Curse

TheTrueTroop · Jan 10, 2006, 02:49 PM // 14:49

Hi, this is my first post, so hello everybody!

I have checked the sticky above, and used the search functions and found many interesting builds, however i am a first time player, and i have some pretty specific questions that werent able to be answered.

I am level 13 right now currently at ToA, and i have a couple build questions.

Is it possible to be a great offensive threat using the ranger/monk combo? Or is this primarily a strong defensive build. I know that it is possible to lots of things possible with a ranger, but i am interested if this class combination has the potential to be a supreme damager dealer, or a great defensive life-lasting player. I mean i know i can be both due to the nature of the game, but how would i get the most out my character? How about a PvE Environment? PvP? How would i be the most useful? Am i able to become a supreme killer of monsters and players? Or just a damage supporter?

Also, for the long run, what would be my best choice for an offensive damager dealer at level 20?

By the way, money, is not that big of a problem, a good friend of mine left GW

and gave me the majority of his gold (around 70 plat) and i got some really good bows, Stinger, Sundering storm bow of fortitude, and Sundering horn bow of foritude, i also have full druids all with runes, so what would be my best equipment combination for an offensive ranger monk?

Thank you for time, and all posts are greatly appreciated

kais · Jan 10, 2006, 03:08 PM // 15:08

hmm i think you can be an offensive threat being a r/mo. you can use skills such as judge s insight that gives you 20% armor penetration and makes you deal holy dmg( i think such a build is mentionned in the ranger sticky). anyway, i use this skill combined with read the wind, which gives you a good base dmg. but im sure theres a better combo somewhere

. as for equipment, druids armor is the one i always use, and for bows i mostly use a recurve bow because of the short flight time of the arrows, with vampiric or zealous bow string.btw, this is for pvp.
for pve, i would use the skill elite barrage, to kill many enemies at a time, but all preparations are removed when you use it ( so no read the wind but judge s insight will work since its an enchantment).
this is not much but i hope it helps

Yolanda Kai · Jan 10, 2006, 10:58 PM // 22:58

For a barrage Ranger, Monk can work to do good damage and/ or to keep you alive with Live Vicariously. You can heal yourself with every hit, on top of the Vampiric bowstring, so getting up to around 8-15 health per hit depending on how heavily you want to invest in Healing Prayers. And in a good solid pack of enemies you're hitting ~5 times per Barrage. Good times

You might run into energy problems with that sort of build though, so zealous bowstring can help in that regard. There aren't really any Monk or Ranger skills that can generate energy for yourself. Some stances/enchantments give energy when you take damage, but unless you're in certain areas where you get spammed with tiny damage attacks you shouldn't get enough to be worth the lack of defense or the enchantment's upkeep.

Overall I don't recommend using too many skills from any subclass, mainly because you have to invest so havily as a Ranger. You need 8-12 Marksmanship depending on your bow and Wilderness and Expertise plug into a lot of stances, preps, skills, you name it. Plus Expertise is great for making your expensive energy skills super cheap, but not for your secondary. For this reason I too suggest Druid's armor... you already have great AL (2nd highest base) and by far the best natural defense against elemental.

Just try to find a couple that supplement your attacks or boost your defensive capabilities without too much investment in energy or attributes.

Judge's Insight sounds good to me, and Heal Area is a nice AoE healer that does good amounts of health (30 + 10 per attribute). Just be sure there's no enemies around or you heal them too!

Here's some skills that my quick scan of the Monk skillset provides:

-Purge Conditions is a great replacement for antidote signet. Takes away ALL conditions for 5 energy. No attributes required.
-Mending is nice but can be pricey in terms of attributes. 3 points for 2 regen, 8 points for 3 regen, or 13 points for 4 regen (not something you can even get with Ranger primary). Possible substitute for Live Vicariously.

Honestly I think the only one you need to worry much about is Judge of Insight. Take Live Vicariously if you want to, for added healing goodness, but it might prove excessive if you have a vamp string. And it's another thing to invest in too. My advice is to use JoI pretty much all the time, Live Vicariously if you have spare attributes, or Purge Conditions if in an area with lots of bleeding/crippling/poisoning/blinding sort of enemies. JoI should be enough.

Shwitz · Jan 10, 2006, 10:59 PM // 22:59

R/Mo can definitely be an offensive threat. Look to the Smiting Prayers line of skills. R/Mo is also ideal if you wish to become a pure ranger, using only ranger skills, as you can use a re-usable resurrect skill instead of Ressurection Signet. My ranger is often a R/Mo using only ranger skills, but Smiting Prayers are very effective when used properly and in concert with certain other skills. Take a look at the skills database linked on the main Guru page, investigate the skill descriptions, and think about what you think would combine well. As you get the skills, use them and see what you think.

Good luck with your ranger, TheTrueTroop.

EDIT: Yolanda, there is one Monk skill that comes to mind for energy boosting. Essence Bond on the party's main tank, as long as he isn't a stance tank using evasion skills, will provide a nice source of energy to fuel energy-based attacks when the battle is joined. Essence Bond provides the caster 1 point of energy each time the target of the enchantment takes damage, unlike Balthazar's Spirit, which provides the target of the enchantment with energy and adrenaline each time the target takes damage. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

TheTrueTroop · Jan 11, 2006, 01:44 PM // 13:44

Thank you for your responses, they helped me greatly i much appreciated them. Two more build questions...

I seen diffrent builds around for max dps, max damage, and attempts at energy regen, however, with the monk combination...

how will i be able to achieve the most damage in 1 hit?
how will be able to achieve a consistent and high dps?
(this is PvE, mainly in PUG's, but PvP comments are appreciated)

I found judges insight and read the winds to be able to put out some really good damage, but with rangers, it seems hard to manage energy and keep judge's insight going, and maintain constant damage, anything to compensate this? Or am i actually doing right by constantly putting on judge's insight? Is there an effective sting of attacks to get the most out of read the winds and judge's insight?

Would judge's insight+poison+stinger make for a really nice dps? Or is there a better combination for a stinger+poison?

Again, all responses are appreciated, thanks for the effort guys!

VGJustice · Jan 11, 2006, 11:16 PM // 23:16

IMO, the max damage you could put out would be using Read the Wind + Judge's Insight + Punishing Shot. Add in Dual Shot before Punishing to maximize the effect. Just make sure to get your Expertice high, as this combo is an energy pig. Would be an idea to take along a Zealous bow string and a Short Bow.

As for your poison combo, that sounds fine to me. Maybe if you had Incindiary Arrows, but I'm not too sure if IA deals as much damage as Apply Poison can. Incindiary for short term + interupt, Apply for long term I guess.

As for consistant DPS, Barrage is probably your best bet. It's cheap enough to spam even if you're maintaining a continuous enchantment, which can help out the team a lot. Just maintain Live Vicariously. Or, Life Bond if you wanna help out that War holding back the aggro.