User:CarriViscero/W/R Great Dwarf Barrager

A Great Dwarf Barrager combines the ranger elite skill Barrage with a human ally's Great Dwarf Weapon spell and the warrior's Stonefist Insignia to generate heavy, spamable knockdown and moderate damage against groups of foes. The adrenaline gained through Barrage is then funneled into useful adrenal skills that aid the party and increase the warrior's damage output, while the strength primary attribute boosts armor penetration and enhances various skills. This fighter also provides an uncommonly high degree of backline protection through the supporting skills it uses.

The build is designed for PvE, particularly for hero characters being led by a human, and synergizes well with paragons who use echoes. A variant of this build for a human player including PvE-Only skills is also available; see below.

Attributes and Skills, for Use by Hero
[build prof=warri/range streng=9+1+1 tactic=9+1 marksm=12][flail][barrage][antidote signet][protector's defense][watch yourself!][dolyak signet][signet of strength][resurrection signet][/build]

Equipment

 * Four Radiant Insignias and one Stonefist Insignia.
 * Rune of Minor Strength on the headgear, Rune of Minor Tactics elsewhere, two Runes of Attunement, and a Rune of Superior Vigor.
 * A +15%^50 bow of with a Zealous string and a Fortitude grip (ideal for most situations).
 * If a Zealous mod is not available or energy management is not a problem due to party composition, a Sundering Bowstring works quite well too.
 * Choice of bow type is personal, as most of the different types will offer different advantages for this build:
 * Flatbows have a good range and rate of fire and are especially suitable if a Spirit of Favorable Winds is in play.
 * Recurve bows are a well-balanced option for this build, in any case.
 * Shortbows also work well for setting up earshot coverage that will affect all characters in the party, although the reduced range may make it a bit less practical for the backline characters to run safely to the barrager for the block bonus during Protector's Defense (see usage below).
 * Hornbows synergize well with the attack speed boost from Flail and add 10% armor penetration, making them ideal for many situations.

Usage on a Hero

 * Have yourself or another player cast Great Dwarf Weapon on the W/R Great Dwarf Barrager to enable lovely amounts of knockdown and a respectable boost in damage.
 * Call a target toward the middle of an approaching enemy group and let the hero pelt it with arrows while other characters tank.
 * As the fight progresses, keep your target calls focused toward the middle of the pack when possible, in order to maximize the effectiveness of Barrage and any other AoE heroes you are running.
 * If energy becomes a problem (e.g. if no Zealous bowstring is available) consider partying this character with others who can help out with energy regeneration (e.g. a paragon with "The Power is Yours!" or Song of Power).
 * If your own character is a soft target, double click on the barrager's name to move next to him or her if a pull goes awry. Protector's Defense will provide you considerable help in surviving the initial onslaught, and the hero AI will usually not mess it up by moving, due to being equipped with a bow.
 * Once adrenaline is built, the hero AI should automatically start activating Flail and Watch Yourself! to increase damage output and add 20 armor to the party.
 * Signet of Strength between battles provides a bit of extra damage for upcoming fights, and will be maintained automatically by hero AI. A few barrages will empty its attack count.
 * Antidote Signet helps keep your hero's eyes clean when fighting foes who use gw:blind, and helps against other conditions too.
 * Dolyak Signet helps this hero survive spikes from hard-mode elementalists, particularly bosses. Due to this character using a bow, the movement loss is negligible.  Despite this, the AI can be a bit reluctant to activate the skill, so you may want to do so manually if you know a fight is going to be rough.
 * Generally speaking, little micromanagement is necessary for a hero running this build, besides wisely calling your targets and remembering to reapply Great Dwarf Weapon.

Alternative skills

 * Shields Up! Provides another shout for paragon echo synergy and adds additional armor versus ranged attackers. Handy to have with you in areas with numerous ranger enemies.
 * Distracting Shot works well as an extra interrupt that isn't random and doesn't rely on knockdown, although the AI will tend to want to spam it and may use up a lot of energy that way if left to its own devices.


 * Healing Signet has its uses here, although the armor loss can be devastating.

Counters

 * Blindness--remedied through Antidote Signet.
 * General anti-fighter hexing (Empathy, etc.)
 * Projectile-blocking skills.
 * Anti-knockdown.

PvE Skills Human Variant:
[build prof=warri/range streng=9+1+1 tactic=9+1 marksm=12][Flail][Barrage][Distracting Shot][Protector's Defense]["Save Yourselves!" (Kurzick)][Tryptophan Signet]["By Ural's Hammer!"][Resurrection Signet][/build]


 * Four Radiant Insignias and one Stonefist Insignia.
 * Strength headgear, Rune of Minor Strength, Rune of Minor Tactics, two Runes of Attunement, and a Rune of Superior Vigor.
 * Weaponry the same as in the original build, except you'll want to have a Longbow on swap in case you need to pull something.

Usage on a Human Player

 * Before the group does anything too serious, let the other human players know you're running Protector's Defense and make sure they know what to do if you call it out in chat.
 * Ensure that a friend or other ally maintains Great Dwarf Weapon on you.
 * Keep your barrages aimed toward the middle of each enemy group.
 * Depending on the situation, you may not be able to spam Barrage quite as much as a primary ranger. Watch which enemies are getting knocked down successfully and adjust your barrage usage accordingly.  If energy is tight and you lack a Zealous mod, and you happen to perform a barrage that knocks down all (or nearly all) of the foes it targeted, don't re-use barrage again right away.  Instead, use a signet (or fire a normal shot or or two), let your energy come back, and time your next barrage so that it hits right when the knocked-down group is able to do something again.
 * Maintain Flail.
 * Use Distracting Shot to interrupt key spellcasters (e.g. bosses) who haven't been knocked down by your most recent barrage.
 * Apply Tryptophan Signet to further reduce how much damage foes can do to your party.
 * Use "By Ural's Hammer!" to ramp up the damage from your barrages and provide a bit of regeneration.
 * The barrages will quickly pump up your adrenaline, allowing you to use "Save Yourselves!" to keep your party members heavily armored.
 * Keep 5 energy in reserve in case Protector's Defense is needed. Common times to use it include when your party is facing heavy martial interruption, or a horrible pull has occurred and you don't have enough adrenaline for "Save Yourselves!" yet.  Stand in a good location (next to low-armor allies) and call the skill so the monks and other soft targets know to gather around you.

Additional Alternative Skills for Human Variant:

 * Ebon Battle Standard of Honor works well, particularly if you're standing next to other ranged attackers (e.g. a party with more than one person using barrage), though it will strain your energy if not used prudently.
 * "You Are All Weaklings!" inflicts weakness and can be combined with Tryptophan Signet or used instead of it.
 * Resurrection Signet if your Sunspear rank is poor or nonexistant.
 * Any skills from the main build (and its alternate skills) are candidates for swapping in here, too. Note however that the armor from Watch Yourself won't stack with the armor from "Save Yourselves!"