Note: I encourage everyone to start a thread about their class. Yes, we can google and search around ourselves, but it's good to have some live discussion as well. Plus, sometimes as we experience it on our own, we might find some new tips and tricks. I'd like to find out what other Rangers in the guild are using as their build, and the primary combos they use. Personally, I'm focused on PvP combat, but the discussion is open for PvE as well. Here's my current build: http://www.blackdeserttome.com/calculator/ranger/23114# As of right now, I just hit Lvl 55 and I have something like 550 Skill Points (SP). From reading online, I'm surprised that most guides put you at 700+ SP at Lvl 55. What's everyone else at for their current SP? The main combos I use are: Evasion Shot cancel, Blasting Gust cancel (unless I need the knockdown), Will of the Wind cancel, and Shotgun. I'd like to know if anyone else is using some of the other combos: Sharp Feather cancel (Round Kick + Penetrating Wind), Kiss of the Wind cancel (Tearing Arrow + Penetrating Wind), or Call of the Sky iFame (Charging Kick + Bow Skill). These are all of the combos that I know, so feel free to bring up others if there are more.
I'm not going to post my skill tree, because it's a mess and I'm too cheap at the moment to buy a skill reset, but I have all the skills I care about at the moment. Sooner or later I will reset and maximize. I have about 700 points, although I don't play any alts and don't grind a ton. I tried the Sharp Feather cancel; however, I couldn't get behind it because the damage seemed low compared to other cancels, the mana cost was high enough, and the timing was very difficult to maintain, especially in pvp situations. I feel like Penetrating Wind is mostly used for its CC capabilities, and since it can only CC off cooldown, the spam was a waste. (I'm hardly an expert on this cancel though so don't take my word for it). I do use Kiss of the Wind cancel for my Penetrating Wind CC needs. Call of the Sky is one that I use constantly to get out of danger, and if you're really good with it, it can be used as a nice CC. I've recently started using the Pinpointing Gust combo for Blasting Gust CC. Shotgun spam is number 1. If it's a very large group I have been known to spam Will of the Wind. The damage is great, with extraction gems the mana is relatively sustainable, and since I have HP stacking, the awakened +5% bonus is nice. I use Blasting Gust canceling for groups of 4 or more enemies to get my mana back in PvE; however, I'm only running 1 extraction gem. If you have 2 you may be able to maintain shotgun in large groups (haven't personally tried it but with one extraction I see my shotgun sustainability go up quite a bit). Comments on your build: It seems like a lot of people do not go deep into auto-attack (if at all). This is personal preference. AA is rarely used in PvP situations, and pretty much only used in PvE to regain mana (if spirit healing is leveled up). If they don't level up AA or spirit healing (I'm fairly certain spirit healing only works on Bow Skill), it seems like they use high level razor wind to get their mana back. I personally have bow skill at 7 and 10 in spirit healing, but if I do reset, I'd probably changed it to Razor. I think either is viable and have seen many builds going both ways; however, if you are looking for skill points to put in other skills, I'd drop your bow skill a few points. You're gonna have to spam mana pots either way. You show as not having Infinite Mastery (100hp and it's cheap). I'd get it. Definitely get Call of the Sky, it's amazing.
Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll definitely check out Kiss of the Wind and Call of the Sky. Did you max out Penetrating Wind and Tearing Arrow? I was looking at de-ranking Bow Skill and Spirit Healing. They're great pre-50 for using Explosive Shot spam to grind, but they do seem kind of useless now. Especially for PvP purposes; I rarely use Explosive Shot except to get away from targets and I only ever use Bow Skill with Evasion Shot cancel into Shotgun. I do plan to pick up Infinite Mastery. I just consider that an "icing on the cake" ability. I'm waiting to get it after maximizing all my damage abilities.
I did max out Penetrating Wind, as Flow: Kiss of the Wind requires it to be. I only have one point in Tearing Arrow; however, when I skill reset I probably will max it out. It seems like it has it's place in PvP, Midir was telling me about how he uses it in precarious positions to snipe people, since it keeps you immobile and won't kick you off ledges or houses and does good damage and has nice range. Razor Wind would be the substitution for AA/spirit healing I think. I confuse Razor Wind and Tearing Arrow, but if I'm correct Razor Wind is for PvE and Tearing Arrow is for PvP. Hopefully @Midir will show up and confirm though. Yes, good point about having Bow Skill for Explosive Shot; and it's probably a good idea to derank explosive once you hit 55 or so, considering its only uses are to provide an awakening buff and keep you dodgy in PvP. Dang, all this talk about builds is making me want to reset. Guess I'll have to do that later.
Yep, looks like I'll be resetting tonight lol. I never use Razor Wind. I've always considered it a more PvE skill, since it locks you in place. I'm wanting to try out using Tearing Arrow since it does seem like it has high damage output. Is it Razor Wind or Tearing Arrow that you use with Kiss of the Wind?
Kiss of the Wind uses Razor Wind III Penetrating Wind IV. If you used Razor Wind in PvE (boss fights specifically) you wouldn't need to worry about putting "useless" points in Razor Wind, as you would already have it. Tearing Arrow also requires you to stand still AND has a charge up time, so not useful all of the time. But if you can position yourself without being seen or have some time to set it up, seems legit. The main reason to use Sharp Feather cancel over Kiss of the Wind would be a slightly lower mana cost.
Though I'd chime in on Tearing Arrow. I go back and forth whether I want this skill or not. Pros: Has longer range than most skills in the game Has insane single target damage Fun to use Cons: Tearing Arrow -> PW combo for knockdown costs 95 extra mana if tearing is max instead of rank 1 Has poor damage if you hit multiple targets (damage is spread amongst targets hit) Only useful in niche situations where you are not focused on and can sit still for a couple seconds to charge it up Even if you use Kiss of the wind for PW knockdown, you still have to have at least rank 3 razor wind which costs 47 more mana than rank 1 tearing arrow -> PW combo. In my opinion the safest option would be to leave tearing arrow at rank 1 and get really good at the tearing arrow -> PW combo for knockdown. Then later down the road you can experiment with ultimate tearing arrow if you have extra skill points.
As far as skill builds, you do not need Bow Mastery. I use Razor wind in PvE whenever I'm out of mana, so I find it essential. Flow skills that I believe are absolutely required for PvP are Pinpoint Gust 1 and Call from Sky.
Updated build: Mana's even more of a bitch with this, but opens up more options. http://www.blackdeserttome.com/calculator/ranger/25310#
