Guild Wars 2

Billy.1879:

As long as I’ve been playing ranger I’ve always wanted sword to work, it does to some stretch but the sword skill 2 and 3 have always bugged me.

I’m going to start with skill 3 – This skill has never worked and never will work. If something moves a slight distance it doesn’t connect. If something doesnt move a slight distance it still might not connect. Aside from an extra dodge there is no reason to hit this button and half the time it just puts you some where you don’t want to be.
This skill has been useless for 5 years and is going to still be useless.

Can we please for the love of god just get it made the same as the last hit on the great sword chain? or something. Even if it became an aoe evade swipe that throws poison on I highly doubt that would break balance but it would make the button some what worth pressing.

Sword 2 almost works but it just seems a little whack to jump back then forwards – its worse that the forward jump suffers the same problems as sword 3 because it hardly ever connects.

Ive got 2 fixes to this, the first is reverse the skill so it’s a gap closer (you know like every other sword has) or reduce the dodge from the first part of the strike.
Pretty sure you could add some kind of pet buff with this skill too and not break a power budget.

Make the darn sword more usable and not just an auto chain spamming weak old power weapon!

Have a better suggestion. Make hornet sting a standalone. So you can use it as an evade whenever you want. Monarchs leap is the first of the second chain. Sword would have a gap closer and a disengage plus some built in evade.
I like the abimation change on serpent strike you suggested, would help with the targeting a lot.

I try duelling, chaos and mirage. More aether fields for whirl finishers and more boons.
I tried it on the stresstest with rabid gear. Had a blast with it.

It can help in any role needed. Power, condi, somewhat tanking (should improved though) and support.
I wouldnt choose it for its elite spec though. They have not much interaction with the core class.

Its an entertaining class, even if somewhat restricted it can be fulfill a lot of purposes and has basically 20skill on its deposal.

Sharpened edges should proc a lesser sharpening stone. Whoch gives your next kittens bleed. The chance is on hit. Sure the percentage chance has to be tweaked.
Thats how i would like to see sharpening edges.

Skuzz.6580:

Substance E.4852:

InsaneQR.7412:

Its called “greavers” if i am not mistaken.
Condi dmg
Power
Precision
Ferocity

I would take this for SB

Ya, given what happened with HoT stat sets, I would hold off on singing this stat’s praises until we know how easy it will be to get.

Could be as simple as diamonds or as bad as lilies.

Stat changing is a thing

Only if you have full ascended and only if you have all the inscriptions etc.
The question is how hard will it be to get these recipes and components.

AoE stab pulse on the signet would be good and just. Lets say the 3 stacks in an area arround the ranger olus the current active effect with increased dmg.

The current SotW is designed to give ranged Chars a buff with tze increased Ferocity and an immob on the active if things get to close/ugly.
Adding stab would also tie into this functionality.

Krispera.5087:

I agree, good idea.

Also, they should fuse Refined Toxins and Poison Master. It’s against Ambidexterity in Master and Wilderness Knowledge in GM. Very hard to go against them when both traits are underpowered.

Do you mean the active part? The actual effect if refined toxins is decent atm and can compeed with ambidexterity. But adding additional poison stacks after pet swap would not hurt.

Choppy.4183:

Short answer:

1. Yes, it should be done
2. No, it wouldn’t be OP nor even necessarily power creep
3. No, Discipline wouldn’t still be mandatory, but it would still be a great traitline

This.

I played it during the stresstest in PvE and its pretty decent. Good gap closing, very nice CC and switching back and forth between BM and pets.
I played it with hybrid setup Vipers-Zerker mix and Marksmanship and WS traitlines.
We could only touch open PvE though. Raids and fractals couldnt be tested yet.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

If they take 1/4s off the cast time for Leading Swipe and Serpent Stab (down to 1/4s), take 2s off the CD for Double Arc (down to 6s), put an evade on Instinctive Engage and take 1/4s off it’s cast time (down to 1/2s), I’d play Dagger Hybrid/cRanger for sure.

Small daze on double arc would be neat too.
It would give this skill some utility than just plain condi dmg.

Infinite horizon should be baseline or atleast GM minor.
Some traits need improvements because they are just plain or plain bad.

The mechanic itself does not seems so bad to me. It actually looks more PvE oriented than everyone thought on first sight. Thats atleast what i thought after i played it during the stresstest.
Mesmers just need to change there mind from phantasm power sustain to clone ambush burst.
Both Elites we have, have a certain role. One is the phantasm sustainy one and the other is clone burst.

Skuzz.6580:

With Soulbeast in mind, all of the pet swap traits should be re-looked at honestly.
If they make swapping pets in Beastmode possible and work with pet swap traits than I think Poison master is going to be nice, kif not, then it is just it’s passive effect which honestly though, is quite powerful.

I threw the ICD in there just out of precaution.
But yeah your suggestion with the short duration is better i assume.

Id say yes to the skills but not baseline.
I would like facets for every legend on herald. I like the herald traits. But i am not the biggest fan of glint and the F1 is not a selling point for me.
If all legends would get an F1 it would shake up some build diversity.

Slight improve on the ventari passive: Give higher incoming healing instead of increased healing power.

Fallesafe.5932:

I’m going to be gearing up a new ranger for the expansion. And I want to choose equipment-stats that will work best for the soulbeast. I noticed that a lot of the new skills seem to place an emphasis on condition damage. Is it reasonable to assume that most soulbeasts will be running around in Viper’s gear? Or does it look like Berserkers gear would be more viable? I really just don’t want to waste time getting all the wrong stuff (esp. those nuissance trinket farms). Any thoughts?

I forgot to ask which may be important.
What weapons do you like most?
Depending on that we could give a suggestion not depending on the upcoming meta.

No i does not need backstab. Just improvements on core skills.
AA attack speed up. Some utility effect on the 2nd skill and a faster leap on 3.

Poisonmaster is quiet underpowered atm and is only used for its improvements on poison instead of its active effect.

My sugestion is something like deadly chill/abyssal chill but with cripple.
Apply 1 stack of poison when applying cripple 1s ICD. Plus its old poison improvement part.

This could make sword better at condi, SB stronger in condi, Marksmanship line could be utilized in Hybrid builds etc etc.

It would give a ton more interactions across the whole class.

Any opinions?

Its called “greavers” if i am not mistaken.
Condi dmg
Power
Precision
Ferocity

I would take this for SB

Raven for Gap Closer and pull.
Jacaranda for AoE dmg and heal.

OGDeadHead.8326:

…which means it works the same with Druids CA I guess (not that I would mount when in that form, but still)?

Druid CA is not permanent and thus not as annoying as cancelling BM.

Unholy Pillager.3791:

InsaneQR.7412:

ceralan.5924:

Lock soulbeast in beastmode when we take this elite speck and add petswap. Balance around this “petless” option instead of this double swap system it is now.

The double swapping system is actually quiet fun and it should be a double swap system. So you can swap in beast mode. It would give more fluidity and the biggest versatility a class could have in a game. I can understand why they let us keep the pets. It would gut the dmg of the ranger without our pets.

The request you responded to was “make petless Soulbeast equal to base ranger’s DPS”. We already know that rangers have better DPS with a pet than in beast form, that’s the problem!

We shouldn’t have to give up DPS just to play in a WvW zerg, nor should we have to do so in order to exercise some basic control over our skills.

No it should be with a pet. It gives utility for dmg. When you are zerging you rely on the dmg from you and from others and you would buff allies with stances. In 100 people the dmg loss from no pet wouldnt be an issue and while roaming it is actually an advantage to have a pet that can pressure enemies from a different angle. Furthermore you can revive your pet with entering beastmode and leaving it again.

This plus the suggestions on the marksmanship GM from woundrouswall.

While playing in the stresstest i found an issue with beastmode and dismounting. Everytime you melt with your pet and mount you will be unmelted. After dismounted you will not automatically reengage beastmode.
This is an issue i would like to fix and i think it is not intended.

The quickness should be the selling point on this weapon together with the double gap closer and thus enhance OH weapons with this.
It should not be the only thing that makes the weapon reliable.
I think the forums over exsaturated hiw bad dagger MH is but its attack speed and aftercast should be improved. Especially on AA and 3.
The 2 should have a utility tied to it. Like a small daze or an evade.

OH dagger needs more range on 4 and ammo on 5.

Dagger would be fixed.

Attack speed on AA up. An evade on dagger 2. Increase attack speed on 3.
A lot of issues solved.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Best idea I have seen for Opening Strikes ever.

Never agreed so hard on a forum post.

For the remorseless suggestion: Instead of might they could add quickness. We can already stack might pretty fast with an adept trait. With quickness it would give the trait synergy with soulbeast and would improve dps overall.

Razor.9872:

I would like to have the trait make Path of Scars have an ammo mechanic of 2, also.

Would also be better baseline together with ammo on throw torch and crippling talon.

Wintersbite should be AoE baseline for QoL. Remove the ferocity aspect. Give axe something like the rev sword trait. Gain precision stacks for every hit while WIELDING an axe. So it doesnt matter which side ou wield an axe and it benefits condition and power builds.

Well.most fitting is the howler and of course kudzu.
Both looking sweet and match perfect the ranger theme.

OGDeadHead.8326:

Sevans.4619:

I feel like the obvious answer with the most recent balance patch is to have it cast “Lesser Protect Me” when you would be disabled. Ignore CC, next attack causes a pet taunt, can grant swiftness/regen if traited or even cure a condition with the right runes.

+1 for this idea

This +1

Better than my idea.

They could atleast give berserker mode 1 adrenaline tier. So yo would have 2 adrenaline bar procs. Not as good as 3 but atleast not such a guttet version of its old glory.

I wonder atm if renegade is a stat set or do you have just mistakenly described a thief with a revenant elite spec?

But yeah what the one above me said plus venoms are the best support capabbilities of thief.

Good in PvE solo and dungeons. Not most wanted in raids but viable and welcome in Pugs. Fractals the same as raids.

Still fun to play and fast as ever.

Well just a stunbreak on petswap would be neat.

Lonami.2987:

I really love renegade, the weapon feels good, and the elite specialization concept of a warband leader works very well. Definitely in my top 3 of PoF elite specs.

My problem lies with the slot skills. They’re passive, spririt/totem-like minions, which is very underwhelming for the core concept, and doesn’t really add anything new to the profession.

I think renegade could improve a lot by changing the slot skills to actual active warband members, fighting by your side.

Their passive abilities can stay with them while they move, or they can be activated after being summoned (like necromancer’s minions, or guardian’s spirit weapons).

These warband members can be inspired by the existing skills, or even better, by different charr heroes from different ages.

---

Also, there’s something I dislike from both herald and renegade: The new mechanic skills are designed for the new legend, and don’t change when you switch legend.

This meant that the original legends got nothing new to play with, which was very underwhelming.

For reference, these are the renegade skills: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Renegade

What if we reorder the mechanic and slot skills a bit, and leave some minion-summoning at F2, F3, and F4?

This way, when you switch to Jalis, you can now summon ancient dwarven henchmen to fight beside you, with a new visual appearance, and maybe even different skills and effects.

---

Summarized:

• Turn renegade slot skills into minion skills, which can fight your enemies. Their current effects can stay while they’re alive, or be activated after summoned.
• Adapt the legend mechanic skills so that the other legends can summon their own minions as well, giving the original legends something new to play with.

I think this would make renegade much more fun than what currently is.

I would actually play renegade if this would be inplemented.

Cows goes moo.5960:

What about sword? I’ve been using GS since i created my guard and it gets very boring using the same weapon. Know any good builds with sword?

Sword is fantastic too. Sword has a blink that gives you fury and produces a symbol that damages foes and works as a light field. Its the best sword MH in the game IMO. Zealots defence is also very good against ranged enemies and has a sweet burst.

It would be better if TaV is stackable and lasts waaaaaay longer. A poison application on disable would be sweet too.

Its a good projectile reflect, CC and Aegis generator. Its very nice for every game mode. Its utility is fantastic and its basically the go to OH against ranged enemies.

MikeL.8260:

It would be nice if you could summon up to 2 (or even 1) Phantasms in adition to 3 clones. They don’t need to change the fuction of them (attached to a target and then dying with it) as long as the F skills don’t effect them.
That has been in my mind since I first touched my Mesmer but I kinda see why it’s not in the game yet.

Actually i thought of 1 phantsams per version. So if you summon an iBerserker you can still summon an iDefender etc. But the first iBerserker dissappears if you summon a second one.

I’d say: Remove the old minor trait and add the “gain opening strike on fury” as the new third minor. For remorseless gain a buff after opening strike that increases dmg for a short duration.

As farly casual mesmer player (not my main) i have noticed that shattering phantasms is counter productive. I dont know any issues mesmer has, but wouldnt it be beneficial for the class when phantasms could not be shattered?

Calling a phantasms could be like summoning a minion with your weapon skill. It helps you damaging your foe and stays alive as long as in combat or you resummon it.

Clones are shatter material and are attached to an enemy.

This way the sustained dmg and the burst wouldnt impede eachother.

Just tune the brightness down and make it more transparent.

Wondrouswall.7169:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Anyway, this is what I would personally do with the traits.

Let’s go for broke. More synergy with powerful, defining GM traits.

Sounds good. But i would still add some protection application to second skin. Maybe protection when you use a healing skill.

Wondrouswall.7169:

Predator’s Cunning could be better by changing it from “Steal life when you apply poison.” to “Steal life when you strike a poisoned foe.”

This.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I’d like to see Second Skin become another source of Protection. Like "Take 33% less damage from conditions when you have Protection. Whenever you have 3 conditions, gain 3s of Protection. 6s CD or w/e something like that.

And this.

And a quickness apllication on the third one when you hit a target under a certain health threshhold.

Its from PoF. Try it out its actually quiet good. In beastform and in normalform. Good healing and a burst coupled with a nice CC.

ceralan.5924:

Lock soulbeast in beastmode when we take this elite speck and add petswap. Balance around this “petless” option instead of this double swap system it is now.

The double swapping system is actually quiet fun and it should be a double swap system. So you can swap in beast mode. It would give more fluidity and the biggest versatility a class could have in a game. I can understand why they let us keep the pets. It would gut the dmg of the ranger without our pets.

Well i think S&R would need something that would justify it as an elite.
SotP could be a utility skill.
Sic Em should reveal 5 targets in a 600 range area and give quickness and fury.

My topic is basically the same. I made about 27 points to improve the spec. Beastmode swap is always first.
In the main game forum is a beta weekend feedback and pretty much every soulbeast improvement is “allow petswap in beastmode”. Pretty much the whole ranger community is on the same page here. So all i can say is i can agree with you.

I like the concept, the animation, the whole theme. The spec mechanic is cool too.
I lile this e-spec. It brings more to the table than druid did.
BUT it is still undertuned in Weapon, trait and stance design. We need a petswap in beastmode for better fluidity.
Its a fun spec and it encourages to use pets you never used before. I hope they improve on its flaws and i am glad that we are undertuned atm (yeah really). We can expect improvements and not nerfs and i am looking forward to these.

Soulbeast:
Please add pet swap in beastform or remove the CD of beastform. It feels clunky and not very fluent. Dagger AA is to slow. Dagger MH 2 is flavorless. Core Ranger needs better Condi interaction with soulbeast. Improve Poison Master and OH Dagger. Stances of soulbeast could need improvements, vulture and griffon stance felt especially lack luster. The elite could need some improvements too. Traits need some tweaking. Master traits are very situational. Add parts to this traits that give these boons/condis while playing. Fresh reinforcements should be at least a minor trait or baseline and not a major.
Grandmaster traits need some tweaking. Oppressive superiority is undertuned in comparison to similar traits. Eternal bond needs tweaking in numbers. Beast skills are way undertuned on some pets.

Thats all. Thabk you for the feedback opportunity.

Pleaseread the list first before making suggestions. I have seen some suggestions double or triple wise.