Guild Wars 2

I ran dungeons successfully as a LB ranger, BUT, I would run into melee range to set water fields, swap up and do some melee damage when necessary. But honestly, dungeon’s are more about the strategy then how quickly you put the boss down.

As much as I complain about the current state of the Ranger Class, Dungeon effectiveness isn’t one of my complaints. Poor play being the exception.

jcbroe.4329:

Searban.5984:

“PvP heavy” as in both WvW and sPvP, or only sPvP? Because if it’s the latter, I doubt we’ll learn anything meaningful from it.

I’m intending to watch it anyway, but to be honest, I feel like another set of leaked patch notes would be more useful. ;p

PvP heavy as in, there has been a mentioning of this update potentially being a revamp, or the beginnings of a revamp, of the PvP environment. There has been mentions of a less random reward system, a better leveling system, and rewards that span more content of the game (such as a way to earn copper/silver/gold from PvP, and players are hoping/speculating for ways to give their characters PvE experience).

All of those things that the devs definitely mentioned, like gold from PvP and a better rank and reward system are said to be definitely happening by the end of the year, and supposedly the patch is going to contain at least one QoL improvement in that regard.

However, the devs have said in a thread/livestream I believe that we’ll get more balance previews during the livestream too.

My goal with this thread is to get any and all rangers with active twitch accounts to heckle the chat stream about ranger changes so we can get as much information out there before next Tuesday as humanly possible, since devs have a habit of glossing over our classes changes and things that would be important to us.

And just to get the info out there for anybody that is interested in getting a peak at what’s in store for us.

I had not caught on that Anet was considering doing this, thanks for the reply.

Well, Poliswag, you may be in luck. Anet mentioned they’re taking a look at the Ranger Weapon numbers for the Oct. patch.

Yet, Barrage should be a shoot and forget ability, after all Rangers aren’t tanks, but instead, they give the tank heavy class and damage heavy class the ability to cast its AoE and run away to hide. ? Wha?

Kal Spiro.9745:

NargofWoV.4267:

However, again, that isn’t how I like to play this game or what I was led to believe when I made a Ranger.

Sorry, that just means you’re going about class selection wrong. If you were led to believe something other than what you experienced then obviously the information was faulty. If you played the class the way you want to play in the environment you wanted to play and did not enjoy it, then you’re not playing the right class. It isn’t a problem with the class it is a disconnect between the class and you. You should not be playing a Ranger because the Ranger does not jive with your expectations nor intentions. Don’t try to force a round peg into the triangle slot, it won’t fit. Go find your triangle.

Yes, but I was forced to find that Triangle, because the class I thought was correct due to the game description was in fact in correct. And Yes, it fits my play style better, I can now play a Long Bow and be effective, sorry, MORE effective than the Ranger class. Sadly the difference is striking. For the life of me I can not figure how OP in comparison the LB is for another class when put up against the Ranger LB.

Why?

Scrotbag.9715 : “I feel that your post, while containing some valid points, is very narrow minded and overly defensive. Frankly, I’m not interested in having a discussion that follows this format, I just have no interest in it. If you are going to moan about it and threaten to quit, then do it. Stop arguing about why you are right to quit and get on with your game while everyone plays theirs.”

Yet your response to my concerns have been offensive in nature… “I hate posts like this, I don’t like folks who moan”, my post was in response to this attitude. I’ve always viewed this forum and all such forums in the MMO world as a place to give all viewpoints concerning a class particularly when said class is viewed as under performing. If you don’t believe it is, just go to other forums and see how the class is thought of… I’ll give you a hint: easy bags. Obviously, to a large part of the general population this class is a joke in wvwvw (obviously not spvp), and sadly as some have posted here, you can get kicked out of groups for being a lb ranger in certain dungeon groups or completely unwanted by certain guilds (I don’t understand this sentiment but it exists).

You want to hear some moaning? Try this, make the Warrior main weapon breakable for a min on say… a certain type of crit so that the weapon will only do 70% of its normal damage and compound the issue with no real BIG noticeable way to show you its broken except to stare at a small icon on the screen. Boy you will hear some moaning then.

I think when a pet dies, it should IMMEDIATELY appear next to us in ghost form to let us know, not wander back aimlessly across 1200 units of ground.

Anyhow, yea I have grown frustrated with the class and like I said, have moved on. I didn’t want to. Want the class to come back, I put a lot of time and effort into making the Ranger the best it could be, sadly that best, isn’t good enough the way I play.

Prysin.8542:

NargofWoV.4267:

Prysin.8542:

If you think casual play should reward you equally as much as dedicated play, you are gravely mistaken. Casual play should be rewarded thereafter, and if you try things “casually” with a ranger, you are screwd. For one reason and one reason alone, you will never ever learn it’s weaknesses nor will you ever learn how to counter those weaknesses.

Casual play? Go play guardian, its perfectly balanced for not giving 2 cents about learning to play.

There is a learning curve with all classes. Why should the Ranger Class be a higher learning curve? And yes, already re rolled, something I swore I would never do, and I’ve immediately see a huge difference. That is sad.

Better question might be, why do we continue to exist and try to thrive in a class with glaring problems? Pet AI, Ascended Gear discrepencies, etc…

Its not higher learning curve, its a different learning curve. The skill floor changes dramatically. While most professions have a steadily increasing skill level, rangers have a easy start, and a terribly hard middle. then once you get good, the remaining way won’t take long.

also, rangers are slightly more dependent on a players reflexes and ability to recognize enemy movements in order to dodge. That boils down to; either you are good at MMO’s, or you ain’t. And no matter how good a handicap any other profession provides, that flaw is an individual problem, not a game balance one.

I respectfully disagree, I do believe the game mechanic of the class limits its usefulness in part of the game, largely WvWvW, which is the part of the game I most enjoy. The fact the Pet is useless in keep work, or zerg work means the class is limited in what I enjoy doing. PvE, the Ranger class is fine. I already stated I’ve never stepped foot in sPvP, not my thing. I do stand by my statement that the learning curve is higher for the Ranger class, only because becoming as effective with my Warrior took much less time to learn (maybe it is because I’m now a Vet with this game?? or it suits my play style better?)

I will say, that in roaming situation, solo or small group, the Ranger Class with the right build can hold its own. And, although I came to melee late in the year I played a ranger, it felt pretty good in a roaming environment. However, again, that isn’t how I like to play this game or what I was led to believe when I made a Ranger.

Treeline.3865:

My opinion? I have a ranger, mesmer and necromancer.
In PvE? Ranger all the way.
In PvP? Ranger all the way (Although occasionally a necromancer does outskill me)

..And I’m still friggin scared when I run into a spirit ranger.

And yet, there are posts on this forum from folks saying they had been kicked out of PUG groups in PvE dungeon runs for using a bow….

Prysin.8542:

If you think casual play should reward you equally as much as dedicated play, you are gravely mistaken. Casual play should be rewarded thereafter, and if you try things “casually” with a ranger, you are screwd. For one reason and one reason alone, you will never ever learn it’s weaknesses nor will you ever learn how to counter those weaknesses.

Casual play? Go play guardian, its perfectly balanced for not giving 2 cents about learning to play.

There is a learning curve with all classes. Why should the Ranger Class be a higher learning curve? And yes, already re rolled, something I swore I would never do, and I’ve immediately see a huge difference. That is sad.

Better question might be, why do we continue to exist and try to thrive in a class with glaring problems? Pet AI, Ascended Gear discrepencies, etc…

Check this board for some builds that may work better for you, but Oct. 15 they said they would be adjusting our Weapon numbers. Good luck.

While they’re toning down our Healing Spring, they did mention in the patch notes that Dev was taking a look at our Weapon Numbers. That could be a positive, sadly, it sounds like they realize Ascended Items cripples our class and drops it further behind the DPS chain since our Pets don’t benefit. So, from that perspective I expect some love.

Scrotbag.9715:

1) Not really. Every class is different and writing something like this is just lazy and untrue.

2) There are many viable builds… The problem is you just need to play them correctly to maximise them. You can’t play every build the same

3) Speak for yourself… i.e. Trap build = never having to worry about a thief again. It’s the same as above really, you can’t treat every class with the same approach. If you do, you deserve to get whipped.

4) I can only assume you haven’t played the game since the recent patch that buffed spirits. If you need confirmation of this, go play sPvP or read the forums. Spirit rangers are solid in sPvP resulting in mass QQ on forums about them.

I can’t stand posts like this. If you post a massive moan about your class with the classic and incredibly boring “If we don’t get a buff I’m quitting” then I pray for 2 things. 1) a nerf 2) you to be true to your word and quit.

We really don’t need any more whingers in this class forum.

1). While every class is different, you can get away with a single build and play everything fairly well with other classes, where you can’t with a ranger. Casual Player Unfriendly.

2). I love posts that say, " Oh to beat this class you should use this traits, this armor, this weapon, swap this pet out, move here, wait for them to try to do X, then hit Y and WIN!" The Ranger class lacks adaptability. Casual Player Unfriendly.

3). “you can’t treat every class with the same approach” Gee, ok, hang on Cond. Necro while I run to Lion’s Arch to respect, re gear, and retrait, then I will come back and show you something! Casual Player unfriendly.

4). I’ve yet to step foot in an Spvp event… I don’t play this game for that type of play. Could care less how the ranger plays in that environment.

What’s a “whingers” ?

Ranger in melee, well I’m not about to tell you its more useful or less useful than a Warrior in melee attack. At the end, my Ranger was competent with Sw/dag & Axe/torch, in fact I could make a Theif run off to greener pastures.

It isn’t why I rolled a Ranger though. I wanted a ranged class. So far the Warrior bow out performs the ranger bow in many ways. This is sad.

Anet said they’d be looking into Ranger weapon numbers for a little bumpage, which means they realize we don’t measure up to the new Legendary and Ascended weapons and gear due to pet balance. At least that is my guess.

Funny thing is, I played a LB ranger since day one, only toon till 3 weeks ago. Never asked out of a dungeon group for using a LB, always felt like I helped a lot, Waterfield placement at the right time can be a life saver. I have many ranger gripes, but Dungeon running isn’t one of them, >shrugs<.

What I don’t get is, why is it deemed op if the issue is its long term (relatively speaking) condition removal, yet Anet is going to be pulling back some of the high numbers that Condition spamming classes are causing. Seems like talk out of both sides of the mouth.

You’re doing too much Cond. dmg, but we’re taking away the ability to cleanse it, cause it was taking to much Cond. dmg away.

Yikes.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Let’s hope rangers even come up at all. They have a lovely precedent of not even mentioning us.

Oh, we are, they’re nerfing Water Field, its OP in certain situations.

blackgoat.5172:

Your Title caught my eye. I find your post interesting because I started in this game as a Thief got to 80 geared him out and just was never happy. I moved made and Ele got better at the game in general and went back to my Thief with a new outlook. I’m running a pistol build and love it (everyone says pistol’s are bad, I don’t care its fun). Anyway my point is this, I’ve been leveling a Ranger (lvl 45 now) and playing mostly melee because that’s how i want to play it. Ive been blow away because so far the fighting style is what I had wanted out of the Thief .

Yup, the ranger, melee condition build is a solid build, and the one I’m leaving on my Ranger as I move to a class that is better at the style of ranged play I enjoy. Have fun with it.

mistsim.2748:

this class is terrible because they have no vision with it. main issues:

1. prof mechanic is fundamentally broken, unresponsive, boring
2. no burst damage
3. most conditions require melee-600 range to apply
4. disgustingly bad utility skills
5. few if any effective disengage abilities

other than having access to several aoe immobilizes and a water field, the ranger does nothing better or different compared to other profs.

Yup, and I’m glad that Anet has decided to nerf Water Field, oh they call it a change, but in reality it is deemed to powerful in one segment of the game and has to be changed to even the playing field. >shrugs<

Lukyromero.6780:

First of all, ranger is not a class where you hop into and think you can build easily. This is probably the most complicated class in the whole game and people have trouble seeing the potential that this class holds. People who play ranger thing that just because they can do some fancy tricks with sword and dagger, it means that the build they’re using is the only way rangers can be good. THIS IN FACT IS NOT THE CASE, AS EVEN ANET PUT IT TO YOU STRAIGHT FORWARD ON THE CLASS DESCRIPTION: “With traps, nature spirits, and a stable of loyal pets at their command, rangers can adapt to any situation.” KEY WORDS : ADAPT TO ANY SITUATION. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy to build a ranger, and on top of all that, this takes a lot of time to do. I personally have a warrior and thief along with my ranger, but unlike ranger, they are easy to build; I just put points here and there, and voila, I’m done. I play ranger and it gets more technical because the trees don’t give matching stats they way other classes do, let alone you have to find ways to connect different traits together.

Another thing is that people are crying about their pets no being strong enough to sustain your satisfaction. This is a really odd ideology for one thing that most rangers seem to disregard their pets. Your pets have to come from you as a connection; you have to make your pets able to work with you in a way you know that you can trust them to do something you want them to do. For me, I am nothing without my pet jaguar and jungle stalker. I simply have to love them for the amount of damage they do for me as i slowly devour my enemy using shortbow or axes. If your pet is dying constantly, then it’s a fact that you’re not into rangers. Again, this brings up the point about adapting to situations.

What is meant about adapting to situations? take zerk warrior or thief, no matter what, they’re not gonna stop trying to burst you, so what can you do to counter their burst? You see a condi necro and you know hes going to put a ton of conditions on you what are you going to do? These questions should come to mind a lot. Most of these can be answered by the use of your pet, the use quick wits, and the ability to adapt to whatever situation you’re presented with. This takes a lot of time and patience to work on, developing your play style, and making your pet useful are all very hard.

I wont go deep as to how I build my ranger because this is a build I’ve worked on for 2 months now, and of course, you shouldn’t look crouch over a build you see coming from other players in YouTube, you should find our own build and find ways to make it adaptable to any situation. It takes practice, patience, and above all, resilience.

take a look at this ranger, although he uses an apothecary build, he’s mastered situations rather well with sword and dagger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cK4CaTy24ZA

I’m not saying to copy him I’m jsut pointing out the fact that hes prepared for whatever is thrown at him and if you looked closely at his video, HIS PET does a lo fo work from once he pops signets.

Couple problems with your ideas in your post, first is you’re thinking adaptability on the fly is an easy thing to do, especially involving pets. I don’t have all their attributes memorized to know exactly what pet I should quickly put into my hot bar because the guy I see at clip range might be a condition Necro who may attack me so I need a condition removal…. was it Bear? Not to mention that the Bear is being enhanced in the next patch because its condition removal is deemed too weak, but glad you (ok not you but some here in general) think it has been exceptional up until now.

And If I am NOT a trap build, but one is needed, it isn’t so easy to say… Oh hang on, let me port to town, get my trap build purchased from a vendor, re gear, re signet… then be back to fight the fight in 15 min.

Adaptability comes from having a mechanic that is Adaptable on the fly, not one that is adaptable in 15 min and requires a few silver or a costly GEM purchase to make happen.

blutstein.2468:

NargofWoV.4267:

Now having played a Warrior at 80, I truly don’t understand how Barrage isn’t a fire and forget ability, that we have to stand still to fire it off, especially when the Warrior has as good of an ability that is fire and forget. >Baffled<

mainly because a ranger is a ranger and a warrior is a warrior. Pls stop compairing professions. Go play your warrior.
Or are you complaining about applejuice, that it doesn’t taste like orangejuice although both is juice?

Hell, i’m tired of such complaints, its so pathetic.

No, using a bow as a Warrior or using a Bow as a Ranger is like Orange Juice v. OrangeAid, but you don’t seem to see it. It is a bow, ranged weapon that should be comparable, but are vastly different. Why? Hey, yea, I’m now forced by Anet to play a class I didn’t want to, because the class I’m leaving is inept, and weak at the very abilities Anet said it was suppose to be the master of, FOR a class that actually out performs the very inept and weak abilities of my Ranger.

I don’t care to make this change, but it is what it is… sad.

Now having played a Warrior at 80, I truly don’t understand how Barrage isn’t a fire and forget ability, that we have to stand still to fire it off, especially when the Warrior has as good of an ability that is fire and forget. >Baffled<

The other problem Anet is having to come to grips with is Ascended/Legendary gear not contributing to our Pets, which contributes greatly to our Damage. If you don’t understand this issue then you’re sorely mistaken.

Also, pet survivability in Dungeons is also holding PvE content down. Now Anet is starting the whole, pets will be inv. to certain AoE’s, soon every dungeon will have “special” pet rules, just so that we aren’t irrelevant in future content by the hard core gamer types.

BadBrain.2195:

Just stop complaining and learn how to play this class, for me (as a ranger player) it’s one of most OP classes in pvp and pve

While it can play in most every area of the game, I wouldn’t put it as OP, with the exception of sPvP, which is being nerfed or was nerfed. While we CAN play in all these areas, we are far from the kings of any of them, sPvP aside.

My Ranger could go into any dungeon and survive contribute, fight any boss and survive and contribute, but it doesn’t mean we do it better than anyone else, far from it. TO ME, I was lied to by Anet when they described the ranger as a ranged class, it simply isn’t. A Warrior makes a better Ranger (and it does) at range, which is why I’m happy now. A Warrior suits my ranged play style far better than my Ranger does, cause it actually DOES ranged damage, focused and dedicated (not running around as 1000+ units in the wrong direction).

What you say about Barrage is so true, after playing with the Warriors f1 shoot and forget AoE, the Ranger Barrage has got to change to a cast while moving or cast and forget.

It is not fair this ability v. the Warrior ability is so different. I can hop up onto a wall, hit my Warrior f1 at the gate, hop off run and hide, and watch the Condition ticks roll.

I hear you… And now that I’ve leveled up a true ranger, (warrior), to 80 and wvwvw’d some with him, I won’t be on my Ranger much anymore.

Shoot and forget AoE’s, powerful AoE bombs, great Condition ticks that actually mean something with 1/2 a dozen ways to apply them…. Survivability, na.. I’m not looking back, no pet to worry about, no pet chasing something on the other side of the map, or f2’s not working.

Makes better sense to give pets an added dps/support/range/(pet dependent trait) boost per item of Ascended or Legendary that we acquire.

THE one bit of hope is that Anet follows through on the patch notes and boost Ranger Weapon Numbers, per their promise, to make up for the static pet dps numbers.

Since the bow has some real nice Condition Damage to it, and can be swapped out with a Sword/ >shield or horn<, which the Sword also ticks some great Condition Dmg, go with +Cond armor and stats that improve your bow play and swap ability plus’s.

Look up some Cond builds.

smaller = better in WvWvW and PvP. Sighting issues, hiding better, issues, blending in better issues, etc..

Not sure I follow what you’re trying to accomplish with the build, you have high Crit Damage add (72%) but not a particularly high chance to Crit. What is your goal with the gear you are trying to use?

Not sure why you’re limiting your gear due to RP reasons, by that I’m assuming you mean Role Playing reasons. Seems like I would make some sort of story line to get myself some nicer gear. Just HAD to kill the Karka Queen for what she did to my extended family in SouthSun Cove, etc… For all my great endeavors keeping realms out of our frontier the Queen has awarded me some fine armor from the royal vendor in our Realm Keep… Or I have crafted, well you get the picture…

Suddenflame.2601:

Ok every time I seen one of your posts Ryan I just have to post cause you bring misinformation into the discussion. I run an LB/GS warrior and Fomby’s post is pretty much a good strategy using the LB but its not the only one. Such as just yesterday I went 1v1 against a Jade Quarry Legendary thief (for any one who doesn’t know in WvW you can only see the titles and not the name) and made him flee since I was killing him drastically using 90% LB. Gap closers exist yes, but there also exists on the LB an anti-gap closer. I also don’t use my LB to sit behind 10 guys either I am the person saving my teams kitten as i sit there at the rear of the zerg using a barrage to create a cripple zone so that my zerg can escape with minimal casualties.

LB is great for control and DPS. The LB allows you to control positions of enemies while inflicting damage. All of its skills are designed around the concept of control. Such as:

1. forces your opponent to get closer to you or suffer massive damage.
2. Forces your opponent to waste a dodge or move positions
3. Allows you to change your position without being spotted
4. Forces a close enemy to be moved back and interrupts
5. Makes an area a no man zone unless the person wants to suffer damage and cripple.

All skills are dealing damage based on positions. Ranger LB is all about being able to control the flow of the combat while dealing DPS.

Shortbow is about your position and conditions.

1. Damage plus condition based on your position
2. Applies Conditions to enemies in front
3. Change your position and gain swiftness to continue changing position
4. Apply conditions
5. Apply a control condition based on your position.

Shall I keep breaking down the fundamentals of all Ranger weapons just to explain to you each weapons purpose and synergy?

How are you comparing a LB Warrior to a LB Ranger? I’m glad you run a LB/GS warrior, but it isn’t the same. I’m leveling a LB Warrior (75 now), I can assure you it isn’t the same. The amount of crazy AoE damage my LB Warrior has at its disposal compared to my Ranger… Ridiculous Amazing. The amount of Dmg I can do with my Warrior compared to my Ranger, ridiculous and amazingly better.

“I don’t get why you people say rangers are bad right now. I have fought plenty rangers in wvw 1v1 or in group fight and they were pretty tough to take down. Just yesterday before the patch I fought this spirit ranger, dude murdered me. Even if I killed his spiris he just brought them back. He also healed like a mother with that troll heal thing.

Maybe rangers who say they are bad just need to learn to play."

Depends on the goals of the guild, if the guild is a WvWvW guild, then the Ranger is pretty useless, unless you’re guild runs around in 2’s and 3’s. But, in Zerg Work, Keep Work, large group work Rangers are at the bottom of the need list, we don’t do much group support or enough dps.

Because of the funky way Tab Target works in GW2 our Pets run off and attack targets no where near the target(s) you are attacking. I’ve fought two targets, tried to tab target between them and had my pet run off and pull a third target to me.

Rather annoying. Sometimes I find the pet on something I don’t think I ever targeted, which has something to do with leaving a pet on aggressive. >shrugs<

Looking over the lists above, I think most of the areas have been covered.

All pipe dreams. Sadly. But on the up side my warrior is 74 now.

I personally would go with the Silvari, tree/plant folks, makes sense to me they would use wood type weapons like bow/arrow, <shrugs>. I know we have access to the Great Sword, but Silvari would seem to fit the ranger mold better. Just my opinion.

Great write up OP. Well put together.

Ok, found it… Here :

“JonathanSharp

Game Design Lead

Thanks guys!

We’re being very mindful about the way the Sigil of Para fix will hit Warriors. We’ve already got another balance patch brewing, and we’re being very careful to watch all the classes and see how they feel after we shave down the condition spam classes slightly.

As others have said, once we bring down the conditions that “hold down” some of the physical based classes, they will feel stronger. We’re aware of that!

Thanks again for the feedback!"

Now, I guess the question is, are Rangers a “Condition Spam Class” or a “physical based class”?

ItIsFinished.9462:

NargofWoV.4267:

Enjoy it while we can:

“JonathanSharp

Game Design Lead

Next

Further down the Road

•We’re also looking to make conditions scale better in PvE/WvW leveling so that they’re more viable at different junctures in the level scale. "

Translation: Nerf incoming.

How does his statement translate into “nerf incoming”? I see a combination of words that make it seem like a buff to conditions is coming, like “scale better” and “more viable” in his statement.

Have you not paid attention to the way Anet words things, if not go re read their description of the nerf to our Waterfeild. Hint: It sounds very much like a buff.

Edit: Also, I believe the original Dev posting was over on the Warrior forum, and it was on the discussion of Condition Builds being OP. Dev jumped in with the first notice that Cond. was being looked into. To busy at the moment to re look it up.

Enjoy it while we can:

“JonathanSharp

Game Design Lead

Next

Further down the Road

•We’re also looking to make conditions scale better in PvE/WvW leveling so that they’re more viable at different junctures in the level scale. "

Translation: Nerf incoming.

The problem is, the class has a difficult time dealing with a missing 30% of its damage… I’m not sure any other Anet class has as hard a time with this much of its damage being relegated to MIA. Certain Ranger Melee builds have it easier, but anything ranged and the class is kitten particularly at long range.

Pet dies, kitten class… Pet has to chase, kitten class… Pet attacking whatever it likes, kitten class… Pet has to run 1200 units to get to what is targeted, kitten while getting there class.

My main is a Ranger, Warrior is only 65 at this point. However, I feel like I have better control of my DPS with the Warrior. The Ranger is very pet dependent for DPS and the Pet AI isn’t exactly right. There are issues and when the creep up the Ranger’s DPS suffers.

Chopps.5047:

Did I make a thread on apothecary? I don’t think I did. Check jubskie’s sticky for apothecary guides…they’re probably slightly outdated so keep that in mind and read up on patch notes that happened afterwards.

Thanks Chopps, you’re correct it was this thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Hyjaxx-s-Re-Port331-The-new-hotness/page/6#post2602678

I was thinking about.

Chopps had a thread on a Condition build I still run using Apoth gear, well Chopps uses gear from the Karka Queen event in qw2 which is a non existent fight on all but one server.

Holland.9351:

*
Pets are useless in WvW zerg and wall fights anyway.

That is a sad fact and that sums up a lot of my wvwvw experience and why I’m rolling another class. We are kitten 30+ % damage in wall fights and zerg fights because pets are useless. Which is probably 50% of my time in wvwvw.

I don’t see a way around it, sure putting a pet on guard or “protect me” is handy for a little bit, but our damage is low because of the lack of added pet damage.

AND why I can’t recommend the class to anyone who likes to WvWvW.

Sina.9208:

Taku.6352:

I’ve been hunting a fractal warhorn for god knows how long. All I seem to get from FotM sre skins that I can’t use on my ranger.

I feel your pain, the things I really wanted never dropped for me either :I

So much trueth to this, I have 5 Champion Weapons sitting in my bank unused waiting on Lord Taeres’s Shadow to drop.

To really FIX the counter to the Stealth of the Thief, it can’t be a trait. It has to be on a grouping of pets, say pigglet that sniff out thief and do damage as well. It can’t be a trait we will not run around with because it doesn’t fit our build.

How do you know you’re going to be fighting a moving target? A stationary target? A hidden target? Chopps every answer can’t be… Easy use this pet in this situation… We only get 2 up. Glad you can anticipate what fight you’re going to have before you have it.

Chopps.5047:

Thank god: someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. Thanks for that post +1

Also, rangers keep in mind: you are the “AI”. You can pull your pet back from aoe attacks, you can swap, you can recognize the danger.

Sure, so when the guy I thought was standing near me retreats into a bunch of AoE fields I didn’t see, tell me again how I can recall my pet? Or when the person I THINK is targeted isn’t the one I have targetted, or I mysteriously DROP target (happens a lot) and my pet is chasing someone out there… Or, I loose track of my pet because all of a sudden my health bar is dropping and I’m trying to figure out why, what thief has unstealthed on me. When it is time for me to start dodging around what’kittenting me and my poor pet is 1200 units away and my swap is down. Honestly, there are times when I just flat out die before my pet does.

I rarely find myself running solo, I’m usually with the zerg or in a guild group. As such, Zerg battles pets die or sometimes I die so fast it isn’t funny. In guild groups, pet AI work is easier as long as I’m not being focused. If I am, it is busy time, with dodging and rolling and hitting proper sword skills to worry about the pet. And, If I’m dodging, rolling and moving about chances are the pet isn’t hitting anything anyway, cause their chasing.

Ascended “All Stats” warhorn is purplish but don’t believe it has a glow effect.

I agree, team will only help with this, mainly because you have to substitute out something you will probably need to actually Kill the thief to put “Sic em” up.

Atherakhia.4086:

Now as for quantifying the pet, you must also find some way to account for the pets downtime for being dead. the downtime for running to a target. The fact that the pet can’t hit a moving target but maybe 1 in 3 shots. The fact that F2 abilities have a near 50% failure rate because they either miss outright or misfire.

Bingo. This is the biggest issue with so much of our damage relying upon the pet and why consistent damage by my bow wielding warrior is far superior to my bow wielding ranger.

So, you’re thinking you won’t have “Sic em” on your trait bar like Heal, all the time? Only after you encounter an area with thieves or a theif, then after he kills you or a guild mate, you get out of combat and put it up?

My point being, will “Sic em” be worth a full time slot to deal with 1 class you may or may not run into while you’re running to Hills?

Will a Trap build drop a trap for “Sic Em” ? Would a Spirit build drop a spirit for “Sic Em” ?

I just feel like it will have a very minimal use.

edit: Obviously, this is all theory craft, no telling what will happen once we get to test it live.