Guild Wars 2

On the pet being a core class mechanic —

Personally I love the idea of ranger & pet being closely linked, working together as one. Not “I” but “we.”

But this simply doesn’t work yet in GW2. In order for it to work, we need the pet to be competent (e.g. pathfinding, attacking while moving). We also need fine control over it. We need it to respond instantly when commanded. We need it to not stand in the fire (or to be able to shrug it off). And, unless there’s a very special reason, we need skills like signets to affect both of us by default.

If all that happens, I’ll be very happy with the idea that the Ranger is a permanently pet-bound class.

But honestly, I don’t think it will happen. And if it doesn’t, I’d very much appreciate some other options. Can you imagine if a dual-wielding warrior could only control his right arm, and all warriors were REQUIRED to dual-wield?

One option might be to replace the pet with a permanent nature spirit. Could be interesting for support builds (assuming spirits in general become worthwhile after the patch). Plus, if your pet is always physically getting in the way, you can try something less corporeal!

Another option might be to go more abstract, and have Norn-style “animal spirit blessings” that provide different abilities or buffs. Random example: “Blessing of the Turtle” gives you a slowly-recharging health shield, suitable for surviving burst damage.

(Again, these are OPTIONS. Imagine a row of Spirits and a row of Blessings added to the existing pet selection table — mix and match as you see fit.)

/enddream

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

definitelly !
Why am i so stunned due to this video ? Warr hits 20k + wtf ? Thief backstab 20k+ wtf ? Why me as a ranger hit max about 3k (LB autoshot + max distance ……..) ?
I know it’s wvw, but still … i though the ranger class is fine whenever i was playing for it such as spvp and wvw untill i look around.

Give us something like Aimed shot from the halloween event.
I rly enjoyed the principe of the shot

AFTER WATCHING THAT VIDEO IM AM LIKE WTF

i was thinking that my 1.2kdmg + quick zephyr is good, no it is not
ppl are just out runing me ;(

This video is really painful to watch.

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

Rangers are never going to be like that.

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

This is why I LOL when I hear people say Killshot is fine because it’s easy to dodge.

It’s only easy to dodge if you’re a half wit and open with it while face to face or follow up with it after volley when the target knows he’s being shot at. It’s virtually undetectable if someone snipes with it from the back in mass pvps. Not to mention there’s no counter to it when they fear you and follow up with it.

And this thing has gone untouched since BWE2.

Don’t you know? Anet loves warriors. The only reason they implemented the other classes is so that they can roflstomp them.

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

After watching that I don’t even feel like playing a ranger anymore lol…

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

And people wonder why we think they are full kitten when they claim to be fixing the ranger. They will never nerf the warrior and they will never buff us to that kind of ability which means we will always be the lol ranged damage dealers.

And if anyone mentions pets they will immediately be branded someone who has never actually used a ranger in WvW, ever…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Hh5zjK7ITpQ

Just substitute any instance of the word “Elementalist” with the word “Ranger”.

Also, substitute the part where he talks about “Dragon’s Tooth” and insert “Pet”.

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

Oh my god.

I’m moderately glass-cannon built and that is literally 10x my usual combined damage from myself and pet, and it looks like he’s able to do some kind of repeating damage while charging his laser as well. AND IT’S APPARENTLY SPLASH DAMAGE. WHAT.

And I thought I was pissed when I found out that RANGErs have no more range than any other class using a ranged weapon.

It’s like every other class in the game is splitting the atom and we’re still sitting here sharpening sticks.

Substance E.4852:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Hh5zjK7ITpQ

Just substitute any instance of the word “Elementalist” with the word “Ranger”.

Also, substitute the part where he talks about “Dragon’s Tooth” and insert “Pet”.

I need to go buy a new desk; the state this one is in after the powerful beating it took from my skull as I watched this is beyond repair.

These videos are making me a very sad Ranger. Guess it’s time to level my warrior and thief.

You all do not understand anything! Ranger is not about damage! Ranger is about … about… eeem… ranger, after all, can…. eem… well… i mean… he is about…….
oooooouh =(
But rangers are fine! Yes yes! My pet can do crit for 4k … sometimes … once in a while.. yes. Fine. :|

this vid makes me happy because i pwn warriors most of the time

- Pets now able to attack while moving, not rooting them (fixes 90% of the pets problems)

- Longbow range increased to 1800, 2300 when traited, missile speed increased by 150%. (this fixes out of range quite well)

- Spirits invulnerable and following by default, uptime increased by 50%, better buffs when traited (this fixes spirits)

- Shortbow attack rate increased by 50% (so pre nerf) for condition builds, longbow damage increased by 50%, to make it on par with other professions (thief + warrior excluded as always)

Is it seriously that hard? This thread is full of videos showing what’s wrong with ranger and we’re alrady waiting for months to get it fixed. I’m currently leveling my lvl47 Mesmer and i don’t see any point of ever coming back to my Ranger as it is now.

Thinking about it 16 changes isn’t really a lot when these probably include the changes that we didn’t get last patch.

I’m not going to pretend I have the fixes – let me know what the problems would be with these changes:

PETS:

Pets should attack on the run: Pets use natural weapons. How the hell is a pet supposed to catch food if it has to stop to attack it’s prey? Makes 0 sense.

Pets need to get out of the way of red circles somehow.

I find my pets inconsistently hardy. Sometimes they tank, other times they are one-shotted. If there is nothing left to be done about it, make the “My pet needs help!” bit play before they actually die :/

SPIRITS:

I love using spirits. Their passive and active radii should be a bit larger. No way should they follow you with 0 trait points. Spirits unbound makes their use viable in dungeons and higher levels. But if anything, an option to anchor a moving spirit would be invaluable.

WEAPONS:

Example of a weapon tweak: Serpent’s Strike, at launch, would create a nice arc around the enemy. Now, occasionally, it flips out and you wind up 5 yards away from your enemy with your back toward them, and striking at thin air.

Rooting: As much as I like to pretend I’m a barbarian in a rage, sometimes it’s useful to be able to stop attacking and get out of the way before you die.

I don’t use shouts, signets, or traps in general for two reasons: 1 because I’m told they are sub-par, and 2 because I personally don’t find them fun. That might change, but I have no suggestions thereabouts.

Levetty.1279:

Destin.2460:

Levetty.1279:

So 16 for Ranger and 30 for Engineer?

Each point for Ranger better be filled to the brim with changes and the 30 for Engineers better involve nerfs to Grenades and bomb kits otherwise that is completely unfair.

I just have a feeling this patch won’t be enough now and the few changes they are doing to Mesmer that patch will probably be nerfing shatter builds meaning that the game will basically be dead to me as I don’t feel like leveling up another character so soon.

are you kidding? I have a engineer and a ranger, both are subpar right now. Thank god you aren’t in any kind of game development because nerfing is the exact opposite of what needs to be done in gw2. All classes should be on equal ground, and I’d rather be brought up to the best damage level in the game than bring all the other classes down to a lower level.

Engineers do stupidly large amounts of AoE damage in those kits. No class should be able to do that, Eles are probably number 2 in terms of AoE and not even they can keep up. I’m fed up of these Engineer lies that they are sub par, maybe stuff like Pistol or flamethrower kit needs some improvements but Grenades and bomb Kit are some of the most OP stuff in the game and needs nerfs, even more so if Kits get stats from weapons.

Comparing Engineers to Rangers is a Joke. Rangers need buffs in practically every area and their unique mechanic at the moment is actually making them even worse. As I said I don’t think 16 bullet points will be enough especially if it is mostly bug fixes but we will shall see what they are.

First of all, this thread is about rangers not engineers.

Second, your argument is flawed. It’s really not that hard to dodge grenades and bombs. If you find these two weapon kits overpowered you should learn to dodge and sway. It’s not that hard. Bombs and grenades are much harder to land considering they are ground targeted. They’re fine.

Instead of saying x is overpowered, how about improving other aspects of a profession to make everything else on par. You’re wanting ArenaNet to nerf the engineer’s only viable source of damage apart from the rifle, which isn’t fair.

As far as rangers go, the only thing I can think of to add is that every single aspect of this profession needs work. It’s a mess.

Skychok.7854:

Second, your argument is flawed. It’s really not that hard to dodge grenades and bombs. If you find these two weapon kits overpowered you should learn to dodge and sway. It’s not that hard. Bombs and grenades are much harder to land considering they are ground targeted. They’re fine.

Instead of saying x is overpowered, how about improving other aspects of a profession to make everything else on par. You’re wanting ArenaNet to nerf the engineer’s only viable source of damage apart from the rifle, which isn’t fair.

This thread is about rangers, please stay on topic!

Skychok.7854:

Levetty.1279:

Destin.2460:

Levetty.1279:

So 16 for Ranger and 30 for Engineer?

Each point for Ranger better be filled to the brim with changes and the 30 for Engineers better involve nerfs to Grenades and bomb kits otherwise that is completely unfair.

I just have a feeling this patch won’t be enough now and the few changes they are doing to Mesmer that patch will probably be nerfing shatter builds meaning that the game will basically be dead to me as I don’t feel like leveling up another character so soon.

are you kidding? I have a engineer and a ranger, both are subpar right now. Thank god you aren’t in any kind of game development because nerfing is the exact opposite of what needs to be done in gw2. All classes should be on equal ground, and I’d rather be brought up to the best damage level in the game than bring all the other classes down to a lower level.

Engineers do stupidly large amounts of AoE damage in those kits. No class should be able to do that, Eles are probably number 2 in terms of AoE and not even they can keep up. I’m fed up of these Engineer lies that they are sub par, maybe stuff like Pistol or flamethrower kit needs some improvements but Grenades and bomb Kit are some of the most OP stuff in the game and needs nerfs, even more so if Kits get stats from weapons.

Comparing Engineers to Rangers is a Joke. Rangers need buffs in practically every area and their unique mechanic at the moment is actually making them even worse. As I said I don’t think 16 bullet points will be enough especially if it is mostly bug fixes but we will shall see what they are.

First of all, this thread is about rangers not engineers.

Second, your argument is flawed. It’s really not that hard to dodge grenades and bombs. If you find these two weapon kits overpowered you should learn to dodge and sway. It’s not that hard. Bombs and grenades are much harder to land considering they are ground targeted. They’re fine.

Instead of saying x is overpowered, how about improving other aspects of a profession to make everything else on par. You’re wanting ArenaNet to nerf the engineer’s only viable source of damage apart from the rifle, which isn’t fair.

As far as rangers go, the only thing I can think of to add is that every single aspect of this profession needs work. It’s a mess.

Using that logic Ranger SB might as well do 20000 damage per hit. It won’t be OP because it can be dodged and the rest of the Ranger stuff will still be sub par.

Also don’t complain about people being off topic and then spend the rest of your post defending one of the most OP things in the game.

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

Actually, the whole issue here is really not ranger dps, or burst damage, but rather that Anet allows burst damage of this magnitude in the first place.
Pvp should never be about one shotting ppl, that has never lead to any good in any game. Pvp should be about outsmarting your opponent, not having abilities that are more or less “1-key-mashing-to-win”.

I can honestly not believe the number of mistakes introduced in this game, mistakes that I recognise all to well from other class based games, be it mmo or some other genre. Considering they implemented pvp in GW1 almost to perfection for a class based games, it feels they’ve had lots of ‘outside’ influence this time around, since clearly this could not have been their intention from the get go?

Stealth classes will always introduce many hard to fix op scenarios, the fact that they actually introduced the mechanic in this game seems like they were more interested in beating wow than to maintain and improve their own franchise.

ya the rifle is crazy.

i have a lvl 80 warrior alt in full exotics. so i thought i would go try it out for a bit.
didn’t want to spend alot of gold to just play around with it for a bit so i left him with his knights gear but did make him the zerker trinkets as i had most all the mats for them. so my crit damage isn’t what it could have been.

i was getting 12k to 15k crits. the funny one was on a thief, he went invis in the middle of my cast but kill shot tracked him anyways and hit him for 14k.

my rapid fire(which is half the channel time of rangers) was pushing close to 10k on some of them.

also i wasn’t playing it all that great, yet. i am use to my balance build and having mostly def skills loaded. so i kept forgetting to use my signets and such to stack might. when i try it again tonight i might have to run with the zerg and see if i can get a few bigger hits.

Makes you wonder why people still play their Rangers.
When i come across newcomers and they play ranger i already whisper them to better switch classes before they quit the game at level 80.
Those 16 bullet points are nowhere what is needed for Ranger. Probably 80% skillinfo fixes.

Arekai.5698:

Makes you wonder why people still play their Rangers.
When i come across newcomers and they play ranger i already whisper them to better switch classes before they quit the game at level 80.
Those 16 bullet points are nowhere what is needed for Ranger. Probably 80% skillinfo fixes.

Well, bullet points is pretty vague.

But, what worries me is that I haven’t seen JonPeters or anyone specifically mention ranger damage at all(I could have missed it). All the signets and bug fixes are great and all, but between our useless pets and super low damage scaling(compared to other classes), fixing signets and shouts isn’t likely to help us in the grand balance scheme.

I do appreciate “quality of life changes” and bug fixes, but I hope they are doing some more impactful things as well.

build angry bird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjsJcjJzrnI

was about time that we get some tweaks and improvements.

That angry bird build makes me wanna laugh. Everytime he nearly uses all of his cooldowns. With that also my Lnyx is doing up to 4k damage sometimes and I am not damage skilled. He played always against newbies. If they would know that the pet is making most of the damage and can be killed very easily in 2-3 hits they would have won nearly all fights.
In addition the video shows me how useless the sword is.
Also the build gives no support to teammates for tpvp…just another hot-join “yeah my ranger makes damage” build. But Cooldowns beyond 60 sec are not useful to me.

While I have no hopes of REAL issues being addressed any time soon, I hope they put into consideration that the entire endgame is pvp focused. What this means is that regardless of their ‘vision’ of these classes, they need to be able to balance from a metagame standpoint.

Rangers just don’t cut it. And for a game that they claim the end result is for people to be able to play whatever they want how they want and still be effective, the dream falls short of the reality.

Guys there’s really nothing wrong with Ranger! I swear!

luckyfortune.5071:

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

After watching that I don’t even feel like playing a ranger anymore lol…

I feel like someone punched me in the face watching this.

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

I wish I didn’t see that video…
I thought I was doing good with my glass canon build…..
Now I feel puny :|

Arekai.5698:

Guys there’s really nothing wrong with Ranger! I swear!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh5zjK7ITpQ

^—- Number 2, Number 2, Number 2 and he’s down, LOL.

Moving on, I think they’ll give a lot of needed improvements which will make me happy, but it’ll be accompanied by nerfs which will make me sad. Ultimately I’ll be thankful for even a nerf at this point.

One advantage to being a ranger is the embarrassment caused to anyone you do actually kill.

Mr Jon Peters and the rest of dev team… You know there’s pressure upon you, when there’s literally every Ranger in your game waiting for those 16 bullet points to be real buffs. 67k views in this thread, I hope you won’t mess that up!

Buff ranger to be on par with other classes in range department (looking at you Warriors)!

luckyfortune.5071:

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

After watching that I don’t even feel like playing a ranger anymore lol…

Outch……

I think now its time to reroll a Warrior, because hes the REAL one Ranger……

Ranger sucks @ DPS, compared to Warrior and Thief…. we are one of the worst 1vs1 Class and we arent allowed to make Dmg…….

This is rly frustrating….

But anyway i hope they nerf this….. 15k Aoe? Rly?

Ps. sry for my Bad English

Hadrians.4567:

luckyfortune.5071:

Zera.8907:

Guys, Rangers are fine! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ru_rXq2LYg0#!

Again, Rangers are fine…..oh wait :-(

After watching that I don’t even feel like playing a ranger anymore lol…

Outch……

I think now its time to reroll a Warrior, because hes the REAL one Ranger……

Ranger sucks @ DPS, compared to Warrior and Thief…. we are one of the worst 1vs1 Class and we arent allowed to make Dmg…….

This is rly frustrating….

But anyway i hope they nerf this….. 15k Aoe? Rly?

Ps. sry for my Bad English

The rifle for a warrior has a similar trait as our Bows turning their Rifle and Harpoon gun into piercing weapons but also makes them recharge faster. It’s a combination of our Piercing Arrows and Quick Draw. Which more or less means everything in a straight line of the rifle gets hit by it and turning a already powerful weapon into something even more powerful.

Gotta love ranged warriors critting people for 20ishk…. and aoe’ing for 15k. Go go rangers with your 4k crits!!! GET SOME!

Anyways. Heres hoping Anet has something actually worth while for this class come the 15th, if not I see alot of people quiting their ranger for good.

Leviatana.8107:

The rifle for a warrior has a similar trait as our Bows turning their Rifle and Harpoon gun into piercing weapons but also makes them recharge faster. It’s a combination of our Piercing Arrows and Quick Draw. Which more or less means everything in a straight line of the rifle gets hit by it and turning a already powerful weapon into something even more powerful.

Of course, with so many good traits it only makes sense to consolidate them or else they won’t all fit, lol.

I have this lurking feeling in my gut that this patch is going to be incredibly underwhelming. I love my Ranger, I really do, but if she can’t keep up in DPS she’ll have to be put to pasture…

Also,

We rely on pets do deal damage too, and in wvsw it’s kinda difficult to keep your pet alive + letting it deal a lot of damage (without speccing in BM, only bears last a little while in zerg and they’re not dps-based..)

So ya, that warrior owns us if you look at ranged raw dps in wvsw

I want to believe in good. But I have taught to rely on the worst. I’m pretty sure that nothing does change. Something like correction of tooltips, minor changes in traits lines, at best something like stack of might in any ability. Or a statement like “we have improved AI pets”, but in fact no one did not feel it.

I think the developers themselves do not fully understand that the class they want to see. Otherwise they would not have made ??him a handicap.

Judge for yourself: no damage, no support, no buffs, no self buffs, no condition removal… hell, there is not even a normal condition setting weapon! This class IS NOTHING but a name and “running zoo”. “Oh, look, I have a pink moa and cute pig!” ^____^ Niaaaa! Girls in delight! Add in patch panda pet, canaries and cute bunny. And a-a-all will be just fine… Yeah… bullkitten

Substance E.4852:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Hh5zjK7ITpQ

Just substitute any instance of the word “Elementalist” with the word “Ranger”.

Also, substitute the part where he talks about “Dragon’s Tooth” and insert “Pet”.

I couldn’t quit crying after watching this vid, “number 2, number2, number 2, OOoh, what a noob!”

Gave me a good laugh, definately something’s wrong…. Esports? lol

Here’s to hoping we get something to address the times when pets CAN’T be used. There are more times than this, but these two have happened to me in the past day.

Claw of Jormag and other events of that nature – pet won’t attack shards OR the dragon.

Keep defense – can’t attack while defending, and is in fact a liability.

All they really need to do is rename the profession “Beastmaster.” Then everyone will say “oohhh…I get it now, it’s not a ranger.”

Also, we’re approaching 70k on this thread, keep it up!

Obsidian.1328:

All they really need to do is rename the profession “Beastmaster.” Then everyone will say “oohhh…I get it now, it’s not a ranger.”

Also, we’re approaching 70k on this thread, keep it up!

Better “pet keeper”. To hint that he can not do anything special, but to keep them. And he commanded them not very good too…

~
As a ranger rank 39, champion hunter, player of this class since the very beginning of the game release, after 1400+ matches, half of them over tournaments…

I have to say that, ranger has no spot in the tournament gameplay. There is no job he can do to specially contribute the ally team.
Anet defined rangers as a “Jack of All trades, but master of none”. Therefore, I suspect ranger class will be relegated to pve/WvW spot.
The fact none of the highest qualifying players use ranger means something.
Pets can´t attack while target is moving. F2 responsiveness is unreliable.
Pets are not allowed to gain critical chance from ranger´s attributes.
Pet switching is a real bad system and some traits really have no sense in them, like beastmaster´s bond.
Bugs are plenty for pets, as for some skills used by ranger.
Ranger weapons and skills have low damage and utility compared to the rest of classes.
Ranger is not able to have an impact in the game at all.
Even when I am somewhat challenging in certain situations, I feel outpowered by the rest of classes in lot situations. I have recognized to my pvp structured guild that ranger is in a ver low spot and I will probably switch to other class after this update.
I´m not expecting this update to fix ranger.

My hopes are, either fully rework this class, or delete and substitute with a new one.

Only wanted to express to the Anet team my deception about ranger mechanics and how it has gone down from that star class it was in guild wars 1.
My grain of dust goes on here.

~Harrywinky

I just hope that the developers read these topics and our complaints.

Bast Bow.2958:

Also,

We rely on pets do deal damage too, and in wvsw it’s kinda difficult to keep your pet alive + letting it deal a lot of damage (without speccing in BM, only bears last a little while in zerg and they’re not dps-based..)

So ya, that warrior owns us if you look at ranged raw dps in wvsw

If you’re looking for a good WvW pet, stop trying to use melee pets. My Devourers and Spiders very rarely die and can even sometimes DPS from walls.

In 1v1 even, most people ignore ranged pets because they aren’t up in their face, so they can continue to DPS even when you get downed. I’ve won several 1v1s from downed because my opponent ignored my pet and went straight for the finishing blow, then ended up getting downed himself halfway through the channel by combination of my pet + dirt throw.

…not to suggest that rangers aren’t severely underpowered in a thread so heavily biased in that direction, but there are some slightly redeeming qualities.