Guild Wars 2

This is getting to the point where I want to stop supporting this game with my money if there are no concrete improvements with this profession in the near future. I am sick of being seen by other players in this game as 3 class profession because of the lack of caring I feel the ANet dev’s towards this class. Anet designs a profession around pets but the pets are more useless then helpful. Its been over a year now and there has only been minor to little improvements to the pet mechanic. I feel Anet rather focus on balancing this game around only Guardians, Elementalists, Warrriors and Necromancers and basically have left us to rot in the land of mediocrity and soon will be just a laughing stock of this game because the Ranger’s pet mechanic is just awful.

Read the boards!! Rangers are not happy!!!

Fix our F2 abilities and pet mechanics.
Fix the current bugs to our weapons, pets and utility skills
Where is this trait overhaul this profession desperately needs
Add more tooltips to skills abilities so we don’t get the wrong idea

This lack of communication is getting to the point that if you plan on surprising us with a profession overhaul stay something. Give us some hope that you understand the issues with this profession and that there are measures being take to improve the Ranger. It is going to a point I rather not play this game and I am looking to others when I have been a loyal support of this game since head start.

Thank you

Honestly, I think ArenaNet are satisfied with the way the pet currently works. They have said they are aware of the fact that F2 skills are slow, yet haven’t done anything to improve the overall channel times. They have said they are aware that the pet is slow to react against targets, but don’t want to improve it because of how powerful pets already are in PvE.

Next to that, the Ranger is a high tier profession in sPvP, and is far from broken in PvE and WvW (although many likes to think differently), so changes aren’t going to be big.

The current state of the Ranger is sad. It has no place in this game IMHO. You don’t need them for dungeons, you don’t need them in WvW. In Spvp you have only Spirits, a laughing stock because of how easy it is to play with all of the passive abilities and RNG abilities the spirits do once they die. Soon players will learn how do deal with them and we ll have nothing again. It is time for Anet to have a serious discussion about this profession before GW2 player base completely shun the profession as useless.

I don’t think there’s going to be any significant changes to the Ranger or pet, you will play the way Anet wants you to.

Master of long range, er no !

AydenStar.4216:

The current state of the Ranger is sad. It has no place in this game IMHO. You don’t need them for dungeons, you don’t need them in WvW. In Spvp you have only Spirits, a laughing stock because of how easy it is to play with all of the passive abilities and RNG abilities the spirits do once they die. Soon players will learn how do deal with them and we ll have nothing again. It is time for Anet to have a serious discussion about this profession before GW2 player base completely shun the profession as useless.

Just a reminder that; no profession is needed anywhere. You can play a dungeon with five Rangers, without any problems at all.

The only thing preventing you is profession popularity, and group pressure. For instance, berserker Warriors are only popular in dungeons, because they are popular. And because everyone writes “looking for berserker Warrior”, others feel pressured to make and play that. The Ranger’s lack of popularity is exactly the same problem; everyone believes that the Ranger has nothing to offer, and will continue to feel that way, regardless of what ArenaNet does to the Ranger. Only us Ranger players can prove that the Ranger has a place.

Kas,

I know the Ranger profession in and out. I have cheerleadered how good this profession has been for months. When this game came out 1 year ago I spent the first month as a Mesmer and switched to the Ranger and never looked back. I know Rangers are ok in PvE but for me the PvE content is a joke and sometimes the player quality as well. In spvp/tpvp, the whole condition meta and lack of different maps styles just turns me off.

In WvW, the last place of fun in this game now the current hardcore meta is only Guardians, Elementalists, Warriors, Necromancers and Mesmers. There is no place for this profession in the eyes of the community because of lackluster and redundancy the Ranger skills have compared to the other professions above and yes our pet mechanic are worthless in that environment. What happens when Anet start to adding larger group oriented PvE content? Guild leaders will start analyzing each professions contributions to the group, and they will come to the same conclusions the WvW community has.

They haven’t been doing any updates because of said PvP tourney.
Personally I’m waiting on that one update…We’ll see how the 9/3 skill update turns out.
I have as much hope as distance between these two lines: |

I enjoy my ranger. I guess the shoe doesn’t fit all..

Miiro.3124:

I enjoy my ranger. I guess the shoe doesn’t fit all..

I enjoy the Ranger too but I don’t enjoy bugs, broke pet mechanics, poorly designed F2 functionality, poorly designed targeting system, pets lagging behind and dying because the are on the bottom of the list for group buff and haven’t been compensated. No F key anything function once your pet is dead. These are serious issues I feel Anet has ignore for a year. If any profession need some love, we need it the most.

Honestly i barely play GW2 anymore because:
a) i can’t be bothered to lvl another character
b) Anet are not fixing the ranger (being the only profession i like in this game)

I don’t care if they go back on their word about not changing class mechanics, you got to do what you got to do. They are obviously struggling with implementing a decent AI for the pets, c’mon it’s been a year now.
They should of implemented preparations as our class mechanic like the ones in GW1 It is much simpler and probably more efficient, these could depend on the weapon you’re using like the engineer f-skill depend on the skills chosen.
I’m sure some of you have tried the Aetherblade dungeon and got to the rotating laser bit where you loose ~40% of you damage output because your pets are getting toasted by the lasers every 5 seconds

I created my ranger on day 1 and have around 85% of my time clocked on her alone. No one has ever said “yay a ranger” or “good thing we got a ranger for this” except for one momentous occasion in TA the second month of the game when I was needed to pull a boss. No one ever says anything about my dps, even when I’m running Jag/full zerk/sword with QZ and RaO. I’m met with a silence in every pub I join, and I’m the only ranger main in my guild because everyone else rolled a warrior. My pet is nothing but a hindrance since I mainly play WvW, he either bugs out and stays in combat, slowing me behind the zerg, or he makes it impossible for me to hide via terrain because he kitten s 10 feet away from me all the time. My pet isn’t even part of my playstyle anymore, except for F4 F2 when I’m downed and I have a wolf.

But we’re totally fine, y’know. Those poor oppressed thieves have to deal with all the other classes taking their core mechanic, initia- I mean stealth!

Kasama.8941:

The only thing preventing you is profession popularity, and group pressure. For instance, berserker Warriors are only popular in dungeons, because they are popular. And because everyone writes “looking for berserker Warrior”, others feel pressured to make and play that. The Ranger’s lack of popularity is exactly the same problem; everyone believes that the Ranger has nothing to offer, and will continue to feel that way, regardless of what ArenaNet does to the Ranger. Only us Ranger players can prove that the Ranger has a place.

On the contrary, Rangers are the second most popular profession in the game next to “warriors” according to:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/guild-wars-2-the-first-year/

So your popularity argument is invalid. Where do us Rangers have a place? in WvW? Dungeons? tPvP?

I know “my” ranger is a WvW solo roamer, “my” ranger can play dungeons with my guildies and friends, “my” ranger can compete in PvP, but that is only “my” ranger. Everyone plays differently and while I feel that every profession has their ups and downs, strengths, and weaknesses. I do feel an overwhelming need to punch my pet in the face sometimes

I get what you are saying (hence why i placed the word “my” in quotations) but not every ranger in the game is going to have the same support as I do from my guild or my friends. Some/most rangers may not want to solo roam WvW, Some rangers are completely against melee combat so will never touch a sword/dagger. Some rangers are profound and extremists to expect that Anet either make the changes to the ranger class that supports Anet’s description of the ranger profession:

“Rangers rely on a keen eye, a steady hand, and the power of nature itself. Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows. With traps, nature spirits, and a stable of loyal pets at their command, rangers can adapt to any situation. "

or to change the ranger description to match what the ranger currently is. Ranger’s can not adapt to every situation as we are not as effective when our pets are on CD. Pets are not loyal as current F2 skill do not override any current skills, Warriors have better LB skills that rangers. Thief has better SB skills than rangers. Therefore, rangers are not unparallelled, but sub-par archers. Keen eye means that stealth duration should automatically be reduced when fighting a ranger because rangers use the power of nature itself to know where a stealthed opponent is or rangers should be invulnerable to backstabs if traited because of being attuned to nature (meaning they should never be hit by a “surprise” attack).

I continue to play my ranger regardless, but it does not mean I don’t want to see some nice changes for the ranger class. if we can’t have the changes to the class, at least change the class description to say:

“Rangers rely on a steady hand and the power of nature itself. Efficient archers; rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows. With traps, nature spirits, and a stable of pets at their command, rangers excel in small scale combat”

AydenStar.4216:

Kas, I know the Ranger profession in and out. I have cheerleadered how good this profession has been for months. When this game came out 1 year ago I spent the first month as a Mesmer and switched to the Ranger and never looked back. I know Rangers are ok in PvE but for me the PvE content is a joke and sometimes the player quality as well. In spvp/tpvp, the whole condition meta and lack of different maps styles just turns me off.

In WvW, the last place of fun in this game now the current hardcore meta is only Guardians, Elementalists, Warriors, Necromancers and Mesmers. There is no place for this profession in the eyes of the community because of lackluster and redundancy the Ranger skills have compared to the other professions above and yes our pet mechanic are worthless in that environment. What happens when Anet start to adding larger group oriented PvE content? Guild leaders will start analyzing each professions contributions to the group, and they will come to the same conclusions the WvW community has.

You’re really just emphasizing what I said, when you say; “there is no place for this profession in the eyes of the community” and “guild leaders will start analyzing each professions contributions to the group”. The problem is not so much the Ranger, as it is the community. And ArenaNet can’t change peoples state of mind, only we as Ranger players can, by making the best of what we got. When guild leaders analyze the current meta, they judge it based on how professions are played, not how their skills work. If something is great, no one cares why it is great, only that it works. And the Ranger does work on some level. But like most other professions, it can’t do everything.

Noobie.1073:

On the contrary, Rangers are the second most popular profession in the game next to “warriors” according to:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/guild-wars-2-the-first-year/

So your popularity argument is invalid. Where do us Rangers have a place? in WvW? Dungeons? tPvP?

I know “my” ranger is a WvW solo roamer, “my” ranger can play dungeons with my guildies and friends, “my” ranger can compete in PvP, but that is only “my” ranger. Everyone plays differently and while I feel that every profession has their ups and downs, strengths, and weaknesses. I do feel an overwhelming need to punch my pet in the face sometimes

I get what you are saying (hence why i placed the word “my” in quotations) but not every ranger in the game is going to have the same support as I do from my guild or my friends. Some/most rangers may not want to solo roam WvW, Some rangers are completely against melee combat so will never touch a sword/dagger. Some rangers are profound and extremists to expect that Anet either make the changes to the ranger class that supports Anet’s description of the ranger profession:

“Rangers rely on a keen eye, a steady hand, and the power of nature itself. Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows. With traps, nature spirits, and a stable of loyal pets at their command, rangers can adapt to any situation. "

or to change the ranger description to match what the ranger currently is. Ranger’s can not adapt to every situation as we are not as effective when our pets are on CD. Pets are not loyal as current F2 skill do not override any current skills, Warriors have better LB skills that rangers. Thief has better SB skills than rangers. Therefore, rangers are not unparallelled, but sub-par archers. Keen eye means that stealth duration should automatically be reduced when fighting a ranger because rangers use the power of nature itself to know where a stealthed opponent is or rangers should be invulnerable to backstabs if traited because of being attuned to nature (meaning they should never be hit by a “surprise” attack).

I continue to play my ranger regardless, but it does not mean I don’t want to see some nice changes for the ranger class. if we can’t have the changes to the class, at least change the class description to say:

“Rangers rely on a steady hand and the power of nature itself. Efficient archers; rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows. With traps, nature spirits, and a stable of pets at their command, rangers excel in small scale combat”

I meant popular in group play, not in sheer number.

Yes, the pet sucks on multiple points, but when another player sees the Ranger, they don’t care that the pet sucks, they only care about what the player does. Because that’s what matters. It’s what you get out of something, that directly affects how others perceive it. People will always have their pre-assumptions, but our state of mind about something, is only determined directly by our experiences with it. So if you make the best out of it, people will see more good then bad, as long as there is potential. And the Ranger does have potential, even as it is right now.

“If you think you can do a thing, or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right." -Henry Ford

Kasama.8941:

I meant popular in group play, not in sheer number.

Yes, the pet sucks on multiple points, but when another player sees the Ranger, they don’t care that the pet sucks, they only care about what the player does. Because that’s what matters. It’s what you get out of something, that directly affects how others perceive it. People will always have their pre-assumptions, but our state of mind about something, is only determined directly by our experiences with it. So if you make the best out of it, people will see more good then bad, as long as there is potential. And the Ranger does have potential, even as it is right now.

“If you think you can do a thing, or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right." -Henry Ford

I agree with you. Every class has ups and downs. No one class is perfect. I don’t have too much problems getting into groups or playing WvW, but that is just my experience. Like you, I make the most of what I have (though at times I want to punch my pet in the face).

I do feel for the ranger community that want to use the ranger in a more traditional role because I will admit that playing a ranger is no easy task. I am in no way insinuating that i am godly as a ranger, but i think there’s a lot of fine tuning to make the current ranger excel or be compatible with other classes in group play. I played as a “touch ranger” or ranger/blood necro in GW1 so LB/SB skills haven’t really mattered to me much since I’m used to playing melee, but for a traditionalist, the current state of the ranger just doesn’t make much sense since other professions clearly have more dominant skills with the bow. Again, this is just my observation from the Anet description of the ranger compared to the ranger’s in-game ability for the traditional ranger.

Admittedly I am pretty new to GW2, but I enjoy the class tremendously. But, I only play to have fun, and couldn’t care less about the opinions of anyone else as it relates to my choices.

Katkon.3698:

Admittedly I am pretty new to GW2, but I enjoy the class tremendously. But, I only play to have fun, and couldn’t care less about the opinions of anyone else as it relates to my choices.

Well I hope you continue to enjoy yourself and have many fond memories!

I just leveled a mesmer to level 80 using the boost that starts you at level 20. At level 22, with 2 levels of actual play experience and no clue, I went into WvW and killed a level 80 ranger 1 v 1 even though he had me caught in entangle for a bit and attacked me from behind. It was truly a wtf moment that showed me once and for all how badly this class sucks.

Funny I did get knocked down by a wolf in a 1 v 1, as I usually dodge the knockdown automatically without even thinking about it just like most of us do with red circles. The wolf was up on top of the wall at Stonemist and knocked me down straight with no windup or warning. His owner was outside the castle.

The guy was hacking. Says it all.

Cuchullain.3104:

I just leveled a mesmer to level 80 using the boost that starts you at level 20. At level 22, with 2 levels of actual play experience and no clue, I went into WvW and killed a level 80 ranger 1 v 1 even though he had me caught in entangle for a bit and attacked me from behind. It was truly a wtf moment that showed me once and for all how badly this class sucks.

Funny I did get knocked down by a wolf in a 1 v 1, as I usually dodge the knockdown automatically without even thinking about it just like most of us do with red circles. The wolf was up on top of the wall at Stonemist and knocked me down straight with no windup or warning. His owner was outside the castle.

The guy was hacking. Says it all.

I know i’m not the only one that thinks this, but I hate fighting Mesmers. There are lots of professions that have a hard time with mesmers, hell I still get rolled by mesmers every now and then, but then again, the opposite is true too. It’s just like what Jet Li said in the movie Fearless “No one style of martial arts is better than the other, its the level of the practitioner that makes the style powerful”

In essence, this can be applied to random meetings in WvW. If i get attacked by a random and he doesn’t down me with initial burst or is just not the most skilled, i will probably end up downing him or he’ll disengage and run. On the flip side, IF i attacked someone (class does not matter) and they turned out to be a beast, i’ll gladly pick up my face as i WP myself after he’s stomped me

Katkon.3698:

Admittedly I am pretty new to GW2, but I enjoy the class tremendously. But, I only play to have fun, and couldn’t care less about the opinions of anyone else as it relates to my choices.

i’m with you brother, but the more you PvP, the more you’ll want certain things that aren’t currently attainable

Noobie.1073:

Katkon.3698:

Admittedly I am pretty new to GW2, but I enjoy the class tremendously. But, I only play to have fun, and couldn’t care less about the opinions of anyone else as it relates to my choices.

i’m with you brother, but the more you PvP, the more you’ll want certain things that aren’t currently attainable

I could do with a small buff to traps, and maybe some stronger aoe for teamfights. But in my honest opinion I think Rangers are in a good place in tPvP. The meta spec may be fairly simple for the skill floor, but there is a lot of depth that really differentiates different skill levels of the class.

I couldn’t careless about how other classes view Rangers. As a Ranger I am free to do as I like. I look at the other classes and I see classes with gimmick abilities that have pigeon holed them into certain roles.

In wvw we don’t have a dedicated role. I feel that is our role if the other class are so valuable in their role then it really a shame to use the for anything else. Except with the way wvw is having more x classes in your zerg vs having more y class in your zerg really doesn’t matter. Because at the end of the day it comes down to the size of your zerg and the skill of the players participating.

The most notable of us Rangers show we can kick butt. In ever aspect of the game there are rangers that show us we can do it well. That we do make a difference for the better.

Some people cling to the old image of the ranger. I still hear people complaining about rangers pet aggroing. Ranger pets haven’t aggro’ed for two months. Your pet doesn’t put you in combat but it can keep you in combat.

Yes there are issue with the class but the biggest problem is how people play the game.
We have issue with how pet don’t scale at all in terms of gear quality. So we don’t scale well with power. But power isn’t the end all and be all. Power can be nice but there are draw back to it. However since most players glitch/exploit most pve content
being fragile is negated. With that said have you notice warriors and thieves are usually the first one’s downed.

Lots of people love guardians in a group, but if I never had a guardian in my group again it would be to soon. I don’t normally run zerker so I don’t need him to help me stay alive. Their damage is crap most of the time they pop their shield or wall of reflect all willy nilly. It’s the Dps is king notion that makes time warp and protection so sought after.

Some say the Queens Guantlet proves how bad off rangers are. I have no problem completing most of the achievements. Hardest achievement was the High stack gambler. In the end I did it will a beast masters build. Liadri was difficult not because of damage issues more because of the bad camera angle. I didn’t do the light up the darkness but in all my fail attempts damage wasn’t the issue it was me failing to avoid her clone once again due to bad camera angle.

I hear rangers saying this skill is useless and that skill is terrible. Not all skill are optimal for everything but each skill has it’s use. Some of them not so obvious. I you the ranger don’t full understand and appreciate the range and strength of your abilities how are the other classes to know what we are capable of.

We don’t have a cheesy OP mechanism that we abuse. We don’t spam terror or confusion or retaliation or stun lock people. For the most part when a ranger beats someone its because the ranger beat you and not some Op cheesy mechanic.

Cuchullain.3104:

I just leveled a mesmer to level 80 using the boost that starts you at level 20. At level 22, with 2 levels of actual play experience and no clue, I went into WvW and killed a level 80 ranger 1 v 1 even though he had me caught in entangle for a bit and attacked me from behind. It was truly a wtf moment that showed me once and for all how badly this class sucks.

Funny I did get knocked down by a wolf in a 1 v 1, as I usually dodge the knockdown automatically without even thinking about it just like most of us do with red circles. The wolf was up on top of the wall at Stonemist and knocked me down straight with no windup or warning. His owner was outside the castle.

The guy was hacking. Says it all.

The up-level system in WvW is completely screwed, so just because you played as a level 22 character, it doesn’t mean you had less stats then a level 80 opponent. You might even end up having better stats then your opponent.

But it’s a bit hollow to judge the Ranger based on one fight. I play a power Ranger (no pun intended), and beat a Mesmer and Thief 2v1 yesterday. Then I killed two players in a 3v1 shortly after (the last player ran away). But before these two fights, I lost to an Engineer when I was trying to take down a veteran guard. The game isn’t static, but is based on many different variables. The most significant one being experience.

Serraphin Storm.2369:

I hear rangers saying this skill is useless and that skill is terrible. Not all skill are optimal for everything but each skill has it’s use. Some of them not so obvious. I you the ranger don’t full understand and appreciate the range and strength of your abilities how are the other classes to know what we are capable of.

Bs. Lots of skills are totally useless and others are situational. It’s not like “it’s not obvious”. And this can be applied to every class, not only the ranger.

Serraphin Storm.2369:

We don’t have a cheesy OP mechanism that we abuse. We don’t spam terror or confusion or retaliation or stun lock people. For the most part when a ranger beats someone its because the ranger beat you and not some Op cheesy mechanic.

What? Really? I agree we don’t have an “OP” mechanic, since our mechanic is the worst designed in this game but the ranger class is the king of passive play, spirit ranger in particular. You can disagree as much as you want, you can make useless arguments like “you can tell the difference between a good spirit ranger and a bad one”. There are differences, but you can play poorly and still be effective, that’s how it is. Every experienced ranger playing a spirit build knows this deep inside. Atm rangers spam just as much as necros. The shortbow is comical. I was spectating a hotjoin match yesterday and there was a spirit ranger (not really low rank) who was literally just spamming one all the time. It was verging on the absurd, but it worked. It’s effective.
Bm bunker used to be pretty much the same.
That’s not true for every spec ofc, like glass berz builds. The problem is these builds are harder to play and, at the end, not as effective as the spam ones.

There’s definately a problem. Hopefully ANET still has some creativity left on their teams. We need something.

Chopps.5047:

There’s definately a problem. Hopefully ANET still has some creativity left on their teams. We need something.

yeah we need something but what? … surely we don’t need to become OP because we still are really powerfull… the problems with those ppl who say “ranger need rework/updates/everything” are only people who play ranger and after a general overview of what they can do in hearth of the mists and pve can’t play like a mindless warrior and start to scream about how weak we are weak… no we aren’t! it’s just you who need skill… we need something but not the something you are asking for… not the best of the game… not the invincible pet… not the unlimited power nor the infinite skill ranger… cmon stop with those posts! if there is something of important to do and Anet can do it we have only to wait for the next release… if don’t is useless to waste your and our time here; 1 post about the ranger situation is enough.

PS: the whole post isn’t refered to you (Chopps but to the OP starting from your “something” statement XD)

Lol ya I hear ya. What is that something? I don’t know for sure. It’s a complicated issue. Thats why anet devs get paid the big bucks right? To figure this stuff out?

(I was referencing the apathy toward ranger in wvw)

Compounding the issue, I feel that even if ranger was OP, a lot of people would still hate them and not want them on their teams. Pretty much cant win

It’s kinda sad that what you said is probably the truth, Chopps. Luckily those who dungeon with PUGs often usually see more than a fair share of good Rangers…and a ton of horrible Guardians, Mesmers, and Warriors. Top tier my butt, it only makes them lazy!

Kjeldoran.3849:

Chopps.5047:

There’s definately a problem. Hopefully ANET still has some creativity left on their teams. We need something.

yeah we need something but what? … surely we don’t need to become OP because we still are really powerfull… the problems with those ppl who say “ranger need rework/updates/everything” are only people who play ranger and after a general overview of what they can do in hearth of the mists and pve can’t play like a mindless warrior and start to scream about how weak we are weak… no we aren’t! it’s just you who need skill… we need something but not the something you are asking for… not the best of the game… not the invincible pet… not the unlimited power nor the infinite skill ranger… cmon stop with those posts! if there is something of important to do and Anet can do it we have only to wait for the next release… if don’t is useless to waste your and our time here; 1 post about the ranger situation is enough.

PS: the whole post isn’t refered to you (Chopps but to the OP starting from your “something” statement XD)

They need to make the pet a bigger part of the Ranger gameplay, instead of just being a damage sponge or an extra skill source. Something like placing “Search and Rescue” and “Guard” (without stealth) on the pet bar, as permanent pet skills, so the pet becomes more significant for everyone around the Ranger, and gives the Ranger himself more control over the pet. There’s a reason why shouts are the least used, out of all our utility skills. It’s very hard to justify picking a skill that only affects the pet. Because we shouldn’t have to. That’s what I think needs to change.

Edit:
They also need to make pet swapping more accessible, so we can easily use all the pets at our disposal, instead of having to press K and then use the mouse to pick a pet. Maybe give us three “save slots”, that allow us to save pets in pairs, so we quickly can change when we are out of combat. So all you needed to do was to press K, press “Pet Save Slot 3”, and then close the window again.

They need to buff pets and make some of the skills like the ranger skills in gw1. In Gw1 we had a ton of great skills(Well really there was a ton of skills period). My pet was actually usful to me on that game. We had better bow skills. To whoever said theifs have better SB skills then rangers on this game you absoultely right.

I rolled a ranger during headstart and got him up to 80 but this class really needs work. Most of the traits are usless when you compare them to other classes. Rangers really are kinda pointless in this game and i hate saying that since ive been a fan of them since gw1 and they are my mains on both games.

Kasama.8941:

AydenStar.4216:

Kas, I know the Ranger profession in and out. I have cheerleadered how good this profession has been for months. When this game came out 1 year ago I spent the first month as a Mesmer and switched to the Ranger and never looked back. I know Rangers are ok in PvE but for me the PvE content is a joke and sometimes the player quality as well. In spvp/tpvp, the whole condition meta and lack of different maps styles just turns me off.

In WvW, the last place of fun in this game now the current hardcore meta is only Guardians, Elementalists, Warriors, Necromancers and Mesmers. There is no place for this profession in the eyes of the community because of lackluster and redundancy the Ranger skills have compared to the other professions above and yes our pet mechanic are worthless in that environment. What happens when Anet start to adding larger group oriented PvE content? Guild leaders will start analyzing each professions contributions to the group, and they will come to the same conclusions the WvW community has.

You’re really just emphasizing what I said, when you say; “there is no place for this profession in the eyes of the community” and “guild leaders will start analyzing each professions contributions to the group”. The problem is not so much the Ranger, as it is the community. And ArenaNet can’t change peoples state of mind, only we as Ranger players can, by making the best of what we got. When guild leaders analyze the current meta, they judge it based on how professions are played, not how their skills work. If something is great, no one cares why it is great, only that it works. And the Ranger does work on some level. But like most other professions, it can’t do everything.

The things is, most guild leaders will try out builds themselves to make decisions. A good leader isn’t going to go on some forum to see if the ranger is any good they are going to crunch numbers themselves, try out a few builds or even just look at our skills to decide.

This is even more true now that BL’s are almost devoid of anyone on a ranger who isn’t devoted to the class and knows how to play it well. I see far more kitten poor players on necros, warriors and guardians than Rangers now by far and it has done nothing to curb their popularity.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs

Substance E.4852:

Kasama.8941:

AydenStar.4216:

Kas, I know the Ranger profession in and out. I have cheerleadered how good this profession has been for months. When this game came out 1 year ago I spent the first month as a Mesmer and switched to the Ranger and never looked back. I know Rangers are ok in PvE but for me the PvE content is a joke and sometimes the player quality as well. In spvp/tpvp, the whole condition meta and lack of different maps styles just turns me off.

In WvW, the last place of fun in this game now the current hardcore meta is only Guardians, Elementalists, Warriors, Necromancers and Mesmers. There is no place for this profession in the eyes of the community because of lackluster and redundancy the Ranger skills have compared to the other professions above and yes our pet mechanic are worthless in that environment. What happens when Anet start to adding larger group oriented PvE content? Guild leaders will start analyzing each professions contributions to the group, and they will come to the same conclusions the WvW community has.

You’re really just emphasizing what I said, when you say; “there is no place for this profession in the eyes of the community” and “guild leaders will start analyzing each professions contributions to the group”. The problem is not so much the Ranger, as it is the community. And ArenaNet can’t change peoples state of mind, only we as Ranger players can, by making the best of what we got. When guild leaders analyze the current meta, they judge it based on how professions are played, not how their skills work. If something is great, no one cares why it is great, only that it works. And the Ranger does work on some level. But like most other professions, it can’t do everything.

The things is, most guild leaders will try out builds themselves to make decisions. A good leader isn’t going to go on some forum to see if the ranger is any good they are going to crunch numbers themselves, try out a few builds or even just look at our skills to decide.

This is even more true now that BL’s are almost devoid of anyone on a ranger who isn’t devoted to the class and knows how to play it well. I see far more kitten poor players on necros, warriors and guardians than Rangers now by far and it has done nothing to curb their popularity.

That might be the case for some guild leaders, but even then, I’ll bet you that their decision is still going to be largely based on community popularity and conversations. If everyone says “the Ranger sucks and doesn’t offer anything to a group”, then why would a guild leader make an effort to try and change that? Only the Ranger community can really change it.

Actually, I see a lot of Ranger players in my borderlands. The problem is, most Rangers aren’t very confident players, meaning I very rarely see a Ranger that stands out in the crowd. For instance, by running first into battle, standing their ground when facing opponents, or fighting 2v1. It’s very easy to play “lazy” when playing a Ranger, because that’s how you play in PvE. And the problem is, the Ranger is one of the hardest professions to play in WvW, because you can’t just swing a hammer around like a Warrior does, or throw up a bunch of boons like the Guardian does, or go into stealth like a Thief does, or go into Death Shroud like the Necromancer does. As a Ranger, you have to be constantly moving, and use your snare skills to keep distance to your foes, which is completely opposite to how you play a Ranger in PvE.

Kasama.8941:

The problem is not so much the Ranger, as it is the community. And ArenaNet can’t change peoples state of mind, only we as Ranger players can, by making the best of what we got. When guild leaders analyze the current meta, they judge it based on how professions are played, not how their skills work. If something is great, no one cares why it is great, only that it works. And the Ranger does work on some level. But like most other professions, it can’t do everything.

Kas,

Look at the videos in my sign. I play WvW everyday in a hardcore WvW guild. I know the limitations of the Ranger vs professions like Guardians, Elementalists, Warriors and Necromancers and honestly we bring nothing. Why? because our AoE skills only hit 3 targets where the other professions hit 5. I wouldn’t mind this if our pets were useful but they are not. Our pet mechanics are balanced around 5v5 play and not tailored for massive group combat. F-functions, the bread and butter of our profession is useless vs massive groups because of so many factors. Plus 40% of our damage potential is lost the second you roll through massive AoE from the enemy. I respect your attitude toward trying to prove ourselves and quite honestly a lot of us already have but its not enough to break the mind sets of leaders that are looking for results and optimization.

The Ranger profession needs some necessary love and it has for some time now.

Why does everyone focus on damage. Yes it true that some ranger aoe are limited to 3, but we also know that ranger damage is on par with everyone else when using ele weapon not including pet damage.

If every class is so valuable in their roles then to use them for trebs or ac is certainly a waste of skill and talent. To have any other class solo camps is a waste of manpower that can be used in the zerg main body.

While rangers are not the best at anything in WvW we are capable of doing almost everything which can’t be said for the other classes.

What are rangers we are the resource that people don’t think they need until they don’t have it. While some of the other classes can be compare to oil or diamonds Rangers are the clean water and air that you forget to count until you don’t have it.

Serraphin Storm.2369:

What are rangers we are the resource that people don’t think they need until they don’t have it.

I agree with this 100% but not having a good F-functionally is preventing us from being more resourceful. If our pets did not die all the time and had a good ground targeting cursor to land our pet’s F2 regardless if its a damage skill, AoE boon or condition and land it on exactly the area you want the pet to cast it. Isn’t that being more resourceful?

AydenStar.4216:

Kasama.8941:

The problem is not so much the Ranger, as it is the community. And ArenaNet can’t change peoples state of mind, only we as Ranger players can, by making the best of what we got. When guild leaders analyze the current meta, they judge it based on how professions are played, not how their skills work. If something is great, no one cares why it is great, only that it works. And the Ranger does work on some level. But like most other professions, it can’t do everything.

Kas,

Look at the videos in my sign. I play WvW everyday in a hardcore WvW guild. I know the limitations of the Ranger vs professions like Guardians, Elementalists, Warriors and Necromancers and honestly we bring nothing. Why? because our AoE skills only hit 3 targets where the other professions hit 5. I wouldn’t mind this if our pets were useful but they are not. Our pet mechanics are balanced around 5v5 play and not tailored for massive group combat. F-functions, the bread and butter of our profession is useless vs massive groups because of so many factors. Plus 40% of our damage potential is lost the second you roll through massive AoE from the enemy. I respect your attitude toward trying to prove ourselves and quite honestly a lot of us already have but its not enough to break the mind sets of leaders that are looking for results and optimization.

The Ranger profession needs some necessary love and it has for some time now.

I’m pretty sure the three player limit on some AoE skills are a bug.

In your WvW Ranger gameplay video, I only think I saw you use an F2 skill once, despite the fact that it was obvious to use in plenty of situations. And you didn’t reapply targets for your pet, or even seem to be aware of where your pet were. So it’s not really strange that you think your pet is useless. You don’t seem to take advantage of it.

I’m wondering why you are running around, waving your greatsword, like you’re a hammer Warrior? Is that your idea of “massive group combat”? You don’t have any greatsword skills as Ranger that makes you useful playing like that. You’d be better off using axe/axe, as you would hit more targets. But if you know the Ranger is better in small group play, and the pet dies easily to AoE, then why are you running straight into the middle of the opponents zerg, dragging your pet across all the AoE? That just seems self-destructive. Just because the Ranger fits better in small group play, it doesn’t mean that the Ranger doesn’t work in large group combat. These two playstyles aren’t opposite to each other. It’s all about how you play. Instead of running directly into all the players, you should be running around the zerg, and take out stranglers in 3v1 situations. Or shoot into the zerg with piercing arrows or axe/axe, while dropping those snare skills to make sure opponents stay on AoE areas. Playing this way also allows you to use your pet to much greater effect, as you avoid AoE damage, and can keep it focused on single targets.

Also, talking about playing as an effective Ranger, I noticed two obvious situations in the video, where you neither used the right weapon, or used your pets F2 skill to help yourself. At 2.15, when chasing the Guardian at mill, you use all your greatsword melee skills before finally using Crippling Throw, and you never switch back to longbow, despite the fact that it would have been a lot more useful to you when chasing the Guardian. You didn’t take advantage of the drakehound’s F2 immobilize either, which could have helped you catch up to the Guardian, or have helped you hit with your greatsword. At 5.05, when falling down the cliffside, you switch out your greatsword for your longbow, even though you’re in a confined area, where the greatsword would have been ideal to use. You also didn’t see the obvious option there, which was to use your wolf’s F2 fear, to run your opponent off the cliffside.

I don’t mean any disrespect here, but to me, it doesn’t seem like you know the limitations of the Ranger. Because you simply aren’t playing the Ranger to its strengths.

Kasama has just shown the reason I don’t post any videos harsh man, that’s harsh. I’m going to defend ayden here, so hear me out:

There is really a LOT going on in a zerg battle and the ranger’s attention needs to be split between his positioning, cooldowns, buff/debuffs, the commander’s location, the enemy’s location, and the pet. That’s hard for anyone to manage and probably a big reason why devs are a bit turned off by the idea of adding more “micro” to pet abilities. Even experienced rangers like ayden forget to micro just one pet skill occasionally. Just food for thought

I don’t mean to be harsh, so sorry if I come off as that.

Kasama.8941:

I don’t mean to be harsh, so sorry if I come off as that.

Lol I was being kind of sarcastic; ayden’s a big boy, I’m sure he can handle it. Those are things we can all learn from, really, Kasama. Thanks for all the wisdom. Honestly, if you filmed me, I’m sure I would make the same mistakes.

I’ve played so many pet professions microing the pet is just second nature lol, it amazes me how well my pet -can- do in the zergs, but the second some kitten hole (such as myself) decides “that wolf is really kittening annoying!” And kills it instead of going for bags… Yeah there goes the pet…

I have noticed one thing about WvW though, people have never killed any of my pets faster than my flamingo, oh poor Senior Fabuloso… You just wanted to screech in their ears and give 3s AoE daze…. Seriously, he only gets off 2 screeches like EVER before they wise up and nuke him.

Chopps.5047:

Kasama.8941:

I don’t mean to be harsh, so sorry if I come off as that.

Lol I was being kind of sarcastic; ayden’s a big boy, I’m sure he can handle it. Those are things we can all learn from, really, Kasama. Thanks for all the wisdom. Honestly, if you filmed me, I’m sure I would make the same mistakes.

You’re not the first to think I’m harsh, when it comes to writing. So I wasn’t sure that you were being sarcastic =)

Well no one is perfect, I make mistakes when playing as well. But when you put up a video, and suggests someone to see it, you should be sure that what you show, is your best play possible.

But mostly, I just don’t understand why anyone would run into the middle of a zerg, as a Ranger. It seems like you have missed the point of the professions then. Kinda like taking a Thief, and using him as point defender in sPvP. It wouldn’t really work. You have to play to the professions strengths, or ells you’re going to have a tough time, and miss the advantage of the profession.

I was doing it to chill them before my zerg collapsed on them. It was kind of fun. Teaming up with thieves is a blast.

Kasama.8941:

Chopps.5047:

Kasama.8941:

I don’t mean to be harsh, so sorry if I come off as that.

Lol I was being kind of sarcastic; ayden’s a big boy, I’m sure he can handle it. Those are things we can all learn from, really, Kasama. Thanks for all the wisdom. Honestly, if you filmed me, I’m sure I would make the same mistakes.

You’re not the first to think I’m harsh, when it comes to writing. So I wasn’t sure that you were being sarcastic =)

Well no one is perfect, I make mistakes when playing as well. But when you put up a video, and suggests someone to see it, you should be sure that what you show, is your best play possible.

But mostly, I just don’t understand why anyone would run into the middle of a zerg, as a Ranger. It seems like you have missed the point of the professions then. Kinda like taking a Thief, and using him as point defender in sPvP. It wouldn’t really work. You have to play to the professions strengths, or ells you’re going to have a tough time, and miss the advantage of the profession.

That may just be a bad example, because there are thieves out there (particularly jumper I think, maybe) who dedicate their entire build at times to solo contesting and holding far point all game (d/p s/d build), and are fairly good at forcing the teamfight off of mid and back to their home node in order to deal with the thief.

Kasama.8941:

Chopps.5047:

Kasama.8941:

I don’t mean to be harsh, so sorry if I come off as that.

Lol I was being kind of sarcastic; ayden’s a big boy, I’m sure he can handle it. Those are things we can all learn from, really, Kasama. Thanks for all the wisdom. Honestly, if you filmed me, I’m sure I would make the same mistakes.

You’re not the first to think I’m harsh, when it comes to writing. So I wasn’t sure that you were being sarcastic =)

Well no one is perfect, I make mistakes when playing as well. But when you put up a video, and suggests someone to see it, you should be sure that what you show, is your best play possible.

But mostly, I just don’t understand why anyone would run into the middle of a zerg, as a Ranger. It seems like you have missed the point of the professions then. Kinda like taking a Thief, and using him as point defender in sPvP. It wouldn’t really work. You have to play to the professions strengths, or ells you’re going to have a tough time, and miss the advantage of the profession.

But my friend is a point holding thief and he’s very good at holding it….

Kasama.8941:

Chopps.5047:

Kasama.8941:

I don’t mean to be harsh, so sorry if I come off as that.

Lol I was being kind of sarcastic; ayden’s a big boy, I’m sure he can handle it. Those are things we can all learn from, really, Kasama. Thanks for all the wisdom. Honestly, if you filmed me, I’m sure I would make the same mistakes.

You’re not the first to think I’m harsh, when it comes to writing. So I wasn’t sure that you were being sarcastic =)

Well no one is perfect, I make mistakes when playing as well. But when you put up a video, and suggests someone to see it, you should be sure that what you show, is your best play possible.

But mostly, I just don’t understand why anyone would run into the middle of a zerg, as a Ranger. It seems like you have missed the point of the professions then. Kinda like taking a Thief, and using him as point defender in sPvP. It wouldn’t really work. You have to play to the professions strengths, or ells you’re going to have a tough time, and miss the advantage of the profession.

If you’re a trap ranger and using a longbow, you can pull this off, albeit you’ll need swiftness beforehand…and SOME luck. Use LB#3, run into the zerg, pop a Quickening Zephyr, toss down Flame Trap and Frost Trap, dodgeroll out back into the ally zerg, put down a healing spring. Grats, you’ve annoyed the enemy with 2 of the more annoying conditions and you’ve created a healing field for your allies to exploit.

jcbroe.4329:

That may just be a bad example, because there are thieves out there (particularly jumper I think, maybe) who dedicate their entire build at times to solo contesting and holding far point all game (d/p s/d build), and are fairly good at forcing the teamfight off of mid and back to their home node in order to deal with the thief.

Durzlla.6295:

But my friend is a point holding thief and he’s very good at holding it….

I wish more people would have this kind of confidence in the Ranger..

Kasama.8941:

I’m pretty sure the three player limit on some AoE skills are a bug.

I hope so!

Kasama.8941:

In your WvW Ranger gameplay video, I only think I saw you use an F2 skill once, despite the fact that it was obvious to use in plenty of situations. And you didn’t reapply targets for your pet, or even seem to be aware of where your pet were. So it’s not really strange that you think your pet is useless. You don’t seem to take advantage of it.

Its easy to be a judge watching a video then it being there at the moment.

Kasama.8941:

I’m wondering why you are running around, waving your greatsword, like you’re a hammer Warrior? Is that your idea of “massive group combat”? You don’t have any greatsword skills as Ranger that makes you useful playing like that.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Power_Stab

You need to live in order to be useful. I try not to mindless spam my utilities skills.

Kasama.8941:

You’d be better off using axe/axe, as you would hit more targets. But if you know the Ranger is better in small group play, and the pet dies easily to AoE, then why are you running straight into the middle of the opponents zerg, dragging your pet across all the AoE?

Most of this game play is from a few months ago before the buff to off hand axe. Read the comments in the video

Yes i run axe/axe for a while now. Just look at my anook.com blog about zerging builds I post a month ago.

Kasama.8941:

That just seems self-destructive. Just because the Ranger fits better in small group play, it doesn’t mean that the Ranger doesn’t work in large group combat. These two playstyles aren’t opposite to each other. It’s all about how you play. Instead of running directly into all the players, you should be running around the zerg, and take out stranglers in 3v1 situations.

Obviously you don’t play in Zerg vs Zerg or know GvGs meta well.

I am the only Ranger in that video. I am in all blue with holographic dragon wings and Dragon helmet. And please notice I have spotter on the guardian in this video not in my group and big brown spots on the floor is me.

Or shoot into the zerg with piercing arrows or axe/axe, while dropping those snare skills to make sure opponents stay on AoE areas. Playing this way also allows you to use your pet to much greater effect, as you avoid AoE damage, and can keep it focused on single targets.

Start reading some of my post about current WvW zerging meta

Kasama.8941:

Also, talking about playing as an effective Ranger, I noticed two obvious situations in the video, where you neither used the right weapon, or used your pets F2 skill to help yourself. At 2.15, when chasing the Guardian at mill, you use all your greatsword melee skills before finally using Crippling Throw, and you never switch back to longbow, despite the fact that it would have been a lot more useful to you when chasing the Guardian. You didn’t take advantage of the drakehound’s F2 immobilize either, which could have helped you catch up to the Guardian, or have helped you hit with your greatsword.

I thought the same thing after watching the video that is why I record it from time to time to learn.

Kasama.8941:

At 5.05, when falling down the cliffside, you switch out your greatsword for your longbow, even though you’re in a confined area, where the greatsword would have been ideal to use. You also didn’t see the obvious option there, which was to use your wolf’s F2 fear, to run your opponent off the cliffside.

I could have done a number of things right, I was lucky the thief wasn’t that good.

Kasama.8941:

I don’t mean any disrespect here, but to me, it doesn’t seem like you know the limitations of the Ranger. Because you simply aren’t playing the Ranger to its strengths.

Kas,

At least I have the balls to show my game. I am far from the best player but I know the strengths of this profession very well, especally when it come to WvW zerging. I might not be the best 1v1 but I only have time to focus one aspect of this game ATM. And yes in spvp I use the pets f2 a lot more often because its in a less zerging atmosphere compared to WvW when the pet is dead most of the time. Yet when you are in a WvW mind set(Open field Combat): its all about group positioning and AoE but how can you position your pet to do anything with out using Guard (a utility skill: useless unless traited into Nature’s Voice)

Example:

If I used Guard to only to position the pet in a massive, organized zerg battle:

1. It takes 1 second to cast Guard
2. Waiting for the pet to get into position
3. Waiting for the pet cast his abilities.

All of this to get your F2 ability to land on a highly responsive organized zergs is pointless because even with the protection and stealth boons from Guards is not going to save your pet from massive enemy AoE.

What I am trying to say here is that the Ranger F2 and pets need a massive changes or some love because they are not on the level of the other professions F-functionally in WvW.

Kasama.8941:

I don’t mean to be harsh, so sorry if I come off as that.

Wasn’t harsh at all. Truth is truth.