Bgnome

moved to campfire

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[quote=Sausaletus Rex]...When you respond to a thread in [Q&A] make sure, and I mean damn sur

Akshara

It really depends on your play style and approach. Maybe pick the three that you like the best, then test them out for a few minutes each in PvE, or with a close pre-built design in PvP (very helpful). It also depends on whether your longterm goal is to design a strong PvP build, or a more focused PvE character.

The Ranger is a very versatile and effective profession, yet not necessarily the most powerful, which puts some people off. It's probably the profession which gains the most from a player whose approach focuses on timing and patience, with Mesmer being a very close second.

Expertise lowers skill point costs over time, allowing the primary Ranger access to a plethora of skills that are very cost intensive for those who choose it as a secondary. Wilderness Survival is one of the most versatile attributes in the game, with skills that are good for the lone wolf as well as the support player. While having strong Marksmanship is always important, a bow on it's own just can't compete with the Warrior and Elementalist for damage per second - so the challenge is to design a Ranger that focuses either on skills which enhance bow damage and response time, or on skills which are complementary to a party of other damage dealers, spellcasters and healers.

In party based play, Rangers are often misunderstood and underestimated, imho. Like Mesmers, they can very easily make life hell for just about every other class when handled well. With good timing, effective weapon choice/preparation and attention to detail, a Ranger can do extremely effective damage on the battle field - notice that the keyword is effective, not powerful.

Sometimes all that a Healer or Warrior needs is an extra second to make the difference between victory or defeat, and the Ranger can give them that. Preparing an arrow with interruption or enchantment breaking skills and striking that Elementalist during mid windup can change everything - but it's not easy to do.

And that's partly why you read the "how difficult it is to be a good ranger and how easy it is to be a sucky one" comments so often. The button mashing Warrior, nuking Elementalist and spamming Healer type of player just doesn't have the patience for a Ranger... it requires subtlety and thought in both their build and ingame strategy, in varying degrees. If one approaches a Ranger as simply a long-range Warrior with a bow, then they aren't going to be very effective in either PvE or PvP.

Rangers are not designed to be tanks, spellcasters or healers - they play a unique role. They are better felt, and not seen. When a Ranger is doing their job really well, nobody really notices... on either side of the battlefield.

Akshara

Quote:

Becuase I'm not that far into the game, if you think that I should make a new character right now and change my 2nd profession, let me know and tell me why you think so

Monk is good if you plan on going solo a lot for the healing prayers. And smiting prayers can be helpful against the undead, or when partied with others who handle healing better.

For a sniper approach, an Elementalist with Air Magic can be very effective.

And for interrupting spellcasters/healers, a Mesmer or Necro can be very helpful.

Also consider going pure Ranger... ie. sink all attribute points into the Ranger class only. If you want to have an effective Pet, then possibly forego the secondary profession altogether for Beast Mastery instead - just because we have a secondary doesn't mean we have to use it. Like this...

Expertise = 10
Marksmanship = 10
Wilderness Survival = 10
Beast Mastery = 5

or this...

Expertise = 9
Marksmanship = 9
Wilderness Survival = 9
Beast Mastery = 9

NiGht_HaWk

I have a Ranger/Mesmer at the moment, but i wont be using the Mesmer at all; I am going pure ranger. My future attributes will be:

Expertise: 10
Markmanship: 12
Wilderness Survival: 8

or:

Expertise: 10
Markmanship: 11
Wilderness Survival: 10

Ranger is basically the only class where you can be good going pure. The reason is because the ranger is very versatile in that it has good direct damage skills (barrage), traps, defensive abilities (throw dirt), decent self healing (troll unguent), conditions, snares (pin down), and just about anything else you can think of. Rangers can take almost any role you can think of, and execute that role decently well. That is why rangers have the name "jack of all trades".

Dust Finger

Akshara---
I've never thought of going solo on just Ranger...that sounds like a good option for me.

Im kind of a newb...nah, I am a newbie. Can you explain all of those skills for me and what they do? Like Beast Mastery, etc.

Also, by the skills all being 9999 instead of 1010105, were you meaning using all ur skill points for ranger instead of having some on the 2nd profession?

Sorry if my questions are a little hard to understand, it was hard to word it

Akshara

Here you go...

Ranger Profession Guide

There's some other guides worth reading here as well, which will make your intial experience much more enjoyable...

Guides Listing

And the Skill Listing link at the top left of those pages let's you see and search through all of the skills for a profession or two on a single page.

So maybe brew a little coffee or tea, and get a cozy chair. That's what I did on my first day, and it made a big difference.

NiGht_HaWk

Expertise: reduces the mana cost on all preparations, stances, bow attacks, basically anything else EXCEPT spells and signets.

Markmanship: Increases the damage of your bow. This is where your almost all your bow attacks will be.

Wilderness Survival: Possibly the most versatile attribute in the game. it is where most of your preparations will be, increasing damage or putting conditions on the enemy. it also has many nature rituals, which affect everybody in the area, friend or foe.

Beast Mastery: Increases the damage of your pet, if you have one. Almost all these skills help your pet do more damage/stay alive longer. A lot of nature rituals can also be found here.

Both of Akshara's attribute point setups are pure ranger, not having any points in any secondary profession. the 9 9 9 9 setup is made so you can be pretty good at all parts of the ranger. Perfect if you will be going for the "jack of all trades" setup.

Akshara

Quote:

Also, by the skills all being 9999 instead of 1010105, were you meaning using all ur skill points for ranger instead of having some on the 2nd profession?

Yes. Those were two common divisions of potential attribute points across four different attributes. And all four of those were Ranger attributes. There's an article in the Guides Listing that discusses attribute strategies in detail.

In the end, if one just plays the game through all of this stuff will be revealed through experience. However, it's good to have a map and some information to start with, to know where one is heading. But remember to also allow for the gameplay itself to help create your character, and don't get too caught up in the theoretical preparation stage. What might look good on paper, or seem to make sense when you're thinking about it, might not work that well in actual gameplay... and visaversa.