Curse

JSX · May 08, 2011, 01:16 AM // 01:16

So i've decided to pick up a new profession for pvp: Ranger. I've played as warr,sin, mes,ele, and derv (for the lulz) .

I'm currently running:
Magebane shot
D-shot
pin down
Natural stride
lightning reflexes
apply poison
mending touch
res sig

I know big elites like WoH, Bsurge, etc are prime targets for my magebane and d shot.

But what else should i be prioritizing/doing in RA besides shitting on a monk / resto rit / and/or vital casters (mes/ele) . Spreading poison to the whole enemy team as well? I'm pretty new to Ranger pvp wise.

Also with the current meta of CONDITIONS EVERWHERE, should I even bother with pin down? A lot of the time if i got a derv on my team, he'll keep the target (or more) perma crippled. Can I swap it out for something else useful? Savage shot maybe? Concussion shot? idk...

Way2dead · May 08, 2011, 09:05 AM // 09:05

no spreading poison is not what you have to do, apply poison is just to spam poison on the same target........

use pin down to piss off melee, always useful so your monk/you/whatever can kite away form melee, that's imo the most useful side of it, and derv can not keep a whole team crippled, but you can ofc swap pin down for something else, wouldn't swap it for concussion shot, you don't have the energy for that, even with high expertise

LuckyGiant · May 08, 2011, 10:31 AM // 10:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSX

I'm currently running:
Magebane shot
D-shot
pin down
Natural stride
lightning reflexes
apply poison
mending touch
res sig

Can I swap it out for something else useful? Savage shot maybe? Concussion shot? idk...

Switch: Lightning reflexes out for remove hex
Reason: Lightning reflexes will not change the outcome of tough matches, hex removal will

Personal preference, but I don't run pin down because it sucks a lot of energy on my bar. (I run burning arrow/savage instead) However, its a useful option if you're running magebane. Other potential options in order of usefulness would be Point Blank Shot (Spike dmg), Hunter's Shot (Damage over time), Debilitating Shot (Pressure - increasingly useful when paired with an esurge).

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSX

But what else should i be prioritizing/doing in RA besides shitting on a monk / resto rit / and/or vital casters (mes/ele) .

If you're not sure what to be interupting apart from the obvious WoH etc. As a ranger you have a lot of control in the match. You need to:
- Assess the makeup of your team
- Assess the makeup of the other team
- Know the dangers the other team possess to your team
- Know when to play offensively and defensively

Some general tips:
- Keeping poison spread at all times is extremely important. Often if you get a kill you can force another because someone on the team will be low.
- Also 99% of monks are awful in RA. If you kill a monk or Rt and they rezz they will cast WoH/important heal instantly without faking so thats an easy dshot.
- If you have a monk play aggressive at the start of the battle (rupt spirits/forms) assuming you're not going to get the shit hexed out of you
- Become familiar with player behaviour. Eg: dumb casters engaging first in the battle by running toward your team will usually be using their elite queued up -> dshot
- In matches where there are no monks become familiar with self healing skills as these could turn the match.
- Keeping rezz sigs down WILL win you the matches and very quickly. Ensure the mes eats the dhsot as they have ~2 sec cast and are usually smarter players.
- point blank shot + savage shot with your teamates on spikes. Rather than out pressuring the enemy monk this can force kills that otherwise wouldn't happen. Very useful with all the dervs running about.

Granted sometimes no matter how you play your cards you can't win because your team mates are awful

Sk8tborderx · May 08, 2011, 10:52 AM // 10:52

I have done more testing on the onslaught sword warrior and here are the 2 best variations I found:

Barbarous Slice
Gash
Sun and Moon Slash or Final Thrust (only with Bulls Strike)
Knee Cutter
Savage Slash or Bulls Strike (only with Final Thrust)
Onslaught
Harriers Grasp
Resurrection Signet

Sun and Moon + Savage Pros:
Easy to play
Great pressure
Interrupt

Cons:
Low spike damage
No KD
Low skill ceiling

Final + Bulls Pros:
Great spike
KD
If you are good, this is more effective then Sun and Moon + Savage

Cons:
Higher skill requirement to be as effective as Sun and Moon + Savage
No interrupt
Final Thrust can be blocked

Reverend Dr · May 08, 2011, 05:15 PM // 17:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyGiant

Switch: Lightning reflexes out for remove hex
Reason: Lightning reflexes will not change the outcome of tough matches, hex removal will

What? No.

Magebane and D-shot are your hex removals. You have to be proactive. If you are running that build and having trouble with hexes, then either they have a ton of hexers and remove hex really won't do anything either, or you are just playing this build very poorly. And even then veil is flat out better than remove hex.

Aside from that "tough" matches is all relative. Why do you assume a "tough" team is even going to have hexes?

JSX · May 08, 2011, 09:54 PM // 21:54

Alright i'll try and practice all that. Thanks for the advice.

aside : I practically jizz whenever I d-shot WoH, its the best ;o

deluxe · May 08, 2011, 11:07 PM // 23:07

How someone isn't bringing Test of Faith on a Onslaught warrior is beyond me, that skill is just too awesome..
It's basically a free enchant removal every 10 or less seconds. The daze part isn't that special, but great if you have another melee in your group.
Here's what I run:
Dismember, Penetrating Chop or Axe Twist, Agonizing Chop, Disrupting Chop, Test of Faith, Onslaught, Bulls Strike, Sig.
OQojEhSsqORlpyelqkg12MFBAA

Zealous axe of enchanting recommended

I only use axe twist in gvg, it allows me to tank npc's forever

Sk8tborderx · May 08, 2011, 11:23 PM // 23:23

Test of Faith is pretty bad with sword. Having to stop and lose a strike of adrenaline really hurts your damage and pressure ability. Having to stop and cast isn't really an issue for axe because you can apply deep wound at the start of your spike.

deluxe · May 08, 2011, 11:24 PM // 23:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk8tborderx

Test of Faith is pretty bad with sword. Having to stop and lose a strike of adrenaline really hurts your damage and pressure ability. Having to stop and cast isn't really an issue for axe because you can apply deep wound at the start of your spike.

Sword is pretty bad in general, Axe is bad compared to dervishes too but it has Dchop which makes up for a lot

Sk8tborderx · May 08, 2011, 11:29 PM // 23:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by deluxe

Sword is pretty bad in general, Axe is bad compared to dervishes too but it has Dchop which makes up for a lot

Being able to run Barbarous Slice actually makes sword pretty decent. Give one of the builds I listed a try, you might be surprised. If you run with a Derv primary you can even drop Knee Cutter.

Fate Crusher · May 09, 2011, 01:00 AM // 01:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Way2dead

wouldn't swap it for concussion shot, you don't have the energy for that, even with high expertise

For Magebane builds, yes he does. The only skill he will be reasonably spamming will be Apply Poison and Natural Stride. Unless you think it's viable to spam rupts to spread poison, concussion shot is extremely viable. You should only be running 9+1 marksmanship, and an expertise head piece, meaning you can run 11+1+1 or 12+1+1 depending on your breakpoints in Wilderness for Poison. I can't remember my set up and cba to log in.

I bring concussion shot all the time and I don't have a problem with energy at all. It's great added pressure on casters. and gives your frontline something to train on. Not to mention, nearly all monks run Draw without condition removal for themselves (e.g. Mending Touch). So they will most likely draw their caster (due to redbarring, they'll think it's just poison) and get pooped on.

Watch for Feintheartedness. If you miss it, try to rupt the cover hex, which means your monk can clean it quicker. It also means they can't cover other hexes. Having empathy or Insidious on you should not make you panic, you shouldn't be auto attacking since it slows down your rupt time.

But as everyone is saying, playing ranger requires very good knowledge of builds, how players use skills (for example, whenever you see a mesmer use Ether Phantom/Drain Delusions, they will always instantly cast Drain straight after Ether Phantom. I have countlessly dshotted Drain for lolz. Another example is to watch for your warrior's KD and try to Quarter-rupt/ add damage from Savage), positioning and Rez control.

There's a little more thinking involved with playing Ranger in 4v4 compared to a Mesmer because you force positioning. And provide more party-wide pressure in terms of poison.

deluxe · May 09, 2011, 01:55 PM // 13:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk8tborderx

Test of Faith is pretty bad with sword. Having to stop and lose a strike of adrenaline really hurts your damage and pressure ability. Having to stop and cast isn't really an issue for axe because you can apply deep wound at the start of your spike.

Ok I have tried your bar, in theory it would work...
But a warrior with 2 10e skills and a 5e skill, then using a very conditional skill to regain energy simply didn't work.
You don't always get to apply cripple, you don't always get to land knee cutter.
And basically then you're screwed, no energy, no ias, no ims, no cripples, game over :P You end up even more gimped than a fully exhausted shock warrior.
1 10e skill is already too much for a warrior without zealous weapons.

Zuranthium · May 10, 2011, 09:19 AM // 09:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeydra

I don't think Mind Shock is that good an elite to use, because it's primarily spiky in nature, and much of RA is pressure. If you're using it for the KD, Gale achieves the same thing without taking up the elite slot.

Mind Shock is by far the best Elite to use for an Air Ele in RA. Gale hardly achieves the same thing; Mind Shock is a potential of 140 damage. Combining that huge packet of damage with the KD pushes kills through and it only costs 5 energy so you can spam it at the beginning of matches to exert a large amount of opening pressure and quickly steamroll. I can't say enough about how superior this Elite is to the more frequently used Blinding Surge and Invoke Lightning. My bar:

12+1+3 Air
12+1 Energy

Blinding Flash
Mind Shock
Enervating Charge
Chain Lightning
Shell Shock
Aura Resto
Air Attune
Rez Sig

Chain Lightning is pretty much the exact same efficiency as Invoke Lightning, without taking up the Elite slot. It's just a longer cast (completely worth the tradeoff). I like Enervating for its utility of providing both defense and offense. Blinding Flash by itself doesn't always cut it and the weakness condition provided by Enervating allows you to make one of the anti-melee debuffs stick when the other team has a Draw or FF character who is on their game.

Just stay away from enchantment removal as much as possible. Attunement getting stripped is very bad news. Make the enchant strip characters come to you if they are present; run way back and blind/weaken/damage spam the frontline and force the enchant stripper to either follow you or give up. The opposing Monk will still have to heal your damage to the frontline and once you see an opening where they are getting pressured and bars are dropping, time a Shell Shock + Mind Shock + Enervating Charge on the Monk when some of your other team is throwing damage there too.

Spikes in RA certainly do kill. The "ideal" teams are in fact built to withstand pressure more than sudden big packets of damage. This is definitely the overall best RA ele bar of the current skill balance, in my experience.

HigherMinion · May 10, 2011, 09:39 AM // 09:39

Ebon Hawt
Stoning
Ash Blast
You're All Alone

^ Best ele RA bar of this meta.

chaosspark · May 16, 2011, 04:36 AM // 04:36

So I've been an on again off again GW player for a while and am starting to get into RA again, but it has been awhile and I'm still very inexperienced when it comes to PvP. I've had some success, but would like to get better. I play monk exclusively.

Here's a build I came up with. It's just a rough cut, but got a 10 streak with it.

Mo/W: Heal: 11+1+1 Prot: 8 + 1 DF: 8+1 Tac: 9 (No r8/16 shield cause I'm a poor noob)

Shield of Defelction
Dolyak
Patient Spirit
Vigorous Spirit
Draw Conditions
Spotless Mind
Contemplation of Purity
Signet of Rejuvination

Regular Monk Sets: Spear/Shields, 40/40, 40/20/20, high e (I use a sword with +5 e and the +15 -1 offhand)

This is definitely a rough-cut of the build, any advice would be great.
Thanks.

I Am Not Ok · May 16, 2011, 11:58 AM // 11:58

idk how u can manage to outheal one fire ele and some other dmg dealer, its ok if u face melee, but if u face 2 eles, ure as good as dead

id stick to normal bars

woh/patient/guardian/draw/cure hex/veil/+2 stances
or u can take just one hex removal and take rejuv sig or vig spirit

yum · May 16, 2011, 08:04 PM // 20:04

woh/rof/guardian/SOA/Draw/Mend touch/Veil/Balance Stance. Full Anchorite.

10+1+1 heal/ 9+1 div/ 9+1 prot/ 8 tact for r7/15 shields. Spam Balance Stance on recharge. That's what I run.

JSX · May 17, 2011, 11:36 PM // 23:36

I decided to randomly try something new and I have been doing the R/P Enraged Spear Chucker build.

Using Barbed/Maiming/Tiger Fury as the optionals.

And I have to admit, it's pretty darn fun. Though I do change out Maiming for something else now and then.

I was wondering if I've been playing it right :

I usually pressure the monk, and if he gets up bonetti (and my pet doesnt have O-Cry up) I usually switch targets to another soft target. I also, tab a lot to Bleed/Cripple other enemies. Though it seems it just feeds the monk that use Draw or Necs that use FF.

HigherMinion · May 21, 2011, 08:46 AM // 08:46

Started using this Wastrel's Collapse build recently, although I'm not sure if the added damage from the Conjure spells is worth the lack of defence. Thoughts?

Whole bar is:
LMS-FF-HotO-Falling Lotus-Twisting Fangs-WC-Conjure Lightning-Res Sig

Would it be better to take a /W stance like Bonnetti's or just kite/KD?

Killed u man · May 21, 2011, 12:11 PM // 12:11

Nah, it's fine that way, but there is better/other sin bars out there. If you really want to play sin, you shouldn't focus on winning, bc if you're going to focus on winning you'll find that sins are pretty bad (compared to dervs) at RA. Barely scraping enough dmg to get a kill every 15 seconds orso (ANY prot or heal will prevent you from getting a kill)is just not enough to win you to close matches.

Your bar is effective at what it does, and for what it's worth you could keep on playing it. But the second you start focussing on competitiveness, there's no point lingering around with a sinbar anymore.