User talk:Oblio11710

This is my talk page. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

UW trapping
I answered you at User talk:Vallen Frostweaver. Hope it helps. -- (talk) 15:22, 27 December 2006 (CST)

... coldfire night drops
what source material are you referring to? Also coldfires do drop ecto's i have seen them drop from them. -- Xeon 10:37, 1 January 2007 (CST)
 * Hmm ok found the data. Ecto as drops were added as vandalism. I just remembered what dropped the ecto, my mistake on that. My bad -- Xeon 10:41, 1 January 2007 (CST)
 * Ya, some guy told me about it dualing last night and I figured someone screwed up the page. I've killed countless cold's and never saw an ecto drop. :) I did check the primary data before making the change of course. -- [[Image:Ranger-icon-small.png|25px]]Oblio (talk) 10:58, 1 January 2007 (CST)

FoW Running
(thought you might not check my page again) Me and Aquinas need to test our running build in FoW, but the only things down there that would be a problem are abyssmal andsome of the mesmers, so our build should work. we will be trying soon, and if you like i could take some of those keys and bring you back the drops. I dont plan on buying keys to much myself.--Coloneh RIP 00:09, 8 January 2007 (CST)
 * I don't know. I'm not sure whether I'm interested in trying it myself or not yet. This isn't the best time for me to decide since I did a UW clear last night (wiped on our last quest- 4 horsemen) and I feel BURNED out. Anyway, I'll get back to you on your talk page if I decide to take you up on your offer. Thanks! -- [[Image:Ranger-icon-small.png|25px]]Oblio (talk) 10:13, 8 January 2007 (CST)

Hornbow build
Hey Oblio, whats up dude? Is your name from that book, The Point. About the little boy and his dog Arrow? Anyway. Sorry I take so long to get back to you, I've been playing around with that VoS Archer, got a change on it that makes it much better now. Been going to the voters who voted unfavoured to let them know, hopefully they strike out their votes. If not, oh well. Anyway. On your Hornbow build, you need some skills that ignore the attack timer so that the bow can be fired quickly despite its slow attack rate. Your elite choice should definently be a skill like this. Punishing Shot is one such skill. Quick Shot is the other, but with an Increased Attack Speed stance, you will fire faster than you could with QS anyway. For an IAS stance, I think Frenzy is the best choice. Sure it doubles the damage you recieve, but it requires no points in anything to work; not to mention is the only 33% one available to a Ranger primary (other than Heket's, but you don't want to use that). Also, as a Ranger you arn't put in a damage taking position that often. Dual Shot is also a must, as it fires two arrows to take advantage of the Hornbows armor penetration. Savage Shot is a skill similar to Punishing Shot in that it ignores the attack timer and interrupts. In fact, savage has a shorter recharge so could be used more often. Lastly for attack skills, I think you should take Needling Shot. It only works on foes whos health is below 50%, but once it is working, you can fire it every second. That is simply the fastest way to get off attacks from the Hornbow. I think you would also want a Preperation. Read the Wind is a common choice. However, with the Hornbow's AP, the damage from Kindle Arrows would be increased by low armor (I think); the damage from RtW is armor ignoring and will not (I know this for sure). KA would also require points in Wilderness Survival. Lastly, a self heal. Your best choice may be to put points in Tactics and get Healing Signet. Another option is to put points in Wilderness Survival and get Troll Unguent (may get Kindle Arrows too now). Another option is to go R/E and use Conjure Flame with Kindle Arrows. Take Serpent's Quickness so you can use your attacks more often. The AP will magnify the damage from CF and KA, and the timer ignoring attacks will allow you to use apply them more often. There may also be some skills that recharge attacks very quickly or immediatly that would be good, take a look around. Another choice are skills that do a lot of damage to foes above 50% health, then use Needling Shot once they are below 50%. Here are a couple of bars I thought might be good with your bow. I havn't really done any practical testing or mathematical calcs with them though, so I can't say for sure. I think they are good places to start though. The VoS build seems like a good idea. But having already done testing and the math, I know that the faster bows outdo the Hornbow in that build, even given that VoS magnifies AP. Each hit with a Hornbow would do a lot of damage in a VoS build (around 100 a hit on casters!), such big chunks somtimes will push health below zero, not giving them a chance to heal. The builds below are spike build inspired, and would be even better at taking a huge chunk out of health very quickly that VoS. For PvE, I think these builds will still be good, because you can kill a single monster very quickly.


 * Could use Distracting Shot instead of Rez Sig.

I will think on this some more and keep an eye out for skills as I comb around the wiki!-- Windjammer 03:28, 9 January 2007 (CST)


 * Hmm, I just did some reading and Conjure Flame is added as damage shift, not raw damage. Therefore AP will not increase it.  Oh Well.--[[image:Windjammer Icon1.jpg|15px]] Windjammer 03:49, 9 January 2007 (CST)
 * More testing done. Conjure Flame and Kindle Arrows are not affected by armor penetration.  They are also not armor ignoring.  Not good with the Hornbow.  I've also done some more number crunching on the Hornbow with VoS.  I don't know why I did'nt check this earlier, but the VoS Archer with a Hornbow does better damage to casters than with a Flatbow.  Against anthing 80 AL and abover however, it will do worse damage.  That means that for my build, using a Hornbow on casters would be better!  It would also make a Hornbow with a VoS build good for PvE probably, as many monsters will have 70 AL or less; and against the higher ALs the damage is only a little worse than with the Hornbow.  If you don't go with a VoS build for PvE, your only other choice to use your Hornbow would be a spike build similar to the first bar I posted.  IF you go PvE with VoS, the pet also makes a great addition.  I think you were on the right track earlier, sorry for being a dumbass and trying to suggest a spike build (though that may still work).  However, I would now go with the VoS build, its combination of healing and damage are great for PvE, and it will work just fine with a Hornbow.  A little better than Flat against low AL, but a little worse against high AL.--[[image:Windjammer Icon1.jpg|15px]] Windjammer 04:13, 9 January 2007 (CST)
 * ACK!!! I'm doubly a dumbass dude. Flatbow damage is still higher against 60 AL, by about 50 points.  I did somthing wrong my calcs.  I'm sorry man, I think for your Hornbow, I spikeresque build is going to be the best way to go.  I don't know how that works out for PvE.  There may be another great PvE build for it, I just can't think of it right now.  I do tend to think in loops though, kind of getting stuck in a mindset and not able to see great ideas past my own nose.  Sorry I wasn't much help man.--[[image:Windjammer Icon1.jpg|15px]] Windjammer 05:02, 9 January 2007 (CST)

Yes, in fact, I have always loved that story so I've used 'oblio' over the years as a uid. Amusingly, regarding windjammers, I sail quite a bit (mostly racing the <40' class, or cruising).

Thank you for helping me look into this stuff with the hornbow. The more I read about using bows, the more I think that the hornbow is viable (perhaps superior) in any build where you are attack skill heavy. So the hornbow fits well in a barrage or interrupt heavy build. It kind of blows that I got a stance bow, but those Mursaat bows are rare enough that I thought I should jump on the opportunity when I saw it.

And I think Frenzy is the key.

Frenzy is an always-up 33 IAS (shame they nerfed Tiger's Fury, etc.). The double damage thing should generally not be a huge issue, but AI ranger groups are pretty good at spiking so I probably should throw in a cancel stance. This is what I'm thinking:

Marksmanship : 12 + 3 + 1 Expertise : 10 + 1 Wilderness Survival: 8 + 1

(Maybe swap E and WS around after testing some- have to see how energy costs go)

Rebirth is crucial as Rangers and MM's are always the last one in the group alive. Self heal is crucial because monks are a bunch of punk-ass-chumps (myself included). Concussion shot is also very important for shutting down big casters. I can't go on enough about how things like Terrorweb's or Air-Ele boss's can screw a party unless they get shut down.

If you accept that a cancel stance is necessary, then Natural Stride works well (I think it's the best ranger evasion out there).

My only concern with that build (not having tested it yet) is that RtW may not be optimal. I'd like to fit in one more bow attack (either Needling, dual, or distracting), and I'm not sure if I really need it (as an interrupter, I'm moving fairly close to my target anyway... about .5r aggro-circle- thats another argument for natural stride I guess).

Anyway, I'm going to try the build I listed and see how it goes. I think punishing is a great idea for the elite- I hadn't been using that! Thanks! -- Oblio (talk) 10:58, 9 January 2007 (CST)

Proposal for redesigned Build Page
Oblio, since you were one of supporters of the "build split proposal", I thought I would ask for your help. I've done up a proposed redesign of the front page of the build section, to work together with Barek's redesigned template tags. The proposal can be found here: Build Page Redesign Proposal 1. If we connect this proposal to Barek's work we may have a chance to achieve something similar to what we were pursuing with the build split proposal. I'm hoping you can help me out by providing feedback on the layout. Is this the most intuitive way to organize things? The main thing I think still needs to be improved is the layout for the "tested" and "untested" links by category. I don't like how the text doesn't line up and I'm thinking a better layout is needed there, maybe tables? Any help or feedback would be appreciated. -- BrianG 12:13, 10 January 2007 (CST)
 * Would be glad to (in fact, I gave it a first look already), but wednesday and thursday this week are out of the question for family reasons. I'll look at it as soon as I'm available. -- [[Image:Ranger-icon-small.png|25px]]Oblio (talk) 19:49, 10 January 2007 (CST)

Mini skill bar in box
I stole it kinda and improved on it a bit, hope you don't mind :) &mdash;Blastedt&mdash; 17:00, 24 January 2007 (CST)