Guild Wars 2

Skirmishing: Strider’s Defense – You have a 15% chance to block ranged attacks while in melee.

Please consider revising this trait ANet. No one will go for this investment 30 (or 6 new meta soon) deep in Skirmishing for a 15% chance to block ranged attacks? 15% is so small for a grandmaster. I know you guys got this trait from here:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Escape

15% chance is not even considered Major in sigil terms so why should this be a Grandmaster trait?

Rework:

Strider’s Defense: You have a 33% chance to block ranged attacks while in melee. Gain 1 might for 5s when you block. (Similar to Warriors)

How about Ranger taking less damage overall when melee’ing, 15% would then be acceptable? As it is, terrible, as op pointed out, not even good for sigils lol.

Hey Anet, do any of you play rangers?

agree….this is probably the worst new GM trait in all classes…………would even have to think about at a 10 pt cost.

You do have to consider that the majority of these new traits are likely to be example only to judge community reaction. A lot of them seem poorly thought out or just plain weak for a Grandmaster trait.

There’s a possibility that that’s deliberate to encourage the community to discuss alternatives. You can get a wider variety of ideas out of a player base rather than a drastically smaller design team after all.

Just a thought.

It’s the worst trait change on rangers for sure.

What about ‘your pet f2 blinds and cripples nearby foes’

I have two big problems with this trait.
1- It’s RNG. You could block an absolutely excellent ability like Point-Blank Shot, Pin Down or Magic Bullet which will put your enemy at a huge disadvantage. You could block nothing at all during a fight. Personally, this makes this skill absolutely utter rubbish in my opinion from a design standpoint- It’s an RNG element that counteracts clutch plays.
2- It only affects projectiles. Projectiles are a very specific class of attack and it won’t do anything against a nice big pile of abilities. This tied with the 15% chance proc rate makes it really, really tricky to justify picking up.
3- No counterplay. If you’re dependent on your ranged attacks, you can’t do anything about the fact that you’re rolling the dice when you’re fighting a Strider’s Defense ranger.

My suggestion:
Strider’s Defense: When you land a melee attack, gain 20 seconds of Aegis. 20 second CD
This nails these problems right in the face; it removes the RNG element, makes the ability more practical to use against everyone, and Aegis already has bunches of systems to support and counter it. Duration and ICD are debatable, of course; I would personally put it somewhere between 15 and 25 seconds.

Phaeton.9582:

It’s the worst trait change on rangers for sure.

What about ‘your pet f2 blinds and cripples nearby foes’

This double dips with Intimidation Training, so I’m kind of skeptical of it.

Sarrs.4831:

My suggestion:
Strider’s Defense: When you land a melee attack, gain 20 seconds of Aegis. 20 second CD
This nails these problems right in the face; it removes the RNG element, makes the ability more practical to use against everyone, and Aegis already has bunches of systems to support and counter it. Duration and ICD are debatable, of course; I would personally put it somewhere between 15 and 25 seconds.

This a cool idea.. you could lower the ICD though..

Sarrs.4831:

Phaeton.9582:

It’s the worst trait change on rangers for sure.

What about ‘your pet f2 blinds and cripples nearby foes’

This double dips with Intimidation Training, so I’m kind of skeptical of it.

‘your pet f2 blinds and cripples weakens nearby foes’ maybe?

Sarrs.4831:

I have two big problems with this trait.
1- It’s RNG. You could block an absolutely excellent ability like Point-Blank Shot, Pin Down or Magic Bullet which will put your enemy at a huge disadvantage. You could block nothing at all during a fight. Personally, this makes this skill absolutely utter rubbish in my opinion from a design standpoint- It’s an RNG element that counteracts clutch plays.
2- It only affects projectiles. Projectiles are a very specific class of attack and it won’t do anything against a nice big pile of abilities. This tied with the 15% chance proc rate makes it really, really tricky to justify picking up.
3- No counterplay. If you’re dependent on your ranged attacks, you can’t do anything about the fact that you’re rolling the dice when you’re fighting a Strider’s Defense ranger.

My suggestion:
Strider’s Defense: When you land a melee attack, gain 20 seconds of Aegis. 20 second CD
This nails these problems right in the face; it removes the RNG element, makes the ability more practical to use against everyone, and Aegis already has bunches of systems to support and counter it. Duration and ICD are debatable, of course; I would personally put it somewhere between 15 and 25 seconds.

Phaeton.9582:

It’s the worst trait change on rangers for sure.

What about ‘your pet f2 blinds and cripples nearby foes’

This double dips with Intimidation Training, so I’m kind of skeptical of it.

Yeah thats my problem with it its RNG. But I think it compensates for it if youre thinking GS and Sword/Dagger on a ranger, the 2 most defensive weapon sets we have since you’ll be a dodging monkey with those sets.

I like your idea, but 20s ICD on an aegis is too long, I’d rather trade aegis for protection if we’re talking about boons.

Diehard.1432:

Hey Anet, do any of you play rangers?

Im not sure if ANet is trolling or not, you also have to consider its almost April Fools, Id love to think these traits are jokes theyre trying to pull. Wishful thinking on my part though.

Phaeton.9582:

This a cool idea.. you could lower the ICD though..

AEFA.9035:

I like your idea, but 20s ICD on an aegis is too long, I’d rather trade aegis for protection if we’re talking about boons.

Yeah, I’m not setting the ICD in stone. One thing to think about is that the Aegis you get will be directly countering things that enemies use to try to push you away or control you as soon as you close that distance; you Swoop in, land a hit, they’ll be trying to use Pin/PBS/Magic Bullet straight away so they can buy themselves some space. The Aegis’s effectiveness is tied to their cooldown, not yours. As a rough guesstimate, it should be good enough to reliably match CD with just one of their defensive tools- You’re still buying an advantage, but not so much to make the trait mandatory or overpowered.

I just quickly checked and the CDs on those skills are 25/15/25 respectively, so I reckon anywhere between 15 and 20 sec would also be pretty fair.

That’s a great idea! But what about:

Striders Defense: Gain Aegis when evading an attack while in melee. (= melee weapon)
Aegis duration: 5 seconds, ICD: about 15 seconds

That’d be even less random than “on hit”.

mixxed.5862:

That’s a great idea! But what about:

Striders Defense: Gain Aegis when evading an attack while in melee. (= melee weapon)
Aegis duration: 5 seconds, ICD: about 15 seconds

That’d be even less random than “on hit”.

I think that evading a core defensive skill is benefit enough on its own, so attaching an Aegis to that is kind of redundant.

Hitting your opponent is far from random, too.

I personally think that it might be better to be reworked in a more offensive/defensive manner.

Striders Defense: Block ranged attacks for 1 second every 2-3 seconds in melee combat as long as you are attacking.

Could be worded a bit differently or duration changed, but reworking it in this fashion would encourage Rangers to fight in melee with significant benefit from taking the risky fighting style.
Alternatively instead of the cooldown, it could simply be the duration is for however long an attack is going on. (The more you attack, the more blocks you get.)

This makes it so that a ranger in combat can time their attacks, without relying too heavily on RNG. Also, it doesn’t clarify what defines ‘melee’ does it mean in range of the opponent or simply weapons? The fact its so vague is also a problem.

I’m not a fan of any of these % chance to proc things. Especially for defensive stuff. Honestly, what it needs to do is just reflect all projectiles for X seconds after using a skill. Something like Lightning Reflexes of QZ or smething.

Phaeton.9582:

It’s the worst trait change on rangers for sure.

Have you seen Read the Wind?

dylan.5409:

How about Ranger taking less damage overall when melee’ing, 15% would then be acceptable?

Actually, I would like that. 15% less damage from aoe and overall damage? Yeah. That would allow me to stay in melee that much longer and apply more damage. That is assuming it wasn’t an RNG based chance but a solid 15% reduction in damage.

What about: Strider’s Defense: whenever you successfully evade or block using a melee weapon skill, gain 5s aegis (10s icd).

It would be much more in the ranger’s control when it procs, and would eliminate all passive play/rng. I’d argue that “Aegis when attacking” is kind of passive, because you’re usually attacking :P.

maddoctor.2738:

Phaeton.9582:

It’s the worst trait change on rangers for sure.

Have you seen Read the Wind?

That’s my faveourite new trait if it’s 100% increase! Shame it’s at the cost of signets..

Alissah.9281:

What about: Strider’s Defense: whenever you successfully evade or block using a melee weapon skill, gain 5s aegis (10s icd).

It would be much more in the ranger’s control when it procs, and would eliminate all passive play/rng. I’d argue that “Aegis when attacking” is kind of passive, because you’re usually attacking :P.

You’re usually dodging, too. Gaining an aegis when you dodge basically turns it into a double dodge- You dodge one attack, then you block another. I think it’s more or less just double dipping.

That ICD is really, really short too.

Phaeton.9582:

That’s my faveourite new trait if it’s 100% increase! Shame it’s at the cost of signets..

And two of Spotter, Eagle Eye, and Piercing Arrows. So you can have any two of longer range, piercing arrows, or fast arrows. You have to do without one (along with doing without Signet of the Beastmaster).

maddoctor.2738:

Phaeton.9582:

It’s the worst trait change on rangers for sure.

Have you seen Read the Wind?

lol no, this is much worse. RTW, no matter how grossly overprice in points, still has a benefit. This is barely worthy of a minor adept trait.

Sarrs.4831:

Alissah.9281:

What about: Strider’s Defense: whenever you successfully evade or block using a melee weapon skill, gain 5s aegis (10s icd).

It would be much more in the ranger’s control when it procs, and would eliminate all passive play/rng. I’d argue that “Aegis when attacking” is kind of passive, because you’re usually attacking :P.

You’re usually dodging, too. Gaining an aegis when you dodge basically turns it into a double dodge- You dodge one attack, then you block another. I think it’s more or less just double dipping.

That ICD is really, really short too.

But you don’t spam dodges and blocks, do you? And the ICD is subject to change, I really don’t have any in depth knowledge of where all ranger traits are located…

Alissah.9281:

Sarrs.4831:

Alissah.9281:

What about: Strider’s Defense: whenever you successfully evade or block using a melee weapon skill, gain 5s aegis (10s icd).

It would be much more in the ranger’s control when it procs, and would eliminate all passive play/rng. I’d argue that “Aegis when attacking” is kind of passive, because you’re usually attacking :P.

You’re usually dodging, too. Gaining an aegis when you dodge basically turns it into a double dodge- You dodge one attack, then you block another. I think it’s more or less just double dipping.

That ICD is really, really short too.

But you don’t spam dodges and blocks, do you? And the ICD is subject to change, I really don’t have any in depth knowledge of where all ranger traits are located…

I actually re-read it and noticed that you specified when using weapon skills. With a greatsword, you do automatically use evades; Ranger Greatsword 1(3) has an evade element.

Personally, I do not see “landing an initial melee attack” as random or spammy whatsoever. If you switch to your melee weapon or run at someone with a melee weapon, you’re doing it with deliberate and obvious intent. They know that you’ve got your melee weapon ready to roll and they know that they might need to chew through Aegis before they can land a controlling skill on you. You know that if you land a melee attack, you’re going to have a bit more breathing room.

Phaeton.9582:

Sarrs.4831:

My suggestion:
Strider’s Defense: When you land a melee attack, gain 20 seconds of Aegis. 20 second CD
This nails these problems right in the face; it removes the RNG element, makes the ability more practical to use against everyone, and Aegis already has bunches of systems to support and counter it. Duration and ICD are debatable, of course; I would personally put it somewhere between 15 and 25 seconds.

This a cool idea.. you could lower the ICD though..

Sarrs.4831:

Phaeton.9582:

It’s the worst trait change on rangers for sure.

What about ‘your pet f2 blinds and cripples nearby foes’

This double dips with Intimidation Training, so I’m kind of skeptical of it.

‘your pet f2 blinds and cripples weakens nearby foes’ maybe?

I rather that Intimidation training is changed.

I have a better idea. Leave it as is, but add " when you block an attack in this way, deal X damage to foes around you. Targets: 5. Range: 180.

wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Whirling_Defense

Basically turns the trait into a small WD from GW1 or GW2. I don’t know if there’re any “on block” traits for ranger, but I think not. This makes it much more interesting, though personally I’m fine with the trait how it is.

I’ve been wanting to see a sniper ranger build for a while, so it’d be great if a viable build could form around read the wind. My fear is we will be forced to run 30/30/X for our dps to compensate for class weaknesses as a zerker, and this RNG block trait simple can’t deliver on a zerker build. This puts a lot of pressure on read the wind to be effective, as no signets is a big loss.

For me the skirmishing GM was a ‘make or break’ for glass power ranger that doesn’t look to deliver, like the the new virtues GM on guardian (for dps)…

I think a 25%~35% reduction to both incoming direct damage and incoming condition duration from projectile attacks only while being within 130 of an enemy would be good.

Should be changed to something like “Gain Aegis for 5s and protection for 3s when swapping to a melee weapon”.

That would help melee based rangers survivability and would be in keeping with the theme of the traitline (buffs of weapon swaps).

I’d prefer it as:

Strider’s Defense: When you use an Evade skill or Dodge, your Pet gets Distortion for 2s.

Maybe move it to Beastmastery as well.

Phaeton.9582:

My fear is we will be forced to run 30/30/X for our dps to compensate for class weaknesses as a zerker, and this RNG block trait simple can’t deliver on a zerker build. This puts a lot of pressure on read the wind to be effective, as no signets is a big loss.

For me the skirmishing GM was a ‘make or break’ for glass power ranger that doesn’t look to deliver, like the the new virtues GM on guardian (for dps)…

I don’t know what rock you’ve been living under but we are already forced into the 30/30/x build for zerker for over the last year I’ve been playing my Ranger. If you aren’t running that you need to l2p.

thefantasticg.3984:

Phaeton.9582:

My fear is we will be forced to run 30/30/X for our dps to compensate for class weaknesses as a zerker, and this RNG block trait simple can’t deliver on a zerker build. This puts a lot of pressure on read the wind to be effective, as no signets is a big loss.

For me the skirmishing GM was a ‘make or break’ for glass power ranger that doesn’t look to deliver, like the the new virtues GM on guardian (for dps)…

I don’t know what rock you’ve been living under but we are already forced into the 30/30/x build for zerker for over the last year I’ve been playing my Ranger. If you aren’t running that you need to l2p.

I play spvp. If you’ve been just been playing 30/30 glass ranger for over a year in spvp then L2P.

Not denying it isn’t the best trait setup for glass ranger, just had to call this comment out for its absurdity.

Oh yeah and I’ve busted out ~8k matches in spvp under that rock, so it’s all good.

I’m imagining rangers just running around swinging their weapons mindlessly to keep the trait procing as often as possible. Dat skill.

I don’t know if they went into depth in this, but do offhand weapons count, or is it only the main hand weapon? If I go axe/dagger, does that mean I only benefit when using the stalker’s strike skill? Or do I just not benefit from it at all?

Would it not just be simpler to have it apply while a melee weapon is equipped in the main hand? I can appreciate the throwback to GW1 as much as the next person, but the game is very different mechanically. “In melee” is not well defined in GW2, unlike in GW1. It was set that way in GW1 so that someone couldn’t use it to just run away. But it seems like you can do that in GW2 as long as you are swinging your melee weapon around.

So just have it apply a flat percentage without this “in melee” thing… it’s easier on people’s brains. I know people are all about the “active” this-and-that these days, but I don’t see this really this fitting the bill as far as “active” defense goes in the first place.