Feedback:User/Aquadrizzt/Skill rebalance/Ranger2

Skill rebalance/Ranger2
User	Aquadrizzt
Categories	Skill feedback → Ranger  → Other

Overview

This suggestion overhauls the Ranger and gets inspiration from the Dervish Overhaul update. As a profession, the Ranger is wrought with issues. The one truly unique mechanic of Rangers (pets) is lackluster, barely functional and generally unwieldy. The other unique mechanics, namely traps, preparations and nature rituals, are each some combination of being too specific or conditional, interfering with other mechanics or requiring highly split attribute spreads. Ranger skills also have this paradoxical flaw due to the profession's Expertise attribute mechanic: with even moderate points spent in Expertise, it reduces costs so significantly that to be balanced the skills used need incredibly high Energy costs (Rangers have more 25 energy cost skills that some of the spell-casting professions and are one of only two martial professions to have skills that cost 25 energy).

The Role(s) of Rangers

This entire suggestion is centered around the idea that Rangers exist to be a long-range "striker" profession, doing damage from afar while their pet engages foes in close combat. To accomplish this, the Ranger skills have been rebalanced to have a blend of single-target pressure and spike abilities, while limiting the amount of AoE and direct support Rangers can offer. Several new mechanics have also been implemented to both bring Rangers up to par with the other martial professions but also to provide a unique play-style for Rangers.

Expertise

• Expertise: changed functionality to "Each rank in Expertise reduces the energy cost of attack skills, Preparations, Stances and Traps by 3%."

Conditions

Rangers are one of the most condition-focused professions in Guild Wars. The only profession that rivals the Ranger's access to conditions is the Dervish, which had recently received a massive overhaul shortly before development ended.

Access to conditions

As of this suggestion, Rangers will have access to all conditions (including the usually Necromancer-exclusive Disease) to varying degrees.

• Bleeding and Poison — easy to apply and unconditionally available
• Blind, Burning, Cracked Armor and Weakness — moderately available, sometimes conditionally
• Dazed, Deep Wound and Disease — difficult to apply and conditionally available

Benefiting from conditions

A small number of Ranger skills already benefit from conditions, and this suggestion improves those skills and expands that list significantly.

• Scavenger's Focus

• Scavenger Strike

5 10 Pet Attack. Deals +10...22...25 damage. If target foe has a condition, deals an additional +10...22...25 damage.

Nature Rituals

Nature Rituals are an oddity among both Ranger skills and Guild Wars skill design; they are some of Ranger's only "support" abilities and they are the only skill type that can affect both foes and allies with no regard for affiliation. The symmetrical aspect of their design offers some cool potential for battlefield manipulation, so this update leans fully into making most Nature Rituals powerful effects that need to be built around.

In addition, all Nature Rituals have been split for PvE and PvP, with their casting times being reduced to 3/4s in PvE in order to make them more suited for the mobile nature of PvE adventuring.

Make Some New Rules

• Conflagration Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Converts physical damage to fire damage for creatures in range.
• Equinox Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range have their attributes set to 12. (Expertise)
• Greater Conflagration Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Converts all damage to fire damage for creatures in range.
• Famine Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Skills cost 0 Energy and cause Health loss for 300% of the Energy cost for creatures in range. Initial effect: Creatures in range lose all Energy.
• Frozen Soil Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range cannot activate resurrection skills or skills that exploit corpses.
• Muddy Terrain Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range move 10% slower and gain no benefit from movement speed boosts.
• Pestilence Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Conditions are contagious and spread between adjacent creatures.
• Predatory Season Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range receive 90% less from healing and gain Health equal to 10% of the damage they cause (maximum 50 Health).
• Roaring Winds Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Chants and shouts activated by creatures in range have their range reduced to nearby (rather than earshot).
• Tranquility Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range cannot activate enchantments, hexes, or weapon spells. Initial effect: Remove all enchantments, hexes, and weapon spells on creatures in range.
• Winter Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Converts elemental damage to cold damage for creatures in range.

Support Everyone ... or Don't

• Brambles Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Knocked-down creatures in range are Crippled and begin Bleeding for 10 seconds.
• Energizing Wind Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range have +2 Energy regeneration. (Wilderness Survival)
• Favorable Winds Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Projectile attacks move twice as fast and deal +6 damage for creatures in range.
• Fertile Season Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range have +4 Health regeneration.
• Infuriating Heat Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Doubles adrenaline gain for creatures in range. (Wilderness Survival)
• Quickening Zephyr Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Skills recharge 33% faster for creatures in range.
• Quicksand Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range move 70% slower for 5 seconds if they stop moving.
• Symbiosis Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range have +50 maximum health for each ritual affecting them.
• Toxicity Creates a level 1...8...10 spirit (30...126...150 second lifespan). Creatures in range with a condition have -2 Health degeneration. (Wilderness Survival)

Synergies

• Nature's Renewal Spell. Target ally is healed for 15...39...45 Health and gains 1 Energy for each Nature Ritual affecting them.
• Primal Echoes Spell. Target enemy takes 10...26...30 chaos damage for each Nature Ritual affecting them. (Wilderness Survival)

Traps

• Viper's Nest changed attribute to Wilderness Survival