Curse

Arakus · Apr 20, 2005, 01:29 AM // 01:29

First off, I haven't played the game since the first BWE, so I can't remember exactly how pvp went and a lot has changed since then. I'm fairly certain that I want to play a Ranger/Mesmer with a focus on PvP, so keep that in mind. I toyed around with Inspiration and Domination magic for the Mesmer, but I kept coming back to the Domination magic, so here's what I have right now:

Class: Ranger / Mesmer

Attributes: (cost) '+' indicates Rune attributes
Expertise: 11 (77)
Marksmanship: 10 (61)
Domination Magic: 10 (61)

Total attribute points used: 199/200

Skills: [Attribute] (Energy, Cast Time, Recharge TIme)
1) Marksman's Wager [Expertise] (5,2,24) Preparation: For 12 seconds, you gain 9 energy whenever your arrows hit, but lose 10 energy whenever your arrows fail to strike. This is an elite skill.
2) Dual Shot [none] (10,0,5) Bow Attack: Shoot two arrows simultaneously at target foe. These arrows deal 25% less damage than normal.
3) Pin Down [Marksmanship] (15,0,15) Bow Attack: If Pin Down hits, your target is crippled for 11 seconds.
4) Hunter's Shot [Marksmanship] (5,0,5) Bow Attack: If Hunter's Shot hits, you strike for +15 damage. If this attack hits a foe that is moving or knocked down, that foe begins bleeding for 18 seconds.
5) Concussion Shot [Marksmanship] (25,0,10) Bow Attack: If Concussion Shot hits while target foe is casting a spell, the spell is interrupted and your target is dazed for 15 seconds. This attack deals only 11 damage.
6) Shatter Enchantment [Domination Magic] (15,1,25) Spell: Remove an enchantment from target foe. If an enchantment is removed, that foe takes 72 damage.
7) Empathy [Domination Magic] (10,2,20) Hex: For 16 seconds, whenever target foe attacks, that foe takes 21 damage.
8) Diversion [Domination Magic] (10,2,5) Hex: For 6 seconds, the next time target foe uses a skill, that skill takes an additional 41 seconds to recharge.

The changes I'm looking at right away are Read the Wind instead of Empathy, and Power Shot instead of Dual Shot... I'm not sure how the damage spread looks for Dual Shot if you have a decent weapon.

Since Warriors are a Ranger's weak point, I'd like to be able to deal with them, though empathy seems a bit weak

I'm also concerned about coming up against another Ranger since my damage output is a bit low. I'd imagine that Concussion Shot alone goes a long way towards dealing with casters. I've tinkered with a couple other builds that split points between two Mesmer skill sets to help with Warriors a bit more, but it doesn't seem worth it. Spirit Shackles is the main draw there.

I've considered taking Spirit Shackles and Energy Tap instead of Shatter and Diversion, replacing Wager with Barrage and taking Read The Wind instead of Empathy, but I'm not sure the Tap would provide enough energy regen. Losing Diversion worries me too

Any help would be greatly appreciated

I want to get this right the first time so I don't have to do it again

Davion · Apr 20, 2005, 02:07 AM // 02:07

hmm.. If you consider taking something from inspiration like energy tap, why not try power drain instead?

Power Drain - (5e .25c 25re) if target foe is casting a spell, that foe is interupted and you gain 1-25 energy.

Considering there always is atleast some kind of spell casting in play it might give you a higher net energy steal than energy tap (5e to cast..max 8e return...nets you only 3 energy gain)

It's an alternative to consider atleast.

Side note: Don't worry about getting it completely right first try. If something ends up not working so well for you, you can alter it as the refund points allow you to address any inconsistencies you may run into as you go along. It won't be neccessary to start entirely over except under the most extreme case of say,..wrong secondary and you don't want to wait until ascension or wrong primary if you decide something else would be better.

Arakus · Apr 20, 2005, 02:11 AM // 02:11

I might do that, I wasn't sure how easy it would be to catch someone casting as I haven't played in some time

That's only necessary if I drop Wager though, since Wager is pretty good at providing energy, and it can be active almost half the time.

Davion · Apr 20, 2005, 02:17 AM // 02:17

Take a look up in ranger basics. I have a build in there. It is a relatively basic one that can be altered and played with to suit situations as they come up. It may give you a few different ideas as well. My main purpose on that one was for energy management to give me a more sustained duration on combat skills usage availability.