So I got bored of my other characters and noticed i had a lvl 15 ranger in nightfall. Went on him and he had a perfect bow, max armor, and other goodies, so i decided to play him. He is still on the starter island, but i can make it to the other side easily. Now here comes some questions.
What kind of build should I go with for PvE?
Marksmanship? Pet? Both? I have no idea, havent really played a ranger before, I just need one that can open up a can of whoop-ass in PvE
What Elite should I be going for?
This elite needs to be for the build that you suggest, and VERY short from just getting off the starter island, or very very short from keineng, lions arch, or droks.
My goal for this ranger is to beat EOTN, and then all the other campaigns. I just need something that can do this pretty easily.
thanks.
What, Which, and Why?
infamous16
Ghostcell
http://www.pvxwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page
get some ideas from there and then put your own together
get some ideas from there and then put your own together
Vexed
Pets are generally useless unless you are running a pure BM or Thumper build.
Excellent elites are Broad Head Arrow from Factions (this one is almost stapled to my bar in HM), Burning Arrow from NF (good damage skill, run it with apply poison for heavy degen+damage in one shot). Prepared Shot can be helpful if you run into energy problems, but I think that one comes later on in NF. Barrage if you're lazy and like hammering away on one key for an entire map.
Best thing about rangers is they are versatile, and can easily adapt to different areas by swapping out just one or two skills.
If I were going to run one build for most of the game, I'd probably go with:
Distracting Shot
Broad Head Arrow
Natural Stride
Rez of choice
And 4 optional skills. Volley, Sloth Hunter's Shot, Epidemic, Splinter Weapon, Screaming Shot, Read the Wind, Apply Poison, Conjure Element, Throw Dirt, are just a few that come to mind. But really, just pick what you need for the area you're in.
Excellent elites are Broad Head Arrow from Factions (this one is almost stapled to my bar in HM), Burning Arrow from NF (good damage skill, run it with apply poison for heavy degen+damage in one shot). Prepared Shot can be helpful if you run into energy problems, but I think that one comes later on in NF. Barrage if you're lazy and like hammering away on one key for an entire map.
Best thing about rangers is they are versatile, and can easily adapt to different areas by swapping out just one or two skills.
If I were going to run one build for most of the game, I'd probably go with:
Distracting Shot
Broad Head Arrow
Natural Stride
Rez of choice
And 4 optional skills. Volley, Sloth Hunter's Shot, Epidemic, Splinter Weapon, Screaming Shot, Read the Wind, Apply Poison, Conjure Element, Throw Dirt, are just a few that come to mind. But really, just pick what you need for the area you're in.
SnipiousMax
Quote:
Originally Posted by ME!!!
I'd suggest
2 - Attack skills
1 - Perperation
1 - Interrupt (this is the reason you're a ranger)
1 - Defensive Stance + Speed boost (one skill there's three or four that work)
1 - Resurrection Signet
2 - Utility/PvE Skills
A good starting profession (although many consider it a crutch) is a /Mo. You can take Mending Touch as one of your Utility Skills. As for your other utlity skill, another good one to start with is Throw Dirt, which will protect your soft armored team mates from melee.
You're Attributes are going to center around how many points you want to put into Expertise:
8 Expertise if you have lots of 5 energy skills
9 or 12 Expertise if you have a number of 10 energy skills
10-11 expertise doesn't gain any advantage over 8 expertise, so use either 8,9 or 12. You should try and have at least 12 in Marksmanship, and that will leave you points to play with wilderness survival or in a secondary.
Anyway, that's a good base, and it's been pretty much the prototype for any number of builds. Alternatively you can switch out one attack skill for another interrupt. Your mileage may vary.
As for an elite, your closest, best elite is most likely Broad Head Arrow. You can get that one pretty soon after leaving Shing Jea Island. Burning Arrow isn't too awfully far into Nightfall, and that is also a great choice.
2 - Attack skills
1 - Perperation
1 - Interrupt (this is the reason you're a ranger)
1 - Defensive Stance + Speed boost (one skill there's three or four that work)
1 - Resurrection Signet
2 - Utility/PvE Skills
A good starting profession (although many consider it a crutch) is a /Mo. You can take Mending Touch as one of your Utility Skills. As for your other utlity skill, another good one to start with is Throw Dirt, which will protect your soft armored team mates from melee.
You're Attributes are going to center around how many points you want to put into Expertise:
8 Expertise if you have lots of 5 energy skills
9 or 12 Expertise if you have a number of 10 energy skills
10-11 expertise doesn't gain any advantage over 8 expertise, so use either 8,9 or 12. You should try and have at least 12 in Marksmanship, and that will leave you points to play with wilderness survival or in a secondary.
Anyway, that's a good base, and it's been pretty much the prototype for any number of builds. Alternatively you can switch out one attack skill for another interrupt. Your mileage may vary.
As for an elite, your closest, best elite is most likely Broad Head Arrow. You can get that one pretty soon after leaving Shing Jea Island. Burning Arrow isn't too awfully far into Nightfall, and that is also a great choice.
Yuhe Ji
DIdn't he say he was from Nightfall? Burning Arrow is very close, just a short distance from yohlon Haven.
Cebe
Basic Guide to Playing Ranger.
Check out specimen builds, and alter them to suit your playstyle.
I would also advise either go Beast Mastery, or Marksmanship. Don't just take a pet "because he's cute", at least, while you're still learning the class.
Check out specimen builds, and alter them to suit your playstyle.
I would also advise either go Beast Mastery, or Marksmanship. Don't just take a pet "because he's cute", at least, while you're still learning the class.
newbie_of_doom
splinterbrg>pve
1. Barrage
2. Distr shot
3. Svg shot
4. Splinter weapon
5. Lightning reflexes
6. Fomf
7&8 whatever
enjoy pwning stuff:P
1. Barrage
2. Distr shot
3. Svg shot
4. Splinter weapon
5. Lightning reflexes
6. Fomf
7&8 whatever
enjoy pwning stuff:P
Cebe
Quote:
Originally Posted by newbie_of_doom
splinterbrg>pve
1. Barrage
2. Distr shot
3. Svg shot
4. Splinter weapon
5. Lightning reflexes
6. Fomf
7&8 whatever
enjoy pwning stuff:P To be honest, Volley is a better compromise thanks to Eye of the North, freeing up your elite slot for something more useful.
1. Barrage
2. Distr shot
3. Svg shot
4. Splinter weapon
5. Lightning reflexes
6. Fomf
7&8 whatever
enjoy pwning stuff:P To be honest, Volley is a better compromise thanks to Eye of the North, freeing up your elite slot for something more useful.
infamous16
I think I might just go with all of them, I probably have access to almost all of them by tonight...
Arent they nerfing splinter or barrage sometime soon?
So what about burning arrow, poinson arrow, and epidemic? Or would that not work?
and why would it matter if i picked a pet for looks? As long as i have a bm build, and all pets do the same amount of dmg, dont they?
Arent they nerfing splinter or barrage sometime soon?
So what about burning arrow, poinson arrow, and epidemic? Or would that not work?
and why would it matter if i picked a pet for looks? As long as i have a bm build, and all pets do the same amount of dmg, dont they?
Cebe
Pets deal more damage as you increase Beast Mastery, which is why it's seldom useful to just take a pet for the sake of taking a pet. If you have almost no points in Beast Mastery your pet is just...a diversion. When you go Beast Mastery, you should be maxing out BM, as your pet is your weapon. Though I do like to use a bow, because I can use Distracting Shot (which is far superior to Distracting Lunge in my opinion), I tend to use one with as lower requirement as I can get (Req 8 or 9), so that I can properly pump up Beast Mastery and Expertise. That being said, some may argue that it's not even worth meeting the requirement of your weapon... D-Shot does, after all, provide an unconditional skill recharge effect, and that's all it's used for. The damage from it is "meh" anyway.
I'm Rambling.
As for Epidemic. It's good on Rangers. Broad Head Arrow + Epidemic + Volley can be used to interrupt multiple foes, assuming they're balled up nicely. Poison Arrow seems a waste of an elite, when Poison Tip Signet or Apply Poison spread that condition, and are non-elite. Burning Arrow is a strong elite, high damage, and when combined with Apply Poison can be used to inflict some nasty degen too.
I'm Rambling.
As for Epidemic. It's good on Rangers. Broad Head Arrow + Epidemic + Volley can be used to interrupt multiple foes, assuming they're balled up nicely. Poison Arrow seems a waste of an elite, when Poison Tip Signet or Apply Poison spread that condition, and are non-elite. Burning Arrow is a strong elite, high damage, and when combined with Apply Poison can be used to inflict some nasty degen too.
Vexed
Quote:
Originally Posted by infamous16
Quote:
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and why would it matter if i picked a pet for looks? As long as i have a bm build, and all pets do the same amount of dmg, dont they?
Yes, all pets do equal damage, the skin is purely cosmetic. The point to remember is that unless you invest heavily in Beast mastery, your skill slots are better used on something else.
Pyro maniac
easily available elites:
Prepared Shot, just outside of eye of the north (time needed: 30 minutes from kamadan) Burning Arrow, just outside of Yohlon haven (10 minutes after completing consolate) Barrage, in a quest (1 hour after completing consulate) Rampage as One, Jahai Bluffs (30 minutes after completing Consulate) Broadhead Arrow, Vizunah Sqaure/Dragons Throat (1-1,5 hour after completing 'time is nigh') Enraged Lunge (pretty meh), Nahpui Quarter (1,5-2 hour after completing Vizunah Square) Pretty much all the elites you'll need.
Cebe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyro maniac
Enraged Lunge (pretty meh), Nahpui Quarter (1,5-2 hour after completing Vizunah Square)
When used with skills with long recharges, such as Call of Haste, Call of Protection etc.. it's a very decent skill as far as Beast Master damage is concerned.
Pyro maniac
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver
When used with skills with long recharges, such as Call of Haste, Call of Protection etc.. it's a very decent skill as far as Beast Master damage is concerned.
It's better with [skill]Tiger's Fury[/skill] (disables Charm & Comfort)
CoH/CoP are pretty useless Prefer HaO on a beast bar tho.
Cebe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyro maniac
It's better with [skill]Tiger's Fury[/skill] (disables Charm & Comfort)
CoH/CoP are pretty useless Prefer HaO on a beast bar tho. That post confuses me. 1. How does Enraged Lunge work better with Tiger's Fury? Tiger's Fury makes you attack faster, when playing as a full BM, your Pet should be the primary damage dealer...shouldn't it? A skillslot would be far better off being used for a skill to buff your pet, rather than you. 2. I disagree. CoH is an IAS for your pet, as well as a speed increase. It is important that your pet moves faster so that it keeps up with what it's attacking, and moves around the battlefield faster. CoP gives base damage reduction, which becomes more useful as your pet becomes more Dire, to be fair, but even on a Hearty pet it's not a *bad* skill. It can negate up to ~21 damage, which is enough to neutralise most normal attacks against your pet, as well as the bulk of any AoE damage it takes. 3. Heal as One is a good skill. Yes. But I think it excels more on bars like R/P Packhunters and the like where they need more skillbar compression. For a Rangers who are devoted to using Pets as their primary weapon, they should have buffs and defensive shouts for their pets on their bar, making Hao less useful.
Pyro maniac
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver
1.2.3.
Shouldn't every beastmaster use both weapons? The pet and you? (where a spear or hammer is the most optimal)
I never liked the pure beastmaster builds, just because you are doing nothing. Pick up a spear plus maybe some adrenaline spear attacks and you deal extra damage for free. Tiger's Fury helps with that, also it disables the two useless skills Comfort and Charm (useless: you'll never use them) and it that way with just 4 skills you'll get the full bonus. [skill]Enraged Lunge[/skill][skill]Tiger's Fury[/skill][skill]Comfort Animal[/skill][skill]Charm Animal[/skill] CoP + CoH requires 1 additional slot while it (imo) gives less benefit. The poor damage reduction isn't worth it since it can be replaced by an occasional WoH. The attack (+movement) speed boost is nice, however any attack skill does more damage. [skill]Wild Throw[/skill][skill]Mighty Throw[/skill][skill]Disrupting Throw[/skill][skill]Disrupting Throw[/skill][skill]Vicious Attack[/skill][skill]Spear of Lightning[/skill][skill]Barbed Spear[/skill][skill]Blazing Spear[/skill] are skills that could fit in the other 3s slots. Although I maybe have to revise my opinion: Enraged Lunge is fine for the damage, I just prefer an other elite. +80 damage every 5 seconds is actually pretty hot.
Cebe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyro maniac
I never liked the pure beastmaster builds, just because you are doing nothing. Pick up a spear plus maybe some adrenaline spear attacks and you deal extra damage for free.
Ok, fair enough, I just didn't realise that was what you were trying to say.
 I should add a build like that to the Stickied Guide I think...
Pyro maniac
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver
Ok, fair enough, I just didn't realise that was what you were trying to say.
you're right, just realized it >.<
SnipiousMax
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexed
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Unless they've fixed it, the Tyrian bear actually does less damage because of an innate 'pet skill' that does no extra damage but has a casting time.
Quote:
From Wiki:
Quote:
1. Where did you get this idea that I'm against auto-attacking with a spear? That's a great idea. What I'm against is adding spear skills in place of more useful pet skills.|
Originally Posted by wiki
Skills that disable non-attack skills upon use (like Tiger's Fury) will then allow Enraged Lunge to include the damage bonus from other Beast Mastery skills not commonly 'recharging' due to fast or no recharge times for those skills (like Charm Animal and Comfort Animal for example).
Back in the Day, you could set your stats just so, that while your pet was the main damage dealer, your secondary source of damage (autoattacking with the bow) was like a constant conjure phantasm. It's been awhile since I've even used a pet for something other than thumper, so I'm not sure how well it still works, but that was the idea.
Orange Milk
Though Tigers has a 10 sec recharge to Enraged 5 sec, and the disable is only 5 sec so your then looking at being able to use enraged at full bonus 1 time ever 10 secs, with CoH and CoP you can pop off a full bonus attack on the recharge of Enraged.
But atleast it makes use of Comfort and Charm. Add barbed Spear and Posion bite in there and a Rez and a self heal and your all set I guess infamous16
Why use a spear instead of a bow? That is confusing.
otherwise, thanks for all of your help!
Pyro maniac
Quote:
Originally Posted by infamous16
Why use a spear instead of a bow? That is confusing.
otherwise, thanks for all of your help! spear is better in auto-attacking. Bow is better in savage + d-shot. With a beast master you're going for damage so a spear seems better. You could use a bow tho if you like the interrupts.
Cebe
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnipiousMax
Tiger's Fury disables all non-attack skills and add's fuel to Enraged Lunge...
I figured that out tonight. I am ashamed to say I'd not used that skill before tonight. Wow. I love it, and with Enraged Lunge, it's beautiful.
Tyla
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orange Milk
Though Tigers has a 10 sec recharge to Enraged 5 sec, and the disable is only 5 sec so your then looking at being able to use enraged at full bonus 1 time ever 10 secs, with CoH and CoP you can pop off a full bonus attack on the recharge of Enraged.
But atleast it makes use of Comfort and Charm. Add barbed Spear and Posion bite in there and a Rez and a self heal and your all set I guess Enraged is an attack skill. Pet attack to be precise. So it won't get disabled. 
SnipiousMax
Quote:
Originally Posted by tyla salanari
Enraged is an attack skill. Pet attack to be precise. So it won't get disabled.
You misunderstood him.Tiger's Fury disables skills for 5 seconds and recharges only every 10, Enraged Lunge recharges every 5 seconds. He was saying you could only use it once in that five seconds. Which is technically true, but due to the fact that pet skills aren't instant use (they are cached) it really works out much better than you'd expect. And even in those instances where you only have Tiger's fury recharging, you'll still get a 2x multiplier. Tiger's Fury is nice because it adds a near constant Speed buff, and that can add up to some significant damage.
Orange Milk
Yeah what he said. CoH and CoP are automatically disabled for an extended period of due to their own recharge times where as Charm and Comfort on only down for 5 secs a pop every 10 secs
So you go TF> Enraged *5secs recharge on enraged* boom charm and comfort are no longer recharging *wait 5 secs more for a TF recharge* TF > Enraged. So your cutting it really close to get off more than one FULL power Enraged every 10 secs You can still hit enraged every 5 secs, just not at full power. Prolly poorly explained, I'm hung over. Chthon
1. For general purpose PvE, splinter/barrage is the dominant build. The core of the build is really just 2 skills, so you've got some freedom here. Toss a couple of interrupts on. Maybe needling shot. You've got room for a pet, but that's not really the best use of space.
2. For big, ugly caster bosses (read: EotN dungeons), broadhead arrow + splinter/volley. Most PvE foes don't really need dazed, or at least not so badly that concussion shot isn't up to the task, so there's no point in changing to volley (which really is quite a bit weaker than barrage) to free up your elite. But, when you know you'll be facing a foe that absolutely cannot be permitted to get a spell off, it's time to pull out broadhead. 3. Pets... I love pets. I really do. I've got a rainbow phoenix. I brush his feathers all the time. And if the game mechanics allowed it I'd sell phoenix rides to small children for 10g a pop. But I have to admit that they suck in GW. The only time where a pet is anywhere close to being an optimal choice in PvE is on a barrage/pet team. Other than that, if you're bringing a pet, it's always because you're choosing the fun and happiness and unconditional love that a pet gives you over a more effective build. 4. Enraged Lunge is not "meh." Nor is it only "pretty decent." It is without question the best beast mastery elite, and best beast mastery skill, available. 5. I've never seen a beastmaster run spear attack skills and end up better off for it. A pure beastmaster dedicating those slots to improving pet damage always ends up with better DPS. Of course you should still have 9 weapon mastery so that you can auto-attack. But the spear attacks don't really measure up to the brutal strike or call of haste/feral aggression or other pet skill that they'll be replacing.
SnipiousMax
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chthon
5. I've never seen a beastmaster run spear attack skills and end up better off for it. Then why do they run Pack hunters in TA instead of straight Beastmasters? You do not need 8 pet skills on your bar to make your pet effective, and spear damage is one of the more unbalanced elements of the game. Chthon
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnipiousMax
Then why do they run Pack hunters in TA instead of straight Beastmasters?
Because they are bad players. It is TA after all...
Tyla
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnipiousMax
Then why do they run Pack hunters in TA instead of straight Beastmasters? You do not need 8 pet skills on your bar to make your pet effective, and spear damage is one of the more imbalanced elements of the game.
Fix'd.
@Chthon -- HaO Spears are actually quite strong. Condition pressure at range with the second most imba weapon in the game (I personally think it's the Scythe.), increases your survivability, aswell as things like Lightning Reflexes, which not only gives you 33% upkeep block stance, but an IAS aswell. Pure beastmaster builds are poor and too flooded up, because you can't micro it well, regardless of skill level. With the HaO spear, you also gain more versatility at ease. You get an easily applied snare.
SnipiousMax
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chthon
Because they are bad players. It is TA after all...
: rolleyes :
They're a gimmick build, but they're frustrating to play against. Point is, if you see a pet in PvP, it's never the focus of the build. In PvE you are wasting an ENORMOUS amount of energy hinging your effectiveness in its entirety on the cooperation of the Game's AI. There is always a lag when you use any pet attack skill, as they are cached and not insta-cast (like weapon skills are). This means that conditions, interrupts and the like are less precise than weapon counterparts. It is also rather difficult to switch targets with your pet, and the pet 'controls' leave alot to be desired. Spears are the fastest attacking, most damaging ranged attack in GWs. Under a constant speed buff (like Tiger's Fury, or RaO, NRA) you are pumping out alot of damage just autoattacking. One or two spear attacks just rounds out your routine. I think you'd be hard pressed to find three pet skills that are worth more than a speed buff, and two attack skills. Chthon
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnipiousMax
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2. Where did you get the idea that I'm advocating a beastmaster in PvE at all? With no AoE and no imba PvE-skills, they just can't compete with serious builds in PvE. The only reason to play a beastmaster in PvE is just for kicks.
And they're not very useful in PvP either. Except for the bunny thumper (which is only as good as its disruption ability), pets have no useful place outside of RA/TA.
3. Now, as for RA/TA, I do take my PvE ranger to RA as a beastmaster for kicks sometimes, and I often end up in TA with it once I get a winning streak going. (And, btw, I do run into pack hunters, and I routinely eat them from breakfast.)
And, yes, the BM skills are more useful than any of the spear attacks at 9 mastery. Let's break down your bar one skill at a time to show why that is:first you need a rez. 1 skill slot used. Now you need comfort and charm just to have the pet around. 3 skill slots used. Enraged lunge. If you're not bringing this, no reason to even bother with a pet. 4 skill slots used. Brutal Strike. That's +70ish armor-ignoring damage on a quick recharge. Do any of the spear skills come close to that? No. Brutal strike gets the space. 5 skill slots used. Now we need some slow recharge skills to proc enraged lunge. And we're going to need 3 of them.
"What about bestial fury?" you ask. Can't you just use that to disable charm and comfort? Nope. It's only active half-time. You lose too much DPS off of enraged that way.
How about counting brutal strike as a proc. Tried it. It recharges too fast to reliably keep enraged powered.
So there we go. You've got to use 3 more skills to proc enraged, and that brings our total to 8 used skills. No room for spear attacks.Just for the sake of being thorough, let's look through what you can bring for those 3 procs and see if they are each individually worth more than a spear attack:Call of Protection. Very popular among pure beastmasters, but kinda pointless in PvP because no one targets your pet. I wouldn't venture in to PvE as a beastmaster without it though. Predatory Bond. Lots of self-heal, if spread out over time. I've used this in RA/TA and I find it more useful than a block stance some 80% or 90% of the time. Feral Aggression. Pet IAS, which is worth more than IAS on you because pet at 12+X is doing a lot more auto attack damage than you at 9 spear. And then it adds armor-ignoring bonus damage on top of that. Better than an IAS for you, or a spear attack. Call of Haste. Pet IAS, and pet speed boost. Again, pet IAS is more useful than player DPS. Moreover, it makes the pet permanently un-kitable. Truth be told, I prefer this to Feral Aggression in RA/TA just because of all the extra hits I get on kiting foes. Otuygu's Cry. Almost constant block ignoring. This went from being the worst skill in the game to one of the best skills in a poor line. Goes right through Guardian (and Shield of Deflection, and, other block stances, and, funniest of all, that silly frenzied defense you see on RA monks sometimes). Landing two 100+ damage hits consecutively on a monk who thought Guardian/SoD/whatever was going to protect him is worth a lot more than anything you'll get from a non-elite spear attack. There's more, but that's most of the popular/good options and we've already got 4 BM skills that are worth more than a spear attack, so we can stop there.
[Much belated edit: Now that I think about it, maybe beastmasters could make use of the imba PvE-only skills. I think I need to go play around with ferocious strike powering SY to see if you can make a sort of remote dragon slasher. Hmmm....]
StormDragonZ
[skill]Prepared Shot[/skill] and [skill]Expert Focus[/skill] with [skill]Crossfire[/skill].
This is my favorite minor combination. It's good for testing and a leadway for whatever skills you'd like to add.
This is my favorite minor combination. It's good for testing and a leadway for whatever skills you'd like to add.
SnipiousMax
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chthon
snip
Yea, I went back and read your first post, so I concede point #1.
You've pointed out a number of great skills, but I'd make a few more points.
1.) Charm Animal, Comfrot animal, Rez sig and Enraged Lunge. Sticking with those skils, it leaves us with four skills to play with. Without Tiger's Fury (I'll get to that in a sec) You need 3 more BM skills recharging to get the most out of Enraged (assuming around 13-14 in BM). Since attack skills are hard to sync with Enraged, that means were gonna have to depend on long recharging "Call" skills. So we now have one active skill on a bar of 8 skills. We autoattack, and punch one button for the duration of the match. If the match changes, you can't adapt, you have to stick to your one trick the entire match.
2.) You have no way of applying deep wound. Yes you are giving quite a shot every 5 or so seconds (assuming that the target is standing perfectly still) but without a deep wound, you aren't doing anything to affect the effectiveness of their healing.
3.) Otugyu's Cry is a great skill, but unfortunately it doesn't do anything for aggressive anti-melee. Since your pet can't make decisions about when/when not to attack it is especially vunerable to things like blind and hex-based anti melee.
4.) Having an attack skill that you can use at the same time Enraged is landing gives the opportunity for a nasty spike.
5.) Yes the recharge of Tiger's Fury has been brought up before. But despite this, it works really well. As long as you mind when things are recharging, you can still get a steady and constant full enraged strike, while freeing yourself additional burdening skills.
6.) Despite IAS and Speed boosts on pets, Kiting will screw up a pet's attack times, Pet attack skills don't trigger immediately, and a savvy kiter can easily disrupt your timing.
I'll grant you that there are any number of useful pet skills....But I'm not ready to give up on the utility and adaptability over a bar with one or two active skills.
You've pointed out a number of great skills, but I'd make a few more points.
1.) Charm Animal, Comfrot animal, Rez sig and Enraged Lunge. Sticking with those skils, it leaves us with four skills to play with. Without Tiger's Fury (I'll get to that in a sec) You need 3 more BM skills recharging to get the most out of Enraged (assuming around 13-14 in BM). Since attack skills are hard to sync with Enraged, that means were gonna have to depend on long recharging "Call" skills. So we now have one active skill on a bar of 8 skills. We autoattack, and punch one button for the duration of the match. If the match changes, you can't adapt, you have to stick to your one trick the entire match.
2.) You have no way of applying deep wound. Yes you are giving quite a shot every 5 or so seconds (assuming that the target is standing perfectly still) but without a deep wound, you aren't doing anything to affect the effectiveness of their healing.
3.) Otugyu's Cry is a great skill, but unfortunately it doesn't do anything for aggressive anti-melee. Since your pet can't make decisions about when/when not to attack it is especially vunerable to things like blind and hex-based anti melee.
4.) Having an attack skill that you can use at the same time Enraged is landing gives the opportunity for a nasty spike.
5.) Yes the recharge of Tiger's Fury has been brought up before. But despite this, it works really well. As long as you mind when things are recharging, you can still get a steady and constant full enraged strike, while freeing yourself additional burdening skills.
6.) Despite IAS and Speed boosts on pets, Kiting will screw up a pet's attack times, Pet attack skills don't trigger immediately, and a savvy kiter can easily disrupt your timing.
I'll grant you that there are any number of useful pet skills....But I'm not ready to give up on the utility and adaptability over a bar with one or two active skills.
Marverick
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chthon
Brutal Strike. That's +70ish armor-ignoring damage on a quick recharge. Do any of the spear skills come close to that? No. Brutal strike gets the space. 5 skill slots used.
[skill]Merciless Spear[/skill]
+100 armor-ignoring damage on the same condition as Brutal Strike. 20% less healing too.
[skill]Merciless Spear[/skill] -> [skill]Enraged Lunge[/skill] will kill anything below 50% health, and since one is a spear attack and one is a pet attack, you can land both in a much shorter interval than two pet attacks (Brutal Strike, Enraged Lunge).
+100 armor-ignoring damage on the same condition as Brutal Strike. 20% less healing too.
[skill]Merciless Spear[/skill] -> [skill]Enraged Lunge[/skill] will kill anything below 50% health, and since one is a spear attack and one is a pet attack, you can land both in a much shorter interval than two pet attacks (Brutal Strike, Enraged Lunge).
arrowpainmaster
Hmmm Look up splinter barrage for the mass AoE in missions/mobs
Voodoo Rage
I used to equip a pet just for fun on just about any build. It was only later that I was realizing that for some reason all of my skills would suddenly decide to recharge for 5 seconds in the middle of a fight. I finally figured out that that's what happens when my pet dies. Not good, especially if you have a very skill intensive build.
I've been running around PvE with a modified bunny thumper build and it's really been a blast.
I've been running around PvE with a modified bunny thumper build and it's really been a blast.
Marverick
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Originally Posted by arrowpainmaster
Hmmm Look up splinter barrage for the mass AoE in missions/mobs
/sigh......
First of all, never put Splinter Weapon on a Ranger primary. A Rit/x can get much higher mileage out of it, and even an N/Rt or E/Rt will have the energy to spread it on multiple party members rather than just one (yourself).
Secondly... Volley > Barrage in almost every place in GW. You will RARELY find more than 4 guys in one clump.... now, yes there are exceptions like Vloxen Excavations, where 4-5 Barragers with GDW, EBSoH, and OoP just tear Stone Summit mobs apart. But, for everywhere else, you will find that BHA or BA or another elite will serve much better and that Volley is just as good as Barrage.
First of all, never put Splinter Weapon on a Ranger primary. A Rit/x can get much higher mileage out of it, and even an N/Rt or E/Rt will have the energy to spread it on multiple party members rather than just one (yourself).
Secondly... Volley > Barrage in almost every place in GW. You will RARELY find more than 4 guys in one clump.... now, yes there are exceptions like Vloxen Excavations, where 4-5 Barragers with GDW, EBSoH, and OoP just tear Stone Summit mobs apart. But, for everywhere else, you will find that BHA or BA or another elite will serve much better and that Volley is just as good as Barrage.
Chthon
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnipiousMax
Quote: 1.) Charm Animal, Comfrot animal, Rez sig and Enraged Lunge. Sticking with those skils, it leaves us with four skills to play with. Without Tiger's Fury (I'll get to that in a sec) You need 3 more BM skills recharging to get the most out of Enraged (assuming around 13-14 in BM). Since attack skills are hard to sync with Enraged, that means were gonna have to depend on long recharging "Call" skills. So we now have one active skill on a bar of 8 skills. We autoattack, and punch one button for the duration of the match. If the match changes, you can't adapt, you have to stick to your one trick the entire match. Well, 2 skills with brutal strike, but yeah, it's a one-trick pony. Fortunately, it's a pretty good trick.
Quote: 2.) You have no way of applying deep wound. Yes you are giving quite a shot every 5 or so seconds (assuming that the target is standing perfectly still) but without a deep wound, you aren't doing anything to affect the effectiveness of their healing. 1. Doesn't matter if the target is holding still. Call of Haste pretty much ensures the pet attacks hit.
2. Deep wound is nice, but you have to weigh that against the high DPS of brutal strike (and decent DPS while the target is above 50%). I don't really think it's worth it, but just for the sake of being open, I'll go try out [merciless spear] in place of [brutal strike] like Marverick suggests and concentrate on paying attention to the effects of the change.
Quote: 3.) Otugyu's Cry is a great skill, but unfortunately it doesn't do anything for aggressive anti-melee. Since your pet can't make decisions about when/when not to attack it is especially vunerable to things like blind and hex-based anti melee. 1. Passive anti-melee is the largest threat to victory in the low-end PvP that beastmasters are suited for. It's the monk hiding behind guardian that you must kill or lose the match; and OCry kills him.
2. For some reason most players are just too dumb to apply active anti-melee to the pet. Inevitably, I draw the first blind/hex, then I stop attacking and lock the pet's target, and the pet kills them before their shutdown recharges. Heck, most of the time, even when they get rezzed, they go right back to putting the anti-melee on the master instead of the beast.
3. You can direct the pet to stop attacking if it draws something truly awful like SS on it in the middle of your teammates. However, most of the time you can just let the pet attack right through hexes, since you can out-damage the heal on IP, and you lose nothing but some near-meaningless pet DP if the pet dies.
4. While it's true that a pure beastmaster can't remove blind/miss hexes from the pet, neither can a spear attack or two. And it's not like a spear attack at low mastery is going to be enough to force a kill without the pet's help any better than a pure beastmaster with a blind pet.
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4.) Having an attack skill that you can use at the same time Enraged is landing gives the opportunity for a nasty spike.
This is a good point. Quote:
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