Ranger sword build questions.

Recently I have been using Rampage as One in a sword build (After seeing my friend in AB using one) The build I got so far is:

12 Sword
9 Expertise
14 Beast

Rampage as One
Sever artery
Gash
Final Thrust
Disrupting lunge
Whriling defence
Charm animal
comfort animal

I was just wondering if:

Would it be better to replace Whriling defence with Predatory bond?
If I used this outside of AB, which skill should I replce for a res sig?

Just seeing if I could get some good adivce, Thanks in advanced.

P.S: don't flame me please.

Lol, I don't think you should be flamed. We all have to have fun playing our rangers. In the beginning, I played with a sword Ranger. I had alot of fun. A whole lot of fun.

My wolf was so cool then. Now I have a phoenix, and I just found a Broadblade Scimitar that calls my name at night. LOL!

Anyway, i'll see if I can improve on your current build. First, you aren't using a shield? That puts you at a great disadvantage against any/all warriors, which means you need to apply pressure, since you cant beat them in a sword fight. Pet in tow, and at 14 BM may seem nice,but you are only keeping the pet alive, and you aren't even able to save yourself if worst comes to worst.

No tactics,no wilderness survival, and one defensive stance makes for a deadly combination,as in you being dead and the people you are teaming with being without a ranger.

[skill=big]Rampage as One[/skill]

Your elite with your BM being at 14 makes for a nearly constant useage. That is good, but you are really relying on a monk to heal you in this build, or the pets damage to be greater than yours,which I have been told is the case in high BM stats. This weakness may be the reason why Thumpers exist.

If you want to be effective as a swordsman, you need to apply poison to your sword, so that the bleeding and deep wound can be more effective. Final Thrust may cause good/great damage, but poison will be better in the long run,imo.

[skill=big]Apply Poison[/skill]

Look into applying poison into your build, and your swordsmanship will not be a matter. Ill check out more an get back to you.

Apply posion would cost too much energy to run.

I should have mentioned that my pet is a Dire wolf, so he can do good damage. I was thinking of adding Riposte to the build, because I can build adren fast, and spam it Vs Melee, for a bit of extra defence + Damage, but then I'd have to add points to tactics, which means taking points out of other need attriubes. I have tested the build in RA, and was able to slay a few warriors(Disrupting lunge stops their heal + res sig) and other proffessions. It has nice damage out put due to the high speed attack from both me and my dire pet.

P.S: Nothing you said actually answered my questions.

...What the? My BM is only 11 and it lasts 21 seconds. Might need to update that image.
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Rampage_as_One

I felt like adding more to my beastmasterey for damage from Blitzkrieg.

if you want poison without respeccing, just add in poisonous bite, for RA I'd recommend both whirling and predatory bond but not so much for AB...for AB id respec to pure tactics (no swordsmanship) and put in riposte/deadly riposte, you'll get better defense when you need it, and damage (and a shield), and your pet will continue to maul the opponents
so it'd look kinda like this

Expertise 9+1
BM 12+4
tactics 9

[skill]Riposte[/skill][skill]Deadly Riposte[/skill][skill]Healing Signet[/skill][skill]Disrupting Lunge[/skill][skill]Rampage as One[/skill][skill]Comfort Animal[/skill][skill]Charm Animal[/skill][skill]Poisonous Bite[/skill]

ok, for some reason riposte and deadly riposte aren't coming up as icons, but put those in. I'd personally recommend either scavenger strike or predator's pounce over poisonous bite though.

Well, Riposte are powerful, but what happens Vs casters? I tested the build at the top in both RA and AB (in AB I replaced disrupting lunge for troll), I got a 10 win streak in RA, killing a good few each round (normally 2 each round) and it worked ok in AB.

well, whirling ain't gonna help vs casters either, the best defense for caster is a strong offense

I'm not saying this build is by any means the best, but its what I'd use in AB if I were going to run BM/sword
I'd focus on pet dealing damage, and assist where I could, tactics gives shield defense and self heal, and ripostes. I'd absolutely NEVER replace disrupting lunge in this build in any pvp situation though.

Well..... Riposte won't give offence Vs Casters, I do enjoy lots of beastmaster builds, but having a build where we both do the damage is nice.

I see what you mean, I suppose you could go with deadly riposte and like thrill of victory/soldier's strike since they are tactics attack skills, but I'd focus on pet damage, which will be more than you were dealing before anyways.

Well, the sword I'm using does ebon damage, so that's good Vs foe with AL Vs slashing. To be honest I don't see why ramapage as one is in your build idea, call of Haste would be better. RAO is good if you want both player and pet doing damage equally.

Jaizhenju Strike
Pure Strike
Sever Artery
Gash
Beastial Fury
Heal As One
Charm Animal
Res

Do that with vamp sword and you'll get some kills for sure For example: I pwned ALL sins with it, and yeah the healing is good.

its not 'my build idea' its yours... I just modded it to try and help you with ideas.
only thing I did was changed to tactics.
here's what I'd run with beast mastery if I just wanted to have both deal damage:
silencing recurve of defense or vamp (i also use concussion shot in this build)
marks 10+1
beast 12+1+3
expertise 8+1

and I'd problably run this:
distracting shot
crossfire
savage shot
Ferocious strike
disrupting lunge
run as one or read the wind depending on map for AB, read the wind for any other situation.
charm
comfort

but that wouldn't have answered your question. No build will have no weaknesses, it's inherent in the 200 attributes/8 skills on the bar part of guild wars and one of the main reasons pvp is so much better in GW than almost any other game. A 'general' build has just as many drawbacks as a 'specialized' build. You'll not this is weak on self defense/heal, thats going to be a problem with a limit of 8 skills on the bar and both pet/player attacks.

Quote: Originally Posted by Milan-V

For TA, this is a pretty fun one:
Apply Poison
Hamstring
Sever Artery
Gash
Final Thrust
Ferocious Strike (E)
Charm Animal
Rez Sig

Another one:
Apply Poison
Sever
Gash
Final Thrust
Rape as One (E)
Charm Animal
Comfort Animal
Rez Sig

You don't really need to spec many points into wilderness since every hit reapplies the poison anyway.

Rape as One......... I hope you meant Rampage as one.

LOL, Rape as One. Wow, some people's imagination is just.. wow.

Anywho, R/W with Rampage should always be a hammer warrior. KD+Brutal Mauling = gg.

Quote: Originally Posted by Etrik

Quote: Originally Posted by Shuuda

this is the sword build i use---

wilderness--10-12
expertise-12-13
sword-12

skills--apply poison, sever artery, gash, hamstring, wild blow, escape, whirling defense, troll unguent.

take out whirling defense, wild blow or hamstring for galrath slash or final thrust.