Help me love my ranger again!

[Remus Darkblight.1673]

So I currently play a condition based build on my Soulbeast main. I mostly play PvE (Fractals/Open World) with a bit of WvW from time to time. It's setup like this right now.

[gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV4YnEqAl8iN8C2sAUtgFDBrpDEsaBMBgRXpLv62dDvlcs0A-jBCBQB+T3Q1UuxFlEA4JAQTlgsY/hIcRAco6PBAOAk7BA-e](http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV4YnEqAl8iN8C2sAUtgFDBrpDEsaBMBgRXpLv62dDvlcs0A-jBCBQB+T3Q1UuxFlEA4JAQTlgsY/hIcRAco6PBAOAk7BA-e "gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV4YnEqAl8iN8C2sAUtgFDBrpDEsaBMBgRXpLv62dDvlcs0A-jBCBQB+T3Q1UuxFlEA4JAQTlgsY/hIcRAco6PBAOAk7BA-e")

Now I know this isn't optimal, I've been lazy and cheap on some of the gear, but that said I am feeling a bit of the old "grass is greener" about swapping to power. My question is, would it be worth it or am I better off staying the course and just refining my build further?

Changes I would make to my condition build and reasons to stick with it:

- Upgrade all trinkets to viper stats, I use sinister rings in particular right now because they are the only ones I have that are attuned+infused.

- Swap off-hand dagger for torch, to be honest, I mainly used dagger as a style preference and desperately want it to not suck.

- Swap runes for trapper/nightmare combo, I cheap out at the moment because afflicted focuses solely on bleeding and poison, which would change with the torch upgrade.

- I only have one legendary on my account and it's short bow (I love my short bow).

So it might look something like this;

[gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV4fnEqAl8iN8C2sAUtgFDBLv62dDvNdggVLgJAM6Kdlcs0A-jByXABZrEcYlfzq+DALP04OAz9EAo7iAMquhNFBALSgVVqqqKA-e](http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV4fnEqAl8iN8C2sAUtgFDBLv62dDvNdggVLgJAM6Kdlcs0A-jByXABZrEcYlfzq+DALP04OAz9EAo7iAMquhNFBALSgVVqqqKA-e "gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV4fnEqAl8iN8C2sAUtgFDBLv62dDvNdggVLgJAM6Kdlcs0A-jByXABZrEcYlfzq+DALP04OAz9EAo7iAMquhNFBALSgVVqqqKA-e")

 

So do I do all this now or make the change to power before sinking more time and gold into perfecting the condition variant?

Reasons to go with power:

- Beastmastery, I really like this trait line with the additional stats but I don't feel like it fits in well with a condition build.

- Choice of third traitline, I have build concepts that incorporate Skirmishing, Marksmanship, Nature Magic or Wilderness Survival as the situation dictates.

- Better synergy with Ferocious pets.

My power build could be a little like this;

[gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARTnE8CtCi1CCW8CctgFPBjpXtrub5l2Vbs9ZFEASYlI9xA-jxRBQBZU5HAeCAe4SAUk9HynugEq+jJVCGA4AY91T91Ds+6rv+6rX1Xf91Xf91Xf91DA-e](http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARTnE8CtCi1CCW8CctgFPBjpXtrub5l2Vbs9ZFEASYlI9xA-jxRBQBZU5HAeCAe4SAUk9HynugEq+jJVCGA4AY91T91Ds+6rv+6rX1Xf91Xf91Xf91DA-e "gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARTnE8CtCi1CCW8CctgFPBjpXtrub5l2Vbs9ZFEASYlI9xA-jxRBQBZU5HAeCAe4SAUk9HynugEq+jJVCGA4AY91T91Ds+6rv+6rX1Xf91Xf91Xf91DA-e")

 

Anyway, enough text wall, I'd just like to open up a bit of discussion and experiences people have with any and all ranger builds really. It's been my main class since launch but I'm constantly finding myself working on other characters of late because I'm just not feeling satisfied with my ranger at the moment.

 

Help me love my ranger again!

 

 

[Eleazar.9478]

Power Soulbeast is hella fun, use bow for open world and fractals and gs/sword axe for raids (we basically okay for meta now!)

 

Power Soulbeast is sooo gdamn satisfying, idk why anet made our weapon a condition based one. (I mean not only do we not have any cc on our condition weapons outside of 1 Skill on sb but soulbeasts traits buff power damage)

 

Hell for PvP I love it too it's a keygasm hopping in and out and swapping pets (merge to burst un merge and use pets and swap) the combos are fun as hell it's very rev like

 

And just use metabattle for the pve build (why have me repost info that's already there)

[Ryou.2398]

How are rangers doing honestly? I thought they where doing good for raids and other things now, soulbeast really appeals to me I tried it in pvp I love the looks and concept honestly. Ive heard they are boring and easy to play?

[Remus Darkblight.1673]

> @"Ryou.2398" said:

> How are rangers doing honestly? I thought they where doing good for raids and other things now, soulbeast really appeals to me I tried it in pvp I love the looks and concept honestly. Ive heard they are boring and easy to play?

 

Ranger overall seems to be in a better place than it was prior to Path of Fire and certainly Heart of Thorns. They have viable builds for power, conditions, Support/healing, and bunker/sustain.

I wouldn't say they were boring (I'm bored because I've mained ranger for almost 6 years now and have played the same condition Soulbeast since Path of Fire release), they are certainly more straight forward than say a Mesmer, Elementalist, or Engineer though.

Their pet is both the bane and boon of this class, the most reviled and hated clunky game mechanic on the Ranger forums, but also such a versatile tool when you know how to use them. If you get good at pet swapping and combo-ing off of their abilities, changing pets to suit the situation, making use of their merged and unmerged skills as a Soulbeast, that is where the skill of the class lies.

 

[lightningz.1465]

> @"Ryou.2398" said:

> How are rangers doing honestly? I thought they where doing good for raids and other things now, soulbeast really appeals to me I tried it in pvp I love the looks and concept honestly. Ive heard they are boring and easy to play?

 

I think overall ranger in good position right now, i like the build diversity of ranger. In pve you can play druid, condi or power soulbeast, all has its role.

 

In pvp it’s also strong now especially after the beastmaster trait buff, and what i like also is that you don’t pinned down to one specific build to be effective, for example soulbeast can use the bow variant or the axe variant and both equally good, it’s just the matter of playstyle. Unlike other profession like warrior or holo or rev, the build diversity of ranger in pvp is also very good.

[MeTx.6712]

DUDE this build

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqAlsgtCCe8CctgFCBbZHEAic5Z3u7495LUDydVI/B-jBCBABMcBAqU9Hs2fU+Z+hAIPdBBcEAOTJIAPAAA-e

full zerker power soulbeast!!

It's the most fun I've ever had with my ranger, and I pre-ordered the game!

 

Basically it's full damage, and the combo of Stoneform and Eternal Bond ensures you NEVER die! I breeze through high tier fractals with this with a lot of damage and CC, 19K hp. If you get in trouble, you can either use GS4 or LB3 to disengage.

 

The Pink moa is IMPORTANT! In BM, you get an extra heal plus a PULL! You run into a mob, pop the Moa pull and just tear the mob's health away with GS2 haha.

 

EDIT: If you want to use your Shortbow, you can! The marksmanship in this build is only used to give 15% extra damage (since movement impairing conditions are almost always on mobs) and stoneform for extra survivability.

[Haaken.3652]

Thank you MeTx. TBH I had abandoned my Ranger a while ago in WvW for Ele and Eng. I will try that build and see how it feels.