Guild Wars 2

So I was wondering if any Arenanet guys could clarify for me. To what extent does “Nature Magic” allow Rangers to cast? It is to my understanding that this trait line primarily focuses on spirits. Do the Rangers create these spirits? Are spirits their own entities?

The Ranger has an ability when downed called Thunderclap, which allows them to basically cast a thunderbolt much like an Elementalist. So clearly they have some casting abilities. Does this mean that they can do more magic or is it the spirits which allow them to cast these things?

I would love to see a Staff Ranger that uses melee bashes and such with a magical type effect.

I think the only official thing we have on Rangers as magic users are these lines from the Ranger and Ritualist description: “Nature rituals allow them to manipulate the environment to hinder their enemies, or borrow the very power of creation to heal and aid their allies” and "Where the Ranger lives as one with the spirit world, the Ritualist can and will be its master. "

So yes the Ranger does use some sort of magic, but it’s closer to the Ritualist than to an Elementalist. He channels the spirits of nature and calls them for aid, rather than bending magic. This form of magic is far older than any other magic arts and not bound to the Blood Stones (though, what is nowadays…). If I had to guess, I’d say the ranger profession has the same origins as the Ritualists, but they split ways rather early, with the Ranger going to live in tune with the spirits, while the Ritualist controlled them.
The Thunderclap in this case would be more like one of these skills rather than any lightning spell of the Ele.

One thing you’re missing, Buddhakeks, was that around the time of the Ranger’s release (or maybe it was Engineer’s), it was said that the Ranger delved more into magic over the past 250 years.

The only magic rangers used in GW1 were those spirits – which indeed seem more related to the Ritualists’ magic than anything else, calling upon spirits and the such (though as opposed to Ritualists who use spirits attuned to emotions, rangers use spirits attuned to nature).

However, in GW2 their magic certainly feels more akin to that of an Elementalist than Ritualist, given how their skills – for example, the new version of Healing Spring – deals more with the elements than not, and in the same manner as well.