3/17/2020 Patch changes

Other than Rugged Growth, were these other nerfs to be expected?

RangerSpirited Arrival: Fixed the description of this trait to include its interaction with the soulbeast specialization.Rugged Growth: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to heal for more than expected in WvW.Pack Alpha: Reduced stats granted to merged soulbeasts from 150 to 75 in PvP and WvW.Pet's Prowess: Reduced ferocity granted to merged soulbeasts from 300 to 150 in PvP and WvW.Ferocious (Soulbeast Pet Archetype Effect): Reduced power granted from 200 to 100 in PvP and WvW.Maul: Reduced power coefficient from 1.5 to 1.36 in PvP and WvW.Worldly Impact: Reduced power coefficient from 1.512 to 1.36 in PvP and WvW.

I have to admit I'm a little salty about this as this affects my wvw power build.

No they weren't unexpected. The people who cannot counter Ranger have been whining incessantly on the forums for quite some time.

I'm waiting for them to continue their cry for nerfs to this class, because you can bet your bottom dollar, that they will continue to do so.

The only thing I find amusing, is if anyone dies to Ranger after these and previous nerfs, then it truly is because they are poor players.

Rugged growth in wvw was an acknowledge bug and quite rightly sorted out.

I'm probably an average player. With the recent changes to all classes I was for once holding my own against some classes that in the past were decimating me. I suspect for me, like a lot of average players, it might be back to square one.

I really dont know what these developers intend for this class. We aren't usually wanted in Zerg groups because most other classes do things better. That leaves roaming as the only real alternative. If these changes alter the damage output too much even that might not be viable.

I feel these were well done as a soulbeast player. First time in a while a nerfing felt like it was done in a justifiable manner. My slb will still be in a great spot thankfully.

I'm going to have to think through my build I guess. I played a melee style slb in wvw with GS and axe/warhorn and these changes hit everything in my playstyle. Time to adapt and overcome I guess!

@Psycoprophet.8107 said:I feel these were well done as a soulbeast player. First time in a while a nerfing felt like it was done in a justifiable manner. My slb will still be in a great spot thankfully.

Agreed.

I'm super salty as well. Maul and Worldly Impact are the 2 skills that you can deal any meaningful damage, and together with othe other nerfs, I believe they are pushing us towards a condi playstyle instead of power. I even saw a trapper the other day, something I haven't seen in 4-5 years...

@"Andy.5981" said:I really dont know what these developers intend for this class. We aren't usually wanted in Zerg groups because most other classes do things better. That leaves roaming as the only real alternative. If these changes alter the damage output too much even that might not be viable.

Ranger is still good for roaming.

But, I did literally ask what their vision with ranger is in wvw in their feedback thread back when they did the wvw balance changes, which was obviously promptly ignored. One random reply I did get was that ranger, mesmer and thief are dueling classes and thus should have less potent "zerg builds". Well, by that logic, ranger duel builds should be as superior to classes with potent zerg builds. They're definetely not at this point.

I guess my point is that they're really reluctant with making druid viable as a support spec in competetive modes, while at the same time being so willing to nerf ranger, and specifically soulbeast, as a roaming/duel class. And it's annoying to witness, even if I agree with the changes being done.

@Lazze.9870 said:

@"Andy.5981" said:I really dont know what these developers intend for this class. We aren't usually wanted in Zerg groups because most other classes do things better. That leaves roaming as the only real alternative. If these changes alter the damage output too much even that might not be viable.

I must admit I've always thought of Ranger/Mesmer/Thief as the classes that sorts out lone stragglers and makes players think "Ah, if they're good players I'm as good as dead".

I suppose if this change has altered our damage output and we're nowhere near the top of the tree the focus will be shifted to nerfing another class. They'll get no sympathy from me.

At some point we're all probably going to be as effective as firing a peashooter against a tank.

It's a nerf, but it's manageable.

Unsurprisingly, Condi FB, Condi Herald, Condi Nec/Scourge and Condi Weaver are still in the wild, untouched and being super oppressive.

Sic Em SBeast was one of the rare few that could erase them quickly.

Rangers were definitely pretty darn strong after patch. Unsure why we think otherwise. Hitting 8k mauls (I've also heard upwards of 12k Mauls) as well as like 12-16k worldly impacts is a bit much. Don't we agree?While I'm not sure the slight nerf in coeff will be enough, I may be wrong. I've not had a chance to play and feel out the Soulbeast damage yet. It may still be a bit much, but so far it looks like it's a step in the right direction. I'll update as I play after work today.

lol the past 5 balance patches have been all nerfs

More nerfs to ranger damage and nothing to address burn guards or condi thieves

What an absolute joke

@Lazze.9870 said:

@"Andy.5981" said:I really dont know what these developers intend for this class. We aren't usually wanted in Zerg groups because most other classes do things better. That leaves roaming as the only real alternative. If these changes alter the damage output too much even that might not be viable.

So is literally every other class

"Good at roaming" doesn't mean anything anymore and is just a cope Ranger players tell themselves to deal with the fact that no one wants them in their groups

I take a two year break, come back and first patch notes are bug fixes to every other profession and a list of nerfs to ranger. I see nothing has changed.

@Ghos.1326 said:Rangers were definitely pretty darn strong after patch. Unsure why we think otherwise. Hitting 8k mauls (I've also heard upwards of 12k Mauls) as well as like 12-16k worldly impacts is a bit much. Don't we agree?

Why would I agree with completely made up numbers or numbers scored in a perfect buff situation against a glass target?

No one's hitting an armored up build for 16k. That's a completely fabricated value.

If nuking 5 people for that much was feasible Rangers would replace rev as the zerg's dps class. A party of SlB's all using WI at once would instagib half a zerg and yet you never see this.

The hate has been rough against power ranger builds for a while. I've been dabbling with condi and while I'm too casual with PvP nowadays to have a good feel for what is really solid with the current meta, it's been working well enough for me.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?POwAUdjlRwCZSsH2Je2XXPXA-zZoOlIFCZKC6VB0xEQODA

@Lazze.9870 said:

@"Andy.5981" said:I really dont know what these developers intend for this class. We aren't usually wanted in Zerg groups because most other classes do things better. That leaves roaming as the only real alternative. If these changes alter the damage output too much even that might not be viable.

Pretty much how I feel. Good summary.

~ Kovu

@"Krispera.5087" said:It's a nerf, but it's manageable.

Dont worry. This is just the first iteration of the Ranger nerfs. Cal Cohan in this thread https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/100557/soulbeast-damage-adjustments states he feels this series of nerfs still isnt enough.

These changes may be a bit light overall

Good luck. Have fun.

@Fluffball.8307 said:I take a two year break, come back and first patch notes are bug fixes to every other profession and a list of nerfs to ranger. I see nothing has changed.

business as usual for us long time ranger players, welcome back! lol

Core Ranger and Soulbeast are arguably the easiest professions to counter by a good player, the majority of our heavy damage are ranged projectiles that are highly telegraphed and can all be evaded, blocked or reflected back at us. Our melee damage and sustain is subpar when compared to other professions so we relied on combos to push our damage and now all that's been further reduced. I would say it's ridiculous but honestly it's expected when the bads spend all their time crying on the forums that ranger needs nerfs.

I've got alts and play most of them so soulbeast will likely remain shelved for now.

They nerfed the wrong things! Lol

It wasn't the extra stats from beastmastery or even mauls/worldly impacts that were the main problem.

The main problem with soulbeast in wvw is smokescale (stealth every 16s not counting long bow) and to a lesser extent boonbeast (nature magic/fresh reinforcement).

Balance those two things and you would see rangers actually using other pets and other trait lines. These nerfs will not change much. Therefore, we will continue to see cries for more ranger nerfs which will inevitably happen (as others have pointed out).

I didn't even notice Rugged Growth was bugged.. Anyone know how much it healed for prepatch?

@"Sandzibar.5134" said:Dont worry. This is just the first iteration of the Ranger nerfs. Cal Cohan in this thread https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/100557/soulbeast-damage-adjustments states he feels this series of nerfs still isnt enough.

They also want to nerf pet damage. Seen on discord : ''[1:18 PM] ANet_cmc: we're looking into some pet adjustments but nothing was ready for today's update''.

I don't get it, other classes are way more cancer than Ranger.

@Krispera.5087 said:It's a nerf, but it's manageable.

Unsurprisingly, Condi FB, Condi Herald, Condi Nec/Scourge and Condi Weaver are still in the wild, untouched and being super oppressive.

Sic Em SBeast was one of the rare few that could erase them quickly.

Condi FB, Condi Herald, Condi Nec/Scourge and Condi Weaver arent in need to be nerfed. They are ok.

What is not ok are the Tough/Condidmg/Vitality/Expertise stats-equips.Those make these condi classes way too strong.

Its a bad thing to nerf classes and make people with vipers stats etc complete garbage, just to make those tank-condi geared classes average.

@Vendetta.1958 said:I didn't even notice Rugged Growth was bugged.. Anyone know how much it healed for prepatch?

as far as ive heard: rugged growth should have been decreased from 259 to 155, but it got turned up to over 500/sec

I have had it with all the ranger changes and WvW. Stop ruining builds for players who have played this game for years. I quit another class because of so many changes. I couldnt enjoy WvW anymore. Hey Anet - Why not fix condi?