Help!!!

[AshisBrin.6047]

Okay. I am not a new player, but getting frustrated with profession. I have a level 80 Sylvari Ranger, which I am disappointed with. (Yes, I leveled her to 80, but only because I decided to stick with the character to get to level 80.) I keep dying and since I mostly solo everything, I keep dying. I belong to one guild, but no one else is not on anymore. I am not going to leave that guild because of I am the leader and it gives me extra bank space, but I am reevaluating my solo status and trying to decide on a new main. I have both expansions, but only the one 80 character. I like the class, just not the Sylvari race too much. I am pretty squishy, even with tanking pets. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also, I am an altaholilc and was considering making a new Ranger, but not delete the Sylvari. Sorry for long post and asking for help, but really at the end of my rope, as the saying goes.

[TheMaverick.6104]

Easiest thing to do is to check your gear. Do you have level 80 exotic? Even max level berserker gear can make you squishy, might want to check out other stats, with more toughness/vitality/healing power.

[Vayne.8563]

If you're on a US server, whisper me in game. I'm sure I can help.

[AdaephonDelat.3890]

Same offer as Vayne's but for EU.

[AshisBrin.6047]

You can join more than one guild, correct? Also, yes I was using berserker stats. I did not realize I kept the same stats and that might be the problem. Another kind of newbie question because I never really tried to crafting side of the game, is crafting better than buying on the AH? I was just getting gear through the personal story, but I am definitely missing out going solo. Still considering another character to play. Not sure what class to level next. I kinda want to level another ranger, but so frustrated with my current one. I will look into my stats though and get some new gear. Another quick ranger question: Do pets matter too much or is gear more important?

[MMAI.5892]

1.) Yes you can join more than 1 guild - up to 5.

2.) Stat wise Toughness and Vitality will increase the amount of direct and condition damage you can take.

3.) Crafting - this probably depends on whether or not you have your crafting up to crafting exotic level already and what you've got in your materials bank. If you're already at that level, it might be cheaper - sometimes it heavily depends on what type of armor and stats you want as to if it's cheaper to buy. If you haven't leveled up crafting, then in the short term it will probably be cheaper to buy.

4.) I've never played a ranger so I can't specifically answer about pets, but gear is generally a good idea to tweak in lvl 80 content. Dealing out a ton of damage in Berzerker gear won't help much if you get swarmed by strong mobs that down you in a couple of seconds. I typically gear a new profession with toughness and vitality in mind first, then as I get used to the profession and maps, I slowly trade out for more damage based stat combinations until I reach a comfortable level 'I'm killing things and not dying so much that I want to throw something'. If you have Living Story Season three, you can get stat selectable ascended accessories for unbound magic and the map specific currency. This might help ease the burden of crafting and straight out buying if you have and like those maps enough to do some farming.

[AshisBrin.6047]

Thanks for the info. I will look into this. As I said, never worked on any professions . Also, I have some other higher level character, but stupidly deleted them because I had started them 2 years ago and took a break from the game. None were max level though. I used to play WOW exclusively for the longest time, but quit and came back here. Ranger was one of my main on WOW along with mage and monk, but this game has nothing similar, except for Elementalist and Ranger, so at a lose for what to level and stick with as my main. Keep creating characters and deleting them. Very frustrating trying to find a character that I enjoy playing other than a ranger. Elementalist seems too squishy and I get frustrated.

[MMAI.5892]

Yeah the light armor class, except for Necro tend to be squishy. I've only played the theif for a medium armor class and they rely a lot of stealth/etc. Guardian is my favorite in terms of durability/damage trade offs, but I am by no means an class expert.

[Ojimaru.8970]

In Guild Wars 2, gear will only help you so much. If you have trouble surviving in Exotics, you won't fare any better in Ascended-quality equipment. You'll find the most mileage examining your play style and errors you are making. Are you, for example, using the keyboard to turn, rather than the mouse? Are you standing still when a red circle appears under you? Are you using your dodge key to evade enemy attacks needlessly? Are you engaging large groups of enemies, eventhough previous attempts resulted in failure? Are you using a build that is sensible for the content you are playing in? Are you using your character's abilities appropriately?

Unfortunately, none of what you have posted thus far tells us anything, making it impossible to accurately assess your unique situation, and therefore limit responses to ones that are often of little help.

Also, if you are a social player, keep your guild (and useful guild bank), and join a more active guild, preferably one with players who readily offer help and/or advise. Interact with the community, grow with it, and give back when you have the opportunity to.

[Syreas.8403]

Hey Ashis, I've been playing a Ranger since launch. I find that with a little tweaking it can be formidable in open world. Message me in-game and I'd be willing to talk options out with you one to one, because listing advice (which I'll try to do anyways) is going to be less effective than working things out in real-time.

Main points/ideas (take it or leave it):Always take the Wilderness Survival line for soloing--especially the Wilderness Knowledge trait. Then take Troll Unguent as your heal skill. This gives you an 8,000 base heal with a double condi cleanse on a 25s cooldown. Wilderness Survival also buffs your base endurance regen, allowing you to roll more often.Re-evaluate your pets. My name is Ravenheart so of course I use a Raven, but it ended up working perfectly. The Raven is one of the hardest-hitting pets on baseline damage, but the F2 is also a blind, and timing that blind well will help you avoid tons of damage. So find a pet that works for you offensively and defensively, and use F1 to send it in before you to draw aggro if necessary.Re-evaluate your weapons. Greatsword and Longbow are by far the "tankiest" weapons--greatsword has evade on auto-attack, evade on 3, a block and a stun; Longbow has range and knockback; and both have high burst damage. However, other weapons can be viable for surviving -- sword/dagger, while not overly powerful, has a couple extra evades as well. Find what fits and figure out where the "tanky" moves are.If you still need extra evades on top of it all, take Lightning Reflexes. It's a stun break, removes immobilize, and rolls you back. If you took the trait I recommended above, it will also remove two more conditions.

Maybe this advice helps; maybe it doesn't apply or is insufficient. Like I said, feel free to message me in-game and I can give more personalized tips!

[AshisBrin.6047]

Thanks guys. I understand I was not very explicit. I was getting frustrated with the last few chapter of Heart of Thorns personal story and the fact that I kept dying. I think Syreas hit it on the head though. I did not take Wilderness Survival and am using lynx and going between a Bristleback and a bear. Have never found a pet that works for me. Also, my gear is not that great at the moment, as I was running with Berserker stats. As to the weapons, I did not realize that the longbow and great sword were tanky weapons, but I like the range aspect. Is short bow a better option? MMAI, I was considering leveling a Guardian, but wasn't sure if guardians were viable in dungeons. Another aspect of the game I have missed in dungeons, but was really just trying to level quickly and was going to take my time on a second character.

[Ojimaru.8970]

@AshisBrin.6047 said:Thanks guys. I understand I was not very explicit. I was getting frustrated with the last few chapter of Heart of Thorns personal story and the fact that I kept dying. I think Syreas hit it on the head though. I did not take Wilderness Survival and am using lynx and going between a Bristleback and a bear. Have never found a pet that works for me. Also, my gear is not that great at the moment, as I was running with Berserker stats. As to the weapons, I did not realize that the longbow and great sword were tanky weapons, but I like the range aspect. Is short bow a better option? MMAI, I was considering leveling a Guardian, but wasn't sure if guardians were viable in dungeons. Another aspect of the game I have missed in dungeons, but was really just trying to level quickly and was going to take my time on a second character.

For Rangers, the Shortbow is a Condition Damage-based weapon and would not work well with you pre-existing Berserker gear.

[Syreas.8403]

I have used Berserker's gear on my ranger since launch and, using the suggestions I listed above, have managed to be FILO in... most groups I've participated in. My honest recommendation is to build your gear around damage stats and use traits and utilities for survival where necessary. You can get as tanky as you need through traits and utilities, but it's a lot harder to use traits/utilities to increase your DPS if you have low damage stats.

Shortbow, as Ojimaru said, is a condition weapon. It's not a "better or worse" option, it has different strengths and weaknesses. Condition damage is best on high-health foes like bosses and Champions because it takes a while to apply enough conditions to do a large amount of damage (although when you do, it's more than direct damage.) Direct or Power damage is useful for enemies with lower health, as you'll kill them faster, and for doing high amounts of damage in short bursts.

Condition damage is best suited the Viper's stat combination, which is a rather hard set to craft from the Heart of Thorns expansion. You could, however, use Carrion stats in the meantime--Carrion has Condition Damage and Power, as well as Vitality to increase your health. Finally, Shortbow has decent survivability; it's got an evade and a stun, so you have some room to escape.

In the end though, make sure you're playing what you enjoy or... well, you'll keep not enjoying it! :tongue: