Guild Wars 2

From one extreme to another. Anet’s balancing act for anything Ranger is hilarious.

To add to what Zenos posted, Wethospu has some facts on break bars you can find HERE with a breakdown on how much a certain CC will contribute to breaking bars. During those times when break bars will vary and/or scale, it’s a good read to gauge which hard/soft CCs do more or less than others.

Mix of hard and soft CC that contribute to breaking break bars in some way.

Weapons
Longbow 4 & 5
Shortbow 4 & 5
Greatsword 4b & 5
Axe 3 & 4
Sword 1b & 2b
Dagger 5
Staff 4

Traits
Beastly Warden
Predator’s Instinct
Go For The Eyes
Wilting Strike
Protective Ward
Trapper’s Expertise
Ancient Seeds
Lingering Light
Verdant Etchings (with Glyphs)

Utilities
Muddy Terrain
Call Lightning (Storm Spirit)
Frost Trap
Spike Trap
Entangle
Glyph of Tides, Equality, Alignment (normal)

Pet F2
Wolf
Alpine Wolf
Krytan Drakehound
Polar Bear
Black Bear
Pink & Black Moa
Raven & White Raven
Snow Owl
Snow Leopard
Jungle Spider & Black Widow
Electric Wyvern

Updating the list. Thanks for those testing out foods and runes!

Daharahj.1325:

Fern Hound’s F2 does regen AF.

Ah, you’re right! The bar increase was extremely subtle until I tried it in a group of people. Editing that in. Thanks!

Good catch on that one, Vendetta! Added some stuff on the list that I’m still testing out.

Mcrocha.3891:

Water spirit just got a mad buff.

Well, at least they made Water Spirit somewhat of an option now. Waiting 24hrs for another nerf due to QQs because, boy oh boy, the crowd that hates Druid is strong today!

+1

Editing this entirely after further testing. So, it seems that Astral Force can now generate with the following:

• Regeneration
• Signet of the Wild
• Natural Healing (trait)
• Runes and Food that give health over time (such as Dolyak runes and Mango Pies)

I initially thought it was a passive generation added but it was actually generating from my pet healing from Natural Healing!

Heals that do NOT generate Astral Force:

• Spirit of Nature (thanks to Vendetta for pointing this out)
• Invigorating Bond (trait)
• Self-applied Heals and Regeneration by the Pet (such as “Bite” from Bears)
• Pet Heals (such as Harmonic Cry)

Thanks to everyone testing, confirming, and posting what does and does not contribute to astral force generation as of the 11/17 patch.

They probably added it to hinder AF generation while OOC.

Pets will now only be stowed when gliding once you leave combat.

I foresee many dead pets in future raid content where bosses turn floors and platforms into grounds of instant death as we glide away and cannot stow them because we are in combat.

Great change and another +1 for kittening us over unless those moves are made so they won’t reduce our pets into ashes.

The solar beam change is hilarious!

Zeoli.3402:

Ghostwind was asking for your opinion, not fact

Gave my opinion in my first response. He should have just ran with it. :P

Can’t (really) answer that because it’s just me and my experience. I have been playing in the new zones with all professions and their elite specs and been progressing through it much easier with other classes. Again, to each their own.

Not feeling the same way, but to each their own.

Neat diorama, still an ugly shoulder piece.

Wolfey.3407:

What if the Blind portion of the trait was dropped in exchange for the cool down being dropped to 8 seconds. The healing players get from the trait increased by 15%

Would that be a good exchange or is blind something that is a must have for the trait?

That seems like a good change, were it to happen. Numbers seem specific though, this a hint of something thrown around in the meeting room?

Photinous.4628:

This is not in place for necro shroud, why do we have it?

Most likely due to losing Astral Force when leaving Celestial Form. Necros are not punished popping in and out of Shroud, but Druids are. The CD is a fail-safe for its (bad) design choice.

For starters, the travel and orbiting speed could use a bump. It fires slow, travels slow, and orbits a target about 2 complete passes for the duration. If they made it so the wisp travels faster to the target and does 1 complete orbit per second it would definitely be an improvement to the current iteration.

The power stat on pets is not as important. The skill coefficients is what matters. Rangers wanted a ranged power pet and we received one. The stats on it also do not reflect it’s actual values at the moment. It has higher vitality and lower toughness than what the values on the pet management menu display.

Also, Devourers are defensive and garbage tier to begin with. Anything would be an upgrade compared to them as they are used mostly in PVE when pet survivability used to be an issue.

Rather than ask if the Bristleback would be brought back in line with the other pets, ask instead if Devourers would be brought up to effective levels to compete with the Bristleback (and Spiders).

Yeah, it’s bad. Few will like it, the rest will either use sword with regular cam or keep not using it at all. I now fall into the latter.

Bump.

Yeah, ICD on LL needs a reduction. 12s was overkill. Knock it down to either 6-8s for an ICD and it would be okay.

Irenio and ArenaNet, could we PLEASE have our pets’ F2 ability be selectable? You all have heard the community. Our suggestions, ideas, and feedback on this class that we all love to play so much.

With recent events regarding a certain pet’s F2 ability (the Smokescale), is there any way you would consider having the F2 ability be selectable just like our other utilities, heals, and elites? A tab above the pet’s F2 to be selectable when out of combat to choose between its unique or one of two family-wide skills.

Yes, it will not be as great as having full control over all 3 pet skills, however, it would be a Monumental Quality of Life change for the class and allowing for more diversity and flexibility for more styles of play and situations.

At the very least, could you (ArenaNet and most importantly, Irenio) think about this? It’s a small, yet, drastic change that would be very healthy for the Ranger profession. Below is an image for reference. I posted this in another topic before but now I want to center a thread around it.

Cheers and +1 if you support this small, QoL change.

Yes, yes. Rangers going at each others’ throats. Well played, Anet!

Heim pretty much summed up everything pointed out by the community after the reveal during TwitchCon and experience during BWE3. The developers must have some wierd [and terrible] balancing philosophy when it comes to pets.

I think what disappointed me the most was our Electric Wyvern doesn’t get the laser beam mouth of death, nor does his charge leave behind multiple lightning AOEs that pulse like the open-world version does.

The Fire Wyvern is just as half-kittened, with no fireball spit that sets foes on fire or the AOE Fire on its F2 does not include a blind as with the open-world counterparts. We received the weakest, stripped down versions, and with all the drawbacks for the Wyverns.

Ah, I see. Hmm… Call me greedy, I’d like both. :P

You mean something like this, like how we choose our heals/utilities/elites?

I’d laugh if they were to eventually add access to a second pet skill but tie it to the Beastmastery traitline.

If I recall, the lower precision is not an issue if you take Trapper’s Expertise over Sharpened Edges. I’m already working on an entire set for my Ranger.

If you’re an Asura Druid, the stance is nice. If you’re one of the other races… well…

#asuramasterdruidrace

Just got mine minutes ago! Cheers to [LUCK] for organizing that map event. <3

Finally completed the new pet collection. Was worth it just for the Tiger!

Zalani.9827:

Wyrdfell.8327:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/Something-needs-to-be-done-with-Ancient-Seeds

There we go…

Told you people Ancient Seeds would be next, Lol.

Well, was fun while it lasted. I suggest anyone wanting to play Druid in PvP just not equip a GM trait to get used to all incoming nerfs due to QQs.

Well, at least we still have Most Dangerous Game.

/s

Yeah, I expect Ancient Seeds is next on the nerf slab.

^ Likewise. 8s to match Blinding Ashes, 10s at most with 6s at the very least. Where the hell did they come up with 12s and thought it would be fine? They must be throwing darts again at the board and using the first number it lands on. Just happy the dart didn’t land on 20.

One step forward, two steps back. I hope Irenio posts an explanation to the reasoning behind such a large increase of the ICD. From 3s to 12s is a huge increase with a duration reduction to the effect on allies. Could have doubled the ICD and tested out for a while…

Yikes. That’s an over nerf on the ICD. Curious as to why the duration of the effect had to be reduced as well.

The Direct Damage “Grace of the PVE Land” Druid

Been testing this out for awhile. This is for Rangers that favor direct damage while being a Druid in PVE. The basic goal is simple: Keeping Grace of the Land buff on allies as much as possible while maintaining a focus on direct damage and providing heals for your party.

Note that this is NOT an optimal setup in terms of min/maxing your personal DPS. You can also substitute the Tiger for the Jaguar if you are unable to acquire it from Dragon’s Stand.

Rotation Guideline with Sword & Axe (setup 1):

• Place Frost Spirit.
• Start on Sword & Axe and cast Glyphs of Unity -> Equality -> Empowerment -> Rejuvenation at the start of the encounter. This should proc Verdant Etchings to supply 4 stacks of Grace of the Land on your party.
• [Path of Scars] → Auto Attack (about 2 full rotations) → Weapon Swap → Vine Surge → Astral Wisp → Auto Attack until Celestial Avatar Form is ready → Celestial Avatar Form → Rejuvenating Tides → Cancel Celestial Avatar Force → Astral Wisp → Weapon Swap → Path of Scars → Auto attack until all 4 Glyphs are ready → Cast all Glyphs → Repeat Rotation after “[Path of Scars]”

Alternatively, if you are in a party with a Herald providing Facet of Darkness (Fury) or do not prefer using Sword, you can change out Predator’s Onslaught for Remorseless as your Grandmaster trait in Marksmanship and use a Greatsword instead of Sword & Axe.

Rotation Guideline with Greatsword (setup 2):

• Place Frost Spirit
• Start on Greatsword and cast Glyphs of Unity → Equality → Empowerment → Rejuvenation at the start of the encounter. This should proc Verdant Etchings to supply 4 stacks of Grace of the Land on your party.
• Maul → Auto Attack → Maul → Weapon Swap → Vine Surge → Astral Wisp → Auto Attack until Celestial Avatar Form is ready → Celestial Avatar Form → Rejuvenating Tides → Cancel Celestial Avatar Force → Astral Wisp → Weapon Swap → Maul → Auto Attack → Maul → Auto Attack until all 4 Glyphs are ready → Cast all Glyphs → Repeat Rotation

There is some downtime where Grace of the Land is not present and the build itself, for the most part, is staying withing melee range of your target and with your group (assuming they are all within melee range).

There is also a significant downside in which you are left without any utility after casting all of your Glyphs. Be warned: This is an “all-or-nothing” build to be used with melee & direct damage focused parties/play styles (aka Zerkers).

Notes: Quick Draw will proc upon entering (or exiting – ?) Celestial Avatar Form which can throw things off a bit during actual encounters, so be aware of this. Made some edits on the rotation after more tinkering in-game.

Additional Notes: Have been testing the trait and utility setup with Greatsword + Longbow / Sword & Axe + Longbow with nice results on Astral Force generation without the need for a Staff. I might revise this post completely on that note depending on how patches go.

Sol.4310:

Lingering Light will get a Nerf, all they will do is change ICD I’m guessing 5-6 seconds. They won’t change the blind or the heal.

I have this feeling, too. LL with the old functionality had a 6s ICD. I’m guessing they might go back to this, even though the functionality changed since beta.

Thanks for posting that, ahurt!

Nope.

Would rather have F1-F3 be pet attacks and Attack My Target/Return To Me become keybinds in pet control instead of the profession mechanics. Been using Guard/Avoid Combat as my F1 & F3 ever since it got a keybind that those controls are almost unnecessary.

That’s an out-of-context issue, though. I’ve seen feedback in which people suggest what’s on your list and even they have an idea of give-and-take balance. Lumping all of those in a list with pick-and-choose is, as Mcrocha said, poorly constructed.

Not once have I seen a single post of a Ranger wanting large AFG numbers with the inclusion of the pet contributing to that. The pet contribution thread is also relatively new, and there was no mention on that thread either of increasing AFG numbers by the OP.

Carry on, though.

Well, duh. Irenio is already evaluating data as is. No point of whining about devs being stupid and doing all of these changes without considering some sort of balance.

All of those are tweaks. Nothing listed is even remotely a rework, just shifts in numbers or adding/removing an element onto the current version and not altering functionality.

People wanting something tweaked to be better and usable with different styles and builds? Oh, the horror!

One would think that the Tiger would be found by now with all the people running around exploring and doing events. I spent more time than I care to admit trying to locate it that I’m starting to think it’s not available. x_O

Yes, I think pets should. Having pet heals not generate astral force further pushes back the pets as being an extension of the class. Even Necro minions can be traited to siphon health to the player, so why the decision was made so pets don’t even have an option to, or by default, contribute to AF generation is beyond me.