Guild Wars 2

I decided to try out a support type ranger and trait into the spirits. Went into a dungeon with some guild mates and guess what. Spirits are utterly useless as they die not even 10 seconds after I summon them.

Yes, the first time I did AC I was all excited to use my spirits as support for my team. But I was pretty disappointed by their horrible aura range, especially with the mobility necessary for many fights. I also had no clue whether my spirits were helping or not, they just kind of … sit there.

So I’ve put my spirits away in their Spirit Box until they are redesigned.

Don’t trash ALL your spirits, the elite one is still REALLY powerful (and actually is near invincible please realize I said NEAR and he still can die) not to mention if you take natures vengeance when he finally goes out he does so with a bang, picking up all downed Allies (and defeated npcs) as well as clearing all conditions from your team.

The other ones… Well… Yeah don’t use them until further notice…

I disagree. I always use Spirit of Nature in dungeons, as it literally can be a lifesaver. And next to that I often use one utility spirit. Using more then one utility spirit when you aren’t traited for it, is a waste of utility slots, in my opinion.

The thing with spirits is, you can’t just place a them down like a Warrior can do with his banners, you have to be aware of your surroundings, and also when you decide to summon them. They aren’t going to work for every encounter either, and you can’t just run into a boss fight and immediately cast your spirits. That will kill them. Instead, you have to let the fight run for a bit, until you learn to read the bosses attack pattern. Then you can decide whether or not you want to place down a spirit. The timing of this also largely depends on the spirit you are using, as they each have different uses. I usually use the Frost Spirit if there’s a lot of ranged players, the Stone Spirit if there’s a lot of melee players, the Storm Spirit if we are fighting a ranged boss where we need more movement speed, and alternatively the Sun Spirit if there are a lot of condition damage based players in my party.

If you can see an opportunity to place a spirit, then you just have to pick the right time to place it. A wrong time would be when a boss or mobs are chasing you, because bosses and mobs will primarily target spirits over you, and kill them with two or three hits. Instead you have to place your spirits at a time where the boss is focusing on your allies, and when you can see they need some extra support. Placing the spirits down at a later point of the fight, should make the spirit survive for a long time, since the boss will be more interested in killing the players then a spirit at that point. You should then place the spirit close enough that your allies will get the boon, but not so close that the spirit becomes a target itself. Also place the spirit behind your allies, so the boss has to go trough them first to get to the spirit. If you are using a spirit to buff ranged allies, then place the spirit in front of them, so if the boss moves away, they can move with the boss, without moving too far away from the spirit. Think of it as a tennis court, with the net in the middle being the spirit, and the players at each end being your allies.

Just for the record: Having said all of this, I still believe that the spirits needs a vitality/toughness buff, as they die too fast. If you’re playing with a Warrior in your party who is using banners, your spirit will quickly feel redundant.

@Kasma You know…. that probably explains why my spirits get plowed by bosses when i put them down, i should start placing them more like how i place my traps (strategically) instead of just LAWLZ SPIRIT GOEH HERE!

The only spirit worth using, in my opinion, is the one that cleanses conditions and revives allies.

The rest of the spirits just die too quickly due to everything blasting AoE death everywhere, have low effect % chances and low buff ranges. Because of these issues it’s just not worth “wasting” the utility slots on them.

I don’t think ALL spirits are junk, Spirit of Nature’s Renewal is absolutely amazing. (Revive your entire party roughly 2-3 times a fight, HELL YEA!)

The utility spirits, however, need a buff. For one, the proc chance is very annoying and generally doesn’t help. The buffs are nice in theory, but they often don’t proc when you need them (e.g. Protection decides to proc after the boss smashed your face).

That said, the buffs are just plain weak too. 1s of protection, 10% damage, a few seconds of burning. I like their thoughts, but they just don’t compare to other options. 1 Hunter’s Shot will give as much bonus DPS as Frost Spirit, but its up near 100% of the time and affects all party members simultaneously. Likewise, Sun Spirit is cool and all, but a Fire Combo-field does the same thing for ranged attacks, with some different stuff for leaps/blasts/whirls. Stone and Storm Spirits are once again, outclassed by any shout or other similar boon-applier.

Now, they do have some uses their counterparts don’t. Sun Spirit works on melee auto-attacks, Stone/Storm Spirit last longer than the average shout, etc. However, the other sources also have their own benefits (blast finishers, other boons, etc) and come with the advantage of being on-demand with relatively short CDs. I don’t think anyone would rather bring a Spirit Ranger over a Shout Warrior/Guardian any day of the week.

So, if the passives got slightly buffed with more uptime and a larger radius, that would solve one problem, but the actives are still another hurdle.

I like the concept of Spirit Actives, but they just tend to be counter-productive. Spirits are, primarily, AoE buffs for allies. In that sense, I want them near my allies. So, why on Earth would their actives be control skills that require them being close to enemies? SoNR got it right, the active is a powerful supportive skill that makes sense for where it is placed. The other Spirit Actives just don’t seem to add much.

Frost and Stone Spirit have control skills, but they’re redundant. If I wanted Chill or Immobilize, I’d take Frost Trap or Muddy Terrain. Sun Spirit at least has the advantage of being unique, but blind with a long cast time is near-useless. (although AoE blind in itself can be handy)

Overall, I really like the concept of Spirits, passive area buffs with active abilities, but they just feel failed in execution. IMHO, they need a few changes:

1) Make the buffs 100% uptime and a slightly larger radius, with modifications as necessary (100% swiftness with mobile spirits could get OP in a hurry)

2) Give the Spirits new Actives. For example, replace Storm Spirits lame thunderbolt with a breeze that cures Cripple, Chill, and immobilize.

3) Buff the health slightly, losing spirits to anything that sneezes on them is bad, but they should be killable to offset the powerful buffs (that they should have, at least).

Normals spirits buff range is terrible even with traits, and way too easy to be destroyed, on the other hand they really dont give that much buff >.>