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Ranger build for open world survival


jackowskig.3905

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Here is my own boonbeast variant build. Using this in open world & WvW I have great uptime and huge damage. In PvE this gets up to 100% crit chance and almost 300% crit damage, but sacrifices a little bit of the burst damage that something like sick'em gives. Like others have said, some of it is knowing how to play your build. Wherever possible, try to use Moa Stance before either "Strength of the Pack" (Elite) or "Call of the Wild" (Warhorn 5) since it gives a bonus to boon duration. Try to use "Quickening Zephyr" or "Worldly Impact" after because quickness extends boon uptime by a flat amount. Done right, you can keep almost 100% uptime on regen, and can burst up to 25 stacks of might. The trick is that much of the DPS is based on fury, which you get on weapon swap, so you want to be swapping between Axe/Axe & Axe/Warhorn pretty regularly. If you do that in addition to the others, you will keep an easy 100% uptime on fury.

If you are feeling a bit more aggressive, swap in "Leader of the Pack" Soulbeast Elite and use the following: "Leader" --> "Smoke Assault" (Smoke Scale Skill #2) --> "Worldly Impact" --> "Whirling Defense". Little in PvE short of champions will be standing after that and I use that combo in WvW a lot and take out most average players the same way. Some of what it takes to stay up in PvE revolves around how quickly you can destroy the mobs, and this will do the trick.

Warning for WvW though, if you are interrupted you are toast. If you are up against a warrior with heal on taking damage, you need to interrupt yourself and are probably in trouble. Other than that? Feed on the bags! :-D

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNUQRBHPdG2JlKQFLYJLgHvAXLYpQwe6CRrAAzAodl6yvud3ybJ3JN-jBCBQBYZ/BNq8LP6fUo6PA4AFYunAwJVCGgTqApAiYrF-e

Edit: forgot to mention you run primarily in beast mode, Moa gives a second heal for slightly higher sustain, use the peck skill after Leader in place of smoke for less damage, also warhorn 4 isn’t bad after leader if you have done the others and Leader is still up.

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@jackowskig.3905 said:Is it ok with my zerk gear + fireworks runes? Im considering NM+BS+SB GS+Axe/Wh. I always wanna play around boonbeast.

This is totally fine.NM is more crucial for boon stacking and the only thing what makes boonbeast so potent. As long as you hit more or less 33% boon duration with your gear you have 100% duration with moa stance which is more than enough. Firework runes give you good boons right if the bat and nice boon duration.BM brings more stats than WS and is, as others already mentioned, more melee focussed arround GS and Axes.

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@jackowskig.3905 said:Is it ok with my zerk gear + fireworks runes? Im considering NM+BS+SB GS+Axe/Wh. I always wanna play around boonbeast.

Yeah, dont worry about gears. The place to fine tune all the smallest details is way beyond open world builds.

@"Moira Shalaar.5620" said:Like others have said, some of it is knowing how to play your build.

Exactly. Sadly or fortunately, this game is not much about copying build from website and getting BiS gears and rolling face on keyboard for success :) Many fine tuned builds need the user to have pretty good knowledge how to use it. That's why I many times like to say to newcomers, that dont stick too much on details, get the big picture first. And even more when we are dealing with open world, where you can go with your own pace and choose your own challenges.

I tried few different open world builds. Now, as you all know, it is hard to put builds in strict best to worst order, they have their own strengths and quirks, and best you can do is to try them out and choose the one that fits you best.

You will probably be good by copying any of the metabattle open world builds, of course. What I was trying to do in my test run, was to try to find out a build that does not necessarily excels at anything, but has tools for many situations. I also tried to find a build that does not rely on "too complex" things, for example Quickness is a thing you need to know how to use (WvW roaming) and it probably does not do much in the hands of new player at open world. Of course, at some point you need to go to more complex things, but that was not my purpose. Sorry @"Moira Shalaar.5620", I really think your build is for pros, because I heavily doubt that newcomers can maintain boons or even have an idea how they make them better :) I'm saying this from my own experience: Been there, didn't understand.

My main approach was choosing traits when camping on merged. That's why I didnt give much value for traits which trigger on pet swap. Both in open world and PvP/WvW you definitely benefit if you get your pet loose at correct times, and merge with it at correct times, but it is probably something you start learning after getting used with basics (of Soulbeast). Without any further explanations, give a try to this soulbeast build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNUQNAoYRnEqAlsgl8CO8CUtglCBL/6+dHvP7uZQAoJet6eBlI9dA-jxRHwAg1HA4JAwX9ngKxYq84pSwM7PAA-e

Idea: The build's sustain comes from Soulbeast trait Predator's Cunning - steal health when applying poison. We forget other sources of sustained heal (e.g. regen from beastmastery), and augment poison application with Wilderness Survival (which also does the condi removal, dodge protection & heal as discussed here). We take Vulture Stance to skill bar, so we can apply poison also with Greatsword, and also, we use pretty strange dagger/dagger combination for sustain. I have never before played D/D SB, but on my runs it was pretty effective against usual mobs. D/D lacks huge amount of utility and raw damage output compared to other weapon choices, yes, but try it once?

Because of Wilderness Survival, we slot Troll Unguent as heal, Quickening Zephyr as stun break, and Entangle as elite. All these now remove 2 conditions. In Wilderness Survival, we choose Oakheart Salve (apply regen if inflicted w/ damaging condi) instead of Soften The Fall (which mainly makes Troll Unguent to remove 4 condis). From Beastmastery we also take Honed Axes, even when we are not running azes - there is just no good options here.

We take Smokescale as a pet we are going to camp at, because of it's #2 skill, which gives us gap closer and long evade frame. Taking "Go for the Eyes" from Beastmastery means that Smokescale #3 (Wordly Impact) blinds foes around you.

About gears, choose some mix of power DPS gears: Berserker, Assassin, Valkyrie, Soldier, Knight, Maraduer, any reasonable mix of these should be OK. Choose the runes you like. I took Dolyak runes for this example, but didnt use them on my test run.

I tried other combinations and other weapons. For example, I think Warhorn is not that good for inexperienced open world roamer, because its main point are unblockable attacks from #5 and vulnerability from #4. Both are things that I can't assume a newcomer to be able to utilize. That leads to conclusion, that in Nature's Magic line there is not much really useful left.

From all ranger weapons, I personally like GS most, for few reasons: it is both offensive and defensive, and it has gap closer. If you could choose only one weapon, on ranger, my choice would be GS. So I admit that I might have been bit biased when trying out different combos and choosing trait lines.

Anyways, this is one more Soulbeast build you to experience. It should be pretty easy to play. Use dagger/dagger autoattack, #2 and #4 for sustain, Vulture stance to gain sustain for GS, Doom sigils to steal life, maybe Blood sigils to steal life on crit. I chose Dolyak Stance as third utility just to get some stability to build, but you can choose something else.

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@TamX.1870 said:Sorry @Moira Shalaar.5620, I really think your build is for pros, because I heavily doubt that newcomers can maintain boons or even have an idea how they make them better :) I'm saying this from my own experience: Been there, didn't understand.

No apology necessary and no offense taken! You are probably right, mine isn't the build I have given my kids for their SB. Some of that is crafting limitation, but absolutely for them I go for a mostly mindless build that maximizes passive benefits and when they hit something other than 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 it is pure bonus. Not saying that is where the OP is in skill level, but should probably have gone with something in between. :-D

I did come up with a SB build that has 1150/sec health regen combining regen & passive health recovery, & 16k heal every 25 seconds, but that still requires a bit of boon juggling that isn't as new player friendly. I will have to look a bit more deeply into your suggestions above and see if they might be worthwhile adjustments for my alternate builds. Thanks!

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I have a question along similar lines as OP: I would like to have a core ranger build (thematic reasons I don’t want this particular character SB, indulge me) that is relatively easy to play and survive in HoT and PoF maps (power reaper = facetank and destroy anything! while power weaver = PITA). I geared them full vipers from before PoF when that was still useful in group PvE and have shortbow and axe/torch or sword/torch. I’ve been referencing MetaBattle and trying different traits and utilities, but it still feels sub-par, slow damage with average survivability. Perhaps it takes more finesse to play condi ranger well? Or is condi just not a good choice for open world core ranger?

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For VDAC and OP, someone a while back asked about soloing bosses and other not-designed-for-solo content with ranger, and I had a pretty big post about it. VDAC, the first build I list is a core ranger build, so it might be right up your alley.

The post is here. Build #2 in that post is probably the best for OP, as it uses zerk stats for better output, but makes use of some of the best survival tools available to ranger.

As for condi in open world, I found core, druid, and soulbeast condi specs were all very useful and safe in HoT and PoF content. I wanted to play a little less intensely and have easier access to aoe, so I ended up using more traps than expected for my druid and soulbeast builds at times, but the result was easier kills. However, I agree that condi builds do require a bit of practice to make sure you're hitting as hard as you can, and avoiding as much damage as you can. I didn't find it hard to pick up, and it just requires a bit of experience to know what to do, and when to do it.

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@"voltaicbore.8012" said:For VDAC and OP, someone a while back asked about soloing bosses and other not-designed-for-solo content with ranger, and I had a pretty big post about it. VDAC, the first build I list is a core ranger build, so it might be right up your alley.

The post is here. Build #2 in that post is probably the best for OP, as it uses zerk stats for better output, but makes use of some of the best survival tools available to ranger.

As for condi in open world, I found core, druid, and soulbeast condi specs were all very useful and safe in HoT and PoF content. I wanted to play a little less intensely and have easier access to aoe, so I ended up using more traps than expected for my druid and soulbeast builds at times, but the result was easier kills. However, I agree that condi builds do require a bit of practice to make sure you're hitting as hard as you can, and avoiding as much damage as you can. I didn't find it hard to pick up, and it just requires a bit of experience to know what to do, and when to do it.

1 build is relevant with something easier to obtain like zerk stats (exotic)?

2 build is nice too :)

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@jackowskig.3905 said:

1 build is relevant with something easier to obtain like zerk stats (exotic)?

Not really. You need something with boon duration for this to really work. Wanderer's (available in exotic, craftable, and readily available from several sources just from doing HoT content) or Diviner's are alternatives, if you don't want to use Commander stats. That build is based around high HP and boon duration, although if you can maintain 25 stacks of might as often as you can, zerk might work too. But the point of build #1 is to be extremely safe while having consistent (if low) dps.

2 build is nice too :)

If you really want to keep your zerk stats, build #2 is the way to go. Still not nearly as powerful as build #3, but if you're already having trouble surviving in open world, you'll just die repeatedly with build #3, so stick with #2.

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@jackowskig.3905 said:Hello,

I leveled with my gf our rangers all the way to 80 and we started living stories seasons. I was using longbow beastmastery build from meta battle for leveling (gs/lb beastmastery, marksmanship, skirmishing) and started building berserk stats on my equipment but i have some issues with it. I started to die a lot more than before hitting 80 and i feel very helpless vs hard condi or some more powerful attacks than from trash mobs. I use mainly gs and lb for harder fights and im usually walking with brown bear/marsh drake/lynx. Im looking for some tips for open world/casual gaming and i will be very grateful for very specific core ranger build with all things in it. I was enjoying very much my ranger with his cool pets, but now im just annoyed about this situation. In future im planning to unlock soulbeast so i if anyone could post a kind of open world soulbeast build too it will be great!

Hi TS, I am also in the same situation as you. After trying out the builds here, have you found anything that you really enjoy?

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@tinyasian.8941 said:

@jackowskig.3905 said:Hello,

I leveled with my gf our rangers all the way to 80 and we started living stories seasons. I was using longbow beastmastery build from meta battle for leveling (gs/lb beastmastery, marksmanship, skirmishing) and started building berserk stats on my equipment but i have some issues with it. I started to die a lot more than before hitting 80 and i feel very helpless vs hard condi or some more powerful attacks than from trash mobs. I use mainly gs and lb for harder fights and im usually walking with brown bear/marsh drake/lynx. Im looking for some tips for open world/casual gaming and i will be very grateful for very specific core ranger build with all things in it. I was enjoying very much my ranger with his cool pets, but now im just annoyed about this situation. In future im planning to unlock soulbeast so i if anyone could post a kind of open world soulbeast build too it will be great!

Hi TS, I am also in the same situation as you. After trying out the builds here, have you found anything that you really enjoy?

Now im using @"InsaneQR.7412" soulbeast build:http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARTnUqAN8id8CmsActglJBzJyVBycNBgGwEIP3GcPulcuEA-jxRGQB6c/BAp+T5eCAkRXgUUCOElfA4SAAA-e

I have decent dps and survivability that i wanted. I strongly recommend this build.

Besides that builds from @"voltaicbore.8012" could be worth trying :https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/848713#Comment_848713

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@jackowskig.3905 said:

@jackowskig.3905 said:Hello,

I leveled with my gf our rangers all the way to 80 and we started living stories seasons. I was using longbow beastmastery build from meta battle for leveling (gs/lb beastmastery, marksmanship, skirmishing) and started building berserk stats on my equipment but i have some issues with it. I started to die a lot more than before hitting 80 and i feel very helpless vs hard condi or some more powerful attacks than from trash mobs. I use mainly gs and lb for harder fights and im usually walking with brown bear/marsh drake/lynx. Im looking for some tips for open world/casual gaming and i will be very grateful for very specific core ranger build with all things in it. I was enjoying very much my ranger with his cool pets, but now im just annoyed about this situation. In future im planning to unlock soulbeast so i if anyone could post a kind of open world soulbeast build too it will be great!

Hi TS, I am also in the same situation as you. After trying out the builds here, have you found anything that you really enjoy?

Now im using @"InsaneQR.7412" soulbeast build:

I have decent dps and survivability that i wanted. I strongly recommend this build.

Besides that builds from @"voltaicbore.8012" could be worth trying :

Nice thank you!

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@tinyasian.8941 said:

@jackowskig.3905 said:Hello,

I leveled with my gf our rangers all the way to 80 and we started living stories seasons. I was using longbow beastmastery build from meta battle for leveling (gs/lb beastmastery, marksmanship, skirmishing) and started building berserk stats on my equipment but i have some issues with it. I started to die a lot more than before hitting 80 and i feel very helpless vs hard condi or some more powerful attacks than from trash mobs. I use mainly gs and lb for harder fights and im usually walking with brown bear/marsh drake/lynx. Im looking for some tips for open world/casual gaming and i will be very grateful for very specific core ranger build with all things in it. I was enjoying very much my ranger with his cool pets, but now im just annoyed about this situation. In future im planning to unlock soulbeast so i if anyone could post a kind of open world soulbeast build too it will be great!

Hi TS, I am also in the same situation as you. After trying out the builds here, have you found anything that you really enjoy?

Now im using @"InsaneQR.7412" soulbeast build:

I have decent dps and survivability that i wanted. I strongly recommend this build.

Besides that builds from @"voltaicbore.8012" could be worth trying :

Nice thank you!

I also recommend experimenting with pets. Dont be afraid of changes. I usually use raven+jacaranda like in this build but changing pets can be useful in some circumstances.

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@"voltaicbore.8012" said:For VDAC and OP, someone a while back asked about soloing bosses and other not-designed-for-solo content with ranger, and I had a pretty big post about it. VDAC, the first build I list is a core ranger build, so it might be right up your alley.

The post is here. Build #2 in that post is probably the best for OP, as it uses zerk stats for better output, but makes use of some of the best survival tools available to ranger.

As for condi in open world, I found core, druid, and soulbeast condi specs were all very useful and safe in HoT and PoF content. I wanted to play a little less intensely and have easier access to aoe, so I ended up using more traps than expected for my druid and soulbeast builds at times, but the result was easier kills. However, I agree that condi builds do require a bit of practice to make sure you're hitting as hard as you can, and avoiding as much damage as you can. I didn't find it hard to pick up, and it just requires a bit of experience to know what to do, and when to do it.

If only I could give the Commander’s gear I acquired for my Chrono to my Ranger! The condi build I’m using now is one of those from MetaBattle, or close to it, and those are all rated subpar, relative to other options. I think it does require good use of traps and positioning on shortbow?

If I want to rush in with sword and torch à la Aragorn against the Nazgul, I really should switch to a power build, yes? B) I’ll have a look at those builds you posted — thank you!

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@VDAC.2137 said:

If I want to rush in with sword and torch à la Aragorn against the Nazgul, I really should switch to a power build, yes? B) I’ll have a look at those builds you posted — thank you!

A power build will seriously underperform with torch, but it will definitely do wonders for your sword. It's cool to build a character for a theme (I do it all the time on alts), but just realize you'll either have to invest in a mixed gear choice, or accept not being able to hit as hard as you would if you committed to power or condi completely.

A Viper stat build might work best for a sword/torch character, as that combines some elements of both power and condition. I actually ran a Viper shortbow/dagger+torch build that ran 4 traps (heal, flame, poison, and spike traps with one wolf pack elite) and it performed extremely well against mobs that you could round up in a tight area. I used Iboga and Jacaranda for that one, but found that it seriously underperformed on bounties or other open world mobs that move around. You can get good at learning movement patterns and placing traps that can all (or almost all) of the ticks to hit the moving enemy, but it was not worth the trouble compared to the meta condi soulbeast build that could put conditions on target regardless of motion. I get tons better output (2x or 3x at least) when not stuck using melee range traps. I think they also nerfed flame trap some time ago, and that seemed to lower output as well.

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