Guild Wars 2

The default opening strike traits, using up all 3 of the fixed marksmanship traits, has always been weak for the level of investment. For 3 entire traits all you get is 10 vulnerability for 5 seconds and a guaranteed critical once a fight.

In the old system you could renew opening strikes in combat with the remorseless trait, but this didn’t address the issue. It still required heavy investment (4 traits including a grandmaster), and stealth which the ranger had limited access to, for an effect which wasn’t that great.

With specializations the remorseless trait was reworked and finally made the mechanic acceptable, where your opening strikes deal 25% more damage and every time you gain fury you regain opening strikes. Unfortunately the core opening strike traits haven’t been touched, and without remorseless it suffers from the same issues it’s had all along.

Opening strikes need to be made better without the remorseless trait. I believe a simple change can address this by reworking the following traits to:

• Precise strike: Regain opening strikes whenever you gain fury
• Remorseless: Your opening strikes deal 25% more damage and are always critical hits.

This will make regaining opening strikes in combat a baseline effect, while remorseless will function as a damage boosting trait.

Or:

Minor Adept >> Player and Pet get Opening Strike
Minor Master >> Opening Strike is 100% Crit
Minor Grand Master >> You gain Opening Strike whenever you evade an attack
(suggested by ProtoMarcus.7649 and Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582)
Remorseless may need to be tweaked to balance this suggestion out.

They actually did something nice and took that away. The signet mastery in addition to the CD reduction and 3stacks of might activated opening strike. I think it was perfectly balanced and in competition with MOC. Hope they will bring it back.

Opening strike by itself is perfect, 10 vuln + 100% crit; you don’t need to invest in PRECISION and still get solid damage output.

What I reaaaally want is getting it refreshed from Signet of the Hunt, either as a direct effect, or through Fury (Signet of Stone Active granting 8s of Fury would be super duper)

Edit: ANd like LughLongArm, I really hope they bring back the opening strike refresh on signet use. After all, traited, we get 24s, 48s, 48s and 64s CDs and as all signets, we sacrifice our signet’s passive (and active really)

I think that OS could actually make a really good additional profession mechanic for Rangers, simply by including OS effects in other trait-lines, and renaming the mechanic to `Prepared Strike`. I suggest the rename simply because it’s only an ‘Opening’ strike if you have the Marksmanship trait.

With more proc sources and more effects, there would obviously need to be nerfs to the power of the effects compared to the current OS, but it could make a really interesting additional way of using the Ranger.

For example.

Marksmanship
- Prepared Strike Applies Vulnerability
- Gain Prepared Strike when Entering Combat
- Gain Prepared Strike when you get Fury
- Prepared Strikes have more damage

Skirmishing
- Prepared Strike Applies Stun
- Gain Prepared Strike when Swapping Weapons
- Gain Prepared Strike when Traps are Triggered
- Prepared Strikes have increased Crit chance

Wilderness Survival
- Prepared Strike Applies Poison
- Gain Prepared Strike when using a Survival Skill
- Gain Prepared Strike when Disabled
- Prepared Strikes have more condition damage

Nature Magic
- Prepared Strike Applies Weakness
- Gain Prepared Strike when spirits die
- Gain Prepared Strike when Evading an attack
- Prepared Strikes cleanse a condition

Beastmastery
- Prepared Strike Applies Blindness
- Pet gets Prepared Strike. Get Prepared Strike on Pet Swap
- Gain Prepared Strike when using F2
- Prepared Strikes grant stability

‘Preparations’ would be interesting to re-add to rangers in GW2 as they were a skill type in GW1, maybe as a future specialisation, really. I love your suggestions but that would be almost an entire rework (but would be really interesting)

ProtoMarcus.7649:

Opening strike by itself is perfect, 10 vuln + 100% crit; you don’t need to invest in PRECISION and still get solid damage output.

The core issue is that there’s no way to reapply it without a grandmaster trait. Without remorseless you only get that effect once a fight, and in situations where you are in combat for a few minutes, the effect is worthless. Its baseline effect needs a broad way to reapply it so that any player who brings marksmanship can make good use of it.

Kaz.5430:

I think that OS could actually make a really good additional profession mechanic for Rangers, simply by including OS effects in other trait-lines, and renaming the mechanic to `Prepared Strike`. I suggest the rename simply because it’s only an ‘Opening’ strike if you have the Marksmanship trait.

Something like that sounds great if they are ever willing to do a revamp that large!

Yeah Minor traits should be

Minor Adept >> Player and Pet get Opening Strike
Minor Master >> Opening Strike is 100% Crit
Minor Grand Master >> An affect that refreshes it (On stun? On kill? Every 20s?)

and then you also have other Major Traits to refresh it or add other effects

ProtoMarcus.7649:

‘Preparations’ would be interesting to re-add to rangers in GW2 as they were a skill type in GW1, maybe as a future specialisation, really. I love your suggestions but that would be almost an entire rework (but would be really interesting)

I would love to see preparations come back! How to implement them though? That is the hard part.

ProtoMarcus.7649:

Yeah Minor traits should be

Minor Adept >> Player and Pet get Opening Strike
Minor Master >> Opening Strike is 100% Crit
Minor Grand Master >> An affect that refreshes it (On stun? On kill? Every 20s?)

and then you also have other Major Traits to refresh it or add other effects

MGM Trait – You gain Opening Strike whenever you evade an attack. ?

Yeah in terms of mechanics they’re very similar to Thief Venoms, but they were mostly limited to bows IIRC

I find ‘Sharpening Stone’ to be very preparation-ish, it causes its to have additionnal effect (much like venoms)

OS Refresh on Evade is a really nice suggestion; not too spammy and not too easily accessed – With now lower endurance regen and the fact you have to successfully evade, it could totally work

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

ProtoMarcus.7649:

Yeah Minor traits should be

Minor Adept >> Player and Pet get Opening Strike
Minor Master >> Opening Strike is 100% Crit
Minor Grand Master >> An affect that refreshes it (On stun? On kill? Every 20s?)

and then you also have other Major Traits to refresh it or add other effects

MGM Trait – You gain Opening Strike whenever you evade an attack. ?

That sounds perfect to me. It would encourage smart dodges and the ranger has evades on 4 weapons and a utility. Heck, even the logic of the effect would make sense, since your character could find an opening after they evade an attack, allowing them to use an “opening strike”.

Greatsword. Just… Greatsword. Evade on auto. Hell yeah. no need for precision anymore ahaha (PLUS trait grants fury with gs hits)

Maybe for balancing issues a CD should be implemented, a short one, 5-7s or else its almost perma 25 stacks of vuln

ProtoMarcus.7649:

Yeah in terms of mechanics they’re very similar to Thief Venoms, but they were mostly limited to bows IIRC

I find ‘Sharpening Stone’ to be very preparation-ish, it causes its to have additionnal effect (much like venoms)

Apply Poison worked for all attacks, but it was the only one.

I was going to say that, yeah SStone is totally a prep, but lame in comparison to GW1 preps.

Utility skills that were a preparation would be cool, a short duration condition every attack would be amazing. Maybe something like a toggle skill that works continuously until you are CCd, then it goes on CD and you need to prepare again. Balance around a very short duration condition.

Anyway, refresh on evade would be fine imo and a good mechanic for us. Yep, would need a CD, 5s I reckon since the vulnerability lasts 5s.

I actually think opening strike would be better if it would add a specific absolute dmg instead of a relative increase.

Right now you really want to use it with stuff like maul but for example longbows rapid fire or barrage kind of ruin its purpose. I feel like we already have moment of clarity from the trait and sigil for the maul interaction.

Make opening strikes crit and also add some addtional attack.

You already have such an immense access to Fury reapplication to go with Opening strikes, yet people ask for more.

I don’t really see a reason to buff it or change it. You now have an amazing time using Signet of the Hunt with opening strike. Change the weapon – get the fury – Use maul.

We got access to easy:

• Vulnerability application
• Spike damage builds without any need of precision
• Reliable and non-RNG use of Maul Burst

Rapid Fire with new Quick Draw is as good as it is. No need for buffs or nerfs. You guyz should focus on traits and abilities that are broken or utterly useless.

If you flood the forum with topics like these, how we are ever going to get attention to:

• Empathic Bond
• Invigorating Bond
• Most Dangerous Game
• Poison Master
• Honed Axes
  ?

Dojo.1867:

I actually think opening strike would be better if it would add a specific absolute dmg instead of a relative increase.

Right now you really want to use it with stuff like maul but for example longbows rapid fire or barrage kind of ruin its purpose. I feel like we already have moment of clarity from the trait and sigil for the maul interaction.

Make opening strikes crit and also add some addtional attack.

I think that would be OP when combined with Remorseless. Having more ways to refresh Opening Strikes is just synergy with Remorseless, which makes Opening Strike do +25% more dmg.

Tragic Positive.9356:

You already have such an immense access to Fury reapplication to go with Opening strikes, yet people ask for more.

I don’t really see a reason to buff it or change it. You now have an amazing time using Signet of the Hunt with opening strike. Change the weapon – get the fury – Use maul.

That’s only if you have remorseless. The point I’m trying to make is that without remorseless, opening strikes is weak for the amount of investment, and is especially weak in PvE because you are often combat locked for long durations. At world bosses or silverwastes for example, you are stuck with these 3 traits that do nothing for 90%+ of the fight.

Since opening strikes is forced upon anyone who takes marksmanship, then it needs to function well enough with just the 3 baseline traits. Nobody is asking for a major buff, only that it work better without remorseless. If that means changing remorseless to balance out the change, then so be it.

Bri.8354:

Tragic Positive.9356:

You already have such an immense access to Fury reapplication to go with Opening strikes, yet people ask for more.

I don’t really see a reason to buff it or change it. You now have an amazing time using Signet of the Hunt with opening strike. Change the weapon – get the fury – Use maul.

That’s only if you have remorseless. The point I’m trying to make is that without remorseless, opening strikes is weak for the amount of investment, and is especially weak in PvE because you are often combat locked for long durations. At world bosses or silverwastes for example, you are stuck with these 3 traits that do nothing for 90%+ of the fight.

Since opening strikes is forced upon anyone who takes marksmanship, then it needs to function well enough with just the 3 baseline traits. Nobody is asking for a major buff, only that it work better without remorseless. If that means changing remorseless to balance out the change, then so be it.

Why don’t you complain about Fury that is useless at 100% of several world bosses (since structures)? Isn’t it the same?

Some traits won’t have full benefit. Ever. That’s why there are traits that can or may not improve it. And there is a way to improve it. So be a man and acknowledge that not everything in this game is perfect, yet absolutely fine.

Opening Strikes are finally viable. And for leveling up or open world content – this trait is much better than several others we have.

So I’ve been playing around with builds and I quite like opening strikes being reapplied by fury. It synergies very well with weapon swaps, RaO, call of the wild on pet swap, and the greatsword trait. It probably works out better than it renewing on an evade.

As for my original suggestion, I think it would easily address the issue without causing any issues. Swapping the 100% crit with reapplication on fury wouldn’t impact builds with remorseless while improving opening strikes for builds without it.

I’d still like to see some further improvements however. They could easily merge the first 2 opening strikes traits to fit another trait in there.

EDIT: And thinking of “on evade” effects just gave me another idea. What if Most Dangerous Game granted might each time you evaded? It fits the name and would be more useful than its current effect which doesn’t synergize with anything the ranger has (would have worked with the old bark skin, but that gone) and seems weak in general.

Bri.8354:

EDIT: And thinking of “on evade” effects just gave me another idea. What if Most Dangerous Game granted might each time you evaded? It fits the name and would be more useful than its current effect which doesn’t synergize with anything the ranger has (would have worked with the old bark skin, but that gone) and seems weak in general.

Sadly, it’s called Light on Your Feet.
But I like your idea. It fits the theme, it would reward smart play and the numbers would be easy to change to match the grandmaster.

But sadly – LoYF is already in there taking it’s space for elusive gameplay.

I’ve been playing a lot of melee ranger GS + Sword/Axe in pvp and wvw prepatch and would have issues trying to crit (low precision for my build) so I would take sigil of intel on my GS. Im thinking i dont need it anymore. Opening strike is perfect if not OP at the moment with reapplication on fury.

I am late to playing ranger but am really enjoying the class, however having come from learning most of the other classes first (bar theif) I can say that Opening Strike and Remorseless with the associated minors are right where they should be. To condense them (and perhaps add in a differing minor trait would make it too op. And I say again, currently the investment allows you to actually not have to balance your build for precision. This is a very powerful advantage to have.