Curse

Modron · Jun 03, 2009, 02:59 PM // 14:59

Or any armor? (I'm terrible at this. My main is a mesmer and I have no idea the best way to enhance that armor, either.)

My ranger is almost a lvl 19. I just got all the lvl 61 krytan armor, except the mask. I want to make my armor better, but I don't understand runes once you get into the superior variety and are paying, say, 19 platinum for them. *gasp*

I know I have to choose the areas I want my ranger to be strongest in, like marksmanship or expertise, but can someone explain, generally, how you enhance armor?

MagmaRed · Jun 03, 2009, 03:45 PM // 15:45

I'd recommend the following, but this assumes you have the money to purchase these runes. If you don't have the money for them, use what is closest.

Chest - I place my Superior Vigor here
Legs - I always have a Minor Expertise here
Feet - Most times I place a Minor Wilderness Survival here, but builds not using WS I may put Vitae
Hands - I always place a Minor Marksmanship rune here. Even if my mask is for Marksmanship, I don't mind have it doubled.

Head I have 4 of, 1 for each attribute. I place a rune to match so I can switch builds faster and easier. I use a Superior rune for PvE, but it isn't needed, and most will suggest using a Minor rune to save the health loss.

Now, insignias are a bit different. I have different ones on different armor sets so I can swap based on my build. For 'general' use in PvE I find Radiant to be the best for me. I don't need the extra armor from some of the insignias, and the energy is nice to have. Survivor would work well too, as you can never go wrong with more health. However, if you are using a specialized build, a specific insignia may be better. For example, if you are running a Beast Mastery build you may want to make use of the Beastmaster's insignia. If using a R/W build for hammer, you may like something like Brawler's or Sentry's.

I wouldn't spend money on upgrading armor until you have max armor though. Wait until you have AL70 armor before spending money on runes and insignias.

Zodiac Meteor · Jun 03, 2009, 03:48 PM // 15:48

Save your money until you get max armor (level 70) You will need every cent for it.

Get at least a minor vigor, superior is way to pricey for +9 health from major vigor.

brightblade13 · Jun 03, 2009, 03:56 PM // 15:56

Generally, to mod armor, you want to choose what attribute that you want to specialize in. For a Ranger, outside of PvP, this is usually Marksmanship. Tearing monsters apart with a bow usually works well. Then you'll want to choose the attributes to invest in apart from Marksmanship, lets say Expertise (it's good for reducing skill energy costs) and Wilderness Survival (For apply poison and self healing)

So since we're primarily investing in Marksmanship, with Expertise and Wilderness as secondary attributes, you'll want the headpiece with +1 to Marks. Then, you'll need to decide on a Marks rune. Minor, major or superior doesn't really matter, you'll just need to balance your health loss with the need for an attribute increase. I'd recommend Superior Marksmanship for any bow-wielding PvE ranger, because you wont be on the front lines taking too much damage, and the -75 health is generally worth the +2 to Marks.

After putting the marks rune on the headpiece, you'll want to grab a minor rune for each of your secondary attributes, I put these on the hand armor and feet armor, just for the sake of organization. These are good +1s to the attribute with no health loss.

Then you'll want to look at a vigor rune. These can be expensive, minor vigors are at the least 1k and superior vigors average 20k or so. If you can afford one, throw it on the chest piece, and then you still have the leg armor left over for a rune to fit your needs, vitae will stack with the vigor for a small health bonus, and attunement will give you a small energy bonus.

subarucar · Jun 03, 2009, 07:58 PM // 19:58

Save your money untill you have maximum armour.
Generally the way to do armour is the following:

Insignias: I usually take survivors as having pleanty of health helps, but there are some very usefull armour boosting insignias that may take your liking. Radiant insignias are also usefull if your build has a chain that requires ahigh amount of energy, although if you think you need radiants, you should probably change your skillsbar to fit some more energy management.

Runes: Headgear of your most used attribute, as a ranger this will be marksmanship, or possibly expertise. You will also want a minor rune of this attribute, a superior rune of this attribute is also good, its up to you really, do you want more health? Or more damage?

You should also have a minor rune of any other attributes you make use of, so wilderness survival and expertise.

You will then need a vigor rune, minors are usually around 1.5k, and give a reasonable health bonus, if you have the money superior is worth getting, but if you dont have a huge amount of money, 20 extra health probably doesnt seem worth paying 20k for. There is also a major rune which comes somewhere inbetween, last time i checked they costed aroumd 3-4k (this was a while ago).
In terms of a vigor runes, its really up to how much money you are willing to spend on it, most of my characters have managed fine with a minor, although there have been a couple i have regretted not buying one.

You should have a space left for 1/2 more runes, there are a few availible that can be made use of, Vitae is a small health boost, which is alright, i personally take the purple runes that reduce durations of certain conditions, just watch your condition/hex/enchantement bar, and take note of what the most common conditions you get are, or the conditions that annoy you (blind?), then buy a rune that shortens the duration of this condition.

Aldric · Jun 03, 2009, 10:21 PM // 22:21

I would wait till you get maxed armour but if you dont want to you can always Perfect Salvage the dearer runes/insignias from the lvl61 stuff later on.

Insignias:
For general use I will generally run all radiant insignias for the energy but you may feel better with all survivor for the extra health. It depends on the way you play and which you prefer. I don't use any Superior Runes so my health pool is always pretty high so i personally find the energy from radiant more useful. You can also use a non bow weapon and some other insignias might be more useful.

Runes:
Head: I have 4, 1 for each attribute, all with Minor runes
Chest: Always my Vigor (Superior is very nice but a Minor is only 20hp lower. Take the best you can afford.)
Gloves : I have 2 gloves. 1 with Minor Marksmanship and 1 with Minor Expertise
Legs : Health or Energy
Feet : Health or Energy (although i do have a spare pair with a Wilderness rune , just never use it much)

Prolly Expertise Headpiece and Marks Gloves is the setup I use more commonly in bow builds

You can easily get away with a Superior rune in PvE , i just got used to minors playing pvp and having the extra health so i just stick with them in pve aswell now.