Guild Wars 2

Myabe it is l2p issue,but I find zerkbow rangers really pain in the kitten in terms of tpvp,cause they just pop up of nowhere and unlish this skill Rapid Fire with quickness,and because feedback or the focus trait are not viable,I dont have viable reflect skill,and neither do block + I cant use stealth cause it follows you on stealth,so im getting 15k health down in instant jsut because a kitteng ranger came from behind and snipe me.
And now every tpvp match there is at least two zerkbow rangers shockly.

How can you handle them as a shatter mesmer?
I mostly use the usual blink decoy portal/null-field

I slot in masterful reflection on adept major trait, and it works well with IP distortion (some people on forum said there’s bug of not working, but I’m having success in this so I’m not sure). Just today I downed a careless ranger with it. To be fair though I fought him a bit so his hp is low enough that he downed himself before reacting to quickness RF. Slot in illusionary invigoration, and you’ll have another shot at reflecting if he tries to wear you out for later PBS+RF combo.

Gear wise both of you must be having zerker gear to reach 15k damage. Maybe swap to knight trinkets first while you’re adjusting to LB attack cycle? Zerk rangers are quite squishy towards shatter and knight is sufficient enough to hurt them.

Main thing about fighting LB ranger is to avoid their cc. Generally they’ll try to use PBS or pet immobilize/fear to prevent you from dodging, and this can become quite predictable. If they don’t even use cc then great, save your dodges at the right time. LB can be quite clumsy in close range so they’ll try to draw their distance. Try to stay close to him using blink, that’s the main gap closer I used when facing LB ranger. Close range also reduce LB auto by a lot, eventually he’ll swap his weapon if you push him hard enough.

BTW kudos to Irxallis.7350 for video presentation of mesmer dueling against ranger!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXsE5TMN1-M

NICENIKESHOE.7128:

I slot in masterful reflection on adept major trait, and it works well with IP distortion (some people on forum said there’s bug of not working, but I’m having success in this so I’m not sure). Just today I downed a careless ranger with it. To be fair though I fought him a bit so his hp is low enough that he downed himself before reacting to quickness RF. Slot in illusionary invigoration, and you’ll have another shot at reflecting if he tries to wear you out for later PBS+RF combo.

Gear wise both of you must be having zerker gear to reach 15k damage. Maybe swap to knight trinkets first while you’re adjusting to LB attack cycle? Zerk rangers are quite squishy towards shatter and knight is sufficient enough to hurt them.

Main thing about fighting LB ranger is to avoid their cc. Generally they’ll try to use PBS or pet immobilize/fear to prevent you from dodging, and this can become quite predictable. If they don’t even use cc then great, save your dodges at the right time. LB can be quite clumsy in close range so they’ll try to draw their distance. Try to stay close to him using blink, that’s the main gap closer I used when facing LB ranger. Close range also reduce LB auto by a lot, eventually he’ll swap his weapon if you push him hard enough.

The CC is the easy part,I know what is gonna be,the tricky part is when they come out of nowhere,and barrage you.I havent got this problem before patch.I am a full shatter and such,I can deal with all classes till date,problem is now those rangers somtimes picking me off and I ONLY die cause of them on even play-meaning,1v1 on point or when you 1v1 someone and the ranger come to aid.I’ll try switch to it though this is really bad iff i need to switch my traits for it.Btw,looking at the vid,it seems he specced up specially for dealing those rangers what he said about gap closing is true,but what he dosnt showed is at tpvp,which you bound to stay on point or close to it.

This is in no way helpful but is totally relevant to this discussion. Listen with sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHNh-rqjLk

I believe listening to this while you tPvP will inspire you to 100% more victories vs lb rangers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RrpGgaT5kk

Ross Biddle.2367:

This is in no way helpful but is totally relevant to this discussion. Listen with sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHNh-rqjLk

I believe listening to this while you tPvP will inspire you to 100% more victories vs lb rangers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RrpGgaT5kk

HAHAHAHA

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

Honestly, the two things Rangers use that hurt me when I’m on my Mesmer are (1) Shortbow and (2) The Pet.

I find this is because: (1) Mesmer wears light armor (2) Mesmer relies on active defenses instead of passive ones and the rapid attacks of a shortbow and extra attacks (and CC) from a pet either hit us or cause us to waste cooldowns actively defending against them.

That being said … I haven’t had trouble with Longbow Rangers except when I’m getting zerged down by them … can only dodge / block / evade / distortion / etc. so much, lol.

Sebrent.3625:

Honestly, the two things Rangers use that hurt me when I’m on my Mesmer are (1) Shortbow and (2) The Pet.

I find this is because: (1) Mesmer wears light armor (2) Mesmer relies on active defenses instead of passive ones and the rapid attacks of a shortbow and extra attacks (and CC) from a pet either hit us or cause us to waste cooldowns actively defending against them.

That being said … I haven’t had trouble with Longbow Rangers except when I’m getting zerged down by them … can only dodge / block / evade / distortion / etc. so much, lol.

And in tpvp?

I haven’t been doing WvW since returning to the game, so already answered.

However, I am aware that Rangers are stronger in sPvP/tPvP given that there are less stats from gear on players so the pets’ relative power is greater.

mirror heal . It’s enough to beat most rangers 1 v 1 nothing like making them eat their own damage.

You can also cancel the cast to make it go on a shorter cooldown … though I noticed I can’t abuse it like I used to ~1 year ago.

Having the same problem. I tried feedback, and it’s just a waste of a slot. Interrupts don’t do kitten because many of them run stability and by the time you strip it, you’re close to being dead and the pet can just finish you off. Reflection on distortion is just ok because it forces you to waste distortion offensely. Mirror is underwhelming because the reflect doesn’t last very long, and again, you don’t want to use that offensively either. IWarden is too slow and traiting focus? You lose too much to counter one class. Finally, the channeled skill tracks you through stealth so that isn’t a viable option.

I’m currently running a standard 4/4/6 interrupt build, but again, the stability is tough to get around. I may switch to shatter. PU really isn’t viable in spvp, so I don’t want to consider that. At least with shatter, I can try to take them out before they take me out.

Javonovich.5280:

Having the same problem. I tried feedback, and it’s just a waste of a slot. Interrupts don’t do kitten because many of them run stability and by the time you strip it, you’re close to being dead and the pet can just finish you off. Reflection on distortion is just ok because it forces you to waste distortion offensely. Mirror is underwhelming because the reflect doesn’t last very long, and again, you don’t want to use that offensively either. IWarden is too slow and traiting focus? You lose too much to counter one class. Finally, the channeled skill tracks you through stealth so that isn’t a viable option.

I’m currently running a standard 4/4/6 interrupt build, but again, the stability is tough to get around. I may switch to shatter. PU really isn’t viable in spvp, so I don’t want to consider that. At least with shatter, I can try to take them out before they take me out.

I ran the typical shatter build 4/4/0/0/6 and im gonna tell you now,it will be much better though you wont be able to stop the ranger from RF from far or by surprise and get your health to 1k in instant..

Really, Sandrox? Because I haven’t had that problem on my Mesmer when I run shattercat.

Unconditional ranged tracking channel (RF) outdamages a melee burst attack that must meet TWO conditions: attack from behind and from stealth. Sounds balanced

Ranged ability that is channeled over 2.5s versus stealth ability from behind?

Ranged can be reflected.
Ranged has a tell so can be reacted to … instead of randomly guessed.
Ranged can be stopped by projectile destruction.
Channeling can be interrupted by daze/stun/knockdown/etc.

Yep, sounds balanced.

If going to list points … don’t forget some :-p

Sebrent.3625:

Ranged ability that is channeled over 2.5s versus stealth ability from behind?

Ranged can be reflected.
Ranged has a tell so can be reacted to … instead of randomly guessed.
Ranged can be stopped by projectile destruction.
Channeling can be interrupted by daze/stun/knockdown/etc.

Yep, sounds balanced.

If going to list points … don’t forget some :-p

RF 1500 range, backstab melee. Can be completely nullified by a dodge or aegis. BS is inaccessible with revealed debuff. Reflects are not common, neither class I play has one. RF has a shorter cool-down than every reflect/projectile destroy in the game. The fact that RF is anywhere anywhere close to BS in damage is a joke.

I play thief mostly so its not that bad for me, the 1v1 match-up is about even now since I have a lot of blinks to close the gap, but other classes are kittened and RF is more of a threat to them than backstab

Cam Ron.4170:

RF 1500 range, backstab melee. Can be completely nullified by a dodge or aegis. BS is inaccessible with revealed debuff. Reflects are not common, neither class I play has one. RF has a shorter cool-down than every reflect/projectile destroy in the game. The fact that RF is anywhere anywhere close to BS in damage is a joke

Not many reflects in game? Really? http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Reflect

Let’s look at blocks too … ones that say “projectiles only” : http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Block

And notice, while there are plenty, it is actually missing some like Elementalist’s Swirling Winds and Mesmer’s Phantasmal Warden.

1500 Range with 4 trait points invested. 1200 without.
Can be strafed at long range unless that is bumped up to 6 trait points for Read the Wind.

10s cooldown base, 8s traited … that’s another 4 traits in a different line.
With initiative at 1/s, I don’t see much of an issue there.

Also, let’s not downplay the lack of telegraph versus an ability with a 2.5s channel time.

As far as Aegis … let’s look at the sources of it … http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Aegis
Not that many. Additionally, a Thief can simply let stealth drop when they see Aegis on their target so that they aren’t revealed… then make plans to restealth … if it’s so important to their build … some are more acrobatic.

Sebrent.3625:

Cam Ron.4170:

RF 1500 range, backstab melee. Can be completely nullified by a dodge or aegis. BS is inaccessible with revealed debuff. Reflects are not common, neither class I play has one. RF has a shorter cool-down than every reflect/projectile destroy in the game. The fact that RF is anywhere anywhere close to BS in damage is a joke

Not many reflects in game? Really? http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Reflect

Let’s look at blocks too … ones that say “projectiles only” : http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Block

And notice, while there are plenty, it is actually missing some like Elementalist’s Swirling Winds and Mesmer’s Phantasmal Warden.

1500 Range with 4 trait points invested. 1200 without.
Can be strafed at long range unless that is bumped up to 6 trait points for Read the Wind.

10s cooldown base, 8s traited … that’s another 4 traits in a different line.
With initiative at 1/s, I don’t see much of an issue there.

Also, let’s not downplay the lack of telegraph versus an ability with a 2.5s channel time.

As far as Aegis … let’s look at the sources of it … http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Aegis
Not that many. Additionally, a Thief can simply let stealth drop when they see Aegis on their target so that they aren’t revealed… then make plans to restealth … if it’s so important to their build … some are more acrobatic.

The shortest Cool-down of the reflects? 25 seconds? RF un-traited 10s? Oh great a tell- so I can use dodge and still eat 6k damage. Back-stab is 100% nullified by the most COMMON form of damage mitigation- evading, RF is not. Even if they’re using quickness which they all do, channel is about 1.5 seconds, which a dodge still doesn’t mitigate all of the damage. Maybe it’d be balanced if they made it so if you dodge RF you dodge every shot of RF of the channel, but as of right now reflect is on triple the cooldown of RF and only certain classes have it on certain weapon sets. The fact that you need to blow a full endurance bar to evade the damage sucks.

Back stab being weaker verses evades is a lot more relevant than RF being weak verses reflects because endurance is way more accessible than reflect. Even the classes using weapons with the minimum 25 second reflect, they can dodge-roll like 6-8 times for every reflect they use.

Enjoy it for the next 6 months though, because its not making it past next balance patch

A thief that can’t dodge roll enough?! Free bag? We’ll ignore that your Thief should be able to dodge roll much more than any other class in the game. We’ll also ignore the built in evades and high mobility that could be used to get out of line of sight.

Additionally… last I checked, Dagger+Pistol thieves are very popular.

• What’s that magical #4 ability? OMG, it’s a daze.
• What would a daze do to a channeled ability? Oh yeah, stop it.
• How much initiative does it cost? 4
• How long does it take (before traits, etc.) to get that much initiative? 4 seconds

Wow, it looks like you have a counter that has half the “cooldown” of a traited Rapid Fire.

Now on to Defensive cooldowns …
Defensive cooldowns in this game aren’t needed to be cycled constantly at the same rate as attacks. Otherwise, the game would turn into turtle wars where only the truly stupid died. Complaining that your defensive cooldowns for anti-projectiles don’t match the projectile-based attacks is like complaining that condition applications are on shorter cooldowns than condition cleanses.

Instead of worrying only about not getting hit at all, you need to try to focus on mitigating the attack and then using that 8s to 10s to press the advantage. This is how a good player operates. They don’t just dance back and forth letting their opponent attack them while they go through dodge rolls and defensive cooldowns. They counter their opponent’s “key” attacks and attempt to land their own.

Please be sure to add your last sentence to your signature. When March rolls around and people have learned to adapt and it’s still around … I’ll be quite amused with you. More so than now.

I am enjoying these next 6 months as there are so many FotM Rangers running around that are glassy that it is a veritable buffet.

100% l2p issue.

It’s actually a l2read issue on your end. I was making the case that dodges are wayyyyyy more accessible than reflects. Back-stab is countered by dodge, RF by reflect. So, looks like you are agreeing with me here, moving on…

next you do on to talk about D/P thieves having the tools to counter rangers/rapid fire, just lol- another l2read issue on your end…. If you’ve been reading what I’m writing you’d notice that I said as a thief rangers aren’t a problem because I run with 3 blinks. I don’t even run DP and rangers are no problem. My class also however the #1 ranger counter (imo). This isn’t a thief vs ranger discussion, its a rapid fire vs backstab discussion as it relates to risk verses reward.

I just think that a move that you evade still does 6k damage (from 1500 range).

and if you’d like to make a wager as to whether RF gets nerfed in some way shape or form next patch I’’ll take you on it. Look at what everybody is crying about? Rapid fire. They always nerf that which produce the most tears.

Serbent: How do you feel about my proposed change: If you successfully evade RF, the entire ability will miss, not just the ~3-4 shots during evasion frames. This allows power rangers to retain their massive ranged damage spike, while allowing classes the ability to avoid damage if they dodge it. In it’s current form it’s – have reflect on your or bend over and take it up the butt. If you don’t like this why?

What other skills does 9k damage that requires either a reflect, or a full endurance bar to avoid damage. What burst ability period requires a double dodge roll? It’s kittening silly. Keep the damage/cooldown just let me evade the kitten thing without losing 40% hp

I’m sorry, I was replying to your latest post … not the one several back.
I’m amused you think it’s the blinks that make the difference … given that rapid fire doesn’t care if you’re close .. though a down Ranger doesn’t rapid fire … so there is that :-p

Evade works for both. Reflect only works against the projectile. Projectile destruction only works against the projectile. See how there are more that work against projectiles? That’s the difference.

Burn on block also punishes Rapid Fire. So do Retaliation and Confusion. Those hurts backstab quite a bit less.

I don’t personally care what you do with the Longbow as I am a much bigger fan of running with Sword+X / Greatsword / Shortbow … sometimes Axe+X … but Axe still doesn’t “feel right” to me.

I do think you’re massively exaggerating rapid fire given the fact that my Mesmer is eating these FotM Rangers easily and I haven’t changed from Sword+Sword/Staff with Ether Feast, Blink, Decoy, and a Cond Removal (I change that up depending on other teams’ classes) with Mass Invis as my elite. You see any reflects there? Nope. Just Blurred Frenzy, OH Sword block (and Daze), Daze from Chaos Storm, Daze from Shatters, Dodge Rolls, Distortion from Shatters and overall not sucking enough to die just because someone uses a channeled ranged ability that hits hard.

I’m also destroying them on my Warrior who can actually eat a Rapid Fire, but doesn’t do so very often thinks to blocks, interrupts, and invulnerability … on top of dodge rolls, etc.

I prefer the current Rapid Fire as it isn’t a single hit that does the full damage like the Warrior’s burst skill. Otherwise you’d have 1,500 range snipers in WvW doing what Warriors already do with their Rifles … just without the adrenaline requirement. The multiple shots makes it trivial for me. I don’t know what it’s so hard for others.

The only time it’s a pain is when I’m fighting someone else … but 2v1 is always a pain so I do not see the difference here.

Your grasp on this is as good as your grasp on the spelling of my name.

Sebrent.3625:

I’m sorry, I was replying to your latest post … not the one several back.
I’m amused you think it’s the blinks that make the difference … given that rapid fire doesn’t care if you’re close .. though a down Ranger doesn’t rapid fire … so there is that :-p

Evade works for both. Reflect only works against the projectile. Projectile destruction only works against the projectile. See how there are more that work against projectiles? That’s the difference.

Burn on block also punishes Rapid Fire. So do Retaliation and Confusion. Those hurts backstab quite a bit less.

I don’t personally care what you do with the Longbow as I am a much bigger fan of running with Sword+X / Greatsword / Shortbow … sometimes Axe+X … but Axe still doesn’t “feel right” to me.

I do think you’re massively exaggerating rapid fire given the fact that my Mesmer is eating these FotM Rangers easily and I haven’t changed from Sword+Sword/Staff with Ether Feast, Blink, Decoy, and a Cond Removal (I change that up depending on other teams’ classes) with Mass Invis as my elite. You see any reflects there? Nope. Just Blurred Frenzy, OH Sword block (and Daze), Daze from Chaos Storm, Daze from Shatters, Dodge Rolls, Distortion from Shatters and overall not sucking enough to die just because someone uses a channeled ranged ability that hits hard.

I’m also destroying them on my Warrior who can actually eat a Rapid Fire, but doesn’t do so very often thinks to blocks, interrupts, and invulnerability … on top of dodge rolls, etc.

I prefer the current Rapid Fire as it isn’t a single hit that does the full damage like the Warrior’s burst skill. Otherwise you’d have 1,500 range snipers in WvW doing what Warriors already do with their Rifles … just without the adrenaline requirement. The multiple shots makes it trivial for me. I don’t know what it’s so hard for others.

The only time it’s a pain is when I’m fighting someone else … but 2v1 is always a pain so I do not see the difference here.

Your grasp on this is as good as your grasp on the spelling of my name.

Funny that you’re amused blinks are the reason thieves beat rangers. Try just walking up to an LB ranger. Have you ever played a thief, or fought one in WvW? Prob not since you listed 900 range pistol #4 as the primary counter (rofl)

also, what don’t you understand about dodge only blocking some of rapid fire? You just said:

“Evade works for both. Reflect only works against the projectile…”

No, evade mitigates 100% of back-stab and every other burst ability I can think of. It mitigates about 30-40% of rapid fire. The advantages that RF has against evading foes outweighs the abilities that only block projectiles due to the abundance of endurance compared to projectile-blocking abilities.

also,

“Burn on block also punishes Rapid Fire. So do Retaliation and Confusion. Those hurts backstab quite a bit less.”

Burn on block? Burning doesn’t stack it pretty much does nothing extra to rapid fire. If it was bleed or torment on block you’d have a point. also confusion does not punish RF, Idk wtf you’re talking about. It procs on RF activation, not per shot. Confusion is literally 10x worse of a counter to to RF than you though it was when you posted

overall ranger is fine but this ability is over-tuned. One dodge should let me dodge the entirety of rapid fire.

asking that a long range burst skill behaves the same as other burst skills in the game regarding interactions with dodging, our main damage mitigation tool, is not a lot to ask. Not asking for reduced range, damage, or shots. Just the ability to dodge it. For compensation, the ranger can cancel channel if he sees it dodged. This change would allow rapid fire to keep its maximum potential in return for fair counter-play, and promotes more active play for the ranger and the opponent.

For the thieves among us smokescreen is amazing and you should be using it. Daggerstorm+smokescreen+caltrops= get the kitten away from me.

Thieves have multiple closers … this is common knowledge.

If you don’t have terrain, sure, use your closer so you’re not getting plinked at 1,500 range. Otherwise, use terrain and save your cooldowns. This isn’t complicated.

Yes, evade will mitigate 100% of a backstab … if you guess correctly when they are going to use it. The key word here is “guess”.

You can mitigate a large portion of rapid fire’s damage by dodge rolling or all of it with the other mechanics that only work on projectiles. There is counterplay there. I’m sorry you’re unable to step up when presented an opportunity for counterplay.

The fact that as a thief you are having trouble with a glass build astounds me. It isn’t hard for Thieves to drop most glass builds in a quick rotation. You’re the kings and queens of glass cannon.

Daniel Handler is smart. He must be one of the many thieves I see running around laughing because of all the free lunches they are getting with the increase in non-thief glass builds in PvP right now.

Sebrent.3625:

The fact that as a thief you are having trouble with a glass build astounds me. It isn’t hard for Thieves to drop most glass builds in a quick rotation. You’re the kings and queens of glass cannon.

What part about “as a thief rangers aren’t a problem for me, but other classes are kittened” don’t you understand?

No matter how much you want me to have trouble against rangers on my thief I simply do not. Your lack of reading comprehension skills astounds me.

Every response of yours is you telling me why I shouldn’t be having trouble verses ranger as a thief, when I already stated before any of those rebuttals that I do not.

You say that dodging blocs a “large portion” of the damage. No it doesn’t, if you dodge the first RF shot, you still eat about a back-stabs worth of damage (5-6k)…. and that’s with blowing a dodge. #balanced.

Like I said though, enjoy it while it lasts- you got a full 6 months to enjoy it.

I’m sorry …
Warrior MH Mace, OH Sword, or Shield … blocks it. Endure Pain does too.
Elementalist Arcane Shield blocks it. Swirling Winds. Magnetic Aura.
Mesmer blocks, distortion, iWarden, etc.
Ranger greatsword block, OH axe, sword/dagger evade
…
and so on.

Not to mention interrupts.

Is there counterplay? Yes, loads of it.

Are the top rangers playing Berserker Longbow? Doesn’t look like it … but I’d love to see them do it. Wonder why I’m not though … obviously because it’s OP :-p

I’m enjoying the plethora of squishy FotM builds. I will continue.

Sebrent.3625:

I’m sorry …
Warrior MH Mace, OH Sword, or Shield … blocks it. Endure Pain does too.
Elementalist Arcane Shield blocks it. Swirling Winds. Magnetic Aura.
Mesmer blocks, distortion, iWarden, etc.
Ranger greatsword block, OH axe, sword/dagger evade
…
and so on.

Not to mention interrupts.

Is there counterplay? Yes, loads of it.

Are the top rangers playing Berserker Longbow? Doesn’t look like it … but I’d love to see them do it. Wonder why I’m not though … obviously because it’s OP :-p

I’m enjoying the plethora of squishy FotM builds. I will continue.

You’re honestly probably right. Rapid Fire may just feel over-tuned because rangers were free bags for a while and this has taken me by surprise.

Sebrent.3625:

I’m sorry …
Warrior MH Mace, OH Sword, or Shield … blocks it. Endure Pain does too.
Elementalist Arcane Shield blocks it. Swirling Winds. Magnetic Aura.
Mesmer blocks, distortion, iWarden, etc.
Ranger greatsword block, OH axe, sword/dagger evade
…
and so on.

Not to mention interrupts.

Is there counterplay? Yes, loads of it.

Are the top rangers playing Berserker Longbow? Doesn’t look like it … but I’d love to see them do it. Wonder why I’m not though … obviously because it’s OP :-p

I’m enjoying the plethora of squishy FotM builds. I will continue.

They will soon,that is what you dont get,it is only began,they know it will get nerfed soon so they are jusst waiting,in a couple of weeks you gonna see every ranger run a lb setup.(it is already now if you play wvw).

Everyone says MESMER USE DISTORTION!! but what they dotn get that distortion is LONG FREAKING LONG cooldown that in that time ranger cant pull off RF chain 5 times!!! and who said rangers stick to one place? they have dodges,evades and everything just to wait for yet again ANOTHER BARRAGE OF RF.Im tired of them abusing this broken skill all over wvw and tpvp,anet should strict this skill only for pve.
Thieves can manage them with dazes and shadowstepping but mesmers?
im tired of ppl who dont know mesmer,saying you can distortion it sure,you can reflect it. OFC I CAN maybe I place some down skill traits too to be more less usefull in combat but at least gain advantage of a freaking ranger who get me insta down everytime he uses the freaking 8s cd joke of a skill called RF.An I highly doubt that tpvp mesmers are not agree with me.

Sandrox.9524:

They will soon,that is what you dont get,it is only began,they know it will get nerfed soon so they are jusst waiting,in a couple of weeks you gonna see every ranger run a lb setup.(it is already now if you play wvw).

Everyone says MESMER USE DISTORTION!! but what they dotn get that distortion is LONG FREAKING LONG cooldown that in that time ranger cant pull off RF chain 5 times!!! and who said rangers stick to one place? they have dodges,evades and everything just to wait for yet again ANOTHER BARRAGE OF RF.Im tired of them abusing this broken skill all over wvw and tpvp,anet should strict this skill only for pve.
Thieves can manage them with dazes and shadowstepping but mesmers?
im tired of ppl who dont know mesmer,saying you can distortion it sure,you can reflect it. OFC I CAN maybe I place some down skill traits too to be more less usefull in combat but at least gain advantage of a freaking ranger who get me insta down everytime he uses the freaking 8s cd joke of a skill called RF.An I highly doubt that tpvp mesmers are not agree with me.

So what exactly is your point of this thread? If you re-look at your OP then you clearly are asking for method in facing LB ranger. In your opening you are NOT raging for a mechanism that you now said to be broken, and we are trying to maintain proper talks until some derails and random burst of emotions. So yeah, that is and still will be the answers you get: distortion, reflect, dodge and gap close. What more do you want from fellow mesmers who’re providing suggestions here? Sucking up your rage like we are the devs? Tagging people in this thread as “ppl who dont know mesmer” is only poisoning this thread, so please say something constructive after you chilled from your anger. If not, then honestly there’s nothing more to discuss in this thread.

People who dnt know how to mes? Are you referring to yourself op? Rf no stab is just one daze. Rf with stab reflect mirror heal feedback etc, msterful reflection, you have scep and sw blocks, distortion, aegis on chaos storm, i mean what more do you want?

And the point you said trait something less useful? There is no such thing. Unless youre running a build that someone else posted and did not bother to tweak it or whatsoever OR you only run 1 build all the time.

Protip: use the dodge button, v by default, it will help mitigate some damage.

StickerHappy.8052:

People who dnt know how to mes? Are you referring to yourself op? Rf no stab is just one daze. Rf with stab reflect mirror heal feedback etc, msterful reflection, you have scep and sw blocks, distortion, aegis on chaos storm, i mean what more do you want?

And the point you said trait something less useful? There is no such thing. Unless youre running a build that someone else posted and did not bother to tweak it or whatsoever OR you only run 1 build all the time.

Protip: use the dodge button, v by default, it will help mitigate some damage.

You know what’s funny? even if you do use your dodge you still get 6k dmg,which is equal to backstab giveor take instead of +11k… I dont even reply on other things cause it requires you to play a specific build(pu cond).and blocks block one projectile big kitteng deal so instead of 12k dmg youll get 11k dmg hahaha

Yeah… I m wondering to ppl that mention about mesmer 1-hit blocks, 1-hit aegis, 3/4 sec dodge, 1 skill use confusion, low retaliation, et cetera. Possibly use distortion/evade(or double evade if don’t wanna eat part of RF and not rooted already) and run away if low/ on cd. Or same distortion – stealth – try to burst ranger.

Mak.2657:

Yeah… I m wondering to ppl that mention about mesmer 1-hit blocks, 1-hit aegis, 3/4 sec dodge, 1 skill use confusion, low retaliation, et cetera. Possibly use distortion/evade(or double evade if don’t wanna eat part of RF and not rooted already) and run away if low/ on cd. Or same distortion – stealth – try to burst ranger.

Running away is not an option too cause longbow……and distortion is one use per fight..and RF tracking through stealth..

I don’t mean run stright away. Try to lost line of sight. Stealth isn’t for damage mitigation (only evades – dist, dodges blurred frenzy; mb reflects). It’s for sneaky burst or to prevent ranger to track ur position if escaping ( better to use it at end/right after RF). Decoy or evade clones can absorb ltl part of damage too.

Sandrox … distortion is just one of many options for a Mesmer.

Running away is actually quite viable … you just don’t do it like a moron and run across an open field.

If you are somehow taking 6k damage after dodge rolling … it’s because you need to wear armor and your opponent is glassy. I’m also calling BS on your 11k … unless, of course, they are popping several cooldowns … in which case you should be competent enough to dodge, line of sight, block, distortion, etc. for that one “all-in” burst and then kill them. It’s very easy to kill FotM Rangers that do that … as any class.

You know what a Mesmer loves? A glassy opponent with a single-target weapon that has only one burst skill.

You can assume that tPvP mesmers will agree with you … but until we see one do so … you’ve got nothing there.

I m actually do wvw much and find that rangers in most cases are not a big problem, but only because no skill and glassy. But even non-skilled can sometime punish hardly from range, when already in fight. Trying zerk longbow ranger by myself (1st time) – and easily kill mesmers and other ppl who tryed to reflect hardly (I can evade too and not investing all in 1 burst – root FTW). Mb zergy ppl
Don’t know about tpvp though.

Sebrent.3625:

Sandrox … distortion is just one of many options for a Mesmer.

Running away is actually quite viable … you just don’t do it like a moron and run across an open field.

If you are somehow taking 6k damage after dodge rolling … it’s because you need to wear armor and your opponent is glassy. I’m also calling BS on your 11k … unless, of course, they are popping several cooldowns … in which case you should be competent enough to dodge, line of sight, block, distortion, etc. for that one “all-in” burst and then kill them. It’s very easy to kill FotM Rangers that do that … as any class.

You know what a Mesmer loves? A glassy opponent with a single-target weapon that has only one burst skill.

You can assume that tPvP mesmers will agree with you … but until we see one do so … you’ve got nothing there.

first of all,the other opstions are not viable/not worth putting.
secondly,and this is the most important one,you again miss the point,im not complaining that I cant kill zerkbow rangers,I complaining that when a RF get you,and it happens quite alot in wvw atm(rangers deathsquads infesting it atm),when it gets you,you are dead no point of doing anything.It is my right to play the most zerker gear and not get one shot killed by somone zerker as me while I cant do the same…
You can call BS all you want,fact is,if it werent that way I wouldnt trouble myself writing so much.I have other things to do in life than qqing on everything,and not a single time I QQed in my life in any game.This is the exception.pah even the rangers themselves unintentionally admits that RF is overbuffed,just look how many rangers run it atm it is like everywhere you go you see 5-6 LB rangers,a bit odd? I dont think so.
And all the BS about reflect,almost no mesmer running reflects,as reflect skills are-simply-not-viable.And I dont need to prove you about other mesmers they are all complaining,but not in the proffesion forums,you can see them in the balance forums,or in hotm or in wvw or even here on the forum you might find other topics on them.And btw there is a video here(on my topic) showing off what ranger does,if RF dosnt hit more than 11k according to the video it must be the hand of god!

Why do you see so many? Because it is one button that seems to completely confound the abundance of very poorly skilled players running around World vs World.

My favorite thing to see is someone that doesn’t just run at me or run away but seems to change their mind a few times and just dies … even more amusing since I’m using shortbow and was only 900 away from them.

As far as the damage … in that video video:

• 0:12 – 0:13 you can see a full Rapid Fire did 6177 damage … 6177 < 11k
• 0:55 – 0:56 you can see a full Rapid Fire did 7660 damage … 7660 < 11k
• 1:02 – 1:03 you can see a full Rapid Fire did 9170 damage … 9170 < 11k
• 1:05 – 1:06 you can see a Rapid Fire does only 3092 damage … because the target wasn’t stupid enough to eat a full 2.5s channel from a berserker build.
• 1:14 – 1:15 you can see a Rapid Fire does only 4945 damage
• 1:23 – 1:24 you can see a full Rapid Fire did 6100 damage

Apparently, according to you, the hand of God is all over that video as I didn’t see 11k in that less than 2 minutes before I got tired of watching WvW.

If there are some after that that actually hit 11k, let me know and I’ll look again.

Now back to your “points” …

Why aren’t the myriad of options worthing putting? Why aren’t they viable? Interrupts? Line-of-Sight? Reflects? Projectile blocks? Blocks? Distortion? Maneuvering so illusions are in between you and the Ranger? These are all quite viable.

As for being dead just because a Rapid Fire got you? Your video just showed that’s not the case. You linked the video and it shows the Ranger doing much more than a single Rapid Fire. Heck, they often pulled out their Greatsword in just the 2 minutes before I got bored.

You can say that it’s not BS because otherwise you wouldn’t bother … but here we are. Mesmers do have a ton of options, and I’ve looked at the video you posted and it doesn’t show what you’re saying about a single Rapid Fire dropping a player.

There is this thing called “confirmation bias”.

I imagine you aren’t really taking note of the non-rangers that are doing a great deal of damage to you; possibly even killing you. However, every time you get hit by a Ranger, you suddenly take note and remember it.

Sebrent.3625:

Why do you see so many? Because it is one button that seems to completely confound the abundance of very poorly skilled players running around World vs World.

My favorite thing to see is someone that doesn’t just run at me or run away but seems to change their mind a few times and just dies … even more amusing since I’m using shortbow and was only 900 away from them.

As far as the damage … in that video video:

• 0:12 – 0:13 you can see a full Rapid Fire did 6177 damage … 6177 < 11k
• 0:55 – 0:56 you can see a full Rapid Fire did 7660 damage … 7660 < 11k
• 1:02 – 1:03 you can see a full Rapid Fire did 9170 damage … 9170 < 11k
• 1:05 – 1:06 you can see a Rapid Fire does only 3092 damage … because the target wasn’t stupid enough to eat a full 2.5s channel from a berserker build.
• 1:14 – 1:15 you can see a Rapid Fire does only 4945 damage
• 1:23 – 1:24 you can see a full Rapid Fire did 6100 damage

Apparently, according to you, the hand of God is all over that video as I didn’t see 11k in that less than 2 minutes before I got tired of watching WvW.

If there are some after that that actually hit 11k, let me know and I’ll look again.

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Now back to your “points” …

Why aren’t the myriad of options worthing putting? Why aren’t they viable? Interrupts? Line-of-Sight? Reflects? Projectile blocks? Blocks? Distortion? Maneuvering so illusions are in between you and the Ranger? These are all quite viable.

As for being dead just because a Rapid Fire got you? Your video just showed that’s not the case. You linked the video and it shows the Ranger doing much more than a single Rapid Fire. Heck, they often pulled out their Greatsword in just the 2 minutes before I got bored.

You can say that it’s not BS because otherwise you wouldn’t bother … but here we are. Mesmers do have a ton of options, and I’ve looked at the video you posted and it doesn’t show what you’re saying about a single Rapid Fire dropping a player.

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There is this thing called “confirmation bias”.

I imagine you aren’t really taking note of the non-rangers that are doing a great deal of damage to you; possibly even killing you. However, every time you get hit by a Ranger, you suddenly take note and remember it.

You look at the numebrs,instead of the player health,that from full health that is obviously above 13k(most zerkish on 13k?) to almost nothing.and yea all the things you mention are good on paper,not in the real thing,since when rapid fire hits you,it hits you.you dont have time to react,maybe on the last 4-3 arrows of it.

and if you notice on the video,on the light armor proffesions who are trying to dodge and still gets 9k dmg,or even 6k dmg in dodge,meaning they can get alot more…
even so 9k dmg is waaaaaaaaaaay waaaaaaaaaay waaaaaaaaaay too strong for a 8s cd skill. it is like saying,yea let me have 4k AA why not.

This will show you excatly how much dmg does RF do and look at how he tries to explain what to do , he found himself using a SPECIAL BUILD that works great ONLY against those rangers or other heavy projectile proffesions.

Wait … you’re “looking at the health” instead of the actual damage numbers coming from the skill? How is that more accurate? It’s not…

How do you not have time to react to a 2.5 second channeled ability? The average human reaction time is 1/6 of a second. That’s 0.16… seconds … that’s roughly 1/15 of the channel time. Even with lag you have time to react.

It fires 10 arrows in 2.5 seconds, so that is one arrow each 0.25 seconds. You should have plenty of time to react unless you have a bad reaction time.

In the video you linked … he shows how he goes and kills them … pretty darn successfully. Additionally, when he’s standing still, a good chunk of that damage comes from the fact that he just stands there and lets the pet beat on him too while being shot with rapid fire.

Yes, direct damage does more to lightly armored characters. That’s nothing new. Some of the targets in the video you originally linked were light armor and didn’t take that much damage.

Lastly, when you are berserker in WvW against other berserker builds in WvW, whoever hits with burst wins. I do more damage with Mesmer shatter combo on a group of players than a Ranger can on a single target with Rapid Fire.

There are many other examples of extremely high damage from berserker builds. If you want to complain about something in berserker vs berserker … go look at what Engineers can (and have been) doing with Static Discharge and various toolbelt skills.

If a Ranger has long range, arrows that are harder to strafe, and 8s cooldown on their longbow, then they are extremely squishy. You should not have trouble killing them if you are able to land your hits. They will crumple.

Plenty of people are killing these FotM rangers … including the Mesmer in the video you just linked. The difference between those that have trouble with them and those that don’t is a measure of skill.

Sebrent.3625:

Wait … you’re “looking at the health” instead of the actual damage numbers coming from the skill? How is that more accurate? It’s not…

How do you not have time to react to a 2.5 second channeled ability? The average human reaction time is 1/6 of a second. That’s 0.16… seconds … that’s roughly 1/15 of the channel time. Even with lag you have time to react.

It fires 10 arrows in 2.5 seconds, so that is one arrow each 0.25 seconds. You should have plenty of time to react unless you have a bad reaction time.

In the video you linked … he shows how he goes and kills them … pretty darn successfully. Additionally, when he’s standing still, a good chunk of that damage comes from the fact that he just stands there and lets the pet beat on him too while being shot with rapid fire.

Yes, direct damage does more to lightly armored characters. That’s nothing new. Some of the targets in the video you originally linked were light armor and didn’t take that much damage.

Lastly, when you are berserker in WvW against other berserker builds in WvW, whoever hits with burst wins. I do more damage with Mesmer shatter combo on a group of players than a Ranger can on a single target with Rapid Fire.

There are many other examples of extremely high damage from berserker builds. If you want to complain about something in berserker vs berserker … go look at what Engineers can (and have been) doing with Static Discharge and various toolbelt skills.

If a Ranger has long range, arrows that are harder to strafe, and 8s cooldown on their longbow, then they are extremely squishy. You should not have trouble killing them if you are able to land your hits. They will crumple.

Plenty of people are killing these FotM rangers … including the Mesmer in the video you just linked. The difference between those that have trouble with them and those that don’t is a measure of skill.

You should look at it cause it is not just RF,that does dmg it is + pet you guys never consider.And cause the number is not showing the real dmg,since it disap

What are you on about the human react? it is not driving lesson,when a ranger coming behind you or from what ever angle you didnt see and burst you the reaction time is- dodge the last 4 arrows-(maybe).When a ranger use quickness with that,you dodge nothing.That mesmer killed a ranger nicely,but against any other melee spec he will be no match.And those rangers are obivously not comptent.Im not talking about incompetent rangers.Those are easy kills when you see them(less now but still). Im talking about surprise bursts and against comptent rangers who uses gs aswell and know the basic of kite.

The whole post was about tpvp in the first place,I did not mentioned once on wvw,and the vids are just to show you the potencial of how dmging RF skill can be to a mere 8s cd.

And lastly,when im on beserker in wvw,which is not related to this post,against other beserker(e.g thief or warrior),I can dodge thier attacks,block thier attacks.I cant do that with RF since if I dodge I would still get dmg, and block just blocks the first projectile lol. only way to avoid any burst from it is to dodge twice,and to lose all my endurance,which gives them free license to gs my butt.

In conclusion,if a thief backstab got nerfed,so should this skill.

PS: if you look on my post video there is a scene where an asura elem I think on veloka,get 9k dmg and dodge the last 3 arrows or so.