This build has been archived and is not updated by the GuildWiki community. This build is only maintained for historical reference and may contain incorrect or outdated information. Reason: Change in the metagame, Release of Nightfall gave rangers better damaging skills.

This build is designed to fulfil a hunter-killer role in the competitive missions Fort Aspenwood and The Jade Quarry. It can furthermore be adapted for the Random Arenas and in PvE applications where it is necessary to shut down or otherwise disable a crucial boss or caster class.

Attributes and Skills

Ranger / Any	Attribute Rank
Expertise	12 + 1 + 3
Marksmanship	12 + 1

Read the Wind

Pin Down

Broad Head Arrow

Debilitating Shot

Focused Shot

Antidote Signet

Lightning Reflexes

Whirling Defense

• You may wish to take one rank out of Expertise and distribute the points elsewhere. Common uses include Wilderness Survival for its preparations, which will help you cover your conditions.

Equipment

• Since Read the Wind speeds up your arrows you may want to use a longbow for the range or a shortbow for the refire rate. If you are concerned about hitting your target or you want to use a different preparation, a recurve bow is appropriate for the arrow speed.
• Depending on what condition you want to extend, add a crippling or silencing bow string to your bow of choice.

Usage

• You should focus on two types of targets - runners and caster classes. An example of the former would be an amber runner in Fort Aspenwood, while good choices for the latter include minion masters, healers and elementalists.
• Broad Head Arrow is not made any faster by Read the Wind, so try to get close to your target where possible. An excellent scenario would be if your caster target is currently paying attention to something other than your approach. Use Pin Down to help your Broad Head Arrow connect.
• Apply Read the Wind and keep it up where possible.
• Fire off Pin Down to snare your target, making it easier to hit.
• If the target is a caster class, apply the Dazed condition using Broad Head Arrow. Where possible, fire this off when the target is casting a spell with a long cast time to increase the chance the arrow will connect.
• Finish the combination with Debilitating Shot to drain your target's energy. This is effective against more than caster classes - warrior-monks and assassins are also choice targets for energy denial.
• Top up your damage output with Focused Shot. Since your first three bow attacks all have reasonably long recharge times, you will not suffer the three second skill disable penalty. Continue to spam this shot to add to your damage.
• Treat Lightning Reflexes as an offensive rather than a defensive skill - use it to attack your target faster.
• Whirling Defense will help keep you alive longer should you come under fire. Mix this up with Lightning Reflexes to maintain a long duration of evasive and blocking manoeuvres.
• Additional tip - If you find difficulty keeping the Dazed condition on your target because of condition removal, fire Broad Head Arrow before Pin Down. This will allow Crippled to cover Dazed.

Counters

• If your target applies a defensive stance many of your attacks will not connect. The upside is that most caster builds have little to nothing in the way of defensive stances.

Variants

• If your weapon of choice is a recurve bow consider Seeking Arrows over Read the Wind.
• Antidote Signet may be replaced with a better condition removal skill, such as Purge Conditions, Plague Touch, or Mend Ailment, with the appropriate secondary profession.
• Players with Nightfall may consider Barbed Arrows or Screaming Shot, which will add a Bleeding cover to your inflicted conditions.

Focused Shot is a wildcard that can be replaced.

• Focused Shot can be replaced by Marauder's Shot for higher damage at the expense of some disabling.
• Another good choice is Determined Shot. If your chosen target applies a defensive stance, fire Determined Shot off, thereby recharging your bow attacks, and switch targets immediately.
• Since your target is likely to attempt to flee you once you apply the Dazed condition, Hunter's Shot can add a Bleeding cover to your Crippled and Dazed conditions.
• Distracting Shot and Savage Shot can be swapped in for explicit interruption (e.g. of Siege Turtles) of more than just spells.

Notes

This build was originally designed specifically for a dual role - to hunt down Kurzick amber runners in Fort Aspenwood, and to take out caster classes in any competitive mission. Dazed is an extremely dangerous condition for any caster class, and this build is able to apply the condition without a conditional, unlike builds that use Concussion Shot.