It's Somewhat Concerning the "Solution" to WvW Ranger is...Double Barrage

[Gotejjeken.1267]

Someone actually came up with this idea and they are putting it through on the balance patch.  

Your 'answer' to pets getting nuked and only double bear / turtle Druid being allowed in ~70-80% of WvW content (comped or just squad content) is....arrow cart ranger.  

Like, why not give Thump two charges? Or do something else? As Barrage is probably our most ineffective group skill, used 99% of time for selfish tagging.  

[BumboJumbo.1308]

Barrage is very effective at clearing siege, but I get what you mean though.

It doesn't really address ranger in zerg play (other than druid). Or maybe it does, who knows.

[Dadnir.5038]

41 minutes ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

Like, why not give Thump two charges? Or do something else?

Most ranger complain that their ranged attack are reflected. Barrage is the only one that's not reflected. Double barrage mean more range attacks that aren't reflected. The logic is sound.

[Sandzibar.5134]

Plus I reckon this might break how quickdraw interplays with double LB.

If the questionable people in charge want to actually help ranger in WvW Group play... then how about Barrage now strips 3 boons and up its target pool to 10 targets. 

🤡

+1 ammo is pointless and worthless.

So completely in keeping with the current decision trends at HQ.

🤬

 

 

Edited January 13 by Sandzibar.5134
Anet is bad

[Beddo.1907]

This wouldn't be that bad, if you could move while casting.

[kiwituatara.6053]

Well, no nerfs at least. I’ve set my bar really low now so I’ll take 2x barrage as a win~

[Arheundel.6451]

Other than druid, the only thing I see working during zerg fights is the Mace ambush skill, it will be the first no projectile ranged aoe for this class since ..ever. It may not be a dragon's tooth, meteor storm or drop the hammer, but at least it won't get reflected 24/7, between: mesmer's dome, ele swirling winds, firebrands domes/shield etc etc...literally any projectile focused build fails miserably during zerg fight so mace Untamed will be a welcome change from druid healing bot role

[AlexndrTheGreat.8310]

The only build I see a 2nd charge of barrage helping is the arrow cart build as you say. But it seems more like a huge QoL increase than actual effectiveness.

Having a 2nd charge of Barrage let’s us Barrage to enter combat, followed by swapping to proc quickdraw into another Barrage. Then we can go into the normal quickdraw barrage every 9 seconds.

Usually will never have 2 barrages out, but it helps us jumpstart our rotation by letting us engage from any angle, such as in sieges trying to initiate combat below or on top of a wall.

For Ranger to actually get a Zerg dps build we will need some ranged weapon that does not rely on projectiles, and maybe some utility skills that let use do stuff from ranged. Currently Storm Spirit is the only ranged utility ability that we have.

[Mell.4873]

I agree with @AlexndrTheGreat.8310.

We could also see Staff and Longbow being more popular especially for Zerg play. Quick draw it universally a great option for most builds since it let's you pick what skill you want to spam. 

Right now a potent mix is an Arrow Cart Untamed since it is very easy to boon strip with double ambushes right at the perfect time when no shields are up (normal during a clash). I could see this upcoming Barrage change being amazing since you can reset the charges much quicker with those Untamed Longbow ambushes. 

[Mell.4873]

14 hours ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

Like, why not give Thump two charges? Or do something else? As Barrage is probably our most ineffective group skill, used 99% of time for selfish tagging.  

I would love two Thump changes. They should do that next. 

[Beddo.1907]

I kinda doubt thump would get two charges, since it's a CC skill.

[Sansar.1302]

If only barrage been worth using and not a death trap. 😞

 

[Gotejjeken.1267]

30 minutes ago, Beddo.1907 said:

I kinda doubt thump would get two charges, since it's a CC skill.

Only one half of it is--they could give the 'ranger unleashed' version two ammo I'd think.  For Untamed, if you'd unleash the pet after using Thump it'd just go on CD as normal.  

Also, as more devil's advocate--the #3 skill is a double CC and can be chained into the #2, so a double CC on #5 wouldn't necessarily be out of line for the weapon.  

But yeah, somehow, I see double barrage quickdraw builds crashing WvW at some point.  Will be hilarious but can't say we didn't see it coming.  

 

Edited January 13 by Gotejjeken.1267

[PrinceValentine.9320]

and the overperforming druid remains untouched.

[Mell.4873]

1 hour ago, PrinceValentine.9320 said:

and the overperforming druid remains untouched.

I doupt they will. It greatest strength is healing but a lot of its kit roots itself along with others in place so it doesn't really work for anything other than stalling out a fight. 

[Arheundel.6451]

1 hour ago, Mell.4873 said:

I doupt they will. It greatest strength is healing but a lot of its kit roots itself along with others in place so it doesn't really work for anything other than stalling out a fight. 

I don't think you see the "salt" behind his comment, in WvW, the druid spec is the one with the best disengage and self-sustain out of all ranger builds, as such it's the hardest to run over with your typical willbender/thief gank group or kill with condi BS celestial tank catalyst. As far as wvw goes, Druid is the GOAT of ranger class, it levels the field when we start talking about broken guardian, necro, etc etc. Druid is where the nerf cries will always go, from now on.

1. Soulbeast has to choose between sustain and low dmg or dmg with no sustain 'tower ranger' sort of gameplay, its current mobility won't be enough most times with the immense mobility powercreep this game now has. If you get away on soulbeast...it's because your enemy is so bad..they can't even use broken specs made for bad people
2. Untamed is a mixed bag, sometimes works...sometimes fails miserably and overall it has the lowest mobility out of all ranger builds. It doesn't help to have the sustain linked to ambush skills...which have a cast and travel time/projectile, making it extremely hard to land a consistent number on above-average players.
3. That leaves us with Druid for serious heavy duty roaming, when the map full of try hard gank group made of behind broken willbender, immortal catalyst, cele harbingers or condi/boon bunker mesmers.

Don't be surprised ever to see occasional druid nerf whining, it will be from the myriad of try-hard on broken/cele immortal builds who got their dreams shattered by some lone above average druid player

[anduriell.6280]

Moving at 50% speed while channeling the skill would help quite a lot. 
 

and as I shared before: 

* leading the wind (or however the LB GM is called nowadays) should make unblockable any projectile which triggers a combo field. How the devs want to treat the chance of a projectile triggering the combo field can be tweaked .
This trait scales with amount of allies so it makes the weapon behave better the more ally AoEs  there are. 
 

And some access by long CD skill (elite signet active??)  which gives a temporary buff that would allow the ranger to strip boons on each successful hit would also help to make effective use of the skill. 

Edited January 14 by anduriell.6280

[Streiste.1052]

On 1/14/2024 at 10:34 AM, anduriell.6280 said:

Moving at 50% speed while channeling the skill would help quite a lot. 
 

and as I shared before: 

* leading the wind (or however the LB GM is called nowadays) should make unblockable any projectile which triggers a combo field. How the devs want to treat the chance of a projectile triggering the combo field can be tweaked .
This trait scales with amount of allies so it makes the weapon behave better the more ally AoEs  there are. 
 

And some access by long CD skill (elite signet active??)  which gives a temporary buff that would allow the ranger to strip boons on each successful hit would also help to make effective use of the skill. 

In my mind that solves the entire issue of LB or rangers projectiles in zerg combat, and wouldn't be completely game breaking. I endorse this.

 

[Justine.6351]

If the charge use doesn't have a cooldown it's going to be crazy fun I would I imagine.