Age of Conan Ranger PVP Guide

Age of Conan Ranger PVP Guide
by downsouth4242

I tryed to take the time to help you guys and all I get is insulted on my grammar,and questioned about my tatics.I can tell the rude posters are no where near lvl 80 and really have no clue how to use the tools funcom has gave the class.I think for many of you rangers may be to hard to play.I will no longer post on these forums due to the a-holes,and I hope you continue to get spanked by classes you should be destroying.
If you really knew how to play the class you would realize we are very overpowered and the nerfs will not stop with shattering stance.I wasnt trying to make a instant win pvp guide.Just information about what rangers have a chance of doing againt other classes.You must remeber we are all in green gear.So this may very well change in a month from now.
To the guys that understood the post keep the faith to 80.It is very well worth the time and effort and that is the whole point of my post.

#1 Dont use shattering stance as a crutch in PvP.Once you get higher level most classes have a pretty high knockback resit.So it doesnt proc very often anyways(even pre nerf),at least not enough to depend on it.You get a knockback special at 80,and only guardians have ever resited it.Use it in your rotation.

#2 X-bow is very overrated.Its fine and dandy when your low level and want to train a few mobs on you,then pop piercing and drop em all like flys.At low level when people dont have much health or a high defense,you can afford the slow shots because most classes under guardian drop in under 2-3 hits.At 80 this is not the case.At 80 people have a considerable higher defense and you will MISS a lot.Say for instance I am fighting a POM.With an xbow if i miss one shot thats 3-6 wasted seconds,more than long enough for his HOT's to out do my slow damage.You dont have that amount of time in high lvl pvp.I will state my reasons below why bow is the way to go.

#3These classes can drop you before you blink.Demo's,TOS,conq,barbarian,HOX all have the ablity that if you screw up once its over.So to counter this at lvl 80 there are a lot of toys rangers were given.First if you are jumped out of no where its fruitless to try to gather your senses and fight back.You will die.The best thing to do is CC,retreat get enough distance where you can rest/cloak.Then hit tracking find that person and restart the fight on your terms.Always remember medium armor is crap.We have very low defenses and no form of heals other than pots.We do die faster than even some cloth classes so never get it twisted that you can "tank" any professions damage.

#4 Go bow.I cannot say this enough.True enough bows dont hit very hard,you have almost no form of AOE,and no way to bypass shields.But what bow does give you more than anything is the best CC in the ranger's arsenal.Immolation.Also the knockdown special you get at 80 is bow only too.Now if you spec right which i will explain below you can have three awesome cooldowns that will raise your bow damage by I would guess 25-30% for a short period of time.I have honestly 2 shot cloth classes before they could even react at 80.I would go as far to say that if i am stealthed,and my cooldowns are up,there not 1 class underneath soldiers that can survive it.But you must learn when to use your knockdown to cancel out them healing or running.Dont let anyone tell you rangers dont do damage at 80.We are still the #2 DPS class in the game.And believe me even conq and dark templars drop like flys when you get the jump with your cooldowns up.Not to mention its so easy to CC them its not even funny.And yes waste that 5 points to get to sniper stance.its totaly rocks,helps with the misses and makes you hit superhard.


#5 Ok I am not gonna give you my exact spec sorry guys.But i will point you in the direction you need to go feat wise if you want to pwn in PvP.Now you have to make a choice.You can either dabble in both waylayer and sharp shooter tree,and maybe have a few points left over for general for the knockdown resit.Or you can just go all sharpshooter and go deep enough into the general tree to get stun,root,charm,fear breaks.Which IMO will probaly be pretty effective for group PvP.But at this point its a lot of 1 on 1's or 1 on 2's so if I get stunned or knocked down its usally curtains for me anyways.I prefer to go into the waylayer tree for clear the field,get the +15% DPS feats.Do not get column attacks.It doesnt work with bows and you would do much better to put those points into the x-bow damage/evasion tree so at least you get a small boost to your defense.In sharpshooter you want to go far down enough to get Flame Barrage and on the right side of the tree go down far enough to get the marked death and stop it there.Volley is a joke dont bother with it.Now it is a must to get Critical Aim,marked.At 80 i had 5 points left for general tree that i used for the KD resit in case im charged so I can pop it CC and gtfo of there.

Now below i will go over my exp with these classes.Understand that this could change once people start raiding and getting epics.But i expect rangers to scale just as well as other classes in full epics so i dont forsee to much change.

Demo's

If you catch them while your in stealth this is an instant win class.Mezz,pop focus fire,critical Aim,and marked.Then start winding up flame barrage.Your autoshot 100% crit chance will hit them for 100-1500 by itself right of the top.By the time they can find you and begin there run towards you flame barrage is destroying any HP they had left.I have 0 fear of these guys when its on my terms and you shouldnt either.
Now if they get the jump its not good.They have a root that doesnt break on damage looks like claws coming out of the ground,and it will keep you from running.Best thing to do in this situation is as soon as you are able pop your knockdown special.Then pop focus,critical,and marked and do a short release special like heartseeker.If there not dead by now chances are you will be because they hit supa hard.I am not saying we have no chance if they get the jump,but if its a demo with any sense you shouldnt survive this encounter.

HOX's
Nasty little guys when they are in demonform.Unfortunatley for them i can kill them before they even have time to transform.This is a cloth class with minimal heals and no burst damage when not in demonform.They are a one trick poney.Treat them as you would demo's,except they have a charge when morphed.When they charge switch to sword and board,hit immolation which will fear them for 5-6 seconds.Now if they are low on HP go ahead and finish them off while they are feared.If you missed your big shot,fear them then retreat and stealth.When they are in demonform they can take a lot of damage so if they have over half HP left use the CC and retreat.Track them and wait for demonform to drop then its party time.
If they get the jump forget about it your toast my friend.Theres no time for CC and retreat.These guys will drop you in 2-3 seconds flat.I am not joking.

TOS
Again like demos except without the awesome demo burst damage.Pop your cooldowns out of stealth but instead of flame barrage use your knockdown special.Again your auto shot crit will take near half there health at the start because these guys have supa low HP.The knockdown is to keep them from healing.If you follow knockdown with a heartseaker they most times will be dead before they can stand up.They can rez themselves so be careful not to gloat over there body and walk away cocky.I have made that mistake and payed for it with my life.
If they get the jump you should still eek this one out.They dont have huge burst damage but they do have stuns.The mistake they make is they wind up there big 3 second cast while your stunned and it is not enough to kill you.So this time close the range on them.Hit immolation followed by your cooldowns and flame barrage.If there not dead and they go to heal use your knockdown special.GG.You will learn fast that our ranged knockdown just totaly screws healers in 1 on 1 pvp with us.

POMS
Tough fight.If you catch them without there HOTS and buffs up like demo's they drop like flys and also like TOS the knockdown totaly screws there healing chances.Should be an easy kill.
If they get the jump and have all HOT's and buffs up your in for a fight.I always try to burst them down while i have them feared because they will try to close distance to land there knockdown.If i dont think I am gonna outdamage there heals,I use clear the field and run.Once you break combat stealth hit tracking and restart the fight.i did tis 4 times to a POM before i finally dropped him.Patience is key.

Assasins
People say there gimp and they might be.But they can drop us like flys if they get the jump.But in all honesty you should never lose to these guys.If you get the jump its an easy win.If they get the jump use immolate to fear them retreat.Lose line of sight break combat and stealth.They will instantly stealth also.Only prob is you can track them stealthed or not.Find the spot they are stealthed in and drop leg trap.It will break there stealth and root them.Get range hit pindown and watch the poor assasin get a free trip to the rez pad.


Barbarians.
One of our toughest fights.If you get the jump treat them like demo's because they too have low HP's.Do not rely on traps or snares against these guys.As soon as you pop your cooldowns wind up flame barrage.Pray that you kill them before they reach you.You might have to pop your ranged knockdown special to ensure this happens.But I havent lost yet to a barb i got the jump on using these tatics.
If they get the jump..well..its over.Unless they have no clue how to play barb you will be CC'd and ****d.Sorry guys but i just havent found a way to avoid this unless you go deep into the general tree for stun breaks.Which I didnt.

Bear Shaman.
They are very overrated imo.Tougher to kill than a cloth class,but easier to kill than a soldier class.Tbh I have only fought one lvl 80 and I pretty much had my way with him.Pop your cooldowns out of stealth wind up flame barrage and asap land that ranged knockdown.Do not let these guys close the distance on you.In melee range they can bring the pain.But again you can easlily outdamage there hots because if you get the jump they wont have much time to spam hots,they will try to close distance.If they do reach you,hit immolation to fear them and finsih them off.
If they get the jump we could probaly be in trouble.They have a knockdown and they hit VERY hard and fast in melee range.I would CC them run and restart the fight personaly if i survived out of the knockdown.

Conquers.
Very easy fight.You wont burst them down like clothies but you can keep them snared and CC'd enough where there damage output is 0.I open up with my cooldowns and flame barrage then i hit pindown and run back.Unload on them till they get close then i hit my knockdown special drop trap.I run back and unload till they reach me again,then i fear them with immolation.By that time pin down is back up just rinse and repeat.These guys can be kited so easy its not even funny.
If they get the jump like bear shaman they can bring the pain.But again you shouldnt lose to these guys.Drop trap run and retreat/stealth and then restart the fight on your terms.

Dark Templars
I have a hard time with these guys.They are tough to kill,they have heals and there damage is not to shabby either.Though they are kiteable it will take you more time to kill them than conq due to there health taps.But if you get the jump you should not lose this fight.Again easily kiteable and very easy if they get the jump to trap run/stealth and restart the fight.My fights againt them are limited so this info may not be 100% accurate.But the ones i jumped always hit the rez pad.

Guardians.
Forget it.CC and run and screw restarting the fight.You WILL NOT beat these guys at 80.At 80 guardians due way overpowered DPS and they can drop you super fast.I avoid these guys at all costs.


I hope this guide helps you get an idea of where we stand at 80.We are probaly the best 1 on 1 class in the game.Our damage is limited by our cooldowns so we are truly one trick ponys.But thats what a rogue is.We have our shots to burst you down,or with soldiers we have our chance to kite and wear them down.Its all up to you and how well you play the class honestly.The tools and the damage is there,you just needs the player skills to use them.

If you have anymore questions my name is Abaden on the Cimm RP-PvP server so shoot me a tell and i will do my best to answer your questions.


post: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=62513&highlight=leveling