Guild Wars 2

Nenolih.6583:

I have the same problem as most others do and I feel like it’s the one biggest thing that currently feels annoying on rangers. The pets feel like they’re not always helping since it’s hard to spam F2 while also trying to use your rangers abilities so they also drag you down with their nonresponsiveness. I have the problem with all pets and not only the ones that require a target to use their abilities on but also pets that have boons that they give to allies like some Moas or the Fern hound. The fern hound feels especially nonresponsive with the aoe regeneration that I have to spam 5-7 times before it goes off.

Have you tried it since the patch this morning? If so: has it been improved? (it was supposed to in the patch notes for last night)

After the most recent patch, this issue seems to me to be completely fixed. Thanks, devs!

I am still having to mash F2 to get my pets to use abilties =(
Most of the time I wont even bother using their abilties anymore because of it…

Mike.9185:

yea my wolf pet’s fear is so slow making it sort of useless

and it chases a target for ages before using it a lot of the time. if target move then skill cancels…

It’s bear that I have the most problems with. Or the one that bothers me the most, when you really need that cure skill and you have to spam the skill but nothing happens :/ I have problems with all my pets but as I said, bear is the most annoying one, and Fern hound comes second

It does seem a little better, but still frustrated with my bears (which I’m using all the time practically while levellingsince they are good tanks).

hit F2.. wait.. oh I think it’s going to go off, look.. almost.. there it goes.. then 1 of 2 things happens. 1) oh crap, the mob moved, it was wasted or 2) bleh, the mob is dead already, wasted again .

On a more positive note, I love the maul animation for the bears. It’s cool

Ryan Diederich.8179:

A fix for part b) is in the works. This should also help mitigate the issues of part c) since you won’t have to mash F2 so much, though I am also aware of this issue.

Part a) varies depending on each pet, so perhaps a list of the ones that are particularly troublesome could help to get them looked at =)

I have been using the Brown and black bear the most. On both i still need to hit the F2 button a lot even after the last update. My black bear will sometimes have its F2 go on coll down and not use it after I press the F2 button a lot. Seems like maybe 1 in 20 it does it.
Side Note: I’m having a blast playing this game. There is so much to do and the game is gorgeous. ANet did a wonderfull job on it.

The F2 skill I will say is better then before, but there is still a delay and I think this may be due to the pet having to finish a combat animation before the F2 skill fires because it too has its own combat animation. Maybe canceling the animation or clipping it and making the F2 skill priority will make it better?

I definitely think they need a Pet UI, so you can at least control the pet around. It won’t be perfect but it’s better than to let the Pet do whatever.

why do the f2 abilities even have a cast animation? if i hit f2, i wanted that kitten to be used like yesterday, instead the bear is standing roaring where the target used to be and said target is now in my face

To Ryan D :

So far “a” has happened with every pet I’ve got. It’s essentially all of them. Some may be worse than others, but at best there’s a delay in ability use, assuming the ability triggers at all. Right now I don’t even bother with the F2 key, I just let the pet go its own way and match what I’m doing to what it chooses to do so I can get something out of having a pet.

Have their abilities to hit moving players in pvp seen any improvement? Probably not I’m guessing….

Angeredsoul.9354:

why do the f2 abilities even have a cast animation? if i hit f2, i wanted that kitten to be used like yesterday, instead the bear is standing roaring where the target used to be and said target is now in my face

My guess is for PvP. Having an animation gives a person time to evade, dodge or cast a block/retaliate ability.

Edit: typo

Not a solution but if you hold the F2 button down until activation instead of repeatedly hitting it, it will queue up as the next skill. I’ve bound the F2 skill to one of my mouse’s auxillary buttons and simply keep it pressed for the 1-3 seconds it takes to activate.

It is with most pets, if you try to use any lunge ability from the felines or any canine howl f2. The enemy players would be out of range of it long before it goes off. On top that some of the abilities of pets are broken like the blue moa’s protection buff that supposed to be like 12 secs is only 2 secs of protection. The White moa’s ability is completely broken as it does not work and just does 1 damage of chill and has wrong tool tips. Pets are useless in WvW since they die instantly to Aoe and have no way of dodging it. I think my most problem with our class is that we have so many traits and abilities that center around Pets yet they are so useless in PvP and WvW it really cuts our dps compared to our classes.

Still counting the days until my eagle actually uses it’s F2 skill, it hasn’t happened once yet.

They should make an obvious animation but still let the pet move and follow its target during. I’m blowing my war horn for a second or two, I’m still moving. There’s lightning beaming from that elementalist, must be using its auto attack scepter, its still moving. That cat just flexed standing completely still, better walk 3 steps sideways, it didn’t turn to face me, missed, there goes his F2 move.

With so much of our damage in our pets they should just do their F2 move without having to breath in 5 seconds of air (drake). Or at least make the pet chase the guy when doing it that way they can still dodge as they get the animation que of a drake breathing enough air to turn it into a Shrek balloon. For the cats and leaps, warrior sword 2, instant leap. But even if the cat had to flex it could still turn facing its target allowing for the skill to not be wasted 90%. Even if they leave it as is, then put the skill on an interrupt CD if it misses.

I also agree with F2 having highest priority and the only moves it shouldn’t interrupt are things like the devourers dig retreat but making it the next thing it does when it resurfaces.

The points I see that need urgent fixing:

- Pets need to home in on their target, rather than running in straight lines.

- Pets need to attack while moving, and not stop before attacking, because even mobs can dodge pet attacks. The only way I can get my pet to do damage if it doesn’t have aggro, is by going melee.

- Pet F2 skills need to be executed on the move as well, and have an animation/charge-up of no longer than one second, and be near instant in cases such as condition removal.

- All pets need a 75% AOE damage resistance, including damage from auto attack cleave swings from players. As is now, pets are useless in PVP against professions such as warriors and guardians, they simply destroy our pets without even targeting them. If a player wants to kill a pet, then that should only be possible by targeting the pet. No other profession can have its profession-mechanic negated like this. We are balanced around our pets, so they should not be so easily destroyed.

I am greatly in favour of having our pets be a significant part of our power, but right now in PVP and in dungeons, we might as well have no pets at all, because they never last more than two seconds. I do think pets should be a high priority on the fix-list, because a ranger without a pet, which is the case in dungeons and PVP as I said, they die instantly there, is just a very weak character.

I tried out to see how the F2 abilities was working for me today, tried eagle and raven.
Did this in PVE btw.
Both used their F2 ability with one press of the button, and almost immediately.
However I also noticed that the F2 icon didn’t start flashing until the pet was almost done with their F2 ability, kept flashing a little after they were done, and then went on cooldown.
So it doesn’t seem like you can accurately judge if/when your pet is using it’s F2 ability based on the F2 icon.
Cannot say if this is the case with any other pets.

Zsymon.8457:

The points I see that need urgent fixing:

- Pets need to home in on their target, rather than running in straight lines.

- Pets need to attack while moving, and not stop before attacking, because even mobs can dodge pet attacks. The only way I can get my pet to do damage if it doesn’t have aggro, is by going melee.

- Pet F2 skills need to be executed on the move as well, and have an animation/charge-up of no longer than one second, and be near instant in cases such as condition removal.

- All pets need a 75% AOE damage resistance, including damage from auto attack cleave swings from players. As is now, pets are useless in PVP against professions such as warriors and guardians, they simply destroy our pets without even targeting them. If a player wants to kill a pet, then that should only be possible by targeting the pet. No other profession can have its profession-mechanic negated like this. We are balanced around our pets, so they should not be so easily destroyed.

I agree totally u point all the real problem and give great solution. we clearly need these changes.

I will up this post until i know we have been heard

The ranger community NEEDS some kind of acknowledgment from the devs regarding our pets not being able to hit moving targets and what will be done about it. There are over 20 rangers in my guild alone that are ditching this class entirely because of how kittened they feel at level 80 in pvp and WvW. This is really sad because I doubt we are alone in realizing this. As soon as players catch up and hit 80 they are faced with a cold hard truth. Pets don’t pull their weight at all….

Devs, please tell us this issue is being worked on!

If nothing else, it would be helpful if the F2 ability started flashing when you hit it, so that the UI at least acknowledges that you want your pet to do the action when it gets around to it.

However, like a real cat, I tell my lynx pet to bleed my enemy and he ignores me …

@ jonG.

Mate, check the first page, a dev has replied to this topic and he said that it’s in the works momentarily.

To the rest, if we really want to help in this matter. We should come with a list, or at least a few pets that have this problem a lot, that’s what the dev said and sounds logic to me.

And then I should come with an example….

That I don’t have lol.
But it’s the way to go atm…

@ Bast Bow

According to the patch updates, it seems the devs think that the issues are already fixed: the notes said that “responsiveness and AI” have been improved.. neither of which have been actually improved in the game to a point where pets are in any way useful in dungeons and player combat.

I don’t think this is a problem with specific pets, this seems to be an issue with the core code of how pets are programmed. I don’t think the answer lies with trying to fix the most problematic pets, the core code itself needs to be completely overhauled so that pets can home in on their target, can attack while moving, so they stick on their target without losing dps, and that special abilities are executed right away, canceling all other actions, without putting previously queued actions on cooldown.

Much older games have done this successfully, so I am sure Anet is able to make this work now as well if they decide to give it attention.

Small fixes are not the answer for Ranger pets, F2 responsiveness is just one of about four major problems that I’ve seen with pets so far. Pets will not be useful until all the four problems I mentioned before have been adequately solved:

1. Homing in on target.
2. Attacking while moving.
3. F2 executing right away AND while moving.
4. 75% AoE damage reduction so pets last longer than 2 seconds.

Just improving the F2 responsiveness of a few pets, really won’t make any difference, right now the Ranger profession mechanic is completely broken in pvp and dungeons, and without solving all four problems, there may even be more that I’m not aware of at this point, pets will not become any less useless.

Another option would be leaving pets broken and making Ranger abilities stronger, but I don’t think that is very elegant.

I mean, none of these things are actually upgrades or boosts, they don’t make Rangers more powerful, they just make our mechanic work as it should work.

The Ranger/Hunter profession is always very popular in any MMO, so I do think it is worth it for Anet to repair the Ranger mechanic, as right now many Rangers are quitting the game. They bought the game because they wanted to play a Ranger, and if they cannot because of broken mechanics, and have no hope of any upcoming repairs, they just quit, and many seem to be doing just that now, which I think is very sad because this game is amazing: IMO the first top quality MMO since World of Warcraft, and I think the only one for quite a while.

Personally I love the Ranger profession because it lets me play a “nature guardian”, a forest warrior, it allows me to play melee rather than be forced in a ranged/bow position. Few games allow for such an option, so I will keep playing Ranger even if it takes months for our mechanic to be repaired. I do hope it will be sooner.

My Jellyfish’s responsiveness has definitely been improved drastically. Which means, there is still a delay, but 99% of the time, I can rely on the skill going off.

However, I see virtually zero AI improvement. My pets still
a) run ahead of me when I come to a stop, aggroing mobs I was trying to carefully pull
b) in case of my Jellyfish, do not attack stationary targets (like turrets) with me
c) STAND IN THE FIRE (for anyone who doesn’t know that joke: they do not avoid ground-targetted skills, not even by running, something even mobs manage to do every now and then)
d) can only attack while stationary (which is probably why c) happens)

Devs,

Zsymon just summed it up quite nicely.

Zsymon.8457:

… Pets will not be useful until all the four problems I mentioned before have been adequately solved:

1. Homing in on target.
2. Attacking while moving.
3. F2 executing right away AND while moving.
4. 75% AoE damage reduction so pets last longer than 2 seconds.

…

I mean, none of these things are actually upgrades or boosts, they don’t make Rangers more powerful, they just make our mechanic work as it should work …

It will make us much more powerful, or pets will actually do something useful and increase pvp ranger damage. We will be able to fear people on que, lightning or flame someones face off, instead of the useless air where they were. MORE POWER!!!!

Ryan Diederich.8179:

Part a) varies depending on each pet, so perhaps a list of the ones that are particularly troublesome could help to get them looked at =)

The brown Bears “Shake it off” ability is the most anoying for me. A lot of times it activates to late or not at all

I agree with Zsymons post but also want to note that we also need some of the traits fixed as well.

Oh thank god I am not the only one, and I am glad to see this is being looked in to.

I also get annoyed when I use an f2 that is a support skill, and my pet (whom I often keep on “avoid combat mode” just to have F2 readily available during pvp) will run into the fray AWAY from me. It’s just silly. Stand there and cure my condition, you silly animal.

noticed this today in PvP, the pet is just a waste of space. Even on guard he will not attack my foes hitting me, unless I press F1, multiple times. F2, have to mash it like ten times then it goes to cooldown before he even does it.
Pets need a fix for sure

I have to put my 5 cent in here as well.

I would say it applies to all pets, at least I have these problems with all pets.

Pets with cone attacks are also just hilarious. From when the attack is triggered they stay still and in the same direction. So if the mob moves a little bit around the pet is just blowing of its cone attack in the wrong direction. That with the long delay from trigger to effect it is just not useable.

Currently the pets are a joke unfortunately, they can’t keep aggro for shi* and their special abilities are often not hitting anything.

But I hope many of these issues are considered bugs and will be fixed in due time.

Did the previous patch break this again!?

Last night I noticed I was back to spamming my pet skill to get it to go off. It was working fine as of a few days ago! What happened?

This is a major headache for me, particularly bad with Eagle/Hawk.

Ranger Pets are broken. My respond to F1-F4 approximately 50% of the time. So frustrating and so broken still…

Just let it cancel everything and attack without delay. Is it that hard? Nobody needs hour long animations that are just a nerf/headache for this already bad class.

Also, another bug, if you swap to a lynx or any other pet with a dash and you use F2 too fast, it jumps into the direction it looked at when swapping instead to the target.

Broken F2 skills. Take waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too long to cast – just forget about trying to hit anything that moves AT ALL with any of the f2 skills- by the time it has finished casting your enemy will have gone off, made coffee, had a break and will still come back in time to move 3 inches to the left to evade the attack.

Considering pets are supposed to be a major part of our damage (according to ANet) this lack of functionality sucks.

Take off all cast times on F2 skills would be a good start, and would enable people to use ranger pet skills in battles BEFORE they are all over.

Trimethicon.7405:

I wish the pets were something we could chose to not use. Their overall ineffectiveness and constant micro-management are a burden. I wish they were a Trait we would spec into, similar to GW1.

You arent alone, I and many others feel hatred towards being forced to have a pet.

The skill just needs to activate as the animation begins, rather than on completion.

Hmm, so the fix was in the works 4 months ago as the dev stated on the first page. What happened?

Nvm. guess they never even intented to fix the long delay in f2.

Go to the norn starting zone and do the snowleopard shaman thingy where he transforms you into a cat, you literally can’t use any of the skills while moving and I’m betting that works exactly like our pets because it seems so.

*FERN HOUND: * F2 gets interrupted if the pet decides to attack, has been attacked, or decides to move. The pet also does not cast its skill if it is already attacking.

It also takes incredibly long to activate.

Adding my voice to the broken pets issue.

My wolf in WvW is horibbly unreliable. Sometimes his fear casts, mostly it doesnt. It always takes a min of 5 attempts to get it to queue up and by the time he gets to the guy I want feared, he’s dead from aoe, the target has moved, the target has died or he just misses.

My fern wolf on the other hand only ever works after all the enemy are dead. using him in a fight is not worth the button press.

I’ve tried some of the other pets and they are also hit and miss, so basically in WvW I don’t really pay much attention to what the pets off doing. When one dies bring out the next, once they are both dead my play changes not at all.

That said my shark is awesome as is my armourfish.

I wish this was the case with the land pets.

This is Still broken the f2 ability is slow and unresponsive on most if not all pets ive tested

Its not specific pets, its all of them (at least land based, haven’t tested underwater ones).

Brown bear F2 ability is shifty as well. It’s a bit hard to time it well cause the bear often rushes away from you and towards the enemy before wasting the skill like a moron. Even calling it to you and then using the skill doesn’t work, you basically have to switch the bear to defensive mode, make sure it disengages from combat and then press f2 when it’s standing idly right next to you.

Wenissa.2967:

I’ve tried some of the other pets and they are also hit and miss, so basically in WvW I don’t really pay much attention to what the pets off doing. When one dies bring out the next, once they are both dead my play changes not at all.
.

You’re doing it wrong ..

Angela Ranna.5638:

This is kind of a nuisance, but I’ve noticed a workaround:

If you pet swap often, then the pet’s f2 skill often isn’t up before it’s changed out. When the pet first comes out, before it uses another skill, tell it to f2.

Although it’s not always at an ideal time and it’s still a little finicky (like bears need a target before you f2 or they’ll just swing at the air), at least I can get at least one f2 skill off with ease on each pet swap. Something to try while we wait for a fix.

Not accurate.

All pet abilities, including F2, reset on swaps. This has been discussed, tested and confirmed in other threads.

Should make pet F2 skill has the priority no matter what pet is doing atm since the moment we cast F2 is just the right moment we need it.
Normally I hit F2 for 5x times to make sure it is casted since I notice the success rate of single button-push is only ~20%.