Ranger/Necro Questions

So, I'm playing around with a Ranger/Necro. Basicly, I'm aiming for a beastmaster-type build. I want to have my pets do damage for me while I cast spells from the back.

First problem: aggro. I'd like to be able to send my pet into battle and let it get aggro before I start letting arrows fly. Unfortunately, there seems to be no way to control the pet. Not even a way to set it to a specific stance. And as for my undead minions, they automatically go hostile agianst any mob in the area. Often they leave me to fight alone while they chase some mob down a hallway.

Second problem: weapons. My bow seems a bit...wimpy. Should I be using my bow at range then switching to sword/shield (maybe dual weild like a ranger should be) when the enemy gets close? Or should I just turn and run away? Where can I find a good DPS analasys to figure out if a flatbow is better than a longbow?

Third problem: tactics. Does this game really have any tactical manuvering? Can I kite a mob, or should I jsut stand toe-2-toe and plink away with my longbow?

Fourth problem: maps. Just about every other MMO out there has a ton of maps. I really hate walking around a city looking for a place to sell my wares. The waypoint system definately helps, but some mapping sites should pop up soon, right?

Anyway, this is a breath of fresh air after WoW and Lin2. Very nicely done. I just can't wait to see how it'll go when they start 'nurfing' everyone.

For a weapon to do "good" damage, you need to invest attribute points into the linked attribute (Marksmanship in this case) and use some attack skills, preperations and so on.

Pets, well.. I hope ANet adds proper pet commands at some point as playing a pet class without the said commands can be insanely frustrating.

In towns, just hold down the ALT key to display the names of NCPs. Vendors will have proper tags next to their names ( [Weapons] [Merchant] [Armor] etc) and you can click on an NPCs name to auto-run to him/her.

This might be what you're looking for as far as bow comparisons...

For tactics, I know rangers do more damage if you're at a high elevation than your enemy. That can be pretty useful sometimes. Likewise, they'll do more ranged damage to you if you're below them.

Having played both a Ranger/Necro and a Necro/Ranger to a reasonable level I can tell you from experience that when attacking you need to use a skill to get the mobs to come for you, but try to make enough distance that when you start flinging arrows (to get pet to attack) there is time for the pet to run out and greet it. I used "Life Siphon" most of the time to pull as it is a single target attack. Then back off and let pet tank while you pelt it from higher ground. Of course this strategy isn't always implementable.....but I found I could do it about 60-70% of the time.