Hi all
Im writing this post with regards to our Short Sword number 1 skill.
While there has been much contention with regards to the strength of the root that comes with this auto-attack , i have not (or yet) seen Anet’s response to this matter since i played my first gw2 character, a ranger in 2012.
Hence, i have decided to write this post, to not only get the feedback from the ‘ranger’ community, but hopefully from our Anet developers too, so that we can finally get some closure or maybe response to this sticky matter.
Anet has always requested for players constructive feedback with regards to this matter, so here is my 2-cents thoughts with regard to the short sword:
Summary: it is a weapon with the right risk/reward element BUT due to state of other classes weapons, compounded by a myriad of other problems (traits, condi removal, pets, lack of anet response which will not be discussed in this post). The short sword number 1 skill becomes more of a heavy cripple to the strength of the class which is very disheartening to individuals that have ranger as their main and wish to be proud of being one.
Rewards:
1) It’s number 1 skill/‘auto attack’ has one of the (if not) highest dps of all rangers weapon and with the right buffs/traits can hit up to 5k per hit.
2) It has 2 evade skill; number 2 and 3
3) It has an effective disengage skill and leap skill (for us combo-field users); number 2
4) It works very well with our offhand weapons
i) torch : fire-fields from skill 5 + heavy fire-pressure while u auto-attack away
ii) warhorn : fury to raise damage output for power orientated rangers + a combo blaster (although the CD is way too long for my liking, it is wonderful when combo-ed with our healing spring especially when we are going into the thick of melee/condi-fights), very effective in teamfights/offhand choice in PVE from skill 5
iii) dagger : it provides us with another evade (giving us a total of 3 evades and up to 5 including our dodge rolls before combat begins) and cripple skill; an effective weapon of choice when it comes to fighting against other classes 1-1
Risk:
The one and only root which brings a heavy disadvantage in any form of fight in PVE/WVW/PVP, it is essentially the ‘Achilles Heel’ of this weapon.
Why Achilles Heel? This root creates 3 critical problems:
1) its a hidden immobilize condition which cannot be removed =3
2) unlike being immobilized, you cant dodge out of an attack!
hence, very often you will see rangers getting clipped by a perma-stun warrior, hit with shatters or torment/confusion skill(from scepter)by the mesmers, COE alpha-subject aoe ring, the multitude of AOE agony rings in FOTM and a myriad of other things.
3) it creates an unnecessary skill ceiling, for new players and old, and enhances the GW2 community already negative view of the ranger class, as:
i) newer players will shun the melee option with the short sword (as their mortality rate will increase significantly from using it) in favor of going ranged, this will result in rangers being less inclined to discover/explore new build potentials.
Conclusion: So essentially, as discussed above, it can be seen that the sword is an excellent weapon with a nice risk and reward attached to it but it is only excellent IF AND ONLY IF this risk/reward theme is applied to all other weapons in the game, which isn’t the case.
if one of the devs decide the fix this or at least explain to the community, it will be a soothing balm and potentially a game changer for rangers as we become more viable/deadly/effective in a myriad of scenarios.
So, what is your view on this? is this intentional? is it a bug that cant be fixed (hence the silence from A-net)
I will post this on the pvp and ranger forum thread, so feel free to hop in-between both threads and i will also update bother threads if any anet devs decide to respond on this matter.
(edited by Augustine.4123)