This is something I wrote up a while back. I'm not taking time to edit/update it, just copypasta.
This is WvW focused but the greatsword/sword talk later in the post works okay in pve as well. I had a pve write up too, I'll try to find it.
Partially a cross post from the discussion in the "Official Ranger Builds" thread so that I can elaborate more here and not clutter up the sticky thread with as much theory-crafting.
Inspiration
So, I initially was looking for something to replace my roaming-regen set to better suit myself for large group fights, and I stumble upon this thread on Guru:
Sentinel Frontliner: Next Level WvW Ranger (Guide) Specifically,
this variant.
Falcanium also located
this Ranger guide, using the same trait point allocation and utility slots.
Accompanying Video:
Discussion
This is what I am currently sitting with though it is still very much in flux when it comes to gear. At the moment, Applied fortitude provides me the vitality to stay alive but we'll see if that keeps up as more people are able to slot rank points into it. Pet Selection is the Krytan Drakehound and the Wolf.
The basic idea is that the Ranger can survive in the front line either with the heavies and then back off, or pop in once the heavies have already pushed. You are survivable enough to stick around, stay upright, and proc the skills you need to, and then back off into a more mid-range role. If the group is being supported well by water fields (of which the ranger has an execellent water field), and you use your weapon evades smartly, you can potentially stay up front the entire fight. The primary skills are Entangle and Muddy Terrain, with Stone and Wild Signet being for invuln and stablity/+25% damage respectively. While the stone and wild signet may seem like selfish choices, one must remember that these also affect your pet which allows then to roar off their fears and immobilize. Think of it this way, with this set up, you have access to THREE area immobilizes if you smartly use your pet. And then you can swap to a fear while in combat. Just have to remember to use your pets and not ignore them, even if you slot 0 in BM.
Muddy terrain is a very nice soft cc with a long duration and generous cool down that immobilizes anyone you cast it on and cripples any who walk over it. With Wilderness Knowledge, you have access to MT every 20 seconds and it lasts 10, which is excellent up time. I tend to not slot Wildnerness Knowledge, running Shared Anguish instead. I find that I'm not typically waiting on MT to cd anyways, though obviously you can slot the Major trait however you feel you need. Entangle is very powerful, and I try to burst forward and place that as soon as the commander pushes. It forces cleanse and induces stun breakers. If you are patient enough to seek out the back line after the initial push has been made, it can absolutely wreck casters though I like to proc it early so that I can get a second Entangle later in the fight. I touched on Stone and Wild Signet. Both are good passive or active and allow your pet to get off a roar.
The idea with the axe offhand is that it is highly damaging, pulls, and interrupts, and pierces. A clump of enemies can be interrupted and bought away from their mob. You can park in a clump at activate axe 5 (if you need to you can proc stone signet while doing this) to build up vulnerability, not be damaged by projectiles, and retaliate those that are hitting you. You also build might with the crits here but I am still trying to consider a better sigil on the sword. The sword is highly damaging and also highly maneuverable, so it's great for getting out of trouble and staying upright.
The longbow is very useful but also a bit of a dead-weight if you end up caught in a close quarters skirmish with it and unable to swap readily. . I'm thinking of dropping the Longbow for a Axe/Warhorn. Or maybe I could go Sword/AxeOr Warhorn and then GS. Longbow can be really useful in a zerg fight though, as long as you have a more maneuverable weapon on swap. It's great for crippling barrages if you are in the back and don't have MT up, or are sieging a tower, but sometimes I feel like I'd rather have some other weapon slotted. Rapid fire, traited to pierce through a zerg, is fun to fire from the back if you like to see lots of numbers, and the stealth and sort of be band-aided into an escape, though I'd only use that as a last resort. Luckily my LB and Sword are legendary so I can respec those easily. I have two ascended axes so that I can swap out once bloodlust is maximized. I feel the sentinels trinkets and applied fortitude afford me the Knights armor selection, but I may need to swap rune-sets. I just listed a Zerker backpiece since those are not as easy to replace and it's what I have access to at the moment. As long as I stay above 3000 armor I find that I am largely okay.
Here is something I've put together gear-wise in order to replace the expensive sentinel's trinkets. All of the major stats are in line with what was there before. Swapped out for Ranger runes, since that 5% 6th slot is basically perfect for Rangers (and rangers only). Greater damage output and vitality with no loss in toughness.
Here is variant that I am going to try next, dropping the longbow for a greatsword and adjusting traits accordingly. I don't think you'd need to swap any gear or trinkets around, you lose some precision and gain some toughness from the new traits which would be desirable anyway with this swap.
I agree that warhorn is a nice off hand as well, it's just that warhorn 4 is near-useless and 35 second cooldown on 5 is not exactly generous. I have run it in zergs, as it IS our only real blast finisher...it's just extremely underwhelming and it feels like a lot of time waiting for nothing or launching birds for the lols. I think it would be nice if they made something like Maul a blast finisher. Not holding my breath though. Axe mainhand I find is...okay.... It feels like a lazy weapon for zerg fights. Axe 2 isn't gonna do much of anything to anyone, and neither is a single target chill in Axe 3. It's a GREAT roaming weapon, or good for a condition-bunker-regen type. I use it in pvp when I spec significantly more strongly in conditions. I HAVE read ideas of putting a chill-on-crit on mainhand axe, but I haven't tested it myself.
What I've been doing recently is running the GS/Sword build as linked. Yes the sword is tricky to learn to keep yourself where you want to position yourself, but it is a great defensive weapon with its two evades, and the Sword 2-1 -> look behind -> 2-2 is a great distance creator. The sword also does a great job for chasing people down, which is essential in a periphery-type role. The greatsword is great for more macro-positioning. So easy to just target the tag and swoop to him for instant regroup and healing and other blasts. The evade on auto is great for wiping up downed and being patient enough to wait for the counterattack on 4 followed by 5 make it a great skirmishing weapon. I have pretty great luck/fortune/skill/what-have-you running two melee sets, as a ranger. Though the sample size is still small. I will try main hand axe again next time I want to have a melee-range pairing. I've typically used longbow for that purpose but I've been loving that less and less.
I would really like it if they dropped the warhorn 5 recharge. No way am I slotting the offhand trait to still have a longer recharge than warriors base and, lol, more frequent birds. When I did run warhorn I found I often couldn't blast anyway because it was on cooldown. Thet could easily drop the recharge by 5 if not a fulll 10 seconds (and boom duration accordingly), which is a testament to how long the recharge is currently. It would be exceedingly nice if 4 didn't require line of sight and provided a blind or something. But it does and doesn't, respectively. But until those are tweaked, I find I just can't /love/ warhorn, though still clearly a better option than, say, torch or dagger.