Guild Wars 2

I have never played GW1, but alone from reading some of the skills the ranger has in GW1 on http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ranger , I get a feeling that the whole profession was much better in GW1.

I’m not familiar with the game machanics in GW1 either, but it appears to me that everything is much better polished / planned. Eg. traps are in Wildernes survival. But in GW2 it’s in skirmishing?!!??

Also it appears to me that it was really a decent archer class closely bonded with traps and pets. Maybe a more focused proffession than it is now. Imo, it looks like Anet tried (in vain?) to make a more versatile prof in GW2 but lost the core / essence of the ranger?!!?

Take a look at the ranger skills and traits in GW1. Imo, alot more interesting and fun!

Could those of you who played (still play?) ranger in GW1 share some thoughts?

Maybe it would not be a bad idea if Anet devs went back to their roots!!!!

i actually like the pet in Gw2 just as it’s about a million times better than the pet in Gw1,having a pet took up one skill slot and the only way to revive him was to have another skill……><
That said,i do miss my old ranger’s skill set (sloth shot,lightening reflexes,Melandru’s shot)

To be straight up honest, I’ve had the most difficult time making a build for my ranger in GW1 that was NOT about Barrage (+ Splinter weapon)/ BHA + Epidemic, and in some cases Traps.
^ PvE Wise

But in GW1 PvP, Rangers we’re almost ALWAYS a staple for GvG (Unless running some coordinated spike). Their own interrupts mostly overshadowed Mesmer interrupts, and had great survivability (even alone). They were an excellent “control” character, meaning, if you had good reflexes, you could shut down spells that would otherwise prove malicious to your team (such as gw1 Diversion, Lingering Curse etc…)

But aside from that, I had a lot of fun playing with my Rainbow Phoenix and making a dedicated Beastmastery build for it! (although it wasn’t really viable with Human players, because they think pet = bad in PvE there. But who cares, I mostly played with Heroes for PvE and I loved seeing my pet deal immense damage with Enraged Lunge followed by Epidemic from my Hero Mesmer! )

My personal opinion, the GW2 Ranger relies too much on the pet. Pets are nice and all, but when most of the traits are geared towards them, it makes them useless in pvp. The GW1 Ranger was much more polished, even when only Prophesies was out, compared to what it is in GW2.

Gw1 rangers curb stomp Gw2 rangers Period. (pun intended)

The skills we have now are a shadow of what they once were.

Anet is for profit – going in to re-purpose the ranger back to it original form would be bad for business. And it would take too much time….

We are stuck with the 250 year class demotion.

I miss being able to wield a hammer/scythe if I wanted to (Even After Nerfs)……I miss the Original Whirling Defense (Not like it is now)

I miss my +30 Armor Vs the Elements.

I miss having build variation, having so many skills meant that you never got bored of playing the same skills over and over and over again.

Now skills are tied to Bow type……yeah….

Choosing to carry a pet or not.

I never had too much issues with taking down other classes even the ones that went Anti-Melee.

GW1 ranger skills revolved around Survival, Interrupts and Expertise.

I miss Melandru’s Resliance, I miss Burning Arrow, Antidote Signet(OMG) Multiple Nature spirits to choose from……. I can go on.

Point is, Gw1 ranger Bonifide Survivalist. Gw2 ranger? Some person that decided to pick up and use a bow because it seemed cool- then made up some flashy moves to compensate.

And now that I think about it Anet always had issues with bows….anywho….

Anet that was me going easy on you all, I have not forgotten the recent patches.

There are things they could directly port from GW1 to GW2. Pets with 33% damage reduction in PvE, spirits with radar range, traps that can be stacked, etc.

Ranger in GW1 was really awesome…you actually had a sense of importance and you had a role.

Rangers in GW2 feel too much like a DPS only class… all you do is deal damage whereas in GW1, interrupting casters was a rush and had a sense of reward for doing so. If you stopped a mesmer from using a skill, say diversion, you basically did a HUGE favor for your team. You could also spike on called targets if need be.

Rangers in GW2 just feels bland… dps dps dps… Since everyone can go the dps role, rangers don’t really have anything to define them as anything. That’s why I like playing guardian… I feel important.

I liked my GW1 Ranger much more than I like my GW2 Ranger.

I hate my pet.

What everyone else said. My biggest gripe is pet survivability. I liked having one pet that was a real companion, instead of having to swap back & forth between two different pets all the time.

Im of like mind. I felt more like a sniper and archer with my ranger in gw1. It was awesome having 4 different bows too choose from depending on the situation and also have the bow unique abilities of increasing my damage by going to high ground. Simply amazing, idk why they didnt keep it.

awe extender.1908:

Also it appears to me that it was really a decent archer class closely bonded with traps and pets. Maybe a more focused proffession than it is now. Imo, it looks like Anet tried (in vain?) to make a more versatile prof in GW2 but lost the core / essence of the ranger?!!?

Played GW1 also from release, and I agree fully.

But I would be constructive if I’d share some ideas how they could do that…. But I don’t unfortunately…
First thing that comes to my mind that the bows aren’t only for rangers anymore.

In GW1, we Rangers alone along with Paragons in the expansion Nightfall dealt ranged DPS damage from mid to long range (bows and spears). All the other classes did direct DPS from short range/melee (hammers, swords, daggers, axes, scythes, shields), and there were the spellcasting professions and there weapons (staff, wand, focus).

Now in GW2 it’s all mixed up, which makes me feel less ranger and less special as a ranger with a longbow or shortbow.

awe extender.1908:

Maybe it would not be a bad idea if Anet devs went back to their roots!!!!

Agree also.

Ranger felt much more ranger in GW1.

GW1 Ranger is best class I played in any MMO.

DISTRACTION SHOT IS THE BEST SKILL EVER MADE

There is a Norwegian (Norn!) saying:
“It’s not shameful to turn back!” (Freely translated)
It’s actually the rule number one when hiking, skiing or any other activity out in the nature. If you see a storm is coming, or perhaps you feel tired: Turn back! NOT SHAMEFUL!

Anet, we will only applaud and be grateful if you could give the rangers the same feeling / essence they had in GW1. After all, GW1 is your own creation. Not shameful!

awe extender.1908:

There is a Norwegian (Norn!) saying:
“It’s not shameful to turn back!” (Freely translated)
It’s actually the rule number one when hiking, skiing or any other activity out in the nature. If you see a storm is coming, or perhaps you feel tired: Turn back! NOT SHAMEFUL!

Anet, we will only applaud and be grateful if you could give the rangers the same feeling / essence they had in GW1. After all, GW1 is your own creation. Not shameful!

I love that saying, never heard it before, but I really love it.

I’ve also never played GW1, but from what I heard from you guys, I would love to see a return of a lot of that stuff.

Agree.

You felt like a true ranger in GW1.

Here’s the real kicker though…ready for it?…

Ranger’s were arguably the best anti-assassin class in Guild Wars 1

No joke.

Awww you got me pining for my gw1 ranger now- I miss being able to contribute in such a meaningful way and miss decent trap builds, etc.

Or even gaining something when my pet died- would be great to have that in GW2 in whatever format they decided to bring it in, gets old really quickly having pets dead and a long cooldown before you can swop to a live one, considering most battles are long over before you can drag another one out…

Nearly all of that mentioned in this thread is available in this ranger, I did most of all that last night in w3 for my teams.

awe extender.1908:

I have never played GW1, but alone from reading some of the skills the ranger has in GW1 on http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ranger , I get a feeling that the whole profession was much better in GW1.

As a GW1 player, no, I can tell you ranger was not much different in that game because of how much faster other classes could deal damage and in AoE.

Yeah, you had more options due to dual profession………but they were horrid compared to every other class still.

They were better in PVP however if I recall correctly

Celestina.2894:

awe extender.1908:

I have never played GW1, but alone from reading some of the skills the ranger has in GW1 on http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ranger , I get a feeling that the whole profession was much better in GW1.

As a GW1 player, no, I can tell you ranger was not much different in that game because of how much faster other classes could deal damage and in AoE.

Yeah, you had more options due to dual profession………but they were horrid compared to every other class still.

They were better in PVP however if I recall correctly

Then let me assure you, as a better gw1 player that you were doing it horribly wrong. First off, rangers were wayyyyy different, and actually desired for both pve and pvp as a bow ranger. Not being forced to have a pet, being able to use condis without sacrificing alot of raw damage, getting high ground and sniping ( yes sniping was possible, and very very fun ) Not to mention we had the most range in the game, most interupts, most condi attacks. People tend to think gw1 ranger couldnt do burst or raw damage but that is false, my ranger wasnt interupts or pure condi, I used Burning arrow and hunters shot for the consistent damage and disrupting shot and needling shot with 16 MM, My burning arrow would get up to 130 damage max, and disrupting shot on squishies would do 140, get them to 50% or less in 2 shots and needling shot them for 40 each for massive preasure. We didnt have thief like burst, but we killed just as efficiently.

So yes, rangers were much better and different in gw1, pets were usually beastmaster exclusive, unless you are a newbie, and archers…real archers had so many ways to fight. Not saying it was perfect, but it was better, anet still paid barely any attention to rangers since gw1 release, definitely the least touched class. I logged into gw1 and saw alot more people playing it, asked a bunch if they played gw2 and they said yes but their main were rangers so they are waiting for them to become rangers again before they go back.

Ranger in GW1 was great at interrupt others, in GW2 Anet should give us more stun, knockdown and knockback options.
Celestina is right, rangers in GW1 was better at PvP, but really hard to master it, rupt 1/4 sec cast skills requires A LOT of player skill.

so i remember reading an interview where in the initial design they had marksman and warden, but they merged them into 1 class being ranger.

that said, they seem to have captured a lot of the essense of the ranger in this game (ease of stacking multiple dps conditions, traps, interrupts on bows, etc). but due to the nature of the game, these things dont feel as good/powerful as they did in the original (ie, interrupts arent as important/punishing. focussing on conditions typically means you cant focus on power as well, forcing you to choose. ). and because of the forced pet, your individual archer dps is pretty low.

but i still think they captured the essense/skill set of the ranger pretty well. and i feel like they have a number of viable build options (from beastmaster to condition master to support. and with the recent arrow speed tweaks, im finding even power rangers are pretty good, thats what i currently run).

i feel with the tweaks theyve made in the past 1-2 months have helped make them work better with the vision (arrows hit better, pets more reliable…). but you do need to embrace the pet, and built in evades, and focus your build… but i think rangers are very viable, and fun. even tho i try other classes, i just like the feel of my ranger the best and keep coming back to it

Celestina.2894:

awe extender.1908:

I have never played GW1, but alone from reading some of the skills the ranger has in GW1 on http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ranger , I get a feeling that the whole profession was much better in GW1.

As a GW1 player, no, I can tell you ranger was not much different in that game because of how much faster other classes could deal damage and in AoE.

Yeah, you had more options due to dual profession………but they were horrid compared to every other class still.

They were better in PVP however if I recall correctly

Um what? Splinter Barrage outdid most other AoEs (god that build was disgustingly efficient) Then there was ignite + Incendiary Arrow. And if you want single target there are ample options using just your bow, then there’s also beast mastery (my god, do i miss Enraged Lunge….), not to mention we can apply conditions with ease, poison/bleeding on each auto attack via preps (also other options those were most popular), cripples, tons of blocks, AMAZING mobility…

I think i may go play GW1 for a bit now… As much as i like the improved AI, and not needing to put all my pets skills (minus auto attack) on my bar therefore taking up my bow skills… but my god was the build variety better…

PS: I left nature spirits out of my post because i’ve expressed my love for the old ones so much on this thread i’m sure half of you already know that. Oh yeah, traps were also practically unusable in combat due to any damage interrupting it, but you set them up BEFORE combat and my god could you get some devastating results!

Im only interested in longbow since shortbow is nothing like a bow at all. Its like a slingshot, except not the kind from wintersday scout but much lamer. I want them to add a recurve bow, make it have fat kitten burst, problem solved, new wep, new playstyle, everyone is happy. Maybe I just miss my gw1 ranger.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Celestina.2894:

awe extender.1908:

I have never played GW1, but alone from reading some of the skills the ranger has in GW1 on http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ranger , I get a feeling that the whole profession was much better in GW1.

As a GW1 player, no, I can tell you ranger was not much different in that game because of how much faster other classes could deal damage and in AoE.

Yeah, you had more options due to dual profession………but they were horrid compared to every other class still.

They were better in PVP however if I recall correctly

Then let me assure you, as a better gw1 player that you were doing it horribly wrong. First off, rangers were wayyyyy different, and actually desired for both pve and pvp as a bow ranger. Not being forced to have a pet, being able to use condis without sacrificing alot of raw damage, getting high ground and sniping ( yes sniping was possible, and very very fun ) Not to mention we had the most range in the game, most interupts, most condi attacks. People tend to think gw1 ranger couldnt do burst or raw damage but that is false, my ranger wasnt interupts or pure condi, I used Burning arrow and hunters shot for the consistent damage and disrupting shot and needling shot with 16 MM, My burning arrow would get up to 130 damage max, and disrupting shot on squishies would do 140, get them to 50% or less in 2 shots and needling shot them for 40 each for massive preasure. We didnt have thief like burst, but we killed just as efficiently.

So yes, rangers were much better and different in gw1, pets were usually beastmaster exclusive, unless you are a newbie, and archers…real archers had so many ways to fight. Not saying it was perfect, but it was better, anet still paid barely any attention to rangers since gw1 release, definitely the least touched class. I logged into gw1 and saw alot more people playing it, asked a bunch if they played gw2 and they said yes but their main were rangers so they are waiting for them to become rangers again before they go back.

Rangers were great at conditions, this is true, but quite simply condition damage was considered “slow” in PVE as time went on, people began favoring spike damage. If conditions were used, it was used because some form of spike damage skill benefited from it.

Mesmers tended to be better for interrupting due to their interrupts being instant with no travel time, especially after their last massive buff which made them hilariously powerful by buffing a wide range of things. Fast casting among them if I recall correctly.

People began to favor massive AoE, which while ranger could do with splinter weapon+barrage simply was not up to par with what others could pump out. It gave the illusion of massive damage due to the multiple numbers popping up at the same time, but it was not actually that strong compared to other options. Their saving grace however was that their AoE tended to be safer.

Yes, ranger is different in this game in some ways, but realistically they are in the exact same spot as they were in GW1. That is not to say they were “bad” in PVE, just that they were outdone by other classes with their only advantage being range……..much like it is here. In GW1’s case, it was due to power creep however. In GW2’s case it’s because they are still working on balance as a whole.

Really though, I’d argue a few of the ranger mechanics here work better then they did in GW1, again, due to power creep. Pets are kind of bad it both, but thankfully slowly being improved here.

Please guys, remove the rose tinted nostalgia glasses, maybe rangers were better near the beginning of GW1, but as power creep sunk in, they were hardly desired for PVE except for VERY specific group set ups…….and even then there were often stronger options.

And no, this is not coming from someone who enjoyed OP classes. Hell my two favorites in GW1 were a smite monk and a paragon who I absolutely refused to touch imbagon on.

In the end these are all opinions, so saying people have rose tinted nostalgia glasses on is almost insulting to people thinking logically. Let me point out one very simple, easy reason as to why rangers from gw1 will almost aways be better than gw2 rangers……pets. The fact of the matter is, pets are a liability unless they are extremely hard to kill and can hit moving targets. Atm ranger is the only class in the game that can have 50% of their dps easily killed, in gw1 your dps came from your skill bar and weapons, or if you went the route of BM it came from pet and pet was hard to kill, but you also did near 0 damage depending on the build. So as long as we have pets enforced upon us, we will be inferior from our ranger ancestors from 500 years past.

As far as ranger interupts vs mesmer interupts, people desired rangers most of the time because they could run interupts + heavy condis, basically we could kill and interupt where as a mesmer could only interupt or kill. Also we are not in the same position as gw1 rangers, again, they didnt have 50% of their damage tied to a broken mechanic that was forced on them, rangers were the red headed step child of gw1, but atleast they had many viable builds and none gimped by a perma pet. As for pve, I didnt pve much, but you are right, rangers barrage + splinter wep was dominant.

Idc about being op, if I enjoy the class Ill play it whether Im op or not, I care more about the feel. If my rangers longbow felt like rifle from warriors or slingshot….from scout Id be fine being weak, Id just enjoy seeing myself pull back an arrow and launch it into someones dome.

Well i played gw1 pvp alone for over 5k hours and that was my fav class for pvp. You could play extremely offensive with a gw1 ranger or just annoy people with rupts 24/7 (sticking to them and follow where they’re going/rupt everything was priceless and never gets old). In gw2 a ranger is more comparable to garbage/over nerfed paragons than anything else. No matter what people say to defend gw2 rangers, gw1 rangers were 1000 times better in pve (spirit spam/spliter eoe) and infinitely better in pvp. As i see rangers now, they’re broken. Barrage and traps is THE ONLY thing gw2 rangers have.

Belzebu.3912:

Ranger in GW1 was great at interrupt others, in GW2 Anet should give us more stun, knockdown and knockback options.
Celestina is right, rangers in GW1 was better at PvP, but really hard to master it, rupt 1/4 sec cast skills requires A LOT of player skill.

lol you can’t rupt a 1/4 skill… only time your rupts on a stupid person who spams his skill(s) on recharge.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

In the end these are all opinions, so saying people have rose tinted nostalgia glasses on is almost insulting to people thinking logically. Let me point out one very simple, easy reason as to why rangers from gw1 will almost aways be better than gw2 rangers……pets. The fact of the matter is, pets are a liability unless they are extremely hard to kill and can hit moving targets. Atm ranger is the only class in the game that can have 50% of their dps easily killed, in gw1 your dps came from your skill bar and weapons, or if you went the route of BM it came from pet and pet was hard to kill, but you also did near 0 damage depending on the build. So as long as we have pets enforced upon us, we will be inferior from our ranger ancestors from 500 years past.

As far as ranger interupts vs mesmer interupts, people desired rangers most of the time because they could run interupts + heavy condis, basically we could kill and interupt where as a mesmer could only interupt or kill. Also we are not in the same position as gw1 rangers, again, they didnt have 50% of their damage tied to a broken mechanic that was forced on them, rangers were the red headed step child of gw1, but atleast they had many viable builds and none gimped by a perma pet. As for pve, I didnt pve much, but you are right, rangers barrage + splinter wep was dominant.

Idc about being op, if I enjoy the class Ill play it whether Im op or not, I care more about the feel. If my rangers longbow felt like rifle from warriors or slingshot….from scout Id be fine being weak, Id just enjoy seeing myself pull back an arrow and launch it into someones dome.

I don’t really care if it’s insulting, it’s true. I see so many people look back at GW1 like it was perfect. It was a good game sure, still 1 of my favorite MMOs in fact, but it had many flaws. Balance being one of them.

It should be kept in mind however that at least you can bring a pet in this game without worrying about it putting your skills on cool down like it did in GW1.

Also about mesmer, that may have been before, but after their last buff they are able to kill and interrupt quite easily with damage that ignores armor. Interrupts + immediate direct armor ignoring damage > interrupts + condition damage.

Again though, I am talking strictly PVE when I talk about how poor the ranger compares in GW1 like it does here. PVP was another matter entirely.

Nuka Cola.8520:

Belzebu.3912:

Ranger in GW1 was great at interrupt others, in GW2 Anet should give us more stun, knockdown and knockback options.
Celestina is right, rangers in GW1 was better at PvP, but really hard to master it, rupt 1/4 sec cast skills requires A LOT of player skill.

lol you can’t rupt a 1/4 skill… only time your rupts on a stupid person who spams his skill(s) on recharge.

You could by predicting when the enemy was going to use a skill (Combos, getting up after KD, 0.5 seconds after finished casting).

Celestina.2894:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

In the end these are all opinions, so saying people have rose tinted nostalgia glasses on is almost insulting to people thinking logically. Let me point out one very simple, easy reason as to why rangers from gw1 will almost aways be better than gw2 rangers……pets. The fact of the matter is, pets are a liability unless they are extremely hard to kill and can hit moving targets. Atm ranger is the only class in the game that can have 50% of their dps easily killed, in gw1 your dps came from your skill bar and weapons, or if you went the route of BM it came from pet and pet was hard to kill, but you also did near 0 damage depending on the build. So as long as we have pets enforced upon us, we will be inferior from our ranger ancestors from 500 years past.

As far as ranger interupts vs mesmer interupts, people desired rangers most of the time because they could run interupts + heavy condis, basically we could kill and interupt where as a mesmer could only interupt or kill. Also we are not in the same position as gw1 rangers, again, they didnt have 50% of their damage tied to a broken mechanic that was forced on them, rangers were the red headed step child of gw1, but atleast they had many viable builds and none gimped by a perma pet. As for pve, I didnt pve much, but you are right, rangers barrage + splinter wep was dominant.

Idc about being op, if I enjoy the class Ill play it whether Im op or not, I care more about the feel. If my rangers longbow felt like rifle from warriors or slingshot….from scout Id be fine being weak, Id just enjoy seeing myself pull back an arrow and launch it into someones dome.

I don’t really care if it’s insulting, it’s true. I see so many people look back at GW1 like it was perfect. It was a good game sure, still 1 of my favorite MMOs in fact, but it had many flaws. Balance being one of them.

It should be kept in mind however that at least you can bring a pet in this game without worrying about it putting your skills on cool down like it did in GW1.

Also about mesmer, that may have been before, but after their last buff they are able to kill and interrupt quite easily with damage that ignores armor. Interrupts + immediate direct armor ignoring damage > interrupts + condition damage.

Again though, I am talking strictly PVE when I talk about how poor the ranger compares in GW1 like it does here. PVP was another matter entirely.

No its not true, you really should look up the word opinion. Opinions aren’t true or false, they are theories, aka opinions and ideals. You like gw2 ranger more, me and many others liked gw1 ranger more, Ill be the first to admit the class was far from perfect but it was closer than gw2 ranger will ever be. Yes the thought behind pets is better, the execution isnt. Also forcing us to have pets is a huge flaw, aka not a good thing, atleast not in my OPINION. GW1 ranger made you feel like a beast master more so than gw2 did even when traited, and like an archer when traited. I cant honestly think of one way gw2 ranger is on par with gw1 other than armor designs and graphics, hell even pets looked better in gw1.

Ranger were desiderd in PvP for their ability to multitask with a single build. While playing with the team you had to focus on interrupting critical spells, spreading conditions to apply pressure before the spike and crippling enemy melees. With the same build you could split and attack the enemy base alone thanks to yur speed, condition and survivability to force the enemy to backup and defend. In PvE the most poular farming builds required you to have a particular secondary profession like /Rt for DOA or kitten for uswc wich was not a big deal. Urgoz and Kanaxai farming builds used to have 3/4 splinter ranger in the beginning, this changed after but a ranger was still required for his traps, then there was the ursan setup and you could do that just as good as any other profession. The old setup was still viable.
In general PvE and vanquish you could still hold your own and with my build I could pump even more aoe damage than the splinter barrage.

Krugan.7901:

Ranger were desiderd in PvP for their ability to multitask with a single build. While playing with the team you had to focus on interrupting critical spells, spreading conditions to apply pressure before the spike and crippling enemy melees. With the same build you could split and attack the enemy base alone thanks to yur speed, condition and survivability to force the enemy to backup and defend. In PvE the most poular farming builds required you to have a particular secondary profession like /Rt for DOA or kitten for uswc wich was not a big deal. Urgoz and Kanaxai farming builds used to have 3/4 splinter ranger in the beginning, this changed after but a ranger was still required for his traps, then there was the ursan setup and you could do that just as good as any other profession. The old setup was still viable.
In general PvE and vanquish you could still hold your own and with my build I could pump even more aoe damage than the splinter barrage.

Yes, rangers were better in gw1 in both pve and pvp, cant think of a logical argument as to why people think gw2 rangers are better but to each their own. I agree anet should go back to their roots a bit.

Rangers in Guild Wars 1 had some of the best skill bar compression in the game. On any given competitive build, a ranger could pressure, interrupt, remove conditions, block attacks, heal, and even spike assist (most tourny builds weren’t setup for pure damage bars as it wasn’t necessary).
Rangers were strong team options from the support they could provide as well as split and solo base NPCs for the team. Also, this could all be accomplished with a single skill bar setup and basic attribute distribution. Rangers could effectively hold their own against any class in the game, and while most skirmishes with a tourny bar setup (by this I do mean the damage/utility elite, 2 interrupts, apply poison, lightning reflexes, natural stride, mending touch, rez signet) weren’t going to outright kill other players, there really wasn’t a single class rangers had to be afraid of either unless that class were to focus you long enough to make you blow all defensive options available (which usually came from more than one player focusing you than it did an individual player).

Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have rangers. Its has a Shaggy/Scooby Doo class (an implied stoned guy who can barely accomplish anything useful and his equally ridiculous pet sidekick. They exist purely for others entertainment and in terms of doing anything useful, can basically only get in the way).

Then again, what do I know, it isn’t like I played guild wars 1 for almost a decade exclusively as ranger with most of my time going into pvp or anything…
Still, opinions are opinions.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Krugan.7901:

Ranger were desiderd in PvP for their ability to multitask with a single build. While playing with the team you had to focus on interrupting critical spells, spreading conditions to apply pressure before the spike and crippling enemy melees. With the same build you could split and attack the enemy base alone thanks to yur speed, condition and survivability to force the enemy to backup and defend. In PvE the most poular farming builds required you to have a particular secondary profession like /Rt for DOA or kitten for uswc wich was not a big deal. Urgoz and Kanaxai farming builds used to have 3/4 splinter ranger in the beginning, this changed after but a ranger was still required for his traps, then there was the ursan setup and you could do that just as good as any other profession. The old setup was still viable.
In general PvE and vanquish you could still hold your own and with my build I could pump even more aoe damage than the splinter barrage.

Yes, rangers were better in gw1 in both pve and pvp, cant think of a logical argument as to why people think gw2 rangers are better but to each their own. I agree anet should go back to their roots a bit.

Only complaint about GW1 ranger was pet AI, if they did GW1 ranger w/ GW2 pet AI I’d be in heaven.

Durzlla.6295:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Krugan.7901:

Ranger were desiderd in PvP for their ability to multitask with a single build. While playing with the team you had to focus on interrupting critical spells, spreading conditions to apply pressure before the spike and crippling enemy melees. With the same build you could split and attack the enemy base alone thanks to yur speed, condition and survivability to force the enemy to backup and defend. In PvE the most poular farming builds required you to have a particular secondary profession like /Rt for DOA or kitten for uswc wich was not a big deal. Urgoz and Kanaxai farming builds used to have 3/4 splinter ranger in the beginning, this changed after but a ranger was still required for his traps, then there was the ursan setup and you could do that just as good as any other profession. The old setup was still viable.
In general PvE and vanquish you could still hold your own and with my build I could pump even more aoe damage than the splinter barrage.

Yes, rangers were better in gw1 in both pve and pvp, cant think of a logical argument as to why people think gw2 rangers are better but to each their own. I agree anet should go back to their roots a bit.

Only complaint about GW1 ranger was pet AI, if they did GW1 ranger w/ GW2 pet AI I’d be in heaven.

Idk about that, I had 2 rangers, 1 BM and 1 archer, with my BM I used a staff and went balls out BM, pet melted people hard and he attacked who I asked, AND people couldnt outrun him at normal pace, and he hit moving targets, so I liked the AI in that more. To each their own, but I much prefered gw1 pets to gw2. Also with my archer, I had 4 different types of bows for several occasions, flatbow for sniping, longbow because I liked the skin, hornbow for heavy armored targets, and recurve for all around pvp and semi sniping-midranged combat. IT was amazing feeling that I had multiple bows for several purposes. I want that here.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Durzlla.6295:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Krugan.7901:

Ranger were desiderd in PvP for their ability to multitask with a single build. While playing with the team you had to focus on interrupting critical spells, spreading conditions to apply pressure before the spike and crippling enemy melees. With the same build you could split and attack the enemy base alone thanks to yur speed, condition and survivability to force the enemy to backup and defend. In PvE the most poular farming builds required you to have a particular secondary profession like /Rt for DOA or kitten for uswc wich was not a big deal. Urgoz and Kanaxai farming builds used to have 3/4 splinter ranger in the beginning, this changed after but a ranger was still required for his traps, then there was the ursan setup and you could do that just as good as any other profession. The old setup was still viable.
In general PvE and vanquish you could still hold your own and with my build I could pump even more aoe damage than the splinter barrage.

Yes, rangers were better in gw1 in both pve and pvp, cant think of a logical argument as to why people think gw2 rangers are better but to each their own. I agree anet should go back to their roots a bit.

Only complaint about GW1 ranger was pet AI, if they did GW1 ranger w/ GW2 pet AI I’d be in heaven.

Idk about that, I had 2 rangers, 1 BM and 1 archer, with my BM I used a staff and went balls out BM, pet melted people hard and he attacked who I asked, AND people couldnt outrun him at normal pace, and he hit moving targets, so I liked the AI in that more. To each their own, but I much prefered gw1 pets to gw2. Also with my archer, I had 4 different types of bows for several occasions, flatbow for sniping, longbow because I liked the skin, hornbow for heavy armored targets, and recurve for all around pvp and semi sniping-midranged combat. IT was amazing feeling that I had multiple bows for several purposes. I want that here.

Actually, in GW1 if they moved around (except while crippled which is why i ran with a bow and took crip shot) your pet was 100% unable to attack, however the second they stopped, THAT was a different story.

I personally had 4 bows myself, i had a shortbow for rapid fire melee range, i had a longbow (my bread and butter bow) i had a recurve (for when i needed to be on rupt duty), and then my personal favorite, the flat bow, MY GOD did that thing obliterate anyone who was snared or standing still! So much range, so much attack speed, so much carnage! (not to mention it was a zealous bow so if i was using barrage i had limitless energy).

PS: With a staff BM build your pet was a god, it could outrun ANYONE, took nearly nothing damage wise, attacked through blocks, hit like a truck shivers it was horrifying!! ESPECIALLY if you threw GDW onto it.

jcbroe.4329:

Rangers in Guild Wars 1 had some of the best skill bar compression in the game. On any given competitive build, a ranger could pressure, interrupt, remove conditions, block attacks, heal, and even spike assist (most tourny builds weren’t setup for pure damage bars as it wasn’t necessary).
Rangers were strong team options from the support they could provide as well as split and solo base NPCs for the team. Also, this could all be accomplished with a single skill bar setup and basic attribute distribution. Rangers could effectively hold their own against any class in the game, and while most skirmishes with a tourny bar setup (by this I do mean the damage/utility elite, 2 interrupts, apply poison, lightning reflexes, natural stride, mending touch, rez signet) weren’t going to outright kill other players, there really wasn’t a single class rangers had to be afraid of either unless that class were to focus you long enough to make you blow all defensive options available (which usually came from more than one player focusing you than it did an individual player).

Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have rangers. Its has a Shaggy/Scooby Doo class (an implied stoned guy who can barely accomplish anything useful and his equally ridiculous pet sidekick. They exist purely for others entertainment and in terms of doing anything useful, can basically only get in the way).

Then again, what do I know, it isn’t like I played guild wars 1 for almost a decade exclusively as ranger with most of my time going into pvp or anything…
Still, opinions are opinions.

Perfect. +1

Durzlla.6295:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Durzlla.6295:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Krugan.7901:

Ranger were desiderd in PvP for their ability to multitask with a single build. While playing with the team you had to focus on interrupting critical spells, spreading conditions to apply pressure before the spike and crippling enemy melees. With the same build you could split and attack the enemy base alone thanks to yur speed, condition and survivability to force the enemy to backup and defend. In PvE the most poular farming builds required you to have a particular secondary profession like /Rt for DOA or kitten for uswc wich was not a big deal. Urgoz and Kanaxai farming builds used to have 3/4 splinter ranger in the beginning, this changed after but a ranger was still required for his traps, then there was the ursan setup and you could do that just as good as any other profession. The old setup was still viable.
In general PvE and vanquish you could still hold your own and with my build I could pump even more aoe damage than the splinter barrage.

Yes, rangers were better in gw1 in both pve and pvp, cant think of a logical argument as to why people think gw2 rangers are better but to each their own. I agree anet should go back to their roots a bit.

Only complaint about GW1 ranger was pet AI, if they did GW1 ranger w/ GW2 pet AI I’d be in heaven.

Idk about that, I had 2 rangers, 1 BM and 1 archer, with my BM I used a staff and went balls out BM, pet melted people hard and he attacked who I asked, AND people couldnt outrun him at normal pace, and he hit moving targets, so I liked the AI in that more. To each their own, but I much prefered gw1 pets to gw2. Also with my archer, I had 4 different types of bows for several occasions, flatbow for sniping, longbow because I liked the skin, hornbow for heavy armored targets, and recurve for all around pvp and semi sniping-midranged combat. IT was amazing feeling that I had multiple bows for several purposes. I want that here.

Actually, in GW1 if they moved around (except while crippled which is why i ran with a bow and took crip shot) your pet was 100% unable to attack, however the second they stopped, THAT was a different story.

I personally had 4 bows myself, i had a shortbow for rapid fire melee range, i had a longbow (my bread and butter bow) i had a recurve (for when i needed to be on rupt duty), and then my personal favorite, the flat bow, MY GOD did that thing obliterate anyone who was snared or standing still! So much range, so much attack speed, so much carnage! (not to mention it was a zealous bow so if i was using barrage i had limitless energy).

PS: With a staff BM build your pet was a god, it could outrun ANYONE, took nearly nothing damage wise, attacked through blocks, hit like a truck shivers it was horrifying!! ESPECIALLY if you threw GDW onto it.

GDW was a pve only weapon so I never used it, however I did use a staff BM and my pet was godly, as you say, hard to kill, hard hitting, hits through blocks, bled and poisoned, could interupted if needed, healed him and I each hit with predatory bond. I had many people try to kill my pet and me by cripple kiting him with 1 degen and attacking me, I just LoSed and let him keep crippling pet, eventually I won because I never ran out of resources. Also, my pet moved faster than normal run speed for some reason, even without run as one or any run skills, I tested this many times over my 7 year time there, not much faster but faster still, couldnt out run him without the use of a sprint. My pvp build consisted of 16 MM 12-13 expertise and 4-6 protection in monk. I ran burning arrow, hunters shot, needling shot, disrupting shot for interupt + burst ( was bugged also, worked on spells as well ) experts focus for super spamable near never ending energy + 9 more damage, lightning reflexes, mending and in FA I used spirit of favorable winds for team ranged buff and sniping turtles and making arrows almost undodgeable. Although Id use distracting shot in gvg and arena and I definitely felt like a archery pro with him as opposed to how my gw2 ranger feels.

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Durzlla.6295:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Durzlla.6295:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Krugan.7901:

Ranger were desiderd in PvP for their ability to multitask with a single build. While playing with the team you had to focus on interrupting critical spells, spreading conditions to apply pressure before the spike and crippling enemy melees. With the same build you could split and attack the enemy base alone thanks to yur speed, condition and survivability to force the enemy to backup and defend. In PvE the most poular farming builds required you to have a particular secondary profession like /Rt for DOA or kitten for uswc wich was not a big deal. Urgoz and Kanaxai farming builds used to have 3/4 splinter ranger in the beginning, this changed after but a ranger was still required for his traps, then there was the ursan setup and you could do that just as good as any other profession. The old setup was still viable.
In general PvE and vanquish you could still hold your own and with my build I could pump even more aoe damage than the splinter barrage.

Yes, rangers were better in gw1 in both pve and pvp, cant think of a logical argument as to why people think gw2 rangers are better but to each their own. I agree anet should go back to their roots a bit.

Only complaint about GW1 ranger was pet AI, if they did GW1 ranger w/ GW2 pet AI I’d be in heaven.

Idk about that, I had 2 rangers, 1 BM and 1 archer, with my BM I used a staff and went balls out BM, pet melted people hard and he attacked who I asked, AND people couldnt outrun him at normal pace, and he hit moving targets, so I liked the AI in that more. To each their own, but I much prefered gw1 pets to gw2. Also with my archer, I had 4 different types of bows for several occasions, flatbow for sniping, longbow because I liked the skin, hornbow for heavy armored targets, and recurve for all around pvp and semi sniping-midranged combat. IT was amazing feeling that I had multiple bows for several purposes. I want that here.

Actually, in GW1 if they moved around (except while crippled which is why i ran with a bow and took crip shot) your pet was 100% unable to attack, however the second they stopped, THAT was a different story.

I personally had 4 bows myself, i had a shortbow for rapid fire melee range, i had a longbow (my bread and butter bow) i had a recurve (for when i needed to be on rupt duty), and then my personal favorite, the flat bow, MY GOD did that thing obliterate anyone who was snared or standing still! So much range, so much attack speed, so much carnage! (not to mention it was a zealous bow so if i was using barrage i had limitless energy).

PS: With a staff BM build your pet was a god, it could outrun ANYONE, took nearly nothing damage wise, attacked through blocks, hit like a truck shivers it was horrifying!! ESPECIALLY if you threw GDW onto it.

GDW was a pve only weapon so I never used it, however I did use a staff BM and my pet was godly, as you say, hard to kill, hard hitting, hits through blocks, bled and poisoned, could interupted if needed, healed him and I each hit with predatory bond. I had many people try to kill my pet and me by cripple kiting him with 1 degen and attacking me, I just LoSed and let him keep crippling pet, eventually I won because I never ran out of resources. Also, my pet moved faster than normal run speed for some reason, even without run as one or any run skills, I tested this many times over my 7 year time there, not much faster but faster still, couldnt out run him without the use of a sprint. My pvp build consisted of 16 MM 12-13 expertise and 4-6 protection in monk. I ran burning arrow, hunters shot, needling shot, disrupting shot for interupt + burst ( was bugged also, worked on spells as well ) experts focus for super spamable near never ending energy + 9 more damage, lightning reflexes, mending and in FA I used spirit of favorable winds for team ranged buff and sniping turtles and making arrows almost undodgeable. Although Id use distracting shot in gvg and arena and I definitely felt like a archery pro with him as opposed to how my gw2 ranger feels.

I used a BM build of somsort (not always with a staff, most of the time was with a bow and arrow) I would normally run a build with Scavenger Strike (my god that thing opens so many doors!) and a few heavy offensive abilities via my pet and then provide supporting fire with my bow, crippling the enemy, degening them, rupts, that sorta thing.

PS: In GW1 pets have a base run speed that is 25% faster than player characters, which was AWESOME!! than if you used another movement buff skill there was no way they could escape.

.[/quote]

I used a BM build of somsort (not always with a staff, most of the time was with a bow and arrow) I would normally run a build with Scavenger Strike (my god that thing opens so many doors!) and a few heavy offensive abilities via my pet and then provide supporting fire with my bow, crippling the enemy, degening them, rupts, that sorta thing.

PS: In GW1 pets have a base run speed that is 25% faster than player characters, which was AWESOME!! than if you used another movement buff skill there was no way they could escape.
[/quote]

Yep, thats what I was saying, even if they run around my pet would hit them, but yea dude, my favorite part about BM was how amazing it was 1v1 and watching people go WTF when they popped a block stance or enchant and my pet hit through it….easy. Blinding pet was the best bet tho. About the only weakness of the build. Had a air ele spam blind on pet and attempt to burst me down, didnt work, ended in a stalemate, only person I didnt beat 1v1.

Lame, this bugged out my post, oh well point remains, I prefered gw1 rangers haha.

I hardly ever pvp’ed at all in GW1 and the few times I did (yes FA and alliance battles do count) I never felt out classed in any regard. I did feel some frustration at tank builds but other than that it was fun and I never felt like the fat kid with asthma trying to keep up with the track team.

The entire class did a 180 and now we have very little to any utility and are mostly just walking badge dispensers for the rest of the classes.

I mean, seriously, 1 unconditional ranged interrupt in our entire skill set? Crippling Shot is 3 second of cripple with 12 seconds of cooldown? What the kitten happened? Don’t even get me started on spirits. Favorable Winds and EoE bombs to this crap?

Lol yea rangers were in a good place in gw1, some kitten that needed love but anet thought other classes needed it more. Which they did, not in gw2 tho.

My GW1 Ranger was my main. Bow builds were a bit underwhelming in PvE so I often ran a Spear Chucker with pet or a Dagger Ranger. In PvP bows were a blast. There was also the awesome Spirit Spammer build I used to farm UW with.

Now the GW2 Ranger…yeah bows are still there and they are pretty great. Altough Long Bow feels a tad clumsy compared to betas. And there are so few interrupts…skilled rupt Rangers were freaking insane in GW1.

Melee Ranger could be better at least in some manner. Sword locks you in place and Great Sword ain’t as awesome anymore since the spirit build got killed.

Pets…well they are deeper than in GW1 but I’m not a 100% fan of the system. I used to collect pets for skins (Jingle Bear ftw) but now I’m forced to choose a certain pet for certain situations. Why did I farm all the HoM points for a Black Moa when I never use it? And why does the beautiful alpine wolf have a freaking chill breath? Why am I forced to use kitten Drake Hound or a bland gray Wolf? At least I can name my Drake Houn “Ben” and feel a little less kitten

The utilities are a bit underwhelming as well…

Natural Stride, Storm Chaser, Zojun’s Haste and Escape how I miss thee. Yes we have a run speed increasing signet but how many people actually use this in PvP? And correct me if I’m wrong but do we have ANYTHING that even resembles Apply Poison? Stacking poison and burning was sooooo delicious.

Edit: The thing I’d like to see in the GW2 Ranger is some form of added acrobatics. Engineer jumps around with it’s rifle and bombs and stuff and a thief rolls around like a carosel but the Ranger feels like it’s just thrumbing about with next to 0% mobility. I always imagined Rangers to be mobile and agile…

Sarosna.6708:

My GW1 Ranger was my main. Bow builds were a bit underwhelming in PvE so I often ran a Spear Chucker with pet or a Dagger Ranger. In PvP bows were a blast. There was also the awesome Spirit Spammer build I used to farm UW with.

Now the GW2 Ranger…yeah bows are still there and they are pretty great. Altough Long Bow feels a tad clumsy compared to betas. And there are so few interrupts…skilled rupt Rangers were freaking insane in GW1.

Melee Ranger could be better at least in some manner. Sword locks you in place and Great Sword ain’t as awesome anymore since the spirit build got killed.

Pets…well they are deeper than in GW1 but I’m not a 100% fan of the system. I used to collect pets for skins (Jingle Bear ftw) but now I’m forced to choose a certain pet for certain situations. Why did I farm all the HoM points for a Black Moa when I never use it? And why does the beautiful alpine wolf have a freaking chill breath? Why am I forced to use kitten Drake Hound or a bland gray Wolf? At least I can name my Drake Houn “Ben” and feel a little less kitten

The utilities are a bit underwhelming as well…

Natural Stride, Storm Chaser, Zojun’s Haste and Escape how I miss thee. Yes we have a run speed increasing signet but how many people actually use this in PvP? And correct me if I’m wrong but do we have ANYTHING that even resembles Apply Poison? Stacking poison and burning was sooooo delicious.

Edit: The thing I’d like to see in the GW2 Ranger is some form of added acrobatics. Engineer jumps around with it’s rifle and bombs and stuff and a thief rolls around like a carosel but the Ranger feels like it’s just thrumbing about with next to 0% mobility. I always imagined Rangers to be mobile and agile…

Odd, last time I quit bow builds were all the rage in pve, barrage + splinter wep kitten

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Odd, last time I quit bow builds were all the rage in pve, barrage + splinter wep kitten

If you liked using Barrage Splinter yes. I was never a fan of it and I played with heroes so mobbing up didn’t quite work the way it was supposed to. I did use this hilarious Incendiary Arrows build for vanquishing also. However, for more brainless and relaxed AoE spam, Dagger spam worked better majority of the time and with very fast attack speed to boot. It wasn’t quite the real ranger though.

Apples and oranges I guess. Besides, Barrage was hardly a meta after all the effing Spirit Spam rits, Sin tanks and the new and improved Mesmer.

Sarosna.6708:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Odd, last time I quit bow builds were all the rage in pve, barrage + splinter wep kitten

If you liked using Barrage Splinter yes. I was never a fan of it and I played with heroes so mobbing up didn’t quite work the way it was supposed to. I did use this hilarious Incendiary Arrows build for vanquishing also. However, for more brainless and relaxed AoE spam, Dagger spam worked better majority of the time and with very fast attack speed to boot. It wasn’t quite the real ranger though.

Apples and oranges I guess. Besides, Barrage was hardly a meta after all the effing Spirit Spam rits, Sin tanks and the new and improved Mesmer.

Wasnt aware pve had a meta.

I miss Enraged Lunge and Heal As One as they existed in GW1. Enraged Lunge did crazy spike damage with deep wound and Heal As One gave your pet life steal or something. It was pretty awesome having a vampiric pet

Dante, I don’t know about pve meta…but spirit spammers were everywhere haha.

I agree everything about GW1 rangers were far superior to GW2 versions.. I never really needed to use pets,it was a choice, spirits were great, traps were better…and so many awesome skills to choose from..

Here its like Ranger is Anets joke class. look at the legendaries to see some serious jokes..

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Sarosna.6708:

Dante Dragonhand.2538:

Odd, last time I quit bow builds were all the rage in pve, barrage + splinter wep kitten

If you liked using Barrage Splinter yes. I was never a fan of it and I played with heroes so mobbing up didn’t quite work the way it was supposed to. I did use this hilarious Incendiary Arrows build for vanquishing also. However, for more brainless and relaxed AoE spam, Dagger spam worked better majority of the time and with very fast attack speed to boot. It wasn’t quite the real ranger though.

Apples and oranges I guess. Besides, Barrage was hardly a meta after all the effing Spirit Spam rits, Sin tanks and the new and improved Mesmer.

Wasnt aware pve had a meta.

When I started getting into hard mode and that it most certainly did (which is stupid because it didn’t even -need- one), however if you ran with heroes you could do as you please!!

I played some GW1 yesterday and am now depressed with the difference of spirits, in Gw1 they’re so powerful and awesome and in GW2 they’re so… Not…

Silvanus.5821:

Nuka Cola.8520:

Belzebu.3912:

Ranger in GW1 was great at interrupt others, in GW2 Anet should give us more stun, knockdown and knockback options.
Celestina is right, rangers in GW1 was better at PvP, but really hard to master it, rupt 1/4 sec cast skills requires A LOT of player skill.

lol you can’t rupt a 1/4 skill… only time your rupts on a stupid person who spams his skill(s) on recharge.

You could by predicting when the enemy was going to use a skill (Combos, getting up after KD, 0.5 seconds after finished casting).

That’s what i said… which requires zero skill.