Guild Wars 2

Looks like some good honest fun. Thanks for sharing.

Doggie.3184:

Yes, it’s about time someone got a melee longbow.

This. This made me chuckle.

Lahmia.2193:

You will be able to with the next expac. Revenants get longbow as their condi melee weapon.

Don’t tease me. QQ

Where? I’m lost. Where is it? QQ
Why is the Revenant not channeling my GWAMM Ranger from Guild Wars? GW2 Ranger sucks. I’m trying to channel my ancestor but Revenant is broken and not doing it. How fix?

Fluffball.8307:

Raven.9603:

LOL. There is no such thing. You are living in a dream. No one is well rounded in meta. Everyone is brought because of some specific thing they do better. If you can’t do something better than everyone else, you are being carried by people that pity you.

• warriors are brought because banners are what spirits should be, and because they have might.
• druids, sadly, will only be brought if they have some must-have buff OR are the best healers IF healing is really needed (nothing suggests that its needed yet).
• Engi’s will be brought because they are the highest single target dps and there WILL be mandatory condi phases.
• Revenants will likely be brought because every mouth breather will play one, sword will likely provide the 2nd highest single target dps when inevitably there arent enough people willing to put up with the engi’s stupid @#$ rotation making it too much of a burden to stack engi’s. Also because the buff uptime provided for more rare buffs like fury or prot.
• ele’s will be brought because they are the highest aoe dps.
• either A guardian or A mesmer, for quickness.
• maybe a thief or reaper, IF a boss has an execution phase.

thats it. no one gets invited unless they are a special butterfly who does something mandatory better than everyone else. WOW coped with this by having class specific buffs that were so strong that class AND spec variety was mandatory. Anet, who have rarely ever designed a dungeon that can’t be cheesed, dont want you to be “forced” to wait for a specific class or spec so they ashew the buff model, which just leads to stacking the most optimal classes. well rounded people need not apply.

Despite the anger, I like this post.

Yeah it pretty much epitomizes every game ever;

“If you can’t do one desired thing better than anyone else you’ll be left in the dust.”

Zaroua I’m sorry but I cannot take anything you are saying seriously. Your math is wrong, your assumptions are bad, and quite frankly your dogmatic attitude has gotten on even my nerves.

Grace Of The Land will ONLY effect an ally healed by a Celestial Avatar form skill and gives 3% damage for 8s.
Yes? Okay good we’re on the same page there.

Now, there are 4 very huge limits to this trait. They are;

1. Speed at which you can build stacks.
2. Number of targets you can build stacks on.
3. How often you can apply the stacks.
4. The more stacks you apply in general means lower self DPS.

So lets take a step back and look at this…

• Speed stacking on multiple targets (#’s 1&2) is countered by 2 things in general.
  Positioning and Cast time. Positioning breaks down into two factors; Skill Radius & Team Positioning. Celestial Avatar skills have a small radius or are PBAoE. Stacking multiple/max stacks on multiple allies that are not tightly bunched up will be next to impossible. On top of this although spammable Celestial Avatar skills do have cast times which means time will be consumed even just trying to first build up stacks.

• The rate at which you can even begin to apply these stacks is already separated by a 10s Celestial Avatar form CD.
  This means that even if you were able to keep the maximum number of stacks on allies it would still not be permanent.

• In addition to this point while you are healing in Celestial Avatar form you CANNOT DPS.
  Therefore the more you focus on building the stacks the lower your own DPS will be. Since Druid heals in general are being made less effective without an investment in Healing Power that means one stat is already dedicated to support limiting self DPS.

Sorry I got so lazy in the explanation but the more I thought of it the the more funny the idea of this trait being broken strong got to me. As I said, I really can’t take this thread seriously anymore. The ONLY thing this trait will be good for is helping offset the large DPS loss from having a temporary dedicated healer(Celestial Avatar), something this game is built around NOT having in the first place.

Hey guys I went through and added a few changes I’ve been meaning to make. I have some more but I’ve been so busy I keep putting it off. Honestly I find it amusing how this gets so little attention and yet it addresses almost all (if not all) the posts that keep popping up. Too much text i guess. qq

Anyways, thanks for reading! Again, if you have an alternate suggestion or an extra one let me know. I’ll discuss it and add it.

I’ve said this for 3 years every time this topic comes up:

The FACT, yes, FACT is that Sword AA was designed originally to knockback during the AA. This effect was removed and replaced with cripple. This thereby removed completely any and all need for a pseudo-Leap in the following skill and in is fact counter-intuitive when combined with cripple. Instead of doing a re-design so close to launch it was band-aided and thrown aside along with everything else.

In addition to this the other 2 skills are both designed in a way that you would expect to see in GW1 and quite frankly do not belong in GW2. What I mean by that is that in GW1 you could not move while using a skill, so by making the skill path for you it gives the illusion of active, dynamic combat but in reality is just a poor excuse of static gameplay. Since GW2 is not designed for this the skills become clunky, ineffective, and frustrating.

I more than fully understand that there are people that actually like the way Sword plays, especially after having spent so much time learning how to cope with it’s poor design and it gives them a sense of accomplishment or superiority in saying, “Well I MADE it work eventually and it’s good NOW.” This however is the exact reason IT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED. You should not be making a weapon work. You should not be dedicating yourself to learning “tricks” which amount to nothing more than workarounds for a faulty design and claiming that it makes “skill”. It does not.

I’ve given suggestions from Sword re-designs all the way to re-purposing Axe to a melee weapon so hopeless Sword fanatics don’t have to cry about it changing while giving an alternative melee option many times and every time they’ve been ignored.

Can Sword be used in a specific niche? Absolutely.
Does that mean it shouldn’t be changed? Absolutely Not.

Everyone needs to stop defending the weapon and instead offer constructive suggestions that not only fulfills but also broadens the weapon’s niche. Stop clinging to a broken weapon because learning a few workarounds gives you a false sense of accomplishment.

Scrimschaw.5784:

My apologies for OP for how this topic has gone off the rails. I hope you are still getting useful information from some of the replies.

I got what I needed long ago. I just wish my Ranger Overhaul got as much attention as this one. Although I’m glad no one is arguing over this on that too lol.

Hey guys thanks for all the feedback. It helped a lot with my suggestion. Please try to remain civil. I’m well aware many of you have different builds that probably work for all of you but just keep two thinks in mind;

1. People using different tactics for different goals can find different build better.
2. None of it matter cuz you’re on a Ranger in the first place and therefore already losing! muwahahaha

PS. I’m kidding

PPS. No I’m not.

Edit: This isn’t actually an edit. I’m a liar. Also, stay on topic!

idontnoso.9850:

Can you be on the ranger team for Anet? plz!! +1

Lolol I don’t think I’m the person who makes that decision. XD

Tearthy Flame.1463:

I find it interesting what you’ve done for the skill, trait, weapons, and other, descriptions: Took me a moment to apply GuildWars skill descriptions to GuildWars2.

Sorry I cannot give a lot of feedback on how your changes improve current skills but I don’t feel a massive difference in game-play. I understand this is not a Elite Spec. Naturally the Ranger seems to have a a lot of holes in the basic functions of it because it makes a better PvP class than PvE. And I believe it lacks in GW2 because its still trying to be the Original Ranger from GW . . . Maybe.

These two games as you can see are very different and GW2 shouldn’t be trying to copy and add to the mechanics of how players handled pets in GW. For those that don’t know GW ranger, if you wanted to use a pet you had to scrafice other skills to make a build around you and your pet, the skill max is 8 slots. GW2 should of brought the Hero UI and Ability’s. That mechanic has decent control over NPC’s and they didn’t run wild doing very annoying things all the time. You can control the behavior more not just by how you wanted them to Guard, Attack, or Avoid Combat but locate them where you needed in the world, up to 3 can stand in their own spot. Pets in a way act like GW Necromancer Minions… The AI is very wild and annoying! They were OP and attacked everything lol.

I think if GW2 Ranger is to work at all there needs to be a lot more control over the stats and maybe skills for your pets, make them a little more special than the normal AI/Ability’s for the original creatures. These animals are your pet! It would be nice to train them too! GW2 could do a lot of fantastic things with Ranger overall if the Pet Mechanics improved. That would then spawn better Pet & Master traits that better benefits the play-style of Co-oping with an AI Pet.

That is the first thing needed to be improved too making Ranger a better Profession overall. Then that is when “Druid” would also improve in other areas.

I’m glad you don’t see a massive difference in game-play. I don’t want to change how the profession plays. All I want is that same fluid and solid design i see from other professions. Sadly, as you stated pet AI is usually a problem but ANet have stated there is little, if much, they will do about it. They also don’t want to make the controls too complex and scare people away from it. When I first started I had actually made a section for pet skill changes as well but I stopped with those because I had already way more than I originally intended lol.

Lome.8239:

Ranger probably needs some shouts reworked, but suggesting a class overhaul and a lot of these changes isn’t really plausible. Signet of Stone for example would be OP given any buff, as it is already used in pretty much every competitive spvp build. On Search and Rescue yeah, the revive speed should be similar to that of Ranger’s own downed state, but it makes no sense to add anything else to it. Those spirit buffs are OP as hell. People complain all day about spirits but they see use every day. They’re good.

Many of the other changes suggested here also don’t play out very well from a game design perspective, but I just wanted to give you an idea.

Do certain skills need some love? Yeah. Do they need overhauls? No.

I completely disagree and if I didn’t I wouldn’t have made this. Is an overhaul going to happen? Beyond Unlikely. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need one. All of what you said really doesn’t have any supporting arguments other than “it’s already used” well ofc you have to use something and considering half the utility skills are useless ofc you’re going to see the ones that aren’t.

Shoe.5821:

i really love that vision of spirits. i have been favoring a wispy implementation for a long time but ive never seen it so well thought out.

I dont agree with all the specifics (15s uptime for objects that inflict damage/conditions/etc?), and having pet heal on the water wisp is just gratuitously gamey. but id really love that type of spirit setup over what we’ve got now.

I don’t like ANY of the trap changes though. again, adding a stun break is gratuitously gamey, and i’d rather have cripple on all the traps like currently. FWIW i use fire trap for blasting might all the time, it also helps with Mordrem Husks.

Thanks so much for the feedback!

15s on spirits is really not that long. Especially since they only pulse an effect every 3s and can avoided easily in any circumstance that doesn’t require a foe to stand in them. Warrior Banners are immune, can be moved, and provide huge effects when looking at the duration they last comings with their boosts.

My goal with traps is to remove the stealth part of the gameplay. I made Frost trap to counter CC. It triggers off the trait as well. I also gave resistance to help keep conditions at bay for a short period of time, especially movement impacting conditions so super speed can be taken advantage of. I also added in a Grandmaster trait that helps with the same thing as well as a Shortbow grandmaster in the same trait line as traps that helps with dodging even more all adding up to a very hard to kill trapper even without stealth.

In addition to this the axe, now being a hybrid-ish melee weapon can be used to switch with Shortbow giving the playstyle an option for both range and melee in one build.

Zatoichi.1049:

I just posted this in shout thread

make Protect Me, Guard, and Search and Rescue Base. No longer Shouts. F6 / F7 / F8

Overhaul 3 new Shouts that do more in team play, keep the others with tweaks to fill the gap

I think “Protect Me” is a little strong to be a Fx skill as is Search and Rescue but I think the old “guard area” function of “Guard!” Is something that could be worked into a Fx skill.

Rashagar.8349:

So are you only planning on 4 runes of the trapper then? Or 5? I’m just curious what you plan on doing with the last 1 or 2 rune slots.

Working on my Ranger overhaul post and needed some advice. Even though it’ll probably be ignored

Gotejjeken.1267:

This is all from a WvW perspective…I imagine this shout is super useless in PvE, and would remain that way even with this change.

Yes, it would remain rather useless in PvE except to give a small amount of protection to the pet. However I think in WvW this skill would remain useful as it can turn an opponents key attack into protection for you while still having a fast enough cool down if doesn’t block anything to allow the same constant spam for shout trait spam. This change promotes active and smart play while not changing the out-of-combat utility many people love.

Leodon.1564:

Didn’t read all of your changes because there was just too much to go through in one sitting but I thought your changes up to spirits were good. I wasn’t quite sure how Spirits worked though based on your description. (Could very well be just me as I was kind of tired while reading.)

I’ll try to clear it up tomorrow after work. There is a lot to take in thanks a lot.

Serraphin Storm.2369:

Guard is a skill that can be used offensive or defensive. Defense because it can stealth your pet giving it protection and allow the mob that was targeting it to change targets.

Stealthing your pet can allow it to get is f2 skill off unseen. People complain pets die to easy yet they don’t use the skill that will help their pets stay alive as well as get a key attack in.

Spirit changes are to strong if you make them unkillable and orbit the caster. (maybe I misunderstood what you meant.)

I don’t think you should need to take the current form of the skill “Guard!” to get a F2 or simply to give a pet perma protection because its too fragile.

Spirits last for (at max) 15s. That’s 1/3 uptime with the trait while sacrificed. Maybe less. (Much less for elite). I don’t think they’re at all too strong. Some Orbit the caster(like a druid wisp). Some you summon to a target area and they hover around there.

Before anything else I would like to say, this is a LONG post. Ranger has been my passion since GW1 launch and it honestly pains me to play it in this game. I’m aware the actual reality of a developer caring about, much less reading this, is slim to none. That’s why it took me so long to find the motivation to finish it.

I started this several days ago and finally committed myself to finishing it. I originally intended to make this a short post with quick fixes (or band-aids as I call them) that would be easy to implement for developers and would aid in patching up my favorite profession. What I ended up realizing was that although a few skills can be buffed or nerfed the profession as a whole has so many holes that someone really can’t fix anything without some bigger changes. Well it of course started to get carried away because “Hey, if I’m going to fix this issue I should fix the other issue instead of band-aiding it.” and so my entire original purpose went out the window and this nightmare took shape. If any developer or other employer actually reads this please just let me know. I’m fully aware this post is massive but I believe it helps shape the Ranger profession into something amazing, which it is well over due for.
This was actually a lot of effort with brainstorming and mathz so please give it a read everyone and tell me what you think.
Thank you.
-Sco
PS. Please keep in mind the bigger picture. These are not all random stand-alone changes. If you have a suggestion let me know and I’ll throw it in here if I feel it fits better/as well. Thanks!

Okay just as I thought. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss something. Thanks!

Without the stealth (but keeping Super Speed) what do trappers need to survive? I have limited experience with this playstyle and could use some help.

Wondrouswall.7169:

illenos.5134:

Tagging is not a great issue while running with a group but Anet has to change the way you “contribute” to the battle. Putting a damage component on your heal skills is not a solution.

Agreed.

I partially agree with this.
This game is not supposed to have dedicated healers. Now, yes, you can focus on that but that should NOT be the only thing you do. Druid keeps getting called a “dedicated healer” because it’s very healing oriented and that’s all people choose to see but that’s precisely why damage needs to be added. No class should ever be at the point where they lack any meaningful* amount of offense no matter how much support it offers. That’s not how the game as a whole is designed. I agree that contribution need to be addressed but that does not mean adding damage or control components to the Druid should be ignored.

Here is a perfect example of a healer done right in this type of game:
Firefall Dragonfly Battleframe Spotlight

*Meaningful amount of damage: Damage needed to be considered “contributing” to the DPS of the group (or while solo) as a whole. (aka the whole idea behind this conversation)

Druid Feedback Post Beta Test

Cons:

1. No Support. Tons of healing is nice but without support it’s underwhelming. (There was a reason we ran 1 Heal / 1 Prot Monks in GW GvGs.)
2. Limited damage/tagging ability. (Healing my be fun but if you’re not getting a reward its going to get old fast.)
3. Radius of (some) skills too tight.
4. Limited synergy with Core Specialization.

Proposed changes:

• Solar Beam: Add burning on last pulse? High intensity low duration vulnerability? Might to pet if it intersects?

• Astral Wisp: Damages foes it touches. Cripples target for the duration. (This adds tagging abilities and a pulsing cripple could help it act as singling out a target?)

• Ancestral Grace: Blinds foes at beginning of skill and at end. (Maybe foes it crosses as well?)

• Cosmic Ray: Drastically increase radius. Add small damage component. (Adds a bit for tagging to Cele Form)

• Seed of Life: Grants stability to allies in radius. After a short time it explodes granting protection and converting 2 conditions into boons. (This makes the skill a defensive support skill giving it a different use than Cosmic Ray)

• Natural Convergence: Grants stability while casting.

• Glyph of Empowerment:
  Normal Form: AoE Stun Break. Grants Stability (3-5) to nearby allies.
  Celestial Form: Grants Stability (3-5) to nearby allies. Increases healing done to them.

• Glyph of Tides:
  Normal Form: AoE Pull.
  Celestial Form: AoE Knockback

• Glyph of Alignment: Add (4-5s) recharge reduction upon successful evade. (1s ICD)

• Glyph of Equality: Add recharge reduction based on # of foes/allies it hits. (Five Hits = Full Recharge, One Hit = 1/2 Recharge?)

• Verdant Etching: Remove Glyph recharge reduction. Add reduced recharge every time a seed blossoms. (So now it Plants a Seed on Glyph use and Seeds reduce glyph recharge. Fun active synergy instead of normal boring flat rate reduction.)

• Merge Live Vicariously & Lingering Light. Move to Master tier.

• Move Natural Mender to Minor Master.

• Move Natural Stride to Minor Grandmaster.

• Add new Grandmaster trait;
  * Druidic Fortitude: Healing an ally with Protection applies Regeneration (5s duration/5s ICD per target). Increases the effectiveness of Regeneration you apply. (Maybe even make this trait instead condense Regeneration by shortening durations but increasing the HPS?)

I could write paragraphs of information here but its not going to be read. Just look at the big picture.

I posted this earlier this week and it was ignored because it was a wall of text and nobody likes reading those so here’s just the suggestions without the reasoning text. Enjoy.

MECHANICS
1.) Pet damage and healing is also included in Celestial Avatar force generation.

2.) Your pet also enters Celestial Avatar form and gains the same benefits/traits. (Does not overwrite skills. Simply visual. Gain benefits from possible traits such as Druidic Clarity and Celestial Shadow)

3.) Whenever an Astral Wisp hits a pet its Active ability (F2) recharges faster. (This gives a nice bonus to pets that stay in the fray. It also combos with the GM trait Lingering Light giving it a little added flare to summoning an Astral Wisp around yourself as well.)

4.) Solar Beam grants might to pets for a short duration. (Maybe this for just a little extra “Umph” to the skill. Doesn’t have to be might. Unsure.)

5.) Vine Surge also grants protection to your pet if it hits it. This skill can remove snares from pets and allies but pets can always benefit from a little something extra and vines blocking some blows for them while they charge sounds thematically feasible.

SKILLS

1.) Druid- Glyph of Tides: reverse the knockback/pull effects between the forms. Add AoE stun break on Celestial Avatar form. (You don’t want to be pulling foes while in healing mode. You want to keep them away.)

2.) Druid- Seed of Life: Grants protection before exploding. (This gives the skill a way to act as sudden damage mitigation before acting as a burst heal. Could be a cooler effect like “When summoned allies evade the next attack” or something. Anything that acts as a quick defense.)

3.) Druid- Glyph of Alignment: Add functionality; Recharges faster after successful evades. (This Glyph is rather lack-luster and simply provides very little actual utility which is a VERY common problem with Ranger Utility Skills. Giving this skill something like recharging much faster after evades gives synergy to the rest of the evade heavy Ranger abilities and dodges but also bring the skill into a new position where skilled players can activate it much more frequently which could synergize very well with Verdant Etching for these players.)

4.) Druid- Glyph of Empowerment: AoE Stun Break. Grants Nearby allies Stability (5). // Celestial Avatar: Grant allies stability (5) and temporarily increases their incoming healing (25-100%). (This skill provided rather nominal damage and support bonuses in either form. Redoing the skill entirely and giving it useful and needed boons in both forms but increasing the recharge to compensate gives the skill purpose.)

5.) Druid- Natural Convergence: Grants stability to user while channeling. (Similar things have been given to other skills like this and it further aids in the proposed “Get out of the way” feel of the skill.)

TRAITS

1.) Ranger- Switch Honed Axes with Empathetic Bond. (This opens up more build options for the Core and Elite Specialization by spreading out the Condition removal Traits.)

2.) Druid- Merge Natural Mending with Lingering Light. (Lingering Light is thematically an interesting trait but ultimately lacking in effectiveness especially when considering healing allies further away from you. Merging Natural Mending makes it a great Healer oriented GM.)

3.) Move Natural Stride to GM minor. (This gives the trait a nice and desired minor spot.)

4.) Add Master trait- Druidic Retribution; Whenever you immobilize a foe weaken them and gain (2s) Fury. ICD 10s. The effect occurs on every foe immobilized at once. (This new trait is aimed at opening up a slightly more selfish but still defensive path for the druid that combines very well with both other Ranger and Druid traits.)

These changes should bring the Druid up from what some may call an unappealing heal-bot to a supportive powerhouse. Coming up I will discuss Ranger Spirits themselves and how we can use that concept to further strengthen tie with the druid while also finally bringing this skills up to a competitive field.

Ranger spirits have long been what I can only describe as a nightmare. What follows is my personal recommendation for the skills based on current themes and past experiences. I think this is a chance for these poor set of skills to be reborn anew. Some things to note about these skills;
-1200 Range or Point blank
-Visually Orbit a small area or the caster
-Applies effects at set 3s intervals and immediately upon cast.
-immune to damage
-360unit radius passive
-15s duration

• Ranger- Sun Spirit: Functionality changed to; Summon a Sun Wisp at target location. Foes near the wisp burn and allies near it cause burning with their next attack. Active- Sun Wisp flies to your current foe and sacrifices itself in a blinding flash that leaves foes blind and vulnerable for a short duration. (The idea behind this skill is to give the ranger a way to apply heavy condition damage in an area while being able to sacrifice the area control when it seems the fight will move.)
• Ranger- Frost Spirit: Functionality changed to; Summon a Frost Wisp at Target location. Foes near the wisp become vulnerable and allies near the wisp gain might. Active- Frost Wisp flies to current target and explodes in a cold snap chilling nearby foes. (This works similar to Sun Spirit but works is a more power orientated setting.)
• Ranger- Storm Spirit: Functionality changed to; Summon a Storm Wisp around yourself that grants Swiftness to allies near it and damages foes near itself. Active- Storm Wisp flies to current target and burst into electricity damaging and dazing foes in a small radius. (Storm Spirit now acts as an pseudo aura around the Ranger that can be sacrificed as a ranged attack.)
• Ranger- Stone Spirit: Functionality changed to: Summon a Stone Wisp around yourself that grants protection to allies near it and cripples foes instead. Active- Stone Spirit flies under the ground beneath your feet and after a short delay the ground erupts upward grabbing foes and immobilizing and weakening them. (Gives the Ranger an option for a party supportive defensive skill that can be sacrificed at an opportune time to provide an escape or opening.)
• Ranger- Water Spirit: Functionality changed to; Summon a Water Wisp around yourself that periodically removes conditions and grants healing for you and nearby allies. Active- Water wisp splashes to the ground healing you and nearby allies leaving behind a water field. (This heal focuses on being a mobile but slightly weaker version of Healing Spring in terms that it doesn’t apply regeneration to you or allies and who’s water field is a much shorter duration making it more important to capitalize on timely.)
• Ranger- Spirit of Nature. Functionality changed to; Summon a Spirit of Nature Wisp around yourself that heals and removes conditions of yourself and nearby allies. Active- Send the Spirit of Nature Wisp out to target location before it sucks itself and up to 3 downed allies into the earth teleporting them to your location and exploding in one last large heal that instantly revives near downed allies. (Essentially the elite of Water Spirit that instead of creating a water field saves 3 allies and provides more HPS while active.)

Spirits as a whole have been such a huge nightmare for the ranger class and developers since day one but the Druid itself unknowingly held the answer. Wisps. Since the Druid did away with seemingly almost all traditional Nature Magic ties and became the far away end-all evolution of the trait line giving a tie back to the Core profession is a huge need. Without it the Elite specialization will forever feel like a stapled on limb. The answer to this is tying in a small Druid mechanic into the Core ranger mechanic which provides a thematic link between the two specializations while also finally providing a way for the poorly designed core Ranger skills to be extremely useful in solo and group setting which is currently a huge weakness for the profession.

Finally, as icing on the cake, redoing the Spirit trait to increase the utility of Spirit skills, a theme that Ranger GMs focus heavily on.
1.) Ranger- Nature’s Vengeance; Functionality changed to; Sacrificing a wisp gives you stability (1) and your pet quickness. Sacrificed Wisps recharge faster. (This revamped trait adds further utility to the spirit skills keeping that theme from other Ranger GM traits and provides the recharge cooldown as a reward for sacrificing.)

I know this is a unformatted wall of text.. please don’t let that dissuade you. Simply out of time atm.
The goal of this post is to bring Druid more into a synergistic relationship with Ranger rather than its current stand-alone complex. The two ways to do this are to change the Druid and the Ranger. Let’s first start with Mechanics as this is really what defines each specialization. A huge problem with the preliminary Druid concept is the complete lack of Ranger pet mechanics being involved. The Druid feels simply slapped on as an afterthought to the current mechanic. This is unhealthy for both the Elite and Core specializations. The following series of proposed changes is aimed to remedy this problem.
1.) Pet damage and healing is also included in Celestial Avatar force generation.
2.) Your pet also enters Celestial Avatar form and gains the same benefits/traits. (Does not overwrite skills. Simply visual. Gain benefits from possible traits such as Druidic Clarity and Celestial Shadow)
3.) Whenever an Astral Wisp hits a pet its Active ability (F2) recharges faster. (This gives a nice bonus to pets that stay in the fray. It also combos with the GM trait Lingering Light giving it a little added flare to summoning an Astral Wisp around yourself as well.)
4.) Solar Beam grants might to pets for a short duration. (Maybe this for just a little extra “Umph” to the skill. Doesn’t have to be might. Unsure.)
5.) Vine Surge also grants protection to your pet if it hits it. (This skill can remove snares from pets and allies but pets can always benefit from a little something extra and vines blocking some blows for them while they charge sounds thematically feasible.)

Now that adding in pet synergy has been covered let’s look at some skills for both Druid and Ranger that could use some love. This will focus on Utility Skills as there is a usual lack of actual utility built into a lot of these skills.

1.) Druid- Glyph of Tides: reverse the knockback/pull effects between the forms. (You don’t want to be pulling foes while in healing mode. You want to keep them away.)
2.) Druid- Seed of Life: Grants protection before exploding. (This gives the skill a way to act as sudden damage mitigation before acting as a burst heal. Could be a cooler effect like “When summoned allies evade the next attack” or something. Anything that acts as a quick defense.)
3.) Druid- Glyph of Alignment: Add functionality; Recharges faster after successful evades. (This Glyph is rather lack-luster and simply provides very little actual utility which is a VERY common problem with Ranger Utility Skills. Giving this skill something like recharging much faster after evades gives synergy to the rest of the evade heavy Ranger abilities and dodges but also bring the skill into a new position where skilled players can activate it much more frequently which could synergize very well with Verdant Etching for these players.)
4.) Druid- Glyph of Empowerment: Grants Might (3), Fury, and Quickness to nearby allies for a short duration. // Celestial Avatar Grants Stability (5) to nearby allies instead. Recharge increased to 40s. (This skill provided rather nominal damage and support bonuses in either form. Redoing the skill entirely and giving it useful and needed boons in both forms but increasing the recharge to compensate gives the skill purpose.)
5.) Druid- Natural Convergence: Grants stability to user while channeling. (Similar things have been given to other skills like this and it further aids in the proposed “Get out of the way” feel of the skill.)
Lastly a few traits should be changed to draw the druid and Ranger closer together and build the last bit of synergy.
1.) Ranger- Switch Honed Axes with Empathetic Bond. (This opens up more build options for the Core and Elite Specialization by spreading out the Condition removal Traits.)
2.) Druid- Merge Natural Mending with Lingering Light. (Lingering Light is thematically an interesting trait but ultimately lacking in effectiveness especially when considering healing allies further away from you. Merging Natural Mending makes it a great Healer oriented GM.)
3.) Move Natural Stride to GM minor. (This gives the trait a nice and desired minor spot.)
4.) Add Master trait- Druidic Retribution; Whenever you immobilize a foe weaken them and gain (2s) Fury. ICD 10s. The effect occurs on every foe immobilized at once. (This new trait is aimed at opening up a slightly more selfish but still defensive path for the druid that combines very well with both other Ranger and Druid traits.)

These changes should bring the Druid up from what some may call an unappealing heal-bot to a supportive powerhouse. Coming up I will discuss Ranger Spirits themselves and how we can use that concept to further strengthen tie with the druid while also finally bringing this skills up to a competitive field.

Durzlla.6295:

Castaliea.3156:

Durzlla.6295:

Castaliea.3156:

I had a very very long post that brought up this issue years ago. Probably still in my post history. Idk if it was on this acct or my old banned one lol. But yeah, not going to change. Ever.
Anet changed sword skill AA functionality in the beta yet didn’t bother redesigning the actual skills so they’re still using the same lame animations which lock you in place unnecessarly. The entire weapon set feels like a relic from GW1. Absolutely no personal control. If they don’t bother fixing actual broken skills they aren’t going to fix a skill that is obviously out of place regardless of any reasons you, I, or anyone else brings to light.

I’ll personally buy 100$ worth of gems, convert it to gold, donate the gold to new players, and write a actual leter of thanks and apologies if these things ever get addressed. But they won’t. Ever.

the only functionality they changed in beta was to make it so the second skill in the sword auto chain wasn’t a 150yd knock back because that was stupid broken.

Exactly.
They designed the skill chain around that knockback. And you can tell.
They took it out cuz it was way OP but they went and acted like “hey our whole focus of this chain changed, but let’s not adjust the skill functionality to reflect that.” And it was lazy and disgusting and it still negatively affects the class years later.

This isn’t even mentioning every single skill on this weapon auto paths your character. There is no personal control.
What is this? GW1?

If they aren’t going to address this they surely aren’t ever going to change the longbow, no matter how counterintuitively the skills feel.

It may have changed, but the functionality is still the same, to stick to your enemy like glue. Personally i’d rather see it be something like, auto gives swiftness, kick givescripple, and then the last skill gives like super speed or something like that so it keeps the same effective functionality but I’d be able to dart all around the battle field under MY control.

Simply throwing a cripple on it and a leap on #2/3 achieves the exact same thing and wouldn’t you know it…would actually let you “dart all around the battlefield under YOUR control”. There is zero reason to keep a relic functionality around, hindering a class, other than laziness or a lack of empathy. Obviously you agree by your statements. Yes the chain’s overall function remains the same, like you said. But you cannot disagree with the fact that there is better ways to do it that do not hinder you as a player.

Under no circumstances should this AA chain ever should’ve been approved after the knockback was removed, for a game designed around fluid combat and active defense.

It’s the definition or broken;
Once working, now a hindrance.

Fix it.

Durzlla.6295:

Castaliea.3156:

I had a very very long post that brought up this issue years ago. Probably still in my post history. Idk if it was on this acct or my old banned one lol. But yeah, not going to change. Ever.
Anet changed sword skill AA functionality in the beta yet didn’t bother redesigning the actual skills so they’re still using the same lame animations which lock you in place unnecessarly. The entire weapon set feels like a relic from GW1. Absolutely no personal control. If they don’t bother fixing actual broken skills they aren’t going to fix a skill that is obviously out of place regardless of any reasons you, I, or anyone else brings to light.

I’ll personally buy 100$ worth of gems, convert it to gold, donate the gold to new players, and write a actual leter of thanks and apologies if these things ever get addressed. But they won’t. Ever.

the only functionality they changed in beta was to make it so the second skill in the sword auto chain wasn’t a 150yd knock back because that was stupid broken.

Exactly.
They designed the skill chain around that knockback. And you can tell.
They took it out cuz it was way OP but they went and acted like “hey our whole focus of this chain changed, but let’s not adjust the skill functionality to reflect that.” And it was lazy and disgusting and it still negatively affects the class years later.

This isn’t even mentioning every single skill on this weapon auto paths your character. There is no personal control.
What is this? GW1?

If they aren’t going to address this they surely aren’t ever going to change the longbow, no matter how counterintuitively the skills feel.

The real problem is that they have different teams working on each profession and YOU CAN TELL. Some teams consistently improve their class by increasing synergy or fixing “broken” things. Meanwhile some teams consistently behave completely opposite…step back and look at the design flow some class have or don’t have and it just slaps you in the face how different the people are who design the classes.

I don’t know what happened to the Ranger design team in the past but you can tell they’re scared to implement any impressive or meaningful changes for whatever reason and it’s saddening. I felt really bad watching the liveatream a few weeks ago about all these “really impressive” ranger changes and although we got some good “new” buffs nothing that was “broken” got fixed and the flow of the class remained unfocused and ultimately ineffective. At all. In fact, some stuff got worse that was supposed to be a main emphasis of the redisgn and it just makes you wonder what made them so seemingly reserved about their design philosophy. Surely they’re not THAT bad at their jobs.

And finally you have to wonder, who sits there, overlooks the grand picture of class balance, flow, and effectiveness, and says there is a fair distribution of the aforementioned. Cuz THEY are bad at their job. I don’t like saying things like this, directly or not, but it hurts when I go to wiki and can see the complete, obvious difference between the classes. It hurts even more if you’re someone that consistantly, or used to, put a lot of effort into bringing core issues to light in professional ways only to have it completely ignored for years while THE SAME ISSUES continue to hurt or hinder the class.

They really don’t have any possible excuse at all to not have gotten it right by now. None at all.

I had a very very long post that brought up this issue years ago. Probably still in my post history. Idk if it was on this acct or my old banned one lol. But yeah, not going to change. Ever.
Anet changed sword skill AA functionality in the beta yet didn’t bother redesigning the actual skills so they’re still using the same lame animations which lock you in place unnecessarly. The entire weapon set feels like a relic from GW1. Absolutely no personal control. If they don’t bother fixing actual broken skills they aren’t going to fix a skill that is obviously out of place regardless of any reasons you, I, or anyone else brings to light.

I’ll personally buy 100$ worth of gems, convert it to gold, donate the gold to new players, and write a actual leter of thanks and apologies if these things ever get addressed. But they won’t. Ever.

Shameless Bump #4.

Sensing a trend?

Shameless bump #3

Shameless bump #2

Luvpie.8350:

Castaliea.3156:

See I knew I missed something! Proof read it a dozen times too…
Sheesh. I’ll edit it for you.
Thanks. XD

Edit:
Done.

NP. gl!

Thanks a lot. Everything is going great so far.

See I knew I missed something! Proof read it a dozen times too…
Sheesh. I’ll edit it for you.
Thanks. XD

Edit:
Done.

Shameless bump!

Sempai Said I Was A [QTpi] is recruiting all Jade Quarry WvWers.

Unlike many “WvW” guilds this brand new guild is actually aimed at WvW PPT. We are recruiting all roamers, zergers, and scouts to form a fun, well cordinated, and effective effort in dominating T1 PPT.
Despite being a relatively new guild we already have a TeamSpeak, LINE, and a Website ready to go. All we need is you. Come join our small, dedicated family and help us grow.

The guild is based in NA and our main time is from 12:00am server time till 8:00am server time. (So essentially NA prime and later). We hope to branch into more time zones as the guild grows and will always be looking for great players during all time zones regardless of any scheduled times. Since the guild is so small and new it is more important to us to find great members rather than designate a set schedule which would be completely subject to change and may alienate prospective players.

If you’re interested in seeing what we have to offer feel free to send me (castaliea.3156) a message, in game or on forums and I’ll reply asap. Alternatively you could reply to this thread…that works too!

Thank you for your time [JQ] WvWers and I hope to see you on the battlefield soon!

I loved this trait but it was unfortunately way overpowered for any trait, much less a minor.

Vampiric Aura from a Necromancer allowed you to trigger this trait ever time you attacked. This resulted in an unimaginable amount of Heal/Sec even with absolute 0 Healing Power. It needed to be nerfed.

HOWEVER. Putting a 10s ICD was way overboard even if the heal was marginally increased. There was much better answeres and I’m disappointed ANet was too rushed to consider them.

I like the fact I don’t have to use it.

Ranger Sword AA skills are a result of lazy design pure and simple. Don’t feel like changing the skill after removing an OP knockback? W/E who cares!
Lame and disappointing.

Smallclaw.1650:

Castaliea.3156:

Bristingr.5034:

Phat Stackage.5329:

Still quite a bit upset. here is a few reasons why:
1. Anyone who just recently bought a deluxe edition or higher now has a less of a value for their money. Expecting plenty of others to agree with this. Can’t you guys just admit ya gone and goofed the different packages?

Actually those who buy a Deluxe Edition or higher will have TWO additional characters slots added to their account instead of just one now.

Please read my post.
2 isn’t really a great thing. Especially when only 1 class is coming out.

Oh, cut the carping. Be glad ANet did something, instead of whining about how it wasn’t exactly what you wanted. Some people will find fault in anything, I swear.

Are you kidding me? I just paid 100$ and one of the defining features was “Additional character slot”. Now I get another, redundant one? For what? That hidden second profession they haven’t revealed yet? As i said in my original post, I’m super glad they did this, I am. But I think it could be done BETTER with a benefit to everyone, not just to the 50$ pack which I outline in my original post so go read that then come use poor quotes and QQ on me more.

Bristingr.5034:

Phat Stackage.5329:

Still quite a bit upset. here is a few reasons why:
1. Anyone who just recently bought a deluxe edition or higher now has a less of a value for their money. Expecting plenty of others to agree with this. Can’t you guys just admit ya gone and goofed the different packages?

Actually those who buy a Deluxe Edition or higher will have TWO additional characters slots added to their account instead of just one now.

Please read my post.
2 isn’t really a great thing. Especially when only 1 class is coming out.

Lyger.5429:

Castaliea.3156:

This is really great and I really appreciate this being done. <—Key point.
That being said…I’ve bought all the slots I want. I ordered the Ultimate and already got another to try the new class or an elite spec.

It just seems kind of redundant to add an “additional character slot” to something that already gives me an “additional character slot”. I really don’t need or want this as it was something that was really already part of a package deal. I understand the rushed manor of this announcement but the people this benefits the most are the ones to get the base version. I’m sure others are more than happy to get free slots it just seems redundant and it bothers me.

To be honest I would’ve much rather seen this:

The ability to purchase any one account upgrade for free (800 gems or less) in the gem store one time has been given to players who had an active account prior to X date and have pre-purchased HoT.

This way the reward is customized to every player’s needs which actually makes people feel better about getting what they want out of this expansion and therefore more likely to buy it (or feel better about doing so).

Again, just some wishful thinking from a guy who spent 100$ and already had a new character slot. Thanks.

Yea perhaps gems in the future, so you can decided what you want to buy!

I wanted to restrict it to the “account upgrade” component so it felt more inline with a actual upgrade to your account in addition to the expansion instead of simply “get 4800” gems!" Not that I’d mind 800 more gems I just thought that would be redundant as well.

This is really great and I really appreciate this being done. <—Key point.
That being said…I’ve bought all the slots I want. I ordered the Ultimate and already got another to try the new class or an elite spec.

It just seems kind of redundant to add an “additional character slot” to something that already gives me an “additional character slot”. I really don’t need or want this as it was something that was really already part of a package deal. I understand the rushed manor of this announcement but the people this benefits the most are the ones to get the base version. I’m sure others are more than happy to get free slots it just seems redundant and it bothers me.

To be honest I would’ve much rather seen this:

The ability to purchase any one account upgrade for free (800 gems or less) in the gem store one time has been given to players who had an active account prior to X date and have pre-purchased HoT.

This way the reward is customized to every player’s needs which actually makes people feel better about getting what they want out of this expansion and therefore more likely to buy it (or feel better about doing so).

Again, just some wishful thinking from a guy who spent 100$ and already had a new character slot. Thanks.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

I can understand that some players are big fans of the game, and have full confidence in Anet as a company. What I do not get, is that some players proudly announce how they’ve forked over $50 or more for a product that isn’t finished, has an unknown release date, and unknown contents (although what we know of the contents does not justify its price tag).

What you are basically saying is “Money has very little value to me”. And while I understand that some players know they will get the expansion eventually anyway, I don’t think that supporting this business practice is a good thing. You are basically part of the problem by supporting this pre-purchase nonsense, which is bad for us as consumers.

I blew 200$ and got the Ultimate for both my Wife and I. Why? Because it doesn’t matter what more is or what isn’t in it. We plan to continue playing GW2 for a long time and to do so we will need the expansion. Sure you don’t “need” it to play but if you’re going to continue to get the most of the game let’s face it, getting the expansion is really a necessity. We also buy gems regularly so we got a small little deal with this particular package.

This however does NOT stop me from being vocal as hell about how incredibly displeased I am with the way this entire thing has gone down not only relating to what you have said about “complete lack of known facts” but also the simple fact that in reality ANet completely shafted veteran players for whatever reason while giving a great deal to newcomers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for them. Quite frankly though I’m appalled anyone at all sits there and defends this sort of treatment to anyone, veteran or not much less attack other with terms like “entitled” and “Childish”. It’s not childish at all to want (or even demand) a more fair bargain for both new and old players.

HOWEVER I completely disagree with your post and your poor choice to attack those who have have already bought this item with slander such as “What you are basically saying is ‘Money has very little value to me’.” and passing off an opinion “(although what we know of the contents does not justify its price tag).” as a fact. My wife and I feel there has been clearly 50$ or more worth of content/features revealed already. (Especially considering the ridiculous cost of many Gem Store items.) I fully understand what you’re trying to say and do and I fully support that goal however you have gone about it the wrong way in this post. Are you going to attack me for pre-ordering the next Call of Duty or Battlefield as well? (Not that I’m going to. Ew.) I’m pretty sure they don’t reveal every aspect of their games before release as well. How someone else decides upon the monetary value of an item is NOT for you to decide or attack. Ever.

Xillllix.3485:

They aren’t even touching useless skills so I doubt they will improve churning earth.

Doubt? You left room for the possibility?
You need to work on your pessimism. I made the poor post and by no means do I think it’ll ever even be touched. But hey I was bored.

DarkSpirit.7046:

xarallei.4279:

Many of us are quite happy with our HoT prepurchases (and are veterans).

Having played GW1 from May 2005 all the way to GW2 beta and into the present (> 10 years), I can safely say that I am more veteran than most of you out there.

And yes, whether ArenaNet treats its customers fairly is important to me which is why I am waiting to hear their response to this HoT debacle before I buy xpacks for my son and for myself.

I don’t want to derail this thread but I have been playing since GW1 launch and although Im still super kittened they gave current players the shaft while giving new players sweet dealz I still bought the X-pack because I knew I was going to still be playing the game anyways. That doesn’t stop me from voicing my anger or opinions on the forums though. For me the problem wasn’t the price…it was being made to feel like an irrelevant number on a projected spreadsheet. If I wanted to feel like that I would stay at work.

As I say every time this comes up…
It’d be nice if ANet thought of their current players as nice as they do prospective players.

Kodama.6453:

But another ranged heavy aoe for staff seems little redundant. If it still will be centered around the elementalist, I would be totally fine with it.

This is really my only gripe with it as well but I’d love an alternative to Meteor Shower sometimes and sometimes I’d love having two. I do happen to WvW a lot so the appeal is much different to me than others I’m sure. As I said tho, I love shockwave as it is and I’m sure I’d miss it at times but if I was going to place a long cast, AoE snare, and BIG BOOM anywhere it’d be the staff for sure. xD

Please do not Stone me for saying this (see what I did there) but Churning Earth is so disappointing to me and feels out of place. Now don’t get me wrong, I FREAKIN LOVE this skill but it feels like it ruins the pace of X/D a little too much. I’m going to throw a few suggestions out here and I’d like your opinions on them. Please note there is more to a skill than functionality and a huge part of what makes Churning Earth so cool is quite simply, the animation so I’d like input on that as well.

Suggestion 1-
Move Churning Earth to Staff #5. Essentially making it an Earth version of Meteor Shower. This means ranged. This means large AoE snare.
OR
Keep PBAoE. Add Knockback effect. (This could pair with Magnetic Aura very nicely. Synergy!)

Move Shockwave to /D #5. Decrease Range. Single Target. Remove Projectile Finisher. Should it hit a Knocked-down foe it explodes (blast finisher) for a very large amount of AoE damage.
(I have this great picture of a forward stomp with the body and foot facing sideways animation that I can’t quite put into words unfortunately that I think would go PERFECTLY with this.)

Reasoning-
This keeps Churning Earth and Shockwave (which i love too) around and gives a wider range (literally) of soft CC to Earth Staff. This is balanced by the cast time and delay. I like Shockwave there and I find it very useful all the time but tbh I’d much rather replace with an AoE cripple because I feel if there is a place for that its definitely on the staff. Not saying I’d never miss Shockwave on the staff but I feel this fits the feel of each weapon better. Additionally moving the quick casting but low damage Shockwave to the dagger helps keep the pace while the added effect on Knockdown throws in some fun and effective synergy. Plus, how does a Shockwave NOT follow a Earthquake? C’mon!

Suggestion 2-
Replace with new skill.
Meteor: Call down a meteor from the heavens to strike foes near your target. (Blast Finisher) The resulting shrapnel causes multiple stack of bleeding. Damage is greatly increased against a knocked-down foe.

Reasoning-
Although slightly less favorable than Suggestion 1 it would be many times easier to implement. Also brings back the Meteor skill from GW1 which knocked-down foes and did large damage but with an Earth Magic twist. Since the large damage portion of the skill is hidden behind requiring a Knockdown the cast time can be significantly reduced to keep the pace of /D much better meanwhile is not completely useless if used freely due to the unrestricted bleeding and Blast Finisher. Before anyone makes the comment about “Earth Magic” and “Space Debris” please stop to think where the “Earth” is located. Please.

Suggestion 3-
I shut up and never post here again before you all Stone me. (Oops I did it again…)
(Yeah I just referenced that. Get at me.)

Anyways, thank you so much for your time. I literally made most of this up on the spot…I had fun writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

mPascoal.4258:

Hey guys
So I left the game a while ago, for a couple of months. Now I’m thinking of coming back but I’m with a quite difficult dilema.

Is this game still worth a shot?

I’m asking this because, while I think is one of the best MMORPG’s out there for now, I feel a bit bored while playing it nowadays. I don’t like WvW too much beside roaming, but as a solo player, roaming is kinda of a pain. PvE is enjoyable but only the dgns. I ate the Silverwastes, is just a zerg fest where with my computer I don’t even understand what is going on. I’m left with PvP wich is what I enjoy the most but even that can be frustating a lot of times.

What have you guys done before after coming back to keep the game interesting for you?

I stopped playing this game for a while and when I came back the first thing I did was find a new WvW guild. I tend to be a mostly solitary player but I find getting on TS with a small group of people and just rekt it in WvW is ridiculous amounts of fun and it sounds like it’s going to get better with HoT. In addition to this a lot of WvW players happen to also like PvP which means there is usually people on to PvP with which just makes the game that much more enjoyable.

TL;DR
1.) Find a WvW guild. (Even a large one will do)
2.) Make a few solid friends.
3.) WvW Havok and PvP with them.
4.) Profit. (Not literally. WvW has kitten monetary rewards. QQ)