Curse

Str0b0 · Feb 12, 2006, 08:35 PM // 20:35

This is just a general PvE build that I've had a lot of success with. It works well in groups and has the ability to take out grouped mobs with ease.

Profession:Ranger Mesmer
Name: Anthrax
Type: PvE
Category: Damage
Attributes: Marksmanship 16( 12+3+1), Expertise 11 (10+1), Distribute the remaining points between Wilderness survival and Inspiration magic favoring Wilderness more heavily.
Skills Set: Apply poison, Pindown, Epidemic, Barrage {elite}, Energy drain, Physical Resistance, Elemental resistance, Troll ungent
Summary: The main purpose of this build is to dish out damage to a group while remaining out of immediate aggro. This can let your tanks get a heads up and a head start on taking them out. First thing you apply poison. Follow this with a pindown shot on the enemy of your choice then immediately hit that enemy with Epidemic. This spreads cripple and poison throughout the group. Now that your dastardly deed has been done swap to barrage and lay into them. If done right you should have them to a quarter or less health throughout the mob before your tank has to do much of anything. The energy Tap is there in case you find yourself short on energy for some reason. It shouldn't happen but it helps when you are spamming barrage. Expertise should do something to manage your energy for you but it can only do so much. Troll ungent is your ubiquitous self heal. the resistances are obvious. If you get attacked by either one of these swap to it. they cast fast and can give you time to be healed if you are hard pressed.

As far as equipment, any max long or flat bow with the poisoner mod on it will do. You want to stretch out your DoT as much as possible without taking from your barrage damage. A long or flat bow is a must so you can get the range on your enemy. If you use a flat bow you may want to swap out troll ungent for RtW, esopecially if you have a competent monk. Because of the use of barrage though a long bow may be more suited. This can help take some of the aggravation of missed shots because of the high arch of the flat bow. I use Druids armor for the elemental armor bonus across the board. If done right physical shouldn't be much of a concern but casters can hurt you from a distance.
Notes & Concerns: The one thing you must watch out for with this build are interrupts. Your first three skills must be cast without a hitch in order for it to work. Aside from poison arrow they all cast fast so it's not much of a concern but a concern none the less.
Credit: Credit goes to me. If anyone designed a similar build I never heard of it. Lots of poison builds are out there but personally I find this one to be the most utilitarian at least for me. Any notes or comments you all would like to contribute are welcome.

LordMahal · Feb 14, 2006, 06:29 AM // 06:29

You are not using energy drain and barrage at the same time, both are elite. And epidemic "transfers" conditions. So it does give the other foes poison etc, but your original target is cured right? In my experience energy draining skills are only good if your target has energy to begin with. So this build is most effective on large groups, not say 2-3 enemies?

EnvyHax · Feb 14, 2006, 11:30 AM // 11:30

If you actually read his summary, you would notice he says "use energy tap..." Probably means the skill listed as "Energy Drain" was cause my absentmindedness/typo/whatever.

Anyways, good build. I'll have to definately try this out if I ever make a ranger, lol.

LordMahal · Feb 14, 2006, 12:30 PM // 12:30

How come when a person comments on something, the next post is always... "If you actually read his..." I read the g@#damn thing, and the OP wrote Energy Drain, then energy tap later. Regardless, the Drain is wrong and I was hoping to help others, who dont read the whole summary, avoid thinking that Drain and Barrage can both be used. This build isnt great for many reasons, 1 being: how often do you find 5-10 enemies just standing all bunched up waiting for you to hit them with epidemic? 2: once you hit an enemy with your attack that group runs your way, not always adjacent to eachother, which is a requirement of the spell epidemic. 3: how many times have you seen a tank just go running in and scatter the guys before you can even shoot...? 4: Or a nuker scatters them with firestorm? 5: Its not pratical with less than 5 enemies... and not against enemies who can transfer conditions onto your ally tank. And finally, how can you drain energy if your target doesnt have any? Not to mention 3 seconds for a handful of energy is not worth it.

Str0b0 · Feb 14, 2006, 07:56 PM // 19:56

Honestly the typo on Energy drain was energy tap. As for your other concerns I suppose I should have mentioned the timing factor. Once you hit that initial enemy with poison and cripple the rest will come at a rush and during that rush they will bunch up. Timing is important though because the rushing group will move past the crippled target in a second. As far as transferring the conditions. It may read that way but I've noticed it actually spreads the conditions instead of just transferring it. Could be a glitch or a bug they overlooked since Epidemic isn't a commonly used skill. You could also use this build as tank support. Tanks commonly bunch enemies together as opposed to scatter them. This is a build that requires you to pay attention to the group.

Locus · Feb 14, 2006, 08:22 PM // 20:22

I know this is a ranger build...but for fleshy monsters I love Epidemic on my necromancer. Virulence+Epidemic is a nasty little combo.

I think the build is very creative. Thanks for sharing.

DeanBB · Feb 14, 2006, 08:50 PM // 20:50

It is creative and I haven't tried it yet but it just seems that there is a problem with the synergy of it. You spend 8+8+15 energy to get cripple + poison on a group of adjacent critters and when you hit Barrage you lose the Apply Poison prep. Once per battle is probably the limit on this tactic.

You've also burned 31 of 32(?) energy + some that has regened (not much) so you can't use Barrage too much without using Energy Tap or some other inspiration spell to gain energy. I guess a zealous string would help here.

I like the idea of the alternating armor stances but can you tell if a warrior or ranger is hitting you for physical or elemental damage? Or do you just use elemental vs any elementalists? I don't know, I think I'd just use stances for defense and take the elemental with my higher ranger armor. The fact that you've already burned so much energy would be a factor here as well.

Finally, no rez, despite the fact that you are most likely the furthest away from the general melee and in the best position to use it.

Str0b0 · Feb 18, 2006, 05:30 AM // 05:30

Res signet could be subbed for troll ungent. As for the energy I have yet to use a zealous string and with Expertise set like it is I have no problems with energy. The initial conditions are just to soften the target so while you use the prep when you swap to barrage they should be significantly low on health particularly if you have the poisoners string on there since it increases duration on poison length. I've never had a problem using this build and it is good for fleshy creatures and suprisingly some critters that don't look fleshy but still take poison well. Give a try, tweak it up and see what you guys can do with it. I welcome any tweaks and revisions.