Curse

rein · May 03, 2005, 10:05 PM // 22:05

I've been trying out warrior/ranger... ..thoughts were using pin down arrow + sprint for runners and troll regen for health. I am not high enough since I started over (only level 4 rigth now) but I figure with traps and totems it would be a good match with warrior skills. Am I missing something? would I be better off with ranger/warrior? or even a different secondary? Also, can you change secondary professions or is it a re-roll if you decide to do something else? thanks

Akshara · May 03, 2005, 10:06 PM // 22:06

Quote:

What do you other R/W think? Ditch the beastmastery and go into expertise/marksmanship?

There are benefits to be found in Wilderness Survival for team play, including stances and traps that can make dealing with Melee attackers better. In the most efficient scenario, the Ranger would rarely need to pull out that melee weapon and instead be able to cripple, evade or distract the melee attacker (like Barbed Trap, Dryder's Defenses, Dust Trap or Throw Dirt) in an effort to either get away or put some distance between them for a focused bow attack (like Precision Shot, Pin Down or Point Blank Shot), or to simply not be distracted from their original target. Certain traps or skills which either immobilize or blind the attacker can give a pet a better chance of getting in some attacks as well.

In a five attribute Ran/War character, my current recommendation is to invest points into the following attributes, in order of importance: Expertise, Marksmanship, Wilderness Survival, Tactics and then either Beast Mastery or Swordsmanship depending on personal preference. The reason I prefer Tactics over Swordsmanship is that it offers more defensive melee options with the sword, which are better for dealing with Melee attackers, rather than focusing on damage done.

Akshara · May 03, 2005, 10:26 PM // 22:26

The above can be modified to a four attribute setup, dropping Beast Mastery or Swordsmanship. In my opinion, a four attibute setup with Swordsmanship instead of Tactics doesn't seem practical, since a Ranger, even with Swordsmanship at 10, can't really go toe to toe with a Warrior in offensive melee combat for very long. Especially since the other team's monks will likely buff the Warrior more frequently than our Monks will heal us.

A three attribute setup sorta limits the Ranger to being a pure primary, or a semi-pure skill based Warrior in different armor, and doesn't really seem suited to taking advantage of the Warrior secondary... unless one relies solely on Tactics for defensive stances.

Here is an excellent article on generic attribute distiribution strategies, if one hasn't seen it yet...

Attribute Point Distribution

Also, the following article has some pertinent information regarding the way Expertise lowers total skill cost, and how it combines with regeneration times. This can be helpful for planning out skill sets and attributes...

Energy Management

Akshara · May 03, 2005, 10:53 PM // 22:53

Quote:

Am I missing something? would I be better off with ranger/warrior?

It depends on how often you like to use skills and a bow. The Ranger as primary offers faster skill regeneration times and lowered skill cost the higher their Expertise gets. This can eventually make Rangers almost equal or better with average Elementalists in skills, since the lowered skill cost offsets the smaller skill pool. As was mentioned earlier, Strength helps with wearing better armor and with attack damage against armor. So it depends on what you like to do... run in and deal/take heavy melee damage with the occasional skill and bow use; or use lots of skills and stances with long-range attacks, with the sword being primarily a defensive weapon.

One could theoretically develop a semi-pure skill based Warrior with Ranger as their primary, mainly using the bow to winnow down their opponents health prior to engaging them in melee. That would suggest distributing points into Expertise, Swordsmanship (or Axe/Hammer), Tactics and Marksmanship, in that order. Unlike with a Warrior primary, Tactics becomes much more important to a Ranger primary since they just won't be able to stand still and take as much damage as a pure Warrior can.

Rush the Resplendent · May 04, 2005, 02:50 AM // 02:50

I am thoroughly convinced that the new Ranger pet (which attacks your target) can make an excellent damage add for a melee R/W. Common thinkin would not support me on this, and I have yet to personally test it, but I imagine it would work.

DawnAssassin · May 04, 2005, 03:29 AM // 03:29

you could use the ranger for the pet and heals with melee warrior for total offense in close quarters combat.

Beqxter · May 04, 2005, 07:45 PM // 19:45

All I know is that last night I ditched the beastmastery, put all my points in Expertise, Marksmanship, Wilderness Survival and Tactics, started using Frenzy combined with Ignite Arrow and Dual shot and began kicking a LOT more ass than I ever did with my Melandru Stalker. I also replaced one of the pet slots with Dodge so that I can kick in the afterburners and run away from those mean ol' warriors in PvP.

So far, so good.

ibex333 · Jul 28, 2005, 06:39 PM // 18:39

Any suggestions for a purely PvP melee R/W build??? I'm making one right now using either axes or swords.. havent decided yet.