Guild Wars 2

Projectile speed was a major issue to and auto attack speed. I really thought something with that could be looked into

so. pls watch what people tell you in the forum. when BW1 was nearly every comment contained “fixes” to longbow. It could look like this:
1. increase arrow speed (the whole point of guard getting another range option was that scepter aa sucks. so giving us a weapon with the exact same problem just leaves me speachless)
2. you can now move while casting (maybe reduce the dmg abit in exchange)
3. its not a ground target anymore. instead you target an enemy (this skill is near useless as a ground target skill)
4. make it able to shoot behind you (like arcing arrow)
5. this skill is actually fine
Virtues as i said feel like a downcrate. a fix could be:
F1: seems fine. dmg increase wasnt really needed
F2: 900 range
F3: instant cast
the traits of dragonhunter feel mostly boring and without love or just underwhelming. The propesed changes help a bit but are far from being enough.
my ideas:
“big game hunter” make it cause cripple instead of vulnerability. this would also make the F1 skill much more useful. the chain effect you see would also come to life. enemys once hit cant run away that easily anymore
combine “heavy light” and “dulled senses” into one GM trait. The created space in master tier could be used for a skill like: " traps are groundtarget "
combine “bulwark” and “hunters fortification” into one master trait. this GM is really underwhelming. The space in the GM tier could be used for another trap trait. This way we have the ability to pic one trap, one longbow and one virtue trait in every tier
ideas for it could be: “immob on trap activation” or “increased radius + duration of traps” or maybe something like " Fragments of Faiths if you get stunned"
Im overall not a big fan of traps as a utility. but it seems we are stuck with it. so maybe some love in the traits could make it useful. also it seems like a good idea to go with 3 traits for longbow,3 traits for virtues and 3 traits for traps. People gonna use the Dragonhunter for one of those 3 things. They have to go into the traitline to use them. So why not give them traits in each tier for the thing they want to use as well?"

^^^ This. All of this. Especially the traits, and the part about LB feeling absurdly slow and clunky. Also, what is the reasoning behind rooting the player while charging “True Shot?” The damage is not nearly worth the immobility, especially when F3 is no longer instant cast. Even with instant F3, there is just no reason to be rooted for a skill that does that amount of damage.

Also, am I the only one annoyed by the fact that the LB5 animation is an exact rip-off of the Ranger’s Barrage? We couldn’t do something that felt a little more… Guardian-like? Like with floating and light beams or something?

Much more importantly, Alias is entirely right about the traits: Most of them are ridiculously weak and underwhelming right now (especially compared to most of the Guardian’s other trait lines), and they are far more spread out and disorganized than the other elite specs (although the Tempest has a similar, entirely random and disorganized feel). Organize that nonsense, and maybe make some of them actually synergize with other Guardian traits/skills, because right now, they’re just ridiculous. A line dedicated to LB, one for the new Virtues, and one for traps would be great — especially if it meant that traps could be traited for both CD reduction and around 600 range ground-targeting, so that they actually fit with the ranged playstyle. Cripple, rather than Vulnerability, on the Spear of Justice trait is an amazing idea.

The biggest issue right now is that everything on DH feels super random and wonky, and none of it really fits together with anything else, either on the DH or the rest of what Guardians do. The few traits that do fit together (like Heavy Light and cripple on knockback) are too weak individually, because they are basically useless without each other (i.e., Guardians just don’t have that much knockback, and without Heavy Light, there is literally none available in the DH weapon or skills — why would those traits be separated?) And finally, not only are traps right now totally melee and LB totally ranged, but there is almost nothing readily available (and certainly nothing on even relatively short CD) in either traps or LB that can actually keep enemies either at range or in the traps. GS/Hammer is better for keeping them in the traps, and Scepter for kiting. I would much rather be able to trait True Shot for movement while casting and cripple on hit than stability. And that would actually fit with the other traits, skills, and overall theme. Who wants to use a long-windup, stuck-in-place skill for a couple seconds of stability? Guardians have much better ways of getting that particular boon.

Riranor.6315:

Azoqu.8917:

I have to ask you all, did anyone else notice that bow #1 would only bounce if the second target was behind the first? I found that really annoying having to change targets all the time in order to hit both. I don’t know if it was a bug I was getting or something else entirely.

“Fire an arrow which can bounce to the enemies behind your target. If an arrow hits a second target, all enemies struck are crippled.”

Thats the skill, not a bug.

I was hoping that was not the case, having to change targets constantly is going to be a pain in the kitten and will continue the theme of the Dragonhunter being super awkward to use. Though that might be the point of the Dragonhunter, to be completely unusable without jumping through hoops to get even the smallest bit of efficiency.

Anti.9156:

…
1. increase arrow speed (the whole point of guard getting another range option was that scepter aa sucks. so giving us a weapon with the exact same problem just leaves me speachless)
2. you can now move while casting (maybe reduce the dmg abit in exchange)
3. its not a ground target anymore. instead you target an enemy (this skill is near useless as a ground target skill)
4. make it able to shoot behind you (like arcing arrow)
5. this skill is actually fine
F1: seems fine. dmg increase wasnt really needed
F2: 900 range
F3: instant cast
“big game hunter” make it cause cripple instead of vulnerability. this would also make the F1 skill much more useful. the chain effect you see would also come to life. enemys once hit cant run away that easily anymore
combine “heavy light” and “dulled senses” into one GM trait. The created space in master tier could be used for a trait like: " traps are groundtarget "
combine “bulwark” and “hunters fortification” into one master trait. this GM is really underwhelming. The space in the GM tier could be used for another trap trait. This way we have the ability to pic one trap, one longbow and one virtue trait in every tier
ideas for it could be: “immob on trap activation” or “increased radius + duration of traps” or maybe something like " Fragments of Faiths if you get stunned"

..

overall making longbow and virtues less clunky and cleaning up the mess the traitline is right now. We have to give up a complete trailine just to go longbow.
so pls make it worth.
guardian is in a place where most if not all good pvp build pick up valor (for sustain (meditation on offense or AH on defense)) and virtues (f2 condicleanse + F3 stunbreak +aoe stab is just too strong to not take it). So DH traitline needs to be equal to Radiance or Zeal

Personally, changes I would like to see are, make longbow skill 1 more meaningful, have longbow skill 2 not pin you in place, make Procession of Blades the Whirl finisher it should be, think about adding fields to at lest some of the traps, have Wings of resolve be a Blast finisher or at lest have the trait Soaring Devastation make it one.

i have 3 main things i’d like to see addressed with the longbow:

the projectile-blocking LB skill should be bigger (like, as tall as a character, at least) and move slower. like, way slower, so that you can actually use it as a shield instead of just firing against a random other arrow. someone suggested making it kinda like the mesmer shield wave in size and speed, but without the bouncing back part. i understand that it would mean the skill would get a significant CD increase, but i think it’s a sacrifice worth making to get a strong, useful skill instead of a skill you use at random and hope it has a positive side effect.

the AA could seriously use some movement speed increase. it felt slower than the thief’s shortbow. regardless of damage values, it felt incredibly wimpy because of the small glowing toothpick moving at snail’s pace towards the enemy.

and last but not least, why can’t i fire the symbol behind me? warriors and thieves both can cast their bows’ AoEs behind them, but the DH’s symbol requires LoS to be fired.

contrary to most people, i do like how #2 roots you. it’s a killshot-style skill, you deal massive damage on a fast projectile at the cost of a quick root. it even adds to the feel of the skill.

adding numbers is not the way to go. DH doesnt feel right, bc of slow and clunky skills. Mesmer and Reaper showed how its done and how you rework based on feedback. these changes just sound lazy: “people dont like it? just make it stronger”. I dont want a super strong DH if that means it stays the way it is and we just get better numbers. thats not fun. i want a fun Dragonhunter. with good traits and a longbow that feels like the fluent gameplay i’m used to have in gw2

Rob Gee posted something in the necro forums regarding their other clunky weapons. He said he couldn’t get to scepter and axe, but he had something planned for them.

Do you similarly have anything positive planned for shield?

These changes don’t match up with the feedback people complained about…..
1. People said the non instant cast virtues where a issues.
2. Arrow speed
3. Clunky ground targeting/rooting in place
4. Lower damage to scepter/torch which every skill can be used while moving and none of them have the drawback of turning the camera mid cast and the skill going on cool down with new effect happening.

Most of the changes you guys did in this post don’t seem very relevant at all to what people gave feedback too.

edited for spelling

Just to reiterate, while I understand the reasoning behind these changes, I agree with the majority of the posters in this thread that they weren’t necessarily the correct changes that should have been made. I put together a list of the changes I would love to see made.

The higher the item is on the list, the more priority it should get, IMO.

1. Virtues – The biggest problem here aren’t the actual numbers, but rather the cast time. Virtues are powerful in PvP because they’re instant. Instant blinds or instant blocks allow you to perform critical stomps on enemy players and allows you to negate attacks that would otherwise be very devastating. With a cast time, guardians simply can’t do these things anymore. It’s a major turnoff for the elite spec and will probably be the main reasoning behind those who choose not to play it.

Solution –
A)Either change the cast times to instant, which might not be a viable option since they’re designed in such a way that making them instant might require an entire redesign of the skill

OR

B)Allow players to choose old virtues(similar to how revenants can mix and match legends).

I would personally go with option 2, as it not only seems simpler but also allows for greater diversity and versatility in dragon hunter builds.

2. Autoattacks missing due to moving players. This is an issue that scepter had(and still has, although to a lesser extent). Simply strafing left and right will cause the majority of these attacks to miss.

Solution – Increase projectile velocity

3. True shot roots the player and makes the bow feel overly clunky.

Solution – Remove the root

4. LB #3 feels gimmicky and is relatively useless, especially when dragon hunters already have a projectile block on virtue of courage.

Solution – Remove the projectile block, change it to a target based skill, and reduce the CD by 3 – 4 seconds.

5. Players can’t shoot behind them(mainly for LB #4) and the character will not pivot if the target is outside their FOV.

Solution – Allow players to, at the very least, use LB # 4 behind them, similarly to arcing arrow.

I recommend to anyone reading this to post your issues with the class, regardless of whether or not it’s already been said. Overwhelming feedback that all addresses the same issues and asks for the same fixes will get more response by the devs.

nova.4123:

These changes don’t match up with the feedback people complained about…..
1. People said the non instant cast virtues where a issues.
2. Arrow speed
3. Clunky ground targeting/rooting in place
4. Lower damage to scepter/torch which every skill can be used while moving and none of them have the drawback of turning the camera mid cast and the skill going on cool down with new effect happening.

Most of the changes you guys did in this post don’t seem very relevant at all to what people gave feedback too.

^^ This. I dont know where they got complaints for spear of justice.

We are in a good spot Hype.

I personally really like these changes, and the specialisation as a whole. I already know I’ll be maining DH when it hits with HoT.

Theres only two real changes I want to see, and thats increasing the reveal on Light’s Judgement to 2 seconds, and increase the range on Wings of Resolve to atleast 900. I feel like Wings of Resolve should be our ‘oh crap’ button, and with a class thats already slow and has no easy gap closes (or escapes) then Wings would totally fill that niche. It doesn’t do that all at 600 range, especially with how long the cast animation is. The increase to reveal would give me enough time to do something rather than get a flash of a person and then have them on me before I can react. I think thats about it.

Don’t buff projectile speed, please. We need projectiles that are strafable in this game. We don’t need Ranger Longbow 2.0 with instant projectiles.

If it is increased, please be a low number instead of 100% like rangers got.

warherox.7943:

Don’t buff projectile speed, please. We need projectiles that are strafable in this game. We don’t need Ranger Longbow 2.0 with instant projectiles.

Considering how difficult it can be to land a projectile when the foe is running in circles around you at melee range, I think it is absolutely appropriate for projectiles to not be dodgeable by simply pressing the strafe keys when at range. It implies that our characters cannot aim well enough to hit moving targets, which is a serious limitation in a game where this isn’t supposed to be a thing. If it makes you feel better, it wouldn’t be as deadly as Ranger longbow simply because it cannot hit from 1500 range.

Azoqu.8917:

Riranor.6315:

Azoqu.8917:

I have to ask you all, did anyone else notice that bow #1 would only bounce if the second target was behind the first? I found that really annoying having to change targets all the time in order to hit both. I don’t know if it was a bug I was getting or something else entirely.

“Fire an arrow which can bounce to the enemies behind your target. If an arrow hits a second target, all enemies struck are crippled.”

Thats the skill, not a bug.

I was hoping that was not the case, having to change targets constantly is going to be a pain in the kitten and will continue the theme of the Dragonhunter being super awkward to use. Though that might be the point of the Dragonhunter, to be completely unusable without jumping through hoops to get even the smallest bit of efficiency.

For what it’s worth, it’s an inverse of what the other projectile classes have to do: Penetrating rounds on Rifle and Bows are extremely awkward and unreliable if you are targeting the closest enemy, so instead you always want to try to target the enemy in the back of the pack to ensure that the shot will go straight and pass through everything between you and it.

I’m not saying it to defend DH, or the DH Bow, because I was unimpressed with it during the BWE as well, I’m just saying that many ranged weapons on most/all of the professions have this sort of uncomfortable behavior.

I think it would be a good idea to remove the bounce and do something different with the auto. Having a target directly behind the one you’re hitting to proc off a second hit and cripple requires the stars to be in near-perfect alignment.

warherox.7943:

Don’t buff projectile speed, please. We need projectiles that are strafable in this game. We don’t need Ranger Longbow 2.0 with instant projectiles.

If it is increased, please be a low number instead of 100% like rangers got.

While I agree that more projectiles should be avoidable by movement and act as proper arrows, and not heat seeking missiles (looking at you ranger), stuff like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4obqZBr49tY not my video btw) is just plain silly. It makes the character seem inept and simply put stupid at missing at this range, especially when they call themselves “Dragonhunters”, chucking sticks against the wind. At this point, I’d be surprised if they managed to hit a snail 5 feet away.

The other major issue I have with dragonhunter, is the virtues and their cast times.

F1 should be faster. Not insta-cast, to give it a bit of a skill requirement, but an increase. Because as of right now, you have to stop and drop everything, to throw a spear that you will most likely miss because the enemy skipped a bit to the left.
F2 is alright. Maybe prevent the skill from going on full cooldown if it was interrupted, or apply the non-traited benefits when it’s cast.
F3 simply has to be insta-cast. There’s no other way around it.

Good changes, especially to traits. They seem much better now.

But! F1 has often the same problems as longbow #1 / scepter #1. It will most probably miss if enemy is in move even in 600 range. Making it 1200 range doesn’t change anything.

And about bow skills. #5 needs more dmg on impact and maybe less final dmg to balance it. Enemies don’t stay in the ring long enough to be hit by the final impact of this skill.

It would be nice seeing that Fragment’s of Faith apply AoE Daze(1-2s) when activated to buy some time, pick one of the fragments.

I had issues with the healing trap it did not want to go off properly. I ask feel that bow shot #2 was a pain with it rooting you in place. And did ok damage not great. I think if you had it left a trail of flames like the archers that we fight against do with roots it would be cool and much better. if can also use while moving that would be great. The distance with the wings could be increased a bit as well. As far as the shooting behinkitten ot to worried about that what type of archer can shoot behind them. But those are my thoughts on the the guardian elite spec.

While these changes are nice and justified for where they impact, there is still a gaping hole in the Dragonhunter spec, and that is with the issues that the Longbow has, fundamental mechanics issues.

Auto-attack (Puncture Shot) the projectile is far too slow and it has issues landing on moving targets, especially the same strafe issue that Scepter has faced for 3 years.

Puncture Shot and Deflecting Shot need to auto-turn when activated and you are standing still – you know, like every other weapon skill in the game. The fact that 3! doesn’t is a horrible joke, it’s already the only skillshot projectile and it doesn’t even auto-face while you skillshot it…

Symbol of Energy needs to fire behind, this precedent has been set by several skills on the Warrior’s Longbow and the Thief’s Shortbow.

It’s a little worrying that you think the Longbow was generally well received, I think every feedback post mentioned issues with the auto-attack projectile speed, Deflecting Shot’s lack of auto-turn and Symbol’s tiny firing arc.

These were not the changes I was looking forward to. =(

merchantchuck.4875:

These were not the changes I was looking forward to. =(

Then tell them what you were looking forward to – in detail – and how to get there.

Arricson Krei.9560:

Arnath.2319:

I don’t know if i should laugh or cry.

You obviously did not read any of the feedback given over the beta weekend!

These changes are pointless and do not address any of the core issues raised numerous times!

Traps are still garbage.
Traits are still garbage.
Virtues still have a cast time.
Deflecting Shot and Auto Attack are still garbage.

Honestly what is happening at ArenaNet? Do they hate Guardians that much that they would deliberately insult us with these “changes”?

Everything I am feeling is in this post… and everything below is targeted at the OP.

Are you kidding me? That’s it? You are correct about one thing, “distilling a lot of your comments” because obviously you didn’t listen to any of us.

We cried out for instant cast virtues because putting a cast time on a profession mechanic just seems like pure discrimination (Warrior and Engi are an exception, but only because it would be broken).
We cried out for increased projectile velocity because it’s too easily misguided by strafing or sudden movements ESPECIALLY in PvE.
We cried out for mobility while casting True Shot.
And most importantly, we cried out for a good set of traits! Who gives a kitten about 3s protection upon virtue activation? and about the lousy and lazily tossed around minor traits?
Most of these changes are far from fixing what’s wrong with the DH. We definitely didn’t need the increased heal and immob duration on F2. If you’re so concerned about “using {virtues} in the appropriate situations… so that… the choice remains a trade-off”, then reduce the cooldown and reduce the payout. Players need to be rewarded for skillful play more often than every 50-75 seconds. Right now, Guardian to me feels like nothing but a kitten class with three signets.

F1: Reduce the range back down to 900, increase the tether to 1200.
F2: Reduce the healing and immob duration back down, make the skill remove all movement-impairing conditions.
F3: Change this into a target area effect, like a ranged Shield of Absoprtion. Why should a LB spec have a front-line styled ability?

Make everything instant cast. F2 will function like Thief’s Withdraw; the movement happens immediately. Reduce the cooldowns.

If I could bet my money on anything, it’s that Irenio is just Karl’s alias because I feel like the same quality feedback was given.

I have to disagree with some of what you saying. Elite Specializations arent forced to use their new weapon. The increased heal on VoR was needed. If they plan for DH to be a tanky fighter for the new group content, it needs more defense for the tank group. VoC provides that added protection for the group from attacks. In group content, VoR was meant to jump to ally and save them.it needed heal buff.

VOJ needed range increase because its meant to go along with the offensive nature of DH which is its bow.

problem with DH is that the traits suck and Bow suck. But i fully understand the concepts behind the Virtues. They needed some buffs. Imo VoC should block all damage similar to focus. That would make an elite defender.

similar to the prereleased Long Bow for guardians, they need to make Bow into both a damage and support weapon.

traps need their cast time reduced. Some made baseline ground target.

Hello! I just wanted to say thank you for making some of these changes. They are very welcomed! After spending the vast majority of BWE 1 playing and testing out DH, I have to say that the following changes/lack of changes are NOT welcome:

-Longbow: Please let Symbol of Energy be fireable backwards. Increase velocity of auto attack.

-Longbow-related Traits: We have three longbow-only traits. Three of them. Really? What if I want to play DH but not use longbow? Please consider rolling Hunter’s Determination into Heavy Light, or combining Hunter’s determination, and Pure of Sight so that a new GM minor trait could be created.
Side note: The point of Heavy Light was to quickly interrupt and/or get in a free True Shot, not create distance. You pretty much just pigeonholed many of us into Big Game Hunter now. 7-8s cd was fine.

-Cripple: The change to Dulled Senses was pointless. We still do NOT have decent access to cripple. Every class in the game has reliable access to cripple except guardian (rev has chill on weapon skills). This trait should be a boring “% chance to cause cripple on hit,” OR “% chance to cause cripple with longbow skills,” OR “inflict vulnerability on opponents you knock back. Cripple enemies that you make vulnerable.” All of thes options would give us more reliable access to cripple.

-Virtues: f3 needs to be instant cast. Needs to. Lots of good reasons why, no good reasons as to why not. Also consider making f1, f2, and f3 a projectile finisher, leap finisher, and light field respectively. This falls in line with the theme of our virtues becoming more physical/material.

-Virtue related traits: 3 second immob for soaring devestation is borderline op. 2 seconds is fine. Please change/add to Hunter’s Fortification. It’s so weak/redundant that it can’t compete with any other trait at any other level. Note: This would be a great place to add the Resistance boon. 3 seconds of resistance and 5 seconds of protection upon activating a virtue!

-Traps: Not much to say. Still never going to use them. Low sustainability, no team support, mediocre damage and cc.

Imo VoC should block all damage similar to focus.

It does…for all affected players except for the Guardian. Obvious bug and needs to be addressed.

And if this isn’t a bug… I can’t even believe any one dev would be that evil to us.

Irenio CalmonHuang.2048:

The longbow skills were generally well received

I don’t know what feedback you read but I don’t agree with this point.

I would never play Dragonhunter Longbow on my Guardian.

I can’t stand the skills rooting me in place and the auto is too way slow.

Aorin.9168:

Lastly the elite specialization traits needed a little more love to really drive the defining components of the Dragonhunter.

• Piercing Light: Added a 20% recharge reduction to Traps.
• Soaring Devastation: Increased the duration of the immobilize from 1.5s to 3s.
• Hunter’s Determination: Increased the duration of stability gained from 4s to 6s.
• Dulled Senses: Added that when you apply cripple you also apply 3 stacks of vulnerability for 5 seconds.
• Heavy Light: Increased the internal cooldown from 7 seconds to 10 seconds. Increased the knockback distance from 120 to 240.

You went the wrong direction on Heavy Light. With a 10s cooldown it is in no way shape or form a contender with Big Game Hunter. BGH is miles above either of the Grandmasters.

Furthermore, you have two traits that entirely depend on each other which basically makes one useless without the other. Dulled Senses is entirely depended on Heavy Light’s knockback, which is now even less reliable with an increased cooldown. Heavy Light would be a ridiculous trait choice unless you had Dulled Senses. This reliance on another trait is in direct contrast with the trait rework performed in the Specialization release and is a huge step backward in that regard. I encourage you to merge them and be more creative with a replacement Grandmaster trait.

But they’re not dependent on each other anymore. Rejoice! Dulled Senses is now a trait for buffing your autoattacks, allowing it to stack up to 15 vulnerability when you’re hitting a group of enemies (well, more like 11 vuln if you’re using true shot and other skills).

The range increase on Heavy Light was needed, it wasn’t really noticable at 120. And the trait was already the strongest of the GM traits.

I’m really disappointed in these changes. The traps still do not synergize well with the longbow. The virtues don’t feel “new and improved”. The traits, especially 2/3 of the grandmasters, still feel like they are on the drawing board. There’s issues with targetting/rooting on the longbow.

Looks like a bunch of great buffs to me… the virtues aren’t going to be instance casts. DH isn’t going to play the same as base guard…. Its only BWE1 changes… LB may still see improvement. I’m not digging LB, but I do like these changes to traps.

Arricson Krei.9560:

merchantchuck.4875:

These were not the changes I was looking forward to. =(

Then tell them what you were looking forward to – in detail – and how to get there.

This may come as a surprise but many of us have been doing that for a week or more and the claims they made about feedback they read vs. what you can see here on the forums are so wildly divergent as to invite phrases like “bald-faced lie” to describe the discrepancy.

They weakened what I would classify as the best of the traps and buffed the others. fine, I can see the baseline they’re trying to move them towards but I’m unconvinced that baseline will be high enough to dislodge the huge amount of prejudice towards traps, and until they are ground targeted instead of “its right here duh” they’re never going to be taken seriously even it they one-shot players walking over them.

Longbow… I promise NO ONE thought #4 was the only skill that needed changes. And they change they made wasn’t particularly the issue. Time to deliver, microscopic area of effect… these are issues. An autoattack that looks like it was designed before they learned the Ranger Longbow needed projectile speed to work and that they are still somehow overlooking why the Guardian Scepter is considered a joke. Undertuned payoff for a immobile attack (the trait helps with sustained stability, but still – its gotta hit harder.

The traits are better. I’ll have to think on them a bit, but they are better. Kudos.

This is a start, and it’s a better start than the Tempest got, but pretending everyone and their brother didn’t ask for insta-cast on the virtues is a fast path to destroying your credibility as the newly revealed class developer. Explain why we aren’t getting it — crediblity building. Ignoring the issue? Not helping.

Irenio CalmonHuang.2048:

A large chunk of comments we read centered on the new virtues being good, but not quite good enough to be left without the virtue passives.

You and I… we remember the threads this last week very differently .

• F2 Wings of Resolve: Increased heal value by up to 50%.

Wrong problem being addressed. Range and chunkiness are the issues. You guys have spent about 2 years trying to incentivize with “moar healz!” in a game where you made dang sure everyone was self-sufficient. Switch bait already. The fish ain’t biting.

The longbow skills were generally well received, but Symbol of Energy felt on the weak side compared to the rest of the weapon skills.

• Symbol of Energy: Increased burning duration from 4 seconds to 5 seconds and Vigor duration from 1 second to 3 seconds.

More of that mnemonic dissonance again. Every single button on the bow has issues. Projectile speed, poor payoff for immobility, difficulty to use, tiny area of effect. In fact you buffed pretty much the one thing people weren’t worried about – the magnitude of effect on a sluggish, tiny radius skill.

Traps were another area of concern that we’re addressing with the following modifications:

• Purification: Increased bonus healing based upon level by 50%.
• Test of Faith: Increased the damage multiplier on this ability by 20%.
• Fragments of Faith: Decreased the duration that fragments remained on the ground from 15 seconds to 10 seconds. Increased the duration of the aegis granted from fragments from 5 seconds to 8 seconds.
• Procession of Blades: Increased the base damage by 36%.
• Dragon’s Maw: Increased the maw trapping duration from 4 seconds to 6 seconds. Damage increased by 20%.

A straight nerf to the best of them and buffs to the ones that are iffy not because of how good or bad the effect is but because they are excessively telegraphed by the animation and lack of ground targeting.

Lastly the elite specialization traits needed a little more love to really drive the defining components of the Dragonhunter.

• Piercing Light: Added a 20% recharge reduction to Traps.

Ok, I’m simultaneously glad to see this and wanting the balance team to line up in a circle to apply mutual Gibbs-head-slaps that this ever saw the light of public scrutiny without cooldown reduction.

Now where’s to one for longbows?

• Soaring Devastation: Increased the duration of the immobilize from 1.5s to 3s.

Wrong problem again… Range. Clunkiness. Fix.

• Hunter’s Determination: Increased the duration of stability gained from 4s to 6s.

Hey, if you think perma-stability on a weapon skill isn’t gonna start a riot in the other profession forums, go for it, but I’d still rather have more damage on True Shot for having to risk pausing to fire.

• Dulled Senses: Added that when you apply cripple you also apply 3 stacks of vulnerability for 5 seconds.

Just one question: In what way do you see “Dulled senses” and the crippled condition being related? Did this used to blind enemies and someone forgot to change the name?

• Heavy Light: Increased the internal cooldown from 7 seconds to 10 seconds. Increased the knockback distance from 120 to 240.

Put the 20% cooldown for longbows here and maybe this trait becomes a thing. Maybe.

We’ll be keeping a watchful eye for your impressions and constructive feedback from the Beta Weekend!

We, uh, kinda gave it already. I wish I was more convinced you had read it.

Anet please listen:

Everything about dragon hunter is wrong.

Nothing works properly or makes sense.

The virtues are bad and adding range or damage is not going to fix that.

No pve player is going to run in and start setting traps when you can take a gs and spin to win.
No pvp player is going to run into traps and the bow does not work. You cant hit a thing with it.

The traits are underwhelming and don’t synchronise with other trait lines.

Just scrap it and start again.

Can we get increased missile speed and a stun break on one of the traps (Fragments of Faith or Purification please <3)?

I wonder if that will be the case for us guardians too:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Tempest-Changes-for-Next-BWE/page/2#post5391010

ANet: Do you keep having a track what’s wrong at the DH?

Arken.3725:

Changes that are still needed:

Bow:
#1: The auto still misses, please watch this to fix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4obqZBr49tY

Oh my god, please fix this. This is absolutely ridiculous and elementary!

This is a joke, right? How did they manage to completely ignore all the feedback they got? Everyone complained about the exact. same. things.

Also, “LB skills were well recieved”… what?

Vanth.5439:

This is a joke, right? How did they manage to completely ignore all the feedback they got? Everyone complained about the exact. same. things.

Also, “LB skills were well recieved”… what?

Just shows how out of touch the guard department is… “hey guys I heard you werent happy with shield skills, so we reduced their cooldown by 40% kthxbai” and now " hey guys we heard you didn’t like dragon hunter so we buffed everything not mentioned in feedback in the laziest way possible kthxbai"

Vanth.5439:

This is a joke, right? How did they manage to completely ignore all the feedback they got? Everyone complained about the exact. same. things.

Also, “LB skills were well recieved”… what?

Yeah, I was quite shocked at that. It sure looks familiar to me…

Irenio CalmonHuang.2048:

The longbow skills were generally well received, but Symbol of Energy felt on the weak side compared to the rest of the weapon skills.

Irenio CalmonHuang.2048:

The concepts behind overloading an element were pretty well received, however you called out that the time cost of overloading compared to the final rewards were too unbalanced.

Arnath.2319:

I don’t know if i should laugh or cry.

You obviously did not read any of the feedback given over the beta weekend!

These changes are pointless and do not address any of the core issues raised numerous times!

Traps are still garbage.
Traits are still garbage.
Virtues still have a cast time.
Deflecting Shot and Auto Attack are still garbage.
Virtue trait line is useless with Dragon Hunter.

Honestly what is happening at ArenaNet? Do they hate Guardians that much that they would deliberately insult us with these “changes”?

^

Casttime on virtues is a no go.
Traits not worth dropping another of the current traitlines for it.

Just keep on going with this, Anet, and noone will ever play Dragonhunter.

I’m seriously considering shelving my guardian if this is what it’s going to be like. My necro has been VERY good looking lately. Those forums have people that LISTEN to the feedback. So far all the issues for guardians have gone in one ear and out the other.

Absolute Resolutiom needs to be instant just like how Indomitable Courage works.
These items are needed inmediately… waiting 3/4 second in a clutch condi/cc scenario to cast F3 and cleanse means it’s 1) Likely going to get interupted and 2) Not going to hop away because we’re immobolized and can’t cleanse anything until later.

I disagree with how the Devs are wanting traps to work. When the traps fail to output their damage when they trigger, we’re left with 0 self sustaining utilities. The traps need to have a 600 – 1200 casting radius so we can be efficient backline fighters. Not to mention that we can set up the traps ahead of where we want to pewpew, start pewpewing, then set more traps further ahead.

Otherwise, no one is going to leave CoP/JI/PF/Smite Condition. All of which offers 2k heals, full condi cleanses and a stunbreak. If we’re back line support via bow and traps, then we don’t need a stunbreak if we’re not near the fight. in theory. The DH wouldn’t be OP as Thieves, Medi Guards and even Rangers would likely eat us up. Think prepatch when thieves countered Mesmers.

Lack of utilities means we’re incredibly vulnerable to everything.

I wont take DH because of the the virtue cast time. Tell me, please: what is it that cause you to wake up in the morning and go: let’s add cast time to virtues.

Nike.2631:

Arricson Krei.9560:

merchantchuck.4875:

These were not the changes I was looking forward to. =(

Then tell them what you were looking forward to – in detail – and how to get there.

This may come as a surprise but many of us have been doing that for a week or more… snip

I’m confident that many have been detailing their expectations, my self included, so I’m not sure what you’re getting at.

Even if it means having merchantchuck.4875 copypaste their detailed expectations into this thread, then I stress that they do so. Leaving it up to the devs to dig around looking for a potential merchantchuck.4875 list of expectations is counterproductive. And also, who cares how many have made a detailed post or not? merchantchuck.4875 should want to express their opinion (in detail) regardless of countless others. This is what I was trying to stress with the post that you quoted.

I would trade any of those changes for a fixed shield that isn’t a weak, buggy version of what Revenants are getting.

Arken.3725:

Traps overall: Excellent changes but again, you’re losing too much sustain taking these instead of meds/shouts (pvp).

Rangers have been saying this for THREE YEARS. The way traps are designed in this game effectively strips off surviveability.

Even if it means having merchantchuck.4875 copypaste their detailed expectations into this thread, then I stress that they do so.

Sigh. Alright, I couldn’t agree more, so here goes.

-Virtues got nerfed so you could push an awful alternative set of virtues on us. You essentially infected us with a disease and then sold a cure at the price of one expansion pack. Make virtues 1200 range baseline, remove DH cast times on virtues.

-fix the bugs. There’s compiled lists on the forums already. My biggest gripes are DH’s virtue of courage only applying blocking to OTHER players (in melee) for some reason, the shield bubble not behaving like it should, stalwart defender not applying a bonus to toughness. Too many others to list here.

-traps. Idunno. They don’t blow me away. The general consensus is that they’re not worth spending a skill slot on them, whether it’s due to lack of survivability or group support. Improve those aspects of them and we might have something.

-Fix the ineffective weapons. Including, but not limited to longbow. Both it and scepter have issues landing shots due to projectile speed. I personally think scepter could use a homing function. Shield is a laughable weapon used only by fashion fanatics and RPers, and currently brings nothing to the table.

Edit I’m floored that selfless daring and save yourselves are still halved in spvp. There are way more OP things to worry about. No other class has a nerf like this. Fix this kitten already.

Please take a page from the necro/mesmer dev and heed what the players are saying. Those classes look good, this class is just in shambles.

I’d wait to see how it plays in the next beta after these changes. Might have to reevaluate what it needs.

Symbol of Energy still needs its tooltip updated. It actually isn’t described as a symbol, it doesn’t have a skill type. Although it takes benefits from traits which afftect symbols.

Also Longbow #5 Hunter’s Ward should be a Ward or at least have another second tooltip which would describe only fences created at the end of this skill as Wards.

garull.8956:

This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHwxALLH7nY

And this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3mUpxxbM1Y

Won’t be fixed … Why not put the same mechanic of longbow 3 on Virtue of justice?

LoL, sad thing, this has been mentioned on virtualy every feedback thread i have read.

Hi,

I posted my own experience that’s echoed by a bunch of posters here, specifically about rooting the #2 skill. Plenty of folks chimed in on Reddit. Please remove the root on bow #2!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3gaey2/dragonhunter_beta_sadness/