After getting used to how Smokescale works now, I really like it. At first it felt akward because I was so used to have a smokefield on demand. You can actually take your time to build up might stacks on your Smokescale before it uses Smoke Assault which is pretty nice.
Smoke Assault will most likely be on longer cooldown if it would be changed back to where it was before, which is not something I want to happen.
It doesn’t fit a single meta role
It’s just yet another of those “good” builds. Just like QuickDraw Power Survival, Condi Survival… There’s literally no difference. You simply traded utility,CC and damage from longbow for sustain and more boons and you became dependent on AI. There already are builds that can rank 25 might with Longbow as well. That’s no news and makes this build no special around that matter.
Is there a Druid build you would consider meta? I would love to see it and try.
Having a 400% nerf to a GM trait is not acceptable. 5-6s cooldown would have been fine. Don’t nerf something to the point where people won’t use it anymore. Just make small changes, not huge ones like these.
Winning 1v2s – 2v3s are always possible in random queues because of players with different skill levels. These videos hardly mean anything imo, I used to 1v2 bad players all the time on ranger back when it wasn’t even a thing.
I fail to see how putting Smoke Assault on F2 is being more useful than having an on demand smoke cloud. You could make amazing plays with it, now you have to get a target to put the field down.
You didn’t need to put Smoke Assault on F2 since it was their first attack they did, which was totally perfect that way.
They need to change Celestial Avatar so that you can keep the astral force outside of combat. Warrior adrenaline fills up way faster than Celestial Avatar does even with the new change. In PvP, most fights will be over if you don’t use a staff before it’s used which is not a good thing.
I was expecting to see the Druid to wear the staff in one hand instead of two aswell, it just makes way more sense for a spellcaster. Hopefully they pay attention to this.
I was speechless when I saw how amazing Druid was on stream, then I felt really bad for both eles and guardians. Hopefully DragonHunter gets alot better.
Yes, unless Arenanet realizes that Rangers’ only really strong weaponset at this point is Longbow, Druid will most likely gravitate towards power based Longbow builds with additional functionality.
Shortbow has been almost entirely left in the dust. Sword auto attack is dysfunctional. Axe Auto is worthless. Greatsword auto and maul do far less damage than a cele d/d ele.
The beam auto attack on staff might help keep it viable in some situations but otherwise it does not look extremely strong.
Now that Heal As One will copy the boons from the pet to yourself and vice versa, I can see Axe with Nature Magic being quite solid. Going to have to test that out.
I’ve seen you run that build on stream and it definitely looks interesting, but why pick snake trap over flame trap? I think flame trap does more damage even with poison master, and the cd is shorter too. It also opens up the WS grandmaster trait, so you could use survival skills for condi removal (this might be personal preference, but I have SoR).
I use Viper’s Nest over Flame trap because it actually does more damage than flame trap. You can stack so much poison with your pet swaps, viper’s nest and weapon skills. I really don’t feel like i need anymore condi clear when I have Healing Spring and Signet of Renewal. I can get poison to tick to 2.5k fairly well on top of the burning and bleeding I already can put with my weapons. The difference in CD is only by 4s which isn’t a whole lot when the trap does more damage and reduces heal effectiveness.
I tested this build versus good d/d eles and it can kill them extremely fast with the constant poison.
Or you haven’t put the amount of time it takes to know how to play the profession. Since how long do you play it?
With the build I have linked I can’t remember the last time I have lost a 1v1 to thieves with the build being so strong versus them. You basically have all the tools to face them.
If you run something close to this build you shouldn’t have any problem with d/p thieves. If you do, you simply need to improve on your mechanical skills. Keep dueling thieves until you understand how to counter them.
yeah i was running that from metabattle but just get gud doesnt help much at all.
what do you do to counter instant stuns while you are using channel skills? and they just kite my pet with teleports and like i said if i use signet they just wait it out then continue. try knock back.. dodge, use rf headshot, get out gs stay out of range until headshot/steal then 111111111111111111or 22222222222222222222 because im under 50%
You should use the taunt from the pet wisely versus thieves, it’s extremely good against them. When they are taunted, they cannot headshot you. If you Point Black Shot them, they can’t headshot you either. Using a wolf fear? Nope they can’t headshot you. There are plenty of opportunities to burst thieves. As soon as you gain your stealth with Hunter’s Shot, put a Barrage on top of yourself to make the thief hesitate opening on you.
I think watching someone play the build you are using also might help you understand how to play. I think I am the ranger that streams the most often when it comes to Conquest PvP.
If you find you are struggling too much with stuns then you can switch Entangle for Strength of the Pack.
If you run something close to this build you shouldn’t have any problem with d/p thieves. If you do, you simply need to improve on your mechanical skills. Keep dueling thieves until you understand how to counter them.
This is the build I feel fits the current meta. It has worked wonders with my team so far in the AG tournaments and other teams began playing the build I am using aswell after winning week after week. With the traits set up you can easily go from Marauder or Zerker and still be tanky while doing great damage.
Reading the forums – even just parts of it – most definitely takes more time than a few seconds. These guys have actual tasks which HoT depends on for success. Replying to more posts on the Forums might be further down the line on the priority list. Anet could have all the good intentions in the world if the price of success in the industry is this amount of effort required.
What I meant to say is that it takes under than a minute to write something after you have read the thread. Maybe you didn’t understand it that way, my english isn’t perfect.
It’s really a shame Anet just ignores every post from the ranger forum that are worth reading. Sometimes I can understand the devs don’t have always the time to respond, but that excuse can’t be used anymore after such a long time. If I have the time to read, I have the time to write aswell. They don’t need to write a big text and only takes a couple seconds of their lives in front of the computer screen.
I agree having 45 names on pets is not something people should care. At least Tentonhammer is giving the problem some attention. MAYBE anet will try to communicate with us more?
Well I’ve seen a lot of D/D ele here. I’ll give it a try but it’s not something that immediately catches my interest unfortunately. I’ll give it 10 or so games and see how it goes, thanks
Was surprised to see Power Ranger being mentioned. I play a power ranger and while it feels decent to me I see a ton of people saying it’s no good.
it’s only good thanks to them not balancing Beastly Warden at all. the fact that it’s bugged and goes through every form of defense (evades, blinds, invulns, blocks) further makes it “good”.
rangers are so desperate to be viable they resort to exploiting a bug en masse.
I don’t need taunt to beat people up. Sadly it’s simply the best option we have in Beastmastery trait line. Hopefully they fix taunt and buff useless traits ranger currently has.
If you want to play something close to what spirit ranger was able to do, which was holding nodes for a long time while outnumbered, I would go for D/D celestial ele. The ele spec is pretty much the reason it pushed spirit rangers back from being part of the meta.
There is still hope for a Druid build when HoT releases tho!!
I would love these changes to happen, hopefully someone from anet dev will take a look at it. Currently in PvP the only viable builds are power based with some survival skills and/or some shouts. Our other utilities need some love or else they will pretty much be a waste of space in out list of utility skills.
Everything is better than a ranger. We all know that.
If we could count all the players who quitted playing ranger…well you would accept my statement. Since we can’ t count them..there are still some rangers who have ^^ hope^^.
Loose that hope couse the first decent mesmer or ele or thief will stomp you in seconds.
You must have been a pretty crappy ranger if you were dying to thieves. No wonder you rage quit the game.
Said the best ranger in the universe @Puck I bet that you are the typical ranger who in 10 fights gets rekt 9 times and claims to be good^^
If ranger are so good…Can you tell me why in spvp finals or high level matches there are more thieves than rangers?^ Oh sorry my fault ZERO RANGERS.
Sorry to crush your fun but I have never lost a single straight 1v1 versus thieves with the build I am using with e Dream.
You’ll very soon see me playing in high level matches in ESLs. We were the first team to beat Abjured after 30 weeks in a match last week and I’m pretty confident we can do it again.
I’m playing with WS/NM/BM traits at high level atm with my team and it works extremely well. To be able to res your team mate in 2 seconds against even the Abjured with Allies Aid is just so good in my opinion, i find it hard to not take Nature Magic.
Protective Warding combined with Bark Skin means mesmer and thief will never be able to one shot you which is really huge. You’re also able to survive for a fair amount of time if an enemy comes +1 you on node.
It is indeed a very durable build. You’re lucky to have a team to progress with, best fortune on your journey! Do you notice any difference with Sigil of blood, how much does it proc?
Sigil of blood is very good against tanky specs, and since the sigil of fire nerf alot has been switching to it. Blood may proc abit less compared to fire since you have to be in a fight to proc it, but it is effective.
It’s awesome to be able to represent this class with my team, they really are the best teammates I ever had. It’s so much easier to play competitively when you are all a bunch of friends playing together.
Me and my team (E Dream) won a game versus the Abjured in the ESLs for the first time since 30 weeks with me on ranger. We are also constantly winning the Academy Gaming tournaments. Ranger is viable if the player is good enough.
I do agree with some of the much needed changes tho!
Do you mind sharing the build you’ve been having success with? You’ve piqued my interest.
Me and my team (E Dream) won a game versus the Abjured in the ESLs for the first time since 30 weeks with me on ranger. We are also constantly winning the Academy Gaming tournaments. Ranger is viable if the player is good enough.
I do agree with some of the much needed changes tho!
Ranger is the most broken class in gw2. It’ s ultra weak. No sense playing it.
Me personally i gave up with ranger…it has no sense playing it.
Do something good for yourself man : Don’ t play ranger.
And above all don’ t listen to all those who tell you : ^^eh ranger is strong !!^^
In 10 fights they get rekt 9 times and luckyly they managae to win 1 fight and they say ranger is strong. Sadness.
I just won the Academy Gaming tournament for a second time playing ranger. Sure other classes bring more damage than ranger does, but a really good ranger can give mesmers and thieves a hard time.
Academy gaming you say?^ And do you feel proud for that?^ I only watch world finals and i never see rangers. Ask yourself why
I actually do feel proud of my accomplishments man! Why shouldn’t I be?
I don’t PvE or WvW much, but Power Ranger is very viable in sPvP, I run a more tanky build with my trait variation and it works pretty well with the team I am with.
Hiros twitch stream is twitch.tv/hirothebeast just incase anyone was wondering
Unless i am misreading it, it doesnt look like there are any past broadcasts. sort its sort of pointless unless someone happens to catch him live.
I never really understood the streamers who dont post any of their videos after theyve aired. why limit your audience to people who want to watch you live only?
At the moment I can’t record my past broadcasts because I simply need another hard drive, which I recently ordered. I’ll record my streams every time once I get it I can promise you that!
Ranger is the most broken class in gw2. It’ s ultra weak. No sense playing it.
Me personally i gave up with ranger…it has no sense playing it.
Do something good for yourself man : Don’ t play ranger.
And above all don’ t listen to all those who tell you : ^^eh ranger is strong !!^^
In 10 fights they get rekt 9 times and luckyly they managae to win 1 fight and they say ranger is strong. Sadness.
I just won the Academy Gaming tournament for a second time playing ranger. Sure other classes bring more damage than ranger does, but a really good ranger can give mesmers and thieves a hard time.
The gameplay is slow, the opponents are average at best and it is all in the WvW environment. Wish there were VODs of the actual good rangers playing PvP like some you see in SoloQ on EU and NA. That would give people some perspective.
I enjoyed the video nonetheless.
I plan on making videos and post them on youtube once I get another hard drive to save my twitch gameplay!
There is definitely alot of room for improvement for the ranger from the video. It almost looks like he’s walking on a straight line while facing other players.
I ALMOST feel responsible for this thread happening! Oh well, thieves love me what can I say.
who wouldn’t love someone actively exploiting a broken mechanic for an unfair advantage? seems to be all the rage amongst garbage players post-patch.
Exploiting a broken mechanic for an unfair advantage…The trait is made available to me in Beastmastery line, and is the most useful Grandmaster trait available to me, so explain why I would not use it? I have to say though it is a huge advantage to have against thieves, but not as much versus some other classes and specs. Then again, this game was never made to be balanced around 1v1, I think you should know that by now with the balance of the classes since all these years.
Devs still haven’t said anything if it’s supposed to go through evades and blocks, so it might be intended to do that or not. I think it is supposed to since they already nerfed taunt which used to go through mist form and dodges.
The problem with taunt is arenanet didn’t explain how the condition REALLY works to people, so now they automatically say it’s an exploit without knowing what it actually is supposed to do in details.
Hopefully a dev can come here and explain if it’s supposed to go through evades and blocks? It would be really appreciated and would make things alot more simple for us.
http://www.twitch.tv/hirothebeast/v/10793058@Puck I bet that you are the typical ranger who in 10 fights gets rekt 9 times and claims to be good^^