Guild Wars 2

I have been reading a lot of threads about people being successful with their builds in wvw, spvp, open world pve, ect. Playing only a ranger since launch, I agree, rangers are really top tier when it comes to those areas imo.

The only area we are lacking in is dungeons. I am not just referencing to pets but also spirits and team contribution. As we all know, pets have a problem in dungeons especially in higher fractal levels even with the recent AR buff. With smart swapping… most rangers will agree pets die far to often with the exception of a few ranged pets and even they die a lot too with all the aoe going on.

Less ranting on pets, an issue that is just as important are spirits…..Spirits are our potentially one of the best aspects of the ranger in terms of team contribution through buffs. I feel spirits should be looked at just as much as our pets when it comes to survivability in dungeons.

With final bosses that usually deal massive aoe, spirits maybe last for one duration of their buff. They don’t seem like a viable choice, especially when the second you summon them they instantly die from aoe.

With the exception of healing spring our team support is really lacking….

Yeah, it seems a lot of people have this issue. Have you tried rebinding the F keys to, maybe, z, x, c, v? That’s helped me be able to call/send the pet. Do you call/send much? And what dungeons do you struggle with and where? Also, regarding team support, does your team make use of the other combo fields ranger has access to in your dungeon runs? Edit: there’s a big discussion on spirits going on right now in another popular thread so I won’t try to dilute this thread with that stuff.

I think that’s a pretty fair assessment, Blackhawk.
I really don’t know what to say other than ‘I hope Spirits and Pet Survivability gets some love soon too.’

In the meanwhile, just remember, there’s more to Good Teamplay than 3 Utility Skills. Don’t underestimate the life saving potential of well executed control, brush up on your combos, and abuse the fact it’s so easy to disengage and our solid mobility to be the first person offering your allies a helping hand off the floor.

Pets and spirits may need some love, but everything else on the ranger is pretty solid now. We have pretty decent control with traps, muddy terrain and such and our evasiveness not only makes our class fun, but can help us disengage and rush to the aid of an ally at a moments notice.

Pets are definitely lacking in terms of survivability, which is something Anet needs to remedy and get rangers to where they should be in game play. I personally think that they need to remove the pet autoattack and have the pets work more in bursts and moving out of harms way (canines could run around more, maybe birds get evades on a bunch of their skills, etc.)… anyways I won’t go into that here… All I know is that for some reason, no matter how far I move when calling a pet back to me (unless its halfway across Tyria and back), they always seem to suddenly stop and sit just within range of and attack like they are just doing it to make me rage…

Just do what you can do until pets and spirits are modified. A dead player is a useless player; group utility skills are not the only thing that can make a player useful.

I have no problem playing dungeons. You just have to be aware of pet control, plus proper pet and skill switching. If you’re running the same skills and pets, all they way through a fractals run, you’re doing it wrong.

This is what I normally run with: Bear/Bear – Healing Spring, Signet of Stone, “Search and Rescue”, Quickening Zephyr, Spirit of Nature – Spotter, Nature’s Bounty, Trapper’s Defense.

Playing against a boss that drops a lot of AoE, I switch to Devourer pets. Playing against a lot of condition damage, I switch to Signet of the Wild, Signet of Renewal, and Brown Bear. Playing against multiple mobs, I switch to Flame Trap, Entangle, and Carrion Devourer/River Drake. Playing against a boss that isn’t a threat, I switch to Frost Spirit, “Sick ’Em”, Rampage As One, and River Drake/Jungle Stalker. Playing against a moving boss, I switch to Signet of the Hunt, Frost Trap, and Polar Bear/Snow Leopard. And so on…

However, the best thing about a Ranger, is that your pet can function as a sixth player. So if two or more allies are downed, you send your pet to attack the boss (using “Guard” or activating Signet of Stone). This gives your team a window of opportunity, in which you can revive the downed allies. Or, if one ally is downed, you an use “Search and Rescue” to send the pet over to revive him, and then follow up with Quickening Zephyr for a faster revive. And if both you and your pet are reviving, while you activate Quickening Zephyr, you become the fastest reviver in your party. This is the best part about having a Ranger on your team.

I must say running around with my recently-turned-lvl80 Ranger inWvW is awesome. I’m specced more for survival/tank as opposed to range+dps but i still had fun killing ppl.

In dungeons, I have to admit that I’m somewhere between the 2 opposing arguments in regards to pet survivability. Certainly running bear/bear, I switch a lot and try to control the pets more, leading them to survive ‘some’ boss fights. But at times they do die so quick that there’s little I can do about it. Largely I suppose because with swapping still in cooldown, my pet sadly got smack in the middle of several aoe rings.

The up-side to that is with tanky build I still survive easily enough, in melee, for the swapping cooldown to finish.

I dunno, I think pets need more specialization or abilites or something since an overall simple buff, as a dev said, will make them too good in open world.

Actually Obsidian, we’re pretty solid in WvW, because you’re either solo fighting against another player solo (like in sPvP), or you’re inside the zerg firing on targets and taking down things (like everybody else).

RyuDragnier.9476:

Actually Obsidian, we’re pretty solid in WvW, because you’re either solo fighting against another player solo (like in sPvP), or you’re inside the zerg firing on targets and taking down things (like everybody else).

Or you’re throwing your pet into the fray as you give it cover fire with your catapult and cackle madly as you tear things asunder with your super beefed up pet and your siege weapon that doesn’t care about -your- stats =D!

Kasama.8941:

I have no problem playing dungeons. You just have to be aware of pet control, plus proper pet and skill switching. If you’re running the same skills and pets, all they way through a fractals run, you’re doing it wrong.

This is what I normally run with: Bear/Bear – Healing Spring, Signet of Stone, “Search and Rescue”, Quickening Zephyr, Spirit of Nature – Spotter, Nature’s Bounty, Trapper’s Defense.

Playing against a boss that drops a lot of AoE, I switch to Devourer pets. Playing against a lot of condition damage, I switch to Signet of the Wild, Signet of Renewal, and Brown Bear. Playing against multiple mobs, I switch to Flame Trap, Entangle, and Carrion Devourer/River Drake. Playing against a boss that isn’t a threat, I switch to Frost Spirit, “Sick ’Em”, Rampage As One, and River Drake/Jungle Stalker. Playing against a moving boss, I switch to Signet of the Hunt, Frost Trap, and Polar Bear/Snow Leopard. And so on…

However, the best thing about a Ranger, is that your pet can function as a sixth player. So if two or more allies are downed, you send your pet to attack the boss (using “Guard” or activating Signet of Stone). This gives your team a window of opportunity, in which you can revive the downed allies. Or, if one ally is downed, you an use “Search and Rescue” to send the pet over to revive him, and then follow up with Quickening Zephyr for a faster revive. And if both you and your pet are reviving, while you activate Quickening Zephyr, you become the fastest reviver in your party. This is the best part about having a Ranger on your team.

That’s all fine and dandy and I bet it works, but we’re playing Guild Wars 2, not “Swap Around Pets and Abilities Between Every Fight 2” If this is necessary for our class to work then they really need to implant easy sets to swap around to, such as the “`” key for weapon swapping. I don’t want to spend my dungeon swapping skills around, and that can only be done in a guild group, try finding a PuG that sits and lets you swap skills and pets around all the time. If what you say is necessary for our class to work, or as you say, “you’re doing it wrong” then no, we’re not doing it wrong, they designed the class wrong.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Actually Obsidian, we’re pretty solid in WvW, because you’re either solo fighting against another player solo (like in sPvP), or you’re inside the zerg firing on targets and taking down things (like everybody else).

Well I’m rarely in the zerg…but really anyone can contribute to that. Solo is a different story. But I wouldn’t say 1v1 in WvW is like sPvP, the surroundings are a lot different, and make for a more mobile playstyle. Not saying that’s good or bad, only that pets have a lot tougher time connecting with hits when you have basically unlimited space to maneuver. They have improved a little…but I don’t see them ever becoming a huge part of a ranger’s dps in W3 simply because it’s the AI attacking and not a human player.

Problem is, dungeons are gw2 end game (well, there is farming, but anyone can do that naked), its the only challenging pve content, so saying we are “only” bad there tells something about the class.
In spvp? We’re great, but anyone can create a lv1 ranger just for that, so no one cares, there is no investiment.
WvwW? I stopped doing that on the ranger after i discovered how amazing guardian is, but i suppose we’re “ok” there, not great but we’re still useful in many situations, especially small skirmishes, but being “ok” is not enough to fully equip/level a ranger just for that.

Problem is, spvp is our pinnacle, where we shine the most (with the 2 viable builds we have), and anet seems to balance everything aroud that.

We actually have a chance to shine in dungeons. Rangers are the gods of speed reviving people with their numerous quicknesses. Add that to our ability to dodge (arguably the best in the game), our massive regeneration abilities, the increasingly popular toughness builds, and plethora of CC abilities to keep enemies at bay or their attention diverted when allies are getting revived from other players… while we don’t quite stand up to a guardian or ele in the department of team buffs, we still are much better than an engineer, thief, or necro.

If nothing else, then use healing spring in dungeons and have your allies use blast/leap combo finishers. Something like 1300-2000 hp healed per combo, and the regeneration you give your teammates is pretty good as well. Obviously, this is circumstantial, but with some teams, this can be the difference between sailing through a dungeon and trudging on.

Muddy Terrain traited with 20% cooldown reduction on survival skills is wonderful. It creates an AOE that is up for 20 seconds every 24 seconds … so its downtime is only 4 seconds.

Traps provide some additional combo fields, AOE dmg and/or control depending on which one(s) you use.

Healing spring is the best regen-giving, condition-cleansing, water combo field in the game (in my opinion) with a 50% up-time.

These are my best contributions to a group on my ranger aside from “not being stupid”, lol :-p

Sometimes I will not take muddy terrain and instead take 3 traps.

Well like I said I played ranger since launch (no other lvl 80s except ranger)…. not to sound arrogant but I literally know the ranger inside and out so I am well aware of pet management and what not. In my post I was more focused on sprits because they are an issue that are being left untreated.
….

Some good news, here is a quote from Jonathan sharp from the warrior forums:

“And yes, Ranger spirits are in the same boat as Warrior banners. They were VERY powerful before ship, but after changes, they are on the lower end of the power curve right now. So they’ll be slowly adjusted over time to bring them back up as well.”

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

BlackhawkSOM.6401:

Well like I said I played ranger since launch (no other lvl 80s except ranger)…. not to sound arrogant but I literally know the ranger inside and out so I am well aware of pet management and what not. In my post I was more focused on sprits because they are an issue that are being left untreated.
….

Some good news, here is a quote from Jonathan sharp from the warrior forums:

“And yes, Ranger spirits are in the same boat as Warrior banners. They were VERY powerful before ship, but after changes, they are on the lower end of the power curve right now. So they’ll be slowly adjusted over time to bring them back up as well.”

Could you please supply a link? I’m lazy :-p

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

Sebrent.3625:

Could you please supply a link? I’m lazy :-p

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/The-main-warrior-questions/page/2#post1725521

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

I see how it proves that pets are terrible in dungeons. Not much else.

You have the option of a huge DPS loss VS. Harder to keep alive but better DPS.

See how this stuff works? It doesn’t.

Neb.4170:

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

I see how it proves that pets are terrible in dungeons. Not much else.

You have the option of a huge DPS loss VS. Harder to keep alive but better DPS.

See how this stuff works? It doesn’t.

Um it actually -does- work, I can keep my wolf alive ~95% of the dungeon, birds and cats are made of paper and are only up like 70%, sure they deal a lot of damage, but they ONLY deal damage, and spend a large portion of the time limping around the battlefield being useless…

I find drakes very nice now in dungeons with the blast finishers. That being said, we are all talking best of the worst here. Pets in dungeon is …….tiresome…

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

I see how it proves that pets are terrible in dungeons. Not much else.

You have the option of a huge DPS loss VS. Harder to keep alive but better DPS.

See how this stuff works? It doesn’t.

Um it actually -does- work, I can keep my wolf alive ~95% of the dungeon, birds and cats are made of paper and are only up like 70%, sure they deal a lot of damage, but they ONLY deal damage, and spend a large portion of the time limping around the battlefield being useless…

Yes and you are doing much less damage than everyone else because of how you are forced to rely on badly designed AI for your damage.

Not only that, you’re punished for using the badly designed pet that actually does damage, so you’re forced to use the badly designed ‘meh’ damage pet.

Now you’re doing even less damage.

Woo.

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

Well, sure Durz is right and you make a point. My take is that there’s trade offs in life.

When you pick devourer, you get a tougher pet that does less damage. But you also get a poison field and another utility slot in return, since now you don’t need signet of the wild so badly. Life, penalties, and the sad fact that nothing is free. You can still run a squishy for burst on swap, or a drake for blast finish on melee demand.

So you work together, with your team, to make up for your own shortcomings. And you tailor this to your friends, guild, and team.

Pets as they stand are controversial and I’d estimate that almost nobody believes they’re in a final form. Expect this game to evolve. But at the moment, take heart in the fact that with a little bit of work and practice, you too can successfully integrate ranger into a team. Don’t worry so much. Go out and do your thing. If you’re not having fun, if ranger is disappointing to you or not what you expected, there’s not much I can say to help you. Play some necro or thief and come back later?

All I know for sure is gw2 is a skill game and superior battlefield positioning, motion, and teamwork will always prevail.

Chopps.5047:

But at the moment, take heart in the fact that with a little bit of work and practice, you too can successfully integrate ranger into a team.

If you’re the kind of person who as a kid kept jamming the square into the circle socket and getting mad that it won’t fit. Ranger is just for you.

Sorry, that’s what made this post make me think of.

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

How? Wolf pounce is telegraphed so blatantly and the pet even holds a moment to lunge at his target. Same for howl.

Regarding shapes, I never could tell my coffee cup from a donut.

Zenith.7301:

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

How? Wolf pounce is telegraphed so blatantly and the pet even holds a moment to lunge at his target. Same for howl.

Yes they are, because you know sooooooooo many DUNGEON NPCs will notice those telegraphs and go “whelp better dodge roll!”

Oh wait….

MeveM.7913:

That’s all fine and dandy and I bet it works, but we’re playing Guild Wars 2, not “Swap Around Pets and Abilities Between Every Fight 2” If this is necessary for our class to work then they really need to implant easy sets to swap around to, such as the “`” key for weapon swapping. I don’t want to spend my dungeon swapping skills around, and that can only be done in a guild group, try finding a PuG that sits and lets you swap skills and pets around all the time. If what you say is necessary for our class to work, or as you say, “you’re doing it wrong” then no, we’re not doing it wrong, they designed the class wrong.

The Ranger works, the pet doesn’t always though. But my point is; there’s a way to be more or less efficient with what you got. You’re going to be traveling from one place to another anyway, so it’s not like you don’t have the time to switch. It takes less then 2 seconds, once you know the dungeon, and the tools you need. Playing inefficiently, isn’t going to change anything.

Many players of many professions will swap utilities between fights. Sometimes you need more removal or maybe access to stability. Maybe you want to equip a ranged weapon for a particular boss.

Chopps.5047:

Many players of many professions will swap utilities between fights. Sometimes you need more removal or maybe access to stability. Maybe you want to equip a ranged weapon for a particular boss.

Or sometimes you do what me and my friends do, which we call “GW1 style” and you go through without swapping ANYTHING once you step through the portal (other than hitting ~ to swap weapons), that being said this is hardly the “best” option, it’s certainly the more fun one….

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

Pets are literally 50% of our damage why whould I call back 50% of my damage on a boss? Does that make sense to you? And I am well aware of weakness I use black bear tons on higher level fractals…pets straight up die to much and so do spirits theres no sugar coating it and this whole “pet management” of calling your pets back and swapping I am fully aware of. It is a stupid system that needs change as it feels like an alpha stage pet mechanic.

Also on devourers and their combo fields try using your devourer in coe, end boss of most fractals, and other dungeons that dish out hardcore aoe. Yes they can survive but only if the boss is standing still the entire match….

Literally 50%? Where’s Sebrent when you need him? He likes doing spreadsheets outside of work. I’d like to see the math on this.

I have zero problems with rangers not being able to do high end berserker GC builds . However , pets dying in one hit vs some bosses and them having a hard time hitting strafing players is something that absolutely has to be tweaked .
If my pet could land every second hit without me burning every single CC ability i have , i would be more then happy .

Chokolata.1870:

I have zero problems with rangers not being able to do high end berserker GC builds . However , pets dying in one hit vs some bosses and them having a hard time hitting strafing players is something that absolutely has to be tweaked .
If my pet could land every second hit without me burning every single CC ability i have , i would be more then happy .

Muddy terrain is a nice utility that will help your pets land hits in a BM build. It has a ton of uptime too.

BlackhawkSOM.6401:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

Pets are literally 50% of our damage why whould I call back 50% of my damage on a boss? Does that make sense to you? And I am well aware of weakness I use black bear tons on higher level fractals…pets straight up die to much and so do spirits theres no sugar coating it and this whole “pet management” of calling your pets back and swapping I am fully aware of. It is a stupid system that needs change as it feels like an alpha stage pet mechanic.

Also on devourers and their combo fields try using your devourer in coe, end boss of most fractals, and other dungeons that dish out hardcore aoe. Yes they can survive but only if the boss is standing still the entire match….

^
Pets are useless vs bosses and make sure nobody wants a ranger in their group

SlemFyr.7936:

BlackhawkSOM.6401:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

Pets are literally 50% of our damage why whould I call back 50% of my damage on a boss? Does that make sense to you? And I am well aware of weakness I use black bear tons on higher level fractals…pets straight up die to much and so do spirits theres no sugar coating it and this whole “pet management” of calling your pets back and swapping I am fully aware of. It is a stupid system that needs change as it feels like an alpha stage pet mechanic.

Also on devourers and their combo fields try using your devourer in coe, end boss of most fractals, and other dungeons that dish out hardcore aoe. Yes they can survive but only if the boss is standing still the entire match….

^
Pets are useless vs bosses and make sure nobody wants a ranger in their group

Useless is an awfully strong word. Are you sure you don’t want to qualify that?

Personally, I wouldn’t want you in my group since you appear to be close minded and inflexible, the opposite of what a ranger represents and the opposite of the kind of player people want on a team. Anyways, chew on that. Back to work for me.

my pets have more uptime in dungeons then berserker builds but i still use a type of BM build that i like with gs /sb combo

I do use Muddy terrain , I said that it would be nice if the pet landed some hits WITHOUT me burning crowd control skills non-stop

Chokolata.1870:

I do use Muddy terrain , I said that it would be nice if the pet landed some hits WITHOUT me burning crowd control skills non-stop

First, I should mention that it’s a wilderness survival skill that grants cripple and immobilize, neither of which are crowd control. Also, muddy terrain has a ton of uptime so you don’t need to constantly cast it. Are you sure you’ve tried that?

Regarding the other part of your post, do you feel improvements to pet AI would upset the pvp balance? Because most people would try to cripple or chill in your situation. Don’t like using axe or dagger offhand? What about greatsword swoop to pet swap to hilt bash? You’ll get some hits in there I bet.

Chopps.5047:

Chokolata.1870:

I do use Muddy terrain , I said that it would be nice if the pet landed some hits WITHOUT me burning crowd control skills non-stop

First, I should mention that it’s a wilderness survival skill that grants cripple and immobilize, neither of which are crowd control. Also, muddy terrain has a ton of uptime so you don’t need to constantly cast it. Are you sure you’ve tried that?

Regarding the other part of your post, do you feel improvements to pet AI would upset the pvp balance? Because most people would try to cripple or chill in your situation. Don’t like using axe or dagger offhand? What about greatsword swoop to pet swap to hilt bash? You’ll get some hits in there I bet.

All of those -do- work and are quite nice combos for guaranteeing pet hits, however I’m with Chak on this one.

Our pets need to hit more than they do, it wouldn’t be OP since we’re balanced around our pets hitting the target.

Now, of they upped both ours and our pets damage and sorta said “your pets only supposed to have ~ 30% uptime on a mob, but you deal 120% the damage other profs can do while pets up on it…” Then I would have NO issues with my pet hardly landing things, because when he lands something it’ll freaking hurt.

Durzlla.6295:

Chopps.5047:

Chokolata.1870:

I do use Muddy terrain , I said that it would be nice if the pet landed some hits WITHOUT me burning crowd control skills non-stop

First, I should mention that it’s a wilderness survival skill that grants cripple and immobilize, neither of which are crowd control. Also, muddy terrain has a ton of uptime so you don’t need to constantly cast it. Are you sure you’ve tried that?

Regarding the other part of your post, do you feel improvements to pet AI would upset the pvp balance? Because most people would try to cripple or chill in your situation. Don’t like using axe or dagger offhand? What about greatsword swoop to pet swap to hilt bash? You’ll get some hits in there I bet.

All of those -do- work and are quite nice combos for guaranteeing pet hits, however I’m with Chak on this one.

Our pets need to hit more than they do, it wouldn’t be OP since we’re balanced around our pets hitting the target.

Now, of they upped both ours and our pets damage and sorta said “your pets only supposed to have ~ 30% uptime on a mob, but you deal 120% the damage other profs can do while pets up on it…” Then I would have NO issues with my pet hardly landing things, because when he lands something it’ll freaking hurt.

Yeah this gets into a deeper discussion, Durz, I mean, yeah, it’s a problem. I was just trying to get him solutions. I think the issue of pets landing hits is a complex one such that any simple analysis or simple AI fix wouldn’t be enough. The point I always try to make is that, if you really want to play ranger, you can make it work. It will get better, I know it.

Chopps.5047:

Durzlla.6295:

Chopps.5047:

Chokolata.1870:

I do use Muddy terrain , I said that it would be nice if the pet landed some hits WITHOUT me burning crowd control skills non-stop

First, I should mention that it’s a wilderness survival skill that grants cripple and immobilize, neither of which are crowd control. Also, muddy terrain has a ton of uptime so you don’t need to constantly cast it. Are you sure you’ve tried that?

Regarding the other part of your post, do you feel improvements to pet AI would upset the pvp balance? Because most people would try to cripple or chill in your situation. Don’t like using axe or dagger offhand? What about greatsword swoop to pet swap to hilt bash? You’ll get some hits in there I bet.

All of those -do- work and are quite nice combos for guaranteeing pet hits, however I’m with Chak on this one.

Our pets need to hit more than they do, it wouldn’t be OP since we’re balanced around our pets hitting the target.

Now, of they upped both ours and our pets damage and sorta said “your pets only supposed to have ~ 30% uptime on a mob, but you deal 120% the damage other profs can do while pets up on it…” Then I would have NO issues with my pet hardly landing things, because when he lands something it’ll freaking hurt.

Yeah this gets into a deeper discussion, Durz, I mean, yeah, it’s a problem. I was just trying to get him solutions. I think the issue of pets landing hits is a complex one such that any simple analysis or simple AI fix wouldn’t be enough. The point I always try to make is that, if you really want to play ranger, you can make it work. It will get better, I know it.

They -have- been working on fixing the pet AI for a while (not surprised, seems like it’d be complicated), I’m pretty sure once that’s fixed it’ll be glorious. I mean even in BWE2 when they fixed some of the most minor pet bugs ever did rangers just freaking shoot up in usefulness xD.

Durzlla.6295:

Chopps.5047:

Durzlla.6295:

Chopps.5047:

Chokolata.1870:

I do use Muddy terrain , I said that it would be nice if the pet landed some hits WITHOUT me burning crowd control skills non-stop

First, I should mention that it’s a wilderness survival skill that grants cripple and immobilize, neither of which are crowd control. Also, muddy terrain has a ton of uptime so you don’t need to constantly cast it. Are you sure you’ve tried that?

Regarding the other part of your post, do you feel improvements to pet AI would upset the pvp balance? Because most people would try to cripple or chill in your situation. Don’t like using axe or dagger offhand? What about greatsword swoop to pet swap to hilt bash? You’ll get some hits in there I bet.

All of those -do- work and are quite nice combos for guaranteeing pet hits, however I’m with Chak on this one.

Our pets need to hit more than they do, it wouldn’t be OP since we’re balanced around our pets hitting the target.

Now, of they upped both ours and our pets damage and sorta said “your pets only supposed to have ~ 30% uptime on a mob, but you deal 120% the damage other profs can do while pets up on it…” Then I would have NO issues with my pet hardly landing things, because when he lands something it’ll freaking hurt.

Yeah this gets into a deeper discussion, Durz, I mean, yeah, it’s a problem. I was just trying to get him solutions. I think the issue of pets landing hits is a complex one such that any simple analysis or simple AI fix wouldn’t be enough. The point I always try to make is that, if you really want to play ranger, you can make it work. It will get better, I know it.

They -have- been working on fixing the pet AI for a while (not surprised, seems like it’d be complicated), I’m pretty sure once that’s fixed it’ll be glorious. I mean even in BWE2 when they fixed some of the most minor pet bugs ever did rangers just freaking shoot up in usefulness xD.

Well I know of some mobs that can hit moving players without a problem. Guess the main thing is that melee pets are rooted to the ground when they are using their attack. (Something like seige golems in wvw. Can you hit players with your auto attack? No. Pets have a similar problem just that the time they stay rooted is much shorter.)

haxi.9038:

Durzlla.6295:

Chopps.5047:

Durzlla.6295:

Chopps.5047:

Chokolata.1870:

I do use Muddy terrain , I said that it would be nice if the pet landed some hits WITHOUT me burning crowd control skills non-stop

First, I should mention that it’s a wilderness survival skill that grants cripple and immobilize, neither of which are crowd control. Also, muddy terrain has a ton of uptime so you don’t need to constantly cast it. Are you sure you’ve tried that?

Regarding the other part of your post, do you feel improvements to pet AI would upset the pvp balance? Because most people would try to cripple or chill in your situation. Don’t like using axe or dagger offhand? What about greatsword swoop to pet swap to hilt bash? You’ll get some hits in there I bet.

All of those -do- work and are quite nice combos for guaranteeing pet hits, however I’m with Chak on this one.

Our pets need to hit more than they do, it wouldn’t be OP since we’re balanced around our pets hitting the target.

Now, of they upped both ours and our pets damage and sorta said “your pets only supposed to have ~ 30% uptime on a mob, but you deal 120% the damage other profs can do while pets up on it…” Then I would have NO issues with my pet hardly landing things, because when he lands something it’ll freaking hurt.

Yeah this gets into a deeper discussion, Durz, I mean, yeah, it’s a problem. I was just trying to get him solutions. I think the issue of pets landing hits is a complex one such that any simple analysis or simple AI fix wouldn’t be enough. The point I always try to make is that, if you really want to play ranger, you can make it work. It will get better, I know it.

They -have- been working on fixing the pet AI for a while (not surprised, seems like it’d be complicated), I’m pretty sure once that’s fixed it’ll be glorious. I mean even in BWE2 when they fixed some of the most minor pet bugs ever did rangers just freaking shoot up in usefulness xD.

Well I know of some mobs that can hit moving players without a problem. Guess the main thing is that melee pets are rooted to the ground when they are using their attack. (Something like seige golems in wvw. Can you hit players with your auto attack? No. Pets have a similar problem just that the time they stay rooted is much shorter.)

Only a few mobs can hit things while moving, and those mobs attacks actually throw them towards their enemy usually (IE centaurs), or it’s a ranged skill.

Durzlla.6295:

haxi.9038:

Durzlla.6295:

Chopps.5047:

Durzlla.6295:

Chopps.5047:

Chokolata.1870:

I do use Muddy terrain , I said that it would be nice if the pet landed some hits WITHOUT me burning crowd control skills non-stop

First, I should mention that it’s a wilderness survival skill that grants cripple and immobilize, neither of which are crowd control. Also, muddy terrain has a ton of uptime so you don’t need to constantly cast it. Are you sure you’ve tried that?

Regarding the other part of your post, do you feel improvements to pet AI would upset the pvp balance? Because most people would try to cripple or chill in your situation. Don’t like using axe or dagger offhand? What about greatsword swoop to pet swap to hilt bash? You’ll get some hits in there I bet.

All of those -do- work and are quite nice combos for guaranteeing pet hits, however I’m with Chak on this one.

Our pets need to hit more than they do, it wouldn’t be OP since we’re balanced around our pets hitting the target.

Now, of they upped both ours and our pets damage and sorta said “your pets only supposed to have ~ 30% uptime on a mob, but you deal 120% the damage other profs can do while pets up on it…” Then I would have NO issues with my pet hardly landing things, because when he lands something it’ll freaking hurt.

Yeah this gets into a deeper discussion, Durz, I mean, yeah, it’s a problem. I was just trying to get him solutions. I think the issue of pets landing hits is a complex one such that any simple analysis or simple AI fix wouldn’t be enough. The point I always try to make is that, if you really want to play ranger, you can make it work. It will get better, I know it.

They -have- been working on fixing the pet AI for a while (not surprised, seems like it’d be complicated), I’m pretty sure once that’s fixed it’ll be glorious. I mean even in BWE2 when they fixed some of the most minor pet bugs ever did rangers just freaking shoot up in usefulness xD.

Well I know of some mobs that can hit moving players without a problem. Guess the main thing is that melee pets are rooted to the ground when they are using their attack. (Something like seige golems in wvw. Can you hit players with your auto attack? No. Pets have a similar problem just that the time they stay rooted is much shorter.)

Only a few mobs can hit things while moving, and those mobs attacks actually throw them towards their enemy usually (IE centaurs), or it’s a ranged skill.

Yea i mean the main thing about pets having trouble hitting moving targets is that they are rooted while attacking, not sure if allowing them to attack while moving will cause everyone to scream “OP” though.

Durzlla.6295:

Zenith.7301:

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

How? Wolf pounce is telegraphed so blatantly and the pet even holds a moment to lunge at his target. Same for howl.

Yes they are, because you know sooooooooo many DUNGEON NPCs will notice those telegraphs and go “whelp better dodge roll!”

Oh wait….

Dungeon bosses have defiance, and non-boss mobs were hardly needing a single target knockdown….

Do you actually do dungeons? Most trash mobs are skipped and people head straight for bosses.

The one “dungeon” type where you actually need to kill silver/veteran mobs to proceed, fractals, your pet’s dead anyways the moment it goes in.

haxi.9038:

Yea i mean the main thing about pets having trouble hitting moving targets is that they are rooted while attacking, not sure if allowing them to attack while moving will cause everyone to scream “OP” though.

I’d probably only give that to certain pet types…like the birds, the felines, and the canines. Those it would make the most sense to attack while moving.

Zenith.7301:

Durzlla.6295:

Zenith.7301:

Durzlla.6295:

Neb.4170:

Chopps.5047:

You ever use combo fields to help your group blast heal, stack might, or proc weakness on your foe? Devourers make great dungeon pets since you can proc an abundance of might with it’s dual attack and RaO. Have you tried that? You can even try fortifying bond to get even more might on the pet. What about muerellow? Everyone like applying weakness to a boss. Muddy terrain, spike trap, and frost trap turn out to be great choices for skipping trash and/or chilling a boss. Do you make use of these? How much do you let your pet tank the boss as opposed to calling it back? Heck, I’ve been playing since beta weekend and I still wouldn’t consider myself someone who’s mastered all the details of ranger. At one point I thought I had it all figured out. But then I realized there was more options, more things to study, and more things to test.

You’d sacrifice much more damage by using the Devourer Vs. Cat or Bird than a few more might stacks RaO would give you.

And yeah, using snares isn’t exactly some masterful strategy that should have taken you very long to figure out.

And you lose out on a lot of pet uptime + control from using a cat/bird over a wolf, see how this stuff works?

How? Wolf pounce is telegraphed so blatantly and the pet even holds a moment to lunge at his target. Same for howl.

Yes they are, because you know sooooooooo many DUNGEON NPCs will notice those telegraphs and go “whelp better dodge roll!”

Oh wait….

Dungeon bosses have defiance, and non-boss mobs were hardly needing a single target knockdown….

Do you actually do dungeons? Most trash mobs are skipped and people head straight for bosses.

The one “dungeon” type where you actually need to kill silver/veteran mobs to proceed, fractals, your pet’s dead anyways the moment it goes in.

Defiance only has so many charges, it’s normally 3 or 5, which doesn’t stay around very long when you have 2 Hyenas , or a wolf, etc etc.

And just because you don’t -need- to kill it doesn’t mean people don’t, there are some people (myself and my guild included) that much prefer to kill everything in the dungeon and stand atop a mound of bloody corpses at the end instead of skip everything, because you know… we do dungeons for fun, the reason they were designed?