Curse

pi!!ow · Mar 29, 2006, 01:08 PM // 13:08

is the _topic_ possible?

i.e. effects of call of protection + symbiotic bond + call of haste stacking?

DeanBB · Mar 29, 2006, 03:12 PM // 15:12

Yes, they are individual skills, just like any others. Shouts are not the same as stances, where you can only have 1 up at a time.

pi!!ow · Mar 30, 2006, 01:26 PM // 13:26

thank you for the reply.

in addition; would you happen to know which _pair_ of the following would be the best combination for buffing my pet:

otyugh's cry (+20 armor)

call of protection (11 base damage reduction)

symbiotic bond (share damage absorption with pet, pet has +1-3 health regeneration)

Master_Balgus · Mar 30, 2006, 02:46 PM // 14:46

I personally would go with Call of Protection and Oytugh's Cry.

Call lasts 2 minutes, all for 5 energy before expertise. With the +20 armor boost and predator's pounce(+21 dmg, and +41 hp at 12BM), then your pet should be able to take on most mobs by himself(within reason).

DeanBB · Mar 30, 2006, 03:16 PM // 15:16

I almost always use call of protection. How about call of haste?

Rhedd · Mar 30, 2006, 03:52 PM // 15:52

Call of Haste is the best thing since cheese.

Your pet will get into range faster, stay in range even when the enemy flees, pump out even more damage, and if your using your pet to interrupt, it's indispensable.

Besides all that, it's hilarious to watch a runner in the arenas being chased by a giant chicken and getting pecked in the back of the head. ^_^

SnipiousMax · Mar 30, 2006, 04:12 PM // 16:12

I want to play with Broad Head Arrow, CoH, TF, and needling shot.

If you use a short bow, hitting them with BHA won't be too difficult, and between you're pet attacking, and you attacking, they'll be getting interrupted pretty much constantly for the duration of the daze. Needling Shot would just be for the precision interrupting. So I guess called shot would work better.... I'm gonna work up a build and post it later.

jibikao · Mar 30, 2006, 04:32 PM // 16:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhedd

Call of Haste is the best thing since cheese.

Your pet will get into range faster, stay in range even when the enemy flees, pump out even more damage, and if your using your pet to interrupt, it's indispensable.

Besides all that, it's hilarious to watch a runner in the arenas being chased by a giant chicken and getting pecked in the back of the head. ^_^

Yup! Yup! Yup!

Call of Haste is even more important in PvP where people don't really target your pet first so you don't need to bring Call of Protection or Otyugh's cry. If you want to use Disrupting Lunge, Call of Haste is a MUST.

If you really really really want to bring one protection skill, use Call of Protection. -11 to -15 damage is so great. Pet already has 80AL.

Edit: If people decide to kill your pet first, hey, your pet just ate 480ish damage for your team! That's how I view it. Rez it and then let the fun begin again.

jibikao · Mar 30, 2006, 04:33 PM // 16:33

Oh yeah, all Shout skills stack and you can cast it even when you are knocked down...

pi!!ow · Mar 30, 2006, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by jibikao

Yup! Yup! Yup!

Call of Haste is even more important in PvP where people don't really target your pet first so you don't need to bring Call of Protection or Otyugh's cry. If you want to use Disrupting Lunge, Call of Haste is a MUST.

If you really really really want to bring one protection skill, use Call of Protection. -11 to -15 damage is so great. Pet already has 80AL.

Edit: If people decide to kill your pet first, hey, your pet just ate 480ish damage for your team! That's how I view it. Rez it and then let the fun begin again.

Mm, I've been primarily running a pet build for PvE thus far.

I've had minimal PvP experience and am not yet too interested in it.

However, using disrupting lunge more often is definitely a plus.

I revamped my build to use the following

+ disrupting lunge
+ poison arrow/melandru's arrows/apply poison/crippling
+ scavenger's strike
+ call of haste

* whirling defense or call of protection?

+ comfort animal
+ charm animal

BM - 15 (12 + 3)
EX - 14 (10 + 4)
WS - 7 (6 + 1)
MK - 7 (6 + 1)

Poisoner's Bow and Druid's.

jibikao · Mar 30, 2006, 05:09 PM // 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by pi!!ow

Mm, I've been primarily running a pet build for PvE thus far.

I've had minimal PvP experience and am not yet too interested in it.

However, using disrupting lunge more often is definitely a plus.

I revamped my build to use the following

+ disrupting lunge
+ poison arrow/melandru's arrows/apply poison/crippling
+ scavenger's strike
+ call of haste

* whirling defense or call of protection?

+ comfort animal
+ charm animal

BM - 15 (12 + 3)
EX - 14 (10 + 4)
WS - 7 (6 + 1)
MK - 7 (6 + 1)

Poisoner's Bow and Druid's.

Actually, if it's PvE, Troll is very nice too. You have time to heal yourself more often. It's really up to you. You have 15 Expertise, so whirling isn't that bad. Call of Protection works excellent in later missions against that Agony skill. It really reduces tons of damage. I know I love call of protection in PvE. Your pet can tank so well.

Edit: Another thing I want to say is that a lot of rangers spam poison damage. If you want to avoid bringing a protection skill for pet, you might want to bring Ferocious Strike so you have more energy to heal your pet through Comfort when needed. Just ask to team up with rangers that can spread poison. They are almost everywhere! If you mostly team up with henchies, then poison arrow ain't bad.

J1000 · Mar 30, 2006, 05:19 PM // 17:19

I think Call of Haste is a bit overrated in most situations. It's nice that you can turn it on and forget about it, but consider this:

1) Your pet does most of his damage from special attacks, not normal ones. Call of Haste will not increase the number of special attacks you can execute (and in fact, it actually reduces them, since you are wasting a skill slot).

3) Call of Haste does not allow you to spam Disrupting Lunge more often, it simply enhances your reaction time. But if reaction time is what you want in your interrupt, you're better off using Distracting Shot.

4) Pets already run faster than humans.

Call of Haste is best in combination skills like Concussion Shot (daze) or Barbs where you want to pepper the target with hits.

Rhedd · Mar 31, 2006, 04:12 PM // 16:12

1) Two words: Critical hits.

2) What the heck happened to #2??

3) You'd have a hard time hitting even a Healing Signet with Disrupting Lunge if you weren't using Haste.

Comparing Disrupting Lunge to Distracting Shot is an apples and oranges situation;

With Distracting Shot, you actively watch an enemy, see that he's doing something you want to interrupt, and hit the skill to stop him.

Disrupting Lunge, however, is dependant on the pet's attack rhythm, but has half the recharge time. Given that, you don't USE it, you SPAM it. Constantly. The place where Call of Haste comes in handy is the rhythm part I mentioned. If you're unlucky, your pet will just get on an attack rhythm that seems to always miss disrupting everything. Call of Haste helps break that cycle and make your disruptions count.

Sure, you can delay a lunge a bit if you know the guy is going to use a heal, or a res sig or something, but mostly you should just spam it.

Why, if Lunge is so much more complicated to use, don't I just use Distracting Shot? Because Distracting Shot sucks when I'm blinded, knocked down, out of range, behind a rock... the list goes on. Nobody pays attention to a Moa bird, though. They just wonder why they can't get that Res Sig off without getting interrupted. ^_^

Way, WAY more important than that, though, is I don't have to babysit. PvP is, in a lot of ways, a war of time. I want to waste the enemy's time while not using any of my own. Babysitting is a straight tradeoff, and so it sucks.

But... this is a discussion of shouts, not disruptions. ^_^

4) Pets run faster than a human NOT using a running skill. Pets aren't all that skilled at attacking running characters. They take a second to attack. The more time they take closing on a runner, the less likely they are to actually take a swing before the runner is out of range again. Besides, every second the pet is running around, he's not doing damage. Faster is always better.

Sure, it takes a skill slot like anything else, but I think Call of Haste is a nice, flexible skill who's constant benefit is enough to make it worthwhile.

pi!!ow · Mar 31, 2006, 04:55 PM // 16:55

excellent feedback all!

as a final note (hopefully), does anyone know of a consolidated BM build directory? or have a build they don't mind sharing and have had good times with?

With my current build (pretty much the same as the one I last posted), I feel that my damage output seems a bit on the low side of things.

Linkusmax · Mar 31, 2006, 05:09 PM // 17:09

Heres A few, Im not fond of the Touch One myself but my mate likes it.

Ranger/Necro (Touchy feely)

Vampiric Touch
Touch of Agony
Rigor Mortis
Ferocious Strike [e]
Necrotic Traversal
Revive Animal
Charm Animal
Res Signet

12 Beast Mastery
12 Blood Magic
11 Expertise
2 Curses

The Charge Melee BM

R/W
14 beast mastery (Hat + Sup)
10 swordsmanship
9 Tactics
9 expertise (Major)

Final Thrust
Brutal Strike
Charge (e)
Hamstring
Tiger's Fury
Comfort Animal
Charm Animal
Res Signet

R/W Thumper
14 Beastmastery (Hat + Sup Rune)
12 Hammer Mastery
9 Expertise (Minor Rune)

Preferance + Druids Armour

Charm Animal
Comfort Animal/Revive Animal
Hammer Bash
Irrisistable Blow
Disrupting Lunge
Ferocious Strike
Tigers Fury
Ressurection Signet

The Sword Melee Ranger
R/W
14 beast mastery (Hat + Sup)
12 swordsmanship
9 expertise (Minor)

Final Thrust
Brutal Strike
Ferocious Stike [e]
Hamstring
Tiger's Fury
Comfort Animal
Charm Animal
Res Signet

pi!!ow · Mar 31, 2006, 07:50 PM // 19:50

interestingly enough, i use a touch build somewhat similiar to that.

blood - 12
expertise - 16 (12 + 3 + 1)
rest into bm.

touch of agony
vampiric touch
plague touch
blood of renewal {e} <-- energy management skill.

whirling defence
comfort animal
charm animal
resurrection/call of protection

while it is obviously nowhere near engineered to maximize the usage of my pet; indeed the pet becomes somewhat of a hindrance and threat to me if it dies. I've been running this primarily because it seems like a very efficient damage dealing build and has been great in helping me level up my pet while taking on heavily armored units (the Jade Bows/Armors i've encountered while picking up all my bonuses in the southern shiverpeaks).

your friend's complimentation of touch + beastmastery is excellent though. I didn't take into account the energy management of ferocious and its' ability to work with my damage output as a touch ranger. not to mention it's higher damage output factoring the high attribute bm and pet damage.

i'd like to try out some variations; switching perhaps necrotic traversal and revive animal for call of protection/whirling and comfort animal.. i see alot of improvements and fixes to problems i've been having.

Thanks a-plenty! Maybe I'll catch you online sometime to discuss it with you (or inquire of your goodly friend's name and carry it to him x)

Rhedd · Apr 01, 2006, 01:05 AM // 01:05

Yeah, nothing beats Ferocious Strike as an energy management skill. With that and a zealous bow with Tiger's Fury, I can literally cycle every skill I have as fast as they can be cycled, without ever running low on energy (unless someone blinds my moa. Grr. ^_^)

Heck, I don't think I really even need the bow. It took me awhile before I noticed and started using it, but Ferocious is that good.