Curse

Willy Rockwell · Nov 04, 2005, 01:36 PM // 13:36

My main character (<-- that's him over there) has discovered some ways of making his job more effective. Don't flame me if these have been described before.

1 - Carry an energy source in your weapons load. I carry a +12 scroll in F3. As a second profession Elementalist I can use Firestorm, then change to F3 to get a +12 energy boost, enabling me to use Meteor Shower right away. Even though my energy is tapped out I can switch back to primary bow and resume fire.

2 - Carry an efficient low-marksmanship bow. When I trap I need to steal attributes from other skills to get max WS. I have a 2 marksmanship bow I use when trapping. I still get reasonable bow damage without high marksmanship skills.

3 - Pack a closet full of armor. I have a trapping jacket and mask and a Beast Mastery mask as well as my usual Marksmanship armor. I change clothes depending on the mission.

I apologize if this is all common knowledge. Do you have other ranger tips to add?

Tactical-Dillusions · Nov 04, 2005, 02:58 PM // 14:58

In comp arena, don't charge forward and start dealing powerful-looking damage or announce your intentions...chances are, the tanks will charge at YOU!
Stay at the back of the group and start attacking once the enemy has chosen their targets. You are then free to interrupt and unleash hell.

When trapping, use spike trap combined with dust trap, to keep the enemy in as many pulses of the trap as possible.

Always carry an evade skill and use it when using troll unguent. Having your unguent distracted by another ranger or a warrior with distracting blow/disrupting chop could spell the end of you.

Sprint skills are not essential. If you have a nice marksmanship level, trade it for pin down instead. You get more uses per minute and a crippled enemy is a benefit to the whole team...not just yourself.

Throw dirt is the holy grail of the expertise line. Use it on that annoying tank who is beating on your monk. Don't use it right away though because your monks mana level will be high at the start of battle anyway.
Wait a moment first, it will be much appreciated by your monk (or any soft class really).

Spirits such as natures renewal, frozen soil and muddy terrain are my personal favourites of the spirit skills. I don't use them too often myself but they have their uses.
There's nothing funnier than watching a tank use sprint while MT is active. It's also funny to watch a bond monk panic when NR goes up, lol.
Ah, those moments when the last tank finally realises that his teammates are dead...he stops...he doesn't move for a moment....he stands there a little longer...looks up at his enchantment status and finally reads the tooltip of frozen soil. "D'oh! That's why i couldn't res!" LMAO. Pwned!

If elementalists are common or FOTM, take storm chaser for the extra energy gain. Stand in that firestorm and harvest the energy! A single FS is unlikely to kill you anyway. (Now you know why Isaiah called it Storm chaser!

)
It also double as a sprint skill.

aron searle · Nov 04, 2005, 03:07 PM // 15:07

Remember not to hold the arrow by the pointy end when firing.

DarkWasp · Nov 04, 2005, 03:25 PM // 15:25

Dont expect monks to like you. Or, warriors.

Monks and Warriors are most commonly played by the most common of all players. And the most common of all players are a bit immature and they have tried a ranger but they sucked at it. In that case since they sucked at being a ranger they think rangers suck and they get jealous whenever rangers get a good PvP build, then they are the boys who cried NERF.

(Its not always monks or warriors that will hate you)

Also, instead of trapping in the underworld with a PuG, try making some friends and go with 1 or 2 of them. More drops, Less Jerks, Less Quitter, More fun.

Make sure everyone on your lil trap group has a WS mask and has 16 WS.

Hanuman li Tosh · Nov 04, 2005, 03:37 PM // 15:37

i prefer a bowless ranger. i like to run greater conflag + winter. converts all physical and elemental damage to cold. then i put on long johns (frost armor) and storm chaser.
115 armor agains warriors and eles is bordeline histerical.

MSecorsky · Nov 04, 2005, 04:25 PM // 16:25

I know a lot of people think otherwise, but Poison Arrow is a great elite to take in the arenas. Especially in CA, I've hit a monk with PA to watch him do Mend Ailment... fire again, Mend again... repeat. Meanwhile, he's not healing his team. It's also great against that running warrior annoyance. 20+ seconds of poison can drop a runner in his tracks if he didn't pack a condition removal.

Again, this is just my opinion. But for the arenas, in damage mode, I personally like the first 5 to be...

Poison arrow {e}, Hunter shot, Dual shot, Distracting shot and Kindle.

Sekkira · Nov 04, 2005, 04:54 PM // 16:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSecorsky

I know a lot of people think otherwise, but Poison Arrow is a great elite to take in the arenas. Especially in CA, I've hit a monk with PA to watch him do Mend Ailment... fire again, Mend again... repeat. Meanwhile, he's not healing his team. It's also great against that running warrior annoyance. 20+ seconds of poison can drop a runner in his tracks if he didn't pack a condition removal.

Again, this is just my opinion. But for the arenas, in damage mode, I personally like the first 5 to be...

Poison arrow {e}, Hunter shot, Dual shot, Distracting shot and Kindle.

Poison arrow is useful, but with the situation you described, Apply Poison is so much more superior. You have something that lasts 24 seconds of each shot poisoning the opponent for 15 (8 with 12 expertise) energy as opposed to poisoning your opponent for 5 (3) energy per shot. Say you shoot every two seconds, that's 60 (36) energy wasted within the span of 24 seconds compared to 15 (8) energy to continuously poison.

MSecorsky · Nov 04, 2005, 05:41 PM // 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sekkira

Poison arrow is useful, but with the situation you described, Apply Poison is so much more superior. You have something that lasts 24 seconds of each shot poisoning the opponent for 15 (8 with 12 expertise) energy as opposed to poisoning your opponent for 5 (3) energy per shot. Say you shoot every two seconds, that's 60 (36) energy wasted within the span of 24 seconds compared to 15 (8) energy to continuously poison.

On paper yes.. in practice no. Frankly, I have to work my arse off to run out of energy with my ranger. Plus consider apply poison is your preparation, no added damage. I use kindle for preparation, so I get the added damage from that on top of the poison arrow.. and on top of the added damage from hunters, and double the kindle damage for dual shot... all while keeping the health bar green on the enemy. So what you call 'wasted energy' actually translates into much greater inflicted damage on top of the degen.

quickmonty · Nov 04, 2005, 05:48 PM // 17:48

I haven't bothered with apply poison since I got poison arrow, for the reasons mentioned in above post.

The Son Of Morgoth · Nov 05, 2005, 07:44 AM // 07:44

Lol Yah unlike other games at first i didnt see what was so great about being a ranger but ranger spike teams are very effective and if u trap key places like omg haz. its definatly not a hack and slash class.

Red Locust · Nov 05, 2005, 08:01 AM // 08:01

Moved to the appropriate forums. While I'm at it, I might as well add something in. If you're tombing as a ranger, be sure to bring one, preferably two, interrupt skills. It's currently your best bet for winning/holding the HoH.

Just sit there and keep interrupting the ghostly until the timer runs out. Aegis doesn't help the ghostly against interrupts, and guardian is a bit unreliable. Shields up is pretty much your only concern.

jesh · Nov 05, 2005, 09:58 PM // 21:58

-Don't shoot from under your target. (why do so many people do that??)
-If you're trying to do damage with your ranger, use an attack speed boost for gods sake. Your stormbow does not make you a damage dealer.
-Use a prep. I can't tell you how many rangers I have seen that sit there and just, "*plink* *plink* *plink*"
-Take healing spring in pve. You're out of harms way, but your team mates aren't. They might appreciate the healing seed-like benefits.
-Dust trap can save your entire party.
-Don't be afraid to be a pure beast master.
-Please don't ever use barrage unless you have JI.

Manfred · Nov 06, 2005, 12:17 AM // 00:17

NOES jesh, I will be the ub3r 1337 h4xx0r and use barrage with kindle!

Yeah, claim the high ground, and crippling targets or increasing your arrow flight speed will reduce your miss rate wonderfully.

The Hand Of Death · Nov 07, 2005, 02:13 AM // 02:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by aron searle

Remember not to hold the arrow by the pointy end when firing.

That made me laugh.

I say get the bow with the farthest range to put more distance between you and the enemy.

master_ranger_matt · Nov 07, 2005, 04:01 AM // 04:01

barrage, 16 marksmanship, sundering storm bow of fortitude, enough said (iway or minion factory gets decimated)

dargon · Nov 07, 2005, 04:15 AM // 04:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by master_ranger_matt

barrage, 16 marksmanship, sundering storm bow of fortitude, enough said (iway or minion factory gets decimated)

Heh, and team the realizes they are only getting the smack when bunched up, breaks apart and then owns you.

User Name · Nov 07, 2005, 04:34 PM // 16:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by master_ranger_matt

barrage, 16 marksmanship, sundering storm bow of fortitude, enough said (iway or minion factory gets decimated)

Barrage is a really really bad skill for PvP. It strips your preperation so any chance you had at dealing any real damage has been removed the second you use the skill...and most importantly it only works on teams that group up. As soon as they(any good team) realize they are being hit with barrage they scatter and your entire strategy is destroyed without even needing to counter it.

Sundering - among the worst mods in the game. 10% chance of 10% armor penetration...how is a 1/10 chance at doing marginally more damage worth wasting your bow string for?

Fortitude - Fortitude grips are over appreciated...in large they aren't as important as a Shelter or Defense grip. The extra health only matters if you drop below 30 HP at any given time...until then all you've done is added top end HP that never gets used anyway. Ensign has made a couple of posts on here and gone into great length in atleast 1 thread in regards to defense being more important than HP. This game is about damage reduction and energy conservation...not about HP stacking. You'd do much better with a Defense +5 Grip and a Vamp 5/-1 bow.(especially when using barrage)

Storm Bow - if you aren't using a short bow in PvP you're doing something drastically wrong. One of your weapon sets should include a short bow for the refire rate.

Epinephrine · Nov 07, 2005, 04:38 PM // 16:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesh

-Please don't ever use barrage unless you have JI.

Umm, let's just make that "a damage boost" ?

Conjure elements, a necro running orders, JI or Strength of honour/favorable winds - you do want a boost though, it's not really enough on its own.

judge1121 · Nov 07, 2005, 04:48 PM // 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Epinephrine

Umm, let's just make that "a damage boost" ?

can we change that to dmg boost that are not preparations too

Epinephrine · Nov 07, 2005, 04:52 PM // 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by judge1121

can we change that to dmg boost that are not preparations too

Lol, preparations aren't damage boosts to Barrage anyway, so it's a bit redundant, but I see your point. Sure, non-preparation damage boosts, like those listed.