Didn't see a Ranger thread so I figured I'd start one. Some things to begin the conversation...
Pets - it bugs me that to rez your pet you need to have the skill equipped, "comfort animal". To me, the equipped skill should be a quick battle rez and pet heal, so you can carry it only if you want it...not a need it. Then, you should automatically be able to rez your pet without wasting a slot, it should be either a long cast time in battle or an out of combat ability, or both, and put onto your pet bar. Otherwise you can't rez your pet unless you use up a slot.
Downed state - 2 out of 4 skills are calling your pet to you. There is no damage dealing skill. The other two are "throw dirt", or blind, and "help me" which gives a health boost. So you can't finish your enemy to rise back into battle, you deter him and only wait for your pet to lick your face and rez you.
I know they are reworking ranger pets, so this might already be on their list, but just in case Anet needs idears, here's a couple. Anyway, it's up to you now to speak your mind.
Hi Elevate, welcome to these forums. You're right, we didn't have a ranger thread yet.
With regard to the issues you raise:
* "comfort animal" - I thought the standard rez skill that everyone has (which works on all players and npc's), works for pets as well, so that the "comfort animal" skill is never absolutely required just for the rez? "Comfort animal" does more than just rez - especially the healing and the condition removal may be essential to keep your pet alive and fighting. And yes, if your pet is down, healing him with this skill will actually rez him. But as far as I know, so will the standard rez skill. I may be wrong, though, as this isn't something I've tested when I played the demo. And if I am wrong, then I agree with you... that would be unfair... anyone can rez just about everything in the game without taking up a slot, but rezzing your pet would always cost a skill slot. That would definitely not be right.
* Downed state - I think the idea is that calling your pet to you is the damage doing part. Having your pet by your side should both double the amount of damage you can do, and it could make your pet take the additional damage instead of you. But I admit that it is kind of weird that all other professions have at least 1 direct damage dealing skill in there, and rangers appear to not have that.
Come to think of it, regarding comfort animal and rezzing, I believe you are right. If you can rez anyone at any time, including npc's, then they'll probably make it so that you can rez your pet the same way, and maybe even anyone could rez your pet! Or, maybe that's going too far.
Regarding the downed state, maybe there's just no need to keep doing damage if you just have your pet come and rez every time. But that's a huge advantage for the ranger, in pve at least where you can't be stomped, as you'd pretty much always get your rez accomplished. Ranger ftw for the mad solo adventurer!
You're right, rangers do have a pretty big advantage there... your biggest enemy is the timer and the skill's recharge - when both you and your pet are down, it will be a race against the clock to rez your pet and get it to rez you before your downed state turns into defeated.
[Edit] btw, note that the underwater (drowning) set does have damage skills in it, even though you'll probably have your pet with you there as well...
Curious to see if the Ranger's downed state and his pet end up.. well.. Do mobs aggro your pet while he's rezzing you? What if they kill the pet?? Especially with some classes that dish out some decent damage in their downed state, which means they could kill something, potentially die again but kill another, rinse and repeat to victory.. If Captain Bacon squeels and runs to your side, only to be picked apart by the group of mobs.. Well, are you screwed??
Some more stuff to talk about while we patiently wait for the day we can play: Weapon choices. I'm thinking I'll be going with Long Bow + Axe/Horn. I like the knockback and aoe of the bow, I like the freeze and bleed from axe, and both the horn skills, cannot deny the badassness of hitchcock, aka "The Birds", and the horn comes with a party buff too. But of course, things will change. By things I mean skills.
With regard to weapon choices, definitely check out the TeamQuitter article about the ranger (or any of the other professions). They give a very good overview of which weapons are effective for which situations.
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