Curse

iToasterHD · Dec 09, 2009, 04:27 PM // 16:27

As always, trying to rekindle my love of the Ranger. So after reading that HUGE thread about how rangers suck, but are fun to play. My mind was made up to play ranger and make it an effective profession! I roughly used the concept of the Warrior's Endurance build for Warriors. Energy + Spammable multi-foe attacks. This is what I came up with.

As always, for PvE and I don't use EotN PvE Skills. You are welcome to comment and suggest EotN PvE skills (this is a forum for everyone, not just me), but remember I won't be using them. So if possible, think of alternatives as well. Be nice, stay focused!

THE Build:
Comfort Animal
Call of Protection (Optional)
Otyugh's Cry (Optional)
Lightning Reflexes
Scavenger Strike
Melandru's Assault
Enraged Lunge
Volley

Concept is simple. Spam volley. Enraged Lunge to inflict deep wound. Melandru's Assault to assist volley in multi-foe spiking. And Scavenger Strike to take advantage of foe with deep wound for energy gain.

Quick side note, I was using Call and Cry as buffs to my pet because he is dire and the primary focus of this build. As stated above they are optional and I am honestly not sure what I want to place in those two slots.

Oh, and the attributes I have been using thus far are as follows:

Beast Mastery 12
Expertise 9
Marksmanship 13

With a Zealous Recurve Bow of Fortitude

majikmajikmajik · Dec 09, 2009, 05:50 PM // 17:50

I am the strongest is a buff clean damage buff thats almost maintainable, id also toss in EV ward for more damage.

Redvex · Dec 09, 2009, 05:54 PM // 17:54

Maybe Never rampage alone instead of Lightning Reflexes

iToasterHD · Dec 09, 2009, 06:25 PM // 18:25

Okay, got a chance to test it out on a ZMission in HM. Pets are more difficult to use then I realized. Trying to get a chain of attacks is impossible since if you click all three attacks, each one gets removed by the next. So I have to wait until it attacks, to signal its next attack. Also pet was way to slow getting to the target. so I added Call of Haste in replace to O's Cry. Might go from Dire to Hearty, several times it died in HM and that is unacceptable. I was thinking of Never Rampage Alone, but seemed silly with Volley. And if I add Call of Haste, it will be redundant.

ForgeWhelp · Dec 09, 2009, 06:43 PM // 18:43

I always liked Strike as One for instant action and conditions...

iToasterHD · Dec 09, 2009, 07:41 PM // 19:41

But deep wound is so pretty.

Zodiac Meteor · Dec 09, 2009, 08:20 PM // 20:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by iToasterHD

But deep wound is so pretty.

The extra 100 damage is a little nice, but if your going to roll enemies you need constant PEW PEW to spam around.

ac1inferno · Dec 09, 2009, 09:01 PM // 21:01

I would say the only reason to bring [[Comfort Animal] is to be able to use [[Never Rampage Alone] as a maintainable IAS that is not a stance. Because of the energy cost, [[Scavenger Strike] would be nice to help keep it up. And then because you have a maintainable IAS, I would suggest to use a weapon that is normally slow but would be benefited by the IAS tremendously. A Scythe would be ideal for this since it's built-in AoE and the IAS would help its attack speed. [[Aura of Holy Might] to help increase the damage since you're using a scythe now. [[Asuran Scan] helps to increase even more. [[Wounding Strike] can apply deep wound easily and fuel Scavenger Strike. And then [[Mystic Sweep] and [[Eremite's Attack] to fill it in for fast attacks.

Summary:

[build prof=Ranger/Dervish Expertise=10+1+2 beast=10+1 ScytheMastery=11][Wounding Strike][Mystic Sweep][Eremite's Attack][Asuran Scan][Scavenger Strike][Never Rampage Alone][Aura of Holy Might][comfort animal][/build]

Lux Aeterna · Dec 09, 2009, 09:26 PM // 21:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by ac1inferno

I would say the only reason to bring [[Comfort Animal] is to be able to use [[Never Rampage Alone] as a maintainable IAS that is not a stance. Because of the energy cost, [[Scavenger Strike] would be nice to help keep it up. And then because you have a maintainable IAS, I would suggest to use a weapon that is normally slow but would be benefited by the IAS tremendously. A Scythe would be ideal for this since it's built-in AoE and the IAS would help its attack speed. [[Aura of Holy Might] to help increase the damage since you're using a scythe now. [[Asuran Scan] helps to increase even more. [[Wounding Strike] can apply deep wound easily and fuel Scavenger Strike. And then [[Mystic Sweep] and [[Eremite's Attack] to fill it in for fast attacks.

Summary:

[build prof=Ranger/Dervish Expertise=10+1+2 beast=10+1 ScytheMastery=11][Wounding Strike][Mystic Sweep][Eremite's Attack][Asuran Scan][Scavenger Strike][Never Rampage Alone][Aura of Holy Might][comfort animal][/build]

Pretty much this, I was thinking maybe you could do some kind of RaO axe but in pve WS ranger scythe is very useful (especially if your party is caster heavy), and a pet could be added easily.

Mostly, pets just aren't useful in pve -- in pvp you could make a hammer bunnythumper and kill all the monks.

Chthon · Dec 09, 2009, 09:36 PM // 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by iToasterHD

As always, trying to rekindle my love of the Ranger. So after reading that HUGE thread about how rangers suck, but are fun to play. My mind was made up to play ranger and make it an effective profession!

In that regard, I'm afraid you've failed. Good effort though.

Quote:

Otyugh's Cry (Optional)

Not enough high-threat foes block in PvE to justify bringing this as an all-around skill. Sidebar it for certain areas only.

Quote:

Lightning Reflexes

With high BM rank, pet deals more damage than bow, so a pet IAS would be a better use of this space. Or Never Rampage Alone for a dual IAS.

Quote:

Melandru's Assault

This skill is bugged. You'll never get decent damage output from it unless/until a-net fixes it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by majikmajikmajik

I am the strongest is a buff clean damage buff thats almost maintainable, id also toss in EV ward for more damage.

IATS is almost maintainable at high rank IF you're autoattacking with a slow bow with no IAS. Toss in Volley and it's nowhere near maintainable. It's not a very good skill.

EBSoHonor is a good skill, but the energy and cast time costs are hard on a ranger.

GDW is probably the best of the buff PvE skills for a beastmaster. (It's +20 and KD and you are essentially casting it on yourself.) But it also packs a high energy and cast time cost for a ranger.

If you want to try to make beastmasters work (as well as they're going to at any rate...), I'd suggest something like this:

Volley
Save Yourselves!
Comfort
Enraged Lunge
Brutal Strike
GDW
Scavenger Strike
Call of Haste/Feral Aggression*

*The IMS from Call of Haste goes a long way towards counteracting the pet AI's sluggish responses. If you're OK with the pet AI as is, then use Feral Aggression for more damage.

Pair with this hero build:

Order of Pain
Dark Fury
Empathic Removal
Smite Hex
Smite Condition
Signet of Lost Souls
Strip Enchantment
Strength of Honor

In general, you should try to build around abusing the inherent 33% damage boost the last skill balance gave pets by stacking on as much armor-ignoring bonus damage as possible. Some of the post in the last few pages of this thread are useful food for thought.

Uriel_Wolfblood · Dec 09, 2009, 10:31 PM // 22:31

Don't listen to anyone who bashes rangers. If you really want to play one, and you find you enjoy it go for it. My first character is a ranger. And from the moment I made him to today, he is still my favorite. And beast mastery is still my favorite build.

Now when you break beast masters down for pve, (which is what I'm assuming you are doing) you have just a few elites that stand out. Namely:

Enraged Lunge
Ferocious Strike
And Heal as One

Like you I started using Enraged lunge, and when Anet changed the function of it I liked the deep wound even more. With any pet, I recommend using O cry, additional armor and unblockability are just too good to pass up. Call of protection is a nice addition, but really isn't that neccisarry if you feel your bar could benefit better from a different skill.

Now, since you have a dire pet, and are wanting to focus on the major damage of it, I recomend Enraged, poisionous bite, and scavenger strike. This combo gives you almost limitless energy and can put some serious pressure. I now use Heal as One as my elite, and I love it more and more each day. If you decide to go that route, I suggest your pet's skills are posionous, scavenger, and brutal strike. Brutal is the second hardest hitting pet attack.

Anyways that's all I can say in the short time I have, so if you want anymore help, just pm me in game. Uriel Wolfblood. I'll be more than happy to help you with all your beastmaster needs.

Thanks for keeping our rare breed alive mate.

iToasterHD · Dec 09, 2009, 11:00 PM // 23:00

There is the Scythe Build, and just recently a dagger build that can utilize pets. However, for the time being I want to focus on Bow and Pet since reviving a ranger isn't quite the same without a bow (maybe a spear = P).

As for Uriel.
Enraged, Poisonous Bite and Scavenger Strike gives you a ton of Energy I am hoping can fuel a powerful bow attack that can be spammed.

The pet is a good source of deep wound and energy, and additional damage. That is it's ultimate goal. I did feel like something was wrong with Melandru's Assault, glad it is true. Also dislike having more then one pet attack skill since they counter each other. I will experiment with those three mentioned previously. Looking into using Marauder's Shot as a powerful spammable bow attack.

Ugh · Dec 09, 2009, 11:12 PM // 23:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by iToasterHD

Call of Protection (Optional)
Otyugh's Cry (Optional)

I wouldn't recommend bringing either of these; pets are quite resilient and can be rezzed easily.

Quote:

Lightning Reflexes

A few seconds of blocking and IAS for you aren't worth it IMO.

Quote:

Melandru's Assault

This would be good if it wasn't bugged.

Quote:

Volley

Meh.

I've never found pets to have good synergy with bows. I've always found them to work better with spears, scythes, etc.

Also, if you don't have anything against sunspear PvE skills, Never Rampage Alone would be a great option.

upier · Dec 10, 2009, 08:18 AM // 08:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by iToasterHD

Oh, and the attributes I have been using thus far are as follows:

Beast Mastery 12
Expertise 9
Marksmanship 13

With a Zealous Recurve Bow of Fortitude

Just bringing this up.
It might be better to look into raising your Expertise/BM a bit at the expense of Marksmanship. The damage a bow does it really nothing to write home about - so you'd be better of able to constantly spam that lower damage over doing a bit more damage but running out of energy on the long run.
And bring Splinter on one of your heroes.