Anyone else enjoy trying to solo group content with their ranger? What are your strategies?

I've been having a ton of fun doing this lately. Mostly just attempting to solo bounties. I haven't tried dungeons or fractals yet. My build right now is just full berserker boonbeast with GS + Sw/Wh. My biggest problem, besides dying because I need to git gud, is outputting enough damage before the timer runs out. This is specially true in fights I need to run longbow as my dps suffers. If I run a full dps power spec (Sword/axe+GS) I usually end up dying, that's why I run boonbeast. I especially find fights with lots of adds difficult on any kind of power build(I haven't tried condi yet).

What kind of builds do you guys run for doing this stuff? I was thinking maybe condi trapper soulbeast might work better. I would just like to get an idea of how others go about this stuff.

I like soloing group content.

My Ranger build specifically is going to get hit by the balance patch though so i'm going to have to change it since how I personally use spirits isn't going to be possible anymore after the changes.

It's mostly an Zerker LB Archer build that uses Spirits for boon spam (which is going away entirely) and aggro maninpulation (which is going to suck with spirit health degen) so yeah..Great build that served me well for years.. but alas after tomorrow it'll won't work anymore.

@Teratus.2859 said:I like soloing group content.

My Ranger build specifically is going to get hit by the balance patch though so i'm going to have to change it since how I personally use spirits isn't going to be possible anymore after the changes.

It's mostly an Zerker LB Archer build that uses Spirits for boon spam (which is going away entirely) and aggro maninpulation (which is going to suck with spirit health degen) so yeah..Great build that served me well for years.. but alas after tomorrow it'll won't work

That kinda sucks, but it'll push you to experiment more if nothing else. I've never really been a fan of spirits in solo play, they feel kind of weak to me but I never really gave them a good try.

I used to went foll solo champ modes with a whacky marshal soulbeast. I had about 1k Heal per second just from regen, rugged growth and natural healing.But it got a bit boring so i jumped onto the boonbeast train because it felt fun to play with fully stacked boons out.

@InsaneQR.7412 said:I used to went foll solo champ modes with a whacky marshal soulbeast. I had about 1k Heal per second just from regen, rugged growth and natural healing.But it got a bit boring so i jumped onto the boonbeast train because it felt fun to play with fully stacked boons out.

Man, I could never give up two-handed training for natural healing. How do you manage to kill things before timers ran out? I'm running boonbeast and surviving usually isn't an issue, it's just surviving WHILE putting out enough damage. Most of the time I end up failing because of the timer.

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@InsaneQR.7412 said:I used to went foll solo champ modes with a whacky marshal soulbeast. I had about 1k Heal per second just from regen, rugged growth and natural healing.But it got a bit boring so i jumped onto the boonbeast train because it felt fun to play with fully stacked boons out.

Well....I didnt used a GS?It was a dagger/axe faceroll build.

Sorry in advance for the wall of text, but I love soloing stuff, and am forever lecturing new rangers on our class' remarkable ability to solo stuff that sends other classes running. Of course, none of you seem to be new to ranger in here, but.... humor my rambling, I'm getting older.

I have 3 builds for soloing group content:

(1) Excessively safe core ranger buildPets: Rock Gazelle & JacarandaWeps: GS & LBArmor, weps, and back = Commander statsTrinkets = Wanderer statsRunes: 6x Rune of the TrooperSigils: Concentration and Bounty on bothUtilities: all shouts (We Heal as one, Sic Em, Guard, Protect Me, Strength of the Pack)Beastmastery: Resounding Timbre, 2 Handed Training, Zephyr's SpeedNature Magic: Bountiful Hunter, Spirited Arrival, Protective WardMarksmanship: Hunter's Gaze, Farsighted, Lead the Wind

This build is an extremely safe choice that struggles a bit on certain timers, and its output depends on maintaining relatively high uptime on as many boons as possible during burst phases. "Burst" might be an overstatement compared to boonbeast burst cycles, but it has respectable base crit, very easy stacks of 25 might, regular access to quickness via pet swap + we heal as one, perma regen + swiftness, and a constant stream of cleanses coming from the rune. Low ferocity is a problem, which can be mitigated to a small extent by switching armor and weps to Diviners... but the difference is not that dramatic. The real secret to getting good output on this has just come from how obscenely safe the build is; thanks to all the passive defensive bonuses from just fighting and spamming shouts, you never really have to stop attacking, and pretty much every time a burst cycle comes up (either for GS 2>5>2 or LB 2) you can get quickness on it. Essentially, you never really have to choose between assaulting the target and your own survival, if done right. With GS and both pets being swapped regularly, it also has modestly good cc capacity should that be an issue. I keep Lead the Wind for fights where it's acceptable to camp LB for extended periods, where I want to be sure I'm connecting with the boss even if lesser adds spawn here and there. Otherwise I switch to Predator's Onslaught for better synergy with cripple on LB 5 and whatnot, if I know I'll be switching into GS more often.

Admittedly this works much, much better on soloing fights like the Balthazar HP in Auric Basin, which doesn't have a timer and requires you to be constantly ready for avoiding or healing past big bursts from the boss. The other thing I use this for is commanding lanes in the Dragon's Stand meta, as perma regen/swiftness (and a steady stream of cleansing) is very handy for keeping allies healthy and mobile, not to mention saving Protect Me for when folks without stability get mass knocked down by mobs with an aoe knockdown. However, the dps output, while very steady and predictable, cuts it very close on a lot of the tighter timers, so I use another build for a lot of those.

(2) Also safe, but much better output on soulbeastPets: Smokescale & JacarandaWeps: sw/wh & LBAll equipment stats: BerserkerRunes: 6x Rune of the ScholarSigils: Force & Accuracy on bothUtilities: Troll Unguent, Moa Stance, Dolyak Stance, Quickening Zephyr, One Wolf PackWilderness Survival: Soften the Fall, Refined Toxins, Wilderness KnowledgeNature Magic: Bountiful Hunter, Windborne Notes, Protective WardSoulbeast: Fresh Reinforcement, Essence of Speed, Leader of the Pack

I use this build much, much more often than the super-safe one above. As you surely notice, the traits on this build are pretty close to meta boonbeast in pvp. While it's missing the big burst you can get from a good axe 5 setup, the output from Moa > wh 5 > (optional Dolyak stance pop here for more boons for Bountiful Hunter) > QZ > smokescale merge> wh 4 > smokescale merged f2 is respectable, and after that intro chain you're free to stay in melee or swap to LB and reposition while the birds from wh 4 do their thing. The nice thing is that even though you're running the full glass zerker + scholar setup, Moa + Dolyak is a pretty potent defensive combo, and if you're used to using sword 2 and 3 defensively, survival is really not an issue. Jacaranda merge also provides 2 more heals, along with some resistance that covers almost every possible gap between wilderness survival cleanses. This is still not my go-to these days though for soloing.

(3) Modified raid power soulbeast buildPets: Smokescale & JacarandaWeps: sw/axe & LBAll equipment stats: BerserkerRunes: 6x Rune of the ScholarSigils: Force & Accuracy on bothUtilities: Bear stance, Vulture Stance, Sic Em, Signet of the Wild, One Wolf PackBeastmastery: Resounding Timbre, Natural Healing, Honed AxesMarksmanship: Hunter's Gaze, Farsighted, Lead the WindSoulbeast: Life Fast, Predator's Cunning, Leader of the Pack

This is quite close to the last power soulbeast raiding build I saw on snowcrows, with the huge difference being using LB instead of GS; pets are also different. Output does take a fairly significant hit because of that, but I find that the raiding build is extremely dependent on group support. The original raiding build I saw ran We Heal as One instead of Bear Stance, but I had to revert to Bear stance for condi control on some bounties. The lack of stability is what drove me to use LB - there were just too many situations where being all melee just sucked too badly with cc flying around, and replacing Vulture Stance with Dolyak Stance led to a suprisingly large drop in output for me. Thankfully, One Wolf Pack + LB2 bursts while merged with smokescale still hit quite hard. Generally speaking I stay merged with smokescale and do melee whenever it's safe to do so, to get as many axe 5 bursts off as possible. At the first sign of trouble I do merged smoke assault (for the evade), sword 2 to create distance, then swap to LB until it's safe to run back in. If need be, I unmerge from smokescale and swap into jacaranda for that 2x extra heal, and also to drop merged lightning call then unmerge to let the jacaranda drop its own lightning call when aoe is necessary from range.

Safety is not really a thing for me in this build; it's more of the classic kill-or-be-killed glass cannon situation. Thankfully, the burst is usually enough to put down high priority mobs before it really becomes a problem. So long as I keep an eye on cooldowns and don't waste burst opportunities, I have enough output here to beat timers, while retaining the safety net of the 2 extra jacaranda heals and the evasiveness of sword 2 and 3. LB 3 is also another last resort for detargeting, but I find that to be less necessary the better I get with this.

@"voltaicbore.8012" said:Sorry in advance for the wall of text, but I love soloing stuff, and am forever lecturing new rangers on our class' remarkable ability to solo stuff that sends other classes running. Of course, none of you seem to be new to ranger in here, but.... humor my rambling, I'm getting older.

I have 3 builds for soloing group content:

(1) Excessively safe core ranger buildPets: Rock Gazelle & JacarandaWeps: GS & LBArmor, weps, and back = Commander statsTrinkets = Wanderer statsRunes: 6x Rune of the TrooperSigils: Concentration and Bounty on bothUtilities: all shouts (We Heal as one, Sic Em, Guard, Protect Me, Strength of the Pack)Beastmastery: Resounding Timbre, 2 Handed Training, Zephyr's SpeedNature Magic: Bountiful Hunter, Spirited Arrival, Protective WardMarksmanship: Hunter's Gaze, Farsighted, Lead the Wind

This build is an extremely safe choice that struggles a bit on certain timers, and its output depends on maintaining relatively high uptime on as many boons as possible during burst phases. "Burst" might be an overstatement compared to boonbeast burst cycles, but it has respectable base crit, very easy stacks of 25 might, regular access to quickness via pet swap + we heal as one, perma regen + swiftness, and a constant stream of cleanses coming from the rune. Low ferocity is a problem, which can be mitigated to a small extent by switching armor and weps to Diviners... but the difference is not that dramatic. The real secret to getting good output on this has just come from how obscenely safe the build is; thanks to all the passive defensive bonuses from just fighting and spamming shouts, you never really have to stop attacking, and pretty much every time a burst cycle comes up (either for GS 2>5>2 or LB 2) you can get quickness on it. Essentially, you never really have to choose between assaulting the target and your own survival, if done right. With GS and both pets being swapped regularly, it also has modestly good cc capacity should that be an issue. I keep Lead the Wind for fights where it's acceptable to camp LB for extended periods, where I want to be sure I'm connecting with the boss even if lesser adds spawn here and there. Otherwise I switch to Predator's Onslaught for better synergy with cripple on LB 5 and whatnot, if I know I'll be switching into GS more often.

Admittedly this works much, much better on soloing fights like the Balthazar HP in Auric Basin, which doesn't have a timer and requires you to be constantly ready for avoiding or healing past big bursts from the boss. The other thing I use this for is commanding lanes in the Dragon's Stand meta, as perma regen/swiftness (and a steady stream of cleansing) is very handy for keeping allies healthy and mobile, not to mention saving Protect Me for when folks without stability get mass knocked down by mobs with an aoe knockdown. However, the dps output, while very steady and predictable, cuts it very close on a lot of the tighter timers, so I use another build for a lot of those.

(2) Also safe, but much better output on soulbeastPets: Smokescale & JacarandaWeps: sw/wh & LBAll equipment stats: BerserkerRunes: 6x Rune of the ScholarSigils: Force & Accuracy on bothUtilities: Troll Unguent, Moa Stance, Dolyak Stance, Quickening Zephyr, One Wolf PackWilderness Survival: Soften the Fall, Refined Toxins, Wilderness KnowledgeNature Magic: Bountiful Hunter, Windborne Notes, Protective WardSoulbeast: Fresh Reinforcement, Essence of Speed, Leader of the Pack

I use this build much, much more often than the super-safe one above. As you surely notice, the traits on this build are pretty close to meta boonbeast in pvp. While it's missing the big burst you can get from a good axe 5 setup, the output from Moa > wh 5 > (optional Dolyak stance pop here for more boons for Bountiful Hunter) > QZ > smokescale merge> wh 4 > smokescale merged f2 is respectable, and after that intro chain you're free to stay in melee or swap to LB and reposition while the birds from wh 4 do their thing. The nice thing is that even though you're running the full glass zerker + scholar setup, Moa + Dolyak is a pretty potent defensive combo, and if you're used to using sword 2 and 3 defensively, survival is really not an issue. Jacaranda merge also provides 2 more heals, along with some resistance that covers almost every possible gap between wilderness survival cleanses. This is still not my go-to these days though for soloing.

(3) Modified raid power soulbeast buildPets: Smokescale & JacarandaWeps: sw/axe & LBAll equipment stats: BerserkerRunes: 6x Rune of the ScholarSigils: Force & Accuracy on bothUtilities: Bear stance, Vulture Stance, Sic Em, Signet of the Wild, One Wolf PackBeastmastery: Resounding Timbre, Natural Healing, Honed AxesMarksmanship: Hunter's Gaze, Farsighted, Lead the WindSoulbeast: Life Fast, Predator's Cunning, Leader of the Pack

This is quite close to the last power soulbeast raiding build I saw on snowcrows, with the huge difference being using LB instead of GS; pets are also different. Output does take a fairly significant hit because of that, but I find that the raiding build is extremely dependent on group support. The original raiding build I saw ran We Heal as One instead of Bear Stance, but I had to revert to Bear stance for condi control on some bounties. The lack of stability is what drove me to use LB - there were just too many situations where being all melee just sucked too badly with cc flying around, and replacing Vulture Stance with Dolyak Stance led to a suprisingly large drop in output for me. Thankfully, One Wolf Pack + LB2 bursts while merged with smokescale still hit quite hard. Generally speaking I stay merged with smokescale and do melee whenever it's safe to do so, to get as many axe 5 bursts off as possible. At the first sign of trouble I do merged smoke assault (for the evade), sword 2 to create distance, then swap to LB until it's safe to run back in. If need be, I unmerge from smokescale and swap into jacaranda for that 2x extra heal, and also to drop merged lightning call then unmerge to let the jacaranda drop its own lightning call when aoe is necessary from range.

Safety is not really a thing for me in this build; it's more of the classic kill-or-be-killed glass cannon situation. Thankfully, the burst is usually enough to put down high priority mobs before it really becomes a problem. So long as I keep an eye on cooldowns and don't waste burst opportunities, I have enough output here to beat timers, while retaining the safety net of the 2 extra jacaranda heals and the evasiveness of sword 2 and 3. LB 3 is also another last resort for detargeting, but I find that to be less necessary the better I get with this.

This is some really useful information! Thanks for all the detail. I run something really similar to the boonbeast you described. The raid build version is difficult for me, still have a lot of gitting gud to do.

EDIT:Been run the raid version, it works really well! The lack of stunbreak is kind of annoying though.

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@"voltaicbore.8012" said:Sorry in advance for the wall of text, but I love soloing stuff, and am forever lecturing new rangers on our class' remarkable ability to solo stuff that sends other classes running. Of course, none of you seem to be new to ranger in here, but.... humor my rambling, I'm getting older.

I have 3 builds for soloing group content:

(1) Excessively safe core ranger build

Pets: Rock Gazelle & JacarandaWeps: GS & LBArmor, weps, and back = Commander statsTrinkets = Wanderer statsRunes: 6x Rune of the TrooperSigils: Concentration and Bounty on bothUtilities: all shouts (We Heal as one, Sic Em, Guard, Protect Me, Strength of the Pack)Beastmastery: Resounding Timbre, 2 Handed Training, Zephyr's SpeedNature Magic: Bountiful Hunter, Spirited Arrival, Protective WardMarksmanship: Hunter's Gaze, Farsighted, Lead the Wind

This build is an extremely safe choice that struggles a bit on certain timers, and its output depends on maintaining relatively high uptime on as many boons as possible during burst phases. "Burst" might be an overstatement compared to boonbeast burst cycles, but it has respectable base crit,

very

easy stacks of 25 might, regular access to quickness via pet swap + we heal as one, perma regen + swiftness, and a constant stream of cleanses coming from the rune. Low ferocity is a problem, which can be mitigated to a small extent by switching armor and weps to Diviners... but the difference is not that dramatic. The real secret to getting good output on this has just come from how obscenely safe the build is; thanks to all the passive defensive bonuses from just fighting and spamming shouts, you never really have to stop attacking, and pretty much every time a burst cycle comes up (either for GS 2>5>2 or LB 2) you can get quickness on it. Essentially, you never really have to choose between assaulting the target and your own survival, if done right. With GS and both pets being swapped regularly, it also has modestly good cc capacity should that be an issue. I keep Lead the Wind for fights where it's acceptable to camp LB for extended periods, where I want to be sure I'm connecting with the boss even if lesser adds spawn here and there. Otherwise I switch to Predator's Onslaught for better synergy with cripple on LB 5 and whatnot, if I know I'll be switching into GS more often.

Admittedly this works much, much better on soloing fights like the Balthazar HP in Auric Basin, which doesn't have a timer and requires you to be constantly ready for avoiding or healing past big bursts from the boss. The other thing I use this for is commanding lanes in the Dragon's Stand meta, as perma regen/swiftness (and a steady stream of cleansing) is very handy for keeping allies healthy and mobile, not to mention saving Protect Me for when folks without stability get mass knocked down by mobs with an aoe knockdown. However, the dps output, while very steady and predictable, cuts it very close on a lot of the tighter timers, so I use another build for a lot of those.

(2) Also safe, but much better output on soulbeast

Pets: Smokescale & JacarandaWeps: sw/wh & LBAll equipment stats: BerserkerRunes: 6x Rune of the ScholarSigils: Force & Accuracy on bothUtilities: Troll Unguent, Moa Stance, Dolyak Stance, Quickening Zephyr, One Wolf PackWilderness Survival: Soften the Fall, Refined Toxins, Wilderness KnowledgeNature Magic: Bountiful Hunter, Windborne Notes, Protective WardSoulbeast: Fresh Reinforcement, Essence of Speed, Leader of the Pack

I use this build much, much more often than the super-safe one above. As you surely notice, the traits on this build are pretty close to meta boonbeast in pvp. While it's missing the big burst you can get from a good axe 5 setup, the output from Moa > wh 5 > (optional Dolyak stance pop here for more boons for Bountiful Hunter) > QZ > smokescale merge> wh 4 > smokescale merged f2 is respectable, and after that intro chain you're free to stay in melee or swap to LB and reposition while the birds from wh 4 do their thing. The nice thing is that even though you're running the full glass zerker + scholar setup, Moa + Dolyak is a pretty potent defensive combo, and if you're used to using sword 2 and 3 defensively, survival is really not an issue. Jacaranda merge also provides 2 more heals, along with some resistance that covers almost every possible gap between wilderness survival cleanses. This is still

not

my go-to these days though for soloing.

(3) Modified raid power soulbeast build

Pets: Smokescale & JacarandaWeps: sw/axe & LBAll equipment stats: BerserkerRunes: 6x Rune of the ScholarSigils: Force & Accuracy on bothUtilities: Bear stance, Vulture Stance, Sic Em, Signet of the Wild, One Wolf PackBeastmastery: Resounding Timbre, Natural Healing, Honed AxesMarksmanship: Hunter's Gaze, Farsighted, Lead the WindSoulbeast: Life Fast, Predator's Cunning, Leader of the Pack

This is quite close to the last power soulbeast raiding build I saw on snowcrows, with the huge difference being using LB instead of GS; pets are also different. Output does take a fairly significant hit because of that, but I find that the raiding build is extremely dependent on group support. The original raiding build I saw ran We Heal as One instead of Bear Stance, but I had to revert to Bear stance for condi control on some bounties. The lack of stability is what drove me to use LB - there were just too many situations where being all melee just sucked too badly with cc flying around, and replacing Vulture Stance with Dolyak Stance led to a suprisingly large drop in output for me. Thankfully, One Wolf Pack + LB2 bursts while merged with smokescale still hit quite hard. Generally speaking I stay merged with smokescale and do melee whenever it's safe to do so, to get as many axe 5 bursts off as possible. At the first sign of trouble I do merged smoke assault (for the evade), sword 2 to create distance, then swap to LB until it's safe to run back in. If need be, I unmerge from smokescale and swap into jacaranda for that 2x extra heal, and also to drop merged lightning call then unmerge to let the jacaranda drop its own lightning call when aoe is necessary from range.

Safety is not really a thing for me in this build; it's more of the classic kill-or-be-killed glass cannon situation. Thankfully, the burst is usually enough to put down high priority mobs before it really becomes a problem. So long as I keep an eye on cooldowns and don't waste burst opportunities, I have enough output here to beat timers, while retaining the safety net of the 2 extra jacaranda heals and the evasiveness of sword 2 and 3. LB 3 is also another last resort for detargeting, but I find that to be less necessary the better I get with this.

Could replace signet of wild with dolyak stance for lil bit of survival and ensure your DPS rotation doesn't get interrupted midway

@Crystal Paladin.3871 said:

Could replace signet of wild with dolyak stance for lil bit of survival and ensure your DPS rotation doesn't get interrupted midway

Very true. The only thing you'll notice is that while not the biggest ferocity loss, on longer fights you'll miss the extra ferocity from the signet. Then again, getting interrupted in a burst can be an even bigger loss, so it all comes down to how comfortable you are with the build and timing bursts.

@voltaicbore.8012 said:

@Crystal Paladin.3871 said:

Could replace signet of wild with dolyak stance for lil bit of survival and ensure your DPS rotation doesn't get interrupted midway

If I run Dolyak I might be confident enough to also replace LB with GS, which I think would bring more damage than signet. When I first started playing ranger I really wanted to use a LB (and I still like how it plays) but after not using it in PvE for so long I can really feel the damage loss when using it. I'm really torn right now on how glassy to push myself. It's hard to balance between having enough damage to beat the time and having enough sustain to not die.

On the note of sustain, do you actually get better damage out of scholar runes soloing bosses than something like eagle? I have a hard time keeping my health above the 90% mark, specially when melee only. Maybe I just need to git gud.

@Zexanima.7851 said:If I run Dolyak I might be confident enough to also replace LB with GS, which I think would bring more damage than signet. When I first started playing ranger I really wanted to use a LB (and I still like how it plays) but after not using it in PvE for so long I can really feel the damage loss when using it. I'm really torn right now on how glassy to push myself. It's hard to balance between having enough damage to beat the time and having enough sustain to not die.

Yeah LB is definitely a step down from our other melee options. With quickness on LB 2 output reaches a justifiable level, and aoe cripple with LB 5 and Predator's Onslaught is a nice setup to swap into melee cleaving damage, but that's about it. I'll give GS and Dolyak a try, to see if that beats signet. I think it should.

On the note of sustain, do you actually get better damage out of scholar runes soloing bosses than something like eagle? I have a hard time keeping my health above the 90% mark, specially when melee only. Maybe I just need to git gud.

Yeah that was initially a challenge, on top of the relatively recent nerf to Scholar. On build #2 for my wall of text post, I actually ran Rage runes for a long time since I noticed I had perma fury, and wouldn't need to maintain 90% HP. Ironically, that build #2 is pretty defensive to begin with (trait wise) so Scholar turned out to be a slightly better investment for me on that setup.

Eagle's 10% bonus might indeed be the answer for you in melee, if you're having trouble keeping up the 90% HP for Scholar. The only tradeoff in that scenario is that you also lose the 175 extra power that Scholar provides, but that 175 power isn't worth the cost of losing the 10% Eagle bonus if you can't maintain Scholar levels of HP, I think.

Keeping up sustain (basically being unscathed) was the whole motivation for me to include LB at all in builds 2 and 3, so the 90% HP level for Scholar is not really an issue for me, and Scholar seems better on paper for me. I'll grab an Eagle set and do some Golem punching to see if it makes a difference.

@voltaicbore.8012 said:

@Zexanima.7851 said:If I run Dolyak I might be confident enough to also replace LB with GS, which I

think

would bring more damage than signet. When I first started playing ranger I really wanted to use a LB (and I still like how it plays) but after not using it in PvE for so long I can really feel the damage loss when using it. I'm really torn right now on how glassy to push myself. It's hard to balance between having enough damage to beat the time and having enough sustain to not die.

On the note of sustain, do you actually get better damage out of scholar runes soloing bosses than something like eagle? I have a hard time keeping my health above the 90% mark, specially when melee only. Maybe I just need to git gud.

Awesome! Let me know what you come up with. I'm still not very good at theorycrafting builds so it's great to hear how and why people choose what they do