Guild Wars 2

Specific Game Mode:
PvP –

Proposal Overview:
The ranger is, as stated in the Ranger Design Philosophy, a skirmishing profession with sustained damage that “whittles” down their opponent. The problem I see with the ranger is how the Axe primary weapon skills were designed. When I visualize a Ranger throwing an axe, it is big, heavy, sharp, and thrown with a lot of momentum. The skills should be hard hitting and leave an enemy stumbling around, bleeding, much like the offhand skill “Path of Scars”.

Goal of Proposal:
While not changing the mechanics or visuals of the skills, the Ranger’s primary weapon (axe) needs a little quality of life improvement to really feel like it hits hard, and keeps hitting till the enemy has fallen. Because of its low base damages the axe ricochets could be almost ignored and the 2nd and 3rd skill didn’t really provide the utility and conditions that the set needed to synergize well. The goal of this proposal is to change the primary weapon (axe) skills of a ranger from low damage spam skills, to a consistent skirmisher weapon choice for kiting and sustained “whittle down” damage.

Proposal Functionality:
Ricochet – Bounce your axe between foes, dealing heavy damage to the first target, and reduced damage to subsequent targets. [Vulnerability x2] 5s (With a buff to the base damage)

Splitblade – Throw a spread pattern of five whirling axes that bleeds foes and grants swiftness if foes are hit.
[Bleeding x5] 6.25s and *[Swiftness] 5s

Winter’s Bite – Throw an axe that removes a two boons. Your pet’s next attack inflicts Chilled.
[Chilled] 3.25s (Increase the base damage by a bit)

In addition to buffing the damage from the ranger, boon removal was also added to make up for the ridiculous amounts of Boons that are seen in PvP [Almost every class spams boons because of how powerful they are!!], which really made rangers with axes more of a nuisance then a threat.

Associated Risks:
The only risk I see would be the many stacks of Vulnerability. However, since the ranger doesn’t have too many conditions and most professions run more than one form of condition removal, this does have a counter.