How viable is core ranger in all modes?

[Terimac.5871]

Hello,

I have soulbeast and untamed unlocked but they dont really click for me. I know some classes are garbage without their elite specs, but somehow i keep seeing a bunch core rangers. Yes they can be f2p players but i kinda doubt it, because of how their gear looks and many of them are level 200+ mastery. 🙈

Also bonus question, how many of you are using the hammer over the greatsword? I still cant decide between them. 🤤

Thanks!

[Beddo.1907]

Core ranger is not unplayable, just underperforming in comparison. Something like marksmanship, skirmishing and beastmastery should work fine on a power build.

[Zyreva.1078]

9 hours ago, Beddo.1907 said:

Core ranger is not unplayable, just underperforming in comparison. Something like marksmanship, skirmishing and beastmastery should work fine on a power build.

Nature Magic > Beast Mastery. This is true for any build that isn't merged soulbeast. Boons far outweight the stat increase from BM - and in combination with WHAO (and wh) NM doesn't only buff pets, but also enables much better self boons, therefore improving offense and defense of both ranger and pet.

(For solo/open world NM might even outperform Marks (power) or WS (condi) on untamed and druid).

Also i don't see a reason to play core ranger over Untamed. They can be played fairly similar, but Untamed is better, even when not making much use of the unleash mechanic (25% dmg + perma quickness alone is worth more than any 3rd core traitline).

Edited October 2, 2023 by Zyreva.1078

[kharmin.7683]

I finished the personal story on core ranger before they gutted the MH sword.  It was quite viable.  Not sure how much other content I would solo with it, though.  The elites are just better.

[Beddo.1907]

2 hours ago, Zyreva.1078 said:

Nature Magic > Beast Mastery. This is true for any build that isn't merged soulbeast. Boons far outweight the stat increase from BM - and in combination with WHAO (and wh) NM doesn't only buff pets, but also enables much better self boons, therefore improving offense and defense of both ranger and pet.

(For solo/open world NM might even outperform Marks (power) or WS (condi) on untamed and druid).

Also i don't see a reason to play core ranger over Untamed. They can be played fairly similar, but Untamed is better, even when not making much use of the unleash mechanic (25% dmg + perma quickness alone is worth more than any 3rd core traitline).

I'd say 3rd slot is preference really and I picked from just core as asked. But yes Untamed with just traits should still do better.

[Gotejjeken.1267]

5 hours ago, Zyreva.1078 said:

Nature Magic > Beast Mastery. This is true for any build that isn't merged soulbeast. Boons far outweight the stat increase from BM - and in combination with WHAO (and wh) NM doesn't only buff pets, but also enables much better self boons, therefore improving offense and defense of both ranger and pet.

I still would never discount BM outside open world as you take BM not for the stat increase but for the CD reduction and pet speed increase, as it's hard to play around for new rangers.  

Comparison logic is hard too because for competitive WS > NM (outside of pure support obviously) so you take WS nearly always and then whatever else you want.

Anyway, I agree that if you want to play core just play Untamed.  None of the core traitlines are powerful enough to replace the e-spec ones--and you also lose all control of your pet outside of F2 which is not a great feeling (as stupid would be the nicest thing you can say about pet AI).  

Edited October 2, 2023 by Gotejjeken.1267

[kiwituatara.6053]

It sucks how they moved most of the damage multipliers away from core ranger to soulbeast, and instead of implementing quality of life changes to pets, they gate it behind Untamed. I felt so bummed out when untamed was released, that was the moment I knew we'd never get a better pet management system for core rangers.

 

I wish they'd go back and redo those two elite specs. The designs were astoundingly lazy. The devs basically took all the feedback for ranger fixes and packaged them into an elite specialisation. They should've just implemented the changes to core rangers and got a bit more creative with elite specs. Honestly, druid feels like the only true elite spec for rangers.

[Terimac.5871]

Thanks guys, i went back and tried some untamed and i guess i can learn to like it, atleast more than soulbeast 🙃

I noticed something very annoying tho, as untamed and with beast skills set on auto cast all the beast traits very rarely activates? If i swap pets and turn off and on auto cast the traits will activate once or twice then bugging out again? I never had that problem as a core ranger. Why is that? I really cant be bothered to having to manually press the beast skill everytime to get the traits working. 

Im talking about traits such as rejuvenation and invigorating bond, and i was wondering why i felt kinda squishy compared to my core ranger specc 😵‍💫 constant regen, protection and vigor is so nice to have.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Terimac.5871

[MalekithDG.6124]

3 hours ago, kiwituatara.6053 said:

It sucks how they moved most of the damage multipliers away from core ranger to soulbeast, and instead of implementing quality of life changes to pets, they gate it behind Untamed. I felt so bummed out when untamed was released, that was the moment I knew we'd never get a better pet management system for core rangers.

 

I wish they'd go back and redo those two elite specs. The designs were astoundingly lazy. The devs basically took all the feedback for ranger fixes and packaged them into an elite specialisation. They should've just implemented the changes to core rangers and got a bit more creative with elite specs. Honestly, druid feels like the only true elite spec for rangers.

Thank god someone had to say this. We need to post this under every ranger or actually under every thread that exists and will exist in forums to drill the idea onto ANET's head.

[deathdealer.2197]

Core rangers are the classiest mfers out there 

[Remus Darkblight.1673]

9 hours ago, Terimac.5871 said:

Thanks guys, i went back and tried some untamed and i guess i can learn to like it, atleast more than soulbeast 🙃

I noticed something very annoying tho, as untamed and with beast skills set on auto cast all the beast traits very rarely activates? If i swap pets and turn off and on auto cast the traits will activate once or twice then bugging out again? I never had that problem as a core ranger. Why is that? I really cant be bothered to having to manually press the beast skill everytime to get the traits working. 

Im talking about traits such as rejuvenation and invigorating bond, and i was wondering why i felt kinda squishy compared to my core ranger specc 😵‍💫 constant regen, protection and vigor is so nice to have.

Only one of your pet skills is a Beast skill. Also none of the unleashed pet skills are Beast skills (Venomous Outburst, Rending Vines, Enveloping Haze).

For example on the Moa pets only their Screech skill is actually a Beast skill. In the case of Soulbeast the archetype skills are also Beast skills (Prelude Lash, Primal Cry, Worldly Impact etc.). They will say "Beast" on the tool tip.

[Dredsh.2360]

21 hours ago, kharmin.7683 said:

I finished the personal story on core ranger before they gutted the MH sword.  It was quite viable.  Not sure how much other content I would solo with it, though.  The elites are just better.

MH sword is not gutted, it's a lot better 😉

[Zyreva.1078]

18 hours ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

I still would never discount BM outside open world as you take BM not for the stat increase but for the CD reduction and pet speed increase, as it's hard to play around for new rangers. 

I should have specified that i'm referring to PvE with my statement. In PvP/WvW BM still has some merits in certain builds, mostly for the non pet related stuff tho. CD reduction for pet skills is rarely relevant - it's not like most pet skills are that great - and movement speed is redundant, as long you've got some swiftness in your build.

 

[Terimac.5871]

3 hours ago, Remus Darkblight.1673 said:

Only one of your pet skills is a Beast skill. Also none of the unleashed pet skills are Beast skills (Venomous Outburst, Rending Vines, Enveloping Haze).

For example on the Moa pets only their Screech skill is actually a Beast skill. In the case of Soulbeast the archetype skills are also Beast skills (Prelude Lash, Primal Cry, Worldly Impact etc.). They will say "Beast" on the tool tip.

Yea i know, nevertheless. I find that traits with the beast tag bugs out as untamed, but never as core or SB. They might activate and work fine for a moment, but after some pet swapping and unleashing back and forth, they wont proc the traits again unless i manually press the beast skill. I let the pet wack some target dummy for 5 minutes and it never procced, the second i press the button i got all the buffs.

I found some old threads from reddit and this forum describing the same or similar issue, so im not the only one. I guess most people doesnt notice it because they dont run a combination of nature magic and untamed? i dunno 🥸

[Remus Darkblight.1673]

14 hours ago, Terimac.5871 said:

Yea i know, nevertheless. I find that traits with the beast tag bugs out as untamed, but never as core or SB. They might activate and work fine for a moment, but after some pet swapping and unleashing back and forth, they wont proc the traits again unless i manually press the beast skill. I let the pet wack some target dummy for 5 minutes and it never procced, the second i press the button i got all the buffs.

I found some old threads from reddit and this forum describing the same or similar issue, so im not the only one. I guess most people doesnt notice it because they dont run a combination of nature magic and untamed? i dunno 🥸

Can't say I have noticed this. But wouldn't surprise me. I might do some testing myself this weekend.

[anduriell.6280]

Quick question for WvW: Is soulbeast + hammer/staff  or Druid + hammer/staff better accepted in zergs or is still put with the thieves parties?

 

[Beddo.1907]

3 hours ago, anduriell.6280 said:

Quick question for WvW: Is soulbeast + hammer/staff  or Druid + hammer/staff better accepted in zergs or is still put with the thieves parties?

 

Soulbeast and Untamed see no play in zergs. Staff Druid on the other hand is actually in the meta, thanks to high condi cleanse, healing output, elite glyph and some CC.