Are Rangers good DPS?

^ Not when an auto-attacking warrior with no skills/IAS/Buffs/or mods can pump out over 30 dps. ...lol? An axe does what.. 5-20 damage against end-game Torment mobs with their insane armor? That every 1.33 seconds is nowhere near 30 DPS.. unless you managed to Arcane Mimicry that insane +50% attack speed hard mode mobs have.


The problem with Burning Arrow is how much energy it and Apply Poison consumes. You won't have the energy to use any other bow skills.

The problem with Burning Arrow is how much energy it and Apply Poison consumes. You won't have the energy to use any other bow skills. Put 14 in expertise and you should be fine. The build I run in most cases is:
[skill]Savage Shot[/skill] (or [skill]Crossfire[/skill]) [skill]Distracting Shot[/skill][skill]Apply Poison[/skill][skill]Burning Arrow[/skill][skill]Natural Stride[/skill] (Optional slot, usually Mending Touch or Smite Hex) [skill]Troll Unguent[/skill][skill]Rebirth[/skill] or [skill]Resurrection Chant[/skill]

14 expertise (major rune)
9 Wilderness (minor rune)
14 Marks (sup rune + mask)

In high level PvE areas, base damage attacks of any class are relatively low, but warrior attack skills can still pump out strong dps. Degen in these areas can be strong to use since it is not armor dependent, but other classes can still be stronger damage dealers in these cases. The ranger's strength still relies on it's ability to give utility along with it's damage rather than it's pure dps imo.

...lol? An axe does what.. 5-20 damage against end-game Torment mobs with their insane armor? That every 1.33 seconds is nowhere near 30 DPS.. unless you managed to Arcane Mimicry that insane +50% attack speed hard mode mobs have. He's referring to base damage vs a level 20 opponent, read: a human player. Which is why bow attack rangers are generally not used as straight DPS in PvP.

Personally, I'm a fan of rangers, especially in the high end areas like you mention. They can do a lot of degen, and quite a few of their skills do good +damage, which happens to be armor ignoring. I tend to run Marauder's and either Burning or Prepared; if I run Prepared I have pretty much as much energy as I want for other things.

The beauty of the ranger is not in its dps ,its in its ability to inflict a mix of conditions and damage and stop you from removing them via interruptions or counter them via crippling or blind. The ranger is the most versatile class in the game as far as i'm considered. So my friend stop hunting for the ultimate dps and begin looking for the most effective ranger you can make, dmg is nice but your enemy not being able to follow you or hit you is even better, especially when they are bleeding/poisoned/burning to death as you kite away. That was the hardest lesson i learned in GW , in pve i always looked for dmg but i learned over time survival and long term damage is king. one less attack skill and one more defense skill can make a big difference.Sorry i got off topic i just cant post without helping a fellow ranger out. maybe before factions i can agree with you and see how great a ranger is but......an assassin throws conditions damage and should be able to shut down the target, in terms "assassinating" them. I believe the ranger's greatest assets in present GW are expertise (can run spirits, spam more attacks, etc) and its ability of interrupting opponents. No one else can interrupt like a ranger (mesmers are limited to interrupting primarily spells, though Dwarven Battle Stance with Distracting Blow is a nice Hammer shut down build =]). Running a Beast Master is fun, though I have to say that it bores me (I think different animals should become more unique, faster attack speed this animal, more dmg from that pet, etc)

When it comes down to it, I play ranger because of the bow's property of the longest range weapon, interrupts, and DPS spike (not the best but then again what class can ever outdamage the assassin or ele? warrior is up there too =])

maybe before factions i can agree with you and see how great a ranger is but......an assassin throws conditions damage and should be able to shut down the target, in terms "assassinating" them. Assassins generally spike with conditions while rangers spread them.


Also, just to share a tip for anyone working their way through Hard Mode in Prophecies. If you go through quests like Gates of Kryta that have lots of undead and you want to be a damage dealer, put Judges Insight on your bar with either Barrage or some other damage dealing elite. While Heart of Holy Flame on a dervish secondary can work also, the 20% AP from Judge's gives a noticeable kick. I used this build and was doing up to 200 damage per arrow on targets like skeleton sorcerers and at least 90 damage per arrow to hard targets like warrior undead.