Ranger / Elementalist Question

I've heard that the ranger/elem combo is a kick ass ranged fighter, if build properly and given the right skills.

I really want to have one of these characters but was wondering......do they solo well, because I am a very big solo person, I dont like other people getting in my way messing up my strategies

Thanks fellas

From my personal experience, I don't think so and honestly don't see how. From playing other classes, to me it just feels like Ranger/Anything gets the short end of the stick. I love Rangers, but after playing around with other classes, I just don't know if the fun is really there for them.

I solo as a ranger reasonably well. Since you are weaker against physical damage than elemantal damage, you will do well if you bring skills that help you avoid a melee fighter's attacks. I am rather fond of Whirling Defense. You can't outdamage them going toe-to-toe, so you have to prevent them from overpowering you. Also, a ranger that specializes in causing unpleasant effects, interrupts and/or traps can be fun as well, although in that case you most definitely must be part of a team.

I have thought about this for a long time, and still I couldn't avoid the conclusion that R/E is the best damage maker in the ranger class. By using conjure flame/frost/light and barrage, he could deal much more damage than other build.

Poison arrow in wildness survival line is probably viable, but still, I noticed barrage has a large aoe area, same as ignite arrow.

and stupid preparation won't stack. I was planning to use the elite stance and use ignite+kindle+apply poison.

The way I was gonna go at this was.....for ranger I was gonna focus mainly on markesmanship, and wildlife survival (for my troll ungent) and have just a few points in beast mastery (use him as a distraction / small tank), and Im still unsure about expertise.

With elem...I was gonna work entirley with fire magic and nothing else, because almost all the fire spells for elem cause damage to target and other creatures in the area (AoE ) and use the Glyphs of energy to reduce energy usage. So I'm gessing I would be able to either take out, or weaken a good size mob, then could easly pick the rest off with a few arrow shots.

My overall strategy would be to assault creatures with lots of fire, weather it be elem magic, fire arrows, or have an upgraded bow that causes fire damage, and have some pet there to take some of the beating.

What yall think?

If you are talking about pvp, fire damage probably isn't the best.

Also, expertise is important because it will reduce the cost of your spells, and you don't have that much mana.

I'd say skip beastmastery (you can get a pet anyway, even if it is not tough) and focuse roughly equally on: expertise, marksmanship, wilderness, and one element.

I thought water might be particularly nice for a ranger because of armor of mist---it speeds you up and gives you an armor boost. Since you would be a range class, this would let you get away from close range fighters moving in on you. But other combos would work well as well. I haven't had too much luck with fire in pvp though, because the most damage comes frome area effect spells that others can just walk away from. Although, combined with "pin down" it might work well.

Pop

"Enough of this feaces, this is a pathetic "WAAAHHH NERF!" thread..." -Principa Discordia

Im talking about soloing. I really havn't gotten into PVP yet, I wanna play around a little longer in other mode before starting my PVP character

Bump.

Expertise will be important, and so will getting druid armor. Any meaningful Elem spells are going to cost a lot (unless you put a ton of points into fire, lower cost elementalist spells aren't worth it as your bow can do the same damage for free), and you've got a very limited amount of energy and only 3 bars of regen. Expertise won't help with the Elementalist stuff, but it's good to save on your Ranger skills. you're going to need the energy.

You'll also have to consider what you want out of your pet. Just having the pet is going to take one skill slot. If you're not going to put much into beast mastery, he'll have low HP and die, so you'll either have to keep healing him or revive him which will take another slot. Other Rangers and myself just don't think the pet is worth the 2 spells slots.

Conjure Flame and having a bow that does fire damage is a good combo. But keep an eye out for bows that have + damage % when enchanted as well. Even better.

I have a Ranger/Elem

the Elementalist Conjure line is great for low mana
- only costs 10 mana
- buff lasts for 60 seconds
- adds to your elemental damage (if appropiate)

works great in PvE with barrage

Don't do that...

yep, I love conjure flame. Still waiting to get Barrage though.

Forgive my ignorance here, but what does "when enchanted" mean?

When you have an enchantment on you, which Conjure Flame is. So not only do you get the % damage bonus, but the damage added by the effect of Conjure Flame itself.

Gotcha, thanks for whittling down my ignorance factor! I'll watch for those more closely!

where do you get conjure flame from?

hm, how about Elem/Ranger, how can I get the best solo build for that?

So little love for pets. I take mine everywhere and he's like an extra member of the party. I think they're pretty useless at low levels but with time they turn into something definitely worth having. Just a few points of Beast Mastery also helps a lot with his damage - and makes him cheaper to heal/res.

only biggest problem is you have one useless slot in your bar to be able to have it with you. At this moment I take him everywhere because I don't have much more usefull skills to put in the last 2 slots (pre-searing). And those points in beastmastery are much more when putted in survival or marksman. I'm going full ranger my second profession is elementalist but not planning on doing much with it (for the moment at least).

If you solo it helps to have traps as well as barrage. Throw dirt/dust trap help immensley, while others are for damage. I'd go monk secondary for pve, you'll get self heals and judge's insight, a skill that makes your damage holy and gives all your attacks 20% armor penetration. This helps more then conjure at higher levels. Also, make sure you have some form of defence, or you'll be mauled. If you really think you can solo with barrage as an elite, you're wrong. The easiest way to solo is just to get oath shot to reset defensive skills and traps, and keep spamming them to stay alive.

My Mesmer/Ranger is an awesome soloist, so yes, I imagine an Elementalist/Ranger will be even better. The key here is the pet, for me at any rate. I got jack in Beast Mastery, but that little warthog is my meatshield that groups the enemy up real nice and tight when I use my bow. Imagine a nice tight group with Firestorm? I'd say you could solo well.

On that note, though, I've only tried the Stalker, Moa Bird and Wathog as pets. The cats and birds both run past a target that is charging you and then run back to get them, leaving you vulnerable. I've found that the pig just takes the shortest route. Hope that helps.

Personally I solo with my R/N and I always have my pet when I solo. Plus raising all the little meat sheilds to charge in then putrid exploding them.... it's lost of fun

Pets are useless unless you plan on leveling beast mastery. Don't waste the skill tab in pve; get a rez signet instead. Don't go minion master in pve, because you'll need the constant boost from soul reaping to upkeep minions. If you want pure damage, get a skillset like...

Quick Shot
Dual Shot
Favorable Winds
Read the Wind/ Kindle Arrows (depending on if you level wilderness survival or not)
Tiger's Fury/Serpent's Quickness (to spam quick shot)
Conjure Element
Hunter's Shot
Rez Signet or skill of choice

for me:
power shot
penetrating shot
kindle arrows
troll unguent
charm animal
comfort animal
storm chaser
signet of capture

and hafta admit, I'm a proud pet owner lol

Heres the thing about pets. You don't need any attribute points in Beast Mastery to have one. In addition, attribute points in Beast Mastery don't give your pet more health or defense. So, since the main use for a pet is as a meatshield, having attribute points in Beast Mastery is kind of a waste unless you really want to have your pet be good. However, as it costs a skill slot to bring one along, it's really up to you. They can be useful, but then again, so can another skill. In addition, if you're going into a really hard area, they might die, and comfort is another skill slot. I personally never bring comfort, I just can't see myself having two skills just to have a moderately effective meatshield. However, they can be useful so it's really a matter of choice.

As for the other attributes, I'd make sure you have expertise as your primary focus. Secondary focus would most likely be marksmanship. Tertiary would be Wilderness Survival and your element, or maybe just your element if you feel you can go without Wilderness Survival, but only do that if you're positive you will be able to survive without it.

As for skills, it really depends on what element you choose. Each element has it's benefits, and it's really up to you to play with each of them and find out what you like. My advice is to wait until late in the game where each element can be played pretty well and then decide. Until then, the game isn't really hard enough to require a well thought-out build, so you can just play around. Once you are significantly far in the game, you can try out each element one by one, adventuring for long enough with each one to get your refunds back. I personally love my R/E, and it can be a really successful profession if you put some thought into it.