barrage/pet build

halk

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2006

netherlands

W/

i thought that was the way for the Underworld (tomb of the primary king)

i realy need help on a build

Sneale.

Sneale.

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

Barrage {e}
Throw Dirt / Dust Trap
Savage Shot
Distracting Shot
Revive/Comfort Animal
Charm Animal
Troll Unguent / Whirling Defense
Resurrection Sig / Rebirth

Thats the build I run whenever I do tombs...

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

party build: 5 rangers, Orders necro, Minion master, healer

rangers basic build:

Barrage (must have)
savage shot or distracting shot (must have)
whirling defence (good idea to have)
trall enguent (must have)
Throw dirt (or a spirit that your party requires from you)
Chrm animal (must have)
comfort animal (must have)
rebirth (over all ressurection skills this one is the most suitable for the place)

attributes: 16 marksmaship, 12 expertise, rest in wilderness survival

you dont need points in beast mastery, because the pet is just body blocker and minion meat. but when you see that your pet is goin down fast its a good idea to move away from damger area becau of blackout after he dies

have fun

SparhawkJC

SparhawkJC

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2006

The Amazon Basin

R/Me

I basically run the same skill setup as Maria with some differences in attributes. Marksmanship is fine at 16 but expertise doesn't need to be at 12. You can bump this down to 9 and only gain 1 energy cost from 10 energy spells. If you have expertise at 9 you can raise wilderness survival and beastmastery to a reasonable level. I like to have beast mastery at least at 4 just so that my pet can tank a little after being rezzed.

In terms of equiqment you should run a Vamp Hornbow/Flatbow/Recurve of Fortitude. Hornbow will give you the most damage per barrage, flatbow will let you fire off the most barrages, and recurves give you the fastest arrows for interrupting. Also don't forget to bring an offbow to switch from, and NEVER ever bring an elemental damage bow. Orders will not work with it and that piddly 10-12 conjure elemental damage/rogdort's invocation that is reduced by armor is absolute trash compared 22 armor ignoring damage you get from orders and a vamp string.

Wellsy

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2006

[milf]

W/

Barrage is hard to cap

SnipiousMax

SnipiousMax

Perfectly Elocuted

Join Date: Sep 2005

^ When I did this run I ran the pretty much the same thing as maria and sparhawk, minus Wilderness survival and Troll Ungent. I ran 16 marks, 9 expertise, and the rest I piled into beastmastery. Troll Ungent isn't much help if they break through the minion/pet barrier, so I always volunteered to bring a spirit. Alot of groups like to take winnow and favorable winds.

Sir Mad

Sir Mad

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Moe's Pub

Pigs Can Fly [Pigs]

R/

Sneale, there is no point of having 2 interupts in the tombs where the only thing you gotta interupt is the Siege Worms attacks. Fot the tomb, here is the build for my ideal team:

Core skills:

- Barrage (obviously)
- Rebirth/rez chant/vangeance (yeah ONE player with vengeance may be a good idea)
- Whirling Defense or lightning Reflexes (personal prefence for the 1st one)
- troll Onguent, just in case: don't be completely dependant of your monk even if TO is not the best healing skill...
- Charm animal
- Comfort animal

For the 2 slots remaining:
- 2 players must carry an interupt (no need for more, provided there is no leaver, for again you'll only have to interupt siege worms attacks; 2 players for at some point you'll have to interupt 2 worms at the same time)
- 1 player with winnowing
- 1 player with favorable wind
- 1 player with Dust Trap (provided he knows where to drop them...)
- 1 player with remove hex (remove over smite because of the recharge time - empathy is barrager's worst ennemy)

There are 4 free slots for the team... You may want to have a 3rd interupter, just in case someone is DCed or leave. Someone may bring Throw Dirt as well.

For the attributes, everybody has his preference. Obviously the carier of winno need to put some points in WS. As said above, 9 expertise is enough. A few points in BM is not a bad thing, especially after the nerf of the MM. Personally I go with 9+1 BM. 2 reasons for that: Since the number of minions is now limited to 10, pets as corpses makers are no longer needed, at least way less than before (before, the main point of pets was to let them die to make more corpses and therefore more minions). And under some circumstances you need pets to tank. reviving pets with almost 50% health is sweet when you have nothing else to tank a pack of grasps (clean out the 4rth level with only 4 barragers and no monk nor necros and see what I mean...)... With 0+1 BM, they would die again in 2sec. Concerning markmanship, 16 seems to be mandatory.

Note: this a team build for the tombs, skills vary for FoW.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wellsy
Barrage is hard to cap Barrage is not hard to cap.

Kill Marcus before killing the Jade Armors and you can cap before the mission is over.

Kill the boss in Canthas while questing, no problems.

halk

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2006

netherlands

W/

ty i killed my first run with marias build(only i used dust trap :P)

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

Quote:
Originally Posted by halk
ty i killed my first run with marias build(only i used dust trap :P) lol im sorry what u mean killed? succes or failure?

i know its a "basic" build, but alot depends on your party

mutig drachen

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2006

Depends, monday to friday is the tunnel at the park and Saturday to Sunday is Train Station bench.

The Three Mustaqueers :D

barrage isnt that hard to cap i did it wit henchies but i got infused on the way so i popped out the back and just lured everything out and then ran to the right sentry (mursaat and a white mantle seeker i think) and got close and personal so i was out of casting ranger from left sentry then went straight to markus and he got pwned then i kill the jade with my newly capped barage :P

NJudson

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

I've recently started playing a BP ranger in ToPK and the build that I had been using is

Barrage
Savage Shot
Distracting Shot
Favorable Winds or Winnow (usually FW as a redundant one cause OP sometimes forgets to put it up or may be recharging)
Tigers Fury
Charm Animal
Comfort Animal
Rebirth

I only have minor runes on armor so I usually run

Expertise 14
Marksmanship 12
Beast Mastery 8 (I think)

As long as I don't carry Winnow this is attribute spread. After reading some of your posts I can see that carrying 2 interrupts may not be the best, but sometimes it does come in pretty handy when trying to interrupt the Terrorweb Dryders.

As far as Beastmastery goes it is my personal preference to have 8 or so in it because I hate when my pet dies because it disables your skill bar for a bit. I usually just spam barrage and comfort animal (when needed) all the time and that is why I have such high expertise. As far as troll unguent goes I don't think its really necessary. I've been in about 6 teams now and I'm not sure I really recall much a need for it. Usually when I die it's because I have a crappy computer and I start lagging and get hung up in middle of enemy/minions and pets.

I will try taking out Distracting Shot though and throw something else in there. I used throw dirt a couple times, but I didn't hardly even use it and its recharge is so dang long.

Oh, and I finally got my first green item in ToPK yesterday! To bad it was Illyana's Staff which I read is only worth 1-3k and is hard to sell. Why couldn't Victo's Axe or Victo's Bulwark have dropped for me???

Sir Mad

Sir Mad

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Moe's Pub

Pigs Can Fly [Pigs]

R/

2 interupts on the same char in the tombs is definitely useless, sorry. As said above, you only have to interupt is the siege worms attacks (and the meteor showers in one corridor). ONE interupt is good enough for that.

You should have 16 Marksmanship, not 12. No need for such a high level of expertise.

Agreed concerning the BM part, I'm not against a few points there - many players don't spen any points in BM however that may help you.

Tigers Fury... erm... that's a huge debate so I won't talk about it here.

But you're definitely missing something (and your monk has probably already noticed that...): you have absolutely nothing to keep you alive! You have no defensive stance, you don't have throw dirt or eventually dust trap (well as you seem new to the tombs dont take this one - let it to very experienced players), and no troll unguent (you can go without troll, I know that, but no defensive skill at all is a suicide - well ot just a pain for your monk).

Oh and you have WW but no attribute points spent in WS. Let another player take it. Same goes for FW. If you dont wanna have 16 Marksmanship, let another player bring it.

NJudson

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Mad
2 interupts on the same char in the tombs is definitely useless, sorry. As said above, you only have to interupt is the siege worms attacks (and the meteor showers in one corridor). ONE interupt is good enough for that.
.
.
.
Oh and you have WW but no attribute points spent in WS. Let another player take it. Same goes for FW. If you dont wanna have 16 Marksmanship, let another player bring it. Well, you're right I am fairly new and I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned that it would make it a lot easier on my monk to carry a defensive and/or self heal skill. Lord knows I do get frustrated with people like that when I play my monk. Out of the 6 or so teams I've been in so far I've only seen 1 person carry dust trap. So I should probably get a superior rune of marksmanship then huh. I did get a superior expertise drop a little while back but I don't think I've felt the need to use it.

Well, although my build I have been using seems to work, I will take your advice and tweak it with your recommendations so I can be more benificial to the team. Thanks.

Stormstaff

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2005

Nice info!!

VGJustice

VGJustice

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2005

Tyria, cappin' ur bosses

Boston Guild [BG]

R/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Mad
Tigers Fury... erm... that's a huge debate so I won't talk about it here. You may not, but I will. I run a TF b/p build, and it serves me quite well. I've used it in Tombs as well, and it performs quite well there. The trick? High BM (comparatively) at the cost of Marksmanship. Your pet will not make good minion fodder as it will last longer with the higher BM needed to make TF worth the slot. Personally, I'd talk to your team and ask their oppinion on the matter before you go in, which is what you should be doing anyway TBH. And, I agree with many of the above posters, this team build is really dependent upon your team.

And, just for argument's sake, my take on the TF b/p build:

Attributes:
Beastmastery: 8 +1
Expertise: 11+2
Marksmanship: 11+2+1
Protection Prayers: 3

Skills:
Charm Animal
Comfort Animal
(Utility Slot)
Whirling Defense
Barrage
Tiger's Fury/Beastial Fury
(Spirit slot)
Rebirth

You could probably reduce the Expertice to like 9 total if you feel comfortable doing that. If so, bump up Marks. And, oddly, I found that for this specific level of attributes, 2 majors did slightly better than a Sup and minors. Take that as you will.

NJudson

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Now one thing that hasn't been mentioned here is anyone taking along Vigorous Spirit. I read on Wiki that with barrage Vigorous Spirit is triggered by each arrow so you could stand to get a lot of healing from that if needed. Even with only dumping a couple points into healing you get +7 health for it and let's say you're hitting an average of 3 targets per arrow then that's +21 health with each barrage. That could make your monk pretty happy. Anyway, what's anyone's thoughts on this?

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

ok, I think some people are missing a big factor in Tombs. Fingers of Chaos. I have seen in several peoples builds the skill Whirling Defenses mentioned, but because of Fingers of Chaos, rangers cannot evade any attacks and the skill is thus nullified. The same applies for skills like Vigorous Spirit since any character with a monk primary or secondary loses an enchantment each time they are attacked by a monster who has Fingers of Chaos active.

The ONLY true defense against a grasp attacking you is to blind it and get away. This admittedly is not a lot of defense, but considering that the pets soak up most of the damage, highly defensive builds are not needed for Tombs.

As for the debate on interupts, I personally always bring two to use for two different situations. I use Concussion Shot against Dryders to be able to not only interupt skills like Meteor Shower, but to also completely shut them down and I bring Distracting Shot for Seige Wurms so that they can be interupted once then not worried about for a good period of time. The advantage of this is that when you first approach a group of enemies with a Seige Wurm, you can interupt him once then focus on killing the nearby enemies without having to babysit the wurm to interupt its next seige.

The skill bar I use is thus as follows:

Barrage {E}
Distracting Shot (use against Dryders)
Concussion Shot (use against Seige Wurms)
Throw Dirt or Dust Trap (Replace this with a spirit if needed by the team)
Comfort Animal
Charm Animal
Troll Unguent
Rebirth

Someone had mentioned bringing a hex removal, which in theory could help against Empathy, but since Empathy is often covered by other Spirit of Failure so easily, the rare occasion that you will actually need to remove empathy on you is hampered by the fact that you may not be able to remove it before it simply expires. If you are bringing it as a support for your team you will either have to have good luck in guessing what teammate have Spirit of Failure on them and which have empathy or you will have to have an excellent team that will actually call out when they have it on them. This again is subject to blocking by a cover hex as well however.

The simple counter to Empathy is to stop and either wait for it to expire or cast Troll Unguent and fight through it depending on how the overall health of the party is.

Since attacks by Grasps are more common than empathy, I personally would always reccomend a blinding skill over a hex removal.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by VGJustice
You may not, but I will. I run a TF b/p build, and it serves me quite well. I've used it in Tombs as well, and it performs quite well there. The trick? High BM (comparatively) at the cost of Marksmanship. Your pet will not make good minion fodder as it will last longer with the higher BM needed to make TF worth the slot. Personally, I'd talk to your team and ask their oppinion on the matter before you go in, which is what you should be doing anyway TBH. And, I agree with many of the above posters, this team build is really dependent upon your team.

And, just for argument's sake, my take on the TF b/p build:

Attributes:
Beastmastery: 8 +1
Expertise: 11+2
Marksmanship: 11+2+1
Protection Prayers: 3

Skills:
Charm Animal
Comfort Animal
(Utility Slot)
Whirling Defense
Barrage
Tiger's Fury/Beastial Fury
(Spirit slot)
Rebirth

You could probably reduce the Expertice to like 9 total if you feel comfortable doing that. If so, bump up Marks. And, oddly, I found that for this specific level of attributes, 2 majors did slightly better than a Sup and minors. Take that as you will. I would personally like to know how you can use Tigers Fury more than three times in a battle while spamming Barrage and still have any energy left over. I have tried the build many times (always with 9 BM or above) and have yet to find any way to be able to use it beyond the first little bit of battle before getting drained.

Also if you have to lower your marksmanship to bring Tigers Fury, what's the point? All this seems to do is lower the damage from each attack while allowing you to attack faster. The net result would then be you attacking faster, but still having approximately the same damage output (thus being more vulnerable to Spirit of Failure and Empathy).

Amy Awien

Amy Awien

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Mad
You should have 16 Marksmanship, not 12. No need for such a high level of expertise.
Why, there seems to be little to be gained by increasing marksmanship above 12 and with TF high expertise might be wise.

Quote:
Oh and you have WW but no attribute points spent in WS. Let another player take it. Same goes for FW. If you dont wanna have 16 Marksmanship, let another player bring it. Again, why? Even with marks at 12 FW still lasts twice as long as it's recharge, 126 seconds vs 60. The same goes for Winnowing, with only 4 points in WS it should last longer then the recharge.

Sir Mad

Sir Mad

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Moe's Pub

Pigs Can Fly [Pigs]

R/

VG Justice: yeah that's exactly why I didn't want to talk about Tigers Fury. I tried to use it and add energy issues. Other players don't seem to. So if you're confortable with it, go for it; if you're not, forget it

Concerning hex removers. No, my experience shows I can sucesfully remove empathy. It requires timing and a good communication, but it definitely works. You mail fail and indeed remove another hex instead, sometimes. That's why I bring Remove Hex rather than Smite Hex. It takes longer to cast but the recharge time is better. On a side note I may use remove on Mark of Rodgort as well. Maybe you don't need it but I'm a bit paranoid with this hex since I played with it a few times in RA when I was a newby... Whirling defense or another evading stance will help protect yourself from projectiles, which is VERY usefull when you have Mark of Rodgort (reminder: it makes you catch fire for a fairly long time if you're hit by a firey attack).

Amy, concerning spirits: first off, I think you would have guessed that, I have never suggested anyone to have max WS to bring winno (just dont bring it if you have only 4WS or so). Concerning FW, you know most of the barragers in the eam will have 16 markmanship. The better the best, simple. Why would you take it when someone with the same build will have a more poweful spirit? No indeed you won't die if the carrier of FW has only 12 Mark., but it's not the {i]best{/i] choice.

And why 16 markmanship over 14 (mask + minor rune)? Because that's 2 more damage * 5 barragers = 10 more damage every time the rangers hit barrage for all the 1-6 mobs hit. ie: from 10 to 60 extra damage.

EDIT - Side note to NJudson : you see how it is, no one will 100% agree on a standard buid. It's also a matter of style I gues, and how comfortable you feel with you skillbar.

NJudson

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Thanks for the info on Vigorous Spirit. I hadn't tried it, but sounds like it won't quite work. And as far as personal style goes I'm certainly open to suggestions, but I don't think build variations tends to be the real factor in my short experience in ToPK. Most players seem to know what they're doing, but the real team killers tends to be players dropping out and people lagging.

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

to be honest all the builds above work well. anyways i dont think all 5 rangers should go with same skills, so variation is nice as long as Barrage/pet is still there.

lets just say its mostly about the pulling. if your puller is new at this map you WILL die. so before yelling "ILL PULL" make sure you know all the pop ups and patrols like the palm of your hand. you will need about 5 runs to learn them.

good luck

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Mad
Concerning hex removers. No, my experience shows I can sucesfully remove empathy. It requires timing and a good communication, but it definitely works. You mail fail and indeed remove another hex instead, sometimes. That's why I bring Remove Hex rather than Smite Hex. It takes longer to cast but the recharge time is better. On a side note I may use remove on Mark of Rodgort as well. Maybe you don't need it but I'm a bit paranoid with this hex since I played with it a few times in RA when I was a newby...
I can see where this would be useful at times, but I don't think I'd bring it myself. I wouldn't say that you are wrong to bring it, but I don't think that would be a choice of mine.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Mad
Whirling defense or another evading stance will help protect yourself from projectiles, which is VERY usefull when you have Mark of Rodgort (reminder: it makes you catch fire for a fairly long time if you're hit by a firey attack). I suppose Whirling Defenses could be useful against Dryder's normal attacks, but beyond that I don't see much use. I guess it depends on whether you believe Grasps or Mark of Rogdort to be a bigger threat.

Quote: Originally Posted by Sir Mad
EDIT - Side note to NJudson : you see how it is, no one will 100% agree on a standard buid. It's also a matter of style I gues, and how comfortable you feel with you skillbar. Agreed here, as I said, I don't think I would load the same skills you do, but I don't think either your build nor mine is wrong in any sense. Considering most teams can make it well enough with a few people dropping by the end, a couple minor inefficiencies really make no difference in the big picture. Having everyone in a good mood and able to work with eachother while avoiding petty bickering about skill choice will always make everything run smoother.

Quote: Well, igf you put it that way, indeed.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maria the Princess
lets just say its mostly about the pulling. if your puller is new at this map you WILL die. so before yelling "ILL PULL" make sure you know all the pop ups and patrols like the palm of your hand. you will need about 5 runs to learn them.

good luck Aye, this is very true. There are a few things a puller can do to reduce their deaths besides knowing where enemy pop-ups are however. A good strategy for a puller is to lay a dust trap, activate troll, then pull. This will allow the puller to keep health high as well as blind and keep enemies from following too closely after being aggroed. Of course even the best pullers pick up a fair share of deaths every now and again.

Amy Awien

Amy Awien

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Mad
Concerning FW, you know most of the barragers in the eam will have 16 markmanship. The better the best, simple. Why would you take it when someone with the same build will have a more poweful spirit?
And why 16 markmanship over 14 (mask + minor rune)? Because that's 2 more damage * 5 barragers = 10 more damage every time the rangers hit barrage for all the 1-6 mobs hit. ie: from 10 to 60 extra damage. I see your reasoning, on a standard barrage you'd be using nothing but barrage - and on BP the spirits - to inflict damage.

But I can imagine TF + Barrage being more damaging even with lowered Marks (which can still be easily brought to 13 whith 13 expertise and 12 in BM... with 3 major runes and a mask). I'd assume TF + Barrage consumes more energy then can be sustained with 9 expertise.

SnipiousMax

SnipiousMax

Perfectly Elocuted

Join Date: Sep 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amy Awien
I'd assume TF + Barrage consumes more energy then can be sustained with 9 expertise. Exactly. Which is why I don't use it in a B/P atmosphere. But in other group settings where I'm the only Barrager, I make sure I run at least 13 in Expertise to avoid most energy problems. It still helps to have a zealous mod to switch to if you start to run low.

XvArchonvX

XvArchonvX

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/

One question I would ask of people who run TF + Barrage is whether the increased damage still holds after you decrease Marks to about 14 and switch the Vamp string for a zealous one? I know TF + Barrage with a hornbow does more damage than Barrage with a Flatbow at equal attributes and bow mods, but if you are lowering your marks to 14 and sacrificing your bow mod, you essentially lose 7 damage on each arrow (or if lowering it to 12 as in NJudson's build, the damage is 9 less per arrow).

SnipiousMax

SnipiousMax

Perfectly Elocuted

Join Date: Sep 2005

I still run 16 in Marks when I use Barrage + Tiger's Fury. I just dont' run the full 10 second Fury, and I use my Major Expertise rune switch armor piece. It comes out to like 7 or eight seconds of TF. I've not had to Switch to a Zealous except when we get an unexpected aggro, or a fight runs longer than normal. I don't know if TF would make up for lowered Marks... But I run it at 16 just in case.

<EDIT> I just realized that this (4/3 barrages) would only be true if the non-tf was using a Hornbow as well... So I removed the part that just doesn't hold true. <EDIT>


<EDITv.2> I went back and found this thread. Using Jeno's numbers from post 37, a flat/short bow will pump out a barrrage every 2.18 seconds. Under TF a Horn bow will do a barrage every 2.01 seconds. So I don't think/know that the 10% Armor pen will completely make up for the damage lost from dropping your marks. <EDITv.2>

halk

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2006

netherlands

W/

people i already have a good build and i finished the underworld 5 times now (best drop victos blade, already sold)

i use this build now:
Attributes:
wilderness servival": 9 (not sure)
Expertise: 9+1
Marksmanship: 12+1+3
Protection Prayers: rest at here(3 not sure :P)

skills:
Troll Unguent
Distracting Shot
whiling defens
Barrage {E}
free spot ( ww, fw, dust trap or trow dirt)
Comfort Animal
Charm Animal
rebirth

Rebirth

NJudson

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Ah well....I guess it doesn't really matter what build you use because I'm finding out more and more that ToPK is getting impossible to get through because it's almost impossible to get into a group now that will stay for the whole thing. The past 4-5 times I've tried this one person will drop out about 1/4 to 1/3 the way into it. So we continue, but its slower going. Then a 2nd person will drop out about 1/2 through it. Sometimes we decide to try to continue, but if we do its really slow and deaths start to mount so it basically pointless because I (and I'm sure others as well) set aside about 1 1/2 hours to do this and if your about 30-45 minutes into it and the group starts shrinking then theres not much a point to continue because it could surpass the 1 1/2 hours.

Ah crap...I'm just babbling now, but it is getting really frustrating. The first several times doing ToPK there were very few quitters if any. Now I can't seem to get into a group that isn't infested with quitters. I guess I just move on and finish the last couple PvE missions and then try my luck with UW or FOW. I never played those before so I hope they're not plagued with quitters as well.

Former Ruling

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Oct 2005

Cedartown, Georgia

R/

Build:
Barrage
Distracting
Savage/Spirit
Comfort
Charm
Troll
Throw
Rebirth

NO REASON AT ALL to bring Whirling 99% of the times, and if you aren't a spirit holder or backup spirit holder you can bring Savage to take out fireballs on the Terrors.

Barrage is your main attack. Distracting is for Metoer Shower and Wurm Siege. Spirits...you know. Savage is a good spirit replacement if you want to interupt fireballs or E-Surges/etc. Comfort and Charm are pet control. Troll is alittle self healing if you arent getting directly attacked. Throw Dirt is incase a Grasp likes a necro better than his minions for dinner, and Rebirth is the prefered rez.

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

Quote:
Originally Posted by NJudson
Ah well....I guess it doesn't really matter what build you use because I'm finding out more and more that ToPK is getting impossible to get through because it's almost impossible to get into a group now that will stay for the whole thing. The past 4-5 times I've tried this one person will drop out about 1/4 to 1/3 the way into it. So we continue, but its slower going. Then a 2nd person will drop out about 1/2 through it. Sometimes we decide to try to continue, but if we do its really slow and deaths start to mount so it basically pointless because I (and I'm sure others as well) set aside about 1 1/2 hours to do this and if your about 30-45 minutes into it and the group starts shrinking then theres not much a point to continue because it could surpass the 1 1/2 hours.

Ah crap...I'm just babbling now, but it is getting really frustrating. The first several times doing ToPK there were very few quitters if any. Now I can't seem to get into a group that isn't infested with quitters. I guess I just move on and finish the last couple PvE missions and then try my luck with UW or FOW. I never played those before so I hope they're not plagued with quitters as well. i feel your pain, but it's the network and ANET's servers. lately i noticed the incresed amout of ERR=07 not only on my PC, but also with friends and guildies. and no, my internet is from cable, and hasnt changed for 3 years. my guildies also noticed increase of ppl getting booted with err7, so yah...ToPK is pretty much impossible to make with 8 ppl to the end, or just in general, to the end

NJudson

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maria The Princess
i feel your pain, but it's the network and ANET's servers. lately i noticed the incresed amout of ERR=07 not only on my PC, but also with friends and guildies. and no, my internet is from cable, and hasnt changed for 3 years. my guildies also noticed increase of ppl getting booted with err7, so yah...ToPK is pretty much impossible to make with 8 ppl to the end, or just in general, to the end Since you brought this up I have received my first ever ERR=07 (at least from what I can recall). So yes I guess you have to account for those possibilities. As far as how many dropouts are unplanned disconnects or deliberate quitting......who knows, but its quite frustrating either way.

Targoyle

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2006

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amy Awien
Why, there seems to be little to be gained by increasing marksmanship above 12 and with TF high expertise might be wise.


Again, why? Even with marks at 12 FW still lasts twice as long as it's recharge, 126 seconds vs 60. The same goes for Winnowing, with only 4 points in WS it should last longer then the recharge. When you are the one that takes FW, the question is not how long will it last in comparison to the recharge time, but how long will it last before you have to put it up again?

Its obvious that you cant put it up to close by the foes or they will kill it before its even recharged. So you have to run out of the fight, put it up, run back in. Even if you run for 1 sec, 5 sec activation time, 1 sec back to the fight. That 7 secs (or 3 barrage shots) you are away from the fight if your FW doesnt last long enough to take down a group.

And there is offcourse the extra dmg per arrow that was mentioned before.

I play tombs as B/p ranger and as orders necro and even when im orders i try to use ATB as often as i can to give the rangers a +2 dmg or +2 life stealing per arrow. Normaly it wouldnt matter a lot, but in barrage it does. dmg is done per arrow so you want the most possible dmg per arrow.

just my 2 cents

wilebill

wilebill

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mt Vernon, Ohio

Band of the Hawk

W/Mo

"Barrage is hard to cap" I missed it the first time in Prophecies, but the second time I was face to face with Markis and barely got it before the cutscene. In Factions, about halfway through the game, the second group you fight in the Boreas Seabed Mission has a boss from whom you cap barrage, much much easier.

Amy Awien

Amy Awien

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

R/

I almost forgot what this thread was about ...

Yeah, suppose 9 expertise, utility attrib as high as needed and mms as high as possible. Wherever that may lead to. Consider 16 MMS is also -40 HP from 15 MMS.

Those 7 secs, you loose them for setting up a new spirit, no matter what level of MMS you bring. With a lower level you do loose a relatively larger amount of firing time and thus efficiency
@12: 126/(126+7) = 0.95 or 3 out of 66 barrage cycles are missed
@16: 158/(158+7) = 0.96 or 3 out of 83 barrage cycles are missed

darrengordon

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2006

Guild of Gordons

R/E

I use something similar to the above but one point to note the pet health is dependant on the way it is grown ie hearty, dire, elder and its armour id dependant on lvl so it does not matter how much you put in BM the only thing that goes up is its damgage. I tend to use same build but bring read the wind for extra barr damage and a good one is judges insight. Thats the way i do it only done it four times got to end each time and every time got 2 or 3 green drops. Always the bad ones though lol

NJudson

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by darrengordon
I use something similar to the above but one point to note the pet health is dependant on the way it is grown ie hearty, dire, elder and its armour id dependant on lvl so it does not matter how much you put in BM the only thing that goes up is its damgage. I tend to use same build but bring read the wind for extra barr damage and a good one is judges insight. Thats the way i do it only done it four times got to end each time and every time got 2 or 3 green drops. Always the bad ones though lol I'm not sure about Judge's Insight, but Read the Wind will not work with Barrage. By definition Barrage will remove all preperations when used so it negates any effects of Read the Wind. This is why Favorable Winds and Winnowing is used....because they are spirits, not preperations and can be used with Barrage.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by NJudson
I'm not sure about Judge's Insight, but Read the Wind will not work with Barrage. By definition Barrage will remove all preperations when used so it negates any effects of Read the Wind. This is why Favorable Winds and Winnowing is used....because they are spirits, not preperations and can be used with Barrage. Enchantments and weapon spells will also work with Barrage.

jagosteel226

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2006

The Knights of Tyria Guild

W/Mo

ok um...

i know in the group each ranger has a dif spirit and fw and winnowing are needed but shouldnt someone else also have predatory season?

5 enemies together = 25 life steal or even 50 if u have a max vamp bow

pred season also reduces healing kind of like deep wound on evryone but since the barragers are getting all their health from pred season its a great addition, this also means rangers can spend more point into beast mastery and expertise instead of using wild survival just to use troll unguent