Ranger Farming Guide

When it comes to mitigating damage my vote would be Throw Dirt + Oath Shot. The rest of the buildset is up to the individual. If you are going to invest so much into Dom why not use Empathy, Throw Dirt, Oath Shot, etc.

Throw Dirt
Distracting Shot
Penetrating Shot
Dust Trap
Barbed Trap
Oath Shot
Storm Chaser
Troll Ungent

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well... it seems obvious that that build works, however....

you are doing base bow dmg the majority of the time to kill ettins, with occasional dmg spikes from hunters shot, and slow degen from poison; so wouldnt that take FOREVER to kill anything? In my eyes a 4-5 ettin mob seems like it would take around 10-15 minutes. Hmm, not sure if its worth the effort.

But hey, if its fun to you, then enjoy! Cheers to creativity!

EDIT:: And now to offer something more constructive. Try squeezing in a trap or two, keep your core idea for tanking, but add say flame trap or dust trap, for for dmg output. I dont believe they use interrupts, and since you will be tanking multiple enemies at once, a trap would do AoE dmg before they had time to react (btw, do monstas run from traps?)

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can you make a video or show a map of where the ettens are ^^ i know they are around hotsprings or bettletun ^^

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please and thank you ^^ i wanna make use of my ranger lol

cool thanks ^^

A little off-topic but Mob = Mobile Object in rpgspeak, not a group of anything. A single enemy would be a mob.

Yes, nice guide! I will use it when my ranger gets to a higher level.

i have expremented u should take out ignorance and put in savage shot ^^ more damage .. only use savage when u see heal sig ... no heal sig and more damage and less energy ^^

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Just use ignite arrows....the AoE scares the sand drakes...

why don't you use epidemic with throw dirt + oath shot? it's very iffecient and also works with dazed from concussion shot and skull crack in FoW if u carry a mesmer or SS necrop in FoW that is.

Epidemic seems the best way to work with blind (in my opinion) and should work better than just spamming throw dirt.

baconsoda: using epidemic you'd be assuming that the enemies would be adjacent to one another (which is the spell's AoE). Interesting thing is that Throw Dirt's AoE is to enemies adjacent your target as well.

.. so it'd be a bit redundant to use a 15 energy cost spell to spread a condition that (assuming this character is being mobbed, and the ettins are surrounding him).. reapplies what has already been applied.

Meh, I'd rather go with Poison Arrow + Kindle. Add in Penetrating and Dsitracting and it's less than a minute for each group of three.

I usually farmed Ettins using Barrage, but no more than 3 Ettins for one fight. I tried many builds usually taking Throw Dirt and Lightning Reflexes + Short Bow. To enhance damage (no preparations with Barrage) I used Favorable Winds (spirit gives dmg and additionally twice faster arrows) and for example Conjure Flame, Frost, Lightning for R/E (depends on bow string used) + Armor of Frost, Armor of Earth (those skills don't need many AP for huge armor, best if both used). Another idea is R/Mo Barrager with Vampiric Bow, Mending on +3 (to reduce -1 regen from Vampiric and give additional +2 to regen) and Vigorious Spirit + Throw Dirt, Lightning Reflexes also. Vigorious Spirit is also used to cover Mending on Tengu Wild (vs. Shatter Enchantment skill). For this build also Short Bow is best choice.

Hey, one question, is farming ettins like the best?
So, I can get WAY better stuff from ettins than farming the whole magumma jungle from ventari's going to reed bog to the falls?

Try R/Mo with Barrage, Lightning Reflexes, Throw Dirt, Troll Unguent, Vigorious Spirit, Mending, Favorable Winds, Dodge. Use Short Bow with Vampiric String 5/-1. Shot 3 Ettins at one time using Barrage all the time with stops only to recast Vigorious Spirit, Throw Dirt or Lightning Reflexes. Favorable Winds before fight. Unlucky 3 Ettins at once is max probably but killing all 3 takes about 35-45 seconds (and you get hp constantly on each shot from all 3 Ettins by using Vigorious Spirit and Vampiric String). Another idea is Live Vicariously and Vigorious Spirit but without Mending and Vampiric String. And take at least 13 Expertise for the price of Barrage at 2 mana. Dodge and Troll Unguent use only if there will be any problems (to escape or just heal). Remember you don't need high Wilderness Survival for the use of Troll Unguent (only 4 AP gives +5 regen). Don't remember exact numbers in AP now but it was probably: Marksmanship 12 or even higher, 13 or 14 Expertise, Healing 8-10, rest in Wilderness Survival (8 in Healing gives +3 in Mending but 10 is better without Mending, when using Live Vicariously + Vigorious Spirit). And don't be afraid to use 2 Superiors (Marksmanship and Expertise) if lacking on AP points.

I must once check the idea of using R/Me with Elemental Resistance and Greater Conflagration (but no Barrage with it ((, so no such fast killing). I tried once using Barrage with Conjure skills from Elementalist, also using Armor of Frost + Armor of Earth for max armor, that was also really nice on Ettins.

All my ideas give huge chance of survive only with 3 Ettins at once. More than 3 is a bit of problem.

Ok, my final build (which I tested few moments ago). Fastest way to kill 3 Ettins:

Armor: Druids works best, no energy problems.
Weapon: Short Bow with +30 hp or +7 armor (vs. physical) or +5 armor (all). String: Sundering 10/10 is best probably, but not absolutely needed, you can fight also with Lightning string as I tried for example, no special need in this matter. I also suggest to take second bow with max distance (Longbow, Flatbow) to easy lure Ettins.

R/Mo

2 proposals for attributes (Major or Superior Vigor rune in both):

Less risky:

12 Marksmanship 8+1+3
13 Expertise 12+1
9 Healing Prayers 9
6 Wilderness Survival 5+1

More risky (more dmg, more criticals, less max hp, but more hp get by harming enemies):

15 Marksmanship 11+1+3
13 Expertise 10+3
10 Healing Prayers 10
2 Wilderness Survival 1+1

Skills:
1 - Barrage [Elite]
2 - Distracting Shot
3 - Troll Unguent (+6 in less risky, +4 in more risky idea)
4 - Lightning Reflexes
5 - Throw Dirt
6 - Favorable Winds
7 - Vigorious Spirit
8 - Live Vicariously

Most important things on how to play:
-going from Beetletun
-Live Vicariously at start
-before each fight set spirit of Favorable Winds
-just before fight throw Vigorious Spirit on you
-then, only when fighting with Ettins, use Throw Dirt on them when they surround you (try to throw it on the one in the middle to get chance to blind all 3 of them)
-then just after it use Lightning Reflexes to attack faster
-rest is VERY EASY -> just shoot from Barrage all the time (also try on the one in the middle to attack all 3 at one time) - sometimes they all die in one time
-you can use Distracting Shot sometimes when the one that you shoot at uses Healing Signet or even Irresistible Blow (he won't use it anymore)
-this build maybe has no running skill but if you make a mistake you can just run leaving the Ettins beating Favorable Winds spirit
-there is absolutely no problem to kill Gargoyles and Tengu standing near Beetletun when using this build (in fact Gargoyles are harder than Tengu because of mana drain, so you can use any Zealous Bow on them, but it's really not necessary), what more - those Tengu sometimes also drop runes like Ettins
-just one more thing: when fighting with Tengu Wild use Vigorious Spirit before he attacks to cover Live Vicariously (he will drain Vigorious Spirit using Shatter Enchantment, but Live Vicariously will stay), remember to kill Tengu Wild first, than Tengu Scout - it's easier this way
-in less risky build you will get +11+9=+20 hp from each arrow that hits enemy when Live Vicariously and Vigorious Spirit is on you, in more risky version you will get +12+10=+22 hp from each arrow (so when 3 Ettins are hit you get 3x20=60 hp or 3x22=66 hp from each shot, and you shoot with Barrage all the time :-)))
-with just a bit of practice it's really easy
-I haven't said it at start but you can also use Vampiric 5/-1 bow string to get another +5 hp and +5 dmg but remember to change bow before and after fight because of constant -1 drain

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The answer to your question is both yes and no. No, in the sense that you won't get good items, but yes, in the sense that you'll be getting a lot of runes, and therefore make lots of money if you sell them properly, or save a lot of money by not having to buy the ones you need. If you're looking to farm item drops then you're better off running through maguuma or better yet the desert/UW/FoW/Tombs(with a team for the last two generally)

I dont understand one thing from the earlier build: why use greater conflag and elemental resistance, when physical resistance does the job, and frees up an elite.

I guess that was for the extra 15 AL from the drakescale and for the damage bonus from elemental damage vs warriors (which is not needed in the second build as he uses Kindle). But yeah, I guess PR would do the job.

EDIT - And the +30 AL vs elemental any ranger armour has - I can't believe I forgot that - D'OH!

heh, I always forget armour bonuses q:

I read all the builds and I noticed almost everyone uses a superior rune of marksmanship. I tried this and felt I had to few hitpoints. Or is that just me? Can anyone help me on this? I would like to deal more damage, but what's the use if I get killed instantly
I reached the survivor title with my R/Mo so I know how to stay alive, but the rune kills me everytime

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Thx for the reply. I do have a rune of major vigor on a full set of Druids armor. I have 550hp now, so maybe I do can sacrifice 75hp for the extra damage.
I must say pve isn't so much the problem. But once I enter an arena that's a different matter.

You should know that if the majority have superior runes for their weapon of choice,they will have around the same hp as you do, give or take 9hp for those who have sup vigor runes.

The average player who has a sup weapon rune and a major vigor has 446hp, if my numbers are right.

closed. wrong section.