Guild Wars 2

Disclaimer : I do not play a ranger…. yet.

But from what I see in tPVP + sPVP, rangers aren’t doing so good. Their damage seems very lackluster and doesn’t seem to make up for their survivability. This is a concern for me (ele/warrior player) because I really want to make a ranger for the sake of getting into PVP.

Could anyone else comment on this and tell me if I’m wrong/right?

I wouldn’t say they are in a terrible place but I wouldn’t say they are in a great place either. It takes a very specific play style that is a lot of fun for me personally. But in pvp spirit ranger is always strong. If you don’t want to play that boring build then you get to be creative and try some new things. Personally I enjoy 6 6 0 2 0 or 6 0 6 2 0. When I say that though I automatically put myself into peoples “scrub” category. But I run it, I enjoy it, it does a lot of damage, and I have a lot of success.

Dssi.7563:

I wouldn’t say they are in a terrible place but I wouldn’t say they are in a great place either. It takes a very specific play style that is a lot of fun for me personally. But in pvp spirit ranger is always strong. If you don’t want to play that boring build then you get to be creative and try some new things. Personally I enjoy 6 6 0 2 0 or 6 0 6 2 0. When I say that though I automatically put myself into peoples “scrub” category. But I run it, I enjoy it, it does a lot of damage, and I have a lot of success.

thanks for the reply!

Jae.5138:

Disclaimer : I do not play a ranger…. yet.

But from what I see in tPVP + sPVP, rangers aren’t doing so good. Their damage seems very lackluster and doesn’t seem to make up for their survivability. This is a concern for me (ele/warrior player) because I really want to make a ranger for the sake of getting into PVP.

Could anyone else comment on this and tell me if I’m wrong/right?

What you are seeing is a mass of PvE Players migrating to sPvP, and a lot of them are trying to play ranger, and 90%+ are doing it wrong. In hot join, any build will suffice really, just run with the zerg blah blah. But in solo Q and tPvP, Spirit, Shout and Bunker rangers dominate.

Rangers don’t do spike damage very well (they can hit for outrageous amounts with a few skills or pets, but I’m talking normally.) But almost every build you can come up with will do good pressure damage.

And ranger bunkers are tough to beat. Even glass cannons have tons of evades, so true ranger bunkers are annoying as kitten.

All depends on your build. I’d say rangers are in a little better spot now, they’re not locked into just a spirit build. Not like they’re pubstomping every game, but it’s viable. I’ve actually started bringing my ranger into ranked sPvP, and I find it pretty fun.

You see a lot of bad rangers due the influx of PvE players. Turns out, Bearbow doesn’t work in sPvP either. Might work in hotjoin, but that’s hotjoin.

I actually had someone complaining about me tonight in one of my matches, so I think I did something right. My ranger was good enough to make him rage.

Edit: Despite my name, I don’t run bearbow. Anywhere. Though I’ve been kicked instantly from dungeon parties cause of it, so there’s a laugh.

Still no place in WvW, that’s for sure. Only 1 competitive build for sPvP (4/0/6/4/0 or 2/0/6/6/0 Spirits), and SSS zerker (4/x/x/2/x) for PvE. Being a Ranger, while we have the capabilities of running different builds through versatility, we really only have one defined build in every gamemode. There’s a reason we’re the first to be considered for the CDI.

We’re not THAT bad… in PVE, we’re actualy good.
But in WWW, most of the others skyrocket pwn us again.
Hey what? WWW is the ultimate lvl80 aftercontent?? So it musn’t be important at all.

Jae.5138:

Disclaimer : I do not play a ranger…. yet.

But from what I see in tPVP + sPVP, rangers aren’t doing so good. Their damage seems very lackluster and doesn’t seem to make up for their survivability. This is a concern for me (ele/warrior player) because I really want to make a ranger for the sake of getting into PVP.

Could anyone else comment on this and tell me if I’m wrong/right?

Wrong question. You should rather ask what the ranger can do currently and how effective he is. And what the ranger can do better than other classes.

DiamondMeteor.8345:

Still no place in WvW, that’s for sure. Only 1 competitive build for sPvP (4/0/6/4/0 or 2/0/6/6/0 Spirits), and SSS zerker (4/x/x/2/x) for PvE. Being a Ranger, while we have the capabilities of running different builds through versatility, we really only have one defined build in every gamemode. There’s a reason we’re the first to be considered for the CDI.

I just started really playing my ranger a couple weeks ago and found him to be excellent for roaming and flipping camps. One thing that is especially handy is in a 1v2 I can set my pet to attack the first player I down while I focus on the other player.

I’ve been outplayed a few times but I haven’t run into anyone that is a hard counter to a ranger. Plus almost no one runs from rangers because they think we’re easy kills.

HHR LostProphet.4801:

Jae.5138:

Disclaimer : I do not play a ranger…. yet.

But from what I see in tPVP + sPVP, rangers aren’t doing so good. Their damage seems very lackluster and doesn’t seem to make up for their survivability. This is a concern for me (ele/warrior player) because I really want to make a ranger for the sake of getting into PVP.

Could anyone else comment on this and tell me if I’m wrong/right?

Wrong question. You should rather ask what the ranger can do currently and how effective he is. And what the ranger can do better as other classes.

I don’t think for the entire time I’ve been playing this game I’ve ever seen anyone ask in chat or TS that we need a Ranger over ANY other class, ever.

Sicarius.4639:

HHR LostProphet.4801:

Jae.5138:

Disclaimer : I do not play a ranger…. yet.

But from what I see in tPVP + sPVP, rangers aren’t doing so good. Their damage seems very lackluster and doesn’t seem to make up for their survivability. This is a concern for me (ele/warrior player) because I really want to make a ranger for the sake of getting into PVP.

Could anyone else comment on this and tell me if I’m wrong/right?

Wrong question. You should rather ask what the ranger can do currently and how effective he is. And what the ranger can do better as other classes.

I don’t think for the entire time I’ve been playing this game I’ve ever seen anyone ask in chat or TS that we need a Ranger over ANY other class, ever.

Well, there you have your answer

Short answer no, it all depends on your personal ability. Rangers have the highest ladder to achieve ‘profession’ mastery with, so if you struggle just know that it’s truthfully on you to get better at it. That is why most of the rangers you will find will not be that big of a challenge, it definitely takes time to be strong as a ranger and most rangers (even those who do not actively do it) enjoy the role of sniper… but it is at the huge cost of survival that the role of sniper can be played.

I find Rangers fairly strong in sPvP now.

in wvw they r the most utterly useless .. don’t play ranger wvw until they fix it .. if ever

Sasajoe.1509:

in wvw they r the most utterly useless .. don’t play ranger wvw until they fix it .. if ever

WvW has multiple aspects. You can roam, snipe camps, be part a havoc group, all of which the ranger is excellent at. Zerging isn’t our strong suit, that’s not to say we are utterly useless there either. A well played ranger can be effective at focusing down squishy targets on the backline. No, ranger’s don’t have tons of AOE like a necro, nor can we face tank like a guardian or a warrior, but we have a role in wvw.

Yes, ranger is in a terrible place now and always has been. They are competitive in some of the game forms and suck in others, but the main problem is that most of their game mechanics just don’t work.

Bows are bad
Pets are really, really bad
Trait synergy is a complete mess
Sword 1 is broken

and a whole host of minor annoyances (that many other professions have) on top. The ranger CDI was massive and heated. Rangers are still waiting for some dev love but the devs are perm on their warrior/theif love trip so don;t hold your breath.

Rangers are in great place for both tpvp and spvp right now. Probably the best 1v1 class out there at the moment, in serious competition. But, you will need to rely on passive damage to take opponents down so, if that’s not your thing, you should stay away for the time being. One of the players in the EU finals on 55HP Monks was ranger. Look him up and watch his interview when you get a chance.

Sasajoe.1509:

in wvw they r the most utterly useless .. don’t play ranger wvw until they fix it .. if ever

I love playing ranger in WvW… I don’t know what to do with all the badges I get. Ranger is fine for Zerg, solo capping camps, and you can squash almost anyone in solo roaming if you spec for 1v1.

Sandpit.3467:

Yes, ranger is in a terrible place now and always has been. They are competitive in some of the game forms and suck in others, but the main problem is that most of their game mechanics just don’t work.

Bows are bad
Pets are really, really bad
Trait synergy is a complete mess
Sword 1 is broken

and a whole host of minor annoyances (that many other professions have) on top. The ranger CDI was massive and heated. Rangers are still waiting for some dev love but the devs are perm on their warrior/theif love trip so don;t hold your breath.

Sword 1 is not broken at all. It’s supposed to stick you to foe, and does it wonderfully well. It’s almost impossible to escape a ranger when he pulls sword on you.

You don’t want too many rangers in the zerg, but a good few of em’ are a benefit and a boon.

Bonus points if you have a few spirits and trappers that know how to play with choke points.

Rangers have a place in WvW. Even if they are weaker zerg material, they’re certainly not useless in that regard. They’re all together superior in roaming and skirmishing.

But if they want to zerg, rangers can zerg with the rest of them. Anyone can zerg as long as you’re not built as glass (or suck at it). No one likes rallybots in the zerg.

If you’re not a rallybot, you’re doing fine. Do your thing. Another body will always be of benefit. If you’re a rallybot, stop being a rallybot.

This is the only honest metric of the zerg.

Ranger has never been out of the meta since time immemorial when it comes to spvp/tpvp. If you really wanna know how strong and useful a ranger can be, play a spirit ranger. this build is the most viable a ranger has in high ranked tourneys.

Sandpit.3467:

Bows are bad
Pets are really, really bad
Trait synergy is a complete mess
Sword 1 is broken

These are your opinions, and I completely, vehemently disagree with every one of them.

I believe that the situation of the Ranger hasn’t really changes over last 20 months.

It has some builds like condibunker or spirit ranger which are playable and one PvE competitive build. If you want to play PvP, conditions are still the only reliable option.

Ranger got some very first steps toward being a real profession, but over a period of almost 2 years. Pet F2s are now working more than 50% of the time, Reflex removes immobilize.

But it’s like a needle in a hay. With current tempo we will see Ranger working in 2020 maybe.

Rym.1469:

Pet F2s are now working more than 50% of the time

Lol I love that this is seen as a fix. Maybe one day I will be able to use my pets interrupts to actually interrupt people, or have a pet that doesn’t randomly forget we are in the middle of a fight and stop attacking… I’ll just keep dreaming

Sandpit.3467:

Yes, ranger is in a terrible place now and always has been. They are competitive in some of the game forms and suck in others, but the main problem is that most of their game mechanics just don’t work.

Bows are bad
Pets are really, really bad
Trait synergy is a complete mess
Sword 1 is broken

and a whole host of minor annoyances (that many other professions have) on top. The ranger CDI was massive and heated. Rangers are still waiting for some dev love but the devs are perm on their warrior/theif love trip so don;t hold your breath.

this exactly !!!!

& rlly wanna see how can a ranger can beat non kittened thief in 1v1 while the thief can reset the fight anytime & as many times as he wants… or a non-kittened warrior for that matter.

& bows r bad, no they r actually terribad !! unreliable with low damage simply worthless espeacially long bow if roaming

RtW made longbow usable. Not good, but usable.

The entire class kind of plays that way aside from spirit bunker/shout ranger. It’s usable, and can be done, but strictly speaking, it’s not actually “good” in any regard.

It was said often now, I’ll just repeat it: It’s not like the ranger is unusable, but it’s worse than all other classes at the moment.

Fluffball.8307:

Sandpit.3467:

Bows are bad
Pets are really, really bad
Trait synergy is a complete mess
Sword 1 is broken

These are your opinions, and I completely, vehemently disagree with every one of them.

Indeed opinions vary, but really the traits? you sure you want to go with that one too?

actually about WvW and ranger lastly I’ve got some nasty idea how good squad of rangers could easilly counter current wvw meta

only issue with that is that this ranger squad need to be greatly skilled for perfectly timed dodges etc.

while current meta zerg needs only average level of skill

also such fight would be more about “lets keep them busy for prolonged period of time” than “lets kill them” but would be funny and would actually defeat in any tactical meanings current “wvw-meta-zergs” I will schedule some experiments with folks and will try to make something out of this idea so maybe in some time you will see what do I mean – before that – I’d advice experimenting yourself and try to break out of current thinking box and try to look upon it from greater perspective than just “how it would be looking within current zerg fight”

my opinion about the ranger?
good but need greatly better skill to operate on same level as rest of classes – and because of that it may seems to be worse
(also sth about 75% of current rangers are freakin-no-skill-noobs :P)

Rangers are fine… though they could be better. But in all honesty, I feel they are pretty good at the moment. Even with the fact that “pets take a portion of our dps”, I think we still do pretty good damage (at a range of 1500). I play PvP almost always. When I get bored, I go and deploy my build into WvW and see how it works out.

In WvW when there is a group fight, I just stay behind or within my group and shoot through numerous of people with piercing shot and eagle eye. 25 stack of superior blood lust and my superior rune of fire… love the explosion shots. =) I’ve always been into the power build. Had 1v1 all the professions (they may have been bad) and won most of it. The ones that I was going to lose in, I manage to escape using S/D, dancing and dodging around them before crippling them with “5” dagger, leaping away with Hornet Sting, press X to flipped view 180 degrees, click away to lose target, and Monarch’s Leap away. =) The only time I ever get caught is when there are like dozens of people on my tail. So to wrap this all up… Yes, I think ranger is pretty good at the moment.

PS) I don’t like any of the new grandmaster traits.

Oh and one more thing. I’m sure someone is going to say “thief backstab”. Keep running in circle and they won’t ever backstab you. I always barrage on myself when a thief goes stealth. He can come in and get crippled while I run in circles. If not, “Protect me” will work (since I don’t rely on my pet too much for damage anyways; only for distraction)

@Simon actually I found two of them interesting: the one that makes your wilderness survival skills removing 2 conditions and heals a little and second – that adds to your pet F2 AoE heal

HHR LostProphet.4801:

It was said often now, I’ll just repeat it: It’s not like the ranger is unusable, but it’s worse than all other classes at the moment.

^user error.

@OP
class itself is fine, but do need a lot of QoL fixes and some minor teaks. Most of it can be sorted out if the development team sat down and spent a month or two to fix ranger issues in particular. It is the amount of issues together that causes a lot of challenging and frustrating issues. Not one single issue. Albeit some incompentent and blatantly ignorant players that stubbornly refuse to play the class as intended nor listen to advice, still keeps saying pet is one big issue.

TL;DR -
Pet is mostly fine, needs some minor tweaks and QoL changes
Traits is fine, but need some minor restructuring.
Weapons are fine, but can be a bit bland/frustrating at first
Evasion spam is fine
Spirits need more HP/Toughness
Shouts need some love after all the nerfs
Signets are backwards and need fix
All other complaints is void.

Prysin.8542:

HHR LostProphet.4801:

It was said often now, I’ll just repeat it: It’s not like the ranger is unusable, but it’s worse than all other classes at the moment.

^user error.

@OP
class itself is fine, but do need a lot of QoL fixes and some minor teaks. Most of it can be sorted out if the development team sat down and spent a month or two to fix ranger issues in particular. It is the amount of issues together that causes a lot of challenging and frustrating issues. Not one single issue. Albeit some incompentent and blatantly ignorant players that stubbornly refuse to play the class as intended nor listen to advice, still keeps saying pet is one big issue.

TL;DR -
Pet is mostly fine, needs some minor tweaks and QoL changes
Traits is fine, but need some minor restructuring.
Weapons are fine, but can be a bit bland/frustrating at first
Evasion spam is fine
Spirits need more HP/Toughness
Shouts need some love after all the nerfs
Signets are backwards and need fix
All other complaints is void.

Pet AI might be better after the last patch, but it’s still in need of more than “minor tweaks”. Pet pathing is still clunky and sometimes unreliable, the F2’s are much better now, but AOE on pets is still a problem, a problem I doubt will ever get resolved.
Buffing spirits will make everybody cry again on how OP they are like they did pre-nerf, and let’s avoid more passive play and try and get more active buffs the ranger can utilize.

I’m surprised you have the sense to call others stubborn when you say something like “All other complaints are void”. Some complaints are due to a lack of experience, but some, no matter how much you disagree with them, are valid. Traits, unlike you said, are a mess. Some should be merged, and some should be standard. Some are in the wrong traitline, and some are necessary to make use of signets. Ranger traits need more than “minor tweaks”.

The class isn’t an ineffective class like some would put it. The class does however have a fair few issues, some of which haven’t been resolved in ages. Just because a class has issues doesn’t make it bad or incompetent. Instead of aggressively refusing to acknowledge some glaring issues, try and come up with ways to resolve them.

Prysin.8542:

HHR LostProphet.4801:

It was said often now, I’ll just repeat it: It’s not like the ranger is unusable, but it’s worse than all other classes at the moment.

^user error.

@OP
class itself is fine, but do need a lot of QoL fixes and some minor teaks. Most of it can be sorted out if the development team sat down and spent a month or two to fix ranger issues in particular. It is the amount of issues together that causes a lot of challenging and frustrating issues. Not one single issue. Albeit some incompentent and blatantly ignorant players that stubbornly refuse to play the class as intended nor listen to advice, still keeps saying pet is one big issue.

TL;DR -
Pet is mostly fine, needs some minor tweaks and QoL changes
Traits is fine, but need some minor restructuring.
Weapons are fine, but can be a bit bland/frustrating at first
Evasion spam is fine
Spirits need more HP/Toughness
Shouts need some love after all the nerfs
Signets are backwards and need fix
All other complaints is void.

Very well said. Up voted for telling the truth!

Prysin.8542:

HHR LostProphet.4801:

It was said often now, I’ll just repeat it: It’s not like the ranger is unusable, but it’s worse than all other classes at the moment.

^user error.

So you want to tell me that you’re one of the god chosen pro players who know what the ranger is capable of? And every other casual or average player is not allowed to raise any critisism?
If you would spend as much time with any other class as you did with the ranger, you would come out ahead of what the ranger is capable of. Just because you can beat others doesn’t mean the ranger is at a good spot. The average determines if a class is balanced or not. And the average of the ranger is definitely lower than any other class.

Prysin.8542:

Albeit some incompentent and blatantly ignorant players that stubbornly refuse to play the class as intended nor listen to advice, still keeps saying pet is one big issue.

^ That is blatant ignorance. Claiming to know how the class is meant to be played.

@HHR
Yes i know how the class is intended to be played, so does durrzla, jcbroe, chopps, terravos, aefa, forzani, euranthien, battosai, warriorjrd and many more. We all have different playstyle.
However we all recognize the ranger for what it is. Sure, even i want more stuff, stronger pets, better dps, better healing, less trait investment and improved pathing for the pet. But iv’e learned that crying about these things get me nowere. Discussing it, being modest and reflecting upon what is a good change and what should it cost is what will get you somewere.

That and, there is a metric ton of stuff nobody surpasses the ranger at, no matter how hard they try or spec for it.

I’m surprised that so many feel that rangers are useless or rally fodder in a zerg. I just recently got my ranger up to 80 and decked out in full berzerker with a LB/GS build and I’ve been having a blast doling out 3k auto crits and Barrages from 1500 units away. And then I’ve got the GS there to high tail out of there with #3 if they start to get too close.

Prysin.8542:

@HHR
Yes i know how the class is intended to be played, so does durrzla, jcbroe, chopps, terravos, aefa, forzani, euranthien, battosai, warriorjrd and many more. We all have different playstyle.

That and, there is a metric ton of stuff nobody surpasses the ranger at, no matter how hard they try or spec for it.

What you did is taking just one element of the ranger and improving it until it works.
You buff pet until it works, you buff your spirits until they work, you buff your conditioncleansing until it works properly or you buff the longbow until it works. You can’t take an element of the ranger and simply use it because it’s too bad initially.
Other classes however boost not just one aspect but multiple. A warrior can also get high regen, high condition cleansing and is still able to kill things.

And what is the ranger better in than any other class? In kiting? Hell, no other class has to kite. They simply kill their oponent. While we have to draw circles over and over again until our enemy finally dies to the few conditions we can stack on them without sacrificing our survivability.

This is a very easy discussion to have.

Is the Ranger useless? Of course not.

Is the Ranger the least useful class in WvW? I think so. It’s certainly outside the meta, and in an MMO, that’s all that really matters.

Is it all a conspiracy theory? I’m honestly sick of having the whole ‘well no one has seen a good Ranger so they have no clue’ debate. It’s very easy in this game to figure out what a class is capable of. After 2 years, if the class had a viable role to fill it would have been found.

Now lets summarize the type of conversations we’ve had in this thread:

Ranger pets suck! – No they don’t, they just need work.

Bows suck! – No they don’t, they just need work.

Traits suck! – No they don’t, they just need work.

Do you guys realize how silly this is? Who cares if you can’t agree on the severity of the problem? Both sides acknowledge a problem exists. Why not move the conversation back over to the Post CDI thread instead of bickering over who deserves to be at the bottom of the barrel more?

Because the post CDI thread has run its course. Like any other discussion pertaining ranger balance improvements. It is futile to discuss it as the ONLY thing they bother to take notice of is abusable bugs (only stuff that is “fixed” shortly after being reported).

You can discuss, suggest and otherwise try to come up with a solution, at the end of the day, you will be forced to work with what is available to you, not what you “should have had from the start”.

Either you learn how to perform as a ranger, or you suck. There is no inbetween.
You succeed, or you fail.
You master, or you don’t.
If you fail to master, if you fail to succeed, the class will underperform every time without exception.

Now tell me, how many people on this forum, or even in this game, can you say have mastered the ranger class to the point where they are no longer hindered by the class mechanics and quirky functions.

Prysin.8542:

Because the post CDI thread has run its course. Like any other discussion pertaining ranger balance improvements. It is futile to discuss it as the ONLY thing they bother to take notice of is abusable bugs (only stuff that is “fixed” shortly after being reported).

You can discuss, suggest and otherwise try to come up with a solution, at the end of the day, you will be forced to work with what is available to you, not what you “should have had from the start”.

Either you learn how to perform as a ranger, or you suck. There is no inbetween.
You succeed, or you fail.
You master, or you don’t.
If you fail to master, if you fail to succeed, the class will underperform every time without exception.

Now tell me, how many people on this forum, or even in this game, can you say have mastered the ranger class to the point where they are no longer hindered by the class mechanics and quirky functions.

Pretty much this. ANet still (despite the massive CDI) have not addressed the profession problems. All we can do is keep stating the same arguments but nothing is going to change because ANet isn’t doing anything significant with the profession.

Basic problem is ANet doesn’t play ranger, doesn’t care about ranger and doesn’t read ranger forums. Expect no change in the state of the ranger.

however, it IS too early for any of the stuff discussed in the CDI to be revealed or even worked on. Between the china release and the feature pack, they wouldnt have had time to anything but some discussing on a “pre development” stage…. anything they learned from the CDI (if anything at all) is still in the drawingboard stage. Stuff from the CDI shouldn’t be expected before july-august or even september.

Based on how long ANet usually takes with balance updates, I honestly wouldnt expect anything based on the CDI to come out before September, probably later.

Still, with any luck they will tell use exactly what ideas / current problems they took from the CDI and what they are working on sooner than that.

Prysin.8542:

Now tell me, how many people on this forum, or even in this game, can you say have mastered the ranger class to the point where they are no longer hindered by the class mechanics and quirky functions.

Unfortunately very few, but when somebody does master it, it’s a scary sight. The thing is ranger is one of those classes where you often NEED to master it in order to be effective. A casual will have a much harder time on a ranger than somebody who invests the time. I personally like that challenge and I get the feeling you do to, it’s just some people seem to want a class that you can hop into and play with nothing setting them back.

HHR LostProphet.4801:

Prysin.8542:

@HHR
Yes i know how the class is intended to be played, so does durrzla, jcbroe, chopps, terravos, aefa, forzani, euranthien, battosai, warriorjrd and many more. We all have different playstyle.

That and, there is a metric ton of stuff nobody surpasses the ranger at, no matter how hard they try or spec for it.

What you did is taking just one element of the ranger and improving it until it works.
You buff pet until it works, you buff your spirits until they work, you buff your conditioncleansing until it works properly or you buff the longbow until it works. You can’t take an element of the ranger and simply use it because it’s too bad initially.
Other classes however boost not just one aspect but multiple. A warrior can also get high regen, high condition cleansing and is still able to kill things.

And what is the ranger better in than any other class? In kiting? Hell, no other class has to kite. They simply kill their oponent. While we have to draw circles over and over again until our enemy finally dies to the few conditions we can stack on them without sacrificing our survivability.

“…the few conditions we can deal without sacrificing survivability?” Um, how do I say this nicely? Toughness and condition damage are in the same trait line, along with protection boon. Aside from that, ranger is strong in, um, range, evasion, regen, bleed stacking and combo field mechanics. Of course, strongest is kind of a foolish concept. I am sure anyone could come up with a useless fringe build that is “strongest” at (insert something here) but otherwise very weak.

HHR LostProphet.4801:

Prysin.8542:

@HHR
Yes i know how the class is intended to be played, so does durrzla, jcbroe, chopps, terravos, aefa, forzani, euranthien, battosai, warriorjrd and many more. We all have different playstyle.

That and, there is a metric ton of stuff nobody surpasses the ranger at, no matter how hard they try or spec for it.

What you did is taking just one element of the ranger and improving it until it works.
You buff pet until it works, you buff your spirits until they work, you buff your conditioncleansing until it works properly or you buff the longbow until it works. You can’t take an element of the ranger and simply use it because it’s too bad initially.
Other classes however boost not just one aspect but multiple. A warrior can also get high regen, high condition cleansing and is still able to kill things.

And what is the ranger better in than any other class? In kiting? Hell, no other class has to kite. They simply kill their oponent. While we have to draw circles over and over again until our enemy finally dies to the few conditions we can stack on them without sacrificing our survivability.

Don’t underestimate a ranger roaming. If you’re talking large scale wvw then ranger is a stretch, but small scale rangers can be lethal. Sure you could say a theif is better at roaming than a ranger, but I could deny that by stating how many thieves i’ve killed. You could say mesmer is better at roaming, or any class for that matter. However the fact still stands I’ve killed every class thousands of times in wvw on a ranger, that it ultimately comes down to player skill. Sure you could say that roaming is EASIER on a thief/mesmer/engi, but you can’t say they’re more effective.

Player skill>Class

warriorjrd.8695:

Prysin.8542:

Now tell me, how many people on this forum, or even in this game, can you say have mastered the ranger class to the point where they are no longer hindered by the class mechanics and quirky functions.

Unfortunately very few, but when somebody does master it, it’s a scary sight. The thing is ranger is one of those classes where you often NEED to master it in order to be effective. A casual will have a much harder time on a ranger than somebody who invests the time. I personally like that challenge and I get the feeling you do to, it’s just some people seem to want a class that you can hop into and play with nothing setting them back.

Yeah, this is a good point. It takes a huge time investment to get the hang of it. I notice the feeling on other classes is very smooth from get-go. I found warrior, guardian, and elementalist to be more relaxing but somewhat less rewarding, to be honest. The trait lines seem easier, there is less to pay attention too, and it’s easy to do well from start.

With ranger one has to use pet at right time, dodge at right time, and positioning is always important. When it all comes together, you have the opportunity to do some amazing things that are otherwise not possible with other classes. It’s just how it is, more risk and greater reward. Interesting enough, I am finding Mesmer plays similar to ranger. I am surprised people don’t complain as much about it as well…

HHR LostProphet.4801:

Prysin.8542:

HHR LostProphet.4801:

It was said often now, I’ll just repeat it: It’s not like the ranger is unusable, but it’s worse than all other classes at the moment.

^user error.

So you want to tell me that you’re one of the god chosen pro players who know what the ranger is capable of? And every other casual or average player is not allowed to raise any critisism?
If you would spend as much time with any other class as you did with the ranger, you would come out ahead of what the ranger is capable of. Just because you can beat others doesn’t mean the ranger is at a good spot. The average determines if a class is balanced or not. And the average of the ranger is definitely lower than any other class.

Prysin.8542:

Albeit some incompentent and blatantly ignorant players that stubbornly refuse to play the class as intended nor listen to advice, still keeps saying pet is one big issue.

^ That is blatant ignorance. Claiming to know how the class is meant to be played.

Prysin has a good feel for ranger and is very active on forums. You are right that the average in ranger is not always that great, but the above average is usually phenomenal. So, longer learning curve with greater reward, right? It’s ok to have a few classes like this. Mesmer is the same I think. Most are kinda below average, but the good mesmers are brutal.

The biggest problem is, our CDI led us nowhere…