So... whats so special about a Ranger then?

The ranger is the coolest looking character, but after playing a Ranger to Ascension, I've realised they're grossly under-powered, and thus, suck.

Don't use them.

That is just someone's opinion. This is said about mesmers and necromancers and even warriors, too. They are not certainly not grossly underpowered when you use the right skills for the right situation. None of the professions are (that is the thing called 'game balance' which the devs think is important enough to test and monitor all the time). But sometimes, you may find it harder to find group for pvp than, say, a monk...

What about a Raanger/Warrior. I have made one and F1 id for my Bow, and F2 is for a Sword and Shield. It works quite well.

And I can have the running skills from both Ranger and Warrior

Plus I dont do PVP, GVG or PVE

Excuse me, but if you don't do PVP, GVG or PVE, what do you do in Guild Wars? Dance around in Ascalon?

Being a jack of all trades is quite fun, although i think the Ranger is primarily for killing Elementalists. Having an inherent defense against elemental damage + interrupts and stances makes a Ranger quite a pain for an elementalist.

Even warriors have to respect a Ranger. Getting pinned down and then poisoned and the ranger running out of your melee range just to fire more poison arrows at you can really ruin your day.

My ranger is my main character (that's him in the avatar). I recently changed his second profession from Me to E. I was mainly using the Me to nuke with Chaos Storm and thought what the hell, might as well go for the full nuker. Now I can lay down Firestorm, meteors, and all sorts of wrath.
The biggest problem I have is switching between skills. If I want to trap I have to swap out all my skills and attributes. Nothing beats a group of 4 trapping rangers in the UW. I run there when America is in favor to farm Ecto.
I have other characters, but keep coming back to the Ranger. He is the most diverse and interesting. Plus, he carries skills that let him hold his own in a close fight, like Throw Dirt, Distracting Shot, and Pindown.

I absolutely love the mesmer. So when I made a ranger, naturally I saw all the benefits of having my secondary be Mesmer. One thing I didn't know about was Serpent's Quickness. Wow, faster recharge of my mesmer spells? And such little mana cost? That's better than that stupid Mantra of Recovery, and that's an elite.

Then I read up on how a pet can be a nice compliment to casters if you invest enough into Beast Mastery. Then there's Hex Breaker, all the mantras, and of course Epidemic or Fevered Dreams. If you used Illusion of Weakness that would help you be a pretty decent tank too. I've also seen a ranger/mesmer rock the house with Illusion of Weapon. Also, if you need mana you can use Energy Tap/Energy Drain, or one of the several other spells that gain mana for you (Power Drain which is an interrupt, Spirit of Failure for tanks, Drain Enchantment, Guilt/Shame for casters, etc.). Also, I think Echo (the elite) works on all skills, not just spells.

Then again, here's something to think about. You may see monk secondary as great for your healing and protection, but really you can just let the monk do that job. Most people looking for healing look for a monk, not a ranger. But monks don't usually have the liberty to use their Smite spells, as their other spells are often needed more. You on the other hand... and your pet, could do some pretty decent smiting and no one will complain you're not doing something more "essential."

You get to keep your distance and do fair damage with your bow when not casting. You pet adds to the damage, and you can smite off your pet. Also, your pet attacks exactly who you want it to, unlike a PC. I haven't tried that combo, but it sounds pretty damn good on paper. Also you can use monk healing on your pet instead of that crappy Comfort Animal. The monk seems like an excellent compliment to beast mastery.

If you're not going to use beast mastery, I'd say you don't really need to bother with the monk. Just let the monks be the monks instead. Rangers are not a "protection" class like monks and warriors. They're a damage/debilitate class and in my experience it's better to keep within the theme of your primary class. Though monk isn't a bad choice if you're going to be just a ranger.

he can always trade =D

ranger's second profession doesn't really matter i'd say,if u ever need a skill from another class it's probably only be 1-2. now to me it depends on my other 2 characters, i'd take the one that hasn't been used it, so that my 4th pvp char gets everything unlocked.

r/e u pretty much only need conjure/maybe armor ignoring attacks like obsidient flame
r/mo res? some enchants are really nice
r/w i personally don't see any benefit, except maybe flurry(oh i have a question, does flurry damage reduce also effect damage from winds, and other preparations?, conjures etc?)
r/me interesting, me is a good 2ndary class to any profession
r/ne some of the curses are really nice.

r/e is no way underpowered... i can hit 100 in 1 go..

fire storm (21 ea sec)+ ignite arrows (17 dmg on each enemy near where its fired)+ duel shot (ignite arrows times 2, + 2 more arrows)= a hell of alota dmg..

now underpowered.. over powered if you ask me.. they really do own.. and its hard for me to choose what skills to take for me every time.

I farmed for a looong time successfully with my Ranger. TBH I don't remember what my secondary was, and it didn't matter - it was all Wilderness Survival, Marksmanship, and of course Expertise.
Find a likely mob, set a ton of traps, and lure them in. Then Whirling Defense + poison FTW.

I am glad to hear it can be done, but Warrior is my choice for 2nd profession!

So just incase I get in a sticky situation I can use dodge, sprint, storm chaser and charge to get away . These will also be the basis for my future runner build.

That's what I used to use when chest farming, before you needed keys. I had a run in the desert that netted me some very nice gold items and tons of cash. <sigh> The good ol' days hehehe

Yes... a ranger is versatile up to a point almost no other class can compete in this field. However this is mostly based upon the choice of secondary classes in my opinion.

You want damage? -> R/E
Bring Conjure, Kindle, Favorible Winds, a vamp mod (be sure to have a replacement bow), Dual Shot, Power Shot... spam spam spam... kthxbye!

You want interrupts? -> R/ME
Bring Oath Shot, Distrction Shot, Concussion Shot, Savage Shot, Leech Signet, Power Drain... keep on 'rupting for unlimited time. (fire your interrupts, use the mesmer line to regain energy yet still interrupt some more, use oath shot to recharge your skills alltogether)

You want a tank or runner? -> R/W
etc etc

I can allways change my second profession later on if the Warrior doesnt suit my needs

That's true, but you'll have to ascend first (or at least reach the Desert) which is kinda late in the game. So if you choose a sec that doesn't suit your style of play - you're stuck with it for a long time..

I went R/E first, but never used my Ele skills, as soon as I got to the Desert, I changed to R/Me and it works just fine for me. Interrupting the hell out of people while stacking them with conditions is just plain fun

Depends what you want to do...stormbow/flatbow/longbow to pull and a shortbow to fight...but if you want for looks than stormbow/eternal bow/ivory bow/shadow bow (some green bows look good too).

You can always do conjure flame too.

Until I get to the stage where I am running for money I will need one for fighting. But I am currently on the hunt for a storm bow

Do you have any pictures of the shadow bow? Or maybe links?

Nobody mentioned it, and probably nobody takes advantage of it, but the ranger has the longest range. You can hit your target before they can hit you (except another ranger of course, but then you can put yourself on higher ground). This is essential in real-world combat and it should in guildwar-combat. Does it? The fact that you outrange most of your opponents and have a disrupting capability can really pay of.
I did the mission before you get infused. You have to free the two broken-flame girls. There are some mursaat groups in that area. Normally you avoid them, because of there damage power.
I did this mission with henchmen and killed a lot of those mobs. With choking gas and distrating shot I could hold of there spells and the fighter henchmen could close in and make meat of them. I used the longbow, with its greater range and when possible took the higher ground. I had to practice first and the team was killed a couple of times, but finally I got the hook.