Guild Wars 2

Who cares about bows?! (Not us) You shouldn’t either. You should strive to be like the Ranger from the last GW and that guy from those books everyone likes (think there was a movie too) and use only melee weapons. If not you’re obviously doing it wrong and should be ashamed of yourself. L2P.
Also, it’s good pets got nerfed. They were just so good that they were preventing people from using all of our other viable builds. They did tons and tons of damage even when not boosted with Beastmaster trait stats or when leeching your your own effectiveness as a character. They didn’t even have trouble hitting moving targets or people who put the most minute effort into avoiding them. They were just that good. Again, that one guy from those books had that one pet that was always killing crap or watching his back. (It even saved him from falling off a cliff cuz his hand got stuck one time)

TL;DR
Stop complaining cuz you were probably doing it wrong. Don’t give a crap about your pet either. It isn’t like it takes anything away from you personally as a Ranger. Be like the Ranger from the last GW and that LotR movie; Use melee weapons and very reliable pets to have your back while slaying those Orc.

PS.
That’s what you tards who tell bow rangers they’re doing it wrong sound like or insist pets were so OP you couldn’t counter them.

Bows actually got buffed…

Shortbow used to be ‘only the auto-attack is good for damage’ now all of the skills are.
Longbows got faster.

What’s changed is how you use them. No more sitting in the back on auto-attack while your pet plays the game for you.

The pet got nerfed down to being about as useful as a single Engineer Turret, only mobile and easier to swap with an alternating turret. In short, we now have a turret with fur.

Now you have to play the game, and not have your pet play for you.

Hunter class got deleted, ranger is just fine.

I do play a melee ranger, but the patch almost makes it worth considering going shortbow… Only so-called nerf to shortbow was a move to medium ranged – and that’s really a buff in bringing you closer to the action. In places like WvW, this means more ability to get benefit from nearby group boons, as well as buff your allies with traits like Spotter.

Kichwas.7152:

Bows actually got buffed…

Shortbow used to be ‘only the auto-attack is good for damage’ now all of the skills are.
Longbows got faster.

What’s changed is how you use them. No more sitting in the back on auto-attack while your pet plays the game for you.

The pet got nerfed down to being about as useful as a single Engineer Turret, only mobile and easier to swap with an alternating turret. In short, we now have a turret with fur.

Now you have to play the game, and not have your pet play for you.

Hunter class got deleted, ranger is just fine.

I do play a melee ranger, but the patch almost makes it worth considering going shortbow… Only so-called nerf to shortbow was a move to medium ranged – and that’s really a buff in bringing you closer to the action. In places like WvW, this means more ability to get benefit from nearby group boons, as well as buff your allies with traits like Spotter.

Damage improvement on the shortbow? you mean damage improvement on the skills of the shortbow, not overall damage. And it was definitely a nerf when a viable build is nerfed to make others look good. It almost sounds as if you don’t main a ranger, since you don’t recognize the issues the ranger class got in this patch.

I run a trapper build, which is low on power, but I used to be able to hit cannons in wvw for 30 with each hit on poison volley. With 14% increased damage thats 34 each. But I dunno, maybe with full zerker it would be as high as 80 each thats 400 from short range. Would you consider that a buff to shortbow? What class do you really play?

Aden Celeste.3650:

Damage improvement on the shortbow? you mean damage improvement on the skills of the shortbow, not overall damage. And it was definitely a nerf when a viable build is nerfed to make others look good. It almost sounds as if you don’t main a ranger, since you don’t recognize the issues the ranger class got in this patch.

Damage improvement on the skills == damage improvement on the weapon. Unless,of course, you’re just standing there autoattacking. In which case you have to stand slightly closer and may actually benefit from your group’s boons they’re passing around, instead of relying on yours alone.

The bows in GW1 (different game, I know, so please don’t try to use that argument) each had different fire rates and maximum distances. That’s what made them different. If you don’t like that the shortbow is now a medium-range weapon, like a shortbow SHOULD be, then that’s fine. I’m not going to try to argue with your opinion. But I think that’s how it should have been to begin with, and this was a long time coming.

Aden Celeste.3650:

Damage improvement on the shortbow? you mean damage improvement on the skills of the shortbow, not overall damage.

…………what?

I don’t think people are upset about the range of shortbow, it’s more so the current state of the longbow itself. It’s quite useless if you 1on1/do any group player as you’re a sitting duck with the weapon. Try to use #4 on a target with stability (which if you’re playing against a team with guardian they’ll proc it for them and bum rush the ranger) and you will find yourself with a wasted utility, that means you have to swap weapons, taking the entire point of using the weapon away to swap to sword or a set with evasion to counter being attacked by multiple targets..

I think actions speak louder than words and the mere fact I decimated literally every ranger , even good ones who were testing out the longbow changes can speak for itself. I was using shortbow by the way. It’s just a kittenty weapon lol , and I applaud rangers for being brave enough to roam with that kitten, it was hilarious how bad I was simply destroying them.

It’s people are now forced to use a kittenty weapon to compensate for a range loss when the original weapon that’s meant for long range is crap at long range as you can STILL strafe the arrows from distance.. It’s unfortunate but that IS the way it is and couple that with being able to still square strafe and avoid the pet with swiftness on you’re bypassing essentially a majority of the ranger’s damage output.

I don’t think people would even mind shortbow being 900 range IF longbow was a viable weapon with an evasion on it but it’s simply not even with these buffs from last patch, unless you’re of course sitting in a zerg, then any weapon the ranger has short of direct melee could be used as you’re getting carried by a zerg moreso than bringing unique utility to the fight. If you think a 1sec increase on barrage is gonna help bring some utility to zerg/big group fight, you are just selling yourself short and being downright delusional.

I myself don’t care either way, I still use shortbow as 900 range is fine with me as I was always within that range using shortbow anyway, but I can see why people who zerg can be upset being forced into this direction of using longbow. It’s just not as viable of a weapon.

I wish people would also stop comparing GW1 ranger to GW2 , they’re just 2 different games. If devs wanted gw2 rangers in the direction of gw1 rangers, they would BE gw1 rangers, but they’re not so stop that, please.

edit: I’ll also add to this that by losing 300 range, you ARE essentially losing DPS if you’re trying to shoot from the 900-1200 range, that IS by it’s very right a DPS loss from what it was previously , so yes there is a damage loss from the range reduction and no gain on auto. You can go further into a fight, but you’re also more at risk for taking aoe dmg and being focused on and what made rangers unique is pegging enemies from a distance (one of the only unique utility we can provide) and being away from the fight means in order to get to the ranger you pull off enemy group players towards you , separating the group , it’s more of a fighting playstyle than anything and worked nicely in separating the boon generators from the damage dealers in the enemy group. That was substantially hindered with a nerfto shortbow range and made it much easier to bring us out of the equation in group fights/zerg fights, now we have to use a longbow which is much worse in group fights and also provides no defensive mechancis whatsoever besides a knockback which doesn’t work when said enemy has stability which they usually will if they know you have knockback available (by the way im referring to good players, not roaming trash)..

Paken Kai.5970:

Damage improvement on the skills == damage improvement on the weapon. Unless,of course, you’re just standing there autoattacking. In which case you have to stand slightly closer and may actually benefit from your group’s boons they’re passing around, instead of relying on yours alone.

You ever used shortbow? You use skills 2-5 for damage? Are you serious? You think the 14% damage increase on skills 2-5 on shortbow was a buff for shortbow? I’m baffled you try to defend these changes. You think shortbow should be a mid range weapon? How about making the range of the greatsword on mesmer 130. Cause thats a melee weapon right? They reduced the range so people use LB instead. But its not gonna happen cause the utility of shortbow is much better. 900 on a shortbow is a joke considering engineers can throw grenades at a distance of 1500.

nagymbear.5280:

You ever used shortbow?

Yes, I actually have three on me at any given time depending on the stats I want.

nagymbear.5280:

You use skills 2-5 for damage? Are you serious? You think the 14% damage increase on skills 2-5 on shortbow was a buff for shortbow?

Actually? 3&5: No. 2&4: Yes(Bleed/poison damage is still damage). That’s the whole reason they got a damage boost. (Yes, it’s minor, but it’s still a boost)

nagymbear.5280:

How about making the range of the greatsword on mesmer 130. Cause thats a melee weapon right?

Mesmers can do whatever they want with their weapons. They’re casters. Heck, give them 1500 range with a war hammer for all I care. We’re not talking about mesmers.

nagymbear.5280:

They reduced the range so people use LB instead.

They reduced the range of the shortbow because it shouldn’t have the same range as a longbow. They didn’t increase the range of the longbow because it’s already at the maximum range available to any profession.

nagymbear.5280:

… the utility of shortbow is much better.

Granted, but they are trying to make the longbow the power weapon, not the utility weapon. They’re not doing a good job of it, but you can tell that’s what they’re going for.

nagymbear.5280:

900 on a shortbow is a joke considering engineers can throw grenades at a distance of 1500.

Traited, yes they can, you can also shoot the longbow at 1500 when traited. Comparing classes is not as simple as stating “They can throw as far as we can shoot” despite how much people want to do that. They’re engineers, pretend they have a robotic sleeve helping them throw. We can still shoot father with a longbow than they
can shoot with a pistol/rifle, which is a more direct comparison.

Paken Kai.5970:

They reduced the range of the shortbow because it shouldn’t have the same range as a longbow. They didn’t increase the range of the longbow because it’s already at the maximum range available to any profession.

Do you even know what the difference is IRL between a longbow and a shortbow? It isn’t the distance it shoots. It’s the length of the bow.

This is a nerf. and it is not good for those who liked a 1200 range condition weapon. That has been ripped from them.

Keysha.2815:

Do you even know what the difference is IRL between a longbow and a shortbow? It isn’t the distance it shoots. It’s the length of the bow.

This is a nerf. and it is not good for those who liked a 1200 range condition weapon. That has been ripped from them.

I am fully aware of the IRL differences between both types of bow.

I am also aware of the differences between both types of bows in the original game in this universe. The changes they made reflect how bows worked 250 years in the past in this universe more than they reflect how they work in real life.

I am one of the people who “liked a 1200 range condition weapon” and have to make do with a 900 range condition weapon that I spend the vast majority of fights within the range of anyway.

edited for clarification

Keysha.2815:

Paken Kai.5970:

They reduced the range of the shortbow because it shouldn’t have the same range as a longbow. They didn’t increase the range of the longbow because it’s already at the maximum range available to any profession.

Do you even know what the difference is IRL between a longbow and a shortbow? It isn’t the distance it shoots. It’s the length of the bow.

This is a nerf. and it is not good for those who liked a 1200 range condition weapon. That has been ripped from them.

The Long bow IRL was made to keep up with the advances in ancient armor. the traditional short bows were unable to penetrate plate armor and chariot rails. and the Long bow had much greater force allowing them to punch through a large variety of materials and reach even greater lengths.

IRL a long bow shoots further then a short bow. ( this is when speaking in traditional bows, not compound bows)

hehe, this reminded me of history channel….now we just need that weird alien dude to tell us UFO’s brought us the Long Bow!

Paken Kai.5970:

I am one of the people who “liked a 1200 range condition weapon” and have to make do with a 900 range condition weapon that I spend the vast majority of fights within the range of anyway.

This is where we will not agree. I don’t think I’ll have to make do with this change when thieves cried so hard that the one change to stealth wasn’t even introduced (i.e. getting revealed no matter how stealth ends). The revealed buff was reduced in wvw back to 3 seconds. Mesmers got their changes separated between pvp and wvw. The devs want to make small changes and see how balance goes, but the reduction of shortbow range is not a small step. It would be logical that shortbow range is 900, but the same logic would tell me that throwing grenades should have a range of 600.

Honestly, I don’t see what’s so bad about the Longbow.

You get an AoE cripple, a Knockback, great vulnerability, and decent damage allowing the Ranger to stay out of danger zones.

The Shortbow on the other hand would be useless even if it wasn’t changed. With Longbow buffed, it doesn’t seem like Shortbow autoattack damage is superior anymore, and the 2-5 attacks aren’t necessarily that useful.

If not DPS, maybe Shortbow is balanced around the trait which gives your pets Might due to its speed?

The aoe cripple on longbow, for which you have to stand still for almost 3 seconds can be easily dodged/interrupted, and has a long cooldown because it also deals damage. The knockback and barrage will not keep you at range. Melee classes like thief, warrior have great ways of getting in your face, where your only options for dealing damage will be auto attack which is low at close range, and rapid fire which is again a long channel, and doesn’t deal enough damage for warriors/thieves to make them disengage, or create more distance between you and them.

nagymbear.5280:

This is where we will not agree. I don’t think I’ll have to make do with this change …

I meant that I would be making do with it as it currently stands, not as it will be changed in the future. But I’ll be making do with it as it changes in the future as well since they are mostly out of our hands. There was plenty of complaining about the range reduction before the patch came out in the ranger forum as well.

nagymbear.5280:

It would be logical that shortbow range is 900, but the same logic would tell me that throwing grenades should have a range of 600.

Unless it happens to be an engineer that can create some sort of device that nearly triples its throwing ability.

Celestina.2894:

Aden Celeste.3650:

Damage improvement on the shortbow? you mean damage improvement on the skills of the shortbow, not overall damage.

…………what?

Yeah……that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me either lmao. Damage improvement on the other skills = improved shortbow damage. I know pressing 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be difficult but it can be done! Just hang in there and get up that finger strength to press them buttons!

Are there any rangers in this thread?

Paken Kai.5970:

nagymbear.5280:

This is where we will not agree. I don’t think I’ll have to make do with this change …

I meant that I would be making do with it as it currently stands, not as it will be changed in the future. But I’ll be making do with it as it changes in the future as well since they are mostly out of our hands. There was plenty of complaining about the range reduction before the patch came out in the ranger forum as well.

nagymbear.5280:

It would be logical that shortbow range is 900, but the same logic would tell me that throwing grenades should have a range of 600.

Unless it happens to be an engineer that can create some sort of device that nearly triples its throwing ability.

Are you really that happy about our changes? can you honestly say that rangers are in a great position and have amazing build varieties?

Castaliea.3156:

Who cares about bows?! (Not us) You shouldn’t either. You should strive to be like the Ranger from the last GW and that guy from those books everyone likes (think there was a movie too) and use only melee weapons. If not you’re obviously doing it wrong and should be ashamed of yourself. L2P.
Also, it’s good pets got nerfed. They were just so good that they were preventing people from using all of our other viable builds. They did tons and tons of damage even when not boosted with Beastmaster trait stats or when leeching your your own effectiveness as a character. They didn’t even have trouble hitting moving targets or people who put the most minute effort into avoiding them. They were just that good. Again, that one guy from those books had that one pet that was always killing crap or watching his back. (It even saved him from falling off a cliff cuz his hand got stuck one time)

TL;DR
Stop complaining cuz you were probably doing it wrong. Don’t give a crap about your pet either. It isn’t like it takes anything away from you personally as a Ranger. Be like the Ranger from the last GW and that LotR movie; Use melee weapons and very reliable pets to have your back while slaying those Orc.

PS.
That’s what you tards who tell bow rangers they’re doing it wrong sound like or insist pets were so OP you couldn’t counter them.

Let me guess you are a kitten ed warrior player? Use pets, good joke man they die in like 20secs, GG.

Tumult.2578:

Are there any rangers in this thread?

I;m ;D

Tumult.2578:

Are there any rangers in this thread?

I don’t think so haha

Honestly the damage of the Shortbow was not buffed only the skills were apparently buffed by 14%, there is a difference between shortbow damage boosts and skill damage boosts..

Fun thing is my bow was apparently boosted by 14% (i’m seeing very little difference honestly) yet my pet was nerfed 20% (Devourers) so my character was actually nerfed by 6%…..fun times..