I feel that the Ranger Sword skill #1(autoattack) is badly balanced between PvP and PvE. In PvP, it is a great weapon that helps track targets and can sometimes be used to pull off impressive maneuvers, but in PVE the weapon falters in group and solo content becoming difficult to control and restrictive in its ability to allow passive movement.
An easy example of this difficulty is the Golem Mrk 2 world boss where the sword leaps will put you into the electricity even when on the correct un-electrified side of the Golem.
Note: This improvement only refers to the autoattack of ranger sword(Skill #1) and its chains listed here for convenience.
Slash->Kick->Pounce
Skill #1->Chain 2->Chain 3
Goal
The Goal of my change is to bring better balance to the sword skill #1 in both PvP and PvE without greatly altering its functionality for PvP players who prefer the leaps that the sword provides. The changes will apply to both PvE and PvP following Anet’s Goal to keep the weapons the same between modes.
Sword Changes
While an enemy/object is Targeted: If you are within cleave distance of the targeted enemy/object, you will instead use generic slash animations that allow movement for sword skill #1: chain 2 and 3 that have the same damage, range, conditions, and boons applied as the current version without the leaps. If the targeted enemy/object is outside of cleave distance when sword skill #1: chain 2 or 3 is activated, the chains 2 and 3 will utilize the kick/leap functionality and animation as of the current version of the game.
No Target: The generic sword slashes as stated above will be used, and the kick/leap functionality will not be used even if outside cleave range of an enemy/object.
Pro’s:
This change would now allow good passive movement and enable the ranger to use sword in PvE situations where normally the sword would be detrimental. This in essence will fix the rooting issue when close to an enemy and when an enemy is not targeted, and would fix the leaping off nearby ledges after enemy death since the leap cannot occur without a target.
If one is worried about being targeted to an enemy and jumping back in, one only needs to drop the target to prevent the leap from pulling them back into an enemy.
Con’s:
The negative of this change is that some mobility is lost since you can no longer leap without a target. I think that the loss would be worth the improvement in PvE but I can see why some people who play PvP might have a problem with this.
Feel free to post constructive discussion on the improvement of the ranger’s sword weapon in both PvE and PvP. I only ask that if you feel that the current sword is adequate that you do not post stating such or L2P and variations thereof. I know some primary PvP players like the ranger sword the way it is but that I would like the thread to stay clean to allow constructive posts on improving the weapon for both PvE and PvP.
Thank You.
(edited by AlphaK.9486)