Hey guys, I decided to create for the first time a ranger after being destroyed so much by them in wvw, I leveled him up with tomes and unlocked both druid and soulbeast already with wvw hero points.

I walked for the map for a while and unlocked the "meta" standard pets for roaming as soulbeast, owl and smokescale.

Nothing to say, this profession is hella fun and strong, really good sustain and mobility on top of damage, landing those wordly impacts feels so rewarding.

Currently running longbow plus greatsword on a full marauder dura runes set with zerk trinkets.

Even if never played ranger before I am already getting pretty good results.

My question is if those pet are okay to solo roam or there are better options around?

Owl is so good for mobility and heal and smokescale is just the top pet we all know.

I know there is an alternative build which is boonbeast who runs siamoth and axe/axe to look for that plasma item and get all boons, but I feel that it's only a superior duelist build for 1vs1s, and for solo roaming you lose lot of mobility. And it feels harder to use for a newbie like me, but i didn't test it so I hope you can tell me.

Hhh owl and smokescale is the shit atm. Grab a bristleback maybe if you ever play something not soulbeast.

@ChartFish.1308 said:Hhh owl and smokescale is the kitten atm. Grab a bristleback maybe if you ever play something not soulbeast.

This ! When I change to Druid, I grab Bristleback for the extra damage pressure and Smokescale.Smokescale is the #1 pet.

@ChartFish.1308 said:Hhh owl and smokescale is the kitten atm. Grab a bristleback maybe if you ever play something not soulbeast.

Yeah got the bristleback too for staff bow druid, feels pretty good too.

@Krispera.5087 said:

@ChartFish.1308 said:Hhh owl and smokescale is the kitten atm. Grab a bristleback maybe if you ever play something not soulbeast.

Yeah It's just impossible to drop smokescale in every single ranger build, and even in beastmode it turned out having really good abilities, a cc an evade shadowstep and wordly impact.

What about rock gazelle? It offers some mobility and better damage than owl? But no heal and resistance right?

@whoknocks.4935 said:

@ChartFish.1308 said:Hhh owl and smokescale is the kitten atm. Grab a bristleback maybe if you ever play something not soulbeast.

@Krispera.5087 said:

@ChartFish.1308 said:Hhh owl and smokescale is the kitten atm. Grab a bristleback maybe if you ever play something not soulbeast.

I roam a lot. like.. that's all I do besides spvp and I've mained ranger since I started.I find rock gazelle to be stronger than the owl.

extra heal is nice on owl yes but idk I just feel so much stronger in beast mode with gazelle because of the gap closer that dazes on hit. it's really good.. and if you're good at landing your CC while opponents don't have stab then gazelle f2 is amazing.

gazelle hits like a truck, has 1 random CC attack plus the f2. f2 is amazing if you use heal skill ( plus the WS trait for immob ) so that they can't dodge and get knocked up and take dmg. owl is just kinda... meh. yea the chill is nice and sure it's also good dmg but it also dies easily, has a random booncast skill which makes it less reliable.. etc.

and beast mode with owl feels very weak to me. you're basically forced to use it for kiting if you're fighting strong opponents cus it doesn't bring much else. the heal cast time is so long you can't cast it while under fire by anything especially with squishy stats like marauder and zerk :/

so imo, the gazelle is definitely better for roaming than owl. owl is good if you want to play the hit and run kinda thing because nothing can catch you with that many gap opener skills.. but for fighting gazelle is better.

You should get Gazelle, siamoth and brown bear. Those are very efficient depending on what you look to run.

Gazelle as a pet is a bit wonky isnt it? Doesn't always hit, a bit unreliable if I remember correctly.Maybe they changed it? Somehow doubt it.

Im a bigger fan of smokescale/Owl.Yeah owl is used for escape which sometimes you have to do.If you're trying to actually MOVE across the map and just get into 1v1's, then I prefer Owl. That leap and Run speed is just nice.

If you're running greatsword, chaining gs 5 with procines(pig, board etc) is a good lockdown.

@EnderzShadow.2506 said:Gazelle as a pet is a bit wonky isnt it? Doesn't always hit, a bit unreliable if I remember correctly.Maybe they changed it? Somehow doubt it.

Im a bigger fan of smokescale/Owl.Yeah owl is used for escape which sometimes you have to do.If you're trying to actually MOVE across the map and just get into 1v1's, then I prefer Owl. That leap and Run speed is just nice.

If you're running greatsword, chaining gs 5 with procines(pig, board etc) is a good lockdown.

idk about pigs, but i dont think gazelle is unreliable.

being able to use pets have always been about setting up a situation for your enemy. the way i use it is when i am certain my enemy does not have stability and mostly out of stunbreaks. not only that but you should also try to use it when they are out of dodges or simply arent able to ( because of immobilization ).

You could also try to use it while stealthed if you can tell your opponent is getting ready for you to leave stealth. perhaps he wants to hit you with a stun himself as soon as he can target you. this is another good time to use gazelle f2 because theres a good chance they arent paying attention to the pet as most of the time they arent a big issue.however if he dodges your gazelle f2, you can quickly follow that up with a PBS or stun from gs that he probably isnt ready for if he was paying attention to the pet and using 1 of his dodge rolls for it.

IMHO, all the pets listed above are pretty much the go to ranger right now. I have also been running a Jacaranda for more heals 'cause I'm dying all the time. Hey! Not all of us are elite players and dang if the roaming scene for me has been full of 2 and 3 players in small groups instead of solo players for the last few weeks. :)

Echo of the Pack

@phaidetublacke.6048 said:IMHO, all the pets listed above are pretty much the go to ranger right now. I have also been running a Jacaranda for more heals 'cause I'm dying all the time. Hey! Not all of us are elite players and dang if the roaming scene for me has been full of 2 and 3 players in small groups instead of solo players for the last few weeks. :)

Echo of the Pack

2 or 3? Try 7+! lol

@Lynnie.7213 said:

@phaidetublacke.6048 said:IMHO, all the pets listed above are pretty much the go to ranger right now. I have also been running a Jacaranda for more heals 'cause I'm dying all the time. Hey! Not all of us are elite players and dang if the roaming scene for me has been full of 2 and 3 players in small groups instead of solo players for the last few weeks. :)

Echo of the Pack

truth

I was trying not to sound over dramatic, lol. :)

Smokescale + Owl or Smokescale + Gazelle.

@phaidetublacke.6048 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:

@phaidetublacke.6048 said:IMHO, all the pets listed above are pretty much the go to ranger right now. I have also been running a Jacaranda for more heals 'cause I'm dying all the time. Hey! Not all of us are elite players and dang if the roaming scene for me has been full of 2 and 3 players in small groups instead of solo players for the last few weeks. :)

Echo of the Pack

To me instead as soon as i'm about to win a fair and fun 1vs1, an enemy noobs appears outnumbering and kills me... happens every single time, but never happens the opposite case for me.

Sometimes i find 1vs1s in pretty remote map spots and still somehow another enemy appears out of nowhere in help and they kill me...

sad life.

@whoknocks.4935 said:

Sometimes i find 1vs1s in pretty remote map spots and still somehow another enemy appears out of nowhere in help and they kill me...

sad life.

That's because you take too long to defeat them. Don't.

@whoknocks.4935 said:

@phaidetublacke.6048 said:

@Lynnie.7213 said:

@phaidetublacke.6048 said:IMHO, all the pets listed above are pretty much the go to ranger right now. I have also been running a Jacaranda for more heals 'cause I'm dying all the time. Hey! Not all of us are elite players and dang if the roaming scene for me has been full of 2 and 3 players in small groups instead of solo players for the last few weeks. :)

Echo of the Pack

Same! It's the life of a solo roamer.

Another vote for Smokescale and Gazelle.

Basically what everyone else said. Every once in a while I'll change my owl to a raven because Prelude Lash is nice if pulled off successfully, but overall owl feels like a more well-rounded choice. I also love the chill on F2.

A super niche pet that I'll use sometimes if I'm being that kitten pewpewer on towers is the devourer because it'll give you a backwards evade without you having to pan your camera or anything.