Help picking necro or ranger

[DHung.5263]

Hello, I'm a new player here, lvled my main warrior to 50 ish and decided to use the boost on another char.... but i cant decide which char to boost, either a Necro (MM Reaper) or Ranger (Soulbeast).. I'm very much into PVE content.. storyies.. dungeon.. fracs and etc.....i have played both ranger and necro to 20ish and have read alot about the elite specs... i'm looking at something that can PVE very well and comfortable without much issues...

I have a a good idea what to do at lv80 (thanks to forums).. but now pretty much can't decide which class to main.. appreciate any suggestions...thanks

[alchemist.6851]

I would say both are good choices.. ranger is slightly better in a sense that it can boon support.. don’t you have 5 char slots ?

[DHung.5263]

yeap i kinda like the playstyle on both... and thats why i can't make up my mind... yes i bought the pof and hot dlcs so i have 6 char slots....

just curious which is easier to play (or higher survivability) - a mm reaper or a soulbeast? - for story/dungeon/fractals

[Warkind.6745]

Minion based necro variants will probably be able to carry you through the campaign and lower level fractals; it's a pretty beginner friendly build that lets you get used to shroud and weapon skills if you take complementary traits from Death Magic. Ultimately its effectiveness kind of peters out, but for anything casual it'll do the trick. Of course, if you ever get interested in high end fractals, raids, etc. , reaper still has strong builds available to it.

[DHung.5263]

@Warkind.6745 said:Minion based necro variants will probably be able to carry you through the campaign and lower level fractals; it's a pretty beginner friendly build that lets you get used to shroud and weapon skills if you take complementary traits from Death Magic. Ultimately its effectiveness kind of peters out, but for anything casual it'll do the trick. Of course, if you ever get interested in high end fractals, raids, etc. , reaper still has strong builds available to it.

Hmm so it’ll be hard on a reaper for anything more complex? What about soulbeast?

[TamX.1870]

@"DHung.5263" said:Hmm so it’ll be hard on a reaper for anything more complex? What about soulbeast?

Not necessarily. I have both ranger and necro, and they are both my "workhorses" for all sorts of content. I have mostly played hybrid support Scourge on my necro, and it is great for close anything, no matter if alone or grouped, no matter of the game mode. It's two weak points are WvW roaming and T4 fractals. Even that necro works great soloing PvE, it lacks certain abilities (mainly mobility) in all specs (core, reaper, scourge) needed in WvW roaming. Scourge is great for WvW groups - in general, Scourge is great in groups. Scourge is sort of "life insurance" in fractals, and I have loved how I can make the difference between failure and success, but sadly T4 groups rarely want Scourges, but more "optimized" setups whatever they be.

Ranger is another versatile workhorse. You can do well both as Soulbeast and Druid, but you can't do miracles. The only big drawback is that rangers don't have good spots for larger scale WvW fights - but it has several good (if not excellent) roaming builds.

Personally, I couldn't choose between those classes. They are both able and versatile even that they both have their weak spots with certain content. I would suggest to make and keep both :)

[DHung.5263]

@TamX.1870 said:

@"DHung.5263" said:Hmm so it’ll be hard on a reaper for anything more complex? What about soulbeast?

Not necessarily. I have both ranger and necro, and they are both my "workhorses" for all sorts of content. I have mostly played hybrid support Scourge on my necro, and it is great for close anything, no matter if alone or grouped, no matter of the game mode. It's two weak points are WvW roaming and T4 fractals. Even that necro works great soloing PvE, it lacks certain abilities (mainly mobility) in all specs (core, reaper, scourge) needed in WvW roaming. Scourge is great for WvW groups - in general, Scourge is great in groups. Scourge is sort of "life insurance" in fractals, and I have loved how I can make the difference between failure and success, but sadly T4 groups rarely want Scourges, but more "optimized" setups whatever they be.

Ranger is another versatile workhorse. You can do well both as Soulbeast and Druid, but you can't do miracles. The only big drawback is that rangers don't have good spots for larger scale WvW fights - but it has several good (if not excellent) roaming builds.

Personally, I couldn't choose between those classes. They are both able and versatile even that they both have their weak spots with certain content. I would suggest to make and keep both :)

Thanks for your input, appreciate it. Now instead of ranger or necro, it get down to another level of scourge or reaper :p

The one reason I probably prefer necro over ranger though is the feeling of being protected by minions, (more minions than 1 pet)...

[Warkind.6745]

@DHung.5263 said:

@Warkind.6745 said:Minion based necro variants will probably be able to carry you through the campaign and lower level fractals; it's a pretty beginner friendly build that lets you get used to shroud and weapon skills if you take complementary traits from Death Magic. Ultimately its effectiveness kind of peters out, but for anything casual it'll do the trick. Of course, if you ever get interested in high end fractals, raids, etc. , reaper still has strong builds available to it.

Hmm so it’ll be hard on a reaper for anything more complex? What about soulbeast?

Reaper is actually a pretty beginner friendly specialization for PvE content. What I meant was that minion builds don't have much of a place in the harder end game content, but that reaper will still give you access to different tools and builds that you can easily swap to in those scenarios if you wish to.

Soulbeast has always been pretty strong, but currently draws its strength from giving itself a ton of boons/stat buffs. This means using the beastmode mechanic and consuming your pet during fights which, while effective for people who don't want to deal with its AI, seems to be the opposite of what you want.

[phs.6089]

Stay away from necro if you don't wanna think 'what the hell am I suppose to do now?' after every single patch.

[DHung.5263]

@phs.6089 said:Stay away from necro if you don't wanna think 'what the hell am I suppose to do now?' after every single patch.

Hmm they aren’t that bad, are they?

[phs.6089]

@DHung.5263 said:

@phs.6089 said:Stay away from necro if you don't wanna think 'what the hell am I suppose to do now?' after every single patch.

Hmm they aren’t that bad, are they?

They are not bad they are just Anet's punchbag . Hope on necro forum you will get the picture.

[Eros.6801]

I honestly will stay away from necro, at least for now. They are strong in solo play but this year balance patches hit us necro really hard it started to feel a little bit "unsafe", still give a decent performance but not as before anymore. But in some group contents like high level fracs or raid you will need a friendly group that accepts necro, otherwise most line you'll see is "No Necro, No etc.".

I'd rather go with Ranger because although they don't have an army like necro but their pet is tough and most of all you're able to control, heal, reset pet's HP while necro don't and if necro's minions death its mean you will get wrecked along with wait for cooldown and you have zero control over the minions, so as i said i rather go with one but tough with the ability to control it at will.

One more thing i prefer ranger over necro is while ranger pet doesn't take up any utility slot, necro however you have to trade off like 3 may be 4 out of 5 slots for minion summoning skills. This i don't like (just me),

[gateless gate.8406]

Minion necro is fairly boring IMO. I've played it through all story missions and you just kind of stand there, since your entire utility bar is essentially passive. However, you never really have to worry about dying. My necro is minion scourge with epidemic. I go in, cast my condition attacks, then press epidemic and everything around me dies. It's not bad for AOE stuff, and as I said, you never die.

Shortbow soulbeast is more fun IMO. Gameplay is more active and I like the spells/spell effects.

Either class is pretty relaxing, especially since I use rabid gear + rune of the undead.

Also, keep in mind that minion necro sucks in raids, fractals, pvp, and wvw. It's only good for open world. Shortbow soulbeast is much more viable in those modes.

[Jimbru.6014]

My main is a ranger. My primary alt these days is a necro. If you must choose between the two, take ranger. It offers you a wide variety of builds useful in ALL modes of the game, and doesn't get the side-eye from meta edge-riders as much as necro.

• Core LB/GS ranger, the classic "bow and pet" WoW hunter style, is still one of the most common and versatile DPS builds. With the right tweaks, you can reasonably use it for everything from open world solo PVE to WvW.
• Soulbeast offers both strong power melee and ranged condi builds, useful across most modes of the game.
• Support build Druids are an almost mandatory part of the raid meta, and highly useful in other group content like 5-mans and WvW.

[DHung.5263]

Thanks for all the input guys...I have finally boosted both soulbeast and reaper..unlocked all traits and bought full set of exotic gears with power+pres+fero for both chars...

Played the reaper for couple of days and the soulbeast for 2 days...not sure if it's the build but my soulbeast don't seem to come close to the reaper...I had no issue with a few veterans on the reaper but the soulbeast can't seem to tank even 1 veteran...I die too often on the ranger and I'm sure it's my personal issue...both classes are strong just that I had issues surviving on the ranger...any tips on how to play the soulbeast better? I'm on LB/GS..my main issue is the survivability..

[Eros.6801]

I have few tips for you as Soulbeast

1. Don't ever ever EVER camp Beastmode, this behavior is bad although it's fine if you do events where anyone around potential being a tanker for you.
2. Learn to reset your pet HP, swapping them when one is on low HP, enter > exit beastmode also do the same.
3. Try not to use LB all the time because its tiny damg will prolong the fight which mean you and your pet might be more in danger.
4. Don't stay in front, let your pet take aggro and stay on side or behind, use GS and smashing your keyboard.
5. Use two bears if you need to there is nothing to be ashamed of, but i use Jacaranda and Bear because beastmode Jacaranda has extra heal skills.
6. Don't use your heal skill too far away from your pet.
7. Learn to transfer aggro from you to your pet by using skills that has "Taunt" and also LB #3 to go in stealth, while you stealth anything that attacking you will turns to your pets, but be careful .

• This is my personal open world Soulbeast build.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQJATRnUqA9rgd8C2CCctgl8A7JEsEee5t36b/dJAUAWbnY65kC-jxRBQBBU9nHcJAigSQA8EAKiyvks/Q80FQIgybBA-e

• If you need absolute survival just run thishttps://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Soulbeast_-_Boon_Berserker

Please all this only applies for Open World, if you need a raid or fractal build it's a different story.

[phs.6089]

Well, you made a class cannon and took it into open world. While necro has sustain (by default). Soulbests needs lots of movements to preform and stay alife.

[DHung.5263]

@"Eros.6801" said:I have few tips for you as Soulbeast

1. Don't ever ever EVER camp Beastmode, this behavior is bad although it's fine if you do events where anyone around potential being a tanker for you.
2. Learn to reset your pet HP, swapping them when one is on low HP, enter > exit beastmode also do the same.
3. Try not to use LB all the time because its tiny damg will prolong the fight which mean you and your pet might be more in danger.
4. Don't stay in front, let your pet take aggro and stay on side or behind, use GS and smashing your keyboard.
5. Use two bears if you need to there is nothing to be ashamed of, but i use Jacaranda and Bear because beastmode Jacaranda has extra heal skills.
6. Don't use your heal skill too far away from your pet.
7. Learn to transfer aggro from you to your pet by using skills that has "Taunt" and also LB #3 to go in stealth, while you stealth anything that attacking you will turns to your pets, but be careful .

• This is my personal open world Soulbeast build.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQJATRnUqA9rgd8C2CCctgl8A7JEsEee5t36b/dJAUAWbnY65kC-jxRBQBBU9nHcJAigSQA8EAKiyvks/Q80FQIgybBA-e

• If you need absolute survival just run thishttps://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Soulbeast_-_Boon_Berserker

Please all this only applies for Open World, if you need a raid or fractal build it's a different story.

thanks for all the useful tips, sorry didn't get what you mean by using 2 pets and not be ashamed of.. just tamed a Jacaranda and he is definitely a good pet with 2 heals and root skill... any other pets worth using? (eventually i will try to unlock all pets, but trying to prioritize them)....

i could never camp beastmode as i needed it to tank for me... without it i'll be in danger lol...

[Eros.6801]

Ah sorry, 2 Bears here mean both of your pet will be the bear, with this set up you will have 2 tanky pets for swapping. For me i'll go with Arctodus and Brown Bear, Arctodus is a Ferocious type when you merge which gives you more Power/Ferocity and Brown Bear is a Supportive type which give you an extra heal skill just like Jacaranda although Jacaranda has more heal skills.

If this can't still keep you alive then might want to try condi Soulbeast, link below with Carrion or Rabid variant, Sigils and Runes might hurt but you can always find cheaper (less effective) version until you get it.https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Soulbeast_-_Condi_Trapper

If this still don't work out again, stick with necro :s :s .

[TamX.1870]

@DHung.5263 said:Played the reaper for couple of days and the soulbeast for 2 days...not sure if it's the build but my soulbeast don't seem to come close to the reaper...I had no issue with a few veterans on the reaper but the soulbeast can't seem to tank even 1 veteran...I die too often on the ranger and I'm sure it's my personal issue...both classes are strong just that I had issues surviving on the ranger...any tips on how to play the soulbeast better? I'm on LB/GS..my main issue is the survivability..

Yes, necro is very, very friendly class to start, and it will carry you far anyways - it may not have that good spots in certain game modes, but it is good in others. Besides, necro & ranger combo is good to have, then there is no game mode you can't enter. Necro is tanky just by nature, and it can dish out serious AoE easily, which means less problems when facing mob groups. Ranger is bit different, just like @gateless gate.8406 says, game play is more active. Unlike with necro, you may need some knowledge about the mobs you face :)

If you want bit more tanky ranger, try out LB/GS druid specs. You probably will notice a considerable drop in DPS, but you get celestial avatar, which will keep you and your pet alive when learning the game. It's very forgiving build. You can also first slot e.g. soldier or marauder pieces to get more health and armor for your soulbeast - running in full DPS gears usually needs some practicing, except of course if you are playing necro.

Just minor clarification to that 2 bear suggestion: Like @"Eros.6801" says, bears are those tanky pets. Because you swap pets also to prevent them dying, two bears ensures that both of them are tanky, if you are forced to swap. Soulbeast can also "revive" dead pet by merging it. Camping in beast mode is viable, but then of course you are the target yourself. Pet can give you some breathing room by taking aggro.

[DHung.5263]

@"Eros.6801" said:Ah sorry, 2 Bears here mean both of your pet will be the bear, with this set up you will have 2 tanky pets for swapping. For me i'll go with Arctodus and Brown Bear, Arctodus is a Ferocious type when you merge which gives you more Power/Ferocity and Brown Bear is a Supportive type which give you an extra heal skill just like Jacaranda although Jacaranda has more heal skills.

If this can't still keep you alive then might want to try condi Soulbeast, link below with Carrion or Rabid variant, Sigils and Runes might hurt but you can always find cheaper (less effective) version until you get it.https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Soulbeast_-_Condi_Trapper

If this still don't work out again, stick with necro :s :s .

Hmm ok....I have a jacaranda and a bear but I am always on the jacaranda and literally never swap pet at all (if it’s dying I’ll merge and unmerge)...did I miss anything? lol

[DHung.5263]

@TamX.1870 said:

@DHung.5263 said:Played the reaper for couple of days and the soulbeast for 2 days...not sure if it's the build but my soulbeast don't seem to come close to the reaper...I had no issue with a few veterans on the reaper but the soulbeast can't seem to tank even 1 veteran...I die too often on the ranger and I'm sure it's my personal issue...both classes are strong just that I had issues surviving on the ranger...any tips on how to play the soulbeast better? I'm on LB/GS..my main issue is the survivability..

Just minor clarification to that 2 bear suggestion: Like @"Eros.6801" says, bears are those tanky pets. Because you swap pets also to prevent them dying, two bears ensures that both of them are tanky, if you are forced to swap. Soulbeast can also "revive" dead pet by merging it. Camping in beast mode is viable, but then of course you are the target yourself. Pet can give you some breathing room by taking aggro.

Thanks....I just got the Iboga and it works great as well...which one will be more ideal Iboga or the jacaranda?

[Eros.6801]

Ah i see, so that's probably your problem. It's a bit troublesome but you might need do a little research and figure out each pet's Family they belong to. Because clearly that Jacaranda can somewhat takes on the tanker role but it won't be as effective as a Bear because Bear belongs to Ursine Family, and every bear is a natural tanker by default due to their high Vitality and Toughness which will last longer and hold aggro better than the Jacaranda (also act as a tanker but more like semi-tanker). Armor fish and Drakes will be your underwater tankers.

Being a Ranger required you to have knowledge about pets, enemies you will fight, flexible depend on the circumstances. Always have your bear to engage in combat first if you're not confidence enough. As long as your toughness is lower than your pet, a bear pretty much can hold aggro for the entire fight without any problems.

Wiki link : https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pet#Aggro_and_tanking.

Or just do as @TamX.1870 said, switch to druid, this way you will lose 1 of 2 ways to reset your pet which is Beastmode but gain alot of extra healing in return.

I know it takes a lot more efforts to play well as a ranger while as necro you can just stand right on the spot passively fighting but the choice is your, we're here to give out advice.

[DHung.5263]

@"Eros.6801" said:Ah i see, so that's probably your problem. It's a bit troublesome but you might need do a little research and figure out each pet's Family they belong to. Because clearly that Jacaranda can somewhat takes on the tanker role but it won't be as effective as a Bear because Bear belongs to Ursine Family, and every bear is a natural tanker by default due to their high Vitality and Toughness which will last longer and hold aggro better than the Jacaranda (also act as a tanker but more like semi-tanker). Armor fish and Drakes will be your underwater tankers.

Being a Ranger required you to have knowledge about pets, enemies you will fight, flexible depend on the circumstances. Always have your bear to engage in combat first if you're not confidence enough. As long as your toughness is lower than your pet, a bear pretty much can hold aggro for the entire fight without any problems.

Wiki link : https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pet#Aggro_and_tanking.

Or just do as @TamX.1870 said, switch to druid, this way you will lose 1 of 2 ways to reset your pet which is Beastmode but gain alot of extra healing in return.

I know it takes a lot more efforts to play well as a ranger while as necro you can just stand right on the spot passively fighting but the choice is your, we're here to give out advice.

Thanks for sharing, I have played on both and so far I’m more inclined towards the necro as it’s more friendly to me at this moment, but I’ve heard that necro MM reaper doesn’t do well aside from open world, and they’re often being despised or excluded from parties...this is a turn off to me as I do not wanna get into that situation, neither do I wanna go scourge either, just personally prefer the mm reaper..

[TamX.1870]

@DHung.5263 said:Thanks for sharing, I have played on both and so far I’m more inclined towards the necro as it’s more friendly to me at this moment, but I’ve heard that necro MM reaper doesn’t do well aside from open world, and they’re often being despised or excluded from parties...this is a turn off to me as I do not wanna get into that situation, neither do I wanna go scourge either, just personally prefer the mm reaper..

Heck, don't worry that right now. Just go with MM necro (or dual bear bow ranger), whatever makes you success. You have plenty of time ahead before you start to need to worry what classes and builds are optimal in which situation.