Lots of good RvR experiences if you can get past the often lower game quality. Most of the issues of these games were due to lack of game budget but here is my list in terms of most fun RvR:
1. Dark Age of Camelot
2. Star Wars Galaxies
3. Mortal Online
4. Darkfall
5. Guild Wars 2
Honestly given their track record with Ranger in the past, I doubt much development time and QA was put into Soulbeast. Ranger has a long and storied history of not being properly balanced or tested. Bugs and core issues have remained since launch, that has been discussed on this forums ad nasueam. The fact that Soulbeast has massive glaring issues speaks to this fact. Furthermore, evidence of simple bugs making it through QA such as the Dolyak Stance being ridden with bugs furthers this point.
The issue with soulbeast is that going into beastmode is a net negative for the ranger unless they are are usuing one of the F abilities. The bonuses you get do not counter the dps lose of losing the pet and the utilities don’t make up the difference either. So it is best to never go into beastmode until you need to use one of the 3 F abilities.
Can someone explain to me what use is Moa stance? It feels like something that is so minor that is isn’t good enough to take in place of other things. Or the areas that it might be useful for, other classes will cover in a much better way.
Really have to define viable. You will be getting carried in raids if you go power ranger. Fractals it is a bit less of an issue, since those are more about mechanics than anything.
WvW Roaming/sPvP power is still viable.
I think too many people are making too big of a deal out of stab. The only place it really hurts, and this is if you aren’t in a good group is WvW other wise you can make do without it. I have run a stabless build for sPvP since launch, and while at times stab might have been nice, it never made it harder for me to survive. Ranger has a lot of survival tools along with a large health pool.
Maybe it is wishful thinking but if you order your pet to attack after swap I think it comes back from its nap? At least it seems to do that when I tried it my last few matches I did earlier today.
How are rangers now? I only played this game for a couple of months when it was released 5 or so years ago. Rangers were bad back then afaik. I have HoT and a boost ready and am torn between this class/warrior and necro. What I specifically want to know:
1. How many good weapons/builds do we have? Can I be a melee ranger?
2. Do people still see rangers as a burden in dungeons like back in the beginning?
3. How are pets? Do they scale with my gear now? Was pathfinding/ai improved? Are they generally a pain to manage?Anything else you might want to tell to a new ranger?
Hi! Welcome back to the game!
__________________________________________________________________Rangers are in a good spot at the moment. We are strong in PvP, PvE (afaik), and are one of the best solo roamers in WvW.
- We have a wide variety of viable builds. This spectrum ranges from ranged and/or melee: physical DPS builds, condition builds, and support/bunkers. Yes, you can be a melee ranger.
- I don’t believe dungeons are really a thing anymore. The rewards were nerfed a while ago and the newer PvE content has a lot more to offer. Although, do take into account that I am extremely unfamiliar with PvE as I have been strictly played PvP/WvW since release.
- The pets that came with Heart of Thorns are pretty good! Smokescale, Bristleback, Tiger, and the Electric/Fire Wyverns all have their places in builds in every game mode. Unfortunately, no, pets do not scale with gear. The pathfinding/AI for the new pets are miles ahead of the core pets. The HoT pets are easy to manage while the core ones are roughly the same as they were at release.
I would definitely pick ranger as your main character! It is versatile and strong and offers a wide variety of interesting (yet effective) playstyles for whatever you wish to play. A well played Druid can beat any class/build in game with enough practice.
__________________________________________________________________If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!
Best of luck!
Rangers lack a real strong power build for PvE. Druids only see a strong place in raids, I know some like to take them into fractals, but I find a strong dps much better and helpful to the group over a druid. Condi ranger is in a good all around for PvE.
Raids and Fractals already have similar, and actually much better. The rewards you get from both far out weigh WvW or PvP (typically you might get an ascended once a month while in a raid I get one on average every other week, not including the tokens I would earn in that time frame.) The reward tracks are to make those options viable to earn things, Fractals and raids both already out pace WvW & PvP with reward tracks making them not really need it.
It seems like 90% of what ArenaNet works on is QoL or mechanics, and very little content. This patch was not heavy on content (you can complete every solo PvE thing in a few hours), in fact it was very light on content. It is apparently that ArenaNet struggles with producing content, maybe it is time to stop working on QoL changes and focus the team fully on content that the majority of players play, that has been lacking for 2 years now, HoT was super light on content, this patch was super light on content. Adding in large long grinds is not content, it is just mindless repetitive drivel.
I am reviewing this as a primarily solo PvE player:
The good:
-Story is interesting, lots of lore which is good something HoT desperately lacked.
-Bloodstone Fen is an interesting area, with some interesting concepts such as the gliding, and Jade.
The bad:
-VERY short – beat story is about an hour, almost have all achievements already
-No real challenge – just more mindless grinding
-New zone is the smallest map to date takes about 10 minutes to fully explore and you can see nearly every encounter it has to offer in a short period of time (lucky you can see an participate in nearly all encounters in about an hour)
Note: It has been nearly 2 years and the amount of content we have gotten that is not tied to repetitive mindless grinding is inexcusable at this point. This patch is just another example that ArenaNet does not know how to provide meaningful content to the solo PvE base. As such I would not recommend coming back to this game anytime soon to anyone who mainly played for the solo PvE portion of this game for any who would read this.
New weapons/skills/classes while nice are pretty much fluff they don’t change much the content you experience instead I would like a lot more maps, including hardmode and/or maps dedicated to solo challenges.
Eh, unless it added challenging solo content, ie hardmode zones or maps like fissure of woe/underworld I won’t buy an expansion. As far as pve is concerned this is primarily a pve game with some group so lets you know support the core mechanics of this game.
Don’t reward with praise for a mistake that shouldn’t have been made in the first place.
Not sure why this is even in the game, it makes druid 100% useless in almost all situations. There is absolutely no reason to play druid in any situation if you are trying to be competitive. This is the type of stuff that causes people to question ArenaNet’s ability to actually handle ranger, and is a very big insult to the whole ranger community as a whole that we’ve been handled with such neglect after 3 years of very bad management.
After the craptastic state of Druid I quit it for now.
I stopped spec druid, its worthless in PvE solo. After about 4 hours of playing it I only got to use the form twice. This is rancid design. It further shows that those who design the class don’t actually play the class.
ArenaNet regrets to inform you that druids were not meant to be in the final product. They are very sorry for this and will take all measures to remove any impact they may have on the game. Please have a wonderful day.
druid accidentally made it into the game. Sorry everyone.
Druid is the single most worst MMO class expansion I’ve ever seen. This shows who ever designed it fundamentally does not know what they are doing with the class. It clearly shows that they do not play the class.
Not sure, I can’t ever get into AF to really see how well it feels.
As much as I would like answers too, the game just released and they are prioritizing more serious and immediate bugs. They have already said there will be balance changes soon after release to prepare for pvp leagues, so worst case scenario it will be addressed during those. In the meantime there is so much awesome content to explore and partake in, and druid is totally still playable and fun imo.
this is the attitude why ranger has stayed unfixed for 3 years.
ArenaNet care about the ranger community? Funny joke… haha.. I think I am going to cry I need a tissue.
Im hoping its a bug. (Very possible)
All I want to do is heal in pvp but it looks like Im forced to be pewpew forever… :/
I soooo hope you are right. I was excited about druid, now I am very meh.
I guess I shouldn’t’ have been surprised that a ranger core mechanic is poorly designed. Ranger Life
Everyone happy that you can’t use AF in almost any encounter now?
ArenaNet should refund anyone with an infinite continue coin, luckily I didn’t buy one, but I almost did. If not refund give a timeline on when SAB is potentially returning.
Expect there to be no more new fractals. It has been 2 years, at this point it has been abandoned.
Good thing the wolf isn’t rotating away because it is the single most important pet for rangers who wvw roam
Druid does zero damage in avator aside from pitiful pet damage. (Also the pet steals might from group sometimes since almost all boons apply only to 5 targets max).
It’s harder to maintain all the buff too. You basically have to play like an idiot spamming heal no end and doing nothing else to keep up the damage modifier.It’s actually fairly easy to maintain the GotL buff almost 100% if you activate AF, use Rejuvenating Tides, and then immediately drop AF and begin charging it. Also, Ranger loses minimal DPS swapping out Beastmastery for Druid, especially considering the pickup of traited GoE. This is also ignoring the immense support base Ranger brings with FS, SS, and Spotter. The only reason you’d ever actually use Staff is if the healing were dead necessary or if you need the mobility, otherwise you use standard meta weapons.
Really, even without the GotL buff in BWE3 the sheer damage boost that having a Druid brings to even a 5-man group is huge and completely offsets any damage loss the class has to get that support.
Mostly this ^ you’ll have 2 seconds without any GoL and will take roughly 2.5 seconds to apply them all again but well worth it.
one of the issues is that for every 1 good ranger, there is 100 bad rangers >.> its more that ranger has an absurdly large population that is bad at it. If you go into a dungeon/fractal with a bear, greatsword, SoR, SoH, Traps that aren’t flame, warhorn, or shortbow most likely its a bad ranger. While there are exceptions to the rule with above stated these are just things that instantly when I see I suspect its a bad ranger.
What math are you using to say it increases a single person’s dps by 75%… its only 3% per stack to a total of 5 stacks.
Approximation to generalize all people’s DPS as potentially the same. Then multiplying 15% per person to 5 targets.
To calculate the number without having 5 people keep DPSing like idiots, you can measure yours and nicely claim that if others have close to same DPS as you do – you increased the DPS exactly this way.For approximated math results, it doesn’t matter whether you increased single person’s DPS by 75% or 5 people’s DPS by 15%.
Numbers will stay the same.There is a big difference between single person buffing 75% dps or 5 people dps, mostly because how what role the class is doing. A dps class like sinister engineer will see much more benefit from a 15% dps buff than say a support guardian. So the buff isn’t the same as giving a single person a 75% dps buff.
Then keep going in circles. Great job.
You do know what I was trying to say.Mathematically the trait is a situational Frost Spirit for 10-men raid. Suck it up and deal with it. Hypothesis in type of “what if all other 9 people are dead” hold literally no meaning.
Just as this trait can hit 5 tanks it can hit 5 pure DPS people. Skip the doubts and try to help the community instead of trying to confuse it.
Are you reading what I am saying or just typing random non sense?
It’ll be strong against some classes and some builds and worthless to others.
For example it’ll be as good as worthless against an Engineer with Juggernaut because of the near-infinite stability.
I think it’s something you should treat more like a sigil or rune. The effect may or may not happen. But it can be deadly when it does happen.
It’s not reliable because of the requirements for it to trigger. CCing something isn’t enough, you also have to hit them for a second time while they are still under the effect of the CC. That’s a pretty rare event.
If it was more reliable and easier to land, it would need a longer cooldown… which I might be ok with, because that would essentially make it stronger.
Stability does not stop immobilization. It only works against knockdown, pushes, pulls, launches, stuns, dazes, floats, sunks, fears and taunts.
I have found glass longbow to be one of the weakest power builds in the game for roaming. Can’t stand playing it myself. I will get absolutely murdered by pretty much everything.
Fixed that for you. Tons of people roam in glass LB and do extremely well. IMO it’s ranger’s best roaming build, even better than condi regen.
^ this, if you are having trouble with full glass LB build it generally means you either have the wrong skills/traits or need to learn to get good.
” I’m a ranger main and hate to see nerfs”…. But I’m going to go ahead and suggest them anyway….
Could you kittening not? Can we please go one kittening week without some ” ranger main” coming up with some hypothetical way that we are overpowered and claiming we need a nerf?
signed, so many bad players who don’t play rangers but lost to one thinking we are all OP when they are just bad.
What math are you using to say it increases a single person’s dps by 75%… its only 3% per stack to a total of 5 stacks.
Approximation to generalize all people’s DPS as potentially the same. Then multiplying 15% per person to 5 targets.
To calculate the number without having 5 people keep DPSing like idiots, you can measure yours and nicely claim that if others have close to same DPS as you do – you increased the DPS exactly this way.For approximated math results, it doesn’t matter whether you increased single person’s DPS by 75% or 5 people’s DPS by 15%.
Numbers will stay the same.
There is a big difference between single person buffing 75% dps or 5 people dps, mostly because how what role the class is doing. A dps class like sinister engineer will see much more benefit from a 15% dps buff than say a support guardian. So the buff isn’t the same as giving a single person a 75% dps buff.
Like Comon why havnt we get gotten a new Engine yet!! and before yall open your mouths i know this was said before but i ask you guys just why havnt we not gotten a new Engine.I dont ask for much but us XFX users are suffering from bad FPS which is messing up our Gameplay.Better yet would of been better to bring Dx 11 to the Game After HoT
You obviously don’t know the amount of work that would be required to switch from DX9 to DX11 if the base engine wasn’t already programmed with a way to do said switch. I am guessing it wasn’t and would take way to much resources to do any time soon.
Why don’t ranger pets have a very low hit rate. Things that won’t ever be answered because Ranger.
“Sic Em!” works when I use it, but if I give the pet a command its bonus damage goes away which is :/
I roam in a zerker lb/gs build and have no real issues, I win majority of my fights. Become a good kiter and very few fights you will lose.
Let’s first wait and see if Druid is going to be wanted in any content at all.
Just a few more days till HoT releases. There is going to be added a whole heap of new content that needs time to settle and for people to figure out.
Maybe come back in a month from now before giving your feedback, since you really come off as a troll. We’ve had a lot of those lately.
“Pls nerf druid even though no one has ever actually used it yet.”
Brace yourselves, laddies, we’re going to be getting a LOT of ranger hate on this forum if druid is in any way viable.
Lets face it, no one wants rangers to be useful in any way. The Devs. Other Players. Most of All. Rangers.
With the recent updates, some professions have ‘good, usefull skill’ utilities that stunbreak every 20 sec, c’mon, ranger ones are way to long cooldown. Being only to reduce 1 stun every 40-60 sec is to few. 30 sec is minimum (higher cooldown is to high).
Shared Anguish should be on a 30 second CD min, if not a 20~25 sec CD to make it in line with similar trait CDs
This is really just a number tweaking thing. It is safe to let it play out.
If it indeeds proves to be too powerful, they can still reduce the number or buff other class’s counterpart.It potentially increases a single person’s DPS by 75%.
… That basically targets people with low health that are trying to avoid fighting the boss.I find it perfectly Okay since the Druid doesn’t deal almost any DPS whatsoever. He can invest into Toughness and Healing power without feeling a burden of DPS.
It is a nice choice of being a DPS support that has a cooldown, is efficiency limited (due to priority targets of your heals) and sacrifices all your DPS for it while it required people to be perfectly stacked and organized if 5 people want to benefit from this trait. Not to mention you’ll be targeted by it most of the time as well.
The trait is mathematically balanced.
What math are you using to say it increases a single person’s dps by 75%… its only 3% per stack to a total of 5 stacks.
not really since you have the negatives of having to go into AF in terms of damage lost while things like Ventari will never have to nerf their damage so much to heal. Not to mention when you look at other classes with support you see it isn’t unbalanced considering what you give up.
This is my current stealth druid trapper I am looking at. Of course with trapper runes though – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAsf3YjEqQLL2uCmrAVLWcEM4k6UNr28tiVdAmAwkrydyzq0D-T5QHwAQLDE4JAA4kAAA
quick draw is king. Either more bonfire/split blade or more evades in short window.
yeah, mistake its supposed to be Quick Draw lol >.>
This is my current stealth druid trapper I am looking at. Of course with trapper runes though – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAsf3YjEqQLL2uCmrAVLWcEM4k6UNr28tiVdAmAwkrydyzq0D-T5QHwAQLDE4JAA4kAAA
- Ranger might potentially feel a lot stronger which might overwhelm some ranger players and make them initially feel “too strong”. Keep this effect in mind when posting.
I feel this right here happens a lot for Rangers, I’ve kind of switched over to PvP/WvW roam on my mesmer and it is in a different class than ranger, so I believe people who only main rangers feel over whelmed/wrong when something good comes around as they have no bar to tell what is good or bad.
It’s hysterical this comes up. You know for a kitten fact that people are going to instantly claim druid to be OP. It’s going to be a community rage moment the instant a ranger exists in HoT, regardless of anything.
Please don’t randomly say my name in your posts. Its distracting! you aren’t talking to me!
Lightning Reflexes is still bugged, right? It becomes disabled when you’re knocked back or stunned, defeating the purpose of it being a stun breaker.
Please don’t use my characters name for your curse words.
Honestly we should have keybindings for using each pet skill, I am so tired of not being able to bring a pet into a dungeon/fractal because it has a CC on it that will mess up ice bow rotation because I have no control over it.
I’d also like us to be able to enter combat without the pet and summon it as needed. This is a very simple QoL change that would help us out while stealthing, and in large scale battles to preserve the pet.
Oh please yes.
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