Guild Wars 2

The legendary discussion made me start thinking about this question – Why are there two different types of bows in this game? There is only one profession that uses both types – the Ranger, and even it only uses the SB for utility. And with all the weapon skins – the only difference I see between most of them is the scale.

Honestly – I think they should try merging the bow types, and giving Rangers a new weapon in exchange for the loss of the Shortbow, while letting the skins be shared. I’m certain there are lots of Thieves, especially of Sylvari disposition, who’d love to needle their foes with Kudzu, and warriors and Dragonhunters who’d love to let the Dreamer’s pink unicorns soar across the battlefield… and now that the new legendary is going to apparently be some sort of awesome Tiger-themed shortbow… what warrior wouldn’t love unleashing it’s power in furious fire?

Idk if you want to swap out shortbows with something I’d say swap them with crossbows.

Personally I actually really like that there’s a distinction between longbows and shortbows because they’re very different weapons.

Rangers have one of the highest weapon choices out there already.

Typically, the LB is for power and SB is for condi ranger. So there is a distinction between the 2 weapons in the rangers case.

As for profession usage of the SB, there are not enough choices, the ranger and thief, I believe that’s it. Whereas the LB can be used by Warrior, Ranger and now Guardian. So rather than combining the LB and SB into 1 weapon, perhaps give us more professions that can use the SB.

I’m still disappointed they don’t have recurve bows like GW1 did. I know that in real life a recurve bow is a type of short bow (or at least usually shorter than a longbow), but in GW1 they were distinct weapons.

I liked that GW1 had a variety of bows to choose from (and that was with just 1 profession that could use them) and I was disappointed that GW2 only had 2.

I’d much rather see them add new weapons and increase the number of professions that can use them than take weapons away just because they’re currently unpopular with some people.

Why do we even have Swords ? Clearly the Greatsword is superior. Let’s just replace all swords with greatswords. Give mesmers something else for it because it would be silly for them to dual wield greatswords.

TexZero.7910:

Why do we even have Swords ? Clearly the Greatsword is superior. Let’s just replace all swords with greatswords. Give mesmers something else for it because it would be silly for them to dual wield greatswords.

I’m pretty sure most of the classes in the game can use swords, as opposed to almost none of them who can use SB’s. Also swords allow an offhand weapon, giving utility, defense, or offensive differences, which is much different than a greatsword which is yielded in two hands.

I.E. your attempt at a response makes no sense at all.

I’d also rather have more professions use the shortbow instead of merging them. Revenant would be awesome with one

Edit: Corrected autocorrect…

Methinks you overlooked Riffles and pistols.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

I’m pretty sure most of the classes in the game can use swords, as opposed to almost none of them who can use SB’s. Also swords allow an offhand weapon, giving utility, defense, or offensive differences, which is much different than a greatsword which is yielded in two hands.

I.E. your attempt at a response makes no sense at all.

i consulted a leading board of sociologists and linguists and they have come to the startling conclusion that what Tex attempted is something called a ‘joke’

i am not certain what this ‘joke’ is i will attempt to elicit more information from my panel of experts

Rangers can’t have firearms, because they go against their nature theme, hence having two bows instead a bow and a rifle. Remember they are not WoW’s ‘hunter’. They re closer to D&D’s rangers and druids, and so there’s things they can’t do or they’d go against their connection to nature, reducing or losing their powers altogether.

Also, each bow has a different weapon strength. Shortbow is weaker, and fits better fast attacks, while longbow is stronger, and first better longer range stronger but slower attacks.

Because there’s shortbows and longbows IRL. Ones faster and more suited for active combat while the other snipes from long distance. If you used both you’d probably find the longbow more uncomfortable to use because of its size and it’s not as easy to pull back.

Also… so there’s 2 different bars of bow skills. IMO Thief and Ranger shoulda both started with access to both weapons on GW2 release. It was a rather common Assassin weapon in GW1.

TexZero.7910:

Why do we even have Swords ? Clearly the Greatsword is superior. Let’s just replace all swords with greatswords. Give mesmers something else for it because it would be silly for them to dual wield greatswords.

Swords are one-handed, while Greatswords are two-handed, for starters. Their skins are also radically different. Also, they have completely different gameplay across all classes (And both have uneven distribution across the classes. Reapers can use Greatswords, but not Swords. Revenants can use Swords, but not Greatswords. A guardian with a sword doesn’t play anything like a Guardian with a Greatsword. Swords and Greatswords are both seen on Warriors for radically different uses, and in different combinations with other weapons.

LucianDK.8615:

Methinks you overlooked Riffles and pistols.

Rifles and pistols are radically different across the professions that use them – Their skins aren’t the same (Unlike LB and SB), and they also have different hand requirements – Pistols are one-handed, while rifles are two-handed. If the Shortbow were a 1-handed weapon, you might have a point. But it’s not. I don’t think a Warrior with two pistols instead of a Rifle would be anywhere near as fun as Gunflaming currently is.

Doggie.3184:

Because there’s shortbows and longbows IRL. Ones faster and more suited for active combat while the other snipes from long distance. If you used both you’d probably find the longbow more uncomfortable to use because of its size and it’s not as easy to pull back.

Also… so there’s 2 different bars of bow skills. IMO Thief and Ranger shoulda both started with access to both weapons on GW2 release. It was a rather common Assassin weapon in GW1.

A guildmate of mine in GW1 had an Assassin/Ranger that used longbow to GREAT effect, exploiting critical strikes and barrage. I do miss the secondary profession synergy.

Shortbow should just be better and more widely usable than it is.

Saying something is underused and/or not very good, relative to other weapon choices (although true in this case), is not a good reason to remove/merge it.

It’s a reason to improve it.

For example, I’d like to be able to play longbow/shortbow on my Ranger (I don’t think that is an unreasonable request for a Ranger?), but no one does that ATM, for good reason.

That shouldn’t be the case.

BTW, I’m kind of disappointed to hear that the legendary shortbow will be tiger themed, as that presumably rules out the possibility of a tiger themed BL weapon collection.

Part of the reason I’m not really interested in legendary weaps, apart from the complicated process and/or exorbitant cost, is that they are stand alone pieces that don’t generally go with any of the other weapons available.

Therefore, you’re going to inevitably have clashes of colours and styles and if you co-ordinate your outfit to go with to the legendary weap, it probably won’t go with the rest of your weaps.

I think they should allow shortbow dual wielding. That way you could lauch twice the unicorns and annoying rainbows.

Major Domo.9250:

Doggie.3184:

Because there’s shortbows and longbows IRL. Ones faster and more suited for active combat while the other snipes from long distance. If you used both you’d probably find the longbow more uncomfortable to use because of its size and it’s not as easy to pull back.

Also… so there’s 2 different bars of bow skills. IMO Thief and Ranger shoulda both started with access to both weapons on GW2 release. It was a rather common Assassin weapon in GW1.

A guildmate of mine in GW1 had an Assassin/Ranger that used longbow to GREAT effect, exploiting critical strikes and barrage. I do miss the secondary profession synergy.

That was the fun thing about Longbow Assassins. They out DPS’d Ranger Longbows when it came to Crit damage. Assassin NPCs that ambushed you used them as well. Back then Way of the Master allowed Assassins to be the critical hit professionals with any weapon in the game. Too bad Cantha died and they forgot how to use most everything and decided to play with Gunk and drink stolen Alcohol all day. :|

Tigaseye.2047:

Shortbow should just be better and more widely usable than it is.

Saying something is underused and/or not very good, relative to other weapon choices (although true in this case), is not a good reason to remove/merge it.

It’s a reason to improve it.

For example, I’d like to be able to play longbow/shortbow on my Ranger (I don’t think that is an unreasonable request for a Ranger?), but no one does that ATM, for good reason.

That shouldn’t be the case.

But I want my fabulous Guardian to wield The Dreamer, my Sylvari Rogue to wield Kudzu, and Charr Warrior to unleash the fury with Champawat!

Sartharina.3542:

Tigaseye.2047:

Shortbow should just be better and more widely usable than it is.

Saying something is underused and/or not very good, relative to other weapon choices (although true in this case), is not a good reason to remove/merge it.

It’s a reason to improve it.

For example, I’d like to be able to play longbow/shortbow on my Ranger (I don’t think that is an unreasonable request for a Ranger?), but no one does that ATM, for good reason.

That shouldn’t be the case.

But I want my fabulous Guardian to wield The Dreamer, my Sylvari Rogue to wield Kudzu, and Charr Warrior to unleash the fury with Champawat!

Well, I want to reskin my Thief Staff with Kamohoalii Kotaki but they’ll never do cross-weapon skinning. :[

I can’t remember the last time I saw a Ranger running around with a SB. Unless Anet buffs Ranger SB to the point of being not-garbage again, the only class this new legendary will used on is Thief lol (and even then only as a utility weapon)

Sartharina.3542:

Tigaseye.2047:

Shortbow should just be better and more widely usable than it is.

Saying something is underused and/or not very good, relative to other weapon choices (although true in this case), is not a good reason to remove/merge it.

It’s a reason to improve it.

For example, I’d like to be able to play longbow/shortbow on my Ranger (I don’t think that is an unreasonable request for a Ranger?), but no one does that ATM, for good reason.

That shouldn’t be the case.

But I want my fabulous Guardian to wield The Dreamer, my Sylvari Rogue to wield Kudzu, and Charr Warrior to unleash the fury with Champawat!

I honestly wouldn’t mind if they made them cross-transmutable, visually speaking.

My point was more that, given the weapon-swapping design of the game, I think you need at least two true ranged weapon choices (ideally bows) on Ranger.

Even though it’s not really working out like that for Ranger, ATM, due to this ongoing obsession they seem to have with nerfing ranged weap damage, relative to melee.

roamzero.9486:

I can’t remember the last time I saw a Ranger running around with a SB. Unless Anet buffs Ranger SB to the point of being not-garbage again, the only class this new legendary will used on is Thief lol (and even then only as a utility weapon)

True.

So because a weapon isn’t as used much it should be removed?

Well not HoT is out almost every ele uses the warhorn, so now the focus isn’t used as much why not remove it ???? doesn’t matter that it has different uses in battle.

What happens if they did that and you want a Condi ranger and only have a small selection and no ranged Condi weapon, you would complain.

Every guardian now either uses Gs,longbow or staff so why not remove every other weapon because meta is those?

Variety made gw good so taking that away will not be a good idea even if no one uses them.

What they need is to buff the shortbow to make it more viable but even if they did due to lb having the 5 skill on rangers people will still stick with that and the 2 skill as well xD

If too many people use it then it will get nerfed. Just remember that ????

Drakz.7051:

So because a weapon isn’t as used much it should be removed?

Well not HoT is out almost every ele uses the warhorn, so now the focus isn’t used as much why not remove it ???? doesn’t matter that it has different uses in battle.

What happens if they did that and you want a Condi ranger and only have a small selection and no ranged Condi weapon, you would complain.

Every guardian now either uses Gs,longbow or staff so why not remove every other weapon because meta is those?

Variety made gw good so taking that away will not be a good idea even if no one uses them.

I think part of the problem in this game is in making one weapon better for condi, or power, or whatever.

As opposed to them being more flexible choices, based only on preference.

You’re already backed into a corner (often quite literally, on Ranger!), if you want to play ranged, without making the weapon choices so specific.

Tigaseye.2047:

Sartharina.3542:

Tigaseye.2047:

Shortbow should just be better and more widely usable than it is.

Saying something is underused and/or not very good, relative to other weapon choices (although true in this case), is not a good reason to remove/merge it.

It’s a reason to improve it.

For example, I’d like to be able to play longbow/shortbow on my Ranger (I don’t think that is an unreasonable request for a Ranger?), but no one does that ATM, for good reason.

That shouldn’t be the case.

But I want my fabulous Guardian to wield The Dreamer, my Sylvari Rogue to wield Kudzu, and Charr Warrior to unleash the fury with Champawat!

I honestly wouldn’t mind if they made them cross-transmutable, visually speaking.

My point was more that, given the weapon-swapping design of the game, I think you need at least two true ranged weapon choices (ideally bows) on Ranger.

Even though it’s not really working out like that for Ranger, ATM, due to this ongoing obsession they seem to have with nerfing ranged weap damage, relative to melee.

Eh… Rangers have axes for range as well. And they can probably get rifles as an elite spec to move them toward real-world rangers more than the druid stuff the new elite spec gave them.

MithranArkanere.8957:

Rangers can’t have firearms, because they go against their nature theme, hence having two bows instead a bow and a rifle. Remember they are not WoW’s ‘hunter’. They re closer to D&D’s rangers and druids, and so there’s things they can’t do or they’d go against their connection to nature, reducing or losing their powers altogether.

The “Nature Theme” is only really strongly present in the new Elite Spec. And D&D Rangers have nothing against them using firearms beyond “D&D Doesn’t have Firearms in the base game”. Sure, druids have restrictions.. but rangers don’t. The Guild Wars 2 ranger is no more ‘nature themed’ than WoW’s Hunter (And actually far less, IMO). In fact, I was rather irritated when I learned the Ranger wouldn’t be able to use rifles when GW2 released, because Charr are the best race in ANY fantasy RPG, and there is absolutely nothing more “True Charr” than one wielding a Rifle with a trusty devourer at its side. (In fact, the GW2 Ranger has far more in common with the WoW Hunter than the D&D Ranger, or any real-world ranger)

The ranger is a survivalist who wears armor more designed to protect against the environment than direct armed aggression, with a diverse set of weapon proficiencies that aid in getting by in hostile territories. Real-world rangers almost universally use firearms, generally pistols and shotguns, though bows are used by some because of the reusability of the ammunition, and utility of the projectile. In fantasy, they are masters and stewards of the land and environment, not beholden servants to it.

Sorry for tangent, the “Rangers should never use guns” argument just really, really bothers me.

i suppose all the salt is being spilled over the new legendary shortbow skin, so here’s an absolutely insane and shocking suggestion for all the PvE loot hoarders who are upset they cant use it:

how about you roll a class that can use it and play it with shortbow as a main weapon, I guarantee you wont even notice any significant difference in your daily PvE loot hoarding routine

Drakz.7051:

So because a weapon isn’t as used much it should be removed?

Well not HoT is out almost every ele uses the warhorn, so now the focus isn’t used as much why not remove it ???? doesn’t matter that it has different uses in battle.

What happens if they did that and you want a Condi ranger and only have a small selection and no ranged Condi weapon, you would complain.

Every guardian now either uses Gs,longbow or staff so why not remove every other weapon because meta is those?

Variety made gw good so taking that away will not be a good idea even if no one uses them.

So give the ranger longbow condition riders! :P

The problem I have is nobody can use the “Shortbow” except rangers. (Thieves also use a bow, but only the ranger makes it a distinct weapon on its own).

Sure, elementalists don’t use the focus in exchange for the Warhorn now – but Guardians, Mesmers, and Necromancers still use the focus in addition to the Elementalist, and Rangers and Warriors also use the Warhorn. Furthermore, Warhorns and Focus have radically different skins. That said – I can see some similarities between Warhorn and Focus. But I can’t see a Warrior or hunter tooting on the Minstrel like I can see a Dragonhunter unleashing Unicorns across the battlefield.

Well I am thinking they might add rifle to ranger and call it sniper or something xD so another ranged weapon I hope xD

Look at Rev ranged wepons, just the one and it is mostly cc and relies on a precision build to make it do condis. XD

Sartharina.3542:

Eh… Rangers have axes for range as well.

Yeah, I know, I use longbow and axe/warhorn on my Ranger, but chucking an axe around doesn’t really feel like true ranged play, to me.

As the above poster said, I think it is fairly unlikely they will give Rangers pistols, or rifles.

I think, if they were going to have them, they would probably have them already.

…and actually, I would rather have two bows, than a bow and a noisy gun.

I just wish the second bow was far more useful than it currently is.

It seems to me, thematically, Short Bow was primarily meant to be a mobility weapon. Thieves have mobility in the skill bar, and Rangers have mobility in the trait line(although Skirmishing is basically cookie cutter). So it’s a weapon that someone in Tyria would use because it’s less cumbersome than a Longbow, and not as loud as a pistol or rifle.

Lexander.4579:

i suppose all the salt is being spilled over the new legendary shortbow skin, so here’s an absolutely insane and shocking suggestion for all the PvE loot hoarders who are upset they cant use it:

how about you roll a class that can use it and play it with shortbow as a main weapon, I guarantee you wont even notice any significant difference in your daily PvE loot hoarding routine

What the heck makes you think I’m a loot hoarder? I don’t have time to hoard loot, so if I see something (Like a legendary) that I want, I have to be judicious in pursuing it.

And shortbows have stupidly short range, preventing me from letting the Unicorns fly. And they’re worn by Medium Armor users, who have absolutely no kittening fashion sense at all. Seriously – trench coats are so 90’s I can almost hear the screams from Columbine. And playing a ranger with a tiger bow isn’t the same as unleashing the fiery fury of a Warrior with Champawat. And a pink asura Thief plopping sending unicorns bouncing around isn’t the same as a Norn Dragonhunter unleashing mighty unicorns to engage in glorious battle to protect the land and dreams of its people from the threat of the Elder Dragons. And a warrior spewing fire with Kudzu (WTF?) isn’t the same as a thief dancing gracefully around her enemies with the living vine

Lexander.4579:

i suppose all the salt is being spilled over the new legendary shortbow skin, so here’s an absolutely insane and shocking suggestion for all the PvE loot hoarders who are upset they cant use it:

how about you roll a class that can use it and play it with shortbow as a main weapon, I guarantee you wont even notice any significant difference in your daily PvE loot hoarding routine

Well, you may say that, but I foolishly tried shortbow, on Ranger, when I was new and it was pretty awful (although, admittedly, so was I at the time) and I have a newish Thief now and shortbow is also extremely puny on that, damage-wise, compared with duel wielding daggers (although, not half as puny as it was on Ranger).

So, I gave up on shortbow entirely on Ranger and only really use it on Thief to get around the map quickly and then, generally, swap to my daggers to actually kill things.

So, unless they are going to improve it, it will probably only really be being half used, mainly as a map-hopping pogo stick, by only one of the two classes who can potentially use it.

Which will, obviously, be a waste.

A lot of arguments saying “shortbows and longbows are fundamentally different”, and while I’m not sure if that’s true having never examined combat with them, I guess it’s understandable that shortbows might be easier to maneuver and fire having a shorter length and draw. But sword/greatsword, pistol/rifle, mace/hammer aren’t valid bases for comparison; in all of those cases it’s a one-handed weapon vs a two handed.

As for being very different, I’d argue there are far more distinctions among one-handed swords and two-handed swords than there are between shortbows and longbows. One-handed swords encompass thrusting swords (spadroons, smallswords, sideswords), cutting swords (falchions, katzbalgers, viking-era swords, naval cutlass, cavalry sabres), and hybrids (arming swords, rapiers), all of which need to be used differently to maximize effectiveness. Two-handed swords are a bit narrower with mostly the same designs but different sizes/weights warranting different techniques (longsword, montante, spadone, greatsword).

Regardless, I don’t think it’s a good idea to try to deconstruct such a framework that already exists. Just like how I’d very much like for there to be greataxes/polearms so axe/greataxe fits with the other melee weapons with one/two hand variants (and so my warrior can look like the picture on the website), it’s likely far too much effort to try to merge the entirety of skins and make an entirely new weapon use for rangers.

Well, I disagree with the merging of the 2 weapon simply because the most different type of weapon we got in the game, the most possibility there are for elites spec. Simply put, there is nothing to hinder the possibility of any profession using each of the two bow in the futur.

That said, the shortbow is widely used by the thief while it’s right that the ranger’s one is a bit hindered by some design issues. Technically, the shortbow is supposed to be a skirmish weapon while the lonbow is more a long range steady weapon.

As for what I think they should do to the ranger’s short bow, it’s simple :
- First an update which remove the optional aspect of the bleed on the auto attack.
- Second, look at how it fare for a few month.
- Third, if it’s well received by the community keep it like this or if it’s not well received, balance bleed duration.

Sartharina.3542:

Seriously – trench coats are so 90’s I can almost hear the screams from Columbine.

Dude, wtf.

On topic: there are tons of variations and distinctions in kinds of bows, just like swords; they’re just much less well known. Further, while you kind of have two fundamental ways of using a sword (a stab and a slash), you still mostly draw a bow the same way.

I think part of the reason short bows seem less unique here is because we don’t have mounts. Shorter bows were absolutely huge in use in history, but a significant portion of that is because they can be used from horseback; this was one of their big distinctions.

Because some folks like shortbows.

I never understood why shortbows are even a class of weapons in games. There is no such thing as a “shortbow.” It’s a small bow, and the only time this mattered was if the person was on a mount. Frankly, proficiency with one is the same as the other. Unlike swords, there were no effective classifications. Cultures used different lengths of bows for different military approaches. Never in history has there been a distinction between a shortbow and a longbow.

Why they never implemented the crossbow is beyond me. It’s one of history’s best ranged weapons and a staple weapon among the rogue-like classes going all the way back to the early days of Dungeons and Dragons.

Shortbows and many other weapons are indeed not really needed. The only reason there are 19(!!) weapons in the game is because they’re tied to skills. It’s no wonder Anet couldnt release a new set of legendaries when they’d have to make 19×5×2 = 190 models. Sure, most of them are just cropped/stretched versions of the same thing, but it’s still a lot of work.

It’s disheartening that the last 2nd gen legendary weapon will be a shortbow. I wish I could main this weapon but it’s so rarely used…

Why are there 2 types of swords?
Why are there guns and rifles?
Why arent there polearms?
Why arent there throwable spears..?

Doggie.3184:

Because there’s shortbows and longbows IRL. Ones faster and more suited for active combat while the other snipes from long distance. If you used both you’d probably find the longbow more uncomfortable to use because of its size and it’s not as easy to pull back.

Also… so there’s 2 different bars of bow skills. IMO Thief and Ranger shoulda both started with access to both weapons on GW2 release. It was a rather common Assassin weapon in GW1.

To be fair, ANY class could use ANY weapon in GW1. You could be a ranger running around with a scepter/focus if you wanted to.

Vukorep.3081:

Why are there 2 types of swords?
Why are there guns and rifles?
Why arent there polearms?
Why arent there throwable spears..?

Shortbow isn’t one handed. Polearms is pretty valid, but I guess they thought underwater spears took those skins. Because underwater spears took those skins.

Dadnir.5038:

Technically, the shortbow is supposed to be a skirmish weapon while the lonbow is more a long range steady weapon.

As for what I think they should do to the ranger’s short bow, it’s simple :
- First an update which remove the optional aspect of the bleed on the auto attack.
- Second, look at how it fare for a few month.
- Third, if it’s well received by the community keep it like this or if it’s not well received, balance bleed duration.

The shortbow is a skirmish weapon in game, as long as your definition of skirmish means staying mobile to get the most out of the shortbow’s ability to keep the condi pressure on. Getting rid of the optional bleed aspect puts a dent in the ranger’s ability to keep the condi pressure on and gives no real incentive to play for position in a fight or to use the shortbow at all.

This is a really good question.

And another one…why did they work on the new legendary shortbow before more popular weapons?

Just…no…logic.

The Rangers are all using Shortbows. They are just called Longbows now. The Shortbow was overused and the Longbow was underused so in a “balance” patch they destroyed the Shortbow to force use of the Longbow. Years, and many improvements to the Longbow later, it’s being used like the Shortbow was at the start and they’ve started balancing back the other way by giving the Shortbow’s condition damage more meaning.

Celtic Lady.3729:

This is a really good question.

And another one…why did they work on the new legendary shortbow before more popular weapons?

Just…no…logic.

Because the Dreamer is extremely annoying.

Sartharina.3542:

The legendary discussion made me start thinking about this question – Why are there two different types of bows in this game? There is only one profession that uses both types – the Ranger, and even it only uses the SB for utility. And with all the weapon skins – the only difference I see between most of them is the scale.

Honestly – I think they should try merging the bow types, and giving Rangers a new weapon in exchange for the loss of the Shortbow, while letting the skins be shared. I’m certain there are lots of Thieves, especially of Sylvari disposition, who’d love to needle their foes with Kudzu, and warriors and Dragonhunters who’d love to let the Dreamer’s pink unicorns soar across the battlefield… and now that the new legendary is going to apparently be some sort of awesome Tiger-themed shortbow… what warrior wouldn’t love unleashing it’s power in furious fire?

Good call imo. The devs clearly struggle to keep things balanced. They should definitely look to consolidate into smaller sets of skills. It was done when they moved from GW to GW2 with great popularity. It should be done again, I think.

I’d support this idea, when short and Longbow would simply get merged into Longbow, this way would get thief also finalyl their longrange weapon back and could finally do also again something on for example tower defensse in WvW, before Anet nerfed long agon the range of shortbows from 1200 to 900 resulting in the point, that thieves became instant useless in any kind of defnesive WvW gameplay when tryign to hold towers/keeps ect. because you freakign couldnt reach anythign anymore from your position… /facepalm when you should have from a higher position like a tower usually a MUCh HIGHER RANGE than normal..because you can shoot in a great arc to reach greater distances as your shot arrow is due to the higher position naturally also logner in the air / logic Anet..logic, somethign I miss from you very oftenly lately.

If Shortbows as Weapon Type would get then replaced with CROSSBOWS, I think both classes, Rangers as like Thieves would receive then a fittign replacement!!
Or better, replace for both classes the weapon with something much better and more unique and rework the removed shortbow skills into traits, utility skills and already existing weapon skills.

Example for the Ranger:

Replace Shortbow with the new Weapon Type “Whip” to give the Ranger a 750er midrange weapon that can hit multiple nearby foes at once (cleaving) to keep them at distance.
Animations for Whips already exist basically and whips as weapon skins are also very easy (defintely easier than shortbows or swords and the like, so coming up quickly with a little badge of skisn for them shouldnt be too hard, making the weapon skills is rather what will take longer time I guess)

In case of Thief the Whip would also fit, because when wante could be done stuff like Chain Sickles simple a Whip Reskin, either that, or replace SHortbow for Thief with Chakrams/Throwing Stars to givethe thief a weapon, tjhat fits better to its style and design, while adding for them later with another elite spec then the Longbow for a fittign silent longrange weapon.

Who I have been responsible anyways for choosing out all useable Weapon Types for the Release Date, then we would aready fight with a much better selection of weapons that fit this game universalyl better and without any underwater weapons to begin with. i would have holded of the implementation of any underwater content, when we would have gone against the deep see dragon to introduce with a kind of expansion then the underwater combat together with a heckload of content fittign for that.
Anet absolutely rushed it with underwater combat, because thy tried too hard to give the game something innovative, on paper it sounded all nice and good, but we all know how much thy failed with this content so far and under its current design has it absolutely no future, so I think it would be the best to scrap completely all underwater weapons and replace everythign pve/wvw related that has water for now with somethign that has eithr no water, or provides us automaticalyl with replacement environmental weapons that grow stronger with us automaticalyl as our characters progress in story with univrsal skilsl that are for all classes the same in pve, until the tiem has come that Anet can and will bring underwater combat in a reiteredted and redesigned way back with the deep sea dragon expansion where it axtually first makes sense to have this feature at all developed in detail with alot of content attached to it.

Under my resposibility this game would have started 2012 rather with these 19 weapon types, instead of what we got:

1) Sword
2) Axe
3) Mace
4) Dagger
5) Greatsword
6) Greataxe
7) Spear (Polearms, so in sense of Halberds, Glaives, Lances, Naginatas ect.)
8.) Staff
9) Scepter
10) Bow
11) Shield
12) Hammer
13) Crossbow
14) Whips
15) Claws/Gauntlets
16) Chakrams (General Throwing Weapons with skins for Shurikens or Boomerangs also)
17) Quarterstaff (differentiating Magic and Melee Staffs, not doign the lazy route here with merging with with each other, also with reskins similar to FF9s Zidanes Dual Blade Staves)
18.) Flails/Chain Sickles
19) Relics (Universal Offhand Item (Combines warhorn, Focus, Torch together with all of its universal skins as relics are for every class universally simply something different, for a necro it might be a Warhorn, for an Elementalist it might be a Magic Tome ect.)

That way the weapons would have been more diverse, with also some more exotic options among them without sich unfittign stuff like Pistols and Riffles, without such unneccessary differenttiations between Short and Longbow here, when a Crossbow would have been the visually better differentiated choice for Shortbow and rifle together and spears there, where they make sense, in land combat

Technically see we speak here of just only 10 skills, that would need to get reworked/reintegrated into the game in other ways so that players most likely wont miss them.
An absolutely doable task if you ask me, when therefor stil lexistign traits/weapon skilsl ect. get improved.

Orpheal.8263:

-snip-

… This is missing the point I was trying to make entirely. When I was suggesting Rangers get a new weapon to replace Shortbow, I was actually thinking Dagger, before realizing they already had it (Mainhand dagger for condi damage+swiftness could work, though). Not adding new, bizarre weapons.

Dadnir would need to clarify the remove optional bleeds thing as to completely remove or add it to the shortbow’s stats. What was put was basically “get rid of & see what happens” (or at least that’s the way it comes across, maybe it’s just me). Anyway, I run LB/SB so messing up the bleed stacker really doesn’t really appeal to me.

Sartharina.3542:

TexZero.7910:

Why do we even have Swords ? Clearly the Greatsword is superior. Let’s just replace all swords with greatswords. Give mesmers something else for it because it would be silly for them to dual wield greatswords.

Swords are one-handed, while Greatswords are two-handed, for starters. Their skins are also radically different. Also, they have completely different gameplay across all classes (And both have uneven distribution across the classes. Reapers can use Greatswords, but not Swords. Revenants can use Swords, but not Greatswords. A guardian with a sword doesn’t play anything like a Guardian with a Greatsword. Swords and Greatswords are both seen on Warriors for radically different uses, and in different combinations with other weapons.

:O

You dont say. I would have never guessed that 2 distinctly different classes use weapons differently. I would have also never guessed that the short bow on ranger plays entirely different than the longbow on ranger.

Look we all get you hate the “Legendary Snafu” but gutting classes for this sorta logic…if one can even call it that is silly.

Also, to the people who didn’t get the joke….I’m sorry in future i will write all responses that have a joke or sarcasm with a /s. I’m told this is how reddit does it.