Curse

Pippy Bloodstocking · Jul 19, 2005, 09:48 PM // 21:48

I got tired of my Ranger/Elementalist build, since all the damage skills were kinda redundant. So I changed my secondary to Mesmer, hoping to be somewhat more offensively useful to a party, and, more to the point, more deadly to casters. (I learned somewhere around The Wilds that I just won't be that effective against anything with heavy armor.

Anyway, I decided to go with Domination, Expertise and Marksmanship, with a few points in Wilderness for Toll. These are my current skills:

Marksman's Wager
Savage Shot
Troll Unguent
Backfire
Shatter Enchantment
Serpent's Quickness
Power Spike
and Res Signet.

Any advice on making my idea more feasible is welcome. I only have 10 more skill points to spend right now, so I can't go splurging on skills that much.

Sythion · Jul 20, 2005, 03:57 PM // 15:57

I really do not like savage shot. Even with a short bow, adding the flight time to the normal attack speed + the remainder of the current short + it's flight time makes it almost impossible to interrupt anything with savage shot. I'd recommend switching to disrupting shot, which impairs the caster far more, and interrupts your current action with a quick shot. Marksman's wager can help you regain some of that energy, but it's best not to waste an elite skill on energy recovery. You may want to consider putting shame and guilt instead of marksman's wager and power spike. This will compliment backfire better(cast them after backfire expires). Serpent's quickness is great for a spam attack build and specialty builds, but you may find you have enough skills you don't need them to refresh quicker. Instead you may want to put an attack skill in. This is a good place to insert your elite. I might recommend Poison arrow, or my personal favorite given the popularity of enchantments: melandru's arrows. Punishing shot or Incendiary arrows would be great if you want more interruption. If you don't have poison arrows already you can pick it up by adjusting the pre generated trapper build. Melandru's arrows is easy to get on a standard mission. I like shatter enchantment, but it recycles slow enough that it may not directly improve your chances to kill a monk (which is really the point of enchantment removal). You'd need more enchantment removal to be effective in that sense, but you may not have enough skill slots open to do so. Your best bet on stopping a monk is to use backfire to make him defenseless, and then launch an offensive on him. The problem is they tend to run away. Pin Down and target calling once everyone is in range of the monk, along with backfire and shame should be enough to effectively stop one.

Remember, these are just suggestions, not mandates. I hope they help!

Excer · Jul 20, 2005, 04:19 PM // 16:19

i dont think domination is a good idea for a r/me. its just not high enough to be effective. i suggest illusion. you could with a fragility build, or disrupter build. using migraine/acanre conundrum with distracting shot, maybe concussion shot, and serpant's quickness is deadly against casters

Pippy Bloodstocking · Jul 20, 2005, 05:26 PM // 17:26

Well, after considering my options, I found I didn't really want a disruption build after all. Actually, I made a complete 180 and went Ranger/Necro, using Expertise, Marksmanship and Curses. So far I can cause AoE weakness, AoE slow attack speed, lower armor by 20, rip multiple enchantments apart, and a number of other nifty effects. I've been playing in the southern shiverpeaks with this and I find it really is a benefit to a party--especially against melee enemies. I'm waiting for a few more skills before I really start to kick ass as it were: Desecrate Enchantments and Melandru's Arrows, for two.