Guild Wars 2

Tried this build. Didn’t like it. Every opponent KO’d the spirits first then whopped on me. Any gust of wind knocked them over: whether from a glancing AoE or a sneeze. Guess the word is getting out: Spirits suck!

But I didn’t give up there: I also tried this build in a dungeon and solo PvE. Soloing was okay, but any rogue (not THIEF, but rampant) AoE either killed them or knocked their health to 50% or less. Doable, challenging, but far more work than it was worth.

Dungeoning (AC, HoW and TA) was an absolute nightmare, especially TA (no pun intended). I’ll leave it at that.

I did not attempt this in WvW for obvious reasons (if its not obvious: too much AoE).

I don’t know how you consider this a viable build. It looks great on paper – I’ve even become a fan of Troll Unguent – but this build was too easily countered or destroyed.

(The pet naming didn’t work out too well either)

Yeah, that doesn’t quite work on the Mac Beta client.

I have the same issue frequently on both Mac and PC clients.

Troll Unguent.

Not sure if this post is trolling or if serious. Falling for trap if it is…

Alright, I’ll bite. First, why name your pet to your character’s name? Second, your spirits will not last long to any rogue AoE, even with double health. You will be without utility for up to 60 seconds when they are downed. You also picked one of the worst Spirits to use for this condition-based build: Storm Spirit. If anything, if Spirits were viable, you should consider the Sun Spirit.

Post a video with this build to demonstrate how you fair in sPvP and, if you’re feeling brave, WvW. Thanks.

Don’t make it overly complicated. AoE mitigation works well in other MMOs with pets and it does not become overpowered in PvP. A player has the ability to remove himself from an AoE and react accordingly (that isn’t to say they will or how quickly they might). A pet, on the other hand, is a “dumb A.I.” and must be told to remove itself from such situations. To account for this, a “buffer” is often given to these pet-professions to allow the player time to issue an order to retreat the pet. Currently, the time it takes to remove a pet from rampant AoEs is too short, especially in high latency situations where abilities might be delayed between the client and server. This results in the player unwittingly losing a core mechanic to their class.

In these other MMOs, direct damage is still the same on the pets, only the AoEs are passively mitigated. If a Ranger’s pet proves to be a threat to a group, focus firing will result in the same consequence – one dead pet.

The solution is simple for both PvP and PvE: pets take reduced AoE damage. Don’t get excited and think that I’m suggesting something in the range of 80% damage reduction. If the developers take this idea and run with it, I expect them to come up with a percentage that is balanced and fair, challenging but not overwhelming.

I agree with Turtles, as I always do in all his/her posts. I want to see greater animation accuracy with my Ranger, even at the cost of more 7% damage reductions!

I would like to add, too, that traps should not be thrown haphazardly. Instead, the Ranger should meticulously place his or her traps – including, but not limited to, digging a pit, placing spikes and concealing said pit with leaves and brush. This animation should take no less than 45 minutes to prepare/cast, or else the trap will fail.

Animation issues are the game’s biggest and most glaring issues and they should be addressed ASAP. Thanks!

And believe me, I was rooting for you! Brave of you to leap in with a Greatsword. Do you mind sharing your build and gearing? I saw 25k health and you took a lot of abuse.

Dardamaniac: I don’t know who you are; I have a very vague idea of what you want from this profession. If you are looking for praise, I can tell you I have none to give. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long MMO career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people in PvP and PvE. If you admit that those who are min/max’ing the Ranger class are finding it lacking, that will be the end of it. I will not debate you, I will not pursue this topic. But if you don’t, other players will drag this on, this topic won’t go anywhere and you will lose this debate.

…I’ve always wanted to do that! On a more serious note. Dardamaniac, if you think rangers are fine, that’s great! Keep on keeping on, but keep in mind you’re not going to change the minds of thousands of other Rangers who’ve done the math and found the profession wanting. Core mechanics are not working as intended and this cripples the class. Stop with the “learn to play.”

Rangers are walking around with a broken leg. Legs are a crucial part of mobility for most organic lifeforms. While there are ways to get around with a broken leg (crutches, wheelchairs, etc) it takes far more effort to do so.

For you to come here and state that “Rangers are fine; learn to play” is the equivalent of stating “I can get around just fine with a broken leg; learn to use a wheelchair.” Throughout your posts, you’ve admitted to the bugs and limitations of the pets; however, you continue to belittle and criticize those who disagree with your argument that “Rangers are fine.”

As a core mechanic of the class, as outlined by the developers themselves, the Ranger pets are in a weak and sorry state and cannot be counted as viable options. They are broken, the same way a leg is broken. Nevertheless, just as there is obvious potential that a broken leg can heal and walk normally again, so to do pets show potential to work as intended once the developers patch them up. Just don’t fool yourself into thinking that day has come already.

Not quite sure what you were attempting to prove with this video. It seemed that in each encounter you managed to put up some quick burst, but each of the professions you faced (thief, warrior, guardian) turned around and promptly kicked your kitten The guardian put you down even with NPC aggro.

Fate.8673:

Did you know it removes a condition EVERY time it applies Regeneration?

Uh, no it doesn’t.

It only removes conditions when cast. Tested.

In addition, you missed the point of Nerva’s post: Rangers do not have a good on-demand Immobilize removal ability like other professions. On encounters like the Nightmare Tree in path 2 (forward/forward) of Twilight Arbor roots frequently. Signet of Renewal’s cures one condition every 10 seconds. The use ability is a 1 minute cooldown (compared to 45 seconds for other professions).

Are you sure you play a Ranger?

CRrabbit.1284:

Another advantage of spirits which I have found is — the threatening effect.
Ranger + pet + 3 spirits = 5 red names. Sometimes either in sPVP or wvw, i met 2 enemies at a relatively long range, but they just run away while seeing me (yes!!! 5 red names coming! )……

Really? That’s what you say most people do? Because when I see a flock of red names, I think: AoE.

And we all know that Spirits and pets melt under AoEs.

Its not that deep. The Trinity is still alive and well.

Bunker builds (tank).
Support builds (healer).
Damage builds (DPS).

There’s a lot more wiggle room but the Trinity is still alive in Guild Wars 2.

Posting to confirm that the Twilight Arbor Medium armor does not have any glow effects.

Very disappointing because its a lot easier to get than Tier 3 Medium – which does have glow – and that’s saying A LOT!

Video James

I like where this is going.

¿Me Gusta?

Are Dungeon and Other Exotics BoA or Soulbound?

I’m on the verge of rerolling a Thief from my Ranger. I’ve shed blood, sweat and tears earning a Nightmare medium armor set on my Ranger so the reroll weighs heavily on my mind.

The question is: is Dungeon armor, weapons and/or other exotics earned through tokens bound to account or soulbound?

In other words, can my potential Thief wear my Ranger’s former dungeon armor?

Agreed with the first. It was disheartening when I was in an Honor of the Waves and we got the bug where an ambush spawned at the instance’s entrance. The fighting was intense, but I found a really great “sniper” position and… “invulnerable.”

:(

Found this out the other night:

When I had Signet of the Wild on, my 2 ability will be glitchy, eventually cast but not stun my target. Apparently this is a posted bug on the Ranger Bug List, but the list has not been updated in some time.

I’ll try again tonight without Signet of the Wild and see if I can actually stun people. Sigh. Another Ranger bug.

Absolutely amazing job! There’s NO WAY any other profession (or even many players) can waltz into a zerg ALONE and do what you did. Those numbers you put up were simply amazing.

This also made me weep for the Ranger class. Nevertheless, this proves your point and got me to thinking if I’m willing to level up a new 80 so soon.

Also: Tarnished Coast represent!!!

So why did you make a new thread, instead of putting this into one of the several other threads of the same theme?

Now please think before you post, “is this a problem with the Ranger or a problem with the coding?”

Hello, Sword bug. Hello, Pet A.I.. Hello, Spirits who lack staying power. Hello weapon abilities who provide nothing except utility, save the 1 slot, which is “not fun” to spam.

Nice double wall of text there, but you’re clearly in denial of the mechanical issues which require developer resolutions and not player skills. The fact that my pet cannot deal significant damage – because it cannot move and attack at the same time – is not the fault or any lack of skills on my part. That’s a job for the programers to tackle.

/soapbox

Why are multiple versions of threads like these cropping up and saying the same thing that’s been said in hundreds of other threads (many of them now closed)?

These suggestions have been posted thousands of times by hundreds of different people and have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of readers, including moderators and developers. Nothing has been said that hasn’t already been said. The reason why this has been going on since release is because we’ve had very little developer contact.

I actually wish these threads would be consolidated or, heaven forbid, we get some substantial response from a developer.

They hardly did anything! As Grimwolf pointed out, the Warrior hardly had the Ranger’s buffs during the match.

“They can hardly stand a chance against us.”
They had no idea what they were talking about! They spent more time running between points than actual combat.

Oh. Oh we haven’t forgotten. Read the thousands of thousands of posts talking about those topics and the many you’ve missed – like the Sword bug.

All birds have great damage, just low health.

It is on topic; how is that off topic?

The Problem: Rangers are broken.
The Solution: Buff Rangers.

Our damage is subpar. Buff it.
Our pets are broken. Fix them (then buff them).
Our weapons are lackluster. Buff them and fix them (I’m looking at you, Sword).

What more can be said that hasn’t been said over a million times on these forums? Rangers are pleading for help and dev support but we’re not getting any. The most we get out of threads like these are locked and deleted posts.

I don’t know why they haven’t responded to us. I don’t know when they’ll respond to us. I do know that the moderators are watching these threads and, hopefully, forwarded them to the devs. I also know that the only way to fix this is to…

…buff Rangers.

Twoflower.7031:

Pah! You think norn can’t defend against a bunch of walking plants? We are born warriors! You are born as leaves!

Norn are also born as babies and require years just to reach adolescence.

Sylvari are “born” as adults and possess a large portion of the knowledge and experience of sylvari who have gone before them, which includes but is not limited to: combat experience, survival techniques, weapon mastery, military stratagem and the art of war.

In other words, a norn is born an infant; a sylvari is born a military veteran.

Advisement: Don’t upset the vegetation. They’ve been turning the food chain upside down for the past 25 years, meatbag.

What this thread needs now is a meme – so I made one:

Keep Calm and Buff Rangers

Great build! I like it.

I have a similar build using the longbow as a primary. I like the longbow for its AoE and (single-target) knockback – often to push targets back into the arrow storm. For my build, I focused the trails on the Signets for the 20% cooldown reduction and Might on use. I moved 15 points to Wilderness Survival for the 50% Endurance regen and Protection on a dodge and its great! I’m never without Endurance when I need it.

I ran my build with a Shortbow for the utility and kiting but recently swapped it in for a Greatsword for the lulz. To my surprise its actually more fun. Dropping Signet of Stone for Lighting Reflexes my “rotation” for solo PvE sort of goes like this:

- opening with Barrage
- Hunter’s Shot
- Rapid Fire
> switch to Greatsword
- Maul
- Lighting Reflexes
- Swoop
- chain with Quickening Zephyr

It should be obvious that this list of abilities might be overkill but it is a lot of fun when working on Map Completion and doing dailies. I would prefer the Sword over the Greatsword, preferring Hornet Sting over a utility slot, but with my affinity for dodging the Sword just isn’t on my Top 3 list right now.

Love you, Turtles!!!

…I wanna play a Spirit build.

Posting before thread is locked! Please, please, please, please, please fix hunters, ArenaNet!!!

@DoomBunny, That just sounds like accepting defeat; resigning to the pitiful state of the profession.

The potential is there, but the underlying code needs adjustment. Ranger class needs to be fixed!

Squeaky wheel reporting!

That was a whole lot of text in the first post. I didn’t read it, and I’m a roleplayer – I like to read!

Turtles hit the nail on the head (and with less text). We need to keep complaining and not let up! ArenaNet has shown they can be open and communicate with their players, but why is the Ranger community different? It boggles my mind!

I can’t take my Ranger seriously in the end game because I know I’ll be limping along, and not because I lack in skill.

docMed.7692:

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty – you are running a sword/dagger build (basically worst/most broken weapon pair for the profession). No wonder you think the class isn’t viable. As my original post indicates, explore all builds before you come to a decision.

So, what you’re saying is…

…only one to maybe two builds are viable?

…that the Ranger sword is broken?

…that condition build is better than a burst build?

…that there is only one way to play the Ranger to make it work, therefore the whole profession works?

You just nullified any reputation you had and your original post.

True story.

Twilight Arbor, Path 2, Nightmare Tree encounter:

Group Leader (Mesmer): Alright, this encounter has roots. Everyone equip your rootbreaker skill.
Me (Ranger): I don’t have a “rootbreaker.”
Group Leader (Mesmer): What do you mean? Every class has a rootbreaker.
Me (Ranger): Not Rangers!
Group Leader (Mesmer): …weird.

On my server I’ve been pretty lucky finding groups outside of my guild. Nevertheless, every time I send a whisper to that guy LFG I’m afraid I’ll see that dreaded “what class?” response. Its Russian Roulette every time!

God save the Guild Wars 2 Ranger profession, because no one else will.

For lulz, I ran a Spirit build for awhile. A guildmate invited me to Twilight Arbor a few nights ago. Guess how that went?

The Nightmare Blossoms alone destroyed my poor ethereal minions. The first encounter with the Nightmare Vines was quite literally a nightmare. I already have pet issues alone on those fights (never mind myself dodging and rolling every chance I get) but those poor spirits never had a chance.

Meanwhile, the warrior in our group – who first TA this was – was merrily smacking away at the champion with his banners. And not a single kitten was given. I envy warriors.

I play a Ranger, and I play it exceptionally well. I’ve used many builds and weapons in my career. I’ve sPvP’d, WvW’d and dungeoned many times.

And I agree with Sdric: the numbers are not in our favor.

Its not a “l2p” issue, its a coding issue. You can kick against the pricks all you like, but the profession needs the attention of the developers, ASAP. Nice speech, but you missed the mark.

Welcome to the Ranger forums, necro. You may not have heard, but we’re a profession with a plethora of bugs. One of those bugs is our pets reverting to the “Juvenile” default name whenever we switch our pet slots to another pet.

After the 1000th time doing this, most rangers just give up.

Thanks, ArenaNet! <big 1950’s smile!>

Thief: Oh sweet, Ranger. You got a new shortbow. What’s it called?
Ranger: I don’t know what its called. I only know the sound it makes when it lies.

Slapping a bandaid on a broken arm doesn’t fix the broken arm. Likewise, handicapping yourself by doing gimmicks with the sword to make it work doesn’t fix the issue. Its still a broken mechanic that needs addressing. Similar attacks work just as well across the board and in various other professions, so why the Ranger’s Sword?

Qaletaqa Hania.2598:

Deleven.7508:

first off remember to turn off auto attack so that you dont self root.
-SNIP-

That doesn’t always work, even when auto-attack is disabled you might still “self-root”.

This is correct. Even with the 1 ability’s default auto-attack disabled, manually casting the chain will still root the Ranger. I encourage Rangers who believe this is a “fix” to try moving while “spamming” the 1 ability.

It may have been out for a short while, but with several open beta weekends, many of these issues have been noted for some time now. In addition, because of these beta weekends, the game has been familiar to a large portion of the players.

Despite being a new player to Guild Wars 2 I am quite familiar with MMOs. One might say that over the years I have acquired a very particular set of skills. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go n—oh, wait wrong scene.

ANYHOW! There are some glaring flaws and bugs in the Ranger profession that make the class broken. Broken in the sense that core mechanics simply do not work; pet attacks and movement not the least among them.

If ArenaNet wishes to tout Guild Wars 2 as a premier eSport game, then balance among all professions must be addressed quickly. In an eSport environment, all classes must have an equal chance at being represented, and as you said, LiveLucid, we’re not in the running for the heavy weight belt right now.

Since you’re level 27, I’d recommend trying another class right now – before its too late and you feel obligated to stick with the Ranger.

I’m not trying to say “get out while you can” but… get out while you can, until they fix the bugs listed on the front page!

Novaserra.7049:

Is there anyone who could give advice on spirits? I have tried using mainly frost and sun spirit for increased damage – the problem is they are so weak that they are often killed seconds after i summon. The question is, is there any point having them out or just use a different skill instead?

Novaserra, you’ve listed the primary reasons why Ranger’s have stopped using Spirits. In their current form, they cannot be sustained (see the list of Ranger Bugs in the sticky in the Ranger section).

We would all like to be able to use and create Spirit builds, but in the current forum, they are not viable. I know, I’m certain one of them who would love to run a support-role Spirit build.

My recommendation is to try a Signet build (30) to provide benefits to you and your pet.

@nldixon, When auto-attack is disabled on the 1 ability, the chain will still root/snap a player to the ground. Try moving while “spamming” 1 and you’ll notice your character “sticking” to a spot.

capnflummox.3082:

In one word:

Yes.

And the only reason I haven’t is the investment of time I have (wasted) spent on it. I want to get to lvl 80 so I can see how the end-game is. I just wish I didn’t have to slug through it with this character.

I just got to 80 a few nights ago. You’re in for some disappointment.

Mmmm… Sword and Dagger… /drool

Pipedream, I know, but I have a dream! That one day our 1 ability on Sword will not root a Ranger to the ground! That the Ranger will move around equally to the other professions and not remain at the back with a bow! I have a dream.

Hallelujah! A response! :O

I hope you all would consider improving the other skills to the showbow (coughandtotheotherweaponscough). While “spamming 1” wasn’t “the most fun gameplay,” it also was one of the few options. The poison volley is a bit lackluster for a single target and there are better weapons to use at close range.

I wouldn’t say the the Beastmaster traits are the worst, but I would say they’re “spaded and neutered” given the ineptness of our pets.