What is a strong Range Class?

[otto.5684]

> @"Dark Schneider.7841" said:

> Sorry , but i just played trough Living World Season 2 as melee Guardian

> And now I totally wanne play a range class. What good range classes are out there?

> Guardian with the longbow is just crapy slow - so not a chance i play that

> with the Scepter and shooting slow blah glowing projectiles is also not an option

 

Ironically, guardian scepter is the strongest ranged weapon in the game, although it is short ranged.

 

If you are looking for long range, long bow ranger and great sword Mesmer are strong. Short range thief pistol is pretty good.

[Crossaber.8934]

I prefer there are boss mechanic that spawn adds that provide boss damage reduction as stack, more adds more reduction. They will kite melee attack wisely and ranged dps is the best option to take them down.

 

Since the adds are melee hate, they will stay away from the player group, but allow ranged cha to stay with group for max team buff while contribute max ranged damage in the group.

[Dadnir.5038]

Any profession can be strong at range if you talk about living world PvE. Really.

 

As a guardian you could have gone with scepter and you wouldn't have been wrong to do it.

Longbow condiwarrior work wonder as well.

Hammer revenant sure is a boring way to play but you dish out some damages.

Summon 3 pistol fantasm with your mesmer and look your foes melt.

ranger's range damage are far from being bad.

engi can spam grenades and that's not a bad choice of range damage

Necromancers don't really have any issue to survive and can easily wear down their foes from afar thank to scepter

Thieve are plenty effective with pistol or/and shortbow.

Elementalist can be fairly squishy but are reasonnably strong at range.

 

Who's the best out of all the profession? That's probably the elementalist but that also depend of your own efficiency. Who's the easiest to use? that probably would be the scepter condimancer.

 

[Claudia De Anar.6304]

I Would love to see a Pure Archer option for Ranger or War, I just like Archers and it has always been a disappointment for me that there is no real option that way in GW2. not like the Barrage Ranger GW1. Im just not into the whole Pet/Beastmaster meme. I do think the game would benefit by some sort of Body Block Mechanic, forcing players to spread out some; that might take some small advantage from the Melee builds; and I still find the whole everyone shoved together in a space the size of a broom closet to work a game exploit a bit ridiculous. I recognize body blocking would require a huge change in direction that I doubt the Devs have much interest in really; but I do think the game would be better, slightly more realistic for it just the same.

 

Still the original Thread was on Best Ranged Class, and if the Devs follow this thread at all a Pure Archer Specialization would be something I would be very interested in and I expect a fair number of other players would share that interest.

 

[Exalted Quality.8534]

RANGEr...get it?

[Unknown.3976]

Staff Necro - Only has viable use in WvW and has to be used en masse to be effective. An absolute joke in PvE.

Staff Ele - Great for group play when u have other players tanking shots for u. A bit risky for solo play.

Engineer - Rifle auto is pretty subpar for dps, so u have to rely on grenade kit for ranged dmg; grenade kit is tedious to use though.

Burnzerker - Great dmg, very fast ramp up time for a condi build. Not that great vs mobile foes (the same could be said for Grenade Engineer and staff ele).

Condi Soulbeast - Unexceptional but reliable.

Longbow ranger - Low DPS, and therefore it's unwelcome in endgame PvE group play. More of a beginner build.

Hammer Herald - Mainly a WvW build whose role is to provide "artillery" fire for ur zerg.

Dual Pistol Daredevil - Very fun, mobile build but pistol is single target so u will need that staff to cleave down mobs.

Condi Necro - Okay for boss fights but its' slow ramp-up time meant that u will take longer than usual to put down regular mobs. Reliable but dull build, imo.

 

 

 

[Cyninja.2954]

> @Garimeth.8725 said:

> Guardian, because scepter somehow always ends up being one of our best weapons on every build.

 

This.

 

Guardian scepter and DH longbow are 2 very strong longrange power weapons.

[Lahmia.2193]

> @Cyninja.2954 said:

> > @Garimeth.8725 said:

> > Guardian, because scepter somehow always ends up being one of our best weapons on every build.

>

> This.

>

> Guardian scepter and DH longbow are 2 very strong longrange power weapons.

 

Anet: here's a new condi specific weapon for you guys at last.

Guardians: Sceptre is still best.

Anet: ...

[jenosmaverick.8694]

Hi guys am just really new to the game like 3 days old. Does rangers beat deadeye at pve? Read alot that deadeye rifle is weak at pve.

[FOE.2041]

> @"jenosmaverick.8694" said:

> Hi guys am just really new to the game like 3 days old. Does rangers beat deadeye at pve? Read alot that deadeye rifle is weak at pve.

 

that depends on what you mean by beat at pve, if you mean pure dps then nothing can touch DE, you'll probably "1 shot" most mobs b4 they can reach you but for harder enemies you'll need a tank

ranger is a support.... you get a bit of dps, you also get tanky pets and party buffs, so you can sit and relax while pet tanks and you both kill npcs, you can easily solo elites and champions, even do events solo, your pet can res you, you have a lot of room for mistakes, unlike glass cannons classes

 

in gw2 ranged combat is generally penalized, all classes has stronger melee attacks + they get buffs form others, DE can maintain all it needs without party buffs + with latest patch you have endless initiative

[FOE.2041]

oh and considering recent nerfs to druid, there is little reason to play ranger at all in party/raid content

your dps is low and only reason you are taken is spirits

[steki.1478]

> @"FOE.2041" said:

> oh and considering recent nerfs to druid, there is little reason to play ranger at all in party/raid content

> your dps is low and only reason you are taken is spirits

 

You never took druid for dps anyways. It will still remain the meta healer pick because of multiple dmg buffs it provides to 10 people.> @"jenosmaverick.8694" said:

> Hi guys am just really new to the game like 3 days old. Does rangers beat deadeye at pve? Read alot that deadeye rifle is weak at pve.

 

When people say X is weaker than Y and the context is pve, they usually mean raids. Considering that you're new, that shouldn't bother you so pick whatever you like.

[Roda.7468]

I really don't understand the dev's fear of making the classes tackle positioning differently from each other. None of the other mmos seem to have trouble with balance disparities between ranged and melee classes. It is my only major gripe about this game. I might actually consider raiding seriously if anet would take a look at the lack of archetype diversity and put in the needed changes to support ranged gameplay in high-end encounters. (drastically increasing buff/heal range, increasing the potential damage / serious viability of builds using ranged weaponry (a staff, scepter, or gun is not the tool of a coward, it is a tool of a tactician!), and rewarding a mix of ranged and melee builds in high-end encounters via mindful mechanics)

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I choose primarily caster classes because I want to stand back and observe the whole encounter. Where I position myself in a boss fight is a puzzle; something I can optimize that isn't how fast i can hit my buttons in the right order. I want to clearly see both my character casting her cool spells, and each boss's animations that I'm sure had a lot of work put in them. I was severely disappointed when I went into my first learning raid and was expected to form an eldritch blob of arms, swords, axes, and staves and sit under the boss's nether bits only shuffling slightly as a group to handle mechanics and avoid hazards. 0/10 will not try again until the game cares enough about non-melee gameplay.

[czerwoni.9563]

> @"Roda.7468" said:

> I really don't understand the dev's fear of making the classes tackle positioning differently from each other. None of the other mmos seem to have trouble with balance disparities between ranged and melee classes. It is my only major gripe about this game. I might actually consider raiding seriously if anet would take a look at the lack of archetype diversity and put in the needed changes to support ranged gameplay in high-end encounters. (drastically increasing buff/heal range, increasing the potential damage / serious viability of builds using ranged weaponry (a staff, scepter, or gun is not the tool of a coward, it is a tool of a tactician!), and rewarding a mix of ranged and melee builds in high-end encounters via mindful mechanics)

>

> I can't speak for anyone else, but I choose primarily caster classes because I want to stand back and observe the whole encounter. Where I position myself in a boss fight is a puzzle; something I can optimize that isn't how fast i can hit my buttons in the right order. I want to clearly see both my character casting her cool spells, and each boss's animations that I'm sure had a lot of work put in them. I was severely disappointed when I went into my first learning raid and was expected to form an eldritch blob of arms, swords, axes, and staves and sit under the boss's nether bits only shuffling slightly as a group to handle mechanics and avoid hazards. 0/10 will not try again until the game cares enough about non-melee gameplay.

 

i to love to play from the high ground, its easier to assess the situation and know when to use what and not just following the robotic rotation.

[steki.1478]

> @"czerwoni.9563" said:

> > @"Roda.7468" said:

> > I really don't understand the dev's fear of making the classes tackle positioning differently from each other. None of the other mmos seem to have trouble with balance disparities between ranged and melee classes. It is my only major gripe about this game. I might actually consider raiding seriously if anet would take a look at the lack of archetype diversity and put in the needed changes to support ranged gameplay in high-end encounters. (drastically increasing buff/heal range, increasing the potential damage / serious viability of builds using ranged weaponry (a staff, scepter, or gun is not the tool of a coward, it is a tool of a tactician!), and rewarding a mix of ranged and melee builds in high-end encounters via mindful mechanics)

> >

> > I can't speak for anyone else, but I choose primarily caster classes because I want to stand back and observe the whole encounter. Where I position myself in a boss fight is a puzzle; something I can optimize that isn't how fast i can hit my buttons in the right order. I want to clearly see both my character casting her cool spells, and each boss's animations that I'm sure had a lot of work put in them. I was severely disappointed when I went into my first learning raid and was expected to form an eldritch blob of arms, swords, axes, and staves and sit under the boss's nether bits only shuffling slightly as a group to handle mechanics and avoid hazards. 0/10 will not try again until the game cares enough about non-melee gameplay.

>

> i to love to play from the high ground, its easier to assess the situation and know when to use what and not just following the robotic rotation.

 

You two should start a raid guild and make videos of raids. I'd love to watch that, sounds like fun.

[Zin Dau.1749]

> @"Roda.7468" said:

> ranged gameplay in high-end encounters. (drastically increasing buff/heal range, increasing the potential damage / serious viability of builds using ranged weaponry (a staff, scepter, or gun is not the tool of a coward, it is a tool of a tactician!), and rewarding a mix of ranged and melee builds in high-end encounters via mindful mechanics)

>

> I can't speak for anyone else, but I choose primarily caster classes because I want to stand back and observe the whole encounter. Where I position myself in a boss fight is a puzzle; something I can optimize that isn't how fast i can hit my buttons in the right order. I want to clearly see both my character casting her cool spells, and each boss's animations that I'm sure had a lot of work put in them. I was severely disappointed when I went into my first learning raid and was expected to form an eldritch blob of arms, swords, axes, and staves and sit under the boss's nether bits only shuffling slightly as a group to handle mechanics and avoid hazards. 0/10 will not try again until the game cares enough about non-melee gameplay.

 

true. there's no reason the range of fields and effects are so tiny, when they're already limited by amount of allies they can affect.

 

 

[Aomine.5012]

> @"FogLeg.9354" said:

> Core - Longbow Ranger, Staff Ele, Greatsword Mesmer, Staff Necro

> HoT - Hammer Revenant, Druid, Tempest and Chronomancer can be played ranged

> PoF - Deadeye is ranged damage class

 

Druid is a healer, not "strong" range class.

Strong range class implies range class that do high range damage..

Druid is a strong SUPPORT class, not a strong RANGE class.

 

Tempest can barely be counted as range class with its mechanic.

(Plus condi tempest is pretty much melee range dps)

[starlinvf.1358]

> @"Zin Dau.1749" said:

> > @"Roda.7468" said:

> > ranged gameplay in high-end encounters. (drastically increasing buff/heal range, increasing the potential damage / serious viability of builds using ranged weaponry (a staff, scepter, or gun is not the tool of a coward, it is a tool of a tactician!), and rewarding a mix of ranged and melee builds in high-end encounters via mindful mechanics)

> >

> > I can't speak for anyone else, but I choose primarily caster classes because I want to stand back and observe the whole encounter. Where I position myself in a boss fight is a puzzle; something I can optimize that isn't how fast i can hit my buttons in the right order. I want to clearly see both my character casting her cool spells, and each boss's animations that I'm sure had a lot of work put in them. I was severely disappointed when I went into my first learning raid and was expected to form an eldritch blob of arms, swords, axes, and staves and sit under the boss's nether bits only shuffling slightly as a group to handle mechanics and avoid hazards. 0/10 will not try again until the game cares enough about non-melee gameplay.

>

> true. there's no reason the range of fields and effects are so tiny, when they're already limited by amount of allies they can affect.

>

>

 

Theres plenty of reason....... and all of them are to punish grouping in Raids.

[Rebel.6419]

is pistol/ pistol holosmith actually viable for solo/ open world/ fractals?

[steki.1478]

> @"Rebel.6419" said:

> is pistol/ pistol holosmith actually viable for solo/ open world/ fractals?

 

Everything is viable for open world if you can make it work. A same build can be op to one person, but useless to another one. People have different playstyles and experiences from other builds so viability in solo play ends up being very subjective.

 

When it comes to end game fractals it just cant compete with rifle since pistols dont have anything good to offer to holo.