Game Mode
PVX
Overview
Since the Ranger is said to be dominant in long range combat and largely defined by the pet, I think that the rifle should be included as a weapon that works with the pet more than other weapons. Think of a hunter and his/her dog. Since I’m sure there have been plenty of mentions of the pet controls needing work, I’ll refrain from going there and stay on topic with the rifle skills and its place in the game.
Goal
I’ve been playing a Ranger since GW1, and while I was glad to see the improvements made to the pet since then, I feel there is vast untapped potential with the mechanic. The rifle fits to the look and style of the Ranger, and the way I picture it, it fits the most as a weapon that works the pet into its attacks more directly, and as the dominant long range combatant, it fits in to the Ranger play style. Also, the weapon would function even without the pet, in case it falls in combat, though having the pet maximizes the weapons functionality.
Proposal Functionality
The rifle would have a default of 1200 range, same as the longbow. I don’t have exact skill names, cooldowns, or exact logistics, but I have a general proposition of how it would work.
1. Just a basic rifle shot that shares the Warrior Bleeding Shot animation (maybe slower), but perhaps has a damage and crit chance increase while standing still, similar to how the longbow and Mesmer greatsword scale with distance, but instead with motion, since this weapon relies on the pet having aggro.
2. Like the Warrior rifle, I think a crippling shot should be included, but it would grant swiftness to the pet, perhaps also granting the pet might, or an opening strike, since swiftness wouldn’t do much good to Rangers that tame ranged pets. It would need to differ from Hunter’s Shot, but I think having something similar is important for this weapon’s style of combat.
3. Since the rifle would focus on not only keeping the enemy at a distance, but keeping as still as possible, I think it should have an ability that gets the Ranger out of harms way, so a bit of a combination of Lightning Reflexes and the Warrior’s Rifle Butt. Instead of doing knockback, the Ranger would strike the enemy, possibly with a kick, then do a quick roll backwards, possibly even dazing the enemy to buy a second or two. Maybe this would restore some endurance, but that might be getting too close to Lightning Reflexes
4. To my knowledge, there isn’t a lot done with pulling mechanics aside from the Theif’s Scorpion Wire and Necro’s Spectral Grasp, I think it could be fitting with a rifle. It could act like a harpoon that reels the enemy in. This skill would have a 2 skill chain, with the second skill being after the enemy is pulled, the Ranger either knocks the enemy to the pet, giving it aggro, or the Ranger would switch places with the pet, also giving it aggro, though that would be harder to explain.
5. This would share the Warrior Kill Shot animation, because I think it’s a good animation that needs to be used more, and this skill would be similar to Volley, but require the Ranger to stay still. The Ranger would fire slower, consecutive shots (3 or 4) that grant might to the pet with each hit, and heal the pet with each hit, possibly grant the pet fury on the final hit.
As far as traits are concerned, I think one that has the 1 skill grant either poison, chill, or confusion on crits would be good, and fitting. Think of it as a tranquilizer that has random effects, so the condition dealt would be random. Also, a range increase to 1500, like the longbow, would not be out of place, possibly incorporated in the same trait as the longbow.
Associated Risks
Obviously, with adding a new weapon there’s risk of balancing issues. The weapon used this way would introduce some newer, different methods of combat that might be clunky at first. The 4 skill would take some refining, but with some work, could be implemented well.