Curse

moriz · Mar 17, 2006, 06:40 PM // 18:40

NOTE: this post is mainly for those who are just beginning to pvp, and are interested in learning the difficult (and often thankless) skill of ranger interrupts.

i've been playing an pure interrupt ranger ever since i started pvp. it is a role that is at the same time very rewarding, and very fustrating. as an interrupt ranger your job is to interrupt, interrupt, and interrupt some more. you need to be mentally alert always, 'cause the moment you start to miss, you become a liability (and the warriors on your team will start calling you noob and such). from my experiences, interrupting as a ranger is much more challenging that it looks. the biggest challenge comes as when you are trying to interrupt those 1 second cast time skills. let's do some math:

animation: 0.5 seconds
arrow flight time: 0.5 seconds (assuming that you're interrupting a target at the bubble range, with no FW or RtW, with a recurve bow)
human reaction time: 0.2 seconds (that's the average for everyone, at the best conditions)
total: 1.2 seconds

basically, it is impossible to interrupt a 1 second cast time skill unless you are standing right in front of your target, which also means that you're also horribly out of position and is being beaten into a pulp by the warriors. by the time your brain registers that the skill is being used, it's already too late.

there are, thankfully, ways around this problem:

learn to read your opponent
people are more predictable than you think. often, they will try to cast a spell as soon as it is recharged. basically, if you see that person cast a spell that you know the recharge time of, you can time your interrupt to hit exactly when your target casts it next time. also be aware of your opponents' builds and what your teammates are doing. your opponents will use their killer skills in response to the actions your teammates, so you can get a hint of when they will use them by watching your teammates.

use skills that slows down and/or interrupt constantly
concussion shot is beautiful when you use it with the above suggestion. choking gas will make all your arrows interrupt on hit. however, it only works on spells, so don't rely on it too much.

use your interrupts sparingly
remember: you are NOT one of those mindless spikers. randomly firing your interrupts will simply advertise to your target that you are trying to interrupt him, which will make your job very difficult. also, only try to interrupt major gamebreaking skills. don't try to interrupt life siphon, for example. but do try to interrupt life transfer.

watch your positioning, be prepared to defend yourself
being an interrupter basically forces you to keep all your opponents within the range of your bow. unfortunately, that will place you right up there on the front line (if it exists). this will make you a likely target of spikes and such, so be prepared to deal with arrows/spells thrown your way, as well as those pesky warriors.

take advantage of skills that increase arrow speed
you can bring your own, but they don't really make that big of a difference. a 1 second cast skill is still mostly uninterruptable, with or without FW. however, with so many rangers these days, it's likely that SOMEBODY has brought it, so take advantage of your good fortune by not killing it accidently and stay within its range.

EDIT: here are some additional observations.

defense and kiting
it is extremely difficult to kite with an interrupter, simply because of Anet's big goof: they added a 3/4 sec delay after each interrupt skill. it was supposed to be a balance feature to prevent spikers from launching 234879234803857 arrows in 2 seconds. however, the delay does not apply only to your interrupts: it applies to everything, including movement. basically, you can kite, you can interrupt, but you can't do both. doing so is a very quick way to get the stuffings beaten out of you. basically, forget what JR- and his buddies may say: bring a defensive stance. your monk will thank you.

warriors
there's not that much you can do about them. if you see one so much as glance at you, run like the little chicken you are. if you brought anti-warrior skills, use them. if you find your skills to be effective in neutralizing them, then go back to interrupting. beware of the w/n's with plague touch though, they'll simply transfer all their conditions on to you (plague touch does not have any recharge time). if that's the case, the only way to neutralize them is to use your anti-warrior skill followed by a quick distracting shot. be sure to time it correctly: plague touch's activation time is only 3/4 seconds.

monks
monks have some pretty fast casting spells, so it will be rather tough to interrupt them. thankfully, most monk will spam their spells in a predictable manner, so time your favorite interrupt when they start to spam.

elementalists
kill them

necros
kill them too

mesmers
these guys are really tough because of their fast casting spells. fortunately, they're usually packing one or two longer casting (and usually the killers) spells. use concussion shot when they do; that will likely send them running away, which means that they'll be out of your (and your team's) hair for a little while.

other rangers
they come in many different forms, so no one strategy will work for all of them. if they shoot arrows or hit with a melee weapon, then blind them. if they trap, then randomly shoot a few arrows at them when they think you're not looking. if they use a pet, then blind the pet. hopefully they won't notice.

interrupt skills
distracting shot:
a staple for all interrupters. it will interrupt everything, and will add a 20 second additional recharge time. use this sparingly, since its recharge is the longest out of the ranger interrupts.

savage shot:
another staple. it does not have the 20 second addition recharge, but its only got a 5 second recharge, making it at least partially spammable. not to mention, that +25 damage vs spells is nice too. this is your best interrupt, use it often.

punishing shot:
the only interrupt arrow that you have that has unconditional damage. it's actually used more often in a spike chain, but it's still a pretty effective interrupt.

concussion shot:
use sparingly because of the 25 energy cost (with 14 expertise, it's 7). if you manage to hit a spell, however, you've pretty much neutralized your target. try to get your teammates to hit that target for you, and go on to someone else.

incendiary arrows:
it's nice while its duration lasts. but with only 8 seconds of duration and 24 seconds of recharge, i'm not sure how well you can keep it. not to mention, there are better candidates for your elite slot.

choking gas:
kinda suffers the same problem as incendiary arrows, so i'm not gona go into more details on this one.

GvG
pressure is the name of the game in GvG. the team that can outpressure the other team's backline will usually win. basically, you need to interrupt the target that will cause the most pressure on your opponents' monks. try to interrupt the E/mo warders, especially their heal party and wards. with both disabled, your team can cause greater pressure on their monks. also try to minimize the pressure on your monks by interrupting conditional hexes (spiteful spirit, life transfer, etc). you can also try to directly pressure your opponent's backline by interrupting them directly. however, that is often very hard to do because the backline is often well-protected. not to mention, that's also the fastest way to get all of the opponents' warriors on your tail.

Valerius · Mar 17, 2006, 07:43 PM // 19:43

nice guide... one thing to note is that RtW increases arrow speed by 4x (or atleast it used to... might have been fixed)... instead of 2x like FW

Elurian · Mar 17, 2006, 07:45 PM // 19:45

I know that the description reads double but as to actual play values I'm not sure. On my interrupter I carry FW and RtW for faster interrupts but hes right 1sec and less cast times you have to get a feel for the opponenet and "know" when they are going to cast to consistently interrupt them if you wait till they cast their 1sec and less spells its already too late. Thats the biggest thing for an interrupter to learn

Thrawn Foxheed · Mar 17, 2006, 09:40 PM // 21:40

I'm usually not bothered even trying to interrupt so i use Choking Gas + PS, saves me a lot of trouble and i've found it's ALOT more efficient as every arrow that lands (or even doesnt land due to blind/stance) spreads choking gas which interrupts. Every arrow means that i'm not wasting energy or there isn't a chance that i'll run short of interrupt skills.

Of course i do carry Distracting Shot for ressurection signets and important skills and such. Downfall of the choking gas + PS build is that it lacks in damage. But i'm more than willing to trade damage to hear the frustration of a monk when i've ruined his protection chain

moriz · Mar 17, 2006, 10:26 PM // 22:26

the thing that turned me off of choking gas is the maximum 10 (or for me, about 7) second duration and the 24 second recharge. i'll have to check how it works, whether it is better than concussion shot or not.

also, is read the winds still 4x arrow speed? i'm quite sure that's a bug.

Nilator · Mar 17, 2006, 10:35 PM // 22:35

Can't interrupt 1 second cast spells. I find that sad. I've interrupted Aura of Restoration in PvP.

moriz · Mar 17, 2006, 10:38 PM // 22:38

well, if you just randomly throw interrupts on your target, i suppose you might get lucky once in a while. my argument still holds though, you cannot interrupt a 1 second cast by firing an interrupt as you see it. it simply won't make it in time unless you're standing right in front of your target. you have to anticipate it. that's where the true challenge is.

Leonof · Mar 18, 2006, 08:52 AM // 08:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

well, if you just randomly throw interrupts on your target, i suppose you might get lucky once in a while. my argument still holds though, you cannot interrupt a 1 second cast by firing an interrupt as you see it. it simply won't make it in time unless you're standing right in front of your target. you have to anticipate it. that's where the true challenge is.

agreed. You really need to anticipate their actions. A good way is to remember their skill set and wait for the right time to throw out the interrupt. Some people are too obvious and uses their skills in a cycle which makes it more easier to interrupt.

Also if you didn't know already know, you can interrupt normal attacks too. A good tactic for wars is to throw interrupt when they raise their weapon, run away (noob is often said when doing this lol) and wait for recharge and interrupt again. Doing that will preoccupy them and make all the rest of your teammates kill him or the rest of his team.

moriz · Mar 18, 2006, 10:33 PM // 22:33

i once savage shot a warrior's orson of healing, while he was using frenzy. i can't remember how much damage i did, but i was yelled at constantly by him for the rest of the match. he must've thought i was a hacker.

art_ · Mar 19, 2006, 05:44 PM // 17:44

One Second cast is not *that* difficult to interrupt....

Unfortunately reversal of fortune is nigh uninterruptable -.-

miraaz · Mar 19, 2006, 06:41 PM // 18:41

well, so far i have played a interrupt ranger, i have noticed that actually (for example lets take savage shot) when u use a interrupt skill, it will interrupt the foes action when the arrow is about 3/4 or 1/2 of his way. like this:

YOU------------------------------------Interrupt------------------>enemy

(--------) means arrow's trajectory

moriz · Mar 19, 2006, 09:35 PM // 21:35

i'm quite sure that does not happen, but i'm not completely sure. it's possible that your target was interrupted by someone else, miraaz, to give you the illusion that your arrow interrupted before hitting. or it might just be lag.

i can't test it right now, but i do know how to test it. go to the isle of the nameless and find the master of healing. test your interrupts with the zealous string on the master of healing. if you interrupt before the +1 energy from zealous string shows up, then you're right. if they occur more or less at the same time, then you're wrong.

Ill Eagle · Mar 19, 2006, 09:47 PM // 21:47

Thanks for the useful info Moriz. I fit into your category of "new to pvp" and my first first real build I take into the arenas is an interrupt ranger and the post was really informative.

Quote:

Originally Posted by miraaz

well, so far i have played a interrupt ranger, i have noticed that actually (for example lets take savage shot) when u use a interrupt skill, it will interrupt the foes action when the arrow is about 3/4 or 1/2 of his way.

I've had this happen to me before (in my limited pvp experience) with no other characters using interrupts that I knew of on my team (2 warrs and 1 monk). I just assumed it was lag, although the warrior did have a pet so he may have used a pet interrupt...

Peewee · Mar 19, 2006, 10:01 PM // 22:01

i would say rtw makes all the difference to a interupter. Like you say, human reaction is typically 0.2 seconds under best circumstances. Usually however it can be as high as 0.3-0.4 seconds, which is bloody ages. Arrows, depending on your bow take can take almost 1.5 seconds to reach their target (longbow at maximum range) but at shorter ranges it reaches its target much quicker. With a short bow at maximum range (just over one agro bubble) its takes a mear .5 seconds to reach the target. With RTW this can be reduced to .25 or .125 (depending on whether u beleive its X4 or X2). this can make all difference in some situs.

However, like you have said, most important is reading your opponents skills. I dont like to rely on dazed or hexes to slow their skills (one is easy to remove, the other is long cast, and is a give away). Much better is to see what skills they use. Experience makes this easier. It is possible to interupt RoF if you lucky by counting 2 seconds (i fire just before to make up for .5 sec cast time for interupt) and sometimes i get it. In addition try to use savage on spell (obviously) and use distracting on spam spells (distracting a Mend Ailment does much better than distracting meteor shower) Finally, dont fire interupts randomly. All to often i see ppl using interupts to buff dmg. Now, thats ok, as long as your playing a spiker, and not a interupter. You can have moderate success with random interupts (i have sometimes been beaten by lucky interupters) but you dont learn anything, and u dont get better at being lucky.

What i do if i am a interupter before a bif fight is take 10-15 mins of practising in RA or in isle of nameless, getting my reflexes up, and getting a feel for arrows speed, cast time and how long a second is (it makes all the difference). Generally when playing a builf that requires much skill, you must practise before hand to warm up, or you will spend the first 15 mins of the battle being useless, and missing seconds cast spells by about .1 of a second (i have, its annoying...)

All in all though, interupting is a good laugh, its great to deny someone their ability to cast, and it makes all the difference in a team. Get good and you will soon earn respect, its a skill few can really get the hang of.

PS. on the interupting before it hits the target issue, i get it to, and i am almost certain its lag based. It seems that the interupt comes before the arrow hits, but if you look at where your interupting on their skill bar is doesnt actually happen earlier. I tend to interupt second cast skills in the last 1/4 or 1/8. Even though the interupt seems to come earlier, i still interupt in this period.

Bloodied Blade · Mar 20, 2006, 01:59 AM // 01:59

I've actually found a strategy that (for some reason...) has never failed against monks... I fake being a spiking ranger (I have dual shot, punishing, and savage shot...but I'm an interrupt ranger).

I use FW and RtW, it's rather funny hitting the monk use Dual Shot for 105+

The "funny" part is that the monk immediately spazzes and, instead of doing the smart thing and using a quick, 1/4 second cast, low heal skill to simply make sure that my next shots won't kill them, they use something like Healing Breeze or some long cast skill with a huge heal on it.

It literally begs for me to use Concussion Shot on it. The monk commits suicide just by using a slower cast spell to stay alive. The 10 (or 12?) energy that I have to pay for Concussion Shot is definitely worth the win of the match.

The monk's team is stuck watching as the monk's healthbar flatlines and a Punishing Shot/Distracting Shot hits them right in the middle of their rez signet.

***

I 100% agree with Moriz, you have to second and third guess your opponents in order to be successful. For example, if you see the monk casting Shield of Judgement, just ask your team to make the other guys come to you and tell them to only use spells on the monk for ~15 seconds (15 because after the warriors are done counting, it takes ~5-8 seconds to reach the monk).
If you see the monk cast SoJ, it's pretty much saying that you will only have 1 chance at stopping the monk with an interrupt. I'm not yet 100% sure on this, but ***I think*** that if your target is knocked down, evasion effects and the like do not apply (can't miss if blinded, can't miss if target is using Guardian + Dryder's Defenses + Aegis + Shield of Deflection...you get it).

moriz · Mar 21, 2006, 11:03 PM // 23:03

added some new ramblings.

JR · Mar 21, 2006, 11:09 PM // 23:09

Use a Recurve bow. Lower trajectory = faster arrows. Don't stand at max range from them, move in a bit closer.

If you still can't hit 3/4 second casts consistantly then you need to find a new role.

moriz · Mar 21, 2006, 11:34 PM // 23:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by JR-

If you still can't hit 3/4 second casts consistantly then you need to find a new role.

if we all followed that advice, then no one will be playing an interrupter. practice makes perfect ftw.