Yvern.7608

I got my first legendary aurene weapon few days ago and now I wish I mained something other than Soulbeast. That feeling of betrayal when I see beautiful glow from Aurene weapon and relatively fitting birthday enrichment get mucked into Soulbeast musk the moment I merge was something no amount of wardrobe option could fix

Well, the point is to use a firearm instead of cold arm so let's try not to make existing weapon change xD but you have a point.. including that both axe and shortbow are stronger short ranged due to their fanning projectiles skills. But on that note it maybe pointless to have their range increased? Maybe the difference could be that it doesn't actually need to be right in the face but have fan shaped aoe on all it's attacks. Even the auto attack chain, so it's got strongest dps in enemy's face unlike shortbow/axe which have a burst. Those are fitting name. Between the suggested idea I think Griever is better as concept is less about actively trying to get vengeance but using it as a reason of their new proficiency. Definitely not because of copy right xD Anguished, Harrowing.. whatelse? Could also make it an adjective like how they have been naming especs like Spellweaver or Soulbeast. An immeidate idea I got was with that in mind is Griefshot.

I thought that would be more pistol position.. but on second thought there is a case like engi rifle. My only concern is it may overlap in role with shortbow... though of course shortbow is a heavily condi focused weapon and if it's a shot gun with strong short ranged shory term burst power weapon it could pair well with axe in power builds. I do like the thought though. Mid ranged weapon that performs better at closer to the target for main dps but also have plenty of mobility and CC to control your spacing with the target.. is the first thing I get in my mind when I think of this with rifle with shotgun type of weapon skills.

Well it's only an idea for concept, not a full on design. I didn't exactly mean to make a complete espec when I was just throwing out some thoughts I thought may work in place for people who wanted ranger espec with rifle. Plus, if I wanted to actually put that much extra details in I would have also gone and thought about entire trait line! It's supposed to be rough sketch, after all. That said, to certain points you made I can try to counter argue. - Trap 2.0 Well, aside from having two options there I did also add an idea of timed armament skills. Which can be considered similar but playstyle of it is entirely different in sense that you're not preemptively setting it up for where enemy will pass by. Actually, on second thought it might be have more engaging play style if you had to activate it manually as well instead of how traps cannot be directly controlled. Imagine wells but takes longer for it's effect to hit, and have bigger trade off in return. Be it more damage or condi/disable duration. And additionally have arming time so you can trigger it early for weaker but quick effect instead of waiting.. say.. 5 seconds for any effect at all. Or have the punishment which have more fluid shape but more set goal in mind of corrupting boons. - Pet Synergy Loss. I did feel like this is something to really think of. Beast mastery and Untamed already exists for ranger that puts extra strength to the pets. Soulbeast focuses on during merge with pet but does not make them particularly harder to access. Druid used to make pets weaker but not anymore. On that idea I imagine an espec which is based off a rangers who lost their pet was a good middle ground between not entirely losing their connection to nature so they have reason to continue using all their other utility skills but also no longer having direct use of their pets which gave them the reason to use firearm in the first place. Which was where I had thought of the idea of 'pet spirit' which doesn't grant F1~3 skills but instead add condi or boon to attacks based on pet spirit type determined by your currently equipped pet. I think it'd be more interesting if they added some special effects that procs on number of hits dealt or based on if they have leap finisher, blast finisher, field effects, etc so each pet spirit gives more play style and recommended weapon choices. It does still overlap a little with soulbeast on the concept, yes, but difference is you're more focused on using your base kit instead. So you get those bonus of having extra skills by using something you already have among your weapon/utility skills. - Name for espec What can I say? I thought of that in like 2 seconds xD If you've got better ideas feel free to share it! - Rifle being ranged hammer? Well, in my head I thought of it more like what if Deadeye but with more control and less damage, or condi focused? Ranger already have ranged power weapon(longbow) and condi mid ranged weapons(shortbow, axe) as well as support(staff) so my thoughts naturally went to long ranged control/condi weapon. Think of.. shooting entangle at 1200 range or something. Against single target, of course. Or fire a seed that is like Sylvari plant turret... actually that one may be better off in utility skill. That said.. if there's not enough description still, it's probably because it's still basically an idea. A sketch of a picture that one could spend more time to turn into an actual piece of art. That is why this is here in the forum, not on a table with actual people who determine what espec to make. And who knows if someone in Anet does like the idea and take a thing or two off it? Not that's what I'm aiming for!

I might have just missed it somewhere but I don't think I saw anything on the details released about new Elite Specializations? I did see info about new weapon choices, both old and new. Which is nice, but I can't help but say that when I see new expansions in GW2 I have always been most excited about new mechanic and playstyle changes that will arrive with new Elite Specializations.. which does mean I'll be rather disappointed if there isn't going to be one. Just having new option of button to press, I feel, doesn't bring that great of change in comparison after all.

I see some very angry people calling this change p2w but we all know we're all just going to use things like Relic of Scholar which comes without expansion and not look at 98% of other relics 😉

Ranger's baseline concept is that they rely on 'keen eye, steady hand, and the power of nature'. Using traps, nature spirits, and pets to adapt to any situation thrown at them. For that it's not hard to understand why they have not given rangers the specialization that can use firearms so far. Rifles and pistols are the only non-cold weapons in the game, and what's a better way to make a class more nature friendly than not using purely man-made force like gun powders? That means an Elite Specialization that allows Ranger to use rifle or pistol would have to come up with an idea that will allow it to bypass that limitation. A justification that makes them decide that they must result to weapon they at one point shunned, and here is where my idea comes from; I introduce you the Hunter Killer. " The Hunter Killers are rebels of once nature-attuned Rangers. Mercy they chose at one point in their respect for life broken and trampled at the death of their companion and home. Now they pick up the very weapons that they despise. Infusing the spirit of nature into these hateful arms to deliver swift end to those who threaten the nature. The echo of gunfire their only mercy to warn the prey that they are no longer the predator. " Having lost their companion or having watched destruction of nature to man, they turned their attention to weapons and fighting style they would have never bat an eye to before. I can see their utility skills being either Armament(Their affinity to the new combat style) or Punishment(From the vengeance in the concept). Their special mechanic, or trade off would be that their pets are no longer able to directly aid you in a combat. Instead they remain in their spirit form, applying boon effects to your kit based on their type rather than raw stat boost or active skills. For example, if you have a feline companion certain weapon skills or new utility skills will apply extra bleeding. If you have ursine pet selected you get access to protection or perhaps even aegis. Perhaps even give their specialization a trait that will alter these effect to be more offensive or defensive or make their effect boosted. Perhaps give the boons to allies as well rather than self. As for all the traits and skills that would affect the pet, make it a trade off that they either have no effect or apply to self at greatly reduced effect. I imagine rifle will fit in better than pistol for this specialization. Unlike Deadeye they are not styled for skirmishing where they actively become invisible or travel quickly using Deception. Hunter Killers are in essence defender of nature and they will use the range and area control to deny their prey the ability to advance into their territory. Leading their prey into a position they want- teaching them what it's like to be the one hunted- before they deliver a killing blow from afar. Focusing their rifle skill kit to be around numerous ranged conditions and disables that leads into a massive single hit burst based on amount of condition inflicted or adds special effect based on what kind of condition the target is currently inflicted with. On the topic of utility skills. I imagine, if it's an Armament utility it will be focused on placing various type of trap like disables from afar. Perhaps, to not make it overlap with Trap utility, make it more like timed explosive types of skills so timing is very important for full effect. If Punishment, I imagine it would be to deny the enemy of their ability to fight back by corrupting their boons and inflicting conditions that will hinder it further such as Blind, Cripple, or Confusion. That is it for now from me. It's only an idea and I'm certain there have been ideas better or similiar before, but I wanted to share my own thoughts on what would be good idea to make a firearm weapons lore friendly for Rangers to use!

That still does remain as little bit of alac for all the quickness, but maybe there's a way to find balance. I still find it a waste the way they threw alac into the ranger set when they had far more synergy with quickness. Or if that doesn't work there's still other options to approach it. I'm still all for having daggers get a little boost to bring back conditin SoulBeast back on track with power build for one. Or adjustment to Sharpened Edge trait to be made up for it's loss in efficiency from losing high hit count of One Wolf Pack which has only been remedied to be used by power build. Another thing I feel like is damaging the synergy of SoulBeast when their primary damaging trait seems to focus on both power and condition rather than just power as it is seeming to tilt towards..

We do have case of Chronomancer who can provide one or the other but in theory both. But I do see what you mean by it. Still, as far as meta goes you don't want half the uptime on either of these boons for they are currently what most builds are set up around. On the note of unique boon though I find that even more unlikely with the current trend of removing them. They got rid of that for Spirits already and also from Banners. I'm half way there expecting SoulBeast stances to receieve similar treatment because Dolyak stance and Moa Stance have potential to be extremely powerful buff except it's duration is so damned short with Leader of the Pack. At least Warrior and Weaver stances are personal buff and doesn't have room to be treated as unique party wide boons.. 😞

It is stated multiple times throughout the thread that the idea is not to have both but only one or the other. Currently alac is tied to Spirits which take up the utility skill bar to have access to. What I am proposing is, by tying it with stance and Leader of the Pack trait which no one uses over Oppressive Superiority since nerf, SoulBeast gets an option to use it for party wide quickness while having to sacrifice most if not all of the utility slots to it. Which effectively stops SoulBeast from having access to permanent Alac/Quick in a single set up. I also know boonbeast is a thing, and even when playing berserker gears I keep permanent fury, swiftness, regen and some might between axe/warhorn dagger/axe in open world. I've played condi, hybrid, power so far, but at the moment no matter what build one goes for it's just axe over every other one handed weapon if you want to be taken seriously in end content with power build shooting over the other two. That is what I really want to address.

I did make a build around it once. It was fun in solo/open world. That trait by itself does allow you to have perma quickness if you can time every evades. Though yes, you won't be wanting to use that for any end game scenarios. Mostly due to positioning issues in raids. And that is a fair point. But at the same time Ranger won't be able to have 100% uptime for both with limited space that is utility slots even if you do take both traits unlike Chrono whose boon is focused on their shield and Shatter. So by having quickness to Stance utility skills I wouldn't say it's weird to have the option. Players will still be forced to take one or the other for efficiency.

Not a unreasonable point made, though I'd have functioning Elite Spec that could be utilized by multiple weapons than a single weapon to out perform every other build a class can offer. That said, I have not personally tried boon beast. I'm not very pvp/wvw oriented player. But I'm sure you can agree you don't actually need the Instinctive Engage for quite near permanent boon duration. It's a decent mix choice there for both damage and condition for cele stat but I find it to be hardly the go-to-choice. In conclusion I think one does need three spirits to have reliable 100% upkeep. Also a steady healing source like Water/Elite spirit with enough healing power to keep the two utility spirits alive. This leaves only two slot for stance and if Moa Stance retain it's bonus duration, you still only get Elite or Healing slot to fill the last. Which will be a stretch even if both bear stance and moa stance have shortest cooldown. So I can say it could stretch to 4 for balance, sure, but definitely not needed to have five. Either way I'm certain it could be balanced in duration or some other way to be either one or the other. Also Chrono CAN still provide both boons. Just you are forced to focus on one or the other by the trait.

I will point out Unleashed Pet skills can hit quite hard. You can very easily chain it with Greatsword's 2 > 5 > 2 combo to have F1 and F2 immediately after each Greatsword 2 to burst up to 20k each time if you can chain it well in with CC. I can see it being like, say, Scourge's shade. Effective in their own right with good cool down and something you'd rather not waste by spamming off cooldown by auto casting it.

I think that could be a thing yes. I say tie it or replace the Leader of the Pack as at the time it's seeing very little to no use for Soulbeast who have very small supporting capabilities and have no reason to take it over Oppressive Superiority for damage oriented roles. Perhaps share the stance at half it's timer(which is like 3 and 3/4 seconds for most and 6 seconds for Moa Stance with the trait I think?) like before but also grant additional Quickness of 3 seconds which would be increased to 6 seconds with extra boon durations(Moa Stance is subjected to boon duration cap). It also gives player to have a choice between adding some diviner's gear to have 100% duration only during Moa Stance or 100% at all time to not worry about down time in between. Making a Quickness sub-DPS class which can't overlap with, say, an Alac druid builds as you'd need good amount of healing power to keep the spirits alive.

It does make sense. Even while given the circumstances it's unlikely a Soulbeast will be able to provide both at the same time as you already need alot of utility slot for Alac. Still it feels like a wasted potential when the class have only few very small quickness generation but also have bunch of quickness related traits while Alac just pushed itself in without any hint. At this point what's the whole purpose of +2 second boon duration on quickness when they don't even use dagger anymore and there's roughly 2 direct ways to gain quickness besides? Not to mention one of them is stunbreak and rather unnecessary in group situation, and other is trading away survivability in Soulbeast trait tree which would be more versatile in solo PvE scenario.