Guild Wars 2

Mostly…

Despite some flaws with each profession, I’m switching to main necro. It’s been pretty clear over the years that Ranger is basically just a decent RP themed profession, with some unique elements, but that’s not enough… Core Ranger has been meh. Pets have not been improved, despite acknowledgement of issues by the devs from before the game even launched. Druid is a frustratingly clunky heal spec, with poor damage as well (thanks for making a better roaming build though). Soulbeast will have some neat elements, just like Ranger, but the design makes it a niche spec with limited viability…

The meta has been all about conditions for a long time, and nothing indicates any balance improvements are coming to this area… sooooo… it’s time to move on to a more productive profession that has a place in every area of the game.

I honestly don’t think there is much hope for any substantial improvements coming to Ranger or Druid or Soulbeast… aside from a few numbers being crunched over a long period of time… Perhaps I was spoiled by the dev team at Paragon Studios, the creators of City of Heroes, that really made the main emphasis of the game about “professions”, and good combat mechanics, making sure stuff like CCs and stealth designs were really well balanced… and that almost every “profession” spec was viable in every game mode…

Having said that, I certainly DON’T think the devs are lazy or incapable, it just seems like all things profession related are not the primary concern, and that not enough person-power and resources will ever go to making sure that all things “profession” are the #1 priority. Honestly, we get what we get and that’s it. Judging by history, there will never be a strong reinvestment into the most important aspects of this game… and those happen to be the characters we play.

I’ll keep my eye on the Ranger section, and try to give input to help improve Ranger before the next xpac, but that’s it. Time to focus on a meta profession that offers much more in more areas of the game.

If there is any class in gw2 that has been trash for longer than ranger, that is necro (unless we are exclusively talking about wvw zerg game play where necro is been great). Scourge right now is broken but based on the history of necro/reaper it will be nerfed to garbage (pve) or barely playable without support ele (pvp) soon enough.

Erzian.5218:

If there is any class in gw2 that has been trash for longer than ranger, that is necro (unless we are exclusively talking about wvw zerg game play where necro is been great). Scourge right now is broken but based on the history of necro/reaper it will be nerfed to garbage (pve) or barely playable without support ele (pvp) soon enough.

I wouldn’t even say Scourge is broken right now. Once people learn to not stand on top of the shades, its impact will drop off pretty quick.

I think they still going to change quite a lot in terms of balance. Maybe Soulbeast/Ranger won’t get big buffs, but when other classes get nerfed its a buff to Soulbeast/Ranger as well.

HeadCrowned.6834:

I think they still going to change quite a lot in terms of balance. Maybe Soulbeast/Ranger won’t get big buffs, but when other classes get nerfed its a buff to Soulbeast/Ranger as well.

When core Ranger can do better damage, no matter what they do to the other specs, Soulbeast will still be worse off. It also won’t make it fluid or fun to play.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

If Ranger can do better damage, no matter what they do to the other specs, Soulbeast will still be worse off. It also won’t make it fluid or fun to play.

Im not really overwhelmed by Soulbeast either, but all Im saying is that there are probably still a lot of changes comming up, so that the current situation is not the final situation. Soulbeast is from a balance perspective quite OK, which Im happy with, but in order to be good, other professions elite specs need to get toned down a little. Its for example less OP than Druid was on HoT release.