Playing with the soulbeast is boring and underwhelming.

Yesterday watching the streams of many main ranger in twitch they all seem to agree the class is terrible. Even Quickcry couldn't keep up playing and that guy is very determined to play the class.

In my experience playing with soulbeast is like choosing to play in hard mode without sustain or output damage to rely on.

Do you enjoy playing this game with this class other than roleplaying reasons? (i realise most of the ranger is fine posts are from roleplay players which only want the shaman thingy going on)

Before you answer think about playing with soulbeast for 3 hours in PoF open world PvE... Do you end up thinking hey this game was fun or you have moments like wow that wordly impact was amazing or every single encounter with even trash mobs is ridiculously and unnecessary difficult because you don't have the tools to make it work.

I was super excited about Soul Beast but after playing for a couple of days, I went back to using my old utilities and build with the addition of the Soul Beast trait line so I could merge. II really love merging but not anything else. I really hope they do something.

The concept got potential, sure, but after 4 years of playing GW2, I think that Soulbeast is most premature unpolished feature they ever released to the game. So many bugs, missing interactions non exist tuning. I just don't get it, they always say they had 2 years to develop it. At the current state I don't see a reason to spec it over core ranger, at least not in PvP. Hope for fixes ASAP.

@anduriell.6280 said:In my experience playing with soulbeast is like choosing to play in hard mode without sustain or output damage to rely on.

I don't totally agree with that.Actually, condi SB have decent damage with Dagger-Torch / Shortbow.You have some sustain when you poison your foe, not excellent for sure, but that's something.And i really like the bear stance, removing a lot of conditions to you, with a short cd.

For me, soulbeast is just not interresting, compare to all others class (like holosmith, mirage, etc).It's just an upgrade, not a new way to play your profession.

Sorry for my bad english ^^

To me entering Beast Mode becomes a form of utility for just using f2 / f3 / Sick em , as well as a form of reviving pet and stack boons.I unmerged whenever I am done with the above utility, there's no reason to camp it cuz you can't choose which bonus stat you get.I think this is actually the way Soulbeast is meant to be played, considering the bonus damage is so pathetic when merged,

I'm using Jaracarda now, so Beastmode means I get a free cleanse and 2 bonus healing skill outside of my original healing source, which is quite nice.I also utilize Beastmode's F3 aoe pull for Whirling Defense hitting all the targets.

To me Soulmeast is like a stronger Skirmishing now, since Skirmishing is a pure dps trait.Soulbeast has similar dps increase to Skirmishing, but this time grant you 3~4 more useful utilities to work on, that's about all.

PS: I've been working around Soulbeast since launch so I think I know a fair share of it already.

@anduriell.6280 said:Do you enjoy playing this game with this class other than roleplaying reasons? (i realise most of the ranger is fine posts are from roleplay players which only want the shaman thingy going on)

Translation: « anyone with a different opinion is wrong because I’m right » lol

Well, Soulbeast is not that bad. D/T - SB is actually quite strong AND fun. The Elite spec has its flaws but it’s not as bad as I expected.If people can’t stand playing ranger anymore, maybe it’s not the right class for them? Just saying.

Frankly, I'm enjoying it right now. I thought I'd miss the silly utility Druid grants (blast, swiftness, stealth, condi clear...), but the new spec has access to all that - albeit not as seemlessly - without the need to carry a staff, and with more utility options. Moa stance is pretty neat, between the short cd, its own boons, and the impact it has on followup boons. Bird merged F2 is already a perma swiftness depending on boon duration, with Moa stance before you start stacking. Drakes grant an instant blast, and the marsh drake comes with the big aoe heal on the move (which, traited, also grants aoe quickness and fury). In wvw, the group contribution is massively improved. Of course, it's probably nowhere near what guardians/firebrands grant, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of what we had access to before.

And yeah, you want to select the two pets you're going to use ahead of time and practice the merge in/out and the switching. It's clunky, but the drake's merged F2 can blast a smokescale's smoke field for example.

I'm really enjoying it, despite apparent flaws. Given a bit more polish, things will improve I'm sure.

Power soulbeast is such a letdown after the massive GS nerf. In open world gameplay, power soulbeast is clearly outshined by vanilla ranger and druid.

Can't agree less with the OP... for me, soulbeast has completely revitalized ranger. I'm so hyped about it! It took a day to really get the hang of it, but now I'm loving the new gameplay.

@Hawken.7932 said:new gameplay.

??New gameplay ??

While it is not an "impressive" spec and doesn't do a whole lot that is new for Ranger as a class, it is NOT actually underwhelming. Some folks have already pushed this above 40k condi DPS... It is a clear and undeniably better spec for condition damage setups than either core ranger or druid. Saying that its damage is bad either shows that you are a) playing a power build (which lets be honest, power ranger overall has never been in a great spot in this regard... soulbeast actually DOES do better damage than core power ranger 25% of the time (interaction with merged sic-em)), or b) have no idea what you're doing.

What's bothering me more than anything is mostly just the lack of objective opinions across multiple gamemodes.

Yeah, Soulbeast was destined to be a condi Ranger upgrade in PvE. It's a condi autoattack weapon we previously didn't have with passive damage boosting traits.

That doesn't make it a good spec though, that just makes the weapon good in 1/3 modes and some of the traits good in 1/3 modes.

What about the mechanic? What about the other game modes? What about the other traits?

Personally, I found Soulbeast unusable in legend/plat queues in PvP. You sacrifice all of your defensive utility for just 1 usable skill and 2 subpar skills (which is the case on the vast majority of the pets, especially the ones you'd want to use outside of Beastmode).

Sure, you're a glass cannon, okay. But every other class including glass core ranger and glass Druid outperform Soulbeast at that role.

In WvW, yes, you can stance share and yes, it's fantastic for group play. But. You don't bring anything that a Guardian/Firebrand can't do better in that party slot when it comes to organized play, and when groups start optimizing Soulbeast will not suddenly become a requested WvW party/squad class.

I'm glad people are enjoying that they can get better DPS numbers on PvE sponge golems, I really am. But that one aspect is not enough to redeem what that spec fails to offer elsewhere.

@OGDeadHead.8326 said:Given a bit more polish, things will improve I'm sure.

Knowing the past record of Anet vs ranger, the "bit more polish" is unlikely to ever happen.

Actually, Soulbeast isn't underwhelming in any way. We can benchmark 35-40k dps with condi, daggers replace the awkward feeling of Mh axe beautifully, stance sharing is awesome.

Power Soulbeast may be a bit undertuned, especially after the nerf. However, I think that's more an issue of working out rotations. In my testing, I begin a fight at 39k dps, then it sharply decreases to 29k, 26k, and 25k until my rotations are back up. However, if you're going to raid, you should do it on Condi, and there's nothing wrong weith that. Power is more for Open World, and it excels at the burst damage and defense with Greatsword. Also, your longbow can do a lot of damage at 1,800 range, so that's nothing to scoff at.

In short, Soulbeast issues don't appear to be damage. Its issues are more one of arbitrary design for certain pet skills like Bite, or distribution of Beastmode stats. (Why no Healing spec for Moa?)

@Kain Francois.4328 said:Actually, Soulbeast isn't underwhelming in any way. We can benchmark 35-40k dps with condi, daggers replace the awkward feeling of Mh axe beautifully, stance sharing is awesome.

What you describe is an upgrade to core ranger, not a new spec / new gameplay.

And don't forget: revenant can share alacrity and have good condi damage now so ...

I mained a Ranger at launch. I had a very effective Power build that I didn't see used much, but worked wonders as an offensive tank. When Specializations were introduced before Heart of Thorns, they rearranged my chosen traits (or removed them) in a way that made me unable to play my previous build.

I tried Revenant when HoT dropped, but we all know how that goes. I tried to main my warrior and mimic my old Ranger build, but I found GS/ASh to be insanely boring. Soulbeast really excited me as a way to return to my old power build, but I was worried when I read all of the complaints after the preview weekends.

Before Path of Fire, I ran a half-damage half-surviability build that tended to cap out at 6k damage per Maul (no food buffs, not min maxed etc.) despite running full Zerker gear. The Maul/Hilt Bash/Maul combo gave me approximately 13k damage. After Path of Fire dropped, I can do 13k damage consistently from ONE Maul, and 15k on Worldly Impact consistently. That gives my Maul/Hilt Bash/Maul/Worldly Impact combo a total of 41k damage, TRIPLE what I used to be able to do. All I had to sacrifice was a little condition removal from the survival side of my old build.

Raids? No idea. I think it'll be "viable", in the strict sense of the word, but not "meta". (The fact Soulbeast power builds won't be meta is so obvious I don't think it needs to be said, but I'll probably be flamed if I DON'T say it.) I mean, I'm well aware my 41k spike damage on a 30s cooldown is nothing compared to current condi meta output.

But open world PoF? I can two shot most Forged. I love the extra F1-F3 skills and the extra options it affords me. I use the Smokescale and I love Takedown and Shadow Assault as additions to what I've always seen as the "Ranger bag o' tricks", or even using Prelude Lash from my Raven to yoink enemies away from my low health allies.

In a perfect world they'd increase Ranger base damage coefficients. Right now, though, I only have two desires for Soulbeast: give us merged pet swapping, and fix the bugs (like Smoke Assault's evade).

Anything else is a cherry on top.

@jcbroe.4329 said:What's bothering me more than anything is mostly just the lack of objective opinions across multiple gamemodes.

Yeah, Soulbeast was destined to be a condi Ranger upgrade in PvE. It's a condi autoattack weapon we previously didn't have with passive damage boosting traits.

That doesn't make it a good spec though, that just makes the weapon good in 1/3 modes and some of the traits good in 1/3 mode

Were you really expecting something which would perform better than Druid in sPvP or WvW? oO

For me, I feel the Greatsword suits my playstyle (with Longbow for ranged) and having the Sylvan hound really helps with its F3's heal for some sustain. Just trying to work on getting the Smokescale pet if only it wasn't stuck behind a progression wall in Tangledepths -_-

One grueling issue I find, and this is with any class really and since the beginning, is the combat in general. Mobs can do a lot of damage and they have a bit of health. Fighting in Night of Fires is annoying especially when running around with a kit that leans towards toughness.

@Earix.5684 said:

@jcbroe.4329 said:What's bothering me more than anything is mostly just the lack of objective opinions across multiple gamemodes.

Yeah, Soulbeast was destined to be a condi Ranger upgrade in PvE. It's a condi autoattack weapon we previously didn't have with passive damage boosting traits.

That doesn't make it a good spec though, that just makes the weapon good in 1/3 modes and some of the traits good in 1/3 mode

I don't think anyone was expecting Soulbeast to perform better than Druid. What we were expecting was an elite spec that could at least function properly and keep up with other classes. During the demo weekend, I could tell instantly within 10 minutes playing it, that what we were going to receive in the final release of PoF was going to be terrible in PvP/WvW. From the looks of it, I was right. Judging from every experienced ranger I've talked to and heard the feedback from, the general consensus is also the same... Soulbeast. is. bad.

People are saying this spec is underwheling in terms of gameplay, stop bringing that "but it does leet dps" argument, it doesn't apply here.

The spec is just a couple of crappy pet skills and a sh1tty dagger. With mostly passive boring non-gameplay altering traits.

On my end, I find that

• The dagger does indeed feel a little ''un-polished'' as it doesn't bring anything really new and doesn't feel unique (also still feels a little slow) - major case of High Risk, Low Reward due to it being a somewhat slow weapon, in close range, affecting few enemies, with no built-in damage mitigation (ahem an evade on skill 2 and/or daze on skill 3 would be ACE)
• Some of the stances are not interesting enough to be used over other skills (Cooldown vs Effect, or even just the effect itself)
• The melded pet skills need a LOT of tweaking for 85% of them, not sure if it's a scaling issue or just bad base numbers, probably both.
• Some traits feel uninspired and/or lack a bit of synergy with either Soulbeast itself or Core ranger

That said, I can't stress enough that I really do love Soulbeast and I do not find it boring nor underwhelming - It brings a lot of new playstyles and extreme versatility, I think the core idea is solid, it simply needs some polishing and tweaks, which I really hope aNet will look into

I've found it to be a refreshing change from the soul crushing boredom that druid ended up being.SB definitely isn't as safe and easy as druid was but I can actually do some decent burst damage now, and the 4 seconds of unblockable attacks from unstoppable union is fucking amazing.tldr: druid was low risk high reward SB is high risk medium reward but it's a lot more fun.

@Puck.9612 said:I've found it to be a refreshing change from the soul crushing boredom that druid ended up being.SB definitely isn't as safe and easy as druid was but I can actually do some decent burst damage now, and the 4 seconds of unblockable attacks from unstoppable union is kitten amazing.tldr: druid was low risk high reward SB is high risk medium reward but it's a lot more fun.

We don't want to get in that situation but yeah...

Unfortunately, SB feels less like a new way of playing ranger than it could be. What we got are slight improvements on core ranger functionalities instead of something radical and I believe this is why many people are disappointed:

• Stances are effectively similar to spirits - they give defensive or offensive buffs but are mobile and arguably more geared towards PvP/WvW instead of PvE
• We got a new condi focused weapon that appears to bring condi ranger in PvE back to where it used to be for some time until it got nerfed
• We got a new traitline that offers some damage modifiers but almost nothing in terms of gameplay. In PvE, most of our interesting utility skills are still gated behind pets and pet swapping is not possible in beastmode. (Disclaimer: PvE perspective)
• Beastmode is a cool idea but from a PvE perspective, condi rangers will still run almost the same build as before, pressing almost the same buttons, running almost the same traits. We will still quickdraw poison volley and probably bonfire, use 2 traps and the bleed skill, running the runes we used to run for ages, the stats we used to run for ages but perhaps we can drop entangle for a new elite. The cool synergies that are possible with beastmode- like Sic 'Em, Maul, etc. - is gated behind power damage which is nothing a ranger can run in organized PvE due to ranger balance.

In conclusion, at least from a PvE perspective, soulbeast sounds amazing and few but is effectively just a ranger 2.0; however, people had a glimpse of what could have been if damage coefficients were reworked for power weapons. We won't be the reapers of PoF, I guess, but it also won't be as exciting as it could have benn.