Guild Wars 2

Ranger 1-hand Sword has alot of problems.
AA: you need to be able to move while casting this. It is just a huge problem. Make it a normal cleave/slash-animation so that we can move.

2: animation is cool but it has too short range. If the foe is moving i often miss.

3: animation is cool but very unrewarding because it doesn’t deal enough damage concidering the risks of rolling over edges. The skill is “wasp-themed” and looks like it should “sting” them very hard but it’s just…. Meh..

The only thing that needs to be changed about the AA is it needs to break the animation easier when dodging or using the #2&3 skills.

I love it the way it is.

The sword auto attack is actually one of the coolest mechanics in the game. You can use it as a gap closer or to disengage if you detarget correctly and with a bit of luck it can track targets in stealth all the while having reasonable damage on every hit, considering you are playing as a ranger.

It is a typical high risk-high reward attack, that if you manage to master it you can do such amazing things with. It would really be fairly boring to have a sword auto attack like some other classes have, that only adds damage, and no additional gameplay mechanic. Especially because rangers rely mostly on their auto attacks for damage anyway (aside from greatsword and longbow 2 ofcourse).

Sure if you auto attack without thinking, or have smart cast on, you are not able to dodge, same if you are in the middle of a leap, but that is a tradeoff that makes the mechanic fun, and not as mindless as say playing longbow. ^^

I certainly hope that the last thing that Anet changes in this game is the way how the ranger auto attack works..

And about the sword 2 ability, do not spam it on cooldown, but try to think how it could benifit you if you use it in a certain way. For example if someone is chasing you, dodge roll backwards through your oponent and press nr 2, you will now roll away from him, detarget while jumping back, turn with the about face button, and press nr2 again, now you have aproximately 1200 units away from your opponent in about 1,5 seconds, theres no need for the extra damage, well, maybe in pve, but in pvp its fine ^^

WyrdenCN.8329:

The sword auto attack is actually one of the coolest mechanics in the game. You can use it as a gap closer or to disengage if you detarget correctly and with a bit of luck it can track targets in stealth all the while having reasonable damage on every hit, considering you are playing as a ranger.

It is a typical high risk-high reward attack, that if you manage to master it you can do such amazing things with. It would really be fairly boring to have a sword auto attack like some other classes have, that only adds damage, and no additional gameplay mechanic. Especially because rangers rely mostly on their auto attacks for damage anyway (aside from greatsword and longbow 2 ofcourse).

Sure if you auto attack without thinking, or have smart cast on, you are not able to dodge, same if you are in the middle of a leap, but that is a tradeoff that makes the mechanic fun, and not as mindless as say playing longbow. ^^

I certainly hope that the last thing that Anet changes in this game is the way how the ranger auto attack works..

And about the sword 2 ability, do not spam it on cooldown, but try to think how it could benifit you if you use it in a certain way. For example if someone is chasing you, dodge roll backwards through your oponent and press nr 2, you will now roll away from him, detarget while jumping back, turn with the about face button, and press nr2 again, now you have aproximately 1200 units away from your opponent in about 1,5 seconds, theres no need for the extra damage, well, maybe in pve, but in pvp its fine ^^

i think Sword 2 could use a larger window before the Monarch’s Leap portion times out so many times i try to use this in a very tight spot where i need that extra 0.5 second to be a little more agressive or to down and escape.

Vatlaaw Fierceshot.5713:

I love it the way it is.

So you wouldn’t like if you could dodge at any moment of the leap animations?
You would also not like if the leap only triggered if the target is out of reach?

I’m also used to sword now, but sometimes it gets annoying to have to constantly fight against its mechanics to not lose control and take advantages of its mobility.

WyrdenCN.8329:

The sword auto attack is actually one of the coolest mechanics in the game. You can use it as a gap closer or to disengage if you detarget correctly and with a bit of luck it can track targets in stealth all the while having reasonable damage on every hit, considering you are playing as a ranger.

It is a typical high risk-high reward attack, that if you manage to master it you can do such amazing things with. It would really be fairly boring to have a sword auto attack like some other classes have, that only adds damage, and no additional gameplay mechanic. Especially because rangers rely mostly on their auto attacks for damage anyway (aside from greatsword and longbow 2 ofcourse).

Sure if you auto attack without thinking, or have smart cast on, you are not able to dodge, same if you are in the middle of a leap, but that is a tradeoff that makes the mechanic fun, and not as mindless as say playing longbow. ^^

I certainly hope that the last thing that Anet changes in this game is the way how the ranger auto attack works..

And about the sword 2 ability, do not spam it on cooldown, but try to think how it could benifit you if you use it in a certain way. For example if someone is chasing you, dodge roll backwards through your oponent and press nr 2, you will now roll away from him, detarget while jumping back, turn with the about face button, and press nr2 again, now you have aproximately 1200 units away from your opponent in about 1,5 seconds, theres no need for the extra damage, well, maybe in pve, but in pvp its fine ^^

I guarantee the metrics of sword use and sword builds are low compared to other main weapons. The ranger sword attacks can still be remade unique while functioning better for end users. The ranger sword has been poorly designed and has been complained about since launch, so it’s time something is done about it. Considering hot introduces tons of new weapon skills, new traits, utilities… the least that could be done is a revisit to a mere 3 weapon skills.

Also, not trying to be rude, but the mere fact that players need to do all the gimmicky detargeting, camera tricks, turning off auto attack… while hoping for a “bit of luck” to make the sword work says a lot about the inherently poor design. You are trying to spin doctor a bad weapon by showing all the player created work arounds. How about we give the Revenant hammer the ranger sword treatment and let’s see how well it’s received by the players.

The problem isn’t unique to the sword. It’s the fact that skills with fixed animations (leaps and dashes) override other actions, and cannot be overridden themselves.

In a more fluid action combat system, skills like this could be cancelled by dodge rolling. But arenanet doesn’t do this because….Possibly something to do with how the skills are coded.

While leaping around the battlefield makes the ranger’s sword feel unique, it’s more frustrating than fun. I’m still not holding my breath for a fix though.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

The only thing that needs to be changed about the AA is it needs to break the animation easier when dodging or using the #2&3 skills.

I’d be cool with them making the leap portion having an evade tied to it like the GS

People don’t seem to understand that the only 2 ways the sword can be easier to learn are from changing the skills completely (no thanks) or changing the way leaps work across all aspects of the game.

Honestly if you just spend a few minutes practicing timing your movement and weapon swapping on a dodge roll dummy, it actually plays really well. I hope it stays as is, and I don’t mind the skill cap on it.

Swagger.1459:

I guarantee the metrics of sword use and sword builds are low compared to other main weapons. The ranger sword attacks can still be remade unique while functioning better for end users. The ranger sword has been poorly designed and has been complained about since launch, so it’s time something is done about it. Considering hot introduces tons of new weapon skills, new traits, utilities… the least that could be done is a revisit to a mere 3 weapon skills.

Also, not trying to be rude, but the mere fact that players need to do all the gimmicky detargeting, camera tricks, turning off auto attack… while hoping for a “bit of luck” to make the sword work says a lot about the inherently poor design. You are trying to spin doctor a bad weapon by showing all the player created work arounds. How about we give the Revenant hammer the ranger sword treatment and let’s see how well it’s received by the players.

You guarantee? Well then, a complete stranger on the internet guarantees something, it should be true, right? =D

Anyway, I was just trying to make a point.. ^^
Even though the weapon has its shortcomings, and not being able to dodge while in auto attack chain can be annoying at times, i do not see it as bad weapon design, just different in the way that an auto attack is high risk high reward, usually you get a choice in such skills, like barrage or meteor shower. Having it on auto attack makes it less of a choice, seeing as you have to use the auto attack as your main damage source. But there are ways to play around it.

To me it does make sense, that when you start an attack, you should be forced to finish it, thereby requiring you to think if you actually want to start attacking or rather dodge. Sure in an action packed game like Guild Wars, at times that will get you killed because you made the wrong decision, however, that is the part about high risk high reward that makes the ranger sword fun to use.

The tricks that i mentioned about targetting and detargetting were merely to show OP that there is a lot of stuff that you can pull off with the sword, that would not be possible if they changed the mechanic of the sword.

The auto attack might be something people have been complaining about since launch, mainly because it is not as simple as to press 1 and just go afk, you have to pay attention and actually think of when you want to use which part of the chain. But is that really a bad thing? Is not the fun in playing a game having some kind of a skill cap at least if you want to have one? no one forces you to use sword, especially if you are refusing to use the tools that the game gives you to make the sword auto attack one of the best in the game.

I am not saying we should not be allowed to dodge during leaps, i would welcome that change, everyone would. However, i am saying that the mechanic behind the sword leaps should not be changed, and the OP did say that he would like the mechanic changed to something that allows you to move freely, thus removing the leaps, and in my opinion that is something that should not be touched.

Also, small addition, if you say ‘’not trying to be rude’’ it actually comes over as rude, more at least then if you just state your point without saying that sentence. ^^

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

i think Sword 2 could use a larger window before the Monarch’s Leap portion times out so many times i try to use this in a very tight spot where i need that extra 0.5 second to be a little more agressive or to down and escape.

Yes, that could be cool ^^ or just make it a flip switch kind of a thing, that you jump back, and untill you jump forward the jump backwards wont become available. It will never be implemented, but we should be allowed dreams right? ^^

Because having dreams has never killed rangers in Guild Wars before… right? … RIGHT?!

I don’t like having to rely on weapon swapping and non responsive movements to dodge and manouver, not only does it mess up my rotation, it’s dangerous and often unrewarding.

If some people enjoy it the way it is, let them have it, Rapid Fire, Maul (dem 20k crits) and Quick Draw is everything I need as far as melee dps goes.

WyrdenCN.8329:

Swagger.1459:

I guarantee the metrics of sword use and sword builds are low compared to other main weapons. The ranger sword attacks can still be remade unique while functioning better for end users. The ranger sword has been poorly designed and has been complained about since launch, so it’s time something is done about it. Considering hot introduces tons of new weapon skills, new traits, utilities… the least that could be done is a revisit to a mere 3 weapon skills.

Also, not trying to be rude, but the mere fact that players need to do all the gimmicky detargeting, camera tricks, turning off auto attack… while hoping for a “bit of luck” to make the sword work says a lot about the inherently poor design. You are trying to spin doctor a bad weapon by showing all the player created work arounds. How about we give the Revenant hammer the ranger sword treatment and let’s see how well it’s received by the players.

You guarantee? Well then, a complete stranger on the internet guarantees something, it should be true, right? =D

Anyway, I was just trying to make a point.. ^^
Even though the weapon has its shortcomings, and not being able to dodge while in auto attack chain can be annoying at times, i do not see it as bad weapon design, just different in the way that an auto attack is high risk high reward, usually you get a choice in such skills, like barrage or meteor shower. Having it on auto attack makes it less of a choice, seeing as you have to use the auto attack as your main damage source. But there are ways to play around it.

To me it does make sense, that when you start an attack, you should be forced to finish it, thereby requiring you to think if you actually want to start attacking or rather dodge. Sure in an action packed game like Guild Wars, at times that will get you killed because you made the wrong decision, however, that is the part about high risk high reward that makes the ranger sword fun to use.

The tricks that i mentioned about targetting and detargetting were merely to show OP that there is a lot of stuff that you can pull off with the sword, that would not be possible if they changed the mechanic of the sword.

The auto attack might be something people have been complaining about since launch, mainly because it is not as simple as to press 1 and just go afk, you have to pay attention and actually think of when you want to use which part of the chain. But is that really a bad thing? Is not the fun in playing a game having some kind of a skill cap at least if you want to have one? no one forces you to use sword, especially if you are refusing to use the tools that the game gives you to make the sword auto attack one of the best in the game.

I am not saying we should not be allowed to dodge during leaps, i would welcome that change, everyone would. However, i am saying that the mechanic behind the sword leaps should not be changed, and the OP did say that he would like the mechanic changed to something that allows you to move freely, thus removing the leaps, and in my opinion that is something that should not be touched.

Also, small addition, if you say ‘’not trying to be rude’’ it actually comes over as rude, more at least then if you just state your point without saying that sentence. ^^

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

i think Sword 2 could use a larger window before the Monarch’s Leap portion times out so many times i try to use this in a very tight spot where i need that extra 0.5 second to be a little more agressive or to down and escape.

Yes, that could be cool ^^ or just make it a flip switch kind of a thing, that you jump back, and untill you jump forward the jump backwards wont become available. It will never be implemented, but we should be allowed dreams right? ^^

Because having dreams has never killed rangers in Guild Wars before… right? … RIGHT?!

Yes, I guarantee if a developer showed up here they would say sword and sword traitline use is on the low end.

I not sure if you know, but you are really helping to explain everything wrong with the sword and why it should be changed or fixed.

Also, “high skill, high reward” weapons and abilities should be about timing and such, not about having to do wonky UI and camera tricks to make a weapon more viable.

Swagger.1459:

Also, “high skill, high reward” weapons and abilities should be about timing and such, not about having to do wonky UI and camera tricks to make a weapon more viable.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Making hornet sting instant dodge is all we really need.
Right now it’s unreliable, sure you can evade a bit of random projectiles in teamfights chaos but that’s about it not when you really need an evade.
Just like counterattack on GS should provide block during the whole duration.
Little things that could fix a lot

Sword is one of best dps weapons ranger has, sadly it can hardly be used with dps build. While using sword with dps build it is crucial for ranger to perfectly time their dodges and position themself flawlessly. And exactly this the sword autoattack doesn’t allow.

Just an easy example. With warrior and sword in main hand I can dance around longbow ranger being always behind his back and the ranger not being able to ever land a hit on me. Impossible to do smth similiar with ranger sword rooting you with autoattack.

Sword works fine with tanker codni builds where it doesn’t hurt you that much if you misstime your dodges and recieve some damage. But sword is not really condi weapon, sadly.

Miyu.8137:

…But sword is not really condi weapon, sadly.

Sever Artery, Gash and Flurry would disagree with that.

They can disagree as they want, but besides 2stacks of poison for 6sec every 15sec it doesn’t have any other dmging condition.

Don’t get ne wrong, I use sword on my condi build as well and it’s one of the best builds in game in general. But the usefullnes is together with any of the real condi off-hand weapons.

Now tell me how many ppl use sword with zerker build. And it’s not like sword does low dmg, the dps is the best ranger has. (talking more about pvp than pve though)

Miyu.8137:

They can disagree as they want, but besides 2stacks of poison for 6sec every 15sec it doesn’t have any other dmging condition.

Don’t get ne wrong, I use sword on my condi build as well and it’s one of the best builds in game in general. But the usefullnes is together with any of the real condi off-hand weapons.

Now tell me how many ppl use sword with zerker build. And it’s not like sword does low dmg, the dps is the best ranger has. (talking more about pvp than pve though)

And the best ranger has is still low damage.

It hits exactly 3 targets on only 2 parts of the 3 step chain, it hinders dodge timing unless you purposely delay the attack, lowering DPS anyways.

Ranger is only ahead of necro and mesmer, and come HoT with reaper ranger will only be ahead of mesmer in sustained DPS (and mesmer is utter crap sustained DPS in PvE so it’s a low standard to have).

Lome.8239:

People don’t seem to understand that the only 2 ways the sword can be easier to learn are from changing the skills completely (no thanks) or changing the way leaps work across all aspects of the game.

Honestly if you just spend a few minutes practicing timing your movement and weapon swapping on a dodge roll dummy, it actually plays really well. I hope it stays as is, and I don’t mind the skill cap on it.

Warrior, guardian, revenant, thief, and mesmer swords all work perfectly fine without any gimmicky nonsense or jury-rigging that ranger sword requires, there’s no excuse for it being such a janky pile of kitten in comparison.

Especially when it’s the only one-handed melee weapon we have.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

The only thing that needs to be changed about the AA is it needs to break the animation easier when dodging or using the #2&3 skills.

This. Only this. Dodge and evade skills to override anything = issue solved.

OGDeadHead.8326:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

The only thing that needs to be changed about the AA is it needs to break the animation easier when dodging or using the #2&3 skills.

This. Only this. Dodge and evade skills to override anything = issue solved.

Thing is, developers already stated that motion skill cannot be interrupted by dodging, so I dont’t think we can have the best of two worlds. I’d rather have a sword AA without leaps than being rooted and unable to dodge.

kzar.3079:

OGDeadHead.8326:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

The only thing that needs to be changed about the AA is it needs to break the animation easier when dodging or using the #2&3 skills.

This. Only this. Dodge and evade skills to override anything = issue solved.

Thing is, developers already stated that motion skill cannot be interrupted by dodging, so I dont’t think we can have the best of two worlds. I’d rather have a sword AA without leaps than being rooted and unable to dodge.

I’ve suggested this before, and will try again:

When you swap weapons, you instantly abort any animation chain. Grab that code, don’t include the weapon swap part, put it first in the dodge code and voila – issue solved!

Of course they can fix this, one way or another, but they don’t want to. Best would be to let dodge and evade mechanics override any other action instantly, instead of changing the sword mechanic.

kzar.3079:

OGDeadHead.8326:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

The only thing that needs to be changed about the AA is it needs to break the animation easier when dodging or using the #2&3 skills.

This. Only this. Dodge and evade skills to override anything = issue solved.

Thing is, developers already stated that motion skill cannot be interrupted by dodging, so I dont’t think we can have the best of two worlds. I’d rather have a sword AA without leaps than being rooted and unable to dodge.

They would essentially only need to add a couple additional lines of code that stopped the AA when you click dodge, 2 or 3. It doesn’t even need to break the animation, it just needs to stop it continuing/progressing the chain after the current link is finished.

OGDeadHead.8326:

…When you swap weapons, you instantly abort any animation chain. Grab that code, don’t include the weapon swap part, put it first in the dodge code and voila – issue solved!

Of course they can fix this, one way or another, but they don’t want to. Best would be to let dodge and evade mechanics override any other action instantly, instead of changing the sword mechanic.

Excellent point.

OGDeadHead.8326:

kzar.3079:

OGDeadHead.8326:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

The only thing that needs to be changed about the AA is it needs to break the animation easier when dodging or using the #2&3 skills.

This. Only this. Dodge and evade skills to override anything = issue solved.

Thing is, developers already stated that motion skill cannot be interrupted by dodging, so I dont’t think we can have the best of two worlds. I’d rather have a sword AA without leaps than being rooted and unable to dodge.

I’ve suggested this before, and will try again:

When you swap weapons, you instantly abort any animation chain. Grab that code, don’t include the weapon swap part, put it first in the dodge code and voila – issue solved!

Of course they can fix this, one way or another, but they don’t want to. Best would be to let dodge and evade mechanics override any other action instantly, instead of changing the sword mechanic.

Thing is, there is no intention for skill with movement component to allow dodge canceling, as it was already stated by developers (read a post from devs somewhere but cannot find it).
So the alternatives are to deal with it (using swap or turning off outo attack), not use sword or remove leap from sword auto attack chain.

And don’t get me wrong, I would love to see sword AA chain canceled by dodging, but from what devs said, I don’t think we can have that and leap mechanic on attack.

I agree that the AA animation needs to break more easily but otherwise I really like that it allows me to stick to my target.

It’s difficult to use as is but especially in PvP/WvW the leap on it is extremely beneficial.

Always have auto attack turned off on your sword and don’t just mash the auto attack skill when it is. Ranger sword is one of the more difficult weapons to properly use but when you get it right the rooting stops becoming a huge problem. You can even go 1, 2 in the AA then un-target to use the 3rd to leap away from your target if you need to go defensive.

Personally though the sword is like… 60% of the reason I fell in love with Ranger in the first place, lol. The AA is wonky at times but the overall finesse of the weapon absolutely sells me and I use it no matter what build I’m using.

kzar.3079:

OGDeadHead.8326:

kzar.3079:

OGDeadHead.8326:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

The only thing that needs to be changed about the AA is it needs to break the animation easier when dodging or using the #2&3 skills.

This. Only this. Dodge and evade skills to override anything = issue solved.

Thing is, developers already stated that motion skill cannot be interrupted by dodging, so I dont’t think we can have the best of two worlds. I’d rather have a sword AA without leaps than being rooted and unable to dodge.

I’ve suggested this before, and will try again:

When you swap weapons, you instantly abort any animation chain. Grab that code, don’t include the weapon swap part, put it first in the dodge code and voila – issue solved!

Of course they can fix this, one way or another, but they don’t want to. Best would be to let dodge and evade mechanics override any other action instantly, instead of changing the sword mechanic.

Thing is, there is no intention for skill with movement component to allow dodge canceling, as it was already stated by developers (read a post from devs somewhere but cannot find it).
So the alternatives are to deal with it (using swap or turning off outo attack), not use sword or remove leap from sword auto attack chain.

And don’t get me wrong, I would love to see sword AA chain canceled by dodging, but from what devs said, I don’t think we can have that and leap mechanic on attack.

The reason that dodge doesn’t interrupt animation locking is because most animation locking skills have evade frames. Ranger sword aa is, to my knowledge, the only such skill in the game that lacks evade. At this point, they should just find a way to throw rangers main hand dagger as a decent main hand melee weapon for people who hate animation locking auto attacks.

The other issue with sword is that at the end of #3 animation you’re a sitting duck asking for absolution for about 1/4 sec.
Because the evade ends but not the animation nor the root!
Good players just wait and burst you there.
So we have to use weapon swap because our skills are broken?

Serpent strike needs evade for the full animation and the damage of the strike needs to be about tripled to put it in line with unrelenting assault kitten has a whopping 15 sec cd.

Monarch’s Leap should be instant cast. The jumpback’s damage when you come back in should also increase in damage.

Zenith.7301:

Serpent strike needs evade for the full animation and the damage of the strike needs to be about tripled to put it in line with unrelenting assault kitten has a whopping 15 sec cd.

Monarch’s Leap should be instant cast. The jumpback’s damage when you come back in should also increase in damage.

I reckon Monarch’s should either get a 1s stun or a KD on it.

In pve the sword as it is now is really really bad. You cannot move around your opponent freely, you cannot reflex dodge anything, in it’s current form it just won’t work for raiding. Sure after playing with it for 3 years I’m doing well in our current super easy dungeons, but that’s it, tbh it’s way too much effort already. I’ve been raiding in WoW for years and 2 out of 3 bosses wouldn’t be doable with sword ranger mechanics, simply because the easiest 2 ways to add difficulty to a raid is to test your reflexes more & make you move around more.

The usual suspects (commenters) already said as usual that they love the auto-attack “please don’t change”. I just don’t get it, even in pvp sword is mostly an evade weapon to support condi builds & to add to our mobility with leaping. This all sticky mechanic is nice and all but in 5 months of spvping I haven’t seen a single ranger that was even half decent using it & sticking to things while not dying. (Seen one before then, but he was just a streamer admittedly effin around with ranger & even so he wasn’t that great I just lost an 1v1 to him & I was kitten about it)

Here is what I’d like to do in PVE: freely move around my target as I please like other classes can do, I want to dodge with “v” on demand, not having to wait for a animations or do fastmath regarding when my dodge will start & end. Also if I’m in a red circle I want to be able to walk out of it without needing to evade if it’s a slow attack thing .. In a perfect world stubborn “I want to stick to my target guys” would get to keep the 1h sword & I would get something else like pve pvp split on GS & a HUGE damage boost like 150-200% on auto attack. Removing the range restrictions on longbow would totally work too.. One can dream.

In any case there never will be a time better than now to make one of our other 2 power weapons identical(or better) in dmg than the sword, or to rework the sword.