Guild Wars: Practicing Ranger
Sad to say, but I haven't really been actually doing a whole lot about the test weekend. Last time I could have GvG'd, they wanted a Burning Arrow Ranger - alas, my mesmer spot had been replaced in the build - and I declined since it'd been quite a while since I played Ranger at all. I went to play RA and it turned out that saying no was definitely the best decision. Getting used to interrupts with a flight time and actually having an evade stance will take a little while, although I think I'm making progress.
Figured I may as well make a TA build centered around the Ranger for variety. Haven't had a chance to try it yet though.
Anyway. Looks like more RA practice (or hopefully some TA if I get the chance) is in order until I figure out which part of the bow you're supposed to point at the bad guys. Then maybe GvG will be back on the menu.
Figured I may as well make a TA build centered around the Ranger for variety. Haven't had a chance to try it yet though.
Anyway. Looks like more RA practice (or hopefully some TA if I get the chance) is in order until I figure out which part of the bow you're supposed to point at the bad guys. Then maybe GvG will be back on the menu.
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posted by Clamatius | Sunday, January 21, 2007
4 Comments:
Just remember if all else fails you can always club them over the head with it.
Getting used to interrupts with a flight time and actually having an evade stance will take a little while
Interrupting with a Ranger after you're used to doing it with a Mesmer is like trying to swim in jello. That flight time is a big factor (Not to mention that most people these days are pretty smart about LoS - which is something else you have to consider as a Ranger that you don't as a Mesmer). You're pretty much not going to catch anything fast like most Monk skills unless you get lucky. Even one second casts can be hit or miss depending on what bow you're using and at what range you're keeping. I find it's best to concentrate on things like Heal Party or Elementalist spells or even Healing Signet and the like.
The other thing to keep in mind that skills like Distracting Shot don't have to be used for interrupts. It's like Protector's Strike on a Warrior's bar - you don't care about what it actually does, all that matters is that casting time. With Apply Poison it lets you spreed that condition around much more quickly than you would otherwise. Target someone, use Burning Arrow, say, and as it's firing quickly switch targets and hit D-Shot (You can do the same thing with your normal attack routine but you have to pay attention to the animation and hit the D-Shot at a certain point so you don't wind up interrupting yourself). You wind up with two targets suffering from degen almost at the same time (One with -4 and one with -11, of course, and if you get lucky you might even hit something important). That's harder for condition removal to deal with unless you're up against something like Restore Conditions. A good Ranger, then, should be able to keep a lot of other characters on the other team usffering from conditions using that D-Shot as an effective IAS.
And at the same time they can also use it to interrupt a critical skill. While it's similar to an interrupting/Dom Mesmer it's also not exactly the same. different concerns, different priorities and all that.
So, yeah, get thee to the RA and get thou to practicing. And, you know, you ever need someone for TA.... That build doesn't look quite as wretched as the last one (I think even with the current change to B-Surge and the less conditional and longer knockdown from Gale, I'd still go with it over the Mind Shock variant, myself.)
I find if I'm close enough to hump their leg I can get 1s casts without having to guess. Always used to be handy to get Guardian with the Razorwire guy because after that it was all over for Mr. Boon Prot. Less than 1s and you're guessing - e.g. have someone call the knockdown and fire after ~3s and maybe you'll get lucky and Savage that RoF/ZB/etc. Aegis, Heal Party, Res Sig etc. are certainly your bread and butter though.
As for the IAS via interrupts, while that used to be good, if I recall correctly it isn't nearly as effective now that there's a hefty aftercast. I think you net a little bit of attack speed but not enough to justify giving up the interrupt skill recharge. I haven't tested that myself though.
Mind Shock is another skill that got a fair amount of buffing since you were away. It's actually viable in arenas and GvG gank teams where hopefully your targets are dead before the exhaustion is too painful. Give it a whirl and see what you think. Sub in Healing Breeze and something else useful (e.g. Storm Djinn's Haste) over Convert and GoH and that character should be RA-playable.
I'm all good in theory, it's just the actual practice of stuff like having to pay attention to having LoS on targets and hitting Natural Stride before the Assassin dumps his combo.
Mmm, fyi Clamatius--Stride ends if you become hexed (and/or enchanted). So vs. the bread and butter sins these days (read: Shadow Prison), it probably wouldn't work very well.
But yes, the resurgence of the ranger is a pleasing thing to say the least. Just when we thought the Cripshot R/Me soloist was dead, ANet gives us something much more powerful in return.
Also a good thing to practice feinting your Apply Poisons (I mean, fighting rival rangers in GvGs anyway...).
Yep. The idea is you hit Stride after they Prison you but before they land their opening attack. If you time it right they won't have time to hit Siphon Speed or whatever and their chain will be broken.
That's the theory. In practice, they're landing their dual and I'm thinking "Ouch" and falling over. Converting theory into reality has always been the troubling bit for me.
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