Ranger fan needs some help

[Flounder911]

Hello everyone, hope everyone is having a good day...

i have just come back to GW from a 6 month break due to school, and i decided to start a class that i have always wanted to build... a ranger

I have my beloved first ever toon i made my necromancer who is still capable of farming for me, but i can get together the items i need (hopefully)

Need a little help on my ranger...

A) What chapter should i start in ? (i have prophecies / factions / Nightfall)
- will be honest i havent played through Nightfall and i have no idea . what these henchmen / heroes are about ...

B) With the *Hero* henchmen, what would be a good secondary ? i was thinking Ritualist for splinter weapon, but i have heard that it is better to leave it to my henchmen for that...
- how do i make it so i can assign henchmen to only target me with . . splinter?

C) Is it still the same deal with weapons... there are new inscriptions and insigna things i have noticed... which of these work best with rangers?

All for now lol, sorry for the ignorance, been away far too long

Thanks for any help
Flounder911

[eldrethv]

It's been a while since I played ranger, but I'll help as much as I can :D


For what chapter you should start in : Starting in Factions or Nightfall is always good because it speeds up the annoying process of reaching level 20.
So I'd recommend either of the two :)

Heros are basically henchmen you can customize.
You can give them their own personal skill bar/runes/insignias/weapons etc.
Very helpful.


Secondary profession :

Back when I played ranger, I always used R/Me, but a lot of things have changed since my ranger days so I'm a little behind :D
I've seen people using barrage/splinter and it seems to work well, so I'd give it a go.
Besides, you can always change your secondary profession after ascension anyway.


Weapons : I'm going to guess it's still the same. 15^15, 20/20, hp+30 is what your looking for, though I could be wrong on that.



Hopefully I helped you out a bit
Goodluck with your ranger :D

[Rak Orgon of Beowulf]

i think the best answer would be to link you somewhere else:

Starter Ranger Guide
(http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10261054)
Secondary Professions (http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Secondary_professions_for_a_Ranger)

and i have one really good piece of advice.
[distracting shot]-learn to use it, its your best friend

[subarucar]

The Insigs basically mean that you can have whatever mod you like on whatever skin of armour, rather than being restricted to a certain armour if you wanted a certain mod.

/Rt for splinter, /W for Flail, /E for conjure, Or just ignore your 2nd prof altogether.

Imo start in NF, since you said you hadnt played that.

[astro reaping]

played 3 of 4 guildwars games now on my last 1 nf
use same set up across all 3
r/m

12+1+1 marksmanship
12 on healing
3 on prot

skills cost

barage - 5
ebon vanguard assasin - 10
i am the strongest 5
by ursals hammer - 5
interupt -5 the 1 the guy showed u above
heal area - 10
rebirth - 10

bow - storm bow r9 fire mod as 20/20 is rubbish
+30 - 15^50

+5 health +1+1 marks on head
+50 +15 body
+10+5 hands
+10+10 legs
+10+5 feet.

health 630 - energy 25.

[subarucar]

12+1+1 marksmanship
12 on healing
3 on prot

skills cost

barage - 5
ebon vanguard assasin - 10
i am the strongest 5
by ursals hammer - 5
interupt -5 the 1 the guy showed u above
heal area - 10
rebirth - 10

bow - storm bow r9 fire mod as 20/20 is rubbish
+30 - 15^50


Attributes are trash, you wont have the energy to spam barrage, which is what a barrage range issuposed to do. Heal Area is trash. I agree with you partially on the 20/20 thing, dont get 20/20, but dont get a fire mod unless your running the respective conjure. I personally use vampiric weapons, not for the life stealing, but for the additional 5 armour ignoring damage, if you dont like the draining effect, have a non-vamp bow for out of combat.

[astro reaping]

well its what a person feels works for them
ive had no trouble with that it works for me.
ive completed eon/proph/factions
with 750 deaths in 4,000 hrs
ive ran that build through dungeons
even some hm areas vanquished
a few areas as well, it works for me
with the hero set ups i have.

what i didnt say was i run 2 pcs
i use 1, wife uses the otherwe run
simlar builds on the ranger so barage
isnt a problem, 2xvek out right nuker
and the 2 necros 1 runs full curses
the other runs minions...

so the barrage energy thing never been
an issue realy

rebirth as i wont let a healer carry it, not his job
heal area i like for when im doing hm

[t00115577]

Just get yourself a +5 +33% daze +30 bow and cap [Broad Head Arrow]. Stick [Distracting Shot] on every bar you ever run with a bow, for no reason should it ever be off your bar. Definitely the best ranger skill in the game, if not one of best across all classes.

My advice is stay away from the [Barrage] crap unless its a very congested area with a lot of enemies balled up, then run it with splinter only. Conjure bars are completely over rated and trash in HM.

IMO a ranger has 2 elites for HM, being [Broad Head Arrow] and [Punishing Shot]. Possibly [Burning Arrow] with its recent buff.

[Broad Head Arrow][Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support][Distracting Shot][Splinter Weapon][Volley][Pain Inverter][Antidote Signet][Flesh Of My Flesh]
This would get you through 99% of the game in HM, or it did for me anyway.

Best of luck with your rangering.

PS: Completely ignore the guy saying to run heal area on a ranger bar

[Aldric]

Rak Orgons 2 links should give you most of what you need to know.

I would take special note of the Expertise attribute chart as making sure this attribute is set right makes a huge difference - 13 is probably the most common level i use when I have a bow equiped or ~8 when using a spear.

If I had to restart my Ranger today I would do it in Nightfall. I get earlier access to my preferred secondaries , its a quick starters area (faster than prophs , slower than Factions) , heros are available right away and the skills seem 'better' earlier than the other 2 chapters (this is entirely from my persepective and reflects my preference in skills and playstyle :))

My personal preferences for secondary are

/P for Spearchucking/Pet builds.
/D for Scythe builds or [Ebon Dust Aura]/[Volley] builds
/W for [Flail] Bow builds or Hammer builds
/Rt for [BHA]/[Volley]/[Splinter Weapon]

and as t00115577 says if you have a Bow you should have [Distracting Shot] and yes , you are not a healer so don't pump healing :)

[MagmaRed]

played 3 of 4 guildwars games now on my last 1 nf
use same set up across all 3
r/m

12+1+1 marksmanship
12 on healing
3 on prot

skills cost

barage - 5
ebon vanguard assasin - 10
i am the strongest 5
by ursals hammer - 5
interupt -5 the 1 the guy showed u above
heal area - 10
rebirth - 10

bow - storm bow r9 fire mod as 20/20 is rubbish
+30 - 15^50

+5 health +1+1 marks on head
+50 +15 body
+10+5 hands
+10+10 legs
+10+5 feet.

health 630 - energy 25.

Disregarding the argument over whether Heal Area is good on a Ranger or not, that is a bad build for the simple fact there is no Expertise. I'd ignore everything this guiy said/says about playing a Ranger.

Barrage is alright, but not nearly as good as other elites unless your foes are nice enough to group up. Some areas see monsters clumped nicely, but not all. Splinter Weapon on Barrage does work nice, and the reason some will tell you to put it on a hero is for attributes/energy/casting time. Stopping to cast it yourself slows down your attack rate, eats into your energy, and to make it effective, lowers your attributes for Marksmanship and Expertise.

The elites I use most on my Ranger:

[Glass Arrows][Broad Head Arrow][Escape][Enraged Lunge][Burning Arrow][Incendiary Arrows]

Secondaries that I like:

Monk for Rebirth (sometimes you are the one who needs to bring the team back up) and healing for when I run.
Elementalist for Conjures.
Ritualist for weapon spells (not always Splinter).
Mesmer for [Epidemic].

Builds are easy enough to change, but it takes time to get all the skills you may want from various secondaries and such.

I'd say start in Nightfall. Gives you heroes faster, and if you haven't played that game yet, gives you something new to do. Factions and Nightfall will get you to level 20 faster than Prophecies, but more importantly, they get you your 30 attributes faster/easier.

[TheodenKing]

For clarification, heroes and henchmen are two different things...

Heroes = customizable in builds, secondary prof and equipment. You can add them to your party from any outpost, as long as you have room. Some heroes will need to be leveled. Heroes earn reward experience if in your party when you accept the quest reward, even if they weren't with you when you did the quest. Heroes can be flagged individually, and can have their AI set to "attack", "guard", or "avoid." Armor upgrades (cosmetic only) are available for heroes.

Henchmen = available in outposts, not customizable in any way, level is fixed based on location, AI set to "guard". Henchmen follow the group flag, though cannot be flagged individually.

[Lusciious]

played 3 of 4 guildwars games now on my last 1 nf
use same set up across all 3
r/m

12+1+1 marksmanship
12 on healing
3 on prot

skills cost

barage - 5
ebon vanguard assasin - 10
i am the strongest 5
by ursals hammer - 5
interupt -5 the 1 the guy showed u above
heal area - 10
rebirth - 10

bow - storm bow r9 fire mod as 20/20 is rubbish
+30 - 15^50

+5 health +1+1 marks on head
+50 +15 body
+10+5 hands
+10+10 legs
+10+5 feet.

health 630 - energy 25.

very bad build ..

rangers weren't made to heal. so don't heal.

there are a few pretty good builds on pvxwiki. use em. the stance tank is fun :D using [on your knees] to recharge [lightning reflexes] for constant IAS + 75% block.

like everyone said in their posts, [distracting shot] is your best friend. makes everyone QQ :D

a few good combos are:
[ebon dust aura] + [volley]
[barrage] + [Splinter weapon] .. infact everything works well with splinter weapon in PvE.

i personally think barrage = rubbish. when i first started GW, i thought barrage was the best AoE skill ever for a ranger. which is if you're going against a group / clustered monsters. even tho monsters have AI, they don't stick together and let you whack em with barrage.

[MasterSasori]

[broadhead arrow][epidemic][volley] + [splinter weapon] (on a hero) + MM hero/physicals

owns PvE.

That's all you need to know. Everything else should be in the sticky thread. Read it and be amazed as this thread is going to get locked soon.

[Massive Impulsa]

[Burning Arrow][Distracting Shot][Flail][Savage Shot][Optional][Read the Wind][Lightning Reflexes][Rez]

This turret does RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing more damage than warriors :>

PS: This isnt whit any of the Eotn skills, since u didnt mention you had that in the post above:)

[BrettM]

Beware that you can't control where a hero will cast Splinter Weapon except by a lot of micro management. They will throw it on any party member carrying a martial weapon, apparently chosen at random. So, for example, if you like to give caster weapons to your monk heroes and set them on avoid combat, the hero with SW will just as happily waste SW on them rather than putting it on one of the front-liners who are actually engaged in combat.

[Rhamia Darigaz]

B-B-B-B-BU-RNING ARROW-W!!!!!!11!!1one is a pretty nice choice for rangers these days. fun to play too.

[Flounder911]

thank you to everyone who posted helping me :) learning some good stuff

i will be starting in nightfall primarily since i havent played through it before.

the suggestion to turn my ranger into a wanna be monk, i kind of figured was wrong before hearing it lol.

one more questions... the skills like pain inverter and that ebon vanguard assassin support i noticed required *ranks*... is that covered in the stickies that i am about to read? How do i come about these ranks required to gain the skills? is it something that i will automatically earn as i work my way through nightfall ?


Thanks again everyone, this is a great deal of help

Always appreciative of more and more and more constructive ideas for me :)

Oh right... are there any green bows i can purchase that would fit my everyday all around needs ?? since i dont fully understand the abreviations of a 20/20 etc etc etc bow people were talking about... also should i go with long bow / short bow / or etc... i know there is a difference in range / speed of arrow etc on them

Thanks again
Flounder911

[Aldric]

PVE skills require you to progress through ranks to make the skills more powerful rather than just rely on puting points into Atribute lines.

The majority of them are "Eye of the North" skills which come in 4 types - Norn,Asuran,Ebon Vanguard and Deldrimor. Each type has its own skills which rise in power as your rank in each of these lines increases although many are usable/powerful even at the starters rank . You increase each rank as you progress through each area and quest/mission line of each "Eye of the North" area.

[Pain Inverter][Asuran Scan][Finish Him][You Move Like a Dwarf!]["By Ural's Hammer!"][Great Dwarf Weapon][Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support][Ebon Battle Standard of Honor] are the EotN ones i tend to use alot but there are so many good ones that everyone has their favourite :)

There are also Sunspear Skills which are class specific. For Rangers that is [Never Rampage Alone] which increases in strength as your Sunspear rank increases. This will happen as you progress though Nightfall and you should easily get to rank 8 without much trouble at all.

There are also Luxon/Kurzick PVE skills which are profession linked and can be increased in rank by playing through Factions or by playing PVP in Alliance BAttle/Jade Quarry etc .
[Triple Shot]["Save Yourselves!"][Spear of Fury] are the ones I use quite a bit from these.Getting a high rank in these is the definition of Grind :) but 4/5 does me quite fine

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Pve_skills - Decent stating page for finding out all the PVE skills and how/where to get them.


As for bows , you'll prolly get a different view from anyone that posts :)

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bow

I generally will always have a flatbow plus whatever recurve bows suits my build best in my inventory

Flatbow are good for puling targets because they have the longest range and the highest arc therefore you can fire at the target and have more time to get into position before they reach you compared to other bows. You can also , due to the higher arrow arc , fire over terrain much better for easier puling . The arc is the flatbows downside because it makes it easier to miss so for standard use in PVE its not the idea choice (however if you use a skill like [Read the Wind] then it reduces the arc to that of a recurve? iirc and so make it a very good bow due to the longer range and faster refire rate)

Recurves are mosr people's standard choice of bows.The have the smallest arc size therefore they are the most accurate at hitting targets which is better than having the slightly better range of the longbow

Longbow is the kinda average at everything bow.Good range but middle of the road Arc size , refire rate but in my view not as good as a recurve.

Hornbow hasnt ever really used much outside of PVP due to the refire rate so i would give it a miss.

Shorbows i never really used these much but i know a number of people who do , especially when utilising a build using the Half Range arrow attacks.


Most of my Bows use +30 fortitude mods although I do have a couple of +20% enchanting ones which are useful for the odd build. The string will dependant on what build im running , if [BHA] then I will use a silencing string to extend the daze, for [Ebon Dust Aura] it will be an ebon string otherwise Zealous for energy heavy builds or Vampiric for the extra damage.

Something like Elswyth's Recurve Bow (15^50,+30,Vampiric) isnt bad at all for general use imo although you could always try getting a load of 15^50 recurve bows from collecters and make up your own bows however you like. Most of mine were made like that to start with and I still use a fair few of them. Strings are 2-500 gp each and +30 mods were 2-3k the last time i bought any.

[talisk3]

Start in Factions. Nightfall is slow, Prophesies is gay for +15 attribute quest.
As for what you need to know. Max armor helps a million, get it as fast, since you're a mid-liner I use 1 or 2 major runes. Try to get 14 expertise and 12 marksmenship. [Distracting Shot] [Savage Shot] [Barrage] [Broad Head Arrow] <- 4 skills that will save your life.

[Flounder911]

Aldric, you were mentioning that those skills you listed are from the Eotn campaign... i only have prophecies / factions / nightfall, is there a way to get the skills without owning Eotn cammpaign?

[talisk3]

@Founder, does what you JUST said make much sense? EotN is like 10 bucks.

[Flounder911]

@Founder, does what you JUST said make much sense? EotN is like 10 bucks.


would you like to purchase me a copy and send it to me than?

i dont play enough GW to make it worth it to buy a new campaign when i havent even finished the ones i have...

[Being]

would you like to purchase me a copy and send it to me than?

i dont play enough GW to make it worth it to buy a new campaign when i havent even finished the ones i have...

Don't worry about them. They are strong skills but people, like myself, use them for a certain aspect of Guild Wars - Hard Mode.

Until you start reaching that kind of scene in Guild Wars you wont be needing or desiring such skills. There's not exactly many of them anyway, so don't feel like you're missing out too much.

You've got a great deal of awesome skills to choose from across three campaigns. Them alone are enough for Hard Mode. :)

[Flounder911]

started my ranger yesterday and so far im using the "Begginner skill bar" from the sticky provided on page one, and i have to say, this is a great class now that i have actually played one and understand more about them.

ive started to notice that the crowd on gw is much different than it was before i took a break before the introduction of these hero henchmen though... not exactly the same amount of public groups... are the new heros really strong enough to not need the use of public groups anymore ?

Ya, i figured that with there being 3 games worth of skills i should be able to survive without the Eotn skills, who knows maybe when i get my ranger through the game ill buy EoTn :P

[t00115577]

Ye m8, heros completely blow away pug's. As soon as you get your heros well geared and with solid bars, you will never want to play with random people again.

[Falynn Firestorm]

I've been playing a ranger for about 6 months now, so I'm a bit new to this class, but hands down she's my favorite. I have noticed that after speed clearing all the Asuran areas, Barrage is very handy for all the big clumps of enemies there.

[distracting shot][antidote signet][ebon vanguard assassin support][serpent's quickness][asuran scan][barrage][poison tip signet] sometimes I'll add [disrupting shot] or [savage shot].

Mostly I'm spamming [barrage] with [asuran scan] and I really don't have any energy issues at all.

I run with a Vampiric Feathered longbow of Shelter, -1 reg, +4 life steal, +7 against physical damage, damage +14% while enchanted. In between, I usually switch to another bow so I don't overtax my monk.

expertise 12, Wilderness Survival 7, and Marksmanship 14.

I have Livia set up as a MM/Rt with [splinter weapon] and send her in with her meat wall to clump the enemies, then I flag her back out and the minions take over.

I use the [Ebon Vanguard assassin support] as backup instead of [throw dirt]. It usually causes any enemies around me to focus on the assassin while I escape, and the added advatage is the assassin actually does damage.

Anyway, when Livia casts [splinter weapon] on me, and I have timed it right with [asuran scan], there are some serious numbers flying and I don't need a healer.

I'm rather shy about posting builds because some people can be brutal, but I really don't mind respectful hints and suggestions. But, I guess what I'm saying is [barrage] can be very useful in certain areas.

[Aldric]

[distracting shot][antidote signet][ebon vanguard assassin support][serpent's quickness][asuran scan][barrage][poison tip signet] sometimes I'll add [disrupting shot] or [savage shot].

[snip]

expertise 12, Wilderness Survival 7, and Marksmanship 14.

[snip]

I'm rather shy about posting builds because some people can be brutal, but I really don't mind respectful hints and suggestions. But, I guess what I'm saying is [barrage] can be very useful in certain areas.

I've never been a great fan of [Poison tip signet] much as it only affects 1 arrow .I would be likely to drop it and [barrage] and take [Volley] and something like [BHA]/[Burning arrow] instead . I find that most of the time there isnt a great benefit of [barrage] over [volley] and it gives you the benefit of space for a nice elite.

Not too sure about your attributes either. 12 is a weird number for expertise since it doesn't reduce the energy cost of your 5e skills any more than having 8. I would drop WS and [Serpents Quickness] and make Expertise 13 to meet the breakpoint.

[Falynn Firestorm]

Aldric, thanks so much for the suggestions. I can see exactly what you're saying and it helps a lot. I wondered how I could make a good build that included volley, and using it this way I can get in the BHA and get expertise up to 13 as you suggested.

Thanks!

[Flounder911]

just a little update for everyone who has helped me so much

Decided to play through factions with my ranger, and its great, loving every minute of it now that i learned to benefit of poison arrow and disruption shot on monks and bosses

Just one question though, when i do finally get to use hero henchmen (im sure you get them in factions also right?) how do i go about changing up their professions like i have seen people talk about? some quest i have to undertake or?

Also as a side note, i was thinking of buying a green bow with 30hp / 33% daze / and i think its a 20/20 mod... not too sure of the name, but this would be a good choice as a primary bow for my ranger and i can get a plain jane long bow for my pulling needs...


Any suggestions as always is greatly appreciated :P

I went ritualist with my secondary and honestly, so far i dont even see the need for a secondary with a ranger...


OH!!! i decided i needed a pet, are pets viable in PvE ? or just a waste of 2 skill slots? right now i only have charm animal and the revive / heal skill, havent really come across anything that appears to be worthy of a skill slot for my tiger

[Being]

just a little update for everyone who has helped me so much

Decided to play through factions with my ranger, and its great, loving every minute of it now that i learned to benefit of poison arrow and disruption shot on monks and bosses

Just one question though, when i do finally get to use hero henchmen (im sure you get them in factions also right?) how do i go about changing up their professions like i have seen people talk about? some quest i have to undertake or?

Also as a side note, i was thinking of buying a green bow with 30hp / 33% daze / and i think its a 20/20 mod... not too sure of the name, but this would be a good choice as a primary bow for my ranger and i can get a plain jane long bow for my pulling needs...


Any suggestions as always is greatly appreciated :P

I went ritualist with my secondary and honestly, so far i dont even see the need for a secondary with a ranger...


OH!!! i decided i needed a pet, are pets viable in PvE ? or just a waste of 2 skill slots? right now i only have charm animal and the revive / heal skill, havent really come across anything that appears to be worthy of a skill slot for my tiger

No. There are no additional Heroes you can obtain in Factions. Well, actually there is the Assassin Hero Zenmai which you can only obtain if you have both NF and Factions, though you'll still need to pick up the quest in NF and complete it in Factions.

Ranger/Ritualist is a good set up. Even if you don't find yourself using many Ritualist skills in combat they still contain some good utility skills. I often use: [Flesh of My Flesh] or [death pact signet] for example. I'm sure later on you'll be trying combos such as these with your Ranger: [barrage][splinter weapon] , [Nightmare Weapon][dual shot] or [triple shot]

Personally I've not used my pet a great deal on my Ranger. When I do I'm either running a full beast master build or using a different weapon than a bow like a Hammer. So I can't really give you any useful advice here. :(

[t00115577]

If your happy running [Broad Head Arrow] and [Volley], might wanna consider going secondary mesmer and bringing [Epidemic], spread the daze around, interupt lots of foes in 1 go with volley.

[Winterclaw]

Always start in the campaign that has the best looking character to you when it comes to the core classes.

[Aldric]

OH!!! i decided i needed a pet, are pets viable in PvE ? or just a waste of 2 skill slots? right now i only have charm animal and the revive / heal skill, havent really come across anything that appears to be worthy of a skill slot for my tiger

There are a number of decent pet builds using [Enraged Lunge] and a few long recharging BM skills to give a massive +damage spammable attack. I'm not really fond of pure BM builds though and usually only have 1 or 2 pet attacks at most on my bar. I never run a pet with a bow anymore either though I did complete my first campaign with bararge/pet on me and heroes :)

I find R/P works best (for me) and usually run an R/P Pet build in NM and prolly 25% of the time in HM (Its mainly H/H so I run BHA/EDA builds instead alot of the time)

[Never Rampage Alone][Asuran Scan][Barbed Spear][Spear of Fury][Blazing Spear][Ferocious Strike][Charm Animal][Comfort Animal]

BM 12+1+1 , Spear 12 , Rest Exp , 600HP 35E

NRA is up permanently , Ferocious can be spammed for huge energy/minor adrenal charge and great damage and my Kurzick rank recharges Blazing spear so i get a nice Blazing/Fury/Blazing attack string. A reasonable Asura rank gives the damage a very nice boost although its still pretty good without it.

I change [Barbed spear] quite alot for [Slayer's Spear]/[Wild Throw]/[Holy Spear] or [Poisonous Bite]/[Predator's Pounce]/[Great Dwarf Weapon] if i want a more pet attack based build.

I also run [Rampage as One][Scavenger Strike] instead of [Never Rampage Alone][Ferocious Strike] though its alot more intensive on energy or even [Never Rampage Alone][Scavenger Strike] and throw in an Elite Spear attack like [Stunning Strike]/[Cruel Spear]