Any hunter players here?
My hunter is very near to hitting level 40, and of course that means a trait reset with the level 40 book.
So far I've been playing her using a shortbow/axe+horn combination with condition gear. The torch is probably better for condition damage, but I love the "summon birds to peck out your enemies eyes skill" and the buff at skill 5 is great in groups and wonderful for getting around a map with it's speed buff.
I use my shortbow when soloing and flank the enemy for the bleeds while my pet tanks. The axe is great against groups, in tight areas like caves and is great for group events to since you can tag so many mobs at once with it.
I played around with the greatsword, and while I loved the look of the skills I didn't find it as survivable. The longbow just felt too slow after using the shortbow for a while.
In my utility slots I have Signet of stone and Signet of the Wild, both to help me and my pet survive better, and Flame trap for close up AoE and as a combo field. My Elite is Entangle, my heal is Healing Spring.
The last few days/levels I find myself using the shortbow less and less; only to pull really. I'm up against more and more groups of enemies and the axe works better for that.
I went to the official forum and guru for a build, but the only thing being discussed there is crying and raging over the Crossfire change. Not really useful to me, since the ranger is my favorite of the classes I've tried for longer then 5 levels (my others being Guardian, Mesmer and Warrior).
So what do you guys do? Use the shortbow and focus on condition damage or use a longbow and power/precision? I mainly PvE and haven't done any dungeons yet, so it's mainly for soling/dynamic events.
I did all the way to 80 with Longbow/shortbow, going 20/30/5/0/15. Even with the crossfire nerf, I still like the shortbow, maybe it's because I'm too used to it to actually use another weapon !
Heal Spring, Quickening Zephyr (Or the signet to get some movespeed if I need to roam and just encounter normal mobs), Signet of the wild and signet of stone, Rampage as One for Elite.
I went for Power/prec/crit damage, focusing on stacking crit because there's a good synergy with your pets (Skirmishing -> Companion's Might/Carnivorous Appetite)
Marksmanship is mainly for Piercing Arrows. This is too good imho.
I started to use Sword/Horn instead of Longbow from time to time, it's fun.