Ranger June 27th balance patch preview

[Beddo.1907]

Ranger

Spirits won't be granting alacrity moving forward, and we've taken this opportunity to do a larger pass on the skill type. Spirits will now trigger a smaller effect when summoned, slam the ground for a more powerful effect, and finally grant boons for a shorter period of time. Druid was the natural place to slot in an alacrity build, while we decided to give untamed access to quickness. Nature magic is also getting a larger set of changes with to solidify it as a support trait line. Rounding out the ranger changes are some improvements to sword and introducing a condition damage build for druid.

Core

• Pounce: This skill replaces Monarch's Leap. Deliver a leaping strike and gain vigor when striking an enemy. This skill deals increased damage to targets that are movement impaired or disabled.
• Serpent Strike: This skill has been moved to the third slot and has been reworked. You will now leap to your target while evading, applying poison and cripple on hit. This skill will immobilize instead of cripple if the target is movement impaired or disabled.
• Spirits have been reworked. A spirit will now grant an initial effect when summoned, slam the ground for a secondary effect, and then grant boons to nearby allies for a period of time.
• Farsighted: Increased the minimum damage bonus from 5% to 10% in PvE only.
• Strider's Strength: This trait replaces Strider's Defense. Gain power and gain additional power when wielding a sword. Gain might when evading an attack.
• Rejuvenation: This trait now triggers when using a beast skill instead of when being struck.
• Instinctive Reaction: This trait no longer grants quickness and instead grants regeneration to nearby allies when you use a healing skill.
• Evasive Purity: This trait no longer has an internal cooldown.
• Spirited Arrival: This trait now grants might instead of vigor.
• Windborne Notes: This trait will now also heal allies to whom you grant regeneration.
• Lingering Magic: This trait now increases the effectiveness of regeneration you apply in addition to its previous effect.
• Protective Ward: This trait has been reworked. Cast lesser "Guard!" when you swap pets.
• Invigorating Bond: This trait now uses the ranger's healing power, heals allies around the ranger, and grants protection and vigor to allies.
• Nature's Vengeance: This trait has been reworked. Spirits will slam the ground a second time before disappearing.
• Trapper's Expertise: This skill no longer reduces the cooldown of trap skills.
• Healing Spring: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Spike Trap: Reduced cooldown from 45 seconds to 25 seconds in PvE only.
• Resounding Timbre: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of command skills.
• "We Heal As One!": Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• "Sic 'Em!": Reduced cooldown from 35 seconds to 28 seconds.
• "Protect Me!": Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds in PvE and from 40 seconds to 32 seconds in PvP.
• "Search and Rescue!": Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 48 seconds.

Druid

• Grace of the Land: This trait now grants alacrity instead of might.
• Rejuvenating Tides: This skill now grants might to nearby allies in addition to its previous effects.
• Natural Convergence: This trait now grants might to nearby allies every pulse.
• Blood Moon: This trait replaces Primal Echoes. Daze nearby foes when you become a celestial avatar. Bleed foes you immobilize or disable.
• Natural Balance: This trait replaces Natural Stride. Deal increased damage and take reduced damage for a period of time after entering or exiting Celestial Avatar.
• Eclipse: This trait replaces Ancient Seeds. Your celestial avatar abilities inflict conditions on enemies.
• Glyph of Alignment: Increased bleeding duration from 8 seconds to 10 seconds in PvE only.
• Glyph of Equality: The non-celestial version of this skill now applies stability in PvE only.
• Natural Mender: Increased astral force generation from 5 to 8 in PvE only.
• Cosmic Ray: Increased radius from 120 to 240.
• Lingering Light: This trait no longer grants increased outgoing healing after exiting Celestial Avatar, and it instead reduces the recharge of Celestial Avatar every time another player is healed by a celestial avatar skill.

Soulbeast

• Spiritual Reprieve: Reduced casting time from 1.5 seconds to 1 second. Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 35 seconds.

Untamed

• Rending Vines: Reduced cooldown from 15 seconds to 10 seconds in PvE only.
• Enveloping Haze: Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds in PvE only.
• Unleashed Power: Reduced internal cooldown from 15 seconds to 9 seconds in PvE only.
• Savage Slash: Increased power coefficient from 2.0 to 2.2 in PvE only.
• Deft Strike: Increased power coefficient from 1.5 to 2.2 in PvE only.
• Relentless Whirl: Increased power coefficient from 0.546 to 0.7 in PvE only.
• Multishot: Increased power coefficient from 1.2 to 2.0 in PvE only.
• Restorative Strikes: This trait no longer passively converts strike damage to healing, and it instead converts strike damage to healing when you or your pet unleash. Increased protection duration from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Let Loose: This trait replaces Fervent Force. Grant boons to nearby allies when you use an unleashed ambush skill. Recharge your unleashed ambush skill when you swap weapons.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Beddo.1907

[Levetty.1279]

Finally spirits will be usable outside of test golems.

[anduriell.6280]

18 minutes ago, Levetty.1279 said:

Finally spirits will be usable outside of test golems.

Um not really: the problem with spirits is they removed the ability to follow the ranger  so the skill misses most of  the utility. That’s for every game mode. 
I don’t know how they got “reworked” but the slamming takes about 3 seconds right now, if you can keep the enemies (or allies) stand still that long while playing they are probably afk. 
 

On the other side: I am happy the ancient seeds is gone. It was about time. 
let’s see if the rework of the new trait to druid does enough damage to be worth taking. I am not sure that would be healthy for wvw /pvp thou .
 

[Beddo.1907]

The stream written previews (since there is some differences):
 

Sword
-Pounce: Replaces Monarch's Leap. Deliver a leaping strike and gain Vigor when striking an enemy. This skill deals increased damage to targets that are movement-impaired or disabled.
-Serpent Strike: This skill has been moved to the 3rd slot and has been reworked. You will now leap to your target while evading, applying poison and cripple on hit. This skill will immobilize instead of cripple if the target is movement-impaired or disabled.

Core traits
-Farsighted: increased the minimum damage bonus from 5% to 10% in PvE only.
-Strider's Strength: this trait replaces Strider's defense. Gain Power and additional power when wielding a sword. Gain might when evading an attack.
-Spirits have been reworked. A spirit will now grant an initial effect when summoned, will then slam the ground for a secondary effect and then grant boons to nearby allies for a period of time.
-Rejuvenation: Now triggers when using a beast skill instead of when being struck.
-Instinctive Reaction: This trait no longer grants quickness and instead grants regeneration to nearby allies when you use healing skill.
-Evasive Purity: This trait no longer has an internal cooldown.
-Spirited Arrival: This trait now grants might instead of Vigor.

Druid:
-Lingering Light: this trait no longer grants increased healing after exiting CA and instead reduces the recharge of CA every time another player is healed by CA skill.
-Blood Moon: This trait replaces Primal Echoes. Daze nearby foes when you become a celestial avatar. Bleeds foes you immobilize or disable.
-Natural Balance: This trait replaces Natural Stride. Deal increased damage and take reduced damage for a period of time after exiting CA.
-Eclipse: This trait replaces Ancient Seeds. Your CA abilities inflict conditions on enemies.
-Glyph of alignment: increased bleeding duration from 8 to 10 seconds in PvE only.

Soulbeast
-Spiritual Reprieve: Reduced casting time from 1.5s to 1s. Reduced CD from 40 to 35s.
-Instinctive Engage: this skill is no longer an ammo skill. Reduced CD in PvE to 12s, mathing PvP/WvW. Increased damage to 2.0 in PvE and 1.5 in WvW/PvP. Increased the Quickness from 1.5 to 2s in WvW and PvP. This skill now slows and poisons enemies.

Untamed
-Let Loose: this trait replaces Fervent Force. (Who would have expected that.) Grant boons to nearby allies when you use an unleashed ambush skill. Recharge your unleashed ambush when you swap weapons.
-Rending Vines: reduced CD from 15 to 10s in PvE only.
-Enveloping Haze: Reduced CD from 25 to 20s in PvE only.
-Unleashed Power: Reduced internal CD from 15s to 9s in PvE only.
-Savage Slash: increased power coefficiency from 2.0 to 2.2 in PvE only.

[Levetty.1279]

12 minutes ago, anduriell.6280 said:

I don’t know how they got “reworked” but the slamming takes about 3 seconds right now

We are not talking about right now. 🙄

[BumboJumbo.1308]

I'm very surprised by the patch. Anet did a good job here with core and druid. I'm not sure how I feel about untamed in terms of hammer since it shares the same cooldown with its flip over skills. And now that fervent force is gone the hammer is going to feel slow for damage. 

[anduriell.6280]

21 minutes ago, Levetty.1279 said:

We are not talking about right now. 🙄

Just watched the stream as I missed the ranger part. The changes to spirits actually look good. The second slam is actually a nice idea.
I am not sure how long will be there any boon pulses thou. maybe it is shown I the stream I am not sure. 
 

my worry now would be condi bunker druid making a come back, but we will see I guess. At least the ancient seeds lock down is gone so the combat should feel more fluid so at a level with other condi classes. 
The new immob in lunar impact is just 1s so it all seems alright. 

[Arheundel.6451]

Positive changes, I'll be damned...overall great changes..

- Still unsure how Untamed will fare, still nothing to keep pet alive, but the new GM may make the spec more useful outside pewpew onehit wonder pvp spec....possibly. So a 7/10 balance patch for me

- I hope @PaperRoll will be ok but....finally Ancient Seed has been removed, took years to remove that kitten trait

[Levetty.1279]

18 minutes ago, anduriell.6280 said:

Just watched the stream as I missed the ranger part. The changes to spirits actually look good. The second slam is actually a nice idea.

That Aegis on Stone Spirit is looking pretty nice too.

[Celeste.9135]

For me personally, Eclipse not affecting Staff on Druid means I have 0 interest in the class as a DPS. Before the stream I was hoping Staff would get the rework via trait treatment they gave Astral, just using the mostly the same weapons I would on condi Soulbeast with Astral form instead of Beast skills is boring to me on a conceptual level. Disappointed with a lot of the changes in this patch but this one was a big L for me. 

[Levetty.1279]

3 minutes ago, Celeste.9135 said:

For me personally, Eclipse not affecting Staff on Druid means I have 0 interest in the class as a DPS. Before the stream I was hoping Staff would get the rework via trait treatment they gave Astral, just using the mostly the same weapons I would on condi Soulbeast with Astral form instead of Beast skills is boring to me on a conceptual level. Disappointed with a lot of the changes in this patch but this one was a big L for me. 

Yeah I was really disappointed about that.

[Sonder.1240]

Myself as a Untamed main got very disapointed on this. The removal of Fervent Force was unexpected. I was expecting it to be nerfed more. I'm not sure how DPS Untamed will go on now, The buff on the ambushed skills coeffienct doesn't seems to be a huge improvement to it.

Whatever floats on Anet's boat. They must stop acting like ever elite must get the meta boons (Alac and Quickness).

[Box of Ants.5609]

Overall, I'm pretty excited about these changes. But I do have to agree completely that I wish Druid Staff got some changes too, and/or was effected by Eclipse.

[HawaiianDreads.5473]

Not feeling Untamed changes. I knew Fervent Force was going to be reworked or change but the replacement trait doesn't seem all that amazing. Especially with hammers being mad slow. I give it a whirl but most likely I will be moving to Druid or Soulbeast.

[kharmin.7683]

Great. I got to learn MH sword all over again.  (sigh)

[kharmin.7683]

1 hour ago, Celeste.9135 said:

For me personally, Eclipse not affecting Staff on Druid means I have 0 interest in the class as a DPS. Before the stream I was hoping Staff would get the rework via trait treatment they gave Astral, just using the mostly the same weapons I would on condi Soulbeast with Astral form instead of Beast skills is boring to me on a conceptual level. Disappointed with a lot of the changes in this patch but this one was a big L for me. 

I never thought that druid was intended to be DPS?  I thought it was support, which is why it was released when raids came out?  /shrug

[Incurve Giidis.7829]

i hope gotl isnt another low duration ticking application thats gonna punish spreading and doing mechanics and entering ca with no reason

its probably gonna be terrible to play, still, unless you can stack it to 30s

Edited June 9, 2023 by Incurve Giidis.7829

[Mauti.3520]

I am pleasantly surprised and look well forward towards the update. This looks really really promising and fun. Quickness Untamed looks also very realistic to play - and hyped for Condi (Alac) Druid Builds.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Mauti.3520

[Zyreva.1078]

Someone really doesn't like condi ranger in WvW/PvP it seems ...

[WhoWantsAHug.3186]

Support druid is going to PUMP in PvP. Can't wait to try it out. Hopefully those sword changes play out well. I'm gonna miss that reset on 3 sadge

On second thought, I'm pissed they removed ancient seeds. NOOOOO

Edited June 9, 2023 by WhoWantsAHug.3186

[Gotejjeken.1267]

16 minutes ago, Zyreva.1078 said:

Someone really doesn't like condi ranger in WvW/PvP it seems ...

That much is clear.  The sharpening stone nerf was a precursor, but removing Ancient Seeds pretty much kills the current iteration.

I'll probably have more thoughts later, but at current time as a starter I'll just leave it at there is no Ranger dev and I have little desire to play after this goes live.

Anyway, few initial thoughts as pertains to roaming / side-node / dueling...

Druid changes are done out of spite and nothing else.  Leaving Ancient Seeds aside for a second, nerfing BOTH Primal Echoes and Natural Stride is ridiculous.  As a roaming Druid there was an off chance you'd take either because of the Staff CD reduction and the mobility Natural Stride gave, now they both are generic and super hardlined to support.  

The Ancient Seeds removal is just...awful for lack of a better term.  Avatar form is for support and is to enter and leave quickly, as you are essentially a sitting duck.  To put condis on the skills is so far out of touch it's unreal.  It shows how bad the devs are at their own game as Ancient Seeds was already on a 10/15s CD in competitive modes--so you weren't dying to Ancient Seeds unless caught out.  There is zero comparison to other classes because you can't pump condis while in avatar because the point of avatar is not offensive, its defensive.  As in, there is zero stab there outside of #5 so if you stay in it long, you will just get CC'd and die.  

Also, don't know who on the Dev team was into Twilight, but Blood Moon and Eclipse as naming conventions on a Druid...really? 

Finally, it's clear they have no plan for Untamed,  as they don't address its crazy mechanical complexity, and instead of rework it, lie and just replace Fervent Force with utter nonsense.  As in, Unleash on weapon swap should be baseline, not a trait--and even with that ability most unleashes are straight up useless, so it is nothing but a nerf.  

Finally, two leaps on sword is going to do nothing when it still has no defense.  You can be mobile all you want, but really easy to just get CC'd out of either leap and die.  As, they did zero to up the damage of sword #1 and the animation change a few years ago nuked all its DPS potential.  Moving Serpent Strike back to where it was before they changed it last time is the definition of a non-change.  

 

[Downstate.4697]

1 hour ago, WhoWantsAHug.3186 said:

Support druid is going to PUMP in PvP. Can't wait to try it out. Hopefully those sword changes play out well. I'm gonna miss that reset on 3 sadge

On second thought, I'm pissed they removed ancient seeds. NOOOOO

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?POwEYiNssCWIjhhxKxjXyvVOi5A-zZJsM6NFquCEZAA
 

my general thoughts on what that could look like. It does look pretty strong on paper.

[Arheundel.6451]

On second thought...I had the time of digest the changes and....they completely gutted sword with asinine changes, they removed the evade from sword 2 just for a mere 1k base dmg...what the absolute kitten...

[kiwituatara.6053]

Good changes overall.

Sword will be interesting. Looking forward to see changes to play style.

Huge blow for Druid that ancient seed is gone, but that trait was a bit kittenous anyways.

Amazing changes to Nature Magic.

Missed opportunity for Staff and Dagger Mainhand buff.

[WhoWantsAHug.3186]

4 hours ago, Downstate.4697 said:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?POwEYiNssCWIjhhxKxjXyvVOi5A-zZJsM6NFquCEZAA
 

my general thoughts on what that could look like. It does look pretty strong on paper.

Yea that looks almost exactly to what I would run, except I'd maybe go sanctuary rune for tankyness and I'd have to play around with wilderness survival vs skirmishing. Also, fern hound will have strong synergies with the kit. You might not need it though, depending on the healing throughput. Smokescreen would always be a good option, especially with all of the blast finishers. I also really like the relocation of search and rescue on support druid as well as the glyph heal. 

The new lingering light is gonna be insane with Druidic Clarity and Celestial Shadow.

Edited June 10, 2023 by WhoWantsAHug.3186