Guild Wars 2

It’s no big news that the Bristleback outshines every pet as far as top damage is concerned.
It bothers me though, that the Bristleback seems to be a straight upgrade to the entire Devourer family.

The Bristleback takes what was originally the Devourer role, sustained ranged damage, and does it better.
The two have almost exactly the same stats, except the Bristleback has 1000 more attack.
All three Devourers have a 24s CD F2 ability, and all have a hefty wind-up animation, unlike the BB’s 12s CD, very fluid 3/4 cast time ability (that also does more damage).
Of the three Devourers, the Lashtail comes closest in terms of similarity, boasting a long-range, multi-hit ability with a condition component that approximates the BB’s damage, but it still has twice the cooldown.

It can be argued that Devourers have a stronger focus on survival, taking into account their other skills (knockback and evade), and that is reflected in their lower Attack value. But then, why does the Bristleback maintain both the same Defensive and Condition values, on top of its attack bonus? It doesn’t seem to me that any other pet family has this issue.

This wall of text brings me to my final point; I was originally worried that the new pets, based off new technology, would undermine all the old pets.
This is most apparent in the Bristleback; the responsiveness of it feels much better than any pet thus far.
So I have to ask, will the Bristleback be brought back in line with the other pets? Or, better yet, can we have any word of incoming Pet overhauls that utilize the newer technologies introduced with HoT?

Thanks for reading.

Shush the’ll want to nerf it.

Isn’t it supposed to be elite, so shouldn’t it be a bit elite.

Every time I try it I end up changing for somthing elese. Probably not using him right.

The power stat on pets is not as important. The skill coefficients is what matters. Rangers wanted a ranged power pet and we received one. The stats on it also do not reflect it’s actual values at the moment. It has higher vitality and lower toughness than what the values on the pet management menu display.

Also, Devourers are defensive and garbage tier to begin with. Anything would be an upgrade compared to them as they are used mostly in PVE when pet survivability used to be an issue.

Rather than ask if the Bristleback would be brought back in line with the other pets, ask instead if Devourers would be brought up to effective levels to compete with the Bristleback (and Spiders).

Yeah I was thinking about Spiders as well, though they’re more a utility option.
That’s what I asked in the last line of my post though, overhauls for all pets to be as useful as the Bristleback now is.

Dont talk about it. Still havent learned how things work when it comes to rangers? They wont buff the others, but nerf the Bristleback. History repeats itself over and over again.
Last I said it was in regards to what would happen to smoke assault if they swapped the F2 again…

Why are Pigs so much inferior to Dogs?

Leave Bristleback as is. The thing is adorkable, and I want a good Power/Burst pet.

well I actually see a point of op and its hard to not relate – especially if we consider that I used to use devourers exclusivelly for some time…

I’d really love to see devoursers buffed/remade to the level of bristleback….

bristleback is the best tank and best ranged pet all rolled into to one

In pve, it was fun to hide behind the bristleback and spam auto attacks with Lingering Light. Too bad LL got nerfed into oblivion.

I like my carrion devourer in wvw for roaming.

Ranged attack for helping me to break cannon/oil.
aoe(5) poison blob for camp npc stack kill.
ranged attack to assist kill on upgraded camps without full camp aggro.
the occasional knockback, something I haven’t mastered ;-(
oh and it never dies ;-)

Unfortunately at this time there is little reason for me to roam so ;-(

Justine.6351:

I like my carrion devourer in wvw for roaming.

Ranged attack for helping me to break cannon/oil.
aoe(5) poison blob for camp npc stack kill.
ranged attack to assist kill on upgraded camps without full camp aggro.
the occasional knockback, something I haven’t mastered ;-(
oh and it never dies ;-)

Unfortunately at this time there is little reason for me to roam so ;-(

Same, I use devourers and spiders for roaming. They also seem to be much better than the Bristleback at hitting targets that are higher/lower on the vertical axis—and I love the AoE poison.

Don’t ask anything like this.
Remember when we said longbows were weak? They nerfed shortbow so that longbow would be “more viable”.

kiwituatara.6053:

Don’t ask anything like this.
Remember when we said longbows were weak? They nerfed shortbow so that longbow would be “more viable”.

Cause ya know they havnt improved longbow at all.

Justine.6351:

kiwituatara.6053:

Don’t ask anything like this.
Remember when we said longbows were weak? They nerfed shortbow so that longbow would be “more viable”.

Cause ya know they havnt improved longbow at all.

The point I was trying to make is that Shortbow didn’t deserve the nerf it got.

Other pets really suppose to be brought up to Bristleback level instead.

In fact, ALL PETS have been nerfed way back then. They used to perform as well as Bristleback.

Bristleback outshines Devourers… until it literally hits a bump in the road. Any elevation will cause the attack to miss.

Aomine.5012:

Other pets really suppose to be brought up to Bristleback level instead.

I am wondering how long some of you played this game. In typical Anet-fashion, if they address this, it would be to nerf the Bristleback below all the other pets, and just for good measure, nerf all the other pets slightly to compensate. All in the name of balancing of course.

But I digress. Wait a month or two. Anet will feel the need to kick something, and their favorite whipping toy, aka the ranger, will get all the nerfs you want, and then some.

The difference between the devourers and the bristleback is that the Bristleback misses its target far more often, if there is the slightest difference in height between the target and the pet.

I just got this pet, can someone please tell me what’s so great about it? I’ve only used it for like 15/20 min but so far don’t see any reason why i would take this unless i really have to have a ranged pet. The F2 just seems super weak.

Justine.6351:

kiwituatara.6053:

Don’t ask anything like this.
Remember when we said longbows were weak? They nerfed shortbow so that longbow would be “more viable”.

Cause ya know they havnt improved longbow at all.

Well they sure as hell haven’t improved short bow at all.

Petrol.9086:

I just got this pet, can someone please tell me what’s so great about it? I’ve only used it for like 15/20 min but so far don’t see any reason why i would take this unless i really have to have a ranged pet. The F2 just seems super weak.

The F2 is horribly glitchy and will need the target to be on the same level plain as the bristleback. When it is, it hit’s like a freight train.

It’s easily the best pet to pair with “Sic ’em” for burning pve mobs when the break bar empties.