Soulbeast should only have access to 1 pet

[InsaneQR.7412]

Another option would be to completely remove the pet and make beastmode permanent. So f1-3 are beastskills and F4 is swap. This would sacrifice a lot of utility and wouldnt be ideal either.

[anduriell.6280]

Um, removing one of the pets, even if the class would be balanced acordingly would leave that class completely braindead with no actual mechanics.

I can't agree that would be a good change.

 

 

 

 

[InsaneQR.7412]

Another option would be to completely remove the pet and make beastmode permanent. So f1-3 are beastskills and F4 is swap. This would sacrifice a lot of utility and wouldnt be ideal either.

[urdriel.8496]

> @"Durzlla.6295" said:

> Oh trust me, I fully agree that Soulbeast should only have one pet instead of two since the whole concept is you’re so close to your pet that you can literally fuse together.

>

> However, if they did this they’d need to drastically buff, or maybe even rework, Soulbeast because it’s clearly not designed with using only one pet in mind.

>

> But hey, I’m of the mindset that e specs should have some give or take to them so it’s obvious they’re not direct upgrades, but playstyle changes.

 

TBH , they are not well designed to have 2 pets, it is really clunky, you have to wait 10 sec between pets so, in the end you always use the same.

 

> @"InsaneQR.7412" said:

> Another option would be to completely remove the pet and make beastmode permanent. So f1-3 are beastskills and F4 is swap. This would sacrifice a lot of utility and wouldnt be ideal either.

 

That could be ideal if ranger class had good traitlines with real synergy

[anduriell.6280]

> @"urdriel.8496" said:

> TBH , they are not well designed to have 2 pets, it is really clunky, you have to wait 10 sec between pets so, in the end you always use the same.

 

I agree with that, but that shouldn't be fixed by removing the mechanics from the ranger.

 

Also removing the ability to merge/unmerge would remove the mechanics as well. The fun part from the ranger is the pet Anet should consider put some ideas in there to improve it so it is rewarding to play in competitive modes as pets behave right now as trash mobs (even with the lack of connecting hits) and as such they don't provide any actual gameplay.

 

Pve is solved already with the pets virtual inmmunity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wondrouswall.7169]

If the OP is a fan of the "Nerf Everything" concept, you don't do that with the class/e-spec mechanic.... For Christ's sake, people.

[Durzlla.6295]

> @"anduriell.6280" said:

> > @"urdriel.8496" said:

> > TBH , they are not well designed to have 2 pets, it is really clunky, you have to wait 10 sec between pets so, in the end you always use the same.

>

> I agree with that, but that shouldn't be fixed by removing the mechanics from the ranger.

>

> Also removing the ability to merge/unmerge would remove the mechanics as well. The fun part from the ranger is the pet Anet should consider put some ideas in there to improve it so it is rewarding to play in competitive modes as pets behave right now as trash mobs (even with the lack of connecting hits) and as such they don't provide any actual gameplay.

>

> Pve is solved already with the pets virtual inmmunity.

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

I mean pets do well in PvP too, just as long as you’re using a canine or one of the HoT or PoF pets. The main problem with pets is their abilities are dated and haven’t kept up with the game since like Alpha.

 

Shit some simple stuff would be like, for bears their bite skill ALSO giving them retaliation (or hell maybe just replace regen with retal), and then make their defy pain a lower CD (like 40s baseline) and apply a few seconds of taunt to enemies within like 900 range or so and boom, suddenly bears are going to be very solid pets in PvP and WvW at the very least because they’re just tenacious sponges who hit you everytime you hit them and provide some CC.

 

But really, it’s easy to see how dated some of their skills are when you look at their F2s, *cough* [icy roar](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Icy_Roar) *cough*

[urdriel.8496]

> @"anduriell.6280" said:

> > @"urdriel.8496" said:

> > TBH , they are not well designed to have 2 pets, it is really clunky, you have to wait 10 sec between pets so, in the end you always use the same.

>

> I agree with that, but that shouldn't be fixed by removing the mechanics from the ranger.

>

> Also removing the ability to merge/unmerge would remove the mechanics as well. The fun part from the ranger is the pet Anet should consider put some ideas in there to improve it so it is rewarding to play in competitive modes as pets behave right now as trash mobs (even with the lack of connecting hits) and as such they don't provide any actual gameplay.

>

> Pve is solved already with the pets virtual inmmunity.

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

the fix is easy, you should be able to change pets, while in Soulbeast mode.

 

[kharmin.7683]

> @"urdriel.8496" said:>

> the fix is easy, you should be able to change pets, while in Soulbeast mode.

>

I disagree. As a SB main, sure, I would love this but I believe it would make it too OP. Having to plan around melding/unmelding is similar to elementalists having to plan rotations around swapping elements. Maybe the CD for SB swap should be lessened instead?

 

/me shrugs

 

[InsaneQR.7412]

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > @"urdriel.8496" said:>

> > the fix is easy, you should be able to change pets, while in Soulbeast mode.

> >

> I disagree. As a SB main, sure, I would love this but I believe it would make it too OP. Having to plan around melding/unmelding is similar to elementalists having to plan rotations around swapping elements. Maybe the CD for SB swap should be lessened instead?

>

> /me shrugs

>

 

Ranger relies often on the utility of the pet and also a big part in survivability.

Smokefield of smokescale would be gone, spike barrage on bristleback too and so on.

No F2 means less utility and no pet that draws aggro means less survivabbility. The pet also draws attention from players because they can provide bonus dmg an nuisance against you.

Wouldn't call it OP due to this points.

Eternal bond should refresh beastmode after swap and the protection when entering should be put on second skin. And souöbeast would stand way more solid.

[kharmin.7683]

> @"InsaneQR.7412" said:

 

> Ranger relies often on the utility of the pet and also a big part in survivability.

> Smokefield of smokescale would be gone, spike barrage on bristleback too and so on.

> No F2 means less utility and no pet that draws aggro means less survivabbility. The pet also draws attention from players because they can provide bonus dmg an nuisance against you.

> Wouldn't call it OP due to this points.

> Eternal bond should refresh beastmode after swap and the protection when entering should be put on second skin. And souöbeast would stand way more solid.

I'm not against merging ... just swapping pets WHILE merged. That is what I think would make SB more OP than probably originally designed.

 

[anduriell.6280]

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> I'm not against merging ... just swapping pets WHILE merged. That is what I think would make SB more OP than probably originally designed.

>

Um I don’t see what is your issue with swapping while merging.

 

It would provide synergy with the core ranger traits which we at least we can agree aren’t a problem.

 

So swapping pets CD is already there, if you have 45 secs cd in your pet, merging will not remove that.

As such adding the swapping pet while merged is just to metaphorically “flip the switch” as all mechanics are already in place.

 

Probably it was on the table to allow this but didn’t pass because lack of testing (as we saw we had many bugs in the class and we still do) so Anet dediced to remove the mechanic until further on probably when the only developer in charge would have time to check it out.

 

 

 

[urdriel.8496]

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > @"urdriel.8496" said:>

> > the fix is easy, you should be able to change pets, while in Soulbeast mode.

> >

> I disagree. As a SB main, sure, I would love this but I believe it would make it too OP. Having to plan around melding/unmelding is similar to elementalists having to plan rotations around swapping elements. Maybe the CD for SB swap should be lessened instead?

>

> /me shrugs

>

 

And what about a nerf to balance all classes?? they need 24 hours to nerf anything than could make rangers to raise from mediocrity, but need 6 month to change other op classes, actually what a SB bring to the table is always worst than what other classes can, in fact, in Spvp a lot of people is using Core ranger........

 

and now people will say, -Hey, but you can actually kill people/do pve/be good in spvp .

 

Yes, you can, but in a scale of 10, you need a 8-9 to be able to compete with other classes that only need 5-6, and that is unacceptable.

 

 

BTW , SoulBeast should be able to change pets while merged, but i didnt say that Anet must remove pet companion from Sb, only that 10 sec between merges is too much, we have to deal with 10 sec between merges and 20sec between pets.

 

We could extrapolate ele to ranger, we must have 5 skills per pet and we will choose when to use them., that would be very nice, to be able to use knockdown and all other pets skills on demand, but dreams are only dreams...

 

 

[Lazze.9870]

> @"Zefrost.3425" said:

> It's more balanced that way. Everything on every class should be nerfed as well, but for soulbeast, this should be the main nerf. Being able to do huge damage and having such survivability is bad design. They should only be able to choose between 1. I'm a fan of the "nerf everything" concept to get us back to a less spammy game.

>

>

I wonder what kills you, the pet swaps that core ranger have had since 2012 where all pets have predictable rotations, or the utility the ranger gets from swapping merged pets that are locked behind two separate cooldowns...

[urdriel.8496]

> @"Lazze.9870" said:

> I wonder what kills you, the pet swaps that core ranger have had since 2012 where all pets have predictable rotations, or the utility the ranger gets from swapping merged pets that are locked behind two separate cooldowns...

 

I will suppose that you was answering me xDD (if not, sorry), the fact is that something that is predictable, is predictable for both , me and my enemy, by example, smoke scale:

He will always use Smoke Assault and after it ,Take Down, but there is plenty of situations where the knockdown could had saved your life, something predictable , in a game where you have PvP involved, is a design flaw.

 

Pet System was a design flaw since the day 1 of GW2, we are in 2018 and they have improved it along the last 6 years, but still a "bit" unsatisfactory.

[Lazze.9870]

> @"urdriel.8496" said:

> > @"Lazze.9870" said:

> > I wonder what kills you, the pet swaps that core ranger have had since 2012 where all pets have predictable rotations, or the utility the ranger gets from swapping merged pets that are locked behind two separate cooldowns...

>

> I will suppose that you was answering me xDD (if not, sorry)

 

No, it was a sarcastic reply to the opening post. Soulbeast isn't perfect, they could have easily made a functional 1 pet only elite spec (or permamerged with pet swap) when they began working on it, but the current version is what they settled on, it works for the most part and isn't OP at all.

 

[urdriel.8496]

> @"Lazze.9870" said:

> > @"urdriel.8496" said:

> > > @"Lazze.9870" said:

> > > I wonder what kills you, the pet swaps that core ranger have had since 2012 where all pets have predictable rotations, or the utility the ranger gets from swapping merged pets that are locked behind two separate cooldowns...

> >

> > I will suppose that you was answering me xDD (if not, sorry)

>

> No, it was a sarcastic reply to the opening post. Soulbeast isn't perfect, they could have easily made a working 1 pet only elite spec when they began working on it, but the current version isn't OP at all.

>

 

Sry man xDDD

[jcbroe.4329]

You guys are all debating the ins and outs of the suggestion and I still can't even engage the topic sincerely because "such survivability" and "Soulbeast" were used together....

[Substance E.4852]

Is this a Poe? This feels like a Poe.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law

[Xenash.1245]

> @"jcbroe.4329" said:

> You guys are all debating the ins and outs of the suggestion and I still can't even engage the topic sincerely because "such survivability" and "Soulbeast" were used together....

 

I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and see if what they're asking for could have any possible relevance in the future. I'm mostly of the same thought you have here since I don't really see Soulbeast having all that great of survivability compared to really any of the other classes, but I also don't want to push what anyone has to say about the spec off to the side.

 

Also yes this thread really is quite something far out there, I could very well be a big dumby for trying to take it seriously if the op wasn't entirely genuine.

[Shadelang.3012]

@"Xenash.1245" the problem with these topics is that not everyones opinion is equal in these situations. We all like to think it is and say it cause thats the politically correct thing. But ultimately the opinion of those that have less experience in what they are discussing SHOULD be taken less seriosuly. The idea that everyones "version of the truth" is valid is part of the problem with communication in general today. So we have people come in and talk about "it should be this way because x" or "I dont like this idea because x" and we have no idea of actually telling how much people have any idea what the hell they are talking about.

 

As for the OPs suggestion. The only way this would work is with MASSIIIIVE buffs to beast mode skills. Heavily reduced cooldowns to pet skills when not merged. And a rework of all pet swap and f2 based traits to work with beast mode skills. Otherwise you are giving up way to much utility and versatility for nothing. If you want to FORCE the soulbeast to be hyper specialized you have to give them the tools to do it.

 

Note that this is stated in my experience as a soulbeast in both PvP and WvW and in playing ranger for over 5 and a half years now. And not as a blind attempt of "I WANT IT THIS WAY" I am never against positive change. But I am against change that only takes use backwards without opening any doors.

 

Edit: Also the allure of soulbeast is the ability to take two completely different types of pets to help with different situations. Smokescale and jaccaranda for example. If you want to take that away expect some backlash. Your attempting to remove a core aspect of the soulbeasts gameplay.

[Substance E.4852]

> @"jcbroe.4329" said:

> You guys are all debating the ins and outs of the suggestion and I still can't even engage the topic sincerely because "such survivability" and "Soulbeast" were used together....

 

I'm just used to people thinking a Ranger not dying in 5 seconds is too much so I can never tell how absurd people's metrics actually are.

[kharmin.7683]

> @"Shadelang.3012" said:

> Your attempting to remove a core aspect of the soulbeasts gameplay.

This was the point I was trying make.

 

[Durzlla.6295]

> @"Substance E.4852" said:

> > @"jcbroe.4329" said:

> > You guys are all debating the ins and outs of the suggestion and I still can't even engage the topic sincerely because "such survivability" and "Soulbeast" were used together....

>

> I'm just used to people thinking a Ranger not dying in 5 seconds is too much so I can never tell how absurd people's metrics actually are.

 

Now is this 5 seconds of the ranger is out of dodges and is being focused sorta thing? Or 5 seconds of the ranger still having all their defenses/evades up and hasn’t been given the death mark? Because these are two totally different situations lol

[urdriel.8496]

> @"Durzlla.6295" said:

> > @"Substance E.4852" said:

> > > @"jcbroe.4329" said:

> > > You guys are all debating the ins and outs of the suggestion and I still can't even engage the topic sincerely because "such survivability" and "Soulbeast" were used together....

> >

> > I'm just used to people thinking a Ranger not dying in 5 seconds is too much so I can never tell how absurd people's metrics actually are.

>

> Now is this 5 seconds of the ranger is out of dodges and is being focused sorta thing? Or 5 seconds of the ranger still having all their defenses/evades up and hasn’t been given the death mark? Because these are two totally different situations lol

 

Sometimes i have a feel like i have a permanent death mark over mi head ,is something like "ranger must die , first , always" :/ .

If you make a single mistake while dodging or kiting, you are dead.