WvW Ranger Utility

[Leo.5829]

Could Ranger become a viable choice in Squads as dedicated a Siege destroyer? Now that Barrage (the 5th Skill of the Longbow) can be used to reliably destroy siege weapons in enemy keeps their utility has increased. Do you think this could become a thing or do you think that Ranger will still be unwanted as their ability to destroy siege does not have a great enough impact? There should be some builds in Druid specialization that should be rather useful during sieges as a ranger could provide a niche character that both heals allies and destroys siege weapons during attacks on enemy keeps with stat combinations that include Power and Healing .

[Dawdler.8521]

Barrage has always been able to do that (not sure why you think this has changed?) and yes, it can be effective at reaching stuff no one else can reach. I remember I did it to arrowcarts not long ago on the middle gate at hills dbl, way to high up for meteor shower but my barrage knocked about 30% of it each time. Took a couple of times but we cleared it.

But the ranger will still be unwanted in zergs because commanders dont want precision tools, they want blunt tanks. They would rather have another firebrand and stand under the AC rain because in the long run, that's more effective than using a specific class for a specific purpose. That's just the way it is.

[Voltekka.2375]

Nah, it couldnt. One skill (barrage), which also does little dmg... Nah. You can play that outside squad, as FB will do every other role (heal+support) much, much better than a ranger. Soulbeast+stanceshare MAY be better, but theres another extensive topic about that. So, sadly, ranger cant get into squad as it is...

[Leo.5829]

@ Dawdler.8521Well not exactly. With the patch on the 8th of May the line of sight bug has been fixed. The Barrage skill can now reach spots it couldn't before. You can hit anywhere as long as it is within 1500 range now.

[steki.1478]

@Leo.5829 said:@ Dawdler.8521Well not exactly. With the patch on the 8th of May the line of sight bug has been fixed. The Barrage skill can now reach spots it couldn't before. You can hit anywhere as long as it is within 1500 range now.

Range isnt that important for clearing siege though, it's skill radius. Ele has several skills with same or bigger radius than barrage and is already a lot more useful in zergs due to constant aoe pressure. It also has good one target focus if traited that way, as well as some support, but aoe damage and cc is always there, unlike on ranger.

[Leo.5829]

You are without any doubt right about the cc part. Elementalist can provide nice hard cc with the static field skill in air and deal impressive amounts of raw damage. Also in Zerg fights the rangers ability to provide reliable AoE damage is highly questionable but I was really thinking about the spots that even an Elementalist can not reach with his Meteor shower during sieges on structures. With a Ranger you can hit siege that is for example on the roof of the little Supply houses or catapults that are put behind the doors to push the players who use the rams. Elementalists can not reach all the spots even with their AoE Radius.

[steki.1478]

@"Leo.5829" said:You are without any doubt right about the cc part. Elementalist can provide nice hard cc with the static field skill in air and deal impressive amounts of raw damage. Also in Zerg fights the rangers ability to provide reliable AoE damage is highly questionable but I was really thinking about the spots that even an Elementalist can not reach with his Meteor shower during sieges on structures. With a Ranger you can hit siege that is for example on the roof of the little Supply houses or catapults that are put behind the doors to push the players who use the rams. Elementalists can not reach all the spots even with their AoE Radius.

Thats like 2% of wvw experience, and even if it was how everyone played, ranger's "usefulness" still wouldn't be justified because you can always build an AC and be more useful.

There's no point of bringing ranger to clear siege when you can bring mesmer/ele and get rid of 5 people on the wall. And if there's nothing on the wall then a couple of siege behind the gate/on supply depot wont be a big problem at all. Get one shield gen and they are useless.

This is ofc in context of 30+ sized zergs where having more aoes is more important.

[Some Call Me Tim.2319]

@"Voltekka.2375" said:Nah, it couldnt. One skill (barrage), which also does little dmg... Nah. You can play that outside squad, as FB will do every other role (heal+support) much, much better than a ranger. Soulbeast+stanceshare MAY be better, but theres another extensive topic about that. So, sadly, ranger cant get into squad as it is...

That depends on the squad and the soulbeast. Regardless of how much spam the poor old soulbeast endures it's a pretty decent precision killer yes... and it does have some condi clearing and other sharable things. Not like "that other class", but each to its own. When our fight group is out doing what we do we typically have one soulbeast in the group that survives fairly well and kills a lot. Boon Share, condi clear, healing? oh yes we have classes for that... but seriously you just don't HAVE to have every player in one of the three preferred classes.

We could start up this old back and forth about Ranger/soulbeasts again but I promise I won't. I've said my piece, and I will continue to be IN the squad every time I run. Matter of fact I haven't found a squad yet that doesn't let me in with my Soulbeast so despite what pretty much everyone says about not being permitted in squads... here I am. :)

[Voltekka.2375]

@"Balthazzarr.1349" said:

@"Voltekka.2375" said:Nah, it couldnt. One skill (barrage), which also does little dmg... Nah. You can play that outside squad, as FB will do every other role (heal+support) much, much better than a ranger. Soulbeast+stanceshare MAY be better, but theres another extensive topic about that. So, sadly, ranger cant get into squad as it is...

That depends on the squad and the soulbeast. Regardless of how much spam the poor old soulbeast endures it's a pretty decent precision killer yes... and it does have some condi clearing and other sharable things. Not like "that other class", but each to its own. When our fight group is out doing what we do we typically have one soulbeast in the group that survives fairly well and kills a lot. Boon Share, condi clear, healing? oh yes we have classes for that... but seriously you just don't HAVE to have every player in one of the three preferred classes.

We could start up this old back and forth about Ranger/soulbeasts again but I promise I won't. I've said my piece, and I will continue to be IN the squad every time I run. Matter of fact I haven't found a squad yet that doesn't let me in with my Soulbeast so despite what pretty much everyone says about not being permitted in squads... here I am. :)

You have posted time and again in different topics about soulbeast. The fact that YOU, only ONE soulbeast, are in squads, means everything someone needs to know about what soulbeast can do and how useful it can be. The vast majority prefer FB, scourges, weavers or eles, because they do much better than soulbeast, in General. A bad scourge will still do better than a good soulbeast. No hate, just facts.

[Some Call Me Tim.2319]

@Voltekka.2375 said:

@"Balthazzarr.1349" said:

@Voltekka.2375 said:Nah, it couldnt. One skill (barrage), which also does little dmg... Nah. You can play that outside squad, as FB will do every other role (heal+support) much, much better than a ranger. Soulbeast+stanceshare MAY be better, but theres another extensive topic about that. So, sadly, ranger cant get into squad as it is...

That depends on the squad and the soulbeast. Regardless of how much spam the poor old soulbeast endures it's a pretty decent precision killer yes... and it does have some condi clearing and other sharable things. Not like "that other class", but each to its own. When our fight group is out doing what we do we typically have one soulbeast in the group that survives fairly well and kills a lot. Boon Share, condi clear, healing? oh yes we have classes for that... but seriously you just don't HAVE to have every player in one of the three preferred classes.

We could start up this old back and forth about Ranger/soulbeasts again but I promise I won't. I've said my piece, and I will continue to be IN the squad every time I run. Matter of fact I haven't found a squad yet that doesn't let me in with my Soulbeast so despite what pretty much everyone says about not being permitted in squads... here I am. :)

You have posted time and again in different topics about soulbeast. The fact that YOU, only ONE soulbeast, are in squads, means everything someone needs to know about what soulbeast can do and how useful it can be. The vast majority prefer FB, scourges, weavers or eles, because they do much better than soulbeast, in General. A bad scourge will still do better than a good soulbeast. No hate, just facts.

haaaa no way. I have level 80 of everything... and I'm not a good scourge in my opinion... oh I hit the skills most of the time when asked.. and usually in the spot required... then try to live while the cooldowns are happening etc. I play the scourge build desired by my guild and so on and so on. I still survive longer and kill more with my soulbeast.. and yes.. heh... you're right.. I guess I've been pounding the Soulbeast pavement a little more than I probably should.

I keep hearing that a bad scourge, firebrand, etc is still better than a soulbeast... but in my own experience, and I'm really not that terrible with over 3k wxp and most of that actual action and not pvd... I'm still better with my soulbeast... so in my mind.. a bad scourge isn't better... at least not my bad scourge. Maybe I should play it MORE? and/or my other classes more? but I can't.. I just can't... I got this love affair with my soulbeast that I can't let go. :)

[Justine.6351]

Soul Beast is pretty nasty when made as a glass cannon. Every large group should have 1 or 2 Soul Beast to burn down those annoying flies attacking your group and also for reaching stuff in general. PBS those poor gliders for some feel good too ;-)

[jcbroe.4329]

By the time Barrage actually kills a piece of superior siege, a squad can just move to that siege to take it out.

Organized groups run Firebrands/Scourges/Heralds/Weavers/Spellbreakers because in an actual fight, taking any other class is a massive sacrifice in utility/damage.

If this is really what you wanted to do, a smart commander would tell you to make a roaming party/squad and support the main tag, and would keep the main squad open for other classes, especially if they were short on slots and had lots of people looking to fill.