It’s funny you mention the idea of granting shield to thief; a friend of mine wants that quite badly because he’s enamored with the idea of a swashbuckler, and also likes the idea of a skirmisher, which also fits there.
Second off, not everything has to be about cosmic forces. not everything has to be about magic. that’s limiting if you think that’s the case, and we’ve already had an elite spec that pushes us into using natural forces; it’s time to go the other direction.
But you want examples of how firearms would work for a ranger? Sure, I can do that.
First, the suggestion of a shotgun style weapon. AoE is something that the Ranger consistently lacks in, so the application of a shotgun to the class would be good. probably around 600 range. #1 would be a basic cone AoE, power based. #2 could be a backstep blast, creating a small area around you doing Aoe damage as you jump back. #3 could be a blind. #4 could be a vulnerability applier. #5 would be a 1.5 second stun, which is long enough to pull out whatever other shenanigans you like.
Don’t like the shotgun? Let’s try the sniper rifle idea. It’s actually very easy to make it different from the Longbow; the longbow is essentially an assault rifle in terms of how it plays, while a sniper rifle setup would have you attacking slowly for high damage per shot. The #1 would be powerful, but slow; think like Plague Blast, from the vanilla necromancer’s death shroud. #2 is also pretty easy; Reposition. Make it a dodge skill. #3 would apply weakness to the target. #4 is a ricochet shot that allows it to hit multiple enemies with one attack, similar to how thief had ricochet way back when. #5 is the big interesting skill; The longer you hold it for a charge, the more damage and longer range it has. The Sniper rifle would be used for burst damage, which is in fact something that the ranger lacks. the only burst damage we have at the moment at all is Rapid fire on the longbow (which is arguable in the first place) and Maul, the Greatsword #2 skill.
the pistol, meanwhile, would make for a good close ranger weapon that can swap between melee and ranged. the autoattack would have something like a 900 range. #2 would be a pistol whip; brief stun or other CC, such as daze. #3 would be another repositioning skill; hit your target with immobilize and then jump away.
All three of these work for the ranger without significant overlap with other weapons.
And then we get into utility skills! Two types immediately spring to mind; stances, and Preparations.
Stances in general are self-buffs that last 6-10 seconds with instant activation. They grant such things as damage invulnerability, particular boons, and similar things. For a ranger, why don’t we look at the old stances from GW1 for a moment? Nature’s Blessing, a healing stance that affects you and all allies within a short range, granting you pulsing condition cleanses and heals. Natural Stride, Stance that makes incoming attacks miss and grants Superspeed. Serpent’s Quickness, granting you Alacrity, which would make a good Elite. Tiger’s Fury; Might and Fury generation. Dryder’s Defense; stance that grants you pulsing protection.
How about Preparations? These would work one of two ways; either as a temporary buff to all of the attacks you make, or similar to the way venoms currently work, giving you a set number of hits with which you can make these attacks. I personally find this one more likely for the sniper setup idea, as you’re attacking slowly and want to get the most out of all of the hits you can. Seeking Shots, making your attacks unblockable and cause vulnerability while active. Explosive Shots, making your attacks deal extra damage with a small amount of splash on impact. Choking Gas, which makes your attacks spread a small AoE cloud that dazes every time it ticks, which would make a good elite. Marksman’s Wager, which heals you and grants might every time you hit with it. Disrupting Accuracy; your hits interrupt the target. Kindle Shots; Inflict burning with every hit.
(cont.)
.