Guild Wars 2

ANet just released some initial details about specializations:

• Specializations, Part One: A Primer
• Specializations, Part Two: Reward Tracks and Elite Specializations
• Guild Wars 2 Interviews: Specializations Define Roles in Heart of Thorns

Credit goes to Menaka.5092 for bringing this to our attention in the Mesmer sub-forum:

• https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Specializations/first#content

The net benefit or loss for rangers all depends on how traits get merged.

For example, in marksmanship, there’s way too much in that tree right now.
Even if we end up getting something cool like remorseless being built in passive and replaced with something that increases the active/passive effects of signets, that would be ridiculous to take, since you miss out on the big damage buffs.

There should be a pretty huge shuffle to allow rangers that same feeling of other classes- of actually specializing- rather than being stuck having to take the better of two great traits in one spec while struggling to decide between 3 mediocre traits in the other specs.

The big issue with ranger is that our build viability for PvE is extremely limited- we don’t have the issue that say, warriors have where they have the option to go phalanx strength vs full dps.

At most, we have longbow only or mixed dps traits- both of which currently use the same trait line.

As a result, we don’t gain much damage or team support-wise from this unless there are some really radical merges and movements- or druid spec turns out to be 100% take.

I could see the meta shifting to Wilderness Survival for peak strength, but then what happens to the Ferocity from Skirmishing? That’s a LOT of ferocity that if lost or depleted, will be very detrimental to Ranger’s state in the game- especially considering all the obvious toys that other professions will be getting.

As a result, I’m cautiously optimistic. There’s a really big potential here for a good rework of ranger traits- big changes are needed for all lines for specializations to be effective.

When the minor traits in Skirmishing are worth more than major traits elsewhere, something needs to be heavily redone.

Suggestions include more offensive team support and more personal damage buffs spread across multiple trait lines. Pet traits are ridiculously weak due to the inconsistency of pets- these should be heavily merged. Traps see no use in PvE- They’re basically bonus weapon skills except that they provide no major effect other than damage, soft cc, and condis- all of which are outclassed by other utilities in PvE, especially considering the trait investment needed to get them barely effective.

I’d like to see Marksmanship focus on Bow traits, Skirmishing focus on Melee traits, Wilderness Survival on survival skills (like, why are Martial Mastery and Off-Hand training in there?) signets, and traps- Nature Magic on Spirits and Shouts- perhaps much more condensed, and more spirit buffs i.e. a grandmaster trait that increases the effectiveness of the spirit passives for example. And Beastmastery would take all the pet stuff, heavily condensed where each trait would cover a broad spectrum of effects depending on the pet used.

EDIT: Rangers just have so many things that aren’t properly supported- We have Pets, Signets, Shouts, Traps, Survival skills, Spirits, and Weapons. It’s extremely cluttered, and finding a useful place for everything will be difficult.

EDIT 2: Another option would be to merge signet and weapon traits- not just in the same line, but actually together. Like, Sword gets 20% coodown reduction, AND when you use a signet you and your pet get might. Something like that.

With the stats being removed from the trait_lines/specializations, I think we could see an improvement to our melee builds with this as we won’t be “penalized” for investing points into Nature Magic or Wilderness Survival when running a Berzerker meta. This could open up some more options for increasing our melee damage. The same for our beastmastery.

Speaking of which … I’m curious if our pets will have their base stats improved any to make up for the fact that we won’t be able to give them bonus stats via Beastmastery. This would be in line with what they said about reducing the base cooldowns of Elementalist Attunements since they will no longer have cooldown reduction via the trait_lines/specializations.

THAT could also be a big improvement to Ranger builds that were putting few (or zero) points into beastmastery.

If conditions actually get improved to be truly viable in PvE, then we could also benefit from this as well given that those traits are spread out.

be “penalized” for investing points into Nature Magic or Wilderness Survival when running a Berzerker meta. This could open up some more options for increasing our melee damage. The same for our beastmastery.

We already aren’t- The ranger PvE build 6/5/0/3/0 is the only PvE berserker meta build for a reason- no other trait lines provide anything offensive or team supportive. It’s not like warrior where they invest 6 points to get phalanx strength and lose out on damage because of that.

Rangers only have the one build that doesn’t sacrifice anything outside of mediocre traits and some longbow bonuses. If anything, Rangers will lose out because of the loss of Ferocity from Skirmishing.

You’re comparing a Ranger full DPS build that provides a little support to the Warrior Phalanx Strength build … not the Warrior full DPS build.

Yes, Phalanx Strength would get even better if the traits stay in their current specializations. It still isn’t their full DPS spec though.

You’re also neglecting what I said about pets getting stronger as they should be getting roughly +150 points to all stats across the board to be in line with what they were saying they would be doing for Elementalist for attunement cooldowns.

Part of that 6/5/0/3/0 is the traits in it, but it’s also that those are our Power/Precision/Ferocity trait lines. Since it has both they are no-brainers as far as allocations.

Once you remove those traits, other doors may possibly open up.

Lastly, there is more to the game than PvE meta runs. While I enjoy them, I and several others also enjoy the other aspects of the game. I could see some more Greatsword Rangers in PvP being very happy that they are not losing out on direct damage stats by getting Two-Handed Training for the extra 5% damage and Fury procs.

What doors though? Even if you remove the stats, the remaining traits are lackluster- the major trait in nature magic is better than any of the grandmaster traits in skirmishing, for example.

The biggest thing outside of those lines for dps ranger is the 10% over 90% HP in Survival. But none of those traits in that line offer much for PvE rangers.

There are SO many options for PvE and PvP rangers that they haven’t come up with. What about a grandmaster trait that makes traps blind or stun enemies? What about a grandmaster trait that makes signets more powerful overall?

Ranger has so few offensively build defining traits that there aren’t any doors opened up.

Also unless pets become more controllable, any pet buffs are essentially void.

You’re complaining about a lack of multiple PvE meta builds. Everyone has that because the numbers have been crunched and there are optimal choices that give you a higher +% dmg and/or your group a higher +% dmg than the alternatives.

Unless every line has the same +%s on scenarios with the same “up-time”, this is going to happen … because there are always those who game and can do math … and we crunch the numbers.

That aside, it opens up build diversity. You no longer have to think “I want that trait, but I don’t want to give up these stats”. Now it’s a comparison of Traits vs Traits … nothing else “muddying the waters”.

I wonder if the druid is the spec getting 6 new shouts, feels like it fits to me and would be nice to actually get some decent shouts but I imagine not since they implied they want to give more classes access to shouts due to runes.

Also going to enjoy seeing the mass culling of Beastmaster Adept traits, and finally get some condensing down in our Marksman line/Longbow traits.

That’s not true, Sebrent. Eles have multiple builds depending on whether they want to stack might or what weapons they’re using. Thieves can trait for more stealth or sustain along with dps.

Warriors can go full dps or support the team with tons of might.

Engis have a whole mess of stuff.

Rangers just have Spotter and Frost Spirit- which are both part of the meta build.
Have you looked at all the ranger traits? There’s nothing that opens up anything unique.

Like, given the current traits, regardless of reasonable combinations, it boils down to whether you want 10% damage from flanking or being over 90% health.

Rangers only have one role, one option, in PvE.
It does not open build diversity. Have you looked at the traits for rangers?
Other than Predator’s Instinct or Read the Wind, they are essentially useless for team support or CC, or DPS. They’re pretty much either trivial (50% more damage for one attack after an interrupt) or passively defensive.

I’m not complaining- I’m providing criticism and I’ve offered suggestions. I was of the opinion that Ranger was in a fine spot- but this change up means that ranger may fall behind. I’ve provided specific examples- you’re just generalizing and broadly speculating.

We don’t know what Druid will bring. You could run zerker with spirits unbond with your choice of nature voice or nature’s vengeance. Invigorating bond is the greatest but it does provide support that coupled with vigorous training.

Some of our traits will be merged and new trait will be incoming. Don’t dismiss anything until we have a full picture.

(1) We have zero clue what changes will come to the various traits

(2) We have zero clue whether any traits will/won’t move to different specializations

(3) We have zero clue what the new specialization is going to do for us

(4) We have zero clue what the new weapon is going to do for us

(5) Several other classes PvE meta builds have this same issue … look at the PvE meta builds forThief as a prime example. They do not have this flexibility you’re talking about. They are fully traited for DPS. Please take a look at the “Phalanx Strength” and “Traditional S/F LH” team compositions on Metabattle. Power Grenadier is in the same boat.

After seeing how much the Trait System is being revamped (i.e. replaced with a new Specializations System), I’m surprised anyone is so bold as to assert what we can/can’t do given all of the information we still don’t know. What else is getting revamped?

The options you provided don’t provide any extra DPS options for the area you spoke about either except increasing Signet strength.

You highlighted one aspect where this could potentially open doors … “the Major trait in Nature Magic is better than any of the Grandmaster traits in Skirmishing”. Well, because of the removal of stat points from Specializations, you can choose to go down the Nature Magic line more without sacrificing DPS stats.

PS build is 0/5/0/6/3, DPS build is 6/5/0/0/3
Smash those together and you get 6/6/0/6/0 with full dps AND phalanx strength.
S/F LH + dps Staff gets 6/6/0/6/0 as well, taking the 10% bonus damage from water.
engis, who normally use 6/6/x/x/x can trait into tools or alchemy, which provide large buffs.
Thieves as well get a lot more sustain and damage from more initiative from their last line.

Rangers… Rangers just finish the same three lines they’ve been taking this whole time.

We already take the trait in nature magic- I mis-typed and that should be “Minor Master” not major- the one where boons on you get shared with your pet. That’s already taken. Nothing else in Nature Magic is worth taking for offense or support.

All I’m saying is that with this change, Rangers should probably get a bigger look at because given their current setup they will require quite a lot of effort to stay relevant.

It’s true that we don’t know what the new specialization will bring- it could be really cool.

I’m all for waiting and seeing- but why not voice my concerns now rather than later when things are already fully out of development, and changes will have to go through bureaucracy in order to apply? Considering the mess ups recently with Frost Spirit getting bugged and pet guard getting bugged, is it not worth it to consider that ranger might need some extra love?

Like, look at the Ranger Grandmaster traits- out of all of them, only the ones in Marksmanship are useful at all in PvE- and in Marksmanship, Read the Wind is situational, and Remorseless is completely outclassed by Predator’s Onslaught.

The others are all trivial or do not support the team or provide much control.

Like, say, my trap daze/stun example- wouldn’t that be cool for PvP? It would fit the idea of a hunter, and if you used those trap runes that stealth you, you’d be a force to reckon with.

Or how about a trait that spreads boons to allies when a pet uses an F2 skill? That would be so cool, and very beastmaster/nature magic-y.

Or a trait that spreads a few boons when a ranger uses a shout or signet?

Or a trait that allows rangers to pass signet passives or actives to teammates?

Or a trait that allows rangers to do bonus damage when swapping from melee weapons to ranged and vice versa?

I can do this all day.

Or a trait that increases the power or health of spirits?

Or a trait that increases the duration of cripples/immobilizes?

Or a trait that applies regen to allies on evade?

Or a trait that lets you do a small amount of bonus damage or vulnerability after an evade?

Or a trait that gives you a bonus chance to apply vulnerability with longbow attacks?

I’m sure these have downsides, but they’re just ideas. Ideas to be taken, thrown around, dropped, and passed, and changed.