User:Jasminethetender/builds/ranger

Ranger =Brutal Glass Arrows= The Brutal Glass Arrows ranger combines the preparation Glass Arrows with the Ritualist weapon spell Brutal Weapon to apply continuous amounts of high damage with a minimum amount of time re-applying preparations.

Attributes and Skills

 * In the optional slot, use Antidote Signet or Troll Unguent depending on where you plan on operating.

Equipment

 * Scout's Insignia or Brawler's Insignia if you feel the need for defense, Radiant insignia otherwise.
 * A Vampiric Recurve or Short Bow and a Sundering Short or Recurve bow.

Usage
To use this build, maintain Glass Arrows at all times. When you're about to engage a foe, cast Brutal Weapon on yourself, then use Forked Arrow followed by Dual Shot for a quick spike, then simply shoot them until Forked Arrow and Dual Shot recharge. Repeat as necessary until foe is dead, maintaining Glass Arrows and Brutal Weapon.

If there is a Bonder on your team, tell them to not bond you unless its absolutely necessary.

Variants

 * RA Variant: Use Troll Unguent and take one level away from Communing to put into Wilderness Survival
 * TA Variant: Use Antidote Signet to keep yourself clean so your healer can focus on healing you.
 * Natural Stride can replace Whirling Defense to avoid the long cool down time

Counters

 * Hexes such as Faintheartedness will prevent Forked Arrow from triggering and will slow your damage output
 * Missing from Blind or hexes
 * Blocking, to a lesser extent; you will still make them bleed.

=Ebon Dust Arrow= The Ebon Dust Arrow ranger uses the skills Ebon Dust Aura and Apply Poison to blind and poison with every attack skill used, and can efficiently blind and poison a full team - keeping monks occupied with condition removal and dramatically hindering physical attack characters. Harrier's Grasp can be used to stop fleeing or advancing foes and will inflict the opponent with three conditions at once.

Equipment

 * A +5 Energy - Ebon Recurve Bow of Enchanting and one of Fortitude
 * Radiant insignias
 * Rune of Attunement

Usage

 * Just before entering battle, use Ebon Dust Aura, Harrier's Grasp, and Apply Poison.
 * Use Called Shot as your first attack on your target.
 * Watch your target for a second or two and interrupt any important skills (healing and/or resurrection skills in particular) they may use with Distracting Shot.
 * Switch targets and repeat.
 * Troll Unguent serves as your self heal - make sure it doesn't get interrupted by using Natural Stride to protect against weapon-based interrupts.

Variants

 * Savage Shot may be used as a second interrupt.
 * Screaming Shot may also be used for additional condition coverage.
 * Antidote Signet can be useful if against touch rangers, or any characters with Plague Touch.

Counters

 * Enchantment removal.
 * Restore Condition, Mending Touch, Draw Conditions etc.

=VoS Archer= This build is designed around Vow of Strength. This skill adds a multiplier to raw damage, but disables all attack skills while it is active. The Ranger line provides offense with an increased attack speed stance and raw damage boosting preparations and rituals; all to maximize the effect of VoS. The Dervish line, aside from VoS, provides defense and utility with enchants from Earth Prayers and Wind Prayers that give the build strong self healing and some ability to heal others, and an enchant that cripples moving foes on hit on every attack. Because all skills used have fairly long durations there is really very little energy used, and only little energy management is required. It has been used effectively in PvE and the RA and AB areas of PvP. It may work well in other arenas too, but no testing has been done there yet.

Attributes and Skills

 * Vital Boon and SoPL could be replaced with the single skill Mystic Regeneration.
 * If used for PvE, Harrier's Grasp and perhaps Favorable Winds could be replaced.

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor
 * Rune of Superior Vigor
 * Rune of Clarity
 * Rune of Attunement


 * Vampiric Flatbow of Enchanting with a "Guided by Fate" inscription (increases damage when enchanted).
 * Bring a Zealous bow, for those times you run into energy problems.
 * Bring a Recurve Bow and/or a Shortbow, in case you don't have Favorable Winds up and can't use Read the Wind.

Usage

 * When you enter battle place Favorable Winds Spirit somewhere it can effect where you will usually be, but not so close to battle as to be destroyed easily.
 * Vow of Strength, Heket's Rampage, and Read the Wind are providing the majority of your offense.
 * Because of the casting time of RtW, you will generally do your damage in sustained bursts over 20 seconds.
 * If you are going to focus on one target to kill, renew RtW before starting.
 * If you are using Harrier's Grasp to spread cripple around, you don't need VoS to be active.


 * Use Harrier's Grasp to cripple targets
 * This skill can be kept on most of the time. Continous use will drain the energy of this build however.
 * You can spread cripple around the opposing teams meleers easily with this skill, as they are almost always moving.
 * You can prevent a target from kiting your team.
 * If you focus on a target, they will stay crippled regardless of condition removal. If you spread cripple around, targets will stay crippled for ~8 seconds, but it could be removed easily.


 * Cast Vital Boon followed by Signet of Pious Light to heal yourself.
 * You can heal yourself and someone else at the sametime by using the Signet on a teammate.
 * If you are needed to assist in healing, keep casting your enchants followed by SoPL on your allies.

Counters

 * Killing the Favorable Winds Spirit will reduce your damage and accuracy a little.
 * Persistent enchantment removal will hamper your damage and healing.
 * Typical physical damage counters such as Blindness and Weakness affect this build.

Variants

 * The pet adds more damage than Favorable Winds will. However, the Flatbow is not as useful without it.
 * Harrier's Grasp could now be replaced with a pet attack like Disrupting Lunge.

Optionals
 * Seeking Arrows: Use this to get past Aegis, Guardian, and similar spells or stances.
 * Antidote Signet: Removes Blindness, Disease, and Poison.
 * Any nature ritual.

Equipment

 * Poisonous Recurve Bow
 * Poisonous Longbow
 * Rotwing Recurve Bow

Usage

 * Maintain Apply Poison as much as possible to spread conditions through your attacks.
 * Deal damage and apply heavy degeneration through Burning and Poison through the use of Burning Arrow.
 * Interrupt enemies with Distracting Shot and Savage Shot. Note each interrupt's side bonuses.
 * Use Troll Unguent to counter degeneration and for a self-heal.
 * Remove conditions with Mending Touch.
 * Natural Stride can be used when running flags or simply for a speed boost.
 * Resurrect fallen allies with Resurrection Signet.

Counters

 * Slow hexes that decrease movement speed or attack speed can seriously hamper the amount of pressure you output.
 * Diversion can disable your attack skills for long durations, but you will still be able to spread poison if Apply Poison remains active.

Variants

 * One popular variant of the Solo Ranger/Mesmer FoW build here is to swap Burning Arrow for Poison Arrow, and Apply Poison for Kindle Arrows. This is useful as poison has a much longer duration. You may also bring Dual Shot for extra damage with Kindle Arrows.
 * Pin Down and Screaming Shot can be subsituted for Resurrection Signet for a snare and additional degen.


 * In Alliance Battles and Competitive Missions, swap Resurrection Signet for Pin Down. The former is useless in a game mode with near-instant resurrection, while the latter can be of great use in stopping flag/amber runners


 * Replace Natural Stride with Dodge (or its Factions equivalent, Zojun's Haste) for better running at the expense of being unable to attack. This is useful for amber/flag runners in CM/AB as they will not be attacking but may be the target of hexes (which end Natural Stride).

=Crip Shot= This build concentrates on the Ranger's snaring abilities gained from the elite skill Crippling Shot. With other utility skills from the Wilderness Survival line, the user is able to spread conditions throughout the enemy team. In combination with condition removal provided from the Monk's Protection Prayers line, and the use of the Ranger's Expertise attribute, Touch and Ranger skills have reduced energy costs. This results in an extremely versatile build that can provide both excellent defense as well as offense for a PvP team.

Equipment

 * Preferred bow combinations (although really, any bow can be used):
 * Crippling Recurve Bow
 * Poisonous Recurve Bow
 * Crippling Longbow
 * Vampiric Flatbow
 * A Recurve Bow is usually preferred, for maximum accuracy and minimum flight time. The Flatbow is for speeding up NPC kills.
 * Runes of Minor Wilderness Survival, Minor Expertise, Minor Marksmanship, Superior Vigor.
 * You may wish to take a +5 Energy main hand and a Shield for Flagging or for escaping from enemies.

Usage

 * Keep Apply Poison active when you're attacking to spread Poison with each arrow fired.
 * Snare enemies using Crippling Shot. Remember that this can be used both for offensive purposes (slowing down fleeing targets) and defensive purposes (slowing down foes chasing you or your team).
 * Interrupt enemies with Distracting Shot and Savage Shot. Note each skill's inherent effects besides just the interrupt.
 * Remove harmful Conditions with Mending Touch.
 * Use Natural Stride for a general-purpose speed boost.
 * Heal yourself and counter health degeneration with Troll Unguent.
 * Revive fallen party members with Resurrection Signet.

Counters

 * Illusion Mesmer's fast cast and hexes make them them the natural bane of Cripshots. Depending on your skill, the safest solution lays usually in either interrupt Crippling Anguish and then staying out of range, or using height advantage as leverage for the first shot, and, again, keeping the foe out of range at all times.
 * With little to counter enemy attacks, it is often best to Cripple the enemy and flee when targetted.
 * Because of the slower degen compared to a Burning Arrow ranger, it may become very difficult to take out opposing gankers using Feigned Neutrality.

Variants

 * Natural Stride can be replaced with other speed boosts such as Storm Chaser, Zojun's Haste, or Dodge.
 * For Alliance Battle or Competitive Mission usage of this build, consider taking an evasive or blocking stance such as Whirling Defense, Dryder's Defenses or Lightning Reflexes.
 * Screaming Shot, or, less reliably but more affordably, Hunter's Shot, can provide more Degen and a cover condition.

=Prepared Shot= The Prepared Shot Ranger is always prepared via Apply Poison. It then uses the Marksmanship energy management skill, Prepared Shot, to allow itself to skimp on Expertise for more offense, allowing it to be a versatile and hard hitting ranger with excellent endurance. This is a boon in lengthy battles, where the Ranger is designed to operate.

Equipment

 * Armor: Your choice. You could go all energy, or you could go with Scout's armor due to your preparation use.
 * Weapons: Suggested you use a poison bow generally and a crippling bow when you use Pin Down. Use a Silencing bow if you're using Concussion Shot. Choose between a shortbow for a faster firing rate, or a recurve bow for a little more range and flight speed. Finally, a longbow for max distance shots.

Usage

 * Keep Apply Poison upon yourself during combat, being sure to spam Prepared Shot every six seconds for additional damage and energy.
 * Snare enemies using Pin Down. With your high Marksmanship, and a crippling modifier, you can keep your target perma-snared and then some.
 * Interrupt enemies with Savage Shot. You should be able to spam this ability with the energy management from Prepared Shot. You will also be doing considerable damage if interrupting spells.
 * Use Screaming Shot every eight seconds to move -7 degen amid enemies.
 * To selectively spike a squishy target, spam Savage Shot, Prepared Shot, and Screaming Shot. With your 15 (or 16) Marksmanship and the damage modifiers from these three shots, you will be able to do a considerable amount of damage in a short amount of time.
 * Remove harmful conditions with Mending Touch.
 * Use Natural Stride for both a speed-boost and a reflexive counter to being attacked.
 * Heal yourself and counter health degeneration with Troll Unguent.
 * In AB, and you find yourself fleeing from an enemy (such as a shadow stepping assassin), use Pin Down to run.

Counters

 * Hex degen cannot be removed via Mending Touch, and will counter the regen from Troll Unguent.

Variants

 * Replace Savage Shot with the hefty costing Concussion Shot.
 * Replace Pin Down with Distracting Shot.
 * Swap out a skill for Resurrection Signet.
 * If you aren't worried about spikes, it is possible to run this at 16 Marksmanship, 9 Expertise, and 12 Wilderness Survival for 450 HP. (AB + PvE for example)

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor, With Rune of Superior Vigor and Rune of Superior Expertise
 * Weapons (one of the following)
 * A +5 energy axe/sword of shelter/defense/fortitude and a Blood Knife from Attendant Nashu or Jahn Pitz.
 * A Blood Magic wand such as the one available from Karl Jakobs and Blood Magic focus such as the one available from Volsung Stoneketil.
 * A +energy weapon set with otherwise same stats as the above.
 * Milthuran's Staff for more energy

Usage

 * Get close to your target and spam Vampiric Bite and Vampiric Touch.
 * Use Dodge to chase down kiting targets and avoid attacks that can be harmful to the build (such as crippling attacks).
 * Use Whirling Defense or Throw Dirt when targeted by warriors, rangers or assassins. This is not only important for avoiding the damage, but also the harmful conditions like crippling and Deep Wound.
 * Use Offering of Blood when you can get the full benefit of the energy gain and you are not taking too much damage. Use it as often as it recharges if you can.

Counters

 * Use anti-spammer strategies, such as Diversion or Distracting Shot.
 * As the ranger needs to get within touch range, just stay away from them. Use any combination of snares, kiting and knockdowns to achieve this.
 * The life stolen per second is not enough to overcome focused damage and health degeneration. However condition based degeneration wont work as he just uses Plague Touch to pass it on.
 * Signet of Humility, Arcane Thievery or Arcane Larceny can be used to shut down Offering of Blood, which is crucial for the build. When used in combination with even mild energy denial such as Energy Burn, the ranger will soon be out of energy.
 * Blackout is devastating to touchers.
 * "Can't Touch This!" will cause touch skills to fail, but this is not overly destructive and will only waste the touch ranger 2-10 energy.
 * Tease will cause the recharge of all the touch skills used in the build to increase by a certain percent, decreasing the overall DPS of the build.
 * It may be wise for users of this build to bring a melee weapon (such as a sword) as a counter-counter, since Tease ends if the target hits the caster (who will have to be within touch range to cast it in the first place)
 * Because the build relies on two skills spammed consecutively, enemies with interrupts can easily time their interrupts.
 * It looks like a toucher is easy to stop. However one on one (in most cases even 2 or 3 on one) with the touch ranger at full energy its not as easy. The only realistic ways to stop him is using hex based snares, Diversion, heavy energy denial or out healing him until he runs out of energy.

Variants

 * Verata's Aura can take control of all minions around for a medium-short amount of time. Highly useful for AB.
 * Frozen Soil can be hidden on the Touch Ranger skill-bar, and when used intelligently, can be a devastating skill in TA, and especially RA. This requires the extra skill points to be put into Wilderness Survival. This can easily replace Throw Dirt.
 * Barbed Signet can replace Resurrection Signet in AB, giving the Touch Ranger a secondary distance attack to compliment Vampiric Gaze.
 * Signet of Agony and Distracting Shot with a barbed bow to replace Throw Dirt and Whirling Defense gives the build an interrupt and the ability to inflict 44 second bleeding (significant damage over time.) You can still have Blood weaponry as a secondary set.
 * Blood Ritual is useful especially in a team situation as it is affected by expertise and gives an energy gain. Similarily, a group of touch rangers could be effective using Blood is Power and Blood Ritual on each other.
 * Zojun's Haste, paired with Dodge, gives an almost nonstop speed boost and protection against rangers. This is a good replacement for Resurrection Signet in AB.
 * Blood Renewal makes a good self heal if used properly.
 * Strip Enchantment in place of Resurrection Signet for Alliance Battles or 8-Team Competitive Missions such as The Jade Quarry and Fort Aspenwood, where Resurrection Signets are useless.
 * Use the 6 left-over attribute points and put them into Wilderness Survival, then using Serpent's Quickness as a way to increase pressure on your target.
 * Touch of Agony and/or Wallow's Bite should not be overlooked.
 * For players who only own Factions, a spare points Melandru's Shot could be used, with Vampiric Bite and Wallow's Bite as the damage. This will be less effective and conditional to enemies faced, however.
 * Storm Chaser instead of Dodge can help with energy management, but is generally not as useful.
 * In Alliance Battles, Resurrection Signet may be replaced with Awaken the Blood for more powerful touch attacks.

=Keen Shouter=

This build uses "Go for the Eyes!" along with "Find Their Weakness!" to get big spikes with deep wound from keen arrow.

Attributes and Skills

 * The Elite Skill is VERY flexible here, so if Prepared Shot isn't preferable or available, then some more reasonable options would be:
 * Punishing Shot
 * Melandru's Shot
 * Crippling Shot

Equipment

 * Scout's Armor for bonus protection
 * 15^50 Sundering Shortbow of fortitude.

Usage

 * Set up with Read the Wind and begin attacking a target.
 * Once adrenaline is gained up enough, use "Go for the Eyes!" with "Find Their Weakness!" followed by Keen Arrow then Prepared Shot. This should deal around 150-160 damage +deep wound.
 * If ever swamped by conditions, use Remedy Signet.
 * When being melee'd, use "Never Surrender!" for self heal once health is below 75%.

Counters

 * Stone Sheath.
 * Massive Degen.

Variants

 * In PvE, AB, or CM, use Screaming Shot instead of Res.
 * The elite in this case can be very flexible. another option could be Punishing Shot for its quick activation for the DW spike. Melandru's Shot is another option for E-management. Infuriating Heat is one of the most practical uses to get faster adrenalin gain for "GftE!".

Attributes and Skills
=Armed Assault=

Armed Assault uses several Weapon Spells to greatly increase the efficiency and strategy of ranger attacks. I'm sure the build will look odd at first glance, but read the notes below to see the individual strengths of each skill.
 * The main combo of attacks uses Nightmare Weapon to deal a near instant spike of 126 armor ignoring, life stealing damage.
 * There are several variants that are very useful in different areas and situations, including interrupting, using a pet, and barraging.

Attributes and Skills

 * To fill in the Optional slots, look in the Variants section for many different uses for this build.
 * The attributes can be changed, and runes can be lowered if the health seems too low.
 * Marksmanship can be lowered to 0 if the user doesn't need damage from the first two skills. NM Weapon makes all damage dealt exactly 42.


 * Preparations(when not using Barrage) which cause conditions can be very useful to eliminating enemies.
 * A defensive skill or some other interrupt skill can be put in the last slot. A Resurrect can also be used in PvP.
 * Serpents Quickness or another recharge-time lowering skill can be useful for the main combo.
 * Troll Unguent is a good out of battle heal, but points will need to be dropped from Marksmanship for this.

Equipment

 * Use one rune of Superior Vigor and 2 runes of Attunement along with the 2 stat raising runes.
 * Sundering/Zealous/Vampiric bows of Fortitude with +5 Energy. The type of bow is your choice.
 * The health and energy levels should be 450 and 35 respectively, but these can be higher.

Usage

 * Set up Favorable Winds outside of battle, but close enough for you to be constantly affected by it.
 * Against single enemies use Nightmare Weapon + Dual Shot followed immediately by Distracting Shot for a quick, armor ignoring, life steal of 126 damage.
 * Usages for the variants are listed below.

Counters

 * Standard melee counters apply here(Blind, Hexes, etc)
 * Kiting, conditions, and lack of healing may sometimes be a problem, but they can be covered by variants of the build.

Variants
Barrage + Splinter Weapon - Used in PvE and AB.


 * Use Barrage + Splinter Weapon against large mobs of enemies to do massive amounts of richocheting damage.
 * Recast Splinter Weapon every two shots as soon as it is available.
 * Use Nightmare Weapon + Barrage against large mobs to gain 126 health.

Total Spike Variant - Very powerful in TA or GvG with coordinated spikes.


 * In the first optional slot, use either Kindle Arrows, Melandru's Arrows, Marksman's Wager, or Apply Poison.
 * Use your preparation before the spike, then Nightmare Weapon.
 * Attack with Dual Shot, Wielders Strike, then Distracting Shot for a huge spike of life stealing damage.
 * If a non elite preparation is used, consider skills such as Melandru's Resilience for the other optional slot.
 * Oath Shot can be extremely powerful in team builds for doing multiple spikes quickly.

Quick Shot + Warmonger's Weapon - Used in RA and TA.


 * Use Warmonger's Weapon + Quick Shot to interrupt casters.
 * Use Dual Shot followed by Quick Shot followed by Distracting Shot for a quick 4 hit burst.
 * For the 8 seconds when Warmongers isn't up, Distracting Shot can still be used as an interrupt.

Animal Variant - Used mainly in TA and RA.


 * Use Heal as One as a quick heal for when NM Weapon isn't enough, this can be switched for a different elite.
 * Other possible elites are Rampage as One, Ferocious Strike, or an elite from a different attribute.


 * Use Maiming Strike to cripple foes, and Disrupting Lunge on casters to disable skills frequently.
 * The Pet Attacks can be switched for other skills.
 * For this build, Marksmanship must be lowered to 10, and Expertise much be lowered to 11, so Beast Mastery can go up to 8.
 * Marksmanship can actually go to 0 if you don't mind not doing any damage other than the NM Weapon combo.

Prepared Shot + Read the Wind - Useful in many situations.


 * This variant uses Read the Wind to allow arrows to travel twice as fast, with Prepared shot for good damage without NM weapon, as well as energy management.
 * The idea with Splinter Weapon is to cast it and follow with Prepared Shot, Dual Shot, and two Needling Shots.
 * It also uses Dual Shot and Needling Shot for the 3 hit combo needed for the NM Weapon spike.
 * Needling Shot can also be used in conjunction with Prepared Shot for straight damage.
 * Splinter Weapon can be dropped in areas with no mobs.
 * Thanks to Defiant Elements for thinking up this build.


 * Many more variants are possible with this build, feel free to post your own combinations of skills in the discussion page as variants!

Attributes and Skills

 * Offensive Variant:


 * If doing Random Arenas or Team Arenas, use Flesh of My Flesh in the optional slot. If in AB use with another spirit of your choosing, such as Union.


 * Defensive Variant :

Equipment

 * Weapons - Recurve Bow with "I Have The Power!" inscription and Fortitude mod.
 * Survivor and Vitae Runes.

Usage

 * Use Whirling Defense while under attack or at risk of Ranger Interrupts.
 * Keep Generous Was Tsungrai up, as opposed to using it when necessary, as it has a relatively low cost and the main limit on its healing comes from recharge, not energy.
 * Use these skills preferably before oath shot if they have recharged to achieve full benefit.
 * Against spell based group, set up dissonance first, whereas against melee groups, use shadow song. These spirits will reduce the damage done to your builds, as well as potentially devastating area of effect spells on spirits.
 * Set up spirits spreaded out, as opposed to on the same spot, or else AoE spells or Dervishes (especially with Banishing Strike) would make short work of them.
 * In some situations, use spirits to body block for effect. Set up dissonance offnesively near monks if your group needs offense, at the back defensively if you need help against assassins or melee.

Counters

 * Anti-spirits or summoned creature skills such as Banishing Strike.
 * Armor dependent damage spells, especially AoE ones.
 * Blocking or Dodging Oath Shot, or Blinding you while it is being activated.

Variations

 * Pain does not benefit as much from Oath Shot, but is a nice addition if more damage is needed, and it would also help the energy management of the build.

=Lightning Hammer=

The Lightning Hammer PvP build focuses on the stance renewing ability of "On Your Knees!" combined with a powerful ranger stance that increases attack speed and evades attacks. With high elemental armor and near constant physical evasion, this build is highly resistant to most damage.

Variants

 * For the Optional Slot:
 * Dryder's Defenses can give you an additional 10 seconds of evasion, as well as very strong armor increase versus elemental damage. Whirling Defense is also useful and long lasting. Remember that you have +10 armor and possibly +15% damage while in a stance.
 * Storm Chaser is useful to chase down fleeing foes, to quickly engage in melee range, to regain energy, and to escape if necessary.
 * Antidote Signet can remove blindness.
 * Distracting Blow can be a useful interrupt.
 * Nature's Renewal is useful if your team uses few enchantments and hexes.
 * For Alliance Battles, Storm Chaser is a must, but the res signet can be replaced with any of the above option skills, Dodge for running to capture control points, or Healing Spring for large, concentrated battles.

Equipment
Armor: Weapons: Suggested Weapon Mods: Similar Green/Unique Hammers:
 * Sentry's Armor for additional armor while in a stance.
 * Any max damage customized hammer with either +15% damage while in a stance or +15% damage always, energy -5. Energy will likely never be a problem with either build unless you encounter very heavy energy denial.
 * Sundering Hammer of Fortitude for the Lightning Hammer build.
 * Furious Hammer of Fortitude for the Crazed Carpenter/Shakey Tanker builds.
 * It's often beneficial to bring along an extra hammer with an elemental damage mod such as an icy hammer haft to help damage Warriors.
 * Kanaxai's Mallet
 * Vera
 * Victo's Maul

Usage

 * Open with Lightning Reflexes only after you are in melee range, as its duration is short.
 * Spam Irresistible Blow whenever it's recharged. With 13 expertise you can easily manage your energy and deal consistent extra damage.
 * If your attacks are not interfered with, you should be able to use Devastating Hammer before Lightning Reflexes ends.
 * Immediately use Crushing Blow to cause deep wound and extra damage.
 * Immediately use "On Your Knees!" to recharge Lightning Reflexes. Then reactivate it as soon as it times out.
 * Use Troll Unguent only as necessary, as the 3 second delay will cause your stance to end before you can renew it.

Counters

 * On hit hexes such as Empathy or Spiteful Spirit work, but are less useful than they seem. The high damage and slow attack speed of hammers allow the Lightning Hammer build to out damage any individual hex of that type though this may have a greater impact on the Crazed Carpenter build as it tends to hit multiple enemies with Crude Swing.
 * Blindness and Weakness
 * Heavy life degeneration.
 * Adrenaline drain or prevention.
 * Defensive stances, though Irresistible Blow can cause damage through them for the Lightning Hammer build and the AoE damage from Earth Shaker and Yeti Smash will still connect with adjacent targets for the Crazed Carpenter.
 * Damage reducing hexes such as Faintheartedness or Spirit of Failure
 * Anti-evasion skills such as Rigor Mortis, Griffon's Sweep, Warrior's Cunning, or Unseen Fury.

=Melandru's Sharpshooter= This build uses a combination of IAS, spirit, preparation, and high damage attack skills to provide a highly lethal damage output from afar.

Equipment

 * Vampiric Flatbow
 * Vampiric Shortbow
 * Recurve Bow
 * Explorer's Armor Set

Usage

 * Use Favorable Winds and Read the Wind beforehand
 * Use Marauder's Shot on a chosen target, activating Bestial Fury immediately afterwards. Marauder's Shot's blackout effect triggers on hit, so it is important to use Bestial Fury right before it triggers. By doing this, and using Marauder's Shot again as soon as it recharges, this blackout practically extends Beastial Fury's recharge to around 12 seconds, which is quite acceptable.
 * Use Melandru's Shot, preferably on an enchanted target.
 * Use Marauder's Shot, Melandru’s Shot, and Bestial Fury as they recharge, while keeping the blackout duration in mind for greater efficiency.
 * Dispense Savage Shot for interrupts liberally. Continue your attack on your target and use tab key to cycle through other high priority targets to look for possible interrupts (or spam it if you’re lazy).
 * Refresh Read the Wind and Favorable Winds as appropriate.
 * The build does heavy damage, but with ranger armor, it is important to kite properly.

Variants

 * Frenzy, Flurry or Flail can be used for a more energy efficient IAS.
 * Distracting Shot when interrupting signets or other skills with fast recharge.
 * Distortion
 * Dodge/Zojun's Haste for capping Shrines in AB or just a generic speed boost.
 * Troll Unguent could be used for self healing in PvE or RA/TA/AB/CM.
 * Consider switching out Distracting Shot or Favorable Winds if using one of the above variations, or Resurrection Signet if you are in Alliance Battle.

Counters

 * Lower armor and slow activation time for healing.
 * Limited interruption.
 * No snaring or degen capabilities (see Build:R/Me Cripshot Ranger)
 * Blinding, Weakness, Empathy, and other anti spamming skills.

=Tranq Trapper=

This trapper build is used as part of physical-heavy builds to provide the powerful spirits Nature's Renewal and Tranquility as well as defense in the form of traps.

Equipment

 * Recurve Bow of Fortitude with "I Have the Power!" inscription.
 * Survivor Armor
 * Any staff with a +5 energy Insightful Staff Head, a perfect Hale and Hearty inscription, a +30 health Fortitude Staff Wrapping, and +10 base energy.

Usage

 * Place spirits in suitable locations - within range of combat, but in places where they cannot be attacked easily, such as behind map obstructions.
 * Use Dust Trap at the spirits' location to prevent opposing melee characters from killing them.
 * Place traps in and around the backline if defense is needed, or in opposing lines for offensive purposes.
 * Use Oath Shot to recharge spirits and traps as needed.
 * Activate Whirling Defense when trapping and when placing spirits with interrupting attacks nearby (e.g. Savage Shot, Distracting Blow).

Counters

 * Gale reliably interrupts spirits.
 * Avatar of Melandru dervishes can kill spirits easily, as they are immune to the blinding that Dust Trap applies.

Variants

 * Flame Trap or Troll Unguent can take the place of Distracting Shot.

=Choking Gas=

The Choking Gas Ranger utilizes the combination of Practiced Stance and Choking Gas to indefinitely interrupt spells with your arrows. It's specifically aimed at shutting down targets that cast spells. It also uses Seeking Arrows to ensure interruptions on the Ghostly Hero in the Hall of Heroes.

Attributes and Skills

 * Optional slot can be Debilitating Shot, Concussion Shot, Whirling Defense, or Frozen Soil, depending on the team build.

Equipment

 * Your armor of preference, Druid's Armor is nice for the Energy bonus.
 * Best vigor rune possible. All minor runes to conserve health.
 * A good Bow, preferably a Recurve Bow and a Shortbow since you need fast recharge and/or fast arrow travel times.
 * A Recurve bow should be used when interrupting the Ghostly Hero, a Shortbow should be used with Choking Gas.

Usage

 * When only little time is left until start, use Practiced Stance.
 * Make out your target.
 * Once you're almost in range and the battles are starting, cast Choking Gas.
 * Use Flurry whenever possible after Choking Gas is applied. - Practiced Stance lengthens Choking Gas when applied, the stance doesn't need to be kept up all the time.
 * Use Practiced Stance as a cover.
 * Use Distracting Shot on enemies that use Resurrection Signet, Healing Signet, or Troll Unguent.
 * Use Savage Shot on regular basis whenever you can interrupt something and your energy allows you to do so.
 * When attacked by warriors, activate Whirling Defense or Lightning Reflexes (if you have either) or run away.
 * When in Heroes' Ascent on an Altar match or in the Hall of Heroes, use Seeking Arrows and Distracting Shot/Savage Shot to guarantee interrupts on the enemy Ghostly Hero.

Counters

 * Interrupt choking gas.
 * No defense makes it dependent on being healed by someone else.
 * Empathy, Spiteful Spirit or any other anti-attacking hex.
 * Aegis, Guardian, or similar skills (assuming you can't interrupt them).
 * Note: If an arrow is blocked it can still interrupt due to Choking Gas.
 * Blindness and Crippled.
 * You can time 1 sec cast time spells through arrow hits even when they have Flurry up.

Variants

 * For PvE-Content, switch Seeking Arrows with Favorable Winds and use Troll Unguent as the optional.
 * Switch Practiced Stance and Choking Gas with Broad Head Arrow and Apply Poison for a cover condition for single target Dazed effect.
 * Flurry can be replaced by Heket's Rampage. Then the secondary class can be changed (e.g. to Paragon with Song of Concentration).
 * Using Dual Shot as the optional, one can replace Flurry with Flail for extra damage.

=Smoke Trapper= This Trap build uses Smoke Trap as their Elite trap. This can be used in HA or even for farming ideas in UW. The main idea is to make a combination of Smoke Trap, and then let other party members hit the foe while Dazed.

Attributes and Skills

 * Plenty of skills to consider, depending on the scenario:
 * Most Smoke Trappers in HA will bring spirits; NR, QZ (be sure the spirits fit with the team build, placing NR in an enchantment-heavy build can be devastating for your team).
 * Song of Concentration

Equipment

 * Use Druid's Armor for the energy bonus.
 * A Staff with +5 energy, such as Kole's Torment or Staff of the Forgotten.

Usage

 * Trap early. The trap will last 90 seconds; best to set it early and flee than to wait too long and get interrupted.
 * Trap choke points. If you know the enemy has to run over/through a certain spot, trap it.
 * Trap offensively by standing next to an attacking warrior (one not attacking you), activate Natural Stride, and lay down Dust Trap or Smoke Trap. Snare/Tripwire is a good combo for offensive trapping, as the KD can turn the tide of battle.
 * Trap defensively by setting a trap as your party flees/kites away; the enemies, in pursuit, will often run straight into your traps in an attempt to keep applying pressure.
 * And most importantly, don't try to trap while under pressure. Waiting the few extra seconds until you can successfully trap is better than jumping the gun and having traps interrupted.

Counters

 * Major Energy denial.
 * Constant physical damage (even simple wanding, if done often enough, can be the bane of a trapper).

=Impurity Farmer=

This farming build relies on Ranger evasion stances while spreading conditions to enemies and healing yourself for each enemy under a condition.

Attributes and Skills

 * Optional slot can be filled with an additional attack skill such as Eremite's Attack or Troll Unguent for extra defense.
 * Other good choices are Veil of Thorns or Aura of Thorns as they will ensure all enemies are always suffering from a condition. This is a must for this build as Reap Impurities is your main healing skill.

Equipment

 * Radiant or Sentry armor
 * Any Scythe will do the trick, best is Zealous, but if you cannot afford, take any max damage Scythe or Pre-Order one. Suli's Scythe is a good choice.

Usage

 * 1) Put on Apply Poison.
 * 2) Run in and aggro a mob.
 * 3) Pull back a bit so they all bunch up infront of you.
 * 4) Hit one of your stance, then swing your scythe once.
 * 5) Upon the 1st hit, use Reap Impurities followed by Victorious Sweep.
 * 6) When your stance ends, use another one.
 * 7) When the attacks recharge, use them immediately.
 * 8) Rinse and repeat.

Counters
Monsters using attacks that knock down, that can't be blocked or that knock down if blocked (such as Irresistible Blow), anti-melee hexes like Spiteful Spirit or Insidious Parasite, anti-melee conditions (Weakness, Blind and heavy degeneration).

Variants
For low-level monster farming, like Ettin or Totem Axe, use Reaper's Sweep and instead of Escape use Dodge/Zojun's Haste, so for more self-defense, put in Troll Unguent.

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor or it's equivalent in function.
 * A Recurve Bow is best for hitting your target if moving though a Shortbow is recommended if you use Screaming Shot and are having difficulty determining the effective distance for the skill to work properly. Any bow used should have a Poisonous, Crippling, or Silencing bow string depending on what condition you would like to last longer.
 * Rotwing Recurve Bow is an example of a unique weapon that will work well.

Usage

 * Start by using Apply Poison before battle but do not attack until the next step is completed.
 * Quickly pick a centrally located or grouped up target (preferably one that isn't about to die or that may have some staying power) for the most effect (while at a safe distance to avoid interruption) and cast Fevered Dreams on it (it is very important to cast this on the target before any conditions are applied from yourself or allies as Fevered Dreams will only spread conditions that are not already on the target). Also, if you trust your team, calling out the specific target you are hexing may be a good idea so that that creature is not killed before you can apply all conditions/before Fevered Dreams can recharge.
 * Fire off the appropriate follow up attack that coincides with the target profession to Poison and add another condition to them and others in the area (i.e.: interrupt a caster with Concussion Shot to spread dazed, Pin Down a melee class to add crippled, Screaming Shot/Hunter's Shot any target for additional damage and health degeneration through bleeding and to act as another cover condition, etc.).
 * Continue with your next condition adding attack to stack more pressure on the enemy mob.
 * If properly executed you should be able to add poison (-4 degeneration), bleeding (-3 degeneration), dazed, and crippled to the entire opposing mob within ~3 shots as Fevered Dreams spreads conditions to all of your foes in the area of the target though only if not experiencing those conditions when first hexed.
 * Once your condition spreading job is completed you can continue using Screaming Shot/Hunter's Shot to add some minor add on damage to help finish any remaining enemies or target any stragglers to add poison or other conditions if they were out of the effected area.
 * Concussion Shot should be used sparingly as it's energy cost is still high even with the Expertise cost reduction and how large a cost many of your other skills are. If there is a lack of enemy casters in the enemy mob it's best to not use it and spread other conditions instead until you find a mob with more casters in it (unless they are key targets and need to be stopped).
 * If a condition is about to wear off the current hexed target it's best to wait for it to expire before reapplying it so that Fevered Dreams can spread it again. With the low attribute points in Illusion, Fevered Dreams will wear off about the same time as many of your conditions, thus allowing you to either choose another target, or re-apply to the same target, the entire process again.

Counters

 * Non-fleshy targets (though some conditions can still be applied - like crippled or blindness)
 * Blindness (See below variants to counter this)
 * Hex removal (See below variants to counter this)
 * Evasion/Blocking (it's best to avoid targets that use this ability often or are expected to and instead spread the conditions to them through Fevered Dreams on another easier to hit target)

Variants

 * If entering a zone that has a lot of hex removal then bringing a long lasting, quick recharging, yet inexpensive cover hex like Mind Wrack may help even if it has no other use than to cover Fevered Dreams.
 * Consider bringing Phantom Pain for Deep Wound. Just be sure to use this before you use Fevered Dreams so that Phantom Pains ends first and the Deep Wound is spread.  However, when using this skill be careful about energy management since Expertise will not reduce its cost.
 * Consider bringing Serpent's Quickness to help negate the rather long recharge on most of the skills which is nice considering most PvE battles don't last very long. And, if your target hexed by Fevered Dreams dies too early, this helps ensure that in longer battles you are able to switch targets more effectively.

Beast Master Variant
This is an interesting twist on condition spreading concept. It sacrifices some survivability for more damage and more degeneration but loses Blind and Daze in the process. The game mechanics sometimes make this awkward to use, but it is a viable variant nonetheless.

Two "Optional" Slots

 * Slot 1: Preferred:  Screaming Shot
 * [[Image:Hunter's Shot.jpg|20px]] Hunter's Shot or [[Image:Screaming Shot.jpg|20px]] Screaming Shot for a cover condition and/or added degeneration through bleeding (if both skills are available Screaming Shot is preferred for ease of application and more damage to the target but Hunter's Shot is preferred if having trouble with managing energy or if the player does not have access to Nightfall skills).


 * Slot 2: Preferred:  Throw Dirt
 * [[Image:Throw Dirt.jpg|20px]] Throw Dirt to blind though you should not be at melee range. Good default emergency defense skill and can be used almost anywhere for your own defense or others.
 * [[Image:Pestilence.jpg|20px]] Pestilence can help further the theme of spreading conditions because, since the conditions are re-applied their timer is restarted. Especially good if fighting foes that attack in large numbers (ie: minions, scarabs, afflicted, etc.).  However, please note that this will also spread conditions to fellow party members so be very cautious if you choose to use it and make sure to warn teammates.  Not recommended for most areas.
 * [[Image:Antidote Signet.jpg|20px]] Antidote Signet primarily to remove Blindness first and foremost (removing Poison or Disease as a distant second use) but only if expecting it to happen. Not recommended for most areas.
 * [[Image:Epidemic.jpg|20px]] Epidemic in case Fevered Dreams is removed prematurely or interrupted which will spread conditions to a smaller area but at least allow you to still spread the conditions at your disposal until Fevered Dreams is available again (though Fevered Dreams does have a relatively fast recharge time). Or this can be used to spread conditions after you are ensured they are applied first.  Not recommended for most areas.

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor
 * An Icy Recurve Bow
 * A Secondary, Non-Icy Bow for Mark of Pain

Usage

 * Cast Favorable Winds
 * Cast Marksman's Wager
 * Choose a target
 * Cast Spinal Shivers followed by Mark of Pain and Reapply these as necessary
 * Mark of Pain can also be cast on a different target to aid your party
 * Cast Tiger's Fury and reapply as necessary
 * Spam Focused Shot on the target
 * Note that if your attacks are being Blocked, Evaded, etc., your energy will be rapidly drained by Marksman's Wager
 * Use Throw Dirt as necessary

Counters

 * Blind
 * General Anti-Melee
 * Rapid Hex Removal

Variations

 * Consider Replacing Mark of Pain with Barbs for more concentrated damage as well as a more effective cover hex due to the low recharge.
 * Consider Antidote Signet if blind is a problem
 * Consider Rigor Mortis if blocking is a common issue
 * Consider Parasitic Bond for an even more effective cover hex

=Stance Tank= This is a PvE build that focuses on the stance renewing ability of "On Your Knees!" combined with a powerful ranger stance that increases attack speed and blocks attacks. With high elemental armor and near constant physical evasion, this build is highly resistant to most damage.

Usage

 * Lead with Troll Unguent before charging into combat if you think you might be the target of heavy fire (especially if charging a group of casters instead of physical attackers).
 * Use Lightning Reflexes next to build adrenaline with Crude Swing to help (as you should be avoiding 75% of attacks you will have a lower chance of interruption).
 * Use Dryder's Defenses if Lightning Reflexes runs out or use it first if you need extra elemental protection when charging enemies with elemental attacks.
 * Make sure you are in a group of foes before executing the next step for the best effect. It is best to already be surrounded by foes rather than seeking targets.
 * Start the chained attack sequence with Earth Shaker to knock down your foes, then Crude Swing to build adrenaline back up and damage opponents while they are down (which also helps avoid interruption), then Yeti Smash while they are getting up to finish the chain.
 * Either Earth Shaker chain again or use Earth Shaker to knock down your foes and "On Your Knees!" to recharge your stances.
 * Troll Unguent as needed.
 * Crude Swing may get interrupted while in a stance but it helps a lot to build adrenaline (as well as spread poison, see the Variants section) so don't be afraid to use it early and often regardless.

Equipment
Armor: Weapons: Suggested Weapon Mods: Similar Green/Unique Hammers:
 * Sentry's Armor for additional armor while in a stance.
 * Any max damage customized hammer (with either +15% damage while in a stance or +15% damage always, energy -5). Energy will likely never be a problem with this build unless you encounter very heavy energy denial.
 * Furious Hammer of Fortitude.
 * It's often beneficial to bring along an extra hammer with an elemental damage mod such as an icy hammer grip to help damage Warriors.
 * Kanaxai's Mallet
 * Vera
 * Victo's Maul

Variants

 * Add in "For Great Justice!" and remove a skill of choice to help build adrenaline when you need it most.
 * Replace Resurrection Signet with Apply Poison as needed.
 * In situations where resurrection is not an issue, consider bringing Dodge/Zojun's Haste, Storm Chaser, or Natural Stride instead of Resurrection Signet.

Counters

 * On hit hexes such as Empathy or Spiteful Spirit.
 * Blindness and Weakness
 * Heavy life degeneration.
 * Adrenaline drain or prevention.
 * Defensive stances, though the AoE damage from Earth Shaker and Yeti Smash will still connect with adjacent targets.
 * Damage reducing hexes such as Faintheartedness or Spirit of Failure
 * Anti-evasion skills such as Rigor Mortis, Griffon's Sweep, Warrior's Cunning, or Unseen Fury.

Attributes and skills
The base is below but to give a more detailed description of the attributes, the highest score is always in Marksmanship (often maxed at 16 but other times it can be as low as 12 depending on the secondary profession used - see below), 9 or 14 ranks in Expertise to effect 10 energy skills primarily (or 8 or 13 if all skills used are 5 energy), and Wilderness Survival is good at 8 or 10 for the use of Troll Unguent or to switch out for secondary profession skill ranks.


 * *  The above attributes are a good baseline to work with and can be adjusted as playstyle/preference allows. 

 Common Core Barrage baseline:  

Equipment

 * Any armor can be used though Druid's is best if energy is lacking. Scout's is a poor choice as preparations will not be used in a Barrage build.
 * A Flatbow is commonly used in a barrage build provided Favorable Winds is brought as well to lessen the large arrow arc from a Flatbow and to help speed the arrows to their targets. Otherwise, each bow has it's own ups and downs but can be used as preffered.
 * Vampiric or Zealous bow strings are used a lot in Barrage builds as you get multiple hits per shot (provided the build doesn't call for an elemental string) though a Sundering string is a good stand by if you don't want to worry about the degen or makes a good switch out weapon.

Usage

 * The function of a barrage build varies slightly but the overall effect is to do damage to a group of foes with each use. Therefore, attacking the central most target in a group is desired for the best effect rather than the closest.
 * Placement of any spirits before hand is key as they usually increase the damage and speed the arrows fly at. Be sure to place them where they will be effective yet not attacked by enemies.
 * Often, interrupt skills are brought along to take out any big skills or those that might hurt you like Meteor Shower or Resurrect as examples of big skills or Empathy and Spiteful Spirit as examples of skills that can seriously hinder or hurt you. Be aware that you will have to wait for the barrage animation to finish before the interrupt will fire.
 * Some sort of self heal, condition removal (primarily for blindness), or defensive stance is popular as well though not required.

Counters

 * Any standard melee/ranger counters such as blindness, on attack/hit hexes, and/or blocking.
 * Energy denial.

Variants

 * Support or damage enhancing skills often brought from the ranger skill line may include but are not limited to:
 * Throw Dirt as an emergency skill to blind foes attacking you or your allies.
 * Winnowing to add 4 damage to each arrow.
 * Conflagration to change your bow's damage type to fire damage.
 * Winter to change any elemental damage to cold damage.

Barrage/Pet Variant


 * Adding a pet to the build with then turn you into what is referred to as a B/P ranger. Pet attacks will not slow your rate of fire as they are all shouts.  Often, a team will consist mostly of these creating a pet wall and multiple barragers, or just have one around.  Multiple variants can be found for this at.

R/Warrior

 * Attributes levels usually are in Tactics and at around 8-9 ranks should do it in most cases.
 * Shouts can be used without interrupting the fire rate flow thus making them useful and often charged with the high adrenaline gain from barrage if they are adrenaline based.
 * "Watch Yourself!" charges quickly and can increase the party's AL without any cast time. This also combines well with Soldier's Defense.
 * "Fear Me!" can be used repeatedly to reduce the enemy's energy levels though this typically has a minor effect if any on an enemy's seemingly limitless energy pool.
 * "Shields Up!" can be used to reduce the damage your party members take from projectiles.


 * Healing Signet can be used as an alternate, energy free, though risky heal.
 * Protector's Defense can be used to help those near you as you often will not move while barraging.

R/Monk
Solo Vigorous Barrager

Use: Cast and maintain Live Vicariously. Before battle put up Symbiosis to gain the extra health it offers from enchantments. When entering a battle, cast Vigorous Spirit. When enemies start to pile up, use Barrage to take full advantage of the healing provided by a vampiric bow, Live Vicariously, and Vigorous Spirit.

Other skills:
 * Attributes levels usually are in Healing Prayers, Smiting Prayers, Protection Prayers, or none at all depending on what is taken/used and typically at around 8-9 ranks in only one of those areas should do it in most cases. Ranks in Wilderness Survival are usually sacrificed as healing from Trolls Unguent is often replaced with other skills.  If Symbiosis is used just use whatever remaining ranks are left but no more than 8-9 ranks in Beastmastery at most.
 * Live Vicariously will return health to you for every creature hit which can be up to 6 per Barrage. Commonly used for soloing areas.
 * Vigorous Spirit will behave similar to Live Vicariously but without the drain on energy regen.
 * Single target heal spells or healing enchantments can replace Troll Unguent as a self heal that can also be used on others. Healing Touch is an example skill that can be used as it's cost is reduced with ranks of expertise though it gains no benefit from Divine Favor with a Ranger primary.
 * Judge's Insight to add Armor penetration to each arrow and typically defeat masses of the undead or others weak to holy damage.
 * Mending Touch to remove blindness or other conditions.
 * Watchful Spirit will sap your energy regen but provide +2 health regen with no needed attribute points spent.
 * Renew Life and Restore Life's costs are reduced by ranks in expertise making them decent resurrects to exchange for the Resurrect Signet. Otherwise, there are plenty of reusable resurrection skills in the monks repertoire.
 * Balthazar's Spirit or Essence Bond are usually used when soloing as you will be the sole recipient of damage and will often return massive amounts of energy.
 * Hex removal skills like Smite Hex or Holy Veil can help eliminate damage from on attack/hit hexes like Spiteful Spirit, Empathy, or others.
 * Symbiosis can be useful if using multiple enchants on yourself or others in your party.

R/Necromancer

 * Attribute level of Death Magic, Blood Magic, or Curses is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Many skills can be used to replace a self heal that either give you health, steal health, or exploit a corpse for health.
 * Order of Pain will help add damage to every attack but for a very limited time. This is best left to another party member (who can also use Order of the Vampire) that can achieve higher attribute levels as it will slow your rate of fire and eat up your energy if you cast it.
 * Mark of Pain may cause scatter but can be most useful in narrow passages.
 * Plague Touch's cost is reduced with ranks of expertise and can be used to transfer any conditions from yourself with limited success as it is restricted to touch range.
 * Many Necromancer skills can benefit a Barrager but usually they need to be cast by another party member that is dedicated to that role.

R/Mesmer

 * Attribute level of Inspiration Magic, Domination Magic, or Illusion Magic is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Interrupts like Leech Signet can be used to add to or replace bow interrupts.
 * Hex removal skills are available like Hex Breaker or Inspired Hex.
 * Distortion can be used with limited results as a temporary defensive stance.
 * Energy management skills are available mostly from the Inspiration line.
 * Ether Feast can be used as a self heal.
 * Elemental Resistance, Physical Resistance, or any of the mantras can be used as a replacement for a defensive stance depending on the areas you may be in.
 * Arcane Mimicry can be used to make use of another party member's Elite skill in combination with yours without spending any attribute points in a Mesmer attribute line.

R/Elementalist
Fiery Barrager

Use: Use the Glyph to reduce spell costs and cast Conjure Flame on yourself and Mark of Rodgort on your central most target. Fire a fiery bow using Barrage and you can keep the hexed targets burning. Some may prefer to use Fire Attunement instead of the Glyph to reduce energy costs.

Other Skills:
 * Attribute level of Fire Magic, Water Magic, or Earth Magic usually start at around 8 to as high as 12 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Any Conjure skill with the appropriate bow string can add damage to each barrage.
 * Stone Striker should NOT be used, as it will convert your attacks to earth damage, which will mean that your attacks will no longer trigger Conjure Flame or Mark of Rodgort, even if you have a fire bow, as Stone Striker overrides the normal damage type.
 * If you wish to still have the benefits of a Vampiric, Zealous, or Sundering bowstring, you must bring Conflagration to convert your arrows to fire, so they can still trigger Conjure Flame and Mark of Rodgort.
 * Multiple Earth Magic or Water Magic skills can be used for defensive options such as Stoneflesh Aura, Armor of Frost, or many of the different Wards.
 * Though less popular and very energy intensive, Glyph of Lesser Energy and Meteor Shower (which causes exhaustion) can be used together to add repeated damage and knock downs on your targets, preventing them from escaping your Barrage area.
 * Similar to the Meteor Shower combo, Deep Freeze can be used for a large slow down effect on your foes and no exhaustion though this is uncommon as well.
 * If using 2 or more enchantments on yourself Symbiosis becomes a viable option as listed under R/Mo above.

R/Assassin

 * Attribute level of Deadly Arts or Shadow Arts is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Caltrops can be used to slow your targets though it requires a closer range.
 * Shadow Refuge makes a good self heal.
 * Viper's Defense and other stances can be used for defensive options.
 * Way of Perfection can add healing with high ranks in Marksmanship and a lot of targets with minimal energy spent (similar to Vigorous Spirit as seen above but relies on criticals for health return) though it performs best if there is a Paragon in your party using "Go for the Eyes!" to drastically increase chances of critical hits.

R/Ritualist
Splinter Barrager

Use: Same as the usual barrage build but cast Splinter Weapon on yourself (or allies as time allows) and be sure to target a group of foes. Recast as needed and as foes are available. Especially good in tight passages.

Other Skills:
 * Attribute level of Channeling Magic, Restoration Magic, or Communing is usually at around 8 to as high as 12 ranks in most cases if at all and often means the reduction of ranks in Marksmanship though only slightly.
 * Nightmare Weapon can be useful for stealing health on up to 3 enemies hit per casting.
 * Wailing Weapon can add interruption to a mass of attacking foes for the entire duration.
 * Warmonger's Weapon can add interruption to a mass of non-attacking foes for the entire duration.
 * Brutal Weapon can add damage to every arrow provided they aren't enchanted. This can be very tricky as many healers will enchant the entire group or those damaged and may ruin this weapon spell unintentionally.
 * Guided Weapon can make your Barrages unblockable.
 * Vital Weapon can add to your maximum health and others in the party.
 * Wielder's Boon can be a useful self heal if under a Weapon Spell effect.
 * Spirit Rift can be used as a spiking skill add-on if timed properly and especially effective when combined with Splinter Weapon. Cast Splinter Weapon, Spirit Rift, then Barrage and it all hits about the same time.  Drawbacks include energy cost, casting time, and the enemy may move from where the Spirit Rift appears.


 * Spirits: Often a R/Rt may also bring a spirit to add more damage or healing as the case may allow (also taking advantage of the cost reduction Expertise allows) though this rarely will enhance Barrage in any way but simply takes advantage of the party make-up. Expendable spirits (like Life or Destruction that give an effect when they expire) tend to make a good defensive "shield" of sorts to hide behind should you come under attack as well.  The most commonly brought are:
 * Recuperation to add health regen in spirit range to all things friendly - especially good for groups with multiple pets, minions, and/or large groups of players and/or friendly NPC's.
 * Life to add cheap healing in spirit range to all things friendly and a "shield".
 * Destruction to add cheap damage in spirit range to all things unfriendly and a "shield".
 * Bloodsong to add a cheap attacker and possible "shield" that can steal health though less common.
 * Pain to add a cheap attacker and possible "shield" that does a little more damage than Bloodsong but can't heal itself though also less common.

R/Paragon
'''"Go for the Eyes!" Barrager

Use: Same as the usual barrage build but spam "Go for the Eyes!" and "Find Their Weakness!" together as they charge to do critical hits to your targets and deep wound to one of your targets as well as add crits to the targets of those in your party that are effected. "Find Their Weakness!" only affects one ally and the first critical hit though so it is usually the skill to change out for others listed below.

Other Skills:
 * Attribute level of Command or Motivation is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Shouts can be used without interrupting the fire rate flow thus making them useful and often charged with the high adrenaline gain from barrage if they are adrenaline based.
 * "Never Give Up!" can add energy to an unhealthy party.
 * "Never Surrender!" to add health regen to an unhealthy party.
 * "Stand Your Ground!" to add armor to your party while not moving.


 * Many motivation skills can be used for party health, energy, defense and more though they don't benefit more from use with barrage unless adrenal based.
 * Anthem of Envy can add some minor damage at the easy cost of adrenaline.
 * Bladeturn Refrain can be used to add defense to yourself or others and last a long time if using other chants or shouts allowing you to cover the party or at least multiple members.
 * Song of Concentration and Hexbreaker Aria can both be charged quickly though will slow you down with the long cast times.  They will still benefit the group with less interruption or hex removal though.
 * Chorus of Restoration or Energizing Chorus can be quickly charged and used for energy or health management on yourself or others that meet the conditions.
 * Remedy Signet is a good condition removal skill.

R/Dervish

 * Attribute level of Earth Prayers or Wind Prayers is usually at around 8-9 ranks in most cases if at all.
 * Dust Cloak or Staggering Force can be used to change your weapon damage type to earth damage.(do not use if you are working with an orders necromancer)
 * Heart of Holy Flame can be used to change your weapon damage type to holy damage.(do not use if you are working with an orders necromancer)
 * Grenth's Fingers can be used to change your weapon damage type to cold damage.(do not use if you are working with an orders necromancer)
 * Zealous Renewal can be used for energy management.
 * Harrier's Grasp to cripple your targets.
 * Harrier's Haste may add some damage to moving foes but works better with Harrier's Grasp.

Barrage in other primary professions:

 * Barrage isn't limited to Ranger primaries and other professions can make good use of the skill. Many will make good use of their primary attribute skill line in combination which Ranger's can't (at least not as effectively with zero ranks).

See also:
 * Build:A/R Critical Barrager

=General Interrupter=

This build is a basic interrupter skillbar that can be used and modified for many situations, the main goal is to decrease both the enemy group's healing and damage through the use of interruption. Fights should be shorter with one of these on the team, taking some pressure off the healers and often preventing as much damage as they would normally heal.

Attributes and skills

 * *  The above attributes are a good baseline to work with and can be adjusted as playstyle/preference allows. 

Hard interrupts (Prophecies/Nightfall):

Daze with cover conditions (Factions):

Spamming (Prophecies):


 * Optional skill slot can include: Concussion Shot, Pin Down, Screaming Shot, Hunter's Shot, Throw Dirt, Serpent's Quickness, Seeking Arrows, or Antidote Signet (or any condition removal skill from another profession).

Equipment

 * Any armor can be used though Druid's is best if energy is lacking.
 * A Recurve Bow is best for interrupting in general with the faster flight time though others can be used in combination with Read the Wind.
 * A Shortbow or Flatbow is recommended if you are in need of a faster firing weapon to interrupt more often (when target is dazed or using Choking Gas for example) or just as a switchout weapon.
 * For any build that inflicts a condition (like dazed or poison) a bow string of it's respective condition (like silencing or poisonous) is suggested to lengthen the desired condition.

Usage

 * The function of these builds depends heavily on the party and environment, and thus the player should be observing his team as well as the enemy the first few moments.
 * If the team seems to be lacking the healing power needed, one should go for interrupting high-damage enemy spells/skills first.
 * If the team seems to be lacking sheer power, go for healers first.
 * If the party is in need of specific enemies interrupted be aware of any targets being called or requested by your team leader.


 * After using the build for a while and getting more comfortable with interrupting, all of the above points should be able to be achieved with the use of Distracting Shot. Disabling an enemy healer's main heal (knowledge of common skill recharges always helps) while also taking care of long-casting spells (perfect example: Meteor Shower or resurrection skills) is the main idea of these builds.
 * Often if you daze a target that is being attacked by others you can then interrupt a second target with your remaining hard interrupts (Savage/Distracting Shot).
 * Dazing a caster boss will often shorten the time the condition lasts but will spell doom for this enemy as they usually will only have spells and will be defeated with minor to no resistance while this effect is in place. As monk bosses in PvE seem to take the longest to defeat this condition can save the party a lot of time and effort in the long run if prepared for it though it is more frequently removed in certain areas, cover conditions can help prevent this.
 * If using Choking Gas and Practiced Stance it's often a good idea to bring an IAS as you want to fire as often as possible with every shot being a potential interrupt. This will also interrupt in a small area and interrupt while blinded (as the gas does the interrupting and not you hitting the target) but it will not interrupt non-spell skills, thus a minimum of one other hard interrupt is recommended to be brought along.

Counters

 * Any standard melee/ranger counters such as blindness, on attack/hit hexes, and/or evasion/blocking (though variants listed below can counter all of these downfalls).
 * Energy denial.

Variants
Optional skills: 
 * Hunter's Shot/Screaming Shot for a cover condition or added degen.
 * Concussion Shot for an additional spell interrupt or daze effect.
 * Pin Down to help land Broad Head Arrow, prevent the target from fleeing, or a cover condition.
 * Throw Dirt to blind melee foes that find their way to you or those in trouble near you.
 * Antidote Signet primarily to remove blindness (unless using the Choking Gas variant, then it isn't needed) though at times to remove poison and disease as well. It can also be replaced by secondary profession skills (like Mending Touch or Remedy Signet).
 * Serpent's Quickness to rapidly have interrupts/daze attacks available.
 * Seeking Arrows to hit an enemy that is evading/blocking your attacks.

As a R/Me:
 * Any other defensive/running stance to replace Whirling Defense, best option is Dryder's Defenses, as it also gives elemental armor though Lightning Reflexes can boost your interrupt rate temporarily if the target is dazed or if you are using Choking Gas.
 * A running stance to replace a skill for more survivability. Dodge/Zojun's Haste in missions/quests to prevent a wipe or to get to a destination fast or escape if the need arises.
 * Natural Stride can be substituted as a hybrid of a defensive stance and a running stance to get a little of each of the two above options.
 * If attacking a dazed target or using Choking Gas, Needling Shot can often shutdown a target if their health is below 50%, or using an IAS (such as Bestial Fury/Tiger's Fury, Frenzy, Flurry, or others) can increase your interrupt rate.
 * Adding a pet to the build can then activate the interrupts for you from the daze effect (if being used) allowing similar results as above without relying on your party to target either of your two targets (best with Broad Head Arrow or Concussion Shot) or just to add more interrupts on the one dazed target.
 * Bringing hex removal skills can be beneficial if expecting to run into hexes that will hinder you like Empathy.
 * Adding skills like Frustration or Arcane Conundrum can help increase the chance of interrupting with slower cast times from the target or even cause more damage to the target; if not added pressure.
 * Replacing the Elite skill with skills like Migraine or Psychic Instability can severely hamper a caster as well when combined with daze and/or interrupting attacks.
 * Epidemic can help spread conditions like daze, poison, crippled, and bleeding to more than your primary target.
 * Skills like Inspired Hex, Revealed Hex, or Hex Eater Signet can help to remove hexes if you know that you will be frequently encountering hexes that may hinder you in some way without expending much, if any, energy in their use.
 * A Mesmer's repertoire of skills may also add extra interrupting options should your target be obstructed, evading, or otherwise avoiding your interrupts. As these are not typically reduced in cost with ranks of Expertise it is uncommon to have more than one or two Mesmer interrupt skills and more common to use a signet at no cost (like Leech Signet or Signet of Disruption for example).

Interrupts in other builds:
 * It is common to add a few interrupt skills like Distracting Shot and/or Savage Shot (for common examples) to another build to add interruption options. In this case it should be taken into account as to what else one might be doing.  If the user will be spamming other skills or casting long spells the interrupts will not be as useful as the user will be busy and the interrupt skills wasted.  Be sure to plan ahead when adding Interrupt skills to any build so as to make use of them appropriately.
 * Many times it is common to bring along one interrupt skill so as to avoid that one large skill per battle (Giant Stomp, Meteor Shower, Wurm Siege, any kind of resurrect skill, and so on) and it is usually a good idea for such in many a situation as the user will often have a time and place (if not a specific foe/skill) for that skill's use as opposed to being occupied using other skills as above.

See also:
 * Interrupt skills quick reference

=Partner in Heresy= Using a combination of Marksmanship and Beast Mastery, this build demonstrates how a Ranger and his/her pet can work together effectively. This is a PvE build used for soloing or working with henchmen and heroes. Skills from both Prophecies and Factions are required.

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor for the extra Energy
 * Sundering or Vampiric Longbow, depending on taste, with +15% damage (when Health above 50%) and customized for an additonal +20% damage.
 * A Hearty animal companion. In this build, the pet does damage via conditions; extra hit points (from a Hearty pet) are more valuable than extra damage (from a Dire pet).

Usage
The key to this build is working with your pet. This can be challenging due to the awkward nature of the pet AI, but with practice, you can anticipate your pet's actions, and use them to your advantage.

When initiating combat, cast Call of Protection and Read the Wind, followed by Penetrating Attack and Savage Shot on your intended target. This gives a quick spike of damage, and sends your well-protected pet into the fray. Just as your pet reaches the enemy, use Poisonous Bite to initiate degen.

Once the enemy is close to death (say, with only 10% of their health remaining), switch to a new target with your bow, leaving your pet and degen to kill the original opponent.

Use Heal as One whenever you or your pet gets below 75% health. This is a cheap spike heal that affects both you and your pet. If you get into a situation where enemies are overwhelming your ability to heal, run away to fight again another day.

When soloing, do not take on more than three or four enemies at a time. Carefully pulling will help you avoid being overwhelmed.

Counters
This build lacks a good defense against degen, and is ineffective against enemies that do not bleed or react to poison. See "Variants" for solutions.

Variants

 * The Optional skill allows you to adjust for specific situations. For example, Pounce and Bestial Mauling work well against undead, while you can counter spellcasters using Bestial Pounce or Disrupting Lunge. Using Predator's Pounce gives your pet a self-heal, and can help counter degen on your companion.
 * When playing with humans (or henchmen who can actually heal!), Heal as One can be replaced by Resurrection Signet or Antidote Signet. Doing this frees you to use a different elite skill as well.
 * Consider using Toxicity to increase the degen from your pet's Poisonous Bite.
 * When playing with Nightfall skills, consider using Crossfire or Screaming Shot in place of Penetrating Attack
 * Consider playing as an R/Mo and use Mending Touch to remove conditions.

Attributes and Skills
See Variants for the Optional Slot.

Equipment

 * Druid's Armor
 * A Zealous Shortbow

Usage

 * Activate Favorable Winds (if equipped)
 * Activate Apply Poison
 * Activate Troll Unguent
 * Activate Concussion Shot --> Prepared Shot to daze
 * Activate Marauder's Shot --> Prepared Shot for high damage
 * Activate Antidote Signet as necessary

Counters

 * General Anti-Melee
 * Heavy Condition Removal

Variants

 * Use a /Mo for a hard resurrection skill
 * Switch Marauder's Shot for a second interrupt like Savage Shot or Distracting Shot
 * Whirling Defense
 * Throw Dirt
 * Use Marksman's Wager rather than Prepared Shot for greater energy management at the expense of damage
 * Needling Shot
 * Epidemic
 * Mending Touch
 * Flail
 * Screaming Shot
 * Favorable Winds
 * Read the Wind can replace Apply Poison in which case Screaming Shot should be added in the optional slot to cover the Daze.

=Prepared Needle= The Prepared Needle Ranger uses Read the Wind and Prepared Shot to increase damage per hit as well as supply an endless flow of energy for Needling Shot.

Equipment

 * Armor with Radiant Insignias and a max health rune and a Rune of Attunement.
 * Vampiric Recurve Bow of Fortitude and/or Vampiric Longbow of Fortitude.

Usage

 * Activate Read the Wind and keep it on at all times.
 * Use attacks in the following order for maximum benefit: Needling Shot, Marauder's Shot, (Distracting Shot), Prepared Shot, Needling Shot
 * When target is below 50% health, use Needling Shot until it is dead.
 * Use Natural Stride and throw Troll Unguent in case of melee attacks.

Counters

 * Blind, if you can't see you can't hit.

Variants

 * Take Monk secondary if Rebirth is needed.
 * Replace Read the Wind with Apply Poison for added pressure, or Kindle Arrows if elemental damage is preferred.
 * Replace Marauder's Shot with Keen Arrow if a Paragon in your party has "Go for the Eyes!".

Attributes and Skills

 * See "Variants" on the choice of healing skill.

Equipment

 * Use a Longbow or a Flatbow to get your pet to attack foes while keeping the foes out of your aggro area.
 * While your pet is attacking, use a staff that maximizes energy and health (Kole's Torment, Illyana's Staff, Bohdabi's Spire or a maximized Insightful Staff Of Fortitude are ideal). The sole purpose of the weapon is to tell the pet who to attack.
 * Use Explorer's Armor to maximize health.

Usage
General usage of this build:
 * As soon as you enter the explorable area, use Symbiotic Bond and Call of Protection. These will protect your pet, and will be the first two skills that will be recharging for you.
 * As soon as combat starts, use Call of Haste and Predatory Bond.
 * Now that you have 4 skills recharging, use Enraged Lunge repeatedly for +80 damage every 5 seconds.
 * Use Troll Unguent repeatedly, as your pet is sharing your health.
 * On the rare occasion that your pet does take heavy damage, use Comfort Animal to restore its health.

Key mindset of this strategy:
 * With the exception of Charm Animal and Comfort Animal, no skill should ever remain fully charged in combat. You need your skills to be constantly recharging to fuel Enraged Lunge.
 * With a high Expertise you should not run into any energy issues except when fighting multiple bosses. This is because each time a boss dies, your skills reset.  With this build you need your skills to be constantly recharging, so killing a boss means a slight energy drain from using your 4 shouts again.
 * Remember that you can use any of the shouts and the Enraged Lunge even while you are activating Troll Unguent.

Variants

 * Replace Call of Haste and/or Predatory Bond with one or two pet attacks, such as Brutal Strike, for more damage. When using multiple pet attacks, however, remember to watch the pet's damage closely to ensure that the first attack hits before the second attack is played.  Otherwise, only one of the attacks will succeed.
 * If you are playing a R/W, replace Troll Unguent with Healing Signet, and redistribute all attribute points from Wilderness Survival into Tactics. This provides more healing (230 vs 160 over a given 10 second period), and uses less energy.
 * Otyugh's Cry can replace Call of Protection, giving a chance for the enemy to aggro Animals, as well as giving your pet an Armor bonus.
 * If it will not be needed for a run, replace Symbiotic Bond with an optional skill.
 * An extra pet attack: Brutal Strike or Disrupting Lunge are good. Disrupting Lunge can be very annoying in PvP.  Be sure to go R/W and carry Healing Signet if you do this so you don't have to spend energy healing.
 * A nature ritual like Symbiosis or Edge of Extinction
 * A defensive stance or shout like Whirling Defense or Watch Yourself!