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

@Slagmaur: The AA is there on a situational basis. I haven't needed to use it yet, but if I do, it'd be to run away from Voidbearers and things of that ilk.


@Zealflare: In theory it looks fine, but I'm not sure it's worth sinking passives into armor when you can just up your evasion chance. For you to gain a lot from the armor passives, you'd have to run at least 2 granite flasks to be worth it.

And the gain from EB from whatever ES you have would also be halved. By using that many %-auras and using expensive supports (WED = 1.7, ConAE = 1.6), your only choice to run attacks is from your HP using the BM support. RoA without Faster Projectiles also sucks, but if you have greater than 50% arrow speed from passives/modsongear, then you can get by without Faster Projectiles.

Regarding Anger/Wrath, if you're going elemental, there's a set of 8% WED passives near Thick Skin that you might want to pick up. And given the amount of overall mana you'll have (I highly doubt you'll be breaking 1k mana if that), you'll have to run Anger/Wrath on life/BMsupport.

I won't lie, this build seems unfeasible and will rely on some really good gear to pull it off. If you can, power to you.

"

Islidox wrote:

@Zealflare: In theory it looks fine, but I'm not sure it's worth sinking passives into armor when you can just up your evasion chance. For you to gain a lot from the armor passives, you'd have to run at least 2 granite flasks to be worth it.

And the gain from EB from whatever ES you have would also be halved. By using that many %-auras and using expensive supports (WED = 1.7, ConAE = 1.6), your only choice to run attacks is from your HP using the BM support. RoA without Faster Projectiles also sucks, but if you have greater than 50% arrow speed from passives/modsongear, then you can get by without Faster Projectiles.

Regarding Anger/Wrath, if you're going elemental, there's a set of 8% WED passives near Thick Skin that you might want to pick up. And given the amount of overall mana you'll have (I highly doubt you'll be breaking 1k mana if that), you'll have to run Anger/Wrath on life/BMsupport.

I won't lie, this build seems unfeasible and will rely on some really good gear to pull it off. If you can, power to you.

Well, the amount of increased evasion % the build has is already at 188% (I forgot to include the leather and steel nodes), and I only really spend 3 points on pure armor nodes at the duelist tree. The only other evasion node I could go for is near the Mana Geyser node between duelist and ranger, which I could technically get if I were to drop some nodes elsewhere, bringing it from 188% increased evasion (which is a lot already) to 238%.

As for ES gained from EB, the build has 64% increased mana and 34.8% increased ES for a total of 98.8% increased es, and with any bit of int on gear that would make it exceed 100%, which will mean even with halved ES I could at least get 1:1 or more mana per point of ES. So from discipline+carcass jack I could get at least +400 max mana from EB conversion. With some evasion/es hybrid gear (or just +mana/es mods) I could push that even further I believe.

RoA without increased projectile speed seems fine though (ballistic mastery already gives 20%) since attack speed affects RoA in a similar manner. 51% attack speed/20% projectile speed from passives, 44%/54% from faster attacks for 0%/20% quality. Plus, wouldn't the 8% elemental nodes be pointless if I could just pick up the 8% proectile damage nodes instead, which affects both elemental and physical damage? I have access to 6 of those nodes (ranger and duelist) and I didn't bother getting any of them since there were better nodes to get.

But yea, it will probably require pretty good gear to pull off since the build has very little damage nodes (315% increased crit chance/120% increased crit multiplier/54% physical dmg/35% projectile dmg). This also means less changes of getting one-shotted by your own reflect damage I suppose.

Hey guys, I was looking through a few pages of this thread but couldn't find what I was looking for.

Is it feasible to have a melee one-handed/shield ranger that plays very tanky? (I have a thing for well armored chicks mmmhm) If so, what do you think is the optimum build here, and what should I expect getting into such a build?

Thanks!

@Zealflare: true, the 8% projectile nodes benefit both physical damage and elemental damage.

I also forgot Carcass Jack was a EVR/ES armor, but then means you'll need to be lucky rolling Red sockets on that.

I've tried RoA without Faster Projectiles, and it frankly sucks. By the time you fire, fast mobs have already cleared the landing zone of the RoA. This is why I suggest >50% projectile speed in order to be able to land shots much quicker without having the need to predeterminer where the shot will land. Currently I have 84% increased Projectile Speed, which is near instantaneous, and I love it.

The thing with Reflect is to keep your crit multiplier low. In fact, I think anything in excess of 300% is too much and will guarantee a oneshot if you're not careful. (Recently tested RoA against a reflect mob... seems like I was getting hit with every shot. [Then I oneshot myself with a crit when I was below half HP... lololol should've poped a HP flask.])


@Kirei: this thread is aimed for Bow-Rangers. If you're looking for 1hand+shield Ranger build, you won't find one here. But, I can give some advice.

Believe it or not, the best type of melee Ranger is actually one that doesn't rely on armor but instead on evasion. I've seen some seriously tanky Rangers utilzing the evasion defense with Ondar's Guile keystone, Enfeeble, Multistrike+Multisplash+Blind+LOH, and high block chance. There are several threads that feature Rangers such as these (but require expensive gear):

Aimlessgun's Dagger Melee Ranger - http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/461257

Rumthorp's BlindStorm Melee Ranger - http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/454129

Of course, there's the standard route by going through the Duelist and Marauder tree for their defenses, but you're doing yourself a disservice because you're relying on armor and you lose some benefit going IR.

Update: Minor changes to my build and my Endgame build. Endgame build has more life, more evasion, and I opt out of Deadly Draw.

"

Islidox wrote:

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.

There must be something I'm missing in the mana department...

Linked to Frenzy I have: Faster Attacks, Life Leech, Mana Leech, WED
Link to Iceshot I have: WED, Mana Leech, LMP, Fork

I am running Grace and Hatred on my mana (have about 265 unreserved) and Anger using blood magic. After a handful of frenzy shots I'm struggling for mana and, depending on the mob density, I can only get off slightly more iceshots before running low (although I gain it back much faster). I even have 3% phys dam mana leech on top of everything.

Is that just the way it's going to work or is there something I can do to smooth it out? I've thought about linking Clarity to my reduced mana - blood magic - anger but I can't test it currently.

@Charger29: one thing that helps is having quality on your Mana Leech. That will increase the rate you leech your mana back up. Also, socketing WED will shoot your mana cost very high by a 1.7x factor.

If you're struggling with mana, a less costly option is to take out WED and replace it with Cold Penettration. It's still expensive at a 1.5x mana cost multiplier, but it's not the same as 1.7x with WED. Try that and see how that works out for you. Cold Penetration may in fact be much better for your build that relies on cold damage than an assorted array of elemental damage.

On that end, you may want to take out Anger altogether and use a slightly higher leveled Clarity if mana regen is a bit low for your liking. Also, did you get any mana regen passives? Clarity without mana regen is sorta pointless. Mana Flows and Prestidigitation are important notables to pick up, and the sooner the better.

Hello Islidox, thanks you for share this awesome build.

I want to ask you if a chin-sol can be a viable bow, coz i cant get a expensive one whit phis dmg (I'm too poor)

Cheers.

"

Chupacabras wrote:

Hello Islidox, thanks you for share this awesome build.

I want to ask you if a chin-sol can be a viable bow, coz i cant get a expensive one whit phis dmg (I'm too poor)

Cheers.

No problem. I would be careful with Chin Sol. I used in Closed Beta, and I didn't really feel it was worth it. You have to be in literal melee range to make the most benefit out Chin Sol, and this Ranger build isn't really meant to tank hits.

But if that's all you can get without breaking your bank, go for it. I'm certain you can get some 200ish DPS bows that are cheaper than a Chin Sol.

"

Islidox wrote:

@Charger29: one thing that helps is having quality on your Mana Leech. That will increase the rate you leech your mana back up. Also, socketing WED will shoot your mana cost very high by a 1.7x factor.

If you're struggling with mana, a less costly option is to take out WED and replace it with Cold Penettration. It's still expensive at a 1.5x mana cost multiplier, but it's not the same as 1.7x with WED. Try that and see how that works out for you. Cold Penetration may in fact be much better for your build that relies on cold damage than an assorted array of elemental damage.

On that end, you may want to take out Anger altogether and use a slightly higher leveled Clarity if mana regen is a bit low for your liking. Also, did you get any mana regen passives? Clarity without mana regen is sorta pointless. Mana Flows and Prestidigitation are important notables to pick up, and the sooner the better.

Thanks, I will try some of this out. I have Mana Flows but not Prestidigitation - I can't seems to find it but if it's reasonable to get, I will.