Curse

Lord Oranos · Jun 21, 2006, 12:18 AM // 00:18

Melandru's Ranger

Ranger/Any
Level: 20

Expertise: 12 (10+2)
Wilderness Survival: 11 (10+1)
Marksmanship: 15 (11+4)

Dual Shot (Ranger other)
Shoot two arrows simultaneously at target foe. These arrows deal 25% less damage.
Energy:5.2 Cast:0 Recharge:7

Melandru's Shot [Elite] (Marksmanship)
If Melandru's Shot hits, you deal +35 damage. If it hits an enchanted foe, you gain 15 Energy. This is an elite skill.
Energy:5.2 Cast:0 Recharge:7

Savage Shot (Marksmanship)
If Savage Shot hits, your target's action is interrupted. If that action was a Spell, you strike for 28 damage.
Energy:5.2 Cast:0.5 Recharge:5

Distracting Shot (Expertise)
If Distracting Shot hits, it interrupts target foe's action but deals only 13 damage. If the interrupted action was a skill, that skill is disabled for an additional 20 seconds.
Energy:2.6 Cast:0.5 Recharge:10

Whirling Defense (Expertise)
For 18 seconds, you have 75% chance to "block" attacks. Whenever you block a projectile in this way, adjacent foes take 10 piercing damage.
Energy:5.2 Cast:0 Recharge:60

Read the Wind (Marksmanship)
For 24 seconds, your arrows move twice as fast and deal 10 extra damage.
Energy:2.6 Cast:2 Recharge:12

Troll Unguent (Wilderness Survival)
For 10 seconds, you gain Health regeneration +8.
Energy:2.6 Cast:3 Recharge:10

Resurrection Signet ()
Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. You may use this Signet only once per mission.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:0

This build can either spike or it can interrupt. Used wisely, It can take down many different targets, the downtime is minimal and nonexistant if you are fighting an enchanted opponent(Which 75% of the time you usualy will be).

It can survive attacks, but, like all rangers without Melandru's Resilience, can be defeated by degen. The reason I chose Melandru's Shot is the pure damage it can inflict and the bonus of energy gained if it hits an enchanted target. If you want one more pip of regen with trolls you can downgrade Marksmanship to 14 and bring Wilderness Survival to 12.

Comments, criticism and compliments are welcome.

XvArchonvX · Jun 21, 2006, 01:35 AM // 01:35

This looks like a good build to me. If you are up against foes with enchants, it should work well, but may be a little energy heavy if you aren't.

A lot of ranger builds are reliant on conditions whereas this one is not which may serve as an advantage in certain situations.

I would ask whether you use this as a PvP or PvE build. It does seem like it could work for either, but it's reliance on enchanted enemies may limit it's usefulness in PvE.

If this was used in a large battle where a rez wasn't needed, a trap may be a good skill to substitute for the rez sig to use when Whirling Defenses is activated. Pin Down may also work well.

The only real aspect this build lacks that may hurt it would be a running skill since playing as a ranger is often performed best when in the best position.

Lord Oranos · Jun 21, 2006, 02:41 AM // 02:41

Well in battles like fort aspenwood res sig can be subbed out with dodge. And I plan to use it for both pve and pvp. I noticed the build is energy heavy without an enchanted enemy to fight but if you are in that situation just dont spam every attack, leave alittle energy for defense. You can also switch to a zealus bow for energy gain.

Also I find when you are being chased in pvp or pve, if you just run off the target gets bored and targets the nearest target. I rarely find the need for a snare if im being chased. Odd how the AI and human intelligence can be predictable like that.

SparhawkJC · Jun 21, 2006, 02:43 AM // 02:43

Only suggestion I would have is to bump expertise down to 9. At 12 expertise you're only cutting the cost of 10 energy spells by one. I would take those extra points and boost Marksmanship up to 16 or put them into wilderness survival. I like read the wind as your preperation, but I'd like to see how your build works with Apply Poison or Seeking Arrows. Apply poison would add some nice degen to go along with your interrupts while Seeking Arrows would be good to make sure that your Melandru's Shot hits a foe under Aegis or Guardian or a defensive stance. But overall a nice solid build.

XvArchonvX · Jun 21, 2006, 02:53 AM // 02:53

While I would discourage the zealous string, dodge would be a good skill to put in your build. Looks good to me.

Lord Oranos · Jun 21, 2006, 04:11 AM // 04:11

Yeah, the zealus mod is falling out of favor with me nowadays. Usualy I just use my Drago's Flat Bow now that its useable again.