Things to Avoid Ranger in Guild Wars

Don’t try to do everything in Guild Wars

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A common temptation in Guild Wars is to try to do everything available to a particular class. This temptation is especially inherent in the Ranger class, as Rangers are among the most versatile and widely-spread classes. I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen a Ranger who tries to squeeze Bow skills, Traps, Stances, Preparations, Spirits, and a Pet into their skill bar. While it is fun early in the game to experiment with all sorts of skills, later in the game such a character becomes increasingly spread thin. Learn which skills are the most useful to you, and specialize rather than diversify. Find a niche in your group and fill it. Remember, you can always change your build at any time when you are in town, so prepare the most effective combination for any given mission, instead of doing everything.

Don’t overspecialize in Guild Wars

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The opposite of the above mistake is the overspecialized ranger, one who carries a full skillbar of Marksmanship skills (and no Res Signet, I might add) while falling under an onslaught of Mountain Trolls because he/she forgot Whirling Defense. Generally this is only a problem with Marksmanship, although I’ve seen folks who take their Traps way too seriously. In general, most of the Ranger skill lines are effective in 2-3 skill “clumps”, which you alternate between in combat… a Ranger does NOT have enough Energy to continually use bow attack skills, and the recharge times are quick enough on their skills to make it unnecessary to bring more than 3. Always leave room for some healing or defense and that 8th slot for your Res Signet or Signet of Capture.

Don’t drag along a Pet in Guild Wars

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Unless you are willing to be a full-time Beast Master. Pets can be helpful in early PvE game without many points in Beast Mastery, but as the game progresses, you’ll find the Pet to be more and more of a liability unless you start to invest heavily in Beast Mastery. It’s almost an “all or nothing” affair. In order to have an effective pet, you have to treat it just like a weapon, and an exclusive weapon at that. If you aren’t willing to put most of your points into Beast Mastery and devote 4 to 6 slots to your Pet, leave it behind. You can always decide to become a Beast Master at a later date.

This is not to say that there are no effective hybrid builds involving a Pet and other themes. But these sort of builds are difficult to tweak, and you are too likely to be spread too thin (see “Don’t overspecialize” above) until you have the attribute points and the skills to compensate for it later. You can ask yourself these questions:

* Do you have at least two Pet defensive skills (Call of Protection, Otyugh’s Cry, and/or Symbiotic Bond)?

* Do you have at least one Pet Attack?

* Is your Beast Mastery greater than 10?

If you said no to any of the above questions, you probably should leave the Pet.

You are not a tank in Guild Wars

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While Rangers can be quite effective at preventing damage to themselves, you are still vulnerable to many skills and attacks. If you are in a group with Warriors, let the Warriors do their job and tank the attacks. Pound for pound, the Warriors will take less damage (due to Damage reduction and better armor), thus allowing healers to conserve more energy by casting healing spells less often. This doesn’t mean that you couldn’t occasionally draw some fire away from the tanks (Throw Dirt is one of the best ways to do this), but unless no one else can do this job, avoid charging in the middle of the fray to take the brunt of the damage. It is far more Energy-efficient for healers to aid the slowly-falling health bars of the warriors than the soon-to-be-dead foolish ranger. Even with your defensive skills, you are going to take hits, and those hits are going to hurt… it’s not the frequency of the hits that taxes the average Monk healer, but the magnitude.

Don’t ignore Expertise in Guild Wars

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At first glance, Expertise may look like a bum deal to a new Ranger. After all, each point only reduces a small amount of Energy costs, and even then, it only applies to Ranger skills for the most part. Expertise is the linked attribute to some of the most powerful Ranger skills, like Whirling Defense, Lightning Reflexes, and Throw Dirt. With high enough Expertise, a Ranger should never run into Energy problems. A high Expertise greatly increases the staying power of the Ranger, and most rangers should invest some attribute points into Expertise. My personal recommendation is a minimum Expertise of 8, when you reach the level 20 endgame. This is the breakpoint that reduces 5 Energy skills down to 3 Energy, making those skills very easy to manage.

Nature Rituals are both friend and foe in Guild Wars

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One concept that new players have a hard time grasping is the fact that Nature Rituals affect both allies and enemies in combat. The trick to using Nature Ritual spirits is to find a way to benefit the allies more than the enemies.

For example, Favorable Wind is a popular Spirit that increases arrow attack speed and damage. This Spirit is quite beneficial to Rangers (and other Archers) when going up against opponents who lack bows and arrows. However, this Spirit also can mean the death of the party in areas where the enemy has archers, such as the Skeleton Archers in Gates of Kryta or the Avicara Fierces in the Shiverpeaks. Leave the Favorable Winds spirit at home if you are going up against archers.

There is nothing wrong with being “just” a Ranger in Guild Wars

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As with all classes, there is nothing wrong with sinking all of your attribute points into your primary class. While half of the fun of making builds is figuring out ways to combine the classes, often new players will start to sink their points into too many areas and end up with a sub-par build. Focus on the basics of being a Ranger first, and you’ll be a lot more effective. Note that this doesn’t mean that you should ALWAYS put points into Ranger attributes. But figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the Ranger first before you start compounding the strengths and weaknesses of your secondary class as well.

When being hit by an AoE spell in Guild Wars, MOVE!

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There are several AoE spells that target an area over a period of time. Most of these are static area of effects, and can only deal sustained damage on you if you stand still. The simple solution, of course, is to move outside of the AoE and reduce the damage done to yourself. However, I see a lot of people who just stand there and take it, oblivious to the damage numbers piling up.

Examples of this include Firestorm (a common Elementalist AoE), Chaos Storm (a common Mesmer AoE), Ice Imps with Maelstrom, Mahgo Hydras with Meteor Shower, and Sand Elementals with Eruption (which will blind you if you don’t move out of the area of effect).

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