This is the Skill related counterpart to my "Comprehensive Core Ranger Specialization Improvement Thread" which can be found here if you are interested:I will look at all Core Ranger skills , so no Elite Spec skills and I will not look at traits, i already covered this in the before mentioned thread. My suggestions will mainly tie into gameplay and i try to keep stuff as balanced as possible.This will include Weaponskills (except underwater skills), Slot skills (Heal, Utility; Elite). Petskills will be covered another time. I will comment on my suggestion so there is some mutual understanding why i suggested it.I will appreciate constructive criticism and rational arguments, so please give feedback if desired.

Start

Slot-skills

Traps:Traps are solid skills but they have clear winners in application and have sometimes just clear disadvantages in comparison to the better ones. In addition to that i wanted to increase the combofield duration for more combo possibilities and give each trap a visual indicator (which should be tweakable via visual clutter options) so you can distinguish them from another.Healing Spring:Instead of applying Regeneration this trap will pulse heals when triggered.It will pulse 5 Times. Once every 2s. For every pulse it removes a condition and heals for about 600 health.I increased the healing because you have to stay more or less on point to get the healing and thus you are restricted in mobility. Maybe reduce it for PvP.You do not have to walk in and out of the Trap to trigger it, if you are not at full health and you stand in it, it will trigger after arming.Arming Time delay for PvE is 2s instead of 1s (this is mainly to get more out of your heal but you can give me feedback on that).Skills i do not mentioned will be fine in my opinion.

Spike Trap:Unsplit from PvP and PvE. PvE CD is now 30s like it is now in PvP.Give it an indicator similar to Healing Spring to distinguisch it from other traps when layed down.Otherwise its a good skill.

Flame Trap:Increase duration of the trap to 6s from 3s and let it pulse 6 times instead of 4. Maybe reduce the duration of burning stacks if necessary.Give it an indicator to distinguish it from other traps when layed down.

Vipers Nest:Increase number of targets from 3 to 5.Decrease number of poison stacks from 3 to 1 but increase the number of pulses from 3 to 8 and increase the duration of the trap and field to 8s.Poison will stack slower but the field will stay longer and it will hit more targets. Less spikey but more utility.Give it an indicator to distinguish it from other traps when layed down.

Frost Trap:Most unused Trap by far. Its power based in comparison to other traps.The soft CC has actually some nice use but targets can get out of it pretty fast.It will now last for 5s after trigger and it will pulse 5 Times instead of 4.The initial trigger will pull targets into the center of the trap and deals good spike dmg.

So we have 2 Hard CC traps, one for power one for condi and two condition based traps with longer fields for more combo potential.

Survival:

Survival skills are very versatile and many are solid. I will do some small suggestions on the 2 Stunbreak skills and will then focus mainly on muddy terrain, because its the most unused skill out of these.

Troll Unguent:Give it an initial healing equivalent to 3 stacks of the heal pulses.After initial heal troll unguent will now only pulse 5 times.This change is mainly to improve its usability if the ranger is low.

Lightning Reflexes:Reduce the CD of Lightning reflexes to 30s.Its a decent stunbreak with great utility but its major drawback is its CD.Traited it will stay at 25s which is still in the reasonable range.

Quickening Zephyr:Same threatment as lightning reflexes. Reduce CD to 40s.It has high burst potential but 50s for a 6s quickness boost isnt really that reasonable and not that accessible either.With a traited CD of 32s it should have a good Stunbreak Spot with offensive cabbabilities. This way you have better choice if you want to preserve it or to use it offensively.

Muddy terrain:This skill gets rarely used. most of the time you will see it in form of the trait "Soften the Fall" the trait itself is fine but i will add some additional utility to Muddy terrain.Muddy terrain works now in a similar way to "Stomp" of Warrior. Its ground targeted gap closer leap. It will trigger slow and cripple (No immob) in the targeted area and stability (only at initial cast) to allies.It will not be a stunbreaker. The behaviour of the Trait will stay the same, except that it removes immob from muddy terrain but will give stability instead.I made this change to give this skill more utility and some stability because ranger has not many stab sources (even if SotP has a HUGE source, the number of sources is limited).I removed the Immob because i thought it may be to powerfull with my changes.

Entangle:Add explosion finisher.A little bit biased here: It just would feel right.In addition to that it will give entangle some more character than just CC in Condi builds.

Shouts:Shouts have strong realtions with the pet. First and foremost it would be beneficial for all shouts to give the pet and the ranger a bonus and a boon without punishing them.Also i streamlined them in a way so they will have more responsive behaviour.

Guard:This shout now reduces the dmg taken of up to 5 additional allies by 33% for 6s (Ranger and pet are already included). Maybe reduced effectiveness in PvP and WvW.You and your pet will gain 2 stacks of might per ally affected.I made this change so it will remove the necessity that the pet have to take dmg to give full out potential.its now just a dmg mitigating tool that increases the potentcy of the ranger and the pet if they support more ppl.It will now work properly with soulbeast, but it will not give double the amount of might, maybe a longer duration though.

Protect me:Will work like it does now BUT it will automatically taunt 5 foes without the need to get hit.

Sic Em:On activation this shout will give superspeed and fury to allies.It will reveal enemies in an Area and not on target.The dmg bonus will only applied to the pet except if you are a soulbeast in beastmode.Maybe a CD reduction but it seems pretty solid as i propsed it atm.

Search and Rescue:Fine how it is now BUT it gets increased range in PvE.For soulbeast this skill should work differently as it does now.Upon Hitting the skill you will teleport the next ally to you and will have already partially revived them. You will get increased revive speed for a short duration to compensate the missing pet that revives an ally.

Signets:Signets were always an odd ball for rangers. they all give some kind of utility that are mostly use from power builds. Recent Signet changes gave them better passives but messed up some of the actives. I want to improve on them to give them better active usage and more accesabbility, but i keep the passives.

Signet of Renewal:This signet has the major drawback that it can quasi insta kill your pet, i want to remove that aspect, i will tune down the potency of the skill itself but i will make it slightly accesible and give it more utility because the boon application will be now party wide.New effect: Cleanse up to 3 conditions from at maximum 5 allies.You and your pet gain resistance, give resistance to allies based on the number of conditions cleansed (maximum 3s), numbers may change in competitive modes.CD is reduced to 45s, so it will be on 36s when traited (which seems fair to me). CD maybe higher in competitive modes.Remove Stunbreak and add it to Signet of the wild.

Signet of the Wild:Reduce CD to 35s. So it will be at 28 when traited.Add stunbreak. Now insta cast.Gain 2 stacks of might for every foe struck.Increase dmg from initial strike.This way it is an offensive Signet with Soft CC and self buffing cabbabilities and brings way utility to the Skillbar.

Signet of Stone:Very good Signet but it has a very high CD for PvE gameplay.So reduce the CD of Signet of Stone down to 60s for PvE only.With trait this is at 48s. Still at a reasonable position IMO, because you are still succeptible to CC and condis.

Signet of the Hunt:Reduce the number of seconds from 6s to 4.5s.During the duration your attacks deal 25% more dmg.Dmg wise this should be more or less on par with the old signet if you attack a blocking target, but it will also improve the usability against non blocking targets independent from gamemode.

Spirits:I want to change the whole spirit mechanic as it is now. but they will not loose their special buffs ( i will change some though)Spirits will now be the same utility class as guardian Spirit weapons are and we simply call them "Spirits" as they are called now.Spirits will behave like the current Spirit weapons of guard do. They are charge based and execute a certain skill upon activation.The activation skills of the spirits stay the same, but get faster animation.Spirits are now ground targeted and their cast range now matches that of current spirits if they would be traited. So the improved range on natures vengeance is now baseline.Spirits will affect 10 ppl and their buffs will last for about 20s. Their charge refilling time will be at about 20s (except the elite which will be a little longer).The buffs will overwrite itself so they will be at max 20s duration. The charges provide just the needed mobility and utility if you need the actives.

Water Spirit:Heal yourself and cast down a waterfield on the targeted area healing allies within.The Water spirit will bless the sorrounding area and attacks of allies have a chance to heal them.2 Charges.Field duration may be tweaked and the cast has similar length to other heal skills.

Stone Spirit:Cast down a blinding smoke field on the targeted are.The Stone spirit will bless the sorrounding area and will reduce incoming dmg to allies.2 charges.Also here the cast time can be tweaked.The smoke field maybe to strong and can be just replaced with a pulsing blind field without any combo cappabbilities but this is subject to debate.Note that it will not apply protection but rather a unique buff that reduces dmg. this buff can stack with protection so it will provide even more dmg mitigation when traited instead of bumping out just more protection.

Sun Spirit:Cast down a searing Fire Field on the targted area burning foes in the vicinity.The stone spirit will bless the sorrounding area and attacks of allies have a chance to apply burning to foes struck.2 charges.

Storm Spirit:Cast down a lightning field that dmgs and stuns enemies.The storm spirit will bless the area and attacks of allies have a chance to call down a lightning on foes struck.2 Charges.Note that the passive no longer applies vuln but rather an area buff that is similar to the sigil of air.

Nature Spirit:Cast down a lightfield that cures conditions from allies and heals them.The Great Spirit of Nature will bless the area and fallen allies will be slowly revived.Number of charges 2.Cd is 40s. the buff will last for 20s and it will revive downed and dead allies.Downed allies will be revived faster than dead ones.the heal has a corresponding potency to an elite skill.

Note that the Spirit trait will give the spirits the corresponding boon the trait already provides and it will give them 1 additional charge.

Weaponskills:

MH-WeaponryMH of rangers are kinda special because they have abbilities that can tie into both condi and power gameplay. A bit biased myself am a fan of hybrid setups so i wont remove that aspect but rather emphasize on it, so they can have a proper place in both build types. Additionally there are some fluidity problems with sword and some inconsistencies with its AA i will look into.

Axe:AA: Change animation to something similar to "Zealots Defense" from guardian or "Flurry" from warrior.It will make the animation more fluid and the attack speed of Axe should also get improved.The AA will only apply might if you hit 1 target. It will apply additionally bleed on both targets if you hit 2 foes.

Splitblade:Unsplit (pun kinda intended) the dmg modification from PvP and PvE, so it will do more power dmg in PvE too.

Wintersbite:Hits now 5 targets on deafult.The Axe trait Honed Axes will give you precision per axe wielded and reduces axe CD and nothing more. It will not be a GM though (for more information look at the Specialization thread if you want)

Sword:Sword has good evade capabbilities and is praised for it in PvP. But sadly it has HUGE animations that lead to dps losses in PvE. Additionally its having connection problems with serpent strike in both gamemodes.

AA:All attacks now cleave 3 targets.The first attack deals moderate dmg and applies bleeding with a decent duration.The second applies cripple and deals a little bit higher dmg.The last strike gives you and your pet 1 stack of might and deals high power dmg.(The last hit on the AA will give 2 stacks of might, if in Soulbeastmode)

Hornet Sting-Monarchsleap-Serpentstrike:Hornet sting is a fantastic escape tool but its having some evade frame issues and you only have a restricted amount of time to get back into combat before you can run back instead of leaping into the fray.Monarchsleap has some problematic accesability so it is some deadweight as a gap closer and is most of the time used to escape or swap targets mid fight.Serpentstrike has connective issues and a gigantic animation that is so strongly telegraphed that you can easily evade it and even NPC sometimes just walk away from it.

So my Solution:NEW SKILL: Vipers Leap: its basically serpent strike and monarchsleap in one. It will have the animation of monarchsleap, with a second strike with the serpent bite at the end (without rolling arround though).It will apply the same amount of poison stacks with the snake as serpent strike did . It will apply cripple like monarchsleap did with the initial strike. It will be a leap finisher. It will be an evade from start of the animation until the end of the aftercast. Its power coefficient will be arround the same as monarchsleap.

Description if Vipers Leap:Leap at your target with a crippling strike and chase them with a ghastly snake applying poison after the first hit(Note: That the snake works like a sepperate entity, so you can do other skills while the snake is attacking your opponent. Weaponswap should be possible too)

Hornet Sting is now the standalone skill number 3. It will have an evade frame from start of the animation until the end of the aftercast (so the evade frame would start earlier).This way sword has a distinct engage and disengage skill and has power and condi capabbilities.

OH-Weaponry:

Offhands of Rangers have some specific roles and all of them have more or less ranged capabbilities to get into use at as many occasions as possible.These ranged skills sadly lack synergy, character or just overall utility and feel like they are filler. I will improve many of them with Ammunition system or just change the character of the weapon arround to fit a more broadly role or a more specific role.

Axe:Path of Scars sometimes bugs out and its a perfect candidate for ammunition system, also it has a huge range that is never used because its only pulling a fraction of the distance and it is paired up with mid to short ranged weaponry which makes additional range obsolete. Whirling defenses is actually a pretty strong defensive skill but you are still totally defensless against CC or AoE so i will propose 2 ideas that will mingle with these two issues.

Path of Scars:Add ammunition System. 2 Charges. Recharge time 20s.Change Range from 1200 to 900.Change pull distance from 450 to 900.Change centered ground target to aligned skillshot (similar to vine surge on staff).Increase projectile speed.So i reduced the overall range but i doubled the pull range, so you can pull targets from 900 to you and pound on them instantly.I changed the ground target to a skillshot. Path if scars will no longer travel back to the ranger, it will travel a straightline back and forth.I made this technical change because this skill bugs when its changing direction. This way it has a clear direction and it will travel at max distance everytime. I compensate the optional longer distance with faster projectile speed.Thx to Eleazar.9478 he brought up the idea for the skillshot. I liked it so i put it in.

Whirling Defenses:Here we have 2 options:1: Add pulsing stability during cast

2. let us move during animation

I myself am for the latter because we already have stability sources to prevent getting CCed during the animation. But we have to cancel the skill if we dont wanna die in an AoE field.

Warhorn:Warhorn is a solid OH weapon and a good support weapon too. But Hunters Call kinda feels lackluster. Despite the high dmg it is weak on the AoE site and ranger does not have an AoE ranged OH at offense.

Hunters Call:Now requires a target to cast.Now Hits up to 5 targets:1 Bird per target if you hit multiple targets.8 Hits per target if you hit multiple targets.If there is only one target it will beahve as it did before.The initial Hit now applies Blind instead of Vuln.

I dont know how the multihit behaviour can be implemented, but if it is possible this way you would do more dmg overall and even gain overall dmg if you have more than 2 targets.In addition to the multitarget i think the initial Blind fits perfectly and improves the Wh capabbilities as a support weapon.

Torch:Torch is strong but throw torch just feels like a filler skill with no real impact. In addition to that it is kinda ranged and still not ranged, which i will change with a simple idea.

Throw Torch does now hit up to 3 targets.Throw Torch does function now with the ammunition system.2 Charges.Bonfire is now ground targeted.This change to bonfire may be a debatable point but i think it would bring more utility to the weapon than just the raw dmg.

Dagger:Dagger OH is very lackluster and has its niche use in PvP due to the snare and the evade.In PvE it is rather underperforming though and does not give good dmg, cleave or other utility except of its evade. The Crippling Talon is really bad as a dmg skill, it has the same issues like throw torch has and it does less dmg. In addition to its inherent issues i want to increase the numbers of evades on dagger OH because i stripped one evasion skill from Sword to improve its fluidity.

Stalkers Strike:Uses the Ammunition system now. Has 2 Charges.

Crippling Talon:Hits now up to 3 targets.Uses now the Ammunition System.Has 3 Charges.

This way dagger is a fast hitting "spam" weapon that is focused on single targets or small groups of enemies. It is used for porsuits and it can be paired well with MHweaponry.Its PvE utility is now higher and its PvP use is improved as well.In addition to its Weaponskills i would like to see an improvement on the visuals so they match the soulbeast MH dagger visuals. If this should be Soulbeast only idk.

Two-Handed Weaponry

Great Sword:Nothing special to add here. It has decent dmg and fantastic utility. Hilt bash is still bugged but thats the only thing atm that comes to my mind.Bug fix the Hilt bash for GS. Maybe improve the dmg modifier on the GS Trait.

Longbow:Make the Piercing on LB Trait baseline.The AA and rapid fire should be affected from this.

Shortbow:Sb is actually quiet good but it really shines only with the trait it has. the trait itself is totally overbloated and i just make several things baseline to improve the overall weapon performance.Make flanking bonusses baseline. they are not that potent and makes SB more useful.Make piercing baseline. This will affect Quickshot and crossfire.Quickshot now has 2 charges and works with ammunition.

END

I hope you had a joy reading this. Keep in mind that i concentrated on gameplay and flavor to improve the overall flow and feel of the class. I tried to keep balance in mind as good as possible. Your feedback will be appreciated.

Very good read really does feel like we should get the animation mechanic on our off hand weapons.

however my two gripes would be the sword 2 and 3 changes as i just want hornets sting to do what it does in reverse, and I love serpants strike, as is without I probably wouldn't like sword as the aa animations are really bad.

Also I just want sig of renewal to work in beast mode (would be cool if there what a trait we're you could send condtions to your pet when UN merging would make it like our own save yourselves/comp of purity for group settings

And I miss old path of scars, while I like your change I just hate the ground target it does, they should either revert it or make it a line like vine surge.

Whiling defense change totally would love that (moving) but I doubt they'll ever let us have that as we've been asking for 5 years now.

For torch they should totally either put an interrupt or blind on the thing, so I can have some use in PVP. Especially if 5 was ground target so you have a chance to cast it on them.

Also really like your spirit ideas

And long bow peircing base line I wish that would be amazing

All in all a solid read, I really do wonder if they check our suggestions

I think a damage increase for the GS would be a great addition. You are correct that it has great utility, but a damage increase is still debatably needed. I think the trait increase in this case wouldbe ideal here. It’s optional and not a flat out baseline power creep buff.

Frost Trap replaced with a Smoke Trap, please. A GW2 update of the GW1 version (https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Smoke_Trap).

Smoke Trap: Lay a trap that dazes (½s) foes when triggered and creates a pulsing smoke field (3s) that blinds (1½s) foes per pulse. It is also a Stun Break. 30s cooldown. Smoke Trap does not deal any damage.

This gives us a utility trap and access towards another smoke field without using the Smokescale. Plus, being a stun break and non-damaging trap sets it apart to vary things up without being a heal. Also, I want our Strength of the Pack to be better and Signet of the Wild's active effect to also apply to the pet. My suggestion:

• Strength of the Pack becomes the old Signet of the Wild active. Swiftness & Fury removed, buff duration reduced from 10s to 8s, cooldown reduced from 75s to 60s, buff effect grants you and your pet +25% damage/+50% movement speed instead of might, stability remains.
• Signet of the Wild's active is the current Strength of the Pack effect. You and your pet gain Might (8s) on each other's hits. Buff duration 10s.

The old Signet of the Wild active was always stronger than Strength of the Pack before it was altered to another immobilize spam and Strength of the Pack received another nerf via higher cooldown. It would be better off using that as the new Strength of the Pack so most of the bonuses are incorruptible/can not be stripped so it can pack a solid punch again instead of being an over-glorified might generator.

That said, giving the current Strength of the Pack effect to Signet of the Wild's active fits more thematically with the recent passive effect. Sacrifice 180 ferocity on your and your Pet to generate and stack up on Might for each other. It would be an effective change for the better on most counts.

@"Eleazar.9478" said:Very good read really does feel like we should get the animation mechanic on our off hand weapons.

however my two gripes would be the sword 2 and 3 changes as i just want hornets sting to do what it does in reverse, and I love serpants strike, as is without I probably wouldn't like sword as the aa animations are really bad.

Also I just want sig of renewal to work in beast mode (would be cool if there what a trait we're you could send condtions to your pet when UN merging would make it like our own save yourselves/comp of purity for group settings

And I miss old path of scars, while I like your change I just hate the ground target it does, they should either revert it or make it a line like vine surge.

Whiling defense change totally would love that (moving) but I doubt they'll ever let us have that as we've been asking for 5 years now.

For torch they should totally either put an interrupt or blind on the thing, so I can have some use in PVP. Especially if 5 was ground target so you have a chance to cast it on them.

Also really like your spirit ideas

And long bow peircing base line I wish that would be amazing

All in all a solid read, I really do wonder if they check our suggestions

Well if they dont read the suggestions it was atleast a therapeutic work to do.

For sword i tried to keep the weave in and out feeling. Serpent strike has a stunning animation (the huge serpent) and thats what i love about it but the rolling arround the enemy just makes predictable and is easy to avoid.I just had an idea about this skill and maybe reformulate the above suggestion to match that idea.I personallydont like the: "Your pet pulls conditions" aspect of SoR. A pure condi cleanse skill with supportive aspect fits the theme IMO and it would work problem free probably on Soulbeast.But i have to say, that a working SoR in beastmode and bear stance sounds tempting to insta heal and cleanse.The ground targeted line sounds actually pretty sweet. Increased travel time would be nice too.

I'm -really- liking some of your suggestions here, especially the proposed off hand dagger changes and your very nice sound interpretation as to what Hunters Call should be.

@"Xenash.1245" said:I'm -really- liking some of your suggestions here, especially the proposed off hand dagger changes and your very nice sound interpretation as to what Hunters Call should be.

Thx.I i tried to keep the single target dmg but also give WH more AoE. I hope this can be implemented in such a way.In addition to that i just had an idea for "go for the eyes" trait regarding hinter call synergy, which i will elaborate in my first thread.

I thought actually long about what dagger should be. The problem on the weapon is that the skills have to long CD for to minor effects. So i thought that a spammy weapon isnt really a thing for core ranger. Soulbeast has one, so why not put OH dagger in the same category.Side note here: Improve the visuals of dagger to match that of MH dagger, just for flavor and looks.

@Eleazar.9478 said:Very good read really does feel like we should get the animation mechanic on our off hand weapons.

however my two gripes would be the sword 2 and 3 changes as i just want hornets sting to do what it does in reverse, and I love serpants strike, as is without I probably wouldn't like sword as the aa animations are really bad.

I now put a better description in for the new sword skill. I hope you understand it a bit better now. Dont know if you like it though.Its basically the leap+a second strike from the snake but indipendend of the ranger. So you can use other stuff while the snake attacks.

I also updated dagger notes and Axe OH regarding path of scars. I like the skillshot idea and i will put it in.

@InsaneQR.7412 said:

@Eleazar.9478 said:Very good read really does feel like we should get the animation mechanic on our off hand weapons.

however my two gripes would be the sword 2 and 3 changes as i just want hornets sting to do what it does in reverse, and I love serpants strike, as is without I probably wouldn't like sword as the aa animations are really bad.

I now put a better description in for the new sword skill. I hope you understand it a bit better now. Dont know if you like it though.Its basically the leap+a second strike from the snake but indipendend of the ranger. So you can use other stuff while the snake attacks.

Your sword change is not feasible...it would be 100 times harder to land poison by using a giant arcing leap than a midfight roundabout strike, the roundabout dodge is essential to avoid incoming slow moving burst projectiles from behind , not to mention the important repositioning behind the target, something your suggestion would delete.

-The roundabout movement is part of the sword identity and what makes it competitive

@Arheundel.6451 said:

@InsaneQR.7412 said:

@"Eleazar.9478" said:Very good read really does feel like we should get the animation mechanic on our off hand weapons.

however my two gripes would be the sword 2 and 3 changes as i just want hornets sting to do what it does in reverse, and I love serpants strike, as is without I probably wouldn't like sword as the aa animations are really bad.

I now put a better description in for the new sword skill. I hope you understand it a bit better now. Dont know if you like it though.Its basically the leap+a second strike from the snake but indipendend of the ranger. So you can use other stuff while the snake attacks.

I dont PvP much, so i dont know how warriors are doing with their sword 2. But it feels great in other content to play and its basically the same skill as monarchsleap. Everytime i used serpent strike against an enemy in PvP they just saw the attack from a mile away and dodged away. The leap of Warriors was actually so fast i couldnt dodge them.

Another suggestion to make would be to remove Hornet sting/ Swap Hornet Sting with Monarchs Leap. So you would have a gap closer and the round about evade.But the "Gtfo" use if Hornet sting would be missed too.Sword on Ranger has atm the characteristic that it is not rewarding/clunky in PvE to use and kinda mandatory because of the dodges it provides in PvP.Its a delicate thing about the weapon and i want to improve PvE usability without impairing PvP too much or change everything on it.Any good proposal from a PvPer for PvE would be nice.

Totally, totally disagree with the Signet of Renewal suggestion you have.

While on paper resistance and a lower cooldown might seem to be a good tradeoff for the huge reduction in conditions cleansed, in spvp the druid's main value to pressuring a node comes from our ability to constantly reset fights and force enemies to start their rotations all over. A large part of that is the clean slate that Signet of Renewal currently gives us. Also, it's never once killed my pet. The 2s of resistance is usually enough time for me to throw some cleanses and regen on it, and I can swap if the condi bomb it absorbed is about to kill it.

It all comes down to being prepared to use the signet properly, rather than just mindlessly treating it as a panic button. I don't senselessly waste cleanses, celestial avatar, and pet swaps before using Signet of Renewal. Instead, it's part of a plan to pressure nodes, draw out and survive 1v2 or 1v3s, and in general shift the map balance in favor of your team. Being able to totally wipe every single condition from me and reset feels essential for that.

@voltaicbore.8012 said:Totally, totally disagree with the Signet of Renewal suggestion you have.

While on paper resistance and a lower cooldown might seem to be a good tradeoff for the huge reduction in conditions cleansed, in spvp the druid's main value to pressuring a node comes from our ability to constantly reset fights and force enemies to start their rotations all over. A large part of that is the clean slate that Signet of Renewal currently gives us. Also, it's never once killed my pet. The 2s of resistance is usually enough time for me to throw some cleanses and regen on it, and I can swap if the condi bomb it absorbed is about to kill it.

It all comes down to being prepared to use the signet properly, rather than just mindlessly treating it as a panic button. I don't senselessly waste cleanses, celestial avatar, and pet swaps before using Signet of Renewal. Instead, it's part of a plan to pressure nodes, draw out and survive 1v2 or 1v3s, and in general shift the map balance in favor of your team. Being able to totally wipe every single condition from me and reset feels essential for that.

Well i can understand your consideration but if you look at the numbers of conditions cleansable as a druid and the number of conditions cleansable for a core ranger/Soulbeast you see that it is indeed possible that the pet dies during condition bombing regardless of gamemode.So it is possible that it forces a petswap which isnt very favorable for non druids. And soulbeast on their regard do not have the option atm (but thats another concern) to use SoR and if it would work like intended you cannot remove the conditions from you even if you would use the signet, you would just get some resistance and more conditions from allies.A druid has already an abbility which can reset all conditions at once and they can spam regular cleanses already, so i dont think that it will hinder the cleanse capabbilities of a druid in big regards. As i said i can understand your point and your complains, but for the greater good i stay by my suggestion.

Hey insane just got around to your reply and as mainly a paper/wvwer I'd rather have skill 3 stay as is. Maybe if it did more damage in pve I'd be happy about that. But it's just too good to pass up, that skill you mentioned for the change would actually be a better fit for dagger.

I do like alot of your suggestions I just can't get behind that one

@Eleazar.9478 said:Hey insane just got around to your reply and as mainly a paper/wvwer I'd rather have skill 3 stay as is. Maybe if it did more damage in pve I'd be happy about that. But it's just too good to pass up, that skill you mentioned for the change would actually be a better fit for dagger.

I do like alot of your suggestions I just can't get behind that one

Yeah i know. I think it isnt that bad of a skill for PvE either because you can get fast behind bosses so you get not rekt.Sword has just so much dmg loss with 2 and 3 and 3 has more utility actually when i think about it. It gets you out of trouble without loosing range. Bit hornet sting has safed my life many times over. Even if it is jarring to use.Mainly a gap closer would be nice as an instant leap finisher without the need to roll backwards.The most conservative idea i would have for sword 2 is that the chain swap is permanently until you use the skill again (So maybe an ammunition mechanic with alternating skills, idk)One idea would be Monarchsleap-Serpent Strike chain and standalone Hornet sting or the same iteration for the current set up.Another idea would be to put serpent strike on dagger 4 with the above charge system and sword just gets monarchsleap and hornet sting.And maybe stalker strike as a follow up to monarchsleap.

As you see i am flexible with my ideas. I just want to get a second dmg skill that does not throw you into the backline without loosing the escape capabbilities of sword. And if i could get a gap closer for it instead it wouldnt be that bad either.

Give core rangers some powercreep too!!

-Swoop now full evade and double combo leap finisher again!-Lb base damage +10%.-Barrage now gives 5k barrier, and damage +33%!-Entangle now is a blast finisher too.

To lazy to write more >_>

I want to update this thread and refine some of my suggestions after i finished the Comprehensive Pet Improvement thread. Constructive criticism is welcome.

Also i want to ask: Should barrage be immobile as is or should you be able to move while casting?

@InsaneQR.7412 said:I want to update this thread and refine some of my suggestions after i finished the Comprehensive Pet Improvement thread. Constructive criticism is welcome.

Also i want to ask: Should barrage be immobile as is or should you be able to move while casting?

As a channeled, ranged, AoE skill it should stay immobile.

@Chrury.4627 said:

@InsaneQR.7412 said:I want to update this thread and refine some of my suggestions after i finished the Comprehensive Pet Improvement thread. Constructive criticism is welcome.

Also i want to ask: Should barrage be immobile as is or should you be able to move while casting?

Yeah @Dragonzhunter.8506 pointed out that it would also give problems if you run out of range and that other skills that work in a similar way would need to be looked at too. Still want the version of the alpha that Eir is using during the story quests, but a man can dream.

@InsaneQR.7412

I do respect your trap changes but honestly Traps need UTILITY.

Slotting 2 or more traps in any build would hurt it.

It should have something like dragon hunter traps: Stun break, cleanse or anything.

The trap trait also could use some work. The trait should affect HS too, like apply resistance for defensive traps. Currently, cripple only affects offensive.