Curse

tarbok1 · Feb 19, 2007, 08:11 PM // 20:11

Well after getting to 20 and about halfway to the second rank of survivor, knock on wood, I have a few questions/comments I'd like to post and get some reaction to.

First, Barrage, doesn't seem all that great to me. Yes I am hitting more than one target at a time for +14 damage, but that still only nets me around 26-30 damage per target. I guess I'm just used to seeing those large booms from my ele, or spikes from my axe warrior. Maybe it's because I'm not using a max damage bow? I'm looking for one to farm but haven't managed one yet.

Second, bear pet. I really like this pet, he's sturdy and fun. I've gotten rid of my warrior heroes/henchies and am just using the bear for what little tanking/body blocking he can do. I find with Olias set up as MM, Sosucky set up as a SF nuker, and Tolkhara set up as a Prot monk I do fine. Add a healer henchy, earth henchy, fire henchy, and motivation and seems to be unstoppable.

Occasionally I find myself being spiked hard at the start of the fight, which I expect since I'm usually the first there. So I've started hitting troll ungent just out of aggro range and CTRL-Calling my target so they run in before me, that seems to work well. Now just to get that stupid bear to level 20.

Which elite do you guys prefer? I'm looking to cap heal as one on him, so I can use that. I think that would be better than barrage, though the AE damage is semi nice.

anshin · Feb 19, 2007, 08:40 PM // 20:40

i like my Dire Black Widow

about the elite... barrage gets the job done... if you want to be specific about some build... ranger is the right profession for you... just choose the elite you think will suit in most situations you will encounter and you're done

Jetdoc · Feb 19, 2007, 08:42 PM // 20:42

1. Barrage is great against (1) clumps of enemies and (2) in synergy with other rangers utilizing Barrage. Otherwise, it's a pretty inferior Elite, as you can generally generate more damage utilizing another Elite and a preparation.

2. Bear is the worst pet you can possibly have, as it has the slowest attack speed (due to Brutal Mauling). Switch it out for another pet ASAP.

lennymon · Feb 19, 2007, 10:00 PM // 22:00

The Elites I use varies considerably from quest to quest and mission area to mission area. I *do* tend to run Barrage more frequently in Cantha because there are big mobs which make it a more viable skill. Burning Arrow/Punishing Shot/Broad Head Arrow/Echo/Spike Trap/Glass Arrows/Incendiary Arrows and Prepared Shot are all high up on my regularly used list though. For pets yes, basically until Anet actually makes brutal mauling do anything (I think it should work like wild blow personally) the bear is beyond any shadow of a doubt the lowest damage dealer... however.... If as it sounds he is a meat shield, and hearty at that... bear is perfectly fine.

.defekt · Feb 19, 2007, 11:18 PM // 23:18

Barrage is a shitty skill used by bad Rangers, for the sake of having an elite on their bar.

Pets are overrated in PvE imo, you really don't need the extra damage.

I would suggest going and capping Burning Arrow for now, it's an amazing skill, and used in PvP a lot. If you want to farm, I would suggest capping Poison Arrow and reading up on the FoW Forest solo. It's really easy, and fun. Crippling Shot is also a fun elite to play around with.

I dunno, as far as elites go, it doesn't really matter what you bring. All that matters is that you have Savage Shot and Distracting Shot on your bar. And know how to use them.

Mire

Marverick · Feb 19, 2007, 11:49 PM // 23:49

Bears outperform other pets if your using a Paragon for command, since Brutal Mauling triggers Anthem of Flame and Anthem of Envy.

Commander Ryker · Feb 19, 2007, 11:59 PM // 23:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by .defekt

Barrage is a shitty skill used by bad Rangers, for the sake of having an elite on their bar.

Pets are overrated in PvE imo, you really don't need the extra damage.

Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel!

Quote:

Originally Posted by .defekt

I would suggest going and capping Burning Arrow for now, it's an amazing skill, and used in PvP a lot. If you want to farm, I would suggest capping Poison Arrow and reading up on the FoW Forest solo. It's really easy, and fun. Crippling Shot is also a fun elite to play around with.

I dunno, as far as elites go, it doesn't really matter what you bring. All that matters is that you have Savage Shot and Distracting Shot on your bar. And know how to use them.

Mire

I agree with you about distracting shot. I don't leave home with out it. The thing I like about it best, besides the interruption, is that it increases the recharge time on the skill interrupted. The only time I take savage, is when I'm going to have to do more then normal interrupting, like in tombs with all those damn seige wurms and terror webs.

Maybe you could elaborate on burning arrow on why you think it's so amazing. Yeah, it has extra damage and cause burning but how does that make it amazing?

Instead of using poison arrow and wasting an elite spot, I'd go with apply poison instead. Or.....if you have a pet, bring poison bite. It's all I use anymore.

As far as elites go, you should consider what you'll be doing and where you'll be doing it. If you're in area with big mobs, barrage is way more then usefull. If you're running an interrupt build, practiced stance along with Choking gas (which has a very short duration)is good because it extends the duration of the gas and shortens the recharge time.

The best thing is to just read about them and then try them out. Save them and tweak as needed.

.defekt · Feb 20, 2007, 12:40 AM // 00:40

Burning Arrow is good because of it's middle to low-ish energy cost, and its really short recharge. Burning is a good pressure degen, and the extra damage is awesome. Paired with Apply Poison or Barbed Arrows, the degen is sexy

XvArchonvX · Feb 20, 2007, 02:50 AM // 02:50

You will generally 2 camps when it comes to barrage. There are those who will use it in almost every situation and see it as one of the best ranger elites and there are those who completely hate the skill and think it's a 'noob skill'.

To be completely honest, Barrage can be an excellent skill, but is really best reserved for certain situations. Of course the obvious place for this is Barrage/Pet type farm teams. In common PvE, however, this skill can be rather hit and miss in much of what is encountered. Use it in an area with a dense collection of enemies (such as Vizunah Square) and it will do well, but take it in many other places and you will be limiting yourself damage wise.

Personally, I prefer to use an Apply Poison interupt type build for most places. Heroes may be good at interupting, but humans are much better at selecting what skill and which enemy to interupt. It may be impressive for Jin to interupt Cry of Frustration on some mesmer, but it doesn't mean much if an ele enemy drops a big spell off on your team in the meantime. Burning Arrow is typically my elite of choice in this type of circumstance.

If you do decide to use barrage, you really will want to look at buffing yourself as much as possible to get a good use out of it. I personally suggest a customized vampiric flatbow with Favorable Winds. If you use an IAS such as Flail, then you could get a good use out of a vampiric hornbow (since an IAS will give a greater speed boost to a bow with a slower attack speed and a hornbow gives an innate 10% AP). Splinter Shot is also a good skill to look into, but there are all kinds of threads around here that can share good barrage/skill synergies.

The damage from Barrage might not look as impressive as an Ele with a Meteor Shower, but it can easily exceed it due to it's reliability and ability to be continually dished out.

All in all, Barrage may serve well, but be sure to give other options a good look since simple AoE damage output isn't always the best thing a ranger can contribute to a group.

Jetdoc · Feb 20, 2007, 02:58 AM // 02:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marverick

Bears outperform other pets if your using a Paragon for command, since Brutal Mauling triggers Anthem of Flame and Anthem of Envy.

Anthem of Flame is a Leadership skill, which makes it pretty useless for a Ranger primary.

I like the Anthem of Envy thought, though - I may try it out.

SnipiousMax · Feb 20, 2007, 04:59 AM // 04:59

You should never leave home without an interrupt. What gives a Ranger an edge over other classes is the sheer number of functions you can pack into one skill bar. Conditions, interrupts, and supplementary damage is just a place to start. The afformentioned Burning Arrow + Apply poison is an excellent combo to start with, and leaves you free to experiment with any number of skills without really losing alot of effectiveness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XvArchonvX

...2 camps....

3 camps including those that can appreciate it's situational usage without being blinded to it's limitations. And did you mean Splinter Shot or Splinter weapon?

XvArchonvX · Feb 20, 2007, 05:34 AM // 05:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnipiousMax

3 camps including those that can appreciate it's situational usage without being blinded to it's limitations. And did you mean Splinter Shot or Splinter weapon?

>.<

I meant Splinter Weapon. I think that's the second time I made that mistake on this forum and have been corrected on it, lol.

Master Ketsu · Feb 20, 2007, 06:17 AM // 06:17

My suggestions:

1. Try the other elites. Barrage is called a noob skill because noobs overuse it.
There are plenty of other elites out there that can have great builds around them. Go cap poison arrow, Burning arrow, Punishing shot, magebane shot, quickshot, and any other elite you can get your hands on.

2.Interrupt build is the most fun. Burningarrow/interrupt is also very fun.

3.Barrage can be buffed. Try it with Judges insight, or brutal weapon.

Amy Awien · Feb 20, 2007, 09:43 AM // 09:43

In the pet section, Heal as One is ok, but not very needed, AI healers tend to take good care of pets. Enraged Lunge is a fairly decent pet-elite, but it is demanding on your skills (3 additional recharging BM skills), Strike as One is not bad but could use a little buff.

Since you are looking at that title using a hero to pull would keep the initial aggro from you and I've found that with the hero-flags I can use Magrid very well to pull enemies. Just a thought.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Commander Ryker

Maybe you could elaborate on burning arrow on why you think it's so amazing. Yeah, it has extra damage and cause burning but how does that make it amazing?

It's the elite you'll find on many GvG rangers for solo-hunting enemy NPC's in their base. It is a simple and effective skill to deal damage - even in PvE - and with poison allows some decent - and deadly - pressure. It leaves many skill spots open for experiments with other skills and requires no additional management and thus you have more time for tactics. I think it is a decent elite.

XvArchonvX · Feb 20, 2007, 04:31 PM // 16:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Commander Ryker

Maybe you could elaborate on burning arrow on why you think it's so amazing. Yeah, it has extra damage and cause burning but how does that make it amazing?

To add onto what Amy said, Burning Arrow + Apply Poison = instant 11 degen. This degen can be reapplied about every 7 seconds when taking the time of firing with recharge time into account. Considering that the burning will usually last 5 seconds, this only leaves about 2 seconds of downtime. Also, the recharge is rather short, so it's pretty easy to reapplied.

Another way to look at this is that burning does 14 damage each second with it's 7 health degen. When applied for it's full duration of 5 seconds, you get 70 damage from burning with +31 bonus damage at 16 marksmanship making a total of 101 bonus damage from a single attack skill.

SnipiousMax · Feb 20, 2007, 05:55 PM // 17:55

^ Add on top of that the damage is dealt regardless of armor and is as effective against High armor targets as it is against low armor targets. The degen also bypasses a good number of protection/buffs hexes that are common in PvE these days and is often more than the enemy AI spot healers can handle.