The Warden of Echovald?

[Lazze.9870]

On 10/13/2021 at 4:55 PM, HotHit.6783 said:

Can't say there's any merit to the "ignore pet", "delete pet", "expunge pet" theory other than vocal WvW players praying for a second miracle.

 

Thats' a strong merit, though.

 

In PvE there is druid for our support and soulbeast for condi and power dps. Core might be useable as condi still, idk. Point being ranger can do both damage and support for endgame PvE.

 

In PvP we have sidenoder after sidenoder build, with various longbow builds being a worse +1 than the meta options since forever. Druid had a moment as a support, but Anet clearly doesn't want it to fill that gap the same way a core guardian, support scourge or tempest may do.

 

In WvW it's still just a roamer class, albeit soulbeast made it better than what it was for larger scale. Druid is a complete failure in that regard.

It's obvious what this class needs the most. It needs the "spellbreaker" spec, one that is aimed more for PvP/WvW. Two birds with one stone if it can fit roles ranger currently can't in both modes. And the entire argument about soulbeast being "our petless spec" is ridiculous (I don't care if Anet themselves said it). It's our merge spec. The mechanic is still heavily pet related, with the base mechanic being there with the click of a button. There are so many options to explore by simply freeing up those pet F skills a'la scourge... And then there is the opposite, being forced to design every upcoming elite spec where the pet still occupies most of our mechanic. That's is very limited.

[draxynnic.3719]

Problem is that pets are the ranger's distinguishing element. Soulbeast allows the player to change how it works, but it's still an important part of the ranger's identity. From a gameplay perspective, having the pet is what distinguishes ranger from similar professions such as thief. Ranger also has a tonne of mechanics that rely on some form of pet being present, and they're not all in Beast Mastery.

 

Blunt as it is, I think ArenaNet's attitude is 'if you don't want a pet at all, don't play a ranger' - there are eight other professions, and at least some of them have builds that are similar to ranger builds. Soulbeast gets around the problem of the pet dying, being unable to reach the target, or otherwise fail to be useful. They can adjust how the pet operates - merging, making it a summon rather than always being active, and so on - but core profession identities haven't really changed. Willbenders still have virtues, Virtuoso has what are basically shatters, Scourge* still has what are effectively shroud skills just without actually mode-switching, Bladesworn still builds up a resource in combat for bursts, Catalyst still attunement swaps (arguably too much), and Vindicator still legend swaps. Ranger's equivalent to all of those is... the pet.

 

*Using Scourge as the example here because it represents a greater divergence from core Necromancer than Harbinger does.

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

11 hours ago, Lazze.9870 said:

...It's obvious what this class needs the most. It needs the "spellbreaker" spec, one that is aimed more for PvP/WvW. Two birds with one stone if it can fit roles ranger currently can't in both modes. And the entire argument about soulbeast being "our petless spec" is ridiculous (I don't care if Anet themselves said it). It's our merge spec. The mechanic is still heavily pet related, with the base mechanic being there with the click of a button. There are so many options to explore by simply freeing up those pet F skills a'la scourge... And then there is the opposite, being forced to design every upcoming elite spec where the pet still occupies most of our mechanic. That's is very limited.

Agree!

 

Soulbeast is obviously not a petless spec because all the pet swap traits still require you to unmerge and have a pet.

 

To free up the F2-F5 slots for additional skills and perhaps get weapon skill changes on pet swap would be incredible and open up a whole new paradigm for Ranger in competitive modes. Having ground targeted AoE CC skills on the hammer and then having  them swap to AoE damage after pet swap would be truly amazing. Imagine that combined with Clarion Bond and LQZ. It even having a 15s CD is totally fine too since you can swap to your other weapon for 10s first since the two CDs would be independent of each other. Or, just the F2-F5 skills could swap on pet swap to give from boons, damage or CC. 

 

So many options if you "merge" with the pet permanently because it just opens up more buttons to press.

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

8 minutes ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

Problem is that pets are the ranger's distinguishing element. Soulbeast allows the player to change how it works, but it's still an important part of the ranger's identity. From a gameplay perspective, having the pet is what distinguishes ranger from similar professions such as thief. Ranger also has a tonne of mechanics that rely on some form of pet being present, and they're not all in Beast Mastery.

 

Blunt as it is, I think ArenaNet's attitude is 'if you don't want a pet at all, don't play a ranger' - there are eight other professions, and at least some of them have builds that are similar to ranger builds. Soulbeast gets around the problem of the pet dying, being unable to reach the target, or otherwise fail to be useful. They can adjust how the pet operates - merging, making it a summon rather than always being active, and so on - but core profession identities haven't really changed. Willbenders still have virtues, Virtuoso has what are basically shatters, Scourge* still has what are effectively shroud skills just without actually mode-switching, Bladesworn still builds up a resource in combat for bursts, Catalyst still attunement swaps (arguably too much), and Vindicator still legend swaps. Ranger's equivalent to all of those is... the pet.

 

*Using Scourge as the example here because it represents a greater divergence from core Necromancer than Harbinger does.

Going petless just means there is no corporeal companion on the battle field.

The pets can still exist in ethereal form, as a spirit animal. They just do not attack or deal damage. 

Swapping pets just changes your skills or provides some other effect.

 

Any skill that still requires a pet to be present, such as Potent Ally just works the same as when you are on Soulbeast and are merged. (Empathic Bond should obviously just be reworked to be -20% condi duration for you and your pet.).

 

I don't think ANet has that attitude at all. Hence Soulbeast. A petless spec is just the next step in the progression. I think they actually want to get away from AI controlled damage, there is endless QQ about it and they are forever nerfing pets because of it. A petless Ranger is far easier to balance for them.

[draxynnic.3719]

As you've pointed out, Soulbeast still has a pet, despite being the response to people wanting a ranger that is less reliant on AI. I don't think elite specialisation design is a slippery slope affair where an elite specialisation taking one step in a particular direction will necessarily progress into taking another, more extreme step in the same direction.

 

A petless ranger is basically a thief, or a renegade, or a dragonhunter, or something else depending on just what you wanted ranger for (apart from the pet). Ranger as it is exists to satisfy the pet fantasy, even if it gets modified as it did with Soulbeast - petless ranger playstyles have generally been shifted onto other professions, so that ranger could be balanced as a pet-user, and they don't have to balance for ranger with pet and ranger without simultaneously. Which is not a policy that couldn't possibly change, but it is something that they HAVE said way back in the past was their intention with GW2 ranger. Soulbeast fits this policy - it's still a pet specialisation, it's just one that allows you to put the pet away in exchange for personal buffs.

 

I also wanted to point out that your idea of turning pets into, essentially, attunements would require an impractical number of new skills to be made. Ranger has more weapons than elementalist and your proposal would require at least two more versions of every ranger weapon to be made. Even if we were to go at the most conservative and assume that there were only two 'animal attunements' and they only changed one weapon skill, that's looking at ten new weapon skills right there. They made a big deal about weaver getting eighteen (six new skills each for dagger, scepter and staff) plus the twenty needed for sword for a total of thirty-eight. It really wouldn't take too many expansions of the conservative example I gave for 'animal attunements' to require an exponentially increasing number of new skills that end up making weaver look like a small project in comparison. I doubt they have the resources to invest in making over fifty new skills for one elite spec.

[Xanadrine.4352]

Hammer Warden lets go! 

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

3 hours ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

As you've pointed out, Soulbeast still has a pet, despite being the response to people wanting a ranger that is less reliant on AI. I don't think elite specialisation design is a slippery slope affair where an elite specialisation taking one step in a particular direction will necessarily progress into taking another, more extreme step in the same direction.

 

A petless ranger is basically a thief, or a renegade, or a dragonhunter, or something else depending on just what you wanted ranger for (apart from the pet). Ranger as it is exists to satisfy the pet fantasy, even if it gets modified as it did with Soulbeast - petless ranger playstyles have generally been shifted onto other professions, so that ranger could be balanced as a pet-user, and they don't have to balance for ranger with pet and ranger without simultaneously. Which is not a policy that couldn't possibly change, but it is something that they HAVE said way back in the past was their intention with GW2 ranger. Soulbeast fits this policy - it's still a pet specialisation, it's just one that allows you to put the pet away in exchange for personal buffs.

 

I also wanted to point out that your idea of turning pets into, essentially, attunements would require an impractical number of new skills to be made. Ranger has more weapons than elementalist and your proposal would require at least two more versions of every ranger weapon to be made. Even if we were to go at the most conservative and assume that there were only two 'animal attunements' and they only changed one weapon skill, that's looking at ten new weapon skills right there. They made a big deal about weaver getting eighteen (six new skills each for dagger, scepter and staff) plus the twenty needed for sword for a total of thirty-eight. It really wouldn't take too many expansions of the conservative example I gave for 'animal attunements' to require an exponentially increasing number of new skills that end up making weaver look like a small project in comparison. I doubt they have the resources to invest in making over fifty new skills for one elite spec.

I don't think Soulbeast is the response to people wanting less AI, I think it is a response to ANets desire to have less AI. You can see this in their continual nerfs of the pets and anything to do with them, giving them less stats with Druid, nerfing the pet skills, the pets themselves, nerfing the stat bonus to Soulbeast, etc etc. By nerfing pets in such a way, it makes the Beastmaster trope character impossible to play on Ranger, so as it is, the Ranger is hardly a pet class at all, anymore than a Necro MM is. I mean, they reworked the skills that allowed you to directly control your pet and turned it into what is essentially a buffed flesh golem.

What they said WAY back in the past is irrelevant now, they have changed much of their ethos in the meantime. 

Ranger as it exists can still fulfill the pet fantasy, without a pet, you still have 3 other Specs that can run a pet.

The reason Ranger is not competitive in WvW except for Roaming and on a Perma-merged Soulbeast is because they balance the ranger around the pet. Meaning, since the pet is completely useless in large scale play, so too will the ranger be if he is using a pet.

 If they had pet attunements, you just make it swap the F2-F5 skills and hammer skills on pet swap. I never intended for them to make new skills for every other weapon too. There is no need. If you have a core weapon, it only swaps the F2-F5. Then the Hammer would be almost required use, unlike Staff and Dagger. Or just make the F2-F5 inbue the other weapons with some effect.

Not hard.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582

[draxynnic.3719]

We'll see in a week or so, but the trend has still been one of the pet remaining an important part of the ranger elite specialisations regardless. Petless ranger builds have come from adding ranger-like behaviour to other professions, allowing them to build off that profession's mechanics rather than replacing pet mechanics with something built from scratch.

 

Thing is that soulbeast already removes the 'pet isn't useful' problem, as you acknowledge yourself when referring to perma-merged Soulbeast in WvW. But if the circumstances change and it is advantageous to do so, a soulbeast can still pop the pet back out. Soulbeast also, incidentally, makes pet 'death' virtually a non-issue since you can revive it through merging and unmerging.

 

So, your suggestion is basically perma-merged Soulbeast that swaps between two mergings unless you're using the elite spec weapon.

 

I really don't see them offering a ton of skills for the elite spec weapon without catering to the others. Historically, elite specialisation weapons are generally designed to work well with how the elite spec is intended to be played or to fill a gap, without explicitly being better than the core weapons. Having a major part of the mechanic explicity require using the new weapon to use is pushing into 'you're doing it wrong if you don't use this weapon' territory.

 

And that's without even considering that it would mean that command skills, traits, and so on will be permanently working like they do for merged soulbeasts. I'm not exactly eager for another profession whose power damage is built around Sic'Em.

 

I think there's still a lot of space for an elite spec to work with the pet rather than downplaying or removing it.

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

42 minutes ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

We'll see in a week or so, but the trend has still been one of the pet remaining an important part of the ranger elite specialisations regardless. Petless ranger builds have come from adding ranger-like behaviour to other professions, allowing them to build off that profession's mechanics rather than replacing pet mechanics with something built from scratch.

 

Thing is that soulbeast already removes the 'pet isn't useful' problem, as you acknowledge yourself when referring to perma-merged Soulbeast in WvW. But if the circumstances change and it is advantageous to do so, a soulbeast can still pop the pet back out. Soulbeast also, incidentally, makes pet 'death' virtually a non-issue since you can revive it through merging and unmerging.

 

So, your suggestion is basically perma-merged Soulbeast that swaps between two mergings unless you're using the elite spec weapon.

 

I really don't see them offering a ton of skills for the elite spec weapon without catering to the others. Historically, elite specialisation weapons are generally designed to work well with how the elite spec is intended to be played or to fill a gap, without explicitly being better than the core weapons. Having a major part of the mechanic explicity require using the new weapon to use is pushing into 'you're doing it wrong if you don't use this weapon' territory.

 

And that's without even considering that it would mean that command skills, traits, and so on will be permanently working like they do for merged soulbeasts. I'm not exactly eager for another profession whose power damage is built around Sic'Em.

 

I think there's still a lot of space for an elite spec to work with the pet rather than downplaying or removing it.

Indeed, but the trend has been less and less a focus on the pet as time goes on. Core WAS very strong pets and weak ranger weapons, the power coefficients were dismal, but the pets did a lot of damage. That was changed to be the opposite. Also, the pet skills were reworked so you could no longer control it directly (like Guard!). Then Druid was added which gave the Ranger sustain, the pet stats were then nerfed so it could deal less damage. Then there was an across the board nerf on pets. Then they added Soulbeast which you _can_ choose to remain merged permanently, but to do so loses out on all the pet skills and traits, half of which don't work when merged, it is clearly designed to merg/unmerge frequently, to be part of the pet periodically. That's why they removed the ability to pet swap. I think the next step is to have a perma merged pet of some form. 

 

Soulbeast does not _really_ solve that problem, since the aformentioned traits do not work anymore and it severely limits the useful traits you do have, if you want to run perma merged. It kinda solves the "pet isn't useful" problem by making the "half my traits aren't useful" problem. It's the same problem Ranger has had since launch. A lack of skills to execute. Perma merging as soulbeast gives you direct control over a couple extra, but you lose the versatility of the other pet and all the swap traits. Hardly a solution. Soulbeast is not made to play this way, as I mentioned previously.

 

Yeah, perma merged Soulbeast and the F2-F5 skills are some AoE effect that changes with the pet archetype, not simple attacks. Perhaps they will be pet attacks that create a summon for a short period to do something. 

 

The fact that the spec weapon skills are made to fill a gap is why I think there will be 10 hammer skills. If it's going to fill the gaps, it needs AoE CC as well as AoE damage. But you can't have CC and damage in the one weapon without the damage being nerfed into the ground. Look at Warrior Hammer for example, it's all but useless now. What's the solution to that? Put a time gate on the two forms of skills, enter pet swap. Maybe it will work like the Legendary Alliance Stance for Revenant and the skills will just swap over and pet swap will change them back to one or the other. Hell, maybe we get 4 pets and then the F2-F5 skills are different for all of them, we just swap between them all like attunements and the hammer skills stay stationary.

 

That in itself is not explicitly better than the core weapons, particularly if there is no weapon improvement trait like seems to be a thing now and the CDs are adjusted correctly.   

 

Power damage will ALWAYS be built around Sic Em lol, its a huge modifier. Even if the new spec adds something revolutionary, Sic Em will STILL be taken if it's power damage.

 

I don't think there is any more space for the pet in eSpecs, unless they totally rewrite the pathing code and redo all the pet skills. 
Even then, that would  make the pets do more reliable damage and they have already nerfed pet damage dozens of times, they would need to do it again to keep it somewhat similar to now since the ranger weapons are tuned up to account for the pet nerfs.

What role can it possibly play? Core/Druid/SoulBeast and the pet mechanic has only ever been nerfed. 
Will it stay the same as now? How boring, we just get a Hammer and have the same pet problems as always? No changes? 
Or, you think NOW they will give the pet better AI and better damage when they have clearly shown over the last decade that they want the opposite? 
I can't see them EVER offering a Beastmaster spec because of all the problems that come with that, the same problems that resulted in continual nerfs. 
So what can it be? I think it will be petless to solve the AI problem and the skill accessibilty problem at the same time.

 

Care to elaborate on your ideas?

[Ashantara.8731]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:11 PM, Grand Marshal.4098 said:

Nah it will probably be something new and unique.

...and terribly boring like the other specs? (Hopefully not, but my expectations are the lowest they could be.)

[draxynnic.3719]

On 10/16/2021 at 3:45 PM, Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582 said:

Soulbeast does not _really_ solve that problem, since the aformentioned traits do not work anymore and it severely limits the useful traits you do have, if you want to run perma merged. It kinda solves the "pet isn't useful" problem by making the "half my traits aren't useful" problem. 

You think a "can't have pets out ever" elite specialisation is going to fix the "half my traits aren't useful" problem when soulbeast didn't?

On 10/16/2021 at 3:45 PM, Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582 said:

The fact that the spec weapon skills are made to fill a gap is why I think there will be 10 hammer skills. If it's going to fill the gaps, it needs AoE CC as well as AoE damage. But you can't have CC and damage in the one weapon without the damage being nerfed into the ground. Look at Warrior Hammer for example, it's all but useless now. What's the solution to that? Put a time gate on the two forms of skills, enter pet swap. Maybe it will work like the Legendary Alliance Stance for Revenant and the skills will just swap over and pet swap will change them back to one or the other. Hell, maybe we get 4 pets and then the F2-F5 skills are different for all of them, we just swap between them all like attunements and the hammer skills stay stationary.

Or, alternatively, you could get more skills, including being able to combine CC with damage skills, by having more active control over pet skill use. Which is pretty much how GW1 bunny thumper worked. But I really don't think ArenaNet is going to make a weapon so important to the elite spec that you miss out on part of the spec's mechanic if you don't use it, which is basically what you're proposing. Anything with that sort of mechanic is more likely to be a mode such as holoforge or gunsaber.

On 10/16/2021 at 3:45 PM, Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582 said:

Power damage will ALWAYS be built around Sic Em lol, its a huge modifier. Even if the new spec adds something revolutionary, Sic Em will STILL be taken if it's power damage.

I don't see how Sic'Em is necessarily going to be stapled to the bar if it's not able to be used by the ranger. 40% extra damage for the pet is still less than 25% for a merged soulbeast with the extra stats and spike damage skills while merged.

On 10/16/2021 at 3:45 PM, Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582 said:

Care to elaborate on your ideas?

Just went over one in another thread, but it's not the only potential way to modify the pet. For instance, instead of swapping, it could be a summon that comes in, fights for a bit, and leaves again, triggering the traits when it enters and leaves. Or have both come in rather than one with boosted stats.

 

That's just a couple off the top of my head - there are probably more possibilities than throwing the baby out with the bathwater with every future ranger elite like you seem to be proposing.

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

1 hour ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

You think a "can't have pets out ever" elite specialisation is going to fix the "half my traits aren't useful" problem when soulbeast didn't?

Or, alternatively, you could get more skills, including being able to combine CC with damage skills, by having more active control over pet skill use. Which is pretty much how GW1 bunny thumper worked. But I really don't think ArenaNet is going to make a weapon so important to the elite spec that you miss out on part of the spec's mechanic if you don't use it, which is basically what you're proposing. Anything with that sort of mechanic is more likely to be a mode such as holoforge or gunsaber.

I don't see how Sic'Em is necessarily going to be stapled to the bar if it's not able to be used by the ranger. 40% extra damage for the pet is still less than 25% for a merged soulbeast with the extra stats and spike damage skills while merged.

Just went over one in another thread, but it's not the only potential way to modify the pet. For instance, instead of swapping, it could be a summon that comes in, fights for a bit, and leaves again, triggering the traits when it enters and leaves. Or have both come in rather than one with boosted stats.

 

That's just a couple off the top of my head - there are probably more possibilities than throwing the baby out with the bathwater with every future ranger elite like you seem to be proposing.

Yes. It will. If done intelligently. The only traits that do not work are the swap traits and Empathic Bond, the swap traits are easily included by having the mechanic use them and Empathic Bond needs to be just reworked to be flat -% condi duration.

They aready removed micro management of the pet. And micromanagement is a totally dog shyte playstyle.

Yep, a different skill bar like Holo or Gunsaber is essentially the same thing as I am imagining. I'm not proposing anything. I'm putting forward my thoughts on how they will move forward.

If you want to have a pet power dps spec, Sic Em is going to be included.

I already noted that it could be a temporary summon. But that is unlikely. It would be a summon for visuals only in reality. Perhaps it will be a spirit animal. Either way, it's not really a pet they can't make Ranger better in any way by focusing on the pet. 

[Lazze.9870]

On 10/16/2021 at 1:53 AM, draxynnic.3719 said:

From a gameplay perspective, having the pet is what distinguishes ranger from similar professions such as thief.

 

It's not though? The themes, the feel of the weapons, the playstyles.. they are completely different. Warrior is closer, but they are still very distinguished, with or without the pet.

 

Anet painted themselves into a corner with the pet mechanic, but the same way the pet is an obstacle when designing new elite specs, elite specs can potentially also be a way to circumvent it entirely while still retaining the other aspects of ranger which you can't simply have by playing one of the other eight professions.

[Lazze.9870]

6 hours ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

You think a "can't have pets out ever" elite specialisation is going to fix the "half my traits aren't useful" problem when soulbeast didn't?

 

There is ONE trait that does nothing in beastmode. Empathic Bond. A trait that is rarely ever run anyways and should be changed. 

 

All other traits have some functionality with a merged soulbeast. Allie's Aid is the worst one among them, but I'd argue it should be reworked into dropping a lesser healing spring on revive and add % revive effect to the healing spring skill. That's more in line with similar traits on other classes.

[anduriell.6280]

6 hours ago, Lazze.9870 said:

There is ONE trait that does nothing in beastmode. Empathic Bond.

Fortifying bond does nothing while WHaO does so it’s doesn’t seem a tech limitation,  I am pretty confident we can find more which do not work or have undesired effects (like the signet SoR) while in beastmode

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

10 hours ago, Lazze.9870 said:

...Anet painted themselves into a corner with the pet mechanic, but the same way the pet is an obstacle when designing new elite specs, elite specs can potentially also be a way to circumvent it entirely while still retaining the other aspects of ranger which you can't simply have by playing one of the other eight professions.

This.

10 hours ago, Lazze.9870 said:

 

There is ONE trait that does nothing in beastmode. Empathic Bond. A trait that is rarely ever run anyways and should be changed. 

 

All other traits have some functionality with a merged soulbeast. Allie's Aid is the worst one among them, but I'd argue it should be reworked into dropping a lesser healing spring on revive and add % revive effect to the healing spring skill. That's more in line with similar traits on other classes.

I dunno why they didn't just make it a straight -% to condi duration for you AND your pet. OR maybe a fun interaction like "Remove a condition for you and your pet whenever you gain Fury." Like Cleaning Water on Ele. Would be some additional synergy with Clarion Bond, Remorseless, Furious Grip, Vicious Quarry, Two Handed Training, Warhorn, Tiger Pet etc etc...

What was their logic when making this trait anyway? It doesn't actually have a net benefit at all. And you get a CD punishment if you allow your pet to die lol. Imagine if other Grandmaster traits made your class mechanic less effective when you get a condi LOL. Zero logic.

/rant

[Lazze.9870]

On 10/18/2021 at 4:25 AM, Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582 said:

What was their logic when making this trait anyway?

 

Well, the trait made the pet transfer 3 condis from you on an interval before.. Anet, not knowing what or why they do things, chose to keep the outdated "give a middle finger to your pet to surive" and reworked it to this borked version. The real question is what was the logic with reworking it at all when they kept the penalty for using it.

A slightly buffed version of Natural Stride would have been a perfect replacement for EB. Give druid something new related to outgoing CC to follow the trend in its bottom line.

Edited October 19, 2021 by Lazze.9870

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

3 hours ago, Lazze.9870 said:

 

Well, the trait made the pet transfer 3 condis from you on an interval before.. Anet, not knowing what or why they do things, chose to keep the outdated "give a middle finger to your pet to surive" and reworked it to this borked version. The real question is what was the logic with reworking it at all when they kept the penalty for using it.

A slightly buffed version of Natural Stride would have been a perfect replacement for EB. Give druid something new related to outgoing CC to follow the trend in its bottom line.

Yeah, I remember that. It was actually better in the original variant.

Swapping Natural Stride and Empathic Bond would be good, change it back to the original and make it 1 condi per 3s and if Natural Stride was made better and affect the Ranger too. Perhaps a barrier? Some interaction with endurance/dodging and or Protection would be good and increase synergy.

[Lazze.9870]

12 hours ago, Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582 said:

Swapping Natural Stride and Empathic Bond would be good, change it back to the original and make it 1 condi per 3s and if Natural Stride was made better and affect the Ranger too. Perhaps a barrier? Some interaction with endurance/dodging and or Protection would be good and increase synergy.

 

I was thinking more of just straight up deleting EB, and I always felt that Natural Stride should have been a core ranger trait and that it should be in Wilderness Knowledge. Not exactly sure how I would buff it, but it could definetely be related to the minors.

Then find something entirely new for druid, more or less unrelated to EB. Either something related to outgoing CC, or just some kind of support option trait.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by Lazze.9870

[anduriell.6280]

30 minutes ago, Lazze.9870 said:

I was thinking more of just straight up deleting EB, and I always felt that Natural Stride should have been a core ranger trait and that it should be in Wilderness Knowledge. Not exactly sure how I would buff it, but it could definetely be related to the minors.

I always felt like Empathic Bond belongs to beastmastery. It is a trait that interacts with the pet and that traitline feels like it should contain those traits. Ideally NM, WS and BM should each provide means to cleanse conditions. 

 

I don't fathom why anet keeps mixing different traits in different traitlines muddling the traitlines significance and utility. 

 

Empathic bond would be fine if it would keep the same percentages in PvP/WvW. Ranger could use that trait as means so it does not relay so much into WS traitline and the survival cleanses so it would open more builds. 

 

Natural Stride is fine on Druid. Ranger has plenty of access to swiftness with shouts, Skirmishk, signet  and birds and i don't see any need to add that to Core. I would not like any more mandatory  traits to be put into WS increasing even more the mandatory aspect of the traitline. 

 

Druid on the other side may need the trait because if focusing on glyphs may lose the mobility. And yes Verdant etching should be in adpet and not in master compiting with Natural Stride.