A little of both? (Volley + BHA)

This is probably a dead horse to some people but Rangers aren't my main, and I was wondering if I was getting the best of both worlds, or not being very efficient at doing anything:

Volley + Splinter Weapon + BHA + assorted interrupts + Lightning Reflexes + Death Pact Signet

Can lean it either way by swapping some assorted interrupts to assorted attacks.

Its not too bad, like a toned down Splinter Barrage. But if you are dazing people you kind of want to focus on the enemy you have dazed, rather than spreading your fire.

Try going as a R/Me and putting Epidemic in your build...

[skill]Broad Head Arrow[/skill][skill]epidemic[/skill]Volley[skill]savage shot[/skill][skill]Distracting Shot[/skill][skill]Troll Unguent[/skill][skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill]

If you want you can add more conditions in the form of [skill]Screaming Shot[/skill] or maybe that Poison Tip Arrow skill? I dunno, i left a spot free so go wild ^^

I wouldnt use psn tip signet as it dosn't synergise with volly..it only poisons the ot and not the spread shot. id take either natural stride or lightning reflexes

Quote: Originally Posted by Aris the Accurate

the problem is that poison that can only be put on 1 target serves as practically nothing but a cover condition..so you would get more use out of an ias or a block then you would poison because with ias you have higher changes on interupting. If you daze a healer and he finishes casting a condition removal then I dont know what to tell you

Just follow Poison Tip up with Epidemic?

As for condition removal against a dazed foe.

[skill]Mend Ailment[/skill][skill]Mending Touch[/skill][skill]Dismiss Condition[/skill][skill]Contemplation of Purity[/skill][skill]Blessed Light[/skill]

Most of these are 3/4 second cast times (1.5 seconds with dazed). Your bow only fires a maximum of once every 2 seconds You do the maths.

and with a 33% ias you attack 50% faster..your turn for math .
how often do you see those skills used by monsters in pve? And if you are having problems just call your bha and have somebody else attack your target with you

Broad head arrow is great in PvE. It might also work in Random Arena simply because everything both works and fails there (no ability to predict the opposing builds, or even predict your own side's builds - so no matter what you bring, its hit or miss).

Broad Head Arrow allowed me to finish the Rihlon Passage mission with bonus in a matter of seconds to fight the final boss. It was like having an off-switch for that thing. When there later with my Earth Elementalist and a hero with BHA and it was the same thing - near one shot that critter, of course I also brought Gwen, and Whispers as a curse necro - so I had 3 off switches going. But since that time, its been a regular on my skill bar.

I also use volley a lot. Its always on my skill bar unless the mission calls for a reason to remove it. Its biggest flaw is that it tosses out all your preparations when you use it. That means that when I apply it to a hero, I don't bring any preparations on that hero - I have no idea if they use them in the right order or not.

But volley is a handy spam skill, and it spread to just the right number of foes - an amount that it easy to find in clumps. Barrage is often wasted - hitting the same number of targets as volley. Sure the extra damage is nice, but even still and elite can, in many areas, be better spent. But when I know I'm going somewhere with large clumped mobs, I'll even consider bringing both volley and barrage...

Never thought to apply Epidemic. Going to have to put that on my hero rangers. I'll have to check and see what my secondary was on my ranger... I make so little use of secondaries I can't even remember what she has and whether or not I've paid yet to gain access to any others (she's a Nightfall ranger, because female rangers in Prophesies look so ugly, and I had more Factions toons than Nightfall ones when I made her).

Volley works perfectly well with Splinter, you don't lose that much damage vs Barrage. Epidemic is ok, but usually the only thing you need daze for is a single boss, not a group.

It was brought up in another thread...but ya I've been meaning to try this in dungeons. You still have the ability to splinter mobs and daze for the peskier caster enemies and end boss makes it worth while.

Quote: Originally Posted by Aris the Accurate

I just use [skill]Ebon Dust Aura[/skill] and Volley. AoE Blindbot ftw. Splinter Weapon on a hero, and you rock the house.

Quote: Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver

Woah, this thread nearly derailed a bit to a Poisoned Tip thread.

The reason I am asking is because I haven't quite found a comfortable role for my Ranger for general use. Dungeons aside. Also for my Ranger heroes.

The thing is, with the quick recharges: Volley/Barrage + Splinter/Conjure sort of combo leaves quite a few slots available for utility. They are probably all you'll ever need in the pure damage department for heroes. I am actually worried that the heroes become less efficient when I give them too many skills.

Obviously Preps are out, so its between Spirits, IAS, Avoids, Interrupts and Pets.

If trampsing through the Charr areas, I leave out Spirits cos Charr have plenty of archers. Lightning is the native IAS, and Whirling is a nice Avoid.

That leaves me between Interrupts and Pets. I kinda rate Interrupts higher than pets, but thats mostly because I haven't played much with pets.

Is a BHA Jin/Magrid/Pyre any better than Zho? Or should I just focus on the damage/condition spam (as people here are suggesting).

Quote: Originally Posted by Wakka

Quote: Pretty sure ele bosses don't have those skills to use. Who said ANYTHING about bosses, let alone ele bosses lol Not quite sure which post your reading there mate. Maybe you posted in the wrong place?

Quote: if you miss a 1.5second spell with dshot or savage shot, you're really bad and should run a BHA-frustration ranger with conjure phantasm. Remember your using Epidemic with BHA to daze multiple foes, if you can savage/distracting 3/4 baddies at once please tell me how

back on track..think back to ranger basics. How often will you see a ranger without a way to block, or have a way to cut dmg taken. in bp groups it was throw dirt (cause dam fingers of chaos) in pvp it is nat stride, so why not bring a skill that will give you a higher chance of interupting the for that is important (ie. the foe you fired the bha at) then worrying about what all the little maggots around him are doing. you don't need a cover condition in pve

Quote: then worrying about what all the little maggots around him are doing. Not a good idea mate lol -_-

The point is, Poison Tip + Epidemic can cause a reasonable amount of degen to a lot of foes. If you pefer the more defensive style then yeah sure, bring some form of blocking. But I tend to run Aegis in my hero's builds and also try and fit Ward against melee if im in a melee heavy area, so i dont think I need it.

If using BHA, I highly suggest stackin on other conditions to prevent Daze removal.

I personally like Crossfire or Called shot.

Hard to be best at both BHA and BP. Would recommend you stick with one; they both work well.