Guild Wars 2

I hear you OP… And recently there are issues with the Jubilee bosses and pets dying instantly hampering our ability to complete some of the bosses.

At this point, I would settle for a pet ability to simply dodge when we dodge or an option to do this, so we can “save” our pets in certain circumstances even if it means it eats one of our Dodge’s, or give us more than 2, let us have 4 to make up for having to dodge our pet as well as ourselves.

I have a solution, do away with Spvp.

Problem solved.

I solo champions… I don’t think the class is bad in pve, just dungeon work and wvwvw.

Soronthar.7236:

Underwater combat XD Seriously, most of my bags during a Bay siege come from poor souls that jump into the water.

This… This is about the only thing we excel at. Sadly.

There are better classes to play end game than the Ranger. I still only have 1 toon and it is a ranger.

From what I read, in spvp, rangers have their moments…. In wvwvw, roaming or in small group encounters we hold our own, in keep work LB is fine but underwhelming, in Zerg v Zerg matches, LB is underwhelming but can help the zerg, any other weapon in Z v Z your dead, but with the LB at least you stay a live for a bit. Edit: Unless your group gets the jump, then sword/torch axe/horn or LS do fine.

Edit: It is a funny thing, I still like the play STYLE of the ranger in concept, it just is meh when it comes to doing a lot of dmg if you plan to not be a glass pea shooter. We are more of a great assister than anything else. Drop that 5 vulnerabilities on the guy your guild has targeted… Finish off guys lying on the ground, that sort of thing.

In Zerg/Zerg switch to bows and stay the heck back…. Even with a cond. build strong in Tough/Healing/Cond. Dmg gear I die real real fast in the front of a zerg. I’ve had to modify my decision making to either stay in the middle try to attack those trying to push through or in the back with the bow. Edit: I have over 20k health. 2000 tough.

Atherakhia.4086:

MANPOSSUM.4691:

I was building my ranger as a sb/axe+torch condition build, are those still viable or has something happened to that?

That’s the bunker build most run and is really the only truly viable build the class has. If you plan to run full apothecary/settler’s with condi spam you’ll be fine. I wouldn’t use both SB and Axe though. SB has been made mostly redundent with the recent nerfs/buffs. Go greatsword in your offslot for defensive utility and an escape and you’ll have a blast. There’s also sword+dagger/WH as an optional off-hand.

Still far inferior to engineers and necromancers, but it’s still effective.

Just stay out of the front of Zerg/Zerg battles with this Cond/Bunker build, it can still be a stun/aoe/your a bag mill, leave this kind of thing to the Guardian or Warrior types.

Castaliea.3156:

NargofWoV.4267:

Glad you do, ran around in an organized guild zerg last night (not my guild, was tagging along), never once did the commander call out “need Rangers to do this”, yet every other class was asked to do something during the run, yes even thieves asked to scout out a few things… However, when he asked another class for water fields, I did oblige, even if not asked, specifically.

We should all just refuse to ever use Healing spring.

Of course then they’d probably just buff Ele water fields so we’d really never be missed…
NVM GUYS IT WAS A BAD PLAN.

Heh, I did receive my first compliment ever on a Fractal run, guys kept commenting about the well placed Water Fields, kept wondering who was dropping them….

Rangers are not “very dangerous” at least in the context of Zerg WvWvW, we are very annoying, but not dangerous. The LB allows us to stand back out of the AoE mess at the front, as long as you don’t hit a retaliation, which you always will in High Tier zerg fests.

Most of the time it is Portal bombs in your face messes at least in upper tier zerg work. Not even a high healing, Cond. build lasts but for mere seconds in the general scrum at the front of a zerg on zerg encounter.

Never compare us to arrow carts, last time I was on an arrow cart I had like 8-9 bags, I’ve almost never stood on a wall with a LB and acquired more than 2-3, most times none ( a few Garrison epic defense fights keeps me from saying more than 2-3 all the time).

Sadly, it is silly stupid how few bags I still get even with the new tag rules. Last night took a keep, guys in chat were counting all their bags, I had like 4… Them talking about being rooked cause they’d only received 10 bags.

[quote=2581728;CETheLucid.3964:]

Glad you do, ran around in an organized guild zerg last night (not my guild, was tagging along), never once did the commander call out “need Rangers to do this”, yet every other class was asked to do something during the run, yes even thieves asked to scout out a few things… However, when he asked another class for water fields, I did oblige, even if not asked, specifically.

From certain perspectives the class is viable, I went out the other night with a guildy ranger and the two of us had fun in an area battling thieves and other rangers, won some lost some.

From other perspectives like Zerg WvWvW stuff, or keep taking, our viability is sub par. Zerg’s our pets die to fast with all the aoe around, we can’t hit things up on the walls we should be able to. Heck in Zerg’s we die to fast, but atleast have an option of staying out of the thick if it with ranged, even if hampered by a dead pet.

I still believe the best ranger is a warrior with a bow.

Paz Shadow.9715:

Okay, real good thread IMO we have a lot of people voicing their opinions and I like that… I guess the next question is, are there any skills we could tweak (blast finisher to maul, change guard, etc etc…) that would give rangers the ability to become a “must have” in large team battles?

I think a great place to start is Maul, that with war horn 5 gives us two great blast finishers we can use with our healing spring… it would let us support our group more instead of just dropping the spring then being done.

Who’s “we” ? I can’t tweak a thing I’m not on the staff … AND last I heard, we are fine, nothing to worry about because one of the Developers plays a ranger and he doesn’t see any issues worth making a stink about, because he likes to solo roam and he knows how to do that real well.

Honestly, even with using a sw/dag & axe/torch cond. build I die waaaay to quickly up front in zerg v. zerg fair, the aoe is just to large (even in full Apoth gear or Dwayna gear). So, in such a scenario I prefer to use GS/LB and stay the way the heck back. Let all those armor types run in… If not we are just bags for the other team.

So, all we bring is “steady” mediocre as your pet will be dead almost instantly, dps.

We provide little bags for everyone one else to enjoy. We are the masters of laying down our lives for the hosts to feed upon, to fight the good fight and loose, cause well someone has to and it might as well be the weak class that can’t kill anyone.

Actually, I’m rather enjoying the new “condition” build I’m using (but that’s a bit of an aside).

scooby treat.8420:

All i do on this game is WvW and I can tell you I’m starting to look for another game (i’m downloading a new one as we speak). The state of WvW is at an all time low. With this new ranking system putting T8 servers against T5 servers. Hacks/cheats running rampent, zerg balls everywhere i’m surprised there are still this many players (I think its because there are no good games ATM to play).

As it stands right now there are 1, maybe 2 builds on classes that if you want to compete you will need to run those builds. There is no real options for builds in WvW they have piggonholed classes into certain builds and yes Zerg is the way of the herd.

WvW has been this way since the dawn of WvW… Don’t see it changing anytime soon… Aion, Warhammer, DaoC, GW1, all games with WvW and keeps that end up being zerg fests.

stale.9785:

Am I really the only ranger playing who doesn’t have a problem with retaliation? Honestly, there’s another thread up that I’ve been posting in where someone is complaining because if they’re specced as glass and unload rapid fire on a guardian with retaliation, they suffer damage. WTF people?

Either 1) learn to check your bloody target before unloading a skill (single target, obviously) or 2) tap a direction key to cancel the channel and get a reduced cooldown on the skill if you start to eat retaliation damage. This isn’t neurosurgery.

I better make sure the zerg fully loads on my screen before I unleash my AoE as well…

Dunno, in wvw I pretty much always ran around pet less after a fight started that was of any size.

I’ve went into an area with a bunch of little fights with a guildy Ranger using GS/Sword-Dagger, I was using A/T, S/D. I’m still not 100% certain I’m doing things correctly, when to use Guard, when to field the Torch AoE, Healing spring when, evades when (I die and realize I didn’t use all my evades/dodges). However did manage some kills, lasted longer than I thought I would considering melee ranged.

Will have to experiment more, did find in Keep work I would be switching to a heavy Cond. Dmg LB. In Big Zerg/Zerg action, I died pretty quickly if I got to far out in front.

SB has 3 escape type mechanisms… the LB only had a knock back, it needed more.

LB is situational, great in zerg v zerg fare when getting in close is dumb or keep defense, when again, getting close to anything isn’t smart with our HP/Tough/Vit. In small groups I have always found the LB to be lacking or in 1v1 situations. It is what it is, I don’t think any of these changes make too much of a difference with this regard except we now have a potential escape mechanism in stealth at the cost of stacking vulnerability easily.

As it was before the patch, it is after the patch… If you prefer S/D & A/T, then it is so after the patch, nothing really has changed except for maybe adding a horn in there someplace. Those of us who played with a LB in wvw probably like the changes now. Same with LS, but if you didn’t like the LS nothing has changed.

Ezeriel.9574:

^it’s a target drop, not an aggro drop. If you have the X amount aggro before you stealth, you will still have X amount of aggro when you unstealth.

An aggro drop skill would remove aggro from you when you used the skill, stealth in GW2 does not do that. It used to drop aggro, but it no longer does that.

Stealth is Op and everyone is in love with that fact… and it’s short sighted.

The stealth in this case is a target drop, and offensively used. We needed an escape.

Right now, on Fort Aspenwood, rangers are massively looked down on in WvW, so much so that I have heard many commanders ask someone if they have a level 80 alt that they can log on to.

A range poison field, smoke, fire, water… that’s the kind of thing that rangers needed. An AOE niche of some sort, that they could bring to support groups.

One water field just doesn’t cut it, when the addition of one elementalist meets that need.

I see what you’re saying, in pve, hide in plain sight has always meant my pet becomes the main target and most pets will take our agro. However, you are right technically and I stand corrected.

Ezeriel.9574:

^maybe you should roll a thief, and then you would know that stealth is not an aggro drop, and hasn’t been one for months.

I use our upon Stun going stealth trait, that has always been an agro drop for me. Not sure why you’re saying all stealth isn’t an agro drop.

Kain Francois.4328:

I really want to say this patch was good, and it definitely a step in the right direction. But Ranger is still inferior to other professions in PvE and dungeons.

Stealth is a get out of jail free card if you make a mistake or your pet brings the next dungeon room full of critters your way on accident. Never felt inferior on my ranger once geared. I solo’d a champion the other day I accidentally pulled, took a bit and it wasn’t a big boss, one of the ones over in Sunshore, not the queen.

Also, you still have the inv. on stun unless that has been changed, so basically we now can have two ways of going invisible.

One thing for certain, removing of agro by using stealth will make the LB the weapon of choice for leveling. Wonder if it will work that way in Dungeons.

Kilandros.2098:

Stealth for Ranger is an AWESOME addition.

But why wasn’t it put on SB?

“The shortbow already has Quick Shot, Crippling Shot, and Concussion Shot, that can all help you escape if you need to. "

Two-three posts up.

great… After playing my toon one way since the start of the game, yesterday I did a complete respect armor and all to change how I play and now this…. great…

I suppose I should be happy…

This build only good in Settlers or can you get by in Apothecary armor? Settler’s isn’t going to happen for me on my world.

I wouldn’t say Useless because the player behind the toon can make a big impact on the play of the toon itself. While I do not like the overall class play due to my desire to WvWvW in big groups, which render pets pretty useless, the class isn’t useless. We just don’t do anything any better than any other class with most doing what we do better.

Pet, what Pet? In WvWvW my pet stays dead most of the time in large fights.

1st step? Remove the pet as an option. Granted I’m not spec’d in beastmastery but my pets die fast, to fast to matter much in WvWvW.

Puandro.3245:

Rangers get a lot of crap because a bad ranger brings almost nothing to a group while a bad war/mesmer/guard still brings some utility. Example today i was running CoF P1/P2 and i made the group. We get a ranger and he using a Longbow and a Bear pet. Sure i could kick him but i let it go.

If you want to be useful for dungeons you need a sword and a warhorn so you can melee, then use a River Drake or a Jaguar pet. Your 2nd weapon will be a Sword and Axe for Reflect. You carry a SB for the few fights you cant melee. You also go full berserker or if you cant dodge very will due to lack of skill or knowledge of the dungeon you mix the berserker with some Knight Gear. You wont match warrior DPS but you will be useful.

And there in lies the problem with the class… When you have to spec one way to do something as mundane as PvE dungeons, while other classes can roll multiple ways and be useful…. Sad.

checking in, the game crossed that line a few months back. Haven’t logged in since.

No direct comparison with a Ranger to any Warrior… Warriors don’t have pets. Frivolous exercise.

You deleted your theif? Aside from rolling the polar opposite of the Theif, I went with Power, Toughness, Vitality, healing power, using the Dwayna full set. Others will tell you other ways of being effective. Went with Zerker with most of my accessory slots.

Good luck.

I also like that other Legendary that requires you to swap to it, to get the Sigel bonus. So you’re suppose to run around with it unequiped, then spot the enemy and swap to it on attack. Nice. Glad it looks so good.

Hoyvin.3241:

Vahkris.6847:

Of course that’s in addition to my other pet wants:
1. health values displayed

2. boons/conditions/effects displayed

This.

I will add my “This” to this as well.

Prysin.8542:

NargofWoV.4267:

THE problem: We can not micro manage our own characters AND micro manage pets with a host of Fsomething commands. I only have 2 hands, trying to control movement with one, fighting with my toon with one, sorta leaves fighting with a third out of the question, unless we develop foot controls.

not aslong as you will get banned for using macros that is…. if they were to turn around and allow “passive macros” (macros derived from hardware such as high-end gaming keyboards and mouses) and add some kinda “hack shield” client side to prevent 3rd party programs to run macros for you.

My point has nothing to do with Macro’s. Micro managing is all the clicking we have to do now, adding 4 more buttons, I now have to manage, while managing my existing 4 buttons, along with movement keys, would drive us all insane, particularly if we have to move, control a pet and fight all at the same time. I don’t have enough hands, this shouldn’t be the solution (Where we are now having each pet fighting skill/dodge and pet movement skill on a command basis rather than an AI).

THE problem: We can not micro manage our own characters AND micro manage pets with a host of Fsomething commands. I only have 2 hands, trying to control movement with one, fighting with my toon with one, sorta leaves fighting with a third out of the question, unless we develop foot controls.

I would go Axe/Torch as the Torch skills are tic’s and work in conjunction with your Axe skills. Axe/Axe, you just get more buttons to have to decide to push. The Torch buttons are push once and forget for a bit. Plus the condition tics stack up nicely with your Axe condition tic’s.

Shout out to Hrouda for coming here and discussing issues in an open forum. Well done, didn’t promise anything, looked for open discussion, talked frankly about some short comings in the class, well done.

In wvwvw, large scale work, the class feels mediocre. I’m a dps helper, I help kill others, but don’t do the real damage. I soften targets up. If that is fun for you, then great. Definite issues in high end dungeon runs that Dev is looking at addressing, especially with pets staying alive. Pet AI is still an issue in most ranged pvp aspects.

Today, if I started the game, I would roll something else. I’m not re rolling anything now. Have no alts, don’t want any alts. I’ll live with the Ranger and its mediocrity for now.

Bailey.6892:

I noticed that he did not mention wvw or fractals where the issues are even more noticeable.

You need to read all his posts, or you missed the one where he said he was at fractal level 54 with his ranger and understands the insta death issues with the pets.

MrSmiley.1543:

we’ll probably just get nerfed again. Also they seem to not understand pets die in dungeons…lol

They did acknowledge this issue at least. One of the Dev’s came out and said his main is a ranger and he fully understands that in some instances inside dungeon’s the pet is useless. However, that was all he said.

Go look at the Dev Tracker, they’re not responding to any threads other than board moderators saying… thread closed, or someone needing help with a bug or something mundane. Could be they’ve finally learned the lesson of promising something then having mud on the face for having to retract what was promised.

Would we like interaction? Sure, but the person most likely to be interacted with isn’t the person who makes the final decision. If they get out voted after making promises, well that’s bad… Real bad. I have zero trust in what Jon say’s now, he’s mis lead all of us.

The sad thing… They rarly come here and talk to us AFTER they’ve made a change to say why or say what… This I WOULD like to see more of. The promise of what is coming, unless it is a game break issue, is of little consequence.

Sorry, but my Pet icon’s still lack synergy…. My pet Icon build now sucks.

Unless you know what you’re doing, best bet in dungeons is not use anything that puts you beside the boss. Much better to stay the heck away, let folks with 1billion armor stand there, take your ity bity 1064 armor and get 1700 units away. Fight from there.

Which class is more dominating in wvwvw, the warrior. If that is a big criteria, roll a warrior.