The ranger build I use...

Sluggs

Sluggs

Banned

Join Date: Jun 2005

Hello there. I'd like to share with you the build I use for AB...

R/Mo ~ Lvl 20

Healing Prayers 4 (Well not something useful but ok...)
Expertise 11
Wilderness Survival 9
Marksmanship 13

Power Shot
Dual Shot
Kindle Arrows
Poison Arrow [e]
Savage shot
Hunter's Shot
Troll Unguent
Whirling Defense

Well I mostly use this build against the charging warriors. While they run at me Kindle Arrows + Hunter's Shot. Once they get near me, Whirling Defense, and then Poison Arrow. Then I just try to hit as much as I can, interrupting any Healing Signets on the process.

One thing I could improve is bring Distracting Shot instead of Savage so that Healing Signets stay out for a longer period.

So what do you think? Any comments appreciated!

Evilsod

Evilsod

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2006

England

Lievs Death Squad [LDS]

Cripshot will always be the best ranger build for AB if you want conditions and anti-warrior skills.

It would also make use of the 11 in Expertise. You might wanna chuck Power Shot for Distracting, lower Exp by 2 and boost WS... oh and use a sup rune

SnipiousMax

SnipiousMax

Perfectly Elocuted

Join Date: Sep 2005

Drop powershot...
Penetrating shot if you want an attack.
Distracting shot would be better.

Kindle is weaker against warriors, I'd suggest dropping that and Poison Arrow for Apply Poison as it will do the same thing. I'd strongly suggest Crippling Shot like Sod said.

Mera Regila

Mera Regila

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2006

In The Deep

R/A

If it's going to be purely against warriors. Pin down is good enough for a crippling attack, try replacing Power Shot with that. Remove heal prayers and put the points into something you use, like Wilderness Survival.

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

i dont see any heaing prayers in there.....

if you play around with your attributes you can invest those attributes in pumping up Wilderness

LazyLink

Academy Page

Join Date: Jul 2005

Ascalon Dung Warriors

R/Mo

Interesting build.

If you wanted to go anti-warrior I would go with the advise above, but if you want some versitility then I would suggest something else. For example, you have savage shot, which is good against casters but not warriors, this is good or bad depending on your purpose.

The only problems I see: no res ability, and no condition removal (mainly for blind). But its up to you in the end if you want to make room for them in your build.

caffienefiend

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jul 2006

ENVY

Mo/Me

I'd take expertise to either 9 or 12. Personally I load up on conditions and damage with interupts. My build always has
crippling attack
poison shot or prep
bleeding (soon fire)
interupt
condition or hex removal
healing
throw dirt
optional high damage attack or run away skill

I don't bring whirling def or anything like it, b/c I usually I can cripple and run and kite. It doesn't do the most damage, but I've found it to be the most versatile for grps.

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

my formula is:

"condition" attak (like crip shot, poison arrow, etc)
spammable damage attak
interrupt
preparation (most often poison or read the wind)
whirling defence
throw dirt
trall enguent
rez

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

ooops double post

Saborath Gilgalad

Saborath Gilgalad

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2005

Minneapolis

Natural Born Killas [NBK]

Personally I'd take out power shot and add in a utillity skill such as Throw dirt or a run like storm chaser or dodge. I like the run better, its been my experience that a speed skill is really nice to have in AB, and all the warriors you face will most likely have sprint so you may need to stay ahead of them, and it makes kiting much easier.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

If you are running a bow build in AB, I would suggest you stick with Cripple Shot {E} or Escape {E} unless you want an interupt build, in which case I would reccomend Punishing Shot {E}. Cripple + hunter's shot + apply poison is the best melee enemy shutdown, Escape {E} is one of the best capping skills, and Punishing is one of the best interupt skills.

Munanko Roha

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2006

KoH

W/E

Rangers in AB have the easiest time clearing the NPCs and surviving any kind of battle, just don't forget to:

1) Equip a running skill, Dodge is a safe bet
2) At least 1 degen condition, I found out Poison Arrow works wonder
3) 1-2 antiwarrior skills, for me it's Whirlwind Defence and Pin Down
4) 2 interrupts, Savage for spammable high damage interrupt, Distracting to disable key skills like Healing Signet
5) Self heal, Troll Unguent is always good
6) I like Read the Wind to ensure my interrupts to work and to deal most damage possible
7) Equip a longbow to stay away from aggro range of the NPCs, with RtW you won't have any problem from the arc of your arrows

As a ranger you shouldn't take on more than 2 enemyes at a time, so Cripshot isn't really needed, Pin Down should be enough as long as there's not too many condition removal (which I rarely found in AB), and your range, interrupts and stances should allow you to minimize damage taken. Your damage dealing is very good as long as you keep Marksmanship at 16 so you won't need Power Shot or such.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Munanko Roha
7) Equip a longbow to stay away from aggro range of the NPCs, with RtW you won't have any problem from the arc of your arrows If you are using RtW, there is no reason not to use a flatbow since RtW + Flatbow = max distance, max refire, and the speed of the arrow will be just as fast as any other bow under the effect of RtW.

"Despite what the description says this skill actually forces the bow arc into near-horizonal, almost twice as fast as a recurve bow. This means arrows shot from a flatbow will travel about four times faster than normal, while recurve bow shots will move only twice as fast. In any case the shots will be more accurate and harder to dodge."
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Read_the_Wind

Carth`

Carth`

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

When I play ABs with my ranger I use a flatbow + RtW. You can fire at the NPCs from a safe distance where they never fight back, kill them fast and then go in to cap it. They are great cappers.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Long and Flatbows are excellent for AB since you can attack and poison/interupt NPCs from a distance without aggroing most of them. If you play on the kurzick side, it's ridiculously easy to take out a turtle using nothing more than Apply Poison/Poison Shot and Savage Shot. Even if the turtle is surrounded by Luxon Warrior NPCs you can still take out the turtle without aggroing them just as long as you don't get close enough for them to come into your danger zone (radar bubble) or as long as no one else aggros them to you.

c_ras

c_ras

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2006

Eternal Deliverance

R/

I've done AB countless times and I have found a Quickshot Needler build to work wonders. This is what I usually run

Expertise: 16 (12+3+1)
Marksmanship: 10 (10+1)
Wilderness Survival: 9 (8+1)

Quickshot {E}
Called Shot
Distracting Shot
Needling SHot
Troll Unguent
Throw Dirt
Savage Shot
Whirling Defense

Spam Quickshot and Called Shot. I personally like to use Called Shot rather than Dual Shot for Energy management, but you can always place Dual Shot in there if you don't think you'll have a problem. When Target foe's health gets below 50%, start spamming Needling Shot as well. Use distracting shot and savage shot to interrupt targets, especially casters. If you get in a tight situation, use Whirling Defense and Throw Dirt. Use Troll Unguent for self-healing.

For weapon choice, I like to use a recurve bow. I'd also recommend to bring either a flatbow or longbow that you can switch to if you want to stay far enough from those heavy damage-dealing NPCs at some of the portals. If you really want, you can also bring a wand or staff that gives you extra energy and put that in one of your weapon slots. If you get into a tight situation, switch to your wand/staff before using Throw Dirt and Whirling Defense (and Troll Unguent if you are healing yourself) and then switch back to your bow after using the skills since these skills can be used without having a bow equipped. This will greatly help with energy management.

For armor, I prefer use my Druid's armor to get the energy bonus, which helps out.

Anyways, that is the tactics I usually like to go with and it seems to work great, but like others, sometimes I like to change things up just for fun and to try new things.

IGN: Aldoros of Faydark

Sir Mad

Sir Mad

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Moe's Pub

Pigs Can Fly [Pigs]

R/

With a kindle/poison/dual build I'd definitely go with 16 WS and 9 marks. It makes you deal more damage with kindle (which mean with all your attacks), which is even more useful against warriors, as it's fire damage (they'll have 80AL instead of 100). It also boosts your troll unguent (10 arrows).

Simath

Simath

haha you're dumb

Join Date: Jul 2005

Moscow

Personally I am not a huge fan of Kindle Arrows. Even though it does extra damage I would rather use the spot for a more useful skill.

If you want to focus your build on Warriors then I suggest taking Crippling shot and Throw Dirt they are the most effective against Warriors IMO.

When I am in AB with my Ranger I usually take Crippling Shot for my elite. I usually carry two interrupts, Dodge, Whirling Defense, Throw Dirt, and Troll Ungent. As for the last slot I usually take Apply Poison or Blackout.

SnipiousMax

SnipiousMax

Perfectly Elocuted

Join Date: Sep 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Mad
With a kindle/poison/dual build I'd definitely go with 16 WS and 9 marks. It makes you deal more damage with kindle (which mean with all your attacks), which is even more useful against warriors, as it's fire damage (they'll have 80AL instead of 100). It also boosts your troll unguent (10 arrows). I'm not convinced that that works out. Have you run the numbers on it?

Munanko Roha

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2006

KoH

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by c_ras
I've done AB countless times and I have found a Quickshot Needler build to work wonders. This is what I usually run

Expertise: 16 (12+3+1)
Marksmanship: 10 (10+1)
Wilderness Survival: 9 (8+1)

Quickshot {E}
Called Shot
Distracting Shot
Needling SHot
Troll Unguent
Throw Dirt
Savage Shot
Whirling Defense

Spam Quickshot and Called Shot. I personally like to use Called Shot rather than Dual Shot for Energy management, but you can always place Dual Shot in there if you don't think you'll have a problem. When Target foe's health gets below 50%, start spamming Needling Shot as well. Use distracting shot and savage shot to interrupt targets, especially casters. If you get in a tight situation, use Whirling Defense and Throw Dirt. Use Troll Unguent for self-healing. I'm a big fan of Quick/Needling too, so here's a few tips to max out their effect:

Drop WS to 4 (you're using it only for Troll, anyway you won't lose much healing) and boost Expertise to 13, this way your Quick/Needling will cost you 2 energy instead of 3 and you'll be able to spam them more efficently.

Add a preparation, with Marksmanship at 16 Read the Wind would be perfect, it adds 10 armor ignoring damage to your arrows and makes them less avoidable.

Use a vampiric bow, with it and your high Marksmanship your Needling Shot will now deal 36 armor ignoring damage; switch with a zealous if necessary.

Sir Mad

Sir Mad

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Moe's Pub

Pigs Can Fly [Pigs]

R/

EDIT - OMG sorry I was tired yesterday I read FA instead of AB - I do NOT use this build in AB, however it's one of my favourite build in FA. Sorry. I still answer the damage question:

Snipious, that's not "math" but simple testing on 80 AL dummies.

With 16 WS and 9 mark (on a 80 AL dummie):

I strike for 16.8 with a normal attack (average of about 40 attacks)
Dual shot strikes for 2*12.6
Kindle adds 18 damage (after armor reduction) to every arrow

Considering the fact you want to maintain kindle up all the time and therefore spend 2 sec to cast it every 24 secs, in 24 secs you shoot 3 dual shots, 9 normal shots (or poison arrow), and spend 2 secs for kindle. I didn't include savage/distrating damage. So you deal:

244 damage with kindle
75.6 with kindle
151.2 with the normal attack

that's a total of 470.8 damage. Of course it doesn't include poison, nor the extra attacks you can get with an interupt. It also deals MUCH more on mages (I tested on a 80 AL dummie, its armor reducing the damage taken from kindle).

Now with 16 mark and 9 WS:

Normal attack: 30.3
Dual: 22.7
Kindle: 11

So in 24 secs:

Normal: 272.7
Dual: 136.2
Kindle: 165

Total: 573.9

So yes you deal more damage with 16 marksmanship. However you also lose 3 arrows from troll unguent, 7 secs for the poison duration (and going luxon your primary target is NPCs - spamming poison arrow on them works well), and dryer's defense IMO is not worth the slot it takes if you don't have 16 WS (however with 16 WS despite its recharge time it's THE skill to kill an ele with 90% health remaining at the end of the fight). I really think both builds (16 WS 9 mark and 16 mark 9 WS) are as good, it depends on what you want to increase, attack or defense. And as I've been countless of time soloing Poleski and his friends with a couple of luxon warriors with me when my teammates were still trying to breach the other gate or busy killing the kurziks outside, I can say I really appreciated this extra defense.

Concretely, I have succesfully tanked 3 warriors/assassins with this build (throw dirt + stances), and can kill really quickly eles, monks, rits, most of the necros and sins. Warriors generally don't hurt me much but it takes obviously a lil bit longer to kill them. SS and heavy degen builds are a problem for this build. Touchies are also a bit annoying. You can of course poison them and kite them but generally in FA you don't want to waste your time running. And as usually other rangers (using a bow) are a pain because of the stances (you can touch me, I can't touch you), and generally I just ignore them to focus on other targets.