The Best Open-World Build For Untamed Rangers - Guild Wars 2: End Of Dragons

Quick Links

Build Overview

Pets

Utility Skills

Specializations

Weapons And Armour

Guild Wars 2 releases a new elite specialization for every class when they release a new expansion. End of Dragons, the third expansion, introduced the Untamed specialization for rangers! It allows them to wield a hammer for the first time and jump right into the middle of combat with it!

Here, we're covering the best build you can use in the open-world of Tyria as an Untamed Ranger. It'll help you to explore the brand-new continent that was also introduced in this expansion - Cantha - and the wonderful new cultures there.

Note: The build detailed in this guide is based on the meta of Guild Wars 2 at the time the guide was written.

Build Overview

Guild Wars 2 players have identified the Untamed Specialization as best suited for PvP (player versus player) or solo PvE (player versus enemy) content.

It remains to be seen whether the post-launch balancing or extra experimentation by players will change that assessment, but it comes out of experience with the other two Ranger Elite Specializations. The Druid Specialization is a superb healer, practically unmatched. The Soulbeast Specialization can deal out incredible DPS. If you're looking for either of those things, go in that direction.

Until now, the damage or survivability you might be missing respectively could be balanced out by not leaning fully into the damage buffs or heals. Untamed provides a way to focus on buffing yourself and your pet, which provides good survivability in PvE. That's the build we'll be discussing today!

Pets

For pets, you'll want something that can dole out decent damage but which won't die on you too quickly. Exactly what you prefer is dependent on what you focus on. We recommend the following pets, but especially the Smokescale and Rock Gazelle.

Pet	Pros	Cons
Smokescale	Good strike damage Great survivability	Poor condition damage
Rock Gazelle	Good strike damage Good survivability Good crowd control abilities when not unleashed	Poor condition damage
Juvenile White Tiger	Good condition damage Good survivability	Mediocre strike damage
Jacaranda	Defensive Healing ability	Not a great offensive option
Siege Turtle	Good survivability Ranged attacks Projectile block	Not the best damage option

Utility Skills

Screenshot of an untamed Asura Ranger in Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons.

The utility skills we recommend focus on providing boons for you and inflicting conditions on your enemies.

Healing Utility Skill	Utility Skills	Elite Utility Skills
"We Heal As One!"	Exploding Spores Spike Trap Signet of the Wild	Forest's Fortification
Alternates: Frost Spirit (huge increase to a group's DPS, use during large-scale events or metas) Signet of Stone (increases your toughness and gives you a panic button for dangerous situations) Lightning Reflexes (another panic button, which breaks stuns and is an evade) Frost Trap (alternate trap, slows enemies - equip if using a longbow or sword/axe instead of axe/axe)

Healing Utility Skill

Utility Skills

Elite Utility Skills

"We Heal As One!"

Exploding Spores
Spike Trap
Signet of the Wild

Forest's Fortification

Alternates:

Frost Spirit (huge increase to a group's DPS, use during large-scale events or metas)
Signet of Stone (increases your toughness and gives you a panic button for dangerous situations)
Lightning Reflexes (another panic button, which breaks stuns and is an evade)
Frost Trap (alternate trap, slows enemies - equip if using a longbow or sword/axe instead of axe/axe)

Specializations

The Specializations we recommend are focused on providing boons for you without reducing your damage output too much.

We offer a few alternatives if you choose to use a longbow instead of dual-wielding with an axe. In the Skirmishing Specialization, the changes are because the longbow and sword skills don't provide significant bleeding, so we strongly recommend switching if you're using those weapons. In the Marksmanship Specialization, the change is because you'll get more damage at range, but that one is up to your preferences a bit.

Specialization	First Tier	Second Tier	Third Tier
Marksmanship	Hunter's Gaze	Moment of Clarity	Remorseless
Marksmanship	Hunter's Gaze	Alternates: Farsighted (if using a longbow)	Remorseless
Skirmishing	Sharpened Edges	Hidden Barbs	Quick Draw
Skirmishing	Alternates: Primal Reflexes (if using a longbow or sword)	Alternates: Spotter (if using a longbow or sword)	Quick Draw
Untamed	Debilitating Blows	Enhancing Impact	Ferocious Symbiosis

Weapons And Armour

Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons - Untamed Specialization art

This section will detail the equipment you should (ideally) use with this build.

For weapons, equip...

First Set: Hammer
Second Set: Axe/Axe

Always equip a Hammer, but you can switch out the second weapon set for a few alternatives if you prefer:

Some players enjoy using a longbow so that they can fight at long-range and have increased mobility. It also means your pet can take the heat in combat for a moment and give you time to recover if most of your equipment is geared for DPS.
You could also equip a sword in your main-hand and an axe in your off-hand to be a bit more mobile without going fully long-range. This also provides better strike damage, though worse condition damage, than axe/axe.

Next, we'll cover the stats, runes, and sigils your gear should have.

Armour Stats	Runes	Weapon Stats	Sigils
All your armour and accessories should have 'Berserker' stats: ++Power +Precision +Ferocity	Use Runes of Vampirism in all your armour pieces. (1): +25 Power (2): +35 Vitality (3): +50 Power (4): +65 Vitality (5): +100 Power (6): +10% Maximum Health; restore 10% of your health upon killing a foe	All your weapons should have 'Berserker' stats: ++Power +Precision +Ferocity	On your first weapon set (hammer), equip a Sigil of Accuracy and a Sigil of Impact: of Accuracy: +7% Critical Chance of Impact: +3% Strike Damage, +7% Strike Damage vs. Stunned or Knocked-Down Foes On your second weapon set (axe/axe, sword/axe, or longbow), equip Sigils of Force and Sigils of Accuracy on both weapons. of Force: +5% Damage of Accuracy: +7% Critical Chance
Alternatives
If you want better defense, use.... ... Marauder armour ++Power ++Precision +Vitality +Ferocity ... and Knight's accessories ++Toughness +Power +Precision	Use Runes of the Scholar in all your armour pieces for the best DPS at the cost of defense. (1): +25 Power (2): +35 Ferocity (3): +50 Power (4): +65 Ferocity (5): +100 Power (6): +125 Ferocity; increase strike damage by 5% while your health is above 90%. (Runes of Strength and Runes of Infiltration cost less than Runes of the Scholar but still do significant DPS). The best defense option is to use all Runes of Durability, at the cost of DPS. (1): +25 Toughness (2): +5% Boon Duration (3): +50 Toughness (4): +10% Boon Duration (5): +100 Toughness (6): +10% Maximum Health; grant nearby allies protection and regeneration for 3 seconds, and resistance for 1 second, when struck. (Cooldown: 20 Seconds)	N/A	Equip a Sigil of Energy if you switch weapons a lot and want a defensive option (ability to dodge-roll more often). of Energy: Gain 50% of your endurance when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9 Seconds) Using a Sigil of Air with the Sigil of Accuracy is a good alternate DPS option. of Air: Unleash a lightning strike upon critically hitting a foe. (Cooldown: 3 Seconds)

Armour Stats

Runes

Weapon Stats

Sigils

All your armour and accessories should have 'Berserker' stats:

++Power
+Precision
+Ferocity

Use Runes of Vampirism in all your armour pieces.

(1): +25 Power
(2): +35 Vitality
(3): +50 Power
(4): +65 Vitality
(5): +100 Power
(6): +10% Maximum Health; restore 10% of your health upon killing a foe

All your weapons should have 'Berserker' stats:

++Power
+Precision
+Ferocity

On your first weapon set (hammer), equip a Sigil of Accuracy and a Sigil of Impact:

of Accuracy: +7% Critical Chance
of Impact: +3% Strike Damage, +7% Strike Damage vs. Stunned or Knocked-Down Foes

On your second weapon set (axe/axe, sword/axe, or longbow), equip Sigils of Force and Sigils of Accuracy on both weapons.

of Force: +5% Damage
of Accuracy: +7% Critical Chance

Alternatives

If you want better defense, use.... ... Marauder armour

++Power
++Precision
+Vitality
+Ferocity

... and Knight's accessories

++Toughness
+Power
+Precision

Use Runes of the Scholar in all your armour pieces for the best DPS at the cost of defense.

(1): +25 Power
(2): +35 Ferocity
(3): +50 Power
(4): +65 Ferocity
(5): +100 Power
(6): +125 Ferocity; increase strike damage by 5% while your health is above 90%.

(Runes of Strength and Runes of Infiltration cost less than Runes of the Scholar but still do significant DPS). The best defense option is to use all Runes of Durability, at the cost of DPS.

(1): +25 Toughness
(2): +5% Boon Duration
(3): +50 Toughness
(4): +10% Boon Duration
(5): +100 Toughness
(6): +10% Maximum Health; grant nearby allies protection and regeneration for 3 seconds, and resistance for 1 second, when struck. (Cooldown: 20 Seconds)

N/A

Equip a Sigil of Energy if you switch weapons a lot and want a defensive option (ability to dodge-roll more often).