Ranger Build Advice

Wh1te Out

Wh1te Out

New Member
I've been reading a lot of FAQs lately and most of them talk about how if a Ranger goes Beast Mastery that those skills take up the entire skill bar to be effective. I'd prefer to have some kind of a cross between a powerful marksman and a powerful beast master. I'm not interested in traps so much, or any of the nature rituals either.

If anyone could give some advice before I get too deeply into my build I would appreciate it. I'm also wondering what you all would suggest as a second profession (in other words, what would make me most valuable to the guild for PvP in the future while still allowing me to get through the PvE portion without any problems)? Warrior and Mesmer are out, as I'm not interested in those.
 
I started out thinking of going Marksman/Beast Master/Expertise. Then I leaned more toward Marksman/Expertise/Wilderness once I got to the Crystal Dessert. I found that I did more damage with that build. I sometimes miss having my kitty, but in the long run I find the traps and bow skills much more useful against large groups of mobs I am running into in the areas after ascending.

A couple of rangers I talked to do trap runs in the Underworld quite successfully, and I look forward to trying that myself soon. I find that laying traps and pulling your enemy into them is quite fun :) But for pvp purposes it won't work since humans are usually smarter than npcs ;)
 
Thanks for the response!

I do think I will start putting my focus on Marksmanship/Expertise and not Beast Mastery. Long-term that just doesn't provide what I need. I'm also thinking of making Nec my second profession. I figure using that soul-reaping ability to replenish energy would go well with a barrage of arrow skills at a target.

What level should we ascend? We should be level 6 tonight and have decided on our second profession. Is that too soon?
 
Level 6 isn't too soon, but I'd wait until 7. That way, you can blow through a few missions and choose which quests you want to do post-searing. If you go at 6, you'll probably have a hard time getting a group a few missions in when you're level 8 or 9 and everyone else is level 11 or 12.

That's the problem I'm running into on my E/Me (he's level 8 now, ignore the sig).
 
Uh oh, looks like it's a *SPOILER* Not that anyone really cares because GW really isn't about the story. Anyway, you have to kill an exact copy of yourself and then you can change your secondary profession. And having to kill yourself really isn't explained in the story at all (unless I missed something). It's just like "oh here, this mountian is opening, why don't you go inside, you'll be better for it." and then "say? Isn't that you? Oh well, KILL IT!".
 
Mr_Slice said:
I'm also thinking of making Nec my second profession. I figure using that soul-reaping ability to replenish energy would go well with a barrage of arrow skills at a target.
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Sorry to rain on your parade, but Soul Reaping is a Primary Attribute. That means only when you have Necromancer as your primary Profession will you have Soul Reaping available. As a secondary profession, you don't have access to the Primary Attribute.
 
You need to be at the crystal desert and have beaten the 3 crystal desert missions. My guess is you're not there yet since you're only lv 13.
 
I decided on Ranger/Nec, despite not having Soul Reaping (thanks to whomever it was that cleared that up for me).

Now the decision is really whether or not to pump my skill points into Expertise/Marksmanship/Curses, Expertise/Marksmanship/Death Magic or Expertise/Marksmanship/Blood Magic.

Which would be more useful to the guild as a PvP character once the time comes? Assuming, of course, that we plan on being actively involved in some PvP...
 
BLOOD MAGIC! That's my opinion anyways. With blood magic you can use Blood is Power, Well of Blood, and Well of Power which are awesome skills for regenerating energy and/or health. Casters will love you later if you use Blood is Power on them or if you use Well of Power on a corpse for a group energy regen.

I too wanted a Ranger with a good pet but once you get to the Crystal Desert and beyond, the pet becomes a hindrance because he'll die quickly and aggro mobs that you didn't want aggro'd. Traps, however, become very valuable in the late game. I went on a trapping run in the Underworld once and it was amazing. There were 5 trappers with me (Ele) and after they set a ton of traps and then pulled the bulls, I couldn't even cast a single attack before the bulls were dead. And the times when the bulls survived for a second, the sound of 5 Rangers shooting arrows at them all at once must have scared them to death. :p
 
Rangers of the world UNITE!

Anyway, I have another question. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that Necro spells just aren't my thing. There are very few that I like and it is certainly not worth pumping enough points into a Nec attribute to make them effective. I believe my long-term (i.e. PvP) goal is going to be pure Ranger, with all of my skill points in Marks/Expertise/Wild Survival.

Thoughts on this? Experience or opinions?
 
From what I've seen, you probably can pick any set of attribute lines, even within one profession, and find a set of skills that works for you, especially when you can find good complimentary skills or skill combos. About the only exception, in my opinion, might be trying to use more than one of the weapon mastery types (ie. Axe Mastery & Swordsmanship), not much potential for good combos there. I even tried Marksmanship/Swordsmanship on my R/W, but that was pretty awkward switching back and forth, mostly because of lost time between ranged attacks and melee attacks.
 
Mr_Slice said:
Rangers of the world UNITE!

Anyway, I have another question. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that Necro spells just aren't my thing. There are very few that I like and it is certainly not worth pumping enough points into a Nec attribute to make them effective. I believe my long-term (i.e. PvP) goal is going to be pure Ranger, with all of my skill points in Marks/Expertise/Wild Survival.

Thoughts on this? Experience or opinions?
Click to expand...
There is nothing wrong with that. I've found the ranger class to be one that doesn't necessarily need the support of another class's skills. Don't give up on a secondary class though because late in the game you can change your secondary class if you want. If nothing else, you can change to monk secondary just for the Resurrect spell.
 
exactly, with my R/Mo the only monk skill i have is rebirth. For those moments when your team is getting jacked and u r the only survivor, with a running skill and rebirth your party can come back to life.
 
In regard to beast mastery... it is useful early on when you are soloing but later on in the game it becomes more of a liability, particularly as late-game enemies seem to be able to whip most kinds of beasts. In the late game you will see good PvE teams use classic trap-pull techniques, and in places like the Underworld a group of 4 trappers can easily accomplish what a standard package of 8 might struggle to do. (Warriors, unfortunately, get impatient waiting for trappers...) For a R/N I'd recommend Expertise, Marksmanship, Wilderness Survival, and one Necro skill (either Blood Magic or Death Magic... I'm partial to the Death Magic skills, but Blood is good for supporting other characters.)
 
j7d7w7 said:
exactly, with my R/Mo the only monk skill i have is rebirth. For those moments when your team is getting jacked and u r the only survivor, with a running skill and rebirth your party can come back to life.
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That is my R/Mo to a T :D I am pure ranger with just rebirth to res the henchmen after I make a run for it when down to only 1 of them left, hee hee. I don't recall my stats offhand, but think Marks and Expertise are around 11 or 12 with Wilderness close behind. I have really enjoyed laying traps to pull enemies into.
 
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