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My experience with the ranger class
masterjewstar
Member Posts: 563
Table of Content
PG 1-3 Intro to ranger skills strategy, and synergies
PG 4 PVP and co-operating with other class's skills & strategies
Pg 4-5(NEW) Nature ranger gameplay analysis strategies and synergies
Intro to Archer ranger
First off, let me say that I won't be showing too much math work (cause I usually suck at it) simply just my gameplay experience for the way I play; you can disagree with me if you like I'll still be playing this way even afterwords. I'm just trying to help newer players mostly, and who knows I might even be able to teach experienced players a thing or two. Anyway here we go.
I went with the archery feat tree not just for the capstone but because it complemented the way I played HR.
The encounters - I use most are hindering shot/strike constricting shot/steel breeze boar hide/boar charge
My dailies - forest ghost and disruptive shot
Features solo- Aspect of the lone wolf and Storm twin blades or Aspect of the serpent.
Features group - Aspect of the pack Aspect of the lone wolf
At wills - Split shot and rapid shot and occasionally aimed shot when fighting a boss. I will also use rapid strike and split strike to get fast weaker crits to bring down cool downs.
I recently have replaced rapid shot for electric shot.
Now an explanation of my play style.
I start off with split shot charged at least half way to weaken or kill the lesser mobs. (Maybe I'll fire another quick one if they are more numerous then five) I use the rapid shot for single target dmg and to probe for a higher crit rate, I'll fire hindering shot and then constricting shot on the mob that can hit me the hardest.
Hindering shot has three charges with a few second internal cool down and applies weak roots (hold them for around 15-20 feet of movement and starts holding them back) then I'll use constricting shot (constricting shot is a multi interrupt every 3 seconds for 3 times and you can fire these in almost the same time frame) then I'll fire a disruptive shot on a spell caster getting ready to cast a long animation spell which stops him for a second long stun and makes him have to recast. (which btw has the same frames as the other two shots and only costs 25% ap which allows one full ap bar to accommodate 4 shots)
Added to post.
When you use a root skill it will replace any roots currently on it so if they have moved since the last root it will now root them in their new location.
This series of encounters and disruptive shot equals up to 4 shots in almost 1-2 seconds each with a different effect.
(also as a side note disruptive and constricting shots will also stop an enemy from chugging a potion and disruptive shot can push you backwards about 5' out of range of aoes as well.
When the melee's get to me I switch to melee stance and use Boar Rush at the hardest hitting melee so he's prone it moves you about 10' towards the enemy. Then while he's down I'll use Hindering Strike to apply strong roots to anyone around me in a 10'; (strong roots will allow around 5-10 feet before pulling them backwards) then I'll immediately use steel breeze to hit anyone rooted again; which will also boost my stamina for more dodging. Range is about 15-20'.
By now the 9 second cool down on disruptive shot is over with; (depending on wether I've crit enough or not) and I tend to go back to range and repeat because the cool downs on those skills have finished.
Boars hide is also mixed in there or you can use it before a fight, as it only takes a second to use and it's useful if surrounded and if your in a party for a small bonus in mitigation; which can help the cleric defend the party. It also gives a 6% boost to ap on cast for two targets effected not sure on if it gains more if with party. It has 5 stacks that weaken after each hit.
When nature and feated boar hide will allow 5-10 stacks instead of just 5 and if capstoned it will give all allies 20% mitigation as long as it's fully stacked. Archer and melee specs only give 1% mitigation per stack nature give 2% per stack.
Now you might wonder why I haven't included forest ghost. It is situational because if you've gained too much aggro you can use this to drop almost all of it after a 2 sec animation and has a cool down of 30 seconds and deals a decent amount of damage to anyone you touch. It also renders collusion useless so you can move through whoever you like. It allows you to move faster, continue firing, doing melee, or whatever you want without too much aggro.
I've also heard that it negates targeting attacks i.e. ice knife. (unconfirmed and I don't believe it but it could be true)
While in a group since there are usually more squishies than tanks, boars charge can save someone from being hit or killed due to the prone but be warned, it can miss even if you touch the enemy with it due to a bug.
As for split shot you can use it once, shift then use it again same with the other moves, but you can use the shift to change the angle of fire and rate of fire for split shot 75 degree which is useful you can also use split shot fully charged to make it a 25 degree aoe for higher damage and smaller aoe and doing this does roughly half of the damage of an aimed shot; with the added ability to fire early then move or dodge after firing it.
As for the dodge you have to time it exactly before you get hit or you'll still get hit. You can use it for defense or offense. (i.e change the angle because an enemy near you can possibly screw your shot up)
As for how I distance myself from my enemies I don't worry too much about it, because I'm not afraid to be hit by weak attacks. I only move away from the heavy ones and I'm mainly midrange because it suits me and it helps the cleric and tank make sure I don't die.
passives explanation
Aspect of the pack- Because it gives combat advantage to you and your allies if an ally is near. Combat advantage can increase damage by a goodly amount this is good if you are with another HR or CW in the back with ranged aspect; or a GF, TR, or GWF in the front through melee aspect.
Aspect of the lone wolf - The 25% damage mitigation is amazing if you're being attacked by mages or archers the percentage is lessened by 5% based on how many enemies are near you per level this range is reduced by 5%; which means if no one is close it is a 25% DR additive to your normal DR which also stacks with boars hide and oak skin, but if 5 or more of them surround you, it doesn't work until you kill some of them or someone takes em off you.
Storm twin blades - Its great for split shot and strike, hindering strike, clear the ground, binding arrow, rain of arrows/rain of blades, steel breeze, or split the sky, due to hitting more than 1 person 12% at level 3 more damage melee or ranged doesn't matter and you must hit more than 1 at a time for this feature to do anything.
I don't use aspect of the falcon because split shot can get you killed if there are other groups of enemies near the one you're fighting and once the enemies get closer past the 9' which they tend to do, this feature does nothing.
Using this style won't get you millions of damage but it is a good, fast, and very useful type of style for me and anyone with me.
Feel free to comment.
PG 1-3 Intro to ranger skills strategy, and synergies
PG 4 PVP and co-operating with other class's skills & strategies
Pg 4-5(NEW) Nature ranger gameplay analysis strategies and synergies
Intro to Archer ranger
First off, let me say that I won't be showing too much math work (cause I usually suck at it) simply just my gameplay experience for the way I play; you can disagree with me if you like I'll still be playing this way even afterwords. I'm just trying to help newer players mostly, and who knows I might even be able to teach experienced players a thing or two. Anyway here we go.
I went with the archery feat tree not just for the capstone but because it complemented the way I played HR.
The encounters - I use most are hindering shot/strike constricting shot/steel breeze boar hide/boar charge
My dailies - forest ghost and disruptive shot
Features solo- Aspect of the lone wolf and Storm twin blades or Aspect of the serpent.
Features group - Aspect of the pack Aspect of the lone wolf
At wills - Split shot and rapid shot and occasionally aimed shot when fighting a boss. I will also use rapid strike and split strike to get fast weaker crits to bring down cool downs.
I recently have replaced rapid shot for electric shot.
Now an explanation of my play style.
I start off with split shot charged at least half way to weaken or kill the lesser mobs. (Maybe I'll fire another quick one if they are more numerous then five) I use the rapid shot for single target dmg and to probe for a higher crit rate, I'll fire hindering shot and then constricting shot on the mob that can hit me the hardest.
Hindering shot has three charges with a few second internal cool down and applies weak roots (hold them for around 15-20 feet of movement and starts holding them back) then I'll use constricting shot (constricting shot is a multi interrupt every 3 seconds for 3 times and you can fire these in almost the same time frame) then I'll fire a disruptive shot on a spell caster getting ready to cast a long animation spell which stops him for a second long stun and makes him have to recast. (which btw has the same frames as the other two shots and only costs 25% ap which allows one full ap bar to accommodate 4 shots)
Added to post.
When you use a root skill it will replace any roots currently on it so if they have moved since the last root it will now root them in their new location.
This series of encounters and disruptive shot equals up to 4 shots in almost 1-2 seconds each with a different effect.
(also as a side note disruptive and constricting shots will also stop an enemy from chugging a potion and disruptive shot can push you backwards about 5' out of range of aoes as well.
When the melee's get to me I switch to melee stance and use Boar Rush at the hardest hitting melee so he's prone it moves you about 10' towards the enemy. Then while he's down I'll use Hindering Strike to apply strong roots to anyone around me in a 10'; (strong roots will allow around 5-10 feet before pulling them backwards) then I'll immediately use steel breeze to hit anyone rooted again; which will also boost my stamina for more dodging. Range is about 15-20'.
By now the 9 second cool down on disruptive shot is over with; (depending on wether I've crit enough or not) and I tend to go back to range and repeat because the cool downs on those skills have finished.
Boars hide is also mixed in there or you can use it before a fight, as it only takes a second to use and it's useful if surrounded and if your in a party for a small bonus in mitigation; which can help the cleric defend the party. It also gives a 6% boost to ap on cast for two targets effected not sure on if it gains more if with party. It has 5 stacks that weaken after each hit.
When nature and feated boar hide will allow 5-10 stacks instead of just 5 and if capstoned it will give all allies 20% mitigation as long as it's fully stacked. Archer and melee specs only give 1% mitigation per stack nature give 2% per stack.
Now you might wonder why I haven't included forest ghost. It is situational because if you've gained too much aggro you can use this to drop almost all of it after a 2 sec animation and has a cool down of 30 seconds and deals a decent amount of damage to anyone you touch. It also renders collusion useless so you can move through whoever you like. It allows you to move faster, continue firing, doing melee, or whatever you want without too much aggro.
I've also heard that it negates targeting attacks i.e. ice knife. (unconfirmed and I don't believe it but it could be true)
While in a group since there are usually more squishies than tanks, boars charge can save someone from being hit or killed due to the prone but be warned, it can miss even if you touch the enemy with it due to a bug.
As for split shot you can use it once, shift then use it again same with the other moves, but you can use the shift to change the angle of fire and rate of fire for split shot 75 degree which is useful you can also use split shot fully charged to make it a 25 degree aoe for higher damage and smaller aoe and doing this does roughly half of the damage of an aimed shot; with the added ability to fire early then move or dodge after firing it.
As for the dodge you have to time it exactly before you get hit or you'll still get hit. You can use it for defense or offense. (i.e change the angle because an enemy near you can possibly screw your shot up)
As for how I distance myself from my enemies I don't worry too much about it, because I'm not afraid to be hit by weak attacks. I only move away from the heavy ones and I'm mainly midrange because it suits me and it helps the cleric and tank make sure I don't die.
passives explanation
Aspect of the pack- Because it gives combat advantage to you and your allies if an ally is near. Combat advantage can increase damage by a goodly amount this is good if you are with another HR or CW in the back with ranged aspect; or a GF, TR, or GWF in the front through melee aspect.
Aspect of the lone wolf - The 25% damage mitigation is amazing if you're being attacked by mages or archers the percentage is lessened by 5% based on how many enemies are near you per level this range is reduced by 5%; which means if no one is close it is a 25% DR additive to your normal DR which also stacks with boars hide and oak skin, but if 5 or more of them surround you, it doesn't work until you kill some of them or someone takes em off you.
Storm twin blades - Its great for split shot and strike, hindering strike, clear the ground, binding arrow, rain of arrows/rain of blades, steel breeze, or split the sky, due to hitting more than 1 person 12% at level 3 more damage melee or ranged doesn't matter and you must hit more than 1 at a time for this feature to do anything.
I don't use aspect of the falcon because split shot can get you killed if there are other groups of enemies near the one you're fighting and once the enemies get closer past the 9' which they tend to do, this feature does nothing.
Using this style won't get you millions of damage but it is a good, fast, and very useful type of style for me and anyone with me.
Feel free to comment.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
I've tried out hawkshot some more and I'm not impressed by it at all. It does at max range on a crit about the same as a non-crit aimed shot, (which incidentally is the same as fully charged split-shot crit) and takes half as long to fire it as a maxed aimed shot. It does the most pitiful damage if they are close which is sometimes an issue which makes it mostly an opener or a boss fighter. Then the 19 or so second cool down takes even longer than any other ability that I stated above except boars charge which is pretty close in CD.
Granted, aimed and hawkshot respectively are good if you aren't attacked which isn't often. If you use split shot or literally anything else that hits in an aoe, and hitting anything over 10k can get you a goodly amount of aggro as well, then you'll be running away unable to really defend yourself as your stamina meter drains; I've seen it more often than not with some other rangers I have played with.
Hawk-eye was ok though and it did increase damage (not too much but enough that its at least noticeable) I can see hawkshot critting off of MOA often because it has almost the same CD, however.
Suffice it to say I like hawkshot better than aimed shot, but only barely and only because damage doesn't interrupt it. I can at least match the damage of hawkshot at max range with rapid shot at the same timeframe of hawk shots charge; at any range the damage is just not all at once and they may not all crit.
I'd still rather go with my set up because it hits much faster and more numerously and the effects of each attack is better than just pure damage IMO.
If you must snipe aimed shot and hawk shot are very good, otherwise not so much.
This has been rectified.
Oakskin
It's actually really good and I can live with it because weaker hits are healed almost immediately paired with life steal and regen; lasts for 1 tick per second for 9 seconds (it heals me 157 per tick because of the 12% heal off the feat didn't max it just thought it would come in handy and it does). "it gives a boost to defenses" Whatever that means, (Cryptic's tooltips are always cryptic) either DR, defense or mitigation, and it doesn't show on the character sheet so I can't be sure. Basically its like a weaker but portable astral shield. It also stacks with pretty much any mitigation effect.
For instance, most dread legion area enemies can't even hurt me really, even if I let them. (I had 1 close call because I dodged and boars charge missed again then bumped into more of em) So I could even face tank them, provided I don't let them hit me too much. 17 second cool down with 677 recovery.
Because Oak Skin and Boars Hide are melee and ranged respectively; it can be slightly harder to double buff. But I think any stacked percentage of mitigation is better than no mitigation at all.
When feated it has a 2 second down time.
Binding Arrow
Binding arrow applies strong roots and is as good in damage and is as fast as the others like it, except I can't usually get the roots for the other enemies even though they're 10 feet apart one in front of the other. (it doesn't work for me for some reason only the thing hit gets the roots and that's only sometimes) The 21 second cool down on this power makes it slightly less appealing to me because i like to hit fast. (I also only have it for lv 2; if its better at three I'll never know until and if I respec)
All in all decent I haven't tried it in a dungeon yet, but I might if its necessary or its low gs and I feel like messing around.
Rain of Arrows/Rain of Blades and Aimed Strike
Not a single target attack, but yes it helps with that as well. Its basically a dot as long as an enemy is in the aoe (which is small). But the damage gains can be good if you hit with at least most of them; (which incidentally on enemies like spell casters and rows of archers who generally don't move; this move is great if you aim it right) and dots on crit, can crit for the whole duration which is helpful especially with MOA. CD of rain of arrows is roughly 14 secs for 10 ticks in about 9 seconds. That's only around 3 seconds of downtime provided you don't crit. (but again I don't really use it too much because if theres no one on it to hit, it does nothing but waste time).
I also learned that Rain of Blades hits about 15-20' in cone in front of where your ranger is facing not where you are targeting despite the way it looks, so trying to move back, left, or right while using this makes it miss and attacks where the new facing is. (it might be a bug it might not) meaning that you can hit the back row enemies and those in front row decently 1st hit and it will bleed them for low damage for about 9 seconds. Damage is probably slightly higher for melee spec.
Also Aimed strike, Thorn ward, Rain of blades, and Rain of arrows can work together, and is actually fairly amazing; if they crit together and it stacks all three at the same time as they are from different sources: all crit hits will crit through out. (which incidentally isn't op because clerics, CWs and TRs can stack dots too; and this takes some doing with the HR)
Aimed strike will move up-to 20' to your target and hits all in 3'. The 1st hit hits slightly less and applies a slightly stronger-than-initial damage bleed dot that lasts for 7 ticks. So those enemies that are inside singularity, or are gathered through entangling force or the new flame daily, you can hit a good number of them if not all within it.
You only have to use it once if it crits, and using it again will re-roll it. You can also use the dash with it to get out of aoe damage and apply the stacks to enemies that you weren't targeting before such as hit a golem with it then as he winds up his aoe you can shift past him use aimed strike to jump out of it and bleed his wizard friend or what have you.
The only thing that isn't good about rain of blades is that it also misses about half the time; see where I'm going with that? Many of the attacks that should hit; don't due to bugs; which I hope get fixed soon because I love this class, it means a lot to me that everyone can enjoy this class which many do, many don't.
And I will get to the rest of skills and how to use them to your advantage and will be updating all my posts as time and unlazyness allow and will also use some forum tools later in the future to make it more pleasing to the eye.
Feel free to comment or add your own experiences with HR as it will help the community to understand our class more; and then we can be fully accepted game wide. (I noticed a lot of people are used to just the CW; and any light shed on this class is a good thing, since once all the problems are fixed,
(and I'm sure they will be) people will want them in party even more.
Even just doing this thread has actually taught me a lot about the class.
If any math-o'philes want to chime in on anything seen here I don't mind.
Just don't flame thanks.
Thorn ward is an interesting move and it can hit pretty well at least 10 times over 10 seconds (maybe more I'm eyeballing it) on the same target. If the main target moves out of the 25' aoe it switches targets to another random enemy still in the aoe. Cool down time is 21 seconds and with the 10 second dot; downtime is basically 11 seconds. Any enemy hit also suffers a "slight defense debuff" as well.
This power may be broken right now because the tooltip states "enemies", but this could also be due to bad tool tipping or understanding of the term see above; and could be working as intended. This can also coincide with MOA pretty well also, as the cool down difference is just 1 second.
Added to post.
A small strategy I can see using is using thorn ward on or around astral shield to damage anyone trying to stop an ally from benefiting or to stop the healing from an enemies' casting of it. It can be used with smoke bomb; allied or enemy to add a damaging aspect to it allowing you to add damage to an ally's casting or to keep an enemy TR from staying in their's too long which will stop them from stealthing. With these two skills thusly making a purely defensive ability also do damage. It can also be used with icy terrain to increase damage to at least one target.
Thorn strike isn't very strong at all; it is fast however and can hit almost decently on a crit. It deals additional damage based on how full target life is which is vague at best. Is it how full the life bar is when you hit it? (i.e. at full life=full damage or less life=better damage). I think its full life=full damage but even then the damage is very negligible, and it has no added effects other than this.
It has a 13-14 second cool down which is nice; Its also fairly inaccurate as to who you will hit with it when surrounded; or if theres someone else in the reticule you might end up wasting it on a mage or archer that's far away, instead of that ogre thats trying to smash in your face. But again another move that I don't like, but others might.
I do like thorn ward and I'm sure that theres a good use from thorn strike somewhere just can't fathom what that would be other than the fact that, if your gonna use thorn ward then you might as well use the strike also.
It could be better in melee tree but from the damage i see; it wouldn't do that much to benefit from it. It has roughly the same damage as rapid shot and strike but with only one attack. If it added roots I wouldn't mind the damage of it or if it had an additional mechanic like % of damage returned, or something like the fey thorns do in fey wild.
I'll eventually get to more testing to fine tune everything i can into their own strategies with different combos gameplay wise.
Marauders escape is an excellent move for those hit and run tactics switching from melee to ranged. It also gives roughly 12% ap In-battle-only, and does no damage at all and is purely a utility/mobility power; and will move you backwards in the opposite direction of where your reticule is pointing and will not work while jumping. It's not absolutely necessary, but it can usually be useful.
(On release of the ranger I don't know if this is current; but I noticed that escape can cause mobs to suddenly forget where you are with ?'s over their heads for about a moment.)
Marauders Rush is also an excellent move as it can damage and close distances to a target quickly; to allow for more melee and when you're done doing melee, you can just switch and escape when it becomes available. It does almost as much damage as boar charge and possibly more under the right circumstances. However, like boars charge it charges toward an enemy. Using this during an enemies self targeted or cone-from-the-front aoe attack can quickly become a death sentence so use it at your own risk.
These two moves have the same (but different) cool down; which is around 15 seconds each so once one goes down and the others come up you can time it to have same up-time as many of your other attacks coming off of cool down and at the same time switching ranged and melee while also switching your position and range from the enemy as you see fit. (which on paper sounds easy but in practice it's slightly harder to achieve you just have to practice it)
I like these moves as their uses are almost limitless, regardless of how you play just so long as they are used intelligently and without messing up which can happen to anyone.
Anyways~
Electric shot/Electric strike -
Plenty of people dismiss this as it's a slower shot than rapid shot, as well as does lower damage. On the ranged side it's a faster hit than a tap split shot as well as it's own AoE that will hit clusters. It disrupts those who attempt aim shots and can be held down to chain aoe. It probably would get more credit if split shot wasn't as good as it is. That said, it's still a decent tool and to avoid the AoE of split shot hitting too wide and pulling other groups, it could be useful. This is a steady attack and should be given a chance by everyone, before dismissing it, imho.
Clear the ground -
This is an AoE melee. It does point blank AoE for decent damage. This counts as melee, so any feats that proc off melee helps with this. A potent tool with bladestorm that does proc very often with it. This is also a good skill that can disrupt the flow of others. It will quickly tear through a GF's shield, it makes most classes start to panic as the damage doesn't have the high numbers, but does stack up quick. I believe the speed of strikes is slightly faster than sly flourish, but would need to test that with a TR to verify for sure. When used with combat spec, it can push that damage higher, making for a very scary hit, that will clear minions as well as rip into the crowd in PVP melee.
Hope it helps adding to the info.
It will get better and as many can attest; the class and the new mod have bugs and these bugs will eventually be cleared out and more will likely be added as new content comes in and will be taken care of; just have faith and patience. You also can't just see the class as just pvp (which I am assuming you are because I do just fine in pve) as we also have many tools in our belt to handle many situations in pve as well. Every class has to go through this period I've seen it with all of them.
The HR has been here barely 2 weeks hardly enough time to consider it "the worst class".
^ shadow
As I was leveling it seemed weak and slower than rapid. But as I said it could just be the balancing act and ES could get some love in the future. Thanks for the post it does help.
"It's still a decent tool and to avoid the AoE of split shot hitting too wide and pulling other groups, it could be useful. This is a steady attack and should be given a chance by everyone, before dismissing it, imho." I hadn't even considered that; as a matter of fact that makes it slightly better in my eyes good job.
Who knows, after I test it more I might even love it more than rapid.
Clear the ground is a very good move and can be a good enough reason to slot electric shot in and of itself.
Added to post.
After using ES/clear for a day I've learned to like it so much more than rapid shot/strike you've got to time your next attack or dodge with when ES actually deals damage any sooner and you might just waste the ES which isn't a total loss because the damage is low.
I like ES because I can alternate between split shot and ES; and both do aoe so I can cover that in ranged while still doing decent single target damage using encounters with the way I'm set up.
I also plan on combining knowledge together on a new forum thread and have a moderator delete everything after compiling the info and will credit as much as I can but this is in the future..
As for clear the ground not being connected to split shot; you can connect them and split strike visually can mess with others perception of your actual position can hit quickly in an aoe around the target and can coincide with other moves the ranger has which I feel is the best way to play it.
Added to post.
You can also use split strike to attack safely through an enemy aoe red zone. Clear the ground is also pretty great in mad dragon for keeping imps off of the cleric/cw.
My understanding of this ability is limited at the moment but I'll explain its uses as best I can.
Commanding Shot is a charge ability that has a charge time of about 2 seconds, and applies a debuff on DR it has a loud sound cue and can be heard as its fired. (unsure as to how far the sound can be heard by other players) This ability can be used to bring down the defense of someone who is well armored (think of this as your armor sunderer.) I happen to use it for bosses because for a little while their defense is just meh making this a good move to use with any heavy attack skill or even weaker moves as it will just make them hit harder.
Added to post.
Commanding shot synergies well with CW's ray of enfeeblement, the feated conduit of ice and the CW's high vizier set or your own thorn ward; and if you have plague fire or terror weapon enchantment you can use this to further reduce DR; if some or all of these reductions are stacked on one person you can basically phase out the targets DR completely.
I wouldn't use a lot of charging moves together as this is a good way to be caught. As a ranger we have the unique ability to attack and move and evade many attacks while laying our own down, just not while charging. After all (get ready for the cliche') Legolas did very little actual aiming and was on the front firing as many shots as he could while maneuvering around dodging and pushing enemies back killing debatably more than any one else.
I feel that having maybe 2 charging attacks is at least manageable but as I said I hate charging attacks they leave you too vulnerable.
Stag heart This I have to say is a good team buff esp. if you are nature. For me at rank 2, it gives 1942 temp hp. Thats right this move at lv 3 can can also give 4% more t.hp which can aid clerics in keeping the party even more invincible due to deepstone blessing, holy resolve, the gwf's unstoppable, and divine shield. Literally anything that gives t.hp this will give them more, it can aid people who just soul forged back up, to allow them time to escape or heal.
It also has no duration meaning once cast; it won't go away until those t.hp are gone. It won't truly protect you from extreme damage but it will soften the blow.
On a feated nature build stag heart will also increase mitigation by 10%. This plus boar skin and oakskin all feated 40-50% mitigation.
forest meditation is also situational as many abilities of the hr are. for instance pvp this can be a good one to pick up because in a way its like the TR's impossible to catch when fully ranked however it shouldn't be used while fighting even though deflect and cc immunity; unless you're trying to make enemies waste encounters so they don't hit your party, it heals you for a decent amount over time this can be good when used in conjunction with a regen potion or cleric in or out of pvp.
Daily power. It allows the ranger to go into stealth mode. It's most distinct in the burst of grass that shows up where they were standing and they're not sitting down and meditating like in forest meditation. Note this ability only takes half of the AP bar, resulting in the ability to use other dailies too. Another thing that is possible to do is ghost step and immediately use forest meditation as the AP is drained steadily, instead of all at once.
Something to note is that currently ghost step synergizes very well with storm step. The daily has a rapid activation cycle when you attack anything while it is active, resulting in storm step going off often. If you're hitting multiple targets, this can result in up to 3 encounter uses, if they have a fast animation.
ghost step takes a second or two to cast you can use this to use aimed shot with less resistance as you can only be hit if they know where you are and even then; only certain non target abilities are able to hit you anyway.
we have another daily and encounter due to storm warden which will likely disappear when another paragon class i comes out. I didn't put points into (it doesn't seem like its useful to the way I play talking about the daily) If any one clarifies this you'll have my thanks and will get credit.
The encounter split the sky is a aoe defensive ability that attacks anyone who attacks you or your party and it can crit throughout duration. This is a supportive and defensive move that can cover a very wide area it can be used in pvp to protect and hold a point(synergies with thorn ward). It can also (snare) any one hit can be used to delay opponent even more.
Thanks for the help shadow.
The melee side of split the sky is called 'throw caution' which debuffs your defense I believe by 5/10/15% to increase damage output by.. err.. some number? I don't remember for sure. I have split the sky for dungeons (that I have yet to do on HR) but otherwise don't use it.
and I'm glad to help. V's guide is good for a general feel of stuff. I feel that this more single focus on an ability (or 2 or 3 heh) helps people get an idea of what they do as a contrast to a guide of 'do this, not that'.
Theres got to be some use for it otherwise they wouldn't put it in there there's got to be a use for this.
I have seen that many rangers suffer problems with the tr particularly stealth i was trying to think of weaknesses for the TR and I think I may have found a situation for es which may assist.
TR's when stealth is full don't receive any penalties to it however, once stealth is not at 100% it drains with time and damage, hitting them will stop their stealth from building for a brief moment until full again this can make it harder for them to reach you with stealth enhanced moves and if they do; they might not be able to use the encounter they really wanted to use. ES hits the ground of a target hit with the arrow and the aoe of ES increases with level not dmg which is why its low.
TRs sometimes use tanker members of the party in stealth to hide what they are doing. In such an occasion es/clear the ground may help because if a TR is near the tank or party member you can hit the party member and then the TR trying to use this strategy. Thorn ward can do this pretty well too I'm assuming.
Shadow what you said about the thread is exactly what I was shooting for. Posting builds based on someone else's build can be as informative as this thread for the various stats, but it can't teach what is possible for your class just what is useful for the build and rarely explains the outside gameplay nor does it always explain fully what your class is capable of outside the paradigm of the build.
Added to post.
In Archery spec I hit around 3-550 and crit about 7-900 with level 2 clear the ground.
Split strike hits around 6-800 and crits about 1-1.7k. Sometimes I hit 2500 but thats rare.
This is with a GS of 11.9k with lesser vorpal and balanced stats.
Apologies for taking so long.
I'll call it the 5 ranger monty.
I've been mulling it around my head all morning and can't sleep, lol i will get to it all eventually.
I was also trying to come up with a new name for the thread when its complete my experience with the ranger sounds flametastic and narrow minded (which is what i was on my first post) please pm me if any one comes up with a serious good name that fits better.
I'm not gonna call it the green hamster or other such names so dont bother if this is anyones intention.
Ha, looks like "Big V" already took Interview with a Hunter Ranger. Lol, oh well at least he credited you.
I was lucky and got to name the class forum, for the thread I'd go with something like:
Interview with a Hunter Ranger
and set it up so that each section is a question/answer thing about the different abilities, as possible.
On a side note, I'm picking up aimed shot now, so my main at-will should be ES/Aim, I'm also going to pick up twin blade storm, as it's very possible that storm step action is bugged and will be corrected so that forest ghost only causes it to tick once. I don't blame them for changing that as right now we are *the* most rapid use of encounter class. It doesn't match the balance. Thus if I don't get use to it, I won't be hurt by it being gone.
I apologize about not making this I've been busy catching my characters up. (of which I have 8) I'll get to the 5 ranger monty when I get back on track.
Yeah, if you get used to something like this and then when its gone it is frustrating and a lot of people more'n likely will whine about it and then call it a "nerf". I wouldn't get too used to it, but if its still there after like 2 months then I'd get used to it because then it's slightly more likely that it won't be changed.
Just because it's a small chance doesn't make it useless. Any chance to cause an effect for no other reason other than its lucky is better than no chance to cause it at all.
What you should be asking yourself instead: is 1% chance to inflict Weak Grasping Roots better than 1 point in ANY OTHER feat that you're giving up on?
Like I said though it's not entirely useless especially if you've already filled your feats and just want something a little extra. I wouldn't put 5 points in it unless I'm actually trying to root a lot with my ranger, which I'm not.
I did also ask myself that question and the answer for me was yes.
Personally I choose the healing buff from Nature over it.
Obsidian Oath - Warlock
A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
I don't worry too much about damage because damage is something that the HR is naturally good at regardless of build; granted nature is slightly weaker. That isn't to say I haven't feated my ranged damage to great heights.
I mainly like to keep my innate stats and stats from equipment balanced so I don't end up dead after a few hits; it actually takes a bit to take me down. I don't have anything below 1k besides regen and recovery, I didn't make my ranger to be a glass cannon and I don't plan to.
Granted, I wouldn't mind respecing now that I know more about the HR, but that's a while away because I'm broke as a joke.
I revamped some of the skill lists and highlighted them in green for easier info gathering.
Newly added info will be in blue for a week and then reverted to white after; or will have "added to post" above it if it is long enough.