Couple of Ranger questions

[outlaw466]

Hey there! I started a Human Ranger in bwe3. just wanted to know what worked out well with you guys.

1. Drake or Bear pet? I started lion and it died every encounter.

2. Longbow or Short bow? I did only longbow I liked the rapid fire and the knock back. saw some videos online of most people using a short bow.

3. Is the Longsword still viable? I've seen many many videos of Rangers OWNING with a longsword I didn't know if they patched it or not.

4. Ranger vs Warrior/thieve? I've read a lot stating that warrior rifle and thieve bows are more viable than the rangers which im sure they will fix. but have not had the chance to try either of them.

Hopefully I get some good feedback thanks!

[A Day to Remember]

Hey there! I started a Human Ranger in bwe3. just wanted to know what worked out well with you guys.

1. Drake or Bear pet? I started lion and it died every encounter.

2. Longbow or Short bow? I did only longbow I liked the rapid fire and the knock back. saw some videos online of most people using a short bow.

3. Is the Longsword still viable? I've seen many many videos of Rangers OWNING with a longsword I didn't know if they patched it or not.

4. Ranger vs Warrior/thieve? I've read a lot stating that warrior rifle and thieve bows are more viable than the rangers which im sure they will fix. but have not had the chance to try either of them.

Hopefully I get some good feedback thanks!

1. Id say Bear, they are tanky as hell and never die, but the plant dogs are nice because they can heal you.

2. I prefer Longbow because with the Short bow you MUST be behind or on the side of the target to do any real dmg.

3. Cant say honestly, i only used a great sword on the Beta and it kinda owned.

4. I havent had the chance to try those either as my only interest lies in a bow wielding Ranger, but im sure they will make Rangers a completely viable physical ranged profession.

[StationaryHawk]

2. Longbow or Short bow? I did only longbow I liked the rapid fire and the knock back. saw some videos online of most people using a short bow.

I'd say not to limit yourself to a single weapon. Most have their ups and downs depending on the situation.

4. Ranger vs Warrior/thieve? I've read a lot stating that warrior rifle and thieve bows are more viable than the rangers which im sure they will fix. but have not had the chance to try either of them.

Picking a profession based on which is the flavor of the month is usually a bad idea, especially in beta. Balance will likely shift quite a bit throughout the course of the game.

Or, in other words, play what you want, not what the community dubs as the best.

[outlaw466]

I'd say not to limit yourself to a single weapon. Most have their ups and downs depending on the situation.

Picking a profession based on which is the flavor of the month is usually a bad idea, especially in beta. Balance will likely shift quite a bit throughout the course of the game.

Or, in other words, play what you want, not what the community dubs as the best.

True, necros/rangers seem to be the most under appreciated but man they are fun.

Do you guys know if the Longsword is still a beast for rangers in bwe3? I was not able to make the first 2 beta's.

[Snuckerpooks]

1. I actually preferred the Wolf in PvP. It had the right balance of survivability and DPS. Also, the move was a 2 second fear. How cool is that!?! Nice interrupt that seemed tougher than I thought to break.

2. Long bow seems to have its merits towards PvE or WvW as they is a chance that you can get the full extent of using the spec for it and such. I prefer shortbow for PvP to get back range, slow, and concussive shot.

3. It is still strong but feels like it has been toned down a bit to match most other weapons.

4. Warrior rifle is strong 1v1 but in a group it is lack luster, whereas the Ranger can shine with more control over multiple enemies. The ranged thief is strong but can't hold the burst for very long.

[Lucky_]

Longbow is a WvW weapon because it has 1500 range or so when traited, best range in the game. I don't think it's meant to be good in close quarters, you're supposed to carry a complimenting weapon for short range engagements.

[Deleted]

I feel it's easier to place the situational uses on warrior ranged weapons, as they are more distinct. Rifle is clearly for singletargets and can dish out a good amount of damage and has a slow and knockback on top of it. The bow has a lot of AoE abilities, the F1 ability is also AoE.

I found the Longbow for rangers to be very straightforward in PvE. singletarget channel, AoE, a knockback, a slow. But as it has only one option for AoE I found it lacking for bigger mob groups. But using the second weaponslot for another ranged weapon with more AOE capabilities doesn't sound optimal because you would lose out on staying power in melee situations.

For melee, I really liked sword/dagger , it gave a nice amount of movement and control. 1st Dagger OH ability was esstenially a third evade, the (3rd I think) sword MH ability let's you dodge away and so evade a LOT of heavy hitting abilities. And then you can either switch to, e.g. longbow and blast the enemy even farther away with knockback or jump back in.


It could be I didn't get everything right, as I can't look it up ingame, obviously :P

[Meledelion]

I concur mainly with corros, longbow+sword/dagger is awesome and kicks ass.
For pets I used wolf (or dog)/spider, immobilize=>barrage=>(target is close) knockback=>fear(wolf)=>repeat
if your pet is derping around or you're facing a gapclosing build (thieves mainly) the sword/dagger is great, don't expect burst dmg, it's more of a build to keep others busy. Leaping in and out of range, dodging attacks and so on.

What I liked best was the fact that I could run a very offensive set of support skills and not losing survivability (stats were something like 50%crit +x crit dmg and 3.6k power)

edit: i'm talking pvp btw

[Valeron]

I much prefer axe/torch to sword/dagger

[Mistral]

I loved sword/warhorn for melee honestly. D:
MH sword gives enough mobility of its own imho and you get a quite strong (and awesome looking) AE DOT and some nice buffing utlility.
For range I used shortbow, Poison Volley is a good way to combo spread regeneration/conditions. It also synergizes well with Serpent's Strike.

But maybe I was just noobish. Quite likely.

[Naaruminded]

I preferred axe/warhorn over sword and longbow over shortbow during my 2 BWEs.

Warhorn is much appreciated in party (Fury/Might/Swiftness for 15s base), and Hunter's Call does ridiculous DPS.

[Meledelion]

I thought you needed to trait hunter's call for it to become effective, i take it i was mistaken

[Edge-]

Please keep ranger discussion to the primary thread.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ger-Discussion