Guild Wars 2

Problem: Longbow feels dull to use, and is not only weak but also clunky at close range, with very few skill-based options to remedy that.

Cause: Two channeled, multi-hit abilities that feel too similar, and fail to synergize with or actually discourage the usage of our utility stealth/kb (looking at you barrage).

Solution:

Hunter’s Shot now applies swiftness to the Player upon hitting a target.

Rapid Fire changed to Power Shot:
Focus on your foe, charging a powerful shot that applies up to 15 stacks of vulnerability for 5 seconds and does up to X damage. For the next 3 seconds, reactivate to release the shot. (Should have an auto-turn mechanism (focus), which will at least guarantee it goes off in the right direction. Think Ice Bow 5).

Why?

1: Hunters Shot now provides improved escape/re-positioning for the low speed longbow. Improves longbow in skirmishes, leaves its PvE power the same.

2: Provides the player the option to use Hunter’s shot to cover the big channel on Power Shot, creating a synergy between the two that didn’t exist before, and a gameplay decision to make the set more interesting (Do you stealth and run, or spend stealth channeling?). Again, leaves the PvE power essentially the same.

3: Better fits the theme of a slow, hard hitting, long range long bow. Rapid fire feels like a shortbow skill.

4: Tighter burst damage, by its very nature, strengthens the set for skirmishes/PvP, while not being of any particular advantage for other activities where longbow is strong already, like zerg wars.

5: The new nature of Power Shot should make the kit less clunky at shorter ranges, as it will have time to turn around if your opponent jousts through you, instead of just cancelling.

So What do you guys think? Good Changes? Unnecessary? OP?

Edit: Thanks to Xukavi for the name suggestion on Power Shot

I’d say rename it to Power Shot (fits the idea more imo) and make it double the normal projectile speed. This could be our “burst” skill per say for long bow, provided that the CD isn’t too long. I honestly don’t like the idea of having a charge time on it but I get the idea behind needing it.

Longbow has fantastic utility. Stealth tracking, stealth, knockback, and a giant AoE effect which can act as an area of denial.

They’re not likely to completely change a skill. Rapid Fire has its strengths and so does Barrage, so it’ll probably stay that way.

I do agree that something seems off with Hunter’s Shot. I was thinking the following improvements for the Longbow:

Hunter’s Shot
stealth on-use instead of on-hit
all damage removed from skill (to prevent it breaking its own stealth)
add an immobilize to replace the damage

This way you can stealth on demand, even if the enemy is out of range / evading / blocking / reflecting projectiles / obstructed / etc. The added immobilize would make the skill useful in many different situations. You lose the damage completely in exchange, but the damage wasn’t very good anyway and it would make the skill much more reliable.

Rapid Fire
allow for switching target mid-channel
will still track through stealth if no new target is selected

It happens very often that Rapid fire ends up shooting into the ground or into a wall or after an out-of-range character or obstructed in another way. Allowing for switching targets mid-channel would make this skill much better.

Barrage
reduce cooldown by 10 seconds
Maybe let it remove boons on hit otherwise

The cooldown is way too long, even with the cooldown reduction trait in use. You could easily remove 10 seconds from it.
Removing boons would be useful for WvW zerg battles. It would counter retaliation spam and prevent the ranger from killing himself.

Point Blank Shot
Increase range from 900 to 1200
knockdown at 900+ range (instead of knockback)

This would put the range on par with the other skills and make it useful in all situations. Especially if someone is running away, you could knock him down instead of knocking him further away.

^ there already is a weapon sigil for boon stripping.

aspirine.6852:

^ there already is a weapon sigil for boon stripping.

But that’s only 1 boon on 1 person every 10 seconds is it not?

Yeah it’s not a lot now that I think of it. barrage with boon stripping would be like Nullfield on mesmer, very good in zergs. Still not as good as Nullfield but that’s a utility skill after all.

Only thing I hate is Rapid Fire taking way too long to deal that full damage, which warrior’s rifle/thief’s unload can do the exact same thing.

Honestly they should jsut rework the LB #1.. they’ve fiddled with it endlessly, making arrows move faster, tweaking the damage, tweaking it again this patch.. but the underlying issue is it is a really really slow and clunky auto-attack for anything other than picking people off at range, which might work in zergs and some team fights but not vs a decent opponent.

The rest of its skills are pretty cool.. its a shame really.

Soilder.3607:

Longbow has fantastic utility. Stealth tracking, stealth, knockback, and a giant AoE effect which can act as an area of denial.

The problem we’re all talking about is that most of those utilities feel awkward or actually discourage using them with each other. Lay down barrage and you can’t stealth for 12 seconds without getting kicked out of it near instantly. You have a stealth tool, but really no mobility or advantage comes from using it besides weapon swapping for a maul setup or something similar. Its really only useful for running away, and given that you have no swiftness currently its not really useful for that either.

The only things barrage needs is it’s damage returned to normal and the cool down lowered slightly. What is it? 24 seconds with traited? Should be no more than 15.

I’d just be happy if they scrapped the shortbow and merged it in with the longbow. Give the longbow the shortbow’s firing speed. Make #1 apply vulnerability on it. Make 2 a rapid fire spread shot that applies poison. Make #3 both apply stealth and swiftness. #4 knocks back and cripples. #5 remove cripple and apply interrupt on every 3rd tick (total of 4).

Despite how lacking we are compared to other classes, I really don’t think that type of change would be game breaking in any respect; however, a person can dream can’t they lol

With the Wintersday patch, I’d like to take the opportunity and point you all towards Snowball Mayem, and specifically the Slingshot Scout’s number 4 skill as what I envision replacing rapid fire. Fits the bill near perfectly.

Charges up to a really longbow type of long range, feels very nice to use, combos well with stealth, isn’t easily stopped by strafing.

Linnael.1069:

With the Wintersday patch, I’d like to take the opportunity and point you all towards Snowball Mayem, and specifically the Slingshot Scout’s number 4 skill as what I envision replacing rapid fire. Fits the bill near perfectly.

Charges up to a really longbow type of long range, feels very nice to use, combos well with stealth, isn’t easily stopped by strafing.

We had this discussion a year ago

ANet ignored us then too.

I might be one of the few that prefers Rapid Fire. I see it as equal to the auto-attack Long Range Shot, except it also:

1. causes vulnerability
2. is more likely to hit (so more likely to deliver it’s damage)
3. does its maximum damage at any range
4. tracks and hits enemies who go into stealth

It’s basically the skill we would want the auto-attack to be (fast firing and damage at any range) with vulnerability and stealth tracking added on top of it.

A charge-up skill like Kill Shot from Warrior Rifle or the skill from Slingshot Scout has an extremely high chance to miss compared to Rapid Fire. Remember it would be a telegraphed skill and therefore be easy to dodge. Also remember things like aegis that completely nullify it.

Although I admit the stealth works wonders for a charge-up skill.

Holland.9351:

I might be one of the few that prefers Rapid Fire. I see it as equal to the auto-attack Long Range Shot, except it also:

1. causes vulnerability
2. is more likely to hit (so more likely to deliver it’s damage)
3. does its maximum damage at any range
4. tracks and hits enemies who go into stealth

It’s basically the skill we would want the auto-attack to be (fast firing and damage at any range) with vulnerability and stealth tracking added on top of it.

A charge-up skill like Kill Shot from Warrior Rifle or the skill from Slingshot Scout has an extremely high chance to miss compared to Rapid Fire. Remember it would be a telegraphed skill and therefore be easy to dodge. Also remember things like aegis that completely nullify it.

Although I admit the stealth works wonders for a charge-up skill.

But our skill should be more than what we’d like the auto-attack to be. Keep in mind, rapid fire is more vulnerable to retaliation, the warrior’s new heal, and the big one, strafing (power shot would have scaling projectile speed). Not to mention it feels like you’re going through the same motion as barrage, and it doesn’t play well with our kit utility at all. Power Shot would be less likely to deal some damage, true, but much more likely to deal ALL its damage. It evens out.