Curse

Luminarus · Oct 10, 2007, 07:43 AM // 07:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorinda

And i am truely sorry if you felt offended.

I wasnt offended, just really didnt like how badly this topic degraded into a childish "im better, no im better" quarrel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorinda

But the statement; "These 2 rangers, the crip shot and BA ranger, are the best and there are no other good builds" just doesnt sink into my head. It is called, thinking inside a box. There is plenty of elites out there more then worth it to look into.

I agree 100% that there are other options... hell i think that people need to get over BA, imo its become like the BoA sins used to be, a no brainer wiki build that is way to simple to use.

bungusmaximus · Oct 10, 2007, 07:54 AM // 07:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luminarus

I agree 100% that there are other options... hell i think that people need to get over BA, imo its become like the BoA sins used to be, a no brainer wiki build that is way to simple to use.

Arrrrgh, now don't say that. While I agree that it's rather easy to stand on a bridge where people can't reach you and pummel people to death with BA+apply, the BA template definitely rewards skillfull play. Clever interrupting comes with watching the battlefield and anticipating what the enemy is going to do. A shockaxe warrior is also a pretty standard build, but try and play one while you suck. Just try and stay alive an entire AB match with just healing signet, you have to watch the battle and look for windows of opportunity (OMG warriors don't have 1337 teleport boohoohoo).

Comparing a supa-flexible BA ranger to a 1-dimensional spike bot is just comparing a awiss army knife with a stiletto. The stiletto kills people, fast, the swiss army knife, however, has much more tricks in the bag.

It is true btw. that BA is VERY common, but that's just because it's good, not because it's necessarily easy to play. GW needs more builds like BA to be honest and less 1 dimensional imba crap builds

.

Luminarus · Oct 10, 2007, 07:59 AM // 07:59

There was also some skill to be involved with the old BoA Sin, and also could be run by bots, but my point still stands that there are alot of idiots who use BA but, ill admit, it aint of the same scale as BoA. But thats not the point of this thread.

moriz · Oct 10, 2007, 08:16 AM // 08:16

AB is not always a "teamsport", nor is it always a solo fragfest. in fact, it's not always about running from shrine to shrine either. those who stick by a rigid gameplan will often find that they'll lose.

i wrote this guide (and some of the other ones) with the assumption that the reader can already play as a team and knows how to run from shrine A to shrine B and so on. that part is easy. the hard part comes at how to be effective while soloing, which is what this guide is about.

as for the choices of builds... it's not that i haven't considered other choices. i have, and i've found them to all be lacking compared to the cripshot and AB ranger. about the only exception to the rule is the invinici-ranger (aka escape ranger), but that build is only truly effective on kaanai canyon and ancestral lands, with 3x attack shrines powering escape so it stays up all the time. the point is, you cannot make another ranger build that are as effective as the cripshot and BA ranger in the AB environment. nothing out there is as powerful and adaptable right now.

lastly, it's important to know that while thinking outside of the box is nice, but it's more important to not think so outside the box that your brain fall out. i've explored every single possibility in multiple different pvp environments. not just AB. "cripshot and AB ranger are the only viable ranger builds in the AB arena" is the conclusion i've arrived at after some serious thought and experimentation. it's not something that i spouted off just because i wanted to.

bungusmaximus · Oct 10, 2007, 08:32 AM // 08:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

AB is not always a "teamsport", nor is it always a solo fragfest. in fact, it's not always about running from shrine to shrine either. those who stick by a rigid gameplan will often find that they'll lose.

In that case you refer to solo-ing as strategic play. Most people in AB are forced to solo because their team sucks and has no clue. Other people just like to solo because they can pick off other solo artists and get a massive e-peen :P. They way you describe only works with people you know and trust.

moriz · Oct 10, 2007, 08:43 AM // 08:43

soloing is a strategic play as long as it accomplishes something. for instance, let's say you and your team are just running around and capping unobstructed. in that situation, do you honestly need all 4 to cap a shrine? no. it's much better to have one or two split off to accomplish something else, since the remaining 2 to 3 people should have no problems clearing shrines with no opposition.

another way splitting can be effective is the "overload" principle. sometimes, fighting 4v4 can be extremely inconclusive because it can very easily go in a stalemate. in that situation, it is a far better play to have one guy split off while the rest turtle to a shrine. fighting defensively 3v4 while sitting on a shrine is very favourable, simply because it's gonna take a lot of effort to push the defenders off the shrine. by playing defensively while one guy splits off, it creates favourable situations on two different fronts: one front is sitting on a shrine to prevent the opposition from capping, while the split character can join up with another group to fight 5v4, thereby breaking a stalemate by overloading the opposition. it all comes down to efficient use of personnel and resources.

while those plays will work better if you have people you trust with you, they'll also work reasonably well even with random pugs. you just have to be more selective as to when to split off.

bungusmaximus · Oct 10, 2007, 09:04 AM // 09:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

soloing is a strategic play as long as it accomplishes something. for instance, let's say you and your team are just running around and capping unobstructed. in that situation, do you honestly need all 4 to cap a shrine? no. it's much better to have one or two split off to accomplish something else, since the remaining 2 to 3 people should have no problems clearing shrines with no opposition.

me like 4 pips of shrine regen, it's a matter of taste really. opposition can surprise you anyway, making stuff go rather sluggish all of a sudden. Usually we don't run easy split characters anyways, we run hammer warrior-dom mesmer-fire ele-monk most of the time. While your build is made to harrass players ours is made to just roll over them before they know what hit them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

another way splitting can be effective is the "overload" principle. sometimes, fighting 4v4 can be extremely inconclusive because it can very easily go in a stalemate.

Oh that's very true and can easily be game breaking. When I play with my guild we usually just run off as fast as we can when that happens. Too bad a sporadic pugged teammate doesn't always get the point and sticks around only to get ass-blocked by 4 people

. Usually when we run people don't chase us, and when they do, they usually get scattered and killed one by one.

R A N D O M · Oct 13, 2007, 06:14 PM // 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

to celebrate me getting my new laptop, i've frapsed a short video of me playing the cripshot. the match was much too short for me to demonstrate any of the more tricky tactics (luxon on kaanai canyon is a poor choice of map), but the video does show some of the tactics involved in playing a cripshot.

what are the best maps to use this character on then?

moriz · Oct 13, 2007, 06:17 PM // 18:17

actually the character is fine on all maps. it's just that playing as a luxon on kaanai canyon is not particularly fair. the map is rather stacked in my favour, allowing me to get away with a lot more than usual.