anti-caster ranger

JYX

JYX

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2005

Right...normally I like to play a little mesmer, but I've been looking into the Ranger side of things and it seems quite interesting.

First thing I came up with...just stick tons of interrupts in there, punishing shot, savage shot, distracting shot...maybe concussion? Anyway...throw up serpent's quickness (I don't like zephyr for its negative effect on monks) or even without if you want TF instead...and you're laughing...

...except...no...Ranger interrupts, aside from doing damage and distracting shot don't really have the punch of mesmer ones...sure theres a whole lotta interrupts there, but I would have to essentially babysit the caster, this isn't particularly efficient. As a mesmer I should be able to take 2-3 people with hexes, energy denial and maybe 1-2 interrupts max. Concussion shot is too easily removed, and costs a lot even for a ranger.

Right, next...Incendiary Arrows + Choking Gas + Serpent's Quickness? This should make it last indefinately for 24/7 interrupting on shot...but again I need to babysit the caster to make sure he's not trying anything funny. Also, I think it would be possible to time the cast in between your shots. I could take Fragility with Incendiary arrows...but...that would just be silly ^^;

Right...we're down to Debilitating shot...seems good...cut down the recharge slightly using whatever (zephyr, serpent's, echo...use your imagination). We should be able to level a good few casters. The problem is getting it to stick at 0. Malaise used to be my solution to everything before they made it...poo...Now we have...what...Ether Lord? Panic? Panic looks okay, especially with the recent buff (how big is "nearby foes" anyway) it costs a LOT...i'm not sure if a ranger can afford that kind of cost...but it looks the most promising...and I'm all out of ideas

suggestions?

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

Nearby is ward range (yes: mmmmmmmmmmmm)
erm. the only thing i can actually think of is nuking them down with debil shot then keeping them there by whipping out the fear me!

OMFGBBQR/WBUILD!

maybe

debilitating shot
serpents quickness
oath shot
fear me
for great justice!
those other adrenal buffs.
you know what attributes, i cant be bothered.

Tulkas the Breaker

Tulkas the Breaker

Academy Page

Join Date: Sep 2005

R/

Concussion shot....this is probably most annoying anti-caster skill . If opposite party hasnt got another caster ( what happens in random arena pretty often ), your prey is doomed.

JYX

JYX

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2005

I'm looking for tombs/gvg build...not random arena, and as such...keeping concussion sticking under such circumstances against a tirade of mends is more trouble than its worth...and even then...one purge or martyr and my pants are well and truly down.

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

I actually tried that mix of fear me with debilitating shot, and i beat the hell out of everyone. Turns out that in fact you dont need to switch weapons.
i ended up with

flurry
debilitating shot
fear me!
for great justice!
shields up!
Distracting Shot
Savage Shot [should be oath shot here]
Res sig [should be rush]

One monk actually informed me he didnt get above 3e for the entire battle, which pleased me. The 'theyll run away argument' doesnt really work, especially when i get me rush. ( keep an axe as secondary if they run, in that case it is better than a bow, i mean in normal combat theres no need to change).

Whatsmore, the distracting shot gives something to go against ress', and if thats not enough take out shields up! for savage and your good.

JYX

JYX

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2005

now pray...where did you try this out?

^^;

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

indeed. but energy denial is as energy denial is. or whatever. a ward range thingy still works wherever you do it. putting a condition on someone doesnt apply everywhere.
and even if it isnt totally comparable, the build isnt even complete, and the hole its missing is a big one (oath shot and rush). So whatever man. Go use panic -.-. goddam.

Bigb04202

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2005

I have spent so much time and tried so many build with my ranger its crazy. I will tell you some effective interrupting ranger builds that I have had success with.

This is a good build for people who don’t know what spells to interrupt or not interrupt

Incendiary arrow {elite}
Choking gas
Tiger fury / lighting reflexes
Distracting shot
Pin down
Whirly Defense
REZ
Last one up to you Troll urgent/ Healing spring / Penetration shot. What ever floats you boat

Ranger / Mesmer

This build is great Anti caster build as long as they don’t have some sort hex removal. The use of distracting shot , salvage shot , punishing shot , and concussion shot are hard to use for a lot of spells. Most spells take one sec to cast which is not that long.

Hunters shot
Apply poison
Migraine {Elite}
Illusion of weakness
Concussion shot
Pin down
Whirly Defense
REZ

Migraine {Elite} this is with 10 points in illusion
Hex. For 15 seconds, target foe suffers -2 health degeneration and takes 100% longer to cast spells.

This build all about the use of migraine it makes that 1sec spell take 3 sec with is long enough to get that concussion shot off. Sense the caster will be poison, pin down, and hopefully bleeding the caster will have a though time taking that concussion off. I play with. This build also has a lot of damage because of the DOT spells. I know you have a max of -10 arrows of health degeneration but that is if im remember right 20 points a sec. I hate not taking distract shot with thus build so I am changing it up and also replacing other things. With 13 expertise concussion shot only 11 points to use and I never had a problem with energy with this particular build. Good luck you really need to know all your spells to be a good disrupting ranger.

smurfhunter

smurfhunter

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2005

my w/mo uses mending, orison, and healing breeze. you cant kill him.

Sand Scorpions [SS]

W/Mo

for excellant distractono use incendiary arrows with tf - this locks them down for 8 seconds. as soon as it finishes hit them with savage shot/distracting shot and hope you get lucky. imo concussion shot wastes your energy, and is poserd by mend ailment, so...

and yea its a full time job. you cant expect to just distract one of his spells and then run off for another target. energy denial is good if you know when to use it. like if you see him doing nothing, then using orison, then waiting, then using it again, use debilitating shot. you wil get alot of hate from him then. otoh, if you use it when hes at like 30 energy, all he does is slow down the heals and let the other monk do the spam, so he doesnt lose as much. basically you need to know when the best time to use debilitating shot really is. mesmers wasting time casting hexes (like panic) is really a waste of energy/time.. hoh is so cut out now, you rarely need people to fill two roles unless its a special build. so leave the hexing to the resident mesmer, and focus on pissing the monk off. generally if your team goes for one target, and you go for a different monk, you can help your team out alot more than going for the target everyone else is on, since they usually just run and you wont distract much. serpents quickness is nice, only you will be stacking it with tf (should you choose to take it), so watch out for that. qz got nerfed together with the other spirits, so i doubt it will help you out much.

*edit - bob is troll even usefull in tombs? i mean you waste 2 seconds geting beat up on when you could be running into your ward against foes. choking gas + IA is overkill IMO, you risk wasting too much time doing the prep and not distracting. otoh practiced stance + choking gas is nice

Bigb04202

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2005

Concussion shot is not a waste of time but you do haft to add other Condition just in case they try to remove it. Once you get dazed and also the caster is still under the Hex Migraine it will take a little over 2 sec to cast Mend Condition in that time you will interrupted him because he dazed. Energy Denial builds are great to use. I usually use this build for that.

Penetration shot
Energy Drain {elite}
Deliberate shot
Distracting shot
Concision shot
Pin down
REZ
Whirling defense

You can even do away with concision shot and use power drain or energy tap for even more quick drain .

Dologan

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jun 2005

Deliberate Shot? Concision Shot? Methinks you mean Debilitating and Concussion, respectively.

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

erm condition stacking helps in no way. the main counter everous and me are implying is martyr, restore conditions and mend ailment, which if nothing become more effective as more conditions are applied.

smurfhunter

smurfhunter

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2005

my w/mo uses mending, orison, and healing breeze. you cant kill him.

Sand Scorpions [SS]

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by rii
erm condition stacking helps in no way. the main counter everous and me are implying is martyr, restore conditions and mend ailment, which if nothing become more effective as more conditions are applied. exactly. unless you plan on running a condition team, but thats another topic for another thread

Bigb04202

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2005

I do mean Debilitating Shot and Concussion shot my English Sucks

"erm condition stacking helps in no way. the main counter everous and me are implying is martyr, restore conditions and mend ailment, which if nothing become more effective as more conditions are applied."

I was under the impression that using a skill on yourself only removed one the condition not all of them. I really not a monk expert I know about how long the spells last and what most of them do in general but really don’t go any further than that. Things like Restore condition and mend Aliment haft to be cast by another Monk and canst be used on your self correct. The reason for that build is not to stack conditions but to interrupt I just happen to like using conditions. Once the user dazed or under migraine it takes over 2 sec to cast the removal spells correct? All it take is one arrow to interrupt them trying to remove it most of the time they get interrupted when attempting to remove the condition. I play a lot of random PvP or team area PvP and don’t play HoH I know things are a lot different there. I also assume use a ranger a lot I hate to get advice form people who don’t even play a profession that much no disrespect to you. In HoH those might not be the best builds probably need to be modified quit to be effective. You’re probably better off using energy denial but like I said I really don’t do HoH a lot and im sure you know more than me about that.

smurfhunter

smurfhunter

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2005

my w/mo uses mending, orison, and healing breeze. you cant kill him.

Sand Scorpions [SS]

W/Mo

the point were trying to get across is monk condition removals (mend ailment and something else) are spammable and cheap. not to mention martyr kind of gimps alot of non consistent condition spreading. and yea conditions are very powerfull in 4-4, while slightly worse off in 8-8

Bigb04202

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2005

I see what you’re saying now. I trying to learn different thinks on this board.

smurfhunter

smurfhunter

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2005

my w/mo uses mending, orison, and healing breeze. you cant kill him.

Sand Scorpions [SS]

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigb04202
I see what you’re saying now. I trying to learn different thinks on this board. wish more people had that attitude

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

Indeed^^
btw, whats the recharge on oath shot atm? i have a feeling it was 10s at some point, but it may have been nerfed/ i missed something.
im thinking about putting in lightening reflexes in the fear me/debil shot mix build above, but if the recharge is 15s+ it might not work so well.

smurfhunter

smurfhunter

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2005

my w/mo uses mending, orison, and healing breeze. you cant kill him.

Sand Scorpions [SS]

W/Mo

lightning reflexes has a really short duration and long recharge (> 15s, i think, but am too lazy to check, that its 60s). oath shot is still 10 seconds as far as i know.

just go with tf its what just about everyone uses nowrdays anyway

JYX

JYX

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by smurfhunter
mesmers wasting time casting hexes (like panic) is really a waste of energy/time.. hoh is so cut out now, you rarely need people to fill two roles unless its a special build. so leave the hexing to the resident mesmer, and focus on pissing the monk off. Hmmm true...but at what point does specialisation become overly convoluted? Its true that I could leave Panic to the mesmer, but that'd mean blaring another command over voice com, making him disengage whatever he's doing (mesmers are usually busy for one reason or another) run across and put this hex down. Wouldn't a bit of DIY be more appropriate? Expecting to stick the enemy at 0 energy with a hex when I've drained him isn't really the most conflicting of roles...

Simple question, generally speaking, can an interrupt ranger packing the max energy armor, using the fastest zealous bow afford to throw a 25 energy hex every ~20-25 seconds?

Another idea...using Echo, debil shot, serpent's quickness...is it possible to stick 2 people at below 5 energy by sheer volume of debil shots?

In what way is Migraine so different from Arcane Conundrum that I need to sacrifice my elite slot for it? 4 more seconds and the degen of a sever artery dosen't appear to be worth it...is there something I'm not getting?

smurfhunter

smurfhunter

Banned

Join Date: Aug 2005

my w/mo uses mending, orison, and healing breeze. you cant kill him.

Sand Scorpions [SS]

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Everous
Hmmm true...but at what point does specialisation become overly convoluted? Its true that I could leave Panic to the mesmer, but that'd mean blaring another command over voice com, making him disengage whatever he's doing (mesmers are usually busy for one reason or another) run across and put this hex down. Wouldn't a bit of DIY be more appropriate? Expecting to stick the enemy at 0 energy with a hex when I've drained him isn't really the most conflicting of roles...

Simple question, generally speaking, can an interrupt ranger packing the max energy armor, using the fastest zealous bow afford to throw a 25 energy hex every ~20-25 seconds?

Another idea...using Echo, debil shot, serpent's quickness...is it possible to stick 2 people at below 5 energy by sheer volume of debil shots?

In what way is Migraine so different from Arcane Conundrum that I need to sacrifice my elite slot for it? 4 more seconds and the degen of a sever artery dosen't appear to be worth it...is there something I'm not getting? im too lazy to cut up what you wrote so try and match what im saying to the specific part of your post

debil shot is 10 energy without expertise reduction, you wont be doing alot of them, and 10 isnt *that* much eles have <100 energy.

like i said, if you want to interupt alot id say practiced stance or IA, which are both elites. this kinda makes panic hard to squeeze in, and im not a big fan of panic anyway.

as to blaring over ts, hey, its not as if the mesmer (competent i assume) is saving panic for *your* non primary target... you cant expect to play two people at once.

simply speaking, no you cant afford the energy every 20 seconds unless you just sit there shooting. this is why i go with strip enchant on a ranger, lowest energy cost at fastest speed (i think)

im no fan of using one hex on someone that is the centerpiece of your build. *note your elite is the centerpiece of your build since you can only have one*. this means you have nothing to bury it with, and smite hex/remove hex will send you home crying.

migraine lasts significantly longer than arcane conundrum (i think) its also hella anonoying so i usually get rid of it as fast as i can.

and i really wouldnt focus a ranger on energy denial, like cmon thats not happening. i would go with distracting, something that rangers are uniquely good at.

hope that made some sense ^^

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

yes, without expertise reduction. with it, its 4, which is spammable indefinatly with a zealous bow string and a speed buff.

you can afford the energy with the right set up. that fear debil guy^^ never dropped below 26 energy unless someone actively drained me. the same for most rangers i play. expertise ftw.

panic isnt the centerpiece of his build. in fact, i would argue that debil shot is. panic is merely to make his life easier afterwards so he can get in some interrupts instead of spamming debil condstantly. so thats not right at all.

migraine doesnt last *significantly longer*. if you want to be pedantic its around 5/6 seconds methinks, unless your really rune-ing. but surely someone whos illusion hexing would be using mantra of persistance, so in terms of percentage the slot isnt worth it.

no, rangers are not uniquely good at distracting. diversion BY ITSELF puts out more distracting than distracting shot, and guess what, 20<60s duration. and if it doesnt divert, it either shuts down, or is removed to be recast 5 seconds later, as opposed to distract which can be recast 8s later. in many many ways, is distracting not a rangers best role.

considering rangers as energy denial, just actually look at it for a second:
energy drain: elite, steal 20 energy, 20 second cooldown (same as -3 pips)
debil shot: non-elite, drain 10 energy every 5 seconds (same as -6 pips)

im sorry what?

btw, theres nothing wrong with letting a mesmer work to their own devices (assuming their good). also remember, panic has a 10s cooldown and a 25s duration. multi targeting is more than possible with a side line in inspiration.

also, in regards to using tf, it disables non attack skills. i.e. fear me!, fgj!, shields up!, and watch yourself! since those are centerpiece skills i hardly think its a good option. reflexes gives me my speed boost, and lets me tank arenas :S. the main reason for replacing flurry though, is its less butttons to press -.-

JYX

JYX

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2005

14 expertise is a given...that'll make it what...3? Panic...panic...dunno...stick it on a mesmer with something in inspiration...I could probably afford it...just...I don't really want to...You know...a simple solution to all this would be just to give a warrior fear me...it wouldn't need to be very powerful...just enough to limit regen.

I think judging by the jist of his posts, he meant interrupting as opposed to distracting...On the point of which...I really really don't like IA and choking gas...it just seems to me that only taking 1 person is underselling myself when a mesmer can take 2. Hell I can take 1 person with blackout...much easier

Yes...if the mesmer is good...see...if I was playing that mesmer...we wouldn't be having this discussion ^^;

Unless theres something I'm not fully understanding about migraine...I won't sacrifice my elite for 4 more seconds...

Valheru

Valheru

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2005

Valheru Blood

R/Me

i use this build, works pretty well in comp and average team arena games. =)

my general anti-enchant/caster arena-build
melandru's arrows {E}
dual-shot
penetrating shot
pin down
distracting shot
concussion shot
ressurrection signet
troll unguent/any defense or healing skill

i doubt this works in tombs, but it plays out well in arenas, where you find tons of enchanted w/mo, eles and monks begging for extra punishment via your preparation. concussion shot owns most casters, throw one on their spell with the longest cast time (i can't count how many times an elementalist starts off by casting a 3-5sec spell), pin him down, then sic one of your teammates on the poor dazed bugger and start shooting holes in someone else, perhaps a caster or even that w/mo with mending.
i prefer troll unguent for self healing, as it usually buys me time when i get DoTed.
What you'll have a harder time with are pure groups of w or r, with no enchantments; 2 or more monks with 1/4sec spells. As this deals the same damage regardless of the number of enchants the target has on, you'll have a very tough time with a monk who has zillions of enchants on himself. Hopefully you're partied up with someone else who can use diversion or kill remove enchants.