Ranger PvE | Open World Shortbow, Sword/Warhorn | Damage The Lazy Murderer (Crossfire)
Table of Contents
Summary
The goal of this build is steady DPS that works for nearly all PvE content. The build has taken me across nearly every dungeon, Fractals of the Mists, open world completion, open world bosses and the Living Story, Liadri being the only case where I actually changed my build. The build is focused on Shortbow because it used to be great. Even though the range was reduced from 1200 to 900, I decided to stick with it. Longbow is very viable now with all the buffs it got, but this is still not a bad alternative.
It's a lazy and passive build, but it performs well under pressure as well.
I. Weapons and Skills
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- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
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- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
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- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
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- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
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- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
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- 0Vulnerability: Swiftness:
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Weapon and Skill Details
Shortbow: Your bread and butter. Basically hit #1 to DPS. This has nothing to do with the bleeding as the build is a Power build. With Crossfire you hit for ~760 damage on regular attacks and ~1600 on crit. With a shot going off every 0.52 seconds and 53% crit chance at the least, that is over 1.000 DPS per second to a single target. If you stand correctly you can hit at least two targets at once because of the Piercing Arrows trait. Now you're thinking about Warriors who easily burst 10k in one attack. What I love about the shortbow though, is the steady damage. Other classes often have to dodge in and out of combat or deliver damage in bursts and suffers if their burst is countered. This build delivers the same damage every half second making it feel very reliable. Compared to longbow the DPS is not bad either. The longbow can outperform the shortbow on medium-long range in regard to damage, but I don't like the longbow because DPS feels chunky compared to the shortbow, along with the fact it does not have the same utility.
For the rest of the shortbow skills - Well, they are all utility. Poison, extra dodge, cripple and an interrupt. These should not be spammed. Use them when appropriate.
As the alternative set I choose to go with Sword/Warhorn. The warhorn is mostly a matter of being lazy (Swiftness), but it also provides 15 seconds of Fury, which is a good pop before a combat. With over 100% crit damage it makes a difference whether your chance to crit is 53 or 73%.
As for the sword, this is highest-damage weapon a ranger has access to. With that said, the build is squishy. If you can melee something, that's great. It will die faster. But don't count on it, especially not during difficult encounters. The real reason I use sword is for all the added evasion it gives. Normal dodging can get you out of many shitty situations, but it will not save you from immobilizes. With sword #2 and #3 you get a total of 2.25 seconds of "dodging" any incoming damage which helps if you are immobilized. You will remain in place, but you will still get the evasion from the skills. Furthermore, #2 is an amazing escape mechanic and a good way to get some distance to your target if things should get messy.
As healing skill, there is really only one that works for everything - Healing Spring. While you may get more raw healing from Troll Unguent it is rarely worth sacrificing the water field and condition removal. This is especially true because healing spring is the only source on this build to remove conditions. In dungeons/groups it is even better because anyone can use the condition removal and regeneration from the healing spring, and possibly use the waterfield to heal even more.
Quickening Zephyr is obvious. 6 seconds of quickness for bursting your enemy down. Remember not to pop your healing while this is on as you will only get healed for half of what you should have.
Signet of the Hunt serves little purpose in combats, it is a simple matter of being lazy with the 25% movement speed. If you like being slow, feel free to use something else. In combat, pop it whenever you can for a single attack that deals 150% damage.
Signet of Stone is the emergency button. The build IS squishy and not every fight is easy to master without mistakes where you get caught up in something, pulled to a boss, immobilized, knocked on your butt and so on. The signet is traited to not only work on the pet, but also you. It will not save you from conditions, but it will eat any incoming attacks for 6 seconds. This is your saving grace when you mess up, and 6 seconds is plenty of time to pull it together and get back in the fight.
Lastly we have Rampage as One. For an elite skill, I don't feel it is impressive. But it is solid. 20 seconds of fury, swiftness, stability and might. Pop it whenever you like. It's extra damage, and I don't mind the safety in stability either.
With all of that covered, there's the matter of pets. There is a lot of choices here. What it comes down to for me is that I don't like the pets. At all. That said, they can not be ignored, even if unreliable at times. I use wolf and dog because of the CC they provide - A knockdown each, fear and immobilize as actives. These pets also deal OK damage while not being too squishy. But seriously, try pets out, see what you like.
II. Traits
Marksmanship
Skirmishing
Wilderness Survival
Nature Magic
Trait Details
Marksmanship:
I: 10% damage whenever you don't have to dodge. Extra damage is always good, and being ranged there is often no reason to dodge.
VIII: This trait makes you able to hit several targets at the same time. Your arrows doesn't stop when it hits the first enemy, it goes through and hits everything behind the enemy as well. Can be switched if not needed. I generally just leave it on. Try to target the enemy furthest away, it will be easier to the entire line of enemies. If you do not like this trait (you should!), both IV and VII are solid alternatives in this trait line.
XI: Who doesn't like 6 seconds of invulnerability?
Skirmishing - This is not the best trait line and no "awesome" choices, but everything is solid. I can only justify it with the 300 precision and 30% crit damage the trait line gives.
I: A bit more damage for the pet. Change it if you like.
VI: I don't like my pets chasing around too much, wasting time. Nothing special though, change it if you like.
X: Increases the frequency of which you can pop the utility skills on the shortbow. I recommend keeping this. More interrupts, more dodging, more uptime on poison for mobs that likes to heal and more cripple. All good.
Nature Magic:
V: A bit of extra power. As per 10th of December this will be increased to a 7% conversion which is not that bad. As of right now I recommend going 10 points into Wilderness Survival instead for +50% endurance regen and VI which reduces cooldown on Quickening Zephyr. The 50% will be nerfed to 25% on 10th of December though, which is why I now recommend the Nature Magic traits instead.
III. Stat Specifics & Effects
Primary Stats
- Health 17022 (+1100)
- Vitality 1026 (+110)
- Armor 2160 (+180)
- Toughness 1096 (+180)
- Attack 3868 (+1952)
- Power 2828 (+1912)
- Critical Hit 59% (+59%)
- Precision 2152 (+1236)
Secondary Stats
- Agony Resistance 25 (+25)
- Boon Duration 10% (+10%)
- Condition Duration 30% (+30%)
- Critical Damage 84% (+84%)
- Damage 1040 (+4%)
- Defense 1064 (+0)
- Ferocity 1271 (+1271)
- Magic find 20% (+20%)
- Movement Speed 25% (+25%)
Boons
Conditions
Control
Fields & Finishers
IV. Food, Armor, Trinkets & Upgrade Items
Food Nourishment
Utility Nourishment
Armor & Runes
- Defense: 97
- Power: 60
- Precision: 43
- Ferocity: 43
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
- Power: 100
- Damage: 4%
- Defense: 97
- Power: 45
- Precision: 32
- Ferocity: 32
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
- Power: 100
- Damage: 4%
- Defense: 338
- Power: 134
- Precision: 96
- Ferocity: 96
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
- Power: 100
- Damage: 4%
- Defense: 157
- Power: 45
- Precision: 32
- Ferocity: 32
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
- Power: 100
- Damage: 4%
- Defense: 218
- Power: 90
- Precision: 64
- Ferocity: 64
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
- Power: 100
- Damage: 4%
- Defense: 157
- Power: 45
- Precision: 32
- Ferocity: 32
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
- Power: 100
- Damage: 4%
Armor Stat Totals
- Defense 1064
- Power 594
- Ferocity 334
- Damage 4%
- Precision 299
Rune Bonuses
Superior Rune of the Ogre- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
- Power: 100
- Damage: 4%
Accessories & Jewels
- Magic find: 20%
- Power: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Power: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Vitality: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Power: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Vitality: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
Accessory Totals
- Power:707
- Precision:466
- Ferocity:466
- Magic find:20%
- Agony Resistance:25
- Vitality:10
Weapon Set Sigils
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Power: 239
- Precision: 171
- Ferocity: 171
- Weapon Strength: -
Weapon Set I
Sigil of Superior Air50% chance to cause a lightning strike on a critical hit. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 3 seconds)
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
- Weapon Strength: 814-900
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
Weapon Set II
Sigil of Superior Air50% chance to cause a lightning strike on a critical hit. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 3 seconds)
Sigil of Superior Force+5% damage.
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
Water Weapon I
Sigil of Superior Air50% chance to cause a lightning strike on a critical hit. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 3 seconds)
Water Weapon II
Sigil of Superior Air50% chance to cause a lightning strike on a critical hit. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 3 seconds)
Upgrade Item Details
Armor and trinkets are obviously all Berserker's for the most damage. As for runes, the optimal choice would be Scholar's for the +10% damage they provide. I still use those, but I do not recommend it. In easy fights, sure, it is the best runes, but in any moderately difficult fight, you will not be above 90% HP at all times. For that reason I actually like Ogre runes the best. The +4% damage is always there, and the runes provide some nice offensive stats. The rock dog is an OK bonus too and can secure your rally in a situation where you get downed.
On weapons I like to run Sigil of Air. I only have the math for the shortbow which adds up to a total 7% damage increase. Do note this is only on a single target though, the first that your arrow hits. If you do not like this, I recommend the Sigil of Fire instead for an AoE blast. As far as I remember it is almost on par with Sigil of Force (+5% damage), except that it deals damage in AoE, adjacent to the first target you hit. If you want a "safer" sigil, just stick with Sigil of Force.
V. Basic Gameplay
Swap to shortbow. Press 1. Win 