YOUR Rifle

[ShadowKatt.6740]

So the beta is finished and I think it's safe to say that almost no one got what they wanted. Sure, a few people liked it but in large most people found it wanting to downright useless. So now while we wait to see what happens with the rifle between now and the next SotO release, I thought it'd be fun to sit down and talk about how we would have made it in the first place. How would you make YOUR rifle? I'll start.

For my rifle, I want a 1500 range weapon. I looked it up and there's only two weapons that have 1500 range: The Rangers Longbow and the Deadeye's Rifle, and even the latter only applies while kneeling. So let's start with that and get into skills.

1: Teleporting Bullet. The standard auto attack. There's nothing special about it except for the visual, opening a portal and shooting through it to hit the target. No auto attack chain, no conditions needed, just some decent strike damage.

Ambush: Firing Squad. Here's where the fun begins. Teleport all clones back to you, in a line on either side of you and unleash a powerful volley. More powerful than the Teleporting Bullets, and with a stacking damage buff for every condition on the target. Since mesmers are good at spreading conditions anyway, and most big fights have people stacking conditions all day, this should hit extra hard, like the execution it emulates.

2: Sneak Attack, First Activation: Again playing off the rifles range, spawn a clone on the opposite side of your target away from you at range and inflict Cripple on them. Make the damage about twice what Teleporting Bullet is just to give a little more incentive to use it often, but this will be your primary clone generation, and you'll be able to surround your target on all sides within a couple of uses, and keep them there.
Flank, Second Activation: Trade places with the clone you just created, giving you a very large blink that can get you out of harms way, even potentially out of very large AoE attacks depending on where the clone is.

3: Suppressing Fire. Unleash a volley of fire from your rifle, striking multiple times. For every strike, inflict a stack of weakness, which lowers the damage output of enemies as well as damages defiance bars. If the target is crippled, add an additional stack of vulnerability for every strike. Being the third ability this should be used fairly often and will be good at suppressing both the offense and defense of a target.

4: Harry. Spawn two phantasms that immediately cast Fear on a target, forcing them to flee, and then fire on them. If the target is already crippled, inflict Bleeding on them. This skill combos with the Sneak Attack to inflict further Damage Over Time as well as either stopping the targets outflow of damage entirely, or if they're defiant doing further damage to their defiance bar.

5. Singularity Shot. I actually want to more or less keep this skill from the current rifle but with a couple changes. First, the portal. A lesser version of the mesmer utility portal, let it teleport 10 people for 5 seconds, exactly half of the utility skill. If possible, even let downed players use it, that seems like a fair idea. In keeping with the collapsing singularity though, give it ONE pulse of Gravity Well for a knock down, pull, and sizable chunk of damage.

So in summary, we have a strike weapon with decent damage and decent condition application. Once the target has been crippled more conditions can be stacked on top of the incoming strike damage. It has mobility in one of the biggest jumps on a weapon skill, although it can only jump to a clone. We have a way to render a target largely harmless by stripping away both their damage potential and their defenses, and for the first time for mesmers our first Fear application which can stall a target entirely. This actually makes it a decent support weapon as well by protecting your party from being hurt in the first place, and even continues to offer some utility in the form of lesser versions of both Portal and Gravity Well, granting your team mobility or holding hostiles at bay long enough for them to move.

But this is just my build. What would your rifle have looked like?

[Kris Knives.8513]

I'm okay with the rifle actually but if we're just talking about cool design fan fiction for its own sake: 

Behold, the variable mesmer Rifle!!!

Theme:  Togglable Rifle between attack and support.  The concept would be the attack side is mid range but very quick, while the support is slower and long ranged.  Like the Ranger Hammer, both sides would share cool downs.  It has a toggle just because I think that is a cool mechanical theme for rifles and wish they all had it to help give them a mechanical identity.  I tried to constrain myself to abilities I think could be done realistically while still being unique but admittedly some of these might have run into practical limitations I didn't consider.
-----------------
Theme for A Toggle:  Animations and character would show the rifle being slung low and rapidly fired.  All effects would be at short 600 to mid 900 ranges with quick casting times.

1a:  Repeated Fire:  Fires a bullet which inflicts confusion at close range.
Ambush:  Mesmer rapidly fires several bullets in a row.  The bullets initially only a small amount of damage, but leave the target with a "Marked" condition.  If the foes is hit with a shatter while marked it enhances that shatter.
Shatter 1:  Increased Damage
Shatter 2:  Attack Converts 2 boons into a conditions
Shatter 3:  Becomes a fear effect
Shatter 4:  N/A
Shatter 5:  N/A

2a: Trick Shot (Clone) (Blast Finisher):  Fire a bullet which applies bleeding, if it hits from the Side or back it produces a clone which performs a larger attack inflicting slow when it first appears.

3a:  Phantasmal Rifleman (Phantasm):  Apples Stealth to the Mesmer and drops a phantasm which unload the rifle rapidly inflicting a different damaging condition which each shot Torment, Confusion, Bleeding.

4a:  Baleful Portal - Drops a portal on the ground for 3 seconds, any enemies who step on the area as teleported (mechanically I think this would just be a pull the way teleports are just jumps with different animations) towards the caster's original location and tormented.

5a Toggle to Support mode.  AoE heal for each clone you currently have.  (Triggers any weapon swap effects.)

----------
Theme for B Toggle:  Animations would show long range more elegant attacks.  All attacks would take longer but also have a longer 1,200 range.

1b:  Cover Fire (Ally Targetable):  A shot which applied bleeding to foes and regen to allies in a small area.
Ambush:  Swaps a condition on you for a boon on the target.  If a condition is transferred it applies to all foes in a small area around the foe, if a boon is stolen it applies it allies in a small area around you.

2b:  Duplication Gun (Clone) (Ally Targetable) (Blast Finisher):  If enemy target it simply create a clone, attacking the target as normal.  If allied targeted the clone is a copy of the ally.  The clone targets the allies target or attacks the closest enemy as per cloned made by non-targeted effects.  The clone gives a random buff to the ally whenever it attacks.

3b:  Phantasmal Bugler (Phantasm) (Ally Targetable):  A warhorn Phantasm runs towards the target and creates a chaos storm.

4b:  Benevolent Portal:  Same similar to singularity shot but can be used by down players, if used on a down player the recharge time is increased  by 60 seconds.

5b Toggle to Attack mode.  Gain fury and might for each clone you currently have.  (Triggers any weapon swap effects.)

[Teknomancer.4895]

I've made suggestions in the official thread for how I'd edit the existing one, but designed-from-scratch fan fiction? Sure, why not? I would have gone with MH pistol instead of a rifle because it has always irritated me that my illusions can use weapons that I can't, but that's a different complaint.

Anyway, back to the rifle. I think it should retain some of the support function they were going for but unlike what we just previewed, it should be an actual weapon (per Merriam-Webster: something used to injure, defeat, or destroy; a means of contending against another).

Rifle 1. AA CHAIN: Shot 1 is basic single-target DPS & Bleeding. Shot 2 is single-target DPS with AoE-splash Torment, Shot 3 bounces and causes Vulnerability/Might just like Mirror Blade but with only 2 bounces and no clone. AMBUSH: DPS & Confusion on up to 5 enemies in a cone (use targeting reticle from Hail of Femurs), Blast Finisher.

Rifle 2. CLONE/FLIP: Single-target DPS & random condition, creates a clone that Taunts the target and nearby enemies. (Virt: Stock a blade, same otherwise) FLIP: Leap Finisher. Trade places with your clone, inflicting Confusion on nearby enemies and Resolution on nearby allies. (Virt: Leap to targeted enemy, same otherwise)

Rifle 3. COMBO FIELD: Creates a Light Field at the target location for 3sec., pulsing moderate DPS & Weakness on enemies with Healing & Resistance to allies (see also Well of Action, Well of Gloom).

Rifle 4. PHANTASM: Pierces, Projectile Finisher. Summons two phantasms, one to your left and one to your right. All three of you fire simultaneously doing heavy DPS & Breakbar damage to a single target, with random conditions on up to 5 nearby enemies.

Rifle 5. MELEE: Small DPS, 1-2sec. Dazed & Knockback (600) on up to 3 enemies with a rifle butt swing. Successfully striking a foe grants Chaos Aura & Stability to you and up to 5 nearby allies (see also Rifle Butt).

I'd keep the DPS output in the moderate range overall except for the phantasmal firing squad, because rifle shouldn't really be a BiS replacement for any existing weapon. It should instead be just another viable option in the toolkit. I tried not to focus it toward any one espec, but I'll admit the Virtuoso and Mirage specific alternates are kind of a kludge. I also tried to keep the recent changes in traits, skills etc. in mind.

The AA and Phantasm skills are mostly just straight DPS, but I did want the rifle to keep some of that support flavor. The "rifle Mesmers direct allies to the nearest emergency exit" concept was a bust since the skill that was about turned out to be a dud, but I think I came up with a rescue combo that has more style anyway.

I've really been in love with the Warrior's Rifle Butt skill because it's so very close to being perfect for the Mesmer's rifle. Besides why not borrow it, they're certainly not using it (how often do you see a rifle Warrior)? 🤔

Unlike what we got with the Singularity Joke, what I have up there really can help you rescue allies in need. See an ally in trouble? Firing Rifle 3 at their opponent (or one nearby) will give them a bit of support. Downed anyway? Rifle 2 diverts the enemy's attention from your downed ally, then you leap to their side and condition nearby enemies. (Bonus: You get a Light Aura Leap Finisher if you land in the Light Field from Rifle 3.) Once you're there, you swing Rifle 5 to knock enemies away from your downed ally, which gives you stability and a bit of defense while you start to rez them. (Bonus: You did trait Medic's Feedback, didn't you?) It would be an unnecessarily flashy rescue, making it perfect for Mesmers.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Teknomancer.4895
forgot a link

[ShadowKatt.6740]

2 hours ago, Teknomancer.4895 said:

I've really been in love with the Warrior's Rifle Butt skill because it's so very close to being perfect for the Mesmer's rifle. Besides why not borrow it, they're certainly not using it (how often do you see a rifle Warrior)? 🤔

Excuse you, MY warrior uses a rifle. Also, unrelated, did I ever mention I'm a bad player?

And I always trait Medics Feedback. It goes well with my Relic of Mercy and a nice chianti.

[Voyant.1327]

My Mesmer Rifle:

1 - Quickfire 3 Chain (1st Bleed, 2nd Torment, 3rd Quickness + Chill if target is dazed) 1/2 

2 - Firing Squad - Summon Two Phantasms in a horizontal line from where you're facing, Blind on hit. Generates 5 Stacks of Might. 12 sec cooldown 1/2

3 - Butt Slap - Teleport to Target and strike with the flat end of the weapon to daze target & apply 3 confusion stacks & give other allies Resistance - 12 second cool down 3/4

4 - Triage - Apply Chaos Aura to allied targets and reduce your healing skill cooldowns by 1 sec per effected target (max 5) 20 second cooldown, 3/4

5 - Bullet Time - Gain Quickness, Vigor, & Alacrity (3 seconds) while dropping an Ethereal Combo field. Heal Skill that fires bullets at all nearby allies supplying boons. 20 second cooldown, 1 sec

Edited December 8, 2023 by Voyant.1327

[Teknomancer.4895]

5 hours ago, Teknomancer.4895 said:

Rifle 1. AA CHAIN: Shot 1 is basic single-target DPS & Bleeding. Shot 2 is single-target DPS with AoE-splash Torment, Shot 3 bounces and causes Vulnerability/Might just like Mirror Blade but with only 2 bounces and no clone. AMBUSH: DPS & Confusion on up to 5 enemies in a cone (use targeting reticle from Hail of Femurs), Blast Finisher.

Rifle 2. CLONE/FLIP: Single-target DPS & random condition, creates a clone that Taunts the target and nearby enemies. (Virt: Stock a blade, same otherwise) FLIP: Leap Finisher. Trade places with your clone, inflicting Confusion on nearby enemies and Resolution on nearby allies. (Virt: Leap to targeted enemy, same otherwise)

Rifle 4. PHANTASM: Pierces, Projectile Finisher. Summons two phantasms, one to your left and one to your right. All three of you fire simultaneously doing heavy DPS & Breakbar damage to a single target, with random conditions on up to 5 nearby enemies.

On thinking about it, Virtuoso and Mirage just plain complicate things, and I did admit their variants were kludges. 🤬

Rifle 1 skills would have the standard 1200 range, but given Mirage mobility I'd limit the Ambush to 600 to keep it from being a potentially constant, ranged and largely risk-free AoE.

On Rifle 2 I'd just clarify that the Taunt would be sourced from the Virtuoso character in the absence of a clone.

As for Rifle 4, I didn't fully consider the nasty (and probably OP) burst potential when used simultaneously with Bladesong Harmony. That might earn this imaginary skill a pre-nerf. 😆

[ShadowKatt.6740]

2 hours ago, Voyant.1327 said:

5 - Bullet Time - Gain Quickness, Vigor, & Alacrity (3 seconds) while dropping an Ethereal Combo field. Heal Skill that fires bullets at all nearby allies supplying boons. 20 second cooldown, 1 sec

Oooooooo, I like it, except I think it would be better to focus -exclusively- on the speed. Quick, Swift, and Alac on 5 allies inside it, and Slow, Cripple, and Chill on 5 enemies inside it, resulting in a MASSIVE shift in speed for everyone inside.

Edit: Eh, on second thought, maybe that might be a bit TOO much for just a weapon 5 skill....but this is fanfiction, so kitten it.

Edited December 9, 2023 by ShadowKatt.6740

[Benevolent.4083]

I honestly didn't play Mesmer Rifle that much during the BETA, but I was disappointed it was a support weapon that didn't provide any "support" to the player that I was sort of bitter and didn't give it much time. Lol.

But here's a very quick idea if what I wanted. I'm going to go the route of power/boon support. The weapon has 1500 range, unless deemed otherwise.

1 - Fire an illusionary cartridge at your target (1/2 second). Upon contact, it explodes, and magical shrapnel inflicts damage to up to 5 enemies within a 180 radius. The targeted enemies received 600 dmg. Other enemies receive 300 dmg.

           Ambush: Unleash a barrage of (5) cartridges at your enemies location. Upon impact, each cartridge inflicts to up to 5 enemies 300 damage and 5 stacks of vulnerability. If an enemy is hit by all 5 cartridges, they are stunned for 2 seconds.

2 - Let out a series if bullets that pierce up to 5 enemies for 1080 (x5) damage.. For each enemy struck, gain 1 stack of might for 2 seconds. Allies the bullets pass through gain 3 stacks of might for 6 seconds. If an enemy is hit by more than 1 bullet, they are also crippled for 4 seconds. If an enemies is struck by all 5 bullets, they are immobilized for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 6 seconds.

3 - Multiply yourself to create 2 Illusions, 1 on each side of you, both of which fire beams of light at your target, to inflict 300 damage to your target and 150 damage to enemies it passes through. Once complete, they combine into 1 phantasm that leap at your target and inflict 1800 damage, blind for 3 seconds, and a 1 second daze. Leap finisher. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

4 - Swing your rifle in a circle and project of wave of ethereal magic that surrounds you for a 600 radius. Enemies the wave passes through are knocked back and receive 1500 damage. You, and up to 5 allies the wave pass through receive 300 barrier, 1000 healing, and swiftness for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 15 seconds.

5 - At your current location, create a portal. Shadowstep and create a second portal (combo field: Ethereal) at your enemy's location; slam your rifle into the ground to unleash a powerful blast finisher, inflicting 3000 damage. You and up to 5 nearby allies receive Fury (5 seconds) and Quickness (3 seconds). The portals last 5 seconds and can be used by you and your allies to Shadowstep (return) to your first portal's location. Portals have a 240 radius. Cooldown: 25 seconds.

 

I tried to work with some of the ideas the Rifle already had. I also have no idea if the damages numbers and times are good. Just a general concept.

[Teknomancer.4895]

9 hours ago, Benevolent.4083 said:

I tried to work with some of the ideas the Rifle already had. I also have no idea if the damages numbers and times are good. Just a general concept.

👍 I didn't even bother with numbers and times because they're easily tweaked for balance; getting the base skill concept right is what matters.

[Voyant.1327]

On 12/8/2023 at 5:28 PM, ShadowKatt.6740 said:

Oooooooo, I like it, except I think it would be better to focus -exclusively- on the speed. Quick, Swift, and Alac on 5 allies inside it, and Slow, Cripple, and Chill on 5 enemies inside it, resulting in a MASSIVE shift in speed for everyone inside.

Edit: Eh, on second thought, maybe that might be a bit TOO much for just a weapon 5 skill....but this is fanfiction, so kitten it.

Lmao. I had similiar thoughts too, which is why I was like eh maybe not all of em. But I'd gladly take your variant! 😂

[Jobber.6348]

I heard people talking about how Mesmer Rifle should shoot clones that superman fly into people for damage and I want that over this stupid portal gun. 

[FlowingWater.6193]

Since we're in the realm of wishing, I'd rather just have an actual power/versatile weapon compared to what we got in the beta:

Trying to avoid overloading skills and just keeping it simple.

1: Hard hitting single shot. Simple auto-attack, no chain, 1s attack speed, VERY high projectile speed, 1200 range, pierces. Attacks are unblockable while under the effects of stability. Wind up animation will be key to really signify that we're charging up a big shot.

2: Quickfire a round, marking an enemy for targeting. This "flare shot" will very briefly blind an enemy, and apply several marks that when consumed by your or an ally grants regen. Summon a clone. 4-5s cooldown

3: Focus, and feel that crackling magic. Grant yourself a few seconds of stability and several stacks of might. Allies around you will feel the magic overflow, gaining protection, regen and heal for x amount. 15s cd, instant cast, blast finisher.

4: The firing squad everyone wants. Channel and summon up to three phantasms, each being summoned at 1/2s intervals, thus giving a staggered firing sequence and allowing you to form a line. This will give it some flair; summon, summon, summon. Shot, shot, shot. 25s cd

5: Panic button, let the magic run wild! Unblockable. Deals damage and launches enemies within 450 range. Grants swiftness and resistance. 30s cd

Ambush: Shoot a phantasmal version of yourself which will jump into a portal in front of you and cannonball on top of an enemy. Give them The People's Elbow. Stuns and weakens the target, dealing high damage, and very briefly fears nearby enemies. How's that for thinking with portals!

All of these skills (except the ambush because I couldn't resist and wanted something really fun) are built upon mechanics that's already in game, meaning a dev can re-use existing code and relatively quickly implement this if they wanted to.

Why yes, Velocitas Eradico is my favorite rifle skin, how did you know?

Edited December 11, 2023 by FlowingWater.6193

[Sleepwalker.1398]

Mesmer rifle...tried it, absolute garbage.

[Teknomancer.4895]

5 hours ago, Sleepwalker.1398 said:

Mesmer rifle...tried it, absolute garbage.

That's why this thread is for what you would have done with it instead. I don't think anyone was really thrilled with it as released.

[FlowingWater.6193]

On 12/16/2023 at 2:42 PM, Teknomancer.4895 said:

That's why this thread is for what you would have done with it instead. I don't think anyone was really thrilled with it as released.

While this isn't exactly the right thread, from scouring through different forums, discords and reddit, you're indeed correct; very few people were thrilled with it (from sample size 100+). I did notice a trend among the handful who really did enjoy it, because most of them were kind enough to also specify in which context they enjoyed it. They belong to the niche category of "large healing numbers for instanced PvE = serotonin" to put it bluntly. They didn't really care about the feel of the weapon or how it could be played, only those numbers mattered.

Personally, I'd really prefer it if the mesmer rifle didn't become the EVE online of GW2 weapons, and hence why I'm here

 

[Treetoptrickster.4205]

Skill 1: Friendly Fire

Line up a shot on your target, which ignores all other targets. The shot applies a baseline effect, but can be charged for up to 1.25s to increase the effect. A fully charged shot applies an additional effect.

Enemy target - Deal damage to your target based on charge time. Fully charged shots apply slow.

Ally target - Heal your target based on charge time. Fully charged shots cleanse a condition.

Skill 2: Booster Shot

Shoot an illusory bullet at the target ally, healing them and granting  might, protection, quickness, and resolution. Summon a clone that casts friendly fire on them. When you shatter, clones targeting allies will rush your most recent enemy target.

Skill 3: Magnifying Lense 

Create a barrier at the target location that blocks enemy projectiles. Ally projectiles shot through the barrier deal increased damage or healing. Light combo field.

Skill 4: Phantasmal Firing Squad

Summon two phantasms on either side of you. All of you line up a shot on your ally or enemy target.

Enemy target - shots deal damage and apply vulnerability, or finish downed enemies.

Ally target - shots grant barrier, or partially revive downed allies.

Skill 5: Assisting Aperture

Shoot a bullet to the target location, blinking to the location and gaining aegis, while leaving behind a oneway portal that allows an ally to follow you and also gain aegis. While a portal is active, you can reactivate this skill to collapse it, damaging nearby enemies and pulling them in.

[Roadkizzle.2157]

On 12/25/2023 at 9:06 PM, Treetoptrickster.4205 said:

Skill 1: Friendly Fire

Line up a shot on your target, which ignores all other targets. The shot applies a baseline effect, but can be charged for up to 1.25s to increase the effect. A fully charged shot applies an additional effect.

Enemy target - Deal damage to your target based on charge time. Fully charged shots apply slow.

Ally target - Heal your target based on charge time. Fully charged shots cleanse a condition.

Skill 2: Booster Shot

Shoot an illusory bullet at the target ally, healing them and granting  might, protection, quickness, and resolution. Summon a clone that casts friendly fire on them. When you shatter, clones targeting allies will rush your most recent enemy target.

Skill 3: Magnifying Lense 

Create a barrier at the target location that blocks enemy projectiles. Ally projectiles shot through the barrier deal increased damage or healing. Light combo field.

Skill 4: Phantasmal Firing Squad

Summon two phantasms on either side of you. All of you line up a shot on your ally or enemy target.

Enemy target - shots deal damage and apply vulnerability, or finish downed enemies.

Ally target - shots grant barrier, or partially revive downed allies.

Skill 5: Assisting Aperture

Shoot a bullet to the target location, blinking to the location and gaining aegis, while leaving behind a oneway portal that allows an ally to follow you and also gain aegis. While a portal is active, you can reactivate this skill to collapse it, damaging nearby enemies and pulling them in.

I like those... But I really can't imagine a charge up skill as an Auto Attack.

That takes what should be an automatic skill to fill in time and turns it into a complete micro management mess.

 

I also think the Phantasmal firing line is needed. But I really don't want the firing squad to shoot allies. I think it would be better for them to take the shot then do an AOE Boon when transitioning into clones.

[Treetoptrickster.4205]

Chiming in again because I thought of something for the phantasm, so i thought I might as well redo the whole thing.

Skill 1- Friendly Fire: Fire a piercing shot at your ally or enemy target. Enemies struck along the way take damage, and allies the shot passes through are healed. The direct target recieves double the effect. (projectile finisher 20% chance)

Skill 2 - Firing Squad: Summon two illusions at either side of you to cast friendly fire on your target. All three of you gain quickness (4s) and blur (1s)

Skill 3 - Magnifying Lense: Create an energy barrier at the target location for 5s that blocks enemy projectiles. Friendly fire, when shot through the lense, has an increased effect on its primary target. (light combo field)

Ally - Your friendly fire shots become supporting fire. Their healing is increased against the primary target, and they grant them might (×1 for 5s) and fury (2s).

Enemy - Your friendly fire shots become suppressive fire. Their damage is increased against the primary target, and they inflict cripple and slow (1.5s) against them.

Skill 4 - Phantasmal Sniper: Summon a phantasm that locks on to your ally or enemy target for a few seconds.

Enemy Target - If the target attempts to use a skill while the phanstasm is locked on to them, it phantasm fires immediately, stunning them (2s) if the shot hits, otherwise dazing them (1.25s) at the end of its charge time.

Ally Target - If the target is downed while the phantasm is locked on to them, it fires immediately, reviving the target, otherwise healing them at the end of its charge time.

Skill 5 - Assisting Aperture: Shoot a bullet to the target location that opens a portal both at your feet, and at the target location. Yourself and one other ally may use either portal to teleport to its twin, gaining aegis and swiftness (3s).

Edited January 5 by Treetoptrickster.4205

[dead.7638]

On 12/8/2023 at 2:36 PM, Teknomancer.4895 said:

irritated me that my illusions can use weapons that I can't

We stole that one from p/p thief, shhh.

[dead.7638]

They’re working with a bunch of the previous devs failed experiments from all the other expansions.   It’s a small indi company give them a break.

[ShadowKatt.6740]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:23 AM, Treetoptrickster.4205 said:

Chiming in again because I thought of something for the phantasm, so i thought I might as well redo the whole thing.

Skill 1- Friendly Fire: Fire a piercing shot at your ally or enemy target. Enemies struck along the way take damage, and allies the shot passes through are healed. The direct target recieves double the effect. (projectile finisher 20% chance)

Skill 2 - Firing Squad: Summon two illusions at either side of you to cast friendly fire on your target. All three of you gain quickness (4s) and blur (1s)

Skill 3 - Magnifying Lense: Create an energy barrier at the target location for 5s that blocks enemy projectiles. Friendly fire, when shot through the lense, has an increased effect on its primary target. (light combo field)

Ally - Your friendly fire shots become supporting fire. Their healing is increased against the primary target, and they grant them might (×1 for 5s) and fury (2s).

Enemy - Your friendly fire shots become suppressive fire. Their damage is increased against the primary target, and they inflict cripple and slow (1.5s) against them.

Skill 4 - Phantasmal Sniper: Summon a phantasm that locks on to your ally or enemy target for a few seconds.

Enemy Target - If the target attempts to use a skill while the phanstasm is locked on to them, it phantasm fires immediately, stunning them (2s) if the shot hits, otherwise dazing them (1.25s) at the end of its charge time.

Ally Target - If the target is downed while the phantasm is locked on to them, it fires immediately, reviving the target, otherwise healing them at the end of its charge time.

Skill 5 - Assisting Aperture: Shoot a bullet to the target location that opens a portal both at your feet, and at the target location. Yourself and one other ally may use either portal to teleport to its twin, gaining aegis and swiftness (3s).

I want to like it but I just can't. I have a big problem with the dual purpose weapons, and I always have. The thief's scepter being a good example, but also in other media, like say Overwatch. What's her name....google search....Ana, that's her name, the support sniper that both heals and harms. She's a sniper, she's got a rifle and a scope and she can shoot people. Which is great. But know who else has a rifle and a scope and can shoot people? That blue chick.....black widow....WIDOWMAKER, that's it (it's been a while). And she shoots things much gooder than Ana does, because her weapon does one thing and does it well, and the other one..well, it can't make up its mind.

It's not their fault, it's for balance. Invariably if you're going to have a weapon that does both it can't do as well. If a weapon has 100 power and all it does is damage, it can do 100 damage. But the minute you say "Well, it can hurt foes AND heal allies" suddenly it gets bumped down to doing 50 damage and 50 healing. NOW it's just a crappy gun, and lets be honest it's not that great at healing either. Better than nothing, which is what we had before, but it's still not great.

I know they want to make a support weapon for mesmers and for some reason they want a RIFLE to be that weapon. And if they just went whole hog into and said "Look, it does ZERO damage, but it does all this other support stuff!" then Yeah, I'd be pissed, but I'd shut up about it. Instead we have this fence sitting weapon now that can't decide what it wants to be, and I feel like your idea is leaning into it. I think we would be better suited to just picking what we want it to do and do -that- well instead of trying to do both.

[Treetoptrickster.4205]

On 1/6/2024 at 6:06 PM, ShadowKatt.6740 said:

I want to like it but I just can't. I have a big problem with the dual purpose weapons, and I always have. The thief's scepter being a good example, but also in other media, like say Overwatch. What's her name....google search....Ana, that's her name, the support sniper that both heals and harms. She's a sniper, she's got a rifle and a scope and she can shoot people. Which is great. But know who else has a rifle and a scope and can shoot people? That blue chick.....black widow....WIDOWMAKER, that's it (it's been a while). And she shoots things much gooder than Ana does, because her weapon does one thing and does it well, and the other one..well, it can't make up its mind.

It's not their fault, it's for balance. Invariably if you're going to have a weapon that does both it can't do as well. If a weapon has 100 power and all it does is damage, it can do 100 damage. But the minute you say "Well, it can hurt foes AND heal allies" suddenly it gets bumped down to doing 50 damage and 50 healing. NOW it's just a crappy gun, and lets be honest it's not that great at healing either. Better than nothing, which is what we had before, but it's still not great.

I know they want to make a support weapon for mesmers and for some reason they want a RIFLE to be that weapon. And if they just went whole hog into and said "Look, it does ZERO damage, but it does all this other support stuff!" then Yeah, I'd be pissed, but I'd shut up about it. Instead we have this fence sitting weapon now that can't decide what it wants to be, and I feel like your idea is leaning into it. I think we would be better suited to just picking what we want it to do and do -that- well instead of trying to do both.

That's a fair assessment. I understand the direction you're coming from. A weapon that is middle of the road between damage and support can mean it struggles to fully and adequately fill either role in a party. Personally, I prefer playstyles that can deal with whatever's thrown at them in reasonable time, but can still be self sufficient, and useful in groups in a pinch. Fortunately, Guild Wars is a game where you can choose based on your gear sets! Even if the rifle was designed as a dps/healing weapon, you wouldn't have to settle for middle of the road, provided the scalings were appropriate. You could theoretically build to either extreme of dps or healing, and it could serve that role well, or you could balance your attributes and be versatile. It's just important that base numbers for either path aren't overly high, so as to allow full speccing into one extreme while encroaching onto the turf of players who've built their whole character to do what you can do "for free."