Ranger Builds, Guides, and Tips
Sha Noran
Updated the guide with some of the things Epinephrine recommended; check it out. ;-)
XvArchonvX
Oath Shot got nerfed, looks like Trappers Focus is the better strategy for trapping now. At least I got both my rangers through Gyala Hatchery before this happened. =P
SnipiousMax
^ It wasn't a big nerf.... 
Sha Noran
Was going to post the same myself regarding . ;-)
Lol at the Archer's Signet change. Saw there was an update and started to get hopeful, then read it. Too funny.
Going to fix the portion regarding Ascalon Bows right now.
Also, could I get some feedback from Epinephrine please regarding the changes I made? I'd like to know if that's what you envisioned.
Lol at the Archer's Signet change. Saw there was an update and started to get hopeful, then read it. Too funny.
Going to fix the portion regarding Ascalon Bows right now.
Also, could I get some feedback from Epinephrine please regarding the changes I made? I'd like to know if that's what you envisioned.
SnipiousMax
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
Lol at the Archer's Signet change. Saw there was an update and started to get hopeful, then read it. Too funny.
Fixing the bug definately makes it worth using.... wait.... no it doesn't! 
Amy Awien
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
... says the guy who uses Apply then spreads it with Savage spam. 
Actually, it was you who did that, with his build, to 'show' how terrible it was.
Actually, it was you who did that, with his build, to 'show' how terrible it was.
Sir Mad
Well the nerf of Oath Shot is pretty much a joke. The recharge time is now 25 secs instead of 20 secs. I don't think it will change a lot of things...
SnipiousMax
^ 5 second down time for Whirling defense. That's about it.
Sir Mad
Well if that's about oath shot trapping, dust trap is way more efficient against mellee fighters - it's just a matter of timing. And if you let a tank go first, foes with range attacks shouldn't hit you so...
Epinephrine
The changes look fine Sha; I still find the language strong, but you seem to like bold statements (NEVER....).
I disagree with the assessment of Zealous bows still - if you look at the bows owned by many well known rangers (for example, Valerius posted his bows in a thread a while back) they are nearly all Zealous and Vampiric - because they are that good. Zealous bows are super in PvE, or even in PvP with many builds. There are just SO many times that zealous is useful.
You never changed your Expertise values, and an explanation of Expertise is still missing. It's nice to sketch out a bunch of builds, but people will also be setting up their own builds, and I think a discussion of the breakpoints for expertise and the logic behind choosing a value is worth doing.
Glad to see the Ascalon bows get an approval now; the Ithas bow still isn't bad though. Sure, it's only 5 AL extra, but it's 5 AL - if you aren't using the bow for damage (for which it's pretty bad - no 15% bonus and 13-25 damage) it works fine; For example - if you only carry a bow to fire off an oath shot, how can you complain about a bow that gives a free 5 AL boost?
Anyway, I think it's much better than it was. I still disagree with points in it, but we can agree to disagree. I think you'd be surprised how many folks will say that zealous (and vampiric) bows are an essential part of a ranger's inventory though.
I disagree with the assessment of Zealous bows still - if you look at the bows owned by many well known rangers (for example, Valerius posted his bows in a thread a while back) they are nearly all Zealous and Vampiric - because they are that good. Zealous bows are super in PvE, or even in PvP with many builds. There are just SO many times that zealous is useful.
You never changed your Expertise values, and an explanation of Expertise is still missing. It's nice to sketch out a bunch of builds, but people will also be setting up their own builds, and I think a discussion of the breakpoints for expertise and the logic behind choosing a value is worth doing.
Glad to see the Ascalon bows get an approval now; the Ithas bow still isn't bad though. Sure, it's only 5 AL extra, but it's 5 AL - if you aren't using the bow for damage (for which it's pretty bad - no 15% bonus and 13-25 damage) it works fine; For example - if you only carry a bow to fire off an oath shot, how can you complain about a bow that gives a free 5 AL boost?
Anyway, I think it's much better than it was. I still disagree with points in it, but we can agree to disagree. I think you'd be surprised how many folks will say that zealous (and vampiric) bows are an essential part of a ranger's inventory though.
Sha Noran
Forgot the Expertise breakpoints; I'll add those in tonight.
Zealous arguably has its uses as a switch-to bow once you get low on Energy, but there are other more potent mods to use as a main bow in any case except Ranger e-denial, which is only even remotely logical in PvP. As this guide focuses on team play in PvE, I will hold my ground regarding my statements on the Zealous mod.
Bold statements are how people learn. Telling kids they shouldn't play with guns isn't going to help anyone, even though once they grow up they might choose to take up shooting as a hobby. :-)
Zealous arguably has its uses as a switch-to bow once you get low on Energy, but there are other more potent mods to use as a main bow in any case except Ranger e-denial, which is only even remotely logical in PvP. As this guide focuses on team play in PvE, I will hold my ground regarding my statements on the Zealous mod.
Bold statements are how people learn. Telling kids they shouldn't play with guns isn't going to help anyone, even though once they grow up they might choose to take up shooting as a hobby. :-)
Sir Mad
Quote:
Zealous arguably has its uses as a switch-to bow once you get low on Energy, but there are other more potent mods to use as a main bow in any case except Ranger e-denial, which is only even remotely logical in PvP. As this guide focuses on team play in PvE, I will hold my ground regarding my statements on the Zealous mod.
Well, again zealous + barrage as a default combinaison may be very efficient with some energy consuming builds, provided your oponents stay close together (and if not no need to use barrage I guess...). This is the only way I found to run solo R/Mo builds with expensive Mo enchantments.
baboh_tea
Maybe you could try conjure lightning for extra dmg. Just a thought, dosent even know if it'll work.
Sha Noran
Finally got around to adding the part regarding Expertise breakpoints. Been really busy with the game the last couple of days and thus haven't had time to do it until now. See if that explains it well; I was pretty tired when I wrote that so I'm not sure it's worth a damn. :-P
Sha Noran
*cough >.>
Don't mean to be bumping my own stuff here, but could I get some feedback regarding that last addition of the Expertise breakpoints? If that was the only thing you guys felt kept it from being sticky-able (hmm I doubt that's a word) then....
Also:
baboh_tea: Yes, of course you could do that; any of the Conjure spells from the Elementalist lines could be used in combination as indicated in the OP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Mad
Don't mean to be bumping my own stuff here, but could I get some feedback regarding that last addition of the Expertise breakpoints? If that was the only thing you guys felt kept it from being sticky-able (hmm I doubt that's a word) then....
Also:
baboh_tea: Yes, of course you could do that; any of the Conjure spells from the Elementalist lines could be used in combination as indicated in the OP.
Quote:
Well, again zealous + barrage as a default combinaison may be very efficient with some energy consuming builds, provided your oponents stay close together (and if not no need to use barrage I guess...). This is the only way I found to run solo R/Mo builds with expensive Mo enchantments.
Bolded part of that for emphasis; as I said, these builds and guides are based on the idea that the user will be playing in a group environment. The rules generally change drastically when you're trying to do something alone, but that's not the focus of the guide. :-)
Shorter Than U
good job on thread Sha, you have made me love rangers again
Huntmaster
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lasher Dragon
You had me until this:
ROFL
IMO Oath Shot is one of THE best elites in the game, bar none. Yeah, sometimes it misses, but much more often it hits - especially if you know what you are doing. QFT.
Everyone knows Barrage is the worst PvE elite.
ROFL
IMO Oath Shot is one of THE best elites in the game, bar none. Yeah, sometimes it misses, but much more often it hits - especially if you know what you are doing. QFT.
Everyone knows Barrage is the worst PvE elite.
Sneale.
Not a bad guide there, Sha. IMO the new school trapping build kinda sucks. The main trapping places (for me anyway) are usually UW, Trolls or Minotaurs. Using trapper's focus is a waste of an elite cause most of these times they can still interrupt you with savage slashes, and with minotaurs theres no point running into action anyway as you'll just get maimed. Heck, even Escape is better than trapper's focus. I for one would find no use for this build, and this elite skill. 
Sir Mad
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntmaster
QFT.
Everyone knows Barrage is the worst PvE elite. Let's try to remain objective... Yes I do hate those rangers with only one elite, using barrage anywhere from RoF to Fort Aspenwood. But used properly (I mean: used on maps were monsters are packed) this is a great AoE skill that doesn't make monsters flee.
Everyone knows Barrage is the worst PvE elite. Let's try to remain objective... Yes I do hate those rangers with only one elite, using barrage anywhere from RoF to Fort Aspenwood. But used properly (I mean: used on maps were monsters are packed) this is a great AoE skill that doesn't make monsters flee.
Huntmaster
Oh, whoops, i think i forgot the </sarcasm> on that post! 
To be honest, i want to see Incend. Arrows get it's well deserved buff already.. that skill is too awesome to be left crippled in the dirt. Make it last longer and raise the energy cost, i say.. Go team team team.
To be honest, i want to see Incend. Arrows get it's well deserved buff already.. that skill is too awesome to be left crippled in the dirt. Make it last longer and raise the energy cost, i say.. Go team team team.
Evilsod
Yeah Incendiary Arrows is a really crap skill. It just doesn't last long enough to be effective in anything but a 'Fragility Spike' RA build.
Its a shame they can't bring in a non-elite Practiced Stance that just makes them last longer (although who gives a shit about the lower recharge time anyway?).
Its a shame they can't bring in a non-elite Practiced Stance that just makes them last longer (although who gives a shit about the lower recharge time anyway?).
mooshee
Your attribute layouts are horrible.
Please learn how to maximize and fix your guide.
Please learn how to maximize and fix your guide.
Sha Noran
Hey, cool. People are posting here again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sneale.
Quote:
Your points are all valid, and I actually completely agree with you in the situations in which you're mentioning. However, you fail to realize that I'm not talking about Trapping on a Trapping team or Solo, i.e. UW/Trolls/Minos/Etc. The "New School Trapping Build" is primarily for use in groups where you'll be Trapping as part of a balanced PvE team, as all these builds are primarily designed for. There sure are a lot of people who see no use for Trapper's Focus it seems; I guess that's fine, it's your loss. It's really quite a great skill in many situations, and I think the primary problem is misunderstanding regarding when/where to use it.
To answer the last few people commenting regarding Barrage: It isn't the worst elite by far, but a huge problem with a great number of the Ranger's in today's GW population is that its all they ever use. There are a number of places in the game where that is absolutely the #1 Ranger elite to bring along, but in many, many situations its just not worth it at all.
Quote: Originally Posted by Evilsod Yeah Incendiary Arrows is a really crap skill. It just doesn't last long enough to be effective in anything but a 'Fragility Spike' RA build.
Its a shame they can't bring in a non-elite Practiced Stance that just makes them last longer (although who gives a shit about the lower recharge time anyway?). The first part of your post is completely accurate; its worthless for anything but Frag gimmicks, and even then... not so much.
However, regarding a non-elite Practiced Stance, I have to say that would be horribly game breaking in the current HA environment. PS/CG is already awfully powerful in the right hands, and giving teams the ability to run a build with Incindiary, non-elite PS and Choking Gas would make shutdown a bit too easy.
Quote:
You just have to move away from the idea that one must have 15 or 16 in one attribute to become effective. It is quite easy to distibrute your attribute point and get Expertise at 13, Beastmastery at 13 and Marksmanship at 12.|
Originally Posted by mooshee
Your attribute layouts are horrible.
Please learn how to maximize and fix your guide. Actually the only changes that you would make to "maximize" would be to change Expertise from 10 to 9, and Wilderness from 12 to 13. One or two additional points in Kindle and the extra second or so on Storm Chaser isn't enough to really bother me, since I prefer to have my attribute points looking nice and even at 10/12/14. Change that yourself if you like, but it makes very little difference.
Solvi
I was playing around with the "New School Trapper Build" a little today. I have never been too successful with combat trapping (pve) until i brought mantra of resolve. I cant remeber what i placed my insperation attbs at but i had it jacked up enough to give me 70 seconds of uniterupted trapping...sure it got striped a couple of times but i just used WD to help me through and reapplied.
Troll Dust Barbed Spiked Flame Vipers Mantra of Resolve Whirling Defense I just went with henchies but if i was with a Real group i would have dropped vipers for a rez....It worked great. Took melee and casters out no problem. Any pros or cons on this build people have thought of?
Amy Awien
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
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Quote:
"12 Expertise: This is the next level of Expertise after 9 that is best if your build is primarily 10 Energy skills."
could be inserted after the 10 expertise line and the 14 expertise line could then be changed to
"14 Expertise: This is the next level of Expertise after 12 that is best if your build is primarily 10 Energy skills."
Quote:
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If that was the only thing you guys felt kept it from being sticky-able (hmm I doubt that's a word) then....
You've obviously put a lot of work into it, and you deserve credit for that. But one problem is that your guide is, I think, too strongly worded to become "stickyable". And more importantly it contains misinformation, and it appears you've put those in to convince the reader of your point of view. You write for example: Quote:
You can get the henchies to attack and take agro for you. If you get your agro bubble up close to the enemy mob and hold down control and call targets, henchies will immediately agro on the called target. They'll stay on that target until it is dead or you call another target so you can set them to attack the monk while you interrupt their ele. Once the target is dead, they'll tend to go back to attacking whatever they want. Henchies will continue to do their class jobs so monks will still heal while throwing in the occasional attack, mesmers will still interrupt, etc etc.
If you get ambushed somehow because you weren't paying attention, yes the henchies take a few seconds to start attacking but if you call targets, they will start attacking immediately. When I'm with henchies, I pretty much play with the control button held down. If you're playing with a mixed team of henchies and humans, it gets kind of wierd since the henchies switch between who they follow. I team with henchies almost all of the time since I hate waiting while the team is built and we wait for monks. Since I've gone through almost all of Prophecies and most of Factions with just henchies, you get used to what type of actions they do. As an ele, I can't take the point agro so sending in the henchies first pretty much does the trick. Quote:
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