Please convince me Ranger or other class, AOE and bows

[Viteske.2698]

Hello

I'm new to GW2 and always loved to pick the ranger/hunter/archer class in a MMO as I do love bows.

Now I heard and read that Rangers (while filling that fantasy of the bow-wielder for me) isn't good with bows... What would be the best class for pure bow use?

Is Longbow Ranger really *that* bad ? 

I started with Necro as I like pet classes and big AOE spells but honestly the whole death theme doesn't stick...

 

I mainly plan to do PVE stuff like open world activities and end game PVE content. No PVP maybe WvW one day...

 

Could someone give their insight if I should pick Ranger (using bows) or pick another class? I also like Druid as being a healer is also appealing to me.

 

Many thanks!

V.

[Zyreva.1078]

Longbow ranger isn't neccessarily bad ... but longbow only ranger is.

If you don't mind swapping to a different weapon set when appropriate instead of camping longbow, sticking with ranger would be a good choice, because longbow is actually a pretty good weapon for power soulbeast - if combined with axe/axe. Because longbow has good burst, but low sustained dps, especially when you aren't sitting at max range (a behaviour that is generally not recommended for instanced grp PvE, because you'd miss out on many important buffs by staying far aways from everyone else).

If you want to play bow only, but don't want to do only casual open world stuff where more or less everything works, the best choice would probably be (shortbow) renegade, that can be played as condi dps or offensive boon support (and rev also has some healing options, tho you probably don't want to use bow only in that case).

Second best "bow only" would probably be shortbow condi soulbeast. Don't think there is a good "longbow only" build arround currently, but thanks to a lot of powercreep even bad builds can be "good enough" for most content. Playing bad builds does tend to make content harder tho, so i would not recommend "experimental" builds for inexperienced players.

Edited February 8, 2023 by UmbraNoctis.1907

[stormemperor.3745]

90% of time you will be in 300 range of boss. Long range combat only exists in wvw and pvp. 

You can play far away from group but you will miss out healing, boons and revives.

[Dadnir.5038]

Ranger is good with bows. I'd even dare say that it's longbow have the "better" skill set. However the support system in GW2 favor melee gameplay which lead the bow to lack the opportunity to exploit it's full potential in PvE group content.

[Infusion.7149]

Shortbow renegade, shortbow condi soulbeast are the two bow using specs that aren't complete memes in PvE if you don't weaponswap. In its current iteration the ranger actually does use longbow for its soulbeast power damage variants, choosing to run two axes alongside it which also has range.

If you want to camp longbow it is not a great idea on any spec, since longbow on ranger/ Dragonhunter / warrior do not do sustained damage on par with their full build.

Depending on which endgame content you are referring to druid is either close to best in slot or rarely used at all. Druids are commonly run in raids (especially in Wing 5) and strikes but rarely in fractals because spirits are janky to use in mobile situations.

As such I think ranger as a class is fine for what you are trying to do as long as you understand the limitations.

[mungozen.2379]

Power Soulbeast with Bow is totally viable in open world.  Some will tell you playing at range means you lose out on boons but, they forget about Jade Protocols and the 30 seconds of all boons you get entering combat for using them.  

[Ashantara.8731]

10 hours ago, Viteske.2698 said:

Is Longbow Ranger really *that* bad ?

It's mainly boring. The Ranger's longbow skills are lackluster.

Condition Ranger with a shortbow makes for a more entertaining gameplay experience IMO. It's still not a pure ranged build, because you do most damage with melee skills and AoEs.

[Urud.4925]

What Ashantara and UmbraNoctis said. Ranger is not a bad class with bows. The point is that in open world it's quite common to fight several enemies at once, and the bow is mainly a single target weapon, so it's advisable to switch to a melee weapon when you are surrounded. I play a condi souldbeast with shortbow/dagger+torch and I like it; it's quite versatile, good both to solo champions and has a high survivability in open world (although the damage ramps up a bit slowly, if you use it in dungeons or fractals).

If you always stick to the bow, it can become boring after a bit, and your damage will be suboptimal (both with a condi and power build). But since you specifically asked for a class that can use bows efficiently, maybe it won't be a problem for you. And the ranger is definitely a good class for pure bow users.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Urud.4925

[Cuks.8241]

If you want longbow fantasy, ranger is a good choice. But there are very few builds that do good with one weapon only. How gw2 is designed, swapping weapons will greatly improve yoir efficiency. Great sword, axe/axe are both good choices for secondary weapon set. 

[Mell.4873]

I mean for Open World camping Longbow will be fine and your ability to tag mobs especially at a distance will help you a lot.

For end game Instanced Content, you will have to mix it up with either Axe + Axe or Greatsword.

 

One of best combos you can do is to use two Longbows, Quick Draw and Barrage. This will let you get of an AoE every 10 seconds. It works great in WvW too.

Edited February 11, 2023 by Mell.4873

[Panda.1967]

I actually play a longbow/shortbow druid build… its really not that bad… of course I spend most of my time using shortbow, but the burst DPS of the longbow is nice.

[the krytan assassin.9235]

If you like to play with a longbow ranger is definitely the pick. Its good for open world, WvW and pvp (although you will still often swap between weapon sets except for WvW). For endgame PvE it is used in one of the dps builds, but it definitely doesn't feel like a longbow in endgame PvE. You'll be stacking ontop of the boss most of the time so the supports can give you heals/extra Boons. 99% of the feeling of a longbow is gone once you start hitting the boss with a bow while standing in melee range. 

 

Elementalist also might be an interesting pick. It has very strong AoE skills, can summon elementals, has 2 decent ranged weapons (staff & scepter) and is also a strong healer. It tends to have abit higher learning curve then most professions due to the amount of weapon skills and low base hp & armor, but definitely offers an interesting playstyle & is in a good spot in the meta right now (this can change with upcoming balance patches ofc).