Balance changes

I see we still are left with a mess of a class with no real use in any gamemode other than memes.Well, that means i don't need to come back.

How many of you don't play anymore or just use other classes better designed in difficult modes (roleplay is not affected by mechanics) ?

Still play just as much now if not more. Still love Ranger and think it's in a better spot now than it has been in many other points than it has been since launch.

Sorry, is that not the validation you were looking for your QQ?

The only way rangers will see any real change is if a dev decides to main a ranger, which won’t happen.

I play ranger all the time. I still like it, think it is good BUT… it is just under every other profession. Here is what I play in every mode.

Open World :Most of the build can work here.• Power slb (sicem) : I like this build. I kill mobs fast elites / champions, even some veterans. are quite a challenge (they can even os me).• Druid : Only when I am going to tag a meta because I want to be tanky. I barely care about healing / buffing allies. People run all over and so do I.

Raids :• Power slb : It is a decent spec. But as soon as you realize that power banner zerker does better on a lot of bosses you get sad. Benchmark difference is close to nonexistent and as soon as the boss decides to move / phase or does an attack that forces you to go away your dps can be ruined (relying too much on combos/burst making you static)• Druid : I like it. You are a bit dependent on your allies. The heal is ok, not enough to burst heal bad players but decent on a long run. And by god you have no idea how much people are toxic if you dare having some toughness on your druid or does use sword instead of axe…. “Druid with toughness? Lol what for?” “Druid is using sword… Noob druid is why we fail.” (really???????)

Fractals :• Power slb : same thing as raids. But can be even worst since you have to move a lot in some fractals between the aoes + instabilities. For me it ranges from challenging to hard since the gs auto does not evade anymore.• Druid : Okish. Here you feel the lack of healing or quick dispels. Not to mention healbrand lets you bypass mechanics and allows mistakes.

sPvP :• Core ranger : Nice spec. You can do a lot of different things. But once more as soon as you find someone decent you feel like are lacking something… You cannot hold a point, you are often focused, you have to face all the projectiles countermeasures (some professions are overloaded with them), you have a good anti burst but weak sustain.Sicem : I stopped playing it after the big nerf but I wanted to mention it. I guess it can be good with a friend with lockdowns. Otherwise you have way to many counters to be good.

WvW :I barely play it and only with sicem. So you can even ignore this.• Solo : I kill camps fast and pray to not meet most of the other professions in the game….• Small group : Now this is fun! You have room to stay in range thanks to your allies but are still challenged because you get focused• Large squads : Challenging to no fun… I like trying to find an opening but as soon as you have firebrand + spellbreaker + someone building a shield thing I might as well play somewhere else…

Overall :Power dmg : Good damage, quite challenging since you do not have a lot of sustain but in PvE you need a static target.Healing : Not fast enough to react in PvP but good in modes where you can guess what is going to happen.Condi : Again good damage, not enough sustain + the close range risk (and need to trigger traps if you play with them)

I've mained ranger since launch and won't be changing anytime soon. We still have the problem of it being a relatively easy class to play so your average ranger tends to be a pretty weak player.

@aymnad.9023 said:I play ranger all the time. I still like it, think it is good BUT… it is just under every other profession. Here is what I play in every mode.

Open World :Most of the build can work here.• Power slb (sicem) : I like this build. I kill mobs fast elites / champions, even some veterans. are quite a challenge (they can even os me).• Druid : Only when I am going to tag a meta because I want to be tanky. I barely care about healing / buffing allies. People run all over and so do I.

Raids :• Power slb : It is a decent spec. But as soon as you realize that power banner zerker does better on a lot of bosses you get sad. Benchmark difference is close to nonexistent and as soon as the boss decides to move / phase or does an attack that forces you to go away your dps can be ruined (relying too much on combos/burst making you static)• Druid : I like it. You are a bit dependent on your allies. The heal is ok, not enough to burst heal bad players but decent on a long run. And by god you have no idea how much people are toxic if you dare having some toughness on your druid or does use sword instead of axe…. “Druid with toughness? Lol what for?” “Druid is using sword… Noob druid is why we fail.” (really???????)

Unfortunately ranger sword still doesn't have any place in any build, but at least it's better than OH dagger. Power SB should have a dagger for 1-2k more dps, and druid should definitely be using axe for better CA generation and ranged abilities. I miss my sword, but since PoF came out this is just how it is.

Fractals :• Power slb : same thing as raids. But can be even worst since you have to move a lot in some fractals between the aoes + instabilities. For me it ranges from challenging to hard since the gs auto does not evade anymore.• Druid : Okish. Here you feel the lack of healing or quick dispels. Not to mention healbrand lets you bypass mechanics and allows mistakes.GS autoattack was more of a crutch than anything, randomly evading attacks and hoping it lines up with the things you should be dodging anyway. Getting bonus endurance was honestly an upgrade. Plus, rangers are incredibly good at movement with nearly every weapon having a skill that moves you, so things like the hamstrung instability aren't a problem.

sPvP :• Core ranger : Nice spec. You can do a lot of different things. But once more as soon as you find someone decent you feel like are lacking something… You cannot hold a point, you are often focused, you have to face all the projectiles countermeasures (some professions are overloaded with them), you have a good anti burst but weak sustain.Sicem : I stopped playing it after the big nerf but I wanted to mention it. I guess it can be good with a friend with lockdowns. Otherwise you have way to many counters to be good.I can't stress the need for people to stop playing core ranger enough. It really doesn't do anything that a different spec can't do better. Sic 'Em continues to be a solid option, but you can't just hit a couple skills to shred someone anymore. You have to actually play carefully and work to counter what your opponents are doing.

WvW :I barely play it and only with sicem. So you can even ignore this.• Solo : I kill camps fast and pray to not meet most of the other professions in the game….• Small group : Now this is fun! You have room to stay in range thanks to your allies but are still challenged because you get focused• Large squads : Challenging to no fun… I like trying to find an opening but as soon as you have firebrand + spellbreaker + someone building a shield thing I might as well play somewhere else…

Overall :Power dmg : Good damage, quite challenging since you do not have a lot of sustain but in PvE you need a static target.Healing : Not fast enough to react in PvP but good in modes where you can guess what is going to happen.Condi : Again good damage, not enough sustain + the close range risk (and need to trigger traps if you play with them)

@anduriell.6280 said:I see we still are left with a mess of a class with no real use in any gamemode other than memes.Well, that means i don't need to come back.

How many of you don't play anymore or just use other classes better designed in difficult modes (roleplay is not affected by mechanics) ?

Ranger remains a solid pick with relatively little learning curve, but you still have to put in the effort to be good at it like any other class. No more of these LB/brown bear open world roamers. Let's see more people looking up advice and learning the profession so it doesn't get branded the noob/meme class anymore.

@Aaron Forestman.4758 said:Unfortunately ranger sword still doesn't have any place in any build, but at least it's better than OH dagger. Power SB should have a dagger for 1-2k more dps, and druid should definitely be using axe for better CA generation and ranged abilities. I miss my sword, but since PoF came out this is just how it is.Well I do not have a berserker dagger and do not want to create one for slb. And outside of bosses where you need the slow on specific adds I just prefer sword feeling and mobility (really great on Matthias) + it is not like druid loosing a little bit of dps can really be the reason the raid wipes (seriously has no impact outside of a few bosses).

I can't stress the need for people to stop playing core ranger enough. It really doesn't do anything that a different spec can't do better. Sic 'Em continues to be a solid option, but you can't just hit a couple skills to shred someone anymore. You have to actually play carefully and work to counter what your opponents are doing.I am a solo queue player >95% of the time. The reasons I pick it (and maybe other players) are because no other build (ranger that is) come close to what core ranger offers. First we do not have a lot of good option then this one is fun (unlike boonbeast) and flexible (unlike sicem getting countered a lot).

I've mained ranger since launch and won't be changing anytime soon. We still have the problem of it being a relatively easy class to play so your average ranger tends to be a pretty weak player.Ranger remains a solid pick with relatively little learning curve, but you still have to put in the effort to be good at it like any other class. No more of these LB/brown bear open world roamers. Let's see more people looking up advice and learning the profession so it doesn't get branded the noob/meme class anymore.

Yes it is easy to pick up but… does it mean the profession has to be behind in every way? The e-specs clearly can change the gameplay of other professions. I like the classic ranger playstyle but I think this would be the key to change how ranger is seen / played. People are also so blind and keep saying stupid generic things about ranger like they are true. You also did use one.

EDIT : You are probably fully aware of all the next points I am going to raise but I am getting quite salty to feel behind and not wanted when our mechanics have are way less toxic than other :disappointed:EDIT 2: Just taking a look at the 2 new sPvP threads about ranger beeing to strong is depressing.

• BearBow : When was the last time you ever saw a bear ranger in open world? Truly this has become a myth. Last bears I saw were on Matthias to add dispel and on some sicem slb in sPvP long time ago (for the merge invuln).
• PewPew : Yes we play range. But how long can you sustain it? How often do other professions let you do it? With herald, holo reveal and the tether mechanic LB3 has to be one of the most dangerous and shortest stealth in the game (and all the other defensive Tools/reflects). What are the other options? How do we sustain close combat if you do not want to see us in range? With ranger tools that is not doable. The closest thing we had were always using axe or sb to kite. One of the issue might be that fighting a core and an slb (often sicem) feels too similar (also druid often used lb when it was played).
• Easiest/noob profession : Really? You can still hear that up to plat 2 but REALLY? Skill floor sure is low but skill ceiling is incredibly hard to get and not even close to be as rewarding as other professions. I especially love that a spellbreaker with all the passive effects can say to me “yes it is easy because you run away from me while letting your pet hit me”. This brings me to the last point.
• Pets are too strong : lol. Pets are so strong that even in a 1V1 were the enemy ignores the pet, with beastmastery I can switch twice or 3 times and then have to wait because he died to cleave/aoe (not even going to talk about core pets). But yes I can understand that fighting a pet is frustrating. I remember fighting druids in an other game. Druids were magic users with strong lightning spells, off supp spells (like burst heal) and pet with burst or cc. But the pets were the same for every druid and people complained less about them. (you could change their stats/skills by investing in skill/talents tree)

Jupp still my main and still playing it.Actually very happy with it atm.

A bit bothered because the pets still suck and cannot be customized but soulbeast soothes the pain.

@aymnad.9023 said:I play ranger all the time. I still like it, think it is good BUT… it is just under every other profession. Here is what I play in every mode.

Open World :Most of the build can work here.• Power slb (sicem) : I like this build. I kill mobs fast elites / champions, even some veterans. are quite a challenge (they can even os me).• Druid : Only when I am going to tag a meta because I want to be tanky. I barely care about healing / buffing allies. People run all over and so do I.

Raids :• Power slb : It is a decent spec. But as soon as you realize that power banner zerker does better on a lot of bosses you get sad. Benchmark difference is close to nonexistent and as soon as the boss decides to move / phase or does an attack that forces you to go away your dps can be ruined (relying too much on combos/burst making you static)• Druid : I like it. You are a bit dependent on your allies. The heal is ok, not enough to burst heal bad players but decent on a long run. And by god you have no idea how much people are toxic if you dare having some toughness on your druid or does use sword instead of axe…. “Druid with toughness? Lol what for?” “Druid is using sword… Noob druid is why we fail.” (really???????)

Fractals :• Power slb : same thing as raids. But can be even worst since you have to move a lot in some fractals between the aoes + instabilities. For me it ranges from challenging to hard since the gs auto does not evade anymore.• Druid : Okish. Here you feel the lack of healing or quick dispels. Not to mention healbrand lets you bypass mechanics and allows mistakes.

sPvP :• Core ranger : Nice spec. You can do a lot of different things. But once more as soon as you find someone decent you feel like are lacking something… You cannot hold a point, you are often focused, you have to face all the projectiles countermeasures (some professions are overloaded with them), you have a good anti burst but weak sustain.Sicem : I stopped playing it after the big nerf but I wanted to mention it. I guess it can be good with a friend with lockdowns. Otherwise you have way to many counters to be good.

WvW :I barely play it and only with sicem. So you can even ignore this.• Solo : I kill camps fast and pray to not meet most of the other professions in the game….• Small group : Now this is fun! You have room to stay in range thanks to your allies but are still challenged because you get focused• Large squads : Challenging to no fun… I like trying to find an opening but as soon as you have firebrand + spellbreaker + someone building a shield thing I might as well play somewhere else…

Overall :Power dmg : Good damage, quite challenging since you do not have a lot of sustain but in PvE you need a static target.Healing : Not fast enough to react in PvP but good in modes where you can guess what is going to happen.Condi : Again good damage, not enough sustain + the close range risk (and need to trigger traps if you play with them)

What about that druid spec with sustain? it seemed pretty solid. Sure dmg was low but holy cow that guy with the name barbi was able to solo pretty much any class with that super bunker build. I was quite impressed with the sustain and survivability and ability to play as a node keeper with druid.

For sPvP there are like 3 different viable versions of lb/gs. 2 soulbeast, 1 core.

3 or more different versions of a/x gs soulbeast/core.

There are 3 different rangers with different builds floating around the top 25, 2 of those top 10 (in NA).

Ranger is doin alright.

@Dahkeus.8243 said:Still play just as much now if not more. Still love Ranger and think it's in a better spot now than it has been in many other points than it has been since launch.

Sorry, is that not the validation you were looking for your QQ?

Being better then the utter mess the class was at launch isn't much of an achievement. I don't know why you felt the need to try and derail the thread just because somebody is implying your precious Anet isn't perfect but it isn't helpful.

@Levetty.1279 said:

@Dahkeus.8243 said:Still play just as much now if not more. Still love Ranger and think it's in a better spot now than it has been in many other points than it has been since launch.

Sorry, is that not the validation you were looking for your QQ?

Aww, did I derail the directionless QQ thread by disagreeing? Aww, I'm so sowwy!

As Eurantien pointed out, there's several good builds in PvP and the class hasn't kept good players from hitting plat. The class isn't broken overpowered and class balance overall has been relatively steady for quite a while in the sense that the class you play is no excuse for not succeeding in any part of the game.

@Axl.8924 said:What about that druid spec with sustain? it seemed pretty solid. Sure dmg was low but holy cow that guy with the name barbi was able to solo pretty much any class with that super bunker build. I was quite impressed with the sustain and survivability and ability to play as a node keeper with druid.It does look solid but I don't know. I am just not a fan of it. I have always played my druid as a mid support, I even used healing spring way before they buffed the ally dispell.I never liked other druid build (condi side noder, longbow druid) or ranger bunker (boonbeast) just stacking defense/regen because it feels lazy/boring (same reason I do not like seeing it on other profession). If I play druid once more, that will be as main supp. (hopefully)

@aymnad.9023 said:

@Axl.8924 said:What about that druid spec with sustain? it seemed pretty solid. Sure dmg was low but holy cow that guy with the name barbi was able to solo pretty much any class with that super bunker build. I was quite impressed with the sustain and survivability and ability to play as a node keeper with druid.It does look solid but I don't know. I am just not a fan of it. I have always played my druid as a mid support, I even used healing spring way before they buffed the ally dispell.I never liked other druid build (condi side noder, longbow druid) or ranger bunker (boonbeast) just stacking defense/regen because it feels lazy/boring (same reason I do not like seeing it on other profession). If I play druid once more, that will be as main supp.

I'm tempted actually to try out a hybrid of that build but as support lke use the weakness for keeping enemies off but having healing hybrid build.

I remember last time i played healer it took a while but once everyone knew what i was doing they all ganged up on me to prevent me from healing.

@Axl.8924 said:

@aymnad.9023 said:

@Axl.8924 said:What about that druid spec with sustain? it seemed pretty solid. Sure dmg was low but holy cow that guy with the name barbi was able to solo pretty much any class with that super bunker build. I was quite impressed with the sustain and survivability and ability to play as a node keeper with druid.It does look solid but I don't know. I am just not a fan of it. I have always played my druid as a mid support, I even used healing spring way before they buffed the ally dispell.I never liked other druid build (condi side noder, longbow druid) or ranger bunker (boonbeast) just stacking defense/regen because it feels lazy/boring (same reason I do not like seeing it on other profession). If I play druid once more, that will be as main supp.

If you do enjoy playing it as a support let me know and I will give it a try :)

@Dahkeus.8243 said:

@Levetty.1279 said:

@Dahkeus.8243 said:Still play just as much now if not more. Still love Ranger and think it's in a better spot now than it has been in many other points than it has been since launch.

Sorry, is that not the validation you were looking for your QQ?

@Levetty.1279 said:

@Dahkeus.8243 said:

@Levetty.1279 said:

@Dahkeus.8243 said:Still play just as much now if not more. Still love Ranger and think it's in a better spot now than it has been in many other points than it has been since launch.

Sorry, is that not the validation you were looking for your QQ?

Hmm, I don't recall anyone here ever saying that ANet was perfect. Perhaps you mistook my content with the current situation as some sort of radical fanboy position simply because I didn't agree with the OP and mocked the way they made their point.

I don't think things are perfect either, but there's a big difference between things being perfect and things being good enough.