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

I didn't really level up very far in closed beta. What are some skills i should try and utilize with that build? I heard Rain of Arrows is pretty decent now, what about single target? Also what nodes are notably more useful, in other terms what ones do I want to rush towards first? I see you should probably go for most of the HP Nodes right off the bat, aswell as IR asap I am assuming.

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to be efficient :P

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Azemotay wrote:

I didn't really level up very far in closed beta. What are some skills i should try and utilize with that build? I heard Rain of Arrows is pretty decent now, what about single target? Also what nodes are notably more useful, in other terms what ones do I want to rush towards first? I see you should probably go for most of the HP Nodes right off the bat, aswell as IR asap I am assuming.

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to be efficient :P

Well, any number of skills can work, like Burning Arrow, Ice Shot, and Frenzy for single target and Poison Arrow, Split Arrow, and Rain of Arrows for AoE. (alternatively you can take a single-target skill and make it AoE with Lesser/Greater Multiple Projectiles.) It's a matter of preference and emphasis. I still think Lightning Arrow is viable, but only time will tell.

As for build pathing, it's always best to work toward notables. Notables are passives that are bigger than your normal passives but are smaller compared to Keystone passives, e.g. Perfect Aim and Greater Impact are notables. I usually balance defense with offense when it comes to which passives I select first over the other, i.e. I take some offensive passives til I reach a notable of some sort before selecting my next set of passives on defense (say life or mana or resists or evasion). Some builds are straightforward and only have 1 particular path to go to (like the Elemental Ranger) but other builds will require some forethought.

Wondering about Elemental Weapon Damage and Physical Damage.
Which boosts skills that convert physical damage into elemental damage more?
If you have low physical damage it's obviously bad, but if you get some physical damage from gear is it better to go elemental nodes or physical nodes?
Or is it better vice-versa?
Just asking before I start some research and item possibilities, since maybe someone already theorycrafted in that matter.

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omgsupdude wrote:

Wondering about Elemental Weapon Damage and Physical Damage.
Which boosts skills that convert physical damage into elemental damage more?
If you have low physical damage it's obviously bad, but if you get some physical damage from gear is it better to go elemental nodes or physical nodes?
Or is it better vice-versa?
Just asking before I start some research and item possibilities, since maybe someone already theorycrafted in that matter.

I believe this has more to do with the crappy physical damage mods on bows than anything else. Elemental mods spawn more frequently and often overtake the low physical damage. As such, that's why lots of players stick with elemental weapon damage mods for this reason.

Hmmm Curious, I was thinking of making a groundslam Marauder and a Ranger for OB to start out.

I was curious if an EB or a pure physical ranger ( like the 2nd build listed in the first page) Would make for a better farmer/clearer? Just need an idea of the pros and cons of an Ele Bow ranger ( Blood magic build) or a Phys crit ranger.

Thanks in advance

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Islidox wrote:

I believe this has more to do with the crappy physical damage mods on bows than anything else. Elemental mods spawn more frequently and often overtake the low physical damage. As such, that's why lots of players stick with elemental weapon damage mods for this reason.

Quick reply, thanks!
Makes sense, so getting physical nodes for let's say LA or Ice Shot is necessary to get a decent "base physical" to maximize dmg output?
It's just that elemental nodes would be far easier to get for what I had in mind, should I still stick with them or switch to some physical increase (apart from Iron Grip)?

So hopefully someone reads this! I'm thinking of going an elemental blood magic build.


This build pretty much. I'm curious as to what exactly would be a good damage ability to run? I was thinking Elemental Hit would be good (maybe 2 types of it for AoE and single target). One linked with LMP w/ Chain/Fork or something along those lines and the other leaned more towards single target.

Basically I gave Ranger a test in OB but it failed me hard since I was a baddie and neglected HP nodes, so everything tossed me around in Merciless. The only other build that worked for me and I actually found fun was Spork, but as we all know that was nerfed into oblivion. So I get 2h Ground Slam marauder a try and that seemed to work relatively well. Problem is, it's boring. So I really want to avoid running that in OB, but if I have to, I'll do it.

I'd really like to avoid it though, so any tips on what to run with the build above would be very helpful.

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omgsupdude wrote:

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Islidox wrote:

I believe this has more to do with the crappy physical damage mods on bows than anything else. Elemental mods spawn more frequently and often overtake the low physical damage. As such, that's why lots of players stick with elemental weapon damage mods for this reason.

Quick reply, thanks!
Makes sense, so getting physical nodes for let's say LA or Ice Shot is necessary to get a decent "base physical" to maximize dmg output?
It's just that elemental nodes would be far easier to get for what I had in mind, should I still stick with them or switch to some physical increase (apart from Iron Grip)?

No, I believe Islidox's point (please correct me if I'm mistaken) was that, since elemental damage mods are larger and drop more frequently on bows, it's often more efficient to maximize weapon elemental damage than to start trying to buff your physical to bring it in line (as weapon elemental will apply to the converted damage, as well as all of the mods you're stacking on). Since it's percentage-based, you want to stack on the higher base number.

So, if you're looking for elemental damage mods on your bow, stack weapon elemental damage. If instead you're looking for non-ele mods (like +crit, for example), then physical is probably the way to go.

It's all about optimizing for your strengths - damage is damage is damage, so figure out which path is giving your build the most bang and start stacking percentages on it.

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Islidox wrote:

8. Elemental Ranger:

Spoiler

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgIBAdEEswguDq0UTRR1FSAZjhm0KaUqTSzpMn4yiTWGNZI26DpSOrM64TwtPydKfUz_TeNOyFb6V-JYr1-qY6dnoGqTbPZuqnPhdEF35XgNeriC5Id2iPGQEZuNnaqiAKJAplepbqxZrpOvbK_rtBq18rc-uc3AD8SixYrGrsrT037dDd1G37_nY-pi7YPuDvAf8kX0-PeI-rH8TvzF_gr-j4qvAnGQCsHY4ss=

- Elemental Damage
- Evasion-based Armor
- Keystones used: Iron Reflexes, Blood Magic, Iron Grip
- Life usage
(courtesy of mrpetrov)

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Remember that these builds here represent what I consider to be solid starting OB builds. Others may think differently and are more than welcome to share their build. These builds are also tweakable to suit your individual ideal Ranger, so long as the core fundamentals are there:
1. Build up your defense
2. Build up your offense
3. Build up your fuel

i want to build a ranger using ele arrow/ fork for mobs and elemental hit for bosses, can you give me ideas of ideal skill gems to collect and level for this particular build and what passive auras will benefit this ranger as well as curse gems and support gems, thank you.

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Doomaflatchi wrote:

No, I believe Islidox's point (please correct me if I'm mistaken) was that, since elemental damage mods are larger and drop more frequently on bows, it's often more efficient to maximize weapon elemental damage than to start trying to buff your physical to bring it in line (as weapon elemental will apply to the converted damage, as well as all of the mods you're stacking on). Since it's percentage-based, you want to stack on the higher base number.

So, if you're looking for elemental damage mods on your bow, stack weapon elemental damage. If instead you're looking for non-ele mods (like +crit, for example), then physical is probably the way to go.

It's all about optimizing for your strengths - damage is damage is damage, so figure out which path is giving your build the most bang and start stacking percentages on it.

Yeah I know that elemental grants higher percentage, but I was thinking like that:

Physical damage amplified by +% physical damage -> Convert to magical damage -> amplified by +% elemental damage

So I wasn't sure if I can go purely elemental when the physical part suffers.
I'm also not entirely familiar what's additive and what's multiplicative in the damage calculation. Still trying to google that since I don't have enough time to test around.

It's mainly a decision between skilling to Greater Impact or getting more elemental damage, both grant 30% damage, while skilling to GI grants me 6% atkspeed at the cost of 1 more skillpoint, maybe I'm just putting too much thought into it though.

Feel free to correct me if I'm messing something up/thinking wrong