Are Rangers just nuts in this current meta?

I've bore witness to them essentially 1v1'ing any single class/build combination I've ever seen go up against them. I haven't touch SPvP in over a year; is this the new norm?

Yep. Boonbeast is the new post rework Disenchanter Chrono build. Undoubtedly the strongest 1v1 spec.

Well that sucks; hasn't Ranger been strong in one or more forms essentially nonstop since the HoT era of Ranked?

@DeferentUrchin.7064 said:Well that sucks; hasn't Ranger been strong in one or more forms essentially nonstop since the HoT era of Ranked?

It comes and goes. Rangers had a bit of a lul for a while after Druid's received a lot of nerfs to their sustain and might generation for themselves and pet in PvP. Boonbeast had been around since season 9 at least I think and I recall being blown away at how indestructible it felt but I never saw another one again and the community didn't seem to catch on to how strong it was until last season.

Oh, people knew they were strong, the only reason you don't see it more often is that unlike other speccs, you cant get away with just smashing all keys off cooldown. On the hands of a half decent player who can control their finger-happy impulses, soulbeast is the strongest class in almost all scenarios. It is my go-to for when I want the first win of the day and I want to have the highest chance of winning.

It's not a matter of "current Meta," buff stacking is always broken. I would call it a tech, but the number of skills in the past two expansions that help achieve boon stacking is simply game-breaking. Any class in the game you pick has a way to get to 25 might. You know, something so broken an entire class and era of PvP darkness known as the Cele-Meta was caused by. If you can find a way to hit 25 might on a class with room for a stun breaker and condi cleanse, you can make a build to absolutely destroy PvP with it. Pre-rework, Deadeye had a way to hit 25 might in under 5 seconds. That's why it hit light a freight train. This is also why they're now a joke.

TL;DR: Buffs need a serious overhaul in PvP before they destroy the game mode forever. Case and point: I have less than an HOUR in PvP on my Engi. So, I made a Scrapper Potion Engi. I threw every buff I could find onto it. I Used the hammer. You know. The BAD weapon. The only thing that could touch me was a scourge, who stripped off my buffs. I would never die, had a constant 25 might and 1 of every other buff IN THE GAME. Sounds broken, right? If people weren't so busy slamming their heads into their keyboards as Holosmiths, Engi might be truly terrifying on par with Ranger.

I haven't had a problem with them on my "Hipster" holo build, but I might be unique in that regard.

@"Vagrant.7206" said:I haven't had a problem with them on my "Hipster" holo build, but I might be unique in that regard.

Holo doesn't have issues with anything. It's the Pay2Win elite of PoF. Asian MMOs look at Holosmith and ask the West to calm down with the pay2win.

@Lost Elegy.9276 said:

@"Vagrant.7206" said:I haven't had a problem with them on my "Hipster" holo build, but I might be unique in that regard.

except gw2 doesnt have any p2w :)

@Lost Elegy.9276 said:

@"Vagrant.7206" said:I haven't had a problem with them on my "Hipster" holo build, but I might be unique in that regard.

Umm...

Pay2Win =/= Expansion

Name a core class that can win a 1v1 constistently against a holo, soulbeast, mirage?

Arenanet will ALWAYS over power the specs on new expansion to sell more copies.

That in and of itself, is pay to win.

We wont mention weaver though. Anet hates elementalists...

@"C Cspace Cowboy.5903" said:Name a core class that can win a 1v1 constistently against a holo, soulbeast, mirage?

Arenanet will ALWAYS over power the specs on new expansion to sell more copies.

That in and of itself, is pay to win.

We wont mention weaver though. Anet hates elementalists...

Nothing beats Boonbeast 1v1 but core guard has a solid match up against Mirage.

https://youtu.be/hVzpKN1g1Wk

@"Lost Elegy.9276" said:It's not a matter of "current Meta," buff stacking is always broken. I would call it a tech, but the number of skills in the past two expansions that help achieve boon stacking is simply game-breaking.

Pretty much this.Although I wouldn't restrict it boons only. Some skills in general are massively stacked with unnecessarily powerful benefits.Look at the skill descriptions of Dolyak Stance, Moa Stance, Reposting Shadows etc.... so much value on a single skill is actually disgusting.Vanilla skills look like a joke compared to those.

@Zenix.6198 said:

@"Lost Elegy.9276" said:It's not a matter of "current Meta," buff stacking is always broken. I would call it a tech, but the number of skills in the past two expansions that help achieve boon stacking is simply game-breaking.

Holo and Soulbeast are both high damage but are certainly killable. Better players will be harder to kill but that comes with the game. Mirage might be strong but it also tends to fall apart in group fights where it has to spend more resources on defense than being able to focus a target. Mirage still needs some adjustments but I wouldn't say it's unreasonable in all situations.

There are core and HoT specializations that work well enough competitively and which show up frequently. Guardian, Thief and Warrior are core specializations that are certainly viable. HoT has several strong choices over PoF, especially for Reaper and Scrapper being a solid choice for those professions. PoF has Mirage as "best in class" but that doesn't make Chronomancer bad.

I just think the new specs are enjoyable for the most part and I'd rather have them in the game with new content.

Condi may be strong but power shatter is not a problem and super easy to punish.

If you can reliably anticipate a back stab or DE trying to snipe you, power mirage with their limited stealth should be a breeze, and you don’t even need to worry about stuns anymore.