the immob isn’t midair. you still have to deal the damage before u get the immob. by the time damage is done, the person is on the ground. I feel like there is a general misunderstanding with how AS works. the fact that it’s horribly bugged doesn’t help. people just don’t know what works with it, and what doesn’t.
exactly. an alliance of guilds. with his suggestion, the implementation of this alliance would be much, much easier. currently, guilds are locked into server and pay gems to move around anyways. loyalty should be to the guild, and guild leaders would be loyal to each other if they choose to. this is how eve online works. no one is constrained by a server, which is a totally unnecessary and imbalanced construct. not to mention a gated experience (behind the gem paywall).
imagine a red vs. blue vs. green on a given map. and guilds got to choose what side they fight for when the matchup starts.
We must be talking past each other because this is how it works now too with servers. The existence of a paywall to transfer between “alliances” has not really stopped anyone for the past three years from making changes.
that’s what I’m saying. eliminate dependency on servers, eliminate the paywall, and just allow guilds to queue up to whatever side they want. get rid of BL’s and just have everyone play on one large map, one game mode. server division is totally pointless. guilds should be able to fight other guilds across servers whenever they want.
if some drastic changes aren’t made soon, wvw will probably die for good. if it hasn’t already.
guards are total trash at bunking right now. cele druids and eles are much better. even reapers, and they bring so much more utility.
exactly. an alliance of guilds. with his suggestion, the implementation of this alliance would be much, much easier. currently, guilds are locked into server and pay gems to move around anyways. loyalty should be to the guild, and guild leaders would be loyal to each other if they choose to. this is how eve online works. no one is constrained by a server, which is a totally unnecessary and imbalanced construct. not to mention a gated experience (behind the gem paywall).
imagine a red vs. blue vs. green on a given map. and guilds got to choose what side they fight for when the matchup starts.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
Make one central map with overflows and combine all the servers into megaservers. Server loyalty is kind of a dead thing anyway.
maybe we can move away from server loyalty to guild loyalty. wouldn’t that be fun? who cares about the server, it’s all about the guild. I love your idea.
why? just get a thief.
Can you even see past your own nose?
Or do I need to dumb down the reasons (AGAIN) why the smokescale change was inexplicably stupid?
the more you wear out your soft little finger pads, the better for me I guess. it’s obvious that me, and many others, don’t agree with you. so we’re just wasting our time deliberating. obviously the best solution is that our prof gets to select the smokescale variant.
I am against this because reverting it means that Smoke assault will be nerfed more.
and this pretty much. at least right now we have a solid burst and on-demand might stacking available to us. it’s the extra oomph that rangers (condi and power) always needed offensively.
the spike is described to be a knockdown, and AS should work with knockdowns. if spike isn’t a knockdown, it needs to be corrected in the tooltip. otherwise it will be considered as such. therefore, this is a bug, and we’re just running in circles.
from a balance point of view, the trait investment is heavy (skirm line + AS GM); spike has no stun break or condi cleanse. picking even one trap as utility heavily compromise the ranger’s defense, and I only see traps usable with trapper runes. trapper rangers/druids don’t necessarily need significant buffs, but at the very least, their mechanics should work as advertised.
why? just get a thief.
just some clarity would be nice. I can see the wyvern charge being a launch. but spike trap is def a knockdown. it animates that way, and says so in the tooltip.
Spike trap animates as a very short launch.
meh, semantics. it’s a knockdown from the description, and should work with AS, period.
“We’ve reached a point where these will come bundled together in larger, less frequent updates as we prepare for the activation of additional expansion features. We’ll also be releasing limited balance updates to fix really key game-breaking issues. Once every quarter, we’ll release a new, major balance update to shake up the meta for the next quarter.”
I guess we’re back to the same old. things need to be “really broken” for them to hot fix it. with terrible/non-existent internal testing, and low level of pvp play by the devs, we’re basically stuck with a handful of viable/meta builds for months at a time.
one example of this is the revenant. with the exception of Shiro/Glint, the prof is otherwise useless. nothin to fix Ventari or Mallyx because, well, “it’s not really broken.” probably no warrior fixes, etc.
just some clarity would be nice. I can see the wyvern charge being a launch. but spike trap is def a knockdown. it animates that way, and says so in the tooltip.
^yes, it’s either super strong, or kinda weak. that’s what I’m noticing as well. I never ran trapper ranger before, so maybe that’s why as well. I’m still learning. I imagine it doesn’t play differently from a trapper ranger. youre literally going druid for Natural Stride, so youre not slowboating all game, and druidic clarity. and I guess I was hoping for some Ancient Seeds synergy as well. that being said, it’s always very strong in Stronghold, or so it seems thus far.
overall here are my findings against semi-decent players:
- owns tankier druids, especially those without LB; for some reason, many druids aren’t speccing into WK now instead relying of seeds for cleansing. condi pressure melts these specs; won a 2v1 against two mediocre cele druids today
- good against revs. they just don’t have the condi cleanse.
- decent against scrappers, who just don’t have enough condi cleanse as well
- weak against CC and mesmers in general; any kinda long range pressure (LB power rangers/druids), u gotta get out.
the build is promising, but I still feel traps need a solid buff. the frost trap is never used, not to mention they don’t give us any utility (boon stripping, stun break, boons, etc.)
btw Sol is absolutely right about bads being carried to levels they shouldn’t be achieving with cele druid. this build is so satisfying to play because it dispatches these guys with ease. and I don’t have to sweat bullets on my marauder druid.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
yeah I agree, I guess running cele druid is just the “easy thing” to do. cele quite prevalent, and by far still most efficient stat on engies, eles and probably reapers. which is a shame. anyway, that’s a whole different discussion.
honestly it looks like cele is back in the meta full swing. only viable stat for eles. then we got cele scrappers, cele druids. probably cele reapers as well, correct me if I’m wrong on that one.
ok dudes, I think we got a good build here. made a few updates to it, thanks for all your feedback. when AS gets fixed to work with spike trap, it’s going to be even better.
I know some of u already abused this, but TU when spammed can fill up your AF bar so u always have that stun break. this allows me to drop LR and just grab viper’s nest, which means more invis.
spider’s 3s immob is basically gg for anyone getting hit by it. by the way, this build absolutely wrecks cele druids on point. give it a go.
i hope they let ancient seeds trigger from spike trap, i posted a bug report but i think it might be more of a balance thing,
imagine immobilizing and causing 5 stacks of bleed on someone while they’re on top of your traps? pretty epic XD
I think it’s a non-issue. because the way it works is spike does the knockdown, but you still have to follow up with an attack right away to trigger the seeds. and spike’s cd is quite long.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
@mistsim.2748 How are you fielding with trap ranger against this plague of Cele Druids, I’m rather disappointed with how many Ranger’s are being carried by the new Cele Druid, before HoT you would could tell difference between top ranger and avg ranger now you can’t tell them apart.
well it’s definitely a +1 build/roamer. one entangle is all I need to load up 20 stacks of bleeds and 10 stacks of burning. the neat thing about cele druids is they dont have any on-demand condi cleansing apart from druidic clarity. so by the time their seed cleanses them, theyre already half dead.
obviously, trapper is more difficult especially with the rune nerf that was meant to target the DH, but it hard counters bunker specs, scrappers, revs and reapers; and works well if the team is decent.
I really need spike trap knockdown to work with ancient seeds. It would make the build quite strong. for now, I’m just gonna try rolling with one stun breaker (druidic clarity) and TU and see how that works.
I know what u mean about the druid.
I would swap Oakheart Salve for extra pet condition pressure since you lose a lot of your access to Regeneration without HS. This can help make your pet a bit more of a threat and perhaps give you some extra synergy with Spiders, which are tanky, excellent at immobilizing enemies, and also have a great little poison field for extra area denial/damage.
interesting, the 3s immob on the spider is nuts sounds sweet.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
ah, I didn’t know about the TU. thanks.
With this build you might even try to run vipers nest aswell, drop spring for TU. This way you have a frequent celestial form which is condi removal and stunbreak.
Thanks I’ll try this. Not sure how it will work out without a stun breaker though… they really gotta given us one on one of the traps. only then will this build be fully viable. if only condi damage built up the AF bar faster, we’d have druidic clarity up all the time. but this is not the case
Just an idea, This versions meant to be played with the dragonhunter rune set. Its a celec verssion with might stacking(could be fun).
thx…this was one of the first builds I attempted after launch, and the damage just wasn’t there. so not only was I vulnerable all the time, but I also wasn’t really doing any damage. at least with the carrion build, you get 1525 condi damage at all times, no strings attached. so it’s easy to bomb and actually do some damage, then get out. the getting out can be tricky at times, especially since the trapper rune nerf which was only really meant for dragon hunters.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
I’m confused. are you suggesting that spike trap should proc the seed because it knocks down or launches and would count as hitting. thats not the way that works. .
No I’m saying damage done on the target knocked down by the spike trap should trigger AS
Without any control over it, auto-casted Smoke Cloud IS COVERING OTHER FIELDS. It MUST be the F2 no matter what people think.
#inb4 Smokescale won’t be allowed by groups in its current formBump, we need the swap ASAP.
manage your cooldowns, don’t cast Smoke Assault if u don’t want the smoke field, which is cast right after SA. pretty simple. smoke field covering other fields is a non-issue.
spike trap is a kd, wyvern charge is a kd. AS is supposed to proc on kd’s targets…says so in AS description. at the very least, AS must interact with spike trap, because, I guess, it’s not clear what exactly wyvern’s charge IS.
if this isnt meant to be, then it should be removed from the description of the GM.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
revs aren’t really strong enough for us to be having this discussion. they don’t have much going on for them besides shiro/glint.
The smoke field in pvp is situational at best because your blast finishers will be used up elsewhere more often than not. For instance, u’ll always be blasting your water field to get more sustain as a druid.
I can see the smoke field being more useful for organized teams coordinating over TS or something. But this only affects like 2-3 rangers on these very forums.
If people do not have the tools to become better, they never will.
oh they do, in the form of on-demand pet burst and might stacking which rangers never had.
I really don’t see any argument for smoke assault on F2. .
then you are blind, and/or ignorant. there are plenty of good arguments for it.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
The smoke field in pvp is situational at best because your blast finishers will be used up elsewhere more often than not. For instance, u’ll always be blasting your water field to get more sustain as a druid.
I can see the smoke field being more useful for organized teams coordinating over TS or something. But this only affects like 2-3 rangers on these very forums.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
it’s meant to be played with trapper runes.
i posted this a while back, but refined it now based on some of your feedback. i continue to get good results against good players in soloq. for those of you who may want to play something other than celestial/marauder. it’s strong in SH as well.
the build has a bit of everything. you have a stun breaker and some on-demand condi cleanse.
it got a bit stronger with the elimination of AF decay. it’s actually possible to use druidic clarity and heal up every now and then. we mostly go druid for natural stride.
this is my favourite condi build in the game right now, not that it has much competition in that sense. condi bombing with 1500 condi damage is pretty nuts, can u can wipe the entire point if the entangle lands
AS is sort of situational. it will be quite strong when they fix it’s proc on knockdown (wyvern charge, spike trap), but this is bugged now.
let me know what you think, and enjoy!
(edited by mistsim.2748)
i said replace BM with druid. BM is completely extraneous and unnecessary, I’m using it as a place holder.
oh sorry, i forgot to mention. replace a/d with the staff. and go axe/torch instead =)
Here:
i don’t know what sigils to put on staff.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
man, don’t get me started on sword improvements. ok, if you insist:
sword 1 – increase damage by about 10% and allow us to cancel animations; otherwise it’s nice
sword 2: Hornet’s Sting should have a reduced cast time, and should leave a trail of actual hornet that pulse torment x2 stacks 3 times
– Monarch’s Leap should pierce and be a nuke that crit about 4.5k with marauder stats. this is a decent change because the animation can be dodged
sword 3: renamed to Poison Spray; does the same thing except sprays poison in a cone
/sword buffed for both condi and power builds, fixed forever
yeah sure, here’s what I’m running. not bothering with gear. it’s shaman armor, apothecary trinkets and weapons. balthazar runes. smoldering sigil on sword/torch.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAsf3YjUqQ7K2sCmrARLGYEKf0HhY4fiVvl5C4yDgTm2JmA-TpgMgAA7PMXGAA
it can also stack 25 might. when i unlock druid, i’ll just be getting rid of the BM line. my stats are roughly:
1600 toughness
21k HP
1200 condi damage
1100 HP
again, I’m no PVE guru, but it’s been a blast running this in the starting zone. if we’re killing champs/wyvern bosses, i’ll swap out spike trap for frost spirit. if you guys can think of another way to get more burning, let me know.
AS is bugged with a whole bunch of things, and does not proc. this is really making trap druids weaker than they should be.
please add to my list:
- wyvern knockdown
- spike trap knockdown
Hugh’s been getting wrecked on his warrior in spvp, so expect some big buffs in the near future.
on a more serious note, it’s a little bit sad seeing extremely skilled warriors from June 23rd meta being more or less useless now.
As far as solo PvE content goes, you’re better off forgetting druid and focusing on the core ranger specs. Druid is a support line so, just by selecting you are sacrificing a lot of damage without much return.
For group PvE, I have been running a zerker offensive support build and it’s been fun. It’s based around buffs from glyph of empowerment, Grace of the Land, spotter and FS. It sacrifices personal dps to offer more group support, some heal and condi cleanse.
As for healing, currently it still doesn’t have a place in the game. You’re more effective by focusing on offensive support that trying to heal your allies which either way would have their health pools already high. Situation might change with raids but will have to wait until they come out to see the final result.
I’m running a burn shaman/apothecary druid. getting like 6-7k+ aoe burn ticks while supporting and healing. and I don’t seem to get two-shot like the majority of players running zerker or something similar. i don’t know if this is good or bad, i just started pve with HoT, but I’m enjoying it immensely.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
I have no idea what youre going on about OP. druid is in a great shape, with the exception of LINGERING LIGHT which will have to be brought down to 6s ICD, otherwise no one will slot it.
it’s the core ranger that has serious problems and id like to start seeing some changes on that front soon.
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.
reapers, chronos and druids are outright “upgrades” and their respective core professions are inferior. not sure about the rest.
my staff marauder druid eats dragon hunters for breakfast. I have mobility, stab, a couple of stun breaks and some big damage. stay at 1200 and bring him down with staff #1 spam and pet. dodge/block true shots and pulls. bait traps.
traps dragon hunter isn’t actually a competitive spec. it’s great for wiping scrubs though, and it’s hella irritating as a soloq q’er watching 3 of my teammates get one-shot by stacked traps on point.
Hi Runeblade, i don’t want to say it but i’ll.
You are not experienced, that’s why you demand this changes to stay.
Please learn to use your pet. And you’ll see that even with F2 smoke field, you CAN use assault on demand.
im super mega experienced and I agree with him. love smoke’s f2, and smoke in general as it is now.
if youre still getting killed by dragon hunters, why don’t you do yourself a favour and uninstall. i don’t even play DH, yet i see them as free kills.
still, I’m sure all this whining will lead to some poor decisions by ANet.
Gah im not sure I want them swapped back anymore. As a shout ranger having the burst skill as something I can control as a massive part of my dmg. Before I agreed that they needed to be swapped back. But after playing with it. I find I like it as it is far more.
that’s what ive been sayin! on-demand burst baby.
I originally had the idea for Staff/GS with smoke field on F2.
this only works in your fantasies. the smoke field is only useful for opening up in stealth. cant really use it in the middle of a fight because more often than not, your blast finishers will be used on something else.
smoke field on f2, while nice for organized teams, is way overrated, mostly by inexperienced players. a small on-demand burst AND might for stacking…it’s simple, reproducible and practical. useful.
the smoke field is a minor benefit, and the pet casts it after Smoke Assault. use it there if u can, otherwise leave it alone. they’ve been beating the ranger into a bloody pulp with all the nerfs, I don’t want Smoke Assault getting nerfed.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
It is most certainly not dead. You are just going to have to wait a few weeks for everyone to do a lot of the HoT stuff and then get back into their regular WvW rallies.
I suppose it is possible that gating elite specs behind PVE could be a reason. at least it’s really fun PVE so far. I just seem to remember a time when hardcore wvw guilds didn’t care about pve and would be in wvw constantly raiding and gvg’’ing.
given ANet’s track record, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they started listening to every troll and newb on the forums. scary GW2 times that we live in =\
AS is our worst GM. well, was, until LL got nerfed into uselessness because of scrubs like OP raising a bit too much noise.
Lol passive 5 second root and 5 bleeds every 10 seconds is worst GM but somehow your fine.
this almost made a tiny bit of sense, but nah.
AS is our worst GM. well, was, until LL got nerfed into uselessness because of scrubs like OP raising a bit too much noise.
not sure what ure talking about… LI does the daze and u can proc aoe AS with natural convergence. or any glyph really. u misunderstood the description. damage on a cc’d target is what procs the seeds.
AS is bugged with many things, like the wyvern’s knockdown. it’s nota very good GM. I’m rolling with GoL after this LL debacle. it works on you as well, so 15% damage for a few seconds can be quite nice.
(edited by mistsim.2748)
let’s make a deal devs, 6s ICD and “keep a close eye on it.”
with the removal of minstrel, the glyph cele druid is our best option for bunking and supporting teammates.
RIP minstrel, thanks for the trolls.
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…
The fact that Anet makes such drastic changes when balancing skills makes me wonder if they do ANY internal testing at all before throwing it into the game.
Pretty much no one would have tested degenerating AF and thought “Ya, this is fun. This will work.”
it’s actually disturbing how quickly theyre nerfing after listening to scrubs complain. this type of dev behavior might be the final nail in the coffin for me – a game run by the inexperienced with zero devs who play the game at a competitive level.
6-8s ICD is what I, and other rangers who actually play the kitten thing, advocated. we know the GM was broken. but now it’s entirely useless.
but we still have an entire core profession that’s entirely broken. weapons, utilities, pets, and a dozen traits that aren’t playable in pvp, at all. like, when do we start addressing this? why do we have to go 2 steps backward every time with the druid instead of doing things more thoughtfully (and with the player base consultation if needed), leaving the druid for a bit, and focusing on what matters.
our best bet is to keep this bumped as demand some sort of explanation. this is just crazy balls.
I mean, nobody said LL was ok in it’s current form. it needed a nerf. but not a nerf into uselessness.
6-8s ICD and it may be usable.