134:

But none of the high tier teams regularly run rangers. Its all ele/war/guard/thief.

Doesnt that say something?

Not necessarily. Games are won through strategy and tactics.
If your strategy is to bunker a point where team fights are, while having a burster to rotate between 2 points you hold … Then be it.

But I don’t see a problem in picking in a ranger to disrupt and infect the battlefield with poison (since we are best at it). People just underestimate it, because they can’t see the numbers that poison provides. But you can assume that everytime a heal is cast, you threw around 3K damage into the table.
I rarely see poison drop of my target (while keeping some of it AoE) even against ShoutBow warriors.

Lévis.5489:

It surprise me i never saw a ranger in spvp using sword x axe in their power ranger build.

I used it like a week ago. In my celestial setup …
… Don’t judge me, I forgot to swap weapons >.>
But somehow I ended up hard countering Engies.

Oh My God.8423:

IF there is, what is the one thing that a ranger is good at?

Countering his enemies.
Period.

Regardless of the match-up, Ranger can just counter the enemy via knowledge experience. We don’t really have the burst. Neither we have the utility, or the control. But we have a tiny bit of everything – making it ideal.
We don’t have a single counter in guild wars universe. Except better opponents that does not really count.

About Bunker Ranger …
… How can you possibly expect to bunker anything with literally zero condition cleanse?

Oh My God.8423:

Celestial Ranger… interesting…

Does Celestial work well on a Ranger?

I find it the meta. If you take the time to brainstorm through – you’ll see that almost all the weapons we rangers have deal mixed damage. Also, the SotF for condition builds encourages you to play even on crit basis. That opens various sigils as well.

And since ranger does not excel at anything, but fits almost everything you could think of – celestial is quite obvious.

Glass mesmers are just far superior to what a GlassBow Ranger can offer, Terrormancers are far superior to Condition Rangers, support Eles and Guardians are far superior to Spirit builds…
… But few of them can beat an AoE disruptor that is semi tanky, has lots of evades, has the highest poison uptime from all classes and provides a 10 second water field (that gives 6 team cleanse)… Should I mention the Full AoE condi transfer to pet?
No, there’s no class that could match with all this at once. Only eles are on par.

OGDeadHead.8326:

SotW + QZ… pick that sweet moment!

And watch the spam of Evades popping up =D
… Reflects would be ugly as well.

You usually have to either put a Point Blank Shot somewhere in between.

About the meta and people not knowing how to play against it …
… The celestial build I used to run was using a Longbow.

And what I did was that I used barrage to apply AoE cripple and AoE effects of bleeds (trait), pop Rapid Fire – and watched 3-4 defensive cooldowns being used …
Then I watched them bleed out slowly regardless.

That was a fun fact in my early days of this build. Even though the purpose of me using Longbow in celestial was a very effective decapping and utility.

I actually like pets on the ranger.
I started playing it just because of the pet.

I just want it to be reliable and working as intended. Nothing else.

Devs glued the idea of pet companions to Rangers.
Not the use of AI. The use of pet.

I doubt it is going away. Specialization or not.

OGDeadHead.8326:

Tragic Positive.9356:

I have no idea where do you come up with such ridiculous numbers as you say, but I haven’t witnessed anything similar in sPvP for ages.

Possible with Signet of the Wild?

Yep, that is.
Into a full glass mesmer assuming that he won’t dodge or reflect it. Yes.
Still, the HP of a standard mesmer is around 18K hp. Still a way to go from oneshotting.

But why would you state it as “usual” when this can occur only once per 50 seconds or more (depending on trait build). It’s more of a “casual” or “situational”. More suitable to be called an exception.

But yes, under those circumstances – it is possible. However, that would be really limited since glass Mesmers are the only ones who’ll run under these armor numbers.

Actually, I like the idea. But not the placement.

But I think that our GM trait should only include Effects duration increase and Make the effects a ground-target mechanic.

On the other hand, Spirits Unbound should have the range and radius boost (also a passive effect range grasp increase). This way, you could actually use that trait for something. It would get useless if you could Activate bonuses from 900 range distance while your spirits are at a safe spot away.

anduriell.6280:

I don’t see where the danger with the sigils are. Air and Fire do the damage of a basic attack (no crit) around 1k i my build i don’t remember wrong.
This said you would get like two impacts that hit for double damage (again no crit) so for example: 1.8K impact + 900 fire + 900 air. And that is all for rest of RF because those sigils has 3-5 secs cool down.

I think RF is fine like it is now. Although i agree the minor traits are trash, i think this happens in any other class, that at least have one trait line with useless minor traits.

Maths incoming.
RF deals 1,320 * (3.75) * power / armor = 1320 * 3,75 * (around 2600) / (around 2200 for glass builds) = 5850 damage
With 200% crit damage and 50% crit chance > 5850 * 1,5 = 8775 damage.
(Glass Mesmers would result in 10450 damage)

Into full glass Thieves. You guyz are missing around 3,5K damage into cPvP. That’s a lot.

More importantly, Sigil of Air has a raw multiplier of 1.1. Which at 2600 power makes it 2860 damage / +- 2200 = 1300 damage on a 3 second cooldown
Sigil of Fire has 0,85 coef. resulting in roughly 1000 (2210 / 2200) damage on a 3 second cooldown.

Which adds whole 2300 damage from which 1000 is AoE. Now compare it to the 8775 Rapid Fire. We’ll get a pleasant 25% of the damage that Rapid Fire is able to deal.
And you don’t find it a danger? Don’t forget that you can escape Rapid Fire, but you can never escape the sigils. They proc exactly at a time where the direct hit occurs – which means it cannot be blocked, nor evaded. While it’s sufficient to hit 2 shots of RF, and deal 1755 damage, you usually proc the 2300 burst from sigils regardless.

I have no idea where do you come up with such ridiculous numbers as you say, but I haven’t witnessed anything similar in sPvP for ages. Only in WvW where I wear Ascended armor and I meet people that didn’t even fully level up.

Please, keep in mind that meta is played at around 2600-2800 armor. If you see a thief, you usually live for 3 seconds. Assuming the Thief knows his purpose.

It’s a variation of the Fury Longbow Ranger build.

I believe someone showed it recently, and I’d consider it better than the standard full glass. Definitely.
I think that it has much more uses than “the meta”. It doesn’t die on sight and still brings the only thing the ranger does – damage. Practically maybe even more of it, considering there’s almost permanent fury uptime.

It went something like this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEq0waHLusQ1aABhaVAwuergJwdTcDf9AqA-TpBFwACuAAIOCA12fYxhAoaZAAPAAA

DeceiverX.8361:

Tragic Positive.9356:

…

No.

RF’s already crazy strong. It’s not being dodged because it’s the only worthwhile thing worth dodging but it’s being dodged because it will outright kill people if it isn’t. That also just breaks thieves/over-emphasizes the utility on Sic ‘Em. My RF would deal a bare minimum of 21k damage with this. That’s just totally absurd, sorry.

Are we speaking of WvW perspective?
Because if we are – I do agree. But once taken cPvP into account, you’ll see that you won’t 100-0 not even a full glass mesmer with a mere Rapid Fire. Not even under effects of Signet of the Wild.

Also… Which build using LB does include Sic’Em, again?

Anyways, my whole idea about rapid fire was to reduce all it’s cast times, cooldown and damage by 30% some time ago. The biggest danger of Rapid Fire is the sigil of Air + Fire application. Not really the damage itself.

Justine.6351:

Eurantien.4632:

@Justine, same as any other professions…

The 1500 range for lb is NOT the same as any other 1500 range projectile for other professions. Arcane blast. Go try it.

Saying that Ranger’s Longbow projectile gets better advantage of this mechanic concerning balance issues seems short sighted.

It’s the same as saying that Elementalists are much better at everything concerning damage and survival and also mobility and utility, even long ranged combat (assuming it is AoE) that does not deteriorate when taken into melee (this is a luxury that Ranger does not have).
You don’t believe me? Go try it.

Fluffball.8307:

Tragic Positive.9356:

I’m actually starting to like this guy.

Why you used to hate me?

No, of course not. But I’m more or less known as having pretty high standards. Which means that my “neutral” zone grasps further than other ones’.
That also means that when my acknowledgement is earned, it’s well deserved and hard to prove wrong. Don’t sue me, I’m professionally deformed since being a student of chemistry.

Fluffball.8307:

I already brought this up, but I use the S/T in teamfights (well weapon swapping on CD pretty much, but sword over bow.) I don’t mind being the guy on point. I’m getting passive damage through burning, entangle hits more targets, I’m tankier than most meta builds like DPS guard or whatever, and cele + a little might means the sword does good damage if I get the opportunity.

It’s just what you want to do with it. Be the target or call the target.

I’m actually starting to like this guy. These are the words of wisdom that needs to be highlighted.

Dear Equinox.

Please, take your time and study through this game and it’s mechanics, as well as professional scene and it’s participants (especially their Class pick).

After doing that, you might realize that Rangers are the weakest Power based class in the game, so far. Yes, that is correct. Reason why is it so has been stated countless of times, so please, feel free to study it through just as I suggested it earlier. There are quite a few valid points already made throughout this whole forum section.

If you are talking about the most powerful PvP choices, Longbow is not the weapon that you could match with that category (since it seems that LB is the only problem you see).
If you are talking about PvE, Longbow is not used anywhere past opening a fight – thus usually at melee range anyways.
If you are talking about WvW, there is yet no build for Ranger class to fit the meta. None. There is absolutely Zero Ranger builds that would be on par with other classes when taken mobility/zerg/survivability/usefulness into account. Playing Glass roamer for small groups is the only way to play the ranger the efficient way in WvW. Of course he is going to “ooh so broken” when you sincerely refused to counter him by mobility/mechanics.

Furthermore, every single class with a projectile-based attack possesses this mechanic. Even eles that can have similar range. I assume you’ll visit their forums with this same issue as well, right?… … … Right?

And last but not least: pets are still broken. I have no idea where did you get the idea of being fixed on the spot, especially when they haven’t been working the way they should for as long as I remember. Now they got even more bugged and A-net is only aware of the problem. They haven’t fixed the issue, yet.
______________________________________
So after all of this, let me ask you, Sir:
Do you see the problem in mechanic that is global and works for everyone exactly the same way – thus having nothing in common with Ranger class itself;
Or do you see the problem of being beaten by a Power Ranger that has currently the weakest competitive occupation by far, where everyone gameplay educated already closed this issue as a L2P one?

shadowpass.4236:

ANet can make a PvE version of the trait at 1% then. 2% in WvW and sPvP

Why not change the whole idea of that damage increase into:
“Your Rapid Fire ability now has 100% increased critical chance to targets with 10 or more vulnerability stacks or while under Revealed debuff (ICD 10).”
Rather than improving the already meh cheesy statistical damage output, I’d improve the burst we are able to pull out.

Also, with this change, only his team presence would go up (where he lacks a lot) and his prolonged and successful pressure duels (since you can’t apply lots of Vulnerability yourself, but every consecutive successful Rapid Fire would be the thing you are looking for).
Would also allow better build options since you might not exactly seek that much precision if the only thing you want is the burst.

And while people might think it is going to be too powerful, keep in mind that the current Rapid Fire is the only thing that is being blocked or dodged while fighting, and you should keep in mind that current builds already have roughly 70% crit chance while under effects of Fury.
So the damage of Rapid Fire would only go up around 30%, while trading it for Read the Wind – which basically is the only reason why Ranger is able to shoot from 1100+ range.
Also, if you wanted to pressure your target – you’d have to sacrifice your only reposition tool for that purpose.

shadowpass.4236:

Rapid Fire = 10 Vulnerability if every hit lands.
1% per stack = 10% crit chance and imo, that’s not worth taking over Read the Wind. That’s why I left it at 2%.

You are missing a point.
You’ll take it into PvE and you’ll get free 50% crit chance.
Do you have any idea on how much that is? How much Ferocity you can get instead of precision this way? No, that 2% is way too much. Even the 1% seems a bit too much. 25% damage increase into PvE environment for a single trait is still way too much.

It might get fine in open PvE bosses and PvP, but that’s definitely not the case for Dungeons, Fractals and what not.

J Eberle.9312:

Staff on ranger?
Useless in dungeons. That’s my speculation. Would love to be wrong. Can only hope -.-

Keep in mind that meta might drastically change as well.
Right now, Zerk is what we need, because healing power is laughable and by killing things you rally. And you can always dodge things that hurt you.

That being said, in HoT there might be a change of system that will promote longer fights that will need some front liners and some supports. We are going to face raids, after all.

My speculation would be a trade of Nature Magic into druidism.
That might eventually lead to trading Spirit-kind Support for Druid one.

Especially when it changes the Elite to a healing skill. Sounds about right to do that.
Moreover, the staff is definitely going to be AoE, disruptive oriented – means that I would definitely go for Sword + Dagger as offset to stay alive and apply poison pressure, or shortbow for exact same purposes but more disruptive uses.

After all, the video was spirit-less. I’m sure that if I wanted to make a promo of support Druid, I’d include some. I’m actually betting on having more “plant-like” style. Spirits are more ethereal than natural.

hyjaxxx.1584:

In the ranger section Peters posted that they are aware of the passive/aggressive issues that were caused a while ago. I also believe that in a dev video/stream it was said that all AI in the game was getting a serious over haul,ranger pets included.

Once pets can hit a moving target and get 1.5seconds evade upon ranger dodge roll I think pets will be in a fairly decent place.

Imho

Jaxx

They said they are aware of the bug they caused by launching the latest update.
Which is more or less admitting the fault of spoiling something that worked.

Our case something that always worked, but was implemented wrong.

Pure Heart.1456:

Heimskarl,

That “response” from the Devs (and consequent complete lack of action two years after launch—as sad as that is) is specifically about pet names.

I’m after a more general and frank, 2015 response.

It rather specifies their attitude towards the matter concerning this area.
Which can very easily be implemented to your question. Which means it is going to fit the “frank and up to date 2015 response”.

jcbroe.4329:

I just wanted to point out for the ongoing discussion (and it is definitely easily testable if you need to see for yourselves), but the poison applied by the pet when you are using Poison Master actually scales off you your condition stat, not your pets.

…

Oh, there was a time where it didn’t (early stages after implementation).
I didn’t really bother testing it any further. Thanks for letting me know. Might just be interesting enough to try out new builds.

I want nothing but pet fixes.
… I ask for nothing more than that.

Mechanics on all weapons we have so far are viable. I even find the suggestions on how to change them unnecessary. I just want the 30% of my life being reliable.
It’s absurd to feel that my pet is actually a burden, when he in fact lowers my damage output overwriting poison / burning with his 0 coefficient versions.

And I also find it sad that the only healing pets in the game ignore healing power (even the traited one if used right after the swap), especially when healing power is already the worst stat in the game, so far. Discouraging it further is not a good tactic (I actually had a viable healer build if it worked).

My pets feeling like a worthy portion of myself is the only thing I want on my Ranger. Everything else is fine.
Heck, even Spirits can be considered fine from a point of view.

Sarision.6347:

I’m glad more people are realizing EB is bad.

It’s quite effective when running Full Regen condi ranger or Spirit Ranger… Or even a Trap Ranger since you don’t have space for Survival Utility abilities.

It’s pretty bad when you can have an on-demand SotF.

Crapgame.6519:

Don’t worry about what everyone else may or may not say if you choose to use a long bow. You are the person who bought the game or is playing it, not them. Just one way to look at it.

…

Excuse me … Wat?
=D

Apart from this strange statement… Are you aware of the unwritten law?
Freedom of a man ends where the freedom of the other one begins.

If you are supposed to play a useless bearbow just because you are a selfish kitten, than you are considered a negative contribution to the game community.
Fortunatelly, this game is made so creative, that you can make a viable build out of any combination as long as you involve a bit of brain to creating one.

Which means that you are free to play whichever way you want and suits you, as long as it provides the benefits of a viable character (which is basically only a Frost Spotter for PvE and Jungle Stalker as a pet)

Fluffball.8307:

Right, the constant over-condi cleanse is why I like it. Even with every source of poison possible I wouldn’t even be mad if I saw a ranger running with doom.

I think you can sum up most teams as 1) berserker 2) tons of healing 3) way too much condi cleanse. More poison helps a lot with all 3.

I’d connect 2) and 3) to the very same category. Where more poison doesn’t really help unless it is passively reapplied (which is not our case)

Fluffball.8307:

That would offer less pressure but more spike if you time it right.

And poison reapplication is awfully difficult to beat IMO, especially with all the healing that goes on in the meta.

The thing is that with Dagger and Shortbow, you already have the poison uptime.
… And it is going to be cleansed anyways, because meta. If it isn’t, than you already have 100% poison uptime by weapons themselves.

I shall mention that what this trait does is that it increases the DPS of poison by roughly 50. And it reapplies the poison on next pet attack if you swap the pet (which is on a 20 second cooldown). Keep in mind that the pet poison application will REWRITE your poison – resulting in lower poison DPS, since the coefficients are not applied for the pet. Which means that the poison from pet will deal less damage than yours, and the part of the poison that you applied yourself will be long cleansed by the time the timer of yours starts ticking.

While with the Keen Edge you get the burst you sometimes really need and turns the table of most of duels while also providing you with 10% more condition duration (at a cost of 100 condition damage, I’m aware).
While providing you with more fury uptime and 2 bonus condition auto cleanse.

And I in my current build use Marsh Drake anyways, which is an AoE 9 second poison that deals 2500 direct damage, too.

Hey, jcbroe
… If you ended up not using neither Empathic Bond nor Bark Skin …
… Did you think of not using Any of the traits and going for 2-2-4-6-0 ?

For both Keen Edge and Sharpened Edges?
I can imagine better pressure than Poison master would provide.

MrH.2591:

So in short I should skip the Ranger then. I already have an 80 Warrior and Elementalist, so I thought an “archer” would fit nicely.

Hard to say …
… There is no environment that would promote ranged combat in guild wars 2. None.

Which means that you could swap the whole idea of “archer” as such (if you intend to play it competitively). There are some viable Longbow Power builds for sPvP, I guess… Not strong, but viable.
For open PvE – Longbow is my most common weapon. For dungeon runs – I don’t use longbow for anything else but opening a fight, and for Fractals, I use it around 50/50 of the time.

You see – if you enjoy the weapon as such, I’m positive (see what I did there?) that you could find a suitable solution for playing it your way. It will never be the record or the best one available, but if you are a casual player – you can very easily go for it.
Just bring the Frost Spirit, Spotter, and the rest is up to you.

Games are supposed to be enjoyed. Don’t let opinions of others let you down if the only thing you search for is the fun factor.

MrH.2591:

I liked the Hunter in WoW, and I want to try a bow class in GW2 but from what I’ve read Longbow is hated by everyone in dungeons and I don’t want to be “that guy”, so is shortbow viable?

Longbow is hated by people who have no idea what is it used for and that it’s the meta “boss opener” … As well as hated by people who die to it.

So you can probably guess what is happening.
Ranger is one of the meta Dungeon classes with the PvE Frost Spotter build.
But beware that Longbow is used for nothing but opening a fight. After that – melee is the answer for everything concerning both PvE and PvP.

If you are looking for a full Longbow build – the only option for you is small-scale WvW roaming. That’s the only competitive and effective environment you can use it in.

Dhunis.9072:

You didn’t say what build you use. However, if you take LB zerker ranger which counters turret engi you shouldn’t have problem dealing with them. Best thing you can do is to find some turret engi and ask him to do 1v1 with you for a while.

I was playing a hybrid build. But even if I had a Zerk LB back then, 3 engies (9 turrets) were on mid, 1 engie bunkered far and one dropped turrets at far and helped at mid. You couldn’t even AoE the turrets down, because YOU were down.
We won eventually, because we were in Legacy of Foefire – so we won by around 4 pts defeating the enemy Lord. They couldn’t stop us … Because … Turrets.
But yep, I felt like killing myself back then.

I played a game against 4 turret engies in the game around a week ago.
…
What were we supposed to do in that game? Saying “play 5v4 on the rest” is not really objective. The game is won through holding points. If Engie is best at it (so good that the only advice is “let him have it”) then we have a call for balance issues.

As for my advice – Range him down. Longbow Ranger is one of the better classes to defeat engineer class. Since he is not able to reach you by the time you get rid of his turrets in 1 successful Barrage and maybe a few more auto-hits.
Also, you can intercept him while he is running towards the point. Just go and CC him down. He will definitely want to keep turrets for the point – which means he is semi-easy prey in the open. If he uses the defensive cooldowns before reaching the point – just eat him raw. He’s all yours even with his turrets (but remember to bring stability).

jcbroe.4329:

Tragic Positive.9356:

jcbroe.4329:

Can’t wait to see it!

Oh, jesus, yes I made the build on your link and forgot to “link it to build”
… How can I be so bad? Tell me =D

Here it is, sorry for the delay
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAT8fjMqUzaHLusw1aABhaVA0uGS2l1d++Df9FHV1D-TZRFwAAuAAJOIAKeCAPLDIf/BA

No you’re fine! This has me thinking of some combinations I didn’t try, I’m going to queue with them for awhile using this as a basis and see if it makes a difference. My initial thought is that I can turn the longbow into the shortbow’s functional role from the build in the OP as a “harrass at range” tool and then optimize the second swap set.

I still also have to mess around with Arrow Slanger’s build some more.

What people usually don’t understand is that Longbow is an overrated Power weapon, and underrated utility weapon. It is the best on-hit application weapon in the game, so far, provides the shortest CD knockback and also a stealth in case you need to reposition yourself.

And as I already said – this build is suitable for on-point-fights. There are various choices in traits to be swapped, but I found myself the most efficient “on the edge”. Once I’m getting lower on HP, I gain stability, 50% movement buff in case I want to rotate (I can achieve that through stealth > sword / lightning reflexes) or simply turn the table and putting fire field just when getting downed. I often face the match-up when I get downed when the enemy is at 35% HP… and I end up winning. You do not want to get hit by Marsh Drake’s Locust Swarm and tail swipe when he is enlarged.

Of course, that is just my play-style. Decap the point > evade around > disrupt the battlefield > rally teammates / finish enemies (you have stealth + CC + Stability for that) > escape in case of being focused.
All of that while having AoE damage, and considerable amount of it.

jcbroe.4329:

Can’t wait to see it!

Oh, jesus, yes I made the build on your link and forgot to “link it to build”
… How can I be so bad? Tell me =D

Here it is, sorry for the delay
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAT8fjMqUzaHLusw1aABhaVA0uGS2l1d++Df9FHV1D-TZRFwAAuAAJOIAKeCAPLDIf/BA

I do not really have questions, but I do have a comment.

I agree with every single statement you made.
And I also made the same thinking progress as you did.

And I ended up playing somehow similar build to what you play. Not through traits or weapons, but through game goals.

I’m glad to see anyone else beside me realizing that Power is not the meta. Even though I based my build more around Team Value, with a rune that helps me dominate 1v1’s.
The build is absurdly irregular, but I do believe you might try it out eventually. It offers a lot of potential and is one of the best at mind games of various kinds.
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAV3YjEq0xaLL+rQ1aADhqdL8ulArAwdR8CXdBbqA-TJhHwADeCAAuIAg2fwYZAA

This build is able to save your teammates, unlike any other build, since this build is suitable for melee point combat (has fear, Point Blank and Mud Terrain to keep enemies from stomping). Offers Healing Spring for the team, has decent amount of cleanse, is suitable for decapping a point (point blank + Mud Terrain every 20 seconds), has a serious burst if you find a window to apply Sharpening stone + Marsh Drake poison + Burning, all while RaO is on – that’s almost instant 15 might with considerable condi pressure and poison uptime.

All in all, this is not really the deadliest build out there, but definitely the most valuable and most potent I’ve found, so far.

Boars are totally underrated.
If I’m correct, they open a path to the longest CC (fear) in the game.

To summarize what has been said and is crucial, and what hasn’t been said, yet.

• Rangers currently bring one of the highest tunnel patterns (serious damage widen over 4 seconds period); they lack true burst
• Rangers are easy to play, the hardest to master. Their gameplay pattern is totally different from any other. Instead of mechanically mastering your abilities – you master your enemy’s and constantly search for openings as well as counter their abilities.
  As was already said – you are evasive and acrobatic in order to do that. But since you lack the burst – you are forced to play this way.
• If traited – the best anti-condition class in the game, so far.
• The best 1v1 downed skirmisher
• In Power Setup: the best at keeping enemies at distance.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

They should really make it “You and your Pet gain stability when it is disabled.”

Would actually open point-bunker options this way.
Not a bad idea mate. Not a bad one.

Keep in Mind that Entangle does deal Direct Damage.

They are not friends with Sigil of Intelligence and Moment of Clarity.

Justine.6351:

Cool!
Now instead of pressing 1111112111111
I could instead do 2111211121112

Just glad i don’t play stealth abuse type builds ;-)

What would you do when using Shortbow then?
…
Just wondering.
…
But my bigger concern, what the **** is doing the enemy team if they let you staying stationary on a rampage for so long.

All the changes are actual PvP buffs. And since it won’t deal as much damage, people won’t have the right to whine. (We all know that as long as the Ranger is concerned there will be QQ issues no matter what nerfs would show up)

Dante.1763:

I do not suppose that anyone would mind taking me into a pvp room and seeing how well i play it would they? im not the best player, but i would like to use my ranger in pvp.

If Hepatolith isn’t online and I am – feel free to send me a message, too.
I already have 3-4 Ranger PvP buddies, I’ll gladly take you in as well =)

hyjaxxx.1584:

Imho I think its important for rangers as a whole to stick to the issues that really need to be fixed rather then little debatable things like this.

…

Jaxx

I agree. But I believe all of those already have solutions. We are currently at a “waiting for A-net” phase in most of those topics.
Rapid Fire is a plain L2P issue and this would only make it a nice improvement for PvP environment (that needs to be addressed).

As for comparing thieves’ backstab and Rapid fire – both have issues and both are different. I wouldn’t compare them endlessly.
You almost always hit at least 3 out of 10 shots of the Rapid Fire. Which is almost guaranteed Sigil Proc. Even blindness won’t save this from happening. The Line of sight would, though.
On the other hand, Thief will waste it whole and is position restricted. Also has to be cast from a vulnerable melee range.

I wouldn’t compare these two.

Reduce the cooldown by 4 seconds and reduce it’s damage by 30% and cast time by another 30%.

Yes, now I know what you are all thinking, but this would stay a buff.
1st of all, for PvE there’s going to be more Vulnerability uptime.
And for the PvP, here comes why:

Half of the damage dealt are sigils. Not the rapid fire itself.
By reducing the cooldown – more reliable pressure options will open (Ranger could focus on evasive combat while pressuring the targets with reliable sigil procs and applying Vulnerability stacks).

Please, keep in mind that the numbers could be changed. Also, this is just an brainstorming idea that passed through my mind that I’d actually feel like sharing.

Opinions?

Sebrent.3625:

Your first bet is wrong … I did try to help in a nice/kind way … what do I win? :-)

You are correct though. Some people do not take kindly to advice even when given in a friendly manner.

That being said, I’ve seen some people try to shove their “advice” down other people’s throats … that is a horrible way to go about it and those people have quite a valid reason for reacting negative to someone telling them “you’re doing it wrong!” or any other similar way of “giving advice”.

There is are big differences between “giving advice”, “critiquing”, and “criticizing”.

I always have a sequence in this.
For people I do not really know, that is.

I always tell them politely what the problem is, trying to explain why.
Then I do that again in an exact same way with different use of words.
If they stayed ignorant I switch to argument mode trying to disprove their blindness.
If nothing changed and I have been sent to hell 3 times already I objectively say that they are hopeless and enjoy the rest of the day =D

By the way, about helping “more of them”, is the number above 30? I sincerely stopped around that number. I also stopped hoping that it’s worth trying to learn those bearbows that there is a way to play the class without being disgraceful. Not more than 5 were nice. And I think I still have some of them in my friends list and we do dungeons together from time to time =)