Skills

Conjure Phantasm (Illusion Magic)
Hunter's Shot (Marksmenship)
Troll Unguent (Wilderness Survival)
Read The Wind (Marksmenship)
Ethereal Burden (Illusion)
Throw Dirt {E} (Expertise)
Epidemic (Unlinked)
Lighting Reflexes (Expertise)

Ressurection Signet to replace Ethereal Burden or Lightning Reflexes (Unlinked)

 

Gear

Head Armour: Level 20 Hunter's Mask (70AL +1 Marksmenship)
Torso Armour: Level 20 Drakescale Vest (70AL +30 All Elem, +15 Fire)
Arm Armour: Level 20 Hunter's Gloves (70AL +30 All Elem, +15 Piercing)
Foot Armour: Level 20 Hunter's Boots (70AL +30 All Elem, +15 Piercing)
Leg Armour: Level 20 Leather Leggings (80AL +20 All Elem)
Weapon: Your Choice of Bow

The Ranger/Mesmer combo seems to be becoming more and more popular... and for many reasons. For one, the Ranger packs around 25 Energy if he uses the right armour, so he can cast a few things in succession, which is helpful with the Mesmer secondary class. Also, because of the Mesmer class, there is a lot of room for creativity. Their skill-set has a wide variety of interesting attacks and other goodies. Not to be outdone, the Ranger himself is quite a versatile character to begin with. This allows for an array of possibilities. However, I am only going to speak about one of them... is it the best? Who knows. Do I like it? Yes, very much so (and that's what really matters).

To start, this build depends heavily on timing (as with most, I'm sure). Most of skills in this build are just 'ok' on their own, but they really come together when used with each other. I'll go into detail with each skill to better explain why I've chosen it for this build. Remember, this is only a foundation... if you think that another skill would work better... that's great. Remember I said before how this Ranger/Mesmer combo is becoming more popular? Well, that's true but I often see it played incorrectly (in my opinion). There is a lot of potential here and I have rarely seen it realized in battle.

Alright, before I get into this, I want to let everyone know that this build is somewhat 'untested'. See, I play a version of this build but, to be honest, I haven't actually seen all these skills in action together before on a Level 20 character. However, once I get a chance, I intend to replicate this build exactly and see if it works. I'm taking a few liberties in explaining this build and I might have to guess at a few things. However, on a whole, I don't see anything wrong with it.

First on our list of skills is the almighty Conjure Phantasm. I can't talk enough about this amazing skill. It has to be, by far, one of the best. You don't even have to have a line of sight for the skill to work and it can be used in just under a longbow's range. Seriously, Health Degeneration of 5 for 12 seconds (maxxed).. I love this skill and it's one of the staple skills in this build.

Next we have Hunter's Shot. I recently discovered this skill in the game and I was really impressed by it. I had been hoping to find a bow attack that had a low energy cost with a decent damage modifier. Hunter's Shot has all of the above and more. This skill is used in conjunction with Read The Wind to combine a devastating bow attack. Also, if you hit a moving target, this skill causes bleeding... which can be spread with the Epidemic skill. I was a firm believer in a Read The Wind/Dual Shot combo for a long time until I found this bad boy. For 10 Energy total (5+5), you can cause a lot of damage in a single shot (with Read the Wind & Hunter's Shot combined)

Troll Unguent... This can be swapped out with something if you really have to but it's good if you find yourself separated from your healer and you need some Regen. It takes a little long to cast but it can save your butt in some tight situations. I suggest that if you are under attack and can afford the energy cost, use Lightning Reflexes before Troll Unguent to avoid being hit as often...

Read the Wind. Another skill that I simply can't say enough about. I found this during the Pre-Ascalon area... I received it 'temporarily' but I just kept it... Anyway, this skill is amazing. It takes 2 seconds to prepare and it has a ridiculously low energy cost. I definitely recommend this skill to ANY Ranger using a bow, no matter what the build. Read the Wind serves as a jump off point for Hunter's Shot Or any other Bow Attack for that matter. Used on it's own, however, it is still useful if you are picking off an injured elementalist or even someone who's been recently resurrected. I consider it like a cheap multi-Power Shot.

Now is where we enter uncharted waters. All the skills I've covered so far I have used successfully in MANY combat situations. Literally, I could almost use those 4 skills exclusively and still have a competent build. In fact, up until Level 11, when you get kicked out of the Ascalon Arena, a Ranger/Mesmer with these skills alone and a decent bow is devastating.

However, now I'm adding, what I think, are awesome skills to compliment this character build. I have no experience with these skills yet, but I have faith that they are all winners for this particular build. First, I selected Ethereal Burden. I'm hoping that with a high Expertise level, the Ranger skills will go down a fair bit in energy cost, freeing up energy for skills such as this one. I consider this to be an 'investment' rather than a skill. First, it slows your enemies, leaving a fleeing foe in the cold for your allies or for your arrows. That's really where this build is good, a team situation. Most of the skills I've selected can be used to help either you, as an individual, or your entire team. Also, this skill gives you back all of the energy that it costs, but also 5 more (if Illusion is level 12, of course). My major problem with this skill is the 45 second recharge time. In a battle, 45 seconds is a LONG time to be waiting. This fact makes this skill and ideal candidate to remove if you want to bring along a Resurrection Signet (which I recommend).

The next skill I've chosen is a bit of a wild card but I think it really has potential. I'd throw in 'Throw Dirt'. This will be your character's single ELITE skill so it's a pretty big choice to make. Throw Dirt is a touch attack that blinds the foe (for 13 seconds if Expertise is at Level 13). That said... it's a touch attack. Closing the distance with this build is something you'll generally want to avoid but if you were to find yourself next to your team's Monk and a Warrior ran up to attack him, a 5 energy touch attack is something that could be very useful... especially if it Blinds the enemy. In addition to this, with the Epidemic skill, you should be able to spread the blindness to adjacent foes (should there be any). I'm not sure, but I really see a lot of use for this skill. The main downside, besides the fact that it's a touch attack, is the 45 second recharge time. I prefer to choose skills that I can use again quickly, but I make an exception on this one.

I've mentioned it a few times already but this next skill is really cool. Epidemic allows you to spread all negative conditions from an enemy to enemies that are nearby. Not only does this allow you to spread any conditions that YOU inflict, but also any conditions that your Necromancer or anyone for that matter has inflicted. It does cost 15 Energy to use but it has a pretty decent turn-around time at 15 seconds until it's recharged. 15 Energy is a lot of energy to be spending on something but I think this skill is worth it. Imagine if this skill could spread the Conjure Phantasm Hex? It would be mighty ridiculous.

Lastly, before I talk about the Resurrection Signet, we have Lightning Reflexes. This is a great skill to use for a number of reasons. For one, it gives you a 75% chance to avoid physical and arrow attacks AND allows you to attack 33% faster. The time allowance is a little short at 10 seconds for a Level 13 Expertise but such a high level of Expertise should also lower the casting cost. Now, some might argue that Escape is a more useful skill as it allows you to run faster and it has half the energy as well. I'd have to say that in some cases I definitely agree. However if you were to cast Read the Wind, Lightning Reflexes, and Hunter's Shot in succession, that's some fast attacking. If you find yourself desperate for some sort of 'Speed' skill, you could maybe add Illusion of Haste on the Mesmer side, but I'm not a fan of the skill as it Cripples you afterwards. Maybe once I properly and fully test this build, my opinion of Lightning Reflexes will change, but for now, I'll stick with it.

Finally we come to the Resurrection Signet. In a Player vs. Player environment, I don't really see an excuse to NOT have this skill. Even in PvE, for that matter. Unless you have total confidence that your Monk will NEVER die this is a useful skill. I realize I didn't officially fit it in to the build but I didn't want to make the choice for you as in which skill to remove. I personally suggest Ethereal Burden if anything. One reason I found this skill particularly useful is that with this build, you can find yourself the absolute last person alive. In this situation, you're entire existence is now dedicated to reviving the team Monk. I can't count the amount of times I was fighting in the arena and the Monk suddenly died and my team was failing. I resurrected the Monk, because everyone else was busy trying to stay alive, and we would sometimes go on to win the round with our healer back in place. Maybe you feel differently, but I stand by this signet 100%.

Before I go any further, I should discuss your gear. Basically, you're going to want the highest Minimum damage bow you can find. However, be aware that all styles of bows are different. I stand by the trust Longbow. It has a long range, a medium trajectory (it travels more directly, therefore slightly faster) and it has a fast reload time. You'll hear people talking about Half-Moon Bows and Short Bows and such but I really don't see why. They have a shorter range and reload only a HAIR faster. I prefer to have the farthest possible attack range, just be safe. That being said, the Flatbow is almost as fast as the Short Bow and Half-Moon and also has a long range. The only drawback is that it has a high trajectory, so the arrow travels a bit slower. However, if your enemy is below you and you can't see them very well, that may work to your advantage, where a lower trajectory bow would be obstructed. Overall, you decide what you want. In terms of armour, I've picked a mixed set for the Ranger. All spells target the torso by default so having the Drakescale, with +15 Fire Armour is a wise choice. Also, the +15 Piercing Armour Hunter's set is just to hinder enemy ranged attacks and such. The Hunter's Mask is a must, however. All other pieces are pretty much up for argument. The Hunter's Mask with +1 Marksmanship just makes sense. As for Runes, I would ideally recommend using a Minor Marksmanship Rune on the Mask, a Superior Vigor Rune on the Drakescale Vest, a Minor Expertise Rune on the Hunter's Gloves, a Major Expertise Rune on the Leather Leggings, and finally a Minor Marksmanship Rune on the Hunters Boots. This will give you the desired Attribute Levels. Switch up the order or whatever, it really doesn't matter, those were just examples. You can find the Rune Descriptions here.

Now I'd like to get into the bread and butter of how to actually USE this build. Picture this: the round starts, your team is sticking together and you just see the enemy team on the radar. Personally, I re-map my 'Target Nearest Enemy' key to Tab, so I can always select the person attacking me or whatever. I just use the 'F' key to cycle through the enemies visible. I do this first to see, at a glance, the kinds of characters that we're going to be up against. After playing one myself, I have come to respect the power of the Mesmer. Generally, I'll focus with my team on one person and then when things start to get messy, I single out any character with either a Mesmer or Monk in their build. As a Ranger, our bow attacks are actually quite quiet, so some players may not even know they're being attacked. Similarly, Conjure Phantasm is also quiet. I've killed characters who never took a glance at me just because they were, most likely, focused on something else. This is all just basic stuff, however. The real meat is the order in which you use your skills.

I like to start off with Read the Wind almost immediately. Not only does this give your bow that extra bit of attack power, it just serves to add a bit of rhythm to your game... and really, the Energy Cost is so low that if you only get off 2 or 3 basic attacks, you really haven't wasted anything. If I had Ethereal Burden in my list I'd pull that out first, before the enemy tank reached any of my team. This would slow him down in time to get off a Hunter's Shot while he's still moving, thus causing him to bleed. Now, if there were multiple warriors, you could cast Epidemic afterwards and spread the bleeding to nearby foes. By the time you've cast Epidemic, if you've had to, Ethereal Burden should have worn off, giving you a boost of useable energy. I'd immediately cast Conjure Phantasm and then Read the Wind, followed by a Hunter's Shot. If the Tank isn't dead (remember, you have team- mates that are attacking him as well, right?) then I'd probably cast another Phantasm and, all this time, be attack with my bow, from a safe distance.

Throughout the entire round, as a support character, you should be keeping an eye on the other enemy players as well. Use your own discretion if you see another character who's up to something. Don't hesitate to even just cast a Phantasm on them to keep them in check. Always, always, always be aware of your team though. Consider yourself the Babysitter of the group. Everyone else is pretty stuck with what they can and can't do. However, with this build, you are a mobile attack force. You can instantly switch targets and begin defending your Casters if they're busy with something else. The bow offers a lot of versatility in a sense that, unlike a Warrior who has to run up to their enemy, you can easily turn and attack with a few keystrokes. Another good tip is to avoid attacking the 'Pets' unless they are really causing significant damage or problems. I've had whole rounds where a wolf just attacked me and I totally ignored it. Take a live enemy over a pet ALWAYS.

There will be times when you are faced with odd situations, however, that you, with this build, are equipped to handle. If you find yourself the target of a pesky and determined Warrior... just run. Maybe use a Throw Dirt and run to his team-mates and cast Epidemic. Similarly, if he is constantly chasing you... let him. If you can occupy that Warrior's time while the rest of your team handles whoever else there is, then you are still helping. If you find yourself the target of an enemy Ranger, Conjure Phantasm is a quick way to make them question they're dedication. If you can force them to heal, you have them on the defensive. A Ranger using Troll Unguent is a nice target for a quick Read the Wind/Hunter's Shot. You're not going to be a devastating force out there on the battlefield; that's not what this character is designed for (except in the earlier game). You are a valuable support character who has an array of skills to deploy creatively. Your job is to do whatever it takes to win.

I've had a lot of fun playing what I can of this build and I imagine that once I can fully try out this character, I'll have a lot more fun as well. I really believe that this Ranger/Mesmer is a great way to play and also to learn some of the intricacies of PvP and even PvE combat while still being useful out there. Don't forget that this character build is not without its weaknesses as well. A Warrior who cripples or slows you can really bring a painful end to your time. Similarly, Conjure Phantasm works both ways and health drain from poison or otherwise is a real threat. I've tried to make this build as not reliant on any kind of enchantments to avoid being caught in the cold. The biggest thing is to watch your Energy. Without it, you're just a man with a bow.

Remember, this is just one of a huge possibility of character builds out there. Don't ever be afraid to try new things out and swap in and out skills. Try to always anticipate the possibilities of any round. Consider both strengths and weaknesses of everything.