3rd Ranger Elite Specialization Design Concept - The Animist

This is meant to be a theoretical design for the 3rd elite spec of the ranger profession. I didn't include any skill/trait technical info. The focus is just on the idea of the specialization and its functions.

I base this spec on the idea that the next or a future GW 2 expansion will be the final expansion of GW 2 and takes place in Cantha. I also base the design on non-canon story content that includes ocean locations and forest locations where Sylvari Dryads and another Sylvari tree are found. When the Commander reaches this area, they discover this specialization, and the teachings of Animism are revealed to the world.

First, we explored our astral abilities as the Druid...

Then we delved into our unbreakable bond with our pets as the Soulbeast...

Now... we can discover the ancient ways of communing with nature as the Animist...

Expansion 3 - Ranger Elite Specialization

The Animist

ALTERNATE ELITE SPEC TITLES:

Spiritbinder, Dryad, Symbiont, Warden, Ancient, Ether Caller, Etherist

Background and Description -

The most indigenous tribal beings in the Canthan Echovald Forests believed that all of nature possesses a spiritual essence. From the flowing waters and roaming creatures to the bitter winters and warmth of the sun.

With the understanding that one cannot control nature, but connect with its infinite process and maintain its balance, these beings strengthened, refined, and mastered their communion with the monumental forces of nature to become known as Animists.

Because of their greater communion with nature, Animists are followed by up to THREE pets at once that can channel the Animist's powerful communal abilities. Only together can the forces of nature restore balance and a peaceful harmony to the world.

The Animist is a conjurer, gatherer, and shaper of the primal energies and forces of existence. They are wardens of the forest, sentinels of the deep sea, and the embodiment of nature's love and fury.

Their communion with the elements of the universe and the spiritual plane makes them the true guardians of the natural world.

The Animist's Weapons and Communal Abilities -

To further channel the immense energy surrounding them, Animists use Scepters and Foci.

NEW ELITE SPEC WEAPONS:

The Scepter

SCEPTER SKILLS:

1 - Spirit Strike - Spirit Return - Spirit Link (Chain-Skill)

(Spirit Strike: Release a condensed energy sprite at the target. Sprites can bounce to one nearby enemy.Spirit Return: Discharge another sprite at your target. After the first bounce, sprites return to the original target.Spirit Link: Unleash an energy sprite at the target linking up to three nearby foes. Sprites will travel between each target inflicting damage temporarily or until the link breaks.)

2 - Communal Lashes (Channel a torrent of fast-moving sprites to assault your targets in a column over a distance. Gain might after fully channeling this ability.)

3 - Iridescent Synergy (Draw in the natural energy around the target area pulling nearby enemies to its center and exploding the gathered energy to do massive damage.)

The Focus

FOCUS SKILLS:

4 - Leaf Blades: (Pull the energy surrounding your foes into a vacuum, dragging them closer and assaulting them with razor-edged leaves and debris causing bleeding.)

5 - Essence Drain: (Sap the energy from a wide-area around you weakening enemies and giving yourself a strong barrier. Your next attack does 50% damage.)

NEW ELITE SPEC MECHANIC:

Communing

The Animist's powerful connection to the various natural forces of Tyria allows them to utilize and combine three different communions and have up to three different pets active at one time for either land or underwater environments. Each pet can be chosen and set to a commune in the pet selection window.

THE ANIMIST'S COMMUNES:

1 - Elemental (Conjured AoE DPS abilities focused on assaulting and culling large groups of enemies. Your pet is enveloped in elemental energy.)

2 - Aural (Defensive AoE Support abilities focused on empowering and sustaining allies and debilitating enemies. Your pet gains an orange aura.)

3 - Spiritual (Offensive AoE Support focused on enhancing the attacks of allies and draining your enemy's power. Your pet becomes ethereal.)

By pressing the "Commune" button above the health globe, you commune with the forces of nature, attaining a greenish glow and gaining access to the three communal abilities above your weapon skills. Each pet has a random combination of the three communion abilities. You can alter your chosen communal abilities depending on which commune you place each pet in.

While in the Commune state, your pets become partly translucent and are no longer affected by the physical world. They cannot deal or receive damage and cannot use their special skills. Translucent pets can still be targeted by enemies and can aggro or draw enemies. Communed Pets will continue their attacking animations despite not doing any damage.

Upon communing, your pets combine their vital energy with the Animist giving them a larger maximum health and powerful communal abilities.

You can switch in and out of Commune to keep your pets alive when they are taking too much damage or to position them strategically without them taking damage and then switching out of Commune to attack your targets. Commune takes ten seconds to recharge.

When not communing, your pets do less damage and have less health. If a pet is defeated they heal and return to battle quickly. Instead of swapping pets you can rotate them through each communal group to gain access to the different combinations of each pet.

COMMUNING ABILITIES:

Elemental -

Winter (Freeze the air around your foes slowing their attacks and reducing damage taken.)Storm Chaser (Gain superspeed every time you attack. If you do not attack, gain swiftness. Heal yourself and damage foes with arcing electricity everytime you are stuck while using this ability.)Molten Boulders (Raise three flaming boulders from the earth to steamroll your enemies in a line knocking them down and setting them ablaze before exploding into small fire fields.)Favorable Winds (Increase the velocity of your ranged attacks and all your attacks become unblockable for a short time. If you are above the health threshold (90%) your ranged attacks gain Vicious Turbulence increasing their damage by 10%.)Maelstrom (Conjure a massive swirling pool of water around you, pulling foes along its rotation and leaving them dazed.)

Aural -

Charisma (You and your allies periodically gain random boons while effected enemies periodically lose a boon.)Tranquility (Calm the flow of energy around allies allowing them to focus and quicken the recharge of their skills. If skills are not recharging, allies receive Nature's Renewal gaining condition removal and health.)Whispers On The Wind (You and your allies gain increased instinct allowing them to evade incoming attacks. When an enemy attack is evaded, your next attack is a critical hit.)Equinox (Equalize the energy between you and your target gaining retaliation. If your foe's health is below yours, gain regeneration.)Warmth (Soothe allies with the sun's energy to heal their wounds, cure conditions, and provide them with a temporary barrier.)

Spiritual -

Willowhispe (Conjure small, fast-moving spirits that float around your targets and guide your allies' attacks for greater damage. Grants fury.)Oakheart Roots (Ethereal vines burst from the ground wrapping around your foes and lifting them in the air. Vines also wrap around the feet of allies stabilizing them.)Spirit Bomb (Gather energy from all of nature to form and release a massive orb that impacts an area with raw energy. While channeling, you gain toughness and vitality.)Ether Phase (You become ethereal and evade all attacks. When this effect ends, you gain stealth.)Famine (Drain the energy of your foes increasing the recharge time of all their skills.)

Expansion 3 Pets -

NEW PETS AVAILABLE:

Ash Treant - Terrestrial (Special Skill - Forever Tree - Take root and create an area of healing and condition removal for allies.)Boa - (Special Skill - Slither - Evade attacks and leap at the target to poison them.)Colossal Crab - Amphibious (Special Skill - Bubble Shield - Create a defensive barrier of bubbles.)Crocodile - Amphibious (Special Skill - Tumble - Chomp and twist your target to cripple and bleed them.)Gorilla - Terrestrial (Special Skill - Hulking Smash - Charge your target and slam them with massive force knocking them and all nearby targets down.)Hippopotamus - Amphibious (Special Skill - Stampede - Call a wave of hippos to charge your targets knocking them back.)Octopus - Aquatic (Special Skill - Kraken's Grasp - Engulf multiple targets with tentacles immobilizing and damaging them.)Orca - Aquatic (Special Skill - Coursing Waves - Create forceful waves to sink multiple targets.)Panda - Amphibious (Special Skill - Acrobatic Assault - Dodge around the target evading attacks to deliver a powerful swipe. Gain superspeed.)Phoenix - Terrestrial (Special Skill - Flame Cyclone - Summon flames to surround and engulf your target and burn nearby foes.)Pufferfish - Aquatic (Special Skill - Needle Spray - Release poisonous spines around you.)Rainbow Fish - Aquatic (Special Skill - School of Fish - Call a mass of fish to blind your targets.)Sea Turtle - Aquatic (Special Skill - Shellter - You become invulnerable for a short time, absorbing all incoming damage for nearby allies.)Tremor - Terrestrial - (Special Skill - Subterranean - Move through the ground to your target. Bleed and immobilize them on resurfacing.)

PET COMMUNION ABILITY COMBINATIONS:

(Pet Name - Elemental - Aural - Spiritual)

Alpine Wolf - Winter - Tranquility - WillowhispeArctodus - Winter - Warmth - Oakheart RootsAsh Treant - Favorable Winds - Tranquility - FamineArmor Fish - Favorable Winds - Warmth - WillowhispeBlack Bear - Molten Boulders - Charisma - Ether PhaseBlack Moa - Winter - Charisma - Oakheart RootsBlack Widow Spider - Molten Boulders - Equinox - Oakheart RootsBlue Jellyfish - Maelstrom - Equinox - FamineBlue Moa - Maelstrom - Whispers On The Wind - Spirit BombBoa - Storm Chaser - Tranquility - Ether PhaseBoar - Winter - Whispers On The Wind - WillowhispeBristleback - Favorable Winds - Warmth - Ether PhaseBrown Bear - Favorable Winds - Tranquility - Spirit BombCarrion Devourer - Favorable Winds - Warmth - FamineCave Spider - Favorable Winds - Tranquility - WillowhispeCheetah - Storm Chaser - Whispers On The Wind - Ether PhaseColossal Crab - Maelstrom - Charisma - Spirit BombCrocodile - Storm Chaser - Tranquility - Ether PhaseEagle - Favorable Winds - Tranquility - WillowhispeElectric Wyvern - Storm Chaser - Charisma - Spirit BombFanged Iboga - Favorable Winds - Equinox - Oakheart RootsFern Hound - Favorable Winds - Charisma - WillowhispeFire Wyvern - Molten Boulders - Equinox - FamineForest Spider - Favorable Winds - Tranquility - Spirit BombGorilla - Winter - Equinox - Oakheart RootsHawk - Favorable Winds - Equinox - WillowhispeHippopotamus - Storm Chaser - Tranquility - Ether PhaseHyena - Molten Boulders - Warmth - FamineIce Drake - Winter - Tranquility - Oakheart RootsJacaranda - Storm Chaser - Whispers On The Wind - Ether PhaseJaguar - Storm Chaser - Tranquility - Ether PhaseJungle Spider - Storm Chaser - Equinox - WillowhispeJungle Stalker - Favorable Winds - Whispers On The Wind - FamineKrytan Drakehound - Winter - Tranquility - Oakheart RootsLashtail Devourer - Maelstrom - Whispers On The Wind - FamineLynx - Molten Boulders - Equinox - Ether PhaseMarsh Drake - Favorable Winds - Whispers On The Wind - FamineMurellow - Favorable Winds - Warmth - WillowhispeOctopus - Maelstrom - Whispers On The Wind - FamineOrca - Maelstrom - Equinox - Oakheart RootsOwl - Winter - Charisma - WillowhispePanda - Winter - Charisma -Spirit BombPhoenix - Molten Boulders - Warmth - FaminePig - Molten Boulders - Charisma - Oakheart RootsPink Moa - Favorable Winds - Charisma - WillowhispePolar Bear - Winter - Equinox - Warmth - Ether PhasePufferfish - Favorable Winds - Charisma - WillowhispeRainbow Fish - Storm Chaser - Charisma - Spirit BombRainbow Jellyfish - Maelstrom - Tranquility - FamineRaven - Maelstrom - Whispers On The Wind - Oakheart RootsRed Jellyfish - Molten Boulders - Warmth - Oakheart RootsRed Moa - Molten Boulders - Equinox - WillowhispeReef Drake - Maelstrom - Warmth - Spirit BombRiver Drake - Storm Chaser - Whispers On The Wind - FamineRock Gazelle - Molten Boulders - Warmth - WillowhispeSalamander Drake - Molten Boulders - Equinox - Oakheart RootsSand Lion - Storm Chaser - Equinox - WillowhispeSea Turtle - Maelstrom - Charisma - Spirit BombShark - Storm Chaser - Charisma - FamineSiamoth - Molten Boulders - Charisma - Ether PhaseSmokescale - Molten Boulders - Whispers On The Wind - FamineSnow Leopard - Winter - Whispers On The Wind - WillowhispeTiger - Maelstrom - Warmth - Spirit BombTremor - Molten Boulders - Warmth - FamineWarthog - Molten Boulders - Warmth - Spirit BombWhiptail Devourer - Storm Chaser - Equinox - Ether PhaseWhite Moa - Winter - Charisma - Oakheart RootsWhite Raven - Winter - Tranquility - WillowhispeWolf - Winter - Whispers On The Wind - Ether Phase

The pets you choose to go into combat with are vital to the rotation of communal abilities you can use. You can arrange your choices to always have the same communal ability available on a pet rotation or have a mix of abilities available.

Changing up your pets and experimenting with their rotations allows for more versatility and a level of unpredictability that can throw your foes off.

NEW PET CONTROLS AND INTERFACE:

Controlling your pets actions and behavior is now more specific and allows more precise, strategic planning. You can set waypoints for each of your pets and activate particular orders that can give you an edge on your enemies.

This pet control interface is similar to the controls in the Path of Fire mission where you can control a group of Awakened soldiers. A press of a key swaps your weapon skills with the pet controls for quick use of either.

1. Engage my target - Pets attack your target.
2. Beast ability - Pet's use their special ability.
3. Return to me - Pets stop their current actions and return to you.
4. Guard/Passive - Pets engage the aggroed target or any enemy that attacks you. / Pets remain by your side and out of combat.
5. Rest/Prepare - Stows your pets, disabling all other commands. / Awakens your pets by your side.
6. Shift - Alternate your pets to the next communal group. (Cannot be used while communing.)
7. Stay - Set a waypoint for your selected pet. If no pet is selected, all pets will go to the waypoint set. Pets will remain at this point until given another command.
8. Sense - Pets engage when an enemy enters their proximity space.
9. Draw - Pets will aggro the target and retreat to kite the target towards you.
10. Flank - Pets will spread out and engage the target from various directions.

Elite Specialization Design Focus -

The Animist is designed with a focus on strategy, experimentation for various offensive and defensive scenarios, and stacking abilities and attacks to handle large crowds of enemies. The mixture of pets, communal ability combinations, and pet engagement controls gives the Animist a vast array of possible strategic moves.

They are masters of combining forces from the surrounding spirits and energy to their group of pets and how they stack their attacks.

Although the Animist thrives on large-scale battles and as supportive DPS, they can be more vulnerable to one-on-one, direct skirmishes. Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent if they are caught by surprise.

However, the Animist has several abilities that can pull foes out of the shadows, sense their movements, and cause them to waste their attacks giving the Animist the perfect opportunity to unleash the forces of nature upon them.

The Animist's Utilities and Traits -

The Animist can channel the spiritual power of ancient beings in the natural world infusing themselves with their primal energies. Animist's gain new utilities called Imbuements.

IMBUEMENTS:

Sage's Touch (Gain health and a barrier. Gain additional health when the barrier ends and remove conditions.)

Treant's Stability (Gain toughness and stacks of stability. Breaks stun.)

Meliae's Will (Taunt, weaken, and blind all nearby enemies before knocking them back with a burst of spiritual energy.)

Warden's Insight (Reveal stealthed foes and apply stacks of vulnerability to foes revealed. Gain swiftness and remove any movement-impairing conditions.)

Melandru's Embodiment (Elite Skill - Fully commune with the forces of nature temporarily granting allies a powerful barrier and increasing all attributes and attack speed.)

TRAITS:

Minor Proficiency - Scepter and Focus Proficiency (You can wield a scepter in your main hand and a focus in your off hand.)

Minor Adept - One With Nature (Gain access to Imbuements. You commune with the forces of nature entering the Commune state. You can have three pets at one time. Each pet grants one communal ability.)

Major Adept - Symbiosis (Communing increases all of your attributes for a short time and grants you stability upon entering the Commune state.)Major Adept - Solace (Your pets split damage taken among each other. Pets heal and return to battle faster.)Major Adept - Cascade (Reduces recharge of scepter skills. Spirit Link becomes Spirit Tessellation. Sprites now duplicate on their first bounce for an additional bounce between targets.)

Minor Master - Harmonic Balance (Your pets take less damage and your communing abilities recharge faster.)

Major Master - Fertile Season (When you use a spiritual ability you release several sprites at random targets.)Major Master - Aural Resonance (Increase the radius, duration, and effect of your aural abilities.)Major Master - Nature's Fury (Focus abilities gain recharge reduction. Damaging three or more targets with an elemental ability reduces its recharge. Abilities that require charging now charge 50% faster.)

Minor Grandmaster - Melandru's Essence (Your pets gain increased speed, health, and damage increase for a short time when you end Commune.)

Major Grandmaster - Gift of the Forrest (Imbuements gain reduced recharge and grant you and your pets a barrier.)Major Grandmaster - Winnowing (When communing, you gain regeneration and a boon every time you receive a condition.)Major Grandmaster - Chimera (For a short time after leaving the communal state, your pets fight at full strength.)

Notes -

There are two new skill mechanics proposed here that this elite spec uses and they are "CHANNELING" and "CHARGING".

Channeling is the action of holding down the key pertaining to the particular skill until the skill has finished casting. Some channeling abilities give boons or activate additional effects during or after channeling.

Charging is the process of holding down the skills' key for a duration until the ability builds up and is ready to be released. These skills are some of the most powerful Animist abilities.

Why are there two new elite spec weapons?

Since this elite spec is designed around the idea that the next expansion is the final expansion of GW 2, I would imagine the developers may break a few patterns and allow more than one elite spec weapon if it is a single-hand weapon. Similar to the choice of giving Spellbreaker two daggers. For the Animist it would be two different weapon types. If you can't imagine two different weapons for an elite spec, then simply pick either the scepter or focus and exclude the other.

Why did you choose the Animist over other ranger elite spec ideas?

I've seen ideas for a "Bunny Thumper" ranger using hammer, a cabin-living "Hunter" ranger using rifle, an "Assassin" ranger using dual swords, and many other ideas. All of them great ideas for elite specs I would love to see for the ranger. However, in designing this spec I wanted to imagine this design as the last elite spec for the ranger before the game takes a different direction with professions or if GW 3 were to come along.

If this was to be the last ranger elite spec, I want it to be one that truly defines the ranger class. What it's all about and what best exemplifies the GW ranger. Something shamanistic and directly connected to the natural environment as well as the spiritual world.

What does the Animist offer to the Ranger profession?

The ranger is great at almost everything. A well-rounded profession that has pieces of all the classes and abilities in the game in some form. It excels in almost any situation or need there is. Yet there is one area it noticeably lacks... and that is the ability to be consistent and effective with AoE DPS and casting abilities.

That's why this elite spec is geared around AoE abilities that can affect 3-5 enemy or ally targets at once. The Animist's skills work in a more wide-spread and encompassing way instead of focused or concentrated like most ranger abilities are.

How will the Animist utilize the profession's unique mechanic - Pets compared to the other elite specs?

The Druid utilized pets as an ally to heal and support. The Soulbeast utilized pets for additional attributes, boons, and pet-specific abilities. The Animist is meant to utilize the pets as a way of channeling abilities and for more intricate, strategic combat.

Instead of over 40 new abilities from the pets, we get 15 multi-use abilities that can be combined in various ways.

Their communion abilities have layered use and are meant to be stacked together to overwhelm crowds. The Animist makes the most of your team of pets both in and out of communing.

What is Animism?

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/animismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism

Closest Concepts of the Anamist Design -

CONCEPT IMAGES

CONCEPT VIDEOS:

Dryad from Dungeon Defenders II:

Warden from Elder Scrolls Online:

Shaman from World of Warcraft:

Spiritshaper from Archeage:

This is certainly one of the more well presented and written e-spec concepts I've seen so far. Still reading through things, but for now, you get a :+1: for fleshing things out (including every pet).

I also had in mind to propose a specialization that would use scepter and focus, well done! :)I'm not sure about the triple pet mechanic, maybe there is too much complexity at managing them and their position. Other than this, nice concept!

Kudos for the passion and presentation!

Now on to my quick comments after scanning through... I’ll start here...

“Elite Specialization Design Focus -

The Animist is designed with a focus on strategy, experimentation for various offensive and defensive scenarios, and stacking abilities and attacks to handle large crowds of enemies. The mixture of pets, communal ability combinations, and pet engagement controls gives the Animist a vast array of possible strategic moves.

They are masters of combining forces from the surrounding spirits and energy to their group of pets and how they stack their attacks.

Although the Animist thrives on large-scale battles and as supportive DPS, they can be more vulnerable to one-on-one, direct skirmishes. Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.

However, the Animist has several abilities that can pull foes out of the shadows, sense their movements, and cause them to waste their attacks giving the Animist the perfect opportunity to unleash the forces of nature upon them.”

Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

@"Swagger.1459" said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

Thanks for the feedback. I think pets have always functioned as an aggro/additional supportive element for the ranger and were not meant to be a dependable source of debilitation or doing/receiving damage. This design doesn't try to make pets viable as a competitive component individually but instead expand on their ability to aggro, distract, and support the character. By mastering when and how to place/use pets and when to make them immune to damage for that opportunity to strike with your abilities, the pets become more useful to the class.

I also feel that the pet commands we currently have are too basic and limited. Having more precise controls other than "attack" and "stay-put" gives us far more options for any situation.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

Yes, the idea was for another 900-range max scepter with the focus weapon being mid-range 600 max. Our pets will always be vulnerable in any situation in any game mode. That's how it's always been. By communing with them so that they do not take any damage, we can make use of their ability to distract/hinder those enemies and then instantly remove them from danger, giving us the window of time needed to blast those foes with our powerful abilities.

There is more complexity, (a necessary amount IMO) but it is not so complex that it can't be mastered naturally and quickly enough to become effective with, or gated behind too many recharge rates that a spec like the Weaver's abilities have. The Animist also has many abilities to compensate for the slower casting times and durations, such as access to strong barriers, retaliating and healing yourself based on incoming attacks, gaining high defense while charging an attack, evading all damage, and preventing surrounding enemies from even attacking. The Animist also gains faster elemental skill usage the more targets you damage with a single attack. The more Necro minions... the better. The Animist thrives on crowds of enemies.

For solo play, you can deal with enemies pretty quickly by combining Storm Chaser or Favorable Winds with Equinox to sustain DPS along with your weapon abilities. That means burning through crowds of trash mobs or concentrating that DPS on a single foe to take their health down quickly. For high-HP bosses, you can knock their health down more rapidly with a burst ability such as Spirit Bomb and keep their defiance bar suppressed with Maelstrom.

Was able to thoroughly digest everything written. Skills, utilities, thematics, design are overall solid. The one area I was not too keen on were the traits and their layout. I like traits and I like them more when there is synergy or theme among them. There is not much of synergy here, too many recharge reductions (to me anyway), and some questionable ones such as Gift of the Forest that make Imbuements grant a barrier even though the heal and elite do this by default.

I would suggest the following:

Edit: Grammar.

@Wondrouswall.7169 said:Was able to thoroughly digest everything written. Skills, utilities, thematics, design are overall solid. The one area I was not too keen on were the traits and their layout. I like traits and I like them more when there is synergy or theme among them. There is not much of synergy here, too many recharge reductions (to me anyway), and some questionable ones such as Gift of the Forest that make Imbuements grant a barrier even though the heal and elite do this by default.

I would suggest the following:

Minors-One With Nature-Symbiosis-Melandru's Essence

Adepts-Solace: Pets take less damage and recover faster when defeated.-Cascade: Scepter skills recharge faster. Sprites gain an additional bounce.-Fertile Season: Spiritual abilities grant nearby allies a barrier.

Masters-Harmonic Balance: Pets split incoming damage, conditions, boons, and heals among each other.-Gift of the Forest: Imbuements recharge faster and release Sprites when used.-Aural Resonance

Grandmasters-Chimera-Nature's Fury: Commune abilities recharge faster and abilities that require charging take 50% less time to fully charge.Striking 2 or more targets with an Elemental ability casts Lesser Spirit Link on them.-Winnowing: While you have a barrier, gain regen and a boon when you gain a condition.

This focuses the minors on the new mechanic of entering and exiting the Commune state.Top line of traits focuses on the Pets, reducing damage, recovery time, and increasing their potency.The center line of traits are linked by Sprites that include recharge reductions and are more on the offensive side.Bottom line of traits are defensive, involving barriers and boons.

That's just me though. Again, I personally enjoy seeing synergy in my traits. The more the merrier. :smile:

 

Edit: Grammar.

This is very helpful! Thanks for reading everything and analyzing it. I can see what you mean about the lack of synergy in the trait lines. I designed it so the minors were about improving the Commune mechanic as well as the formidability of the pets outside of communing. The top line of traits were meant to be supportive. The middle traits healing and defense. Bottom traits focusing on damage and offense. The way you arranged them certainly makes more sense.

The multiple sources of recharge reduction, speed increase, heals, and barriers are to compensate for the Animist's long casting times and lack of physical pet intervention when communing. I could probably reduce the amount of these and give their abilities faster use, but the Animist already feels too OP.

Very well thought out. I'd definitely give it a try. :)

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@"Swagger.1459" said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

A few things about pets... Pets are also factored into our damage output, so having 3 pets will mean the devs would probably need to create a balancing mechanics that lowers the Ranger’s damage output somehow to compensate.

Pulling aggro, and having pets act as buffs, won’t be very effective in areas like wvw and spvp. Aggro won’t be held long against players and teammates are constantly moving out of the AoE buff ranges.

Having to micro manage pets in such a way means we play the UI more, and I’m not sure the community would really like that. It would be even more frustrating if the devs did not fix the major issues that pets have in the first place, let alone devote the resources to make pets unnecessarily complex just for this spec.

I do not believe many would find it balanced if a ranger could make pets immune to damage while still gaining some benefit.

...You may have skills and mechanics to balance out slow skills, and channeling, but I can tell you from experience that playing gw2 sucks when skills are slow, or take forever to cast... It’s even worse in modes like wvw and spvp.

I understand your angle, but I have a feeling (could be wrong though) that you have less experience with wvw and spvp, and those modes were not much of a factor into your design. Your design will get decimated in wvw zerg play, and would perform on the low average of viable builds in both wvw and spvp.

Slow skills, long channels and pets will not be helpful for this type of gameplay...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ivAbKhzg0

Your spec will not be able to handle solo or small group play in wvw or spvp effectively either, because this build will be met by fast moving and hard hitting players and groups... By experience I can tell you it’s 10x harder to play a necro solo, or without an organized group in wvw, because it’s super slow casting and lacks decent mobility... Examples of fast paced gameplay...

Overall I think you have a neat idea, but I feel it doesn’t work so well beyond open world PvE. I don’t see it working in any part of wvw or spvp, or any raid or high level fractal content either.

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

This is an AoE support spec and those are usually not meant for PvP, but that doesn't mean you couldn't be effective with the Animist in that mode. There are several skills meant for quick responses or covering unexpected assaults. I can imagine a few different builds that could compete.

They would certainly have to rebalance things for the three pets, but I don't think pets make up enough of the damage output of the ranger class to consider them a point of focus for DPS in any elite spec. Ranger still does incredible damage without their pet. Pets have always fit the role of decoy better than anything else. Any decent ranger I've seen in PvP rarely if ever relied on their pet other than for that quick, unexpected stun. They are just temporary meat shields and the holder of my conditions in that mode.

I don't agree that the pets are being made unnecessarily complex in this spec let alone the controls complex at all. The pet controls have been too simple for too long, adding to the limitations of use of your pet. Part of the reason why many rangers wanted to get rid of their pet before the Soulbeast. This spec aims to give rangers a reason to keep their pet out and make good use of them. Maybe it won't work in PvP the way you prefer to play, but it can certainly open more possibilities that you haven't tested yet.

There are 5 new abilities that could be used in smooth rotation with your other abilities and once you get used to moving your pets secondhand, you may find far more use out of them. If it's not your style in PvP, then simply use only the controls you are comfortable with.

Making pets immune to damage while gaining benefits is exactly what the Soulbeast does. The only significant differences here are that the pets are not giving us their particular abilities or a variety of large attribute increases, but instead channeling our abilities, giving us enough defense to compensate for their absence, and allowing us better ways to utilize them on the playing field.

Pets will likely never be a significant part of the bilateral DPS output for rangers even if they do share the overall output. There are plenty of builds and specs meant for PvP rangers. There are not however enough AoE support specs or builds for rangers that focus on AoE support this much.

Viability for ranger builds in PvP should be done with the rebalancing of what we already have. If this was the last elite spec for GW 2, a new ranger elite spec designed for PvP would be repetitive and redundant.

I have quite a bit of experience in PvP. Not as much in WvW, but I think the possibilities with this elite spec could yield some creative and highly effective builds for any mode. If you have suggestions for how I could specifically adjust the speed of abilities, the pet and spec mechanics, ect, please let me know.

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

We have an AoE support spec with Druid. Soulbeast also has boon share support potential.

Ask yourself, would the community rather have 1 elite with extra multiple pet commands and excessive pet micromanaging, or would they rather have pets that hit moving targets more regularly, have better pathing, not die so easily and gain benefits of all boons (such as quickness)?

I’m willing to bet that more players wanted to get rid of their pets because of how subpar they are, and all their issues, while being a forced mechanic... as opposed to the amount of detailed controls.

I’m not looking for any spec specifically designed for spvp, what I’m saying is that your idea comes off as working in owpve only.... A slow casting mid ranged spec, with an over reliance on pets, means a no go for any competitive wvw and spvp gameplay. I don’t see this as something raid competitive compared to a ton of other stuff currently available. The last ranger spec was designed to being a condi melee dagger build, and I have seen not seen any successful dagger builds in wvw... Condi ranger works in pve, that’s it, so I’m hard pressed to see where the devs thought process was on wvw or spvp. Soulbeast builds you see today use LB, GS, S and WH, and those are all the same weapon we had at launch...

I feel that another spec focused on support would be redundant. I also feel that more ranger mains would be less thilled about needing to use more of, and be more dependent on, the awful pet AI that has been forced into every part of this profession...

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

Druid is healing support. This is a DPS support similar to a hybrid of DD Ele and Water Ele.

I think players would rather not have to depend on their pet as a major source of DPS and instead use them as they were intended, to be a supportive mechanic, not your main weapon.

I’m not sure why you keep seeing the pet controls as something complex. It’s 5 additional, simple controls you can choose to use or not. The spec doesn’t rely on micromanaging pets. Like every other use of the pets, they are a bonus factor. Always have been. If you don’t like pet control then stay in commune, keep your pets passive, and build around your communal abilities and defense.

For some that think the pets were meant to be such a significant damaging force, that could be their reason for wanting to get rid of pets. For others, they wanted to get rid of pets because their intended purpose of being support wasn’t as useful as it should be. Expanding controls gives us more ways to use pets that can better suit our need.

Whatever reason players wanted to get rid of their pets, more controls are a great benefit to the profession if they help the way you play. If they don’t, then don’t use them and don’t claim they are overly complex simply because they don’t fit your personal play style.

Slow-casting on most of the abilities, yes. But there are still a decent amount of fast and consistent abilities with this spec. If you want something entirely focused on fast abilities, then yes, this wouldn’t be the right elite spec for you. It all depends on how you play in those modes and what you want your function to be.

Ranger AoE DPS support is very necessary. Mostly because it doesn’t currently exist on the ranger. If you find the pet mechanic and UI awful, perhaps ranger isn’t the class you want to play. If you’re playing ranger for the pets damaging ability, you’re playing ranger for the wrong reasons.

First: I like your effort and passion about this.Second i like the theme and the udea that the pet can be used as a casting tool (thats what i think will be what we get) and that the effects of casts can be combined.Third: I dont like multiple pets. It brings way to muvh reliance on AI, would be difgicult to handle probably and atm we need the pets to be fixed before they get enhanced or multiplied.Fourth: I dont like the idea of Focus & Scepter although i am all in for more AoE dmg and a one handed weapon wieldable in both hands (i.e mace or scepter as a melee CC weapon)Fifth: I do not like the traits, they are flavorless atm in big parts and mainly consists of CD reductions.Sixth: This specs seems to benefit from CC (due to the AoE capabbilities) but it lacks CC although ranger could need more of it.Seventh: It does not fill a particular role atm and its pet controls seems way to complicated.Eigth: This is personal taste and i am of the no Gw3 camp. So i dont like the idea behind of the final expansion thing and designing an E-Spec differently and more diversly for the jist of the player base is not what i think Anet is going for.

Some things i would consider:Instead of pet swap you get a commune mode. Your pet transverses into a spiritual form and you can command its position and get Control /Dmg/support abbilities depending on Archtype of the pet.Bringing barrier a bit more into play instead if healing would be nead. And as i said abive i would rather want one weapon type in both hands and a melee CC weapon at that.

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

Ya gotta be mindful when you say “support”. Damage and support are 2 different things here.

I already looked for the dev quote, but pets were designed to supplement our damage output. The original pet design had them accounting upward to 1/3 of our dps, hence why we have lower damage coefficients with weapon skills. Pet damage is also factored into raid DPS output. Players are forced to contend with pets mechanics with any build, so we can not dismiss all pet factors such as damage.

Again, it’s not balanced to have active pets providing some benefit while they are immune to damage. Soulbeast absorbs the pet, but also loses some things in return by not having the active pet.

I’m fully aware that ranger lacks a decent ranged AoE damage spec... hence why I suggested a 1,200 range AoE damage dealer.

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/9790/the-fury-a-hammer-weilding-ranger

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

You must have heard of DPS support before. The Animist is an AoE DPS support elite spec.

They may have designed pets for that purpose, but it has certainly not held up over time. Pets are wet-noodles but they have always worked well as distraction and a primer for me when I needed to use them that way. Otherwise my pet functions as a conduit/tool to increase my speed, gain boons, remove condi's, revive team members, and assist me so I can do the real damage. I've never known the pet to be a focus of damage or ever expected it to be such. If that was the case, my ranger wouldn't have the raw power that it does and I'd have to play the class like a Pokemon trainer.

Yes, and again, the pets are not having any effect on enemy targets other than fooling those who don't know that they can't be damaged such as minor NPC's. They cannot damage or block attacks when communed with them.

The Fury sounds like a fun elite spec and one I'd like to try for that ranged hammer and geothermal abilities. When I designed the Animist, I wanted to imagine what the final elite spec for ranger would be and what the ranger class could use to put its development in a satisfying endgame. Something not too plain and simple that would become boring and feel unfulfilling over time, and not something too complex that would rarely be used.

The other ideas such as a hammer/smash ranger, rifle hunter, and others didn't feel like the right type of spec to end the profession development on. The Animist explores their nature/spiritual core more than the others I've seen, gives the ranger something other than a physical or physical contact weapon allowing them to use DPS-focused casting for a change, expands on their class mechanic to make greater use of the pet's support, and feels like the right balance of simplicity and complexity.

Although this doesn't really offer any critiques for the actual nitty-gritty, I do have to say that I like your vision. I would absolutely love a scepter and a focus, and the concept would be something I would love for an elite spec. I agree that I only see them pushing out one more expansion, so I would be very happy to have something with this sort of theme.

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

I think you should run around wvw with your ranger and get a better perspective. Try Raiding too.

Your main focus is on a PvERP themed spec that has limited viability in a bunch of game modes. Neat idea on paper, and well thought out, but that’s it... it’s neat on paper.

I’ll end on this... Let’s say you’re right and this is the last espec (I don’t believe that btw), I would not want to play a slow casting class, that needs to power up skills for maximum effect, and to micromanage 3 pets... None of what you would ask me to play even matches the fast paced and hard hitting gameplay that gw2 has... Playing this would be like running through wvw on a reaper greatsword minion master, that gets decimated and contributes very little... I get that you put a lot of love into this idea, and I commend you for it, but you should look at all modes of the game to see how this fits in, and how well it matches the fast paced twitch based combat.

GL

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

Jupp i agree with this. The idea is not bad but in many aspects it will drown in this combat system. Remove the idea with 3 pets and try focus on the pet as a casting tool. The idea of channeling and charging stuff is also something that is not really helpful either in todays combat system. I would like to see an AoE focussed CC spec that can control high numbers of enemies with stuns dazes and aoft CC while doing some dmg. I dont want hammer as anew weapon nor scepter-focus. I would like to see double mace or double scepter as a melee focussed close to mid range AoE weapon similar to revenant Mace-Axe.For your commune abbilities: I would make spells depending on archetype of your pet and you can cycle through them. This would keep the skill count in check and would be easier to balance than soulbeasts mess.

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

I think you need to read a bit more carefully instead of getting fixated on words like slower-casting and charging up. This design maximizes DPS and the ability to use it when built for that intention. If you do not know how to build a character to be effective, you will not last long in any mode. Thinking your pet is or should ever be a dependable source of DPS validates my understanding of your approach and is certainly not in the realm of "fast paced and hard hitting".

The pattern of simplicity and one-dimensional thinking both in your understanding and your own vision of an elite spec is one shared by a good majority of gamers, and these are the types of players we like to face in competitive settings because they are great for taking advantage of.

Not every new elite spec is going to fit where you want it to. This one however, can most certainly be used in most modes. You just have to know, and more importantly, comprehend its functions.

@InsaneQR.7412 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

You want a mace for the next elite spec. A mace.

@InsaneQR.7412 said:First: I like your effort and passion about this.Second i like the theme and the udea that the pet can be used as a casting tool (thats what i think will be what we get) and that the effects of casts can be combined.Third: I dont like multiple pets. It brings way to muvh reliance on AI, would be difgicult to handle probably and atm we need the pets to be fixed before they get enhanced or multiplied.Fourth: I dont like the idea of Focus & Scepter although i am all in for more AoE dmg and a one handed weapon wieldable in both hands (i.e mace or scepter as a melee CC weapon)Fifth: I do not like the traits, they are flavorless atm in big parts and mainly consists of CD reductions.Sixth: This specs seems to benefit from CC (due to the AoE capabbilities) but it lacks CC although ranger could need more of it.Seventh: It does not fill a particular role atm and its pet controls seems way to complicated.Eigth: This is personal taste and i am of the no Gw3 camp. So i dont like the idea behind of the final expansion thing and designing an E-Spec differently and more diversly for the jist of the player base is not what i think Anet is going for.

Some things i would consider:Instead of pet swap you get a commune mode. Your pet transverses into a spiritual form and you can command its position and get Control /Dmg/support abbilities depending on Archtype of the pet.Bringing barrier a bit more into play instead if healing would be nead. And as i said abive i would rather want one weapon type in both hands and a melee CC weapon at that.

The spec alone already has at least 6 points of AoE CC. How much more could you need? The spec does have a Commune mode and you can command the pets positions in their communal form while using new abilities. Basing that alteration on archetype limits the possibilities of combined effects, speed of use, as well as the greater use of all the pets and strategies possible.

Barrier is in play quite a bit on this design. There is a trait that grants it for every imbuement utility used.

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:Currently pets are still in a low quality state. Pets struggle to hit moving targets, and this is most noticeable in spvp and wvw. Pets dies easily under pressure and AoE spam, and are more of a liability in large scale battles. Many ranger builds get screwed over due to these poor pet designs... Your idea doesn’t address any fundamental problems with pets, yet plops on a ton of needlessly complex, and I can dare say unwanted, pet mechanics... If ranger mains wanted needlessly complex mechanics then we would be Elementalists.

By game design, the scepter is a medium range weapon, while focus skills vary in range, so I’m assuming by description you want more of a mid ranged AoE damage dealer? You also want “Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent.”... So what will happen in wvw? The 3 pets will get eaten alive by all the enemy AoE, we will also be getting faces full of mass damage, while we are attempting to fiddle with overcomplex pet mechanics and slow skills... I want you to get a better understanding of what’s going to happen to this spec idea by running through a wvw zerg with reaper using greatsword and minions... Also, your vision makes this a not desirable spec for solo play, solo fights, small skirmishes... in wvw and spvp as well. Might be tolerable for open world bosses, but that might be the extent when we have many better options.

I don’t want to drag on my comments, so I’ll end on this... You may have a good RP theme, but nothing about this spec would make me play it in wvw or spvp. I wouldn’t even use it for pve, because I want fast paced gameplay, not to be dealing with slow skills and playing the user interface.

I'm sorry, but your espec vision doesn't fit gw2 combat. It's fits an owpve rp theme you are trying to achieve. You seem to lack experience in multiple modes, judging by this overall design.

You want a 3 pet "large-scale battles" spec, with a ton more complexity, when our current pet designs need a ton of work instead... I can guarantee that more in the player base would be miffed if the devs devoted resources to a limited mode use multi-pet spec, as opposed to fixing the main issues with their resources. You already cut out a ton of gameplay options or solo play by this thinking... "they can be more vulnerable to one-on-one, direct skirmishes. Their abilities take time to cast, channel, charge, and complete. They may have difficulty striking a single, quick-moving opponent if they are caught by surprise."... Almost nobody is going to main this spec in wvw or spvp due to weapon, pet and overall design. In raids, or high level fractals, I'm hard pressed to even see this as a decent option compared to other specs...

You might have nailed a good design for world of warcraft combat, but not for gw2.

Remember this... In theory and in practice are 2 different things. You spec is like using a martial arts Kata (Kata (型 or 形 literally: "form"), a Japanese word, are the detailed choreographed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in pairs.) in a street fight.

You posted this idea on the forums and asked for feedback. I provided my constructive feedback... I would suggest looking over your spec and making changes that match the type of combat gameplay here, and how well this stands up to other especs and professions.

@Swagger.1459 said:You posted this idea on the forums and asked for feedback. I provided my constructive feedback... I would suggest looking over your spec and making changes that match the type of combat gameplay here, and how well this stands up to other especs and professions.

Yes, you did, which I am very grateful for. But you also based your feedback on a very limited perception of the design and of what works and doesn't work in GW 2. Therefore, the feedback loses much of its constructive value :/

@Cyrin.1035 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:You posted this idea on the forums and asked for feedback. I provided my constructive feedback... I would suggest looking over your spec and making changes that match the type of combat gameplay here, and how well this stands up to other especs and professions.

IMO his feedback was regarding a specific playerbase and he kept the combat system of this game in mind.I have to agree with him that your E-Spec proposal wants to do to mamy things at once and that your pet-army idea is way to complicated to handle in an competitive environment.As i said above and do now: Concentrate on 1 pet being used to commune and cast and try to give this spec 1 specific role otherwise it will be a fustercluck of ideas.