Thoughts on Large Swords, Small Bows, and Questionable Utility
in Ranger
Posted by: King Lemming.2015
I realize by the title alone, this might seem a bit disjointed. I didn’t want to make an umbrella post for every single issue the ranger currently has, as that would be somewhat of a novel. Instead, I’m going to focus on two minor issues, and then one major one. (Note: After realizing how long this is going to be anyways, I’ll break it into different posts at least.)
Large Swords – the Greatsword, obviously. This weapon is in a weird spot – I myself enjoy the theme and the idea behind it, but it is mechanically weak and the abilities are a bit disjointed. There is no pet synergy, and the chain is very defensively focused with evasion.
Ability 1 (Chain):
Honestly, the damage is just incredibly low. It’s low relative to other “melee” Greatsword users, and it’s low compared to the Ranger’s 1H sword. Yes, the Ranger has a 20 range advantage on two of the auto-attacks compared to the Guardian and Warrior (The Mesmer is a bit of an incomparable here). No, that does not justify the greatly diminished damage output. No, the pet does not make up for it either. The pet does not bring much AE damage to the table, and it is ridiculously squishy in any real fight. There is also a lack of synergy between Greatsword and Pet – compare this to the 1H sword where the pet gets Might as part of the autoattack chain.
Ability 2 (Maul):
I don’t have any huge complaints on this one, other than it’s another move which sort of pigeonholes the Ranger into condition-based play. I do have a recommendation for this though which I will get to later.
Ability 3 (Swoop):
No real complaints here, it’s good damage, just boring.
Ability 4 (Counterattack):
While the parry move is nice, the immobility is a bit much. It’s really far too telegraphed and the resulting “punishment” is very low for something with such a high cooldown.
The crippling throw I’m alright with, but it’s an awkward mechanic.
Ability 5 (Hilt Bash):
Cooldown is way way way too high for not at least being a guaranteed stun from any side. The secondary pet buff is nearly negligible.
Suggestions:
1: Autoattack chain damage needs to be increased, possibly by 20 or 25% to be at all viable compared to the 1H sword. Autoattack range can be set to 130.
2: Generally alright, should give a stack of Might to the ranger’s pet.
Or, combining 1 and 2 (which I realize is much more work due to animation changes) – remove Evasion from the autoattack chain, have it add a stack of Might to the pet, and add Evasion to Maul. Mechanically this raises the skill cap of the Ranger as it allows for a reliable dodge maneuver rather than relying on the random timing of the autoattack chain.
3: Swoop is pretty good, really. Looking at some of the other “high” damage GS abilities such as 100 blades, I wonder if maybe changing the cooldown to 10 seconds might be in order. Other than that, giving the Pet Fury (5s) on a Swoop would be nice and promote more offensive play.
4: I understand the need for a high cooldown on Counterattack, but there really isn’t much punishment here. Adding Quickness (2s) for both the Ranger and Pet on a successful Parry would actually force other players in PvP to not simply take the weak hit and continue on.
Now, regarding the Crippling Throw – if the throw is used, the Cooldown should instead be 10 seconds, not 20.
5: For a 30 second Cooldown, this is weak. Allow it to Stun from any side (I promise you, taking a hilt in the face is just as painful as one in the back of the head, if not more so.) Give the pet 3 stacks of Might for 10s – this promotes pet synergy and honestly compared to the current combo of Bash -> Lynx Pounce (which can be done, just not reliably due to F2 issues) is probably not more damage overall.
(edited by King Lemming.2015)