Guild Wars 2

Rising Dusk.2408:

PearlGore.7419:

30 sec revealed for 500 karma not good enough for you? Okay then.

The traps actually cost more than a catapult in terms of badges, which makes me a sad panda.

So use Karma! It’s not that much. :>

I’m excited because now I can use traps and feel like a “real” Ranger without having to build for Ranger traps!

“Supply Removal Trap
Removes 5 supply from enemies affected by the trap.

Stealth Disruptor Trap
Removes stealth from enemies and reveals them for 30 seconds, preventing stealth."

I’m mostly excited about those traps!

“Stealth Disruptor Trap
Removes stealth from enemies and reveals them for 30 seconds, preventing stealth.”

TRAPS, YAY! I can be a super Ranger now!

Dahir.4158:

zTales.4392:

Dahir.4158:

Aveneo.2068:

They are ‘friends’ until they outnumber you 4 to 1.

That’s the truth right there!

It’s so sad, though! There I am, a level 18 Ranger, just minding my own business. All of a sudden, I hear my wolf bark … I turn around, and a mob of enemies facerolls me.

No mercy for the enemy, I guess. xD

Whenever I see an afk enemy and I’m with 3+ people I tend to surround them, sit down and wait for them to come back and freak out. That or they jump up and down in excitement :P

Heh, I haven’t been very lucky with that. Every time I go afk I come back to a dead character. ;~;

Dahir.4158:

Aveneo.2068:

They are ‘friends’ until they outnumber you 4 to 1.

That’s the truth right there!

It’s so sad, though! There I am, a level 18 Ranger, just minding my own business. All of a sudden, I hear my wolf bark … I turn around, and a mob of enemies facerolls me.

No mercy for the enemy, I guess. xD

The color of your team don’t matter to me,
As long as we can live in harmony!

Why can’t we be friends?
Why can’t we be friends?
Why can’t we be friends?!
Why can’t we be friends?!?!

I need help choosing between:
A hybrid BM build, a healing BM build, and a trap build.

(I don’t know how to make a good trap build.)

I want to use Shortbow/Greatsword for sure. I mostly play WvW, and I mainly do small group (2-8 people) scouting, roaming, camp capturing, tower capturing, havoc grouping, etc. I also solo roam. Zergs aren’t my thing.

Help me make a decision? I really like the hybrid BM and healing BM builds. I also love traps. If anyone has experience with builds like these, please give me your input!

Edit: Also, after some testing, I’ve learned that 1,100 points in Healing Power + Signet of the Wild + Natural Healing makes my wolf able to solo those NPCs in The Mists. Basically, it makes my pets super tough. That’s the only reason that the healing build is so appealing to me. >.>

I love your song choice. xD

Nice use of your Ele-ness! The same thing has happened to me, unfortunately. I’ve tried makin’ friends with enemies, but they end up turning on me. Even at skill points! I’ll go out of my way to mess with someone who’s at a skill point. I just follow them around. lol

Funny story, one time I was on my Ele and I saw this Guardian. I tried to “make friends,” but he started attacking me. I let him attack me for about a minute before I decided to kill him because he didn’t get the hint.

I want to make frienemies, but people show no mercy. :<

Pixels.6532:

How long can Anet continue to ignore these tears? I see only one solution to this thief epidemic:

1. Steal – no longer makes you invisible, instead makes you become 2x larger and expands your hit box by 100%. All enemy players within a 1,200 radius automatically target you and their projectiles become heat-seeking with 100% chance to crit and projectile finish.

2. Shadow Stepping – changed to Hide in Plain Sight, all shadow stepping skills now turn you into an ambient creature. Good Luck and DON’T MAKE ANY SUDDEN MOVEMENTS! Think bunny thoughts!

3. Steal – can no longer heal you or do damage to your opponent, instead you steal up to 2% of your opponent’s gold (note, on person, not in bank), but they get it back if they down you.

4. Thieves Guild – summon two thieves who immediately hide and wait for you to die. Once you’re dead, they riffle through your pockets looking for loose change.

5. Dagger Storm – changed to Spin to Win, summon Pat Sajak and a giant wheel. Spin the wheel while shouting “Come on big money!”

6. Hide in Shadows – goes on full CD if you are not in an actual shadow when you use this skill.
——————————————————————————-

That should do it…

I lol’d.

In all seriousness, though, I’d take away 0.5-1 second from each stealth skill. For example, I’d change the 3 second stealths to 2-2.5 second stealths.

Zumy.6318:

Problems with thieves are how bad average NA players are and how good skilled gankers can manage to do against them.
It was like that in every RvR game and it is in GW2.

I’d argue that a skilled Thief could kill a skilled Warrior, Ranger, Necro, and Elementalist the vast majority of the time. The only classes that might have a chance are Guardians, Mesmers and Engineers for obvious reasons. Maybe a Condition Damage trap Ranger, too.

As far as damage goes, the Thief is fine imo. However, the stealth crap needs to be changed.

Yesterday, I was chasing down a Thief with a couple of people. This Thief took me out first (I was level 15), then took out the two level 80s that were with me. It wasn’t his damage that was the issue, it was the fact that he went into stealth every 2-4 seconds.

Also, I’ve seen Thieves pick off people in zergs, stealth away, and harass the group. They always come out of stealth with more health than they had before.

That’s just stupid. No class should be able to kill someone in a group of 10-30+ people alone and come out without a scratch, only to go back into the large group and mess with them some more.

Ranger, hands down. Shortbow + Greatsword is super fun (I do small group fights and solo roaming). I love making my pets attack people while shoot’n at their faces. Traps are also amazing. xD

I played a Sword/Axe + Longbow Warrior and a Dagger/Dagger Elementalist as well. They were fun, but the Ranger is way more fun for me personally.

[Ungulate Family] Stag/Doe, Ram, Marmox – CC pets

[Raptor Family] – High damage pets

[Skelk/Skale Family] – Condition Damage pets

Add a tiger to the cat family and a coyote to the canine family. Just ’cause I like them. xD

That’s all I’ve got!

I used this build as an outline and created a couple of my own. The first one is very similar to Valroth’s build, just with some small changes for personal preference. The second one is a Healing Power variant.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/ranger/?6.3|5.1g.0|1.1g.0|1c.71j.1c.71j.1c.71j.1c.71j.1c.71j.1c.71j|1n.64.1n.64.1n.64.1n.64.1n.64.1c.0|0.k1a.k6a.0.u56c|0.0|4i.0.0.0.54|e

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/ranger/?6.3|5.1k.0|1.1k.0|1k.71j.1k.71j.1k.71j.1k.71j.1k.71j.1k.71j|1n.64.1a.64.1a.64.1n.64.1n.64.1c.64|0.k1a.k6a.0.u56c|0.0|4i.0.0.0.54|e

I’d like to get this all squared away before I hit 80. Build #1 offers +200 Power, +100 Precision, +150 Vitality, and +9% Critical Damage. Build #2 offers +600 Healing Power.

If I’m going to run Signet of the Wild, that +600 Healing Power from build #2 would be amazing. Plus, I use Healing Spring, so it’d help with that, too. The thing is, I really wanted to stay over 1,800 Power and 40% critical chance. :I

I’m so indecisive. Help? xD

Love it. I run Shortbow/Greatsword in all modes of play (PvE, sPvP, and WvW [small groups & roaming]) and it works like a charm. GS is a very well-rounded weapon.

I haven’t tried using it in dungeons, though.

Yep, I did it and all my stuff was still there.

Free transfer, yay! Too bad my 80s are gone, though. :I

…will the stuff in my bank stay there? All my gold and all my items?

Nobody has any input? ;~;

Which servers/tiers are the least “zergy,” if any? I’d like a lower population server/tier that focuses more on small group roaming and such. I hear tier 7 is good for that sort of thing?

Edit: Obviously, though, I don’t want the server to be completely empty. lol

Astral Projections.7320:

What happened to all those posts saying ANet needs to merge empty servers? People already complain that maps are empty. Adding more servers will cause more of these complaints.

They have already increased the population caps on the servers. They should be able to do it again.

If they could increase the caps, that’d be great. If they can’t, more servers would be nice.

Mmhm. Also, I’d like to server transfer… but 1,800 gems? Meh.

Manekk.6981:

Try rending attacks and expertise training on the moving golem instead logically they should be alot more benefitial there (or any longer fight also) the stationary golem dies too fast for them to make much diffrence, it’s dots after all.

Yep, I’mma do that later. :P

Puandro.3245:

zTales.4392:

Spirit.9158:

snip

Thanks, Spirit!

---

Okay, so, here we go! MOAR DATA.

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo101/zTales/Guild%20Wars%202/JAGvsWOLF.png
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo101/zTales/Guild%20Wars%202/JAGvsSNOW.png

They came out blurry. Not sure why.

Can we get a TLDR for ppl at work?

Snow Leopard beats Jaguar on moving targets by 8 seconds.
Rending Attacks doesn’t make a big difference on stationary targets, nor does Expertise Training, even when they’re used together.

Jaguar beat the Wolf on the stationary target by 6 seconds.
Wolf beat the Jaguar on the moving target by 11 seconds.
SotH boosted the Jaguar’s effectiveness on moving targets by 16 seconds.
SotH boosted the Wolf’s effectiveness on moving targets by 7 seconds.
Pet’s Prowess boosted the Jaguar’s effectiveness on moving targets by 12 seconds.
Pet’s Prowess boosted the Wolf’s effectiveness by 9 seconds.
SotH -and- Pet’s Prowess boosted the Jaguar’s effectiveness on moving targets by 22 seconds.
SotH -and- Pet’s Prowess boosted the Jaguar’s effectiveness on moving targets by 10 seconds.

All this was done with 300 points in BM. :P

Spirit.9158:

snip

Thanks, Spirit!

Okay, so, here we go! MOAR DATA.

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo101/zTales/Guild%20Wars%202/JAGvsWOLF.png
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo101/zTales/Guild%20Wars%202/JAGvsSNOW.png

They came out blurry. Not sure why.

I won’t be able to post stuff tonight. I didn’t get much done at all.

I’ll finish everything up tomorrow and then post it!

Eurantien.4632:

The Tales of z – Stuff. That’s what you name it.

Well, that’s … interesting? xD

I’ll be online soon. Expect data in 3-4 hours.

I just realized that I called my control a “constant.” Fixed that. I guess that’s what I get for posting this topic so late. lol.

When I post the new tests, should I make a new thread? After all, it no longer concerns Agility Training. It’ll be about SotH, Pet’s Prowess, the wolf vs the jaguar, and the snow leopard vs the jaguar. What the heck do you title something like that? lol

Manekk.6981:

zTales.4392:

Puandro.3245:

Speed signet ftw.

Do you ever use the active ability? :o

See, I’d have to replace Sic ‘Em with SotH if I used it. I’m not so sure I want to do that.

Yes, first you can preload it cause the buff lasts 16min or something so you can start with having both speed aswell as 50%damage on your pets next attack, second it’s pretty nice to use it on petswap when pets start with their big cd attacks to boost them even more especially if you have raven or cat this alone will produce 5k+ crits on a squishie.

Regarding Sic ‘Em I don’t like it because it’s so unreliable, it’s a totally kitten skill and virtually anything can and will cancel the buff even some pet abilities wich you have no control over whatsoever will cancel it if I’m not mistaken, mindboggeling how stupid that is really.

Yea, I noticed that Sic ’Em does get canceled a lot.

And I didn’t know that about SotH. o.o Thanks! Now the switch sounds much more appealing.

I guess I’ll just do my tests with SotH from now on, ‘cause I guess I’ll be using it! Problem solved! xD

New compiled list of tests for later:
1. Jaguar vs wolf on a stationary target. 30 points in BM.
2. Jaguar vs wolf on moving targets. 30 points in BM and Signet of the Hunt.
3. Jaguar vs wolf on moving targets. Pet’s Prowess and 30 points in BM.
4. Jaguar vs wolf on moving targets. Pet’s Prowess, SotH, and 30 points in BM.
5. Jaguar on moving targets. Pet’s Prowess, SotH, Rending Attacks, and 30 points in BM.
6. Jaguar vs snow leopard on moving targets. Pet’s Prowess, SotH, Commanding Voice, and 30 points in BM. I’ll spam their F2 abilities.

I’ll add to it later. I need to start with the basics. x.x

Puandro.3245:

Speed signet ftw.

Do you ever use the active ability? :o

See, I’d have to replace Sic ‘Em with SotH if I used it. I’m not so sure I want to do that.

Manekk.6981:

zTales.4392:

Manekk.6981:

zTales.4392:

Manekk.6981:

How long a pet with natural healing can stay up against what? pointless exercise if you ask me we already know exactly how much it heals.

If you like testing this stuff then I think you should simply start from the bottom test pets at 0/10/20/30 points in BM both on stationary and moving golem and then add on traits to the tests after you have done the base without them.

This would be nice to compare the same pet at diffrent points in BM rather than just h2h against a diffrent animal aswell.

If the pet dies in 10-20 seconds, then Natural Healing may not be worth it. It may be better to use the 10 points on something else. That’s why I want to know.

If you read the original post, you’d know that I did do the sort of tests you’re talking about. :I

Edit: Oh, that is, “base” tests. There’s not much of a point in testing at 0/10/20/30. We all know that it’ll increase damage done by the pet. What we don’t know is which pets work best with which traits. Not in detail, anyway.

You only tested 3 pets with 20points in BM that’s not what I said, and of course I did read the OP or was it updated and I missed it?

Also what pet with natural healing is going to stay up against what?

Anyway it was just a suggestion cause it seemed like you were getting a little bit here a little bit there, it’s your test do it as you like.

I tested 3 pets with 20 points in BM, yea. Once on a stable target, with no traits. Once on a moving target, with no traits. Then I did it again on a moving target, but with Agility Training. So I did do a base test. :P

I’m going to pit a jaguar, a wolf, and a bear against one of the training NPCs. 30 points in BM, no traits. I’ll just time how long they last, then I’ll test it again a few more times. After that, I’ll give them the Natural Healing trait and see if there’s a significant difference. If there’s not, then I’ll just take Agility Training over Natural Healing for the damage increase. :P

I forsee an annoying unsatisfactory test session with idiot NPCs that will insist on ignoring pets and going straight for the owner

Ugh, do they really do that? xD

That’s annoying. I’d really like to know if Natural Healing is really all that great. I mean if it heals for 125 per second, and a fight lasts 40 seconds, that’s a lot of HP healed! But if you give your pet Agility Training, that’ll boost your pet’s effectiveness by a lot. According to my testing, it’d cut down the time you’re stuck in a fight in half. Then again, the more cripples and chills and such that I inflict on my target, the smaller that gap will become. Okay, so say it takes 30 seconds instead of 40. Is it worth it?

If we’re gonna’ speculate here (because I have to at this point) then I’ll guess that Agility Training buffs a pet’s damage by at least 15% simply because it can hit more often. Plus, my pet will be able to catch people who are running away. That’s especially great in WvW. So what’s better? 125 HP per second, or a buff that allows your pet to chase people down and do more damage? I don’t know. It seems to me like Agility Training would be more beneficial, but I really don’t know. :I

Edit: The only way to completely solve my issue, I think, would be to take Natural Healing and also put Signet of the Hunt in one of my utility slots. But I don’t wanna’ sacrifice my utility! Someone help me. xD

Manekk.6981:

zTales.4392:

Manekk.6981:

How long a pet with natural healing can stay up against what? pointless exercise if you ask me we already know exactly how much it heals.

If you like testing this stuff then I think you should simply start from the bottom test pets at 0/10/20/30 points in BM both on stationary and moving golem and then add on traits to the tests after you have done the base without them.

This would be nice to compare the same pet at diffrent points in BM rather than just h2h against a diffrent animal aswell.

If the pet dies in 10-20 seconds, then Natural Healing may not be worth it. It may be better to use the 10 points on something else. That’s why I want to know.

If you read the original post, you’d know that I did do the sort of tests you’re talking about. :I

Edit: Oh, that is, “base” tests. There’s not much of a point in testing at 0/10/20/30. We all know that it’ll increase damage done by the pet. What we don’t know is which pets work best with which traits. Not in detail, anyway.

You only tested 3 pets with 20points in BM that’s not what I said, and of course I did read the OP or was it updated and I missed it?

Also what pet with natural healing is going to stay up against what?

Anyway it was just a suggestion cause it seemed like you were getting a little bit here a little bit there, it’s your test do it as you like.

I tested 3 pets with 20 points in BM, yea. Once on a stable target, with no traits. Once on a moving target, with no traits. Then I did it again on a moving target, but with Agility Training. So I did do a base test. :P

I’m going to pit a jaguar, a wolf, and a bear against one of the training NPCs. 30 points in BM, no traits. I’ll just time how long they last, then I’ll test it again a few more times. After that, I’ll give them the Natural Healing trait and see if there’s a significant difference. If there’s not, then I’ll just take Agility Training over Natural Healing for the damage increase. :P

Manekk.6981:

How long a pet with natural healing can stay up against what? pointless exercise if you ask me we already know exactly how much it heals.

If you like testing this stuff then I think you should simply start from the bottom test pets at 0/10/20/30 points in BM both on stationary and moving golem and then add on traits to the tests after you have done the base without them.

This would be nice to compare the same pet at diffrent points in BM rather than just h2h against a diffrent animal aswell.

If the pet dies in 10-20 seconds, then Natural Healing may not be worth it. It may be better to use the 10 points on something else. That’s why I want to know.

If you read the original post, you’d know that I did do the sort of tests you’re talking about. :I

Edit: Oh, that is, “base” tests. There’s not much of a point in testing at 0/10/20/30. We all know that it’ll increase damage done by the pet. What we don’t know is which pets work best with which traits. Not in detail, anyway.

Okay, here’s the list I’ve compiled so far:

1. Jaguar vs wolf on moving targets. Pet’s Prowess and 30 points in BM. (Then I’ll do it again, but I’ll add some Shortbow cripples. Then I’ll do it again, but I’ll add Sword auto-attacks.)

2. Jaguar vs wolf on moving targets. Pet’s Prowess, Agility Training, and 20 points in BM. (Then I’ll do it again, but I’ll add some Shortbow cripples. Then I’ll do it again, but I’ll add Sword auto-attacks.)

3. Jaguar on moving targets. Pet’s Prowess, Agility Training, Rending Attacks, and 20 points in BM.

4. Jaguar vs snow leopard on moving targets. Pet’s Prowess, Agility Training, Commanding Voice, and 20 points in BM. I’ll spam their F2 abilities.

5. How long a pet can stay up without Natural Healing.

6. How long a pet can stay up with Natural Healing.

Wow, that’s a lot. o__o;

Did I miss anything? xD

Manekk.6981:

Forzani.2584:

Manekk.6981:

Forzani.2584:

What this test says to me is to use dogs. Unless you are fighting a stationary target.

If you don’t have any traits that enhance pets and don’t plan to help them yes, now if the ranger starts to cripple, chill and stun the target it will be a little diffrent or very diffrent actually.

How so ? Please explain.

Pure damage dog and cat are very similar with agility training.
Without Agility it is a rout in dogs favor.
Stationary cat wins….but not as lopsided as without agility.

Obviously the Ranger will try and use some CC to help the pet. Still, even then the cat barely wins…and that is not even taking into account the dogs own CC ….3 per dog. If you are any kind of kiter then that pet CC is invaluable.

I would suggest the Rangers build and play style would play a part in the decision making. A burst melee Ranger would have a stationary target for the pet to hit so in that situation I would go with cat.

I am only concerned with WvW. I am sure pve…dungeons and PvP are quite different.

Isn’t it obvious that it’s a little shortsighted to just conclude “moving target, dog is best” there are traits that increase crit damage, apply bleed on crit, increased condition damage for pets all these play in favor of a cat I’ll go out on a limb here and claim a cat would bring down a moving golem faster than dogs even without agility training or signet of the hunt if you have these traits but if you add the movement speed and some cc to the target then a cat will just embarress a dog in damage output.

There are of course other good reasons to bring a wolf they have good F2 abilities, knockdowns can be really useful not to mention they are pretty good tanks if you need one aswell as having decent dps and being good on moving targets even when unaided.

So yeah picking a dog purely based on a test that included 30% speed and without isn’t the best in my opinion best look at what else you would use aswell before making that decision.

I actually did try it with Pet’s Prowess and without Agility Training. The results were so similar to the original moving target test that I just scrapped it. I’ll do it again, though.

Chopps.5047:

zTales.4392:

Chopps.5047:

We’ve been preaching agility training, chills, cripples, and stuns for pets to land hits for a long time. The problem is that many players don’t like that gameplay. They want to drop powerful attacks while the cat lands every hit, right? If you run cat beastmaster you have to control your target. Sword is great for this. Has anyone tested cat vs dog when using mainhand sword?

I’m not a fan of the Sword because of the way the auto-attack locks you. >.<

But I’ll grab some steady weapons (so that I don’t do too much damage) and test it later.

The leap animations keep you crippling a running target while also buffing the cat with might. The stickiness is a feature, not a bug.

I know it’s not a bug, I just don’t like it. It gets me panicky. I hate being locked into anything. xD

Chopps.5047:

We’ve been preaching agility training, chills, cripples, and stuns for pets to land hits for a long time. The problem is that many players don’t like that gameplay. They want to drop powerful attacks while the cat lands every hit, right? If you run cat beastmaster you have to control your target. Sword is great for this. Has anyone tested cat vs dog when using mainhand sword?

I’m not a fan of the Sword because of the way the auto-attack locks you. >.<

But I’ll grab some steady weapons (so that I don’t do too much damage) and test it later.

Forzani.2584:

How will your cat crit any of those classes for 9k when they can’t hit them when they are moving ? I’m sure the cat critted now and then during the testing provided yet the damage was half of what the dogs was on a moving target.

That was a funny sight. xD

Jaguar: “RAWR! Golem, I’mma maul you!”
Golem: “Hah, this again?” -keeps running-
Jaguar: -stops in place, then swipes at the Golem who is now too far away to hit- “How do I keep missing?!?!”
Me: -facepalm-

HotHit.6783:

It looks pretty good to take this trait yeah, but something to note about movement speed boosts is they don’t stack. A pet with Sic ‘em, swiftness and agility training will only have Sic ’em’s bonus, because it is the highest.

For this reason, signet of the hunt almost gives the trait as its passive and Sic ‘em can somewhat replace the trait. Birds are usually used with the former and cats with the latter, both of these pets can benefit more from the 30% bonus crit damage trait in the same slot in these circumstances. Longbow rangers also get very little benefit out of agility training due to Hunter’s Shot providing effectively permanent swiftness.

Well, the thing is, I’m a Shortbow/Greatsword Ranger. Swiftness just isn’t there. xD

I’m trying to choose between SotH and Agility Training. It’s a bit difficult because of the way my traits and utilities are set up.

I usually use this: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.6.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.133.144.145.300.152.0.0.0.0.0.0.391.400.0.411.415.0.0.0.0.440.438.447.0.20.20.0.30

But I was thinking of switching to this:
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.6.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.133.144.145.300.152.0.0.0.0.0.0.391.400.396.411.415.0.0.0.0.440.438.0.0.30.20.0.20

If I don’t switch to that build, I’ll have to replace a utility with SotH, and I don’t want to do that. ;__;

Zenith.7301:

zTales.4392:

Zenith.7301:

You know those guardians and eles and engineers? That stability part? Your wolf does crap.

Your wolf will also never crit someone for 8-9k with cooldowns.

What pet crits 8-9k? O__o;

Anyway, the knockdown may not always work, but the cripple will! The F2 skill also helps a lot.

Fear does not apply against people with stability up.

As for those numbers. Pop signet of the wild. Pop Signet of the Hunt. Have Rampagae as One might stacks on your raven or jaguar. Hit a guy in berserker gear in spvp.

It happens. The wolf will never do that damage.

1. - A person isn’t always going to have stability up. It’s ridiculous to think that way. Some people don’t have stability in their builds at all.
2. - The whole idea of these tests is to test how well pets do without any utility skills.

That said, duh the wolf isn’t going to do the same damage as a jaguar. They’re completely different. The jaguar is the king of burst. However, that doesn’t make a wolf useless, nor does the whole stability issue. The idea, though, is that a wolf may be able to take a target down quicker because it doesn’t spend as much time chasing its target.

Zenith.7301:

You know those guardians and eles and engineers? That stability part? Your wolf does crap.

Your wolf will also never crit someone for 8-9k with cooldowns.

What pet crits 8-9k? O__o;

Anyway, the knockdown may not always work, but the cripple will! The F2 skill also helps a lot.

Indoles.1467:

Forzani.2584:

What this test says to me is to use dogs. Unless you are fighting a stationary target.

Found this out a long time ago. Canines provide the most consistent dps out of any pet on moving targets and have near linear results of change when their speed is modified. Felines and birds have high ranges which isn’t reliable enough for me.

I think I’m just going to stop testing the birds. The more I see them needlessly using Quickening Screech, the less I want to use them.

Does anyone have any pets they’d like me to try out?

Snow leopard is highly unused in favor of the lynx but I find it better (against players). Same leap but it applies an 8s chill which in turn helps it (and you) land more hits shortly afterwards.

An 8s chill? Hm. :I

Okay, new test idea! Jaguar vs snow leopard! I will have 200 points in BM, and I will use Pet’s Prowess, Agility Training, and Commanding Voice. I will spam the F2 abilities as soon as they come off cooldown.

Is the jaguar’s attack bonus from stealth more effective than the snow leopard’s 8s chill? Stay tuned to find out! xD

Edit: Oh, and it’ll be a moving target!

Forzani.2584:

Agree. I use double dog currently in WvW, but recently had a gong moment. I solo supply camps everyday. Just before doing one a couple of days ago I had a wtf moment. Why didn’t I use Drakes ?? More HPs and they have AOE damage. Much more appropriate for that situation.

I love WvW so much, but I’m having trouble finding a good roaming build. >.<

So far, the things I find I can’t live without are: my wolf, my Shortbow, my Greatsword, 20 points in Skirmishing, 20 points in Wilderness Survival, and 15 points in Beast Mastery.

The 20 points in Skirmishing is for Quick Draw, but… then there are traps! I really love placing traps in places where people can’t see them, and watching them panic when they walk over them. Yea, I’m that kind of Ranger. xD

Grrr, this is difficult. What’s your build like?

I think I’m just going to stop testing the birds. The more I see them needlessly using Quickening Screech, the less I want to use them.

Does anyone have any pets they’d like me to try out?

Assassin.7890:

Lets make a whole project and some excel sheets. Because there are so many differences and as you already stated, you want to do far more tests. Thanks for your work so far

You’re very welcome. I enjoy data collecting. xD

I’ve already got an excel sheet made up for this first test, so of course I’ll be doing the same for other tests. I can put them online later [in about 11 hours, lol].

Forzani.2584:

garethh.3518:

Forzani.2584:

What this test says to me is to use dogs. Unless you are fighting a stationary target.

If you PvE… or are a simple minded PvP’er.

..and that is a pet peeve (pun intended) of mine when it comes to these forums.
..what is the best build….what armor should I wear…what accessories….what weapons etc etc. That is impossible to answer unless we know where the majority of your fights are……and what play style you prefer.

Same thing when someone touts how great their build is. It might be fantastic, but totally inappropriate for my play style.

One of the great things about GW2 is how easy it is to change up on the fly. Need to get into a tower that’s being attacked ? Switch over to GS and when you get close to door do a swoop then block. Switch out pet to a bear and change one trait to protect me. Gives you a much better chance to get in.

The point is, different scenarios demand different solutions.

Mmhm.

I prefer a jaguar + wolf setup in sPvP. I’m still working out my PvE pets, but I’m thinking either a cat + wolf or a bird + wolf. WvW is a completely different situation. You need to adapt. I’ll definitly have a wolf, but I’m not sure at all about my second pet. :I

First you need to figure out your playstyle (weapons, armor, and utilities), then you need to need to pick your pets and your traits. Not everyone will end up with the same thing, obviously.

Forzani.2584:

zTales.4392:

Forzani.2584:

garethh.3518:

Forzani.2584:

What this test says to me is to use dogs. Unless you are fighting a stationary target.

If you PvE… or are a simple minded PvP’er.

I am only concerned with WvW. (solo/duo roamer) In that scenario the cat better do much more damage than the dogs to override the benefits of 6 CCs from the dogs. These tests say they don’t.

When I get home, I’ll grab a Steady Shortbow, then apply a few cripples to the moving target. I’m guessing, then, that the cat wil have a slight advantage, but I’m not sure.

I bet the cat might have a slight advantage also. SB only has 1 three second cripple though, and a stun if hit from behind. The rest of the time, as per your tests, the dog has a huge advantage. That is not even taking into account the dogs CCs

Yea, the dog is the clear winner as far as stable damage goes. However, realize that I didn’t use the jaguar’s F2 skill at all. Also, the jaguar has a clear advantage against stationary targets, which may make a big difference in the long run.

Forzani.2584:

garethh.3518:

Forzani.2584:

What this test says to me is to use dogs. Unless you are fighting a stationary target.

If you PvE… or are a simple minded PvP’er.

I am only concerned with WvW. (solo/duo roamer) In that scenario the cat better do much more damage than the dogs to override the benefits of 6 CCs from the dogs. These tests say they don’t.

When I get home, I’ll grab a Steady Shortbow, then apply a few cripples to the moving target. I’m guessing, then, that the cat wil have a slight advantage, but I’m not sure.

Spirit.9158:

Thanks for this! I was really surprised to see the differences in times as well, I didn’t expect them to be quite like that. Like others have said, I tend to run SotH for the 25% for both myself and my pet, can’t stand running at normal speed, it feels so slow. I can’t wait to see what these other things show!

Just curious, what’s your build like? Your traits and utilities? I go 0/20/20/0/30 or 0/30/20/0/20, but I’m unsure about utilities. :I

Currently I use Lightning Reflexes, Quickening Zephyr, and Sic ‘Em. I’m not sure about it, though. I plan on doing a lot of solo/small group WvW later on, so I thought maybe a trap build would be cool, but I don’t know. I like the idea of catching people in traps, but you can see the traps, and I don’t even know how long they last. Plus, don’t you need to spec into traps to make them effective at all? I have so many questions. xD

Also, with the SotH vs Agility Training thing, I guess you have to think about what’s most important in your build. I prefer to have more utilities on-hand, which is why I’d rather just take the trait. Other people may prefer to spend that extra 10 points in something more useful. It depends on your build and how your trait points are distributed.

The main question I have right now: Is it better to take Natural Healing over Agility Training? Personally, I don’t think so, but I’ll test it to be sure.

(Or if you have Swiftness up all the time, then both the trait and the signet won’t do anything.)

Manekk.6981:

Forzani.2584:

What this test says to me is to use dogs. Unless you are fighting a stationary target.

If you don’t have any traits that enhance pets and don’t plan to help them yes, now if the ranger starts to cripple, chill and stun the target it will be a little diffrent or very diffrent actually.

Yea, I’ll find a way to incorperate cripples and chills into another moving target test.

Thanks for those links, by the way. ;P