Ranger Handbook? Does one exist?

rhadamathys

Someone put together a good SW handbook...was wondering if anyone did something similar for the rangers. I'm playing a HR and am curious what are the best powers/feats to take (no, I'm not a trapper, I'm ranged). I typically fight solo and am level 66. I feel like I have a pretty good setup, but I am curious if there isn't a better one out there and if I should respec as a result. This was the first toon I created. Thanks

wdj40

You can find info from various people about HR builds etc, I have some info on here, gamefaqs and www.gotwe.boards.net. Also there are other builds from Katozee and other people if you do a quick search. Many threads on here have HR info.

What I would say is that builds are from mod 5... they work but just need tweaking.

If you are a HR and not a Trapper you are halving your damage output pretty much. They have 2 weapons and 2 sets of Encounter powers for a reason. Pure Ranged and Pure Combat HR`s unfortunately are pretty poor in the damage department. If you do not do a decent amount of damage for a team then you could get kicked.

I ran Epic Cragmire last night... My Trapper HR ended up with 78mil damage, the other random HR on the team did not even hit 30mil and I`m not sure he was a Trapper but it seemed he was further away from the middle of battle more than me.

If you want to see a Trapper Survive-ability Build in action there is a video on my xbox profile (link is in a different thread on here).

But all in all don't listen to what people tell you really... you should play what is fun for you and if you prefer a Ranged HR then go for it

rhadamathys

Nice, thanks, I respec'd based on your build. I like you comments, but I'd suggest formatting it a bit differently to make it easier to read. I'll help with that for you once I have a minute to try it out. I have a couple of questions if you have the time:

1) I run solo a lot (I'm still in the 60s). As such, Aspect of the Pact doesn't seem to be all that great. Seems to me Crushing Roots would be better? Thoughts?
2) Cordon of Arrows was my go to on my ranged guy as it routinely did around 40k dmg on a crit (which was easy given the first shot of battle being at ranged and the crit bonuses that brings). And it has 3 charges, doesn't this seem like a better encounter than say one of the others?
3) You Ioun of Allure...I've typically ran with an earth archon as it takes threat away from my archer. I like the ioun on my SW, but I notice that you put enhancements in the ring/idol/etc...when I do that, I don't see the stats go up? Is that something they nerfed or is it just bugged right now? Also, it seems like your stats are a bit low given you item level. Can you confirm those? Here is what I'm at

Level 68:
Item Level: 2004
18
12
26
10
18
12

These are my stats without my ioun stone (it's still training, I imagine a boost of 1k to Rec, Defense, and 200-400ish on everything else)
Power: 7176
CS: 4839 (I run with a vorpal, so I wanted this in the 5-6k range, but my blades don't have a vorpal, so perhaps this isn't as good anymore? thoughts?)
ArP: 2369 (power dont mean squat if you can't get through their defenses, learned that from my SW)
Rec: 1142 (really low, goal is to get to around 2k with stone)
APG: 0
CAB: 246
CB: 0
Def: 2084 (goal is to get near 3k)
Deflect (777, goal is to get more near 1.5k)
Regen: 25 (would like to get to 2k, but not a high priority?)
Life Steal: 831 (would like to get more near 1.5k)

As for gear, I'm bummed, I just got the smile bow and scrapped it thinking I wanted the swift shot bow...oh well...right now I'm running the Ensorcelled Longbow, Ensorcelled blades, and Ensorcelled Neck item (the rest is green or blue pick up junk). I have the lantern of Revelation active and the Sigil of Hunter and Wheel of Elements inactive but buffed up (only arts I've found so far).

wdj40

I`ll re-read your post shortly and try to respond when my son is in bed, but very quickly yeah the build I have online is old which is why the stats are much lower as it was based on mod 5.

I really should get round to posting my current one for mod 6 which is just over 2.8k Gear Score at the moment... I might take video shots instead of posting it all in text again

rhadamathys

send you a private message, check out the page I created using all your hard work I made some modifications to stuff, but am a noob, so please feel free to update it (there is revision history so dont feel bad about overwriting something).

wdj40

Ah sweet, I was just about to ask if you wanted me to edit it in any way Nice work though dude.

What I will add here quickly (I do not have a lot of time for a couple of days) are my current stats.
80,312 HP - 19 AC - Item level 2828
19 STR
12 CON
28 DEX
10 INT
20 WIS
12 CHA

11,672 Power
6340 Crit Strike = 33.9% Crit chance in Melee, 38.9% chance in Ranged + 92% Severity & Vorpal
5668 Arm Pen = 63.1%
2267 Recovery = 11.3% Recharge speed increase
200 AP gain = 12.8% AP Point Gain
1155 Combat Advantage = 8.6% extra damage
408 Control Bonus
3482 Defence = 13.2% Damage Resistance
1590 Deflect = 13% Deflect chance
180 Regen
3210 Life Steal = 8%
0 Tenacity
600 Stamina Gain
530 Movement

I also use a Cat now which is slightly superior to the Ioun Stone of Allure.

This is just quickly taken from the stats screen, so there are figures missing that the game does not add up and show you for some reason. I`ll have a proper look through your document later and post you some of my ideas/findings.

Edit... the above figures do not take into account any Companion active bonuses but they do take into account stats my Cat sends over to me.

wdj40

I`m still working on tweaking it as I have some stats that could move around... waiting until I get 3 more pieces of Elven Armour 1st though

wdj40

Here is a link to where the Feat Points are in my current build http://nwcalc.com/index.html#/hr?b=23ci:k6rwk5:8dep:5tb7d,1xi3i0i:15u0000:1000000:1uu0wnv&h=0&p=pfr to go with the above stats.

I just did the power points and then removed them again, it was pointless putting them on there as they do not give you enough, it will not let you max out more that 1 skill on the Calculator so it was pointless.

Another quick note, when I refer to CA whenever I have spoken on this forum, gotwe forum or gamefaqs I actually meant Constricting Arrow, I have just realised that CA could also mean Cordon of Arrows.... I personally do not use that skill and think its pretty rubbish and way too slow

rhadamathys

cool, I know you are busy, but I'd love to discuss some things/decisions more.

I see the benefit of CA ove CoA...the synergy is good with CA and GR....the CoA is nice as it does massive dmg...but it doesn't synergize and it's slow, like you said...but wow, it hits hard...

As for the bow...why go with smile? why not go with rapid shot? Seems that I only use Aimed Shot 1x per battle, whereas rapid shot is my goto if I'm being lazy...and or screw up the order of the encounters and need to default to something while things recharge... Plus, Aimed vs rapid shot...Aimed takes 3 seconds and does just a little more damage than rapid shot in that same amount of time?

As for companions, 5 active 1 summoned. Any idea if the active ones can stack with each other? i.e. can you have 4 active air archons giving you 5% * 4 archon +4 archon *1.5% for having other active archons = 26% damage increase to hurt mobs? to go along with the cat?

How has your combo's changed since you redid your guy? When you have a second, can you give me your updates?

I just turned 69, so I have a bit til 70. I went to Tuern (where it warned me I would die) and solo'd it...pretty freaking sick. Also, perhaps you know this, in the campaign, I did the one that got me the dragon keys that says open a chest in Tuern Skirmish...I didn't see a chest when I completed it? Is there more to the Tuern Skirmish than I know (I did the get to the portal and defend the portal quests... so far and am on a clock until I can repeat, so perhaps I'm missing something?)

Also, what did you put your final level 70 power point into?

rhadamathys

also, you went with fleet stance over readied stance...is the movement really worth more than the AP gain when you switch stances? Seems to me the AP....as it stands right now, I have the AP version and I regain AP like mad...

wdj40

I have both bows... the Rapid Shot/Rapid Strike one does not really increase its damage too much as its a fairly low hitting attack anyway, used only during a melee blip in the rotations where the cool downs are not quite ready. I also use an Aimed shot 3rd in my rotation only (after Fox`s Cunning then Oak Skin) the boost to running speed starts battle off nicely. It takes too long to fire off an Aimed Shot during battle so there is no point in using after the 3rd spot in a rotation (before battle has started).

I also use Aimed Strike in my rotation quite often and people really under-estimate the DoT it produces when combined with a stance change with all those buffs like Deft Strikes, Aspect of the Serpent and other Feats + Artefact Weapon buffs for AtoS. So 12% extra damage for it from the Artefact Weapon is a bonus

Unfortunately you cannot have 2 of the same Companion set in your active slots

Whether you chose Fleet Stance or Readied Stance really makes no difference, they are both just stepping stones to get to better skills. It does not make much difference which one you chose.

rhadamathys

What companions do u suggest, cat plus 4 different archons?

Can u give me your combo orders again for different mobs?

What do u put your 70th power point into for your powers? Aots?

Omg CA is the HAMSTER over CoA...been playing it for 2 days...wow...love this build...

I updated the document, would love your input on it...I'll make additions based on the questions here...

Thanks!

rhadamathys

Also, not to be a total pain, but what equipment layouts do you recommend? I just hit 70...I got awarded Fire Blades, but wasn't sure if I should use those or the Golden Blades...also I'm going to start running epics...wasn't sure what I should be looking/saving for?

Do you suggest going with the Imperial Set? Looks to be double refinement this week so I'm ready to dump into whatever I find...would love to know suggestions. Thanks!

prettyflacko1

Just to give you a little amount of variety, here are some general builds:

http://nwcalc.com/index.html#/hr?b=2iev:k6rwk5:8dep:5tb7d,1xi3i0i:1000000:1u00000:1uu0zzv&h=0&p=pfr
http://nwcalc.com/index.html#/hr?b=2iev:k6rwk5:8dep:5tb7d,1xi3i0i:1000000:1000000:1uu5zzv&h=0&p=pfr

These are just basic cookie cutter builds that you'll see most trappers running.

Generally accepted rotation includes Fox's Cunning, Constricting Arrow, Hindering Shot (Some substitute for Cordon of Arrows)

Allows for instant cooldowns with no delay. Strong CC capabilities (pair with crushing roots). Damage varies depending on encounters and passives used.

wdj40

rhadamathys said:

What companions do u suggest, cat plus 4 different archons?



Can u give me your combo orders again for different mobs?



What do u put your 70th power point into for your powers? Aots?



Omg CA is the HAMSTER over CoA...been playing it for 2 days...wow...love this build...



I updated the document, would love your input on it...I'll make additions based on the questions here...



Thanks!

I have quite a few Companions now and I have forgotten which ones I have active at the moment, NW is updating for me so I cannot check right now, will have a looksee later. I`ll just copy and paste the below rotations I use which I posted in another thread

My rotation if fighting in a group against normal mobs :

1. Fox`s Cunning -> Switch to Melee
2. Oak Skin -> Switch to Ranged
3. Aimed Shot
4. Binding Shot
5. Hindering Shot -> Switch to Melee
6. Slasher`s Mark if AP is full followed by Fox`s Shift, just Shift if AP not full
7. Hindering Strike
8. Oak Skin -> Switch to Ranged
9. Siesmic Shot if AP is full followed by Binding Shot, just BS if AP not full
10. Hindering Shot
11. Fox`s Cunning -> Switch to Melee
12. and repeat steps 6-12 from now on

My rotation if fighting a large enemy or boss of some type in a group, or if I am running solo with no companion :

1. Fox`s Cunning -> Switch to Melee
2. Oak Skin -> Switch to Ranged
3. Aimed Shot
4. Binding Shot
5. Hindering Shot -> Switch to Melee
6. Aimed Strike
7. Slasher`s Mark if AP is full followed by Fox`s Shift, just Shift if AP is not full
8. Hindering Strike
9. Oak Skin -> Switch to Ranged
10. Siesmic Shot if AP full followed by Binding Shot, just BS if AP not full
11. Hindering Shot
12. Fox`s Cunning -> Switch to Melee
13. and repeat steps 6-13 from now on

So for me its...
X - switch to melee
Y - switch to ranged
LT
Y
B - switch to melee
*LT
*X - This point right here is where I hold RT (Rapid Strike) as well
*B
*Y - switch to ranged and let go of RT just before
*Y
*B
*X - switch to melee
*LT and repeat from LT above (as shown by the *)

Its complicated until you get the hang of it ha ha... also each person may have their own preferences for instance swapping out Binding Shot/Oak Skin for Constricting Arrow or some-such.

70th point is up to you, whatever the best sounding one is or whatever one you use the most. I have to admit all my powers that I use have 4 points in as I have been playing for a long time. I`m not sure how my Build would actually work with 3 points in everything

wdj40

rhadamathys said:

Also, not to be a total pain, but what equipment layouts do you recommend? I just hit 70...I got awarded Fire Blades, but wasn't sure if I should use those or the Golden Blades...also I'm going to start running epics...wasn't sure what I should be looking/saving for?

Do you suggest going with the Imperial Set? Looks to be double refinement this week so I'm ready to dump into whatever I find...would love to know suggestions. Thanks!

Equipment is basically all the same for the HR with just a few different number sets, I have moaned about the lack of variety for the HR somewhere on this forum lol.

What I would suggest though is working your way to getting the personalised rings, necks, belts etc for your Aug Companion as well as yourself (rings only). Double slots are very nice indeed. As for sets, Imperial is ok and was doing little damage numbers for me.

Its an ok set If you have a low crit build, otherwise if you have a high crit build I would suggest the Lostmauth set, its really good for crit builds

rhadamathys

Thanks, I really appreciate your time and insight

rhadamathys

Why hindering over constricting? Seems the mass cc of ca would be better solo? CA, switch to melee, Fox shift into oak skin into steel breeze seems like a better combo since ca forces them to stay put?

wdj40

Personal preference really... also Hindering Strike is a 360 degree extremely quick Strong Root damage attack which is really decent (also the only good melee root attack the HR has). As the Trapper is mostly about the roots with Hindering you get 1 Ranged Weak root attack and 1 Melee Strong root attack. Much better than Steel Breeze I think.

I switch out Binding Shot/Oak Skin for Constricting Arrow/Steel Breeze depending on the party set up or how difficult the mobs are in a certain area. Oak Skin massively boosts survivability in the much harder areas or in the group dungeons if the healer and/or Tank are not the best builds. If there is a decent Tank and/or healer in the group I switch out BS/OS for CA/SB.

wdj40

rhadamathys said:

Thanks, I really appreciate your time and insight

Sorry dude I did not get around to checking out your document... But I have almost finished editing up my current build which I will post shortly. You are welcome to use any of the info I post in any documents you may write up in

rhadamathys

Cool, can't wait to see what you have

ajarpolecat509

As you have hit 70 already this may be old information, but here goes. You did not solo Tuern!

rhadamathys said:

...I just turned 69, so I have a bit til 70. I went to Tuern (where it warned me I would die) and solo'd it...pretty freaking sick. Also, perhaps you know this, in the campaign, I did the one that got me the dragon keys that says open a chest in Tuern Skirmish...I didn't see a chest when I completed it? Is there more to the Tuern Skirmish than I know (I did the get to the portal and defend the portal quests... so far and am on a clock until I can repeat, so perhaps I'm missing something?)

The key goes to the Shores of Tuern (spelling???) skirmish for which you must que. You will not be soloing this. It is a five person skirmish. You will be lucky to complete it straight up unless you have paladin and haste cleric. Most people who complete it don't do it straight up, just saying. For future reference, you can buy the keys (something dragon keys) in the Zen market, you get 5 for 300 zen and they open all three extra chests associated with the TofD campaign (Shores of Tuern Skirmish, Lair of Lostmouth Dungeon, and Temple of Tiamat in well of Dragons. Up to you which is more cost effective. Since either buying them from Zen or making them in campaign costs big AD make sure you get value for your investment. You can look in the chest to see whats in it, and choose not to take anything if what is inside isn't worth more than your investment in the key. Its all or nothing though. The quests to which you refer are the preparatory, get to the portal, and on going weekly, defend the portal, Harper quests which let you build Tranny of Dragons campaign currencies.

The Vorpal effects all you attacks both bow and blades, (off hands don't have weapon enchant slots just saying).

Also you will should have gotten an artifact bow when completing all the spinward rise vigilance tasks(8 in each section, 24 total). If it doesn't have the at will passive buff you want use cubes to change it. It pairs with the artifact blades you got for reaching 70, and as a pair they give you stat boosts.

wdj40

ajarpolecat509 said:

As you have hit 70 already this may be old information, but here goes. You did not solo Tuern!

rhadamathys said:

...I just turned 69, so I have a bit til 70. I went to Tuern (where it warned me I would die) and solo'd it...pretty freaking sick. Also, perhaps you know this, in the campaign, I did the one that got me the dragon keys that says open a chest in Tuern Skirmish...I didn't see a chest when I completed it? Is there more to the Tuern Skirmish than I know (I did the get to the portal and defend the portal quests... so far and am on a clock until I can repeat, so perhaps I'm missing something?)

The key goes to the Shores of Tuern (spelling???) skirmish for which you must que. You will not be soloing this. It is a five person skirmish. You will be lucky to complete it straight up unless you have paladin and haste cleric. Most people who complete it don't do it straight up, just saying. For future reference, you can buy the keys (something dragon keys) in the Zen market, you get 5 for 300 zen and they open all three extra chests associated with the TofD campaign (Shores of Tuern Skirmish, Lair of Lostmouth Dungeon, and Temple of Tiamat in well of Dragons. Up to you which is more cost effective. Since either buying them from Zen or making them in campaign costs big AD make sure you get value for your investment. You can look in the chest to see whats in it, and choose not to take anything if what is inside isn't worth more than your investment in the key. Its all or nothing though. The quests to which you refer are the preparatory, get to the portal, and on going weekly, defend the portal, Harper quests which let you build Tranny of Dragons campaign currencies.

The Vorpal effects all you attacks both bow and blades, (off hands don't have weapon enchant slots just saying).

Also you will should have gotten an artifact bow when completing all the spinward rise vigilance tasks(8 in each section, 24 total). If it doesn't have the at will passive buff you want use cubes to change it. It pairs with the artifact blades you got for reaching 70, and as a pair they give you stat boosts.

I`m pretty sure he means he solo`d The Portal to Tuern rather than the actual Skirmish, probably why there was not a chest at the end

The Portal is just a weekly quest