ArenaNet:Skill feedback/Ranger/Fixing bows

I posted this in a discussion elsewhere but I thought more people would read it if I posted it here, so here it is(with a few points added).


 * Issue 1-Range Spike.
 * Damage of bows cannot be increased currently because it would encourage range spike(which is almost as bad as shadow step spike since it allows players to unexpectedly gang up on one foe quickly and effectively.


 * Suggestion
 * Cut down on the number of fast activating bow attacks or give them damage penalties "this arrow does 25% less damage.". This particularly applies to interrupt skills like savage shot and punishing shot(both of which used to be popular with range spike). Cause certain bow attacks to cause Weakness on the user for 2 seconds.
 * Increase damage or reduce energy cost of normal activation bow attacks to match damage and cost of scythe or spear attacks.
 * The following proposed changes to several attack skills increase the overall effectiveness of a ranger when used "properly" while severely nerfing range spike.
 * Cause some high-damage skills that are popular with range spike to inflict certain conditions for 2 seconds(slightly more than a bow's refire rate after the changes) and program quick-activation bow attacks to do less damage when those conditions are present.

Here are a few examples of "fixed" skills.


 * Power Shot 5e 4r "If Power Shot hits you strike for +5...21...25 damage." Energy and recharge have been decreased while the fast activation has been removed. Damage has been given a generous increase. Victorious Sweep is still better but this is ranged, so I guess this is balanced.


 * Savage Shot 10e 1/2s 5r "Savage Shot does 33% less damage than normal and interrupts, doing +10...34...40 damage if a spell was interrupted." The conditional damage has been greatly buffed while the base damage has been nerfed, rewarding use of this for interrupting as opposed to spiking.


 * Punishing Shot 10e 1/2s 5r "Punishing Shot does 20% less damage than normal and does +10...18...20 damage, causing interrupt. If a skill was interrupted, it does an additional +10...30...35 damage. If you didn't interrupt a skill this cannot critical." This makes Punishing Shot very effective for interrupting(+55 damage) while making it ineffective for range spike (20% less damage, cannot critical hit).


 * Glass Arrows 5e 2s 12r "For 10...30...35 seconds your bow attacks with inflict +8...20...23 damage and cause Bleeding for 8...18...21 seconds if they are blocked, but cause you to suffer from Weakness for 2 seconds." Nerfs Glass Arrows spike while buffing Glass Arrows for other purposes.


 * Dual Shot 10e 6r "Fire two arrows at your foe. Each arrow does 25...10...7% less damage. You suffer from Weakness for 2 seconds." Since the bow refire rate is already around 2 seconds, the weakness won't affect you unless you fire an arrow immediately afterward...like in Range Spike.


 * Issue 2
 * Damage from bows hasn't been buffed because bows already inflict conditions.


 * Suggestion
 * Make conditions and Wilderness Survival preparations "interfere" with certain damaging skills. A Ranger would have to specialize in d

damage or conditions but not both.
 * The argument that "rangers are conditions" really isn't fair because rangers don't have access to Deep Wound.

Here are some "fixed" skills.


 * Marauder's Shot 10e 4r "Marauder's Shot inflicts +10...34...40 damage, if target is suffering from a condition this skill takes an additional 3 seconds to recharge."


 * Sundering Attack 5e 3r "Sundering Attack strikes for +10...20...22 damage if it hits. If you don't have a Wilderness Survival preparation it also has 25% AP." Energy has been decreased but the fast activation is gone. The damage output has been increased generously and the conditional is even better.


 * Barrage 5e 1r "Fires arrows at up to 6 adjacent foes doing +5...17...20 damage. Lose a Wilderness Survival preparation." Now you get to keep your Read the Wind and Rapid Fire without getting nerfed due to Apply Poison + barrage.


 * Poison Arrow 5e 1r "If Poison Arrow hits, it strikes for +5...17...20 damage and inflicts Poison for 5...17...20 seconds." This can be buffed as it is elite.


 * Issue 3
 * Bad damage, bad DPS, and lousy attack rate


 * Suggestion
 * With the above ideas implemented, bows can safely have their attack delay decreased to 1.5 seconds. They should be as fast as a spear if not faster, while doing slightly more damage, which would be balanced as you can use a shield with a spear. The damage output should be 22-29 damage. The critical hits from a bow wouldn't do that much damage, but bows would have the most consistent damage.


 * Miscellaneous notes to Anet
 * If you hate range spike so much then why are a lot of non-interrupt bow attacks 1 second activation?
 * Ideally rangers would have to specialize in one of the following-Conditions, Damage, and Interrupts. Not sure how exactly to implement this, just something for you to think about.
 * Stop encouraging range spike. Get rid of quick activation bow attacks(with the exception of interrupts which should do 33% less base damage IMO and bow attacks that are intended to be quick) and give rangers back their damage output. The recent change to Melandru's Shot was no good and you know it.
 * Get rid of your unhealthy obsession with 10 recharge bow attacks. If I want to spend half my time autoattacking I'll go to WoW.
 * Revise the unfair energy costs of some bow attacks. Just because rangers have expertise does not mean they should be punished for it with high-costs. It's like having a noob with 10k in his depot pay 100gp for a salvage kit while having someone with 200k in his depot pay 500gp for the same salvage kit.
 * Rangers need more useful non-elite bow attacks other than Savage Shot, d-shot, hunter's shot, volley, sloth hunter's shot, and crossfire.


 * Issue 4
 * Bow damage hasn't been buffed because bows do more damage against targets lower than you.


 * Solution
 * Make bow damage like all other damage and scrap the height bonuses and penalties. Consistency > maximum damage.


 * Issue 5
 * Bows are the only fighter class that cannot inflict deep wound, even with elite skills. If ranged deep wound is so bad for the games, remove it from paragons which have better attack rate and armor.


 * Solution
 * Give bow attacks conditional deep wound at least. To balance this, non elite bow attacks that cause deep wound should be at least 10 energy and be conditional. Elite bow attacks that cause unconditional deep wound should have low bonus damage, if any, an energy cost of at least 10, or a recharge of at least 8 seconds(so Apply Poison + the new elite does not become the new Wounding Strike)