To Barrage or not to? And Energy

Barrage is of course a sought after elite skill and is very useful in many situations. I always use it. But are there times when it's not so useful? Like in the Dragon's Lair mission, Barrage helps with enemies. But I'm sure I can get by them without Barrage. Especially if we have another ranger using that skill. And in the end it's just one boss per section. I would think I'd rather use some other elite skill that's useful against a single boss. Are there times when Barrage isn't always the best choice? Or is it true that the trend is to just bring Barrage no matter what?

Also, I sometimes see someone say "My Energy is 37 of 87!" or something. How do they get energy that high? Is it some temporary enchantment that gives them that much? I think I've seen Elementalists and Monks say that. I changed my 2nd profession to Monk and really enjoy it.

Different classes get different energy levels, both Monks and Elementalists have higher energy than Rangers. To manage your energy more effectivly you need to make sure you have sufficient points in expertise, this will reduce the energy costs of your skills, I like to keep my expertise on at least 10. Also getting a set of druids armour will give you an energy boost too, I use druids with leather studded leggings (2 less energy than full druids but an extra pip of energy recovery).
You might want to look at interrupt and degen skills as an alternative to barrage when facing bosses, I seldom use barrage unless I'm in a barrage team. The 2 elites I use the most would probably be poison arrow and oath shot.

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I notice how Expertise does that and I keep some att points in that. And some of my armor, including my vest, is Druids.

I went in the Underworld for the first time and learned how the trapper team works. Huddle together in a ball and keep laying traps. It's like laying roadside bombs when enemies get lured in there. I went and picked up Spiked Trap for it. Easier to obtain in Cantha in the valley area. So there's one situation where I wouldn't use Barrage.

Okay, first off, you don't get barrage until you hit Iron Mines. Which means you don't get there until you beat Ice Caves. To do that you must get to Droks. Unless you ran from Becons or had someone run you there, you can only get there by beating the Dragon's Lair.

If you went by the way you should go, then you wouldn't have Barrage when facing that mission. So if you ask can you get away from beating Dragon's Lair without barrage (no one should have it), the answer is yes. And doing so is easy.

As to your second question (probably your main question), Barrage I find is useless when facing less than 2 monsters that are close together. Another good reason not to bring Barrage is when you are against creatures suceptable to fire, where it is better to bring greater conflageration than barrage (as you can only have 1 elite). Or if you are against a lot of creatures suceptable to cold or a lot of spell casters, then you can bring greater conflageration + winter, and hope you have at least 1 necro with spinal shivers.

Other good elites vs boss = incindiary arrow or melandru's arrow (only if they bleed), Punishing Shot (if vs spell caster)

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I take Barrage everywhere. Even against a single foe, you get extra damage with less energy vs. some other skills.

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The thing I like most about barrage (although I've avoided using it in the intrest of playing with different styles) is that it works great by itself. You are free to take whatever else your heart desires to fill in the rest of your skill bar, because barrage functions beautifully by itself.

As I said before, I've left it off my skill bar, because I'm intrested in playing a well rounded and versitile character, so I've been trying many different builds out.... but you can never go wrong by using Barrage in PvE.

What is the point of using oath shot if you have a high expertise and druids? I never run out of mana with my ranger unless im trapping and then rarely. As for the elite I use, it completely depends on what i am doing(trapping, solo farming, questing, pvping) and my mood. I have a perfect zealous short bow taht i use whenever i use barrage. Poisoning/bleeding/crippling for everything else. I try to avoid using vampiric and sundering as i beleive they are both somewhat overrated. What makes rangers an "elite" class is their versatility. Rangers are very adaptable to different play styles due to cheap runes, availabilty of cheap perfect items from collectors(true about every class i guess), and a large variety of skills. Also taht new elite "Glass Arrows" is a great elite. it adds a large amount of damage and does bleeding if blocked. With other damage modifiers i do over 130 damage against monks. Redefines spiking.

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