a bunny guide to the Hunter Ranger

http://laggygamerz.com/forum/index.php?/topic/454-bunny-guide-to-the-hunter-ranger/


1.1 Introduction

`I am constantly being asked “what is your build” or “can you help me” so in M3 I started playing around writing a HR guide. This is the culmination of my efforts. This is more of a guide rather then a build. I would like to go in depth into a PvP build but unfortunately as much as I like PvP I'm much better at PvE.

Hunter Ranger is probably the most versatile and hardest class to play to date. Area of Effect, Buff, Control, Heal, Melee, Ranged, Single Target, and combinations of all of them. The heals are not great but they are there, the buffs are easy enough to keep up. The hard part is knowing when to switch from stance to stance. You have 3 encounters you can not see the timer for, so you have to keep mental track of them along with your 3 visible encounters. HR has twenty-two encounters vs eleven for everyone else, also eight At-Wills as compared to four. The major difference between Storm Warden and Pathfinder is Storm Warden has better AoE Capabilities while the Pathfinder is more Single Target and Support oriented.
So many choices are available. Learning to be versatile is as important as learning your basic setup that you use for PvE or PvP. 'If it works for PvP it will work for PvE' to quote a friend of mine. This guide is more to help familiarize you with the capabilities of the HR class rather then a 'This is the one and only HR build for you'.
HR is hard to play well but easy to play. I think that is why there are so many 'bad' HR's out there. It is very easy to 'jump the gun' and grab aggro and not know what to do, panic and start kiting like an archer in other games. While your best bet is to switch stances and tank the mobs you just aggroed. You have good melee capabilities as well as ranged capabilities. I personally started out as an Archery build because that is what I was familiar with from other games. I have since gotten good at my combat build.
from my experience if you talk to 10 HR you will get 10 different set ups or builds every one plays differently everyone should be comfortable with how they play not how I play


1.2 Which Paragon and Path Should I Take

Are you interested in PvE or PvP, AoE or Single Target, Damage or Survivablity, High Crit Chance or consistent DPS, Control or Buff, Ranged or Melee or Both. You have 30 levels to play before the big decision "Which Paragon do I want to take Storm Warden or Path Finder?"
By level 30 i would hope you know it you like PvE or PvP or both. As far as AoE is concerned the major difference is SW has access to [Split the Sky][Throw Caution] while PF gets [Ambush][Bear Trap] the rest of the Encounter AoEs are Shared the subtle difference is in the Storm Warden Class Features [Blade Storm][Twin Blade Storm] either proc an AoE or increase damage because of AoE damage while the Path Finder Class Features Self and Party buff off a single target. Because of the focus on AoE and Single Target i believe the Storm Warden is better at PvE and the Path Finder at PvP. though both can do well at either i just think the y were designed to excel at PvE for Storm Warden ant PvP for Path Finder
While Archery does more Damage then Combatant because of massively reduced ranged cool downs, Crit chance and Severity increases. the Combatant on the other hand trades some peak damage for survivability heading into the thick of combat and using Life Steal and [Wilds Medicine] to stay alive. while the Trapper also trades off peak damage and massive cool down reductions they gain consistent damage, reduced cool downs in both stances, and Action Point Gain, along with Control bonus.

1.2.1 How I got to 60

Leveling up to 30 and paragon path is the same. unlocking Powers as you level and getting use to how they work play around get use to them become fluent in trading out powers as the situation demands [Rapid Shot][Split Shot][Marauder's Escape][Hindering Shot][Rain of Arrows][Thorn Ward][Constricting Arrow][Seismic Shot][Forest Ghost][Forest Meditation][Aspect of the Falcon][Aspect of the Lone Wolf][Aspect of the Pack] yes these are low level skills but you will be using them for a long time to com e . HR are meant to be versatile so be versatile or at least get very good in your niche.

Storm Warden is the AoE controller while Path Finder is the single target support.

honestly i do not even remember leveling my Storm Warden from 30 - 60. though i remember using Split the sky and split shot (eshot was way under powerd at the time) hawk shot binding arrow and commanding shot

As Path Finder after 30 I bogged down. I started using Teamwork as an opener and pulling mobs with it instead of split at that point lots of things started falling into place. Pull dps while closing using teamwork switching stance to melee Rain of Swords Thorns and Bear Trap til Fox Shift unlocked. Things got real smooth at that point.


1.3 MAP AWARENESS

You should keep map awareness at all times. Note until M4 (Mod 4) aggro used distance from target to calculate aggro where the farther away you are the more aggro you generated. So HR grabbed an inordinate amount of aggro in accordance to damage. This was unknown until the patch notes for M4 were released. It is pointless to grab aggro and drag mobs all over the map. You are not doing any damage and you are making it impossible for your team to do damage or even try and pull aggro off of you. ONLY resort to kiting if you are the last man standing and your team can get into the fight. Frozen Heart first 2 bosses for example. Or Idris in Throne of Idris, you can solo Idris in T1's if you get a way from the zombie hulks. Even with the [Sniper's Aim] feat or [Hunting Hawk] pet even at partial range you still get a bonus it just scales with distance from target. The [Hunting Hawk] is useful in active companion slot as you get at rank 25 “Damage bonus increases as the range increases with a maximum of +7% damage at 100'” at 30 this is a 10% bonus you are limited to 89' with [Aspect of the Falcon] BUT you break that barrier with [Hawk Shot] on targets moving away from you. I have used this in PvP to kill players trying to escape combat for example GWF sprinting away or Mounted Targets. I currently have a petition in to change [Hawk Shot] so it is always linked to the HR so we will get the kill/assist instead of just a death for the opposing player.