So I'm spotty at dodging and I hate kiting.  At higher levels, am I going to get wasted in PVE?  Can I count on my pets to soak up damage for me?

Thanks!

If you don't want to kite better bank on those blinds, daze, knockdowns and other conditions that prevent enemies from attacking!

No idea if ranger has any of those since I don't play it but if you don't want to kite you won't have many options, except if you find a pet with tons of health/toughness.

Umm...kiting is just the act of runnign around while attacking at a distance so that the mob your attacking stays out of range and cant attack you.

You wont be kiting as a melee...and you wont be using skills that requier you to stand still whike attacking unless you can run far enough away fromt he mob to allow for the cast time.

All it is is keeping a distance between you and the mob while you range attack it and while the mob is too far from you to hit you.

With 1 mob you may make it with pet and the few CC spells and dodging only. With single trash mobs you dont have to move at all.

If you get 1 add and you have your elite-CC (Lvl 30) already, you are still fine, standing still and dodging, trapping a bit.  

But latest with the next add you are going to kite. It is not like EQ, where you could keep multiple mobs snared or rooted forever. You will run out of CC/dodge, if this mob is stubborn. I usually strafe-kite then and use my shortbow. However, I am strafing anyways, even with just 1 mob. Usually i open a fight with the Longbow / Pet on max distance, then I switch to shortbow, flank the mob with strafing and finish it. Flanking with shortbow is pretty badass.

Well, thats PvE. PvP is another story.

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Originally posted by vigg2004
I hate to sound like an idiot but...How do you kite in this game?  What are the keystrokes?  I tried jump kiting in WoW and sucked at it.

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I have found for my ranger, my pet (a wolf) does pretty good at keeping the attacks on him. It is usually when he dies or I do a multiple target attack that I become the target.

Originally posted by AlBQuirky

 

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Originally posted by vigg2004
I hate to sound like an idiot but...How do you kite in this game?  What are the keystrokes?  I tried jump kiting in WoW and sucked at it.

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I suck at kiting, too :) For me, I use a direction key like "A" for left AND a strafe key like "Q" to keep you running in a circle. You just have to be careful where you are kiting so you don't run into more mobs. This part is what gets me. I generally run into more mobs by accident :) It also works best in open areas, not in canyon-like pathways or a forest with trees everywhere.

 

I have found for my ranger, my pet (a wolf) does pretty good at keeping the attacks on him. It is usually when he dies or I do a multiple target attack that I become the target.

I also use Q+D or E+A for kiting, or i use my G700 mouse, where i have put Q and E on the side mouse buttons. So i can move with mouse only and have my left hand free for everything else.

The key in GW2 is indeed positioning, especially if it gets crowdy during DEs. If you are standing still and a horde of centaurs catches you from the back, you are in serious trouble. If i die in GW2 its mostly due to wrong positioning.

I certaintly agree that positioning is key.

As for kiting - a Longbow/Shortbow combo can make for fantastic kiting ablity. The longbow allows you to open at great range, speed up your pet, get in a Rapid Fire, and then use Point Blank Shot to send the mob flying away. Then switch to your shortbow where the kiting really begins.

Quick Shot allows you to create space between you and the mob. Combine that with your dodges and general circle strafing, and you are in business. Add to that Crippling shot, which will slow the mob and give you time to seperate further should they close in.

Also, don't forget that a well timed dodge -> Concussive Shot will cause the added effect of a 1 second stun - yet again allowing you to create distance.

You can see what I am getting at here - the short bow is a kiting machine, plain and simple.

It really depends on your weapon set combo.

I prefer Longbow and Axe/Warhorn.

I keep Call of the Wild on cooldown which offers nice buffs (including swiftness), have a snare from axe and a knockback from my bow. I also slot spike trap which helps alot.

There are utility skills and traits you can pick to help you out if your uncomfortable kiting. Its pretty easy to circle strafe them though.

You could always use a greatword or sword/torch for your second weapon as well and switch to melee when the mobs get in range instead of kiting.

Make sure your using a bears and taking advantage of the pet swapping if your trying to maximize your pet "tanking"

Originally posted by redman875

Umm...kiting is just the act of runnign around while attacking at a distance so that the mob your attacking stays out of range and cant attack you.

You wont be kiting as a melee...and you wont be using skills that requier you to stand still whike attacking unless you can run far enough away fromt he mob to allow for the cast time.

 

All it is is keeping a distance between you and the mob while you range attack it and while the mob is too far from you to hit you.

FALSE

My Warrior with a 2hsword, or even Dual-Axes, can kite around a mob in a tight circle and it barely ever has a chance to hit me (3/8 attacks actually land on me).

Works well, and it is a form of kiting I used to do in EQ1 with my necromancer to keep the heat off my pet.

@OP: Kiting won't help in pvp if that question ever comes up in your mind. Ranger after ranger tries to kite my warrior when he has his melee weapons out, and I roll through them like they're smoking candy out of a tube sock.

Originally posted by Fadedbomb

Originally posted by redman875

Umm...kiting is just the act of runnign around while attacking at a distance so that the mob your attacking stays out of range and cant attack you.

You wont be kiting as a melee...and you wont be using skills that requier you to stand still whike attacking unless you can run far enough away fromt he mob to allow for the cast time.

 

All it is is keeping a distance between you and the mob while you range attack it and while the mob is too far from you to hit you.

FALSE

 

My Warrior with a 2hsword, or even Dual-Axes, can kite around a mob in a tight circle and it barely ever has a chance to hit me (3/8 attacks actually land on me).

 

Works well, and it is a form of kiting I used to do in EQ1 with my necromancer to keep the heat off my pet.

 

 

@OP: Kiting won't help in pvp if that question ever comes up in your mind. Ranger after ranger tries to kite my warrior when he has his melee weapons out, and I roll through them like they're smoking candy out of a tube sock.

Kiting certainly does help/work in pvp.

maybe you have been fighting bad rangers?

I have no issues with any melee. The only profession that gives me a run for my money with a melee weapon set is double dagger thiefs.

Use Flame Trap- At low levels flame trap is a must!  Set trap and attack enemy.  Pet will go out and start attacking. Stand behind trap and call pet back to you. As soon as the mob hits the trap, send the pet back out and pew pew mob till dead. Use your knockbacks as needed (#4 skill on Longbow).  Try to have your pet attack the mob on the trap. Run up and reset trap if needed. AoE (#5 skill on Longbow) for multimob. After you reach level 7 and can always weapon switch after you blow through your Longbow skills. I've enjoyed Greatsword for this function.  

TLDR version: Use traps often > pew pew at range > weapon switch and run in to finish of mobs > replant traps > switch back to long bow if needed to keep distance.  

HEAL - just because you don't need a heal doesn't mean your pet doesn't. Don't skimp on tossing out your heal that heals you and your pet.  With bear I start healing him as soon as 1/3 of his health is down.  Keeping him alive keeps me alive in PvE.

Have 2 different pets for different roles- Bear is great for absorbing damage but I really like the Birds for quicker damage.  They die faster but do more damage than bear. If you are in a big group killing mobs, a pet tank takes too long getting to mobs. Birds, cats, dogs are quicker. (birds can fly up to attack enemies on walls in W v W, other pets can't)

I'm no expert on Ranger but these things work very well for me!

I tinkered a bit with 2 pets, too.

2 bears is obviously a solid tactics, if you prefer tanking pets. Even if you heal your pet correctly, in some situations my bear will die and so i switch on the 2nd one, shortly before the pet dies. Btw, i often prefer healing over switching, because switching means loosing aggo. Not a biggie, but sometimes not welcome. I am wondering if the 3rd beastmaster-trait (15), which reduces the cooldown on switching pets, will really help me so much. From my experience so far (Lvl 33 PvE), a bear lasts long enough, so i have usually no problem with the switching cooldown.

As i already posted, i prefer the polar bear, due to his great foe-chilling F2-skill. The brown bears as the black bears F2 skill does not really convince me. So I tinkered a bit with dogs and wolves as 2nd pet, which have an immobilize as F2 skill. Thats also a great skill. I prefer F2 skills which debuff and/or have a CC-function. However the canines and wolves are a bit less healthy than the bears, which makes a difference in many situations.

Dear Arenanet,

please extend the  Pet Management UI (K), and let us choose there once, which of the 4 skills should be the F2-skill of the pet.

and please, reduce the animation time of this F2-skill dramatically. Let it work instantly and start the animation afterwards or whatever you can do. But it has to be more reliable 

I also see the advantages of other pets, e.g.

A range pet like devourer or spider makes a lot of sense during zergfests. It is much easier to keep that alive with all these AoEs around a bossmob. However, if you are attacked suddenly by some spawned adds, you are happy having a bear in passive mode standing at your side, ready to attack. Best tactics imho is, to use a tank/tank combo for soloing and a tank/range combo for zergs. But i am too lazy  to change pets ooc always, so i mostly run with tank/tank.

A real DPS-pet also makes a lot of sense in a heavy DPS-build burning down the mobs fast. Again, you have to live with the fact, that they smelt like ice in the sun if things go wrong.

Well, this is in PvE, and from the perspective of a ranger staying at range always. I use Longbow/Shortbow, even if there are other solid range weapon-combos. Close-range rangers, might prefer other pets. But this thread is about the kiting ranger.

Originally posted by vigg2004
I hate to sound like an idiot but...How do you kite in this game?  What are the keystrokes?  I tried jump kiting in WoW and sucked at it.

Oddly, having never been able to kite in WoW I'm really good at it in GW2. I strafe alot and when the mob gets too close i dodge. The lizards and bears and cats i find hold the enemies attention the most. Choose the weapon to your playstyle as well. I use axes more AOE.

im no expert, but playing a dual pistol thief a lot of the time, what works is actually circle strafing.

Hold down strafe right or left, and double tap it when you want to dodge. just practice being able to hit 1-5 while doing this.

then you can remap your utility keys to z,x,c,v,b .. as its all but impossible to reach 6-0 while kiting as you will need to be constantly turning the camera.

for wvw what works is strafe kiting, which is zig zagging backwards/diagonal. But always be prepared to just turn and run

for spvp .. its often a comination of both.

but circle strafing really isnt all that effective in wvw, or in spvp fights where it's actually 4v4 or something.

Originally posted by azmundai

Hold down strafe right or left, and double tap it when you want to dodge. just practice being able to hit 1-5 while doing 

Another option is, mapping Q and E with some mouse-keys, if you have such a mouse. The thumb keys at the side are working great for strafing. Also the left and right mouse wheel buttons. I dunno, if the remap works just with the internal GW2 key-mapping. I use a programmable G700 mouse, so everything works. 

This way your right hand is fully free for skillbuttons and others. But this is just me. 

This game is very heavy on strafing and kiting. If you don't prefer such playstyle, your profession options are very narrow (guardian and perhaps warrior).