Guild Wars 2

Well, I’m glad that we are getting specializations and all, options are good of course, although I was really hoping we would get 2h spear at some point.

What are everyone’s thoughts on the staff/druid thing? I remember staff trapper from GW1 and that was fun, so I’m hoping its more like that than a ranger caster, but we shall see.

I think it will be something buffer/cc specialazation with a little twist.

My thoughts? It’s probably going to be a spellcasting staff-wielding wizard without a robe. Bo-ring.

But lots of players wanted just that, so fair enough, you can’t please everyone.

Well, they said that underwater weapon will stay underwater weapon, so maybe you should probably give up on the land spear idea.

From what I remember from GW1, druids were using spirit, traps and were a huge pain because of there mele knockback.

Now, it may be totally different, but I really would like to see the specialization modifying the way spirits work to make them easiest to use in the actual game. My favourite idea would be to change them to be a bit like signet when you equipe them while in druid specialization. Maybe make the pet the “owner” of the spirits with spirit active skill happening at the pet location or something else.

This sure would only be possible be modifying some things in the profession base mechanism, but well, everything’s possible at this point.

Yes, many rangers shout about they lack group support, so Anet gives us one.
Let’s hope this time it’s buffing allies not the pet.

I hope they will improve spirits and make special symbioses between spirits and druids

Aleksander Suburb.4287:

I hope they will improve spirits and make special symbioses between spirits and druids

Spirits have deliberately been nerfed to please the sPvP crowd. Don’t hold too many hopes.

Dadnir.5038:

Well, they said that underwater weapon will stay underwater weapon, so maybe you should probably give up on the land spear idea.

Any source for that?

I would love to see spirits in play, but they need a lot of work to even equal a war banner. Invulnerability and following by default, for starters.

We talked polearms. No polearms in this expansion. Colin said “We warned the art team what the community would think when they saw the trailer, but they chose to make things the way they did.” It looks like a polearm but it is not. No word if they ever will be.

Source : https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2tsiox/pax_afterparty_lessons_learned/

And if you take a look at kamoalii kotaki :
https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/49171/gw080.jpg
It would be totally out of place on land. At least that my opinion.

That’s not really the same thing. You said never, they said not this time. I refuse to give up!

Currently I don’t know diddly about the Druid so I can’t speculate.

I am, however, very excited (chomping at the bit even) for some information about the new utilities, specializations, weapon skills, etc..

I have to hope it brings more group support to the table. Basically I’d like something akin to Shout Guardians where they throw boons to allies while still doing their own work too.

Staff skills I’m excited about too as I would love to have a ranged alternative to the long bow. Judging from the one attack in the trailer, though, I wonder if it won’t be like the Guardian’s staff where the weapon attacks are restricted to 600. I hope not T__T. At least not ALL of them. I see it being very CC/Bleeding with all the vines/thorns. Slows and bleeding.

How the pet is going to work is the thing that scares me though … T_T

I imagine the druid will be a heavy support character. Ranger support has always been kind of lacking. Sure there are spirits, but that is a really boring build to play. Hopefully the druid specialization will enhance that aspect of the ranger class and make it more engaging to play.

As for the pet, I imagine a heavy support druid would be able to buff their pet as well as allies for their offense. Similar to your usual beastmaster build but hopefully more flexible.

I’m hoping the staff will be a mix of CC and team-buffs, sort of like the guardian staff.

i would also be happy with something similar to necro staff, with lots of AoE’s

as for traits, idk. i’m just hoping lb/staff will be a viable option. (or at least a POSSIBLE option. i doubt it wouldn’t be.. but you never know)

teleportation or blink skill.

http://www.playdota.com/heroes/prophet

Well only thing we know is that it can shoot some kind of straight line of entangling roots. Immobilize would be kind of the only thing ranger already has plenty so I hope it does something a bit more unique or the other skills do.

Personally I also hope for more interrupts. Staff propably will not be a primary DPS weapon but if so I am not sure weither condi or direct dps focussed.

Also you know those attacks of GS, Sword, Spear that make virtual animals appear behind the ranger (like Bear with Maul, Eagle with Swoop, Shark, Snake)? Would be awesome if staff gets something similiar. Personally I am hoping for a monkey which would fit since it is a) most of the time an intelligence focussed weapon for light armor classes and b) would give some kind of monkey king hype with melee attacks etc.

Ranger is currently the worst class in this game.
And druid will be the worst specialization in the game.
3 years are gone and ranger has Always the same limits ( pets..survival skills )..
so..Druid Thoughts? It will be a failure I’ m sure

Toxsa.2701:

Yes, many rangers shout about they lack group support, so Anet gives us one.
Let’s hope this time it’s buffing allies not the pet.

I just wonder how thiefs support teams… no freaking way.. so why work ranger as some WOW freaking druid S**T…

What we need is pet-less specialization and actually make a ranger single target arrow master.. and NO BAD AI involved. TY… making 33% damage AI depended.. It’s like:
Show me your pvp skills with RNG of 33% entire ranger power + rng of bow dmg annd sigils;)

Darkness.9732:

Ranger is currently the worst class in this game.
And druid will be the worst specialization in the game.
3 years are gone and ranger has Always the same limits ( pets..survival skills )..
so..Druid Thoughts? It will be a failure I’ m sure

This… Ranger without survival is not having a fun build or it’s just not working out.
They really should re-trait ranger. Put signet of hunt as a trait, and actually bring eagle eye as a skill to reverse peoples complaining about ranger range. To be honest people just kitten about it because they can, reducing range wont stop whining and Q_Q on the forums, because then they will found out that condition ranger is monster compared to power ranger..

Firelysm.4967:

Darkness.9732:

Ranger is currently the worst class in this game.
And druid will be the worst specialization in the game.
3 years are gone and ranger has Always the same limits ( pets..survival skills )..
so..Druid Thoughts? It will be a failure I’ m sure

This… Ranger without survival is not having a fun build or it’s just not working out.
They really should re-trait ranger. Put signet of hunt as a trait, and actually bring eagle eye as a skill to reverse peoples complaining about ranger range. To be honest people just kitten about it because they can, reducing range wont stop whining and Q_Q on the forums, because then they will found out that condition ranger is monster compared to power ranger..

Dojo.1867:

Personally I am hoping for a monkey.

Hmm monkey is kind of mehhh, how about unique GW2 animal like a forest creature?

Firelysm.4967:

Toxsa.2701:

Yes, many rangers shout about they lack group support, so Anet gives us one.
Let’s hope this time it’s buffing allies not the pet.

I just wonder how thiefs support teams… no freaking way.. so why work ranger as some WOW freaking druid S**T…

What we need is pet-less specialization and actually make a ranger single target arrow master.. and NO BAD AI involved. TY… making 33% damage AI depended.. It’s like:
Show me your pvp skills with RNG of 33% entire ranger power + rng of bow dmg annd sigils;)

The average thief in spvp brings stealth and shares boon with their steal mechanic. That’s plenty of support considering the thief’s actual role in the pvp meta isn’t “meant” to be supportive at all. Compared to a standard LB power ranger that brings little no nothing outside entangle and harrasement from pets aside from its raw damage.

You will never get your mumbo jumbo arrow master as a specialization. Thank God for that, it wouldn’t add anything interesting to the class.

And why a druid, you ask? Because the ranger profession has ALWAYS had elements from druid themes, ever since the first game. The addition of druid as the first of SEVERAL specialization makes sense. It’s a part of the class, part of how Anet sees the ranger as a profession. And people still complain about it.

If it’s any consolation, it would only make sense that the next specialization after this one will be something not focusing on the nature magic elements of the ranger.

Lazze.9870:

Firelysm.4967:

Toxsa.2701:

Yes, many rangers shout about they lack group support, so Anet gives us one.
Let’s hope this time it’s buffing allies not the pet.

I just wonder how thiefs support teams… no freaking way.. so why work ranger as some WOW freaking druid S**T…

What we need is pet-less specialization and actually make a ranger single target arrow master.. and NO BAD AI involved. TY… making 33% damage AI depended.. It’s like:
Show me your pvp skills with RNG of 33% entire ranger power + rng of bow dmg annd sigils;)

The average thief in spvp brings stealth and shares boon with their steal mechanic. That’s plenty of support considering the thief’s actual role in the pvp meta isn’t “meant” to be supportive at all. Compared to a standard LB power ranger that brings little no nothing outside entangle and harrasement from pets aside from its raw damage.

You will never get your mumbo jumbo arrow master as a specialization. Thank God for that, it wouldn’t add anything interesting to the class.

And why a druid, you ask? Because the ranger profession has ALWAYS had elements from druid themes, ever since the first game. The addition of druid as the first of SEVERAL specialization makes sense. It’s a part of the class, part of how Anet sees the ranger as a profession. And people still complain about it.

If it’s any consolation, it would only make sense that the next specialization after this one will be something not focusing on the nature magic elements of the ranger.

Players create meta, not dev. And yes, rangers, out of their meta build have tons of different way to support. At least waaaaay more then a necromancer (meta or not) or thieves. Out of the meta, rangers have :

- Very usefull fields : fire and water
- Not so usefull field : poison
- Blasts finishers
- Spirits (yeah they die boringly fast I know)
- Traits (spotter is a fact but you also grant vigor to your allies via vigorous training)
- Pets skills : depending on your pet choice you can have bundles or boons (regénération, protection, might, fury)
- Group cleanses : signet of renewal, healing spring
- Only profession with 2 rallying skills (“search and rescue” and spirit of nature)
- Group heals : water spirit, nature spirit, healing spring, invigorting bond, moa.

More support would be… a bit much don’t you think? More friendly user support would be extremely valuable but not more support.

Edit : forgot warhorn and shout traits…

Dadnir.5038:

Players create meta, not dev. And yes, rangers, out of their meta build have tons of different way to support. At least waaaaay more then a necromancer (meta or not) or thieves. Out of the meta, rangers have :

You do realize that I simply gave an answer to what the average thief brings into a fight as far as support goes, right? Compared to the average power ranger, or even condi ranger for that matter.

Necromancers got their own problems aswell, perfectly aware of that.

Dadnir.5038:

More support would be… a bit much don’t you think? More friendly user support would be extremely valuable but not more support.

Where did I say anything about specifically wanting “more support”? I said the druid as a specialization thematically makes perfect sense, that’s all. I have always been an advocate for buffing and fixing our already excisting alternatives. Mainly making shouts more support oriented and buffing the radius of Nature’s Voice, among other things.

Your list just goes to show how lackluster our current support alternatives are. It doesn’t matter if we’re the only profession with two rallying skills when the shout revive is a potential candidate for the worst skill in the game. Spirits melt in the current meta. Blast finisher is limited to drakes and warhorn. Having water field means we have to sacrifice our own healing skill, while Signet of Renewal is a potenial pet killer. Using pets to give allies boons doesn’t even compared to how elementalist and warriors fart boons all over the place.

I’m having a blast playing condi ranger in pvp. Trying to force most of these support alternatives into the build would just cause frustration.

I just hope that the Rangers Staff will be a hybrid weapon and will work as a zerker or conditions.

Don’t we have enough hybrid weapons with the sword, axe, and shortbow ?

It would be nice if it applied conditions with its auto-attack without requiring you to be flanking your target. Currently, condition Rangers have to rely on:

• Axe #2
• Sword #3
  To apply damaging conditions with those weapons (without sigils, of course)
  Shortbow is similarly limited, though with 5 slots it has a bit more … just that flanking requirements for the bleed on autos limits it compared to other classes with straight condition weapons that apply some damaging conditions with every auto (or multiple per full auto-chain).

Sebrent.3625:

Don’t we have enough hybrid weapons with the sword, axe, and shortbow ?

Sword = Raw Damage – Definitely not hybrid
Axe Mainhand = Mostly Condition based – It could be considered hybrid though
Shortbow = Zerker/Celestial/Condition – Definitely hybrid

I think Axe and Shortbow are our only true hybrid weapons.

If Staff is focused on Conditions and does not work at all with a zerker build I’ll be little kittened.

ItIsFinished.9462:

Sebrent.3625:

Don’t we have enough hybrid weapons with the sword, axe, and shortbow ?

Sword = Raw Damage – Definitely not hybrid
Axe Mainhand = Mostly Condition based – It could be considered hybrid though
Shortbow = Zerker/Celestial/Condition – Definitely hybrid

I think Axe and Shortbow are our only true hybrid weapons.

If Staff is focused on Conditions and does not work at all with a zerker build I’ll be little kittened.

They will also increase the maximum stacks for condition application, so condition specs may be as strong, if not stronger than direct damage after the patch.

Axe Auto: Direct Damage
Axe #2: Condition Damage
Axe #3: Chill

Sword Auto: Our best Direct Damage
Sword #2: mobility/evade/cripple … direct damage
Sword #3: evade+poison … condition damage

While sword is most definitely “more power” than it is “condition”, it is a mix. This is part of the reason that you see some condition builds running Axe+Dagger/Sword+Torch … the other reason being those evades and the mobility … so nice to have.

If you compare these to things like Engineer Pistol (Conditions on Auto through #5), Necro Scepter, Mesmer Scepter, etc.. there is a big difference between some classes’ condition weapons and Ranger’s.

I’m just hoping they modified the pet mechanic enough that’ll make me want to spec to Druid… And then that I can still use my sword+axe/horn & LB… I don’t remember it saying anywhere that you HAVE to use the Staff if you are spec’d for Druid.