May 2021 Poll: Are you happy about the current state of ranger?

[Psycoprophet.8107]

On 6/14/2021 at 7:54 AM, reddie.5861 said:

SLB good at everything, dont come at me we arent allowed in WvW blobs, no and thats your choice.

Core ranger, very good dueler.

 

but druid is just a god forgotten thing im trying to play it but it just lacks something that makes core a better choice and obviously slb is already good choice..

 

if i wouldnt take druid in here i would say yes ranger is in a great state.

This^ slb and core are fine, druid sucks so bad almost could be a warrior spec haha.

[Piedplat.3597]

I'am a kind of happy of what ranger is but I would ask for a defensive buff for druid's pets. That all

[anduriell.6280]

Soulbeast is a meme spec, not good for PvP or WvW. If at any moment Sic'em, trap runes and  OWP gets nerfed soulbeast will be uterly useless. 

 

Druid is not worth even commenting, most of us agree the spec is useless. Don't say a shoehorned buff bot in raids is actually "useful" .

 

Core is dead meat in any game mode. 

 

Yes i am not happy with the current state of the ranger. 

[Mik.3401]

On 5/20/2021 at 8:21 AM, Avatar.3568 said:

For 99% playing pvp, Ranger feel cuttet in dmg and sustain, dodge on auto attacks, that you can time is removed , maul krits with 3-4k on zerker without marksman ship, marksman soulbeast, after not being that viable, has no unblockables = nerfed, same for core Ranger, pets have no unblockables more, not a big nerf, since we applie weakness (on 240 radius lol). 

Viable are still sic em soulbeast with lb/gs or axe warhorn/gs. 

Also some kinda viable are 2 druid builds, but it's still druid, 20 seconds CD on ca while having a mystic ca mechanic, I would like to have 15 seconds CD and more like shroud, so you don't need full ca but yeah. 

 

In general it feels like they take many ways away from Ranger to play while not being meta = not rly happy

I can see many posts complaining about the low damage for literally  every class apart from necro and guardian. Ranger may not excel like these two, but at the end it can run zerker gear and maintain pretty nice sustain. That’s something other zerker builds could only dream of

Edited June 18, 2021 by Mik.3401

[AlexndrTheGreat.8310]

Guess this is a good place to say this. Obviously tons of complaints about Druid feeling like it’s extremely restricted and shoe-horned into one specific role (PvE healing / might generation, ie “The Raid Healer”). Other support focused specs (primarily looking at Renegade, Herald, Scrapper, Firebrand, Scourge, and Tempest) seem to have much greater versatility in their build options and traits in those elite specs that directly support those builds.

 

Examples being:

Renegade: Alacrity, or condi dps

Herald: Boons in general, or power dps

Scrapper: Quickness, or power dps

Firebrand: Quickness or condi dps

Scourge: “Healing” (barrier), or condi dps

Tempest: Healing, or dps

There is some distinction between what I am going to label as “heal/support” specs and “boon” specs, so I guess these comparisons would primarily look at Tempest, Firebrand, Scrapper(?), and Scourge because those are primarily focused on being healing specs,

compared to Renegade, Herald, Chronomancer, etc, who primarily exist to give boons on top of damage.

 

Obviously not all these builds are created equal in all scenarios, but they all seem to be much more usable in those scenarios than Druid. Everything about Druid ends up being purely focused in one role (it’s spec mechanic, traits, and weapons all purely revolve around healing). Obviously the primary exception for that being Ancient Seed trait used for condi builds primarily in WvW. But even that feels more like a gimmick, because besides taking that trait nothing else about Druid really supports that play style. There are other Druid things that relate to damage in some way (CA5, Glyph of Unity, Glyph of Alignment), but you won’t take a Condi Druid in as a dedicated DPS in PvE, only being taken in PvE at all to maximize the dps of a Druid while healing.

 

Druid, as said in other places in this thread, should get some kind of change to allow it to be more in line with other similar elite specs in terms of build roles and versatility, either:

A) Get some kind of rework to help facilitate a build besides pure healing. Staff applying condis in some way (burning on auto attack, bleeding when Staff 4 roots someone?), Glyphs already show an idea of different effects depending on what form you’re in (healing inside Avatar and offensive stuff when out of it, that idea can be expanded on). The CA mechanic itself being reworked to interact with the base Ranger mechanic instead of being an extra system that gets thrown in alongside pets.

or, maybe far less likely

B) Make the other supportive elite specs more shoehorned into a specific role. This seems more an issue with some of the elite specs as a whole and would probably be unlikely to change. Take Tempest from example. It’s dps “gimmick” is reduced Overload wait times and it’s interaction with Air attunement reset. Change the few things in Tempest that enable that to make Tempest strictly used for healing. Scourge is strictly for healing/barrier and boon corrupt. Firebrand gets literally any kind of trade off, etc. Again this would probably never happen since it would require a significant change to multiple elite specs.

 

Regardless, at least compared to other elite specs, Druid should get some kind of change to be something besides a Raid Healing bot for its primary focus and then being a gimmick build for other niche situations.

Edited June 18, 2021 by AlexndrTheGreat.8310

[Panncakez.1290]

I play on-and-off for the most part, but every time I come back - ranger is hit with some unnecessary change that further cripples it.

It's either spirits no longer mobile and need manual re-positioning, it's traps becoming un-throwable, it's the pet's damage and cooldowns getting nerfed all the time, it's the constant nerfs to Longbow in WvW and PvP (instead of nerfing overlapping damage multipliers).

 

Never was a ranger saught after in WvW - the class has a "selfish" design to it.

The bloody pet's AI is still a huge crutch, even after 8 years. I really wish it wasn't the core of ranger and rather was a Beastmastery quirk.

The soulbeast mode is still uncontrolable and some boss mechanics (like fraenir), downed state or jumping into water will send you on a 10s cd for no reason.

 

[Mokk.2397]

NO. I don't like being forced into a single pew pew role . And the last patch forced the ranger further into a corner. I want to contribute to the group more and not just a tag sniper .

[Ashantara.8731]

I'm getting along just fine with my condition build, but I find the profession lacks variety when it comes to producing high damage. Also, the longbow is boring.

[Lazze.9870]

On 6/18/2021 at 11:33 PM, AlexndrTheGreat.8310 said:

A) Get some kind of rework to help facilitate a build besides pure healing. Staff applying condis in some way (burning on auto attack, bleeding when Staff 4 roots someone?), Glyphs already show an idea of different effects depending on what form you’re in (healing inside Avatar and offensive stuff when out of it, that idea can be expanded on).

 

 

The issue with druid and the reason why it is shoehorned into one specific role has nothing to do with adding random conditions on the staff (burn on auto op af, but that's beside the point), but has EVERYHTING to do with the tools druid itself is given and the tools base ranger already had to fill these support roles.

 

Spirit bot for PvE works because spirits were already a strong secondary group utility for PvE and something core ranger brought to the table. Spirits will always remain a strong secondary reason to bring a ranger for pve content regardless of what ranger spec you go with, as long as that spec is competetive in some other regard.

 

Druid is "trash" (niche is honestly better) for everything else because it offers no such utility that at least puts it at the same level as the other support options across the different game modes, and core ranger adds very little value to any of this for a support build. Anet clearly doesn't even consider druid as a support spec outside of pve, because it got nothing while ele, guardian etc got some kind of heal coefficient buff when they removed mender's amulet.

 

Druid needs an overhaul, and so does nature magic. Stuff like Evasive Purity should affect nearby allies as well, that's the kind of minimum changes we need. Warrior got some big changes to tactics that vastly improved core warrior's potential support output, it is about time Anet gets their finger out and take a look at nature magic as well. Why does Invigorating Bond even exist at this point?

 

Druid itself.. Ough. Staff 2 needs the guardian staff 2 treatment. The wall needs to be larger, the projectiles that goes through shouldn't slow down like they do. Glyph of MemeUnity needs to go, trade it for anything useful. Glyph of the Stars should either be something you place in one area without having to channel it for SEVEN SECONDS or it should follow you like scrapper wells. CA 1 should have been changed ever since the frickin' betas. GET ON WITH IT ANET.

 

Why does natural mender need to be a stackable buff when everyone else just gets a flat outgoing healing modifier? I mean, sure, when it stacked to 20 % I was fine with it, but now it's capped at 10 %. Every other healer spec gets flat modifiers, why does druid still have to ramp it up when the modifier stacks at the same 10 % as everyone elses????

 

Lingering Light quick fix: Increase outgoing healing, increase it further when in avatar. Blinds foes around you and heals allies when entering CA. EASY.

 

How hard can it be? It's not. Problem is, there is just zero passion for this spec in the Anet office. The amount of low hanging fruits are just.. it's ridiculous.

Edited June 20, 2021 by Lazze.9870

[Substance E.4852]

3 hours ago, Lazze.9870 said:

How hard can it be? It's not. Problem is, there is just zero passion for this spec in the Anet office. The amount of low hanging fruits are just.. it's ridiculous.

It was an easy way for them to shoehorn heal botting into their new raid system and has summarily been completely forgotten now that they have other heal specs to play with, on classes they actually care about

Not to say completely give up hope but the likelihood of them sitting down and actually fixing the garbage fire that is Druid is nearly non-existant and will only drift further away when EoD introduces another one or more support specs into the mix which is pretty much a guarantee

Druid might see action if it catches flak from some kind of frost spirit nerf and Anet is forced to deal with it being used in 0 game modes but that's about the only situation I can see this happening in

[AlexndrTheGreat.8310]

8 hours ago, Lazze.9870 said:

Druid needs an overhaul, and so does nature magic. Stuff like Evasive Purity should affect nearby allies as well, that's the kind of minimum changes we need. Warrior got some big changes to tactics that vastly improved core warrior's potential support output, it is about time Anet gets their finger out and take a look at nature magic as well. Why does Invigorating Bond even exist at this point?

I kinda noticed the Nature Magic being weak stuff when typing up my previous post, but haven’t seriously looked into it yet.

 

When I was typing up about comparing Druid to all the support specs, a lot of their innate support stems from a base spec or have some type of synergy with it.

 

Examples being:

Revenant - All the actual healing capabilities of Heal/Support Rev stem from Salvation.

Firebrand - When doing Heal FB, Honor trait line gives all the healing traits.

Scourge - Barrier is an innate mechanic of the spec, but Blood Magic is what gives it actual healing capabilities

Tempest - Auras from Tempest synergies very well with Water Magic, which also provides direct healing.

Scrapper - (Mostly applicable to WvW) Their primary support functionality is in Alchemy.

Compared to Ranger’s Nature Magic, a lot of their traits are defensive / healing focused, but mostly for the Ranger themselves. Their is support traits for allies (specifically Allies’ Aid, Windborne Notes, Nature’s Vengeance, and Invigorating Bonds), but they don’t have the same impact or synergy that the examples listed above seem to have. Most of the traits there relate to boons rather than raw healing. 

 

Perhaps the best way to fix this would be to do a shift in both Druid and Nature’s Magic, where some of the power in Druid is shifted over into Nature’s Magic where NM can have some healing capability on its own and then some spots are opened up in Druid to allow what current exists to supplement and improve upon what NM offers while new stuff can be added to allow for other capabilities from Druid.

 

To me this seems to emphasize the idea that Druid is more like a mechanic that was just “tagged onto” or put on top of base Ranger instead of having some specific interactions with traits or mechanics in the base specializations. The Cultivated Synergy trait (Using your heal skill, heals allies around you and your pet.) would be the best example of something that exists in Druid along those lines, but it’s still just seems to weak compared to what exists in other classes.

Edited June 20, 2021 by AlexndrTheGreat.8310

[Lazze.9870]

13 hours ago, AlexndrTheGreat.8310 said:

When I was typing up about comparing Druid to all the support specs, a lot of their innate support stems from a base spec or have some type of synergy with it.

 

Exactly. Ranger has very little going for it to back up such a role. Nature Magic is an awful traitline for anything else except boosting pve spirits and boon shenanigans with fortifying bond. It's not even particularly good as a selfish traitline.

- Linger Magic after the competetive split is basically just +120 concentration with a meaningless 120 to your pet, which is weaker than any other secondary effect on other classes with comparable traits.

- Protective Ward is the default choice GM because spirits are PvE only and Invigorating Bond is ??????. So you're stuck with the selfish trait (it's a good trait, but it was never a fun trait).

- Allies' Aid isn't terrible in small scale, but it'd be better if it gave Healing Spring some revive power and made you put down a lesser healing spring. Search and Rescue (the skill) should be scrapped for something else.

- Why couldn't Windborne Note's heal allies we grant regen to as well? It'd be something, at least..

- Evasive Purity.. just look at Ele's Stop, Drop, Roll.

- Spirited Arrival.. it's just there. Fine, but doesn't do anything.

 

One argument for druid was always that it adds means to support allies for a class that basically had none, but basically having none doesn't work in the long run. I'd bet even a properly designed heal elite spec for thief could work better. Trickery would still have an effect on whatever steal would be, and shadow arts isn't any worse than nature magic.

 

Meanwhile we have Scrapper. Core engie has a strong base for support with Alchemy, Inventions and the medkit. Then you give it an elite spec which provides better cleanse potential while pumping out superspeed and now quickness.  Watching the changes Anet has done to Scrapper over the past years makes it feel like they have been trying to mold it into a perfect wvw support spec. And they did that while completely ignoring the main support spec from the same expansion.

Edited June 21, 2021 by Lazze.9870

[anduriell.6280]

1 hour ago, Lazze.9870 said:

 

Meanwhile we have Scrapper. Core engie has a strong base for support with Alchemy, Inventions and the medkit. Then you give it an elite spec which provides better cleanse potential while pumping out superspeed and now quickness.  Watching the changes Anet has done to Scrapper over the past years makes it feel like they have been trying to mold it into a perfect wvw support spec. And they did that while completely ignoring the main support spec from the same expansion.

Yeh there are so many problems with how the ranger traitlines have devolved over the years... There was a trait which casted a healing spring when downed (which healed the casted for that amount)  for example. Also protective wards should be a GM in WS traitline, it does not make sense to have that trait in NM which has no synergy with. 

 

Ranger should have access to group support with Nature Magic traitline, i don't know why Anet keep reducing roles from the core class, Anet only do this to the ranger. At some point somebody got the idea of turning the ranger into a a pewpew thief wannabe and that does not work for the class. 

 

But again, we are talking of bad decisions after bad decisions, as the fact they keep pushing Soulbeast to be one shot meme with just two skills. When those are eventually nerfed it will happen the same as to the Druid and the spec will turn in a waste of developer and player time. 

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by anduriell.6280

[xDuckYx.4920]

a Ranger with a Greatsword is already a joke.....sword ok or daggers but greatsword xD

[ZiggyWhiskerz.3089]

I know I'm late on this train, but I just feel that ranger and its ES have been neglected in general. Pushed off to the side. 

[kappa.2036]

Final results: 70% of unhappy rangers, what a shame Anet 🙁

[mistsim.2748]

In spvp ranger has a decent number of viable builds across Core, Druid, and SLB. 

 

In PvE Druid and SLB are very good.

 

For WvW, Druid needs to be reworked to be a viable support for zerging, otherwise Druid and SLB have strong small scale builds.

 

With the exception of its performance in WvW zergs, ranger is in a great shape ATM. Druid is way overdue for changes for large scale fights 

[mistsim.2748]

15 hours ago, kappa.2036 said:

Final results: 70% of unhappy rangers, what a shame Anet 🙁

Because 90% of the whiners are hanging out on the forums.

Most complaints (rightfully so) stem from Druid needing an overhaul for WvW.

Edited September 24, 2021 by mistsim.2748