3/17/2020 Patch changes

[Waisenpai.6028]

Every power class has been nerfed, I guess there are some buffs in the new expansion. Sadly they favor condi zerg meta over power roaming for now.

[Eramonster.2718]

Power is out of season with that -20% crit dmg nerf on SB and the nerf on Maul does seem unnecessary. Without Maul, GS is not a good choice for PvP/WvW. Power is nerfed, the attacks is slow and it locks action. Swoop, Kick and Hilt Bash is unreliable to hit or for damage.

PS : What's the highest W.I & Maul's damage before the patch? (Not sure about Maul, but with full Zerk + Scholar + Force + Sick'em for max damage; I'm able to do 9.5k at best with 25 mights, am I missing a multiplier? Need a sample build.)Tested Condi SB (boonbeast and not), doesn't seems right.... may need more time theory crafting equipments and stats but noticed the damage is mainly from bleed alone, rely heavily on Short Bow which the ramp up time is extremely slow (similar to a necro spamming sceptre 1). :anguished:

[Lazze.9870]

@Substance E.4852 said:

@Lazze.9870 said:

@"Andy.5981" said:I really dont know what these developers intend for this class. We aren't usually wanted in Zerg groups because most other classes do things better. That leaves roaming as the only real alternative. If these changes alter the damage output too much even that might not be viable.

Ranger is still good for roaming.

So is literally every other class

"Good at roaming" doesn't mean anything anymore and is just a cope Ranger players tell themselves to deal with the fact that no one wants them in their groups

Did you read the rest of my comment? Because if you did, it doesn't make much sense to try and use a snippet of it to make a point out of how rangers tell themselves that the class is "good for roaming".

[Eurantien.4632]

@Casual Dad.2358 said:Other than Rugged Growth, were these other nerfs to be expected?

RangerSpirited Arrival: Fixed the description of this trait to include its interaction with the soulbeast specialization.Rugged Growth: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to heal for more than expected in WvW.Pack Alpha: Reduced stats granted to merged soulbeasts from 150 to 75 in PvP and WvW.Pet's Prowess: Reduced ferocity granted to merged soulbeasts from 300 to 150 in PvP and WvW.Ferocious (Soulbeast Pet Archetype Effect): Reduced power granted from 200 to 100 in PvP and WvW.Maul: Reduced power coefficient from 1.5 to 1.36 in PvP and WvW.Worldly Impact: Reduced power coefficient from 1.512 to 1.36 in PvP and WvW.

I have to admit I'm a little salty about this as this affects my wvw power build.

For PvP it was doing slightly too much damage. In the right hands - like mine (since I've mained power ranger since launch, and mained this build in question for the last year) - it was absolutely devastating everyone. I hit legend in 2v2s, slayed teamfights In ATs it was a veritable blood bath. It was high risk with high reward and I patiently waited for my windows to get in and land my damage... essentially one shotting even the best people. And they didn't like it - thinking it was too easy yet unable to play it themselves at the same level. Funny enough, this build was actually BETTER pre-CC patch. It was just harder to play due to the higher damage rolling around.

So for me, the nerfs were expected in some way. I think they did a fair job explaining them. Unfortunately, I think they went a little too far. It doesn't feel like the high risk of MM/BM/SB out weigh the risk when you can easily be pressured by condi mesmer (due to so many gap closers, and the lack of sustained condi clear), daredevil (due to unblockable steal and short bow 4 to interrupt your block), power rev (due to gap closers), a good spellbreaker, even HARD countered by MM-necro lol. Yet these weren't being played. There were like 0 counters being played... now some people are starting to play these builds and despite my experience... I find the reward for playing the build no longer outweighs the risk... I can outplay so well and yet i dont do enough damage anymore to pressure a counter class off of me now...

But I'm not the audience... and I think for casual PvP and WvW the damage was just too high. It's truly unfortunate imo. There are MUCH easier builds out there for PvP with WAY less risk and almost the same reward... and that's not what I want to see.

[Lazze.9870]

They're gonna go ahead and nerf Sic Em or/and some of the modifiers for pets in Marksmanship as well. Just wait and see.

[Lazze.9870]

@Waisenpai.6028 said:Every power class has been nerfed, I guess there are some buffs in the new expansion. Sadly they favor condi zerg meta over power roaming for now.

You know this is an additional patch to the one where everyone got nerfed?

[Ghos.1326]

@Substance E.4852 said:

@Ghos.1326 said:Rangers were definitely pretty darn strong after patch. Unsure why we think otherwise. Hitting 8k mauls (I've also heard upwards of 12k Mauls) as well as like 12-16k worldly impacts is a bit much. Don't we agree?

Why would I agree with completely made up numbers or numbers scored in a perfect buff situation against a glass target?

No one's hitting an armored up build for 16k. That's a completely fabricated value.

If nuking 5 people for that much was feasible Rangers would replace rev as the zerg's dps class. A party of SlB's all using WI at once would instagib half a zerg and yet you never see this.

Good thing they weren't fabricated numbers.

[NorthernRedStar.3054]

@Eurantien.4632 said:

@Casual Dad.2358 said:Other than Rugged Growth, were these other nerfs to be expected?

RangerSpirited Arrival: Fixed the description of this trait to include its interaction with the soulbeast specialization.Rugged Growth: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to heal for more than expected in WvW.Pack Alpha: Reduced stats granted to merged soulbeasts from 150 to 75 in PvP and WvW.Pet's Prowess: Reduced ferocity granted to merged soulbeasts from 300 to 150 in PvP and WvW.Ferocious (Soulbeast Pet Archetype Effect): Reduced power granted from 200 to 100 in PvP and WvW.Maul: Reduced power coefficient from 1.5 to 1.36 in PvP and WvW.Worldly Impact: Reduced power coefficient from 1.512 to 1.36 in PvP and WvW.

I have to admit I'm a little salty about this as this affects my wvw power build.

For PvP it was doing slightly too much damage. In the right hands - like mine (since I've mained power ranger since launch, and mained this build in question for the last year) - it was absolutely devastating everyone. I hit legend in 2v2s, slayed teamfights In ATs it was a veritable blood bath. It was high risk with high reward and I patiently waited for my windows to get in and land my damage... essentially one shotting even the best people. And they didn't like it - thinking it was too easy yet unable to play it themselves at the same level. Funny enough, this build was actually BETTER pre-CC patch. It was just harder to play due to the higher damage rolling around.

So for me, the nerfs were expected in some way. I think they did a fair job explaining them. Unfortunately, I think they went a little too far. It doesn't feel like the high risk of MM/BM/SB out weigh the risk when you can easily be pressured by condi mesmer (due to so many gap closers, and the lack of sustained condi clear), daredevil (due to unblockable steal and short bow 4 to interrupt your block), power rev (due to gap closers), a good spellbreaker, even HARD countered by MM-necro lol. Yet these weren't being played. There were like 0 counters being played... now some people are starting to play these builds and despite my experience... I find the reward for playing the build no longer outweighs the risk... I can outplay so well and yet i dont do enough damage anymore to pressure a counter class off of me now...

But I'm not the audience... and I think for casual PvP and WvW the damage was just too high. It's truly unfortunate imo. There are MUCH easier builds out there for PvP with WAY less risk and almost the same reward... and that's not what I want to see.

Well, this is ranger in a nutshell right now: outplay everyone for a smaller reward than everyone, who can just soak in your damage and sustain it right back up or tank it with protection, barrier or blinds.

Unlike some other meta classes right now, ranger actually has quite a few hard counters.

[aymnad.9023]

I kept playing sicem until the last moment of the 2V2 season and this is how I feel now.All those feedbacks are made with 2V2 in mind. It was both fun because of the intensity and a source of frustration because of the permanent pressure you have on you. It also means of course ~80% of the population was on rev / tempest / necro (core + reaper) / guard (core + fb).

It is playable and decent, not great. It is no more impressive and feels very hit and miss.I stopped using axe warhorn in favor of a longbow. This was the only way I could survive aggressions. Sicem has to kite. A lot. Because you will get focused.You are very dependent on your allies to setup and support you. Tempest with heals and cc, rev by disrupting the ennemy team so you can deal damage, necro by rezzzing you. So nothing new?

Well the burst is not really there any more. Fights take way longer. Some will say it takes more skills, but it also makes your job even harder since you already are a mediocre duelist and have a low survivability.

A few situations I encountered :I dealt 80% of this thief hp with my combo (sicem, rapid fire, wolf pack)! Oh he healed 50%? Guess that was not great.I can no longer rush a necro to try to get a quick kill and prevent him from gaining lf.I landed my combo on tempest, dealt 20% of his hp. Wait, is he just facetanking me?

I will not play as much the future conquest season but for solo queue, I think core will be a better option.In the end nothing will change for slb sicem, if you are left alone, people will say you are op / braindead because your harass / damage is still nice as range dd but if you are focused, your allies will say you are useless (maybe 50% of my losses the last week of 2V2 were followed by someone telling me how bad I was and how I should play ranger :lol: ).