Guild Wars 2

Bugs aside, it seems like one of the most disappointing aspects of the Ranger profession at this point in time is obviously the weak natured Spirits we are able to call upon. It is also clear that these Ranger classics were toned down to prevent their abuse in the various PvP worlds that have been established in GW2, however that does not necessarily justify dwarfing their overall capability to such an extent as this. Given the new variables that have been introduced to the GW universe, it is safe to say that Spirits should not have the insane range that one comes to expect when traveling from GW1, nor would it be right to have that passive bonus extend to that range either. Therefore, I would like to propose an alternative functionality to current Spirit models; one that would essentially reverse their current function.

Rather than maintaining a constant passive ability granted to those who are literally (and quite inconveniently) a few steps away, it would make more logical sense to switch the “triggered” abilities of spirits with their passive ones; assuming a couple minor tweaks could be implemented as well. Functionally this switch would cause the “triggered” skills of Spirits to respond in a passive AOE manner, bestowing the area around them with pulses of burn/blind/cripple etc. which are relevant to their respective element in some form. Alternatively, having the former “passive” abilities of spirits take on the form of a triggered skill they can utilize would make more sense in regards to the trait “Nature’s Vengeance”; effectively allowing the range of their chance on attack properties to be used in a fashion akin to that of the warhorn, which would grant this effect to any allies within Spirit range. What we have colloquially dubbed as “popping” a skill for the desired effect would make for an improved situational skill that would be less likely to be exploited. To those who imagine that this would just prompt Rangers to stack the duration of each effect, perhaps it would be best to cause additional triggers to simply reset the effect to the displayed textual duration of the skill (i.e. 20% chance to burn on attack with 10s left would be reset to the original 20s or “full” duration rather than an additional 20).

Any additional thoughts or comments would be welcome.