Guild Wars 2

I feel sorry for Anet. Ranger must be a nightmare of a class to balance without making them too weak or too strong.

So here’s my stab at it: A good fix for rangers range options, the bows, the signature weapon of the class, would be to give them an overall huge weapons damage buff putting them up there with warriors in raw damage.

The rangers longbow damage should be top tier in ranged damage, something they truly shine at, while also being fairly insane with their melee stuff.

Rangers, the jack of all trades and master of them too. Not the guy or gal you want to meet on the field of combat.

To off set this boon of weapons power gain, the rangers pet would have to take a massive damage output nerf. But we can’t leave our beloved pets high and dry though!

So to make up for that, all pets should be buffed to be exceptionally durable critters.

Durable enough that they simply can’t be ignored. Essentially a second body on the field that you can’t two shot kill. You can kill minions and summons easy enough.

But a ranger pet should warrant the combatants attention to the end of killing it… though, typically, it shouldn’t be worth it.

On the whole, the rangers pet would do paltry and very minimal damage output overall, but be a persistent nuisance that unless dealt with, will be the undoing of the enemy.

This is where the unique F2 skills of the pets could shine, being the pièce de résistance of a pet.

This would make up for it otherwise being a big lump of meat that can and would likely be ignored, due to it otherwise being a very weak source of DPS in lieu of greater threats on the field; these skills should be absolutely devastating in what they do, albeit one trick pony’s.

And to that end, given greater cooldowns to such a degree that they can’t be abused.
_

So, those are my thoughts on a balance update for rangers. Just wanted to put this out there for consideration, maybe something to be used to build other ideas with.

What do you think?

I think that all “balance suggestions” made by players are terrible. Most players aren’t game designers, and don’t know the first thing about properly balancing a class.

As for your suggestions, they would make the ranger abhorrently overpowered. This is usually what happens when people try to offer suggestions on how to fix or balance their favorite class.

Edit: I see you only mentioned bringing bow damage up to par with warrior weapon damage. This would completely invalidate the ranger’s other weapons.

Quarktastic.1027:

I think that all “balance suggestions” made by players are terrible. Most players aren’t game designers, and don’t know the first thing about properly balancing a class.

Doesn’t stop everyone else from adding their two cents.

Quarktastic.1027:

As for your suggestions, they would make the ranger abhorrently overpowered. This is usually what happens when people try to offer suggestions on how to fix or balance their favorite class.

Are you a dev then? You’re on the ranger subforum so I can, like you, assume you fancy the ranger.

Quarktastic.1027:

Edit: I see you only mentioned bringing bow damage up to par with warrior weapon damage. This would completely invalidate the ranger’s other weapons.

No, I meant a general weapons buff overall, which includes the bow, that the ranger might be in the top tier of ranged damage.

But yes, this includes the melee weapons as well.

I suggest a huge pet nerf in damage output to offset that, making the ranger much less dependent on the pet for DPS.

However as to not make pets completely useless in a PVP/Dungeon avenue, I would give all pets a huge buff in their durability overall with a devastating one trick pony move in their F2 skills that the ranger could utilize that would act as an offset to this, be it an incredible buff or attack, condition, what have you.

It can be a fun and unique thing per animal like it is now.

The recharge of these super F2 skills would be very significant so that they couldn’t be abused.

CETheLucid.3964:

Quarktastic.1027:

I think that all “balance suggestions” made by players are terrible. Most players aren’t game designers, and don’t know the first thing about properly balancing a class.

Doesn’t stop everyone else from adding their two cents.

Quarktastic.1027:

As for your suggestions, they would make the ranger abhorrently overpowered. This is usually what happens when people try to offer suggestions on how to fix or balance their favorite class.

Are you a dev then? You’re on the ranger subforum so I can, like you, assume you fancy the ranger.

Quarktastic.1027:

Edit: I see you only mentioned bringing bow damage up to par with warrior weapon damage. This would completely invalidate the ranger’s other weapons.

No, I meant a general weapons buff overall, which includes the bow, that the ranger might be in the top tier of ranged damage.

But yes, this includes the melee weapons as well.

I suggest a huge pet nerf in damage output to offset that, making the ranger much less dependent on the pet for DPS.

However as to not make pets completely useless in a PVP/Dungeon avenue, I would give all pets a huge buff in their durability overall with a devastating one trick pony move in their F2 skills that the ranger could utilize that would act as an offset to this, be it an incredible buff or attack, condition, what have you.

It can be a fun and unique thing per animal like it is now.

The recharge of these super F2 skills would be very significant so that they couldn’t be abused.

I do like the ranger, but I don’t want to play an overpowered class. What you’re suggesting in terms of pets is basically taking the warrior’s adrenaline burst skill and putting it on an AI teammate that can die.

Am I the only one who seems to think that the range r should slightly excel in ranged damage and be slightly disadvantaged in melee damage over other professions? I can’t be the only one, right?

@Quark: since when does any pet active skill (let alone the ones that /do/ deal direct damage) come close to any of the warrior burst skills?

Sarcasmic.6741:

Am I the only one who seems to think that the “+range+r” should slightly excel in ranged damage and be slightly disadvantaged in melee damage over other professions? I can’t be the only one, right?

@Quark: since when does any pet active skill (let alone the ones that /do/ deal direct damage) come close to any of the warrior burst skills?

We’ve been over this before.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ranger?s=t

Point number 5. A person who ranges or roves.

As for my previous post, I was commenting on a suggestion posted by the topic creator. Perhaps you should take the time to actually read his posts.

Quarktastic.1027:

I do like the ranger, but I don’t want to play an overpowered class. What you’re suggesting in terms of pets is basically taking the warrior’s adrenaline burst skill and putting it on an AI teammate that can die.

The warriors adrenaline gain is a constant, not a one trick pony thing.

I’m not suggesting pets be unkillable but far more durable then they are now, especially in wake of my other suggestions.

If the warriors DPS was pathetic all the time expect for a single burst skill with a permanent recharge (unlike how they can constantly recharge adrenaline) and otherwise have nothing else going for him besides just being a meaty target, he’d very underpowered and dead just the same.

In my scenario, by itself, the pet isn’t much of a threat.

The pet with the ranger is what makes him dangerous. The ranger becomes a serious threat in of herself and the pet is a potential ‘bomb’ of savagery unleashed waiting to go off at the rangers command.

It forces the enemy to consider both the ranger and their pet. Which I think is the intention.

Sarcasmic.6741:

since when does any pet active skill (let alone the ones that /do/ deal direct damage) come close to any of the warrior burst skills?

since august 26th or so.

Quarktastic.1027:

Sarcasmic.6741:

Am I the only one who seems to think that the “+range+r” should slightly excel in ranged damage and be slightly disadvantaged in melee damage over other professions? I can’t be the only one, right?

@Quark: since when does any pet active skill (let alone the ones that /do/ deal direct damage) come close to any of the warrior burst skills?

We’ve been over this before.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ranger?s=t

Point number 5. A person who ranges or roves.

And we have been over this point too!

Official GW2 description of ranger says they are primarily a ranged class:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/ranger/

“Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows. " With picture of ranger with bow in hand…..

i personally feel that if you buff bows so much that melee is completely pointless it is then that i wll finally reroll another class…melee ranger is why i actually love the ranger class so much.

i mean if i thought the way you did, i would say they should rename the ranger to the Scout and remove all access to bows and buff the heck out of melee weapons.

but i dont think that, i think that if they buff weapon damage by around 25-30% then we will be right about where we should be, and i mean ALL weapon damage including the recently buffed GS ability maul.

I think they’ve put too much emphasis on the pet. The damage should be around 80/20 if you don’t invest in the pet. Maybe 50/50 if you build for pet damage. That should also be balanced for the expected uptime of the pet.

Quark > Even if “ranger” had the connotation you described, it still wouldn’t fit our profession. Our running is nerfed because our pet aggro’s everything in…well…range. And we can’t run all that fast. And we can’t hide. We’d make a poor scout.

Lucid > I agree with your base premise. Decrease pet dmg and increase player dmg. And let the F2 skill be the main selling point of the pet. I think you go over the top a little with how much that -/+ is exactly though. And I would only increase pet toughness a little.

Besides the obvious dps problems associated with the pet, I think rangers just have poor trait/utility options. The trait tree needs some lovin.

I enjoy a playstyle where I am the secondary damage source and my pet is the primary, a “Beastmaster” Ranger if you will. Your suggestions = do not want.

Not much of a beastmaster if you can’t get your pet to hit anything. As it stands right now with Pet AI, the best thing to do is remove pet damage and buff ranger damage. Once Anet can get pet AI fixed and have pets hit moving targets and fix their pathing issues, then they can return the damage to the way it was. But in the meantime we are hurting because Anet wants to sit on their kitten and say, we’ll just wait a couple of years until we can figure this kitten out.

If you want to be a ranger that does melee damage???? umm, play a warrior, same crap. As per Anet’s description of rangers, we are suppose to be range fighters doing insane damage from a distance with our bows….Currently not the case although that is their ‘vision’ of the class…or until they change that vision by changing the description on their website.

OP I like your suggestion, I have suggested very similar idea’s in the past but with no luck.

I would be greatly saddened if they toss out the damage the pet has. The Ranger will be in a completely different situation once they get Pet AI sorted out on moving targets. Our DPS will be where it is supposed to be. If you want to get your pet to respond better apply more CC and kite in a fashion that leads your opponents into the snapping jaws of your pet.

Improved Pet Toughness, I could see it being tweeked a bit but they need to be careful. A BM pet is about as survivable as any playable profession, it gets one shotted in all the same instances that a player gets one shotted in regards to bosses. If you invest in wilderness survival you get a trait for protection on dodge rolls for you and the pet. It is only 2 secs but it provides a hefty dose of mitigation for pets. If they give them too much extra toughness the BM pets will be approaching unkillable (wouldn’t complain but most PvE content would become a joke then, most PvE content is already a joke as a BM ranger).

I will say that ranger with its current class mechanic will never be Ranged King, especially in WvW zerg fighting and seige. Our DPS needs the pet (and I believe it is an awesome mechanic and why I have fallen in love with my ranger). When in comes to WvW ranger functions best as a roamer and small party raids on secondary targets (supply lines, camps, reinforcements, etc.) where it can utilize the pet to the fullest potential, or playing more of a support role in zerg fights (what i have gathered in my play as a ranger).

i just think the damage split between rangers and pets should be 25% pet, 75% ranger. not the current 30/70 or 45/65

greatsword should hit for more, longbow projectile speed should be faster and probably do a 10-15% increase in damage overall. Shortbow is still a better Power-weapon even though it’s supposed to be condition-based because it’s much more reliable then the longbow, it’s a great dueling weapon meant for single unit control, it’s abilities allows the rangers the chance to flank, and i’m pretty happy with it. maybe add a second evade to the sword 2 part 2. Axe is pretty good where it is, but the off hand defensive skill should be able to be used while moving.

Ranger balance? Since when was there ever a Ranger balance. You my friend are in a completely different world.

Either play a ridiculously broken profession and exploit the terrible skills, or reroll another class in hopes of achieving that ‘archery’ dream that everyone longed for when this game was advertised.

Killsmith.8169:

I think they’ve put too much emphasis on the pet. The damage should be around 80/20 if you don’t invest in the pet. Maybe 50/50 if you build for pet damage. That should also be balanced for the expected uptime of the pet.

This.

It even says in the description of the ranger class that pets are suppose to be a distraction and hence, not a significant source of damage. And they shouldn’t be. It’s lol that people expect a bot to play half of their class. How’s that fair for a pvp game where you expect every ranger fight to be a real 2 on 1 in your favor?

Because Anet thought it was a brilliant Idea to implement a broken mechanic that reduces our overall damage. Hilarious.

I would say that ranger should excel in the use of ranged weapons. I fantasize that pets can benefit you at range by assisting you by keeping enemies away/buffing you, while if you get to melee range they will fight to protect you in combat.

I didn’t pick this class to be a melee user. In fact, the reason I picked ranger rather than warrior was specifically because it should be a primarily ranged class. In the current state I would argue that we can almost be more effective as melee users than ranged, because of the fact that if you are standing next to the enemy, they don’t really move as much and my cats can kill them better.

Quarktastic.1027:

I think that all “balance suggestions” made by players are terrible. Most players aren’t game designers, and don’t know the first thing about properly balancing a class.

As for your suggestions, they would make the ranger abhorrently overpowered. This is usually what happens when people try to offer suggestions on how to fix or balance their favorite class.

Edit: I see you only mentioned bringing bow damage up to par with warrior weapon damage. This would completely invalidate the ranger’s other weapons.

Do you think CnD/Steal/Backstab while remaining 100% invisible was a balanced decision? Rangers need their raw damage output buffed and their pets nerfed down to being the ornaments they are. I’m talking like all pet basic attacks would hit for 75, so basically pets would be a condition damage it would be so minimal. On the otherhand, Ranger’s will hit like the trucks they truly should be at a distance. Now, Thieves and other stealthy units actually need to use their stealth to get in range rather than prancing through our AA and Barrage.

Quarktastic.1027:

I think that all “balance suggestions” made by players are terrible. Most players aren’t game designers, and don’t know the first thing about properly balancing a class.

As for your suggestions, they would make the ranger abhorrently overpowered. This is usually what happens when people try to offer suggestions on how to fix or balance their favorite class.

Edit: I see you only mentioned bringing bow damage up to par with warrior weapon damage. This would completely invalidate the ranger’s other weapons.

The fact that balance suggestions have to be made at all suggests that game designers don’t know the first thing about balancing a class either, and this applies across the board to just about every MMO out there. Often a game will start off well and deteriorate with nerfs and buffs as the devs try to cater to a fickle fanbase.

I would prefer it to be like the Hunter pet in WOW, where they get passive 90% damage reduction from AOE, so it’s a lot harder to take them down (or get killed by terrible AI in dungeons).

Ranger’s at the moment are “fairly” balanced. You don’t have the best damage out there, but you do have a lot of evasion, dodges, and evasion within attacks to compensate. So it has the built in survivability that a lot of other classes has to adjust for.

Their damage overall are sub-par considering other classes and their DPS spec, but not many of them have the sustainability and survivability a ranger has without sacrificing their DPS or more.

Rangers’ problems:

Some utilities are weak
Pets are too weak defensively and comprise too much of your offense.
Longbow is bugged