Rifle concept

[Beddo.1907]

I'm bored and people want rifle no matter what, so here you go. A stick shaped device used to propel something, by making a small boom. Three flavours too!

1.
Name: Wildfire shells
Text: Fire your weapon, causing a 120 degree cone shaped blast in front of you, which burns targets hit.
Cast/CD: 3/4s
Range: 300
Target count: 3
Damage: 190 (0.50)
Effect: Applies 3s burning

1+2.
Name: Capture shells
Text: Fire your weapon, causing a 120 degree cone shaped blast in front of you, which cripples targets hit.
Cast/CD: 3/4s
Range: 300
Target count: 3
Damage: 200 (0.60)
Effect: Applies 1s cripple

1+3.
Name: Tearing shells
Text: Fire your weapon, causing a 120 degree cone shaped blast in front of you, which removes a boon from targets hit.
Cast/CD: 3/4s
Range: 300
Target count: 3
Damage: 200 (0.80)
Effect: Removes 1 boon

2.
Name: Load capture shells
Text: Change equiped shells to Capture shells which apply cripple. Next attack will also Slow.
Cast/CD: 1/4s, 5s
Range: self
Effect: Change 1 skill, next attack applies 2s slow

3.
Name: Load tearing shells
Text: Change equipped shells to Tearing shells which remove a boon. Next attack will also remove additional boons.
Cast/CD: 1/4s, 10s
Range: self
Effect: Change 1 skill, next attack removed 3 boons

2.2/3.2.
Name: Unload shells
Text: Change equipped shells to Wildfire shells.
Cast/CD: 1/4s, 0s
Effect: Change 1 skill back to default

4.
Name: Flare shell
Text: Shoot a flare, blinding nearby enemies and revealing stealthed targets in the area for a short time.
Cast/CD: 3/4s 20s
Range: 900 radius around the player
Target count: 5
Effect: blind for 5s, apply reveal every 1s for 5s in the area. (Stealthed targets have priority)

5.
Name: Supply run
Text: Apply Superspeed and Swiftness to yourself and your pet, then quickly dash a short distance and refreshing shell skills.
Cast/CD: instant, stops current action, 30s
Range: 300 (dash)
Target count: Self and pet
Effect: apply 5s Superspeed and 10s Swiftness, refresh cooldowns of 2 and 3.
 

[Swagger.1459]

3 hours ago, Beddo.1907 said:

Range: 300

So a melee "rifle", right?

How about Range 900 across the board instead? 

[draxynnic.3719]

You won't get a 900 cone. ArenaNet terminated the 600 cone that used to exist with extreme prejudice for WvW reasons.

[Beddo.1907]

3 hours ago, Swagger.1459 said:

So a melee "rifle", right?

That's the point.

[Swagger.1459]

4 minutes ago, Beddo.1907 said:

That's the point.

Oh. Well, I would have to pass on your design. Two thumbs down.  

[Swagger.1459]

2 hours ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

You won't get a 900 cone. ArenaNet terminated the 600 cone that used to exist with extreme prejudice for WvW reasons.

Well, there could indeed be 900 range bullet "spread"... Am I correct? 

Frost Fan - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

Poison Volley - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

[Beddo.1907]

34 minutes ago, Swagger.1459 said:

Well, there could indeed be 900 range bullet "spread"... Am I correct? 

Frost Fan - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

Poison Volley - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

Except those are projectiles.

[Swagger.1459]

35 minutes ago, Beddo.1907 said:

Except those are projectiles.

Bullets are projectiles. 

It's also fantasy land, any effect can be made into a "spread", "cone", "aoe", you name it. The game supports various attack designs, obviously.  

[draxynnic.3719]

It's an important distinction. "Cone" means a projectile-less area attack that strikes everyone within the area, either equally or based on distance (as happens with the engineer shotgun attack). "Spread" means multiple distinct projectiles being sent out in slightly different directions. Long range spread attacks seem to be considered less problematic than cones because, in short, there's more counterplay.

Spread attacks are generally associated with bows (multiple arrows on a string...), thrown weapons (just throw them by the handful), or magic. It's fairly difficult to imagine how a low-magic profession is going to be able to get 3-5 bullets to come out of a single barrel simultaneously at slightly different angles - instead, AoE from guns usually comes in the form of shotgun-like cones, explosive projectiles, bouncing or piercing projectiles, and the like.

I'd also note that ranger already having spread attacks on two of their ranged weapons is not exactly an argument in favour of introducing another even if we were to accept the "it's fantasy, it doesn't have to make sense" argument.

[Swagger.1459]

11 hours ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

It's an important distinction. "Cone" means a projectile-less area attack that strikes everyone within the area, either equally or based on distance (as happens with the engineer shotgun attack). "Spread" means multiple distinct projectiles being sent out in slightly different directions. Long range spread attacks seem to be considered less problematic than cones because, in short, there's more counterplay.

Spread attacks are generally associated with bows (multiple arrows on a string...), thrown weapons (just throw them by the handful), or magic. It's fairly difficult to imagine how a low-magic profession is going to be able to get 3-5 bullets to come out of a single barrel simultaneously at slightly different angles - instead, AoE from guns usually comes in the form of shotgun-like cones, explosive projectiles, bouncing or piercing projectiles, and the like.

I'd also note that ranger already having spread attacks on two of their ranged weapons is not exactly an argument in favour of introducing another even if we were to accept the "it's fantasy, it doesn't have to make sense" argument.

Well, a few things...

1- There would probably be little to no support for a "rifle" melee weapon. Especially since most actual ranger players are looking for a suitable alternative to the overused longbow. Plus, we have plenty of melee weapons as is and more on the way.   

2- YOU inserted "cone" into the discussion, not I. I brought up "How about Range 900 across the board instead?". To emphasize.. "Range 900". 

3- Bullets are projectiles. I mentioned "spread" and gave game examples after you brought up "cone".  And you keep bringing up "cone" for some reason... Regardless, the rifle bullets can be designed to shoot in a "spread" for game terms. But if you want to get technical, a "cone" and "spread" are a conical shape. Same-same, <. 

4- Is it difficult to imagine when you clearly gave an explanation? "It's fairly difficult to imagine how a low-magic profession is going to be able to get 3-5 bullets to come out of a single barrel simultaneously" + "shotgun-like cones, explosive projectiles". Am I correct? Also "cone". 

5- A Ranged 900 "Ranged Rifle" would gain more support than a Ranged 300 "Melee Rifle".   

... Yes, this is a Fantasy game. The ranger isn't a "low magic profession". The world is based off of magic, like the majority of "powers" and abilities across classes. Anet can create a rifle to shoot whatever they want, be it mundane or magic projectiles. Doesn't matter, because this is a make-believe magic and monsters game in a fantasy world and setting. 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Swagger.1459

[draxynnic.3719]

9 hours ago, Swagger.1459 said:

Well, a few things...

1- There would probably be little to no support for a "rifle" melee weapon. Especially since most actual ranger players are looking for a suitable alternative to the overused longbow. Plus, we have plenty of melee weapons as is and more on the way.   

And I'd have no objection to rifle coming along in the future, but I do to the claim that rifle will necessarily offer more than another weapon.

9 hours ago, Swagger.1459 said:

2- YOU inserted "cone" into the discussion, not I. I brought up "How about Range 900 across the board instead?". To emphasize.. "Range 900". 

Actually, the OP did, and I'm pretty sure that the OP had tongue firmly planted when making this thread. However, to reiterate the point: Nobody is getting a cone autoattack with range greater than flamethrower. Guardian used to have one, and that was deemed to be overpowered in WvW despite having fairly low damage.

900 range for rifle when firing distinct bullets? I'd expect 1200. But a long-range autoattack cone is not happening.

9 hours ago, Swagger.1459 said:

3- Bullets are projectiles. I mentioned "spread" and gave game examples after you brought up "cone".  And you keep bringing up "cone" for some reason... Regardless, the rifle bullets can be designed to shoot in a "spread" for game terms. But if you want to get technical, a "cone" and "spread" are a conical shape. Same-same, <. 

Bullets are. In terms of game mechanics, though, buckshot isn't. Spreads of distinct projectiles are something that the game devs only use when the number of projectiles are relatively small (current max is seven) and emerge in a predictable pattern. Shotgun-like blasts which fill a cone-shaped area with pellets are modelled with skills like Blunderbuss: a hitscan cone, possibly with a damage dropoff over a distance. And you're not going to get that as a long-range autoattack because they've learned from when they did that before.

9 hours ago, Swagger.1459 said:

4- Is it difficult to imagine when you clearly gave an explanation? "It's fairly difficult to imagine how a low-magic profession is going to be able to get 3-5 bullets to come out of a single barrel simultaneously" + "shotgun-like cones, explosive projectiles". Am I correct? Also "cone". 

5- A Ranged 900 "Ranged Rifle" would gain more support than a Ranged 300 "Melee Rifle".   

... Yes, this is a Fantasy game. The ranger isn't a "low magic profession". The world is based off of magic, like the majority of "powers" and abilities across classes. Anet can create a rifle to shoot whatever they want, be it mundane or magic projectiles. Doesn't matter, because this is a make-believe magic and monsters game in a fantasy world and setting. 

Being a fantasy game where all professions use magic is why I specified 'low-magic' and not 'no-magic'. But ranger still isn't a mesmer, elementalist, necromancer, guardian, or revenant. Give a ranger a gun and they're going to use it to fire regular physical bullets, not magic energy projectiles like a mesmer's offhand pistol. They use a bit of magic in utility skills, specific caster weapons like staff, and occasionally to augment their attacks with other weapons, but I just don't see firing three or five bullets down a single barrel at once to come out in a predictable fan-shaped spread as being within their capabilities. And even if a justification could be made... ranger already has two weapons that do that. What would be the point of adding a third?

I could see shotgun ranger being a thing, but it would probably behave similar to engineer rifle: you have one or more cooldown skills like that, but the autoattack is a solid slug.

[MalekithDG.6124]

On 10/6/2023 at 8:06 PM, Swagger.1459 said:

Well, a few things...

1- There would probably be little to no support for a "rifle" melee weapon. Especially since most actual ranger players are looking for a suitable alternative to the overused longbow. Plus, we have plenty of melee weapons as is and more on the way.   

2- YOU inserted "cone" into the discussion, not I. I brought up "How about Range 900 across the board instead?". To emphasize.. "Range 900". 

3- Bullets are projectiles. I mentioned "spread" and gave game examples after you brought up "cone".  And you keep bringing up "cone" for some reason... Regardless, the rifle bullets can be designed to shoot in a "spread" for game terms. But if you want to get technical, a "cone" and "spread" are a conical shape. Same-same, <. 

4- Is it difficult to imagine when you clearly gave an explanation? "It's fairly difficult to imagine how a low-magic profession is going to be able to get 3-5 bullets to come out of a single barrel simultaneously" + "shotgun-like cones, explosive projectiles". Am I correct? Also "cone". 

5- A Ranged 900 "Ranged Rifle" would gain more support than a Ranged 300 "Melee Rifle".   

... Yes, this is a Fantasy game. The ranger isn't a "low magic profession". The world is based off of magic, like the majority of "powers" and abilities across classes. Anet can create a rifle to shoot whatever they want, be it mundane or magic projectiles. Doesn't matter, because this is a make-believe magic and monsters game in a fantasy world and setting. 

I dont know why you even want a ranged weapon when all the other classes puking projectile reflections, blocks and invulnerabilities coursing through their in their veins instead of blood. You are aware that you wont be able to use the rifle you want as effectively as you are thinking you would right? Unless you are a Tower Defense Ranger which at that point I can recommend you some other games that might interest you that I am %100 sure you will get more fun out of than GW2... Which is to your benefit dont get me wrong, I wish I was a tower shooter so I can finally drop this horrible game down.

You have to stack in PvE anyway whats ranged weapon gonna do?

Unless your 900 or 1200 range rifle has unblockables on every single skill, 2 thumbs down.

Edited October 10, 2023 by MalekithDG.6124

[Swagger.1459]

On 10/6/2023 at 11:10 PM, draxynnic.3719 said:

And I'd have no objection to rifle coming along in the future, but I do to the claim that rifle will necessarily offer more than another weapon.

Actually, the OP did, and I'm pretty sure that the OP had tongue firmly planted when making this thread. However, to reiterate the point: Nobody is getting a cone autoattack with range greater than flamethrower. Guardian used to have one, and that was deemed to be overpowered in WvW despite having fairly low damage.

900 range for rifle when firing distinct bullets? I'd expect 1200. But a long-range autoattack cone is not happening.

Bullets are. In terms of game mechanics, though, buckshot isn't. Spreads of distinct projectiles are something that the game devs only use when the number of projectiles are relatively small (current max is seven) and emerge in a predictable pattern. Shotgun-like blasts which fill a cone-shaped area with pellets are modelled with skills like Blunderbuss: a hitscan cone, possibly with a damage dropoff over a distance. And you're not going to get that as a long-range autoattack because they've learned from when they did that before.

Being a fantasy game where all professions use magic is why I specified 'low-magic' and not 'no-magic'. But ranger still isn't a mesmer, elementalist, necromancer, guardian, or revenant. Give a ranger a gun and they're going to use it to fire regular physical bullets, not magic energy projectiles like a mesmer's offhand pistol. They use a bit of magic in utility skills, specific caster weapons like staff, and occasionally to augment their attacks with other weapons, but I just don't see firing three or five bullets down a single barrel at once to come out in a predictable fan-shaped spread as being within their capabilities. And even if a justification could be made... ranger already has two weapons that do that. What would be the point of adding a third?

I could see shotgun ranger being a thing, but it would probably behave similar to engineer rifle: you have one or more cooldown skills like that, but the autoattack is a solid slug.

Shifting goal posts.

I guarantee the majority of the playerbase would not want a melee rifle.

I never asked for a "cone autoattack". My original input was simply Range 900. However, I did mention spreads were doable after your cone stuff, of which you yourself finally agree on.

Again, this is a fantasy pretend game. The devs could implement all sorts of non-traditional projectiles. Regardless, a melee rifle would garner many facepalms from the playerbase and the developers know that, so you two will have to come up with some better ideas. than a "melee rifle". 

[Swagger.1459]

8 hours ago, MalekithDG.6124 said:

I dont know why you even want a ranged weapon when all the other classes puking projectile reflections, blocks and invulnerabilities coursing through their in their veins instead of blood. You are aware that you wont be able to use the rifle you want as effectively as you are thinking you would right? Unless you are a Tower Defense Ranger which at that point I can recommend you some other games that might interest you that I am %100 sure you will get more fun out of than GW2... Which is to your benefit dont get me wrong, I wish I was a tower shooter so I can finally drop this horrible game down.

You have to stack in PvE anyway whats ranged weapon gonna do?

Unless your 900 or 1200 range rifle has unblockables on every single skill, 2 thumbs down.

I don't know why you want a melee rifle? I mean, you'd probably get torn apart then have to run into towers and switch builds to something more useful. 

You can stop playing at any time, nothing is preventing you from taking breaks? Right? 

[WastedYears.8934]

Dont need rifle we need a rework that can...

 

1. Give us mobility while doing
2. Dmg and purging condi /movement debuff  with
3. Evade/defensive/boon spams without
4. Sacrificing any of our important traits so that we can actually be decent .... 
5. GIVE US BETTER pets mechanic kitten, engineer pets are wayyyyy better and they only need 1 trait tree...ranger need 2 and it isnt even half decent

Oh yes and no stupid invisible pixel that can block all our shots...I can be right Infront of the WVW camp supervisor and literally have my  shots block by invisible pixels.

 

 

[MalekithDG.6124]

39 minutes ago, Swagger.1459 said:

I don't know why you want a melee rifle? I mean, you'd probably get torn apart then have to run into towers and switch builds to something more useful. 

You can stop playing at any time, nothing is preventing you from taking breaks? Right? 

I didnt wanted a rifle at all by the way. But having a shotgun melee rifle with cone attacks that will still, to some extent, satisfy your ranged needs while providing the class a way to bypass reflects via instant cone aoe's(non projectile) is more preferable for both of us. If we get a 900 or 1200 range weapon right now it will essentially be a longbow skin. It literally wont matter because none of your attacks will do anything to enemy, same with LB right now. Its overused because its one of the few good weapons rangers have yet its also useless against decent players with semi optimal builds.

Classes only get new weapon per year man. Considering how forgotten this class is we really cant shoot blank q.q.

Goes without saying im just voicing my opinions like you. Its not like devs gonna listen to any of us here anyway. And daredevil uses staff to bonk heads while every other class uses it to cast spells from range. I can see a shotgun melee rifle.

[MalekithDG.6124]

3 minutes ago, WastedYears.8934 said:

Dont need rifle we need a rework that can...

 

1. Give us mobility while doing
2. Dmg and purging condi /movement debuff  with
3. Evade/defensive/boon spams without
4. Sacrificing any of our important traits so that we can actually be decent .... 
5. GIVE US BETTER pets mechanic kitten, engineer pets are wayyyyy better and they only need 1 trait tree...ranger need 2 and it isnt even half decent

Oh yes and no stupid invisible pixel that can block all our shots...I can be right Infront of the WVW camp supervisor and literally have my  shots block by invisible pixels.

 

 

See? This man gets it. This dude understand how god forgotten this class is trapped within the 201x designs. I could easily even abandon upcoming mace for a class rework or functional pets(thats bug fixing by the way not even new feature).

Edited October 11, 2023 by MalekithDG.6124

[draxynnic.3719]

3 hours ago, Swagger.1459 said:

Shifting goal posts.

I guarantee the majority of the playerbase would not want a melee rifle.

I never asked for a "cone autoattack". My original input was simply Range 900. However, I did mention spreads were doable after your cone stuff, of which you yourself finally agree on.

Again, this is a fantasy pretend game. The devs could implement all sorts of non-traditional projectiles. Regardless, a melee rifle would garner many facepalms from the playerbase and the developers know that, so you two will have to come up with some better ideas. than a "melee rifle". 

The majority of the warrior playerbase did not want their pistol to be an offhand melee weapon, yet here we are. 

You might not have asked for a "cone autoattack", but the OP did, and you specified range 900 without specifying at the time that a ranged 900 autoattack cone was not what you were asking for. Context influences interpretation.

Fantasy games still have rules, and precedents that hint at the rules. Rangers, while having some magic, are definitely on the martial side of the martial/magic divide, in roughly the same spot in that respect as thieves. Rifle, if anything, is likely to be even more on the martial side, since the ranger magic that is there is fundamentally based on being attuned to nature, and while I don't think this bars rangers from using firearms altogether, using a rifle would put them more on the technological side of the spectrum from "sport hunter with a dog" to "druid". Personally, I'm inclined to think that rifle should be coming alongside an elite specialisation that gives the ranger a bit of an engineer-like flair rather than just being dropped in on its own.

I'm fine with the idea of ranger getting a rifle in principle - but I am opposed to arguments that rifle is just mechanically better than other possibilities before we've even seen the skills. The fact is that, based on previous treatment of rifle, it would likely end up pretty much as a longbow variant: mostly single-target long-range power projectiles. If expectations are not based on prior treatment of the weapon by other professions, then all bets are off. Rifle could be a melee, or at least close-in (600 or less) weapon. Mace could be a ranged projectile-less ranged weapon based on slamming the mace on the ground triggering some nasty nature magic effect to come up from beneath the victim's feet (heck, that might not even be that far off revenant mace now).

[Beddo.1907]

I'm curious what alternative ideas ppl have for rifle so here's the basic skill template:

0.
Name:
Text:
Cast/CD:
Range:
Target count:
Damage:
Effect:

The basic requirements for the idea:
1. Isn't over/underpowered
2. Isn't LB/SB rework
3. Has a purpose in current ranger 

[Ehecatl.9172]

I'll throw out a concept. Why not?

The basic idea is a sort of inverse of the longbow. A ranged weapon that deals more damage the closer you are to your target. A shotgun rather than a standard rifle. Ideally, you could use it to compliment your longbow or help force the enemy into melee for your greatsword, sword, or hammer. It also gives Ranger some capacity to deal with projectile hate.

I don't have a good grasp on damage numbers and coefficients so I'm just going to leave that area vague.

 

1.
Name: Hunter's Shot
Text: Fire a shot at your target. The closer your foe the more damage you deal.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / Auto
Range: 1,200
Target count: Pierces
Damage: Low at max range, medium at 900 range, high at 300 range.
Effect: None.

2.
Name: Buckshot
Text: Fire a cone of shrapnel in front of you. Cripples foes.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / 8 Seconds
Range: 600
Target count: 5
Damage: High.
Effect: Cripples for 4 seconds.

3.
Name: Bear Trap
Text: Throw an invisible bear trap at the target location. Immobilizes foes.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / 12 seconds
Range: 900
Target count: 1
Damage: Low
Effect: immobilizes the foe who steps on the trap for 2 seconds.

4.
Name: Hunter's Leap
Text: You leap a short distance and bash the target with the butt of your rifle, stunning them.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / 18 seconds.
Range: 600
Target count: 3
Damage: Moderate.
Effect: Stuns enemies struck by it for 2 seconds.

5.
Name: Falconer's Quarry
Text: Designate a foe by pointing at them. A falcon spirit dives at the target with incredible speed, stripping boons and marking them for further punishment.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / 20 seconds.
Range: 1,200
Target count: 1
Damage: Moderate.
Effect: Strips Swiftness and up to two additional boons. Projectiles fired at the target become unblockable for 6 seconds.

[Beddo.1907]

6 hours ago, Ehecatl.9172 said:

I'll throw out a concept. Why not?

The basic idea is a sort of inverse of the longbow. A ranged weapon that deals more damage the closer you are to your target. A shotgun rather than a standard rifle. Ideally, you could use it to compliment your longbow or help force the enemy into melee for your greatsword, sword, or hammer. It also gives Ranger some capacity to deal with projectile hate.

I don't have a good grasp on damage numbers and coefficients so I'm just going to leave that area vague.

 

1.
Name: Hunter's Shot
Text: Fire a shot at your target. The closer your foe the more damage you deal.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / Auto
Range: 1,200
Target count: Pierces
Damage: Low at max range, medium at 900 range, high at 300 range.
Effect: None.

2.
Name: Buckshot
Text: Fire a cone of shrapnel in front of you. Cripples foes.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / 8 Seconds
Range: 600
Target count: 5
Damage: High.
Effect: Cripples for 4 seconds.

3.
Name: Bear Trap
Text: Throw an invisible bear trap at the target location. Immobilizes foes.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / 12 seconds
Range: 900
Target count: 1
Damage: Low
Effect: immobilizes the foe who steps on the trap for 2 seconds.

4.
Name: Hunter's Leap
Text: You leap a short distance and bash the target with the butt of your rifle, stunning them.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / 18 seconds.
Range: 600
Target count: 3
Damage: Moderate.
Effect: Stuns enemies struck by it for 2 seconds.

5.
Name: Falconer's Quarry
Text: Designate a foe by pointing at them. A falcon spirit dives at the target with incredible speed, stripping boons and marking them for further punishment.
Cast/CD: 1/2 / 20 seconds.
Range: 1,200
Target count: 1
Damage: Moderate.
Effect: Strips Swiftness and up to two additional boons. Projectiles fired at the target become unblockable for 6 seconds.

So:
1. pretty simple and works just fine, however since it's a projectile, WvW zerg is out right away.
2. standard for a second weapon skill, so nothing to complain about here.
3. It's confusing. It's a thrown trap (projectile into a standard trap?) that immobilizes 1 target, which is really weak.
4. Simple mobility skill, although 2s stun feels a bit weird, despite working thematically.
5. This seems to be the main selling point of the weapon, which doesn't feel like I'd work with the weapon itself.

Overall, the only purpose of the weapon would end up being PvP/WvW for marking with 5 and then swapping to Longbow for burst.
I appreciate the the effort tho and the marking mechanic sounds like it could be used for rifle.

[Ehecatl.9172]

14 hours ago, Beddo.1907 said:

So:
1. pretty simple and works just fine, however since it's a projectile, WvW zerg is out right away.
2. standard for a second weapon skill, so nothing to complain about here.
3. It's confusing. It's a thrown trap (projectile into a standard trap?) that immobilizes 1 target, which is really weak.
4. Simple mobility skill, although 2s stun feels a bit weird, despite working thematically.
5. This seems to be the main selling point of the weapon, which doesn't feel like I'd work with the weapon itself.

Overall, the only purpose of the weapon would end up being PvP/WvW for marking with 5 and then swapping to Longbow for burst.
I appreciate the the effort tho and the marking mechanic sounds like it could be used for rifle.

Thanks. And yah, I had PVP/WvW mostly in mind for this weapon, though depending on the damage numbers it could have use in PVE I suppose.

For 3 think how traps used to work. We used to throw them and wherever they landed is where the trap was set. The idea is you can toss it ahead of your opponent to better catch them so you can run them down with the shotgun. I suppose it could do more though. I just didn't want to overload the weapon with too much power.

For 5 the idea was that, with the weapon itself, it sets up unblockable high damage auto attacks for six seconds if you're in melee range or strips swiftness off a distant enemy so you can catch up to them easier. Might make more sense if I had it steal the enemy's swiftness instead. In Zergs you're right. The idea was hitting the enemy with the mark and then swapping to longbow for burst. Maybe combo it with Signet of the Wild so you have up to 12 seconds of uninterrupted shooting every 20 seconds. The trap on 3 could also be useful for when the enemy zerg is charging yours. Then when it gets messy you swap back to the rifle to punish the enemy a bit for getting up in your face.

I also think it'd pair nicely with Greatsword in more of a roaming/dueling build. It gives you a little ranged damage so you can still whittle the enemy down when they're kiting you, and between Swoop and Hunter's Leap you can close a lot of distance quickly. Then you got the trap to set up Maul and the mark to strip boons and let your close-to-mid-range projectile punishment actually land.