Guild Wars 2

With HoT coming up I’ve been feeling like this could have been a real chance for us rangers to get an excellent class mechanic. Pet’s have been troublesome since day one and while some of us have been able to make it work in most situations, it still has many faults.
From what I’ve read, the druids will be getting an animal companion which really just sounds like a pet rehash. If that’s the case I’m sure i won’t be the only one disappointed.
Anyway, while it’s still early and speculation runs rampant i figured i would share my thoughts on how i would like the druid to be.

Rather than pets or animal companions we get animal spirits. A little spirit floating around us that changes colour depending on which animal we have selected e.g. bear – brown, spider – green, bird – blue. We would keep all the same ‘pets’ and f4 would then be spirit swap.
f2 remains the same but instead of the pet using the skill, the druid does.
f1 would become a spirit skill that changes depending on which colour spirit you are using.
f3 would cause the spirit to use its longest cooldown skill e.g. fernhound spirit would use it’s knockdown skill. This would still have a 40 second cooldown and the target would need to be in melee range to be affected.
Then depending in which spirit we have equipped, our weapon skills gain extra effects. For example GS maul would become a blast finisher only when a bear spirit is active, while swoop would leave a trail of flames when a bird spirit is active.
Each type of spirit would affect 1-3 skills per weapon, making spirit choice an important part of your build.
Some traits would need to be reworked of course, but any that relate to pet swap could simply be changed to spirit swap for druids.

This would allow for more complex builds (death to the bearbows) and allow a mechanic that isn’t running off or dead half the time. It also wouldn’t disregard the current pet mechanics as they would stay with us and fight alongside us in spirit form.
I’m not sure what Anet might have planned for us, but I’ll remain ever hopeful that druids will be worth the wait.

This sounds vaguely similar to something I recall the devs were interested in the community discussing and expanding on at one point during the Ranger CDI a year ago. Again, “vaguely” similar (to me).

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/cdi/Collaborative-Development-Ranger-Profession/page/10

I suggested on a different topic that mybe we could get the pets, set them up to the f buttons and use them as summons during the fights, that way we can call a moa to heal, a bear to clean conditions or a wolf to howl, and then maybe they could stick around during the fights…

On that CDI, I liked one idea about the option of perma-stowing the pet and getting a buff depending on the pet you were using.

I really think that druid can be really awesome, and hope they make it as cool as I think it can be… I actually like the idea of pets, but even if I do like them, I have to admit that there are several ocasions when the pets are more of a hindrance than a help…

OP, where did you read Druids will be getting a companion? Link please because I missed where they mentioned specifics on what the Druid profession mechanic is specifically going to be.

You can see in the video of the druid that there is an Alpine Wolf fighting with the Ranger/Druid.

With no idea what it is going to be like, of course, I was hoping for less magic and more martial skills/weapons/specialisation because the last thing this game needs is more magic imo.

Druid may be tons of fun and really fill a spot the ranger is missing, but I just wish we got 2h spear specialisation…

Yeah, in the same video you can see land spears being used too.

Point being it hasn’t been verbally confirmed by Colin or anyone else at Anet what the Druid class profession will be. You are free to speculate from what you saw in the video but no where have I seen it has been stated for 100% certain Druids will have the exact same class profession mechanic as the Ranger or how closely the Druid profession mechanic will be to the Rangers’. Until specifics are released/confirmed (For example: it’s confirmed Druid’s will be getting staff) then it’s just speculation, even if you are interpreting from the HoT release video.

TheFantasticGman.9451:

Yeah, in the same video you can see land spears being used too.

Point being it hasn’t been verbally confirmed by Colin or anyone else at Anet what the Druid class profession will be. You are free to speculate from what you saw in the video but no where have I seen it has been stated for 100% certain Druids will have the exact same class profession mechanic as the Ranger or how closely the Druid profession mechanic will be to the Rangers’. Until specifics are released/confirmed (For example: it’s confirmed Druid’s will be getting staff) then it’s just speculation, even if you are interpreting from the HoT release video.

Why would they change the class mechanics at all? Can’t see it happening. It’s not speculation, there is a druid in the video and he is using a pet. Fact.

It’s speculation because we don’t even know when the expansion is going to be released. It could very well be changed between when the video was released and when the expansion is released.

When making video: “Yes, we’ll keep Ranger pets for Druid”

Sometime between video and expansion release: "We’re going to remove pets from Rangers using the Druid specialization.

It is possible and there is nothing official saying anything about it.

So, while the video shows a Ranger with a Staff and a pet, it does not even show us what a Druid actually is and does. That Staff attack could possibly be used by a Ranger regardless of whether or not they were using the Druid Specialization.

Heck, we don’t even know exactly what specializations do for the classes.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Why would they change the class mechanics at all? Can’t see it happening. It’s not speculation, there is a druid in the video and he is using a pet. Fact.

Right. And that’s the only fact that can be gained from the video. Nothing else. As Sebrent (who understands what I am saying) points out, that we know nothing beyond this ONE single fact that the Druid was shown with a pet. Anything past that is speculation, such as, how that pet is used by the Druid. For example: I can speculate that the Druid mechanic is changed to a F1-F4 buff based on pet you have out and the pet is instead tied to your weapon attack skills instead of the F1-F4.

Um, we do know that ranger

Shoots a vine!

Man I can’t wait to know what this specialization is going to bring to our class. So much potential I see from this.

Devs glued the idea of pet companions to Rangers.
Not the use of AI. The use of pet.

I doubt it is going away. Specialization or not.

I doubt it’s going the pet will completely go away in any way until there’s new blood at Anet that thinks differently about the Ranger. Even then if it happens it’ll happen to a future Specialization, that much I’d bet on. Too much QQ if it were to change on the Ranger.

I actually like pets on the ranger.
I started playing it just because of the pet.

I just want it to be reliable and working as intended. Nothing else.

If you are going to say it’s possible, well anything is possible. Like, sometimes between the video and HoT release, they just delete ranger altogether and put it in the too-hard basket. It’s possible.

I doubt they will change the class mechanic at all. Specialisation most likely has nothing to do with class mechanics. You’ll equip a staff and druid utility skills and the trait line will change to suit, you’ll equip the traits to suit them. Most likely it.

Why would they change the class mechanic of every class too?

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

If you are going to say it’s possible, well anything is possible. Like, sometimes between the video and HoT release, they just delete ranger altogether and put it in the too-hard basket. It’s possible.

I doubt they will change the class mechanic at all. Specialisation most likely has nothing to do with class mechanics. You’ll equip a staff and druid utility skills and the trait line will change to suit, you’ll equip the traits to suit them. Most likely it.

Why would they change the class mechanic of every class too?

We’ll have a new class mechanic. A new weapon is not a specialisatio, it’s just a new weapon. Problem is that we don’t know what “new class mechanic” means for Anet, especially with the ranger. We know there is someting with the pets so it could be a lot of things : summoning etc. But i am not very confident.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

If you are going to say it’s possible, well anything is possible. Like, sometimes between the video and HoT release, they just delete ranger altogether and put it in the too-hard basket. It’s possible.

I doubt they will change the class mechanic at all. Specialisation most likely has nothing to do with class mechanics. You’ll equip a staff and druid utility skills and the trait line will change to suit, you’ll equip the traits to suit them. Most likely it.

Why would they change the class mechanic of every class too?

Uh, have you read any interviews since PaX? They’ve said they’re changing or replacing the class mechanic for every class for the Specializations. That’s confirmed 100%. Ranger class mechanic will remain as it currently is. What’s not 100% confirmed is what the Druid class mechanic is going to be… or any of the other classes.. and in the interview Colin gave he confirmed that the Ranger mechanic is changing for the Druid.

From the “Ranger Pet” thread under the HoT subsection
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Ranger-Pets/first

Just look at the wiki for it: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Specialization

“Specializing keeps base profession skills and traits in addition to the new ones provided by that specialization, while offering new profession mechanics or changing existing ones²”

From the interview:

PCG: Another thing you announced was profession specialisations. The one you revealed was the Druid. That the Ranger was getting a staff weapon. Beyond having a different weapon, how different will the druid specialisation be from a ‘standard’ Ranger?

Colin: We’re really trying to make it feel like it’s almost a sub-profession or a secondary profession if you will, and not just a new set of a couple of skills. It’s not just opening up the capacity to use a staff. When a ranger becomes a druid, they have an entire new set of skills and traits that come available to them. And their profession mechanic changes as well. That’s true with all the specialisations. You actually play the profession differently, not just in skills and traits, but in the core mechanics of those professions. Some of them will change an existing profession, some of them might give them entirely new profession abilities and remove other ones. It really varies specialisation to specialisation, but it really should feel like you are playing a new version of your old profession. And players can actually mix and match a little bit. If you are playing as a Druid you will be able to use a lot of the Ranger’s skills, and you can actually slot them in to make a lot of creative builds. But a Ranger can not use any of the stuff a Druid has unless they become a Druid.

So, going by what Colin said… It’s going to change, but he doesn’t spell out specifically how. He was speaking in generalizations across all professions, not just Ranger. I also think the Druid is going to be, unfortunately, tied to a pet. I’m expecting a future Specialization that does away with the pet.

Fair enough, not unfortunately as it may end up with pets being better… I still doubt it will end up with a totally different class mechanic. Pets will remain, just be different.