ArenaNet:Skill feedback/Miscellaneous/Give Rangers more options with bow attacks

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At the moment, Rangers that don't want to use bows have limited options in PvP due to nerfing of bow attacks.

Most people end up running some combination of Burning Arrow, Savage Shot, Distracting Shot, Pin Down, Magebane Shot, and sometimes Punishing Shot and Barrage in high-end PvP.

Starting with elite bow attacks:

Barrage is good with splinter weapon in some HA and GvG maps and definitely in PvE, but has few other applications. Plus the cost of specializing in both channeling and marksmanship for splinter barrage is a bit expensive, considering that splinter weapon keeps getting nerfed.

Suggestion-Increase AoE to nearby. This keeps it competitive with Volley since all 7 arrows are rarely used, what type of team is dumb enough to mob with 7 people adjacent against barrage?

Melandru's Shot is somewhat good energy management(conditional, but can generate up to 11 energy every 8-9 seconds). It is bad for doing damage due to its long recharge and energy cost, and it's elite.

Suggestion-Decrease energy to 5, decrease energy gain to 10, decrease recharge to 5. This will make it more suitable for doing damage without overpowering the energy gain.

Punishing Shot could have been a great interrupt but was nerfed due to range spike.

Suggestion-Reduce energy to 5, and reduce damage to 3...13...16. Add "If a skill was interrupted, it does +10..22..26 damage". This rewards interrupting while keeping costs low and not encouraging range spike.

Crippling Shot Counters to conditions(Mending Touch, Antidote Signet, etc) make Crippling Shot outdated and underpowered. Covering it with Apply Poison is useless against mending touch and antidote signet. Plus, in high-end PvP, it's just food for Restore Condition.

Suggestion-Add damage of 5...15...18.

Quick Shot is mediocre at best. To do any decent damage you need to bring a preparation and conjure, eating up two skill slots. This hasn't been buffed because buffing it would result in range spike.

Suggestion-Add damage of 5...17...21 and increase recharge to 5 seconds.

If there was an elite bow attack that definitely deserved to be un-elited, it would be Poison Arrow. Apply Poison is overall more efficient. Worse, Poison Arrow can be blocked(unlike Crippling Shot which is unblockable) and has no damage bonus. There are no good preparations to stack it with that would be competitive with Burning Arrow/Apply Poison. In short, Poison Arrow just plain sucks. Being linked to a useless attribute adds insult to injury.

Suggestion-This needs an aggressive buff. Give the poison effect an area of adjacent, and add a damage bonus of 5...17...21. Move to Marksmanship. Increase recharge to 4 seconds to encourage skillful use of the AoE instead of spamming it.

Broad Head Arrow is good for inflicting the Dazed condition but is easily dodged. Instead of being an "all or nothing" bow attack, I suggest a buff that encourages more active use of the Dazed condition.

Suggestion 1-Reduce Dazed duration to 1...6...7, reduce recharge to 10 seconds, add "This arrow moves faster than normal. If it is blocked, target foe is interrupted." The 15 energy cost means that Rangers will have to think twice instead of spamming it blindly maintaining Dazed.

Suggestion 2-10e 1/2s 8r "Elite Bow Attack. If Broad Head Arrow hits, it causes Dazed for 1...4...5 seconds. If it interrupted a Spell or Chant, it causes Dazed for an additional 5...13...15 seconds.

Magebane Shot could use a small damage increase of 5...13...15.

Oath Shot is underpowered, but I don't know how to improve it.

Prepared Shot is fine as it is.

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An overview of the non-elite bow attacks

• Arcing Shot is useful at short range, but doesn't see much use due to being easily dodged. I suggest adding "If this fails to hit, it recharges instantly and you gain 1 energy."
• Called Shot is just plain useless. Sure, it moves quickly and cannot be blocked, but doesn't do enough damage. I suggest adding a small amount of damage, like 5...13...15.
• Crossfire is good as it is. Decent damage bonus, low cost, low recharge, and conditional unblockability.
• Debilitating Shot is good as it is. It throws away energy faster than energy surge.
• Determined Shot is a bit underused. I would suggest changing it to 5e 4r "If Determined Shot hits, it does +5..17..21 damage. If it is blocked, target foe takes 15...39...47 and it recharges instantly.
• Disrupting Shot is severely underpowered with a massive energy cost and recharge. Since it does a lot of damage, I would suggest a small buff, reduce recharge to 10 seconds.
• Distracting Shot is good enough and doesn't need any improvement.
• Dual Shot is a bit underpowered. I would suggest decreasing energy to 5, but keep the recharge at 10 to discourage overuse in range spike.
• Forked Arrow is underpowered as well. It needs to be changed to "If you are enchanted it takes an additional 8 seconds to recharge."
• Hunter's Shot is already good as it is.
• Keen Arrow definitely does not need a buff.
• Marauder's Shot needs a buff. It disables your skills and is a bit expensive. I would suggest changing it too "+5...10...11 damage for each recharging bow attack, maximum 40 damage". Decrease energy to 5.
• Pin Down is fine as it is and actually a bit overpowered in low-end PvP.
• Power Shot is a piece of trash. It does only as much damage as Crossfire while costing 5 more energy and longer recharge. I would suggest reverting it to its old functionality. Decrease energy to 5, decrease recharge to 4, increase damage to 10...26...31. Increase activation time to normal. This way it is balanced against crossfire.
• Precision Shot has the same problem as Power Shot. Decrease energy to 5.
• Savage Shot is fine as it is.
• Screaming Shot is fine as it is.
• Sloth Hunter's Shot's damage is actually a bit overpowered, perhaps change to conditional damage to bleeding and drop recharge to 5.
• Splinter Shot is trash. Costs 10 energy for negligible damage output and lousy conditional with adjacent AoE. I suggest making the AoE damage unconditional but decreasing it a bit, and increasing damage to match Burning Arrow.
• Sundering Attack is garbage as well. Doesn't do much damage and the 10% armor loss is pathetic. Decrease energy to 5.
• Volley is fine as it is.
• Zojun's Shot is a bit slow, but does a lot of damage. I would suggest reducing activation to 1 second and dropping damage to 10...26...31.