Guild Wars 2recently released End of Dragons, and with it, nine new Elite specializations. Each of the new Elite Specializations adds a unique spin on how the nine professions are played, complete with a new mechanic, a new weapon proficiency, and new skills.
The Untamed is the new Elite specialization for the Ranger profession. It gains proficiency with hammers for maximum damage and disruption in close environs and gains access to new cantrip skills and the Unleash mechanic. Though the Ranger is a medium armor-wearing Adventurer profession in Guild Wars 2, the Untamed brings heavy hits and unparalleled survivability to a class that otherwise thrives as a mid-range, evasive opponent.
Best Specialization Builds For The Untamed
The Untamed’s core mechanic is called Unleash–a buff bounced between the Ranger and their pet. An Unleashed pet has its abilities transformed into debilitating AoE attacks, while an Unleashed Ranger can activate an Unleashed Ambush–a powerful upgrade to their basic weapon skill–immediately after Unleashing. The Elite specialization operates by Unleashing their pet and themselves back and forth, functioning similarly to switching weapons and pets.
The other minor traits of the Untamed are Natural Fortitude and Vow of the Untamed. The former grants bonus Vitality and life steal on their Untamed Ambush, while the latter gives bonus damage while Unleashed and damage reduction while their pet is Unleashed.
For major traits, building around becoming an unstoppable force of nature complements this particular End of Dragons Elite specialization best. Nature’s Shield grants a small health barrier for each Cantrip skill used, while Cleansing Unleashremoves 2 conditions whenever the Ranger or their pet Unleashes. Lastly, Restorative Strikes heals the Ranger for a percentage of their strike damage, further increasing their survivability and synergizing with its minor traits.
The Wilderness Survival specialization is a good companion to the Untamed Elite specialization. The minor traits allow a Ranger to dodge roll more, and grant Protection and healing while doing so. The Taste for Danger trait can grant additional Vitality and Expertise for even more survivability, while the Shared Anguish and Empathic Bond traits allow a pet to take disables and share conditions with the Ranger.
Finally, the Beastmastery specialization complements the pet-focused Untamed perfectly. The minor traits increase a pet’s abilities, making their Unleashed skills even more devastating. For major traits, Potent Ally grants Might to the Ranger or pet when the other scores a critical hit, and Two-Handed Training gives a boost to greatsword skills and grants Fury whenever a foe is disabled.
Lastly, Zephyr’s Speed gives Quickness and movement speed whenever switching pets–which should be done frequently to maximize buff uptime and ability cooldowns for most Ranger builds in Guild Wars 2.
Best Equipment And Stats For The Untamed
The Untamed has free range of the Ranger profession's normal weapons, as each one gets a unique Unleashed Ambush, but the Untamed-specific hammer gains a wider variety of unique abilities while Unleashed, making it a natural pick. As the Untamed shines when in the thick of combat, a melee weapon with heavy damage and disables is a prime pick, making the greatsword the perfect companion to the debilitating hammer.
As far as statistics are concerned, the Untamed should focus on increasing their Power and Vitality, with a healthy amount of Precision and Ferocity as well. Toughness, Expertise, and Concentration can’t hurt but aren’t the focus of this build.
For this reason, Marauder gear is a powerful choice, as it gives a high amount of Power and Precision, and lesser amounts of Vitality and Ferocity. This lends to more critical hits for more Might stacks with Potent Ally and more strike damage for Restorative Strike’s life steal.
Though several Rune sets can shine on Untamed armor sets, the Superior Rune of Vampirism is a powerful choice. In addition to a healthy package of Power and Vitality, it also grants a passive 10% heal on a killing blow. With a health pool that can easily reach over 30,000, healing for 3000 health after each kill is significant, especially when paired with its other sources of life drain.
Sigils that grant a stacking buff on kills are especially powerful, as they can be preserved with the Untamed’s insane survivability. The Superior Sigil of Perception is a powerful pick for the greatsword, allowing for quick kills to stack 250 bonus Precision, which should raise their critical chance to over 70%–or 90% with Fury.
For the hammer, the Superior Sigil of Blood heals on critical hits, which will happen just about every 5-second cooldown. For the second Sigil slots for each weapon, a Superior Sigil of Strength is a great pick, as it grants Might on the frequent critical hits the Untamed will score.
Best Skills And Pets For The Untamed
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Many of the skills available to the Untamed can make for powerful picks, but their specialization-specific Cantrips synergize with it perfectly, especially with the barrier granted from Nature’s Shield and the situational buffs they give based on who is Unleashed.
The Perilous Gift healing skill is a strong emergency button that makes them invincible for 3 seconds, and then heals half of the Untamed’s missing hit points from its massive health pool. For utility skills, Unnatural Traversal, Nature’s Binding, and Exploding Spores make a devastating combo, allowing the Untamed to engage, trap, and devastate them with a powerful AoE attack. The Might and Swiftness granted by these skills while the Ranger is Unleashed will ensure whoever is stuck within the Untamed’s cage will feel the wrath of nature.
The Mutate Conditions cantrip is useful, but not necessary for this build, as it has other mechanics to mitigate conditions.
The Cantrip Elite Skill, Forest’s Fortification, is a powerful defensive cooldown that reduces incoming damage by 50% along with granting other buffs, making it a perfect skill for the unkillable Untamed.
For Rangers, choosing the right pet is as important as choosing the right skills. Though all pets share the same Unleashed skills, their normal abilities will still be useful for the intervals when the Ranger is Unleashed.
The best offensive options for the Untamed are the Jungle Stalker or Tiger feline pets, with their AoE Might and Fury buffs. For defensive options, Moas make for strong choices, as they share an AoE heal, with Black and Pink Moas having a dazing debuff and Red Moas having an AoE Fury buff. Lastly, the Brown Bear is a solid choice as well, with extreme survivability and the ability to cure conditions on itself and nearby allies.
Having all of these pets on hand is wise, so Untamed Rangers can change them out depending on their needs, though the best strategy is to have 1 offensive and 1 defensive pet equipped at any given time.
The Untamed gives the Ranger access to an aggressive and disruptive playstyle normally reserved for Warrior professions in Guild Wars 2. By snowballing into an unstoppable, self-healing heavy-hitter, an Untamed can persevere through all but the most unrelenting of assaults and can trap and punish any enemies who get in their way.
Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons is available now on PC.