Guild Wars 2

As the ranger community continues to get nerfed into oblivion I had a thought. What if a ranger could use a staff? Designed around support.

We could actually support teammates w/o running spirits which water the class down to well, elementary status… and maybe just maybe, not have to trait/ waste a slot for movement speed which leads to this thought:

Tangent: Why in perfect kittening hell are rangers one of the least mobile classes in the game. I’m not talking about swoop/ leaps, we have very limited access to swiftness coupled with our dmg being hampered by pets makes for a pickle.

More often than not a utility/ trait/ rune set is wasted just so we (rangers mind you) can keep up with the rest of the meta.

Sorry for the bi-polar post… staff would be cool, people would actually want us around/ why are we so slow?

There’s been so many posts on this from not only myself but others and honestly it isn’t getting anywhere.
ANet does what they want regardless.

I’ve always liked the idea of staff for Ranger. They could make it the go-to zerg weapon so that Rangers finally have a role in large scale combat and people will stop crying about “how bad they are at everything.”

Also, rangers have a ton of swiftness.

- Call of the Wild (15 Seconds)
- Tail Wind (On weapon swap, requires combat – 5 seconds)
- Nature’s Voice (On shout – 13 seconds)
- Storm Spirit (Chance on Hit – 8 seconds)
- Rampage as One (20 seconds)
- Quickening Screech (Bird pets – 10 seconds)

Sevans.4619:

I’ve always liked the idea of staff for Ranger. They could make it the go-to zerg weapon so that Rangers finally have a role in large scale combat and people will stop crying about “how bad they are at everything.”

Also, rangers have a ton of swiftness.

- Call of the Wild (15 Seconds)
- Tail Wind (On weapon swap – 5 seconds) -Only in Combat
- Nature’s Voice (On shout – 13 seconds) -Requires 30 Triat points and lack-luster shouts
- Storm Spirit (Chance on Hit – 8 seconds) – No
- Rampage as One (20 seconds) -Elite
- Quickening Screech (Bird pets – 10 seconds) -NPC Skill

fixed …
A lot of these are just way too conditional to consider using under regular basis.

All of those are quite a bit of a reach and to marry all of them for perma swiftness is impossible where others can do it w/o batting an eyelash.

I’ve never had an issue maintaining swiftness… ESPECIALLY when a fight starts, then it tends to become perma swiftness…

Also, rangers are far from the least mobile profession.

Mesmer, Guardian, Necro, and any non kit + speedy kit engi build are slow as hell, ESPECIALLY the first 2….

Also, I approve of the staff as a supporty weapon option, I’ve been wanting a staff on my ranger for kittening ever, it’s even more annoying when you realize Muddy terrain uses a staff casting animation to use the skill instead of “generic casting animation”

PS: we haven’t been nerfed for a while, so idk what you’re talking about.

Never said they were the least mobile… one of the least. Not sure what mesmers you have been playing against. Guards/ necs are supposed to be slow… are rangers lol? Furthermore, EVERY engi slots a kit, and most every engi takes speedy kits and if they don’t do that, then power shoes it is.

One of the reasons rangers are so popular for WvW roaming is they’re one of the most mobile classes.

Dolt.2731:

Never said they were the least mobile… one of the least. Not sure what mesmers you have been playing against. Guards/ necs are supposed to be slow… are rangers lol? Furthermore, EVERY engi slots a kit, and most every engi takes speedy kits and if they don’t do that, then power shoes it is.

Mesmers are only mobile IN combat, if you’ve ever played a Mesmer you’d know that…. And rangers aren’t even close to being least mobile, they aren’t the most mobile sure, but they are very mobile both in and out of combat, it’s one of the reasons they’re played so much in WvW as a roamer…

Staff for Ranger would be awesome if it worked as group support. #1 could even be a 3-part attack that causes Weakness, Vulnerability, and Cripple. #5 though, give me an AoE condition cleanse/heal. Why? Because baby, if I’m rocking support, I want a good group condition heal for it.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Staff for Ranger would be awesome if it worked as group support. #1 could even be a 3-part attack that causes Weakness, Vulnerability, and Cripple. #5 though, give me an AoE condition cleanse/heal. Why? Because baby, if I’m rocking support, I want a good group condition heal for it.

I always hoped the ranger staff would have a skill where you created a wildgrowth that buffed allies who stood in it and debuffed enemies… IE allies got might, fury, and regen, enemies get hit with bleed, torment, poison.

Then again, that’s probably too strong xD

Staff, or any weapon that would give group utilities would be great for the ranger.

Something that gives the following:

• CC field like Ele frost field or static field.
• water field – I would like something that clears conditions actively
• AoE cone attack that gives cripple
• Some sort of AoE heal skill, doesn’t have to be a water field. Maybe make it summon a bunch of sprites that heal your team and attack foes.

Durz, the empathitic bond nerf that is incoming is what I’m talking about. And I do know that about mesmer’s, but they can still get from point a to b much quicker than rangers. Hell, they can get entire groups from point a to b… which couples with the kitten poor group support of the ranger.

When discussing rangers I feel that saying you are faster than a necro/ guard should never have to be said, lol. And where are all these roaming rangers? Don’t see to many these days… at least well-played one’s outside of Tanbin.

Anywho, Staff could make this a much more dynamic class.

Rangers have more mobility than necro, guardian, mesmer, ele, and engy. Thieves and warriors are faster/have more escape options, but not by a lot. If the warrior isn’t set up to roam the ranger will easily catch him. If the war is using a sword/GS obviously he’s faster than a thief but you can sometimes kill him with the LB before he pulls too far away. Thieves are slower but chasing them is usually completely futile.

It’s extremely difficult to disengage a ranger due to the absurd length of the LB, how good the 1h sword is against players and all the cripple/immobilize options.

Dolt.2731:

Durz, the empathitic bond nerf that is incoming is what I’m talking about. And I do know that about mesmer’s, but they can still get from point a to b much quicker than rangers. Hell, they can get entire groups from point a to b… which couples with the kitten poor group support of the ranger.

When discussing rangers I feel that saying you are faster than a necro/ guard should never have to be said, lol. And where are all these roaming rangers? Don’t see to many these days… at least well-played one’s outside of Tanbin.

Anywho, Staff could make this a much more dynamic class.

Oh you mean the bug fix? For the bug that has yet to really happen ever? Because you know… if your pet were to die RIGHT NOW while EB was going it would make it so you stop losing conditions…

I’m all for more weapon choices, I would prefer a spear to be used on land though over staff for rangers though.

Manekk.6981:

I’m all for more weapon choices, I would prefer a spear to be used on land though over staff for rangers though.

Same. Staff doesn’t fit the martial theme of rangers unless it were used like a bo-staff, which wouldn’t work with the staff skins.

Fluffball.8307:

Manekk.6981:

I’m all for more weapon choices, I would prefer a spear to be used on land though over staff for rangers though.

Same. Staff doesn’t fit the martial theme of rangers unless it were used like a bo-staff, which wouldn’t work with the staff skins.

Have you ever heard of Druids?

Staff fits very well w/Ranger archetype, and our nature magic Warden of the profession.

“At one point in development, according to The Making of Guild Wars 2 book, the ranger profession of the original Guild Wars was split into many different professions, notably the warden and the marksman. Eventually, with only marksman remaining, who only possessed only the aspect of ranged weaponry, was combined with already scrapped elements of warden and beastmaster, and renamed the result as ranger for the sake of the original series.”

I would really like to play the Warden Ranger, also to mention this assumed new legendary staff fits the archetype very well w/Anet idea of giving the professions new weapons this year (ex. Engineer & hammer).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nd-5b1tsz0

edit: My two cents would like to see a staff#5 mobile AE or Ranger/pet stealth fitting to nature magic & Warden of the woods. Condition removal would be nice too, and what DeadlySynz wrote, similar to the way a Necro staff works.

Anet can’t decide what they wan’t to do with a Ranger. For me, it makes far more sense to be carrying a staff rather than a Greatsword. It also doesn’t make sense that a master of ranged combat is no more than a novice compared to other classes.

I’d like to see a staff, I’d also like to see traps have ground targeting, so why not give the staff a couple of skills that have ground targeting AoE effects (Like the necro). You know, similar to the Warrior’s ability with the LB (which makes absolutely no sense how they can do it but Rangers cant)

RyuDragnier.9476:

Have you ever heard of Druids?

Sure, but GW2 rangers are up to this point basically 100% martial. If you were to redo the class like Diablo 2 and make them casters it would make sense. Also Sylvari could be elves. :-P

Fluffball.8307:

RyuDragnier.9476:

Have you ever heard of Druids?

Sure, but GW2 rangers are up to this point basically 100% martial. If you were to redo the class like Diablo 2 and make them casters it would make sense. Also Sylvari could be elves. :-P

Actually, they have the nature part down (spirits, muddy terrain, healing spring) and the summonable animal allies. A staff would fit quite well, considering we’re the jack of all trades, master of none. EVERYBODY does things better than us, so why not get outclassed in magical things too?

RyuDragnier.9476:

Fluffball.8307:

RyuDragnier.9476:

Have you ever heard of Druids?

Sure, but GW2 rangers are up to this point basically 100% martial. If you were to redo the class like Diablo 2 and make them casters it would make sense. Also Sylvari could be elves. :-P

Actually, they have the nature part down (spirits, muddy terrain, healing spring) and the summonable animal allies. A staff would fit quite well, considering we’re the jack of all trades, master of none. EVERYBODY does things better than us, so why not get outclassed in magical things too?

^ This mostly.

A staff would be a decent addition. It fits thematically with the whole one-with-nature pseudo-caster rangers kind of are.

Also, wtb GW1 Muddy Terrain.

What? you have super-speed, perma-swift AND a move speed signet? All I gotta say to that is: Nope, walk slower now.

Actually, I’d like pretty much ALL of the GW1 ranger spirits. They were interesting.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Nature_ritual Just LOOK at those. Obviously some do not translate well (Primal Echoes, Equinox, basically anything involving energy), but w/e.

I could see the ranger eventually having access to the staff but it would fall in-line with the other classes gaining access to another weapon too, not as a “fix” to problems like the OP detailed.

Though i could see new weapons for all classes becoming available first, spear seems to be a fan favourite.

some skill ideas:

an AoE ground targeted version of Entangle (obviously with toned down effect)
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Entangle

an AoE ground targeted version of Healing Seed (but it’d summon a patch of flowers instead of a tree)
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Healing_Seed_

Toxic Spores
you’d cast this on an area and it would summon several (destructable) small plants and for the next X seconds (maybe 10) they’d poison and weaken enemies, and then (when their time expires or all plants are destroyed) heal allies in that area for an amount depending on their lifespan/plants remaining, so if enemies kill them all the healing will be minimal, but if they’re left alone they could heal a nice amount (though not OP)

Id actually prefer it if the staff was melee orientated, with some kick animations. Obviously some range on the skill cooldowns but certainly the AA.

If you think about it we have access to 3 ranged weapons and being a ranger any new weapons being added to the game in the future would probably include more so perhaps the staff would be melee. Atleast the way Anet might see it.

My Staff Idea from last year:::
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Ranger-Weapon-and-Skill-Building/2548779

I have several alternate skills in that post for a ranged or melee option since I couldn’t decide at the time what it should be.

I would love it….my visualization