21 replies to this topic

[RangerRoger]

So i have a level 24 ranger and i use a shortbow as my main and sword and warhorn as my 2nd weapon switch. and im only doing about 50-60 damage per hit with my shortbow and it takes for ever to kill an enemy which i dont think it should at level 24. Im not sure what stats to stack as a ranger but for my traits im precision and vitality. why am i doing such low damage how do i make it higher. thanks

[moving to Vigil Academy, our PvE professions forum - Arduin]

Edited by Arduin, 08 November 2012 - 11:48 AM.

[Inraged Twitch]

Condition. Carrion gear is best and then chrysocola rings and earrings.

[RangerRoger]

so stacking condition is best?? no power or vitality? or even it out?

[RangerRoger]

im very new to guild wars 2 and i just want a simple effective build for my ranger i can follow throughout the game

[Xukavi]

I lvled up my ranger to 80 going power, precision and vitality. Used a longbow main and great sword secondary. Used to switch between short bow and great sword for my second weapon set.

[Sephrye]

Well, shortbow's based on speed and movement,
so if you want large damage per hit, you could always try longbow instead

Or if you want constant range damage,
I'm currently using shortbow/longbow as a weapon set, they seem to go well together,
and you always stay at ranged and can use range skills more often

Or if you want damage with melee, you could try greatsword, it's more based on damage

[Inraged Twitch]

RangerRoger, on 08 November 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

so stacking condition is best?? no power or vitality? or even it out?

Well u said u are using SB which has great over time damage carrion gear is usually CD plus vitality and power and then use runes of the undead or twilight armor runes.

If you're going LB go with power precision and vit which I think its  either Valkyrie or Knight insignias then use like beserker runes or ranger runes for higher crit chance.

Edited by Inraged Twitch, 08 November 2012 - 06:58 AM.

[RangerRoger]

ok thanks guys so i think ill go with shortbow/long bow and stack precision power vitality and CD and im also for my traits precision and power. so i hope this will work thanks alot.

[RangerRoger]

But im really not sure because i dont know jack about guildwars 2 so if people could just tell me the standard issure ranger build that works simple and sweet i would appreciate a alot and also tell me how these statts work

[JayPea]

As no-one else has mentioned it, make sure you're attacking from the side with your shortbow so your bleeds stack up quickly when you're loaded down with CD.

[Wordsworth]

I'd just go with Power/Prec/Crit gear and the same traits. You'll do more damage overall, and you don't really have to worry about conditions, stacking them, or having them removed. The conditions will still be there. They'll do less, but focusing damage and having conditions as a slight bonus is a ton better than focusing conditions and having damage as a slight bonus. It's also a lot more LB/SB + Axe and Horn, friendly. You can still capitalize on your traits and gear if you switch bows, as you will be doing a lot in WvW. In terms of Survivability, in PvE it doesn't matter and in WvW, bring Signet that makes you invulnerable and use it for 1v1's, but otherwise make sure to stay in groups.

I use SB with Sigil of Fire, and I crit very often (high attack rate and high chance (80-90% buffed) for 600-1300 dmg depending on my target. Plus however much damage the Fire does. You make your LB a beast as well.

I used Condition build for a long time, never found it as rewarding as a crit damage build since I switched.

Edited by Wordsworth, 08 November 2012 - 08:30 AM.

[Study]

Totally agree with Wordsworth. For massive numbers precision and crit damage are the way to go which means maxing out skirmishing as it gives both. Depending on your crit chance I would grab the bleed on crit major talent in tier 1.

I would also recommend switching sword for axe. The auto bounces so it's some nice aoe that shortbow (SB) lacks.

One thing though, what level is your weapon? Weapon damage will make a HUGE impact so if you haven't upgraded it for a while that is your problem.

I'll play around with some builds and give you some links when I am at home.

P.S. ALWAYS attack from back or side with SB.

[Enillion]

RangerRoger, on 08 November 2012 - 07:33 AM, said:

ok thanks guys so i think ill go with shortbow/long bow and stack precision power vitality and CD and im also for my traits precision and power. so i hope this will work thanks alot.

It will, unless you face more than 1 enemy. With Power/Prec/Crit you are glass canon, but unfotunately with damage shared with your pet, which not always is as responsive as it should be. In other words, with this setup you will be able to play, but will never reach ranged damage potential of other classes (except guardian with his shitstick).

On the other hand SB build around power/condition/vit, you will be much more tanky, you will do less raw damage, but condition damage will skyrocket. Imho its the only way to get around our damage issue gimped by our pet mechanic.
In this build go all for carrion gear, skirmishing and wilderness survival (be sure to get following traits: for skirmishing II; VIII; XI; and for WS III and XI) last 10 points is your personal preference.

Overall damage difference between crit/power and condiions is not even funny. Entangle alone being aoe root do almost 18 000 bleed damage. Not to mention combo attacks with your shortbow+combo fields from traps. Spike and Flame traps are your friends.

After spending much gold for both power/prec/crit and power condition/vit gear, and trying many builds (i desperately wanted to find good build for my LB) I gave up on power/prec/crit. Maybe comming ranger changes allow us to build differently, but for now only condition+traps build allow us to play on equal terms with other classes.

Edited by Enillion, 08 November 2012 - 02:27 PM.

[shiannan73]

think i changed around lvl 30 odd and put tonnes of traits into beastmastery , seemed to work well for me , and always thought i was doing ok damage /shrug

[Smiter]

LIRU's Critical Pet Synergy Ranger Guide....

This is the best PVE leveling guide.  I followed it to the T with a new baby ranger and reached 80 in a few weeks.  Some days more hours then others, but all by doing heart quest and exploring.   It is a fun and powerful build for PVE leveling.  When you reach 80 and run around Cursed Shores and Dungeons.. you may want to look for an addendum build.. but this will let you have an amazing amount of fun and effective soloing till then.  It is detailed, so sit back with a nice cold drink, or warm tea.. and give it a read!  It endorses using pets as a main focus of damage.. and they do just that!


http://www.guildwars...gy-build-guide/

Edited by Smiter, 09 November 2012 - 12:10 AM.

[Smiter]

Smiter, on 09 November 2012 - 12:05 AM, said:

LIRU's Critical Pet Synergy Ranger Guide....

This is one of the best PVE leveling guides.  I followed it to the T with a new baby ranger and reached 80 in a few weeks.  Some days more hours then others, but all by doing heart quest and exploring.   It is a fun and powerful build for PVE leveling.  When you reach 80 and run around Cursed Shores and Dungeons.. you may want to look for an addendum build.. but this will let you have an amazing amount of fun and effective soloing till then.  It is detailed, so sit back with a nice cold drink, or warm tea.. and give it a read!  It endorses using pets as a main focus of damage.. and they do just that!


http://www.guildwars...gy-build-guide/

Smiter, on 09 November 2012 - 12:05 AM, said:

LIRU's Critical Pet Synergy Ranger Guide....

This is the best PVE leveling guide.  I followed it to the T with a new baby ranger and reached 80 in a few weeks.  Some days more hours then others, but all by doing heart quest and exploring.   It is a fun and powerful build for PVE leveling.  When you reach 80 and run around Cursed Shores and Dungeons.. you may want to look for an addendum build.. but this will let you have an amazing amount of fun and effective soloing till then.  It is detailed, so sit back with a nice cold drink, or warm tea.. and give it a read!  It endorses using pets as a main focus of damage.. and they do just that!


http://www.guildwars...gy-build-guide/

Edited by Smiter, 09 November 2012 - 12:11 AM.

[Salticus]

Smiter, on 09 November 2012 - 12:05 AM, said:

LIRU's Critical Pet Synergy Ranger Guide....

This is the best PVE leveling guide.  I followed it to the T with a new baby ranger and reached 80 in a few weeks.  Some days more hours then others, but all by doing heart quest and exploring.   It is a fun and powerful build for PVE leveling.  When you reach 80 and run around Cursed Shores and Dungeons.. you may want to look for an addendum build.. but this will let you have an amazing amount of fun and effective soloing till then.  It is detailed, so sit back with a nice cold drink, or warm tea.. and give it a read!  It endorses using pets as a main focus of damage.. and they do just that!


http://www.guildwars...gy-build-guide/

I've been using that since I made my ranger. In this build, the felines, and bears can take down mobs on their own, even veterans. The bears usually takes a long time to take down vets but their health is pretty much untouchable while the felines ends up with 10-30% health after killing a vet. I agree that this build needs some work in dungeons, but it's good for leveling up to 80.

[Trei]

There are some necessary information being omitted here.

What are you comparing your killing speed and average damage to? Veteran mobs?
What is your expectation?
Are you reading your damage log or UI HUD correctly?

Edited by Trei, 09 November 2012 - 04:12 AM.

[Arquenya]

A ranger was my 1st lvl80 because of their survivability and decent damage

I just stacked power, precision and crit % and some toughness. Used longbow/shortbow, just shoot and kite, you have plenty of kite skills on those weapons (2 on shortbow, 1 on longbow, you can use 1 or more traps later on). The rapid fire from the longbow deals quite nice damage, its barrage does good AoE DPS (although long CD).

[Segraine]

I run Shortbow/Longbow but I am specced for support through Healing and a balance of Toughness and Vitality. I also use dual Moas.

Most of my damage comes from the moas, conditions, and traps. I am slow to kill anything, but I can take on good sized mobs and solo most champions without problems usually. Rangers have amazing survivability, but if you sacrifice some damage, you can greatly increase it.. The Red Moa's F2 combined with the Quickness trait helps offset some of the sacrifice.

I prefer to be the last one standing than kill things quickly, but that is just me .

[Loperdos]

Not having a lot of experience in the field of ranger, I'm reluctant to really comment, but there is something to keep in mind when deciding between a bleeder build and a straight up glass-cannon, power/prec/crit build...if you are planning on playing with a group or more solo play.

If you are running solo a good majority of the time, a bleeder/cond damage build can work wonders because you don't have to share max stacks of bleed with anyone around you who happens to be shooting the same target, and those numbers on a cond damage build can just FLY off the mobs when you get your stacks even up to 10 or 12 (which shouldn't be too difficult). You'll run into some reduced DPS when you run in big groups for DEs and in WvW, but if you aren't planning on doing those too much, then a cond damage build can really work wonders. As a matter of my own personal preference, I think its really fun and satisfying to watch all the numbers just pour off of the enemies after I've dropped a 12+ bleed stack on their heads, but that may be just me.

That being said, if you run with a group on a consistent basis, especially if you run with someone else who is focusing on cond damage and bleeds, then you may want to look into a power/prec/crit build, so you don't have to worry about maxing out the bleed stack and not being able to crank any more bleeds on the enemy. Also with a power/prec/crit build you will most certainly see a lot bigger numbers on your hits, but in exchange you will be more squishy...so if you don't dodge or kite well, its something to keep in mind.  That being said, there are rumors going around about them changing up the way bleed stacks (facts/evidence/news articles of this, I do not have) which may fundamentally change the way bleeder builds work. Something to re-examine after the 15th.

Edited by Loperdos, 12 November 2012 - 06:53 PM.

[Tyrantscreed]

As a LB and Axe/Warhorn Lv80 Ranger, I can say that with full berserker in armor and accessories will allow you to see huge burst damage, especially with Rapid Fire.

Also get the utility Quickening Zephyr, that along with Rapid Fire = super fast single target burst damage.

EDIT:

In terms of WvW, if traited properly, Longbow will give you 1500 range, the highest range in game. This will also allow you to quickly burst down invaders/defenders who are near ~50% health.

Edited by Tyrantscreed, 12 November 2012 - 07:02 PM.