Guild Wars 2

So far this is my only disappointment in gw2. Longbow rangers damage was great in beta when it had the eagle eye bug, then when they fixed it it became mediocre. I really hope they can change a couple things, make a trait that lets us shift damage from pet to ranger so we can snipe and not be kittened on damage, bring back read the wind in the form of a trait so our longbow arrows move twice as fast, I mean seriously, no arrow shoots in an arc like that unless its from insane range, it would make our arrows much harder to dodge like the warriors rifle.

Id like to see them get rid of the obstruction bug that plagues bows, I will be attacking someone on flat ground without obstructions, halfway through my rapid fire Ill see obstructed even if they are standing still, it hurts my damage and is gamebreaking in pvp. Buff longbow damage or give us something similar to kill shot. Make it so aoe does like 80% less damage on pets, or just give pets more survivability. For them being 40% of our damage they shouldnt die in 5 seconds.

Also long ranged shot needs to be changed, the skill makes no sense realistically, when projectiles lose power over distance, they should scrap the damage over distance effect and just make it do the max damage all the time with an increased crit chance over distance or grants might, or even causes vulnerability, this skill just kinda sucks atm and in pvp you cant always stay at max distance.

And please for the love of god get rid of steady focus, give us 10% damaeg increase some other way, maybe give us 10% damage increase when enemy has vulnerability on them, an addition 10%. I use dodges like candy since ranger is the squishiest class in game, it shouldnt kitten my damage to play smart.

If any1 has some good ideas for the longbow by all means share, Im just hoping anet sees this and gets some ideas.

I’m using longbow and my pet doesn’t deal 40% of my dmg. Longbows are meant to reward staying on long distance, so (1) mechanic is good, but it’s just too weak.
Plz don’t speak about “realism”, or if you must, start with ghosts, dragons, magic, etc.

Only things I’d changed about longbows would be buff dmg of (1) or change it into chain, and some traits for faster flying arrows.

Terkov.4138:

I’m using longbow and my pet doesn’t deal 40% of my dmg. Longbows are meant to reward staying on long distance, so (1) mechanic is good, but it’s just too weak.
Plz don’t speak about “realism”, or if you must, start with ghosts, dragons, magic, etc.

Only things I’d changed about longbows would be buff dmg of (1) or change it into chain, and some traits for faster flying arrows.

No, but somethings like arrows doing more damage over distance is stupid. They need to get rid of that or atleastm ake the penalty for being close range significantly less. We shouldnt do 50% less damage at point blank range, itskitten and in real pvp good melee will get in close, atm longbow seems like a pve wep. Also pet is about 30-40% of your damage if it can stay on target, this is mathmatical fact not just a theory. As I said Im not wanting to be op, just competetive. When Im on my guardian, I laugh at rangers when they shoot me, especially longbow rangers.

Sure I can do competetive damage, but its only once every 2 minutes which isnt viable, and I have to give up alot of good stuff like piercing arrows for signet of the beast master just to have that damage. Ranger is still the only class in the game that has to trait for a true " Oh kitten " button, signet of stone, no1 else has to trait for that, in fact warriors get endure pain as a utility, and trait it to have it automatically come hwen their hp reaches 25% hp, eles get mist form, thieves can vanish forever and heal to full, mesmers get invulnerabilities, stealths, teleports, army of clones, ect, necros get much of the same, and are in general harder to kill, guardians…lol guardians are hard as hell to kill, ranger gets protect me, which sucks since pet dies in 3 seconds with it up, and thats being generous, signet of stone has to be traited.

They should make signet of the beastmaster a minor trait instead, and put it over opening strikes, since opening strikes sucks atm.

The simple things in life.

Sigh. Allow me to repeat: pets do not do 40% of the damage between a ranger and the pet.

Getting tiring watching the same unintelligent buffoons spreading that piece of malicious misinformation.

Maybe you should learn how to add and multiply. Yes pets do 30-40% of our damage. When my pet on a target does a total of 10k and I do a total of 15k then thats a significant amount, my pet can crit people for 4k, and my river drake hits people for 6-12k with his f2 ability minimum, if it actually hits. Get back on topic if you are going to respond, this is mostly about longbow. Contribute or go away.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Maybe you should learn how to add and multiply. Yes pets do 30-40% of our damage. When my pet on a target does a total of 10k and I do a total of 15k then thats a significant amount, my pet can crit people for 4k, and my river drake hits people for 6-12k with his f2 ability minimum, if it actually hits. Get back on topic if you are going to respond, this is mostly about longbow. Contribute or go away.

Malicious liars like you are compounding the problem that people perceive pets are strong. They do NOT do that kind of damage, and you obviously do not play the ranger.

Get your facts right if you are going to respond, the forums needs facts, not hyperbole and gross misrepresentation of the situation. Contribute or go away.

Worst idea/rant thread ever. -_- There goes 1 minute of my life I’ll never live again.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

my pet can crit people for 4k, and my river drake hits people for 6-12k with his f2 ability minimum, if it actually hits.

You’re also a terrible liar. The legendary shortbow shooting rainbows is more believable.

Just a friendly notice that yes, your pet’s damage will be low if you put all your traits into Marksmanship and ignore Beastmastery and Skirmishing.

My pet isn’t 40% of my damage at all.
More like 60-70%.

i believe what the longbow need more range

Wow. People actually put 30 points into beastmastery. Really now. I did some further testing in-game and finally got the numbers Dante was talking about after 30 points into the tree.

I take my words back, you aren’t a bad liar Dante, just a really bad player.

Still cracking me up omg….30 points into beastmastery.

I leveled with the longbow from 0 to 80. Super easy. It is my humble opinion that if you choose the longbow, 20 points into marksmanship is a must for piercing targets.

It will take some getting used to, because you have to try to align your targets somewhat close together, and shoot at them so they are in a somewhat straight line. But if you can get them to do those 2 things, rapid fire will eat them all alive.

Combine the piercing arrows, with the longbow aoe 5 skill and you got a potent mix.

Add in the river drakes massive aoe F2 skill, and its even more relaxed.

I never put 30 points into beastmaster, I run a 30 MM,30 skirm build with no points into beastmastery, and no, my wolf hitting someone for 4k isnt a lie, neither is my river drake doing 5-6k lightning breath, I didnt say they do it all the time, but they do it with certain attacks like a wolfs pounce. Back on topic, I dont think longbow needs more range, just more damage or to have signets made so they affect pet and master without needing the trait, and maybe a different function for hunters shot. Pretty much what I listed is what I think should be changed, and for the idiot who said I was ranting, I wasnt, I was stating my opinion, saying that ranger was a disappointment wasnt a rant either. I was just looking for likeminded individuals who wanted a longbow sniper and got a slingshot.

Straken.5613:

I leveled with the longbow from 0 to 80. Super easy. It is my humble opinion that if you choose the longbow, 20 points into marksmanship is a must for piercing targets.

It will take some getting used to, because you have to try to align your targets somewhat close together, and shoot at them so they are in a somewhat straight line. But if you can get them to do those 2 things, rapid fire will eat them all alive.

Combine the piercing arrows, with the longbow aoe 5 skill and you got a potent mix.

Add in the river drakes massive aoe F2 skill, and its even more relaxed.

No I agree, for pve longbow is fine, and I fricken love piercing arrows. Sadly for pvp longbow is below the bar, and as much as I love piercing arrows I cant take it because I need signet of the beastmaster for survivability. I guess I could take it but Id need to give up steady focus, which is crap but its still 10% damage when Im not dodging, good for sniping from high locations .

I havent tested the drake but yes i have seen either my lynx or eagle hit for 4k. So it is not BS. I cant remember which and it was an F2.

Either way LB needs some work.

Agreed. For now Ill keep my hopes up, I love the bow shooting animations and the medium armor so that might hold me over till I get they fix longbow.

I’m a bit disappointed in the longbow right now. It’s just not that much more powerful at long ranges, which is supposedly its strong point. And that ‘long range’ just isn’t very long.

However, I haven’t pursued the Marksman line very far, I should take a look at Piercing.

Most of what I get from this post is Pikafan seriously needs to take a chill pill and realize he is badgering people about a video game. You’re seriously calling people names over Pac-Man bro, it’s a video game, this stuff doesn’t matter…please leave that attitude on your last MMO forums.

However as far as the longbow goes, I agree it needs a little something, I initially had to force myself to use it as I found shortbow to be superior for my play style, but I loved the idea of swapping between melee and ranged weapons actively and constantly in combat. Where that became a problem is I never felt I had to with the Shortbow. I would just lay traps and keep kiting. So I started using Longbow/Sword-Dagger after adapting to the play style of swapping weapons when I need to I have seen a dramatic increase in my ability to survive fights, in fact, there isn’t many/much that can take me down just because of my survivability and adaptability in a fight. My character has pretty much become the jack of all trades.

I dropped the LB early on in favor of a SB, because of the slow fire and the poor relative damage. Does it later increase to the point where it’s actually viable to use as a primary weapon?

As far as I’m concerned, the range tiers should be dropped entirely and the overall damage should be buffed across the board. Since combat tends to degenerate into melee slugfests anyway, you don’t actually get to use the weapon at peak effectiveness for very long. Not too mention, a lot of content forces you into close quarters, which again, makes your weapon less than peak.

To me, those drawbacks seem insurmountable. It makes as much sense to me as a greatsword losing a percentage of it’s damage capacity, a few seconds after you get your first hit with it. Would any other profession really use a weapon that behaved like that?

Oh, and my cats do at least as much damage as I do, raw damage plus condition. Specced 20 points into BM, as well as other BM supporting traits. They’re pretty resilient too.

Not entirely true, I can snipe with the best of them and stay at range 90% of the time, yes melee can get to me if they are good but If im any good I can atleast hold my own till I can escape. My problem is simply put, the longbow itself, it sucks plain and simple. Im trying to find legitimate reasons not to just make a rifle warrior.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

my river drake doing 5-6k lightning breath.

I saw this in one of your posts, completely different from what you said earlier here.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

my river drake hits people for 6-12k with his f2 ability minimum

You sir are a liar and most likely a bad ranger if your pet out damages you.

My pet doesnt out damaeg me, and yes posts were different because I changed from aoe possibilities to single target. Aoe my river drake can get 12k damage easily since it hits 3 targets for 5-6k. I shoulda clarified. Not a liar, just made a confusing post. No, I do more than my pet, hence if you read the post I said pet does 30-40% of my damage, if your math is that bad that means I do 60-70% more damage= more damage than my pet. Problem with river drake is its stupid hard to get off since it cancels if the opponent is knocked back or dodges the first attack.

2 words, Skill Four

If skill 4 had a 1 second or 1 1/2 sec cast time which made you stay put to deliver a high impact high similar to the thieves “Heart Seeker” skill, by which you do more damage to a target at lower HP and has XX amount of chance to crit, but only beyond the 600 range if you use it under 600 range, it works as a knock back

Have asked for this since beta and will continue to do so:

1. LB skill 1 should have a chance to cripple on crit. There’s no means to keep a target at the optimal 1500 killzone atm to take a subsequent shots. Or else get rid of the range penalty.

2. If the pet is in passive mode, i.e. not attacking, the ranger should get a 10 to 15% pet aura buff in pattack for all weapons so the pet’s missing potential dps is folded into the ranger. The moment the pet dies, fires F2, or starts attacking that buff is gone until the pet is back in passive mode again.

3. Make rapid fire into dual fire. Hold down 2 to charge, and damage goes up more the longer you charge with the max damage being the total damage you would’ve done if the rapid fire volley hits but it’s in a single pay load. Has to be immobile to fire. Tap the skill to execute a regular rapid fire.

I actually have nothing to complain about for the longbow. The longbow and shortbow have their equal uses in their own ranged respects. Shortbow is more for short-fast-DoT dmg while longbow resorts to 1000+ distance ranged damage-cripple-vulnerability-knockback. If players build themselves correctly, longbow skill (1) can hit for 3k damage crit in WvW. <—- That’s how much I can hit with skill (1) for and my max was 3.4k crit.

With Rapid Fire if all hits manage and your crit chance-power-crit dmg is high enough, a player can hit 8k on a foe. Barrage is absolutely devastating to a crowd as a CC; strike correctly with it in tandem with Hunter’s Shot and you’ll have enough distance/time between you and your opponent(s) to kill them off; especially if you’re running Elites: Summon Mistfire Wolf, Summon Druid Spirit, Rampage as One, Take Root, or Entangle.

Being a longbow ranger isn’t as hard as it seems. Well honed rangers know by heart the distance needed to get max damage as possible with skill (1) and that’s what makes a longbow ranger a survivor in the end compared to shortbow rangers. shortbow rangers have to be closer and they have to continuously kite. It’s dangerous for any ranger to be close to an opponent especially in groups.

I have to agree that shortbow rangers have the best time in close ranged combat than longbow rangers because as obvious.. shortbow is for close range.

That’s my two cents for the longbow. If you’re on Yak’s Bend server and you see me in WvW, take some time to look at my example of how a longbow ranger does a battle, you’ll be surprised at my effectiveness.

#Havehopeforthelongbow

Sareth.9038:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

my river drake doing 5-6k lightning breath.

I saw this in one of your posts, completely different from what you said earlier here.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

my river drake hits people for 6-12k with his f2 ability minimum

You sir are a liar and most likely a bad ranger if your pet out damages you.

He could be a bad ranger individually compared to his pet. He most likely runs Beastmaster traits with Master’s bond, pet might buff, and pet crit dmg buff. He probably also doesn’t run Marksman or Skirmishing if that’s the case.

^Which makes him a Tank-Ranger that lets the pet do most of the “work” which is nothing wrong really, but it’s definitely different than most other ranger builds out there.

Delirious.9278:

Sareth.9038:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

my river drake doing 5-6k lightning breath.

I saw this in one of your posts, completely different from what you said earlier here.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

my river drake hits people for 6-12k with his f2 ability minimum

You sir are a liar and most likely a bad ranger if your pet out damages you.

He could be a bad ranger individually compared to his pet. He most likely runs Beastmaster traits with Master’s bond, pet might buff, and pet crit dmg buff. He probably also doesn’t run Marksman or Skirmishing if that’s the case.

^Which makes him a Tank-Ranger that lets the pet do most of the “work” which is nothing wrong really, but it’s definitely different than most other ranger builds out there.

If your pet do most of your damage, you will kill nothing in PvP or sPvP, because pets are easily kiteables.

Rangers need a buff in damage compared to other classes, it is a fact, a warrior can kill you in 2 second with swiftness+100 blades(2k+ each hit), a guardian can kill you with whirlwind in 2 seconds if he can stun you., a rogue can spam skills forever with the adequate traits , mesmer , ok , mesmer are simply OP now.

I have 3400 damage and i cant hit for 5k+ with blank hits like warriors, we need a good pvp elite (entagle is good but is too easy to avoid or counter and have 150 secs CD).

the #1 autoattack is slow and is outdamaged by the shortbow #1 ability even without the bleed.

This needs looking at asap aswell as this obstructed bug when nothing is standing in my way

Longbow is viable in pve and wvw. You need to stack crit damage along with precision and power. Essentially glass canon. I have done upwards of 4-5k crits in wvw. Although i do wish the damage penalty for being close didnt cut your damage in half like it does. Realistically it should be maybe 75% and the arrow speed on longbows should be a bit faster. At 1500 range no matter what if someone moves youre going to miss them and i feel this is kind of dumb if they are going to make the damage potential the highest at that range.

Longbows only become viable with high tier gear. for example i have 60% passive crit unbuffed and 100 crit damage. If you dont have the gear stick to sb and conditions

Derek, I would love to see your setup – I have no clue how you are running around with 100 crit damage, the most I can put together with all exotics is 95, including 30 from 30 points in Skirmishing. What is your Power stat?

As well, to achieve 60% passive crit, you must be running around with 15k HP – which I think is a tad low – but if it works for you, cheers.

Currently with my build, I’m running with 2127 Power 3207 Attack (LB), 40% Crit, 90 Crit. Damage, 18k HP.

In SPvP, I run a completely different build, focused more on conditions and traps.

I think alot of people who try longbow go about using the skills wrong. ive watched them in pve and pvp. the biggest mistake is they use rapidfire right away when they are at max range. Also i see them standing still. Once you start an attack you should always be backing up to keep the target at a longer range as long as possible to keep them in the bigger damage bracket. Rapid fire should be saved until the target is closer to you as its damage will be the same no matter the distancebut normal shot will be very weak then.

I personally use longbow for what the skills do and not how much damage I am pumping out. I am currently using longbow/shortbow and I am loving it in WvW.

Longbow skill #4 (point blank shot) is probably my favorite. I have killed many people by knocking them off a cliff. My all time favorite thing to do though is use it on an enemy when they are trying to finish off a downed ally. Can’t tell you how many times I have rescued allies from death because of this tactic.

2,225 Power
20k hp
40% crit chance 86 critical damage bonus
1200 toughness

Am still missing 4 pieces of exotic and superior runes/sigils and get better raw stats

I love both longbow and Shortbow

Lothair.8942:

Derek, I would love to see your setup – I have no clue how you are running around with 100 crit damage, the most I can put together with all exotics is 95, including 30 from 30 points in Skirmishing. What is your Power stat?

As well, to achieve 60% passive crit, you must be running around with 15k HP – which I think is a tad low – but if it works for you, cheers.

Currently with my build, I’m running with 2127 Power 3207 Attack (LB), 40% Crit, 90 Crit. Damage, 18k HP.

In SPvP, I run a completely different build, focused more on conditions and traps.

Are you forgetting your trinkets and back pieces? also yes i am running 100% glass canon. Of course im using signet of stone/ protect pet skill to give me a few seconds of immunity. Within those 6 second i am able to burst down 99% of players in wvw. Of course in spsp i run the traditional sb condi build. but imo if you have fast enough reflexes even as glass canon you dont die. people have to use quickening zephyr along with volley. volley is one of the most important skills in a 1v1 fight which many poeple dont realize. It adds a snare and if you place it right with a quickening zephyr it take less than 2 secs to cast. the second the opposing player gets out of the volley i usually knock them back into it then follow with rapid fire. Also you should be using #3 skill always. with warhorn buff i have 80% crit. Most people dont play a class optimally. You need to know whent o switch to warhorn and kite. use your axes slow use the #2 skill on the axe to add bleeds. its very simple

yes my glass canon build i am running at just above 15k unbuffed and under 1000 toughness. but you can burst down anything. Just play smart and pick your fights. Once in a while you do get kittened but its not often

Derek.9254:

Lothair.8942:

Derek, I would love to see your setup – I have no clue how you are running around with 100 crit damage, the most I can put together with all exotics is 95, including 30 from 30 points in Skirmishing. What is your Power stat?

As well, to achieve 60% passive crit, you must be running around with 15k HP – which I think is a tad low – but if it works for you, cheers.

Currently with my build, I’m running with 2127 Power 3207 Attack (LB), 40% Crit, 90 Crit. Damage, 18k HP.

In SPvP, I run a completely different build, focused more on conditions and traps.

Are you forgetting your trinkets and back pieces? also yes i am running 100% glass canon. Of course im using signet of stone/ protect pet skill to give me a few seconds of immunity. Within those 6 second i am able to burst down 99% of players in wvw. Of course in spsp i run the traditional sb condi build. but imo if you have fast enough reflexes even as glass canon you dont die. people have to use quickening zephyr along with volley. volley is one of the most important skills in a 1v1 fight which many poeple dont realize. It adds a snare and if you place it right with a quickening zephyr it take less than 2 secs to cast. the second the opposing player gets out of the volley i usually knock them back into it then follow with rapid fire. Also you should be using #3 skill always. with warhorn buff i have 80% crit. Most people dont play a class optimally. You need to know whent o switch to warhorn and kite. use your axes slow use the #2 skill on the axe to add bleeds. its very simple

I’ll have to look at my setup again, I tend to want to run with a little higher HP as we try not to run with the zerg and look for smaller battles.

1on1 I always try to use Barrage / Pet F2 and start Qz while that is casting, which leads into Hunter’s Shot/Rapid Fire… I switch pets when the first Qz is done to squeeze out as much as I can – then switch to Shortbow to move in for the kill.

yeah my setup does well in zergs or 1v1 i tend to go into enemy territory and just snipe dolyaks or flag points. more enjoyable playin guerilla warfare

Lothair, I assume your using River Drake (lightning one). I’ve been trying this recently in sPvP but more pet F2, wait for it to start then QZ and Rapid Fire. If your pet hits and you hit with rapid fire then they foe is gone. However last night when i was playing my pet would refuse to attack anything I targeted, one time he turned around and lightninged behind himself. With so much reliance on the pet I find the build hard to fight off multi targets and tend to lose once the pet is down or if he misses.

As to the topic, I would like to see the range reduce removed. While it adds positioning to the weapon its just annoying in PvP. Start with bow, once all your cd’s are used might as well swap out. In PvE I use the bow exclusively, don’t like changing to much, the other weapons aren’t to my liking. My second set is sword warhorn for speed buff and birds, I also use this in PvP but find sword a little unpredictable to my liking so usually stay in longbow. I know this probably makes me a bad player but meh. I might try out shortbow/longbow power/condition build next.

With the rangers pets in their current unpredictable F2 state I’m gonna be playing Ele or Warrior in PvP mostly.

I don’t know how people are claiming that longbows are completely ineffective. I’m often shredding PvE mobs long before they get to me and I’m not even set up as a full glass cannon, which makes me think anyone who is struggling with a longbow is obviously doing something wrong.

My personal complaint with the longbow is two-fold:
1) The trait that enables 1500 range does NOT enable continuous fire at 1500 range. If I target a mob, my 1 skill will not spam itself until I’ve closed the gap to 1200 range, which is sort of against the whole idea of the trait. Not sure if bug or just bad design on the trait, though.
2) Longbows and shortbows have generally been set up to fire at the same range. This makes no sense in an RP context (the very name, “shortbow” implies it’s a bow built for firing faster at shorter ranges), and since the shortbow fires at a faster rate, this can potentially lead to it being significantly superior to the longbow (in situations where condition damage isn’t scorned, that is).

But I’m very much against this mentality that the longbow is “teh sux”. Given how easily I can shred most mobs near me, I’m inclined to think you’re the one doing something wrong. Granted, I don’t kill things as fast as, say, a DPS warrior, but then I did admit I’m not fully glass cannon so that’s probably contributing.

Slasher, I use more utility pets in sPVP – I normally will start with a Spider for the immobilize so I can try and circle around my target for more damage. My secondary pet really varies from game to game, depending on what I’m facing.

I tend to agree. Longbows dmg seems sub-par and really doesn’t seem to go up all that much at longer range. Til it is buffed, i will stick with shortbow, Axe/something combo. Love the pet mechanic though.

Yep. Longbow damage is horrible. Even barrage barely does anything. Better off with axe ricochet than barrage aoe.