Kovu.7560

Schrodinger's profession (ranger) is simultaneously one of the best and one of the worst professions in the gamemode, depending on who you ask. Oddly enough they were only voted the 4th most potent profession (after mesmer, engineer and warrior) on that roaming poll a while back.

I'm all for nerfs to sic 'em, but I wouldn't nerf the ranger's ability to stack the other damage multipliers without improving the _base_ damage on a lot of ranger skills that had the profession being basically irrelevant until the release of HoT. You'll see a lot less of them running around if a core week happens. The full power variant can be baited and destroyed and the boonbeast variant can be stalemated by a lot of other bruiser type builds. This is just another thread that's going to bait 8/9ths of the playerbase into shitting on a profession they're not built to deal with.

That said, for sic 'em I'd actually like to see the reveal portion be buffed to be a non-targeted AoE. Its _really_ neat having a reveal utility on my bar that I _can't_ use because the target is already stealthed. Most ranger attacks require a target, so I'd gladly trade that for the 40% damage.

~ Kovu

-gasp- Maybe they'll add an actual reward for people who escort dolyaks!

Seriously though, I would enjoy a core spec week. Not sure how they're planning to work it logistically though, assuming that's what the post is actually referencing.

~ Kovu

> @"shiri.4257" said:

> When was the last time you heard a guild leave because their ocx/sea/eu ppt was too good and put them in t2?

Dragonbrand for the first several years of the game. Their NA was always tiny compared to the others in their tier 'cause they were carried by off hours. (Mostly SEA.)

~ Kovu

The 400 Elegy Mosaic is easily the worst part, even worse than collecting 25,000~ elder wood and mithril (which is basically free from wvw). The grind for that is unreasonably obscene and I _wish_ there was a reward track for it. (The Funerary Incense part was gated, sure, but grindless.)

That's what I get for going the PoF route just to say to myself "I did it once". From now on I'll be tapping the HoT content for this stuff.

~ Kovu

Rent-a-cat sounds fine to me. ?

~ Kovu

I have no doubt the average pvp player is better at pvp than the average wvw player.

I suspect the gap between the average pvp player and the average wvw _roamer_ is somewhat closer.

Of course there's plenty of bleedover.

~ Kovu

You have some neat ideas. =)

~ Kovu

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"hunkamania.7561" said:

> > It's already long overdue

> how can it be overdue if they've never given a hint of a release schedule?

A wizard is never late...


> @"sephiroth.4217" said:

> > @"Loosmaster.8263" said:

> > Until there is a consistent 2 way communication established, I prefer talking to a wall....

>

> The wall usually responds.

What kind of walls are you talking to that talk ba--


... I think I just came up with a new great idea for an event week in wvw.

Why would we discourage three-ways? The kind of caps you describe are muuuch more exciting than, say, backcapping.

Its a three team game, if two teams are fighting the the third wants to be opportunistic, all the more power to them. That's on the two teams (defenders and primary attackers) to pay attention.

~ Kovu

> @"Twilight Tempest.7584" said:

> > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > There are three skills tied to ranger longbow people often complain about in pvp. Four if you dislike that rangers can use it to stealth.

> >

> > Barrage isn't one of those skills.

> >

> > ~ Kovu

>

> I'm not complaining about Barrage.

It really sounded like you were. My mistake.

~ Kovu

These ranger cherry-picked combat videos are showcasing racial utilities, racial elites and mount skills one-shotting players.

... and yet there are still people who seem to feel the _base_ damage on ranger is too high and not, say, the multitude of modifiers on soulbeast?

~ Kovu

There are three skills tied to ranger longbow people often complain about in pvp. Four if you dislike that rangers can use it to stealth.

Barrage isn't one of those skills.

~ Kovu

> @"steki.1478" said:

> I never understood why character swapping is ok, but changing the build is not. One of the reasons I found pvp obnoxious compared to wvw.

I feel the same way. It's a bit odd that I can't change my skills off cooldown in attempt to adapt to my opponent's strategy.

Yet swapping to another class entirely is okay.

~ Kovu

Geez, I wish I could convince my opponents to stand still for a second and not walk out of or interrupt my worldly impacts.

That would be nice.

~ Kovu

I'm sure it'll happen around the same time the Final Fantasy 7 remake is released.

~ Kovu

Well, I mean I kinda agree with the poll results. Sorta. I voted a few days back:

Engineer -> Warrior -> Ranger -> Mesmer -> Thief -> Revenant -> Elementalist -> Guardian -> Necromancer.

The mesmer hate is a little off-putting, but I'm glad to see the silent majority don't find rangers to be quite as omnipotent as some would claim.

~ Kovu

> @"Psycoprophet.8107" said:

> As a marauder geared thief getting downed off one set of rapid fires all while having decent sustain isn't op at all lmao. I love when people use ridiculous arguements to try and defend their blatently OP specs like learn to dodge etc lol. U could have a class that one shots other classes with every skill,so is it balanced due to its attacks being dodgable?

I think part of the reason people say "learn to dodge" with regards to rapid fire is that its a channeled attack with plenty of time to react and respond. Even if you're hit with the first couple of volleys there's no reason to let the whole channel hit you. Theves have plenty of evasion frames. Throwing up a block/reflect, abusing line of sight, using a teleport/gap closer to interrupt the ranger, moving out of range -- all options with ranging effectiveness depending on the situation.

Now a maul from stealth, that's just lolzy. =)

~ Kovu

> @"MUDse.7623" said:

> > @"Etterwyn.5263" said:

> > > @"MUDse.7623" said:

> > > > @"Anput.4620" said:

> > > > > @"MUDse.7623" said:

> > > > > running brainless around maps gathering stuff grants a ton more gold while you dont have an ongoing buffood/siege/tactics cost. id say WvW should get about the same gold/hour as gathering at least.

> > > > > but no rewards based on winning / tournaments please .

> > > >

> > > > You just described 80% of WvW in that first sentence.

> > > >

> > >

> > > yeah but why does it grant so much more gold on a pve map?

> >

> > WvW needs more nodes obviously. They shouldn't be restricted to objectives. A world boss on each map would be good too. =)

>

> having additional nodes to gather is no different then using a bit of the time you would spent in WvW to gather in pve. increased rewards need to be tied in what one already does in WvW.

Could increase the yield of harvesting nodes inside structures (rich nodes or w/e). Perhaps tie rare crafting drops to them. There's certainly ways to go about that without increasing the number of nodes on the maps.

Anywho, the only time its noticeable that you're getting less value per hour of gameplay in wvw is when you're actively tracking it.

Maybe you're working towards something in specific (such as the completion of a reward track) or you're a pve'er trying out wvw for profit -- you'll notice that you're not getting as much value. But as someone who plays the gamemode for the sake of the gamemode I make back more than enough to cover general expenses, and then some.

Another thought (I've mentioned this before) is a hefty diminishing returns mechanic tied to killing other players. That way the value of initial kills can be increased to something actually noticeable. Roamers would love this. Zerging/tag-'n-bag is hardly a high skill/difficult thing to do, but its the reason individual player kills are worth so little.

No prizes for "winners" in this gamemode please, Blackgate doesn't need more stuff and the other servers will fight to tank to "win" in the lower tier.

~ Kovu

> @"Solori.6025" said:

> > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > > @"Solori.6025" said:

> > > > @"Twilight Tempest.7584" said:

> > > > > @"Mordayn.6198" said:

> > > > > Sad to say but yes the "joke" build is meta. I've seen 1 shot soulbeast build running in at least gold 3 and platinum 1. It's also a very broken build they are running in wvw. What don't I understand about damage calculations. I clearly called out the issue is in beastmode greatsword 2 maul is giving a 25% dmg increase and sic em is giving a 40% dmg increase equaling a whopping 65% dmg increase for one shot that's unblockable due to low cd unblockables on the beastmode entry and warhorn 5. You can nay say the build all you want, but it's top end damage does way too much allowing for 1 shot's from stealth at range. Easily would be nerfed it was any other class.

> > > >

> > > > Actually, according to Trevor, damage multipliers are multiplicative, not additive, meaning they "stack" even higher than most people think:

> > > >

> > > > https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/910700/#Comment_910700

> > > >

> > > > He's discussing the Eternal Coliseum buff in his example there, but the same principle applies, I believe. So the net damage increase from Maul + Sic 'Em is actually more than 25% + 40% = 65%.

> > >

> > > Honestly if Sic'Em is going to stay at 40%. Why not just nerf all the traits that give percentile damage buffs throughout the class.

> > >

> >

> > Or, maybe just nerf sic 'em on soulbeast instead of gutting the damage on druid and core ranger?

> >

> > ~ Kovu

>

> ...You mean you wouldn't like to have your classes core traits messed up like everyone elses?

You act like Ranger hasn't been touched over the years.

And no, I don't want core ranger and druid's damage touched -- ranger already has some of the lowest coefficients in the game. (Supposedly to counterbalance pet damage. That's good for a laugh.)

~ Kovu

> @"Solori.6025" said:

> > @"Twilight Tempest.7584" said:

> > > @"Mordayn.6198" said:

> > > Sad to say but yes the "joke" build is meta. I've seen 1 shot soulbeast build running in at least gold 3 and platinum 1. It's also a very broken build they are running in wvw. What don't I understand about damage calculations. I clearly called out the issue is in beastmode greatsword 2 maul is giving a 25% dmg increase and sic em is giving a 40% dmg increase equaling a whopping 65% dmg increase for one shot that's unblockable due to low cd unblockables on the beastmode entry and warhorn 5. You can nay say the build all you want, but it's top end damage does way too much allowing for 1 shot's from stealth at range. Easily would be nerfed it was any other class.

> >

> > Actually, according to Trevor, damage multipliers are multiplicative, not additive, meaning they "stack" even higher than most people think:

> >

> > https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/910700/#Comment_910700

> >

> > He's discussing the Eternal Coliseum buff in his example there, but the same principle applies, I believe. So the net damage increase from Maul + Sic 'Em is actually more than 25% + 40% = 65%.

>

> Honestly if Sic'Em is going to stay at 40%. Why not just nerf all the traits that give percentile damage buffs throughout the class.

>

Or, maybe just nerf sic 'em on soulbeast instead of gutting the damage on druid and core ranger?

~ Kovu

Don't lengthen the cooldown. If you're going to adjust something, adjust it in some way that doesn't increase the cooldown. I never equip skills that have a recharge time that's long enough for me to afk and make a sandwich during -- regardless of what that skill does.

~ Kovu

> @"Kovu.7560" said:

> I have 190(ish). I'll trade you all of them for your fractal spoon. =D

Oh hey, this thread.

An update on this, I got that fractal spoon after about 15 hours of casually doing fractals. Preeeety sure the drop rate on that is substantially worse than wvw's spoon.

~ Kovu

> @"Straegen.2938" said:

> If a player jumps while this is happening, it often fixes the issue. I often wonder if when the pathing check happens they could apply a slight height differential and solve many of the places with the issue.

I've actually suggested this in the past. Have all projectiles determine line of effect as if they're actually slightly higher than visually displayed.

> @"LetoII.3782" said:

> Nobody gets their cooldowns back when they flub *shrug

To be fair, OP is only asking for the initiative refund for an error on the game's end, not their own. (Though I'd prefer they'd just address the actual problem.)

~ Kovu

> @"Noha.3749" said:

> Community voting for best/worst profession:

> Worst -> "My profession"

> Best - > "What counters my profession best"

This might be true to an extent. In the end we're all voting on personal experience.

I voted a Engineer as #1 because they are inherently tanky for their damage output, have access to a lot of blast healing, barrier, superspeed & CC which is pretty much the perfect way to deal with a pew pew ranger. I don't know how it'd perform against, say, a tanky condi build. Warrior was my second pick, followed by ranger. Mesmer was my fourth pick, it amuses me they're #1 on this poll. Similarly I put necro at the bottom, they're basically free bags for rangers at no fault of their own.

~ Kovu