Guild Wars 2

https://youtu.be/RFVAOvvMtoc?t=10m28s

It’s a channel skill. The cast time listed on the wiki is correct, but I’m not sure why there is a ½ second evade time listed as the evade wasn’t present in the last beta, nor does it cover the skill’s duration.

I could have sworn Pistol Whip provides an evasion during the sword slashes. Anyways, Anet probably does not think this is a double standard since – in their eyes – Rangers can turn auto attack off when using the sword while Unrelenting Assault is a channel that lasts around 2 seconds (can’t fully recall).

• A bit better than before. There’s some new traits to play with. Check out the Ranger Bugs thread in the Bugs sub-forum and the Google document so you are up-to-date with these kind of things so you are not left scratching your head if something does (or does not) work a certain way while playing.
• Yes. Longbow & Greatsword is the usual flavor for mixing it up between melee and range. YMMV so find something that works for you. I recommend visiting the +40 Builds for all Modes thread.
• Will most-likely be this “aspects” discussed last year during the Ranger CDI. There is a data-mined trait floating around the forums and reddit.
• 150 points for power, precision, toughness, and vitality was made baseline due to the revamped trait system and the “Guard/Avoid Combat” toggle now has a keybind option. Other than that, no significant improvements.
• Consensus is that both of those classes are good, but they are outshined by others. A very general and vague answer, so take that for what you will.
• Depends on who you ask. Since a half-second arming time was added and the ability to throw them was removed, some people loathe it, others are fine with it. Also, Spike Trap received a higher cooldown due to an added knockdown. Overall, Traps are in a solid place.

By all means, check out the Ranger Bugs thread in the Bugs sub-forum and the Google document with known and listed bugs that have been reported and tested by Rangers of the community.

Bugs and confirmation of fixes posted daily after patches, updates, and soon – the Expansion. Cheers.

Calanthe.3857:

If some people want to have stationary spirits and play with them, go ahead. Spirits were already stationary without the trait. Just give the rest of us the option of having them move again…

Haven’t chimed in on the thread but this is pretty much my stance. I could really care less above moving Spirits or not, but the optional trait was fine because, well, it was an option.

It’s a bug and something else as well. It doesn’t obtain the Quick Draw bonus even if you perform Whirling Defense with Quickness (though it’s not worth doing so any how). Another bug persists where Quick Draw + any weapon skill trait reduction cooldowns do not stack. However, Mesmer weapon skill traits + the Illusion recharge trait does. I almost want to call bullkitten but this is Ranger, afterall…

Eh, I chalk this up as a lost cause. Every time sharing boons, buffs, utilities, and food with Pets are brought up, there’s not enough support there to get a “Thumbs Up” on the OP. Not only that, Anet has yet to make boons, buffs, and conditions on the pet visible on our UI. I don’t want to search for my pet and click on it to find out what it has during a skirmish.

I posted in another thread but it goes more here anyways. I’m thinking these “Aspects” are going to be available in the pet selection menu to swap between. Mechanics of F1-F4 might stay the same, Druid might obtain a F5 for aspect swapping. Really hope aspects aren’t tied to pet families, as that would be more limiting than it would be flexible.

Starting to get the feeling the aspects, if available to swap, won’t have to do with the pet family, but more like an additional selection in the pet menu. At least, I hope they do it that way so things are more flexible.

nicknamenick.2437:

No HUGE kitten in it

I disagree. There’s a Charr in it. ;^)

I’m not surprised a Ranger/Druid was absent from the Raid trailer. I didn’t play a Ranger in the last BWE in the new map, so I’m unfamiliar with how pets functioned when you leaped off to glide.

Would suck in that one part where the kill-shot ground stomp if you glided away and your pet was left behind on the land, dies, and your pet cd was on full 48/60 because… well, oversight?

Endless Arid Devourer tonic does the trick. It’s less than a silver on TP and will do what RabidSmiles was referring to keep the pet hidden during stealth runs.

I find Charr racial skills pretty nice for PVE. Not so much in a dungeon group setting, but in solos, duos, and the open-world side, stuff like Hidden Pistol is useful and Shrapnel Mine can have some place when using condition Ranger.

Yeah, I saw that. “Bash them on the head with your staff and roll back.”

It was quick, instant, and beautiful. Something I wish Hornet’s Sting was, but I guess a Ranger is supposed to be thematically slower in their eyes? lol

I think the thing about watching the DD POI that scared me the most was that the DD was the first Elite Spec that did not change a profession’s mechanic by default when selected. One would have to take a trait and it changed the dodge, which was pretty cool.

Why it scares me is that Druid could face something similar. The POI stated that a previous iteration of DD was that each of the 3 endurance bars changed the dodge depending on how much endurance you had left, but was altered into traits because it was too complicated.

That being said, this could possibly be implemented onto the Druid as well. Meaning the Ranger pet mechanic won’t alter, aspects are tied as choosing 1 of 3 GM traits (which a datamined background happens to be a Bear, Bird, and Wolf), and glyphs could be a set spell, or at most, change depending on which aspect trait is taken.

Though, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ve been drinking and it’s 3am. Haha! :P

Ranger training NPC was removed about a year ago. Old thread posted below when this was noticed.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/So-they-removed-the-ranger-combat-npc/first#post3943458

Leaving the porch light off to play HoT instead of giving trick-o-treaters candy this year. x)

Coulter.2315:

Magneto was right.

Here’s hoping someone gets audio that says, “Welcome to die!”

ronpierce.2760:

The more I hear peoples’ alternatives the more attractive Daredevil sounds…

Haha! Feeling the same way.

Seems like enough room for 2 more BWEs. Seems

Unless they decide to take a break or two, then Druid is kinda screwed.

Rabid is what you want since you want to be more survivable yet hard hitting. Though, since you added WvW, Dire would be all right. If you opt for Sharpened Edges instead of Trapper’s Expertise from time-to-time, I would lean more towards Rabid.

Not sure how you’ll approach WvW so I stated that wiggle room in there in case you don’t use traps.

’cause the dude loves this class and is in Antarctica with unreliable internet connection to play the game.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Introduction

hide spoiler

As some of you know, I am in Antarctica (yay!) right now and I cannot play the game, sadly, due to poor internets. I’m honestly happy to just have access. So I’ve been theory crafting a lot and coming up with a lot of different builds. Many others are doing the same, it is a good time for creativity and I am looking forward to seeing all your videos on youtube!

So, I compiled a list of all the Ranger builds I/you have thought of after the patch. Let’s keep this tidy and accessible. I will see if we can have this thread replace the current “post your build” sticky thread because that one is just crazy to actually go through to find anything and all the builds in it are obsolete anyway. There are obviously many many variants to be had. Please post your own creation for peer review and addition to the list or inclusion as a variant. I will add yours in with your account name, credit where credit is due (unless you don’t want that).

Enjoy. Hope to see you in-game in about 5 months!

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Zenith.7301:

If you can kill the mobs in 5s, there is no need for blind at all.

Tell that to the Urban fractal mobs. 5 seconds is enough to wipe a group.

Our guard just puts down the Line of Warding and we kill them on the other side from max melee range without being hit.

That’s fine and all… if there was a Guard in the party, let alone smart enough to use it. Party compositions aside, the combination of “Go For The Eyes” + “Wilting Strike” + “Beastly Warden” (optional) is semi-decent/mediocre for (bad) PUGs if you want to stick to being a Ranger.

One point to bring up though is the future of the Blind & Taunt from those two traits for when bosses receive a break bar. If Taunt removes a significant chunk of that in order to stun them momentarily, we might see Beastly Warden and Go For The Eyes more often.

I’m one of those that never speculated on Druid being a Support/CC/AOE oriented spec. Only thing that I have speculated was disappointment, but I have been fairly surprised with what Anet has created with these Elite specs so far.

The only thing that matters after the reveal is testing and providing feedback. As it stands, Anet is willing to listen and make adjustments to the numbers, traits, and utilities. I feel they have the concepts finalized and are testing various iterations of the Druid (all a hunch).

Disappointment or not, I’ll reserve those sentiments based on testing and what adjustments are made afterwards for the final product.

Ariete.6509:

The thief black powder, sure it’s all right. Although due to high initiative cost, i’d say our version is more (or at least as) spammable (as) for sure.

It’s the other way around. The combo of all 3 of those traits is all right while Thief’s “Black Powder” is superior. 5 initiative is fine since for trash Thieves tend to auto attack on sword, an auto chain on the 3rd hit that cleaves and applies weakness.

It’s an OK alternative when the party composition does not have a Thief, let alone a prepared/competent one, but that’s as far as it goes.

I am asking for a trait that allows F4 to be a stun break for the player. If Revenants and Necros can have traits that allow for it on a 10s cd (as low as 7s for Necros when traited), then a Ranger having one as a trait on a 20/60 (16/48 when traited) does not seem too far-fetched.

From this thread about pets receiving boons from traits such as “Clarion Bond” and “Vigorous Training.” Not a bug, but more of an oversight.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Clarion-Bond-doesnt-affect-Pet/first#post5423748

• Boons from Clarion Bond and Vigorous Training apply before the pet is swapped out which leaves the new pet not receiving any of the boons, even with Fortifying Bond.

Electro.4173:

If I had to guess, the reason is probably because its proc’ing Call of the Wild BEFORE the new pet spawns, which means all the buffs go to the old pet (essentially nullifying them the instant it actually swaps).

After reading this portion of your post, I had to go in game to test it out. Clarion Bond DOES indeed proc before the pet swap so the old pet does receive the boons, including any extra from Fortifying Bond. This applies to Vigorous Training as well.

Major oversight. Haha!

Edit: Posting this in the Ranger Bug thread.

I think rather than ask why there isn’t a Pet [F2] command that provides a Stun Break, ask why we don’t have a trait that makes [F4] a Stun Break.

Glad you are experiencing it for yourself. No tips. Just play what you usually do. Eventually, you will see why Rangers do not like the pets and do not feel (as) viable (as others).

At this point, I’m not sure what to call it. An oversight? Intentional? Feels like the pet not receiving the boons with Fortifying Bond might be a bug.

As for the pet receiving the boon(s) itself, it might be intentional since Vigorous Training works the same way. I’d like to note your pet does not gain vigor through Fortifying Bond as well.

Perhaps post this on the Ranger Bugs thread in the Bugs sub-forum and see if it makes it on the list? Maybe a developer or other Rangers can provide more insight.

Wuselknusel.4082:

The Ele is a caster and uses the staff as a caster weapon. The Ele deals high damage.
The Mesmer is a caster and uses the staff as caster weapon. The Mesmer deals considerable condi damage.
The Necro is a caster and uses the staff as catser weapon. The Necro deals good damage.
The Guardian is no caster and uses the staff as caster weapon. The Guardian deals no damage.
The Revenant is no caster and is not using the staff as caster weapon. The Revenant heals with staff (because kitten logic).
The Thief get the staff as non-caster version and is no caster himself. The Tief will deal tons of damage with his staff.

There is a pattern.

Pattern has me concerned. At least we’ll have a 1¼ sec vine shot. That’s gotta be OP right? Right?! shrug

Wuselknusel.4082:

TheFantasticGman.9451:

Kui was who presented on the Engineer on the POI, and IIRC, the Ranger last time there was a POI about the Ranger.

You mean the POI where they joked about buffing bearbow instead of presenting some actual improvements?

To be fair, most, if not all bearbow jokes are made by Josh aka “Grouch.” Even during the Ready-Up where the 2nd iteration of the core specialization changes were presented (all slideshow), Kui never added anything to those bearbow comments.

Here’s hoping the Druid presentation has Ruby and Kui only.

jcbroe.4329:

(there is no reason they needed to mention Druid in January and frustrate the hell out of all of us by not giving any more information, as though it would hurt to confirm things that won’t change from time to time in a blog or a post).

Feels like before and during that time, Anet had only decided on the name Druid, using a Staff, and receiving the shoulder piece. Add in a shot of a copy-paste staff animation from Staff Elementalist Air 2 with some vine effects and it’s enough to get people speculating and excited.

At least, that what it feels like to me. All this time, I can only speculate Druid will be revealed last due to Anet going through and testing so many concepts and iterations for the spec. I would laugh though if Druid received everything but a new class mechanic. I can see the “Ready-Up!” episode now…

“So, when you take the Druid Elite spec, the pet mechanics of the Ranger are still the same.”

“So, what you are saying is… NO CHANGE!”

TheFantasticGman.9451:

Tskales.2804:

They still need to make pet names permanent.

That has gone unfinished since launch.

That’s fixed. Tested myself with We Todd Ed jungle stalker.

Just tested it myself and pet names haven’t saved when swapping out. Sure you don’t have a Jungle Stalker as an underwater pet as well?

Could have omitted some of the changes requesting bug fixes. One to point out is the Hilt Bash range increase you posted. It’s current 300 range is okay if it were actually 300 range. At the moment it’s 220. I have a feeling Anet might have another patch that says, “Corrected the range tooltip on Hilt Bash.” to make 220 official in the future.

Belzebu.3912:

There will have extra BWEs for sure, the BWE1 and 2 in that article was just to explain the continuity of the beta characters, not that those will be the only ones will have.

But the part that ranger and engs will be the ones to have the least tuning time from feedback I agree.

Yeah, that’s what I got from the wording of the article, not that there will be only 2 weekend events.

I have tried searching but I cannot find it. Could you please link me a post that states only 2 Beta Events? Not calling you out or claiming what you posted is not true, but I only delve through a handful of sub-forums so I missed out on this announcement.

Had to log on just to hear this. I chucked, face-palmed, then tried it on Warrior – same thing. Not sure if it happens during Clarion Bond though or Necro Warhorn as I didn’t test it.

Maybe they’ll revert the changes, or keep it strictly to Ranger and revert it for everyone else for funsies.

I actually encountered the same thing. I used F3 and the pet took no damage, but I was unable to reproduce it since then. I’ll try spamming it next time since I usually park at north lane. Cheers for the info, mate!

LughLongArm.5460:

As far as I know of, -RG is responsible for mesmer/necro/berseker
Karl is DH/tempest/daredevil
Roy is revenant/forge/druid
(3 each)

Wonder where Ireno aka Kui fits into this. I recall him posting BWE changes for Tempest and doing the Engineer & Ranger changes.

Well, that takes care of some. Cheers to them for some fixes.

Agreed. I’m also cautious to say we should be careful for what we wish. For all we know, they might listen and standardize every F2 command to 240, which would be painful for some pets.

Puck.9612:

I think the indicator should appear on the rangers buff bar when taunt is ready to be used. Helps the ranger keep track of the internal cooldown and provides counterplay since the opponent can see the ranger has a taunt ready.

I suggested something like this before, similar with how Engineer’s have an icon for Streamlined Kits. Would be nice to have. Icons displayed are Beastly Warden and Invigorating Bond.

If you think Ranger pet taunts should have an icon indicating them, wait ‘til Berserkers are play-tested/released. Taunt when using the mode if traited for with no tell, no animation, and they can pop it as soon as they have adrenaline built up. Their taunt radius is also 300 our pet’s have a 240. Fun stuff incoming!

What I like about the ideas:

• Smart mergers of traits that reflect a lot of what Anet was going for with “One-Stop Shop” traits. These include Opening Strikes & Alpha Training minors in Marksmanship and Sharpened Edges & Hidden Barbs majors in Skirmishing.
• Steady Focus is a minor trait. As reflected with Engineer and other classes that have a damage buff involving Endurance (either retaining full or less than).
• Invigorating Bond converts conditions into Boons. Not sure about the quantity, but the idea is there.
• Utility added to Hunter’s Call in Windborne Notes. Many and for a long time Rangers have wanted extra utility added to Hunter’s Call, and a Blind was the most requested and least broken.
• Fortifying Bond moved to Beastmastery.
• Increased Radii for Go For the Eyes and Wilting Strike. I am automatically going to assume the same for Invigorating Bond and Beastly Warden, otherwise, you get a badge of “Dev’s Oversight.”
• The addition of Run as One and Predatory Bond. Extra points for referencing skills from the original Guild Wars. This goes the same for Tiger’s Fury and Predatory Bond.
• Plus 1 for all the other buffs like damage ones on Predator’s Instinct and Two-Handed Training, and other things littered across that I’ve seen, like the Stability added to Trapper’s Expertise that reflects Trapper’s Focus (at least, I think that was a GW1 reference you made there).

What I’m not sure about:

• Apply Poison. I know it’s just 1s of poison, but it can get really crazy with Quickness, Predatory Bond, and landing multiple hits while a target is on-top of ticking AOEs (ie: Bonfire or Traps). I hate internal cooldowns so the alternative is a % on hit and adjust duration to match.
• Whirling Defense can be used while moving tied to a trait. This is a personal stance on traits that add a unique effect to skills in general. I am one to rather see Winter’s Bite AOE and even a on-the-move Whirling Defense baseline (if it were to happen), but when you do a list of traits, you stick with traits. :P
• Poison Master is still jammed between condition removal traits. Yeah, this is another thing that’s a preference thing and not on how you did it. I’ve already went over this a few times in the past, so I’ll not rant here.

Really, a lot of Rangers just wanted the benefits of Healing Spring classified as a trap. Even when the update hit, it was fine since it had the classification and an arming time, which was not bad.

Then another update hit so that Healing Spring would automatically trigger when the player or ally stepped into it below 100% health. When that happened, it stopped healing the pet and possibly an oversight of splitting the heal so setting a trap earlier had a healing portion as well like the DH Healing trap.

Either way, it’s bugged, it’s somewhat broken, and it’s a part of the Ranger. I can’t hold too much on Anet, especially Ireno aka “Kui” since he’s got both Ranger and Engineer. Combined, he’s got the largest pile of bugs, not to mention he’s also working with the other designers on the Elite Specs and whatever is on his and the other programmers plates for Heart of Thorns.

Report once, keep bumping it, be polite, and hope they’ll get back to it. Sounds like a bit much, even from me, one that can be just as jaded as the next person about things wrong about Rangers, but oh well. Cheers, anyway!

Yeah. I can’t recall the exact order of changes that happened to Maul. I remember that they changed the bleeding to vulnerability, and another change was a 14% damage increase. Not sure if that was done in the same change or in separate changes.

Edit: So, after forum-diving, here were the changes that happened (in order) for those interested. Also, my recollection was off. Haha!

March 26, 2013

• Increased bleeding duration from 4 seconds to 6 seconds.
• Increased base damage by 26%.

July 23, 2013

• This skill now applies vulnerability instead of bleeding.

and finally, October 15, 2013

• Damage for this skill has been increased by 7%. Vulnerability has been increased from 3 stacks to 5 stacks, and the duration has been increased from 6 seconds to 8 seconds.

Oh, boy…

Probably why Maul is tuned the way it is. In the Devs’ perspective, Whirling Wrath is a DPS skill with an added whirl finisher. For Maul, the Devs probably thought that it should hit hard, but not hard enough because it’s weakening foes with vulnerability, setting them up for you or your teammates to do even more damage to that target.

Haha, oh, boy… I think I’ve watched enough “Ready Ups!” to the point that I’m spouting out those lines of (high) concept.