Guild Wars 2

All that wrong profession loot is your main source of income!

Starting out, I salvaged everything under 20c and sold the rest to vendors. Buy the time I hit level 40, I had more than enough gold to buy the manual to open the next tier of traits.

Cheers for the replies!

Problem for me is I have not found any armour I like enough to want to bother doing this. Human female medium must be one of the ugliest in the game!
I am about to hit level 60, so hoping things might change for the better …

I am a noob to this transmute stuff, and would like to know how this works.

I know you need a transmute stone; a piece of armour or weapon you like the look of; and similar armour piece or weapon you want to change.

Can this done anywhere, by double-clicking on the transmute stone, or do you need to be at the mystic forge as well?

When you double-click on the transmute stone, is there an interface where you place the two items, and is it clearly indicated which item goes where, i.e. the ‘skin’ item goes in a particular slot and the ‘object’ item goes into another?

With my luck, I would wind up transferring lower stats of an item instead of the ‘skin’…

I’m level 59 with human female medium armour. This is some the ugliest armour in the game, so have tried to help it some what with dyes.

So far I have Abyss, Midnight Fire and Midnight Gold spread over on my coat, gloves, boots, with Mushroom trousers. I keep the shoulders and mask visibility ticked ‘off’ …

Seras.5702:

Thanks bri. Unfortunately, wiki only shows what the game does: a tiny little box of color. But we all know that some colors appear a bit differently on armor than in that little box.

Ok, see your point …
I play a ranger, and in the Ranger profession forum there is a thread where we post screenies of our toons. Not sure if the other profession have a similar type thread, but perhaps going through the pics, you can see something you like, then try to find out from the poster what dye was used.

Would be nice if there was a database showing the dyes applied to various pieces of kit. However, this would take a long time to build ..

Go to the end of the hall on the main floor where you can see doors to a lift. Two ‘guards’ are standing on each side.
Walk towards the doors until you get the instance message. Enter the instance, and you pop upstairs in the loft. Walk ahead until you get PoI …

Seras.5702:

Since you’re obviously quite knowledgable about dyes….

What are cheap alternatives to Black, White, & Silver dye that I could buy from the TP? As it is, those are pretty coveted and expensive. Is there a “frosting” or something that is pretty close and still awesome looking?

Not sure who you are addressing this to, but I can suggest you go here :
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dye

and check out the various shades you might like. Make note of them and periodically check on the TP to see if they are available,

Laurs.7526:

Anyone else see the resemblance between the OP in that armour and a Krogan?

Yup!!

wmtyrance.3571:

I collect dyes also. I would give a limb to find black dye. I found one on TP going for a bit to much gold for me.

The black (actually a very dark grey) dye you are probably looking for is called Abyss. I found it in a random loot drop last week.

I seem to get 2-3 dye drops for every 6-8 hrs of game play as random loot. Don’t know if this the normal drop rate. The ones I already have go on the TP and always sell very quickly for a very nice returns!

I play mainly solo PvE with a human ranger, now level 57 and love it. Rangers come into there own somewhat later with higher utility and elite skills and traits. Also, you need to acquire the pets compatible with your ranger play style. You won’t find these until you explore many of the other races starting areas. I suggest taking your Sylvari ranger to level 20-30 before you decide

I took a human thief up to level 20, fun class but very tactical. You prowl the edges of battles picking off weaker health mobs, dart out and repeat. You are too squishy for head-on fights or getting surrounded. To me the class required more group play/support to survive and to get the most out the class. Didn’t seem to be a solo PvE profession to me.

Cheers for the replies!

I suspected this was case, but wanted to check first …

I have loads of transmutation stones from exploration (47% world done).
Problem is I haven’t found any armor I like enough to transmute with! Lol!

My toon is a level 57 human female ranger.

Up until now, I have used whatever armor I found in loot or was given as reward. I’ve been more concerned with stats than ‘looks’. This is a good thing, cos I find most of the human female medium armor to be some of the ugliest I have ever seen in a game, but that is for another post …

Recently I have sold mats and the like on the TP and have amassed over10 gold. If the wiki is correct, this is more than enough for a full set of Tier 2, once I hit level 60. This armor (Falconer) seems decent stats-wise, but again so ugly (wtf with the feather motif??)

Loot drops are difficult to predict, but for those of you further along in the game, is buying this at level 60 worthwhile, or can I expect to find loot with same stats or better by level 65?

Cheers!

Most of the pets can be found in lower-level areas. You need to explore all the various races starter cities and map areas level 1-15 and 15-30.

I have found 35 pets all in areas not higher than level 40

Ranger has so many weapon combinations, cannot see how you can get bored with this. The important thing is to find out what works best for you and learn to use them properly. Oh, and don’t force yourself into using weapons based on what you read in this forum.

And then you have the pets, again finding and using the ones that best suit you will take a long time.

I ran with a Lashtail for quite sometime and liked it. Carrion Devourer is next on my list to get – 1 of the last 3 pets I need for a full set.

I recently pick-up a cave spider and have been using it a lot. It also has a poison AoE that combos really well.

My level 56 human ranger hanging out in Divinity’s Reach

You should check this out http://www.guildhead.com/map#z:5;c:-1.142578125,9.7064208984375

It has filters for all the map elements and includes pet locations if you are a ranger.
Also the map elements are links to more info on the element, including videos for accomplishing the selected vista.

The exchange rates are out-of-wack cos the game economy is still very young. It will need a few more months yet before things settle down and more gold enters the economy.

If you need gems, best to use ‘real’ cash to purchase for now …

Kasama.8941:

You can also do AoE heal with the greatsword and sword leap skills. One of my favorite combos. Or get a fire aura by using leap on the torch Bonfire skill. Sometimes my bird will also get the fire aura, as the bird skill Swoop is a leap as well.

You can also get this by setting a flame trap.
When it is triggered, your GS AoE has the fire aura.

Yup, pretty sure it was lvl 7 …

Of course, you have to first select the weapon/s through the Hero panel into the second weapon slots …

Yes, Rangers can swap weapons once you reach the lvl necessary for the second weapon set.

You can also swap pets …

I mainly solo PvE.

I went with a Longbow/Shortbow weapon set for awhile, but swapped out the Shortbow with a Greatsword for the situations Mato described. This suited my play style better.

I found the Shortbow to be a very situational one-trick-pony (#1 auto-attack), and to get all the damage everyone raves about, you need to flank and/or hit from behind. This requires constant movement that is not always possible in tight situations, and most mobs will attack you head-on. Also keep in mind there is a bleed stacking limit on mobs

The Greatsword is not the highest damage dealer either, but has useful movement and stun attacks, and an AoE. This works better for me in tight caves and interiors.

Longbow is a more tactical weapon, meant to be used at long range and keeping mobs off you. It is not meant to be a one-shot, instant-kill, high DPS weapon. Those complaining about the Longbow lack of damage do not know how to used it properly.

In the end it comes down to your play-style and which weapons you are more comfortable with.

I mainly solo, and on occasion found myself entering a cave with some other players and helping with clearing out the mobs. Then, while collecting resources and the like, I discover I am alone and the cave has re-spawned. Nothing to do, but get out asap. If a train develops while I’m running out and some poor kitten has just entered the cave, sorry but nothing else I could do. However, I will stop to help clear up the mess….

Another aspect is inadvertent aggro on mobs with AoE.

I play a Ranger, and I recall doing a ranged attack on 2 Ascalon ghosts. Just as I launched Barrage, a group of 5 Moas wandered into the AoE. Some poor bloke was collecting herbs off to my right, but slightly closer to the now aggroed Moas and they turned on him! Meanwhile the 2 original mobs were coming for me.

What to do? Go help the poor bloke I set 5 Moas onto and drag the 2 ghosts into the fray??

I did the ghosts first, then went to help with the Moas. When that was done, I had to revive the geezer .. I apologised and had a bit of a laugh afterwards …

To the OP, I suggest you visit the Ranger forum for all things Ranger.

I am a level 42 Ranger, and the profession can be confusing early doors cos you have access to so many weapon combinations. The best thing is try out them all out until you open all the various attack skills for each combination, and find a playing style you like.

Also important is if you mainly solo PvE or play in a group PvE or PvP. Some weapons/skills/traits/pets are more suited for group play, and in particular PvP.

The weapons and utility skills and play style you like will drive the choices you make for the Trait paths. If you like Longbows, then you should go Marksmanship (power), if you prefer Shortbows, or melee and really like traps, then go Skirmish (precision/conditions).

If you want you and your pet to be more of a tank, then go Beastmastery.

Wildernesses survival should be must, at least for 10 point to get the 20% cooldown reduction on survival skills.

Main thing is to have fun and don’t worry about level 80!
Hope this helps..

We get plenty of possible combo fields from all the traps (fire, frost, poison) and even health.

During events, there is always plenty of AoE going off that we can take advantage of. Sorry, but I just don’t see Rangers needing any more of this.

Including the 4 pets you can get from The Hall of Monuments, the wiki lists 44 possible pets.

That makes for a lot of pet names …

Level 40 Human, mainly solo PvE.

Weapons:
Longbow and either Greatsword or Shortbow as 2nd depending where I am.

Pets:
Usually arctodus (same as a bear but with a Maul attack) and alpine wolf (has a CC special). For water Shark/River Drake

Skills:
Troll Ungurent, Signet of the Wild, Quickening Zephyr, Rampage as One, and either Flame or Viper trap.

Traits:
Currently 15/0/10/0/5 with Steady Focus and Wilderness Knowledge active.

Usual MO is to travel with the wolf, approach mobs at max range, switch pets for quickness buff, open with auto attack, send in the pet, then cycle with Hunters Shot and Rapid Shot. If anything gets close, set the trap and use Rapid Fire for the added combo damage, or use the knock-back shot and let the pet finish off.

I only PvE and level 40, but prefer the LB/GS as well …

I mainly solo in PvE. I was using a 10/10/0/0/5 spec. However, I just reached level 40 and bought the new manual. Surprisingly, it gave me back all my traits points, didn’t expect that …

So, I decided to try 0/0/10/0/20 for more survivability and pet love. Most of my kit has power/precision boosts, so felt I wasn’t going to miss too much. I have not yet played with this build, so will see. I think my next 5 points will go back into power, though.

Ranger weapon selection can be confusing and a lot depends your play style and if you do a lot of group play or solo. Since I mainly solo, my main weapon is Longbow, secondary is either Shortbow or Greatsword, depending on where I am. I use Traps and my pet a lot, so these work for me.

There is controversy with Longbow, many do not like the auto-attack skill (too slow). Shortbow is faster and better at DPS, but has less range. Personally, I prefer the longer range of Longbow and the 4 other skills are great.

Greatsword seems to be generally accepted as the better Ranger melee weapon, as sword kicks you around a lot.

Not sure if this helps you much ..

Yes, explore! The game rewards you well for exploring. I was level 26 after the Human lands, did the first 2 maps, the city and personal story until it took me to Lion’s Arch.

Then did the Norn lands (city, and first 2 map areas), and then Char (city, first map area) and currently half way through Diessa Plateau. I just turned level 40.

The scaling makes the lower level map areas still challenging, and you can find enough lower level resources to build up your crafting skills as well.

I just turned level 40 after doing a lot of exploring, in the races home cities and lower level map areas. I have done Human, Norn, and currently in Char lands (half way through Diessa Plateau). I had over 2 gold left after buying the level 40 manual. Money has never been a problem for me, and I just found out there is money attached to all those letters you get after completing the heats in a map area!

My strategy so far has been:
1- salvage anything worth under 20, and vendor everything else over that, including the stuff I crafted. (I do leatherworking & weaponsmithing)
2- harvest every node I come across
3- sell excess crafted stuff on the trading post (I just sold 34 bronze ingots for over 10 silver)
4- minimise waypoint travel by running overland, this way you find more harvest nodes and encounters.

Hope this helps…

I stopped gaming with laptops after burning one out and almost destroying another some years ago. Laptops, regardless of the manufacture, or what they might say, just cannot deal with the levels of internal heat generated when playing demanding games. The internal fans cannot move the volumes of air required for proper cooling.

Also, for the money you will need to spend on a decent gaming laptop, you could build yourself a high-end desktop that will breeze through GW2 on high graphics, or any other game with all the high-res textures you want.

Interesting reading the comments … So far, I have no trait points in Beastmastery, but might start after reading some of the comments.

I’m at level 35 and have not settled on any particular pet. I have been making more of an effort to collect the pets on offer in each new area.

I have all the pets from the human areas (WTF is up with a pig??) and from the Norn maps, except for a Lynx and White Moa from Snowden Drifts. Will get those soon.

I mainly solo explore, and do DE’s when they are close. So far, I liked the Wolf and Owl. I have both brown and polar bear, but haven’t used them much. I also have 2 drakes (river and ice), but only used the river drake underwater along with a shark.

What do people mainly use underwater?

PC self built desktop:

i5 3570K 3.4 GHz
ASUS Maximus V GENE (Z77, GEN 3) motherboard
Corsair DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 16GB Vengeance 1.5V CL8
Corsair Professional Series 850W
Asus GTX 670 DirectCU II Top x 2 in SLI
Coolermaster HAF 922 Full Tower Case 3 fans
Windows 7 Professional 64bit

Full eye candy on, haven’t checked FPS rates cos no issues, runs silky smooth.

I am a level 33 Ranger, mainly doing solo exploration, and have been using almost exclusively a Longbow as my main weapon. I have tried all the weapon combination and currently have a Shortbow in the second weapon slot. I carry around a greatsword, sword, horn, torch, axe and dagger, but rarely use them.

For the Longbow to be effective, you need to use it in conjunction with other things.
Here is my usual approach:
1- get within range of mob
2- set a trap (spike or viper)
3- fire Hunters Shot to place vulnerability condition and boost pet speed
4- send pet to attack
5- start rapid fire, if mob advances, kite so mob triggers trap
7- fire the push back shot and send pet to attack again.

Most mobs are dead by now, if not then repeat the cycle, using the trap you did not use the first time.

If I’m feeling good, I’ll pull a couple of mobs at once with an initial Barrage shot to get their attention, and draw them onto pre-set traps, then pick them off using the above.

Longbow is not a one-shot, insta-kill. You need to work though the cycle and use your pet and traps.

And some DE are announced and then do not start!

Happened to me last evening in Snowdon Drift. An escort DE was announced close by, I go to the start location and nothing happens. Just me and few NPC’s standing around waiting, looking right foolish. I tried talking to the NPC’s to get things started, all I got was something about the road is dangerous and escorts are needed.

Since I was the only player, I guess there needs to be a few more gathered before the DE kicks off. I gave up and moved on….

I could see an un-dead rising over halloween and the like, but if a DE starts up where you have escort some fat bloke with a white beard in a red suit, I will /vomit and run away …

@ajlee. I did the exact same thing – I had Queensland, Kessex Hills, and Divinity’s Reach at 100% map completion by level 26.

I found keeping up with your personal story gets you moving around the maps and gives a lot of XP. after each story section completes.

I like the exploration aspect and happy the game rewards you for doing it. I find locating all the PoI’s and Viewpoints in a map more challenging than doing DE’s.

I play a Ranger on a medium populated server, and at times there are too many players piled on making the DE too easy. At least I can stand off firing arrows and not be stuck in a swarming melee cluster.

I only sold once on the TP.
I had 2 extra 8-slot bags I had crafted and saw someone with a buy offer twice the price I could sell them at the vendor, so I sold them.

I began in the Human start area. explored all of Queensdale, Divinity’s Reach, and Kessex Hills while following my personal story. I was level 26 by this time and decided to explore other areas, so I did all of Lion’s Arch, then went to the Shiverpeak Mountains (Norn lands).

I did all of Hoelbrak except for one PoI that is behind locked doors. I cannot get to it because it might be part of the Norn race instance. So, no completion bonus for that map … I could be wrong, but I think each race main city has a PoI that can be reached only by the home race.

I then went on to complete Wayfarer Foothills, and now about half done in Snowden Drifts. At level 30 now, and things are still challenging with the auto-scaling. After this, I’ll give the 2 lower level maps in Ascalon a go.

I play a ranger, the class has good survivability for solo exploration. Also, I like collecting all the different pets from the various regions.

Only time I have used the TP was to sell 2 extra 8-slot bags I had crafted.
Someone had posted a buying price twice what I could sell them for at a vendor, so I did the trade.

I tried both, but not to high levels yet and only in PvE. Also I mainly solo, so survivability is a factor for me.

Thief is fun class but requires a lot of tactics and micro-management. I took a Thief to level 15 and found the profession to work best when other players are around. Your main tactics are to the work the fringes of battles, picking off mobs already weakened with your finishing kills. You cannot go toe-to-toe with bosses or get swarmed and expect to survive.

My Ranger is level 30, and is more survivable exploring solo. Longbow is a must and traps and your pet are your friends Rangers have a huge mix of weapons to choose from, so your secondary weapon slot will depend more on your play style preferences. Many like greatsword, some set-up a shortbow or axe/dagger for back-up ranged weapons, also sword/horn or sword/torch works for some.

A lot will depend on your play style. I mainly solo, so prefer the additional range of the longbow, kickback and barrage shots.

I sometimes set a shortbow in the 2nd weapon slot. This is a good back-up for when longbow skills are cooling and/or you are in close range and need some quick firing.

As someone mentioned, you cannot go wrong with either, use whatever best suits your play style.

First, you need to know if you are you playing with a group or solo. Although all professions can solo, some are more survivable at it than others .

I liked the Thief and took one to level 15. It is a fun class, but requires a lot of tactics and skills micro-management to get the most out of it. If you are in a group, you can get away with some mistakes, mis-timed rolls, wrong positioning at the wrong time, etc. If playing solo, you make a mistake or 2, and you are very quickly fighting for your life since you are too squishy to be surrounded by mobs in melee range.

I switched to Ranger, mainly for solo survivability, while I learn more about the game world. My Ranger is now level 30, and enjoying it to bits. I plan to go back to the Thief after I explore more of the world.

Oh, I highly recommend the Viper Trap!
Works a right charm when kiting some big nasty …

Draw.7529:

You can have thousands of combinations with ranger it makes you a bit confused. .

You make a good point here. It is so easy to get lost in all the combinations. Probably best to get used to a couple of things and do those well, then experiment later.

I play only PvE so like your torch thing. I have one in my inventory, but haven’t equipped it yet. I just finished Kessex Hills and was wondering what to do next. I might go to a new lower level area an try out the sword/torch for a bit ..

rav.4982:

well axe is ranged mate, so you should think about getting a 1h sword

Yup, I know and the reason why I mentioned the situational clarification. The axe/dagger is a close-in back-up for when the longbow skills are cooling and something is about to pound on me sharpish ..

For melee, the greatsword seems to do the job, but you are right, I should pick up a 1h sword and give it a go.

Longbow and more longbow …
For melee, I carry axe/dagger and also a greatsword, both melee set-ups are situational. I rely mostly on the longbow.

I mainly solo, so for skills I’m going with traps and signets. For traits I’m following Marksmanship and Skirmishing.

This is my first ranger build, and currently at level 25, so a long way to go yet.

I mainly solo, and my first toon was a Thief.

The profession requires a lot of tactical play and micro-management of initiative and skills. I used shortbow to soften up and pull individuals from mobs, then switched to melee. I found dagger/dagger to be the best for my play style. Never bothered much with pistols since I used the shotbow for all my ranged attacks.

You have to operate on the fringes of battles, striking at lower health mobs, retreat, then going back in, rinse and repeat. If you draw aggro and get mobbed by 2-3 at once, you are dead.

It is a lot of fun to play when you can control the situation, but things go south very quickly if you are not on your toes. The profession seems to work better with others around to draw aggro, set conditions on mobs and the like, so you can go in for the killer blows and quickly back out.

I started a Ranger, now at level 25, and this is a more survivable soloing profession. Once I get through more of the game world, I will go back to the Thief and give it another go.