Guild Wars 2

I suggest that Ranger pets (and their masters) should see through stealth!

Effectively it should work only if the pet is Active (so not when limping back) but it would show every stealthed target (within 1200 range) as a transparent character with their name (just like you currently see stealthed allies).

That would make Rangers very valuable as scouts/spotters and finally bring an effective counter against the Thief class.

I’d be somewhat for this if the player in stealth was not targetable… Seems like a touchy subject though. Almost like giving another class the ability to see through mesmer’s clones.

Well, you can already see through Mesmer clones. In fact it’s very easy to spot the real Mesmer.

I agree that it is a touchy subject though and I fully expect every Thief player to throw rocks through my windows, steal my garden gnomes and kick my hamster for suggesting it.

But think of it this way. At present time the Thief class seems to have free reign everywhere without any real counter. The Ranger could be that counter and make the Thief wary to engage if he sees numerous (active) animal companions running around on the battlefield.

Ever tried hiding from a dog (or any other animal for that matter)?

Besides, it’s not like it makes the Thief visible to everyone; just the Ranger and his pet. And if the Thief focuses on downing the Ranger’s pets first, the Ranger would no longer be able to see the Thief. So if he’s smart, the Thief can counter the Ranger’s ability to see the Thief by focusing on the animal companion. So game balance is preserved…

Anet isn’t going to go for it. It would make pets useful in one way, and we can’t have that.

I had a very similar suggestion, and decided to use the search bar and found this thread. My idea is very similar to the OP, but imo, more balanced. Essentially, when a ranger tells the pet to attack (or the pet is in guard mode and is attacking) that target is revealed (apply a new irremovable debuff named “Tracked” that applies a 1s reveal to only the ranger & pet (and adds 0.75s once 0.25s is remaining to keep it applied) to only the ranger and pet as long as it is within a 1500 unit radius pet (ranged pets have slow attack animations and 900 range autoattacks usually resulting in a fleeing opponent being ~1200 units away). The pet must be alive, and attempting to attack the target, F2 skills will not break this track, but if your opponent flees and you use the F2, chances are they will break the 1500 unit radius well before your pet can cast it .I would also suggest all targets hit by an offensive F2 skill be “revealed” for 3s (allies included).

How would a thief counter this? Kill the pet (which is quite easy in most cases), break combat, wait until the pet stops chasing (you are no longer being tracked when the pet stops) and reengage, do both of the above at the same time, and bring a buddy (ranger can only reveal a single player).

Pets that can stealth should be able to see through it I think.

That’s ridiculous. What next? Giving thieves an “unholy aura” : in 1200 radius all guardian boons fail, guardian healing power reduced in 50%? What about giving necros some “emphatic shock” F2 skill that debuffs a ranger pet for 30s during which all damage received by the pet is dealt directly to the ranger HP bar instead?

I main ranger so I would want this :P
When I see a thief go stealth in the middle of a fight though I usually just take my best guess based on their health status, how well they were fighting and what their numbers were like as to whether or not they will run away and then just fire a few shots where I think they went. I’ve managed to get them this way several times

I could see having that as the special skill of one pet, but not as something they do by default.

Uh, no.

No class should have an “I win” versus another class, and giving rangers impunity to see through thief (and mesmer) stealth would do just that.

If you really have a problem with stealth, build for AoE’s. Heck, with melee you can just keep manually hitting your 1 attack and you have a chance to hit the stealthed target.

Stealth doesn’t do anything to mitigate damage. It just makes it a bit harder to get that damage on target.

MithranArkanere.8957:

I could see having that as the special skill of one pet, but not as something they do by default.

Agreed. I do not think pets should see through stealth by default. It would not only break the stealth mechanic, but it would also give Rangers a distinct advantage against thieves that the other seven professions (including thieves vs thieves) don’t have. Even if each profession had a utility that allowed stealth detection, that’d be a different story, but no less broken:

If such skills existed, then you’d also need mechanics that prevent Elementalists from swapping attunements, Warriors from building adrenaline, Rangers from switching pets, etc…so that each profession’s main mechanics can suffer the same ‘shutdown’ effects.

Vick.6805:

so that each profession’s main mechanics can suffer the same ‘shutdown’ effects.

Well, you can kill our pet, that’s our “main mechanic”. We however, can’t take away yours!

I find the idea interesting, in some way, shape or form.