Greatsword is no longer an option?

So I stopped playing maybe 1,5 year ago and I remember before I stopped I created an alt ranger that I wanted to level but never did.I always liked the open world greatsword build, but now that I reinstalled the game and logged in to my ranger, I wanted to check that build to be sure what is going on.On the Metabattle website I couldn't find any builds with greatsword.

Did something happen or I just miss something?What other possibilities I have for a tanky easy to pickup build?

Thank you in advance!

GS still viable in both PVE and PVP.

For PVP the big loss was the evade on autos, so you can't abuse the triple evade maneuver as well as the inability to throw gs on gs 4. However, in place of that you gained a 3 second block, and an aoe knockback cc ability. All in all, it still does its job as a defensive burst wep.

Luckily I'm only interested in PvE content, only open world, maybe some group content but that should be very rare.Thanks for the info.

PVE wise, GS still really strong, meta in pretty much all modes: Open World/Fractal/Raid/Strike

You won't find many builds with GS because its a solo weapon, not because its not good. When a Ranger is in the group people tend to prefer it to be either Druid or Soulbeast with damage boosts (like Frost Spirit, Spotter, etc.). This typically includes the boons from Warhorn, which requires a 1H weapon equipped, usually Axe since its the most DPS-oriented.

@Hannelore.8153 said:You won't find many builds with GS because its a solo weapon, not because its not good. When a Ranger is in the group people tend to prefer it to be either Druid or Soulbeast with damage boosts (like Frost Spirit, Spotter, etc.). This typically includes the boons from Warhorn, which requires a 1H weapon equipped, usually Axe since its the most DPS-oriented.

The highest DPS meta build in the game uses GS/dagger/axe.

Power SB builds for Raids still use GS/Dagger/Axe.

@mistsim.2748 said:

@Hannelore.8153 said:You won't find many builds with GS because its a solo weapon, not because its not good. When a Ranger is in the group people tend to prefer it to be either Druid or Soulbeast with damage boosts (like Frost Spirit, Spotter, etc.). This typically includes the boons from Warhorn, which requires a 1H weapon equipped, usually Axe since its the most DPS-oriented.

That's a Soulbeast build, not a Ranger build. Ranger can't equip mainhand Dagger.

@"Tyrick.9805" said:So I stopped playing maybe 1,5 year ago and I remember before I stopped I created an alt ranger that I wanted to level but never did.I always liked the open world greatsword build, but now that I reinstalled the game and logged in to my ranger, I wanted to check that build to be sure what is going on.On the Metabattle website I couldn't find any builds with greatsword.

Did something happen or I just miss something?What other possibilities I have for a tanky easy to pickup build?

Thank you in advance!

In general it's best to avoid metabattle. Those builds are far from ideal and often behind on updates. Check this out for a greatsword build, it's still an ideal weapon for high damage and mobility: https://snowcrows.com/raids/builds/ranger/soulbeast/power/

@Aaron Forestman.4758 said:

@"Tyrick.9805" said:So I stopped playing maybe 1,5 year ago and I remember before I stopped I created an alt ranger that I wanted to level but never did.I always liked the open world greatsword build, but now that I reinstalled the game and logged in to my ranger, I wanted to check that build to be sure what is going on.On the Metabattle website I couldn't find any builds with greatsword.

Did something happen or I just miss something?What other possibilities I have for a tanky easy to pickup build?

Thank you in advance!

Snowcrow focus mostly on raid and OP asked about Open World PvE solo build. That build linked is a full Berserker build which is too vulnerable in today's open world map, in particular for PoF and HoT maps where there is a lot of condition damage, some stealth and CC.

I would suggest @"Tyrick.9805" instead take Viper (Power, Condition damage, Precision and Expertise) and use Trailblazer (Toughness, Condition damage, Vitality and Expertise) for trinkets (can be farmed in Bloodstone Fen for backpack, ring and accessories). TB will provide you with base vitality and toughness so you don't have to deal with direct hits (in particular condition damage will be easier to handle when you have some time to use condition cleanse when it is on cooldown with a larger Health Pool from Vitality). Toughness reduce some of direct damage hits. There is also consumables that can use those (T+V instead of Precision) attributes and turn them into more condition damage and expertise for condition duration. Most runes add a total of +175 to either condition damage or Power attribute, there is some exception where can get +125 as the 6th bonus. For sigil use Sigil of cleansing on at least one weapon (9 sec CD - procs when you change weapon) and Sigil of Energy if you want some more dodge.

FYI Power have been nerfed over the couple lasts patches, so it is best to look at condition damage as main attribute.With Power damage as main source your option in weapon will be those weapon that can produce Might (from weapon skills and from trait line) or Vulnerability (work with both Power and Condition Damage). The main difference here is if you go Might which is a boon, then you will want to increase your Concentration (duration for boons) and for Vulnerability which is a Condition you will want to have enough Expertise (condition duration). Just to make clear: Might do also increase Condition Damage and Vulnerability do also increase Power damage or damage as it worded in tool tip. Look up at GW2 wiki and you will see that both have same effect to increase damage from stacking. Vulnerability need to be put on target where Might need to be put on attacker to increase damage.

Soulbeast trait line offer Stances as a new group of skills. Healing skill also cleanse some conditions, but is a bit low on (base) healing and the amount of conditions there is in PoF and HoT maps can be hard to avoid. Another important part of SB is that is merging with Pet (Beast or Beastmode). This means that your attributes also gain a boost as long your are being merged. You can not change pet while you are being merged, only when in normal mode. This means you will need think about what pet you will transform into (during Beastmode) as you will have three new skills during that time on F1-F4. There is also a CD between Beastmodes.

Here is a build editor that you use to see how some changes might change numbers in tool tip. Not all changes can be seen through BE like Sigil of Force +5% damage will not change Power.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/

GW2 wiki for Ranger in general. Pick Elite to go for Druid and SoulBeast.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ranger(Don't forget to change to PvE for skills as there is a difference in tool tip for PvP and WvW vs PvE on GW2 wiki.)

@ShadowCatz.8437 said:

@Aaron Forestman.4758 said:

@"Tyrick.9805" said:So I stopped playing maybe 1,5 year ago and I remember before I stopped I created an alt ranger that I wanted to level but never did.I always liked the open world greatsword build, but now that I reinstalled the game and logged in to my ranger, I wanted to check that build to be sure what is going on.On the Metabattle website I couldn't find any builds with greatsword.

Did something happen or I just miss something?What other possibilities I have for a tanky easy to pickup build?

Thank you in advance!

I don't agree that zerker is too vulnerable at all, you just need to learn how to dodge and take some defensive utility skills. Learning to dodge damage properly instead of running around in tanky gear means you can negate 100% of the damage. If you are already doing that in tanky gear, its redundant and exposing you to more mechanics by making the fight take longer.

I guess it's the play style I like. I prefer the risk of death but gain the satisfaction of playing glassy gear, so when you do beat an encounter without being hit at all, a flawless victory, it's because you learned to play the class and the mechanics.

There's no content in the game that cannot be completed with Zerker gear. This is what I use for open world. Those utility skills provide good damage, allow you to escape almost anything and buff your allies. Pack Runes instead of Scholar is a small DPS loss, but the buffs are good, just use Moa Stance right before entering combat to buff the runes' boons too. I like having the CC/Evade from Smokescale as opposed to a pure DPS pet, particularly when merged, since you can negate a lot of damage that way too. GS has CC, a 3s block and gives you an extra dodge every 3 auto attack chains so very defensive as well as bursty. LB has CC and stealth you can use to create distance. Beastly Warden is just incredible with the smokescale because you can send it in first, then give it invulnerability with Smoke Cloud (which can also provide you with stealth and blind foes with projectile finishers) as it taunts all foes in a 240 radius, interrupting them all.

Just because you're using glassy gear, doesn't mean you're going to be taking a lot of damage.

@Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582 said:

@ShadowCatz.8437 said:

@Aaron Forestman.4758 said:

@"Tyrick.9805" said:So I stopped playing maybe 1,5 year ago and I remember before I stopped I created an alt ranger that I wanted to level but never did.I always liked the open world greatsword build, but now that I reinstalled the game and logged in to my ranger, I wanted to check that build to be sure what is going on.On the Metabattle website I couldn't find any builds with greatsword.

Did something happen or I just miss something?What other possibilities I have for a tanky easy to pickup build?

Thank you in advance!

What build are you using?

@tinyasian.8941 said:

@Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582 said:

@ShadowCatz.8437 said:

@Aaron Forestman.4758 said:

@"Tyrick.9805" said:So I stopped playing maybe 1,5 year ago and I remember before I stopped I created an alt ranger that I wanted to level but never did.I always liked the open world greatsword build, but now that I reinstalled the game and logged in to my ranger, I wanted to check that build to be sure what is going on.On the Metabattle website I couldn't find any builds with greatsword.

Did something happen or I just miss something?What other possibilities I have for a tanky easy to pickup build?

Thank you in advance!

It's linked in the text, the red wording is a link.