Curse

TheDarkshineKnight · Nov 06, 2008, 06:17 PM // 18:17

Weeeeeeeeeeell, the next character I'm making is gonna be a Ranger, and I've come to the conclusion that mass daze is just to sexy to ignore. Thus, I'm going Broad Head Arrow Epidemic. Now, I've never really played a Ranger before, so, I'm not really sure what I should be using on my bar. I'm thinking something like this for the skills:

Broad Head Arrow
Epidemic
Distracting Shot
Savage Shot
Volley
Lightning Reflexes
Apply Poison
Favorable Winds

Any input?

zelgadissan · Nov 06, 2008, 06:20 PM // 18:20

Almost perfect. Volley removes the prep so you need to choose between it and Apply Poison. Personally if I'm worried about condition stripping I'll run Apply Poison, if not Volley. I'd slap a res sig or some other skill in place of the other one.

Oh, also I don't bother with nature rituals in PvE due to constantly having to set them up, but if you do run one that'd be the one to use.

Taisayacho · Nov 06, 2008, 06:25 PM // 18:25

If you have a splinter hero/player with you, bring volley over apply, as you can't have both. If you're playing PvE, FW is nice but it can slow you down quite a bit, due to long casting time, so I take res over it. Apart from that, you've got it spot on.
Also, a suggestion, if you're in certain situations (such as ele bosses and such, and mostly HM), pain inverter is nice to bring along if you have EotN.

furanshisuko · Nov 06, 2008, 06:54 PM // 18:54

i like to add some degen on my builds not all but most

bha
dshot
screaming shot
volley
lightning reflexes/dodge/serpents quickness (dont like the recharge time of bha,you can change it)
troll unguent
vanguard signet i think its called plague signet
epidemic

and a hero whit splinter

Artisan Archer · Nov 06, 2008, 07:16 PM // 19:16

You don't really need 2 intterupt with BHA, one is enough.
I would take poison tip signet io apply poison, because as someone mentioned, volley removes preps, and a res is always good to have.

Fav. winds is really only usefull if you run with more than 2 rangers (fav winds doesn't change the BHA arc iirc)

I would also take troll, to relieve some pressure of your healers.

Daisuko · Nov 06, 2008, 07:44 PM // 19:44

Just bring a hero for epidemic. You don't need to bring it yourself. a SS necro could very easily bring epidemic for AoE daze, then cover it with weakness and cracked armor.

The Red Messenger · Nov 06, 2008, 07:50 PM // 19:50

[apply poison][savage shot][screaming shot][broad head arrow][epidemic][dwarven stability][serpents quickness] . . [throw dirt] or [pin down]

this build might help for when theres nothing you need to interrupt like facing melee. it requires 14 in expertise.

the idea is, you can spam conditions more often, because the main problem with BHA when running heroes and hench is this: the target you just dazed gets killed too fast, so you never got off epidemic and you are waiting on recharge

i like the pindown-epidemic combo because it can basically act as deep freeze if you engage a group with the combo fast enough before the melee splits from casters. its great when you have a fire ele or two in your party

you may want to run a couple other energy heavy builds on heroes and just take a battery necro with the party when running this one

Luminarus · Nov 06, 2008, 10:13 PM // 22:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Red Messenger

[apply poison][savage shot][screaming shot][broad head arrow][epidemic][dwarven stability][serpents quickness] . . [throw dirt] or [pin down]

this build might help for when theres nothing you need to interrupt like facing melee. it requires 14 in expertise.

the idea is, you can spam conditions more often, because the main problem with BHA when running heroes and hench is this: the target you just dazed gets killed too fast, so you never got off epidemic and you are waiting on recharge

i like the pindown-epidemic combo because it can basically act as deep freeze if you engage a group with the combo fast enough before the melee splits from casters. its great when you have a fire ele or two in your party

you may want to run a couple other energy heavy builds on heroes and just take a battery necro with the party when running this one

I bolded the best part. Running dazed in areas with mainly melee.

Anywho, I personally find that epidemic isnt worth it in most areas. Id rather have an open secondary. If there are lots of things that need dazing it means theres either 2 healers, a healer and an ele or 2 healers and an ele. Daze on healer off the bat, pain inverter the ele, and d-shot the vital skill of the third thing. Ele goes poof, monk cant do anything and third thing is shutdown long enough to die.

Quaker · Nov 07, 2008, 04:22 PM // 16:22

I've tried using Epidemic on occasion, but I've never found it to be all that useful - particularly when compared to some other skill that could do more.
"Adjacent" is a very small area - the enemies need to be practically touching one another. About the only time you find lots of Adjacent targets is if there is a tank gathering up the aggro. Otherwise, most targets are too far apart to be affected by Epidemic.
It sounds better than it actually is.

[Technobabble] works almost as well, and only takes one slot.

As a side note: One way to spread conditions around is to use [Poison Tip Signet] combined with [Barrage] or [Volley]
Which brings up an interesting thing - "adjacent" in Barrage and Volley appears to be a much larger area than it normally is (such as with Epidemic)

Super Igor · Nov 07, 2008, 04:38 PM // 16:38

volley and apply posion have no synergy, otherwise its fine, if you really want poison take poison tip siggy, you can also take ymlad to pin down foes so that bha hits.

Moonlit Azure · Nov 07, 2008, 04:45 PM // 16:45

PTS only works with one arrow in volley.

englitdaudelin · Nov 09, 2008, 10:30 PM // 22:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daisuko

Just bring a hero for epidemic. You don't need to bring it yourself. a SS necro could very easily bring epidemic for AoE daze, then cover it with weakness and cracked armor.

Yup. You don't need to limit your own secondary profession to get epidemic going. Make sure you unlock it and slap it on a hero. You can use other secondaries or other ranger skills to add even more conditions, then have your hero hit epidemic (if you don't trust them to do it right, micro-manage it...)

--ranger: bleeding, poison, blind
--rit: cracked armor, blind
--necro: weakness, cracked armor, diseased
--ele: blindness, burning, cracked armor

..and so on...

Luminarus · Nov 10, 2008, 02:52 AM // 02:52

Epidemic really isnt necessary anywayz... its actually surprisingly innefective because adjacent is such a small area.

The Meth · Nov 10, 2008, 03:34 AM // 03:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luminarus

Epidemic really isnt necessary anywayz... its actually surprisingly innefective because adjacent is such a small area.

Agreed with this. Shutdown skills that depend on such a small area are nigh worthless. There are other secondaries you can take with better use. /W for SY, or if you don't have a medium rank in the title go /N for enfeebling blood. Go /Rt for splinter pwnage, or if a rit is throwing splinter on you go /e for conjure/splinter/volley (which packs a hell of a punch).

Rhamia Darigaz · Nov 10, 2008, 04:37 AM // 04:37

for pve slap a scythe on ur ranger and spam [wounding strike]

englitdaudelin · Nov 15, 2008, 05:07 PM // 17:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Meth

Agreed with this. Shutdown skills that depend on such a small area are nigh worthless. There are other secondaries you can take with better use. /W for SY, or if you don't have a medium rank in the title go /N for enfeebling blood. Go /Rt for splinter pwnage, or if a rit is throwing splinter on you go /e for conjure/splinter/volley (which packs a hell of a punch).

I agree that epidemic/daze isn't the most effective use of the skill. But in vanquishing, I've been experimenting with builds that cause cracked armor--and I'm usually trying to get that on my first shot...and epidemic+cracked armor in HM might be a much stronger use of epidemic.

Apply poison +rit skill "Sundering Weapon" + Burning arrow + epidemic (from a hero) could sure be nice.

talisk3 · Nov 16, 2008, 06:33 AM // 06:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

I've tried using Epidemic on occasion, but I've never found it to be all that useful - particularly when compared to some other skill that could do more.
"Adjacent" is a very small area - the enemies need to be practically touching one another. About the only time you find lots of Adjacent targets is if there is a tank gathering up the aggro. Otherwise, most targets are too far apart to be affected by Epidemic.
It sounds better than it actually is.

[Technobabble] works almost as well, and only takes one slot.

As a side note: One way to spread conditions around is to use [Poison Tip Signet] combined with [Barrage] or [Volley]
Which brings up an interesting thing - "adjacent" in Barrage and Volley appears to be a much larger area than it normally is (such as with Epidemic)

Problem with the [Poison Tip Signet] with [Barrage] and [Volley] is that the poison only spreads to the FIRST ARROW.

Benster · Nov 20, 2008, 09:12 PM // 21:12

I never take "throw dirt" off my PvE builds. Especially if you are already running epidemic. This gives you flexibility to shut down clumped casters with BHA + epidemic + volley, and also throw dirt + epidemic for clumped melee. It adds some versatility, and you probably don't need savage shot as mentioned because of the BHA and distracting shot back up.

You can drop the spirit and throw dirt negates the necessity of lightning reflexes. If you like mass degen, then throw screeming shot and sig of infection alongside your poison tip or apply poison. Some people seemt o frown on degen in PvE, but I've found it quite effective and have legendary vanquisher on a similar build with those modifications. Alternatively, you could bring pin down for some crippling.

As Quaker suggests, if you aren't maximizing the impact of the epidemic with multiple conditions, then technobabble is a more economic way to get the functionality of your build.

bobrath · Nov 20, 2008, 09:52 PM // 21:52

On my BHA/Epi bar, I've included [Needling Shot]. Its a great IAS to knock down casters. The biggest challenge in PvE is getting your BHA to hit while the caster is still clumped up with his buddies. If you can do that, then it really makes HM much more doable. At the very least you can dismantle monks.

MuC · Nov 23, 2008, 01:54 PM // 13:54

My ranger build for vq was like this:
BHA, D-shot, Savage Shot, Rapid Fire, Epidemic, Rez and some PvE only skill.

Works quite good. You could take another ranger (barrage).