[1.xx] Islidox's Build tips/critique section for Rangers

Update!

Added 2 new sections to my build:
1. Build Intro
2. Gear Requirements

And reshuffled the Skill-gem section later and added a few more lines of text here and there.



On a separate note, I'm selling off my Ele/LA Ranger gear in Standard (utterly bored of it), and come visit my thread here: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/474057

Good stuff in there!

Noob question here. Why link several curses (projectile weakness, temp chains and critical weakness)? Does it end up being one powerful curse or 3 separate curses you use depending on the situation, linked only to get reduced mana cost?

Having a lot of fun with this build so far. Thanks.

You generally want to link curses and auras together with reduced mana, not because they benefit from each other, but because you want them all to benefit from reduced mana.

"

jiminatrix wrote:

Noob question here. Why link several curses (projectile weakness, temp chains and critical weakness)? Does it end up being one powerful curse or 3 separate curses you use depending on the situation, linked only to get reduced mana cost?

Having a lot of fun with this build so far. Thanks.

Correct, 3 separate curses, though I do make a mention of it in one of my later sections. What I would do is to get your hands on Projectile Weakness and Temporal Chains as soon as possible. Try to get Critical Weakness if you can. From Normal to lvl 70, Projectile Weakness will be the better curse to use over Critical Weakness when your gear isn't solidified and your crit chance low. Once you get that sorted out, Crit Weakness becomes your de facto main offensive curse as it becomes whole lot more powerful and makes up for a lack of crit mult (as I emphasis crit chance over crit mult). Temporal Chains is a great defensive curse that is necessary against fast melee attackers and extremely dangerous bosses. You can take out Projectile Weakness and place another curse of your choosing or a utility skill.

So, I love my ranger usin this build, but should I just sell my lionseye?? Physical reflect mobs that are in EVERY map FUCK me up so badly. I die so often to physical reflect even with way over 3,000 55% evasion and 30% dodge, and Guile.

Lionseye just is not meant for this build.

It literally renders you useless. My DPS is amazing but my survivability is shit with this bow.

I believe you're using Split Arrow atm, correct? Split Arrow is very susceptible to reflect because the arrows can travel offscreen. This why VictorDoom, the progenitor of the build, opted to use RoA over SA because you have to aim your shot (complemented with Faster Projectiles to make it land nearly instantaneously). By aiming your shots, you get full control over what you're shooting at. I wouldn't say to give up on using a Lioneye's, but try switching to RoA and see how it does for you. Also, you may want to dial down your crit mult if you're stacking over 400%.

One tactic I use is to pop up a Decoy Totem, separate the reflect boss, and bear trap him. Or, lead the mobs or the boss away from each other, pick em off, then bear trap. Another good solution is to use a Conversion Trap on the reflect mob then finish it off with Bear Trap. I did a rare lvl 66 map once with 3 reflect mob packs in there... took a while to finish them off, but it's doable.

The other option is to settle for IR and use Determination + Grace to increase your armor. Not the best option, but it's still viable if you have some very high EVR pieces.

I don't know why I made my own thread when I could have just asked you directly in your thread :P

I am using the elemental frenzy/iceshot build you posted.

The problem I am facing now (lvl 49) is that I only know how facebreakers work. I never had to learn what was good on quivers/bows/gloves so I didn't. I don't know if I need a phys dam bow or elemental focus. I feel like my damage is completely terrible at the moment and I don't know why. Plain and simple I just feel lost on the gear side of things. Your gear section helped but I still feel like I'm missing something.

I would love some more in depth analysis for why I get certain things or why I don't get certain things. For instance, I have iceshot, fork, lmp, and mana leech linked and I have a 5 socket chest that I don't even know how to utilize properly. I just threw in an added cold damage and went on my way.

So main questions:
1) After iceshot, fork, lmp, mana leech, what are the next couple gems I should look to link?
2) I have frenzy separately linked to pierce, another mana leech, and life steal. What should I try to link to frenzy?
3) I can currently run only grace and hatred comfortably but what should my next aura be?
4) What type of bow should I be after?
5) Should I try to get phys over elemental damage or vice versa on gear?

Any help is appreciated and feel free to expand on anything or give general tips.

"

Stonehill wrote:

So, I love my ranger usin this build, but should I just sell my lionseye?? Physical reflect mobs that are in EVERY map FUCK me up so badly. I die so often to physical reflect even with way over 3,000 55% evasion and 30% dodge, and Guile.

Lionseye just is not meant for this build.

It literally renders you useless. My DPS is amazing but my survivability is shit with this bow.

Stone,
Use the totems, are you always playing solo or with group? Do you have mumble? when soloing i just let the puncture totem blind and take care of the reflect mobs then u can take out the main monster. With a group on mumble, the group shouts out reflect. I occassionally die to off screen but it has been much less lately with making use of the totem and having teammates shout out phys reflect when they are around. If you got LOH+Chain, you usually can get away with a shot or two of split and realize you are shooting into a rflect mob before its too late. But the best thing against it is team work. Good luck man dont give up on the build its so powerful you just gotta be careful.

-GetGetinSome_Arrowhead

ThePhenom04 brings up another valid tactic, and that is using Puncture/Poison Arrow for reflect mobs. You don't even need a Ranged Attack Totem, just use a Puncture/PA unsupported and Temp Chains the entire group. Rinse and repeat several times and voila, problem solved. An even better combo is to use Decoy Totem + Temp Chains + PA = dead.



@Charger29:
1. On an Iceshot setup that relies on increased AoE instead of Pierce for the ele damage, putting a Weapon Elemental Damage (WED) support is the next logical step in a 5L. It will boost your DPS a lot (with a more factor), especially on initial hit.

2. Frenzy + Faster Attacks + Mana Leech + WED + LL + Added Cold Damage.

3. Since you grab WED passives, you can try and stack Anger and Wrath for extra ele damage, or add some defensive auras of your choosing, such as Determination or Purity. (Vitality is meh.)

4. High physical damage bow with cold damage. Attack speed and mana leech is a plus.

5. I think by number crunching you'll get more DPS by stacking ele dmg on gear, but if you really want to focus on the cold element, then phys/cold dmg on gear.

"

Islidox wrote:

I believe you're using Split Arrow atm, correct? Split Arrow is very susceptible to reflect because the arrows can travel offscreen. This why VictorDoom, the progenitor of the build, opted to use RoA over SA because you have to aim your shot (complemented with Faster Projectiles to make it land nearly instantaneously). By aiming your shots, you get full control over what you're shooting at. I wouldn't say to give up on using a Lioneye's, but try switching to RoA and see how it does for you. Also, you may want to dial down your crit mult if you're stacking over 400%.

One tactic I use is to pop up a Decoy Totem, separate the reflect boss, and bear trap him. Or, lead the mobs or the boss away from each other, pick em off, then bear trap. Another good solution is to use a Conversion Trap on the reflect mob then finish it off with Bear Trap. I did a rare lvl 66 map once with 3 reflect mob packs in there... took a while to finish them off, but it's doable.

The other option is to settle for IR and use Determination + Grace to increase your armor. Not the best option, but it's still viable if you have some very high EVR pieces.

I really prefer split arrows full screen range. I am just going to sell my lionseye and buy a high physical damage non-lionseye bow...