Guild Wars 2

Alright, so Anet has effectively said it’s currently impossible to fix ranger pet pathing issues due to mob AI. Pets can do a ton of damage (i.e. 10k+ cat crits etc.), however all someone has to do to completely avoid any and all damage from a ranger pet is… move. Like move at all, even just a little. Couple this with the fact that F2 pet skills are incredibly buggy (cooldowns activating without the skill etc.) and the lack of pet survivability in pve and zergs and what you are left with is the only class that is crippled by its own mechanic. While some of the other class mechanics might not be “awesome” they certainly do not hinder their class in the same way pets do with rangers.

Proposed change:
Remove permanent pets. Make our F1-F4 abilities tied to short term pet summon abilities. Example:

Let’s say we have as our “active” pet a Lynx. The current abilities a lynx will use are:
1. Slash – (spam attack) slash at your foe leaving them vulnerable.
- applies 1 stack of vulnerability
2. Bite – (8s base cd) bite your foe for severe damage
- high direct damage attack
3. Maul (20s base cd) slash a foe multiple times and make them bleed
- very good condition based attack, applies 4 stacks of bleed
4. Rending Pounce (F2, 30s base cd) leap at a target foe and make them bleed
- condi damage attack, leap finisher, 4 stacks of bleed

How my changes would function
You would still have an “active” and “reserve” pet. However instead of being permanently present they would serve a different role. You would get certain bonuses/abilities based on your active pet. Whatever your pet’s #1 spam attack did will augment your current weapon’s auto attack. Lynx example: when Lynx is your active pet all your auto attacks also apply a stack of vulnerability.

You would also have F1-F3 “class mechanic” abilities that would replace our current F2. This would summon a temporary pet that would be non targetable and only perform the task it is summoned for and then go away. Lynx example: we use our new F1 ability, Bite. A lynx rushes from the shadows, bites our target, then scatters to safety.

In addition
Anet should not change current ranger attribute modifiers too much. Instead give rangers an attribute bonus corresponding to their current active pet. Lynx example: the lynx has its attributes concentrated in precision, so in this model the ranger would gain a precision bonus (maybe a crit damage bonus as well). This way the different archetypes of pets would give different attribute bonuses to power, precision, toughness, or vitality.

Now if you would say this would give rangers “too many abilities,” I really don’t buy that, look at engineers or eles.

What this fixes
-Hopefully can fix the pet pathing problem as the only thing these temporary summons would have to do is perform the ability and peace out so they can (hopefully) be properly coded.
-Make the ranger class mechanic actually help the profession instead of hinder it
-Remove pets being dead 90% of the time in pve and zerg fights
-Give rangers more active control of the class by improving F1-3 functionality
-Keeps pets as the “identity” of the ranger class (albeit in an active and not passive role) which prevents us from being “crappy warriors”
-More stat diversity with active pet bonuses
-Better attribute scaling on abilities, making power builds far more effective
-Source of active condition removal (i.e. use bear as active pet for condi removal)

I am not saying all of this is feasible or realistic but I implore Anet to seriously consider this change.

For those of you who like pets
Honestly I like pets as well. It’s fun adventuring with an animal companion. However it is undeniable that they are a hindrance to the effectiveness of the ranger class as a whole. As such, for the good of the class, I think it is time to move on. Also since quickness has been nerfed to all hell, it might be possible to replace Zephyr’s Speed with another grandmaster trait in the BM tree that makes pets permanent instead of temporary summons. This would give people who want to invest in their pets the option to have permanent versions.

Please discuss and keep discussion civil, critical and constructive.

Just a pet damage can be avoided. Bow damage can be avoided as well. If someone is able to avoid your pet and your bow continuously then your doing something wrong.

Removing pet will just put a bigger stop light on the fact that bow damage can bb avoided by strafing.

Having a pet coming a do an attack just makes it more likely that that attack will be dodge or kited.

Your suggestion is very creepy, A Lynx coming out of nowhere, bites the foe once and then runs away in giggles o.O

DanSH.6143:

Your suggestion is very creepy, A Lynx coming out of nowhere, bites the foe once and then runs away in giggles o.O

Seeing as they have admitted they can’t fix pet attack UI it was the only alternative I could think of. Also, this is basically how mesmer phantasms function, not really that crazy of an idea.

Simple alternative is just to have a high tier trait that exchanges your equipped pet with a ongoing buff similar to food buff depending on type of pet. This way you gain a massive buff in exchange for not having a pet out.

Terrible idea, we’re not supposed to be pet summoners. We’re supposed to always be that pet-class, no matter how much it may or may not handicap us.

Main issues to address are F2’s, buff sharing, and scaling. Pet survivability is fine outside of zerg content.