Guild Wars 2

I stopped at level 10. Agony and Pets don’t get along.

Does Hornet’s Sting actually count as an Evade?

The reason I ask is that I believe I’ve seen it pop up for me once or twice while using the ability; however, Sting’s “cast” is so slow that timing is tricky. Often times, I’ll end up taking a hit before I’ve leapt to safety. :\

P.S. I’m glad to see other Sword+Dagger fans out there!

Daemon.4295:

In the interests of accuracy, I move to re-word the definition of Ranger as follows:

“Rangers rely on a keen eye, a steady hand, and the power of nature itself. Unparalleled Mediocre archers, rangers are capable of bringing down PvE foes from a distance with their bows. With traps in the wrong trait lines, ineffective nature spirits, and a stable of loyal dysfunctional pets at their command, rangers can adapt succumb to any situation.”

Joking of course, but sadly this does reflect the state of the ranger profession right now pretty accurately.

Excellent rewording, Daemon!

A Ranger in any other world can be a melee or whatever class, that’s fine. When ArenaNet gives a paragraph statement of what they define as a “ranger” and people try to argue that, that just frustrates me. Its like they’re covering their ears and shouting, “LA LA LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU! RANGER ISN’T RANGED! LA LA LA LA LA!”

It just smells like denial.

I have a level 80 Warrior.

I have a level 80 Guardian.

I have a level 40 Thief.

I have a level 80 Ranger and this is my main character.

I enjoy my Warrior and Guardian very much (I dislike my Thief the most), but I always find myself coming back to my Ranger because I love it the most!

With that said, however, the Ranger profession is far from perfect. It suffers from lackluster utilities, etc, etc (the forums are filled with these issues; won’t rehash them here). Unlike the Ranger, a Warrior has a wide variety of utilities it can use regardless of spec. Run with three Shouts? Sure. Swap out a Shout for a Banner? Okay. Their utilities are very versatile.

Guardians are a bit more restricted concerning the versatility of their utilities, but all are still quite viable in certain situations. The Ranger, however, suffers from a complete lack of choice in regards to their utility selection. Signets are so poor that many never use them or outright ignore their Activate ability (Signet of the Hunt). Shouts are sometimes used. Protect Me is the most common Shout because it gives the Ranger immunity to Damage for a period of time; however, the others are rarely used because they don’t directly affect the Ranger or the group (Search and Rescue is hit or miss and has a costly cooldown if you “miss”).

I love my Ranger, but as its been said before, I’m not blind to its flaws.

Meanwhile, on a Rifle Warrior: 21k crits!

Kellnor.5428:

Rangers aren’t bad. Players are bad.

If I remember correctly, Rangers (Sylvari) were the #1 most played class at game launch so naturally, you have the most “scrubs” who don’t know how to make “heads or tails” of of their class.

I honestly think this is a big reason why there was/is so much ranger hate.

First of all, we prefer to be called “shrubs.” We’re plants; get it right!

Second, if you haven’t play another profession at level 80, then you don’t know how much easier they are to achieve the same level of success that a well played Ranger enjoys.

On my Warrior, I can drop someone from 1200 feet away in a matter of seconds. In that same build, I have substantial crowd control and defense abilities to handle a wide variety of situations.

On my Guardian, I can leap into the middle of a zerg, down several people, then leap back out to the safety of my own zerg to refresh and recover. Rinse, repeat, rewards.

My Ranger can’t do anything like those two other professions can.

Now, of course, you’ll come back at me and say things like: “You need to build to the profession’s strengths and stop comparing to the other classes,” or “Those professions are wearing heavy armor so they can survive longer,” or even “A Ranger is not suppose to do X.”

To that I say nonsense because a Ranger did do those things in the first and second Open Beta Weekends. A Ranger was just as capable of dropping a ranged target in a matter of seconds – the same way a Warrior can! A Ranger was just as capable of leaping into a zerg, downing a few people, and leaping back out – the same way a Guardian can! In the third open beta, everything changed for the worst and its been an uphill climb ever since.

With that said, I found a build that I really, really, really enjoy playing with my Ranger and its the reason she’s still my main. I enjoy playing my Ranger more than any other class because of how I’ve built her, but I know she’s lacking compared to everybody else.

I can 1v2 and 1v3 the other FOTM professions while roaming in WvW. As a Ranger, I’ve solo’d the infamous D/D Elementalists, I’ve fought Legendary-wielding Warriors, I’ve trumped Heartseaker Thieves and I’ve stomped Bunker Guardians. I love my Ranger, but she could be better.

Requesting that a sticky be made for all things related to the Sword auto-attack rooting issue.

Thanks.

MaRko.3165:

While there are still game play mechanics (the auto switch to the next target for 1) that still need fixing and addressed I don’t think the class is as bad as some might make it out to be.

You can toggle “Autotargetting” off in the General Settings panel – checkbox labeled “Autotargetting.” Been there since day 1.

sheng.2890:

But in wvw if u use all berserker they can kill u easy but if u have vitality toughness power condition isn’t better? And can evade toughness and ‘take no damage’

Unlike other MMOs I’ve played, I learned in GW2 that its wise to balance defense and offense stats. Toughness/Condition builds are great for this because they have a lot of synergy: Undead runes, Bleed on Crit sigils and traits (and you’ll have high crit with Toughness/Condition/Precision armor and gems) and weapons that allow avoidance and condition application.

Consider a 0/30/30/0/10 build. You have a high crit chance (55%) with Dungeon armor and Emerald jewelery which works off your Sharpened Edges trait and combines well with Sigil of the Earth (60% chance to bleed on crit). You’ll also have 300 toughness and 300 condition damage in the Wilderness Survival tree; and within that tree, you get all sorts of defensive traits – such as pet’s removing conditions every 10 seconds and camo on CCs.

You don’t need to be behind your target to be considered Flanking, either. From 2 o’clock all the way around to 10 o’clock on your target is considered the “Flanking Zone” in GW2 – that’s a huge window for Short Bow’s Crossfire! (Feel free to test that in the Mists)

Toughness is King in WvW, and burst damage is its Queen. In reality, this is counter intuitive as Toughness is the hard counter to burst damage (as Vitality is to Condition Damage). Most people will be geared with Knights armor – which stacks toughness, precision and power – and Ruby gems – precision, power and critical damage. Others will run with Toughness, Vitality and Power in an effort to protect themselves from burst and condition damage. The latter are your typical bunkers, who either kill you through attrition or have their friends do it.

Mostly you’ll see the former and conditions cut through them quickly. With a 0/30/30/0/10 build, you’ll have both a high crit chance and high condition damage to bring them down.

You don’t necessarily need Traps to play an effective condition build (but it helps).

I’m currently playing with a condition/toughness build with a high crit chance to proc Sharpened Edges and stack Might with Sigil of Strength. I used to have Sigil of the Earth, but found a greater damage increase from Might stacking. With a high critical strike chance, I’m able to keep 5-7 stacks of Might from the sigil and apply regular bleeding from the trait. Bleeds tick between 110-120 solo and 130-140 in a group – and that’s all coming from my Short Bow, no traps.

I prefer Power/Crit builds, however, because who doesn’t love seeing big numbers? I’ve played a Guardian, Warrior and even a Thief, and while all those classes get 4-9k easy, I’m giddy when I get a chain of rapid 1000 or 1100 crits on my Ranger.

Toughness is the way to go against players in WvW. Toughness is the hard-counter to burst-damage from the likes of Thieves, Warriors and Guardians (Vitality, in turn, is considered a counter to condition builds, such as from Mesmers and other Rangers – though some argue that Healing Power is better, acting as a “soft healthpool.”)

Depending on your playstyle:

For ranged, hiding-in-the-back-of-a-zerg build: Focus on power/precision/crit damage and spec for a few defense traits, such as Protection on dodge roll (15 points into Wilderness Survival) and equip skills like Lighting Reflexes. If you need more survivability, swap your jewelery for Emerald jewels (toughness/power/precision). Jewels are always easier to swap and cheaper to buy than armor.

If you’re looking for solo, small-group or “roaming” builds: Consider crafting Knight’s armor (toughness/power/precision) or farm for Dungeon armor with toughness/condition/power. Because most players in WvW, especially roamers, stack Toughness, a condition build will usually eat right through them.

I’m currently running with this Condition/Toughness build in WvW roaming. Using Condition/Toughness armor and weapons along with a mix of Emerald and Coral jewelery, I can 1v1 or 1v2 most encounters (I’ve not had any 1v3+ encounters, yet). You can swap the off-hand to anything you prefer; I prefer the Dagger, but a Warhorn or Torch work just as well (the latter is especially good while fighting stealth Thieves). This build stacks a high crit chance on top of high condition damage with high toughness to outlast most other professions.

This build’s mix of precision and condition damage synergies well with Sharpened Edges (33% to Bleed on crit). You may swap out Sigil of Strength, which is extremely expensive, for Sigil of the Earth to have a separate proc to stack a Bleed on a crit.

(I’m currently experimenting with this same build with a focus on Berserker stats. Nothing to report yet.)

Hope these suggestions help!

Watched your video and had a good laugh at the lack of talent points. You should consider renaming the title of the video “Ranger PvP: No Traits Build!”

Anyhow, onto the constructive criticism!

Your builds are only slight deviations from the “classic” glasscannon builds, with focus mainly on range and “fighting in the back.” You’ve runed and traited for Protection and Signet of Stone to protect you from burst-damage dealer classes. You seem to imply that you’re focused on team and group efforts and not on soloing/roaming. If this this the case, I think you’re one the right path for how you want to play your Ranger!

I would not, however, consider this build a very strong One-verses-Many due to your lack of Toughness and other defensive stats, traits and utilities. Any character under 1500 Toughness ends up as fodder for other YouTubers in their PvP videos.

In your PvP build, I would strongly encourage putting 5 points into Beastmaster for the Pet Swap Quickness. Its incredible for stomps!

I’m also not sold on your choice of runes. I see what you’re trying to go for with the Protection, but is 1 second really enough to warrant a whole set of these runes, especially since you’re not applying Burn?

That’s all I have for now. Best of luck out there!

My main is a Ranger and I love her, but its (somewhat) true what people say about Rangers: they bring very little to the playing field in terms of teamwork.

As a Guardian, I can apply a plethora of boons, healing, burns and blocks for everyone AND still damage and/or tank the kitten out of anything the dungeon has to offer.

As a Warrior, I blow everything up in my path with head-to-toe Berserker stats and provide my group with condition removal, stability and banners with boons that cannot die!

…as a Ranger, I provide small, 4-digit critical strike damage (shortbow) and short duration Bleeds, no sustained or long-lasting group support, my Spirits can be killed with the slightest breeze and my pet requires my constant attention to stay alive.

I love my Ranger, and I love WvW roaming with her, but at the core of it all she’s just not up to par with everybody else – and that’s just how ArenaNet has designed the class to date.

Here’s hoping for more improvements in the near future!

Agadar.4931:

I like to pretend it hasn’t. Somehow it makes the skill appear better.

I felt the same way until the other night when I decided to pop it for the hell of it. The 12k damage from the wolf’s pounce made me baulk a little.

As a shortbow/sword condition/toughness Ranger, I don’t rely too heavily on movement speed, especially since most classes can close the gap from kiting. I still do enjoy the movement speed, especially when crossing the map, but I think I’m going to start using the Signet of the Hunt more for my wolves’ pounces.

vitigis.4160:

Canines.

…As a bonus, they do good damage…but mostly they are knockdown machines

+1 for Canines!

I run double wolves (Arctic and Timber [Eternal Battleground]) for the AoE chill and fear, but especially for the knockdowns!

They’re also tough and do damage sufficient for my needs. Their leap/knockdown also hits like a truck. Watch for the pounce and hit your Signet of the Hunt for a nice, big hit!

…what? No one uses Signet of the Hunt for the activate ability? O.o

Bas.7406:

1. Never combine it with the dagger.

…

Again sword/dagger is the most common combination, but it’s also the most worthless combination. Axe/Dagger, Axe/Torch, or Sword/Torch are all better for condition builds. Sword/Axe and Sword/Warhorn are better for power builds.

That’s a nice opinion, bro, but its not a fact!

In a PvE fight like Subject Alpha (Crucible of Eternity), Sword+Dagger trivializes the encounter, allowing a Ranger to remain in the red AoE circles and avoid all damage.

In a PvP encounter, Dagger allows an additional evasion from classes like Warriors, Guardians, D/D Elementalists and especially Thieves. The Dagger’s ranged Cripple and Bleed are excellent while chasing a runner and waiting for a weapon swap or simply applying an extra 3 stacks of Bleed.

With that said, I’m not ruling out the effectiveness of Warhorn. The Warhorn has its place, and I carry one specifically for situations that its suited for – or for mixing it up a little.

So while I respect your opinion it is hardly a fact concerning the use of Sword and Dagger together.

Very interesting use of pets and signets! Great weapon choices as well.

My question would be (of course) your build. I’ve tried analyzing your video and I’m confused by a few things:

- You’re running with 2/3rds of your utilities as signets, yet you don’t spec with Signet of the Beastmaster. Its clear you’re into the Marksman tree with Opening Strike (perhaps as deep as 25 points).

- Its unclear how deep into Skirmishing you are, but you’re 15 points in with both Swiftness and Fury on weapon swap. Its difficult to tell without a gratuitous amount math if you’ve maxed this tree out.

- Your pet swaps do not give you Quickness and appear to be the untraited 20 seconds, which means you’ve invested no points into Beastmastery – despite the fact you’re using your pet as the primary DPS (signets with no Signet of the Beastmaster).

- Your Quickening Zephyr is on a reduced cooldown of 48 seconds (down from 60) and you do not gain Protection on a dodge roll, so you’ve only invested 10 points into Wilderness Survival.

- EDIT: Also noticed you do not gain Regeneration at 75% health, so no points into Nature Magic.

If I had to guess, you’re a glasscannon 30/30/10/0/0 build. If that’s the case, you should consider swapping out your signets OR consider my bullet points above.

I recommend, if you want to use a signet build, focus on your pet and move points from Skirmishing to Beastmaster to amplify your pet more. Or you can reassign some talents and build off of Signet of the Beastmaster.

I absolutely HATE that my arrows aim for the base/feet of any target I’m firing at! It makes attacking siege emplacements near-impossible!

Omega.1473:

Silvanus.5821:

Omega.1473:

Blind also makes you lose your current target.

No it doesn’t.

Are you sure? I’ve been hit with enough Dredge blinding attacks to know that it forces me to drop target.

I’ve been blinded many times on many characters and I’ve never lost my target.

I hate the root, too, but once I learned how to time the 1 key, I’ve found sword+dagger to be my favorite weapon in PvP and PvE.

I often cheat in PvE and switch on the auto-attack, but in WvW roaming and puzzle hunting, the sword+dagger combo is mind-blowing! Thieves and Warriors flee from me, and that’s always a good feeling (pretentious flavors of the year).

http://mos.millenium.org/matchups#NA

Best of luck, Kaineng, on your uphill battle. When you can best the roleplaying server, Tarnished Coast, you’ll have a shot at Tier 1.

That video right there. 2700 crits is the highest I’ve seen on my Longbow autoattacks, and that guy was having them drop from the sky like… well… like giant balls of fire upon the heads of 5 of his enemies at a time.

Kitten that noise!

Now if he was only hitting for, oh say, 1000k crits and/or many, many 300-500 non-crits he wouldn’t be killing anyone solo with it. However, if he were in a large enough group, that would add up, but it would still come down to focus firing targets.

The idea of an AoE should be to “soften up” your targets, not be the primary attack to outright killing them!

I tested a Superior Sigil of Strength in the Short Bow last night in CoE, paths 1 and 2.

I averaged 7-9 stacks of Might through each encounter, with upwards of 11-13 stacks. Critical strike chance was 55%, which gives me a 17% chance (rounded up) to proc the sigil.

Wearing Rampager armor, Coral jewels and Runes of the Undead, my base condition damage is 1239 and bleeds ticking around 110 per second, increasing to 140 with high Might stacking.

In short, I think the Superior Sigil of Strength works in this condition build, especially over longer encounters. I will continue to test this in WvW (especially roaming) as I work on which sigil works best for the Sword.

Thank you again for the feedback!

After playing every other profession and working on getting them in full exotics, what keeps bringing me back to my Ranger is the elusiveness with one cond/tough build I enjoy. I’ve tried many builds and dumped a Legendary-amount of money into making new armor sets. At one point, I tried a “100% Crit Build” and absolutely loved the numbers I had – but ultimately went back to my cond/tough build.

Why did I go back? For a few reasons. First, it sacrificed everything to attain the level of damage other classes possess, including durability, versatility and mobility. The lack of enjoyment from being a “thin glasscannon” – weaker than a regular glasscannon – outweighed the enjoyment I had from “lots of big numbers.” I enjoy risks and micromanagement, but the risk-to-reward was far too high for my personal taste.

Second, I after realizing how much that build was sacrificing to get high damage, I also realized how much easier other classes have doing the same thing – but with less effort, more survivability, more choices and more mobility! My “Healway” Guardian (Thanks Chris!) can leap into a Zerg, drop healthbars like a boss and get out in the blink of an eye without ever going below 50% health! While that build has a certain setup that works there are a variety of options a Guardian can apply based on personal preference.

My Warrior can walk into a zerg in full Berserker gear, with the choice of an assortment of weapons, and lay waste to several of my enemies before my healthbar reaches 20% – and then I have the means to heal, defend and escape. Rinse, repeat.

Rangers don’t have those options. (Edit: I used the 100% Crit build only in PvE, as per the guide’s suggestion)

So in short, TL;DR version: The design of the Ranger class falls behind when compared to the other professions and makes it a less alluring class to play – but a very sought after class for “easy kills” by the same professions. (Read any class forum and you’ll always find people saying something along the line of “go after a Ranger first”)

Silvanus.5821:

I tried going glass cannon. Turns out it’s just the glass. Why? Well, let’s see, if you want to burst people down fast then you are going to have to go for sword, greatsword or shortbow. Sword roots you in place; bad idea for a glass cannon. Greatsword got nurfed so it’s not a cannon and shortbow is based on conditions. Longbow? Too slow and rarely hits from afar.

Hate to break it to you, kid, but Short Bow is good even as a straight non-condition weapon. Don’t get distracted by the flanking Bleed and the Poison Volley; Short Bow Berzerker Builds out DPS a pure Longbow one.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/78402-100-crit-pve-ranger-work-in-progress/

I appreciate everyone’s feedback on this.

Funky, you make an excellent (abet, expensive) point. I should bring multiple weapons in my bags for each situation.

Capuchinseven, I’ve seen a lot of Guardians and Warriors use Hydromancy to keep their target in melee. You make an excellent argument that its just as useful for getting away. My concern is which weapon would I consider. If I’m in Sword, I’m there to burn and evade. If in Shortbow, the sigil will mostly go unused as its my primary DPS weapon. Nevertheless, its something I’ll consider.

Ursan, your suggestion for Energy is a good one, and something I use on my Guardian (Energy on both Greatsword and Sword). It was a very expensive purchase but one I’ve seen to great effect. Sigil of Energy has a 9 sec cooldown; weapon swapping is 10 so I feel I’m safe with this combination again on my Ranger. I’d still be interested if Strength can keep a “perma”-stack with my build.

Thank you all again for the feedback and if anyone else has anything to add please post below!

I’m fine tuning a Condition/Toughness build and I need some advice on weapon sigils to consider.

My current weapon combination is Shortbow (main), and Sword+Dagger or Sword+Warhorn.

I do dungeons but focus primarily on WvW roaming and small group skirmishes.

Currently, my Short Bow has a Sigil of Earth (60% chance to bleed). I’m considering swapping to a Sigil of Strength.

My Sword has Sigil of Geomancy (weapon swap bleed) and my Dagger/Warhorn has Sigil of Corruption (+10 cond dmg). I’m considering swapping the Sword’s sigil to Sigil of Battle (3 stacks of Might/20 secs).

My playstyle is: kite with Short Bow, swap to Sword for evasion and Quickness bursts.

My current crit chance is 55%, so would it be a good idea to swap to Strength, or will my Might just drop off before I can apply another? Is the 60% chance to stack 1 Bleed even worth it with Earth? What is a better option for the Sword+Dagger/Warhorn combo?

Finally, if Sword is my defensive weapon, should I stat it with Knight or get a Power/Tough/Cond one?

Thanks for any constructive feedback!

(Edited because I was apparently half-asleep when I originally posted this)

Angela Ranna.5638:

This is kind of a nuisance, but I’ve noticed a workaround:

If you pet swap often, then the pet’s f2 skill often isn’t up before it’s changed out. When the pet first comes out, before it uses another skill, tell it to f2.

Although it’s not always at an ideal time and it’s still a little finicky (like bears need a target before you f2 or they’ll just swing at the air), at least I can get at least one f2 skill off with ease on each pet swap. Something to try while we wait for a fix.

Not accurate.

All pet abilities, including F2, reset on swaps. This has been discussed, tested and confirmed in other threads.

I use Sword+Dagger defensively, or rather when they come to me – and they often do. I use a Shortbow to hit them from afar

I love the Sword and Dagger combo a lot, too. Kudos to you for wanting to main it! Perhaps instead of thinking about a gap closer, you consider a Shortbow (or even a Longbow) as a means of DPS while you close in with a sword.

If they get away, swap back to your Shortbow and hit them from behind. If they’re fleeing, you have a clear shot at the back of their heads and you’ll apply Crossfire’s bleed effect with ease!

Otherwise, Greatsword.

Aveneo.2068:

I agree. It’s the male animations that would need to change, not the female ones. The female has a more natural ‘medieval archer’ style to it whilst the male seems to have a very impractical ‘fantasy ninja’ version.

^ This.

The OP clearly has never fired a bow in real life; and if they did, they didn’t qualify for any tournaments.

The way the female holds her bow is, in fact, a proper way to hold a bow. The male version is far from it.

I absolutely love your videos Oozo! They’ve really inspired me to play my Guardian (got me out of a level 50 rut). Thanks for uploading and sharing and I’m always checking my Subscription pane for more uploads from you.

Keep up the great work!

Edit: And I appreciate you leaving in the voice chat. I’ve noticed on your YouTube comments that some people hate that (especially the keyboard tapping), but I find hearing how you coordinate with your team helps me improve as a player and adds more excitement to the videos.

Not much damage, indeed, and no condition removal save for Healing Spring (long cooldown).

I would recommended Emphatic Bond if you’re that deep in the WS tree.

Thank you for this spreadsheet! Other than missing Ascended gear, its works great!

If you’re running with the Zerg, a glass cannon Berserker build works just fine; but, if you’re roaming solo or with a small team, you’ll need Toughness, survivability traits and utilities/weapons.

I’m currently running the following condition/toughness build, and I absolutely love it:
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcom0VM9MmvahmmvahM0px0fmacoqo08kiT707khd7khf7070z7kGW70V

Armor, Weapons and Back are Rabid (Power/Toughness/Condition).
Jewelery is Emerald (Power/Precision/Toughness).

Wilderness Survival, with this added Condition Damage and Toughness, synergizes exceptionally well with the Runes of the Undead and its 6-piece bonus.

Because Toughness is so great as a defensive stat, everyone is stacking it. Vitality is arguably one of the worst stats because once the health is gone its gone. Toughness protects against the hard hits but does nothing for condition damage. That’s where playing evasively and using healing over time makes up for Toughness’ lack of protection against conditions.

Ranger are among the best classes to stack bleeds and poisons, so having a trait tree with both Toughness (to counter the rest of the profession who rely on direct damage) and Condition Damage (to bypass everyone stacking Toughness) gives Rangers a good advantage – if you like condition builds.

Disclaimer: I don’t use Axe because I simply don’t like it. I feel its clunky and the animation bothers me to no end. Its a pet peeve, and I just prefer the evasion, mobility and burst Sword can provide (spam dat 1 key).

Warrior is by and large the easiest class to play with a variety of builds. A Ranger won’t see the high damage that a Warrior can because they share DPS with their (often difficult to control) pets.

With that said, my ranger still remains my main because I really, really enjoy the playstyle. With a Short Bow/Sword+Dagger Condition/Toughness build, I feel very fluid in combat and feel strong enough to engage any profession 1v1 – including a Warrior!

It -will- come down to how you prefer to play. I’ve had many friends say the Warrior was very strong but also mediocre/repetitive in its gameplay. I would recommend trying both out; you should know by level 20 which playstyle you prefer.

Warrior is by and large the easiest class to play with a variety of builds. A Ranger won’t see the high damage that a Warrior can because they share DPS with their (often difficult to control) pets.

With that said, my ranger still remains my main because I really, really enjoy the playstyle. With a Short Bow/Sword+Dagger Condition/Toughness build, I feel very fluid in combat and feel strong enough to engage any profession 1v1 – including a Warrior!

It -will- come down to how you prefer to play. I’ve had many friends say the Warrior was very strong but also mediocre/repetitive in its gameplay. I would recommend trying both out; you should know by level 20 which playstyle you prefer.

Went looking for this. Issue still persists. PvP Conquest helm does not exist in PvE.

Taruvoyant.4318:

Yes, sword does have a leap combo with torch. And a pretty good one at that.

Torch #5 > Sword #2 > Sword #2 = Fire Aura

Oh kitten Thank you for correcting me. I’ve just gotten so used to using Sword 2 to get away and not leaping back that I forget its a Combo Finisher.

Ben Delat.8415:

Thx dude, so many views and you’re the only to reply, so cheers for that…

I think I have more of an Idea for what I want to do

I’m not too bothered about the Sword Auto so i’ll opt for that main with a torch in the off hand, as it has a Leap Finisher and Combo Field which seems nifty

Thx Again

Sword has no Leap to combo with your Torch’s field, so I’d recommend a Dagger instead.

I use Sword + Dagger in a condition/toughness build and it is extremely powerful and synergetic. Agadar hits all the points spot-on, so I won’t restate them here.

If you wish to use Torch, consider Axe mainhand. Axe 2 will combo with the Fire field.

Empathic Bond removes all conditions. Signent of Renewal removes 1. To answer your question: yes, but it would be redundant to use both.

Instead, you should consider the pros and cons of both. Emphatic Bond has a max range and requires your pet to not be downed, as well as 30 points in Wilderness Survival. Signet of Renewal requires a skill slot, only removes 1 condition every 10 seconds OR can be used to remove all conditions for a cooldown.

Sword 1, yup.

I can dodge roll and cancel any leaping attack on any other profession, but not the Ranger. Not cool.

I’d be interested in seeing results, such as videos, regarding this idea.

Seras.5702:

signet of the hunt is now a 25% speed increase (as it is for everyone w/ a speed signet), so that’s good.

Elementalists’ kept their 10% movement on their signet, but they have many other means of moving around quickly.

In response, I’m very happy with my Ranger now. I still feel like I have to do three times the amount of labor to be competitive but now I feel more confident when picking a fight.

I move around a lot in all situations, so I reverse the “normal” Longbow/Short Bow priority.

My main weapon is my Short Bow, which provides great damage and lots of tricks to keep me fighting. I swap to my Longbow for power bursts. I gain Fury from the swap, my Longbow’s Signet of Battle gives me 3 stacks of Might, I pop Rampage as One before the swap and either pop QZ or swap my pet for Quickness. I’ll throw Barrage down (even on a single target) before swapping back to Shortbow.

Rinse. Repeat.

If Axe is your thing, you’ll definitely want to change your armor set to Rampager (power/precision/condition damage) or Rabid (condition/precision/toughness). I’d recommend the latter and put in six Undead runes. You’ll be going condition build, which is easier and more viable for Rangers to do over “glass cannon” direct damage.

For jewelery, consider Chrysocola (condition damage/power/vitality). There is no Toughness/Condition Damage variety, yet.

A revised build for you might as follows:
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mVozcVM9MovarMMvarM0GxaazsoaqcM

Swap out your healing skill for which ever you prefer, though I’d recommend either Healing Spring to combo with your weapons or Troll Unguent for a heal over time.

Hope this helps better!

It can be pretty tricky. You might consider putting on full Berserker armor with Knight jewelery for the extra Toughness.

Jewelery is the easiest thing to swap out or replace, so I would recommend that.

Zenith.7301:

What do you mean tankiest? mainhand sword is supremely more useful for a bunker/tank build than greatsword will ever be.

Both are good for tank builds. Greatsword has a block, an evade in a chain and a stun. Sword (with Dagger) has an evade, a leap back (not quite an evade) and an offhand evade (Dagger).

In fact, I would say if a Ranger were to go full-blown tank build, they should run both weapon sets.

Regarding the 4th observation: at what point does more crit/crit damage become better to stack than more power?

First question (as a fellow RPer): Are the weapons a key part of your roleplay?

If not, here are my suggestions:

You’re wearing Berserker gear, which means you’re looking for direct damage, not condition. Axe is a heavy condition weapon, and Torch is nothing but condition. Sword is great either way but really shines as a direct damage weapon.

If you want to stay with a direct damage build, drop the Axe and swap to sword as your main weapon and a Short Bow (or even Longbow) as your secondary weapon. Short Bow, like Sword, fits well into both condition and direct damage builds. (I sometimes use Longbow as a secondary for Rapid Fire and Barrage)

For your Sword offhand, consider either a Warhorn or Dagger. Dagger is especially good when paired with Sword as it gives another evade and a ranged Cripple to chase fleeing targets.

Regarding your spec, its a bit all over the place. Again, if you’re sticking with direct damage/defensive armor stats, I recommend focusing down the Wilderness Survival tree and either the Skirmishing or Beastmaster tree. Here’s a build I’d recommend:

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mVoVMm9cMvarMMvarM0GxaazaoaqoM

Drop Steady Aim because, in melee, you’ll be dodging a lot. You can pick up Vigor traits, but I find with a Sword, Dagger and Short Bow – on top of improved Endurance regeneration – you’ll have plenty of ways to move around. If you find you’re lacking in Endurance, put a Sigil of Energy on one or both of your weapon sets (just one in each though; they do not stack).

Remember that in the current patch, its difficult to Dodge Roll while using Sword’s 1 ability (unless you have auto-attack off and manually smashing that key), so Vigor and capped Endurance is a mute point – for now.

I would highly recommend that if you want to play a melee Ranger, consider stacking Toughness. That will make you more durable in the danger zone. Toughness is a great stat to counter burst damage bot not effective against conditions (that’s Vitality’s job).

A guild member who plays a Mesmer told me last night that Rangers are OP and that “Mesmers are the worst class in the game right now because they got no speed boost to chase/escape targets.”

I wanted to do this…

Same here. Won’t load after restart. Same thing happened with yesterday’s patch when I was in Caledon Forest. I doubt this is a zone issue but rather an issue after patch notifications/restarts are made.

Your build link has a Dagger offhand but you used Warhorn in the video. What stats were you running for your weapons? And what’s your overall stats?