Looking for some Ranger advice.

N

Natetendo

New Member
So my main character is a level 53 ranger and so far I use the Long Bow with a Sword/Warhorn weapon set. I also mainly spec Marksmanship and will spec Skirmishing and some Wilderness Survival as I go.

Just curious what other people's thoughts are on how to best utilize the ranger and to see if there are any changes I should consider :)
 
Natetendo said:
So my main character is a level 53 ranger and so far I use the Long Bow with a Sword/Warhorn weapon set. I also mainly spec Marksmanship and will spec Skirmishing and some Wilderness Survival as I go.

Just curious what other people's thoughts are on how to best utilize the ranger and to see if there are any changes I should consider :)
Click to expand...

when your ingame i'd ask Taran or Ursan..they are both well seasoned Rangers and very helpful with advice or suggestions
 
Ursen, not Ursan thank you. Using a Ranger to melee is a tough route to go, and I would consider laying down traps to assist if you are going that route. A ranger should learn to kite and stay mobile. I have a hard time thinking mobile so I use a rough rule of thumb, if my health drops to half I start laying traps and start boogying away. Keep one pet for holding aggro, bears are good for that, and one for mobile or distance damage, and be ready to switch as needed. Trait for half fall damage and fear no heights, the landing is ugly, but it gives more options for running away, and a lot of insurance for jp's. You can do a lot of damage assistance by using axe/torch and setting Bonfire in front of other ranged classes. The additional stacks of burning really help. That is just a little of what I can think of off the top of my head. There are actually 2 other threads that address ranger.
 
At present, the longbow needs help. Its an underpowered weapon even when traited (and that goes for Rangers as well as Warriors). If bows are your thing, I'd recommend the Shortbow and put 20 points in Skirmishing for Quick Draw. Save your longbow for occasional fights when distance is more important than damage (such as from Keep walls in WvW). Sword/Warhorn is one popular option. Greatsword is another.

Skills I would highly recommend no matter what build you run: 5 points in Wilderness Survival (with the endurance being resupplied, you get 3 dodges to everyone else's two dodges); 5 points in Beastmastery (when swapping pets, you get 2 seconds of swiftness which is a nice damage increase and helps put points into your pet).

Currently, I'm testing a 20/20/5/15/10 build with longbow and shortbow. Marksmanship for extra longbow range and +5% damage (longest range of any weapon in the game). Skirmishing for Quick Draw (both longbow and shortbow increase firing rate by 20%). 5 points in Wilderness Survival for increased endurance (dodging). 15 points in Nature Magic for the regeneration buff, increased regeneration from Healing Spring, and shared boons with pet (so when I regenerate, so does my pet). And 10 points in Beastmastery for both the quickness and pets heal more (which synergizes with Nature Magic regeneration).

One thing to remember: Your pet is a significant part of the Ranger's damage output. Pets account for 1/3rd of all the damage you do. A dead pet means your damage output drops to only 2/3rds what other players do. So be mindful of your pet. Investing in your pet can be worth losing points for yourself. So don't be afraid to juggle the numbers even more if you need it. Prior to the build listed above, I dropped all points in Marksmanship and had 30 points in Beastmastery for a very strong pet. Also, pets don't benefit from your gear. All those stat bonuses are for you alone. The only benefits your pet gets is what comes with it and the traits you select. So if you need to sacrifice some trait "power" to buff up your pet, you can still compensate with "power" gear (or whatever other stat you want for yourself).
 
On a side note, Ursen's comment about melee rangers reminded me of a thread on the official forums about thief target selection in WvW. A ranger started the thread asking why they were always the first target of choice for thieves.

Several thieves first pointed out that their first target of choice is actually other thieves, but that rangers were usually second choice. Stealth-based, high-burst thieves look for targets they can hit fast and hard before stealthing and running away. The thieves in the thread stated that so many rangers count on their range to protect them, and therefore build glass cannon. Added to that, they get used to doing range combat so much they don't spend as much time moving like other professions who are in close to their enemy. Those add up to an easy target in the eyes of a thief.

Thought it was an interesting insight into how players of another profession think.

There were also several comments by different thieves that one of the things they dread is a ranger specced into a defensive greatsword build. They go in for what they think is an easy kill, and the ranger weapon swaps from range to melee and bursts that bubble, so to speak.

Made me want to roll a Ranger named Thief Bait. ;)
 
lol Thief Bait. I am not real good at melee, but when pinned down count on traps and Bonfire. Very pretty, very effective, and since they put a 25% speed buff to the axe skill set, axe/torch is even better than before. All on my lonesome with the Black Widow the burn/bleed/poison stacks are very nice, but when combined with other players it really, really chews up critters fast. Fire axes are so much fun.
 
I have been playing around with a flexible build for WvW that I think has some merit:
20-0-25-25-0

This mix allows you to tailor your traits depending on what you are doing.
If you are running with the zerg you'd grab the more damaging traits from those 3 lines...if you are small unit or solo you'd swap to the more defensive. The idea here is mix and match. Most rangers are either bunker or GC - the main thing is to not be predicitable.

I'm running clerics/soldiers gear with celestial trinkets (Ranger can make use of all stats easily) and I make sure to have all weapons in my bag.

It's been working pretty well, I'm slowly replacing my soldier gear with more clerics as I get more comfortable. Use sharpening stones mainly - food depends on if I'm worried about conditions or not. Runes are Dwayna.

I love the idea of the pet but most players have gotten really good at either taking him out or sidestepping him.

And you can go either full ranged, full melee or (my fav) SB/GS.

Take it for what it is worth - I'll keep y'all up to date on my experiments.
And safe to say very good in PVE, farm Southsun no problems, Orr is pffft. I like options, this build offers a lot of them.
 
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