Need Solo PvE Ranger Help

I’m just a casual, part-time player who pretty much sticks to solo PvE content. I’ve decided to use my level 80 boost on my ranger. I don’t have access to ascended or crafted gear at the moment. What I really need help with is:

• Build suggestion with specific trait lines for basic ranger (no hero points yet)
• Build suggestion with specific trait lines for druid and soulbeast — also, which one is better for solo PvE?
• Gear & runes
• Weapons & sigils
• Best skills for solo PvE survivability

Thanks in advance for any and all information. It's much appreciated.

@Ouija.1684 said:I’m just a casual, part-time player. I pretty much stick to solo PvE content. I want to use my level 80 boost on my ranger. I don’t have access to ascended or crafted gear at the moment. What I really need help with is:

• Build suggestion with specific trait lines for just starting out (no hero points yet)
• Build suggestion with specific trait lines for druid and soulbeast — also, which one is better for solo PvE?
• Gear & runes
• Weapons & sigils
• Best skills for solo PvE survivability

Thanks in advance for any and all information. It's much appreciated.

1. Don't use that level 80 boost - learn the class from the bottom up
2. Forget about ascended - it's only really needed for high level fractals
3. Learn to melee from the get go - rangers in general have a tendency to rely on their pet to do the tanking. While this is most useful in some content, learning NOT to rely on your pet in the first place will teach you to become a better player
4. Don't think too much about gear, that' not the key - personal skill is, as have always been the case in this game, no matter the class
5. Don't go zerker until you're feeling comfortable with the class. While going glass cannon might be the ultimate goal, too many players do just that and don't do well enough, meaning they're down half the time in encounters.They may argue they do so much damage when they're not downed that it will compensate for it, but - that's not the case. Go slow at first, familiar yourself with the class, and go from there.Personally, I'm running celestial gear, which means I'm able to change roles swiftly and easily - I have enough of everything to fit into any role - change some trinkets around and you either have enough damage, enough condi or enough healing power to fit any role this game demands of of you. If, and when, you're planning to take the next step (only in fractals and/or raids), you optimize yourself and your gear for that.

@OGDeadHead.8326 said:

@Ouija.1684 said:I’m just a casual, part-time player. I pretty much stick to solo PvE content. I want to use my level 80 boost on my ranger. I don’t have access to ascended or crafted gear at the moment. What I really need help with is:

• Build suggestion with specific trait lines for just starting out (no hero points yet)
• Build suggestion with specific trait lines for druid and soulbeast — also, which one is better for solo PvE?
• Gear & runes
• Weapons & sigils
• Best skills for solo PvE survivability

Thanks in advance for any and all information. It's much appreciated.

1. Don't use that level 80 boost - learn the class from the bottom up
2. Forget about ascended - it's only really needed for high level fractals
3. Learn to melee from the get go - rangers in general have a tendency to rely on their pet to do the tanking. While this is most useful in some content, learning NOT to rely on your pet in the first place will teach you to become a better player
4. Don't think too much about gear, that' not the key - personal skill is, as have always been the case in this game, no matter the class
5. Don't go zerker until you're feeling comfortable with the class. While going glass cannon might be the ultimate goal, too many players do just that and don't do well enough, meaning they're down half the time in encounters.They may argue they do so much damage when they're
   not
   downed that it will compensate for it, but - that's not the case. Go slow at first, familiar yourself with the class, and go from there.Personally, I'm running celestial gear, which means I'm able to change roles swiftly and easily - I have enough of everything to fit into any role - change some trinkets around and you either have enough damage, enough condi or enough healing power to fit any role this game demands of of you. If, and when, you're planning to take the next step (only in fractals and/or raids), you optimize yourself and your gear for that.

1) I disagree - 99% of the content is SO boringly easy in PvE that you dont haev to know anything other than press button to deal damage to enemy. If you're not raiding or what ever. You really dont need to "learn the class from the bottom up" the PvE in this game is SO poorly designed, SO easy that its not needed at all.

2) This i agree with. Unless you're doing high level fractals or raids. Exo is good enough.

3) Again i would tend to agree. Start with your ranged weapon (if you use one) melt face with that and then go melee for the kill. If you are going to be farming with blobs, stick with just using bow to get the best chance at tagging mobs and such and thats really about it.

4) Agree with first part. Disagree with the second. The PvE in this game is BEYOND easy. Unless you are doing High level factals or raids. Skill isnt needed. At all. Some will disagree. I have played plenty of MMOs and this is the easiest PvE game i have played. I would also say its the worst. Because their is VERY little in terms of challenge. Out side of Factals, Raids and maybe the odd cheap world boss.

5) This i agree with, its also a good idea for WvW. Start off with something like soldiers. It has decent damage but also the defense you will need for the first few hours to get used to your build. The class. Once thats done, then you can begin to move towards berserker. I personally run a mix of Assassins, Berserker with a couple of Soliders accessories. This works for the little PvE content i do (im more into WvW)

@ArmageddonAsh.6430 said:1) I disagree - 99% of the content is SO boringly easy in PvE that you dont haev to know anything other than press button to deal damage to enemy. If you're not raiding or what ever. You really dont need to "learn the class from the bottom up" the PvE in this game is SO poorly designed, SO easy that its not needed at all.4) Agree with first part. Disagree with the second. The PvE in this game is BEYOND easy. Unless you are doing High level factals or raids. Skill isnt needed. At all. Some will disagree. I have played plenty of MMOs and this is the easiest PvE game i have played. I would also say its the worst. Because their is VERY little in terms of challenge. Out side of Factals, Raids and maybe the odd cheap world boss.

Yes, PVE in this game is easy, by far the easiest Ive come across in any MMO to date. It's even easier than Guild Wars 1. Anyway, about #1 in my first post, it still applies. If you're fresh to this game, imho, you should learn the basics, and get the feeling for the general flow of encounters. While you can start fresh and boost to 80 right away, I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you've played at least one class from 1 to 80 the classic way. I boosted my thief to 80, and I regret it still. While of course I could go out there just play, I would have been far better off if had played that class from 0, and learnt the strong and the weak sides of the class during the progress. This again matters mostly depending on how much of a quick learner you are - if you snap things up quickly, by all means, boost yourself to max level and be done with it! :)

@OGDeadHead.8326 said:Yes, PVE in this game is easy, by far the easiest Ive come across in any MMO to date. It's even easier than Guild Wars 1. Anyway, about #1 in my first post, it still applies. If you're fresh to this game, imho, you should learn the basics, and get the feeling for the general flow of encounters. While you can start fresh and boost to 80 right away, I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you've played at least one class from 1 to 80 the classic way. I boosted my thief to 80, and I regret it still. While of course I could go out there just play, I would have been far better off if had played that class from 0, and learnt the strong and the weak sides of the class during the progress. This again matters mostly depending on how much of a quick learner you are - if you snap things up quickly, by all means, boost yourself to max level and be done with it! :)

Yeah, the PvE in this game is SO poor. Easily the worst PvE experience i have encountered in the dozens of MMOs i have played. The dungeons for example. Cool story in them, poor actual gameplay. The bosses are tedious. The mobs are tedious. Once you have done them. You have very little desire to do them again. Be it for loot or for fun or whatever.

I would agree if they were a proper new player, this person however doesnt sound like that. Sounds more like that they have played the game before due to the "Casual, part time player" in which case, they should really already know the basics of the game and thats all you need to know. I made my Ranger boosted to level 80 and jumped straight into WvW with a random build i made and having played the game before, especially WvW i know the basics. That is why i focused much on my condi removal. Its needed. I roam. Without it on ANY class i melt lol

@OGDeadHead.8326 said:

4. Don't think too much about gear, that' not the key - personal skill is, as have always been the case in this game, no matter the class
5. Don't go zerker until you're feeling comfortable with the class. While going glass cannon might be the ultimate goal, too many players do just that and don't do well

I tend to disagree with this, in pve anyway. If you start out in soldiers for example, you can pick up alot of bad habits, like face tanking, that does not work too well in zerk gear. My advice here is to play zerk first, and learn the mechanics of avoiding damage, you will become a much, much better player in the long run for it (if you like power builds anyway).

Build wise, for base ranger in solo pve i always go this if playing lb/x: marks: 223 skirmish: 213, beast: 332

Alot of leeway in this, if you take LB/GS, go beast 322 but keep spotter and the others for dps. I take marks 3 as it makes lb pierce.

Alot of useful Util skills: HaO is our best heal, and its traited. I tend to grab SoS if I'm lazy or when i first started, its your panic button. Then i take Protect me (its traited) for stun break and regen, and SotW. Though i swap my utils around alot depending on which zone im in. elite on power is SotP. This is core ranger and when starting out. As you get more experience, you'll drop some of the defensive utils for dps ones.

Personally, I prefer sword/x. If you learn sword's mechanics, it will serve you well in all game modes, as that is our highest dps weapon. GS though, is good for solo pve, as it provides utility and 'easier' Aoe when fighting groups of mobs through maul. Runes, up to you. I am cheap, so i use rune of the pack on armor on new alts with zerk gear. Then splurge on force/air on bow, and force/air on sword/whatever (energy runes are nice if you like to dodge alot). Eventually, scholar runes are your best bet for dps, though pack runes are decent. Learn all the weapons though, they are all viable in different sitations.

I was never a fan of druid, but its nice to learn it anyway. When using Soulbeast i drop skirm traits for SB, and take 223 in pve. Of course, my WvW setup is entirely different, but this is solo pve you were asking about..

My main is a reaper/scourge. My alt ranger is a level 60. I have gear with zerker stats and use longbow/greatsword, but haven’t played this profession in a long time and feel like I need advice. Thanks again, all, for offering some.

I only built my ranger last week but I want to say if all you're gunning for is solo PvE I would pick soulbeast over druid. I've equipped it with viper gear but I've heard power does okay too. I actually gained survivability when I removed my rabid gear for vipers because the toughness drop made mobs stop targeting me all the time. In regards to staying alive I like to keep lightning reflexes or dolyak stance around. No one is perfect and one bad stun can get you killed. The rest I'm not quite sure on as I'm still learning the class myself.

OT: I really have to question people who say this game contains the easiest PvE of any MMO they've played because, I play 5 or 6 myself on and off and only half of them are easier than this one.

@Darkhydrox.8560 said:OT: I really have to question people who say this game contains the easiest PvE of any MMO they've played because, I play 5 or 6 myself on and off and only half of them are easier than this one.

Out of curiosity, what would those games be? Because even at release, this game PvE was face roll easy. I count PvE as the story, Dungeons, World Bosses and such. Not played the Raids in this game but seeing some of the bosses be easily killed with really small groups make me think its just basically like the poorly designed dungeons.

@Ouija.1684 said:My main is a reaper/scourge. My alt ranger is a level 60. I have gear with zerker stats and use longbow/greatsword, but haven’t played this profession in a long time and feel like I need advice. Thanks again, all, for offering some.

I wouldnt use Longbow or Greatsword for Solo PvE. They just dont do enough damage when it comes to things like story bosses, HoT hero challenges and bounties.

Suggestions for other weapons, then? Both sets, please.

@Lome.8239 said:

@Ouija.1684 said:My main is a reaper/scourge. My alt ranger is a level 60. I have gear with zerker stats and use longbow/greatsword, but haven’t played this profession in a long time and feel like I need advice. Thanks again, all, for offering some.

Same here, I just started this weekend. Made a ranger using LB and GS. They seem the best at lower level's.

LB/GS works great for all solo pve tasks, like story, open world, etc. LB does a great job in solo pve. It has utility in stealth, has the kb, as aoe cripple, and RF is devastating with the right traits. I can kill any non vet with 1 RF, and most vets with 2-3 (PoF vets) . GS is nice to have for aoe. has a block, kb, stun and a leap finisher, etc. And what main axe proponents failed to mention: when soloing, how are you suppose to break break bars with axe/x? With lb/GS, you got enough breaks there to handle most bars solo.

I play all weapons, and i prefer lb+sw/axe for open world stuff. Though sword/horn is nice if you trait nature . Main axe is okay, but its not on par with lb for range weapon. You have to be real close to the target to get splitblade to hit with all the axes. axe auto is good for might but suffers when there are only 1 or 2 targets in range. LB's auto can crit for upwards of 5k.

The main thing to get use to with sword is the funky leap. When learning sword, i'd kill myself at least a couple times a week throwing myself off cliffs and whatnot.

mulzi.8273mulzi.8273,
I agree from my limited experience having only been playing a few days, LB/GS is by far the best spec for I fell, again from my time with the game.I tried SW/Axe, while it feels faster pace i really missed the movement of GS the 3 on GS can be a life saver if you get over your head in Pve and pvp

@Ouija.1684 said:I’m just a casual, part-time player who pretty much sticks to solo PvE content. I’ve decided to use my level 80 boost on my ranger. I don’t have access to ascended or crafted gear at the moment. What I really need help with is:

• Build suggestion with specific trait lines for basic ranger (no hero points yet)
• Build suggestion with specific trait lines for druid and soulbeast — also, which one is better for solo PvE?
• Gear & runes
• Weapons & sigils
• Best skills for solo PvE survivability

Thanks in advance for any and all information. It's much appreciated.

I recommend you sit down and look through all of the traits and skills, and read what each of them do. Having the wiki up while doing this would also be helpful, as that can explain traits and skills in greater detail. I also recommend you spend time doing map completion, switching up your build every so often. Try different combinations of weapons, skills, and traits.

Until you find your preferred setup, I would recommend Celestial gear with Traveler's runes. You get a little bit of everything, with a very nice speed boost.

@Dyreraven.9521 said:

@Lome.8239 said:

@Ouija.1684 said:My main is a reaper/scourge. My alt ranger is a level 60. I have gear with zerker stats and use longbow/greatsword, but haven’t played this profession in a long time and feel like I need advice. Thanks again, all, for offering some.

Sword/Axe and Axe/Warhorn. Give it a try.

With Nature Magic, you can supply yourself with Fury and 25 Might. You can also pulse permanent Protection onto your tank pet. These all form a recipe for extremely strong solo potential. You can solo bounties, all HoT hero challenges, Hearts and Minds challenge mode, etc.

@Lome.8239 said:

@Dyreraven.9521 said:

@Lome.8239 said:

@Ouija.1684 said:My main is a reaper/scourge. My alt ranger is a level 60. I have gear with zerker stats and use longbow/greatsword, but haven’t played this profession in a long time and feel like I need advice. Thanks again, all, for offering some.

Ok thanks for the tip, I will check them out. Ive only unlocked the first spec for my ranger will definitely check out nature when i get to 45 and can unlock another spec.

If you haven't unlock druid or soulbeast, then condi core ranger is quite strong and viable in end game content like fractal, short bow axe/torch is fun to play with all those traps utiliy skill.

Just try out all the weapons and decide which you like the best, then you can decide on traits and gear to suit.

Don't listen to those who tell you LB/GS don't do enough damage in PvE, LB with 5 might out damages Axe with 25 might and GS is a great burst/defensive weapon. Although you can quite literally 1-shot mobs with Maul, I generally use S/Wh because of the buffs on Wh5 and then turret with the LB.

I would go with this build. And go to either Meta Battle or QTFY and learn the Condi Ranger DPS rotation. Get whatever Condi Gear you can like Rabid or Dire? And for open world PvE Exotic is fine.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAnfVjUqQ7K2tC2sAVLGKEqPBi2AgHgS/B6PYYv6KY6E-e

Another option instead of Axe/Torch - Short Bow would be Axe/- - -/Torch for a perma fire field.

When I go Condi Druid I usually go with a build like this:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAnfVn0rCtrg1sCGsCEtiFDBrpDEsqawb1waZlJAM6aAVw0J-e

If you go group play then you can start to add Spirits to either Builds.

Appreciate all the help, Ive made it to level 40 now. have gone power so far. I was wondering if its even worthwhile to test out some condition specs while leveling up to get a taste for it, if so any point in getting condition gear or would that be over kill during the leveling stages.

@OGDeadHead.8326 said:

@Ouija.1684 said:I’m just a casual, part-time player. I pretty much stick to solo PvE content. I want to use my level 80 boost on my ranger. I don’t have access to ascended or crafted gear at the moment. What I really need help with is:

1. The main problem with using the level 80 boost is that it will give you soldiers gear. Which by the way... is probably the best gear in the game for one specific playstyle: open-world solo PvE. That happens to be what the original poster plans to do... What makes soldiers (power, vit, toughness) gear so good in solo is that you do a good amount of direct damage and can face tank most of the open world or at least survive long enough to get out of a mistake... when you're out there alone, that's kind of important. All of the "meta" builds you will see are tailored to different forms of group play. Soldier's is for solo players.

If you're a new player - I recommend leveling and doing the hearts of various leveling zones, and the personal story - just because it's very good "the first time through".

But if you're not new, if this is a 'new main' or an alt... go ahead and boost. I used my boosts to give myself a second ranger and a second mesmer - but I already had all 9 classes at 80, and many of those since the game was relatively new.

2. Yes, forget about Ascended for now. It is basically for group play and even there only needed in Fractals after you've ranked up in them for a bit.
3. Yes... learn melee from the start. Remember "ranger" means "special forces" not "archer". Your strongest builds will be using swords, daggers, greatswords... not bows or staves (unless you build a group-support character, that is not good at solo play - this is why I have 2 rangers now).
4. I'm going to disagree on the gear comment. Just looking at how my two rangers perform. One of them has 1500 bonus healing and so little power she can barely hurt anything. The other chews through content like a Tasmanian devil. Gear is going to matter... The wrong gear will become very obvious... you will have trouble surviving or trouble hurting things. I think if you go solo... the gear you get from a level 80-boost is great. It will be ALL soldiers, and the runes are ALL "of the ranger", while the weapons will have force and accuracy Sigils. Force sigil is kind of expensive (7-10g depending on the market).

Frankly if you're NOT a new player... AND you plan to solo play almost all the time, that level 80-boost is handy just because it puts you in the perfect solo-player gear.

5. Yes, zerker is horrible solo play gear unless you're a solo player that came from playing an FPS game like Overwatch where you mained something like Genji... If you don't have near super-human dodge skills and the reflexes of a 17-year old high on Mountain Dew... zerker is "faceplant gear" when playing solo.

Zerker is good for doing absurdly high amounts of damage in "normal PvE" modes... so it is great in dungeons and low level fractals and... the same open world content you will be solo in... but it's best used in a team environment when somebody is around to "watch your back" or you can all stack up and kill things faster than it takes for that knife to slice through the butter that is your armor...

This is why Soldier's is the soloist's gear. You can facetank anything but a Champion mob, and win relatively quickly. It's very bad gear in group play because you're wasting all your build on 'staying alive and tanking stuff' in an environment where that isn't needed...

(People will now proceed to laugh at me for saying soldier's gear is good... but I've just used 2 of these level 80 boosts and then ran my toons around for 2 weeks getting 'hero points' before re-gearing them for the specific purposes I made them (one druid healer, one chronomancer support)... and while they were running around "solo" in the old Heart of Thorns content that tends to "melt players"... they were tanking stacks of mobs and winning the fights... frankly I was doing so well with that gear I was second guessing why I use more "meta" gear on all my toons... For solo PvE... Soldier's is amazing. You can laugh at your own mistakes with that stuff on.)

Build:Basically get "Skirmishing" so you can get "Strider's Defense" (for group play, you want Spotter instead If you use Skirmishing). The other skills in this line are preference. Once you master dodging get the ones that trigger on that.

If your crit chance is high, get Beastmastery for "Potent Ally". You can also get "Honed Axes" if you decide to make 'dual wielding axes' your ranged option like I do.

Get Marksmanship for "Brutis Seals" - since you don't have any of the elite specs unlocked... and easy playstyle is to make your utility skills these signets:Signet of RenewalSignet of the HuntSignet of the Wild

Skip "Signet of Stone" as you're in soldier's gear. If not in Soldier's gear, it becomes handy for solo PvE but avoid it in group play.

Your elite skill: they all suck for solo play... Back before elite specs I went with "Strenght of the Pack" but it was just as bad as the others. "Spirit of Nature" should be good... but never seems to do anything...

Heal: "We Heal As one" is great for soloing with your pet.

Pet choices...

I like the Devourer. It stays at range... I go in melee. I tank for it... and that means it stays alive. Pets don't die as easy as they used to... but it's a pain when they do... So when solo I used to just put in both Devourers. The "Fern Hound" is another choice if you want another on demand self-heal. Swap it in, hit the heal, then swap it out right away...

1. Core ranger power build:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqAtCi9rAmsActgh8g6DhlYq3AoAaAeDK4gvEh4F-jxRBAB0s/AFXCgrU+BwTAAPdBUq+jZKBBA-e

Good start point. 80-lvl boost give you Soldier gear - switch it as fast as you can to Berserker, ranger don't need any tankiness in gear stats for comfortable play in open world.Equip Signet of the Hunt (25% movement speed) or Resounding Timbre (beastmastery trait) before you get mount.

2. Soulbeast way better for solo play.Power soulbeast:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqAtCi9rAmsActgFDBLv6udHvPHgYQOjJAsuOdlIEvA-jxRBABUq+jZKBB4JAQz+DUcJAwTXwVK/AA-e

Condition soulbeast:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV3fnUqAtrgdrAO8CUtgFDBrpDk6qaMBgRXDIv62dHvA-jBiHQBBZfAypbQjKBBwVAggK/on6PObhha9QAAA-e

Second point - condition build. Even in open world condition build way better than power for ranger - better damage, better aoe, better ability to kite and kill veterans/champions. I think you get Soulbeast earlier than viper gear. For soulbeast axe or dagger - only your choice, for open world i think axe better cuz range and aoe.

3. Pets.For core ranger. Drake type for general play, bear for tanking champions, lynx for singletarget dps (or jungle stalker for good dps and some might when completly solo).For soulbeast, pets for merging. For power build Rock Gazelle or Smokescale very good choices, bear (brown of black) as defensive choise for damage immunity or extra heal. For condition build - lynx for best dps over gazelle/smokescale. Anyway, solo feel free to pick any pet for merging depends on needed stats and personal choice.

4. Tips.Solo always carry atleast one stunbreak - some mobs have very annoying CC. I prefer Dolyak stance for soulbeast and Quickening Zephyr for core ranger.Use Healing Spring/Bear Stance as your heal skill when you clear area with lots of conditions. Brown Bear pet also helps.Always get 25% movement speed or swiftness before you get mount.I prefer to always carry Brown Bear as my second pet - condi cleanse, tankiness for champs and extra heal in soulbeast.Smokescale give you smokefield as beast ability - use it with your blast and leap finishers for stack invisibility and skip some trash when needed.Always try to press your buttons, don't be boring pew-pew ranger. With LB/GS 2-swap-2-5-2 kill mob way faster than just 2-1-1-1-... on longbow.

I hope I could help.Good luck, have fun.

A lot people here are making good suggestions.But just whatever you do, never, NEVER, use longbow 4 on a random mob when other players are meeleing them. This is plain out annoying and every kitten noob LB ranger does this. You only need this skill when a mob is approaching you alone to get some distance.Its also good against bosses and breakbars. Just dont use it in this group situation i mentioned.In end game decide in which dmg direction you want to go. For bounties and world bosses, fractals and raids i recommend condition builds.For open PvE and dungeons Power is the way to go.

I don't feel like getting into the berserker versus tank stuff, but imo you're out of your goddam mind if you play open world long bow in anything other than glass gear. Nothing ever touches you with that weapon and it does too low damage to be wasting stats on being tanky.