Guild Wars 2

Agree, pets are garbage in too many situations and warrants a change.
A petless build should be an option for those who love the ranger class but cant stand the broken pet they are burdened with.

I’d love to have a ranger without a pet.

I believe, the pet can be fixed. But it is a burden even if made special. It should be like vitali stated, an option. Not a definite solution, an alternative to ranger. There should be some bonuses to not having a pet out/summoned to make it statistically worthwhile. This isn’t even comparing one game to another, this is comparing the common sense of a profession of what it should be towards what it is right now. Ranger needs options. Sure make pets smarter, make them take less AoE dmg to live longer. But above all, allow an option to improve your own dps rather than having to rely on an outer source for dmg.

No matter what pet abilities they get, they cannot compare to the ability a true player can with their own predictions, foreshadowing, whatever you wana call it. The player can plan things much smoother than any AI can, ranger should not be bound to an AI for their dmg.

A ranger is supposed to be with pet so taking it away I would not want but improvements are welcome. In WvW in the Beta pets could get up walls now they can’t but mesmer clones can that gives a big disadvantage. Also a lot of pets are so weak that they are never useful.

In addition I would like do see a more dynamic (less rules) way to tame pets so you are not just limited to a fix number of pets but that you can also search for special pets and maybe even pets that ArenaNet had not anticipated on, collecting such rare pets if for many rangers a big part of the fun but thats also not possible so it’s not very strong in WvW / PvP and the fun-factor is also gone.

Another bad thing is that you get into combad when your pet is fighting but you can not take your pet away when in combad. That only slows you down.

First, rangers are not awful in anything really…i mean there is a reason you see 99% of bots being rangers in PvE. Also i have yet to see a class out Spvp a greatsword ranger. As for pets, i would like to see a dev say this in the update.

Pet AI GREATLY enhanced.

TLDR, make pets scary and give us more ways to use them, everything else is fine about the ranger, (except maybe dps) ((debatable))

Want scary pets? build your traits for them. You would be surprised how hard they hit or how long they last.
Also, pick your pets for what they do not for how they look (brownbear=the best pet hands down for survivability and pet skill usefullness, it’s self heal is also substantial surprisingly).

WvW rangers are the scary ones. At 3k range, send your pet to attack then move AWAY from the person. Your pet gets culled and will start ripping into the person while perminantly invisible untill they get within 900 range of you. Thieves will stealth and still be taking constant damage fromt his as…while culled, they ignore stealth mechanics.

For those who “don’t want pets” You chose the wrong class. This class is advertised as being pet reliant from the description ont he website to every single thing mentioned about them on the net, and even states as much in character creation.

lol just learn to play ranger,
my ranger is great in pve/pvp
as for the pet, most aren’t useless, just learn to manage ur pet.
however the drakes are mostly useless, cuz of the heavy casting time on the breath attack
same counts for moa screech attacks

Only have a low level(11) ranger, but the one thing I’ve found is that the pet is too squishy (cat)and there doesn’t seem to be a very effective heal for your pet.

I also find it odd that they don’t kill the pet it just leaves the fight with about 1 hp either that or it becomes the walking dead.

Azala Yar.7693:

Only have a low level(11) ranger, but the one thing I’ve found is that the pet is too squishy (cat)and there doesn’t seem to be a very effective heal for your pet.

I also find it odd that they don’t kill the pet it just leaves the fight with about 1 hp either that or it becomes the walking dead.

if u want a sturdier pet look at bears and boars, they’re sturdier further more beastmastery enhances pet abilities thus making it tougher an effective heal for pet is troll’s ungent and signet of the wild is also very effective (passive) recall ur pet if need be that’s always a golden rule

I enjoyed being able to make use of many different builds in GW1 with my rangers, some with a pet and many without. I realize that was a different combat system than what we have now (especially with secondary professions), but ranger presented several ways to engage in combat.

I think some of the animations and weapon skills for GW2 rangers are amazing and fun, but the reliance on the pet and proper pet control to do the most damage has turned me away from it. Oh, a ranger is certainly strong, so I think this post should be read not as a "rangers are weak" but more as a "my play-style feels too constrained".

Also, mostly unrelated, but I can’t help but miss splinter barrage.

GeoX.5046:

First, rangers are not awful in anything really…i mean there is a reason you see 99% of bots being rangers in PvE. Also i have yet to see a class out Spvp a greatsword ranger. As for pets, i would like to see a dev say this in the update.

Pet AI GREATLY enhanced.

TLDR, make pets scary and give us more ways to use them, everything else is fine about the ranger, (except maybe dps) ((debatable))

Bots used ranger because of how quickly they can grind mobs out and get loot (also 1200 base ranger on a quick dps weapon helps). Not to mention they ran in packs of like 10+. That doesn’t mean their good, it just means they have/had numbers.

GS in spvp? Easily out killed. They may be able to sustain well, especially if they spec into the pet. But they won’t do much aside from out living at best. They simply do not have the damage/threat level to push anyone really out unless that enemy clam baked their room and passed out on the desk with their toon still in game.

Again, as stated in the op, I do not suggest removing pets the ultimatum. I also do not suggest to make pet-less builds better than with a pet, I’m asking for options. Since rangers are bound to a pet, they cannot really spec into their own dps. They must go either LOL traps or full pet spec. I’ve tried to make my own dps better and completely ignore my pet. It just doesn’t work because all ranger dmg is scaled around having a pet with you. THAT is wrong, we should not be bound to such a silly AI no matter how much they improve it.

And again, kudos to those who enjoy the bm trait line. I used it, I wanted to do something different. Couldn’t happen. A weapon selection isn’t the solution. Anet promised any prof to play any role which in its own way means all weapons will fill some if not multiple roles. LB horrible, dagger well 1 evade I guess, sword feels weird and often gets stuck where you keep leaping into your grave, so its basically GS and SB. Not the best options…

I managed to pull off 1 build revolving around my own dps and felt satisfied in spvp. It worked. But guess what, I’m using sb and s/w. No traps, no pet spec, just conditions and survival utility skills. That is cond however, not direct dmg. Weapon choice and pet bound the ranger sits at the lowest threat level in spvp and wvw imo and has room for improvement. Ranger needs a viable direct dmg build for their own dps (not that it has to be better than warrior or thief, it just having the option however would be nice) and some option to get scaled dmg when without a pet summoned. Maybe even make traits/skills that grant a bonus when you summon the pet for a powerful initiation. Anything but this. Open world pve they are fantastic and I loved every minute of it. Dungeons with hard bosses, they die real quick (that being an AI issue), spvp the pet is either ignored (by them) or I ignore the pet (when vs a ranger, the pet just doesn’t bother me) even in bm traits. Sure it hits hard, but common sense the pet goes away when the owner dies which is a lot better than wasting the 8-15 seconds to down a pet or risk having them recall the pet right b4 it dies (as they should) for a short cd to just send it after you over and over. No, the owner dies in my book. I’ve tried birds, bears (best at taking a hit or 10), wolves, devourer, spiders, etc. End result I settled on wolves and bears because of their effective F2 skill and also their ability to deal dmg and sustain well enough.

I know pets are capable of being good, I know many people who are good with pets but I would like to be good without a pet. I picked the profession because they sounded like incredible long range dps but even with sb I feel weaker than ikea furniture.

Yay, more people that don’t know how to play the class and therefore blame the class on their inability to play it. Ranger is an extremely effective and powerful class if played well. Ranger pets are not the end all be all of the class, they are an added bonus just like the unique class ability of every class. They can be specced into to make them better, or not. What they can’t be is ignored. If you don’t know how to play with the pets then you’re not suited to playing a Ranger. It is THE pet class of GW2.

Stop trying to change the design of the class simply because you can’t seem to handle that. If you chose Ranger without an interest in the pet, you chose the wrong class.

For clarification, I run full signets, troll unguent and rampage as one. Long bow and Greatsword. I am 30 marksmen, I only have 10 in beastmaster because I didn’t have a trait anywhere else I wanted more and figured why not. So I’m really not buffing my pet to any significant degree. I run with an eagle and a brown bear. Eagle for damage, bear for survivability. I make my pet invulnerable and heal the kitten out of them for as long as I can. In any dungeon I’m the last one down and occationally succeed in finishing off the boss that killed everyone else. In WvW I can run through a zerg without getting hurt, that was a necessary skill to get a PoI for my world completion while the fort was under seige. Rangers don’t need any help, and since they’re designed for pets in this game there is no reason to change that.

Kal Spiro.9745:

Yay, more people that don’t know how to play the class and therefore blame the class on their inability to play it. Ranger is an extremely effective and powerful class if played well. Ranger pets are not the end all be all of the class, they are an added bonus just like the unique class ability of every class. They can be specced into to make them better, or not. What they can’t be is ignored. If you don’t know how to play with the pets then you’re not suited to playing a Ranger. It is THE pet class of GW2.

Stop trying to change the design of the class simply because you can’t seem to handle that. If you chose Ranger without an interest in the pet, you chose the wrong class.

Where is it stated that I couldn’t handle the pet? READ lil boy b4 you cry wolf.

I don’t mind the pet build, I don’t mind the AI (although it could improve with more options in its behavior). But I do mind that my dmg is split with the pet because the pet cannot be put away like in any other mmo with a “ranger” type profession/class. It wouldn’t be fair to make the ranger dps normal and then add pet dmg to that, so I understand why it is the way it is but still. The wiki site (assuming it is correct) states, “Their loyal pets, which rangers tame and train, distract enemies while the rangers strike safely form a distance”. Sounds to me like the pet does all the work for you already and you’re just a bystander with a potatoe gun (based on the description), so where is the room to improve your own dmg? No other options? Nothing? Where in lore is it stated a ranger never ran without a pet? I enjoy the utility, elite, and weapon skills of ranger but the dmg isn’t optimal unless you go down bm. Get all the might/traits/power w/e you want ranger’s own dmg won’t be that good no matter if you run berserker or rampager’s. Great sustain even without BM, great support, but even when I can do 12/0 in spvp I don’t feel like I was doing as much work as my pet (with little BM spec) Pet=good. Pet bound=not so good. Pet option=room for more builds.

Not saying copy paste gw1 ranger over here, but the pet being optional was a smart move there. It would be a smart move here as well.

I say dont get rid of the pet. BUFF THAT PET! Seriously they die way too fast if you aren’t traited towards them, and if you do trait towards the pet your are left with a weak kitten ranger.

NinjaEd.3946:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Yay, more people that don’t know how to play the class and therefore blame the class on their inability to play it. Ranger is an extremely effective and powerful class if played well. Ranger pets are not the end all be all of the class, they are an added bonus just like the unique class ability of every class. They can be specced into to make them better, or not. What they can’t be is ignored. If you don’t know how to play with the pets then you’re not suited to playing a Ranger. It is THE pet class of GW2.

Stop trying to change the design of the class simply because you can’t seem to handle that. If you chose Ranger without an interest in the pet, you chose the wrong class.

Where is it stated that I couldn’t handle the pet? READ lil boy b4 you cry wolf.

I don’t mind the pet build, I don’t mind the AI (although it could improve with more options in its behavior). But I do mind that my dmg is split with the pet because the pet cannot be put away like in any other mmo with a “ranger” type profession/class. It wouldn’t be fair to make the ranger dps normal and then add pet dmg to that, so I understand why it is the way it is. I enjoy the utility, elite, and weapon skills of ranger but the dmg isn’t optimal unless you go down bm. Get all the might/traits/power w/e you want ranger’s own dmg won’t be that good no matter if you run berserker or rampager’s. Pet=good. Pet bound=not so good. Pet option=room for more builds.

If you have any problem with the pet, you’re doing it wrong. As such the statement stands. It’s really that simple.

I would like you to point out a pet class, a propper pet class, that does not require the pet in order to be fully effective. Now I would like to point out that I am not asking for another ranger that is effective without a pet. I’m asking for a class whose mechanic revolves around pets, there are many of them out in the world. In every case to not have a pet is to be doing it wrong. Ranger in GW2, regardless of what it is anywhere else, is a pet class. As such it is designed to always have the pet active. If you aren’t able to handle that, or don’t enjoy that, then you are playing the wrong class.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

I say dont get rid of the pet. BUFF THAT PET! Seriously they die way too fast if you aren’t traited towards them, and if you do trait towards the pet your are left with a weak kitten ranger.

Exactly, and then a portion of your dps is gone. It is atm essential to spec into the pet otherwise your doing just about nothing.

When not spec into the pet, although it may die quicker(but still takes a good beating), it still puts out good dmg. Meaning they take a large chunk of the would be ranger dps and stripped it apart for the pet to use and abuse. It may be the “pet class” but many games have a “pet class” and still have said pet optional. They call it a “pet class” because it CAN have a pet, doesn’t mean we should be bound to the stinker.

Since traits/weapon/utility/healing/elite well basically everything revolves around the pet, it would take careful work to set up a trait line (possible marksmanship or skirmishing) to have a major trait set-up that granted bonuses with not having a pet summoned. With that, stow would have to be a toggled set option (or w/e you wana call it idk…) so when you stow it, it stays away even if you take dmg of any kind. Could also adjust some other major traits to grant a bonus when you put it away/take it out. If so, (for the bonuses) there would need to be ofc a cd between stow and taking the pet out.

The “pet class” should not be so limited.

It would be nice to not have to use the pet. All other professions that have pets can choose to not use them. As for bots, pets armor dosen’t get damaged and they most likely are the highest dps autoattack class.

My personal opinion is if you want to play a “ranger” without a pet, then you should pick another class. My thought is, ranger = animal pet to help fight things. I have a pig and it fights marvelously. He hardly EVER dies. A lot of other classes can use bows, or whatever the hell else you wanted to play a ranger for.

Anet said at the outset that they specifically wanted rangers to differ from gw1 rangers in that their pets would be critical, rather than ‘an afterthought.’

that said, if pets are to be critical, OP’s point about the pets being weak and uncontrollable is very valid. a critical aspect of a class should not be something the user can’t control, nor should it be so easily dispensed of by the enemy.

on the other hand, if i wanted to have a ranger without a pet, i’d roll an engineer. the point to a ranger IS their pet.
that said, i am not everyone. why not have the full range of functionality that other classes have? necros can choose to not use minions. mesmers can avoid illusions.. kinda. engineers don’t have to use grenade packs. one could just as easily argue that those are ‘central’ to their classes as well.

Ent.1026:

_on the other hand, if i wanted to have a ranger without a pet, i’d roll an engineer. the point to a ranger IS their pet.

that said, i am not everyone. why not have the full range of functionality that other classes have? necros can choose to not use minions. mesmers can avoid illusions.. kinda. engineers don’t have to use grenade packs. one could just as easily argue that those are ‘central’ to their classes as well.

None of those things are the classes unique ability. Minions are just a skill of a Necro, like traps and spirits for Ranger. You don’t have to use traps nor spirits to play a ranger.

Mesmers can’t really avoid illusions as every weapon set has one in there and to not use it is to severely limit them, but clones they can get away without using.

Engineers can conceivable play without using kits, but their unique ability is the second skill they get for each of their skills from their tool belt.

The Ranger unique ability is the pet. That’s why it’s not really ignorable.

I have, said this before, made the BM trait line. Adjusted things to my liking, made my pet like an unstoppable force. Dmg was there, and most importantly I could solo champion events with just swapping pet b4 it dies. Point being, ranger can kite in pve exceptionally well(used Arctodus and Hyena, I would bet there are better choices than that).

Pets=good. They could be smarter, use more behaviors such as only attack when I attack (mix between agressive and passive) and maybe fix passive so the pet more closely follows you so it atleast tries to avoid aggro. Also new pets and maybe pet families would be nice but there is only so much of pve unlocked that I’m sure it’ll have to wait. Regardless, the pet build ain’t bad if that’s your cup of tea. I tried to see if I can make a build that ignored the use of my pet, and focused on my survival and my dmg. The numbers won’t let that happen, since part of your dmg comes from the pet no matter how you spec.

I didn’t choose engineer because I don’t really care for their weapons/kits nor do I enjoy their utility. Unique, but not for me. So I chose ranger, fun skill set (imo), good sustain and team support. At lower levels the dmg difference isn’t noticable since everything is soo weak. As I climbed to 80 I noticed my pet was rocking the world and I was just there to command. But wait, didn’t even spec into pet yet…

Either dial back how much of the total dmg comes from pet and add that to the ranger through traits OR over time develop a trait set up that works without a pet to get the full dmg on your side. I DO NOT suggest removing the pet, just making it optional.

I have to disagree about the Ranger being bad.Its great and i kick kitten left and right(if you ignore some mechanics).In PvP i find my pets very useful,however,i would love to run a pet-less build in PvE.

Anet,make it happen.

Pets need to be able to ignore AoE skills, and instead of a 50-50 split of damage it should be more like 30 pet 70 ranger. Still a decent chunk, but not a kitten handicap if the pet goes down.

Also: AGONY RESISTANCE ON PET

Agreed, I like to WvW with my ranger but can only really do so with a party or a large group successfully. The optional pet system would be great – I don’t really rely on it, since it really only serves as a punching bag for invaders anyways
since I focus on traps and condition dmg. But I completely agree.

Really? pets don’t share AR? I thought pets shared or scaled atleast off your stats… Well thats the biggest crutch I see on any profession when content is closed off to ranger’s (not entirely but you get the point) because a large part of the proficiency is killed off.

I 100% agree with Hobolyra, the gap between pet and player dmg should be more like 70/30. The pet takes too much of the ranger class away by being such a mindless burden that you have to baby sit the thing or just log onto some other toon because you won’t be useful with a dead pet.

Pets are worthless in high level fractals, and the massive red circles in other dungeons make them severly kitten compared to other classes. By the time rangers have added enough skills to make their pets stop being one hit wonders, they have no slots left for party support. I’m mad I leveled my ranger just because the black widow looked cool.

I would love to see a petless ranger build. hate how my pet pulls everything while running through with a zerg. also in wvw the pet is pretty much useless, at least for me, because it dies quickly.

updated the op, because they arn’t useless but they arn’t that powerful. The AoE issue could be fixed by limiting aoe dmg on pets and I’m not sure why but for kitten sake share AR on the pet. That just blew my mind when I read that.

Pet’s can and are strong, no doubt. Excluding the few dungeon events where it dies in seconds, the pet can sustain and deal very good dmg. IF you spec it. If not, your pet dies quick, you deal low dmg still (not horribly low, but still noticable) and your just gana rely on small cc and dodging.

I looked it over and from the set up of traits, I think adjusting some traits to either replace or add onto them, an option without a pet. The best canidate, imo, is marksmanship. Since that trait line is most about dmg which is the key concern I have with ranger. BM focuses pet, wilderness survival just well helps you survive well, nature magic is LOL spirits, and skirmishing is as any prof has it a crit spec.

Marksmanship has the most personal dps major traits, so it just makes sense (if it were to be considered) to make this the “pet-less” build if you spec right. I respect the decision to try something new, I do. But it doesn’t suit this game’s philosophy to build however you want. I read on wiki that apparently the ranger at one point was split into 2 different prof. The warden, and the marksman. What the difference was, idk, but it shows that even they were unsure at the time.

I reckon they could turn pets into something more useful if they turned them into 4 (F1-F4 skills) for various pets. And when you press F1-F4 you get the effect of that pet. Could customize effectively by selecting which 4 pets you bring along (similar to now) and that their effects can be used to debuff enemies, buff party, heal, divert, etc. Creating a variety of useful options, that provide the pet thought without a reliance on an AI controlled character for a significant portion of your DPS.

I have an 80 ranger I never touch, a significant reason of which is that pets seemed lame. If the pets were more pro-active, and provided a more significant element of your playstyle I think rangers would be way more fun, and effective.

My Suggestion: Falconeer Rangers.

The Falconeer Ranger uses pets (mostly birds) that cannot be hurt, but rather give the ranger more control and support. The Falconeer Ranger would have his F1-f4 skills replaced with a different set of commands depending on the Falcon (or Bird in general).

For Example:

F1: Harass: Your Falcon harasses your current target, dealing X damage and applying Vulnerability and Weakness for Y seconds.

F2: Divebomb: Your Falcon periodically Dives in at your opponent, dealing X damage and Dazing the target for 2 seconds.

You could also have them set as modes with Procs and Internal Cooldowns if that would make more sense, Or make them have two Proc Modes, and use the F3-F4 for direct command skills.

F3: Bird Specific Unique Skill.

F4: Bird Specific Unique Skill.

For some it could be a Burst that renders the pet unavailable for a little bit, apply a boon, strip a boon, apply a condition, etc. . . They could even have other passive Modes that grant buffs to the rangers stats or unique abilities like Eyes In The Sky: You can see Enemy Commanders icons on the mini map. . etc . . or let you see your current target’s “white dotted line” on your mini map so you can track him.

It allows for the same animal companion feel, but cleans up the messy pet issues.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Ranger-Elite-Symbiosis/first#post1645643

Now before I say anything, let me state I have never played, nor am I comparing the two games. Using this as an example because my brother pointed something out to me awhile back about ranger’s in cough World Of Warcraft.

I don’t know anything about that game, or its philosphies but he said that bird pets were immune to any ground target skill, which made sense since they should technically be “flying”.

Now I don’t think that would be fair or responsible to put into this game, but the point of it being that each family should not only have unique skills like defy pain or pounce or leap or w/e. They should also have some passive effect outside of their skills and stats. Like traits. Not multiple traits, but just 1 unchangable passive trait the family has like birds have reduced dmg from ground target skills, bears passivley stun break and that stun break goes on a cd (45 seconds or somethin), wolves can get immunity to fear (example), felines can have passive fury, moa can move faster than other pets passively, etc etc. There needs to be more creativity in how each pet family differs.

Also there should be an option to choose (or maybe even allow all if someone likes the micro managing) which pet skill is in F2. I don’t really care for the blinding slash on the bird (forget which exact one it is) but that aoe swiftness would be nice to use in things like wvw. Would be nice to also activate defy pain when I like rather than w/e it does it since players are much better at determining when to pop invulnerable skills.

More options would definitly make the ranger more at par with other professions. In fact, many professions need more options but ranger has been the most upsetting for me in spvp and even pve.

meh. simple solution really. just make the pet stow function ACTUALLY stow the pet. not just hide it until the instant you take damage or use a skill. it’s a pain in the neck as it IS when you put away the pet to run thru an area, just to have it pop the second you get tagged. no, it’s not impossible to deal with, just annoying. if i put my pet away, it should stay away til I call it.
then, should people choose to play without a pet, they’re perfectly capable of doing so.

The “pet” is a real pain.

Just been trying to do some of the harder jumping puzzles, and any slight fall and the pet pops out, making it impossible to see anything.

And some of the puzzles involve being attacked as well, putting you in combat (slow) mode for ages, unable to stow my pet for ages.

The pet is the Rangers curse.

Expanding on what you said Solid Gold:
“The pet is the ranger’s curse” When it should be their BOON. =/

Ent.1026:

meh. simple solution really. just make the pet stow function ACTUALLY stow the pet. not just hide it until the instant you take damage or use a skill. it’s a pain in the neck as it IS when you put away the pet to run thru an area, just to have it pop the second you get tagged. no, it’s not impossible to deal with, just annoying. if i put my pet away, it should stay away til I call it.
then, should people choose to play without a pet, they’re perfectly capable of doing so.

You can try, you won’t succeed. A large portion of the ranger dps comes from having a pet alive in combat and attacking your target. Now if stow alone was made to actually work, great but you lose that dps. Stow should actually work the right way but on top of that add some of that damage back to the ranger through either traits or pet mechanics. You can’t truly run your own build as a ranger because that stubborn pet takes space and your offensive stats. It may suit some and works well for them, but a pet-less build that maintains the same strength as having a pet (although less since there is only 1 target now through tanking and crits).

If you want to get rid of the pet, warrior/thief/engineer are available.

They stated from the very beginning that ranger was built from the ground up around the pet. You not wanting to use it while still playing a ranger is totally rediculous. Do not mention GW1 as they even stated (they meanign the devs) they were going away from the GW1 model in favor of focusing on the pet. Anytime you bring up GW1 playstyles the devs are going to totally ignore anything you say as you ignored what they said before beta even happened.

If you don’t want the pet and don’t want to look after the pet, pick another class. The pet will NEVER go away, a perma stow option where you get some increased damage won’t happen. If you get perma stow (and for jumping puzzles it would be very nice, or swap to a bird pet for the puzzle) you won’t get any buff as you can call the pet in the middle of combat anyway.

On the other hand, yes…pets (necromancer minions, turrets, ranger pets/spirits) should only take 50% damage from aoe, 25% traitable. AR should be shared with everything your character creates/summons.

You say it like it is writen in stone somewhere in Tyria that a ranger cannot run without a pet. As a profession mechanic, its cool and all and makes sense but thats not the point. The point is there is so little control over how this pet deals dmg, how it “tanks”, how it reacts to you being hit by x% dmg as well as how it reacts to it being hit by x% dmg (x% meaning if you take 10% of your max health dmg for example it would react accordingly to an action you set or if you took 25% of your max health etc etc).

There is soo much to expand on and the pet is a weight on ranger rather than an open door. If they allowed you to adjust these things through traits or pet menu then maybe a pet-less build would have no use. But right now, the pet isn’t as great as it should.

And I already stated I enjoy the skills ranger has, I don’t enjoy being stuck with so little options in how I want to build. I have tried all ranger weapons out with various builds revolving around them and found a large dissapointment when it came to being threatening or supportive. I even made the mistake of going full cleric armor (Healing power, power, toughness) to maximize my healing effects and got nowhere. Sure I can heal for “more” than most but I wasn’t putting any major impact on my team in dungeons or wvw.

There needs to be options to control how effective you vs your pet are if “removing” (even though I NEVER said remove….) the pet isn’t gana happen. Ofc with limits to not bend any extremes but allowing to mess with this would be a great start.

If I wanted a ranger without a pet, I’d play a thief. It’s basically the same thing with stealth thrown in.

I’d rather see pet management improved.

Ben K.6238:

If I wanted a ranger without a pet, I’d play a thief. It’s basically the same thing with stealth thrown in.

I’d rather see pet management improved.

Thats not even close to a ranger without a pet..

And me too

Elementalist has the ability to swap through four different sets for the same weapon, each set having a different flavor.

Mesmer has the ability to eat phantoms and clones to cause one of three or four specific effects to occur.

Necromancer has the ability to charge up a state that makes them immune from damage for a specific duration that is reduced by the damage they’e not taking and in that time gives them a four skill attack set.

Thief has the ability to use all weapon skills without a cooldown while a finite resource exists in their pool and the ability to teleport to a target gaining access to a single extra one shot power from a finite pool of powers.

Engineer has the ability to use a second skill along with all trained skills, short of elite, that is directly connected to each active skill, but on a separate cooldown each.

Warrior has the ability to charge up a powerful oneshot power accociated with the particular weapon set they are using in main hand.

Guardian has the ability to use three special powers that provide passive benefits while not in use.

Now, with all that put down, is, “Ranger has the ability to swap between two pets out of a large selection of pets to provide extra damage and an additional effect on a cooldown. Those pets can also be defeated, but can be swapped when defeated, putting them on a longer cooldown than standard swapping does. Pets gain passive buffs of the Ranger, but maintain a separate pool of conditions.” really a lesser ability?

Yes, pets should absolutely maintain the same AR as their owner, that’s just silly. They also shouldn’t be targetable by the squid, though I think that’s been fixed already. That aside, they aren’t bad. I have been playing a Ranger, as I said, since early access and I have not run into the issues anyone here seems to have with them. Could they be improved? Yes, of course. Should they? I don’t think so, no.

The real question is, are they balanced? Hell, pets seem OP if you guage them against warrior. All Warrior gets is one attack power they can sometimes use. We get something that can go on a massacre all the time.

Also, as has been pointed out…send your pet to attack somethign with “sick em” at it’s max range then move away fromt he target. get outside of 2k range and the pet will be perma invisible and rip into people as they don’t expect it to be a pet, they look for the telltale thief fade in/out or they look for someone shooting at them.

Fixing culling won’t fix this as it is a proximity issue, and th pet uses the ranger as the proximity to load the pet visually into the field.

Well if you mention that, and from the sound of it, I doubt that is working as intended. And 2k range isn’t that far, you can load people at those ranges. If it goes to like 3k or more (assuming culling is fixed in this example, which soon it will be) then maybe it wouldn’t register it anymore.

Kal, ranger I beleive is pretty balanced. Why? Because what normal professions get out of their own dmg, that dmg is split between the ranger and their pet being alive. They get the same, if not more dmg output since crits can happen from 2 different sources. HOWEVER, that doesnt solve my problem with ranger. and again, I enjoy the skills ranger has and no engineer isn’t “a pet-less ranger” nor is warrior lb nor is any variation of thief. It simple isn’t the same, which is good because we don’t want any copies in gw2 between each prof.

The problem comes from their lack of damage from themselves because you can’t dial back (or forward if you wana be opposite here) how much of your capability comes from the pet.

Imho, there needs to be a tab in the ranger pet window (k) that has a couple options for the player to adjust. Such as:

Damage response: Drop down menu for [Me] and [Pet]; 2nd drop down menu [x% max health]; 3rd drop down menu [Use (pet) skill X or action]. This is for example, have the pet drop its current target and attack the enemy who hit you for x% of your max health or come to you/enemy and use a specific skill of theirs.

Skills: <Pet uses skill X when it’s health reaches x%>, <Pet uses skill X when enemy health reaches x%>, <Pet goes passive and stops attacking until its health is at or above x%>, <Pet utilizes combo field(won’t use skill Y as often until a field appears)>, <Auto use skill Y when availible in combat (or out of combat)>, I’m sure there could be more. This option setup is to adjust when/where the pet will use the skill. All skills will have the default option if the player doesn’t care to change it.

Behavior (addition):
-Avoid combat (tails right behind you every step you take. If you fall off a ledge/cliff it will stay put until you command it to follow or summon another pet or go out of range).
-Assist (It will only attack what you attack AND hit. So if you target an enemy and it is out of range or you get obstructed (not blocked or reflected) it will not engauge. It will ONLY go after the last enemy you targeted and hit. If another enemy intercepts a strike it will continue going after the already hit/targeted enemy as this counts as a technical “obstruction”.)
-Priority (this mode the pet will go after the weakest enemies first based on either their defences or their hp%. It will not change target if another becomes weaker than the other at any point unless you command it to do so. this kinda makes the pet a “finisher” where you can prioritize a boss and it can go around killing it’s addons without you having to click, “attack!”, click boss, oh another trash mob spawned… zzzz…)

Damage scale: A slider or drop down menu to adjust how much of the damage the player and the pet does. This will be very limited so you can’t make your pet a beastly god or make it paper. So for example going by player then pet;

-40/60
-50/50
-60/40
-70/30

Point being you can adjust which dmg source is more threatening and therefore spec into what kinda pet you wana run. Either run a bear and go 70/30 to just have the ball of steel run up front or grab a canine with 40/60 and put your pet as the scary animal it is destined to be. This is for damage only, not for defences of any kind. So condition damage and power (crit% and crit chance would be left alone as those can be pretty good in their own already).

Lastly, but completely not necessary, family trait:
-Bear: Break stun. Cd 90 seconds.
-Bird: 15% reduced incoming ground target damage.
-Fish: 10% reduced incoming cripple/chill/immobilize duration.
-Boar: Stability while using “forage”
-Devourer: Refresh “devourer retreat” on kill. Cd 60 seconds.
-Jellyfish: reflect projectiles in special ability. Cd 120 seconds.
-Canine: 10% Increased damage to knocked down foes.
-Drake: While in water, increased damage by 5%.
-Feline: Increased crit dmg by 10% to vulnerable foes.
-Moa: Increased movement speed by 10%.
-Spider: Special abilities have a 20% chance to grant 1 strike to the ranger. Range 600. Cd 60 seconds.

With these, also some smaller changes should happen that have been suggested for awhile like; Sharing AR, reduced AoE dmg, and stow actually staying stowed.

Just some thoughts, since even though I would still like to see it work, making the adjustments to traits to work with a pet-less build is very time consuming and not that high of a priority compared to other things so it wouldn’t even happen for like a year if not more.

As a friendly note, no values I posted I consider to be balanced, they are only a reference to what I’m trying to suggest.

Surely enough this will be moved to ranger sub forum. But I’d rather this get feedback from ranger players/haters than none at all. Ranger pets hold the ranger clas too far back due to their limitations. Please, Arena Net, give more options to the raner on how their pet influences their combat style.