Guild Wars 2

Hi there Arenanet & players. I thought I’d post this idea I’ve been thinking about
for quite some time now regarding Rangers and pets. In theory, I’m a huge fan of
using pets and the essence of what a ranger could be. However, I don’t think this
comes across well through the way pets are currently implemented. I’d like to offer
maybe the way I would go about it, trying to avoid the downfalls along the way and
making things even more fun and effective.

First of all, I think it’s a big mistake that pets are MANDATORY. This not only
means that you don’t have a choice, but also that you’re damage and effectiveness is
somewhat split between you and your pet, requiring skilled use of pet mechanics to
reach your full potential. Now, that last part I think in essence is fine, but
forcing someone to use a pet who might care less really rubs some people the wrong
way.

So I thought, hey, Engineers have kits that take up a utility slot, and replace your
weapon skills while in use. BINGO! You could make “Pet” or something like that a
utility slot skill, thus making it OPTIONAL. Now, this would also mean that the
current F1-F4 skills for the Ranger-specific mechanics would have to change, but
there are plenty of lore-friendly Ranger-related ideas I could throw out for that.
Right now though, People generally only actually USE the F2 pet active skill, while
the pet itself occasionally uses the others. This seems like a big let-down; I’d
rather try to make pet combat a lot more interesting. My solution would be tag-
teaming DUAL skills. When you activate the pet kit, your 1-5 slot skills now become
new skills specific to the type of pet you have on. As for pet swapping, I wouldn’t
want to rob people of that, so we could keep the 5 slot skill “swap,” allowing you
to change to your second pet and gain a new set of 1-4 skills, still within the pet
kit. And if you made each skill a DUAL effect skill, meaning that both you AND your
pet do something when each skill is used, that would mean combat will be
interesting, you don’t have to micro manage your pet, or ignore it, and it could be
balanced in such a way that you can’t exploit pets for tanking purposes. On another note, since myself and many, many players seem to be so terribly frustrated by pets accidentally attracting aggro or causing unnecessarily long “in-combat” periods, this “kit” style skill would remove the pet instantly when it’s not in use, so you could easily keep it off while running around, or if it might cause a problem, in a dungeon for example.

With this setup, any Ranger COULD choose to either scrap pets entirely, or actually
use them exclusively, assuming the damage and skill effects were scaled and balanced
properly. In the same respect, this would make the beast mastery trait line for rangers a very viable route if they wanted to focus on pet combat rather than typical ranged weapons, traps, etc. I know this would make me want to play a Ranger a whole lot more, if not primarily.

There’s now the discussion of “What will the new Ranger-specific F-button mechanic
be?” One thought I had is inspired by the way ele’s attunement swap. What if you had
maybe 3-4 different F-skills, all with the same cooldown times, that allowed you to
switch between stances. These could all have passive and/or next-attack effects, and
could be more effective depending on what role/style of play you’re doing at any
given time. These would NOT change your skills, seeing as you’d already have plenty
at your disposal, with or without a pet. Perhaps one could increase your attack
range, attack speed, or projectile speed, and then there would be 2-3 more with
totally separate effects, offensive or defensive. You could even make one of them
pet related. The other option could be, since Rangers are attuned to nature, to make
these stances related to certain creatures. Norn have the 4 main spirits they can
channel as an elite, so what if rangers had 4 different auras or umbras they could
alternate between to represent yet another 4 creatures or spirits? It’s things like
this, the combination of making sense lore-wise, making every aspect of combat fun
AND effective, and creating more diversity and creativity even within the same
profession, that would attract me and I hope many other people to play any class,
current or future. If anyone likes these ideas or has even further suggestions,
please do respond. Thanks again guys!

Read most of it and sounds good to me.

I’m here as you asked!

So… Dual Skills? Like if I shoot a Long Range Shot, and pets do a “Pierce Strike”?
Or I do a barrage, and pet starts to kite/push/stop pets into the attack range?

This would be BRILLIANT!! <3

This is a rediculous suggestion, especially when your first point is to link the Ranger’s unique mechanic to the unique mechanic of a completely different class.

Ranger mechanic is Pet. Should they have to use it? Yes, they absolutely should because it’s their mechanic. In order to be an optimal Ranger you have to make use of your mechanic, which is your pet.

Saying a Ranger shouldn’t have to use their pet is like saying an Elementalist shouldn’t have to cycle elements to be good. Can an elementalist just stick to one element and never switch, sure, but they won’t be good. Therefore a Ranger without a pet should not be good.

It’s like saying a Theif shouldn’t be forced to use initiative to fight. They should have a setting that allows them to not use the unique mechanic that allows them to do massive burst right up front and instead have cooldowns like everyone else so they can be mediocre.

Are some classes less reliant on their unique mechanics? Yes, but some are intrinsically linked to it. Ranger is one of those, and if you don’t like that you are playing the wrong class. Stop trying to refit Ranger into a class you like and go figure out which class it is that you actually enjoy playing the way it was designed to be played. There is nothing wrong with Ranger and those of us that have already learned that Ranger IS the class we want to play don’t need you people breaking it on us.

kal, the focus of the post was that you dont really do much with your pet. his suggestion would make using a pet more interactive then maybe using the pets active whenever its off cooldown or every once in a while. it would add a layer of depth to the ranger’s combat that would make the class as a whole feel like your pet is more intertwined

anyway i love this idea, because it would make me connect with my pets even more because i would feel like he is apart of my character because of the dual skills

I really like this idea. It will make your pet more of a viable option for using with a build. You would more easily be able to use a pet as a damage tool rather than more of a meat shield. I think that this would also make some of the utility skills more viable in a build. I can think of a few ways that a utility skill like Signet of the Wild can be more viable with having your pet skills and your skills linked.

Awesome concept actually. I am thinking the opposite of the spectrum.

Make all pets do their own F2 skills to. AND add to them role traits, give them their own trait trees to enhance their skills/stats. It would certainly improve the game, one of the few things Blizz did right with their hunters was doing just that.

Make pets focus truly viable.

im not sure i remember this right or not…but wasnt there supposed to be a class like the ranger that didnt have a pet? it would have used a spear, shortbow, longbow, sword, greatsword, torch?

if so…add the spear to the ranger make it 1100 range, and have it do more damage the closer the enemy gets. get rid of the longbows stupid auto attack that does less damage the closer the enemy gets….and boom the longbow is viable as a weapon, the ranger has a ranged weapon for when enemy’s get super close(which given the current AI in the game…)

i dont know if thats a super fix…but i think it could help

Thanks for the support guys. I’d love if an Anet member actually reads this

Yeah, Kal… That’d be nice if the mechanic was worth a kitten , but it isn’t. Just an NPC running will keep a pet from hitting it. Die so quickly to AOE that it is stupid. I love the ranger play style but I hate being tied to a broken mechanic. That’s the difference between the Ranger and the other classes. If they refuse to fix the pathing, ai, no dodges, and lack of aoe reduction give me the option not to use the broken mechanic.

thefantasticg.3984:

Yeah, Kal… That’d be nice if the mechanic was worth a kitten , but it isn’t. Just an NPC running will keep a pet from hitting it. Die so quickly to AOE that it is stupid. I love the ranger play style but I hate being tied to a broken mechanic. That’s the difference between the Ranger and the other classes. If they refuse to fix the pathing, ai, no dodges, and lack of aoe reduction give me the option not to use the broken mechanic.

I hear this a lot, but don’t experience it. So I can’t help but attribute it to poor ability of the player rather than a real problem with the game or mechanic. Your pet IS an NPC, as such they have the same flaws that all NPCs have. Incidentally, hitting moving targets are a consistent problem. At the same time, there are plenty that can hit. I’ve never seen my eagle have difficulty dropping a fleeing flow, and at least one of the Devourers is a ranged attacker. In most cases this is only a problem in PvP and I support different rules for PvP as long as they are actually different and not effecting me.

Lack of dodging and AoE resistance is only really relevant when fighting bosses, and that is more a problem with how bosses are designed. But I wouldn’t be averse to some way to get my pet to dodge. At the same time, it should be an either or. Either you can make them dodge, OR they have a way to handle the damage better, but honestly since the update just before the Southsun events my Brown Bear has a very hard time getting himself killed, even in the middle of a ring of fire that used to kill him the week before.

So again, it seems more a problem with the player not using the pets that are needed for the situation, and then getting upset when those pets they are using are not working out.

In any case, I’d rather a pet randomly running around doing whatever it needs to do, to a kit that makes me either using my pet as if it were a weapon, as I’m reading this suggestion, or not have a pet at all. I know how to control my pet, as it is. I’ve been very successful at it. Just because (pronoun) haven’t does not mean the mechanic is bad. Try getting better, or try a different class that will probably suit you better, like Warrior. And for those who want to play Ranger over Warrior for visual asthetics, you have no place complaining about how it plays.

I would also like to throw in there that pets don’t aggro anymore. Hell, they barely manage to pull aggro on the things they’re fighting, like they’re supposed to, but they absolutely don’t pull aggro on anything that isn’t already aggroing on you. This is tested and confirmed multiple times.

Kal,

I’m glad you you seem to really like rangers and pets in their current state now, that’s great and I hope you keep enjoying it. However, things can ALWAYS be better. I threw this whole concept out there because, as Amarya said, myself and other ranger players currently don’t feel very connected to our pets at all, and their involvement in my play time, regardless of my skill, is barely present at best. If not exactly what I’ve laid out here, I think SOMETHING should change so that I have more control over my pet physically and can therefore feel like I’m really getting into it and working together with the pet. Even GW1 with its variety of pet skills allowed for this. Do you not agree that pets could play more of an active role somehow?

Kal Spiro.9745:

Saying a Ranger shouldn’t have to use their pet is like saying an Elementalist shouldn’t have to cycle elements to be good. Can an elementalist just stick to one element and never switch, sure, but they won’t be good.

I agree with the rest of what you’re saying, but the Conjure Lightning Hammer ele glass cannon build camps on water the whole time and is extremely effective. However, the reason for this is because of traits that are based on your unique mechanic.

Kal Spiro.9745:

thefantasticg.3984:

Yeah, Kal… That’d be nice if the mechanic was worth a kitten , but it isn’t. Just an NPC running will keep a pet from hitting it. Die so quickly to AOE that it is stupid. I love the ranger play style but I hate being tied to a broken mechanic. That’s the difference between the Ranger and the other classes. If they refuse to fix the pathing, ai, no dodges, and lack of aoe reduction give me the option not to use the broken mechanic.

I hear this a lot, but don’t experience it. So I can’t help but attribute it to poor ability of the player rather than a real problem with the game or mechanic. Your pet IS an NPC, as such they have the same flaws that all NPCs have. Incidentally, hitting moving targets are a consistent problem. At the same time, there are plenty that can hit. I’ve never seen my eagle have difficulty dropping a fleeing flow, and at least one of the Devourers is a ranged attacker. In most cases this is only a problem in PvP and I support different rules for PvP as long as they are actually different and not effecting me.

Lack of dodging and AoE resistance is only really relevant when fighting bosses, and that is more a problem with how bosses are designed. But I wouldn’t be averse to some way to get my pet to dodge. At the same time, it should be an either or. Either you can make them dodge, OR they have a way to handle the damage better, but honestly since the update just before the Southsun events my Brown Bear has a very hard time getting himself killed, even in the middle of a ring of fire that used to kill him the week before.

So again, it seems more a problem with the player not using the pets that are needed for the situation, and then getting upset when those pets they are using are not working out.

In any case, I’d rather a pet randomly running around doing whatever it needs to do, to a kit that makes me either using my pet as if it were a weapon, as I’m reading this suggestion, or not have a pet at all. I know how to control my pet, as it is. I’ve been very successful at it. Just because (pronoun) haven’t does not mean the mechanic is bad. Try getting better, or try a different class that will probably suit you better, like Warrior. And for those who want to play Ranger over Warrior for visual asthetics, you have no place complaining about how it plays.

I would also like to throw in there that pets don’t aggro anymore. Hell, they barely manage to pull aggro on the things they’re fighting, like they’re supposed to, but they absolutely don’t pull aggro on anything that isn’t already aggroing on you. This is tested and confirmed multiple times.

I want my pets to do damage. Devourers and spiders have terribad damage compared to cats and birds. That swoop though just kills me on how long the animation takes. In PVE/Dungeons, DPS is king. That is fact. So, 95-99% of situations will require DPS’ing down targets. So, to do more DPS with our broken mechanic, it has to be melee thus in the way of aoe. For calling it back to work properly (I was forced to make a dodge macro since the devs, like Jon Sharp, have said we shouldn’t have too much control over our pets) I have to be ranged, that means I’m doing less damage. Devs have said melee will always do greater damage than ranged. The pet needs to be able to dodge AOE on its’ own or give me the command to make it dodge when needed. On that same point, why hasn’t peace/attack been given a keybind? Much faster than hitting it with the mouse cursor. And yes, we know about pets and aggro. That was a step in the right direction. One of the few things that was done right with pets, but it shouldn’t end there.

I have a warrior and I like the style of play. I just don’t like it as much as I like the ranger and it’s weapon sets/skills. I know how to use my ranger and pets for what I want to do. Ask anyone in my guild or the circle of friends I constantly play with. I am limited by the NPC Ai the pet has and its’ abilities. If I didn’t want my pets to die yet still do something I’d have to use a ranged pet, but damage is one thing they would be doing very little of.

The new dungeon…. Man, if I want to torture my pet or group I’d bring my ranger. Without being able to permanetly stow my pet the laser room would consistantly be eating the pet (until it comes to the minute that both would be dead and unable to be swapped). The last boss and the random circles of death from the cannon pirates would also eat the pets. This is a very good case, albeit specific situation, where stowing a pet for battle would be incredibly useful… Then again you were just talking about using pets for specific situations, right? Sometimes it is just as important NOT having a pet.

Happy for you that you don’t experience the vast amount of difficulties that many of us other rangers have.

Pets are the only distinguishing mark of a ranger. A warrior can also use a longbow and a thief can also use a shortbow. Pets are what makes a ranger special.

If the pet AI is flawed then shouldn’t they attempt to balance that by granting unique advantages for having a pet? I suggest a set of solid group buffs when a pet crits for example.

I agree that pets currently contribute very little. They don’t provide much damage and they die easily due to poor AI. Being mostly melee, they should at least have as much capability to stay alive as the warrior but they don’t. Plus, the ranger has a very limited set of group buffs compared to warriors and guardians.

If ArenaNet wants to make pets and spirits targetable, then they should balance them up to give much better buffs than the warrior’s shouts and banners which are not targetable. As it is right now, it is the reverse. The warrior’s non-targetable group buffs are way more powerful than the ranger’s targetable group buffs. That just doesn’t make sense.

LED.4739:

Kal,

I’m glad you you seem to really like rangers and pets in their current state now, that’s great and I hope you keep enjoying it. However, things can ALWAYS be better. I threw this whole concept out there because, as Amarya said, myself and other ranger players currently don’t feel very connected to our pets at all, and their involvement in my play time, regardless of my skill, is barely present at best. If not exactly what I’ve laid out here, I think SOMETHING should change so that I have more control over my pet physically and can therefore feel like I’m really getting into it and working together with the pet. Even GW1 with its variety of pet skills allowed for this. Do you not agree that pets could play more of an active role somehow?

I don’t have a problem with wanting to be more involved with your pet. I direct you to this thread https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/how-to-fix-PETS-for-Rangers/first#post2292470 in that vein. My problem is doing it by completely altering every aspect of how the class, which I do love, plays and turning it into something else entirely. I don’t want Pet kits, I’m not an organic version of an engineer. I want to use my longbow and greatsword and simply to have my pet work better if I’m specced right, but to have my pet period, because that’s how the class SHOULD work, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

I keep hearing friends talk about pets and rangers. What do you guys think about this idea or anything else you’ve thought of?