Logo Albion iconAlbion Online Deadlock iconDeadlock GW2 iconGuild Wars 2 TL iconThrone & Liberty

Ranger - Core Power Ranger

The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good

Focused on: Strike damage

Designed for: Open WorldOpen World General and Open World Core

Difficulty:
Easy
This build was last updated on May 26, 2024 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A basic but effective open world ranger build that F2P players can access. Although pets don't really do much damage, they help the ranger by tanking and some can also disable the enemy. This build features good burst damage and from long range.

Template Code

[&DQQIGh46IDp5AAAArAEAAJYBAAC1AAAA7QAAAB0BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]
Copy Template Code


Skill Bar

Lynx
Brown Bear
Longbow
Axe/Axe
Utility


Weapon Variants

  • Greatsword - can replace longbow for less burst but better sustained damage.
  • Sword - has two leaps and about the same damage as axe, but in melee range.


Skill Variants

The suggested skills aim to create windows of burst damage through Predator's Onslaught, but other skills can be considered:

Healing skill

"We Heal As One!" is your best heal skill because of its short cooldown, good heal, and lets you and your pet share your boons with the other.

  • Healing Spring - can be considered for fights where you need a lot of condition cleanse.

Utility skill

Frost Trap deals great damage and chills the enemy for great synergy with Predator's Onslaught. You should almost never replace it.
"Protect Me!" is a great stun break that also gives you a bit of barrier. It also breaks stun on nearby allies. Can be replaced by other skills if needed, though we recommend you always keep one stun break.
Storm Spirit deals good damage and stuns while providing fury. Can be replaced by other skills if needed.

  • "Guard!" - extra defense.
  • Lightning Reflexes - alternative stun break and extra dodge.
  • Quickening Zephyr - alternative stun break and quickness.
  • "Sic 'Em!" - can be used with offensive pets for single target burst.
  • Signet of Renewal - AoE condition cleanse.
  • Signet of Stone - extra toughness and a panic button.
  • Spike Trap - if you need more CC.
  • Stone Spirit - Aegis Aegis and Protection Protection generation, can be considered in group play.
  • Sun Spirit - Might Might generation, can be considered in group play.

Elite skill

"Strength of the Pack!" provides a good mix of offensive and defensive boons. Other options can be considered.

  • Entangle - AoE Immobilize Immobilize.
  • Spirit of Nature - AoE revive when playing in a group.


Pet Variants

  • The choice of pet doesn't matter much because core game pets don't deal much damage. We suggest using a feline since they have the highest damage, especially Lynx Lynx with its Beast skill (F2) Rending Pounce. For your other pet, you can use a tanky pet such as Brown Bear Brown Bear or a pet to inflict crowd control such as Boar Boar which has crowd control on its skills, and its Beast skill creates a bundle rock for you to pick up and inflict more CC. If you have access to expansions, use Jacaranda Jacaranda for its high damage and survivability. Below are some other alternatives.
High damage pets
Good mix of damage and crowd control
Good on-demand crowd control
Tanky pets
  • Drakes such as Marsh Drake Marsh Drake provide the best mix of damage and tankiness, but bears, porcines, and devourers are also very tanky pets.


Specializations

Variants
  • Clarion Bond - works great if you swap pets often.
  • Lead the Wind - if you are going to camp longbow, but you will do less damage.
  • Primal Reflexes - when not running Frost Trap and/or more dodges are needed.
  • Strider's Strength - works great if using a sword.
  • Quick Draw - can enable an alternative playstyle where you run 2 longbows and use this trait to cast Barrage every weapon swap. This playstyle is very vulnerable to projectile block/reflect and lacks mobility, but can be very fun.
  • Potent Ally - if not running many Command skills.
  • Note that you will use Two-Handed Training even when not wielding a greatsword, since it provides much-needed Fury.


Equipment

Ascended gear is not required; exotic with the same stats will work fine.

Head
Berserker
Shoulders
Berserker
Chest
Berserker
Hands
Berserker
Legs
Berserker
Feet
Berserker
Backpiece
Berserker
Accessory
Berserker
Accessory
Berserker
Amulet
Berserker
Ring
Berserker
Ring
Berserker
Longbow
Berserker
Sigil
Sigil
Axe
Berserker
Axe
Berserker
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
x6


Relic
  • Rune of Superior Rune of the Dragonhunter and Rune of Superior Rune of the Scholar are interchangeable.
  • You can use Relic of Zakiros to trade a minor amount of damage for sustain, Relic of the Cavalier to start combat with boons, or Relic of Durability for a little extra defense.
  • For defense, equip the highest tier Jade Core you can afford. Use defensive food, traits, or skills if required. If necessary, use Knight Knight trinkets.


Consumables

Budget consumables are acceptable for use in open world.

DPS

  • Prioritize Steak Ascended food.
  • /
  • /

Defense

Farming

  • Prioritize Steak Ascended food.
  • /
  • (and variants)


Usage

Damage

  • Thanks to Opening Strike+Alpha Focus+Predator's Onslaught you will start fights with great burst damage.
  • Aim to use your damage skills while the enemy is disabled or has its movement impaired to benefit from Predator's Onslaught.
    • Your damage skills are Rapid Fire and Barrage on longbow, and all axe skills on axe-axe. Cast Splitblade in melee range for maximum damage.
    • The following skills are great for enabling Predator's Onslaught: Barrage, Winter's Bite, and Frost Trap.
  • Longbow works great for starting fights with Barrage and Rapid Fire, but has very low sustained damage. Swap to axe-axe after Barrage and Rapid Fire to deal more damage. Axe also works great against groups of enemies since all its attacks strike in an AoE or bounce.
  • When possible, attack from behind or the rear to enable Hunter's Tactics.

Defense

  • Hunter's Shot can be used to disengage with stealth.
  • Against dangerous enemies, send a tanky pet in first with Attack My Target (F1) so they tank for you.
  • Remember to always dodge and sidestep attacks if possible.
  • Whirling Defense can be used to reflect dangerous projectiles.
  • Winter's Bite maintains permanent Weakness Weakness on your enemy.
  • Swap your pet when their health gets low to prevent them from getting downed. If your pet gets downed, Swap Pet's cooldown is greatly increased.
  • Counterattack to block attacks if wielding a greatsword.

Crowd Control

  • Point Blank Shot
  • Path of Scars
  • Hilt Bash if wielding a greatsword
  • Counterattack Counterattack Kick if wielding a greatsword
  • Some pets also have crowd control on their Beast skill (F2)
  • Soft crowd control such as Chill Chill or Cripple Cripple from Winter's Bite, Frost Trap, and Barrage.


Ratings

This build has a rating of 5 stars based on 4 votes.
Log in or register to rate this build.
5 stars
Igornoia gave this build 5 stars • September 2023
A satisfying build to play. Super accessible and doesn't lose much to other base game berserk builds. I recommend!
4 stars
Warming Hearth gave this build 4 stars • April 2023
Super easy to play. The pet is relatively tanky and your weapons are ranged so the build is also very safe. Perhaps a little boring because of how simple it is to play. Its main downside is its low damage after the initial burst. Pets are also very dumb and do super low damage. If you have access to Path of Fire, definitely use Juvenile Jacaranda.
5 stars
Mathiasxii gave this build 5 stars • June 2021
I always thought this to be THE build to live the longbow ranger experience (more than with Soulbeast), even past the HoT/PoF expansion. All three trait lines synergise extremely well and everything is set up for you to send your pet up front in combat while you transform your enemies into porcupines for extremely far. The farther you are, the more you are rewarded boon and damage wise! Once the enemy is weak, you can then launch yourself on the enemies with you greatsword to finish them off. It takes a lot of practice to enjoy such build as you need to be cautious about field positionning, movement, and timing, but it feels great to always have a sight of the battlefield. The only downside is that it tends to perform poorly in tight spaces as you are squishy (as expected for a long range class). 4 is your best friend!
5 stars
Onlywrin gave this build 5 stars • March 2021
one of the best core builds in the game for general open world since ranger pets are so good at distracting mobs, and ranger's moderate damage means it can easily burst down threats.

Comments

Get MetaBattle Premium
Enjoy an ad-free experience & support the website, for less than $1 per month! Upgrade to Premium
Split Metabattle Logo