Guild Wars 2

I had always thought the projectile speed from the longbow was too slow, even after the 15% buff. The introduction of RtW obviously makes it great, but without the trait it’s still too slow to reliably reach targets at 1200 range.

Seriously, go out and use LB without RtW and it’ll feel terribly slow. It always did, actually. I personally didn’t want the trait as I thought it was something we should’ve had as a base effect, but just not as strong.

I do run plenty of builds that don’t use any traits for the longbow, and they all work very well. I’m not saying an untraited longbow can’t work either, because it does, but I just think this is a buff that’s still needed.

I am an advocate of LB getting 50% increase in speed as base, then making RtW +50% with some other benefit too. Like affecting spiders and devourer projectiles also.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I am an advocate of LB getting 50% increase in speed as base, then making RtW +50% with some other benefit too. Like affecting spiders and devourer projectiles also.

Well RtW does increase the attk speed by 10% and it’s accurate.
Tested on mist dummy, with RtW the undestructible dummy falls from 100% to 0% (no pet involved) in 30 secs, whereas the dummy falls to 0% in 33 secs w/o RtW.

I do agree base LB projectile speed need a huge buff…
Currently it’s just too reliant on RtW.

I’m thinking that all traits that affect the ranger should affect the pet too, ie (if LB base velocity was increased by 50%) RtW: You and your pets projectile attacks move +50% faster, you attack 10% faster with a bow.
That opens it up to all projectiles used by the ranger and your pets.

As an aside, I would love to see 2h Training work with bows and also make eagle eye affect the SB, thief gets 1050 range and Mesmer gets 1200 range with a pistol and trait, why not the SB?

Hmm if it was adopted to work with pets I could see myself dusting off my devourers once again.

Read the wind is fine. That’s how all grandmaster traits should be. Build defining!
Just like grenadier is on engineer.
If anything, they should make read the wind stronger and add something equivalent to it for shortbow too.

I can’t play longbow without read the wind there are plenty cases where I dearly want to put points elsewhere for a build but simply can’t unless I replace the longbow for something else wich is not what I want in the first place.

Longbow projectiles should have no cast time and hit enemies instantaneously. Also when they dodge, the arrow stops and freezes in mid air like the Matrix movies, multiply to a hundred, and rains itself for an AOE barrage on target.

This is how I feel when I read suggestions like OPs.

robertul.3679:

Read the wind is fine. That’s how all grandmaster traits should be. Build defining!
Just like grenadier is on engineer.
If anything, they should make read the wind stronger and add something equivalent to it for shortbow too.

RtW is fine, but read my post again. With a base boost to LB, it would be OP. This way it stays the same, but also affects your pets, SB and all other projectiles, adding +50% to those too. As you suggest also. Opening it up for it to define other builds too. You could even use it with A/D S/T then.

Wholeheartedly agree. RtW should never have existed. I never understood all the happiness that exploded on the forums when it was introduced; if anything I was angry devs decided we needed a grandmaster trait for a weapon to hit its target. Rifle, pistol, scepter, mes gs, etc etc can all hit the target reliably in its range; why does longbow need a grandmaster to do it?

The number one complaint about longbows before RtW was that it could be very easily side-stepped past a certain range. (1000+ ish?) If I trait a weapon so it can hit at 1500 range, then it should reliably hit up to 1500 range. Past that, I don’t care if enemies can side-step it or not.

100% increased velocity should be removed from RtW, and the default projectile speed on both bows should be increased by…I don’t know, 30%? Whichever percentage so that targets cannot simply sidestep as long as they’re in range.

As a replacement RtW can have something like “Long-ranged shot now hits for maximum ranged damage at all ranges” or such so that it is still a great trait for longbows, but not essential.

RtW could affect all ranger projectiles. Throw Torch, Path of Scars, Crippling Talon, pet projectiles.

Rym.1469:

RtW could affect all ranger projectiles. Throw Torch, Path of Scars, Crippling Talon, pet projectiles.

Funnily enough, throw torch currently has a higher velocity than base longbow. Test in HotM if you don’t believe me.

Anyhow, what I think would be perfectly balanced is if LB received a 20% boost in projectile speed, while RtW is nerfed to be only 66% increase to prevent it from being too strong. I know this sounds significant, but it wouldn’t actually reduce the velocity of traited speed with RtW.

Math – Current lb velocity = 100%, with rtw = 200%
. Buffed lb velocity = 120%, with rtw (only a 66% increase now) = 200% (120×.66=80, add that to 120 and you get 200%)

I seriously think this is a change that needs to happen. Hell, even warrior longbow needs a speed buff.

This is really just one many examples of Ranger’s core problem. We have to use our traits to make our abilities good.

Other classes have abilities that are good to begin with and traits just make them better. We have abilities that are okay to begin with and have to use traits to make them good (or just decent in some cases).

ddoi.9264:

Wholeheartedly agree. RtW should never have existed. I never understood all the happiness that exploded on the forums when it was introduced; if anything I was angry devs decided we needed a grandmaster trait for a weapon to hit its target. Rifle, pistol, scepter, mes gs, etc etc can all hit the target reliably in its range; why does longbow need a grandmaster to do it?

The number one complaint about longbows before RtW was that it could be very easily side-stepped past a certain range. (1000+ ish?) If I trait a weapon so it can hit at 1500 range, then it should reliably hit up to 1500 range. Past that, I don’t care if enemies can side-step it or not.

100% increased velocity should be removed from RtW, and the default projectile speed on both bows should be increased by…I don’t know, 30%? Whichever percentage so that targets cannot simply sidestep as long as they’re in range.

As a replacement RtW can have something like “Long-ranged shot now hits for maximum ranged damage at all ranges” or such so that it is still a great trait for longbows, but not essential.

I agree completely with this statement. I still don’t understand why should i waste a grandmaster to make a weapon reliable when we just have a few utilities/traits that actually works.
Base projectile speed should be revised to make it at least 50% faster. For example it’s not understandable why is enough to sidestep to avoid rapid fire (LB#2). Other classes skills require you to dodge with LB you only need to keep running.