Asura and Norn. Make both.
Asura => technobabble
Norn => bearcharge
Yep,
Asura (Technobabble + Moment of Clarity(Skirmishing trait)) = 6 second daze
Norn (Bearform – Charge) = highest damage attack
It’s really sad how much race matters to Rangers.
Meanwhile, Graping Vines(Sylvari) got nerfed into the ground during beta. It went from a 1200 range root with 5 targets to 900 range with 1 target that goes on cooldown if the target is out of range.
That said, I still like the idea of running Runes of the Grove + Entangle + Grasping Vines in WvW. I just never did.
There’s no reason the skills should do no damage though. That’s what has gotten the weapon into the situation it is now with most attacks being a DPS loss when used.
Hunter’s shot would break its own stealth if the stealth was instant, but the damage on-hit. I think this is the main reason why Hunter’s Shot requires the hit for stealth to work (so it can apply the stealth after it applied the damage).
Removing the damage from the skill allows the stealth to be instant. However it’s strange to shoot an arrow at someone that does nothing (apart from giving the pet swiftness), so it would need a non-damaging on-hit effect to make sense. It would also be a fair trade for the loss in damage.
Hunter’s Shot‘s damage is already very low anyway, so it’s not a big drop in dps. It currently does less damage than Long Range Shot at short range.
I haven’t tried it, but I could certainly see it work. I suppose all Soldier builds use Sigil of Intelligence, it just makes sense.
It feels like being a long range thief. You don’t escape as easy, but you don’t have to get into melee range either. You’re pretty safe, if you keep max range.
Don’t hesitate to Swoop away if someone comes after you. Just flee. If they stop chasing, turn back too. The worst that could happen is that you kept each other out of the battle for a bit. You may have to pop all your emergency measures while fleeing, but you’ll rarely die: Point Blank Shot(knockback), Hunter’s Shot(stealth), Protect Me(invulnerability), 2xdodge, Rampage as One(stability+swiftness), Swoop(leap), Counterattack(block), Signet of Renewal(condition removal), Nature’s Protection(protection on being hit), Polar Bear F2 (AoE Chill), Wolf F2 (AoE Fear), Heal as One.
But there is no safety as safe as keeping your 1500+ range distance. Be careful with Barrage, because it forces you to stand closer to the battle and it will root you in place for a few seconds.
There are more versatile classes for zerg combat, but it’s fun and you certainly aren’t worthless if you can keep yourself alive. You’ll feel safe out-ranging everyone, but you should always be on toes because it could all be over within seconds.
Read the Wind + Eagle Eye is the core of the build. If you don’t use these, it’s not the same type of build by a long shot.
I think it’s a set amount of time after taking damage & doing damage. For example, taking falling damage puts you in combat mode for a short time. I believe this is the exact amount of time it takes to get out of combat.
If you have a condition applied to your character you remain in combat as well. So a long duration bleed can be quite annoying. Maybe that’s bothering you.
Yep I’m running a similar build, except I use Nature’s Protection, which can be a real life saver (2000 armor+protection = 3000 armor). I also went 30 into Skirmishing for the passive bonuses.
I also don’t use Red Moa nor Quickening Zephyr, but that might just be laziness. I use Polar Bear (for Protect Me and AoE chill), Wolf(for AoE fear/damage/CC) and Signet of Renewal, which can also be a life saver and to prevent long duration conditions from keeping me stuck in combat mode.
As for Sigils, I use Air instead of Force. I wonder which does more damage in the long run, but I think Air does more burst damage and it’s on a 3s cooldown, so it can’t be much worse than Force. Air also scales with power now. Does anyone know the math?
I removed my suggestions for Point Blank Shot and Protect Me. They seemed out of place for a “minimal changes” topic.
I’m also not going to add Read the Wind / Piercing Arrows defaulting to the list because it seems more prone to opinion.
Now this topic is just about things that don’t work properly on Longbow+GS builds. I think they’re a source of annoyance to every Ranger who uses these weapons. Feel free to suggest any other clunky/buggy gameplay features on other Ranger weapons/traits/skills and I might expand the topic.
& Hunter’s Shot & Point blank shot should have a reliable character-rotating/turn animation like the short bow’s #3 because now if someone gets to you (which is rlly rlly veeeeeery easy) those two skills are almost worthless because most of the time they go on cd while not doing anything
Definitely agree.
Longbow feels very clunky and is terrible at landing hits at a short range. I feel the damage reduction on the auto-attack should be considered enough of a penalty for fighting at short range.
Pretty much agree, though I don’t think hilt bash’s problem is the range, just the overly long animation that makes it clunky (why do I have to stop moving to cast it?). I feel it would be way better already if there wasn’t this half-second root on it before the start of the animation.
Yep it might just be the clunky animation. I’ll change the wording a bit
Minimal changes which I consider required:
Hunter’s Shot (Longbow)
- damage reduced to 0
- instant stealth (no hit required)
- non-damaging condition on hit (stun/daze/cripple/chill/immobilize/blind)
Counterattack (Greatsword)
- knockback animation that allows unrestricted movement
Hilt Bash (Greatsword)
- improved animation that makes it much easier to land this attack
(edited by Holland.9351)
With season 2 coming up, potential new maps, what are the chances that we might be getting additions to the family
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Hirsute_Ice_Spider
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Jungle_Tapir
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Basilisk
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Plated_Behemoth
Speculate some skills
This pet: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Plated_Behemoth
with this as his F2, but in a radius instead of a line: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Unsteady_GroundIt would be nice to be able to trap an enemy/enemies inside and drop traps/aoe etc. Also, you could use it to protect someone from a stomp or allow some healing while inside.
yeah im interested in plated behemoth as well, was hoping if ever its skill would be something like this: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Earthquake
active knockdown would be nice
Plated Behemoth is also my favorite. I like these ideas.
I was thinking of a built-in Protect Me myself
Since you PvE, why not use dungeon tokens?
I would just go with full Berserker for a longbow Ranger.
They’re probably trying to land their knockback or stealth, which miss a lot.
If you like Longbows in WvW, definitely use the new grandmaster trait Read the Wind. It gives +100% projectile speed, which translates to basically having 100% hit chance. Even combined with Eagle Eye’s +300 range it hits everything within range. Longbow has never been this good in WvW.
The bad things about pets are:
- they can die and go on a 60 second cooldown
- they force the Ranger into combat mode if the pet is in combat
Unless these two issues are removed from the game, the pets will never amount to anything beyond 1v1 PvP.
Also they can’t hit a moving target without the target being immobilized/chilled/crippled/stunned. But that wouldn’t be so bad if the pets couldn’t die and wouldn’t force the Ranger into combat mode.
I, for one can’t stand a zerker build, ANY zerker build. In a med to large group they’re the ones that are focused and die first.
This. If you expect that people are going to let you sit at 1500 range and pew pew away you are wrong. When I see a bearbow zerker I immediately target them because they are almost always an easy kill.
Not in my experience. I survive more encounters than most. That’s the thing though, if you need more survivability, please go and get it. If you feel you could do with less survivability and more damage, then go for it too.
It works best in group combat because you can just sit back and pew-pew from afar
Exactly, and not miss a shot.
which is stopped when someone starts to attack you and the others realise that you’re a squishy ranger that can’t do anything because you have two signets (which is visible to them) and a bear which is the same as a big sign that reads “I HAVE ‘PROTECT ME’” all over it.
That’s where skill and experience come into play.
LB + GS requires skill to be played well. There are at least ten different combos which let you toss your enemy around and some of them allow you to stun them for over 10 seconds. The pets and skills you chose are horrible for the purpose given.
He’s asking for a LB+GS WvW build. Also, pets are about as worthless as it gets in WvW outside of solo roaming. My passive bear pet with Protect Me+Signet of Renewal does more than any of the other pets I could pick. Also, my attention isn’t divided. Again, this is just speaking of WvW and only for a Longbow focused build.
I am sorry to say this, but you are a bearbow. It’s bad, because it’s the same as a braindead hambow except that hambows actually contribute.
You call it braindead because you don’t enjoy it. Since Read the Wind the longbow is actually an excellent contribution.
There are obviously other Longbow+GS builds with better survivability, but not with more damage. You really won’t need much survivability if you can sit at 1500+ range and not miss a shot. If you feel you die a lot, then sure, bring Knights gear and pick Survival of the Fittest.
Thank you! I’ll give it a shot and see how it works out.
Please don’t, he is trying to trick you into using the worst and most hated build ever.
I was really hoping that was a troll and not the typical advice seen on the ranger forums
Don’t listen to these folks. He wants a small-group roaming build, so I assumed WvW.
My bearbow build is excellent for that since Read the Wind. These guys are either uninitiated or thinking about PvE / sPvP meta. It’s not a build for sPvP nor PvE. It’s a WvW build which works best in group combat. I wouldn’t advise 1v1 with it, but it’s not impossible and it has excellent escape options.
Also, you could go 6/0/2/6/0 with Survival of the Fittest, but I really don’t see the point in doing so when you’re playing WvW in a group. You’ll have less damage, less stealth, less barrage, less knockback and less rapid fire.
(edited by Holland.9351)
Don’t forget to leave your bear on passive or Protect Me and Signet of Renewal won’t work.
This is what I use in WvW:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRnUqQtg2vCGsAXLGYPoWHAFwZz+CGhQw1BnyquyaqA-TVCFABIcIAA4CAUo6PXpEEp9HlfC8AASTHQGaCW4IAQGA9JA-w
Stay at 1500 range. You won’t miss a shot. Focus down 1 enemy at a time.
If you get in trouble, use knockback or stealth on longbow. These won’t miss either.
If you’re still in trouble, use Protect Me. Leave Signet of Renewal on passive, unless you really have to use it.
If you’re still in trouble, switch to Greatsword and try to land your next 3 hits because Sigil of Intelligence causes crits. It’s nice to use Swoop out of stealth.
If you need to bail, switch to Greatsword. Swoop away and use Rampage As One for Stability+swiftness. Also, use Protect Me if it’s still up.
So, you have Stealth, Knockback, Protect Me, Signet of Renewal and Rampage as One to use in combat. If that’s not enough, switch to GS and either go for the kill or run away with Swoop/Rampage as One/Protect Me/Signet of Renewal/Counterattack(block).
(edited by Holland.9351)
I’m pretty sure the Black Widow has less health.
1s of cripple added to Rapid Fire for each hit.
I tried Ice today. It was alright in small scale battles and to annoy those who try to run away, but I would really suggest to go full damage with Fire + Air. The difference is noticeable. (for full Berserker builds at least).
Also, I said I was using Predator’s Instinct before, but I went back to Steady Focus. Basically for the same reason.
That said, I would say they’re both viable in small battles, but it’s probably not the best choice overall.
Predator’s Instinct is a wasted slot. No cripple will last for full 10-10+x seconds on a target that’s not a mob or dumb. If it did, then you would win anyway.
It’s very useful in WvW to prevent people from running away. I like it so much that I gladly drop the 10% damage for it. It goes really well with Read the Wind + Eagle Eye, because they makes single hits so much more reliable. Also Sigil of Fire + Sigil of Air to burst them below 50% faster.
I’m quite curious to try Sigil of Air + Sigil of Ice + Predator’s Insinct trait. I had to drop Piercing Arrows in favor of Read the Wind, so I might as well drop Sigil of Fire as well and go full focus on single-target instead of having some AoE.
Flat damage is nice, but these conditions do offer quite some utility.
I was thinking of getting Sigil of Ice together with Predator’s Instinct trait, but I’m using Sigil of Air + Sigil of Fire for now.
It really depends on which weapons you usually use.
I would get a Greatsword because I use it the most by far.
The build I use in WvW:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRnUqQtg2vCGsAXLGIPoWHAJwazeDOhSw1CnyquyaqA-TVCFABIcIAA4CAUo6PXpEEp9HlfC8AASTHQGaCW4IAAA-w
It’s a pretty straightforward/passive Longbow build.
Should work in PvE as well, but when you do dungeons, you’ll want to change the traits a bit. No need for Read the Wind, nor Predator’s Instinct for example.
For sPvP you’re probably better off with a 30/0/5/30/0 build as already has been posted.
More importantly : What is the trait best for?
I should have been more specific. I meant for WvW it’s the best trait for Longbow (in my honest opinion).
It’s very much a fix that costs a grandmaster trait – yes, but we have no other choice. It’s the fix the longbow needs. So, use it.
I think my “dps” skyrocketed compared to not having RtW. I like staying at max range with Eagle Eye and before many of my shots used to miss, but now none of them do. Except, of course, if they dodge/block/reflect/evade/etc, but that’s completely fair.
It’s the best trait in the game as far as I’m concerned. Even combined with Eagle Eye my shots never miss. Noone can avoid being hit by mere movement. It was my number 1 annoyance with the longbow and this fixed it.
I very much think it should stay in Marksmanship together with Eagle Eye. Those traits are perfect together.
It also allows the new build 30/0/5/30/0, which is quite good.
I personally went back to 30/30/x/x/x, so it would improve my build if it was moved to Skirmishing (I’d replace Moment of Clarity with Piercing Arrows), but I’d still rather see it in Marksmanship.
I’d rather see Piercing Arrows and Eagle Eye merge and also work for shortbow. Then they could add a new trait that doesn’t improve the longbow. Maybe a sword/greatsword trait or another signet trait.
Bearbow is excellent for PvE leveling.
If your server is the green team it’ll be super easy. If you’re on another team it’ll be harder, but just run there. Chances are that noone will even see you.
Or they might see you, but just keep going and get swiftness buff and Greatsword Swoop and you should outrun basically everything. Just don’t bother fighting them.
1) more chance to hit. (a missed Long Range Shot hurts us more than a missed Rapid Fire Shot)
2) works better against Aegis and Blind (first shot gets blocked, but the next ones won’t)
3) works at any range for the same amount of damage (test it on medium and short range instead of long)
4) can track through stealth (Stealth can’t escape it as easy as Long Range Shot)
I just tested this and the difference between Eagle Eye and Eagle Eye + Read the Wind is negligible at best. I’m not even sure there is a difference in range.
I’m not sure. For beastmasters to be a big thing, you’d need a pet which can reliably hit its target. I don’t think the update fixed that.
Pet F2 skill responsiveness was the big improvement, which will be useful for all types of builds. My longbow ranger is enjoying the company of the Red Moa a bit more now for example. Pet switch (F4) followed by F2 works now.
Read the Wind is excellent for longbow. I tried it and am really enjoying it. “dodge this”
I am however of opinion that either Read the Wind, Eagle Eye or Piercing Arrows should be default behavior. The competition is rather high on Marksmanship and rather non-existing on Skirmishing.
Unfortunately Read the Wind is going to have to replace either Eagle Eye or Piercing Arrows in a pure Longbow build, since you can’t have all 3. Or replace Spotter or Signet of the Beastmaster or Remorseless in slightly different Longbow builds.
If it makes the hit-chance almost 100%, it could be worth the trade-off, but it’s really sad that there needs to be a trade-off for it at all. There will be 6 useful Longbow traits in the Marksmanship line, but only 2 slots to put them in.
Meanwhile, for a Longbow build it’s a struggle to pick useful traits in other lines (Apart from the 1 trait Quick Draw in Skirmishing).
The real fix should be in spreading the traits, or allowing traits from one line to be used in another, rather than increasing the competition even more on these 2 Marksmanship slots.
oh for the sake of all thats holy.
Can you guys and gals please get over that “unparalleled archer” thing and move on. They changed the description and vision for the class a long time ago. Stick to the present and stop dwelling in what should have been and what you didnt get.
http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/ranger/
Still there
I think Read the Wind could be excellent, but I will have to wait and see.
Imagine every shot from Long Range Shot and Rapid Fire hitting 99% of the time. Instead of 50% as it sometimes feels.
It could also make the stealth from Hunter’s Shot and the knockback from Point Blank Shot hit every time.
So it might actually become a reliable weapon. Evade/Aegis/Block/Projectile Reflect/Projectile Block are still there of course, but that’s only fair.
I’m probably having my expectation way too high again, but I’ll give it a try to see how much difference it makes.
Judging by this: http://dulfy.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gw2-ready-up-livestream-rune-changes-3.jpg
Boon duration stacking got butchered too.
From: http://dulfy.net/2014/03/21/gw2-ready-up-episode-8-developer-livestream/
- Equivalent of 10% damage reduction for a full berserker build
- Trait lines, traits, and skills have being rebalanced individually.30 points in critical damage trait = 300 ferocity = 20% critical damage
The 10% is already lost by just looking at the 30 points spent on traits. It would indeed seem that the actual reduction must be much higher.
Longbow certainly has a lot of traits that could simply be made default:
Eagle Eye 1500 range
Piercing Arrows arrows pierce
Remorseless Opening Strike resetting on stealth
Read the Wind projectile speed
The worst part, you’re only allowed to pick 2.
I don’t mean complaints from Rangers, I mean from those who try to side-step it and fail miserably.
It’s still better than not having the option at all.
By the way, Mesmer Greatsword is still immune to Projectile Block and Projectile Reflect.
Also, as long as they can’t trait for over 1500 range, I can’t be complaining.
(edited by Holland.9351)
I’m actually quite excited about Read the Wind. But I’m imagining all the hits from Rapid Fire hitting, even if they side-step. 100% increase in speed is quite massive.
Remember how the projectile speed was already increased a while back and people were much happier with it. Now that’s going to be doubled. That could be a pretty amazing increase in hit-chance compared to what we get now.
We still have to worry about Aegis, Block, Evade, Projectile Reflect and Projectile Block, but hopefully not basic movement.
It’s a big investment for the Ranger, so that should shut up any possible complains about a longbow build which can’t be side-stepped anymore.
Marksmanship: Read the Wind
Could be used in combination with Eagle Eye in situations where Piercing Arrows isn’t required.
However, it has a lot of competition: Piercing Arrows, Eagle Eye, Spotter, Remorseless, Signet of the Berastmaster.
Skirmishing: Strider’s Defense
I don’t see this being used.
Wilderness Survival : Poison Master
50% more damage on poison is too low. That’s the same as 1 stack of bleeding.
Also, I bet this will not work on poison applied by your pet.
Nature Magic: Survival of the fittest
Looks good. Could compete with Empathic Bond.
I’m curious about the cooldown timer on it.
Beast Mastery: Invigorating Bond
I’d have to know for how much it heals for and what the radius is.
Natural Healing will probably be better, unless you think you can heal your whole party with it.
(edited by Holland.9351)
Pure Longbow traits in Marksmanship:
Eagle Eye (Master)
Piercing Arrows (Master)
Remorseless (Grandmaster)
Read the Wind (Grandmaster)
Other useful traits for Longbow in Marksmanship:
Spotter (Master)
Signet of the Beastmaster (Grandmaster)
So, a total of 6 useful Longbow traits, but only 2 slots to put them in. Rework this or you won’t be making any progress by adding Read the Wind. 5 traits are already competing for 2 slots, now you’re adding a 6th.
On a side-note,
useful Longbow traits in Skirmishing:
Quick Draw (Master)
That’s a total of 1 useful skill competing for 2 slots.
(edited by Holland.9351)
In that case, wow, talk about overloaded trait line. This new trait might not even be able to compete against Eagle Eye and Piercing Arrows. Signet of the Beastmaster already can’t.
As someone who used to play WvW a lot with Longbow before I quit playing, I must say that the new Grandmaster trait looks excellent. Having your shots side-stepped is frustrating.
I just have one worry I’d like to voice:
The Marksmanship line is already overcrowded with Longbow traits. I worry you won’t be able to pick all Longbow traits.
Piercing Arrows and Eagle Eye are a MUST-have. We already can’t pick Signet of the Beastmaster without having to lose one of those.
So, please make sure this new Grandmaster trait can go together with Piercing Arrows and Eagle Eye in one build.
So, I suggest you make it a Skirmishing Grandmaster trait. Skirmishing is currently a worthless line for Longbow with only 1 useful trait: Quick Draw.
This sounds like an excellent trait. There, I said it.
But I bet they will screw it up by putting it in the Marksmanship line, so you can’t have it together with Piercing Arrows and Eagle Eye.
If the Ranger class it supposed to be a sustained damage class without burst nor area of effect, then its single target damage should be reliable. Ranger damage is very unreliable:
Pet damage output is unreliable. Pets need to path and miss their attacks often.
Ranger long-range damage output is unreliable. All Ranger ranged weapons are projectile-based (Mesmer Greatsword isn’t for example). Meaning, they are countered by a lot of things: projectile reflect and projectile block, this on top of the usual things, like aegis that also prevent non-projectile damage.
Longbow has a long arc and can easily miss its target. It also does less damage at short range, so neither in short nor long range is the longbow reliable in dealing damage.
So no, Ranger does not have sustain unless its attack can hit their targets reliably. Pets and ranged weapons can’t. Ranger also has no on-demand condition removal, so their melee damage is also unreliable, since they can’t remove immobilize/chill/cripple, etc.
Ranger is horribly unreliable in dealing damage on a single target. So it can’t be considered a sustained-damage dealing class.
Give the longbow a 100% chance to hit at any range and allow pets to hit on the move 100% of the time. Then you’ll have a sustained damage class. Then you won’t have to add burst, then you wont have to add AoE.
Pet class-mechanic
Pet inactive after swapping
The pet is inactive for a few seconds after swapping. This also wastes valuable time on traits such as Zephyr’s Speed and Mighty Swap, which trigger on pet swap.
Pet buff skills don’t prioritize party members
“Skills that buff allies in an AoE now prioritize party members” is not true for pet skills.
Pet special ability (F2)
Doesn’t get used on a target if F2 is used right after swapping pets. This is especially bad if the pet has a leap or any other skill that requires a target.
Pet special ability (F2)
Makes pet attack your selected target after it has finished using the skill. Very annoying when using skills that aren’t direct attacks such as Moas’ F2 abilities or Mighty Roar. They’re buff skills, they shouldn’t initiate combat.
Pet special ability (F2)
Sometimes doesn’t get used, but still goes on full cooldown.
Pet missing WvW bloodlust buff
The WvW bloodlust buff for holding ruins isn’t given to the pet
Combat log
Pet damage is not in the combat log.
Pet names
Pet names revert to Juvenile <pet type> when switched to a different pet
Pet skill tooltips
Pet tooltips are using stats from the Ranger instead of from the pet.
Other
Pet conditions and boons
Are not visible to the Ranger without having the pet selected at your main target. Add them to the HUD.
Excessive pet swap cooldown
If a pet dies, the pet swap ability goes on a 60 seconds cooldown. That’s 3 times longer than the usual 20 seconds. That’s a rather harsh and excessive difference. In some situations there is nothing a player can do to prevent the pet from dying. The next pet is also more likely to die since it has to survive for 60 seconds before it can be swapped instead of the normal 20 seconds.
Whirling Defense (Axe 5)
Does not allow movement.
Pets don’t benefit from Ranger stats
- Pets do not benefit from the Ranger’s equipment.
- Pets don’t benefit from armor tiers. A ranger using ascended equipment has the same pet as someone who’s using exotic or masterwork or nothing.
- Maybe pets should be given their own item slot to solve both.
(edited by Holland.9351)