Ranger Builds, Guides, and Tips

Silk Weaver

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Hong Kong

Romantically Lethal [RoLe]

R/Mo

That's purely your choice. I don't run distracting shot on mine, but really, that's not my point. Distracting shot is great for a cripshot or bow ranger, definetly, but when I'm a beastmaster, I think more like a thumper, if you get what I mean. It's not my job to press tab and find the monk who's using dev signet or heal signet, or a rez. Disrupting Lunge CAN be spammed, and WILL hit something, so that's why it's good. I don't prefer Brutal personally, and I love disrupting.

Still, that's personal preference. What I mean is that in terms of pressure, a beastmaster is not exactly weak.

On a side note, I sometimes run it with zealous daggers for the energy gain. Not much of an issue with armor and healing, as long as you watch the AoEs, and well, depends on the area. Pets are silly like that.

With the templates, it's a jiffy to switch for differnet areas anyway.

Evilsod

Evilsod

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2006

England

Lievs Death Squad [LDS]

I can understand why you want to run Disrupting Lunge over Distracting Shot... but you don't have to be tabbing round to interrupt things. If your aiming at an enemy monk you don't need to tab to find somet to interrupt, you can just wait till its needed.

What i don't get however. Why in gods name would you want to be stood next to your pet? Between you and a pet any enemy will attack you. Why? The pet has 80AL and if your using Enranged Lunge, you should be running Call of Haste + Protection too. All you do by standing next to enemies is give the monk more work. Because not only can you not heal your pet and yourself (without Heal as one) your also in the thick of it. Enemy spikes can be pretty well coordinated.

The advantage of not been in a stupid position is much better than having a 1.3s attack speed zealous weapon.

Silk Weaver

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Hong Kong

Romantically Lethal [RoLe]

R/Mo

I kinda trust my monks, Tahl and Dunkuro, that is, and -personally- have not had much problems. I could always switch it out. I do have 80 armor, becuase I was stupid and bought a beastmaster's set, so I'm essentially the same amount of headache to the monks as my pet as to how much damage I take.

I play with the build in HA, RA, and AB, etc, and I'm not exactly a priority target. I don't KD, I deal 0-3 damage, I don't really do any conditions. It's obvious I'm the beastmaster, but the good thing is that even if I kite, use rez signet, or /dance, I can still use pet attacks, so I can essentailly run around silly and I'm still providing massive output. It's just that by attacking with zealous mods, and being careful (you do have 80 armor and decent hp anyway), you'll gain a lot of energy, and not really risk yourself much. At lesat you're less of a burden than a sin, not to mention you have no worries about pulling back whenever.

Is it a "stupid position"? Surely there are other melee in the area? In PvE, monsters are stupid, and I can easily manupilate their aggro so I'm pricking away and not getting hurt. In PvP, they are more concerned with over extened frenzy wars, necro, eles, monks, mesmers, ritualists, and at least a cripshot who poses some sort of decicisive danger, than me, who really just step step step. Bah, Pred Bond (I prefer it over protection, since pets have no DP in PvE, and don't die as often with pred pounce and a bit of comforting) is used to make enraged lunge work for me, but it's usually far more than enough to compensate any damage I take from AoE or from the stray warrior attacking me. They never really chase me though, since I have decent armor, healthgain, and because the pet's dealing 100 or so damage while he's chasing me.

Maybe it's not true but -I- have no issue with not attracting attention despite being in melee, and the fact that I'm not a squishee adds to it. Proper manuevering can counteract the danger both PvE and PvP, that is to say, don't just use space bar and number 1-7. That's my experience, and I think you might agree if you try, but you probably won't, and I guess that's okay. And for the record, it's not 1.3, more like 1.2 from double strike. Otherwise I'd use a shield too-- thing is, I rarely get hit.

Hm, you can do the same by using a zealous spear I suppose...

Sha Noran

Sha Noran

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

http://tinyurl.com/2jlusq

Idiot Savants [iQ]

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Silk Weaver
Hm, you can do the same by using a zealous spear I suppose... Or.. a Zealous Shortbow? >.>

As far as your comments on BM dealing more damage, assuming you're running a single target Bow build and comparing it to an Enraged BM build, yea, you'll deal more damage... if your pet is even attacking what it's supposed to, and assuming it's alive since it doesn't exactly kite like a pro. Basically running BM makes you a Warrior with no Deep Wound potential, which is viable and deals extreme damage(i.e. Enraged), but not... the best.

You allow as how you can deal more damage with bows by using certain skills and buffs. So... use them? And.. deal more damage? It's not exactly black and white, and trust me, I know my facts.

fenix

fenix

Major-General Awesome

Join Date: Aug 2005

Aussie Trolling Crew HQ - Event Organiser and IRC Tiger

Ex Talionis [Law], Trinity of the Ascended [ToA] ????????????????&#

W/

wow, reading this thread makes my brain hurt. Do any of you actually play Guild Wars? Otyugh's Cry has a use? Revive Animal is worth a slot? Half the things that are posted are just stupidity. Some of the points are valid though, if you are talking about PvP. Other's just don't apply to PvE, as there is no point bringing skills if you can do better with different ones...

One thing I think is funny, is that this guide is aimed for new/er players, yet all the posters who post "omfg crap thread you're a noob Sha" aren't new at all. This thread is good for PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST STARTED AND NEED TIPS. My god, stop being retarded.

Sir Mad

Sir Mad

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Moe's Pub

Pigs Can Fly [Pigs]

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^ I guess this post belongs to the 50% of stupidity of this thread according to you. Yes, I do play the game - hence my comments. Thanks.

EDIT - And yes, experienced players criticize the guide, despite the fact that it's aimed to new rangers: were you expecting novice rangers to do that? And you contradict yourself: you blame us not to play the game, and then to be too experienced.

Concerning Revive, I wouldn't replace Comfort by this, indeed. But I may replace 5 Comforts by it, if I know who I'm playing with.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by talon
wow, reading this thread makes my brain hurt. Do any of you actually play Guild Wars? Otyugh's Cry has a use? Revive Animal is worth a slot? Half the things that are posted are just stupidity. Some of the points are valid though, if you are talking about PvP. Other's just don't apply to PvE, as there is no point bringing skills if you can do better with different ones...

One thing I think is funny, is that this guide is aimed for new/er players, yet all the posters who post "omfg crap thread you're a noob Sha" aren't new at all. This thread is good for PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST STARTED AND NEED TIPS. My god, stop being retarded. Yea, and experienced players were never noobs right? If the people that didn't go through the process of being new to the game can't give advice on how to better guide those who are, who should? And yes, revive can be worth a slot, depending on the situation (more than one ranger in a group lvling a pet? Why have 2+ comforts when you can have one revive?). Otygh's Cry was pointed out because Sha missed the point of the skill entirely. It is a niche BM skill, but is a good skill for training a dire pet. I would refer you to Jenosavel and Epinephrin's Pet Guide if you don't see it's usefulness:
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=89491

Sha Noran

Sha Noran

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

http://tinyurl.com/2jlusq

Idiot Savants [iQ]

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There is never a time, ever, that I would take O's Cry over a better skill. Ever. Never. Sorry.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
There is never a time, ever, that I would take O's Cry over a better skill. Ever. Never. Sorry. Good for you, but I hold Jenosavel and Epinephrine's opinion in a higher regard than yours. If you can learn how to make a guide that is as informative, fact based and unbiased as theirs, I'll change my mind, but not until then. I think this whole debate is getting a bit skewed, so I'll lay this out like this:

Should you reccomend Otyugh's Cry in your guide?
No. It is a niche BM skill that finds use to rangers who specifically want to train a low level pet to dire. No one ever said that it was a good idea for a new ranger to use this.

Is Otyugh's Cry completely useless?
For the purposes of this guide, it doesn't matter.

Why was this skill even mentioned in this debate in the first place?
Because it Sha's remark on the skill showed that he didn't even understand what it was intended for.

Sha Noran

Sha Noran

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

http://tinyurl.com/2jlusq

Idiot Savants [iQ]

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Their guide is less biased because there's very little to be biased about, and most of their information is just undisputable statistics. In this guide, some skills suck while others do not. I lay it out in a simple format that has helped hundreds of people. Stop q.q'ing because I'm telling people that Incindiary Arrows blows while Punishing Shot rules. Or that O's cry is garbage. There will never be a group in the game, ever, that can bring that skill and not have something better in the spot. There is no niche for suck.

If you're tired of the thread Archon, then stop posting in it. You just look completely confused half the time you post anyway, it's not exactly making you the star of anyone's friend's list.

anshin

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

Sha...

thanks for this guide....i am also a ranger addicted....

although i do have to say... relax people...

anyways...can you comment on this build of mine please

quick shot {E}
distracting shot
screaming shot
apply poison
whirling defense
troll unguent
capture signet
sunspear rez signet

marks 16
wild 8/9 (can't remember right now O.o)
expertise 13

my weapon:

Zealous Amber Longbow of Fortitude
dmg: 15-28(req 10/9 can't remember right now O.o)
15%
-5 energy
-1 energy regen
+1 energy per hit
+30 hp

screaming shot makes bleeding for 21 seconds....apply poison makes poison for 9 seconds....

as someone said in the first posts.... a zealous string is the best thing when you have 13 in expertise...

i use capture signet because i am playing the new terrains in Nightfall and i don't know when i can find monk bosses or ranger bosses >.<


feedback on my build please...thanks in advance...

ume kurosaki

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

your bias aside; good guide.

The best way for new players to learn is through experience, naturally. But yeah, this guide provides a good lowdown on the ranger skills, that's for sure.

i enjoyed reading the constructive criticism (and flames...*coughs*). But anyways. I run with several different builds. Right now, I'm playing with barrage + GftE with ranger hero henchies, and it's pretty fun to play with. Plus you throw in stand your ground and never surrender, it gets even better.

(p.s. props to Archon for being civilized)

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
Their guide is less biased because there's very little to be biased about, and most of their information is just undisputable statistics. In this guide, some skills suck while others do not. I lay it out in a simple format that has helped hundreds of people. Stop q.q'ing because I'm telling people that Incindiary Arrows blows while Punishing Shot rules. Or that O's cry is garbage. There will never be a group in the game, ever, that can bring that skill and not have something better in the spot. There is no niche for suck.

If you're tired of the thread Archon, then stop posting in it. You just look completely confused half the time you post anyway, it's not exactly making you the star of anyone's friend's list. The point you are missing is that there is a difference between:
"Incendiary arrows sucks, never use it."
and
"Incendiary arrows is not a very effective elite because it has a very short duration time compared to it's recharge. The combo of Practiced Stance and Choking Gas is generally prefered because it can provide constant AoE interupts without any down time"

The difference between the two statements is that one is informative and gives a reason for judgement while the other comes across to many people as being arrogant and gives no insight into reasoning.

anshin

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

can someone please comment about my build???


the topic is not about how Sha Noran wrote the stuff!!! is just about the stuff!!!!

please!!

Program Ftw

Program Ftw

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2006

Carebear Club [wuv]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by anshin
can someone please comment about my build???


the topic is not about how Sha Noran wrote the stuff!!! is just about the stuff!!!!

please!! Fairly Bad.

Thanks,
Program~

Sir Mad

Sir Mad

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Moe's Pub

Pigs Can Fly [Pigs]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by anshin
can someone please comment about my build???
I'm confused with your build, as I don't know how you use it. If it's a condition spreading build (swithing targets to try to keep all the foes poisoned, using the refire rate of quickshot to speed it up), I'd say the idea is good on the paper but it's probably less effective in reality (I haven't tested it so tell me if I'm wrong): with Quickly you can roughly shout 1 arrow per second, so in this case that would be poisoning one foe per second. But this is the theory. In reality, scrolling between targets takes time, and it's going to slow it down. In this case, a warrior IAS may help and you can save your elite for something else.

Now if you focus on only one foe with this build, I'd advice you to bring Read the Wind instead of Apply Poison, as it adds 10 damage per second with Quickshot and increase the speed of your arrows. Savage Shot instead of Distracting Shot may be interesting then to keep a high DPS while interupting. You may want to check Needling Shot too.

Concerning the attribute points, if you choose the 2nd option, then 16 in marksmanship and 13 in expertise is what you need. For the 1st option, you can maybe lower marksmanship a bit to boost WS and increase the poison duration. But I generally don't recommand rangers to have 2 or more sup runes as your att points repartition suggests, unless the build definitely requires it.

You may also want to check the different Quickshot builds posted in this topic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
The point you are missing is that there is a difference between:
"Incendiary arrows sucks, never use it."
and
"Incendiary arrows is not a very effective elite because it has a very short duration time compared to it's recharge. The combo of Practiced Stance and Choking Gas is generally prefered because it can provide constant AoE interupts without any down time"

The difference between the two statements is that one is informative and gives a reason for judgement while the other comes across to many people as being arrogant and gives no insight into reasoning. Quoted for truth. I may also add that in my opinion, the best guide wouldn't be a list of builds a new player would copy (and I'm not saying this is the case of your guide) but a tool to help him make his own builds, depending on the environement, and what's required in the team.

anshin

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

well

actually i only concentrate on one target at a time because with the henchies i kill one guy in less than 10sec...

guess the degeneration is not that usefull...

thanks....it helped

im noob btw...

Sha Noran

Sha Noran

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

http://tinyurl.com/2jlusq

Idiot Savants [iQ]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
The point you are missing is that there is a difference between:
"Incendiary arrows sucks, never use it."
and
"Incendiary arrows is not a very effective elite because it has a very short duration time compared to it's recharge. The combo of Practiced Stance and Choking Gas is generally prefered because it can provide constant AoE interupts without any down time"

The difference between the two statements is that one is informative and gives a reason for judgement while the other comes across to many people as being arrogant and gives no insight into reasoning. You know man, you could've said that probably 16 pages ago and we could've avoided alot of grief. A ton of the arguments I've been having with you (all) is that your attitude has been, "Who the f*ck is Sha Noran to come in here and tell people (x) skill(s) suck!?!?! These skills rule lol!!" I can go back and make it more clear why they suck if that's the biggest problem with it all.

EDIT: I edited quite a bit, and then Guru is messing with me and showing the old version still. >.> ... saved it to Word either way, so I'll update it again later if it really isn't fixed.

Silk Weaver

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Hong Kong

Romantically Lethal [RoLe]

R/Mo

Well, yes, essentially that's what I (and others I think) mean by saying that you come off as arrogant and biased.

Personally, I've never used the cry or revive seriously either. But to completely ignore the positive points of a skill, and they do exist, as mentioned about the AoE +Armor, is to make this guide incomplete and misleading. I think it important to have a balanced view, especially when writing something that will likely influence the thoughts of newcomers. It is important to open the readers' minds to new possibilities, and to understand things on different levels. The cry's example was mainly to show that skills do more than they say.

Hypochondria was a more effective example. The intended use was not to trigger fragility, just as the Cry wasn't meant for armor, but people exploited the Frag bug anyway.

If you're intending to change it -so it's more neutral-, then you'd be in the right direction and I'd be fine with it. I'm not here to simply be antagonistic.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by anshin
well

actually i only concentrate on one target at a time because with the henchies i kill one guy in less than 10sec...

guess the degeneration is not that usefull...

thanks....it helped

im noob btw... If your objective is to take out single targets as fast as possible, then I would suggest you choose another prep besides Apply Poison. Apply is a great skill, but is an energy heavy choice if you are only targetting one enemy. Poison Arrow {E} isn't a bad idea, but you may want to choose Burning Arrow since it does more direct damage and is an easy skill to cap in NF as opposed to Poison Arrow that is deep in Prophecies. I would agree with Sir Mad's suggestion to choose a warrior type IAS in your build as opposed to Quick Shot. Flurry may be a good option if you go with a prep such as Kindle Arrows or Read the Wind. Flurry will reduce the base damage of your attacks, but won't reduce any bonus damage you do with your attack skills and your preps. Burning Arrow with Screaming Shot will also result in a 10 health degen on your target, which is the maximum health degen one may experience. (you can inflict more than 10 degen, but it will only counter any additional health regen an enemy may have). If you were to make these adjustments, your build may be as follows:

Burning Arrow {E}
Distracting Shot
Screaming Arrow
Kindle Arrows or Read the Wind
Whirling Defenses
Flurry
Capture Signet or Troll Unguent
Rez

If you run Read the Wind, I would suggest you use a Flatbow if you can to maximize your refire rate (since all bows under Read the Wind have minimum arc), but your longbow should be fine either way. You could likely lower your expertise to 12 if you find that you are stable with energy since 12 is the cutoff for 10 energy skills (http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Expertise) and invest more in wilderness survival for Kindle Arrows if you choose as well.

Just remember to take all suggestions as a grain of salt and find what you are comfortable with. After all, it doesn't matter how effective your build is if you aren't enjoying the game.

Sha Noran

Sha Noran

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

http://tinyurl.com/2jlusq

Idiot Savants [iQ]

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W00t finally got the dumb post to edit. Rawr.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silk Weaver
I'm not here to simply be antagonistic. Your first post indicated otherwise. ;-)

I know what O's Cry does beyond what it's most obvious effect is. It's still not worth the slot. Ever. There are tons of better skills that can go in the slot you'd be using for that.

Silk Weaver

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Hong Kong

Romantically Lethal [RoLe]

R/Mo

No, I'm here to speak out my opinion, which if -you- don't find useful, at least many others do or agree with.

It's important to note these facts, even if you don't like it. You completley ignored the other effect, however, and mentioned nothing of the armor buff, which means incompletle information. For this reason, I'm not even convinced that you really did know it beforehand. What you said before did not show it. It's like saying that crippling shot is a pindown that cannot be blocked or evaded, ignoring the recharge time completely.

anshin

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
If your objective is to take out single targets as fast as possible, then I would suggest you choose another prep besides Apply Poison. Apply is a great skill, but is an energy heavy choice if you are only targetting one enemy. Poison Arrow {E} isn't a bad idea, but you may want to choose Burning Arrow since it does more direct damage and is an easy skill to cap in NF as opposed to Poison Arrow that is deep in Prophecies. I would agree with Sir Mad's suggestion to choose a warrior type IAS in your build as opposed to Quick Shot. Flurry may be a good option if you go with a prep such as Kindle Arrows or Read the Wind. Flurry will reduce the base damage of your attacks, but won't reduce any bonus damage you do with your attack skills and your preps. Burning Arrow with Screaming Shot will also result in a 10 health degen on your target, which is the maximum health degen one may experience. (you can inflict more than 10 degen, but it will only counter any additional health regen an enemy may have). If you were to make these adjustments, your build may be as follows:

Burning Arrow {E}
Distracting Shot
Screaming Arrow
Kindle Arrows or Read the Wind
Whirling Defenses
Flurry
Capture Signet or Troll Unguent
Rez

If you run Read the Wind, I would suggest you use a Flatbow if you can to maximize your refire rate (since all bows under Read the Wind have minimum arc), but your longbow should be fine either way. You could likely lower your expertise to 12 if you find that you are stable with energy since 12 is the cutoff for 10 energy skills (
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Expertise) and invest more in wilderness survival for Kindle Arrows if you choose as well.

Just remember to take all suggestions as a grain of salt and find what you are comfortable with. After all, it doesn't matter how effective your build is if you aren't enjoying the game.
you know....after your previous post i started thinking and i came up with exactly the same idea i always have fun playing

anyways....i try to concentrate on 5 energy builds...that is why i think the
Quick Needler build is the best one... except i would change probably savage for distracting...and the antidote signet....i would dismiss that too because i like to depend on the monks...so...i have two free slots to bring rez + troll or any other 5 energy attack skill....perhaps savage and distracting together...


what do you think of this build? i would use this build with two ranger heroes and one monk hero....this would do alot of damage like that right?

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by anshin
what do you think of this build? i would use this build with two ranger heroes and one monk hero....this would do alot of damage like that right? Hmm, I'll admit first off that I generally prefer to use an IAS over Quickshot. I was reading the discussion on this build and at one point someone noted that they thought this did about as much damage as a warrior using an IAS and no attack skills, which sounded realistic to me. This, however, is not to say that a warrior with an IAS would always be better because this build does have a more reliable dps since a ranger can maintain dps on running targets by use of their bow. Needling shot is easily the strongest point of the build since you can deal a strong bit of damage at foes under 50% health with Needling's insane refire rate. Also the bonus of RtW is not reduced by Needling, so it will a constant 28 damage at the attributes listed on the build.

Personally, I would prefer Barrage over this in PvE. If you try a comparison of Barrage to Quickshot with RtW on a single target you will find that Barrage does more damage per hit (since the damage bonus of the skill is larget than the bonus from RtW), but has a slightly slower attack rate. I didn't get real deep into numbers to calculate which did more dps on a single target, but I really don't think there was much of a difference. When you take into account that Barrage can double it's damage when even one other foe is adjacent to your target, then Barrage will win out in dps by a strong margin.

I wouldn't say that because of this Barrage is always better than quickshot because sometimes it helps to simply dish out attacks on a target as quickly as possible (ex: if you are teamed with a necro that uses Barbs or Mark of Pain). Quickshot is also a bit more reliable on hitting it's target which can be advantageous against moving targets.

If you decide that you do want to run Quickshot, then I would say the suggested build is a solid way to use it. Sha has a build that is very similar, but I think I would choose the one on Wiki over his since it allows a greater investment into Expertise since it uses no Wilderness Survival skills. If you want to put a running skill in like Sha did, I would suggest Dodge/Zohjun's Haste.

I hope that helps on your decision. If you haven't yet, I would suggest you click the discussion tab at the build from Guru and read up on other people's experiences from when they tested it.

anshin

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

thanks gonna do that


you make a pretty good point about barrage making more damage...

but barrage takes about two seconds to "strike" and quickshot can strike twice in two seconds making the more damage being compensated by the quickness of the skill...

i think i am right on this one >.<

anyways i will look on the discussion...

thanks again

Sha Noran

Sha Noran

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

http://tinyurl.com/2jlusq

Idiot Savants [iQ]

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Silk Weaver
No, I'm here to speak out my opinion, which if -you- don't find useful, at least many others do or agree with.

It's important to note these facts, even if you don't like it. You completley ignored the other effect, however, and mentioned nothing of the armor buff, which means incompletle information. For this reason, I'm not even convinced that you really did know it beforehand. What you said before did not show it. It's like saying that crippling shot is a pindown that cannot be blocked or evaded, ignoring the recharge time completely.
"Many others" as in, the handful of other outspoken people who have disagreed with the thread the whole time. "Many" is a word that could be used for the masses of people who have thanked me vigorously for the help. But I digress.

O's Cry is a joke of a skill, and always has been, even though now it's even more obvious because there are even more Beast Mastery skills that trump it. I have a very good friend and guildie who most enjoys playing as a Beast Master (much to my chagrin frequently, heh) who has always laughed at O's Cry. It has never been playable over other skills. Yes there's an armor bonus. Who cares? It's not a good skill.

Regardless, it hardly bothers me that you aren't convinced whether I knew about the armor or not. Believe what you want.

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
Hmm, I'll admit first off that I generally prefer to use an IAS over Quickshot. I was reading the discussion on this build and at one point someone noted that they thought this did about as much damage as a warrior using an IAS and no attack skills, which sounded realistic to me. This, however, is not to say that a warrior with an IAS would always be better because this build does have a more reliable dps since a ranger can maintain dps on running targets by use of their bow. Needling shot is easily the strongest point of the build since you can deal a strong bit of damage at foes under 50% health with Needling's insane refire rate. Also the bonus of RtW is not reduced by Needling, so it will a constant 28 damage at the attributes listed on the build.

Personally, I would prefer Barrage over this in PvE. If you try a comparison of Barrage to Quickshot with RtW on a single target you will find that Barrage does more damage per hit (since the damage bonus of the skill is larget than the bonus from RtW), but has a slightly slower attack rate. I didn't get real deep into numbers to calculate which did more dps on a single target, but I really don't think there was much of a difference. When you take into account that Barrage can double it's damage when even one other foe is adjacent to your target, then Barrage will win out in dps by a strong margin.

I wouldn't say that because of this Barrage is always better than quickshot because sometimes it helps to simply dish out attacks on a target as quickly as possible (ex: if you are teamed with a necro that uses Barbs or Mark of Pain). Quickshot is also a bit more reliable on hitting it's target which can be advantageous against moving targets.

If you decide that you do want to run Quickshot, then I would say the suggested build is a solid way to use it. Sha has a build that is very similar, but I think I would choose the one on Wiki over his since it allows a greater investment into Expertise since it uses no Wilderness Survival skills. If you want to put a running skill in like Sha did, I would suggest Dodge/Zohjun's Haste.

I hope that helps on your decision. If you haven't yet, I would suggest you click the discussion tab at the build from Guru and read up on other people's experiences from when they tested it. Perfectly summed up Archon (whether I'd like to admit it or not ;-) ). Sorry to not address you directly anshin, but Archon has been beating me to the punch with your questions and not leaving much, if any, room to expand. I'll chime in more thoroughly if Archon leaves anything out.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
O's Cry is a joke of a skill, and always has been, even though now it's even more obvious because there are even more Beast Mastery skills that trump it.
Actually the only other pet protection skill that is even remotely similar to O's Cry since Prophecies is Predatory Bond and even then Predatory Bond heals the pet and does not reduce damage, which is important in evolving a dire pet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
It has never been playable over other skills. Yes there's an armor bonus. Who cares? It's not a good skill. The advantage of the skill was not to allow one to replace another skill, but to work in conjunction with another pet protection skill in order to reduce damage when training a dire pet.

Personally I think this may be best resolved if the statement on O's Cry were to read something along the lines of:
"Otyugh’s Cry is a skill that only really finds use in a beastmaster who is training their pet towards dire. Despite the AoE armor buff it provides, Call of Protection is a better alternative in most scenarios."

Epinephrine

Epinephrine

Master of Beasts

Join Date: Mar 2005

Ottawa, Canada

Servants of Fortuna [SoF]

As a somewhat reputed beastmaster, I'll say that Otyugh's Cry is not a bad skill. I use it. In fact, when I run with pet-using heroes, with 4 pets on the go, it is a staple that at least one of us has it. The 20 AL is pretty handy when 4 pets get affected.

Running with 15 Beastmastery, a Call of Protection and a Symbiotic Bond a pet with 100AL (thanks to the Otyugh's Cry) can take a hit that would deal 80 damage to an AL 60 caster and suffer 0 damage. A 119 damage Fireball deals a whopping 10 damage.

How much of that is the Otyugh's Cry? Without it the 80 damage hit would have dealt 8 damage, and the fireball would have dealt 22 or so. Obviously the bigger the hit the more difference the armour makes. 20 AL is nothing to sneeze at though, and when it's as cheap as 5 energy for 30 seconds on 4 tanks it's worth looking at.

anshin

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
Perfectly summed up Archon (whether I'd like to admit it or not ;-) ). Sorry to not address you directly anshin, but Archon has been beating me to the punch with your questions and not leaving much, if any, room to expand. I'll chime in more thoroughly if Archon leaves anything out.
Sha...despite Archon gets ahead of you you can still say wether you agree with him or not

anyways...about the beast mastery skill that you guys talk about...

think about this... have you asked "real" BM to come here comment? no...all i see is rangers that don't even like Beast Master commenting on a skill of something they don't like...

Epinephrine is a pet user...so he should know better than any of you guys right?

anyways....thanks for all the help and i will keep checking this arguement out because it all comes down to taste but you guys haven't figured that out yet


one more thing... all of you complained about how Sha adressed his "explanation" of the skills and that way would disencourage newbies...

let me say this... any newbie that really wants to learn how to be a good ranger simply WON'T rely on only one guide...

the rest who just want another char to fill a slot and say they have alot of lvl20s...too bad for them...

Sha Noran

Sha Noran

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2005

http://tinyurl.com/2jlusq

Idiot Savants [iQ]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by XvArchonvX
Personally I think this may be best resolved if the statement on O's Cry were to read something along the lines of:
"Otyugh’s Cry is a skill that only really finds use in a beastmaster who is training their pet towards dire. Despite the AoE armor buff it provides, Call of Protection is a better alternative in most scenarios."
Actually I removed the statement on O's Cry entirely. It would help if people checked out the edits I make to the guide when I make them. :-P

Quote: Originally Posted by Epinephrine As a somewhat reputed beastmaster, I'll say that Otyugh's Cry is not a bad skill. I use it. In fact, when I run with pet-using heroes, with 4 pets on the go, it is a staple that at least one of us has it. The 20 AL is pretty handy when 4 pets get affected.

Running with 15 Beastmastery, a Call of Protection and a Symbiotic Bond a pet with 100AL (thanks to the Otyugh's Cry) can take a hit that would deal 80 damage to an AL 60 caster and suffer 0 damage. A 119 damage Fireball deals a whopping 10 damage.

How much of that is the Otyugh's Cry? Without it the 80 damage hit would have dealt 8 damage, and the fireball would have dealt 22 or so. Obviously the bigger the hit the more difference the armour makes. 20 AL is nothing to sneeze at though, and when it's as cheap as 5 energy for 30 seconds on 4 tanks it's worth looking at. Your input is appreciated. Yes, there are uses for it. There are just not really scenarios where you'd use it over another skill. I removed my statement on it from the guide because I didn't feel like going into detail. The link to Ep and Jen's guide is enough to take care of everyone's BM questions.

Quote: Originally Posted by anshin Sha...despite Archon gets ahead of you you can still say wether you agree with him or not I agree with him. Specifically you should note that there's almost always a better choice than Quick Shot (ALMOST). If you're dealing damage, Burning Arrows, if you need some interrupts, Punishing, etc. Quick Shot reminds me of 100 Blades for Warrior really; it's nice and all, but there's almost always a better option.

Quote: Originally Posted by anshin
think about this... have you asked "real" BM to come here comment? no...all i see is rangers that don't even like Beast Master commenting on a skill of something they don't like...

Epinephrine is a pet user...so he should know better than any of you guys right? You underestimate the people discussing the topic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by anshin
it all comes down to taste but you guys haven't figured that out yet Not exactly. There are instances where two skills and their benefits are so difficult to pick between that it is preferance. In many, many cases however, one skill is directly better than another. Penetrating Attack is better than Power Shot; this is not a preferance, this is simply a fact.

Quote:
Originally Posted by anshin
one more thing... all of you complained about how Sha adressed his "explanation" of the skills and that way would disencourage newbies...

let me say this... any newbie that really wants to learn how to be a good ranger simply WON'T rely on only one guide...

the rest who just want another char to fill a slot and say they have alot of lvl20s...too bad for them... Well said.

anshin

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
You underestimate the people discussing the topic.
yes...i don't know anyone so i am probably mistaken in that one...


Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
Not exactly. There are instances where two skills and their benefits are so difficult to pick between that it is preferance. In many, many cases however, one skill is directly better than another. Penetrating Attack is better than Power Shot; this is not a preferance, this is simply a fact. in that one you are right....but not always that happens

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sha Noran
Well said. occasionally i do say smart things

thanks for the support

simone

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2006

order of ascension

R/N

ok shorten this down; what is the best build for a ranger?!

simone

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2006

order of ascension

R/N

huh?huhhhhhhhhh???

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by simone
ok shorten this down; what is the best build for a ranger?! There is no "best build" for a ranger, only a build that is best for the situation. Even then, personal play style often makes one build more effective for one person, while another build may be best for another.

.defekt

.defekt

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2005

Ex Talionis [Law], Schindlers Fist [ouch]

Oh Sha Noran, how do I be as good as you?

<3

Darkpower Alchemist

Darkpower Alchemist

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2006

NYC

The Circle Of Nine[NINE]

E/N

I've read the long and short of the thread so far and I have to say that the arguement has some facts,but more opinions,as should be expected when referring to a person's personal preferences on builds.

Archon has made many solid points, even though he and I have disagreed in the past,I respect his opinion on the matter of Ranger builds and uses. He seems to know well what he is doing with a ranger.

The guide is useful and informative, but is a touch tainted by more opinion than may be needed by a beginner unless you are taking them under your wing as a ranger in training. However,that is just my opinion.

The bow and equipment explainations are dead on, even if a touch vague. Also,the Oath shot useage arguement was well attended to by Archon as well. As he would be more than likely to agree, Oath Shot is situational, and thus, not great in every place but far from useless.

I have recently been running a trapper/Archer build with Burning Arrow as my elite, and it is definitely one of the shining skills in the ranger line in general. I used the following in a degen build that mixed trapping;

Troll Unguent
Apply Poison
Screaming Shot
Savage Shot
Burning Arrow
Dust Trap
Barbed Trap
Sunspear Rebirth Signet

IMHO,this build works in every area of Elona thus far, save places where elementals are dominant, then I would switch to another preparation besides Apply Poison. no skin, no bleeding or poison,but they do get set on fire.

Barrage works in mob filled areas such as at the end of Tyria missions and throughout most of Cantha. It is extremely situational when you get to Elona. Thus, it shows that is not the elite of elites for a ranger. I still like it though.

In short,rangers aren't meant to meat out the same damage as a warrior, but be the middle ground to seperate and take the team to the next level in any and all confrontations. They are so useful that they can always be used in a team.

Sheriff

Sheriff

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2006

Heroic Order of Tyria

R/W

Hi all,

Was wondering if anyone has managed to do any reliable sword R/W build for PvE, now that we have heroes and the new Nightfall skills?

I am not looking for anything "uber", just something that's reliable, instead of being a liability instead

I looked into some new elites like Scavenger Focus (combine with gash) or Expert's Dexterity (maybe use with balanced stance and spam desperation blow), but still can't see anything really useful

Thanks in advance for any ideas

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

@ Darkpower:
I don't see anything wrong with running traps in a bow based build for PvE, but I don't see how you can pull them off without having some sort of evasive stance in there.

@ Sheriff:
I've been running through Elona using a Thumper build similar to the following:
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Bunny_Thumper (see the second of the two builds)
The only difference is that I run with Disrupting Lunge instead of Beastial Mauling.

You could probably do something similar if you want to go with Sword attacks, but you will probably want to focus on straight damage dealing attacks rather than the sever/gash combo since you will gain a lot of adrenaline quickly with the 33% IAS from RaO, but reapplying the same conditions won't do much.

If you do use RaO with a sword build, make sure to have a zealous weapon since it will allow you to spam energy req attack skills relatively well.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnipiousMax
Same here, I rotate my skills around though, I use Disrupting Lunge, but sometimes I take Distracting Blow for a more precise interrupt.

I also switch from Hammer Bash + Crushing to Mighty Blow + Mokele Smash from time to time. Hmm, I might have to try that sometime. I tried the Beastial Mauling variation and I found that while it can be REALLY effective on a single monk, but I found that it often works better in theory than in practive since the pet attack isn't completely reliable.