NorthernRedStar.3054

And how exactly do these achieve ranger do anything better than, say, holosmith, spellbreaker, firebrand, guardian, etc.... Spellbreaker and firebrand arent even strong btwOf course they aren't. Classes I play are never strong! Missing out my point either way.

Seen a few thieves with this build already, all of 'em got their arses slapped handily. I don't see an issue. Seems very niche and more of a counter-pick.

And how exactly do these achieve ranger do anything better than, say, holosmith, spellbreaker, firebrand, guardian, etc....

I'd be fine with a Pulmonary Impact -buff, too. Just anything that rewards outplaying, interrupting and timing your attacks with added damage.

to be fair unblockable aoe daze with poison field is insane. I wish they'd just remove the kitten daze they added and reset to base initiative cost though. Is has a very fair tell and slow missile speed, so you can either dodge the daze application or just move away from the impact. Yes assuming its just the 2 of you and nothing else going on, a sudden aoe daze in a middle if a team fight isn't so easy to dodge that when all other sorts of stuff is going on. Think most people would rather it be 4/5 ini and revert it, or even remove the daze altogether Same goes for other, more impactful than a simple daze, stuff.

It's appropriate for skills like Pistol Whip and Headshot to cost more initiative than your average skill, but the reward/risk should be balanced as well. Right now you can punish far more with a well-timed Black Powder or Headshot, than PW. A light armor class shouldn't be able to tank multiple PWs without an issue. On the other hand, skills such as Shadow Shot had their initiative costs raised for a good cause, because being perma-blinded while soaking a decent quantity of damage wasn't exactly engaging or fun gameplay (despite what some other thief players may say, imo). Well, in HoT they went the route of increasing the auto attack damage instead. I can't help but feel that if the autos did more damage like they used to, we would be ok with these changes as the ini costing skills could then be more used for their utility than for their damage. Indeed, but then people would be complaining regardless and the buff would be reverted. I'd rather not go this route, it solves nothing long-term.

Well as long as you aren't a Ranger main, you'll be satisfied. Ranger/Soulbeast was destroyed this patch. Welcome to Prot Holo side node meta and Boyer on a Druid. See you in game boys. Prot holo (ranger biggest counter) got hard nerfed along LR weaver , ranger only got increased cd on gs what if pretty fine .Ranger is now more playable than before xd That feeling when a guy who doesn't even read patch notes assures you it'll be 'better than before'.

^ title. 40% and 20% -phase occurred as normal, but without the Svanir boss (only Pineheart and Boneskinner).

Or you could just play something else, other than glassbow. Rangers need to be weaned off the greatsword teat. The weapon was good when I left a few years ago, and it's been getting power creeped ever since. I was stunned at the low cooldowns. People were getting whacked for 7.5k by tigers, it's down to what, 5.5-6k now? Birds didn't get touched, they still hit for 5-6k. Try other ranger builds, you'd be surprised. 1. I've been playing Core Necro today because it wins now, even on side nodes.Pet damage is fine.Core Ranger having Knight Amulet removed, immediately made the build no longer viable. It didn't need the other nerfs. Interactive and engaging gameplay, right there.

to be fair unblockable aoe daze with poison field is insane. I wish they'd just remove the kitten daze they added and reset to base initiative cost though. Is has a very fair tell and slow missile speed, so you can either dodge the daze application or just move away from the impact.

1) Wouldn't be surprised, considering condi builds are soon the only viable builds ranger will have left. 2) I've suggested as much, considering how telegraphed and bland the skill is without them.

because other ranger skills were also overpowered, maul is super strong, swoop is super strong, gs4 is turbo broken, and gs5 resets maul, nothing bad in the weapon, only thing it lacks is basic attack to be OP but pet covers that for you :D It doesn't take an Einstein to keep track of the pet's movements. It can be kited just the same, just a lot easier, as human players. Greatsword is versatile, but isn't actually powerful in a direct damage contest unless you're skilled enough to soak all the Mauls.

Swapping to short bow mid-fight is a cost itself. Choking Gas has a clear missile and slow speed. I don't see how it was an issue. But it was probably nerfed so pugs could have their easy rezzes more often. B e c a u s e being able to outplay somehow shouldn't feel meaningful and impactful.

Thief's one of the few classes that can penalize broken rezzes, and what does Anet do?.

They won't stop until thief is a 1-1-1 decap -bot.

Markmanship and Skirmishing need soft reworks, I think everyone can agree to that at this point. Just sliding a bit of condition removal -related effects here and there (1 trait per track?) would be useful. While at it, Markmanship could be made into something useful for WvW squads as well.

They learned nothing from last patch. These nerfs are, as previously, double as bad as they look. Gut the modifiers and gut the base damage beneath them, and end up reducing the damage 33-50% more than intended. Fantastic work.

I am bamboozled by this thief nerf. Is this some weird way to touch condi-thief? Why was the skill changed in the first place...? Just, what. Ranger's melee gameplay is about to become a meme. That is soooo saaaaaaaad. They nerf BOTH attack of opportunity AND the pet damage (but leave birds alone, apparently). Okay. Ranger is useless without doing damage. So why do you insist on giving and retaining bruiser/tank-esque skills like Protect Me! and then gutting all their remaining damage. Players wanted druid to be viable, so guess this is how you push condi druid as the sole viable ranger build, huh. How was revenant untouched? Just, what. Bruh. BRUH.

It's appropriate for skills like Pistol Whip and Headshot to cost more initiative than your average skill, but the reward/risk should be balanced as well. Right now you can punish far more with a well-timed Black Powder or Headshot, than PW. A light armor class shouldn't be able to tank multiple PWs without an issue. On the other hand, skills such as Shadow Shot had their initiative costs raised for a good cause, because being perma-blinded while soaking a decent quantity of damage wasn't exactly engaging or fun gameplay (despite what some other thief players may say, imo).

Take the blame for what went wrong rotationally. It's actually part of your job role as a Thief. They like to point at you and say things like: "Thief why didn't you revive me?" as if you could have revived someone through 4 opponents cleaving, or "Thief why did you leave the node?" as if you could have bunked the node against those 4 opponents after everyone had died. Thing is, if you quietly take the blame, they normally will continue believing in themselves and keep trying instead of rage AFKing.Try to bait as many opponent numbers as you can, as far away from where your team is regrouping as you can, while snagging decaps. If it's worst case scenario, the enemy has a triple cap and your team will probably try to regroup at the home node to win a team fight. If you can monkey a guy or two or maybe three into chasing you to mid and far as you threaten decaps, that's what you want to do. This way your team has a much greater chance to quickly win a 4v3 advantage at home while sending some opponents into stagger, so they can easily snowball mid and retake the map. Been winning a 1v2 keeping far neutral while watching my team struggle, even lose, 4v3. I was about to down the second guy when my ally rotated to me, pulling their warrior to me, and got me CC-locked (due to playing vs druid and reaper, I had used up all my stun breaks at the time). Some teams just can't be helped.

This isn't a Deadeye thread. If you want to discuss the details of another build with another set of skills, make a new one.

If you mean 'how easy is it to 1v1 with this class w/o dying', then ele and holo take the cake.

This'd be way abusable by canceling the pre-cast. It also conflicts with the premise of the skill, and thief having to choose to take quickness over utility and damage.

@topic:Pistol Whip itself is fine. Make it stronger you are basically back at spamming sword 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2 ... no one likes to fight against that and no one want's to play that for more than 5 minutes. How do you spam 2, 3, 2, 2,3 with the current initiative costs, though? Do you play thief?Is there anything this community likes playing against?

I mean, I'd blame the whining no-goods above all else.