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I started dabbling with the RNG/CLR duo lately, I don't think I will have to create a dragonslayer JR thread for some time so don't worry Its quite fun and should I have the time to do it, the exploration options are great with snare, invis, IVU, Rez of course hehe.., and pacify to name a few.

I have some DPS, Tactics questions for starters on what others do. For now my goals are to chip away at level 62 on my cleric so we can both have fun in BoT.

My typical routine is to pull/tank with ranger, Dual wield at first with earthcaller to slow. While I wait for that to proc, which is sometimes right away and sometimes at just about when the MoB turns to flee, I swap out offhand weapons. I try to keep Avatar up, DoT with 24 dot a tick spell, if I've had time for all that to happen on a stubborn slow, I switch back to a dps sword with a possible crit heal of 180. I do that stuff in that order.

In short as soon as slow hits I switch to my 2hb Greatstaff of the fourwinds for dps. I have never parsed anything but I just know from a ton of solo time before I boxed my cleric that on Mobs on which it was a race to the death as soon as I switched to that weapon I really saw the tides turn. I also know I take a lot less reposte damage or so I have figured.

I have thought about just screwing all the offhand weapons and equipping a shield until slow lands, the problem there though is that when it doesn't proc I am loosing a lot of dps, and therefore a lot of cleric mana which slows the whole thing down when doing repeated XP pulls.

Throughout all the fighting I am nuking away as much as I can with the "big" ranger nukes of ice and fire, which when they crit do make a noticeable chunk of the MoBs HP's go away. Nukes I've always found to be the big Melee DPS for a ranger.

On the cleric I am healing of course, usually just CH, sometimes a HoT when I am starting a hard pull, which often gives the cleric time to cast hammer, and reverse damageshield. My cleric questions are do people try using stuns as a damage reducer? Do people do undead camps where the cleric DoT spell could be used? I have never visited the undead area of PoV to be honest so was wondering if that is an option.

I know if I was decked out with really top gear a lot of the switching of weapons etc. would not be needed probably and I could just dps and heal away with a better geared duo.

Do most folks find the 2h ranger weapons to be superior for dps with the AA Boosts those weapons get?

I know my questions are all throughout this but just wondering some other folks approach, Esp on the cleric side for chipping in damage or other helpful stuff.

Thanks

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Echofinder

Ranger of Tunare
65 crossings of the stream

<Destiny>

2H weapons are crude instruments used by warriors and dwarves, not the subtle killing instruments employed by ranger dealers of death.
(It is specific weapon dependent of course but you will never equal your DPS output from using 2 1HS with a two hander as a ranger)

Using a shield will become absolutely necessary when slowing as you begin to press the edge of your ability.

HoTs will save you IMMENSE mana as you progress and begin to understand the limits of your cleric. This will become more and more obvious as you both get stronger.

I always use RDS and clicky hammer on my Cleric. As you have suggested, ranger killing is ALL about speed.

My typical fight of edge of ability mobs includes 5 different weapons in rotation with the shield as well as glove swapping to keep the FT4 of my claw always active.

I find Ranger/Cleric to be extremely fun. Truth be told I'd prefer to never box but if I do Rng/Clr is the only combo for me.

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hunter lyrad cypresshade forest stalker + officer of destiny + r. f. g.

Hey Echo! I can't really speak to the ranger stuff since I've never played one beyond the 30's, but here are my thoughts on the cleric thing. I think the undead DoTs, while a nice little DPS boost if the cleric isn't otherwise occupied (and if mana isn't a concern), are a drop in the bucket compared to ranger DPS. I think you're onto something with the stuns, though - with Sound of Might and Tarnation, you can keep a mob stun locked for around ten seconds, which would give you some damage-free time to try to proc a slow on Echo. No guarantees that you'll proc in that window, of course, but it should decrease the damage you take by quite a bit. Just make sure you're snaring or casting some tangling weeds on Echo so the cleric doesn't draw agro.

Come to think of it, though, I've never played a cleric as a main so I haven't really played with the cleric's undead arsenal. I know Pane and Cromis are pretty familiar with those tools though, so maybe they can make some suggestions of hunting areas or keeling strategies.

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Pithy Deathwish, manic mechanic of <Temerity>

Refuse, rubbish, filth, slime, muck and other alt-putrescence:
[ Drat | Dart | Zounds | Slouch | Pouch ]

the undead DoT is pretty weak and i never use it to be honest... i've never really messed with the undead in valor, generally all my undead killing is lower lvl crap but if you are gonna try to add dps on the valor skeletons i'd think that the undead nuke is the way to go, (also hammer dps is decent and costs nothing, not the hammer pet but the proc hammer.. if you are yaulping throughout it you have the same mana regen as medding and you can quickly just hit assist hotkey and then start your heal on the ranger)

using stuns to mitigate dmg is a great strat if you want to tank with the cleric... i've tanked in valor groups without a slower and self healed throughout it mostly due to chain stunning to help mitigate dmg, its gets pretty mana intensive though and i'm assuming my mana pool is significantly higher then your cleric box

i've used stuns in groups when there was no slower and i wasn't tanking, to help mitigate dmg as well.. i'd think that while boxing, it would be extremely difficult to balance agro on the ranger while stunning enough for it to mitigate enough dmg to be worthwhile. But as pithy said, i would definitely think it could be useful for earlier in a fight to mitigate dmg while hoping for an early proc. i'd think if you pulled with snare and then a few agro spells while the mob was inc, then those two stuns shouldn't draw agro and give you a decent amount of time to proc slow.

also.. since you have no slows, the RDS should definitely be cast provided you have the mana

I play a ranger/cleric duo. I pretty much do the same things the rest of you do. Slow with Earthcaller, HoT glimi before pulling and if pushing the envelope I will always keep Divine Intervention up as well and since I have a shaman pet, sometimes I add another DS from KSoF. Adding clicky hammer pet and reverse DS help a bit as well. I typically do not switch to a 2-hander. Too many things to move around. I will switch to AHB from Earthcaller, but that is about it for gear switches during a fight.

Playing with models off so you can always be on a horsey pretty much means you are never out of mana as long as you have VoQ up.

Glimi and Brellt can kill any of the trash mobs in earth (all trash), fire (field 1) and water (zone-in trash) that way--it's just slow. Air is a bit different. The mobs don't hit hard, but they are hard to single and they split into up to 4 babies upon death and can randomly pop a named which pwns a duo. I pretty much avoid Plane of Air like the plague.

4-boxing with added dps (my wizzy and my mage) makes things a heck of a lot faster and more fun, but a Ranger/Cleric duo can get it done in the EPs.