Noob Question

I'm trying to experiment with different builds, but I'm having a MAJOR problem that keeps plaguing me, and it's making me feel like an idiot.

How do I tell how many levels of an attribute I need to use a skill?

For example, if I want to play a Ranger/Necro, how many points do I have to put into Curses to use Shadow of Fear? And where I can look to answer questions along those lines myself? I can't find the point requirements on the skill tables.

I bet I'm missing some key piece of knowledge, and showing how dumb I am.

Thanks ahead of time,

Jeshter

Attribute points don't restrict you from using any existing skill. They make skills more effective. You could use whatever skill you want, but it might suck if you haven't pumped up it's related attribute.

You can use any skill no matter the Attribute level associated with that skill.

You can check the FAQ at the top of this Forum section, and there is an abundance of information on the other sections of this site, just goto the main page and start looking throught everything.

Okay then I need some general help understanding something:

Lets use my Shadow of Fear example.

"Target foe and all adjacent foes attack slower than normal for the next 20-39 seconds"

Does that mean with more and more trains in curses the foes attack slower and slower and for longer, up to 39 seconds?

Does that mean that with Zero trains in Curses it still causes a foe to attack slower for 20 seconds?


I apologize for being so dense.

It won't affect how much they are slowed. It only effects the part of the attribute that says "## - ##". So with 0 in that attribute, it would still last for 20 seconds, and with wherever that particular attribute peaks, it would last 39.

The "##-##" will appear as only 1 number in game. And will be in green text. Fansites just use the "##-##" to show the variety of effects from 0 to whatever they judge as the highest (probably around 12? I dunno... ask a site guy here)

You can use any skill you have...but the skill gets better if you put some of your Attribute points into it...in this case into curses.

You will find Skill Listings here
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/skills-listing-id34.php

and a bit about Attribute points here
http://gw.warcry.com/index.php/conte...ributepts.html
and here
http://guildwars.gameamp.com/info/showClasses

Yep, at 0 in curses, Shadow of Fear will last for 20 seconds. At 12 in Curses it'll last for 39 seconds. If you can boost your Curses above 12 (through runes or maybe Awaken the Blood) it'll last for even longer. By the way, some skills do have a requirement on how high your attributes have to be for them to work properly. For example, Gale has a 50% failure chance with Air magic 4 or less. Most skills don't have this but you can find out if they do by looking at their skill descriptions.

Interesting, so if I wanted to pretty much play a pure ranger, I could still throw in some Necro or say Mesmer skills and they would work well without any trains in Necro/Mesmer skills, just for less time?

I find that very fascinating and appealing.

On a sidenote, I'm trying to find a way to play "me" instead of some pre-fabricated Build that alot of people feel is the "best" way to do something. I feel drawn to rangers and rogues in MMORPGS and Role-playing games, and so I really think I want to be a ranger here, but the more and more I learn about the game, the less and less I really feel the urge to devote a whole 10 trains into another class's attribute, when I only intend to use 1 or 2 skills they have.

For instance, I find it ludicrous that I would put 10 trains into air magic for nothing but conjure lightning. As awesome as that may be, I can be a more pure ranger, and still crank out the damage with ignite arrows, kindle arrows, and various ranger hasting preps like...I dunno, Tiger's Fury and Read the Wind (I realize those two are completely different, just rambling).

I'm trying to find a subclass that I can take advantage of a handful of their skills without having to train in their attributes. I feel like I can damage, distrupt and heal good enough as a ranger (I'm talking mostly PvE here).

Does anyone have an opinion as to subclasses that I may find useful as a primarily PvE ranger, soloing as often as possible (with Henchmen is fine), and not having to train in another class's attributes?

Sorry for the longwinded post.

They will work? Yes. They will work well? No. Realize that with a low attribute level, especially 0, you aren't getting the best results for the energy spent, ie, you will be wasting energy. And sometimes the skill variable is the damage and not the time.

If you really want to go with pure ranger, you may want warrior secondary for Frenzy (better version of Tiger's Fury) or monk secondary for a resurrect spell.

If you wanted to play an almost pure ranger, you could go 10 Expertise, 11 Marksmanship, and 10 whatever attribute you want from your secondary. It's a very even set up, and putting 10 points in an attribute for 1 or 2 skills isn't stupid. It's common. You only can use 8 skills at a time.

yeah, I was just looking at what I said before...

I guess it makes more sense to put some points into another.

What about splitting it up some?

What about this:

Expertise 10
Marksman 10
Wilderness 8
Air Magic 8

That gives me nearly the highest damage I can get for both all of my major normal arrow attacks (Hunter's, Power, Precision), and makes my Incendiary Arrows and Troll's Unguent good (through Wilderness), but also allows me to keep up a sustained extra 14 damage per arrow (conjure lightning).

With the setup I wouldn't have the BEST heal or the BEST conjure lightning DPS, but I think its a nice mid-point to be well rounded. A discretionary slot could be left open for say...Resurrection signet, enervating charge, or something like Windborn Speed, since I lost Tiger's Fury when I scrapped Beast Mastery.

Oh the myraid of combinations. This game is fascinating.

Edit oh, and I'm still on my PvEkick here, but I could swap in all of the ranger disruptors for PvP, like instead of all my normal shots, I could bring in Pin Down, Distracting Shot, Concussion, Throw Dirt instead of Incendiary.