Guild Wars 2

Right now the ranger is pretty balanced.
But while signets and survival skills carry almost every possible build, while traps are great addition to condition builds, Shout are totally underwhelmings and spirits are a bit tricky to use.
I’m not saying that everything have to change but there are a few things for which that would be a benefit.

Survival skill :
Sharpening stone : I believe, this is the most enigmatic skill of rangers skills. How come 5 bleed stack have enough value to justify this long cool down? There is certainly a reason but, does even halving the CD make this skill overpowered?

Shouts :
Guard : while it’s probably the most used shout of ranger (due to it’s short cool down) the basic effects are near uninterresting. I believe, this skill could be reworked to be easier to use and give a bit more survivability to our pet. Just removing the targeted area, removing the stealth component and give it instead something like 2 second distorsion for the pet would be way more interresting.

Search and rescue : With this skill, the ranger is the only profession that have 2 revive skill. Is this necessary? When you look at the actual game I believe that it’s not. This skill could be change to a lot of other things that would actually benefit rangers. For example, this could be a shout allowing pets to remove boons on hit for a short duration.

Spirits :
I’d love to see change on how spirits work but, right now i’d prefer to bet on a druid spec that could change that.

Pets :
survivability : The change to pet’s health pool have, in fact hurt even more pets survivability, mainly because with a larger health pool, they just become harder to heal. We just ended up with having a hard time sustaining them. I believe a permanent damage reduction on one of the grand master trait in the beastmaster traitline would have made a greater job for pet’s survivability. Maybe replace “invigorating bond” by a -50% damage trait a la “Bark skin” but without the life percentage requirement.

Maniability : Pets have 4 skills and we end up being able to controle just one of these. Honnestly, at least, we should be able to disable some of these skill so that the pet don’t use them but still use it’s basic attack.

Pet’s shout : While I believe offensive shouts are well done, I also believe that support shout need change. Support shouts need to get rid of their animation and cast time. These are actually the less responsive skills in game with little to no meaning in actual use In Game.

Weapons :
Right now Longbow outshine every other ranger weapon. A lot of dedicated traits, best range, almost best overall damage per second… The heck! with proper trait and sigil it could even be the best condition damage weapon. Other weapon need love.

Axe : Honed axe could use a flat damage boost instead of a ferocity buff. Or, better, an attack speed buff for each axe equiped.

Sword : Common, a bit of love for the sword!!! (well we could say that “predator’s onslaugh” have been made for her but, no it’s a general trait)

Greatsword : The “two-handed training” trait feel pretty weak due to the fact that he is in a defensive traitline. I’m pretty sure it could use a buff like also giving 5% more damage to the pet.

Shortbow : The shortbow used to shine a lot brighter until it got nerfed to the ground. Maybe a slight buff could revive him. I think it could use a little buff to it’s autoattack damage (10%, up from 136 to 150 base damage should be just right).

This is just some though to revive dead stuff on ranger.

Edit: I do not assume that any of the change proposed are balanced in any way

Id like to add sword leap only on moving targets there is no reason to leap on skill 1 on stationary targets it just makes it anoying to use.

What we really need are less selfish changes so we can play a bigger part in group scenarios. Change the shouts so they offer group support like stability, protection, etc.
Make empathic bond cleanse (not transfer to your pet) 3 conditions from allies in X radius. Give maul a blast finisher.

You forget to mention some QoL change for axe 2 and axe 5.

Axe 2 should be a more reliable source of condition, like instead of counting the bleed per axe hit, it should gives 5 stacks of bleed to 5 targets in the cone path. (Count as one attack instead of 5)

Axe 5 need to remove the immobile feature and make it mobile skill just like engineer’s shield 4 QoL change. Maybe adding a movement speed reduction of 50% to make this skill not too strong and aggressive.

Jim Hunter.6821:

What we really need are less selfish changes so we can play a bigger part in group scenarios. Change the shouts so they offer group support like stability, protection, etc.
Make empathic bond cleanse (not transfer to your pet) 3 conditions from allies in X radius. Give maul a blast finisher.

Could not agree more. Although I also believe GS needs a massive damage buff. It is our weakest weapon in all game modes…

Jim Hunter.6821:

What we really need are less selfish changes so we can play a bigger part in group scenarios. Change the shouts so they offer group support like stability, protection, etc.
Make empathic bond cleanse (not transfer to your pet) 3 conditions from allies in X radius. Give maul a blast finisher.

what about changing the support-skills – the spirits – to support the group. I would prefer that the spirits offer a good boon to the allys. For example might for sun, fury for storm, regeneration for water etc. So the boon duration makes at least a little bit sense for a ranger.

For shouts i would prefer some cool counter mechanics. The counter stealth on sic’em is the right direction. It would be funny, if search and rescue order the pet to resurrect an ally and while ressing, the pet pulls him towards the ranger, so enemies can’t finish him ;p
Or protect me orders the pet to taunt the enemy.

Aleksander Suburb.4287:

Jim Hunter.6821:

What we really need are less selfish changes so we can play a bigger part in group scenarios. Change the shouts so they offer group support like stability, protection, etc.
Make empathic bond cleanse (not transfer to your pet) 3 conditions from allies in X radius. Give maul a blast finisher.

what about changing the support-skills – the spirits – to support the group. I would prefer that the spirits offer a good boon to the allys. For example might for sun, fury for storm, regeneration for water etc. So the boon duration makes at least a little bit sense for a ranger.

For shouts i would prefer some cool counter mechanics. The counter stealth on sic’em is the right direction. It would be funny, if search and rescue order the pet to resurrect an ally and while ressing, the pet pulls him towards the ranger, so enemies can’t finish him ;p
Or protect me orders the pet to taunt the enemy.

The problems with that is the spirits and pets die to quickly in large scale fights and you have to rely on pet ai which is pretty terrible.

Improving shouts would open up our build variety, survival skills would still be better for personal survival and shouts would be better for team support.

On guard in particular. I have to disagree with you. What I feel isntead is that guard should do what it actually says it does. confine the pet to a specific area. KEEP the pet stealthed when out of combat. And KEEP protection up as long as the pet is IN the aoe area.

Honestly what should feel like an area denial skill feels like something I spam just to produce na effect not even related to the theoretical function of the skill itself.

Jim Hunter.6821:

What we really need are less selfish changes so we can play a bigger part in group scenarios. Change the shouts so they offer group support like stability, protection, etc.
Make empathic bond cleanse (not transfer to your pet) 3 conditions from allies in X radius. Give maul a blast finisher.

I think we are all hoping staff addresses the support issues.

Also to the TC, I’m not sure that LB really outshines all of the other ranger weapons. IMO, it’s kind of low tier. Sure, you can do damage with it…but you better hope you finish the job the first time, if not…you have no escape mechanism.

Jim Hunter.6821:

What we really need are less selfish changes so we can play a bigger part in group scenarios. Change the shouts so they offer group support like stability, protection, etc.
Make empathic bond cleanse (not transfer to your pet) 3 conditions from allies in X radius. Give maul a blast finisher.

Ranger is already full of party support. Heck! There are profession that would kill for half the support ranger have.
- fire and water fields
- blast/whirlwind and other finishers
- traits like spotter
- a signet active that cleanse party condition
- spirits
- Pet’s support shout.

Right now, some of this support is cripple by mechanism like very fragile spirits and long cast time/animation on pet’s support shout.
-What I really hope from druid spec is that it will allow spirits to dwell in the druid’s weapon (which would make spirits a reliable support in large scale battle).
-And what i ask for pets is a some reliable way to make them a bit more sturdy (via traits and change to “guard”), a way to change this behavior of them that make them a lot more of an hindrance than an help for the ranger (via the possibility to disable some of their skills) and, lastly but not least, give them this party support role that they could have if they weren’t crippled by these cast time that make their support absolutely non attractive and unreliable. (do you even imagine an instant cleanse on bear shout? Some protection/fury at the right moment from moa? A pet that won’t be interrupt while he give real support?)

BTW, what you propose for empathic bond is totally overpowered. And I have to agree that maul being a blast finisher would be enough to make GS a shiny weapon.

On guard in particular. I have to disagree with you. What I feel isntead is that guard should do what it actually says it does. confine the pet to a specific area. KEEP the pet stealthed when out of combat. And KEEP protection up as long as the pet is IN the aoe area.

Honestly what should feel like an area denial skill feels like something I spam just to produce na effect not even related to the theoretical function of the skill itself.

Well, what i propose is more a change in the sense of “guard” meaning protect yourself than in the sense of look for this area. Anyways, right now the impact of a pet under “guard” is nothing near an area denial and you’re right about that. But I think it would benefit a bit more the ranger to change this shout in the protect yourself way than in the look for this area way.

Also to the TC, I’m not sure that LB really outshines all of the other ranger weapons. IMO, it’s kind of low tier. Sure, you can do damage with it…but you better hope you finish the job the first time, if not…you have no escape mechanism.

Just look at the rangers around you that almost all use longbow. Do you think it’s just because of fashion or because this weapon have almost perfect synergy with all damaging traits, ok damage, nice burst, ways to disengage (PBS and stealth) easily and outstanding range?

Dadnir.5038:

Survival skill :
Sharpening stone : I believe, this is the most enigmatic skill of rangers skills. How come 5 bleed stack have enough value to justify this long cool down? There is certainly a reason but, does even halving the CD make this skill overpowered?

Shouts :
Guard : while it’s probably the most used shout of ranger (due to it’s short cool down) the basic effects are near uninterresting. I believe, this skill could be reworked to be easier to use and give a bit more survivability to our pet. Just removing the targeted area, removing the stealth component and give it instead something like 2 second distorsion for the pet would be way more interresting.

Search and rescue : With this skill, the ranger is the only profession that have 2 revive skill. Is this necessary? When you look at the actual game I believe that it’s not. This skill could be change to a lot of other things that would actually benefit rangers. For example, this could be a shout allowing pets to remove boons on hit for a short duration.

Spirits :
I’d love to see change on how spirits work but, right now i’d prefer to bet on a druid spec that could change that.

Pets :
survivability : The change to pet’s health pool have, in fact hurt even more pets survivability, mainly because with a larger health pool, they just become harder to heal. We just ended up with having a hard time sustaining them. I believe a permanent damage reduction on one of the grand master trait in the beastmaster traitline would have made a greater job for pet’s survivability. Maybe replace “invigorating bond” by a -50% damage trait a la “Bark skin” but without the life percentage requirement.

Maniability : Pets have 4 skills and we end up being able to controle just one of these. Honnestly, at least, we should be able to disable some of these skill so that the pet don’t use them but still use it’s basic attack.

Pet’s shout : While I believe offensive shouts are well done, I also believe that support shout need change. Support shouts need to get rid of their animation and cast time. These are actually the less responsive skills in game with little to no meaning in actual use In Game.

Weapons :
Right now Longbow outshine every other ranger weapon. A lot of dedicated traits, best range, almost best overall damage per second… The heck! with proper trait and sigil it could even be the best condition damage weapon. Other weapon need love.

Axe : Honed axe could use a flat damage boost instead of a ferocity buff. Or, better, an attack speed buff for each axe equiped.

Sword : Common, a bit of love for the sword!!! (well we could say that “predator’s onslaugh” have been made for her but, no it’s a general trait)

Greatsword : The “two-handed training” trait feel pretty weak due to the fact that he is in a defensive traitline. I’m pretty sure it could use a buff like also giving 5% more damage to the pet.

Shortbow : The shortbow used to shine a lot brighter until it got nerfed to the ground. Maybe a slight buff could revive him. I think it could use a little buff to it’s autoattack damage (10%, up from 136 to 150 base damage should be just right).

This is just some though to revive dead stuff on ranger.

Edit: I do not assume that any of the change proposed are balanced in any way

Sharpening Stone: 4200 damage on a condition build with 0% condition duration. And since every bleed is 7 seconds long, it scales pretty well with bleed builds, which would bring it up to 14 seconds stacks and damage of 8000+. If there is a change, I’d rather have it changed to 10 stacks of bleeding with 4s duration for each stacks. 7s stacks are likely to stay for the full duration, but 14s stacks will most likely be cleansed.

Shouts: No comment… they should be removed and then be replaced with REAL shouts that a beastmaster would use.

Pets: I agree on those except the survivability. They only die in wvw for me and sometimes in dungeons, but the latter is because I don’t pay attention. By the way, there is 1 F2 skill for each pet, but most, if not all, pets have a skill that they use as soon as they can.

Axe: I never pick Honed Axes. Too little for too much.

Sword: The second basic attack should be changed to allow free movement. The short kick-leap is too short and doesn’t have much benefit to it. Or, add an evade to it. Otherwise this weapon is one of the best escape weapons and good for getting “OMG COOLDOWN HACKER” whispers in wvw.

Greatsword: The fury from the trait is nice, but simply too short imo.

Shortbow: Make #2 narrower, #3 evade further, #4 more bleeding or longer cripple, #5 shorter CD or more daze duration.

Dadnir.5038:

Just look at the rangers around you that almost all use longbow. Do you think it’s just because of fashion or because this weapon have almost perfect synergy with all damaging traits, ok damage, nice burst, ways to disengage (PBS and stealth) easily and outstanding range?

A very big part of those rangers only use the LB because “metabattle” tells them to do it. For the average player who doesn’t care about improving but rather about quickly playing a match, the LB glass build is perfect because it seems overpowered to noobs.
For people who don’t go into the depths of each professions, all they see is just a bunch of arrows hitting them in quick succession while seeing their health going down. While it’s a strong build, only a small minority knows how to play it effectively.
All that’s needed to win against an “average” lb build ranger is to evade or LOS the first 5 seconds.

What will a GS ranger most likely do after using hilt bash? Maul
…after block? Maul
…after swoop? Hilt bash or Block
What will a LB ranger most likely do after using Rapid fire? PBS
…after PBS? Stealth
…after Stealth? Barrage
…after Barrage? Rapid fire

Dadnir.5038:

BTW, what you propose for empathic bond is totally overpowered. And I have to agree that maul being a blast finisher would be enough to make GS a shiny weapon.

It would be powerful and it should be considering the trait investment. The rng factor would keep it from being OP, active cleanses would still be superior.

solrik.6028:

Sword: The second basic attack should be changed to allow free movement. The short kick-leap is too short and doesn’t have much benefit to it. Or, add an evade to it. Otherwise this weapon is one of the best escape weapons and good for getting “OMG COOLDOWN HACKER” whispers in wvw.

My thoughts exactly on sword AA #2. The short kick doesn’t really help close the gap and it only hits one target. You can literally move the same distance of the kick in the time of the attack. Pounce is the real deal of the sword AA and should remain as is, but two slashes leading up to it would be much more fluid. Maybe move the cripple to Pounce to assist in getting the two slashes in.