Advanced Ranger Concepts

Alright kiddies, this guide is for those of you who passed Ranger 101. You have your build just right and your attributes set properly. You're wielding the right bow with the right mods, and you've got on the right armor with the right runes. You've either beaten the game or you're very close.

Despite all of this, you're still very frustrated that you just can't seem to do certain things right with your Ranger that you should be able to do, or that you've seen others do. For example, you're wielding your trusty Longbow, but you just always seem to agro too much when you pull. Or maybe you've got all the right skills in your bar for your interrupter build, but you just can't interrupt the essential skills that your team is depending on you to interrupt. You've read my guides and maybe even asked me for specific help.... but it still isn't working.

What could you be doing wrong?

That, my loyal Ranger friends, is the question that this guide is designed to answer. There are three sections: Pulling, Interrupting and Calling Targets. I would recommend this guide only for advanced Rangers, because I won't be slowing down to define what any skills do or anything else that was covered previously... you're liable to get very lost if you don't play a Ranger/have extensive knowledge of a Ranger's skills and attributes.

Note: This entire guide is purely from memory. I have this all memorized because I have to. It's my job. I don't have time to think, "Wait, what class is a Shadow Beast?" or, "Wait, what skills do I need to block on this Summit Dark Binder?". If I'm hesitating on this sort of stuff, I'm dead and so is my group. I don't want to be discouraging people here, I'm just trying to make this very clear.

That said, let's get started.

Section One: Calling Targets

Calling targets is something that many, many people take for granted. In many areas of the game it really isn't too important... but when you reach the more advanced areas of the game (the Crystal Desert and onward), if you don't have someone in your party calling targets properly, you're going to have some serious problems.

Target calling is something often considered only essential in PVP, but this is not so. If everyone is on a different target in FOW, for example, you're team is going to get pwned just the same as they would in PVP without focusing on a specific target. Occasionally Warriors or even casters are designated on calling targets... this is a terrible mistake, as casters are frequently busy keeping themselves alive and Warriors don't have a good enough view of the battlefield to efficiently call. This leaves Rangers with the task, and that's a good thing; we're the best suited for the role.

It's important to understand what kind of job you're taking on as a group's target caller. This makes you the "leader" of sorts, and that means it's also your job to warn the group of other hazards in upcoming groups of enemies, i.e. skills to watch out for, etc. It's also your job to put your own safety and personal preferences aside in most cases; calling the wrong target to try and save yourself or a friend could get your whole group killed. Its important to keep key party members alive (i.e. Monk, primary damage dealers) and call the targets assaulting them before you try to save less essential personnel (i.e. non-primary damage dealers, Battery Necros). Make sure you keep the people safe that you have to have in order to defeat the group you're fighting.

You may also have to make the call of whether to stand and fight, or run and rez. Being the tactical leader of the group, you should know best. Be firm in your decision and argue your side hard. If you're sure you can win the fight, make the group stay; if you're sure you're doomed, call the run.

Let me dispel a few misconceptions and myths about calling targets before I go any farther:

1) The opposing Monk is not always the most important target.

In fact, the opposing Monk is oftentimes not the first thing you should attack. I'll get specific later.

2) Whatever bad guy is attack you is probably not the most important thing to kill next.

Just because some huge Warrior is whaling on your ass does not mean you should kill him next. You have better armor than casters for a reason... stand there and take it (better you than your casters; MUCH better you than your Monks). The Monks should be fully capable of taking good care of you.

3) Target calling is not easy or simple.

If someone tries to tell you calling targets is easy, just ignore them. It may be pretty easy to decide to kill the White Mantle Priest before the White Mantle Knight. But what target do you call when your group is already fighting three Skeletal Berserkers, two Skeletal Bonds and a Skeletal Ether Breaker, then agros another patrol and now has to deal with an additional three Skeletal Berserkers and two Skeletal Ice Hands? Which of these should be the primary target? Should you stay on the current target or switch?

Yea. Not easy.

Now that I've made those three things clear, it's time to get specific. Unfortunately, there is no #1 rule or special secret trick to target calling as a whole... each independent area of the game has a different order in which you have to kill things, and thus a different order in which to call the targets. I'm going to make everything as simple as I can and go through, area by area, and break down what to do and who to call in each. This will take some time to type out and to read, and I'm worried that many of you will skip reading it because "oh, well Sha will be there and I won't be calling anyway". I don't mean to sound conceited... but a lot of people have told me that. Please take the time to read it, and then not only will you be one step ahead of everyone else on getting to the call, but you'll also understand why I'm calling that as the target. Also, if I die you'll be able to take over from where I died and the group will not be lost in chaos.

For each area, I'm going to list all the names of the enemies and what class they really are, then common groups of enemies. All lists are in the order you should call them to attack, including the full lists just to give you an idea of order, then for the common groups I'll explain why I chose the order i did for each.

Note: The "Other" category in each area won't be in any kind of order because these enemies will generally not be found together.

Area 1- Grenth’s Footprint/Sorrow’s Furnace:

Sorrow’s, despite being accessible any time and without a fee (a la UW and FOW), is one of the most rewarding and difficult areas of the game to play properly. Too many people are unsure of exactly how to go about clearing it, and many are unsure of even which Dwarves are which classes. Hopefully this will clear all of that up.

As a side note, you may wonder why I’m listing the bosses here as well as the normal enemies… say you’re group is doing the Orozar quest in which a lot of groups rush your position. You see Brohn Stoneheart rushing you and you think, “Whew, no prob, Ele Boss.” Well, since that’s actually a Monk boss, your group may be in trouble… you need to know all the boss’s names and classes in order to call properly.

Grenth’s Footprint Dwarves
Dolyak Master- Monk (Healing + Mark of Protection)
Summit Giant Herder- Warrior (Hammer + Dwarven Battle Stance)
Summit Carver- Warrior (Axe)
Summit Surveyor- Ranger (Bleeding)
Summit Gnasher- Necromancer (Death/ Bone Fiends)
Stone Summit Heretic- Mesmer (Illusion)
Siege Ice Golem- Elementalist (Water)

Sorrow’s Furnace Dwarves
Priest of Sorrows- Monk (Rez + Heal + Mark of Protection)
Enslaved Ettin- Warrior (Hammer)
Summit Deep Knight- Warrior (Hammer + Dwarven Battle Stance)
Summit Taskmaster- Mesmer (Illusion)
Summit Dark Binder- Necromancer (Death + Well of Suffering)
Summit Warden- Elementalist (Earth + Obsidian Flame)
Summit Surveyor- Ranger (Bleeding)
Siege Ice Golem- Elementalist (Water)

Dredge Rebels
Dredge Brute- Warrior (Axe)
Dredge Scout- Ranger (Poison + Traps)
Dredge Shaman- Monk (Divine Favor)

Other
Flame Djinn- Warrior (Sword)
Rage Binders- Necromancer (Death)

Grenth’s Footprint Boss List
Wroth Yakslapper- Monk
Gorrel Rockmolder- Mesmer
Gargash Thornbeard- Ranger
Morgriff Shadestone- Necromancer
Flint Fleshcleaver- Elementalist
Thorgrall Blugeonhammer- Warrior

Sorrow’s Furnace Boss List
Gardok Stonesoul- Monk
Brohn Stoneheart- Monk
Ivor Helmhewer- Monk
Korvald Willcrusher- Mesmer
Vokur Grimshackles- Mesmer
Garbok Handsmasher- Mesmer
Graygore Boulderbeard- Ranger
Drago Stonehearder- Ranger
Tarnok Forgerunner- Ranger
Bortak Bonesmelter- Necromancer
Gordac Fleshweaver- Necromancer
Villnar Painforge- Necromancer
Galigord Stonestrike- Elementalist
Runar Brimstone- Elementalist
Rago Kindlerock- Elementalist
Malinon Threshammer- Warrior
Grognard Gravelhead- Warrior
Tanzit Razorstone- Warrior

<If I miss something on this list that you have a question about, please tell me so I can update it. Thanks.>

Common Groups

The “Common Groups” in sorrows are a bit hard to define, because there are quite a few more variables here than in most of the late game areas. However, there are a few groups that are defined by their variables, and then a few easy to follow rules that will help you own the whole place.

Dwarf Physical Damage
Dwarf Physical Damage
Dwarf Caster Type

Comments: The Physicals will be either Deep Knights or Surveyors, and the Casters will be either Binders, Wardens or Taskmasters.

Dwarf Physical Damage
Dwarf Caster Type
Dwarf Caster Type

Comments: Same as before.

Dwarf Physical Damage
Dwarf Physical Damage
Dwarf Caster Type
Dwarf Caster Type
Dwarf Caster Type

Comments: Same as before.

Dwarf Physical Damage/Caster Type
Dwarf Physical Damage/Caster Type
Dwarf Priest of Sorrows
Dwarf Boss

Comments: The boss must be last 99% of the time. There are occasionally exceptions, but they’re rare and will be obvious when they apply.

Dwarf Physical Damage/Caster Type
Dwarf Priest of Sorrows
Dwarf Priest of Sorrows
Dwarf Boss

Comments: This has the potential to be very, very slow. If Mark of Protection gets put on something, switch targets (unless your group planned ahead and can deal with in other ways, i.e. Strip Enchantment).

Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Physical Damage

Comments: These are either Brutes or Scouts, and Brutes should be targeted first… the poison is annoying, but trying to kill them first won’t really slow down the poison problems.

Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Shaman

Comments: Same as above, except now with a Monk… note that the Monk here is last. Shaman don’t even really heal… in fact, they don’t really do much of anything. They’re sort of an all Divine Favor build Monk and frankly, they suck. No threat there…. they don’t even rez.

Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Physical Damage
Dredge Shaman

Comments: Ranger spike can hurt here… just focus on one target at a time and get ready for it to hurt.

Those are the only kinds of groups you’ll be facing, and you’ll generally take them in the order I just put them up in. There are a few exceptions though, as follows:

1. If your group is running Minions, as many groups do in Sorrow’s, the you’ll need to target OR have an interrupter on the Dark Binders, or your poor Necro is going to be corpseless.

2. If the DP really starts to burn, you’re going to have to target those pesky Taskmasters… the Degen is far more dangerous than any direct damage with the decreased health.

3. If you get a group with two Priests and a Monk boss, don’t panic. It will be slow…. but it won’t be too hard because you won’t take too much damage. Just remember to jump targets when Mark of Protection is used.

Area 2- The Fissure of Woe:

Despite the expansive area that FOW is, there are really only a few categories of enemies, plus a few enemies found exclusively in some areas. It should be noted that Skeleton enemies and Shadow enemies will fight each other. Use this to your advantage when you can/if you need to.

Shadows
Shadow Monk- Monk (Heal)
Abyssal- Warrior (Hammer)
Shadow Elemental- Elementalist (Fire)
Shadow Mesmer- Mesmer (Domination)
Shadow Beast- Necromancer (Curses, attacks like a Axe Warrior)
Shadow Warrior- Warrior (Sword)
Shadow Ranger- Ranger (Barrage)

Skeletons
Skeletal Ether Breaker- Mesmer (Domination)
Skeletal Berserker- Warrior (Axe)
Skeletal Icehand- Elementalist (Water)
Skeletal Bond- Monk (Heal/Divine Favor)
Skeletal Impaler- Ranger (Traps)
Skeletal Archer- Ranger (Interrupt)

Other
-Forest Enemies
Spirit Shepards- Elementalist (Air)
Ancient Oakhearts- Ranger (Spirits)
Rock Borer Worms- Ranger (Choking Gas)
-Coast/Ocean/Seaboard Enemies
Ancient Skale- Necromancer (Curses)
Snarling Driftwood- Warrior (Sword)
-Shard Wolf Quest Enemy
Shard Wolf- Elementalist (Fire)
-Valley Area Only
Dragon Lich- Necromancer (Attacks like a Warrior)
-Tower of Strength Area Only
Shadow Patrol- Hammer Warrior (Abyssal w/ another name)
-Burning Forest/Swamp Enemies
Mhango Hydra- Elementalist (Fire)
Smoke Walker- Monk (Heal)
Ancient Skale- Necromancer (Curses)
-Lava Filled Area (Lord Khobay’s hangout)
Obsidian Furnace Drakes- Elementalist (Fire)
Smoke Walker- Monk (Heal)
Infernal Wurms- Monster (Siege)

<If I miss something on this list that you have a question about, please tell me so I can update it. Thanks.>

Common Groups

Shadow Monk
Shadow Warrior

Comments: Common sense really. Those nasty Sword Warriors attack ridiculously fast, but going for them before the Monks would be just silly.

Shadow Elementalist
Shadow Elementalist
Shadow Mesmer
Shadow Warrior

Comments: The Elementalists, contrary to popular belief, cause a lot more trouble than the Mesmers here. If you let both of the Elementalists get off all of their spells while you kill the lone Mesmer (who is Domination and biggest problem spells are Backfire and Empathy), you're going to have big problems. The Warrior is again low priority... he has decent attacks and attack speed but just doesn't do enough damage by himself to be concerned about immediately.

Shadow Monk
Shadow Beast
Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior

Comments: Once you start to get groups with more than one Warrior, they start to be a problem. One Sword Warrior with limited damage capabilities, no problem... but two or three does start to be a problem. In this case, however, the Monk obviously takes precedence, and the Beast comes second because of his Consume Corpse and Spiteful Spirit skills. If you get the Beast early he won't be able to hurt you too bad... but give him corpses and time to play around with and he'll really wreck havoc.

Shadow Monk
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast

Comments: Another common sense type of group. Get that Monk down fast, because that double Spiteful Spirit is going to really hurt bad if you give it time.

Shadow Elementalist
Shadow Elementalist
Shadow Mesmer

Comments: Just like before, you have to get those Eles first... their spells hurt alot worse than the Mesmer's if you give them a chance to.

Shadow Monk
Shadow Monk
Shadow Mesmer
Shadow Warrior

Comments: You really have to get everyone to target the same Monk here and spike the damage enough to take it out because both of the Monks have and use Heal Area, which will keep them both up for quite a while, allowing that Warrior to really cause some damage back in your casters.

Abyssal
Shadow Ranger
Shadow Ranger

Comments: The Abyssals have to go first here. Being Hammer Warriors, they not only cause ridiculous ammounts of damage but cause knockdown, which effectively interrupts many things. Get them before they cause too much havoc, then take out those annoying Barrage Rangers. Make sure to warn the group to spread out as to not be effected by Barrage too badly.

Shadow Monk
Abyssal
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast
Shadow Ranger
Shadow Ranger

Comments: Here's where it can start to get ugly. Those Abyssals have the potential to really badly own one or two of your party members while you're trying to take out the Monk, but if you're quick about it and you're tanks get on the Abyssal like they should you should be alright. The Beasts are going to have time to really cause some trouble, but stay focused and don't panic; the Abyssal has to go down first. The Rangers really aren't too much of a problem here if the group just stays spread out enough to not be too bothered by Barrage.

Skeletal Ether Breaker
Skeletal Ether Breaker
Skeletal Icehand
Skeletal Icehand
Skeletal Icehand

Comments: You first encounter the Skeleton Army at the bottom of what our Guild fondly refers to as "N00b Hill" (because most truly n00b groups will get pwned here). This is the the downhill decent into the valley next to the Forge which also connects to the Burning Forest (aka The Swamp) and the Forest. This is where most groups die because, honestly, this is where it starts to get really, really challenging. The Ether Breakers must die first, or you're really going to get screwed. They strip enchantments and just make a mess of things in general. Don't get me wrong, the Icehands hurt bad but if the Ether Breakers don't go down first your Monks are going to be drained of energy and your Warriors will have no adrenaline... not good. Keep your eyes open here for the extremely deadly combo of Chaos Storm, Maelstrom and Deep Freeze... an AoE that prevents you from casting anything, an AoE that drains your energy and an AoE that keeps you in them is bad news.

Skeletal Ether Breaker
Skeletal Berserker
Skeletal Berserker
Skeletal Berserker
Skeletal Bond
Skeletal Bond

Comments: Here's where target calling truly starts to get border-line impossible. The Ether Breakers, as stated before, can ruin the build of whoever they're targeting, Berserkers do so much damage they can single-handedly rock anything but a well armored tank, and the Bonds are the Monks. The Ether Breakers must go first, because whatever they're targeting might as well be dead. Their Sympathetic Visage shuts off a Warrior's adrenaline single-handedly, and everything else will be pwned energy wise very quickly. Take down this soft target as fast as you can, because your Prot Monk is going to be pulling his/her hair out trying to keep alive whatever the Berserkers are targeting.... which changes frequently. The Berserkers change targets at such a pace it's mind-blowing... if your group has no slow-down, this is going to be a tough fight. Target one then stay calm and focused until it dies, then move to the next.

The Bonds here are last because they generally only heal themselves and never put Spell Breaker on anyone but themselves. If you notice them excessively healing others, you're going to have to go for them before the Berserkers... but if you have to do that, people are going to die, but keep in mind that this is better than everyone dying. Live with the RIGHT decision, rez, move on.

Dragon Lich
Skeletal Ether Breaker

Comments: A lot of groups try to get the Breaker first here... but if you go for that Lich first, I can almost guarantee you'll get that Ether Breaker in the cross fire. The Lich, being above level 30, has a ridiculous amount of health... just stay focused and keep at it and you'll get him down.

Shadow Monk
Shadow Monk {Boss}
Skeletal Ether Breaker
Shadow Ranger
Shadow Ranger
Skeletal Impaler
Dragon Lich

Comments: This is the group you're going to get if your group makes the mistake of taking the Army of Darkness quest before taking the hill. Here we have a nearly impossible fight.... made more impossible because there are two Monks, an Ether Breaker, a mini-Ranger Spike team and the Dragon Lich to take care of all at once. Try to pull or have your puller do so if possible... it's going to be tough. If you agro it all, like I've said, try to stay calm... it's very, very hard, but doable. Good luck.

Abyssal
Abyssal
Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior

Comments: You'll find this friendly little group at the base of the hill leading into the Forge. This isn't really too hard of a group to kill... just make sure your team is focusing on one target, and try to get most of the agro on the tank. Keep in mind that as soon as you kill the Abyssals in the group, 8 Shadow Beasts are going to spawn and charge your position from off the path towards the hill (away from the Forge). Regardless... kill the Abyssals first.

Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast

Comments: This group isn't really hard to figure out which one to attack, but it's very, VERY important that you not panic and just focus on one target at a time. Spread out and try to avoid AoEing the Spiteful too bad, but most of all, everyone needs to stay calm and focus fire on the targets one by one.

Shadow Monk
Shadow Monk
Shadow Mesmer
Shadow Mesmer

Comments: This group tends to stay in a ball and used to be really easy to take out with a few nukes. Tragically, this is not the case anymore. You're going to have to focus fire on each Monk in turn and then the Mesmers... when in the Forge, be cautious of agroing the patrols that consist of....

Abyssal
Abyssal
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast

Comments: These little patrols in the Forge tend to hurt bad, but they're a whole, whole lot worse if you agro them along with one of the Monk/Monk/Mesmer/Mesmer groups. Make sure to not do that.... you're going to be very close to the brink of return to TOA.

Shadow Monk
Shadow Monk
Abyssal
Abyssal
Shadow Mesmer
Shadow Mesmer
Shadow Beast
Shadow Beast

Comments: This is not fun. Here's the group you've got to deal with if you agro both the groups listed directly above this. It's critical to get these Monks because nothing will die if you don't get them down first. It's going to be tempting to get those Abyssals... but let the others yell about them, you have to keep people targeting the Monks. The Beasts are going to have forever to cause havoc in your back ranks, but there's nothing you can do about that. Just keep focused on killing the group in this order... good luck, you may have to run and rez if it gets too ugly.

Ancient Skale
Snarling Driftwood
Snarling Driftwood

Comments: These enemies can only be found on the FOW's Coast/Seaboard/Ocean area. You will probably not be fighting there, but if you're with an expert/clearing/Guild group it's possible that you might encounter these guys. They really aren't too tough compared to the other groups in FOW, but don't go to sleep on them… which your group might be doing if you’ve played the standard route to get to them.

Spirit Shepard
Spirit Shepard
Spirit Shepard
Ancient Oakheart
Ancient Oakheart

Comments: This is a good example of what you’ll be facing if you agro carefully in the Forest… don’t count on that happening too often. The Shepards go down first here because of their Iron Mist skill… anyone whose 90% slower might as well be dead.

Spirit Shepard
Spirit Shepard
Spirit Shepard
Spirit Shepard
Spirit Shepard
Spirit Shepard
Ancient Oakheart
Ancient Oakheart
Ancient Oakheart

Comments: That’s more like what you’ll be facing in the Forest. Same order, more pain. Good luck.

Smoke Walker
Smoke Walker
Mhango Hydra
Mhango Hydra
Ancient Skale
Ancient Skale
Ancient Skale

Comments: This is an example of a small group in the Burning Forest/Swamp area. Your best bet is to not even go here… but if you have a good group dead set on trying it/clearing FOW, this is the order to take the baddies in. Those Smoke Walkers generally come in pairs and group up, then spam Healing Touch. The Hydras go before the Mesmers because the Hydras use Glyph of Renewal and can therefore drop 4 Meteor Showers in very short order. Doesn’t sound bad (AoE, just move right?) but the area is so cramped you will probably either agro something more if you run, or really not be able to run at all.

Smoke Walker
Obsidian Furnace Drake
Obsidian Furnace Drake
Obsidian Furnace Drake

Comments: This is a common group in the lava-filled area where the traitorous Lord Khobay is hiding out. If you’re group is skilled enough to have gotten this far, you shouldn’t have any trouble taking out the enemy groups in this area; just make sure you take out that Smoke Walker, as it will spam Healing Touch and Heal Area.

Smoke Walker
Obsidian Furnace Drake
Obsidian Furnace Drake
Obsidian Furnace Drake
Infernal Wurm

Comments: Same song, second verse… now you have some Wurm Siege to deal with. If you have along Savage Shot, call a target for your party to take out, then just Savage Wurm Siege whenever he tries to use it. Don’t try to take out the Wurm first, as he should take some time to dispatch with all that armor.

Area 3- The Underworld:

The Underworld is, almost without question, the hardest area of the game. Without extensive planning and at least a minor amount of strategy, one lone Aataxe could easily slaughter your whole group within moments of entering. The area is at least double the size of FOW (possibly three times), and the majority of the enemies are level 28+, rather than 24+.

This, however, isn’t really a UW strategy guide… I’m going to assume here that you have some sort of plan for what to do as far as a build. You, brave Ranger, will be the target caller, which ironically isn’t as difficult to do here as it is in FOW or even Sorrow’s… however it’s even harder to explain. Since in UW many of the areas are designed around exploiting certain individual class builds then overwhelming you with that one thing rather than having difficult-to-overcome team builds, there are rarely instances where I can simply list out what to kill in what order.

This is where your true skill and experience will show itself… you have to know which enemy in a group of seemingly identical enemies is the biggest threat to your group.

Area 4- Titans:

Alright, this can’t really be called an “area”, but since that’s how I’ve been breaking the rest down, we’ll make it work here. There are four entirely different sets of Titans out there in the big world of Tyria, and it can be very hard to decipher which targets need to drop when. Along with the Titans is a set of level 24 Charr Lords, and since they exclusively appear with the Titans in Ascalon (and fight with them) I’ll explain them in this section as well.

Fire Island Titans
Spark of the Titans- Elementalist (Fire Spike)
Armageddon Lord- Elementalist (Fire AoE + Melee Attack)
Risen Ashen Hulk- Necromancer (Aura of the Lich + Melee Attack)
Hand/Fist of the Titans- Warrior (Sword)

Defend Droknar’s Forge Titans
Titan Heart- Monk (Heal + Mark of Protection)
Titan Malice- Mesmer (Domination Backfire/Empathy)
Icy Brute- Warrior (Hammer)
Dark Titan- Necromancer (Consume Corpse + Melee Attack)
Frost Titan- Elementalist (Water + Melee Attack)

Defend North Kryta Province/Defend Denravi Titans
Wind Born Titan- Elementalist (Air Spike)
Water Born Titan- Elementalist (Water Slowdown/Maelstrom)
Earth Born Titan- Elementalist (Earth Spike)
Rotting Titan- Necromancer (Wither + Energy Pwnage + Disease)
Wild Growth- Ranger (Traps + Poison)

Last Day Dawns/Titan Source Titans
Spark of the Titans- Elementalist (Fire Spike)
Armageddon Lord- Elementalist (Fire AoE + Melee Attack)
Risen Ashen Hulk- Necromancer (Aura of the Lich + Melee Attack)
Hand/Fist of the Titans- Warrior (Sword)

Charr Lords
Charr Martyr Lord Monk (Heal)
Charr Mind Lord- Mesmer (Domination Backfire/Empathy)
Charr Ashen Lord- Necromancer (Curses Malaise)
Charr Stalker Lord- Ranger (Ignite Arrows Spike)
Charr Axe Lord- Warrior (Axe)
Charr Flame Lord- Elementalist (Fire Spike)

Additional Comments: There really isn’t much else to explain here… I can’t really think of any exceptions to these lists; in fact, it’s critical that everything die in just this order. Assuming you call the right targets, these quests shouldn’t give you too much trouble, but if you’re going for the Axe Lord while the Mind Lord is spamming a level 16+ Backfire on your Monk…. it’s going to take a while.

The only other information you need is contained in the following lists, which describes what order to kill things in when faced with a group containing both Titans and Charr Lords, and then what Titans spawn in what order.

Titan + Charr Lord Priority Order
Charr Martyr Lord
Spark of the Titans
Charr Mind Lord
Charr Ashen Lord
Charr Stalker Lord
Charr Axe Lord
Charr Flame Lord
Armageddon Lord
Risen Ashen Hulk
Hand/Fist of the Titans

One Spark alone could probably spike one of your party members to death if given the time to get off it’s spells in order… don’t let that happen. The Charr Monk Lords are actually quite good at what they do, and you’ll have some serious issues if you don’t take them out first.

Fire Titan Spawn List
Armageddon Lord spawns: Risen Ashen Hulk
Risen Ashen Hulk spawns: Hand of the Titans AND Fist of the Titans

Frost Titan Spawn List
Frost Titan spawns: Icy Brute AND Titan Malice
Titan Malice spawns: Titan Heart
Icy Brute spawns: Dark Titan

Plant Titan Spawn List
Rotting Titan spawns: Wild Growth
Wild Growth spawns: Wind Born Titan AND Water Born Titan AND Earth Born Titan

Areas 5 and 6, The Deep and Urgoz’ Warren, coming soon!

And that concludes the section on calling targets. Whew! Now moving on to the sacred art of interrupting.

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Section Two: Interrupting

As a Ranger you will frequently be called upon to run Interrupts for your group. Though this is easy to say, it’s much harder to actually do. Just having the right build really doesn’t mean much at all. You must know what skills your opponent is using so that you can better know what is most important for you to interrupt. Even Ranger with the most perfect skill bars often fail at interrupting because they are not familiar enough with their enemies skill bar.

Now just with like many things, practice makes perfect; I can’t just tell you exactly how to interrupt perfectly. I can merely point out some key things to look for, tell you how I do it and push you in the right direction… you will have to play as an interrupter (probably many times) in different situations to know what to look for.

First I’ll describe how I interrupt, what you should do if you’re going in blind (i.e. you don’t already know what to interrupt) and then I’ll offer a few suggestions on what to interrupt on different enemies and enemy groups through out the game.

How Sha Interrupts

I don’t want to go straight into it, because I’m afraid I might make it sound impossible… or at least far harder than it is. Instead I’ll start by taking a simple look at a commonly frustrating enemy skill: Orison of Healing. This very basic healing spell has a casting time of one second. Average human reaction time is about 3/4ths of a second. Savage Shot, the most basic Ranger interrupt, fires “instantly” but then must fly to your target. Simple logic tells us that if you try to interrupt Orison of Healing after the enemy Monk begins to use it, you’re just not going to get it… and this is assuming that you fire your arrow absolutely as fast as you can, usually when the spell is exactly 3/4ths of the way done, giving your arrow a fourth of a second to reach the target.

It’s not going to happen.

Now don’t get discouraged just yet… there are few critical interrupts in the game that fire off this fast; often you’ll be interrupting things such as Giant Stomp or Animate Bone Fiend. These cast so slowly (3 seconds +) that you would have to be asleep/dead to somehow not catch them, especially if you are focusing on getting that particular skill. Therefore, I’m going to assume that you are using a build well enough equipped to be able to interrupt something easy like that; these are Advanced Ranger Concepts, right?

Assuming you are trying to interrupt something such as Orison of Healing (or are going for something just to be classy, such as Cry of Frustration), it's all about reading your opponents skill patterns and predicting when they will use such skills. As I demonstrated with my explaination of timing before, firing the interrupt after they've begun using the skill will not work. You must predict when the skill will be fired and launch your interrupt before they even begin using it. After quite a bit of playing in any given area, you'll begin to be able to know at what point during a monster's skill chain they will use certain skills. With a lot of timing and a bit of luck, you can interrupt anything with a cast/attack time.

When you’re running interrupts for your team and that’s really the main focus of your build, all you need are three skills: Savage Shot, Distracting Shot and Punishing Shot {E}. Everything else is icing on the cake, maybe a prep, a stance, a sprint and a rez… or a blank bar. It honestly doesn’t matter beyond the three interrupts. Now, as I stated in my basic build guide, Incendiary Arrows {E} is an acceptable replacement for Punishing if you are new to interrupting, but unfortunately for advanced interrupting, there’s no contest… you must use Punishing. If you read this guide and then come to me asking about Incendiary, I’m not even going to talk to you about it. It’s simply not an option.

Now that the required skills are clear for all, let me also make clear where you must have them on your bar if you want to experience the most success. Skill slot one is Savage Shot, skill slot two is Distracting and skill slot three is Punishing. You use these three slots because this allows you to lay your left hand on the keyboard and have your index finger on the 3 key, your middle finger on the 2 key, and your ring finger on the 1 key. This allows for much, much better reaction time for firing your interrupts than using the mouse to click the skills ever can, and leaves your mouse hand free to use your other five skills, select targets, pick your nose, whatever. Like I said, if you’re interrupting, nothing matters except your three interrupts. In case that didn’t make any sense at all, here are some pictures to help:



And for all you Koreans out there:



Now that I’ve made it beyond clear how to interrupt, I’ll try to give you a very (read: VERY) basic idea of what to interrupt. Note that when interrupting, you’ll have to be on your toes; you must be able to survey the field and select not only the most important target, but the most important skill that target possesses. Also note that the most critical interrupt for you to hit is oftentimes NOT in the possession of the most important target. That didn’t make sense did it? Ok, here’s an example.

EXAMPLE GROUP:

Summit Taskmaster
Priest of Sorrows

The Taskmaster here is, obviously, the most important target, and the one you should call. However, as the Ranger, you should be all over the Priest instead, because his Mark of Protection is much more important to interrupt than, say, Cry of Frustration.

Make sense? Good! Here are a few really obvious interrupts to get you started; you’ll have to figure most out on the fly, depending on not only the make up of your group, but also the build you’re running.

Priest of Sorrows/Any Dwarven Monk with an Elite: Mark of Protection
Shadow Warrior: Healing Signet
Ranger Bosses/Shadow Ranger: Troll Unguent
Summit Gnasher: Animate Bone Fiend
Summit Dark Binder/Dwarven Necro Bosses: Well of Suffering
Shadow Monk: Heal Area

That’s quite broad, and is only really designed to get you started. If you’re group asks you to interrupt, and you don’t know what you’ll be facing, ask! It’s better than not knowing at all and failing to interrupt what your group needs done.

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Section Three: Pulling

If you don’t have a Longbow, don’t waste your time.

If you don’t have a Longbow, don’t waste your time.

If you don’t have a Longbow, don’t waste your time.

If you don’t have a Longbow, don’t waste your time.

I can’t emphasize how important it is. If you have a Flatbow, don’t pull (I guess you could, but I don't know why you'd have a Flatbow anyway). If you have a Composite Bow, don’t pull. If you have a Shadow Bow, don’t pull. If you have an Eternal Bow, don’t pull. If you have a Storm Bow, however, go for it; Storm Bow=Longbow.

For the love of God, please don’t mix up Eternal Bow and Storm Bow. You might actually see an Aataxe word bubble say “lol” as he crushes your fleeing ass before you can make it back behind the Warrior.

It is critical to understand that pulling is not needed everywhere. Pulling, for example, is a bad idea if you have a bonded Warrior (i.e. IDS Farm, FoW [sometimes], UW [sometimes]). Pulling is absolutely necessary, however, in many areas of the game. Good examples of this are Sorrow’s Furnace, UW Trap Groups, anytime two or more groups are stuck on each other, etc.

Many people underestimate the power of pulling. Just as an example, in the past I’ve pulled Sorrow’s bosses out alone, without their groups, without their surrounding patrols, without anything. Just the boss. That saves us quite a bit of trouble, wouldn’t you agree? Now you might be thinking that this is only possible with dumb Warrior bosses, i.e. Tanzit Razorstone, but I’ve successfully pulled other classes of boss. Good examples include Drago Stonehearder, Brohn Stonehart and Gordac Fleshweaver.

Now then, enough bragging. ;-) On to the explanations of how to do these wondrous tasks.

The entire key (secret, if you will) to it all is the careful placement of your Agro bubble. Some people don’t even know what an Agro bubble is… visual aid time:



Gotta love it.

You can see here from my highly advanced diagram that the Agro bubble of any given character is the small circle around that character in their radar. When pulling, this is what you’re looking at. Not the bad guy, not your toon, but your radar. If everything goes as planned, your Agro bubble never touches anything. Ever.

Now the difficult part: actually luring the group you want back to your party, which should be still a safe distance back. Depending on what you’re pulling, you’ll want to handle the return to your party differently.

If the group you’re pulling has Warriors or Assassins: Turn around, then wait for the closest Warrior to be within your agro bubble. Proceed to run directly back to your group and by your tank. If you run close enough to your tank, the agro should shift to him. Do not use a sprint, as this will cause them to de-agro.

If the group you’re pulling has no Warriors or Assassins: Do not use a sprint. Do not turn and run. Once the casters or Rangers agro on to you, they should only try to wand/shoot you, without using skills. They will only use skills if they get to your agro circle… back up slowly as they approach it to prevent this from happening.

Only turn and run or use a sprint if you’ve accidentally agro’d too much, as this will cause most or all of the enemies to de-agro and return to their posts. Even if the enemies catch you/start dealing damage to you, do not use a sprint (an evasive stance would be fine) unless you want to lose the agro entirely. You should make it back to your monks in time for a heal as you bring the enemies in. If you feel that you are going to take damage once you start your pull, use Troll Unguent before your initial pull.

Finally, I would like to point at that you do not need to use any skill (as in, Called Shot; it does however take skill :-P) to pull, nor do you even need to have your arrow strike the foe you are pulling. A miss, stray, dodged, evaded, or blocked arrow will still bring hate to you from an enemy group.

Good luck and happy pulling!

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That concludes my Advanced Ranger Concepts guide. Hopefully this will help some wayward Rangers out there, and also bring the class a little more love. Some people don’t even understand what a Ranger is truly capable of (b/p derr). Good luck and have fun all, and don’t be afraid to shoot me a whisper in game if you have a question that I never answered.


Updates/Edits:
I'll track any changes or additions to this guide here so that you don't have to re-read it all when you see that it's updated. :-P
-Added a portion to my Interrupting section which I somehow miraculously did not add (Distracting Shot must have got me)
-Added a picture to the pulling section which somehow didn't get posted in the final post