Guild Wars 2

i was going to answer the thread of “new pets” but i realized that actually we need better pet system. this ideas is to make our pets more useful than “a ranged weapon” and promote synergy between the ranger and the pet.

• pets get a trait line per family that give them special buffs like:
  first branch could buff the pet stats: more dps(condi and power), more tanky(vit and thoughtness) or more support (expertise and concentration).

second branch applies some buff to the ranger when cast the f2 or periodically. same rutine as before: give the ranger some extra dps, or more tanky or some support like (like shared anguish or some minor regen like an signet of the wild or such)

third branch a nice new skill for the pet: beastly warden could go here for melee families, being able to attack invisible enemies or being able to hit more than one enemy at once.

so if i have a bear my enemy can be sure if i have a dps bear that will taunt him or a tank. the important thing is that depending on which options i choose my pet will be played very differently.

because it affects families shouldnt be much of a change. reduce the families to the most unique and interesting.

id like to have also different states for the pet instead just attack and passive, from the most proactive to passive:

• aggressive: attack anything the ranger attacks or attack the ranger.
• defensive: only attacks if the ranger is attacked. otherwise just move away from damage.
• passive: follows the ranger but attack nothing.

• f1 still fix the pet in that target, as long as that target lives and the ranger doesnt tag another with f1 the pet dont swap targets. same as does with passive but applied to any pet state.

• pet attacking lease range should be increased, and its speed matched to +40% normal player speed. So it can follow their objective as far as needed.
• pet lease when not attacking is stuck to the ranger, so if im avoiding aoe my pet follows,now it simply stays in the middle of aoe while im out of their range.

• birds family should fly. when i mean fly i would be happy if they just behaved like the barrage from the bristle in the beta, so the birds could attack over walls and such. This would make up for the lack of ranged aoe.

• same for example for the carrion family. maybe tunnel under walls? Again more fun and tactical use and a reason to use a carrion. when chosen this ability the carrion could give the ranger the ability to see and tag enemy names thru walls at short range. lets call it “ground vibrating sight”.

• canines could be able to attack invisible targets while not revealing them.

• cats could get the ability to attack more than one enemy at once.

• being able to know which buffs or conditions are affecting my pet would be amazing.

• Druid could get in some of the trait the skill to transfer the conditions affecting the pet and converting them to boons for the druid.

those are random ideas in a random order, what do you think?

Thumbs up! This could go in a new elite spec… wishful thinking intensifies

To be honest, I think you are stepping into an over-complicated idea and giving a traitline for each kind of pet would be to huge of a work.

The traits that improve pet already exist. The traits that improve specific pets, I’m glad they no longer exist.

I’ll be honest, If they were to do something to the pets, It would be hundred time better that they work on :

- The ranger ability to prevent the pet to use unneeded skills at an unneeded moment. At the moment the ranger is still fighting against his pet due to these skills.

1. Bird : Quickening screech kill the efficiency of the birds
2. Devourer : Lash tail and Devourer retreat are a hindrance without active control
3. Bear : Defy pain is good and all but again, without controle it’s useless
4. Vivern : Wind buffet and tail lash like all control skill are a hindrance without active control from the ranger.
5. Moa : Harmonic cry is good and all but, again, it would be hundred time better to be able to use it when it’s needed.

- A huge balance patch on F2 skills.

1. Forage from Pigs need some work in order to be user friendly
2. Pets shout that are meant to buff ally absolutely don’t need the cast time and the useless animation that break the already difficult ability of these pet to actually hit their target. I understand the need for a “tell” on offensive shout but buff shout absolutely don’t need it.
3. Looking at the usefullness of each F2 skill wouldn’t hurt

- Improve pet’s attack speed which is pitiable and most likely contribute a lot to the laughable inabiliy of the pet to hit reliably a moving target.

- Last and not least, NPC totally ignore the movement speed penality when entering in combat. The pets are the only NPC who are affected by this penality. So either apply the penality to all NPC or remove it from the pet.

Flying birds? Digging canines!? How overpowered do you want it to be. Youre basically asking for Smokescale relentless assault on each pey.

UnitedChaos.8364:

Flying birds? Digging canines!? How overpowered do you want it to be. Youre basically asking for Smokescale relentless assault on each pey.

if you mean for the pets to hit consistently their target then yes, we need something like that for every single pet, as soon as possible, for yesterday would be best. also you forgot \s at the end.

but in any case in a wvw\pvp sense, because in pve really doesnt matter, there is no such a difference.

birds are the glassiest family pet, and carrions (no canines) do a weak damage, thats why you couldnt see almost any ranger with those, even before hot.

allowing the birds\carrions to reach targets that otherwise the ranger could not because of the absolute lack of ranged AOE would be very interesting.

and because you actually can kill those “weapons” is not like any ranged aoe. I would think those pets as a way to harass enemy players that hide on the top or behind the walls.

but all those are suggestion to give some strategic sense to the kind of pet you choose. right now they are just dps thus the choice is always reduced to the top dps.

UnitedChaos.8364:

Flying birds? Digging canines!? How overpowered do you want it to be. Youre basically asking for Smokescale relentless assault on each pey.

If by “overpowered” you mean “basically functional”, then yes. People only think the smokescale is “overpowered” because it can hit people reliably and has skills that are actually good, its actual stats are awful (identical to bears, that walking punchline of a pet family, except with even worse vitality).

(this is also true of the bristleback, which has almost identical stats to devourers, but a skillset that’s actually useful).