Guild Wars 2

jcbroe.4329:

It’s not a bad idea, but the stipulations are way too broad to the point where they are universal, and ANet tends to try to make universal investments of that caliber high investment options (mesmer has been nerfed repeatedly for their previously low investment, high effect traits).

However, it could be made into a mirror of the warrior trait, but instead of “while wielding a Melee weapon” it could be “while wielding a ranged weapon (mainhand), you and your pet move 25% faster.”

Ranged weapons of course being Longbow, Shortbow, and Axe.

That would defeat the purpose of the speed buff. You want it with melee weapons to keep on top of your target. So it’d have to be identical to warrior’s trait.

Oddly, it’s actually more universal on the warrior, since they’ve got melee weps equipped 90% of the time. Rangers are the class with a nice balance of melee/range.

The fern hound feels like a racial pet for sylvari.

Of course, you can have a norn ranger with a pet wolf, bear, raven, and leopard. So those are kinda racial pets too.

Humans have dogs….yea it’s a stretch.

Asura and charr don’t get racial feeling pets. Maybe devourers for charr?

So new pet families to add should have a racial aspect for those races that don’t have any racial pets.

Look at the racial armor options. Pick whichever race has the better look. Still can’t decide? Norn has a better story than human.

That being said, I love my Sylvari Ranger.

I personally like GS better than 1h sword. It hits hard, has defense, and mobility. You can use signets to buff that Maul strike for a heavy spike. I think it pairs well with pets, since you can evade, block, swoop, and stun while letting your pet chomp on an enemy.

Does this stack with the Signet of the Wild regeneration?

SotW is nice now cuz when our pet dies and we’ve lost 40% of our damage, we can pop it and get some back. All works out in the end.

It is a flock of birds attacking your face after all. It really should do something like daze, blind, and/or cripple as well. Honestly, that’d fit into any build, condition or power. And it’d be nice with Moment of Clarity.

That completely changes that scene. Now Quint doesn’t look like a tool, but a bamf. And it makes Hooper look that much better too, not backing down.

Also, Pockets’ information about tinfoil being changed to aluminum foil, which amplifies signals, is just one more instance of how the Establishment is conspiring to read all of our minds. Rise up and stand against the Establishment. Wrap your whole head in cling-wrap and they’ll never read your mind….mostly cuz death.

I wouldn’t call it a good counter to stealth. If it’s meant to be an anti-stealth skill then it should cause Reveal.

I like the boon removal idea Khezy mentioned. We’ve got zero boon denial right now so it’d be a nice new mechanic, especially since it is so avoidable. 1 boon removed on first hit, another on last hit would give the target a choice to dodge the boon removal or eat it and save a dodge.

I’ve been playing GW2 since beta but never gotten into PvP. Put this together today but haven’t had a chance to play with it. The idea is to use SotW (gaining might & aegis), pop Rapid Fire, swap to GS (fury), and then Swoop in for a Hilt Bash > Maul. I’ll have SoR as an emergency button, as well as being able to stealth out with LB3. Conditions shouldn’t be a problem.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjMqUxa/KusQ1aA/gadDEAhdze4fZ2vdwJXZRpA-TpBBABccEAA4BAEyFAg79H24QAUWZAA

Thoughts? ?

If they can streamline the porcine F2 skill, it’ll be like adding 4 new pets.

Other than that, yea, I’d love to see new pets. I think Dry Top was a missed opportunity.

kyubi.3620:

Regardless Pets hardly have any depth to it right now and could use more customisation for the animal love.

How exactly?

True, we don’t have pet evolution like in GW and WoW. But what we get instead is a variety of 40 different pets to choose from and any 2 to swap between at a time. Each pet family has general similarities (stats, 3/4 skills) and then each specific pet has an individualized skill. There’s a lot of depth as far as variety goes. I’d rather that than spending hours raising a pet to adhere to a single aspect, only to be limited in the future.

It’d be sweet as hell to visually customize our pets, but then we’re getting into problems with PvP/WvW. I suppose those customizations can be inactivated for those game modes, so-as not to hide which pet you’re using. You gotta admit, pet armor would inhibit an enemy’s ability to tell which pet the ranger is using. But then we’d get the QQ from 2/3 the players who say that feature excludes them. And they’d be right.

I think everyone will agree that it was a terribly lazy oversight to not allow pet names to be saved. I’ll give you that one for sure.

How else can Anet add depth to the pets?

The auto camera zoom when I’m downed. I don’t want to see myself lying there. I want to see what I’m attacking so I can rally.

The auto-login change. Why?

When I’m auto-swimming and open the map. Then I close the map and my character is now swimming straight down. Why?

Ehecatl.9172:

I’d actually like for pets to work more like they did in GW1. Sure, it’s more work, but I enjoyed raising my pets and seeing them grow to become more powerful, and having different roles depending on how I raised them.

A lot more work. In GW you had 1 pet. In GW2 you’ve got like 40. I really don’t want to raise every one of them. Not to mention that the role your pet filled in GW was based on how you raised them. In GW2, it’s based on which pet you choose. This way, you’re not stuck with that awesome Dire Wolf that you don’t want to give up but can’t tank very well. Now you just swap out your jaguar for a pig and you’re good to go.

Simply removing “juvenile” from the pet names would be nice. My dear fern hound has been with me since I awoke from the Dream during head-start and, despite having been to Orr and back, he’s still a juvenile?

He means that “Stow Pet” button that exists on our screen and is clickable but can’t be key-bound.

I agree. I keep my pet stowed when doing JPs (as I’m sure everyone does) and when it pops every time you take some fall damage it’s annoying.

sminkiottone.6972:

TU is already the best heal we have, Heal as one should be buffed and behave like it did in GW1 (if the pet is dead it will resurrect with 50% HP).

I like that. It’d give us an out if our pets get creamed in an aoe zerg fest and we have to wait for that ridiculously long cooldown.

Also, it should be made a shout. That would open up some synergy with traits & runes.

I remember the first time I found diving goggles. I put em on and freaked out cuz suddenly all my armor and weapons disappeared. I cried so hard.

Then a friend told me they were for diving into water and that I didn’t really lose my stuff. So I went back and put em on and dove into the water….and missed. I hit the ground and died. I cried so hard.

Someone’s going to loot my corpse now and I’m going to lose all my stuff.

I’ve never had a problem with Mesmer in dungeons. Illusions deal awesome damage. So does my sword. And If an illusion dies, they’re easy to quickly replace.

Damage aside, mesmers also have group support by way of tons of reflects and stealth skipping. There are other ways mesmers help groups but you’re always going to get someone saying “class x does it better so why bother?” Ignore them and play the class you find to be the most fun.

This has been asked for numerous times. It’s a bit strange that this wasn’t implemented on the first patch day for such an integral piece of the Ranger. And still hasn’t.

Now that they affect the ranger and the pet baseline, I use signets for map completion. Speed increase helps moving from heart to heart and that +25% damage increase just melts groups of enemies. Pull everything to you, unleash your sigs, Maul. Move on to next heart.

@Atherakthia: The Empathic Response idea does solve some issues. First, it makes the ranger more team-friendly. A pet howl that chills nearby foes is nice. But if another howl originated from the player as well, that’s more chills = more targets and/or longer duration. Good for control. Or good for aoe regen, fury, might, fear, cleanses, etc.

Secondly, it adds more dynamic to the ranger. Placing your pet far away so that the 2 howls affect multiple areas vs doubling up on a single target. If it’s an attack, like the Raven’s strike, that’s 2x hard hitting spike.

And lastly, it’s more synergy with the pet, which I think is needed. As I mentioned above, if you have to pull your pet back in a zerg/dungeon to keep it alive, you can still use your F2 skill originating from the player and so the pet still serves a use. Pull your jaguar out but go stealth and crit hit hard anyway? Cool.

I like the idea of Empathic Response. Though, the hyena F2 would be problematic (mesmers would rage about us getting a clone lol). This trait would make pets useful even when you have to pull them out of combat to keep em alive. Pop their F2 and you get a bonus attack.

You mentioned the porcine forage skills being made easier to use with this trait. Honestly, that mechanic needs to be cleaned up anyhow. The items needs to replace the ranger’s F2 button automatically and then maybe drop another item to be used by an ally, similar to ele summoned weapons.

Swimsasa Stoon.8936:

axe got better too ya know… plus signets now work for not just your pet but you as well. I remember one of those signets giving a 50% dmg boost and another a 30% dmg boost… bash-maul combo is strong, have had it hit for 13k dmg before the patch

Also ranger is super popular in pvp nowadays. Seeing about a 100% increase of rangers in matches. Sometimes even half of the players in a match play ranger.

Before the FS fix, I actually ran 2-3x signets LB/GS cuz I was just doing sick damage. I felt like a dweeb rocking all those signets, but SoW + SoH + Maul + pet F2 = monster damage. Throw QZ on top of that and you’re churning out some constant high numbers.

Makes the LB pretty awesome, but it’s still GS or sword in dungeons imo.

I’ve fallen in love with the LB/GS pairing. Using QZ and SoW, I’ve been able to unload with both weapons for some awesome strikes (dat Maul). Plus, you’ve got the defensive benefit of GS and no hopping off cliffs.

jcbroe.4329:

A good idea is to send the pet out to go F1 a target when you stealth, so it doesn’t follow you through stealth. If you don’t want to send your pet into the fray, you can F1 -> F3 -> F1 -> F3 repeatedly to hold your pet from actually going into the combat, but not being beside you.

If there is nothing else to target and you are using a pet that has a wind up animation on their F2 like a canine, instead of the pet being forced to follow you, you can do the same trick with F2 -> F3 -> F2 and constantly cause the pet to root itself and start the animation then cancel it so it doesn’t get used and go on cooldown.

Really makes me miss the GW(1) command system allowing me to set a spot for my pet.

Since the lack of smart pets is such a huge issue with GW2, I see nothing wrong with an added ability to set a spot for our pets to treat as “home,” basically a virtual player. Instead of running back to my side when using F3 or when not in combat, we set a flag that the pet retreats to instead.

Then we can get rid of that stupid Guard skill in favor of something that should be baseline.

Sparks The Rescue.5043:

But, as I said before, those types of changes were directed at exactly those types of players – the one’s who had never played before. Excluding GW2 to only players who have extended MMO experience is a business plan that is destined to fail. Make the game so anyone can buy it and anyone can play it.

There’s a difference between those who’ve never played an MMO before and those with severe brain damage. Adding tooltips and hints is great. Introducing events or combat mechanics that teach new players is great. Adding roadblocks to things like skill progression, gathering, traits, dodging, underwater, and downed is just a hand-holding a 3 yr old. It doesn’t teach. It hampers play by making it boring and it really dissuades veteran players or even people who have played MMOs before from rolling alts. Honestly, many MMO players are drawn to this game type specifically because it forces some deeper thinking and in-game experimentation.

This new leveling experience is just crushes a player’s ability to try new classes out. Gone are the days where you could roll a new alt, try it out for 1-2 hours and get a general feel for the weapon skills and play-style. Nope, now you gotta be level such-&-such just to finally get access to all your weapon skills. We’re going to see a drastic reduction in new alts for existing players. Who wants to wade through this hand-holding sea of blockades?

The NPE should be optional for new players, not a forced regression of the game’s mechanics.

Part of why I rolled a ranger 2 yrs ago was for the fun of adventuring through Tyria and hunting down new tamable pets. I had a solid handful to choose from before I’d out-leveled Caledon.

So glad I have almost all the classes to 80 already. This new leveling experience is certainly not for veteran players…or those with an IQ higher than 80.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Your confusion is no longer warranted.

So it would seem.

Thanks for clearing it up for me. Snarkiness aside.

Some types of exotic pets would be nice. Something at the end of a story dungeon for instance to give us something with a theme.

Honestly, I’m confused. See a ranger? Pop Feedback. Why would old Mimic have been better? I’d prefer the reflect with the new sped up Rapid Fire.

Also, new Mimic + Sig of Inspiration = nice group support.

Fluffball.8307:

Seras.5702:

I guess I’m missing it cuz I don’t see a Frost Spirit change in the patch notes. What happened exactly?

They brutally, savagely murdered it. It is a less than 1% damage buff now because it behaves like the description with a 10 second cooldown.

So this is a case where a tooltip fix woulda been better. Well, that’s 1 utility and 1 trait I can repurpose.

I guess I’m missing it cuz I don’t see a Frost Spirit change in the patch notes. What happened exactly?

Moreover, does that say that you can’t access your bank (account vault) until you hit level 23 !?!?!?!?

And wait, you said you now have access to PvP at 22?? I thought the point of PvP was that any character could do it at level 2.

Definitely too strong. But traps do need something to jazz them up.

I’d say either a debuff along with damage (for those non-conditioners) and/or some boons. For instance, flame trap can damage, burn, and stack might per pulse. Frost trap can damage, chill, and give protection. Spike trap could add a buff that’d give allies piercing (for range) and add 1 target to cleaves (for melee).

…or something

They need to be stronger baseline and less multi-trait dependent. Also, some group support from traps would add variety to the frost/spotter meta.

Nothing stays immobilized for the full duration anyway, so it’s not really a big deal. Anything that would survive that long while you beat on it is either another player (would cleanse) or a boss (reduced effectiveness/immunity).

I went with Survival of the Fittest primarily for the Fury, as it pairs well with unloading with QZ. Plus, as an added bonus I don’t need any condition removal clogging up my utility bar at all.

If I dropped SotF and slotted Healing Spring, what would you suggest for my final 2 trait points?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAR3XjUqUyaLLuqw1aA9gaZAMwNLicw9VkEv9FTUiE-TRSBwAUOIAP3fooyvIHBQJ4N1fA9AAQpbAh5PAXAAA-e

Focuses on lots of crits from GS & the typical team support (frost/spotter). Also, I’m thinking double axe/axe offset post-patch for might stacking on autoattack when range is needed, plus the awesome projectile defense.

Thoughts?

Ranger was my first GW2 character from head-start days. It was fun…for a while. Once I became familiar with the game and its combat mechanics, ranger became boring. I felt like there were a multitude of weak utilities and traits in places that made no sense. I abandoned ranger and eventually found joy with other professions (specifically, engineer, mesmer, and guardian).

However, I’ve always loved the ranger-type class. In GW it was my main. And, after more than a year away, I’d love to make a triumphant return to ranger when the upcoming balance patch launches (whenever that is).

That being said, what is exciting about ranger (or will be)? What utilities make combat with ranger fun & dynamic? What build styles are going to be strong and exciting to play? What pets have cool synergy with the ranger playstyle? What am I missing or should I focus on to make ranger a fun, dynamic, and strong class to play?

I am 100% PvE. I typically run zerk gear for my characters, but am more than open to deviation from the speed-clear metas.

For the gold investment required for 6/6 Runes of Strength, simply maintaining 1 single stack of might for +5% is a complete waste. Better off going for Flame Legion and getting the 100% uptime +7% to burning foes for a fraction of the cost.

Now if you’re running a might stacking build, then it’s something to consider.

Morsus.5106:

I haven’t even decided if I’m gonna make the back piece once.

Same here. Its current incarnation looks awful. I’ve got everything from the stories “infused.” Still not sure it’s worth the gold/effort yet. Need to see what it’ll grow into. And if it’ll have selectable stats and/or an ascended version. Hopefully that will be answered this evening.

My grandma makes chicken gravy for her homemade waffles. Oh man is that ever heaven on a plate…..

Yea I’m guessing the new tier will bring new events and make it easier to hit T4 more consistently.

Can it be combined with Juggernaut? Cuz it’s gonna be hardcore considering you won’t be able to kite a Jugg with the update to it.

Flame Legion is cheap as hell and they’re fantastic. If you’re good at staying >90% health, then go with Scholar.

Strictly open world leveling, definitely ranger & warrior. For reasons listed above.

Between the 2 you mentioned I’d lean toward thief if only for the less squishiness. Although, Ele can pump out some serious aoe damage, if you can stay alive. But I find thief to be more forgiving.

They have done 2 ready-ups covering their plans for engineer, ranger, thieves, and warriors. So that’s…something.

I think what tolunart said about Anet over-reaching is correct. There was a huge community outcry for more dev/player interaction and so Anet responded with these brilliant CDIs where we could bounce around ideas and have some Anet response. They exploded and I don’t think Anet was ready for it. Not to mention that such micro-balancing for so many aspects of the game would take a developer quite a bit of time to properly code, test, and launch. Here’s hoping that the recent absence of devs on the forums means that they’re busy coding the things we discussed.

If all you’re after is the skin, only 1 will be necessary. But if it’s like the Spinal Blades and you’re hoping to craft an ascended piece for all of your toons, then I’d suggest making a few. I have a feeling that’s the way this is headed (I hope).

I think the general concensus of the Spinal Blades was that they were very well liked and the method for advancing the back item was cool, but since the whole evolution dropped at once it felt grindy. This new chapter by chapter scavenger hunt feels like an improved way to step-by-step build an ascended back item.

I thought the fight, once I understood its mechanics, was quite enjoyable and not that long or tedious. I went in 100% full melee (guardian) and was having trouble because it seems like while the fear wards are up the statue is invulnerable. So I ran out the tunnel, killing another Mender on the way, equipped a scepter, and was off to the races. Used my range attacks on the fear wards and my GS on everything else. Thing melted fast once I could keep the burn phases rolling.