Best build/strategies for Rangers in RA?

[Gabriel Kimura]

Title says it all, I have Prophecies and Factions right now. I've been using cripshot with Storm Chaser thrown in to get me around to the shrines... I tried epidemic, and it was super effective against MM mobs, but most of the time it was pretty useless.

Help!

Nathan

Oh, is there a guide to AB for rangers anywhere?

[IcyFiftyFive]

Your title is a little misleading >_>

but yea, pretty much the standard bar...

[Optional][Distracting Shot][Savage Shot][Apply Poison][Troll Unguent][Mending touch][Natural Stride][Optional]

First optional should pretty much be something like [Burning Arrow] [Crippling Shot] [Broad head arrow] and possibly [Magebane Shot]

The latter optional slot can pretty much be anything you want...

[zelgadissan]

Icy's pretty much got you covered infowise, just thought I'd pass along an RA build thread - not really the guide you're wanting but surely helpful. I'm personally a fan of [Burning Arrow].

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10172048&page=31

[Keekles]

Burning arrow and Magebane are Nightfall skills, and he only has Prophecies and Factions.

Natural stride is also nightfall.

The basic template he gave is probably the best choice. You could swap mending touch for antidote signet, since Mending touch is also a nightfall skill.

[crippling shot][distracting shot][savage shot][apply poison][antidote signet][troll unguent]

[Infectious]

Wanna play a ranger good? Buy Nightfall.....
First poster had it bang on, nothing more needs to be said, anything less is alot less useful.
Although in RA one of those slots should be [resurrection signet]

[Gift3d]

Talentlessly spam 3-4 interrupts over and over at your target, and when you're lucky enough to catch a spell by chance proceed to harass them and call them a n00b.

[Krill]

For AB I run this:

[build=OgMU8mLjzcOHmHzve2kXVN+mEDA]

Cripshot is win in AB. Hunter's Shot is optional but I love it since it was changed to 1s activation.

Guide to playing ranger in AB? (from Kurz side)

Kaanai Canyon: If you spawn on one of the rez shrines, help your team defend the 3 bridge shrines if they are not mobbed strait away. If you team pushes into base snare people as they come down the stairs or come in through the gates.

Etnaran Keys: Try to take your team out the left portal to the ele shrine. After taking the shrine, try to defend it from the first group of luxons if they are weak and rush in. You can also do this from the warrior shrine but the warriors are not as strong as the eles to back you up. If you feel confident your team can cap the next shrines hang around the attack point and snare people, trying to slow down those caps and meet back with your team when they come around to the center rez shrine. If your team is holding most of the shrines hang around the rez orb and snare luxons as they spawn out the front door and necro shrine portal.

Saltspray Beach: This map sucks and usually turns into giant mobs moving back and forth on the bridge. Be on the look out for small groups that break off and try to cap the low ranger shrines and high rit shrines and tactically defend those shrines from small groups.

Grenz Frontier: Spawn middle and rush out to the rez shrine. Cripple / poison / bleed as many people as you can from the overlooking cliff and defend the rez shrine if one group rushes it. Once your team controls most of the shrines spawn camp like crazy to defend the ele shrine and attack point.

The Ancestral Lands: Spawn out the left portal and rush up to the mesmer rez shrine, cap the bridge shrines and then tactically defend the bridge shrines if they are not being mobbed. If it turns into a landslide with you holding the rez shrines spawn camp and don't let them cap at all.

Playing with a good warrior or sin ganker on cripshot is a perfect combo for ganking weak targets and small groups trying to speed cap. Since a cripshot ranger cannot solo cap shrines very fast (or at all on some), it's important that you have a good understanding what's going on in the map using the minimap and radar to pick off targets, snare, and move around to the right places. Never be afraid to tactically defend shrines to slow down groups capping. Interrupt the ele bombing the shrine, snare the melee and then escape when the npc's go down.

[IcyFiftyFive]

Wanna play a ranger good? Buy Nightfall.....
First poster had it bang on, nothing more needs to be said, anything less is alot less useful.
Although in RA one of those slots should be [resurrection signet]

Alliance Battles != RA :ninja:

[distilledwill]

People swear by [[Crippling Shot], but Ive always enjoyed [[BHA] in AB. You can't get to [[Mending Touch] as you've not got NF, but [[Antidote Signet] is just fine.

So:
[Broad Head Arrow][Distracting Shot][Savage Shot][Apply Poison][Lightning Reflexes][Troll Unguent][Antidote Signet][Storm Chaser]

Stick [[Pin Down] in for Storm Chaser if you'd like.

[IcyFiftyFive]

People swear by [[Crippling Shot], but Ive always enjoyed [[BHA] in AB. You can't get to [[Mending Touch] as you've not got NF, but [[Antidote Signet] is just fine.

So:
[Broad Head Arrow][Distracting Shot][Savage Shot][Apply Poison][Lightning Reflexes][Troll Unguent][Antidote Signet][Storm Chaser]

Stick [[Pin Down] in for Storm Chaser if you'd like.

Although Storm Chaser is really leet for capping shrines...

speaking of capping shrines, why not just bring [Barrage]?

[distilledwill]

Although Storm Chaser is really leet for capping shrines...

speaking of capping shrines, why not just bring [Barrage]?

Because a lot of AB is small groups vs small groups. Although occasionally the enemies will bunch, I find that more often than not, its not all that useful to have barrage. Whereas Apply is very useful against individual opponents and groups.

Another alternative is [[Escape] - a very very powerful skill in AB. Movement and survivability.

[Hunter's Shot][Distracting Shot][Savage Shot][Pin Down][Apply Poison][Escape][Antidote Signet][Troll Unguent]

[credit]

Bring cripshot and shit all over monks and frontliners.

[Marverick]

Bring cripshot and shit all over monks and frontliners.

I second that notion. Watching everything limp around is fun. Unfortunately, most retards in AB don't know how to kite :(

People swear by Crippling Shot but Ive always enjoyed Broad Head Arrow in AB.

You don't need Broad Head Arrow in PvP; [Concussion Shot] is ftw. BHA is only for PvE stuff that cast everything in 1/2 of a second.

[Tyla]

Burning arrow and Magebane are Nightfall skills, and he only has Prophecies and Factions.

Natural stride is also nightfall.

The basic template he gave is probably the best choice. You could swap mending touch for antidote signet, since Mending touch is also a nightfall skill.

[crippling shot][distracting shot][savage shot][apply poison][antidote signet][troll unguent]

For the other 2 slots, maybe [[blackout] and [[lightning reflexes]?

[Krill]

I'd do Storm Chaser and Blackout. You really don't need a block for an AB ranger if you pay attention and use Cripshot liberally. In fact Storm Chaser is really nice for AB with all the ele damage and long runs.

[Tyla]

^
I disagree. A block stance can cover up Apply in the case of another Ranger being nearby. Same with Cripshot. Not to mention it has an IAS.

As for Storm Chaser, if you need more energy management as a Ranger, you're doing it wrong.

[distilledwill]

^

Agree, if you watch any half decent ranger in PvP they will always activate their block stance (usually nat stride) before attempting to use apply or trolls. For me its automatic now.

[Krill]

^
I disagree. A block stance can cover up Apply in the case of another Ranger being nearby. Same with Cripshot. Not to mention it has an IAS.

As for Storm Chaser, if you need more energy management as a Ranger, you're doing it wrong.

Well, a few points here and I'm talking about AB.

1. Most rangers in AB are really awful. I too use naty stride to activate apply poison and troll (and switch to shield set) but I can't remember that time either was interrupted by a ranger, even activating them in their face.

2. He only has Prophecies / Nightfall. No naty stride. Lightning reflexes makes no sense and has way to much of a cool down to be used the same way naty stride is to kite and activate your preparation / troll to reduce the chance of catching a d-shot.

3. A speed boost > IAS for AB on a cripshot bar.

4. You can run out of energy using cripshot liberally and keeping poison up in larger fights, even more so if you're using your other bow attacks frequently too (savage, d-shot + optional slot). That's certainly not a reason to run storm chaser, but since he doesn't have nightfall and can't run naty stride the energy gain from storm chaser doesn't hurt when there is ele damage flying all over in AB.

[Tyla]

1. Your point being? Safety first. /Safety dance!

2. Only has Proph / NF? Hopefully a typo. ;) A block stance should always give you less chance of interruption compared to a run buff.

3. IAS for moar poison and moar crip and moar npc hunting!

4. The thing is you shouldn't need the energy gain from Storm Chaser, and since most Eles in AB use AoE skills, maybe not standing in the AoE is a much better idea...

[Krill]

Yes I meant he only has proph and factions and of course you wouldn't stand in AoE fire to gain energy from storm chaser. Crap like SF spam hits everyone in close quarters no matter where you position though and there are plenty of air and water eles that hit single targets. The energy gain from storm chaser isn't unwelcome, although it's not needed per se like I said. I just can't imagine playing ranger in AB without a speed boost and storm chaser isn't that bad, it's what most rangers used pre-nightfall. Used on recharge it gives you a 20% speed boost over distance which is 4% more than naty stride and slightly more than dash. That helps a lot when you are fast capping or need to travel far after a base rez.

[Proud Elitist]

[Apply Poison]

It's a skill that has a 24 second duration and a 12 second cool down.

[Crippling Shot]

It's a skill that generally has a 6 second duration and a 2 second recharge.

[Troll Unguent]

It's a skill that has a 13 second duration and a 10 second recharge.

----------------------------------------

[Lightning Reflexes]

It's a skill that generally lasts 11 seconds, has 75% chance to block (high prot) and has a 19 second downtime.

[Storm Chaser]

It's a speed boost that generally has a 16 second duration with a 4 second downtime.


1. Your point being? Safety first.

What safety? You'll be able to activate maybe one or two skills without fear of interrupt with Lighting Reflexes. It is unreliable to be used other than a high prot.

2. Only has Proph / NF? Hopefully a typo. ;) A block stance should always give you less chance of interruption compared to a run buff.

There is no real point in taking Lighting Reflexes when it is so unreliable. Why take Lighting Reflexes when you know you can get a bang for your buck when you use Storm Chaser instead?

3. IAS for moar poison and moar crip and moar npc hunting!

Again, the unreliability of Lighting Reflexes pretty much destroys its versatility. Basically if Lighting Reflexes had a 15 second recharge with a 5 to 6 second duration, I would agree with you but it doesn't so I don't.

[horseradish]

I used [Escape] with [Pin Down] pre-Nightfall :o

[Zan Usi Quan]

Umm, okay so... I'm a hardcore PvE-er... but whenever one of my guildies shout 'who's up for AB!?' I run this:
Dodgefarmer's scythevictorious sweepreaper's sweepzealous sweepchilling victorycomfort animalcharm animal
Don't ask me why the pet is added... (do have 15 in beast mastery) but yeah... some distraction for the kurzicks! ^^
But it works wonders... whoever being hit by my scythe... dies :p

[JDRyder]

I have Prophecies and Factions right now.

Dodgefarmer's scythevictorious sweepreaper's sweepzealous sweepchilling victorycomfort animalcharm animal

for some reason i dont think he will have a lot of the the skills in that build

[BloodyGensou]

JD Ryder.. that made me howl with laughter,

i agree

okay. dunno how to do that picture thing.. but i have proph and factions only. and this is what i made for AB.

PINDOWN/HUNTERSSHOT/POISONARROW/READTHEWIND/CONJUREFROST/STORMCHASER/ICEPRISON/TROLLS

believe me it works.. it seriously does help the whole teamplay of things.. pindown+huntershot.. THEY WILL BLEED. then u add poison arrow.. they like arghh fuk.. do i attk do i run... what to do

there rest are self explanatory.. o yeah but ice prison... say something with light armour (anyclass that mainly uses magic.i.e. necro etc.) is being chased by your team m8. 66% slow for 14 seconds... yeah i asure u. he is going to die.

[JDRyder]

okay. dunno how to do that picture thing..

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10277633

[Chthon]

I find a beastmaster works exceptionally well in RA (and pretty much nowhere else). Few people expect it (they just think you're some idiot who brought a barrage/pet into PvP until your pet eats them); Few people notify their teammates to watch out for the pet (who wants to admit to random strangers that you just got pwned by an iguana/rat/whatever?); And the armor-ignoring, block-ignoring nature of the damage goes right through most of the defenses commonly used in RA.

16 beastmastery (Yes 16, not 14. Those extra seconds of uptime are worth the hp cost.)
9 spear
10 (9+1) expertise
[enraged lunge][merciless spear][Otyugh's Cry][predatory bond][call of haste][comfort animal][charm animal][resurrection signet]

Since you don't have access to [merciless spear], try [brutal strike]. I used brutal strike in this build back in Factions before spear was available, and even for some time after NF was released since it's such nice damage.

[call of haste] can be swapped for [feral aggression], but I find that the movement speed boost is more valuable than the extra damage.

Begin the match with a showy PvE-skinned flatbow or longbow. It reinforces the illusion that you're a noob with a barrage/pet build and lets you aggro your pet onto your target from maximum range. Once things start moving, switch to a spear/shield high-hp set.

Keep the pet control panel open so that you can change your pet's target quickly and keep it attacking even if you get cursed with Empathy, IP, SS, SV, etc. and stop attacking yourself.

Kite vigorously. Unlike any other build, a beastmaster can kite their way to victory. The pet can do (heavy) damage and heal you via pred bond while you are kiting. It's not hard to take out a warrior while he's swinging and whiffing at you, even if he starts the encounter with a very large health advantage.

Remember that pet skills activate instantly, and can be used while you're doing something else. Keeping hitting Enraged Lunge while you rez -- it will work. Go ahead and carry the flag -- just lock you pet's target and use the pet skills while you place the flag.

Most importantly, remember that RA is "for the lolz." Sometimes you'll draw a team that can't possibly win. Sometimes you'll draw opponents you couldn't possibly lose to. And throughout it all, you'll be killing people with what ought to be a just-for-fun build that's somehow remarkably effective in the RA environment.

Ironically, I ran into someone today who claimed that this was their build and I must have copied it from PvX wiki. :eek: