Guild Wars 2

Before I start, like everyone else, I was upset when the SB nerf happened. I wanted answers and am still upset by the way ArenaNet handled it. They should have just admitted up front in the release notes that the “animation fix” also reduced base damage by 7%.

Also, what I’m about to post is not meant to try to convince anyone of anything, or try to argue that the SB nerf was good for everyone else. I’m just going to explain why it was a good thing for >>ME<<. Just trying to offer up a different perspective…

Okay, with that out of the way…

I was thinking about it this morning, and realized the SB nerf was probably the best thing that happened to me. It forced me to learn to play my Ranger better. It forced me to experiment with different weapons and builds. And by forcing me to learn new ways to deal damage, to my surprise, I starting having more fun playing my Ranger.

If it wasn’t for the SB nerf, I’d still be running around spamming SB #1 90% of the time because, honestly, if you could flank it was awesome. Somehow, with even just the 7% damage reduction, the accumulative effect that has on bleed stacks has significantly weakened the shortbow. In fact, I hardly ever even use the SB anymore.

Back to why it’s been the best thing that has happened to >>ME<< playing with >>MY RANGER<<… I’ve learned to use my pet more effectively, which is fun. I’ve learned how to effectively solo mobs in Orr using my axe/warhorn. Yesterday, I finally started trying different combinations of sword and warhorn/dagger/axe/torch. They’re all really interesting and really fun to play. Who knew that my ranger could melee?

Last night, I saw another non-ranger melee toon fighting the champion guarding the skill point just across the bridge from the south end of Penitent Path in Cursed Shore. I had my sword/warhorn equipped, and even though I already have that skill point, I thought “what the heck” and jumped into the fight. The other player went down three times during the fight. Meanwhile I stayed on my feet the entire time, in melee, wearing nothing but Traveler’s MF gear.

—I had the champion engaged with the sword’s auto-attack skill chain, using QZ whenever it was off cooldown (sword + QZ = awesome).
—Meanwhile my hawk or eagle were pounding on him with their F2 1500-2500 attack plus bleeds every 6 seconds, and when I switched pets I got 2 seconds of swiftness for my sword auto-attack. Okay, sometimes I forget to press F2 right away, but the birds still do decent DPS damage with their normal attacks.
—I’d pop the warhorn #5 and #4 skills whenever they were off cooldown for buffs and good amount of bird swarm attack damage.
—When my health would drop, I’m traited for 2 seconds of invulnerability on dodge, or I’d pop up a healing spring, or I’d use the sword #3 skill for a free evade plus poison.
—(Remember, I was wearing 100% Traveler’s MF armor and all my weapons have Sigils of Luck, yet I never died or went down once. This was with me and one other non-Ranger melee attacking the champion and his minions by ourselves. And this was the first time I had run with the sword, so I was still learning.)

It was so much fun.

If I’m being honest with myself, I was getting a little bored with my ranger by the time it hit level 80 and first got to Orr. Jon P from ArenaNet handled this whole SB nerf extremely poorly in terms of his communication… at least in my opinion… but I think he was correct in saying that rangers doing nothing but spamming SB #1 is boring.

Again, I don’t say all this to imply that, for every player, SB #1 is boring. It should be your choice how to play. ArenaNet shouldn’t be forcing us to abandon the SB just because they think it’s boring.

However, in >>MY CASE<<, I have to agree that relying on SB #1 for 95% of my attacks was actually getting boring for me. Also, I have to be honest that I never would have explored all these other great weapons and skill sets if ArenaNet hadn’t nerfed the SB.

Obviously, YMMV and your opinions may differ, so please don’t flame me for my opinion, because it’s just >>MY<< opinion after all (and they shouldn’t have nerfed the SB), but the SB nerf was actually a blessing in disguise… for me anyway.

All I have to say is: not viable for PvP and dungeon play. SB + Axe/Horn is still your best option for those. You can use pretty much anything in general PvE and have fun, but that just because anything goes there.

@Trollhammer – I think you missed my point. This isn’t a build thread. It’s simply me explaining how much more fun I’m having playing my Ranger post SB nerf. My description of using the sword/warhorn last night against the champion was just my way of giving a great example of a situation where I had an absolute blast… And stayed up way too late… Playing my Ranger in new ways. Ways I more than likely wouldn’t have ever tried without the SB nerf. As bad as the nerf was, for me, it had a silver lining.

By the way, it’s untrue that anything goes and everything is viable in PvE. I know a lot of people that have a hard time running to contested waypoints in Orr because they keep getting ganked by mobs and dying. I constantly see people dying in Orr zerg spammed aoe fest DEs. I’m not sure how that’s even possible, but they die nonetheless. Last night, me, the rookie sword wielding ranger never when down once, whereas the level 80 warrior/guardian went down 3 times.

And we can’t assume everyone is a bad player if they die. Some builds are just better than others. Too much glass canon for instance is a bad spec for running past mobs in Orr, or taking on an Orr champion.

its the best thing happened to me becouse

i reroll to warrior and now i can have 25 stack of might and do 25 bleed stacks

thats more than Ranger spamming 1 with QZ

@saurus – you actually make a really good point. The nerf prompted you to try another profession, and it sounds like you’re enjoying it more than you did your ranger before the nerf. See? Another silver lining. Turning lemons into lemonade. All that stuff…

Skolvikings, that’s what I’ve been saying for weeks! Glad you found a way to play your Ranger in an enjoyable and effective manner.

Being positive is wasted on the Ranger forums. Nobody wants to see the silver lining.

@Skolvikings lets not be setting new lows… I think you know what I mean. And I know exactly what you mean. You are trying to find positive side to things, but that just doesn’t work when you want to be competitive in an online game. Not for me (and most people around here) anyway.

Trollhammer.7439:

@Skolvikings You are trying to find positive side to things, but that just doesn’t work when you want to be competitive in an online game.

Fair enough. I don’t share that opinion, but it is a valid opinion. I’ll just follow up with:

1. Being positive is good for your health. Stress is not. This is a game after all, so it’s good to keep everything in perspective. Finding ways to be positive and have fun playing the game, despite changes or nerfs, is actually a really smart way to spend your free time.

2. Not everyone is trying to be competitive. This is not just a PvP game. Many people, myself included, are perfectly happy playing Guild Wars 2 for the PvE content and the occasional round of WvWvW.

3. Not everyone agrees that Rangers are no longer viable, even in PvP. I don’t play much sPvP or tPvP, but I’ve read enough threads of people trying to explain how they continue to do well in PvP even after the SB nerf.

At the end of the day, we all have different play styles, wants and needs. It’s a game and I’m having a ton of fun playing it as a Ranger. That’s all I wanted to share with this thread.

Best wishes to you and yours!

nldixon.8514:

Skolvikings, that’s what I’ve been saying for weeks! Glad you found a way to play your Ranger in an enjoyable and effective manner.

Being positive is wasted on the Ranger forums. Nobody wants to see the silver lining.

Sad but probably true.

I still love SB and Sword/Warhorn in pvp. Still works great.

Yeah, please nerf ranger some more so i can learn to play better
Kudos for trying to find positive sides on bad situation though.

Boomstin.3460:

Yeah, please nerf ranger some more so i can learn to play better
Kudos for trying to find positive sides on bad situation though.

LOL, yeah. It would have been better to learn how to succeed using other weapons, etc., without the SB #1 skill nerf. Oh well…

I got Great Sword and Axe/axe there’s not much I can’t take down (PvE and PvP.). I like to call my Build The Northern Barbarian, and I do share it with friends.. Just not sure I wanna share it with the public, last thing I need is it getting nerfed.

But if you play with more of a White Lion from WAR mind set, or want to feel more like a Barbarian with a companion, those weapons with the right set up. Just amazing.

Trollhammer.7439:

@Skolvikings lets not be setting new lows… I think you know what I mean. And I know exactly what you mean. You are trying to find positive side to things, but that just doesn’t work when you want to be competitive in an online game. Not for me (and most people around here) anyway.

Hmmm funny I seem to still be doing really well in PvP.. weird…

I love how people seriously have convinced themselves that out of the probably hundreds of thousands playing this class, they alone have found this elusive secret uber-spec and insist they dare not share it.

I’ve seen others using it, but there are a lot of people out there that can’t think for themselves. shrugs Sorry I don’t like to propagate people not toying with things and trying to come up with things themselves.

War Siren.2346:

I’ve seen others using it, but there are a lot of people out there that can’t think for themselves. shrugs Sorry I don’t like to propagate people not toying with things and trying to come up with things themselves.

So basically your point is that you are a pro player and we all suck. Got any more insights?

Kerri Knight.3168:

I love how people seriously have convinced themselves that out of the probably hundreds of thousands playing this class, they alone have found this elusive secret uber-spec and insist they dare not share it.

They have found the miracle cure. Too bad it’s all snake oil and if they share the recipe we’ll all know it as well.

A few things.

Sharing a build, at any time, will increase the number of people who know of the build.

A large portion of the play base knowing a build indicates that the build is popular/unpopular.

If you have a favorite spec, which works perfectly for “you”, sharing it may potentially increase its popularity/unpopularity.

Specs that are too heavily played are always inevitably nerfed in the never ending FotM nerf/buff cycle in games.

(So, given all that… why would you give some guy kitten for saying he is loath to share builds he enjoys? It is actually very self destructive to share builds you really enjoy… if it causes too many other people to share your fun, then the devs will stamp that kitten out quick)

It is also the best thing happened to me because I leveled a warrior and dont accept any ranger into my dungeon runs now including the guildies and if I want a decent ranged dps I will just take another warrior who doesnt have to sacrifice everything else to be a decent dps and invest in glass cannon build and whom I dont have to revive at every swarm summons, big aoes, pull aoes at boss fights etc and wont have to worry about their buggy and agro-happy pets now. Warriors can just get the tanking from gear and dps from traits and skills as it should be and is in any other decent mmo. Get mad at me but this is how majority of the players who are COMPETITIVE and know about others classes see rangers now.

Ranger needed a buff not a slap in the face. Nope I wont turn the other cheek and go with “the best thing happened to me because I can now go all stabby stabby on mobs in orr with a dagger”. Sorry my brother but you are a casual player not a hardcore and I believe you have never done any statistical testing or measured the impact of the SB nerf on our dps. It was a 7.7% dps decrease only assuming you have no crit procs, quickness, or bleeds. Anet closing the biggest thread that I have seen in our forums so far due to people just state the obvious show how despotic approach can be effective just like in SB nerf approach.

However I am not directing any anger at you or anything. I perfectly understand that you are now finding other ways to have fun and you are only talking about the ENJOYMENT you have now. However things that makes us happy might be very ridiculous to others and I dont think you should in your way of saying justify a wrong doing disfavored by many for the sake of making your point. You can be misunderstood and flamed even though each of us finds ways to deal with it, some adapt and get happy with pve and others change classes.

Skolvikings.5132:

@Trollhammer – I think you missed my point. This isn’t a build thread. It’s simply me explaining how much more fun I’m having playing my Ranger post SB nerf.

Good for you. Keep on having fun. I’ll be back in 6 months to see if Ranger is worth playing again.

This is exactly what I was talking about in my post. You can’t even suggest that the class is remotely playable without a shortbow before people jump down your throat.

It is also the best thing happened to me because I leveled a warrior and dont accept any ranger into my dungeon runs now including the guildies and if I want a decent ranged dps I will just take another warrior who doesnt have to sacrifice everything else to be a decent dps and invest in glass cannon build and whom I dont have to revive at every swarm summons, big aoes, pull aoes at boss fights etc and wont have to worry about their buggy and agro-happy pets now.

Sounds like you suck at dungeons. I’ve done them with squads of four rangers and a thief and not had any particular issues.

The point is not the fun . Ranger was fun that why we chose to play him. The point is that the ranger is not effective.

arji.7192:

The point is not the fun . Ranger was fun that why we chose to play him. The point is that the ranger is not effective.

It is effective. There are plenty of builds that have been posted on the forums by various people that work and are still fun. The naysayers just don’t want to adjust their play style.

Ranger was a weak class before the nerf.

They were ok in PvE but who gives a crap about PvE? this is “supposedly” a WvW/PvP game.

Rangers are without a doubt the worst class in the game.

I got more kills on my level 8 thief in WvW last night than i ever did on my level 80 Ranger in full exotic, how sad is that?

ArenaNet should really start tweaking the classes instead of this ****. Fact is that Warriors are better at ranged than Rangers, better at melee (except for Stabby-Stabby Thiefs) and so forth.