Curse

Nymph of Meliai · Aug 27, 2007, 10:14 AM // 10:14

I am very big user of ranger stances and my turtle build relies heavily on these stances - however, I have noticed these last 2-3 weeks that my stances are not lasting as long and costing more energy to maintain.

It is getting to the stage where I am going to have to stop using stances because of lack of energy to maintain them and they last such a short time.

I am all in favour of balancing skills etc. but ranger stances need to be re-balanced. They need to either last longer or cost less energy.

I don't know if their change was for pvp or to try and wipe out the ranger runner (pointless if you got dervisher, warrior and even elementalist runners) but some stances such as lightning reflexes, whirling defence, and dryder's defence don't involve running. Also Escape is supposed to be an elite skill so why has it become hardly any better than using a normal skill?

So please Anet - either increase the time of ranger stances, make them cost less energy, increase the ranger's base energy, or increase the recharge rate of ranger's energy - any one of those options will balance the ranger's stances and make them more usable again.

Nym

Tab · Aug 27, 2007, 10:16 AM // 10:16

The Escape change was a buff, not a nerf. It now has a higher percentage of the total time that it can be kept up, and is more likely to be available when you need it. All that is being changed is a shift from passive play to active play, which is a good thing.

Orange Milk · Aug 27, 2007, 02:30 PM // 14:30

I know of no "nerfs" to ranger stances at all, infact besides the Escape buff the was a buff to Lightning Reflexes recently so it can be kept up a higher % of the time.

If your duration is shorter and they cost more energy perhaps you are simply running with less attribute points in Expertis that you used to. That would certain account for both of those disparities.

Epinephrine · Aug 27, 2007, 02:43 PM // 14:43

I too view Escape's change as a buff - it is now available more %time, and more often when needed too! Rather than activating it, then having protection wasted since you've outpaced your enemy and avoided his attacks you have it available more often for immediate activation.

The cost for maintaining it has gone up, since you need to activate it more often, so for tanking the costs are higher. It is also less useful for tanking I suppose, but it's just fine for what it's designed for - escaping. You can safely apply pressure, and when a meleer comes after you it allows a speedy and safe withdrawal, wasting attacker time.

It is most probably a PvP buff for the skill, so that it may see use in a runner build at some point. Unfortunately, it's not too likely. Using an elite for a speed buff is not a great move, even if it combines defense - you give up Crip Shot or Burning Arrow (or others) to have it, not a good enough trade. In addition, the enchantment based skills allow persistent running speed bonuses, and escape will still be outperformed by most other running skills. Given the strength of the non-elite skills disrupting/savage perhaps we'll see an escape build someday.

moko · Aug 27, 2007, 03:33 PM // 15:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Epinephrine

Given the strength of the non-elite skills disrupting/savage perhaps we'll see an escape build someday.

quite many teams run it already..

and yes, it was a BUFF.

Evilsod · Aug 27, 2007, 04:35 PM // 16:35

I just wish they'd get round to buffing Dryders Defences... 50 second downtime... be serious!

Epinephrine · Aug 27, 2007, 06:36 PM // 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokone

quite many teams run it already..

and yes, it was a BUFF.

Really? I'll admit that I'm out of the loop, and most rangers I see are BA, sometimes cripshot. What kind of build?

And /signed on buffing Dryder's Defense. It's laughable, but could be a nice skill, especially since it's defensive in non-expertise. Perhaps the fear is that if it's too useful it'll be too easy for non-rangers to abuse.

Nemo the Capitalist · Aug 27, 2007, 10:34 PM // 22:34

i love ranger stances

esp in ra

bunny thumpin

Falconer · Aug 28, 2007, 12:56 AM // 00:56

Really abused?! Dryder's defense at it's current duration and 30s recharge would be no different from lightning reflexes to most rangers, it'd be slightly preferable to LR for trappers (IAS... why bother).

But to other builds... all it would mean would be survival would be akin to tactics as a secondary skill line. EG: a El/W w/ a tactics defensive stance w/ 10s duration and 30s recharge would be completely analogous. (example: a fire elly bringing his own 'winter' spirit.

I rank this skill right now w/ Otyugh's call... we'll know the end is coming when it actually gets buffed :P. (Otyughs wasn't changed until GW2 was announced)

Though I agree... I think escape was nerfed. I would expect 10s duration at a 13/14 spec for this to be a 'good' skill. For most purposes... nat stride is superior and non-elite and the 8spec for your troll in PvP more than justifies it's 50% uptime (6s duration on 12s recharge). Mind you I also argued that elite skills should have kept 'evade' while non-elites blocked making them far harder to counter. (or allowing already strong elites to block while keeping strong secondary effects).