Guild Wars 2

HHR LostProphet.4801:

Well the warrior will deal more damage than the ranger simply because the warrior can rotate between axe/mace and gs while the ranger has to sit on sword AA. The reason why a ranger is still better is because the 2 warriors would reach the might and vulnerability cap. The ranger offers a unique buff and spotter. This however oughtn’t hide the fact that the ranger has just one weapon with competitve damage which gets hindered by a clunky playstyle.

Maybe you could take your discussion to a more appropriate forum. This is for suggestions and discussion on how to improve the Ranger.

So, from what I gather, the Ranger takes a 30% penalty to damage potential because of the pet. Yet, the pet is mostly controlled by an AI instrumented software routine that can’t match the flexibility, reactiveness or ability to predict certain maneuvers the way a human can. So the damage potential of the pet is not really what it could be because you have a relative idiot controlling the pet.

In the case of the Mesmer, the illusions generated have a simple AI and one purpose. They are summoned and do only one thing. Then they expire or die from damage. The pet, since it has to be always active has a bit more complicated AI…maybe. But even if the AI was much better, which I think is not going to happen because of the overhead it would incur, the pet as it is now still sucks up too much damage potential from the Ranger and doesn’t contribute anywhere near that portion that is sacrificed to ‘balance’ the damage potential compared to the other classes.

Then, if we are to keep the pet, as we were politely told is a ‘must’ by someone….then what to do? It has to contribute in all settings. We could make it more like the Mesmer with a Pet-in-a-box that does one thing and dies, and then we call the next. That doesn’t sound like the vision Anet has for the Ranger. They want a character that runs around with a buddy (a pet) that works as a team. That’s the vision. BTW, I sorta like the idea of a pet-in-a-box. LOL

But, if that’s the constraint, how do we make the pet contribute their 30%?

Humm, first we have to actually have a pet that’s alive and running around. A dead pet is like taking all the illusions from a Mesmer and pushing her out the door into a hungry crowd and yelling…”DINNER!!!!” So, make em smarter, or tankier, or stealthier…or whatever. Make em so they can live more than 3 seconds. That’s number one.

The second ‘must have’ is damage potential through either actual damage or potential damage through conditions. The pet has to reliably do one or the other or both in whatever combination or configuration that is particular to that pet.

Finally, you must have control of the pet. It can’t be off running around like some wild 2 year old with a gun. It’ll shoot someone’s eye out; probably the very big and hairy bad guy you don’t want irritated. Control is important to game play. Control is crucial the good game play. Control is critical to excellent game play. AI isn’t control.

As a parting comment about damage potential. Consider damage potential in light of how long that instrument is around. The pet is around all the time when I’m roaming around not trying to fight off a thief looking for an easy kill…but where’s that damage potential when the pet dies in 3 to 5 seconds and I have to wait a minute to get it back. Let’s see…stupid math 101. Three to five seconds divided by 60 seconds times thirty percent…voila! The actual contribution from my pet during a battle is a huge 1.5% to 2.5%. I know swapping times are less, but you get the idea.

Anyway. My eight farthings…

Okay, rangers should be themed..like the rest of the cast of characters. But to what. They use a pet, sooooo..? I like that they use a pet and such, but traditionally rangers have been the hunter that aren’t the best fighter, but they do know how to find who (or what they want). Start with that. Add a few choice bits that would make them able to stealth a bit more. Not like a thief, but able to, let’s say…

1. While not in combat they can hide along with their pet, or stow their pet and wait. Neat..ranger can wait and watch and suddenly attack from hiding. But they can’t move and hide or attack and hide. It has to have reasonable limitations. They wait, prepare and become hidden. So maybe a 5 or 10 sec wait while not moving or in combat, then they become hidden for a period of time. Might need some other constraints as well.

And then a ranger is, as I mentioned, good at finding stuff. So maybe…

2. They have they ability to see those about them that are hiding for a short time. A few seconds with an appropriate cool down that would make those that use stealth more cautious around rangers, including other rangers. Takes one to know one, they say. A sorta rock-paper- scissors balance that this game needs.

Pets, of course, need a redesign or tweak. But what? Just making them more powerful seems the easy way to quiet the crowd, but it lacks finesse. Another writer mentioned some attacks that are combo attacks with the pet. Perhaps each pet could have a combo attack that is specific to that pet and geared towards the attack the pet uses in the wild, only amplified and trained by the ranger (As the story would go). The ranger would trigger it, and not be an AI thing that the pet does randomly.

3. Ranger-pet tandem attacks that are an amplification of the pet’s natural attack. These attacks would be more powerful and possibly greater ranger. Being a tandem attack, they have to physically involve the ranger. So it takes her out of her usual line of combat to perform this maneuver, whatever that might be. So, for example, we might have a ranger that uses her pet to knock down an opponent. The knock down stuns the opponent for a short time, removes a random boon AND places the ranger and the pet right there on the opponent.

Other wild thoughts in line with rangers. Maybe they can sense within a limited range their opponents. Thus they might see little red dots on their minimap…cool. Something a ranger can do that actually makes them useful to a party. That would go hand in hand with their ability to hide. They sense the enemy a ways off and that gives her time to hide until they pass…or whatever.

Whatever you guys do with a ranger, don’t just tweak it to make it a tank…make it special, useful…a cool char to play with and customize to be something the player likes. Anyone can tank…just keep mashing those dang buttons until your opponent is dead. Whooopeeeee…I kilt me a ranger! Yeah, you and every one else who’s played ten minutes.

Rangers should require something different.

Hummm…I play a ranger and admit that 1v1 vs a thief I lose. But, I know this. It’s WvW and I don’t run up and try to kill em 1v1….I love to stay back and just focus on thieves all day. In a crowd I find em and make sure they never leave. No prob…they sometimes even try to run through the crowd to get at me…much to their stupid demise.

As for changing them so the little fellows are less powerful; that may happen at some point and then all the tykes will get on their trikes and find another niche to exploit.

Jhawk.1360:

CD attacked SMC with 50 same time as EBAY hit gar with 25 yawn please try again, i’ve seen much better….. try 3 JQ blobs hitting 3 of your keeps at once. Also why do all the loot bags come out to play now; on Friday?

OOOOOHHHH AHHHHH…I’m so impressed. That is, if I really thought you could count that high.

It’s bad enough that we have to put up with this match up system that fails to consider so many faults, but now I get to watch an FA players walk through walls into a keep…walked right through the wall, attacked me and I couldn’t even touch him, not a bit…like he was frigin invulnerable. I suppose it’s futile to try to even discuss this with Anet. They’d want a video, like I’m suppose to be a normal player who has each second of the game I play…FOR FUN…on a video feed as evidentiary documentation.

Bunch of crap…!!!!!!!!

Finally, someone in FA who doesn’t run in a zerg. Found a small group who started to stay and fight after we came upon them just as they capped a supply camp…and it was pretty even odds. Whoo hooo! But then they ran at the first sign of loss. BAHHHH! Except for two thieves. It wasn’t smart, we had five, but they tried at 5:2 odds. And they lost…but still, it was admirable that they stayed to try out some tactics. kitten , but I find them so hard to kill, they just beg to be shot a thousand times. {laughs}

Good fight!

Looks like Anet again has to placate the greater numbers by giving them somebody to beat. Trying to actually place these Zerg massive servers against each other might just displease the players on these huge servers…and we can’t have that. NO NO NO. Bad for business. Meanwhile lower population servers take it in the shorts so that Anet can keep the fairweathers happy.

DB…thanks for camping on our doorstep with ballista and ac in our northern BL. You don’t have enough chutzpah to actually go out and even find roamers? You have to resort to something like that?

Just wanted to add: It’s good to see DB and SoS players on here with constructive comments. We all have our fair-weather players. I even get discouraged going out and getting zerg punched two feet from the door. But it’s just such a thrill to go 1v1 or XvX with a group even when I get wiped, heck…I’m not that good a player, but I still love to try. You guys…you know the ones, the good ones that do your best and have even bowed to me after a good fight (that I lost, of course). I bow to you. You’re one reason why I continue to play despite the overwhelming odds. So thank you for the humility in victory and the bravery in defeat.

Wow, what a great fight this evening over SMC. First Mag then Yak…or was it Yak then Mag. Oh well, I musta got blown across the room twenty times and then a few of us chased some guys up to the third floor and had a great little melee. I eventually got toasted, but they didn’t finish me..hehe So, I revived and blasted one off the third floor. Wowser! That was so funny I almost couldn’t hold it in while we finished off the remaining two. We held out, barely, but then I think Mag finally took SMC about 10 minutes ago…something around there anywho.

But what a great fight guys…really good. ;-)

Really, you poor thing. That’s obviously the same logic that was applied to the last minute effort Borlis Pass displayed. Good Job this week! Your efforts will be rewarded…well, then again, maybe not.

Congratulations Borlis Pass for putting up such a valiant, although somewhat late and albeit worthless last minute struggle. Your great tactics and valor finally shown brightly in the last few hours. I would however suggest that next time, maybe next week against your those opponents, if you have such great players and are indeed so wonderful, try to come up with a bit more effort throughout the week rather than the sudden fruitless effort you displayed in these fading minutes.

FA down 15, waiting for SoS and Ehmry Bay to eat the bear.

As above, I know this is late. But I have a very short story about how I was treated by Gismor and his guild;

I was manning a treb and we were about to ‘storm the castle’. I was approached by one of his guild and asked…‘politely’ asked using my name and so courteously to move my aiming point just a bit. I was asked…nicely. No one does that, mostly.

This is a reflection of the guild and it’s leadership. I have no current guild (mostly) and was looking for a home. They won me…if I can find an invitation. The level of cooperation and just dang good leadership really inspires me.

UHHHH OH!

Looks like the bit and pieces are starting to fall. FA is crumbling and all the kings men and all the kings horses can’t save her. Beat up on CD more…that’ll raise everyone’s impression of how wonderful you are. laughs

DB is going strong, but have they given everyone the idea that all they have to do is join a giant zerg and roam from map to map and idly flip stuff. Where is the zeal and great game play I once saw from them when they played the other top five? Someone told me some time ago that it’s all in the number of players. If you believe that, good luck. You’ll be home to all the opportunistic fair-thee-well players who just wanna get that adrenaline fix when they kill.

Good ole CD…flagging at the last, but who can blame them. Up against a #5 and #6 server who boast population over time stats of twice their numbers. I’d be discouraged too. Hang in there, guys and girls. You gotta a lot of heart.

I’m not sure how to put this. I like the people I’ve met on DR, but hardly any of them play WvW. The new match up places DR against a multitude…a huge mass of players, yet twenty of us can hold out against their multitude. Still, we eventually just get run over. No skill, no great strategy just a bunch of hapless people who happen to have great numbers on their side. So, is that fun…for them apparently it is. That’s how they play, can’t say I blame them. For me, I get tired of trying to deal with five to ten players for our every one. So….I’m done with WvW for a while until AN figures out the match-ups or DR gets some intestinal fortitude and we get a few more players in WvW.

I agree that some of the repetitive, annoying comments made in some area of this particular area not only drive me to turn off the sound, but actually to just leave the area. Why on earth would someone have the idea that to annoy someone is a “good idea”? There are enough reminders of your failures or drive to succeed other than some lame, incessant, meaningless dribble that is forced to be heard if you want to try to have the background sound on. If you want the sound to be turned off, then you succeeded, I’ll turn the sound off in this area rather than listen the the "every 15 second loop of “Your failure is only amusing if you try.”

Well, you failed…and it’s not amusing.