Guild Wars 2

Undertaker.7451:

for Barkskin, wilderness survival, grandmaster major trait, I would propose instead of 50% damage reduction below 25% health, changing it to 33% damage reduction to below 50% health, that would make it more competable to Empathic Bond.

If you adjust the damage reduction to keep its overall effect the same like you’re suggesting, changing the hp% where Bark Skin kicks in makes no functional difference. It just makes a purely cosmetic visual change to the rate your hp bubble drops as it empties. The total damage or time needed to empty it remains the same.

Dec 10 proposed: 50% reduction under 25% hp
(.25 / (1-.5) ) + .75 = 1.25 = equivalent to 25% extra armor

Your proposal: 33% reduction under 50% hp
(.5 / (1-.33) ) + .5 = 1.25 = equivalent to 25% extra armor

Generic: 20% reduction all the time
(1 / (1-.2) ) + 0 = 1.25 = equivalent to 25% extra armor

They’re functionally all the same. The only difference it makes is for traits and effects which kick in when you reach a certain % hp.

Xsorus.2507:

The Biggest change Anet can do right now is removing bloody Signet of the Beastmaster and making that baseline.

Absolutely silly we have to invest 30 points in a line to get the same effect as everyone else.

+1

We should also be given good cd removal in the nature magic traitline, that way 30 WS isn’t a requirement.

Xsorus.2507:

The Biggest change Anet can do right now is removing bloody Signet of the Beastmaster and making that baseline.

Absolutely silly we have to invest 30 points in a line to get the same effect as everyone else.

It used to be an Adapt trait, but they changed it to Grandmaster for release. I think it’s time they changed it back.

Undertaker.7451:

Ision.3207:

Xsorus.2507:

The Biggest change Anet can do right now is removing bloody Signet of the Beastmaster and making that baseline.

Absolutely silly we have to invest 30 points in a line to get the same effect as everyone else.

+1

+1

+10

My Problem with it, its promotes passive play, Take BM Bunker, There are times when I ran 3 signets, and never touched them as far as an active goes because it was pointless, They had good actives, but they only worked on my Pet which made using them Meh.

Imagine if Longbow Rangers for example could actually get other talents and still use Signets also…That’d instantly make that ability better.

Hell the change to Enlargement would actually make me consider dropping 10 from Marksman and 10 from beast to go 20 Natures to pick it up if Signet of Beastmaster went away.

But ya, Active Condition Removal is something I want to see added as well..

Maybe on Heal as One….or Lightning Reflex, or Muddy Terrain… Something better… then just EB or Bust.

Solandri.9640:

Undertaker.7451:

for Barkskin, wilderness survival, grandmaster major trait, I would propose instead of 50% damage reduction below 25% health, changing it to 33% damage reduction to below 50% health, that would make it more competable to Empathic Bond.

If you adjust the damage reduction to keep its overall effect the same like you’re suggesting, changing the hp% where Bark Skin kicks in makes no functional difference. It just makes a purely cosmetic visual change to the rate your hp bubble drops as it empties. The total damage or time needed to empty it remains the same.

Dec 10 proposed: 50% reduction under 25% hp
(.25 / (1-.5) ) + .75 = 1.25 = equivalent to 25% extra armor

Your proposal: 33% reduction under 50% hp
(.5 / (1-.33) ) + .5 = 1.25 = equivalent to 25% extra armor

Generic: 20% reduction all the time
(1 / (1-.2) ) + 0 = 1.25 = equivalent to 25% extra armor

They’re functionally all the same. The only difference it makes is for traits and effects which kick in when you reach a certain % hp.

all true, but when im at 50% health i feel no preasure, when im below 25% i do mistakes, hence id take 20% damage redution over whole health bar rather 33@50 or 50@25…

CETheLucid.3964:

thefantasticg.3984:

-snip-

…

I like pet too. And? Just because of that there is no reason to don’t have another OPTION. Just because one person likes or dislikes something, it shouldn’t limit all other ppl playing this class.

I learned to love pet classes in WoW, where I could do my normal dmg without thinking about pet and still be happy owner of pet.
Even in GW1 ranger could use pet and still don’t kitten his bow abilities (actually, I wanted pet so much I threw it into standard barrager build lol).

Xsorus.2507:

Durzlla.6295:

Undertaker.7451:

for Barkskin, wilderness survival, grandmaster major trait, I would propose instead of 50% damage reduction below 25% health, changing it to 33% damage reduction to below 50% health, that would make it more competable to Empathic Bond.
If you feel and tests shows that is too strong, id suggest making it apply protection boon for x seconds, every x seconds when you are under 50% health threshold, as boons can be striped, stolen or even converted to conditions.

I would really like to get everyones oppinion on that.

You clearly don’t use Barkskin, so stop trying to nerf it!! That reduction in damage STACKS with frost aura and prot btw. This trait has saved my balls (and my pet) waaaaaaaaaaay more than empathetic bond, it normally buys me those precious extra seconds needed in order to get off my heal again and put me back into the fight.

If they made it a protection pulse…. That would be HORRIBLE, would I like the health region to be larger? Yeah, that’d be awesome! But I’d much rather take 50% less damage under 25% health than a measily 33% under 50%

How are you handling Conditions right on now Durzlla, i know you talked about Barkskin and Frost Trap before.

In sPvP i run Soldiers gear and healing spring and so i’m able to kinda eat em, not to mention i’ve also got a fern hound to help keep regen and healing going almost constantly, and i’m pretty trixy for a ranger so i tend to avoid most the big hitting condi moves (not always). Kinda more built to be in group fights though since i run runes of mercy, and recently strayed away from barkskin for enlargement, but with this buff i think i’m gonna drop enlargement and go back to barkskin…

When i’m NOT running a more bunkery/supporty build i’ll normally also throw on Sigils of Purity and Melandru Runes just to make sure condis aren’t even an issue, but it’s usually a bit overkill lol.

What is with Warhorn Skill 4? Some Conditions or more dmg would be nice. Dmg/Castime Ratio is rly bad here.

CETheLucid.3964:

thefantasticg.3984:

-snip-

Ranger. Is. The. Pet. Class. That will not change.

You shouldn’t play a class hoping that they’ll change a core mechanic about it. That’s stupid.

I think it’s just that people have given up on the notion of ANet ever fixing pets so are wanting to cut their losses. Option 1 would be for ANet to fix their broken mechanic, option 2 is to have an alternative (no pet).

What is bloody stupid is forcing the players to put up with this mess.

Thoughts on the Ranger specific changes: (x-posted from general thread)

• Longbow damage is welcome, but traiting to make bows effective is prohibitively expensive; consider merging two of the bow traits, Quick Draw and Piercing Arrows, to be like warrior’s Crack Shot.
• Natural Vigor: vigor got a serious in-combat nerf recently with the change to healing spring, is this reduction still necessary? If 50% is too much for an adept minor, consider moving it to master minor.
• All the Nature Magic changes seem good.

Things that should probably still be addressed:

• Sword 1 root – I understand it’s a leap, and game mechanics prevent you from dodging out mid-leap, but the movement lock lasts much longer than the actual leap animation. It should be possible to dodge or move slightly between each of the attacks.
• Traps being in skirmishing. Much has been said on this.

Wish list:

• An option for rangers to revive their downed pets, like Comfort Animal, automatically swapping the downed pet’s F2 for this. Chained 60s periods without any use of our profession mechanic is punishing. No other profession can have theirs taken away.
• Pets that don’t root when attacking. In PvE this is fine the way it is, but players move too much, which is why pets with leaps, tracking attacks, and cleaves are far more useful in PvP/WvW.

Jos.8793:

For those who did not saw it, warrior’s crack shot will be moved to adept trait while we still need to spend 40 points in 2 differents trees to get similar bonus…

Weird Way to promote ranger’s power build ^^

Trait parity is a serious issue, and this ought to be looked at. This isn’t the only place where rangers have to invest more to get similar effects to other professions.

Xsorus.2507:

The Biggest change Anet can do right now is removing bloody Signet of the Beastmaster and making that baseline.

Absolutely silly we have to invest 30 points in a line to get the same effect as everyone else.

+1

Figured I’d post this here as well, I think there have been some potentially very powerful changes to support rangers, and this post discusses them

Note: Skip to bold section for the potential of this ranger build

I had an idea for the Ranger not long ago, this patch will (I think) make it pretty much OP, and I’m going to be honest and come out with it.

For example, by swapping Nature’s Vengeance and Spirits Unbound so that rangers can have spirits follow you in tier 2, players can now opt out of the higher damage output from spirits and still have options elsewhere

I like the idea behind this change of giving viable support/damage options, its a great direction to be heading in, but its opened up a whole new kind of support ranger (I’m doing that I expect this change to accomplish A, but I think it will actually accomplish B thing, you’re welcome!)

Before I list this builds qualities, I’d like to note that, to achieve all of this, I have only spent 40 trait points, picked utility skills and chosen 2 runes! I could go very bunkery with my other 30 points against conditions or physical damage, take some more damage, could be using warhorn for blast finishers, lots of possibilities for more support/damage/bunkering from the rest of this build.

You’ve talked about wanting to improve support lately, rangers were already top dog, this build would have:
1. Perma Regen/Swiftness uptime for allies in a 600 radius (regen based off likely settlers amulet healing power too!)
2. One of the best sources of AoE protection there is
3. Perma Burning on the target in most team fight situations (even with the reduction, you only need 3 more individuals or any off the “petting zoo” specs to get very high burn duration)
4. Longest water field in the game (still)
5. An AoE res, albeit a small one

It might seem that all thats been added is perma regen, but Spirit Rangers are already pretty firmly implanted in the meta, though Warriors took us out of it somewhat. With the changes to other traits, and the potential mobility (think perma Swiftness + Sword 2, and you could take a Greatsword) of this very supporty class, which has the potential for more damage or bunkering as well. I think this could be dangerously OP, to the point that it becomes essential to have one. The one weakness is a lack of a stun breaker, but the current spirit ranger is doing alright without one at the moment even in this ridiculous stun meta.

I hope you appreciate the honesty, and look forward to hearing anything you have to say on this build.

To improve our build diversity, the trait that needs moving is empathic bond. Frankly I’d like you to get rid of it, give us some other ways of actively clearing Condis rather than making us the passive class that we are, or bring it down a tier but reduce its effectiveness a bit (we get 3 in the top tier per 10, guards get 1 in the adept tier, why not 2 for the master tier?) while ever so slightly increasing our ability to remove condis. Healing spring is our only good heal for high level play, not even because of the water field or the regen/vigor combo it used to give us but for the condi removal. Not counting signet of renewal, or the bear shake it off ability this is our only active condi cleanse, and the other two really arent powerful enough to be taken.

CETheLucid.3964:

thefantasticg.3984:

-snip-

Ranger. Is. The. Pet. Class. That will not change.

You shouldn’t play a class hoping that they’ll change a core mechanic about it. That’s stupid.

That’s like me playing thief, hoping they remove stealth from the class. Or a mesmer, hoping they remove clones from the class.

If you hate the pet so much, you really should reroll a class you can better tolerate. I’m not being a kitten, I sincerely mean that. Your gaming experience will be a lot better.

Stealth isn’t the class mechanic/defining aspect of the Thief. That’s either Steal or Weapon Skill #3 (or initiative… honestly, the Thief’s got a lot going on).

People who want to remove the pet, like myself and thefantasticg, most likely want it gone (not perma-gone, but stabled) because as it is now, it’s not good enough without sacrificing everything else.
Let’s look at the mesmer and the clones. I can avoid spending a single point in Illusions and still do incredibly well in PvP/WvW/PvE. Why? Because the clones are just tools for a quick effect and then a Shatter. If one does go heavily into Illusions, however, it’s almost ridiculous how powerful they become and the mesmer himself is still very strong. Stronger than the ranger, at any rate.

If the pet gets killed (and don’t come with “change it before that happens!” as the tide of battle can change in a second), our damage and a potential source for vigour is gone for 60 seconds. For 60 seconds we cannot use our class mechanic! Imagine that happening to a mesmer: no clones for a whole minute. Imagine a thief not being able to use initiative based skills for one minute.
Yeah. So what we want is a fix to make the pet useful without spending 30 points into BM, or allow us to stable it.

Two solutions:

Retool the Ranger so that it’s possible to create pet-independent builds, or

Tone down the power of pets slightly, and make them unkillable.

Mikhail.4961:

CETheLucid.3964:

thefantasticg.3984:

-snip-

Ranger. Is. The. Pet. Class. That will not change.

You shouldn’t play a class hoping that they’ll change a core mechanic about it. That’s stupid.

That’s like me playing thief, hoping they remove stealth from the class. Or a mesmer, hoping they remove clones from the class.

If you hate the pet so much, you really should reroll a class you can better tolerate. I’m not being a kitten, I sincerely mean that. Your gaming experience will be a lot better.

Stealth isn’t the class mechanic/defining aspect of the Thief. That’s either Steal or Weapon Skill #3 (or initiative… honestly, the Thief’s got a lot going on).

People who want to remove the pet, like myself and thefantasticg, most likely want it gone (not perma-gone, but stabled) because as it is now, it’s not good enough without sacrificing everything else.
Let’s look at the mesmer and the clones. I can avoid spending a single point in Illusions and still do incredibly well in PvP/WvW/PvE. Why? Because the clones are just tools for a quick effect and then a Shatter. If one does go heavily into Illusions, however, it’s almost ridiculous how powerful they become and the mesmer himself is still very strong. Stronger than the ranger, at any rate.

If the pet gets killed (and don’t come with “change it before that happens!” as the tide of battle can change in a second), our damage and a potential source for vigour is gone for 60 seconds. For 60 seconds we cannot use our class mechanic! Imagine that happening to a mesmer: no clones for a whole minute. Imagine a thief not being able to use initiative based skills for one minute.
Yeah. So what we want is a fix to make the pet useful without spending 30 points into BM, or allow us to stable it.

This is how i am with the pet mechanic, i love it to death but if it’s going to be so stupidly broken (under powered) they may as well just scrap it, i thank the kittening gods that most people in PvP don’t just butcher the poor little animal first before moving onto the now gutted ranger… I know i’ll normally blow the pet up first because it tends to cause me more problems than the ranger themself does.

ipan.4356:

Two solutions:

Retool the Ranger so that it’s possible to create pet-independent builds, or

Tone down the power of pets slightly, and make them unkillable.

Seeing as how anet wants the ranger as the pet prof (i still don’t think that should be our prof mechanic as a whole, preparations were much more defining to ranger than pets…), neither of those really will happen.

A better solution would be to make it so that you don’t need to go so much into pets to be viable, if pets were 1) Added damage, IE you summon it (you have one pet only not 2) it fights for you until killed or called back and then goes on a 20s CD or so until you can summon it again, or 2) WE COULD kittenING REZ THE PETS AGAIN!! (preferable the first one) we’d be in a much better position.

How we’re the only prof that’s balanced on having our mechanic up 100% of the time, yet are also the only prof whose mechanic can be completely taken away from them for 60s is beyond me…

Maybe it is because I am used to running a marksman build but the damage was not my big issue. It seems that if you are not a spirit or trapper build then the only useful skills are signets.

Do not get me wrong. The increased damage is always welcome. I just feel like the other slotted skills, for none spirit/trapper builds, could use some love. Especially in WvW/PvP.

Either lightning reflexes or protect me are our best stun breaks, watch out for shouts, especially short cd ones with natures voice, and sick em is useful for stealthed enemies. Some of the others are perhaps a bit lack luster but the signets are incredibly underwhelming in PvP, most of the time they’re used in BM builds that use pure passive play, or its just signet of the hunt on a glass cannon. You have to really go for signet traits to make them viable. 16 seconds of signet of the wild uptime next patch is interesting though

How it is that search and rescue is on such a long cd is beyond me, when Elementalists have a shorter cooldown res that allows them to res up to 3 allies, potentially res themselves, res a teammate at full health or res them and teleport them to them. I know its got a long cast time but come on, 180 seconds to get a guy to be ressed, perhaps it was overpowered at 85, but we had to sacrifice a utility slot for it, and thats literally all it did, and unless you had a tanky pet they could go down easily to aoe pressure.

Undertaker.7451:

Ision.3207:

Xsorus.2507:

The Biggest change Anet can do right now is removing bloody Signet of the Beastmaster and making that baseline.

Absolutely silly we have to invest 30 points in a line to get the same effect as everyone else.

+1

+1

+1

I never thought of this before…but I think this would be fair. As it stands, the grandmaster Marks trait is too clogged with good talents.

My main weapon is a shortbow. I bring a lowbow along now as my second weapon so when I want to do damage, I have a weapon for that. The only reason I use the shortbow is because it’s the Dreamer, and back when the game was new it seemed to be able to do some damage.

I put quickness on the #2 skill on my longbow and end up getting massively greater damage and short cooldowns, making the shortbow seem almost pointless.

Is there any intention to do anything with the shortbow? It feels like I’m shooting toothpicks with it since losing the original quickness and range, plus the modern targeting system does no love for it.

I really love playing my ranger, and still do so in spite of the lack of love for the shortbow. Please do something.. anything…

I know we’re mainly talking traits here, but I’d like to discuss a skill change as well. Since with the recent Sic ’Em change its funtionality still didn’t get fixed (effect gets cancled by other pet commands), I have a feeling this skill should be on the balance/fixing board soon again. So while we’re at it, how about making Sic’Em the active effect of Signet of the Hunt? Both, the shout and the signet active, serve the same purpose: to boost your pet damage for a short while. However, the current active effect of SotH is so negliglible that I know of no Ranger player who’d actually ever activate this signet. To don’t throw off balance, you could carry over the 40s recharge of Sic ’Em to SotH. Those 2 skills simply belong together and should be merged, in my opinion.

This would then free up a slot for shouts, to come up with something entirely new and awesome. What are your thoughts?

Edit: This would also be in line with Anet’s stated goal of making the power spec more appealing for Rangers, since it would improve the combo of SotH + Signet of the Beastmaster. If that’s too strong the +% damage number on Sic ’Em could be tweaked.

My feeback about the Ranger part :

• Long Range Shot. Increased the damage at 500 range by 20%.
• Long Range Shot. Increased the damage at 500-1000 range by 15%.

For the moment LB#1 at 1000+ has already a better DPS than LB#2.
With this update LB#1 at 500+ will be nearly as good as LB#2 (without the vulnerability stacks).
I think LB#2 cast time should be reduced to at least 3s to be competitive with LB#1. It should be a real way to burst a target.

• Marksmanship V – Predator’s Instinct. Increased the threshold from 25% to 50%. Increased the Cripple Duration from 2s to 10s. Increased the cooldown from 15s to 30s.

It could be nice to cover others conditions
But it’s still not competitive enough with the others adept traits, Ranger already has access to a lot of Cripple and a lot of classes have access to a Cripple removal.
Maybe an Immobilize or a Cripple+Torment(Predator’s Instinct makes sens with Torment) could make this trait more sexy.

• Marksmanship VI – Beastmaster’s Bond. Decreased the cooldown from 90s to 60s.

Sorry but I don’t like the concept of this trait and the traits I to IV would still be better.

• Skirmishing XII – Moment of Clarity. Stun Duration increased from 50% to 100%.

I’m sorry Jon but, you mean Stun and Daze Duration, right ?

• Wilderness 5 Natural Vigor. Reduced the increased endurance regeneration from 50% to 25%.

I’m ok with that if similar Skills and Traits are also considered (Adrenal Implant, Vigorous Scepter, Zephyr’s Focus, Signet of Stamina, …)

• Wilderness VIII – Oakheart Salve. Decreased the recharge of this trait from 20s to 15s

I think Torment should be added to list of the triggers.
Anyway, there are too many good traits in the Wilderness line to make it considered even with a 15s cd maybe you could change it in an active condition clean.

• Wilderness XII – Bark Skin Increased the damage reduction from 30% to 50%.

Very nice but it could be too powerfull against direct damage with the adequate build. But Engineer can be nearly immune to conditions under 25% without a specific build so why not…

• Nature Magic IX – Two Handed Training. Added the following functionality to this trait. Greatsword and Spear attacks have a chance to grant Fury on hit. 50% chance. 3s Fury. 10s cooldown.

I don’t know… i guess it could help GS/Valkyrie build.
But for Gardian you made this change “Radiance X – Powerful blades. Increased damage from 5% to 10%.” and it’s in the Precision line and for Ranger you add Fury with RND in the Vitality line.
I think the opposite makes more sense or instead of Fury add a defensive boon or Weakness maybe.

• Nature Magic X – Enlargement. This trait now uses Signet of the Wild to trigger. This reduces the cooldown to 60 seconds and allow it to interact with the Signet of the Beastmaster and Signet Mastery traits.

Very interesting. You will need 50 points to make your build around it. Seems very nice but not without cost so… wait’n see.

• Nature Magic VII – Nature’s Vengeance. Moved to Grandmaster Tier.
• Nature Magic XI – Spirits Unbound. Moved to Master Tier.

Nice for builds diversity.

• Storm Spirit. Reduced the damage from the Call Lightning skill by 33%.

Storm Spirit is chosen mainly because of Call Lightning. It’s one of Ranger’s few burst skills and it’s not that easy to use.
With the swap between Nature’s Vengeance and Spirits Unbound, Nature’s Vengeance will be less used and there’ll also be less Call Lightning.
So I don’t think this change is mandatory.

Ranger:
_For the ranger, we’ve adjusted the placement of some traits so that rangers should have more build combinations.

Some tracks to improve builds diversity :

• Signets and Traps still need 30 points.
• LB needs at least 40 points to be effective, you should maybe merge some traits.
• Traps should not be in the Skirmishing line and/or should be more damage base (Please take a look at Necro’s Wells).
• Shouts could have a support role just by adding some boons. They should be more like Warrior and Gardien ones. This way they won’t need 30 points in the Nature Line to be usefull. And remove the cast time from “Gard”.

Finally, please do something about Sword#1

Is no one else concerned with the barkskin buff that 50% reduction + 33% protection + a couple thousand armour you can become indestructible at 25% health? (-conditions of course)

Last time I checked these things were additive.

edit: Have since noticed a couple other threads showing these traits don’t seem to work quite additively.

Girion.5483:

Ithe current active effect of SotH is so negliglible that I know of no Ranger player who’d actually ever activate this signet

The SotH active lasts 16 minutes. There is no reason not to activate it every time you have some downtime (and ideally, some swiftness while the passive recharges). Why you’d deprive yourself of +50% damage on your pet’s opening in your next combat is beyond me.

Hi everyone:

Would’nt it be better if all of these discussions/ideas were placed in the discussion located here—

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Dec-10th-Balance-Preview/first#post3133133

I feel that maybe Anet will think that we will be satisfied with just the changes they have planned, but we need to let them know our pet concerns and ideas.

Can we get a developer who is reading the profession pages simply post that they are indeed reading both the thread on general discussion AND the profession pages?

No offense, but the general discussion is soooo hard to follow if you play only one or two classes.

dandamanno.4136:

Is no one else concerned with the barkskin buff that 50% reduction + 33% protection + a couple thousand armour you can become indestructible at 25% health? (-conditions of course)

Last time I checked these things were additive.

edit: Have since noticed a couple other threads showing these traits don’t seem to work quite additively.

Aw are they not additively anymore? I wonder when that stealth nerf happened…

Good to see red posts regarding balance.

Any progress with pets f2 responsiveness , pet survivability in wvw , pet not being able to hit while moving/hit moving targets?

And what about a trait that would give back shortbow it’s 1200 range? MAke eagle eye trait affect both bows instead of just the longbow.

I’m glad sword is intended to work like it does, I like it but alot of people don’t and their only other option is axe which, uh, isn’t that great. Sounds like main hand dagger may be in the future for them?

Evade on swoop would be great, just make it break immobilize as well and you can replace it with nothing on main attack chain :P Only problem there being GS evade on auto is good for zergs and large groups, since our pet dies instantly Bond is gone and it helps avoid conditions.

EDIT: as for power rangers/signet, they’re strung by the need for certain traits, (beast master signet, emphatic bond, the way too many traits for bows)

JonPeters.5630:

Some ranger discussion.
Natural Vigor
Starting here because I think it requires the most discussion. This, simply put, was a wildly overpowered trait. I tell people not to compare one profession to another, but Engineer has this trait as a major grandmaster. It was simply too easy to put 5 points in this line and then be able to dodge every 6.67 seconds. As it stands after the change this still allows you to splash 5 points and dodge every 8 seconds. I don’t think this will ruin survivability, and I think by buff other traits further down this line it will encourge rangers who are looking to survive to go further into this trait line.

How about moving it further up the line instead (switch with Companion’s Defense)? This way the current trait won’t be completely gone.

JonPeters.5630:

Spirits Unbound and Nature’s Voice
I think the biggest change of moving spirits unbound is it allows you to take this trait along with Nature’s Voice. Internally we have done some testing where you bring stone spirit, guard, and then still have a open third utility slot to make some truly good support ranger builds. Spirits have always had that feel and I think this brings that to the forefront.

That’s a really good point. Spirits passive + guard + spotter could be good.

Is there any chance to remove the 1s cast time from Guard? It’s really annoying and removing it won’t make it overpowered. At the very least, reduce the cast time to maybe 1/4s or 1/2s. I don’t think anyone was going to try to interrupt it anyway. if not, could you please tell us why?

JonPeters.5630:

Power Rangers
No pun intended. As many have said these guys are in an interesting position. In some ways they can be very strong, but everytime I play my ranger this way it feel like it comes up a little bit short. I think this is because they are lacking a few things as either additional tools for greatsword or as utilities. Signets are the somewhat obvious utility choice but their effect is too varied to run a strong full signet build here. Conversely all traits associated with signets tend to increase in power the more you bring. What signets need is a good trait that synergizes with bringing a single signet, like Nature’s Voice does for shouts. This would let you bring maybe one or two signets and suppliment them with something else. One idea we talked about for Greatsword would be to take the evade off of the 3rd attack of the auto-chain and put it on swoop. This would give you a second on-demand defensive skill and instead we put something less timing based (for example a whirl finisher) on that third attack to empower it.

I’m torn on this one. I really like the evade on the auto-attack, but swoop could use it too. More damage on autoattack might be better than the evade, but Maul is already used for the damage, which interrupts the autoattack chain anyway.

On a side-note, is there any chance of Maul becoming a blast finisher?

JonPeters.5630:

Main-hand sword
I just want to clarify for good that main hand sword is currently working as intended. All movement skills cannot be interrupted by dodging and this is currently intentional. It has a very specific play style, and I would like it to remain. I understand that rangers want a one handed melee option that is more mobile, but that will have to wait, as I know there are a mix of players who also like how this weapon plays and I do not want to take away one of the more unique playstyles that we have and replace it with something that is fairly common.

Maybe sword chain 3 could get the evade from Serpent Strike and Serpent Strike becomes a Leap (the current animation would have to be changed). This way sword will have an on-demand leap forward and get the evade on auto attack (especially if you move the evade from greatsword to swoop).

JonPeters.5630:

Thanks,

Jon

Thank Jon, 1.5 years we waited for a discussion post like this.

Hello JonPeters. Thank you very much for replying. (And this is an honest ‘thank you’ from the heart.)

Natural Vigor
Stuff about comparing it to a Grandmaster

Fair enough, actually. Having played both Engineer and Ranger, I do believe Ranger already has dodges on their 1h Sword, GS, and Shortbow, so it’s not like this is a big hit anyways. I’m not usually one to praise Ranger nerfs, but I guess it was necessary before buffing other things.

Spirits Unbound and Nature’s Voice
…you bring stone spirit, guard, and then still have a open third utility slot… truly good support ranger builds.

What’s this about Guard? Is Guard being changed too, into a team-support skill? You’re teasing something exciting…

Power Rangers
…they are lacking a few things as either additional tools for greatsword or as utilities. Signets are the somewhat obvious utility choice but their effect is too varied to run a strong full signet build here… hat signets need is a good trait that synergizes with bringing *a single signet, like Nature’s Voice does for shouts. …One idea we talked about for Greatsword would be to take the evade off of the 3rd attack of the auto-chain and put it on swoop. This would give you a second on-demand defensive skill and instead we put something less timing based (for example a whirl finisher) on that third attack to empower it.

“AAAAAHHH AFTER 10,000 YEARS I’M BUFFED! IT’S TIME TO CONQUER TYRIA!” Quick! We must recruit a team of Rangers with attitude!

Joking aside, I do believe the issue with signets are:
1) Recharge times
2) We must trait 30 to gain their effects.

There’s also the fact things like Signet of the Hunt are unreliable on a pet, with very little synergy, since the strongest pet attacks are mostly multi-hit moves. You might as well reverse the signets, traiting to give our pets bonuses, and giving ourselves bonuses by default.

As for a trait like Nature’s Voice, we already have that, and it’s quite bad considering the high recharge of Signets. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Beastmaster%27s_Might

Signet of the Wild would be the candidate if we bring only one signet, and with a bit lower recharge, would have amazing synergy with Greatsword though.

Speaking of the Greatsword, I do believe swapping the evade to Swoop, and buffing the GS autoattack, would be a much better idea. (Although Swoop has evade, it’s unreliable…) My concern is that a Whirl finisher with Greatsword is not enough, as Whirl Finishers in general are quite weak and unreliable. Obvious synergy are with Healing Spring, but as I said, it’s too unreliable.

My personal idea for Greatsword, but I’ve always thought the way it functioned is a hard-hitting weapon with large telegraph. Perhaps yet again, Maul should be buffed in some way, to allow the GS to perform more overall damage over time than 1h sword? The balance being 1h sword is much more reliable, and chases foes, while the Greatsword is slow, with a long telegraph.

Main-hand sword
I just want to clarify for good that main hand sword is currently working as intended.

While I’m a fan of 1h sword, it’s somewhat disappointing this function happens to be our only 1h option as well. (Should we even count 1h Axe? It’s so…. Useless…)

Speaking of which, any plans to modify the 1h Axe in PvE?

Maybe sword chain 3 could get the evade from Serpent Strike and Serpent Strike becomes a Leap (the current animation would have to be changed). This way sword will have an on-demand leap forward and get the evade on auto attack (especially if you move the evade from greatsword to swoop).

I like this. The animation for sword 3 right now barely works, pretty sure everyone uses it as an evade as it only hits half of the time, if that.

Hi Jon! Great to see you so involved in the ranger changes. Some good stuff, thank you! I have many things I would want to say in response to your post, but I’ll focus on only one of them, since I’m most experienced with this particular weapon:

JonPeters.5630:

One idea we talked about for Greatsword would be to take the evade off of the 3rd attack of the auto-chain and put it on swoop. This would give you a second on-demand defensive skill and instead we put something less timing based (for example a whirl finisher) on that third attack to empower it.

Moving the evade from #1 is interesting and scary at the same time. While it will increase the DPS this weapon obviously needs, it will also diminish the utility of this weapon as a defensive weapon. A whirl finisher would obviously be fantastic, so the trade off would be fair (but will probably require equipping a defensive trait as a trade-off to the decrease in survivability).

My only comment, after thinking your suggestion over a bit, would be that if you take the evade off #1, is that don’t move it anywhere. Just take it off #1 and replace it with the whirl finisher you suggested. We already have a block on #4, an evade on #2 would be overkill and lead to unnecessary DPS loss. What is needed is a further DPS increase on #2, Maul. The animation of Maul, which together with Swoop is some of the coolest in the game (I sometimes use it when there’s noone around, just for the animation After 12 months of using the GS, I still enjoy seeing these animations), also makes it one of the longest in the game. This decreases its DPS potential of #2 and promotes mindless “skill #1” play instead. Alternatively, Maul could use a blast finisher to make up for the lack of DPS as well as give the GS that “group utility mojo”.

I do realize that my counter-suggestion comes down to the GS having a whirl finisher on #1 (your suggestion), a blast finisher on #2 (my suggestion as a replacement for your evade suggestion) and a leap finisher on #3 (already there). Therefore, if my maul suggestion is too scary for the designers – which I can imagine – I would suggest that maul receives a substantial damage increase and the evade from #1 is replaced by a whirl finisher.

These changes will make the GS an offensive weapon (#1, #2 and #3) and a defensive weapon (#4 and #5) at the same time. Currently, it lacks that “umphf” in being an offensive weapon, but it’s a fantastic defensive weapon at the same time. Scary stuff, but worth a try!

Although I dont use it, axe seems to be very neglected. Now with this buff to longbow damage, its left even further in the dust.

JonPeters.5630:

Some ranger discussion.

Power Rangers
No pun intended. As many have said these guys are in an interesting position. In some ways they can be very strong, but everytime I play my ranger this way it feel like it comes up a little bit short. I think this is because they are lacking a few things as either additional tools for greatsword or as utilities. Signets are the somewhat obvious utility choice but their effect is too varied to run a strong full signet build here. Conversely all traits associated with signets tend to increase in power the more you bring. What signets need is a good trait that synergizes with bringing a single signet, like Nature’s Voice does for shouts. This would let you bring maybe one or two signets and suppliment them with something else. One idea we talked about for Greatsword would be to take the evade off of the 3rd attack of the auto-chain and put it on swoop. This would give you a second on-demand defensive skill and instead we put something less timing based (for example a whirl finisher) on that third attack to empower it.

Thanks,

Jon

How can you hope power Rangers to succeed when you still haven’t given them the tools all other power based classes seem to take for granted? The class still has no realistic options for burst or AE. Perhaps if the class offered a ton of utility I could understand offensive options being so poor, but it doesn’t have utility either. There’s a reason the Ranger class consistently ranks 8th of 8 classes in WvW. It simply doesn’t do anything.

The only 2 skills this class has for real burst is Maul and Path of Scars. Nearly every other attack for this class does roughly the same damage as our #1 skill. You then introduce traits like Remorseless and Moment of Clarity that have no real impact on anything but burst skills. Who cares if a low damage auto-attack crits or does 150% more damage? AE is just as bad. A LOT of our skills affect only 3 targets instead of 5 like real AEs. Barrage is our only real AE classwide. Given the lower damage, very limited value in cripple, and the fact that it hits 5 targets multiple times killing us due to retaliation, it’s of no real value either. What does that leave? Piercing arrows?

Worse still is the fact that nearly every single utility option this class has REQUIRES an enormous trait investment before it’s even worth slotting on our bar. Most of our signets are awful until you get 30pts in marks. Most traps are awful until you invest 30pts. Spirits are awful without 20pts next patch (but really likely 30 still). We need a 30pt trait to still have some of the worst solutions to conditions of any class in the game (mesmers have it worse, but who else?). We have no reason to get Remorseless at all. Moment of Clarity is only really useful in a hilt+bash roll. We still need 4 marksmanship traits but only have room for 2 if we plan to use a longbow despite other classes (warriors) having the same traits combined.

If you legitimately want a power based Ranger to succeed in this game you need to throw us a bone already. Something needs to change.

JonPeters.5630:

Some ranger discussion.

Natural Vigor
Starting here because I think it requires the most discussion. This, simply put, was a wildly overpowered trait. I tell people not to compare one profession to another, but Engineer has this trait as a major grandmaster. It was simply too easy to put 5 points in this line and then be able to dodge every 6.67 seconds. As it stands after the change this still allows you to splash 5 points and dodge every 8 seconds. I don’t think this will ruin survivability, and I think by buff other traits further down this line it will encourge rangers who are looking to survive to go further into this trait line.

Spirits Unbound and Nature’s Voice
I think the biggest change of moving spirits unbound is it allows you to take this trait along with Nature’s Voice. Internally we have done some testing where you bring stone spirit, guard, and then still have a open third utility slot to make some truly good support ranger builds. Spirits have always had that feel and I think this brings that to the forefront.

Power Rangers
No pun intended. As many have said these guys are in an interesting position. In some ways they can be very strong, but everytime I play my ranger this way it feel like it comes up a little bit short. I think this is because they are lacking a few things as either additional tools for greatsword or as utilities. Signets are the somewhat obvious utility choice but their effect is too varied to run a strong full signet build here. Conversely all traits associated with signets tend to increase in power the more you bring. What signets need is a good trait that synergizes with bringing a single signet, like Nature’s Voice does for shouts. This would let you bring maybe one or two signets and suppliment them with something else. One idea we talked about for Greatsword would be to take the evade off of the 3rd attack of the auto-chain and put it on swoop. This would give you a second on-demand defensive skill and instead we put something less timing based (for example a whirl finisher) on that third attack to empower it.

Main-hand sword
I just want to clarify for good that main hand sword is currently working as intended. All movement skills cannot be interrupted by dodging and this is currently intentional. It has a very specific play style, and I would like it to remain. I understand that rangers want a one handed melee option that is more mobile, but that will have to wait, as I know there are a mix of players who also like how this weapon plays and I do not want to take away one of the more unique playstyles that we have and replace it with something that is fairly common.

Thanks,

Jon

JP;

Internally, do you think ranger condition removal is okay as is? Empathic Bond is certainly a strong option, but it does require a very specific trait setup that ends up limiting build diversity. I would also argue the same thing for only having the Brown Bear pet for a pet option to deal with condition removal (a grandmaster trait that removes x conditions on F2 activation with an ICD in the BM line would be a much nicer option).

Healing Spring is good, but it forces players to make the active choice between condition removal or healing at a more appropriate time. This looks intentional of course, but in that situation, most players are just going to save their heal for when it is more needed, leaving the only active condition removal option as Signet of Renewal.

Now, there is nothing wrong with Signet of Renewal, except for its long cooldown, which leaves the utility as not always being strong enough to deal with the onslaught of conditions being thrown around constantly, particularly in PvP modes.

Now, understandably there is a fine line between being able to relieve pressure caused by conditions, and completely hard countering conditions so well that there is no counterplay.

So, I’m just curious if the dev team thinks that the options rangers have to deal with conditions is in a good spot, and that you guys would rather shave down other classes, or if there is talk of any improvements to ranger condition removal, particularly, spreading it around in the traitlines so that not so many builds feel funneled into having to take 30 wilderness survival.

I posted this in the general dec 10 patch preview thread, but I thought it would be relevant here.
I like a lot of these changes. One small thing I would like to suggest is that you reduce the cast time on Heal as One on ranger to 1s or 3/4s, as this heal is rarely used and I think that at 3/4s cast it would work well in a power ranger build. The other thing is, I like that the enlarge trait is going to trigger off of the signet, but with it 20 points into the nature line, it’s not really a good choice for power ranger, which is the main build that would use it. If it was 10 points in, you could go 30/30/0/10/0, and run a power signet build, which would be cool, but if you are forced to go 20 points in to pick up that trait, you have to sacrifice way too much (10% crit dmg, 10% flanking dmg, 100 prec, as well as moving the 10 points from wild survival). Not sure what you can do on this one, but I would recommend switching that trait with something from the minor tier, like Nature’s Bounty or something.

not fair. this will hurt spirit rangers big time (the only viable build for spirit rangers). a power build is not gonna be viable even with those enhancements. these changes will make rangers extinct from pvp.

Jon, I know you didn’t bring up the LB, but consider moving the stand still AoE to a shoot and forget AoE ala the Warrior LB.

I just want to clarify for good that main hand sword is currently working as intended. All movement skills cannot be interrupted by dodging and this is currently intentional. It has a very specific play style, and I would like it to remain. I understand that rangers want a one handed melee option that is more mobile, but that will have to wait, as I know there are a mix of players who also like how this weapon plays and I do not want to take away one of the more unique playstyles that we have and replace it with something that is fairly common.

Is there more you can do to make Greatsword an alternative to Sword in Power Builds?

I’ll admit, I feel pigeonholed into Sword in PvE, and that’s really the one place in the game where you have to face all of it’s downsides and don’t get to reap much of the benefits.

The Two-Handed Training change is a step in the right direction, I think. A way to trait Greatsword into a better Power weapon. But would it be possible to explore some synergies with Greatsword in the more aggressive traitlines?

For example; Moving Two-Handed Training to Tier II Skirmishing, and moving Quick Draw from Skirmishing to get absorbed into Eagle Eye in Marksmanship? My reasons for this suggestion are;

• I’m almost always using Warhorn if I’m in a supporty mood, so if I’m super deep into Nature Magic, I’m kind of not using Greatsword by default because I can’t use our supporty offhand. I think Skirmishing would be a better home for Two-Handed Training, both in theme and application.
• There are an awful lot of bow traits, and they do need to be condensed in some fashion before Longbow can really take off. But while Piercing Arrows and Eagle Eye seem like a natural fit, they might be too good together. One of the two absorbing Quick Draw seems pretty balanced, and it condenses all the Bow skills into the line about Marksmanship.

As for a new Nature Magic trait to replace Two-handed training, I kind of wish Nature Magic did something for Signets. It’s as you said; Signets do so many things. Some of those things are supportive and should probably see some representation in the supportive line. It might also give you an opportunity to explore synergy with the new and improved Enlargement without having to spec outside of the line. This kind of interesting interplay between two traits is kind of underrepresented in Ranger at the moment, and it’s kind of shame because it’s one of the more entertaining aspects of character building in other classes.

Like; a trait that gives a short duration small radius AOE Quickness everytime you activate a Signet. My reasons for this suggestion are;

• I think quickness seems really appropriate for ranger support.
• Straight-up damage multiplication might not ever be able to feel bursty on ranger because of the lower power scaling. But doing things faster might be another way to get that satisfying ‘bursty’ feeling.
• Quickness not being a stackable buff might keep people from taking too many signets and stick with just one.
• It would also handily help get around the fact a 25% activation on Enlargement is dangerously within the killzone, by increasing your liklihood of surviving long enough for that trait to be helpful by giving you a chance to recover faster.

Main-hand sword
I just want to clarify for good that main hand sword is currently working as intended. All movement skills cannot be interrupted by dodging and this is currently intentional. It has a very specific play style, and I would like it to remain. I understand that rangers want a one handed melee option that is more mobile, but that will have to wait, as I know there are a mix of players who also like how this weapon plays and I do not want to take away one of the more unique playstyles that we have and replace it with something that is fairly common.

Ok, but could you add an “Also One-Handed Sword” weapon type for Rangers, which also uses one handed swords and which behaves exactly like the current one handed sword, except that it allows you to dodge when necessary? I really like one-handed sword, but I really hate dying.

JonPeters.5630:

. One idea we talked about for Greatsword would be to take the evade off of the 3rd attack of the auto-chain and put it on swoop. This would give you a second on-demand defensive skill and instead we put something less timing based (for example a whirl finisher) on that third attack to empower it.

Main-hand sword
I just want to clarify for good that main hand sword is currently working as intended. All movement skills cannot be interrupted by dodging and this is currently intentional. It has a very specific play style, and I would like it to remain. I understand that rangers want a one handed melee option that is more mobile, but that will have to wait, as I know there are a mix of players who also like how this weapon plays and I do not want to take away one of the more unique playstyles that we have and replace it with something that is fairly common.

Thanks,

Jon

GS, are u planning to make it more viable in PvE too? That means…more DPS. At the 1handed sword is about 15% better. Even if u interrupt the third AA always if possibel. Even Swoop is in Melee Combat a small DPS increase….

That means, your Idea of removing the dogde and replacing it by a whirl is nice. I like it.
Dogde on demand should be better and funnier too.
But whirl finisher´s are usually not rly strong. And their effect´s often are based on luck.
It would be nice to improve GS AA 3 and add a whirl.

Possibel it´s hard to do. But increasing Mauls Casttime and add more dmg, or reducing third AA Casttime and improve dmg a little bit. Would be make the weapon feel more “round”.

The thing why a lot of people don´t like the 1handed sword ist not only the “unique” playstyle. I can understand this.
But it is still the best weapon if u want to do DPS. And 15% are not a small diffrent…that´s rly much.
Don´t forget that WH/Axe/Dagger are bringing some utility/defense or more dmg too.

This Fury for GS/Spear….will not help. U can´t take it with “maxdps and support (spotter)” Builds. And u have Fury anyway. Skirmishing 15+Warhorn+Warrior or so. Fury long long enough….so this will only effect rly defensive powerbuilds without skirmishing and Warhorn.
Longbow…this weapon is still not rly viable. SR Thiefs or warrios without stability but 98% cripple/immo reduction are not the best situations to make a weapon usefull…

2 ist still lower dmg then AA at 1000+range. With your buffs at midrange it will do the same dmg. Only using a 5Seconds channeld skill to track some thiefs or add a little bit vul ist not rly fun.
So decrease CD and Casttime (to 3Seconds) and let the dmg as it is. And/or removing dmg penalty from the AA.
If u want a “Longbow feeling”…add this to 5. More “Waves” and more dmg if u are far away. And less if u are close to the target.
It´s not logical, u´re shooting 2seconds, and arrows will hit the target´s area 5seconds later…after 2 meters of flying. U understand what i mean? U should rename “barrage” in “timewarp arrows”.

The second thing is, a knockback is funny. But it´s a little bit bad if u want to play LB+Meleeweapon.
Immobilize should work to.

Axe…it suxx a little bit or? U have a midrange “hybrid” weapon with rly rly low direct dmg but skillable 10% critical dmg…an Axe should hurt and not “jump from target to target”….and were does all the axes came from?
1 is flying and u are throwing the next….i think this needs a rework, not only a buff.

And last. An Idea for the future. We have a lot of Problems with +dmg and pets. Sigil of the Hunt does only increase 1 Attack..most Pets have attacks this do multiple Hits. It doesn´t stack with “Sick´em” for example.

I think i´ve got a solution. Some Skills (Weapon and Utility) does give your Pet Bonusdmg. Like…the Warrios F1 rage bar. Only passiv. But the player has influence by using Skills. Possibel u could make a second bar for Petdefense.

And/or, Beastmastery +Attribute from the rangers. And “Master´s bond” could be the same. Grandmastertrait Beastmastery. For example 5% of the Pets Attributes aconverted to the ranger…and 5% of the ranger´s attributes are converted to the pet. If u pick up a Cat u will get more dmg. If u pick up a Bear u´ll get a lot vitality.

Thanks for reading, sry for my bad english. And rly nice that this discussion is here!

JonPeters.5630:

Some ranger discussion….

Natural Vigor
Starting here because I think it requires the most discussion. This, simply put, was a wildly overpowered trait. I tell people not to compare one profession to another, but Engineer has this trait as a major grandmaster. It was simply too easy to put 5 points in this line and then be able to dodge every 6.67 seconds. As it stands after the change this still allows you to splash 5 points and dodge every 8 seconds. I don’t think this will ruin survivability, and I think by buff other traits further down this line it will encourge rangers who are looking to survive to go further into this trait line.
.
Power Rangers
No pun intended. As many have said these guys are in an interesting position. In some ways they can be very strong, but everytime I play my ranger this way it feel like it comes up a little bit short. I think this is because they are lacking a few things as either additional tools for greatsword or as utilities. Signets are the somewhat obvious utility choice but their effect is too varied to run a strong full signet build here. Conversely all traits associated with signets tend to increase in power the more you bring. What signets need is a good trait that synergizes with bringing a single signet, like Nature’s Voice does for shouts. This would let you bring maybe one or two signets and suppliment them with something else. One idea we talked about for Greatsword would be to take the evade off of the 3rd attack of the auto-chain and put it on swoop. This would give you a second on-demand defensive skill and instead we put something less timing based (for example a whirl finisher) on that third attack to empower it.

Thanks,

Jon

Natural vigor

I understand the point but it does look like a one sided perspective. You could also consider that signet of stamina gives warrior more endurance regen (33% ?or 50%?) Without any trait …plus the fact they don’t need to spend any points to get active effect which is … wait for it… active condition removal !

I also understand when u say to not compare professions but u were talking about engineer grandmaster trait and it kinda remind me that after the december patch the “power” ranger will have to spend 40 points to have the benefits of crackshot which will cost warriors…10 points.

Power Ranger

It’s sad to say but power rangers will never be viable in wvw as long as they’ll have to heavily invest in order to get “normal” bonuses (signets) and as long as they still have so few active condition removal…which bothers me is that the december patch adress none of these issues.

An overhaul of Whirl finishers could potentially make the Greatsword an amazing weapon.

Proposal: What if Whirls pulsed their effects in an AoE, rather than shot bolts? With that, what if the Regen of Water Whirl-Finisher was changed to healing? That would sure go a long way buffing the GS attack in ways besides raw damage.

How is natural vigor even remotely over powered?

I’d rather keep the evade on greatsword autoattack than trade it for a whirl finisher and an evade on swoop. I feels way too much like a nerf rather than an improvement.

The evade on autoattack makes greatsword such a nice weapon.

Whirl finishers are kinda butt. There’s a reason people go “BLAST BLAST BLAST” and not “WHIRL WHIRL WHIRL”.

They are also quite inconsistent in what their various whirl bolts do, who they hit (if anyone) and the number of bolts fired off.

The idea of having an auto-attack finisher chain has its appeal, but I’m not sold on Whirl finishers in general, let alone removing one of our most powerful weapon effects for one.

JonPeters.5630:

Some ranger discussion.
Power Rangers

One idea we talked about for Greatsword would be to take the evade off of the 3rd attack of the auto-chain and put it on swoop. This would give you a second on-demand defensive skill and instead we put something less timing based (for example a whirl finisher) on that third attack to empower it.

Evading swoop is a thrilling idea for me XD It has some tactical implications I like (using it melee range lowering your damage to evade a big attack)
For the 3rd AA vulnerability is a nice thematic (maul) replacement, or a condition removal like the bugged fact in sword AA, it could remove a stack of some specific condition ^^

JonPeters.5630:

Main-hand sword
I just want to clarify for good that main hand sword is currently working as intended. All movement skills cannot be interrupted by dodging and this is currently intentional. It has a very specific play style, and I would like it to remain. I understand that rangers want a one handed melee option that is more mobile, but that will have to wait, as I know there are a mix of players who also like how this weapon plays and I do not want to take away one of the more unique playstyles that we have and replace it with something that is fairly common.

While i’m ok with the current form of the sword AA a little more of “idle” time between the skills in the AA chain could help a lot getting the hang of it.
Having the leaps resolve a little faster and having an aftercast (so the dps remain the same) can help a lot controlling the beast.

Condition removal is a build limiting factor for rangers, especially on pvp side.
30 Points on Wilderness Survival is a must have for many builds, to mitigate this situation a little buff on Evasive Purity can be really usefull.
It’s on demand, it’s self limitating (10 sec cd for 1 condition + endurance), cant remove immobilize or fear.
If changed in something like:
“Dodging removes a condition from you, only poison, burning and torment can be removed this way. CD 10 seconds. "
It can became a valid alternative to Empathic Bond in some builds.

Thank you for the open discussion XD

JonPeters.5630:

Main-hand sword
I just want to clarify for good that main hand sword is currently working as intended. All movement skills cannot be interrupted by dodging and this is currently intentional. It has a very specific play style, and I would like it to remain.

Jon, im one of those who enjoys MH sword as is, for the most part. i do think however that it needs more utility. currently, the #1 chain is used for some nasty dps and to lock someone down. i like how it feels, and it IS actually possible to hop between targets. the suggestion id like to make is to give us Torment on Hornet’s Sting, or some kind of powerful buff on Monarch’s Leap. currently, sword #2 is JUST an evade/gap closer.

regarding power rangers, as someone already explained, we dont have enough burst even with full zerker. if we’re keeping damage the same, power rangers need more sustain.