While i thought it was good, it really isn't. Very underpowered. More damage done at long range but not enough. Any tips on what i'm doing wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Q5wv2f_FQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y3T2q24VXE

Yes, you are doing it wrong.

Ranger is actually OP, search for Defensive Ranger builds.

They can defend a point vs 2 people kinda like a defenive Guardian but with more dmg overall, Melee Ranger is way to go at the moment (5v5 competitive play).

Edit: I found a build and an example for you, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY4vinsdrqU. : )

I was thinking that myself.. this is the first time I have heard that the ranger would have been under powered ^^

Underpowered?   no fking way.

First of all the long bow is not a good pvp choice.  The ranger is not underpowered, the person in this video didn't know what to do or how to trait it.

Using axe and 2hand swap + wolf pets and stacking fury = godly.  

Using pet buffs and stacking fury with your buffs and runes, I stomped ppl with my ranger.  Trying doing that when it goes live and I promise you will change your mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRhkuE-n9eM

Think about switching between weapons. Get in and do some melee too. The link I posted is a Ranger that stacks some massive bleeds in pvp. Play around with different specs for your ranger and don't think of it as a soley ranged class like in most mmos.

Originally posted by paladin016

While i thought it was good, it really isn't. Very underpowered. More damage done at long range but not enough. Any tips on what i'm doing wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Q5wv2f_FQ

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y3T2q24VXE

You may like the warrior. Anything the ranger can do, imo the warrior can do better. I was hoping it wasn't true, but after all 3 bwe's playing mesmer, ranger, warrior, thief the most. I have to say warrior is my main for ranged and melee dps and the thief is my second favorite so I have to have one of each for pure dps bursts they're both awesome. Also, you don't have to carry around a dead pet all the time, wasting time to ressurrect it constantly.

Every class has areas where they are weak or strong. I thought you got to close to often when using a bow.  Plus there are pets that attack from range, which I think can be more useful in pvp. I'd  target elem's more than a neco. Ranger's an be pretty hardy, so you might want to lean towards that spec.

Try this, http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.6.12.4.0.21.20.20.0.4.131.145.139.140.151.2.2.6.378.379.386.391.399.402.0.0.0.0.0.0.440.0.0.30.30.0.0.10. Sorry i didnt add it in the first post, im sleepy.

Rangers have always been gimped in GW except for gimmick builds like the Bunny Thumper or Touch.  I hope they buff the GW2 ranger so it doesn't have to be a second class warrior.

LOL The answers are so funny. "Ohh no rangers are not underpowered as long as you trait it defensive like a warr and use a melee weapon. Do not use a bow because  they do not do enough damage." The main point of a ranger is to use a bow with a melee weapon as a back-up if needed. I do understand that play style is a to each their own type off deal but each profession should have its strong points, and a rangers strong point is supposed to be with bows. I have even heard and seen it said that a warr is stronger with a bow than a ranger with a bow. Yes the ranger is underpowered with the weapon it is supposed to be strong in.

It would be the same as telling someone a warr is not underpowered as long as you trait ranged and do not use melee weapons. It is just rediculous.

The reason you feel it's underpowered is because as a Ranger you typically lean towards your ranged weapons and use critical chance and condition damage for equipment/skills. Especially if you played  Ranger in GW1, common to assume GW2 will be similar right?

I made the same mistake at first.

Mix things up more, longbow is called 'long' for reason. In sPvP I wouldn't touch a longbow now, unless something changes.

Quickness is a game changer for rangers, since we can get a lot of it focus on that buff (don't confuse quickness with swiftness).

Plus, don't ignore your pet skills.. choosing your pet is just as important as choosing your traits. Know all your pets skills inside and out, 'every' skill not just the active one, and choose accordingly to make sure it compliments your current build. In the video you seemed to be using your bears condition removal skill when you didn't need it and just ignored it when you did need it.

Also, you never swapped pets so you wandered around with a dead pet a lot of the time. Swapping pets is built into our balance, you must use it.

Speaking of which, you hardly ever, if ever, swapped your weapon. Most people will swap their weapon at least 4 times in a single fight. It's another thing thats built in the balance of every class. If you don't do it then you won't be as good as someone who does.

and, save your dodge for avoiding specific attacks instead of using it to create distance between you and your opponent. I understand that using a bow pushed this behaviour on you but, like I said before, in contained matches I wouldn't be using a bow. I would sometimes in WvWvW though.

Another thing, you use your heal too late. Use it early then by the time you need it again it is more likely to be off cooldown. Don't wait until your health is right at the bottom to use a low cooldown heal. Know how much it heals for an pop it the first time as soon as you have lost that much life.. this way you will pull off more heals per fight which increases your overall healh numbers throughout a whole fight by a massive amount.

Fun fact: Super Squads, the ocmpetitve PvP team that got popular by beating Team Paradigm in BWE3, in recent interview said Ranger in current state feels too strong. 

I see you have no condition removal skills, and that will bite you in the butt in PvP. Condi control is currently the meta (along with abusing/dealing with Bull Charge Frezy 100B warriors). You might want to go a more support oriented build, either through Spirits or by including Search and Rescue - another important part of sPvP, the ability to rez downed players easily. You will see more and more warriors using the Elite banner as well as Necros running with Signet of Undeath for that very reason. Being able to get a teammate up instantly can change the outcome of battle. Spirits also have the benefit of taking spots in AoE limits (up to 5 targets) meaning less likely that your team mates get hit. 

Eventually, if support is not your thing, try to come up with good roaming build that will aloow yout o move quickly between points, decap them and stall the enemy. 

All in all tho, it looked like the vids were from Hot Join, and GW2 is really about team play. Players are supposed to play together and cover each others weaknesses.

Try running greatsword/long bow, with any signet of the beastmaster build.  I guarentee you it will do work in any situation.

Originally posted by nyxxis

LOL The answers are so funny. "Ohh no rangers are not underpowered as long as you trait it defensive like a warr and use a melee weapon. Do not use a bow because  they do not do enough damage." The main point of a ranger is to use a bow with a melee weapon as a back-up if needed. I do understand that play style is a to each their own type off deal but each profession should have its strong points, and a rangers strong point is supposed to be with bows. I have even heard and seen it said that a warr is stronger with a bow than a ranger with a bow. Yes the ranger is underpowered with the weapon it is supposed to be strong in.

It would be the same as telling someone a warr is not underpowered as long as you trait ranged and do not use melee weapons. It is just rediculous.

I used to think like that too, but a Warrior doesnt do what a Ranger does and vice-versa. they are quite the opposite to be honest.

While Warrior has high burst, relatively high mobility for roaming but easely kited and countered while on CDs, a defensive Ranger is similar to the Guardians roll, since they support and guard points like nobody.

And it is not true, long bow Rangers are Top among Elementalists in WvW. In competitive 5v5 long bow is not viable just like any other class, they have to pick what is best according to the team/roll.

Warriors and Rangers are completely different classes.

Originally posted by nyxxis

LOL The answers are so funny. "Ohh no rangers are not underpowered as long as you trait it defensive like a warr and use a melee weapon. Do not use a bow because  they do not do enough damage." The main point of a ranger is to use a bow with a melee weapon as a back-up if needed. I do understand that play style is a to each their own type off deal but each profession should have its strong points, and a rangers strong point is supposed to be with bows. I have even heard and seen it said that a warr is stronger with a bow than a ranger with a bow. Yes the ranger is underpowered with the weapon it is supposed to be strong in.

It would be the same as telling someone a warr is not underpowered as long as you trait ranged and do not use melee weapons. It is just rediculous.

No that is not what a ranger is, that is what the ranger has devolved to in most MMOs. The ranger is a warriors who use tracking, nature lore and other wilderness skills to hunt down their enemies.

They do not focus entirely on bows, although they are skilled in them due to hunting. In any small scale skirmish a ranger would get only one or two arrows off before the foe closes the gap forcing them to resort to melee, which they are equally adept at. But this has changed in MMOs to the point where they just stand at the back firing arrows non-stop thanks in no small part to Everquest and World of Warcraft.

And yes, warriors should spec for a ranged option. If your opponent has ranged weapons you would be a foolish warrior not to take one yourself. Why should a warrior - someone trained in all forms of combat - be less effective using a ranged weapon than other classes? That just defies logic. What seperates rangers and warriors is the nature side of things. Rangers call upon nature lore to aid them, while warriors turn to their martial training. Both play completely differently but both are capable of both melee and ranged combat.

Back to the OP - Ranger is fine, you are doing it wrong.

Here is a ranger build and video i made and posted on youtube

Longbow is terrible.  Right now the most viable specs are condition damage cannons (Quickening Zephyr + Sharpening Stones with traits that trigger bleeds) or defensive specs (tons of options here, ex: spirit ranger).  Nearly all tournament level builds will use axe/warhorn, GS, and/or shortbow. 

Here is a similar build of what I used in tournaments.  Our team won most tournaments at gold level and I focused as solo Roamer for my team earning top points in nearly all matches.  Note that on the stress test the trap trait got merged with another trait and wilderness survivial now has an awesome anti-CC trait I would put into the build instead.  The 3rd utility is optional and you can do Lightning Reflexes or Signet of the Wild for more survivability.  This build is very glass cannon (though it does have decent toughness), but it generally doesn't matter as you can apply 25 stacks of bleed (along with poison and burning) in 5 seconds and maintain 25 stacks which deals roughly 3k damage a tick to your opponent along with the other attack damage and conditions on top of it.  Another important thing is to make sure to swap out your pet to trigger Quickening Zephyr as much as possible when you are engaged on someone.

http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.6.4.10.21.0.21.21.21.0.133.145.142.135.153.4.4.47.378.0.0.392.400.401.411.0.0.0.0.0.437.442.0.10.30.10.0.20