Celtic Heroes

The Ranger has all the makings of a good off-tank and/or offheals.

Defensive Spikes is nearly usless for damage, but the idea of a damage shield is definitely a good one. Entangle and Light heal would definitely be terrific assets in a tank build IF only we had a "Taunt" -even a limited one.

I propose that you give ranger heal and defensive spikes some Threat generation quality as it would achive this and even give the defensive spikes some value (finally) ...
This would open the door to new builds, make the spear a viable option once again and ultimately create a little bit of excitement amongst the community as Rangers would be able to help provide a stop gap when a tank is not available or the mob is less then a top tier enemy...

As it stands defensive spikes is nearly useful at 220, 50 skill max dex and a +10 charm. Unless you increase its damsge output, it simply will continue to never be used by any ranger, just like Barbed Shot or Camo...

Moral of the story: give is a taunt!

Also,

Consider changing Barbed shot into a ranger only skill for spear... Maybe making it exactly as it is but giving it an aoe component with low damage proc but add threat generation to it... This way it would pair with defensive spikes for a creative sustained aoe/taunt.

Spear builds will never be viable again for rangers vs gear available now. Ranger is a DPS class with some support utilities, not a tank

Respectfully, I disagree with you. Now what I mean by that is simply that you are right only *If* OTM ignores suggestions like this and the discussions that start as a result. You are wrong *if* OTM sees this or other such suggestions fully or in part as valuable consumer data and then moves to deliver to the players the product of their feedback... If OTM never takes our feedback the community will quickly stop providing it, and that is something no developer wants...

With that said, what the Ranger class "IS" currently is different from what it once was. It would be unreasonable to exoect things to not change again...

The fact remains that Rangers have skills that are 98% of the time not utilized by any Ranger. Folks try them and then quickly learn that they are simply bad skills.... For a game that offers so few skills to its classes we cannot have this.

Defensive Spikes
what it is: - great idea. Horrible execution. Damage too low. Doesnt crit. (Even at max dex with end game gear and max skill)

What it could be: - A cornerstone of the Ranger "off Tank" build which couod include a small taunt which would help this style ranger stay high on the threat list incase the main tank dies... Alternatively, it can be a terrific skill to help a ranger level and work in tandem with Barbed shot which by itself is extremely poor choice for dps due to long animation, cast time and extremely low damage output.

Barbed Shot:

What it is: a Dot that is VERY poorly designed. Its long cast time only reduces overall dps for a ranger rather then increasing it. Even with end game gear and high dex the skill is simply a poor choice.

What it could be:

Opition 1. An instant cast would instantly make the spell 80% more viable then it is.

Option 2. Change to a Barbed Spear and the ranger would instantly have a viable Spear build again.

Option 3. Make it into a low damage spear AOE which helps generate low levels of threat. Ideally to be used with Defensive Spikes as outlined above.

In closing,

Just because we are a dps class does not mean we cant do other things... Warriors dps and tank. Druids dps and heal. Rangers in every other mmo i ever playd have had the potential to take on other roles. Not as well as a dedicated class ofcourse but when you open the options even slightly it leads to fun versitility in play.

Why be anything else when you can be a :

Melee ranger
Tank ranger
Dps ranger
Heal ranger

Rangers might have more possibilities in other games but here, you are overpowering one class when other classes like mage are being forced into support, why should rangers have so many options yet mages have support or not even bother

Each class is special for a reason and this would take away the whole idea of keen eyed strong marksmen this game has built up for 7 years

Okay, lets actually have this conversation then. First of all,

Heal Ranger? Unlikely. Light heal on it's best day is an "off-heal" which, yes. We can do. It's a core part of being a ranger. Its not self only but it definitely wont cut it as a main heal for any boss. Seriously...

A dps ranger, yes.

A tank ranger? More like off tank really. Cant come close to a warior with their gear and skills being totally geared for it... But we can equip a shield and a spear for a reason... No?

Mele ranger? No, we will never have a viable mele ranger unless its like I described as a limited resource to pair with a shield and spam self heal and defensive spikes to make it viable. But it would be fun though not really a great tank for prot or anything like that, lets be serious...

Mages... You feel Mages are being pushed into a support role? My mage tripples my rangers burst and can switch elemental output. Desirable as a support role, yes, but not at all at the cost if their dps potential... Rogues and Mages will in this, and every other mmo be 90% dps 10% cool tricks. This is unlikely to change, and the community is unlikely to want it to change.

And to be fair, Rangers have only in the last 2 years even became a viable class. I've been playing it for 4 years as a main and frankly we are only finally relevant now. But that doesnt mean we should stop working on the class... We have alit of skills that are simply useless in any build. I want to see them reimagined or altered for viability. What's wrong with trying to give OTM some feedback?

Spear builds will never be viable again for rangers vs gear available now. Ranger is a DPS class with some support utilities, not a tank

You’re not viable enough to be a viably viable ranger to be making viable ranger decisions and giving viable feedback for other viable rangers looking to become more viable. Weak

Every class can equip a shield and a spear (careers can equip aggy spear).

Also,

Consider changing Barbed shot into a ranger only skill for spear... Maybe making it exactly as it is but giving it an aoe component with low damage proc but add threat generation to it... This way it would pair with defensive spikes for a creative sustained aoe/taunt.

great way to make an under used and under powered skill even weaker...lol

It needs one of a few things to happen in order to become more viable. 1- increase the damage per tic. 2- change tic damage to be in line with rend (every 2 seconds). 3- change the damage type to bleeding or poison. 4- remove the animation and the cast time.

Huge -1 to making it a spear only skill...

A spear ranger will never again be a viable dps build unless OTM makes a ranger quest offhand. Which i cant see happening

Why be anything else when you can be a :

Melee ranger
Tank ranger
Dps ranger
Heal ranger

Rangers might have more possibilities in other games but here, you are overpowering one class when other classes like mage are being forced into support, why should rangers have so many options yet mages have support or not even bother

Each class is special for a reason and this would take away the whole idea of keen eyed strong marksmen this game has built up for 7 years

Im no ranger so i cant comment on the validity of each builds but rangers have always been a jack of all trades class with a emphasis on dps. I believe when i started playing back in 2011 thats even what it said in the class descriptions. Rangers can have a decent heal, exceptional dps output, can have a melee based build etc. So why not make them a be able to tank in a pinch? This idea also makes a worthless skill a little more useful as well. Big +1 from me, would love to see this implemented into the game.