Second class for Ranger

Hey.

I've got a friend who has just brought Guild wars.
He hasn't played it yet but he knows he wants to use
a ranger.

I am asking in his place:

what do you think is the best secondary class for a ranger?

He is fond of having a pet, so in that case, what is the best
for keeping your pet in good shape.

I considered monk,

what do you guys think?

If you want to keep your pet in shape, there's already a number of ranger skills that will keep him healthy, such as call of protection, comfort animal, etc., so there's not a demanding reason to base your secondary profession around your pet just to keep him alive, although you still could.

The thing is, unless you plan on a specialized build that requires the use of skills froma secondary classs.. you'll find that you'll end up using mainly ranger skills anyways. So second class is pretty irrelevant - at least to someone new to the game.

Personally I'd say take Monk purely because of the unlimited rez ability as well as helpful healing support he might make use of - the thing tho is if he wants to be able to attack while also using a few pets skills.. he won't have any space on his skill bar for anything apart from say 1 monk skill..

Like my R/Mo has 2 marksmen attack skills, 1 preperation, charm animal, comfort animal, resurrect, Call of Haste & Call of Protection. That gives me 2 attack skills for me, 1 preperation which helps add to my damage while letting me have my pet with me with skills which help the pet attack harder & faster while being able to "tank" better... and lets me rez stupid henchies unlimited times when they die I don't have room for any other skills for healing or such...

Some might say my build is terrible *shrugs* It works for me and let me get the job done.. and thats what's important to me. I have my fun But my point is.. if your friend wants to be able to attack with ranger skills as well as utilize his pet.. he won't really end up using his secondary class's skills much.. so better of going Monk for rez.. You can always change the secondary after ascension anyways...

monk so you can have a reusable res. you dont have the mp to make much use of out ele or necro for a secondary.

I just got it today and I chose Elementalist! It is really good for range and works great with pets! You attack from afar with Power Shot, Lightning Javalin and Fire Storm while your pet distracts enemies and it helps you when they get close to you.

Ranger/Monk. A ranger with rez is very usefull, also alot of smiting attacks can be used by rangers and they tend to get the job done.

also with monk or elementalist you can chain damage modifiers on barrage, an elite ranger bow attack that will shoot at up to 6 targets around your primary target. it removes all preparations (apply poison, etc) but you can use it with conjure *insert element here* or judge's insight.

Ranger/Mesmer!

Of course I'm biased. Hehe. Personally, if it was just ranger skills, I'd have gotten bored a long time ago. Mesmer is just a really fun and interesting class to play.

Necro might be fun and then your friend can build an entire army of pets/minions which he sems to enjoy.

go ranger/mesmer. very good pvp combo. he might enjoy it

Ive made a few rangers, figured out its a better secondary than primary.
<------ My Warrior/Rnager works the best for me

Thank you all very much for your helpful information.

I passed this page on to him~

I'm not exactly a "hardcore gamer" who knows everything about everything in Guild Wars, so don't take my words for gospel truth (and anyone who sees me making an error, please feel free to correct me), but my own observations have been this:

Ranger/Elementalist: Combined with "Conjure X" (X = Fire, Frost, Lightning), this pairing is great for dishing out long-range damage against single foes, or multiple targets using the ranger Elite Skill "Barrage" (as one poster already mentioned).

Ranger/Monk: Rangers tend to hang back from battle, so they're in a better position than, say, warriors to help heal up the party during combat. Rangers could also find a good use for Smiting and Protection spells (especially to enhance offensive power)

Ranger/Mesmer: Great for interrupting and Energy drain, if you plug in the right skills. This combo is a caster's nightmare in PvP.

Ranger/Necromancer: I don't know too much about this one, but it seems to be popular. It might be neat to pump up Death Magic and create an army of undead to help out a pet ^_^ Cursing from long range can also help your offensive power (by decreasing your enemies' defenses)

Ranger/Warrior: If you use this combo for melee, prepare to be flamed >_> Rightly or wrongly, I'm not sure yet. I myself have been thinking about a "pure ranger" (with all attribute points plugged into Ranger stats) with a warrior secondary. This is because a lot of warrior skills are kind of useless for a long-range attacker; BUT! The warrior skill "Frenzy" can increase your attack rate with a cheaper Energy cost and faster recycle time than "Lightning Reflexes" and no need to devote any attribute points to increase its effectiveness. The only drawback is double damage, but if you're hanging back I don't know that many people will target you. It's not exactly a very complex build idea that's executed with as much of a flourish as other concepts out there, but theoretically it'd do the trick ^_^

I found mesmer a good 2nd profession for me. distracting shot + mesmer interruption/shutdown skills = one mean damage dealer with very good ability to interrupt casters.