Ranger sword is anemic

[magic fly.2041]

Even since the ranger sword changes, it just feels useless.

You used to be able to use serpent's strike at any moment, and it was a really fun skill for evading an attack in a stylish manner.

Now? You can't.

You need to use this random leap attack before you can use serpent's strike and by the time it's finished leaping you already got hit by the thing you wanted to dodge.

Or you used the leap ahead of time, but when the moment comes that you need to dodge, whoops! It's on cooldown!

The attack animation with the kick used to be awesome, but it had the downside of locking you into the attack.

Now? You aren't locked into the attack, which was a needed change, but for some reason the animation also got changed so my character (a charr, if it makes any difference) is just flailing his sword like he accidentally glued the sword on and is trying to shake it off. Where's my awesome kick?

I get that the sword needed some changes, but Serpent's strike didn't need changes, only the leaps and the autoattack lock needed changes.

Serpent's strike and the autoattack's cool animations were the best parts of the weapon, but now one is completely gone and the other is gated behind an unwanted leap.

 

Does anyone even use this weapon? I haven't seen anyone use it even once recently.

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by magic fly.2041
Clarity

[HotDelirium.7984]

Yeah I'm not about to yeet myself off a platform doing those skills lol

[kharmin.7683]

I'm a very casual player and I main core ranger with sword/dagger and longbow.  I didn't like the changes at first, but after a lot of use I find it works just fine for me.  I also use sword/dagger with my druid build, mainly because I am a lot more familiar with it now.

EDIT: I also use the tiger pet, whose F2 skill enhances my melee combat abilities when using Sw/D

Edited October 26, 2021 by kharmin.7683

[Gorem.8104]

I used to run sword, but one to many self yeets off a tower made me entirely stop using it. 

[InsaneQR.7412]

I honestly like it more this way. Although i would like itlmore if SS would be the sword 3 and HS the flipover for ML. But having the engage at sword 2 is fantastic wnd i would sorely miss it if it would be gone.

The lack of hitting 3 targets with all AA strikes is bothering me more tbh.

 

[kharmin.7683]

Again, very casual player here, maining core Ranger with Sw/D and tiger pet

Send in Tiger (I have side button on mouse programmed to F1).  Leap with Sw2.  F2 tiger.  Evade with D4.  Use Sw2 flip.  Sw3 evade and recharge Sw2.  Leap with Sw2 ...   Somewhere in there, use Sic 'em or drop a spike or flame trap.  Repeat.    F2 cd on Tiger is quite short, too.

 

[Strider.7849]

Yeah, I have to agree that the sword changes (while it made it easier to use for beginners) took away its strength/use for PvP. I haven't used sword since the changes which is unfortunate. More so then the skill changes they need to improve the auto attack, maybe adding on poison or something of value. It's a defensive weapon set that offers nothing in the way of damag, which can't trade with any other weapon set in the game (try it out) and you have to end up relying on your offhand which have long cooldowns. Just my two cents.

[Aleksander Suburb.4287]

I tried sword since the last cahnges and threw it away. And I tried sword before the changes and threw it away.

 

Sword has nice dodges, but while dodging you don't do damage. In addition you have always a nice chance to kill yourself by falling from high cliffs (Harpys love this trick).

[HotHit.6783]

I still use sword, but I've never been happy about it since the rework to Slash > Kick > Pounce. The bright side is that the animations work really well with the Chain Whip Sword, but without it the Slash and Pounce replacements look like trash. Considering Ranger's Kick animations were my favourite animations in the game during the beta... I'm just a wee bit miffed. I can't say I'm happy to advertise to my friends that Ranger's Sword has a 600 gem entry fee to look good either, even if the Chain Whip Sword is my favourite sword skin. Kick's replacement retaining the single target feels really bad now as well, especially when Greatsword's Counterattack Kick is now AoE.

Still, as a Druid main, I have to pair my Warhorn with something. It's either the oatmeal Axe with its absent third bounce or the porridge Sword supplanting an old friend.

[Gotejjeken.1267]

I don't mind the changes really, other than the leap needs to be on #3 instead of #2 to match the engage for every other weapon we have (GS, Dagger, Staff).  

 

Sword does need more damage though.  It works fine as a kiting weapon (much like staff), but unlike staff it isn't purely defensive.  

 

Also the animations need shortening, a big problem with hornet sting is that it takes too long to execute.  Or something like adding 1s of stab to it would be fine, just something so you know it's going to work.  

[Mell.4873]

I have suggested buffing it in the unleashed versions by giving it Quickness on the leap 2. Then provide might on all other skills. 

[AkantorCZ.8952]

Well I'm actually glad you don't need to do shenanigans to be able to leap forward. Otherwise I agree. Don't know why they had to move Serpent Strike from the 3th slot. And I'm especially sad for the kick animation replacement. It was such a cool move. I don't understand why they decided to replace it with such a poor and unpractical looking sword attack.

Edited October 31, 2021 by AkantorCZ.8952

[magic fly.2041]

9 hours ago, Mell.4873 said:

I have suggested buffing it in the unleashed versions by giving it Quickness on the leap 2. Then provide might on all other skills. 

Boons, damage numbers, and whatever else I honestly couldn't care less about so your suggestions wouldn't affect the issue in my opinion.

What the weapon lost was it's style and how easy it was to use Serpent's strike to dodge.

Edited October 27, 2021 by magic fly.2041

[thaniretouni.4762]

To me sword seems strong still. Tbh i even prefer the fact that i can leap (which is a bit faster than the old combo turn camera, use hornet which was slower and then leap) directly . granted this way we get 1 on demand evade but the leap can be used before the fight and we still got some seconds to use the serpent's. I also believe that is easier to get the recharge of 2 from the hornet thatn the serpent's in the past. So u jump in evade then jump back and jump in again. Or can just 2 - 3 -2 -2. pretty good combo and intuitive. The only thing I mind is still the animation of 1. IT could be a bit faster or a bit stronger in wvw and pvp. Finally, I really miss the gs 1 giving us direct evade.

[nerva.7940]

it's a pretty good, defensive weapon for some condi builds. 

[Choppy.4183]

It'd be rad if they got rid of the precast on sw3. Unless I'm imagining it, there's a delay before the evade frame kicks in that makes it pretty useless for intentional evasion. Otherwise, the sword seems pretty handy to me..... Maybe a bit more damage on the auto would be nice, but I find it pretty useful for positioning and movement.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Choppy.4183

[Dimjoee.3895]

As a wvw player that only roams, I think current sword is great. Provides a lot of survivability and makes it really easy to reposition. The only complaint I have is the aa, which feels so clunky not being 3 targets on every attack and could probably benefit from a little more damage.

I'm not opposed to the idea of switching hornet sting and serpent strike but at least for me it still feels great to use as is.

[LucianTheAngelic.7054]

They really ought to jack up the damage numbers on sword 2/flip and 3 in PvE.  It sucks that sword is only carried by its auto attack in PvE

In WvW/PvP the sword is generally fine though

[Danikat.8537]

I like it.

I do miss the kick animation, I agree the new ones don't look as good but I don't often have time to watch the animation that closely in combat and if it was the only way to get rid of being locked in to that attack I can live without it.

But I like the leap and evasion skills. It took a while to get used to after they changed it but I like that Monarch's Leap is available immediately because I use shortbow as my main weapon so when I switch to sword it's useful to be able to get into melee range quickly, and I don't find it much of a problem to not have access to the evade until after I've done that, I don't really think about it but I suppose I use the leap to get into melee or as soon as it recharges and then leave the evade available until I need it or it resets.

I use it on a condition build for PvE (not raids) so high damage isn't a big priority for me and I enjoy builds that involve a lot of movement, either for offense or defence, I spend a lot of time going between melee and range and kiting around enemies (especially at range because shortbow 4 and 5 are more effective from behind or the side) so skills that help me do that are ideal.

[Falconwing.8105]

My very first post on this forum back at launch (on my original account) was complaining about Ranger Sword. 9 years later I still don't like Ranger Sword. I've honestly stopped using it for most content because soulbeast dagger isn't that much lower damage and it's way more fun to use. 

[Infusion.7149]

People use it in fractals because if you run offhand axe it has better cleave than dagger mainhand on soulbeast. You'd run Sword+axe and longbow for burst or Sword+axe with greatsword for sustained damage on 3+ targets. Running axe+axe only hits 2 targets on auto and whirling defense is the main point of offhand axe.

Fact check on whether it is really bad:

• Sword auto is 0.7, 0.7 (single target lol), 0.96 coefficients on 3 targets with a 2s auto chain , roughly 1.15 coefficient/second
• Monarch leap is 1.25 coefficient ... this is okay until you factor in the activation on Serpent Strike for 0.8 coefficient which is 1s (8s cooldown)
• Hornet sting is 0.9 coefficient and evades backwards so you won't use it for damage

Greatsword auto is 0.64/0.8/1.3 with ~2.56s auto chain = 1.07 power coefficient/second with 10% damage mod if you run the trait and 1100 weapon strength instead of 1000 but when you run Greatsword you lose the ferocity bonus from axes (Honed Axes). Maul is 1.75 coefficient and hits 5 targets.

So the main thing I see here is the need for Crippling thrust in the auto chain to do cleave. Serpent strike could probably do more damage in PVE as well given the cast time.