Ranger November 28th Balance Preview

[Levetty.1279]

On 11/13/2023 at 5:06 PM, BatelGeuce.3591 said:

That's mechanists crying because rangers will be getting a pet update while they still lose percentage of stats on their mech if they don't micro manage it!

Mechs are still 2x as good as any of our pets at least.

[BatelGeuce.3591]

49 minutes ago, Levetty.1279 said:

Mechs are still 2x as good as any of our pets at least.

And they also no longer lose stats based on range, it only adjusts cooldowns.

[Acyk.9671]

Come on guys, the change to Take Down isn't a nerf per say.

Anet wants to refocus smokescale from engage to evasion. By removing the CC from take down they are making sure rangers cannot CC lock their opponents out of stealth, giving them a chance to react to the burst they are suffering. Otherwise you CC lock them for 5-6 sec ensuring an easy kill. 

This opens up spots in the meta for CC engaging pets like canines. Wolf was already a decent choice in PvP, now it becomes the primary, alongside gazelle, CC pet and smokescale stay in their role of evasive damage when merged.

[Zyreva.1078]

2 hours ago, Acyk.9671 said:

Come on guys, the change to Take Down isn't a nerf per say.

Anet wants to refocus smokescale from engage to evasion. By removing the CC from take down they are making sure rangers cannot CC lock their opponents out of stealth, giving them a chance to react to the burst they are suffering. Otherwise you CC lock them for 5-6 sec ensuring an easy kill.

Ofc it is a nerf - they are replacing a useful skill with a less useful skill on a pet that is pretty much mandatory for almost every decent ranger build in PvP/WvW, therefore basically nerfing the entire class. If that's not a nerf then what is?

Also why would you use your cc from stealth to set up your burst when you could use your burst right away? CC before burst gives your enemy more time to react and counter when attacking from stealth. Also getting "cc locked" is most of the time a l2p issue considering the numerous counters aviable. I mean, smokescale has been in the game for 8 years (6 years in combination with slb) and back then take down had dmg on top of the cc. Now with dmg removed and shorter cds on stun breaks it suddenly becomes a problem? Doesn't make any sense (and that applies to most complaints about cc).

The nerf also doesn't open up other pets because the main reason to use smokescale - the field - is still there and the alternatives will remain as underwhelming as they are now.

That being said, i'm more worried about jacaranda getting obliterated than the smokescale nerf, because the former is the only decent dmg pet left for non slb builds in WvW.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Zyreva.1078

[Silvoshipnos.2089]

It would be nice if we had a follow up on the patch notes considering it comes next week 

[Arrow Blade of El Elyon.9341]

Hoping they have took note of the multiple issues with F2.

[Mell.4873]

On 11/17/2023 at 3:25 AM, Zyreva.1078 said:

Ofc it is a nerf - they are replacing a useful skill with a less useful skill on a pet that is pretty much mandatory for almost every decent ranger build in PvP/WvW, therefore basically nerfing the entire class. If that's not a nerf then what is?

Also why would you use your cc from stealth to set up your burst when you could use your burst right away? CC before burst gives your enemy more time to react and counter when attacking from stealth. Also getting "cc locked" is most of the time a l2p issue considering the numerous counters aviable. I mean, smokescale has been in the game for 8 years (6 years in combination with slb) and back then take down had dmg on top of the cc. Now with dmg removed and shorter cds on stun breaks it suddenly becomes a problem? Doesn't make any sense (and that applies to most complaints about cc).

The nerf also doesn't open up other pets because the main reason to use smokescale - the field - is still there and the alternatives will remain as underwhelming as they are now.

That being said, i'm more worried about jacaranda getting obliterated than the smokescale nerf, because the former is the only decent dmg pet left for non slb builds in WvW.

The smokecloud meta is hyper specific and it a little bit of a Meme build. It is okay in WvW and the lack of CC on the Smokescale doesn't invalid that playstyle. 

I would say majority of Rangers rely on Greatsword and Longbow especially in WvW. 

 

What we really need is better access to stealth. I mean leaping or blast finishing in a smoke field is pretty niche in terms of being usable in the heat of combat. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Mell.4873

[Sansar.1302]

2 hours ago, Mell.4873 said:

The Smoke cloud meta is hyper specific and it a little bit of a Meme build. It is okay in WvW and the lack of CC on the Smokescale doesn't invalid that playstyle. 

I would say majority of Rangers rely on Greatsword and Longbow especially in WvW. 

 

What we really need is better access to stealth. I mean leaping or blast finishing in a smoke field is pretty niche in terms of being usable in the heat of combat. 

No it is not , smokefield is what gives thives good stealth too.

[Mell.4873]

14 minutes ago, Sansar.1302 said:

No it is not , smokefield is what gives thives good stealth too.

Yeah but they don't use the smokescale to do it do they? If so it is even more of a Meme build. They also have a Shortbow blast finisher to spam. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Mell.4873

[Sansar.1302]

2 hours ago, Mell.4873 said:

Yeah but they don't use the smokescale to do it do they? If so it is even more of a Meme build. They also have a Shortbow blast finisher to spam. 

I don't know, I use it in almost all my fights but maby about 20% of Rangers I see run smokescale use the smoke field. 

I think Rangers should have access to stealth but maby not as with as easy access as other classes as we have among other things a pet.

I would like to see higer skill ceiling on ranger (with the appropriate performance of course) not lowering it further than if have been the last 3 years. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Sansar.1302
Bad spelling

[Mell.4873]

16 hours ago, Sansar.1302 said:

I don't know, I use it in almost all my fights but maby about 20% of Rangers I see run smokescale use the smoke field. 

I think Rangers should have access to stealth but maby not as with as easy access as other classes as we have among other things a pet.

I would like to see higer skill ceiling on ranger (with the appropriate performance of course) not lowering it further than if have been the last 3 years. 

That playstyle isn't going anywhere it's just less strong now since it lost a CC.