Guild Wars 2

I do I do!!! Think I logged about 5 hours today ow my poor RL

Fate.8673:

nerva.7940:

yeah, basically if you dont have Protect Me, SoS, and SoR on your bar, youre cooked in tpvp.

I find that if you have those you are basically a pure tank. You can hold a point WHILE putting out damage with Protect me and SoS while you wait for backup. Eventually you will die yes, but we are not as adept at point holding as Guardian.

If you need 12 seconds of invulnerability and a complete Cond reset to not be “cooked” you are not utilizing your dodges/CC effectively imo.

well im starting to question if youve ever even done tpvp >.< dont mean to be insulting, but thinking that a few effective dodge rolls will save you from a condition build or a good team that knows how to immobilize + focus fire, sounds a little out of touch.

when someone is trying to kill you, it goes something like: immobilize, daze, daze, knockback, immobilize, daze. i play a good evasion tank ranger, so i know all about dodging. but rangers just dont have the utility if you spec for survivability. and power builds arent viable.

so back on topic. here’s my GS build, ive been very successful with it in spvp, but ive yet to do tpvp and make cool vids >.<

-30/30/0/0/10
-GS/sword or scepter/torch
-mantra of healing, damage and daze; mass invisibility for elite
in illusion i do +3% damage per active illusion. and Empowering mantras in dueling. so thats +21% additional damage with 3 illusions and 3 mantras up.

this build has lots of survivability thanks to torch and mass invisibility, which are on reasonably low CD’s. mantra of distraction is absolutely amazing. you can basically stunlock a person with GS #5 and daze, followed by mantra of pain for burst. hands down, the best build i could come up with for long distance single target damage.

for WvW, id replace torch with focus of course. im trying to decide how i feel about scepter vs. sword.

yeah, basically if you dont have Protect Me, SoS, and SoR on your bar, youre cooked in tpvp.

all i want to do is love my ranger. seriously. but i cant. my mesmer and guardian do everything better. everything.

rangers have no viable power builds, which saddens me, and two trait trees are arguably broken. not only do i want the ranger to be good at one thing, but i wanna have options with my builds. i wanna roll as a BM ranger. i wanna roll as melee occasionally. i wanna be able to burst people down. why not hybrid BM/condition, or BM/power. what about spirits? yeah, nothin. also, what do rangers bring to WvW that other profs cant do a better job with?

i dont have problems in PVE. PVE in this game is mostly a joke (as in every other MMO), so i speak of pvp and WvW.

well youre definitely going on a defensive. im simply trying to understand why anyone would use scepter over sword, taking efficiency, survivability and utility into consideration. im not trying to discredit your build. im asking “why would you choose the scepter over the sword”, and you keep dodging the question. i actually want to like the scepter.

relax, im trying to have a discussion. try to address the following points concisely:

scepter:

- #1 does incredibly subpar dps, and clone generation is not needed as you can do it by dodge rolling or with utilities, and much faster too
- #2 only blocks one attack. sword’s #2 allows you to evade an entire burst sequence from multiple players
- #3: a good ability, but its channel is painfully slow. 2 dodge rolls can actually nullify the entire ability, and 1 dodge rolle can cut the confusion stack by 2-3.

sword: good dps, good control with cripple and immobilize, and superior survivability.

what does the scepter offer that the sword does not? not counting clone generation, as ive already covered that.

i havent had issues with F2 since launch. it’s quite responsive (not perfect because pet needs to end previous animation). problem is pet survivability.

also, ive played the evasion tank at the tpvp level, and it’s all well and good until you get immobilized and CRUSHED. yeah, rangers dont have immobilize-breakers. lulz. until lightning reflexes can break immobilize, sword/dagger is laughable.

rangers cant control anything. my mesmer can daze, evade and knock back aynone on demand, and my hammer guardian can immobilize, trap and knock back all on a low CD. the true masters of control are eles and mesmers, followed by thieves, hammer warriors and guardians.

i could live with the current pets getting kited (they still do decent damage when they land hits), but their lack of survivability is totally unacceptable.

SB is unfortunately a terribad weapon, as it currently has no burst and lacks condition application. you cant flank good players, period. #2 and #5 are great though.

rangers lack mobility. see mesmers, thieves, eles.

rangers lack reliable condition removal. the signet is often useless if youre actively using your pet, which means it’s likely dead. increasing pet survivability would remedy this.

rangers lack viable specs. only condition builds with traps are currently viable, the rest is laughable.

i believe OP has good intentions trying to “educate” us with his post, but unfortunately, i dont think he/she has played the profession enough (especially in tpvp) to comment on needed changes.

but sword’s #2 is infinitely better, as youre not just distorted but youre also doing massive dps.

i ran a mantra GS build in spvp just for kicks and i gotta tell u it’s really cool. +12% damage from 3 mantras (heal, damage and daze) makes for an amazing sniper in WvW., giving you the maximum dps from 1200.

@Lights
can you tell me a little about the scepter? do you use it for its #3? because 1 & 2 for generating clones seem pointless to me as you can easily generate 3 clones by rolling or with utility skills in less than 3 seconds. ive been looking for a viable alternative to sword/pistol, and i just cant find it (with the exception of focus for wvw).

Seer’s chest piece, neck region has no graphics when head is turned to side. thanks. please fix my favourite set =)

people complain about bunkers and thieves because thats all you need to dominate tpvp. add a few mesmers.

Not for me. I never needs to wait longer than 5 mins.

Excellent, excellent post…I feel u man. My friend and I, both avid pvpers, pretty much rage quit tpvp after many days of hitting our heads against the wall of broken builds. And both of us knew our profs inside out. I just didnt wanna play a bunker guardian and he didnt wanna play a backstab thief. Not to mention i had to abandon my ranger completely. The situation is deplorable and I’m hoping anet has an ace up their sleeves for the Oct 22nd patch. Otherwise there’s no sense in having paid tourneys.

@ceca
Excellent points. While the current situation is frustrating, I think anet is acting appropriately by taking notes and not making spastic balancing decisions, which continues to ruin wow. I also wish they would just focus on the bugs…there are literally hundreds

teviko.6049:

I use this build for my trap build, and I use the shortbow, simply for the poison, not for the QZ spam. if you notice, I don’t even have QZ here.

http://www.gw2build.com/builds/ranger-trap-condition-tpvp-traps-condition-shortbow-axe-warhorn-6520.html

You can change out frost trap (or flame trap) for spike trap if you prefer. The build is lightly customizable, but in this build, I have no issues melting guardians and thieves. Necros and engi’s seem to be my hardest classes to combat.

1100 toughness and 18k HP, no defensive abilities >.< you realize a thief can like 3 shot u? im curious, how are people playing these condition builds? i can see you just getting melted.

70 hours of ingame time…hmm…you definitely skipped most of the content. how come im over 300 hours ingame and all i have to show for it are: lvl 60 main, 2 lvl 30 alts, rank 23 in mists, and 30% world completion >.<

im gearing up and leveling my main for WvW, where ive only spent about 10-20 hours. i guess there is a “wrong” way to play GW2, if you want the game to last. still though, 70 hours of pure PVE is not bad for 60 bucks, and youre probably still playing.

i think GW2 has plenty of longevity if you do a little bit of everything. steamrolling through the PVE on one character is bound to get ya bored quickly.

im worries these builds simply dont have any survivability =(

thieves ARE OP.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Thiefs-Discussion-Thread-Merged/first

thanks.

unlike rangers though, skilled eles can wreck s/tpvp.

i can only hope theyre working on something big for the Oct. 22 patch, otherwise im just gonna throw my hands up and walk away in frustration lol. only to come back when they address it. Heart of the Swarm is coming out soon for my pvp needs. too bad i got so attached to a broken prof!

no reason to be condescending. no one is really complaining about ranger viability in WvW and PVE. and the condition ranger is a viable option for tpvp, as has been known for a while. your build, however, is not viable for tpvp as you would get absolutely melted on the first immobilize. the popular condition build for tpvp has much more survivability (as it’s badly needed).

the build you posted works for small gang encounters in WvW, and in PVE. i use something similar. your post though is really random because no one is really complaining about ranger condition damage. tpvp, two broken trait trees, and a few useless weapons are the problems.

from what ive seen, spvp and tpvp are: warriors, thieves, mesmers, guardians and engies. all solid profs, somewhat balanced and well represented.

eles and rangers are virtually nonexistent in tpvp, and necros are rare. these three need help, ranger the most. and some thief and warrior numbers need serious toning down.

it’s WoW rogues all over again lol. proves to me that maybe ANet actually didnt know what they were doing with pvp balance.

problem with thieves in spvp is that they can unload a boatload of DPS, and disappear, almost indefinitely. kinda like WoW rogues all over again.

as squared mentioned, spvp IS the bread and butter of this game’s pvp, and balancing things just around the tpvp elite is foolish.

my hammer guardian can do everything: spike, bunker, dps, cleanse, cc…hes kind of a hybrid. but yes, i agree with what youre saying.

but we can improve thineselves!!

cant calm down / focus when they deleted our one calm and focused thread.

with that, you lose all credibility. the little you had. sword/dagger gives you 3 low CD on-demand evades, effectively rendering you invulnerable for 3-4 seconds. along with signets, it is essential for anything resembling a bunker build.

so you wanna get into the nitty-gritty, but you bring no valid arguments to the “discussion”.>.< ive been playing the prof since BWE1, btw. i know the prof is viable in a few roles. what im saying is that other profs do it way better.

i am understanding. you’re basically attempting to tell us all to L2P, without using any rational arguments whatsoever. “I do this, this works for ME, YOU should do this, ranger is viable to ME.”

as i said, you can run a condition build for tpvp all day. but others will do it better, and the ranger has no other options. other profs will also play the bunker role better. it is my opinion that your team would do better if you brought your skill to another profession.

but thats really not the point here. you can say “to each their own” in all aspects of PVE, but people play pvp to bring something to the table. to contribute. people generally dont like dragging their teams down.

docMed.7692:

Well the BM trees are useless mainly due to the targetting problems pet have, etc.

In pvp I utilize axe/war horn/torch/shortbow and ocassionally long bow.

GS/sword/longbow could definitely use some work – from a raw damage perspective, these are behind, but you’re not counting in the utility and evasion these weapons also apply as well, whch is vastly superior.

i am counting that. i play a sword/dagger evasion tank in pvp. while it may be enough for survivability, rangers simply lack utility and damage. compared to what mesmers, thieves, warriors and guardians bring to the table, the ranger’s contribution is simply laughable.

^ well stated.

any little bit of communication would make most of us happy. the ranger currently gets stomped by just about every prof, outside of PVE. we would like to hear what plans youve got for the prof.

i hope you have some huge changes in store for the Oct. 22nd patch, otherwise many will simply walk away from the prof for good.

docMed.7692:

Sdric.8526:

Exaggerated Statement?
Please scroll up and enter the bug forum.
Check the nature and beast-traitline sections.

You’re missing the entire point of this post. I’ve acknowledged multiple times, not only in this post, the existing bugs and have implored requests for their subsequent fix.

actually, the ranger doesnt have that many bugs. nature and BM trees are useless and most of the weapons dont have a role in serious pvp. other profs do everything better, you can’t deny that.

ranger is by far the most underpowered prof in the game. no one is saying theyre useless. but in comparison to others, theyre ineffective and usually stomped by good thieves/warriors/mesmers/guardians/engies.

other than the cookiecutter condition build, the ranger is not viable in tpvp. in spvp, you can do anything and look good. in pve, you can go 0/0/0/0/0 and still do just fine. and WvW is simply dominated by other profs in just about every way (support, burst, mobility, tank, you name it).

as a top diamond player, i’ll have to disagree. SC2 has actually evolved into something organic. not only are there at least several openers in terms of building order, but players can also choose what combination of units to build. all sorts of crazy build orders are possible, and viable, depending on timing.

even LoL and DoTA2 give you the option of building your character differently after a certain point.

so then everyone will be playing the same or similar builds in tpvp? is that ok? i get that organized play is in its infancy, but some specs and weapons are just so blatantly superior.

fully agreed! love the torch but it’s useless compared to the other offhands.

GS, sword/pistol, staff. this is mesmer TPVP. are there any decent builds out there that include some of the other weapons?

as things stand, each prof has one or two specs that vastly outperform all other builds. im basically excluding myself from tpvp because i dont wanna play a bunker guardian, or a condition ranger. similarly, i dont wanna play a sword/pistol/X shatter mesmer. mantras and the scepter, for example, have no place in tpvp. ranger pets and power builds dont have a place. and so on.

are there any plans to make multiple builds viable for tpvp in the future? as expected, people are min-maxing hard, and i hope devs are ready to start tuning down some of the pervasive nonsense like bunker-dependency.

@Hsulf
it doesnt matter that multi-thief comps arent as viable in tpvp. im commenting on how big of a mess spvp is.

oh, it’s just a very low skill cap build. didnt mean to offend.

yeah that is pretty funny. too bad thats not my problem >.<

in fact, i dont even have a problem. i can faceroll on my guardian main all day. just sharing my observations and concerns.

the most worrisome part is that this game is so far from tpvp-ready, it’s not even funny.

people are starting to pick up on the thief glass cannon builds, and spvp is getting out of hand. in tpvp and 1v1, thieves are definitely manageable. in spvp where you have to survive multiple thieves backstabbing and heartseeking, it gets a little ridiculous. getting hit for 10k+ damage on my 1800 toughness and heavy armor is just plain nuts.

sad to say, but spvp is reaching WoW-esque proportions. im really concerned about the current lack of balance because there is simply too much to fix. as an avid pvp’er, my patience is just about spent, and i think i speak for many, many people =( good luck with this devs.

for pve, anything is viable. for spvp, you can get away with a few builds. for tpvp, there is currently one viable build (condition). so as long as youre ok going with the “accepted” builds for pvp, you’ll be ok.

lightning reflexes needs to break immobilize so that evasion tanks are viable options.

empathic bond needs to be reliable, i.e. it needs to activate on pet swap.

spirits need their HP back.

pets need to be a viable option. currently they are not

great suggestions.

it doesnt help. no one cares about spirits in pve. theyre more or less useless in pve, and an insult to all gamers in pvp.