Guild Wars 2

I didn’t think about combining it with a trap build or general condi ranger, but that might actually work. Especially with that trait that entangles when you daze, stun or knockback someone… could make for interesting gameplay. Did you decide at all to use apoth, maybe, for the condi and healing power, or would you rather just go full rabid (for the extra bleeds at least on crit)? I’m just wondering if Druid is still has merit without any healing power.

What stat set on druid worked best for you? I tried a fully healing-power druid (with a mix of cleric and magi) and that was… okay. It certainly healed a ton and was difficult to kill, but the lack of damage made killing anything solo absolutely painful. I’m wondering if anyone managed to find a balance? I have a theory about zealot stats (power, precision, healing power). I’m also wondering if it’s still possible to heal decent with staff and celestial while going power damage, toughness and vit instead (using a mix of zerk, valk, and knights as is typical generally). Keep in mind, we can also blast our spring twice (or three if counting the cele form) if that means anything. Is it possible to do any real damage with a staff if you’re using it on a power build (but want some sort of support weapon), or should you just toss it if you’re not going into healing power at all?

The problem is, going into healing power makes it VERY difficult to spec into anything else. It’s not like it scales the best, either… but there’s already been enough discussion about that, so let’s not go there.

Spirits are actually tremendously useful in and of themselves, especially with that 50% buff in the last set of changes (stone spirit activates protection near-constantly with 50%, it’s amazing). But they’re too fragile, and unless you can heal them with a spring or regen via dwayna runes, 9 times out of 10, they’re dead or close to dying before they can be of any use to your party. It doesn’t matter if it’s PVP or PVE, either way, they rarely last long enough to do what they’re meant to do.

After trying spirits over and over again, trying to make them work in every possible way, I’ve come to the conclusion that until they’re either a) given more health & toughness, or b) made invulnerable like spirit weapons, they’re not worth the pain and frustration.

I recommend the following:

1) Give them either a lot more health & toughness, innate self-healing, or invulnerability. If invulnerability, could give the spirits a bigger cooldown.

2) Remove the idea of spirits being bound completely. It’s asinine to waste an entire grandmaster trait just to let them follow you. (Instead, maybe the grandmaster trait could be reducing cooldown if they’re invulnerable, or perhaps the trait itself giving them invulnerability… maybe on a critical hit, if that’s too OP. I’d happily spend 30 points for this either way).

3) Allow Natures Vengeance and the additional the 15% buff to be used at the same time in addition to the grand master trait if not using the other suggestions. Since spirits are fragile and Vigorous Spirits is near-worthless, Nature’s Vengeance seems the only viable alternative in most situations as this trait makes killing the spirit a tactic in itself, without sacrificing a buff to boons, which is 90% of the reason for summoning them in the first place.

4) Either shorten the cooldown on the elite (spirit of nature), or buff its secondary ability so it has a shorter cast time / larger aoe. SoN’s healing over time is amazing—you can’t argue with a 480 hot to everyone in the area—but it’s res ability and condition cure is difficult to manage because the aoe is small, the cast time is long, and while SoN has more health than the other spirits, it’ll still down quickly under fire, which is exactly what’s happening if allies are downed in the first place. Then again, this could be a nitpick…

Is it possible that pets already have the resistance we have, but it isn’t showing up in the menu? After playing around in the higher fractals with 5%, I feel like my pet lasts a lot longer than it did before… but it could also be that I’ve gotten better at manipulating the AI to avoid blows, or I’ve been lucky enough to heal them through it. If anyone cares to measure the numbers, I’m curious.

Thunderclap is not the only thunder/lightning skill related to rangers, and it doesn’t come out of the blue. In the GW lore, rangers are magical and fully attuned to nature, summoning spirits and manipulating the earth, ect, to aid them. So it makes perfect sense to have it, even if it doesn’t have the most obvious origin. As for the ability itself, it’s saved me many a time. Between the stun aoe and having full control of my pet, I’ve been able to beat back mobs/players and res myself, or hold out long enough for allies to reach me. Considering the above comments, I’m not the only one, either.

IMO, rangers have some of the best down skills of any profession… but also the most complicated. The fact that rangers have full control of their pets while downed (especially dangerous if they’re full beastmastery) pretty much tosses the UP argument of their down skills out of the water. It’s the only prof where you can res and attack at the same time, and give yourself quickness as well, not to mention other advantages depending on the pet, their abilities, and what traits you’re giving them.