Guild Wars 2

So after the recent buff to longbows, and some further gaming I still think the LB needs more work to improve it. Rapid Fire is a nice skill, but takes far far to long and should be a fast burst skill. Hunters Shot is nice enough but is ineffective in usage as it provides little time to use it effectively.

Improvements to the bow I would like would be;

Rapid Fire;
Activation Time 3 seconds. (Down from 4.5 seconds)
All vulnerability stacks applied on the first shot (Changed from 1 stack per shot)

Hunters Shot;
Applies Swiftness and Stealth to both the pet AND the ranger ( Changed from only pet swiftness/ Ranger only Stealth)
Stealth increased to 5 seconds.
Increased recharge time to 15+ seconds to compensate for changes (Up from 12 seconds)

Point Blank Shot – Applies cripple (2 secs) activated after knockback

To me its incongruous that rapid fire has a longer activation time than Barrage, when you consider that the “barrage” is firing far more arrows in a shorter space of time.

Should Rapid Fire apply the vuln on first hit, then a simple condi clean will suffice and the target won’t be tickled by the remainder of the Rapid Fire arrows.. So no, I’d like to keep RF as it is..

Could you elaborate how Hunter’s Shot is ineffective please? I run LB/GS, and have to admit that Hunter’s Shot has saved me on more than one occasion (and it has killed my opponent also on more than one occasion: go stealth, swap GS, get behind, GS#5, GS#2, stomp).

The cripple on the LB: I don’t see why that would be needed? The LB isn’t a condition weapon, it’s a ‘raw’ DPS weapon.

Just my 50 cents..

Tribio.8531:

The cripple on the LB: I don’t see why that would be needed? The LB isn’t a condition weapon, it’s a ‘raw’ DPS weapon.

There is only one problem, the weapon is missing the ‘DPS’ part.

It already has cripple on barrage, so its not just a DPS weapon.

HS is innefective because the stealth time is so low and IC movement speed is much lower than OOC means that you dont really go anywhere in that time. Thiefs for instance can completely reposition in stealth, rangers merely move a few meters. Coupled with that is the fact that your pet is still highly visible and if not actively engaging the target will be standing next to you giving away your position, meaning the “stealth” is pointless in this instance. Ranged pets make this instance highly likely.

As for RF vulnerable stacks, that’s the price of CC skills. Anyone who does not take such a skill is easy meat. Players should be intending to force an opponent to “blow” the skill leaving them open.

Currently the long channel time, and stacks per hit means that someone can simply evade take a few hits, evade again and then use CC. Which results in little to no damage at all, particularly if said player evades around an object or out of LOS, or even simply goes past the player.

Great sword has cripple on sword toss it isnt a dps weapon O_o
Greatsword has pull all on grab it isnt a dps weapon

Please stop getting out excuses to justify that a cripple makes a weapon not dps style. Longbow actualy should be the top damage weapon to ranger, it is slow it needs damage to compensate it, the reason for the cripple is to keep mobs at bay so to keep sniping them for high damage because this weapon deals lesser damage at short range.

kyubi.3620:

Please stop getting out excuses to justify that a cripple makes a weapon not dps style. Longbow actualy should be the top damage weapon to ranger, it is slow it needs damage to compensate it, the reason for the cripple is to keep mobs at bay so to keep sniping them for high damage because this weapon deals lesser damage at short range.

That is the two largest problems we have with the longbow. 1.) It’s suppose to be our best DPS weapon and it’s not. 2.) The longbow doesn’t do a proper job in keeping our targets off of us. It should have more ways to slow down, push away, or ground your target to help you keep at range. Right now it only has the #4 skill which has way to long of a CD to make it useful in a fight and the #5 get’s dodged before they get hit, plus again, a very long CD on it.

Kyubi what do you mean?

I havent said a weapon is specific to one or another. I merely pointed out that the chaps point was inconsistent because the weapon already has a condition effect on it.

My point was as you described, there are so many gap closers and CC skills that PB shot is not as effective as it should be. The ranger is at a disadvantage without crippling/immob an opponent when using the LB due to its slow RoF. Enemies are back in melee range easily before PB shot has recharged.

With cripple attached to PB shot, it gives the LB a (small) window of opportunity it sorely needs.

Lexandro.1456:

It already has cripple on barrage, so its not just a DPS weapon.

True, but I was comparing with the shortbow (which is more of a condi weapon):

1. = bleed
2. = poison
3. = evade/swiftness
4. = cripple
5. = stun/daze

Whether it has more or less condition application than another weapon is irrelevant to the point.

Longbow I’d consider a power weapon so the only condition i’d expect to see on it is one that causes more direct damage (vulnerability). So this is what I’d like to see

Attack 1 – Applies vulnerability each hit (0-1000 range 1 stack) (1000-1500 range 2 stacks)

Attack 2 – Rapid fire shortened to 3s with the final shot being an exploding arrow causing AoE damage

Attack 3 – Stealth doesn’t really fit into a power weapon IMO, change this to a charge up shot similar to warriors kill shot or that shot with the rifle in toypocalypse.

Attack 4 – I think this is fine as is though I think this shot should also add 5 stacks of vulnerability

Attack 5 – The damage needs to be returned to the way it used to be, either that or the cooldown lowered to 20 seconds (traited to maybe 15-16s)

It’s a burst issue. There isn’t any. This is why the weapon can’t kill things… plinking away at 1-2.5k damage a second on average isnt going to accomplish much unless you can outlast your opponent. The whole class suffers from this problem.

DeadlySynz.3471:

Longbow I’d consider a power weapon so the only condition i’d expect to see on it is one that causes more direct damage (vulnerability). So this is what I’d like to see

Attack 1 – Applies vulnerability each hit (0-1000 range 1 stack) (1000-1500 range 2 stacks)

Attack 2 – Rapid fire shortened to 3s with the final shot being an exploding arrow causing AoE damage

Attack 3 – Stealth doesn’t really fit into a power weapon IMO, change this to a charge up shot similar to warriors kill shot or that shot with the rifle in toypocalypse.

Attack 4 – I think this is fine as is though I think this shot should also add 5 stacks of vulnerability

Attack 5 – The damage needs to be returned to the way it used to be, either that or the cooldown lowered to 20 seconds (traited to maybe 15-16s)

Except that, again LB already has cripple on it for barrage so the addition of it to PB shot is not out of the weapons scope nor intent.

I dont think LB needs more raw damage, what it needs is more consistent damage. As I said the number of gap closers in the game makes ranged combat inefficient and costly to use in any kind of meaningful way.

And your attack 2 is way to op. A single target high damage shot that ends on AoE? Far to op, and I don’t know of any other skill in the game that does that, please feel free to inform me of one if there is such a thing.

Its precisely why I did not mention any damage changes because its simply the skills themselves at this point that I feel is the issue, not the actual damage they can produce. If I could channel a 4.5 second rapid fire to hit every shot it would do moderately good damage, but people evade/block/reflect easily. Thats because it takes to long to channel and is easily readable meaning extremely easy to counter or avoid. Lower channel time means higher skill required to evade/block/reflect the skill.

Lexandro.1456:

DeadlySynz.3471:

Longbow I’d consider a power weapon so the only condition i’d expect to see on it is one that causes more direct damage (vulnerability). So this is what I’d like to see

Attack 1 – Applies vulnerability each hit (0-1000 range 1 stack) (1000-1500 range 2 stacks)

Attack 2 – Rapid fire shortened to 3s with the final shot being an exploding arrow causing AoE damage

Attack 3 – Stealth doesn’t really fit into a power weapon IMO, change this to a charge up shot similar to warriors kill shot or that shot with the rifle in toypocalypse.

Attack 4 – I think this is fine as is though I think this shot should also add 5 stacks of vulnerability

Attack 5 – The damage needs to be returned to the way it used to be, either that or the cooldown lowered to 20 seconds (traited to maybe 15-16s)

Except that, again LB already has cripple on it for barrage so the addition of it to PB shot is not out of the weapons scope nor intent.

I dont think LB needs more raw damage, what it needs is more consistent damage. As I said the number of gap closers in the game makes ranged combat inefficient and costly to use in any kind of meaningful way.

And your attack 2 is way to op. A single target high damage shot that ends on AoE? Far to op, and I don’t know of any other skill in the game that does that, please feel free to inform me of one if there is such a thing.

Its precisely why I did not mention any damage changes because its simply the skills themselves at this point that I feel is the issue, not the actual damage they can produce. If I could channel a 4.5 second rapid fire to hit every shot it would do moderately good damage, but people evade/block/reflect easily. Thats because it takes to long to channel and is easily readable meaning extremely easy to counter or avoid. Lower channel time means higher skill required to evade/block/reflect the skill.

Attack 2 at minimum would need to the channeling time reduced and the stacks of vulnerability applied on the first shot. As of now, auto attack does more damage. Adding that AoE effect at the end now makes better than auto attack. It doesn’t have to be as strong as barrage, but many have always said, we need more AoE.

It could even be changed so that the final shot lays out fire field similar to the torches bonfire or the warriors F1 ability. At least now we combo field to work with.

Well we can at least agree that the channelling time needs reducing. Though on your point of a combo field, would it not be best to add a combo field to barrage instead? I mean since thats AoE a combo field would make sense right?

LB could use a cripple that isn’t on Barrage. That’s really what it needs most. Maybe tack it on to the auto-attack when at max range or even put it on Hunter’s Shot.

I agree with shortening the RF channel time — 4 1/2 seconds is a really long time. That’s more than half the cooldown of a traited Rapid Fire. Crazy.

Lexandro.1456:

Well we can at least agree that the channelling time needs reducing. Though on your point of a combo field, would it not be best to add a combo field to barrage instead? I mean since thats AoE a combo field would make sense right?

What kind of combo field would make sense being caused by arrows falling from the sky?

Also, how can you thematically justify shooting arrows in succession with the last one exploding? I just don’t think it fits.

Xukavi.4320:

Lexandro.1456:

Well we can at least agree that the channelling time needs reducing. Though on your point of a combo field, would it not be best to add a combo field to barrage instead? I mean since thats AoE a combo field would make sense right?

What kind of combo field would make sense being caused by arrows falling from the sky?

How about dark field? Its been said before in literature and history that a hail of arrows can darken the sky. Simply darken the AoE zone lighting for the barrage and voila!

Or what about a lightning field? Its a rarely used field (only ele). All it would take is a minor animation addition of a cloud or something with jazzy arrows falling and it would fit thematically.

Both are still facets of nature, for which the ranger is supposed to be its “champion” if you will.

Xukavi.4320:

Also, how can you thematically justify shooting arrows in succession with the last one exploding? I just don’t think it fits.

Me either which is why I did not suggest it nor support it when proposed. I don’t think it fits at all with a longbow user.

Lexandro.1456:

Xukavi.4320:

Lexandro.1456:

Well we can at least agree that the channelling time needs reducing. Though on your point of a combo field, would it not be best to add a combo field to barrage instead? I mean since thats AoE a combo field would make sense right?

What kind of combo field would make sense being caused by arrows falling from the sky?

How about dark field? Its been said before in literature and history that a hail of arrows can darken the sky. Simply darken the AoE zone lighting for the barrage and voila!

Or what about a lightning field? Its a rarely used field (only ele). All it would take is a minor animation addition of a cloud or something with jazzy arrows falling and it would fit thematically.

Both are still facets of nature, for which the ranger is supposed to be its “champion” if you will.

Xukavi.4320:

Also, how can you thematically justify shooting arrows in succession with the last one exploding? I just don’t think it fits.

Me either which is why I did not suggest it nor support it when proposed. I don’t think it fits at all with a longbow user.

Well for the dark field, I get where you’re coming from. I always felt that dark fields were more associated with death and necromancy thought. Lightning field is an interesting idea I’ll give you that.

How about:

Add cripple to Rapid Fire and shorten the channel time to 3-3.5 seconds
Add an immobilize to the Point Blank Shot.
I know it’s supposed to be the Power Weapon for the Ranger but having those will help us keep our enemies at range.

Hitting people for 3k auto attacks and 8-10k rapid fires, oh and it has stealth and a giant aoe that cripples and hits 1k per tic. If your not happy with that burst then ranger isn’t for you. This is all with the pet doing nothing as well, add in constant spider damage or cc spam from a wolf and its far beyond weak.

id like to add something here.

my ranger is almost full acended ( missing 4 armour pieces)
my warrior is full exotic ( no acended)

both of these classes use ranged weapons ( rifle and longbow )

my warrior has more damage, more CC, more health, more toughness not to mention i can crit 20k+ kill shots pretty much guaranteed and instantly.
( 2300 toughness, 20k hp, 4 CC options, + more precision & crit chance 60+% unbuffed )

my Ranger, does a 17k Rapid fire that takes 4-5 seconds to build. auto hits for 2.5k-3k( AT MAX RANGE) anything lower its at 1.7k-2k.. i have 16k hp, 2000 toughness and to my count only 2 CC options. my pet also suffers slow sluggish dps. 54% crit chance

so go figure.. Warriors are just a step ahead. and those stats are comparing a "full acended " ranger against a warrior with full exotics.

both of these characters are full Zerkers.

if you factor in what i just told you thats a difference of 300 toughness, 4k HP, 6% crit chance, 2 more CC options, and an instant Big Damage skill.

the Rifle warrior is everything that a longbow Ranger should be.

Zardul.3952:

the Rifle warrior is everything that a longbow Ranger should be.

ANet, read plz!!!

Brizzles.3102:

Hitting people for 3k auto attacks and 8-10k rapid fires, oh and it has stealth and a giant aoe that cripples and hits 1k per tic. If your not happy with that burst then ranger isn’t for you. This is all with the pet doing nothing as well, add in constant spider damage or cc spam from a wolf and its far beyond weak.

Written by someone who did not bother to read the thread. Typical response of the Anet defence types.

I main a ranger and have done for nearly a year. Unless you have someone thing to add to the discussion don’t bother posting here.

As for the mention of rifle wars; I find it ridiculous that a melee centric class has a ranged weapon that has cripple as standard on its attacks when a ranger does not, especially as its the fact that rangers are squishy when specced for damage with a LB and would kill for cripple on standard attacks.