Is soulbeast gonna get the nerf?

[captrowdy.9561]

I finally found a class I like after playing for 6 months. I’m just worried it’s gonna get the nerf soon. WvW is what I do mostly and I like it because it’s so good at solo and sustain. 

Edited January 23, 2022 by captrowdy.9561

[Dawdler.8521]

Fun little story regarding balance. Not about the ranger, but as a whole.

8 months before PoF released, Anet buffed reaper to the skies with deathly chill. It wrecked havoc in WvW. Players complained every other day because it was ridiculous. Anet did nothing. It singlehandedly changed the entire meta toward condi stacking. A single trait.

When PoF came out, everyone left the reaper behind because the scourge was far superior. Guess what happened 1 week later? Oh thats right. Reaper finally got nerfed, by popular request. When no one played it any more. Today of course, the scourge has been nerfed again and again and is but a shadow of itself.

TL;DR everything get the nerf sooner or later. Anet just got to make untamed look shiny on EoD release compared to the others.

Edited January 23, 2022 by Dawdler.8521

[Beddo.1907]

I don't think there is any reason to nerf SB.

The spec got nerfed so many times already in the past that the only time were nerf would be possible would be after a ranger rework (which ain't happening this decade).

[anduriell.6280]

I bet it will be, when they also nerf  the rest of PoF elites. Right now it is a thing PoF elites are so over the top Anet needs to nerf them to makea place for the new ones. 

What i am afraid  for it is that Anet is planning to nerf them after EoD launch, by then all the new elites will be stigmatized already. The big nerf should have taken place already so the  expectations have time to adjusts.  

Edited January 23, 2022 by anduriell.6280

[FarmBotXD.1430]

As is SLB is good but not overpowered in any gamemode. 
This e-spec is an living, breathing band-aid for the class. Currently there is 0 reasons to nerf it, but future might change things, who knows what runes or different stats the game will add

[Abyssisis.3971]

Would not surprise me if it was nerfed at EoD release in an attempt to make untamed look more attractive/ push sales.

[Krispera.5087]

On 1/23/2022 at 1:15 PM, FarmBotXD.1430 said:

As is SLB is good but not overpowered in any gamemode. 
This e-spec is an living, breathing band-aid for the class. Currently there is 0 reasons to nerf it, but future might change things, who knows what runes or different stats the game will add

 

Exactly. If they nerf SBeast, then Ranger is in shambles. The DPS is in the middle, but other professions DPS are getting higher and higher.

Untamed is in no position to ever get relevant dps.

It's the only saving grace of Ranger.

Edited January 25, 2022 by Krispera.5087

[Andy.5981]

As the EoD Elites are positively medocre across the board, I fully expect all the PoF Elites to get nerfed, possibly within 2 months of EoD release as the sales drop off. Call me cynical, but I seriously think this is what they've got planned for the next round of "balancing"

[OGDeadHead.8326]

Anet have always overtuned their new stuff to give people yet another reason to buy their expansions, its been the same ever since the first expansion released for the original Guild Wars.

[HotHit.6783]

It's unlikely unless the new pets do something egregious when in the stomach of a Soulbeast.

Even if I look at it from the horribly cynical perspective that the expansion must power creep on what we have so it sells a lot of copies, Ranger is the one profession whose Elite Spec isn't bound to that. All Rangers will have the new pets to consider. So even if Untamed is bad, then we'll still want (as a completely made up example) the Reef Lurker because it can provide 10 target alacrity.

A nerf or two likely won't kick Soulbeast out of WvW any more than it already is. For that exact reason I don't know why they would target nerfs at Ranger in WvW. Untamed brings something distinct from Soulbeast in WvW and PvP, so there isn't any need to carve out a new niche for both.

Edited January 31, 2022 by HotHit.6783

[Arheundel.6451]

On 1/31/2022 at 4:14 PM, HotHit.6783 said:

It's unlikely unless the new pets do something egregious when in the stomach of a Soulbeast.

Even if I look at it from the horribly cynical perspective that the expansion must power creep on what we have so it sells a lot of copies, Ranger is the one profession whose Elite Spec isn't bound to that. All Rangers will have the new pets to consider. So even if Untamed is bad, then we'll still want (as a completely made up example) the Reef Lurker because it can provide 10 target alacrity.

A nerf or two likely won't kick Soulbeast out of WvW any more than it already is. For that exact reason I don't know why they would target nerfs at Ranger in WvW. Untamed brings something distinct from Soulbeast in WvW and PvP, so there isn't any need to carve out a new niche for both.

It is extremely unlickely that any new pet will be able to substitute bird/smokescale/gazelle for soulbeast but overall...

I am expecting nerfs to soulbeast as it's certain that a combination of new pets/stats will create some "hard to fight against" bruiser that will inevitably bring nerfs to the class

[Lazze.9870]

On 1/31/2022 at 5:14 PM, HotHit.6783 said:

Untamed brings something distinct from Soulbeast in WvW and PvP, so there isn't any need to carve out a new niche for both.

 

It tries to. In reality Untamed doesn't bring anything distinct enough because it suffers from most if not all the issues core ranger do.

By issues I mostly refer to having a pet mechanic and Anet's unwillingness to abandon that mechanic entirely when designing an elite spec in order to actually carve out something unique. Untamed is even less distinct from core ranger than druid is simply because the latter brought healing which core ranger barely can do at all - otherwise druid suffers from the same problems. Unless they keep tacking on new unique abilities to the untamed. It will be an uncoherent mess, but it will be an unique mess.

That's not saying Untamed is useless. But if Anet had any foresight at all, ranger would have gotten the latest engie spec as an elite. And core ranger wouldn't have pets at all, and by extension, neither would druid nor whatever the substitute for soulbeast would have been.

Edited February 9, 2022 by Lazze.9870

[Grand Marshal.4098]

The core ranger kit needs some nerfs regarding condition stacking and dmg modifier stacking. Sure don't nerf it, but it's by far a god tier roamer and that alone is better than other classes doing ok in all content. To have a place where you shine is far better than not shining at all *cough* Warr, Ele

[Gotejjeken.1267]

2 hours ago, Grand Marshal.4098 said:

The core ranger kit needs some nerfs regarding condition stacking and dmg modifier stacking. Sure don't nerf it, but it's by far a god tier roamer and that alone is better than other classes doing ok in all content. To have a place where you shine is far better than not shining at all *cough* Warr, Ele

 

Wait, what on the core ranger kit is OP in terms of condition stacking and / or damage modifier stacking? Genuinely curious actually, especially if we are just sticking to the core lines of MM/BM/NM/Sk/WS.  

[Arheundel.6451]

2 hours ago, Grand Marshal.4098 said:

The core ranger kit needs some nerfs regarding condition stacking and dmg modifier stacking. Sure don't nerf it, but it's by far a god tier roamer and that alone is better than other classes doing ok in all content. To have a place where you shine is far better than not shining at all *cough* Warr, Ele

There are no roaming rangers...like seriously, from T1 to T5 all I see roaming are immortal scrappers with perma superspeed throwing grenades as they run from chasing groups - celestial renegade dealing 70% of your HP bar with a single shortbow 3 all the while being tanky af thx to jalis dmg reductions utilities/trait - permastealth DE with immobilize/kd or permastealth pewpew condi - immortal core necros or condi/power reapers...and this is what I see on every other day, rarely I see some tryhard trapper dh, cele weaver.

I played warrior for as little as 100 hrs and by far...ranger is the easiest class to down, it's not a coincidence that 90% of rangers I see in wvw are just tower pewpew hide/seek.

Now I do not claim that you don't meed some trailblazer trapper or try hard cele boonbeast from time to time, but these type of builds do not come close in sheer power to the first builds I have mentioned.

I frequently face "TOP roaming" guilds (just a bunch of ganking trolls really), from [SA], [HUNT] and similar clown lords and not one of them play a ranger in their ganking composition....let alone stack them as they do with revenants and scrappers/holosmiths.

Nerfs? Like everything in a MMO, every class needs nerfs..and buffs for balance purposes, but nobody with a honest heart can claim that ranger is a TOP anything in this game, it's literally a class that looks amazing at the bottom of the skill pole while constantly striving at the top

Definitely ranger sits in a far better place than warrior and ele.....lol I have been maining all three of them for like 8 years now so I can definitely say that but.....when on warrior if there is one class I love to see running at me...that would be ranger hands down...it's like easy victory 8 times out of 10

P.S I would have agreed with you if this was GW2 in 2018 when Boonbeast was broken OP and we had pet swap but now...after sustain/dmg nerfs and pet dmg literally reduced by 66%...lol not even boonbeast holds a candle to a decently played cele renegade or scrapper in terms of roaming and you litereally can't kill anything being played half decently, and ofc at the bottom...there, a pewpew can easily rapidfire some zergling to death..

Edited February 2, 2022 by Arheundel.6451

[Puck.3697]

We know in EoD they intend "significant balancing / changes are income after EoD to current elites and core" as they intend to bring the power creep down. 

However soulbeast already has its trade off and isnt a bad offender of the current issues. I can't imagine he will get much change if it does based on that 

I'm sure alot will blame EoD speccs being "made shiney" as the reason for that, but it isn't, the power creep is stupid insane currently and nerds bringing down for the sake of the game 

 

[Puck.3697]

On 2/2/2022 at 4:46 PM, Arheundel.6451 said:

Nerfs? Like everything in a MMO, every class needs nerfs..and buffs for balance purposes, but nobody with a honest heart can claim that ranger is a TOP anything in this game, it's literally a class that looks amazing at the bottom of the skill pole while constantly striving at the top

Tbh even if it was as strong as a roamer as people say. Its currently druid jailed in PvE, Mediocre in spvp and bad in zerg wvwvw (which the game mode is basically for)

At this point nerfing their solo ability would just be a kick in the face rly. 

I ain't no ranger main. But seriously, ranger needs some love, not nerfs 😂 yes they have some rly good modifiers but the proffession as a whole don't feel that great. 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Daddy.8125

[Gotejjeken.1267]

On 2/2/2022 at 11:46 AM, Arheundel.6451 said:

There are no roaming rangers...like seriously, from T1 to T5 all I see roaming are immortal scrappers with perma superspeed throwing grenades as they run from chasing groups - celestial renegade dealing 70% of your HP bar with a single shortbow 3 all the while being tanky af thx to jalis dmg reductions utilities/trait - permastealth DE with immobilize/kd or permastealth pewpew condi - immortal core necros or condi/power reapers...and this is what I see on every other day, rarely I see some tryhard trapper dh, cele weaver.

I played warrior for as little as 100 hrs and by far...ranger is the easiest class to down, it's not a coincidence that 90% of rangers I see in wvw are just tower pewpew hide/seek.

Now I do not claim that you don't meed some trailblazer trapper or try hard cele boonbeast from time to time, but these type of builds do not come close in sheer power to the first builds I have mentioned.

I frequently face "TOP roaming" guilds (just a bunch of ganking trolls really), from [SA], [HUNT] and similar clown lords and not one of them play a ranger in their ganking composition....let alone stack them as they do with revenants and scrappers/holosmiths.

Nerfs? Like everything in a MMO, every class needs nerfs..and buffs for balance purposes, but nobody with a honest heart can claim that ranger is a TOP anything in this game, it's literally a class that looks amazing at the bottom of the skill pole while constantly striving at the top

Definitely ranger sits in a far better place than warrior and ele.....lol I have been maining all three of them for like 8 years now so I can definitely say that but.....when on warrior if there is one class I love to see running at me...that would be ranger hands down...it's like easy victory 8 times out of 10

P.S I would have agreed with you if this was GW2 in 2018 when Boonbeast was broken OP and we had pet swap but now...after sustain/dmg nerfs and pet dmg literally reduced by 66%...lol not even boonbeast holds a candle to a decently played cele renegade or scrapper in terms of roaming and you litereally can't kill anything being played half decently, and ofc at the bottom...there, a pewpew can easily rapidfire some zergling to death..

 

I'm a roaming ranger

[Arheundel.6451]

17 hours ago, Daddy.8125 said:

We know in EoD they intend "significant balancing / changes are income after EoD to current elites and core" as they intend to bring the power creep down. 

However soulbeast already has its trade off and isnt a bad offender of the current issues. I can't imagine he will get much change if it does based on that 

I'm sure alot will blame EoD speccs being "made shiney" as the reason for that, but it isn't, the power creep is stupid insane currently and nerds bringing down for the sake of the game 

 

I am 100% certain that they will nerf sb in some capacity, for all intended purposes ranger is a B+ class and because the majority of the GW2 playerbase sits below the average skill level, in most instances ranger will feel and look like an A+ class but...the moment you face actual good players and you see the class is not really that amazing.

Ranger is a great class to main, can feel fun and exciting to play but it's not the top dog anywhere, in the end the class has a single source of stability on core/druid and that can be easily interrupted with that long 1s cast time, it's not that hard to shut down a ranger..ofc you still need to know how to play to do that....really it's a B+ class where rev and engi are A+ professions, the good thing about ranger is that the skill floor is lower than engi and rev...sadly the skill ceiling is equally lower. you can count on a single hand the patterns of attacks a ranger can use...and A+ professions can equip all the tools to counter each one of them....with a single build of theirs.

The class gets hard nerfed the second it reachs A+ status for any specific reason, was the case with boonbeast and druid before it and not forgetting double bird beastmaster, luckily the core kit of the class never gets hard nerfed that much that reaches C- status (elementalist, warrior, mesmer).

I love ranger, I enjoying playing it but...I suggest people to main also one of the professions from the A+ rank ( engineer -revenant -thief) when it comes to WvW roaming/small group ..or even A- rank (guardian -necro).

[Arheundel.6451]

14 hours ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

 

I'm a roaming ranger

Yeah...and you face celestial bunkers which have a tad more sustain than you, not enough to easily overwhelm you..but still more than you and by comparison their damage is way higher than yours ( cele renegade and cele scrapper with grenades).

Then you have well played thieves ( DE, d/p, s/d ....power or condi variations), celestial weaver, trapper DH, spellbreaker.

Yes you can 1vs1 them but it won't be an easy win at equal skill level, and you are still more prone to be ganked +1 because the class is not great when getting ganked instatly by multiple good opponents : on engi you have elixir s+superspeed+rocket boots and more...on rev you have jalis reducing dmg by 50% +tanky stats and pulsing stability....on ele you have obsidian flesh and stone heart...I mean ranger is amazing and all...but still a B+ class and become worst and worst the more opponents show up, especially if they are good

[Telgum.6071]

I've been roaming on Soulbeast for two weeks, fun as hell, lots of possibilities, still not (yet) a condition abuser b*tch. It would be so cruel if they nerf Soulbeast now 😅

Edited February 5, 2022 by Telgum.6071
Typo

[Yasai.3549]

I expect it to be tuned down when EoD comes out to make EoD Espec look better, but other than that, no forseeable nerf tbh. 
 

[voltaicbore.8012]

I'd feel less worried about a soulbeast nerf (even though I agree it's not at all necessary) if I thought untamed had some real potential. Unfortunately untamed just feels weak, killable, and slow, so a nerf to soulbeast at this point seems disastrous for the class.

[Player.2475]

I hope they get a nerf.
Being able to kill someone with 20k hp with 1 skill from "1500" (actually more like 1800+) range with shots that track even stealthing and rolling targets, or instantly down someone with the GS's 2 if they get too close, on top of having access to enough stealth, blocks, engage, disengage, cc and stability that would make even a thief struggle to get away or chase after a SB that wasn't just pressing random buttons?
I'm sure you can see why so many people in WvW are running Soulbeast... Though, I guess the same can be said for the Dragonhunter.

[Abyssisis.3971]

23 minutes ago, Player.2475 said:

I hope they get a nerf.
Being able to kill someone with 20k hp with 1 skill from "1500" (actually more like 1800+) range with shots that track even stealthing and rolling targets, or instantly down someone with the GS's 2 if they get too close, on top of having access to enough stealth, blocks, engage, disengage, cc and stability that would make even a thief struggle to get away or chase after a SB that wasn't just pressing random buttons?
I'm sure you can see why so many people in WvW are running Soulbeast... Though, I guess the same can be said for the Dragonhunter.

Lmao 1 skill…. It’s 3-4 skills to do that, sic em, QZ, owp and rapidfire. If you die to that then you failed to dodge the 1 skill loaded with half the utility bar the soulbeast had, if you dodged, that soulbeast had blown his kit for nothing. So yeah, l2dodge.