epidemic ranger build

I nemesis I

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Dec 2005

R/Me

hi i'm new to tha ranger builds and i read something about epidemic wich gave me an id

would a build with

apply poison, hunters shot, read the wind,epidemic,troll unguent,conjure phantasm, melandru's arrows and 1 other skill of choice work?

Meneldil

Meneldil

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

United States [KS]

[none]

R/W

Work for what? What is it you want to accomplish, and is this build for PVE or PVP?

I'm guessing it is for PVP since you say you are new to ranger builds thus making you new at playing ranger.

Apply Poison is a preparation skill, Melandru's Arrows is a preparation skill, and Read the Wind is also a preparation skill. You CANNOT use them at the same time. This makes the build very ineffective.

It seems like you want to create a health degeneration build. Observing the skills you have mentioned, you can use Apply Poison, Hunter's shot, and also Conjure Phantasm very well together to degenerate health. Epidemic, if I am correct, will TRANSFER all these conditions that you have set upon your enemy to any adjacent enemies. Transfer saying, that he will no longer have those conditions and you need to reapply them to your target.

Alright, so we have
-Hunter's Shot. (Bow Attack)
-Poison Arrow. (Preparation Skill)
-Conjure Phantasm. (Hex Spell)
-Epidemic (Spell)

I would suggest getting 2-3 skills to defend yourself such as Troll Unguent, which you stated, for heath regen (or healing spring but i dont recommend it) and a skill like Whirling Defense, Lighting Reflexes, or Dryders Defense, to protect you from most harm for a few seconds. Throw Dirt works well on warriors and rangers, people fighting with melee weapons or a bow.

Pin Down or Cripple {E} would be cool, because you could inflict another condition. Think of this.
-You could apply poison, then cripple them, while they move shoot hunters shot, conjure phantasm when you have enough energy, then move on to the next enemy, fire away your poison arrows with a hunters shot, C.P. and so on.

Or you could go ahead and use epidemic, I think it would work, but be sure that the enemies are close together (which is rare) and reapply conditions on the target foe.

Bringing an interrupting skill like Distracting Shot or Savage Shot could help a lot too.

For random PVP, get skills to defend yourself, along with Resurrection Signet, because you never know if you will have a monk ally.

For tombs, talk with your teammates, and ask them if you will need self healing and protection.

For PVE, I would suggest always bringing defensive skills.

Brand Oathbow

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2005

R/Me

Yes, knowing if your goal is PvE or PvP will make a difference.

Epidemic only works to spread conditions to foes adjacent to your target, thus is isnt very effective in a PvP situation. For 15 energy (not reduced by Expertise), it take just a little more time and not necessarily any more energy to simply inflict those conditions on each target separately. A good combo to look at building on is Pin Down/Crippling Shot + Hunter's Shot + Apply Poison/Poison Arrow and going after moving targets.

Overall the only time I had a satisfactory result in with Epidemic in PvE was when I got lucky enough to inflict bleeding with hunters shot/barbed trap and apply poison/poison arrow at the same time that a decent size group of mobs were all attacking a single target. When it happened it was beautiful with everything suffering -7degen and dropping like flies. However, this happened to work out jsut right very rarely and I ended up removing Epidemic from all of my builds.

TGgold

TGgold

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2005

Flying Gophers

Rt/P

Also, epidemic does NOT spread Conjure Phantasm, just so you know.
I find it to be pretty inefficient of a spell, but meh. I like a necro with plague sending more.

If anything, you're probly better off setting a trap to get everyone bleeding and crippled, then using poison arrow or apply poison. I personally don't like read the wind very much, I don't think the bonus is worth it. You could use apply poison instead, then use say, winnowing or some other spirit if you wanted.

Meneldil

Meneldil

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

United States [KS]

[none]

R/W

So basically, I nemesis I, epidemic isn't worth it. If I were you, I would shoot a moving target immediately, press TAB targeting a new foe, cripple them, shoot another hunter shot while they are moving, and just continue in that fashion.

Imagine an archer trying to equal his shots out evenly, so that all targets are down, and not just one.

I nemesis I

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Dec 2005

R/Me

hehe kk tnx:P and yes it is for pvp:P