Curse

r a m e n x 1 · Jan 11, 2006, 07:44 AM // 07:44

i was following the Shrapnel Pirate King build and wanted to change because it was out of date
its still pretty similar but i'm pretty comfortable with it but i think someone should look over it and gimme some advice xD
so far i have:
illusion magic - 6
expertise - 4
wilderness survival - 3
marksmanship - 5

i'm planning on making them:
illusion magic - 12
expertise - 13 (9+3)
wilderness survival - 3
marksmanship - 13 (9+3)

and the skills i currently carry are:
hunter's shot
power shot
dual shot
read the wind
conjure phantasm
ether feast
energy tap
rez sig

i think i should tweak the attributes a little bit because i only use conjure phantasm from illusions but its such a good hex xD
so can someone please help me or give me any advice on how i should distribute my attributes and fix my skills?
thx =]

Caged Fury · Jan 11, 2006, 05:33 PM // 17:33

My initial thoughts on your planned build:

1. Ether Feast for healing isn't going to keep you alive, especially when you don't plan to have any points in the Inspiration attrib. Even my mesmer with loads of point in Inspiration has trouble using staying alive with Ether Feast.

2. Taking Illusion to 12 for just Conjure Phantasm seems like a waste of points to me. If you want to keep this idea, then I would suggest dropping one of the ranger skills and include another Illusion skill, something like Fragility. You could even consider swapping Conjure Phantasm with Phantom Pain.

Put PP on a foe, before it ends, throw on Fragility. When PP ends, that foe suffers Deep Wound and Fragility do damage. When they recover from Deep Wound then Fragility do damage again. Also, you will pick up other ranger skills that can cause conditions (like poison, cripple, etc). and they will work with Fragility to cause extra damage.

3. With Expertise high, the cost of skills will be reduced. And with a Zealous Bow as well, you can consider dropping Energy Tap - not much return if you have no points in Inspiration.

My 2 pence.

Burakus Lightwing · Jan 11, 2006, 05:48 PM // 17:48

Caged makes a valid point on your point distr. I'm also now playing a R/me and I too like to use conjure but 12 isn't necessary. I think you can top it at 10 and still be plenty effective. I like Caged's idea with fragilty as well. As mentioned - fragility, plus poison, cripple, you can throw in bleeding from hunters shot... my 2 cents added

r a m e n x 1 · Jan 12, 2006, 01:49 AM // 01:49

what other healing skill should i put in instead of ether feast? healing spring or troll unguent?
oh, and which ranger skills should i replace for the skills you recommended?
this sounds like a DoT build xD
well, i might be wrong
i'm just getting used to using guild wars acronyms
lol

Caged Fury · Jan 12, 2006, 01:50 PM // 13:50

Healing Spring is local to the position where you kick it off. Moving away from it means no more healing. Also, I believe this skill can be interrupted by normal attacks rather than just by interrupting types.

Troll Ungent is better as it increases your health regen and you can move around. Plus it can help counter health degen attacks. Increasing Wildeness Survival to make good use of Troll Ungent isn't a bad idea as it will allow good use of other skills such as Apply Poison, Ignite Arrow and Traps.

From your line up of skills, I would suggest replacing Hunter's Shot. Getting a moving/knocked down foe to bleed isn't easy and not frequent. IMO, Hunter's Shot is better used with Pin Down and when pulling foes. For example, see a group of Tengu (they usually come in a group of 4: 2 warriors, 1 ranger and 1 mesmer). Get their attention by getting them just into your aggro circle. The 2 warriors will charge you. Pin Down on one warrior to slow it down. Use Hunter's Shot on the other to bleed it, then return to the crippled warrior and use Hunter's Shot. Now you have bleeding warriors heading towards you. Also, there will be times when you'll face foes who don't move much (e.g. spell casters and rangers) or those that don't bleed (e.g. stone elementals and skeletons) which takes away the bleed bonus of HS.

r a m e n x 1 · Jan 14, 2006, 10:07 PM // 22:07

is there a build where i'm mostly arrows
like a strike archer or something
just constantly shoot out fast arrows and have some mesmer skills like conjure or something to use to add on to the dmg?