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- Factions:Ranger/Assassin (gwrg5g) -
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Assassins are the dual-wielding dagger masters and shadowy teleporters in
Factions, and are quite a melee-oriented class.  Much of the synergies between
Rangers and Warriors can apply here, but the high Energy attacks of the Assassin
benefit greatly from a high Expertise.  Both the Assassin and Ranger are great
at applying conditions to a target, and many of those abilities stack quite
nicely.

Melee Skirmisher
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This theme relies on the Assassin’s and the Ranger’s ability to apply conditions
against enemies.  By utilizing Expertise, Wilderness Survival, and Dagger
Mastery, the R/A can jump in, Strike quickly, and fade away, leaving the
opponent bleeding, poisoned, blinded, etc.

Sample Build:
Dagger Mastery should be maxed out, with a high Expertise and Wilderness
Survival to support the backup skills
1. Jagged Strike - Bleeding, fast cooldown
2. Wild Strike - Insert your favorite Off-hand here
3. Twisting Fangs - Deep Wound, more Bleeding
4. Lacerate (Elite) - Even more Bleeding…
5. Throw Dirt - Blind, defense
6. Troll Unguent - Self Heal
7. Apply Poison - Poison prep
8. Free Slot (Res Signet or Signet of Capture)

Shadow Striker
==============
This Ranger is your standard Sniper, but uses Shadow Arts to fade away when in
trouble or when their quarry is running away.  Assassins have a variety of
methods to both evade pursuers and snare/knock down targets trying to run away.

Sample Build:
Marksmanship and Expertise, per standard Sniper. A smattering of Shadow/Deadly
Arts for support skills, as needed.
1. Punishing Shot (Elite) - Interrupt/Damage
2. Sundering Attack
3. Pin Down - Snare
4. Return - Teleport
5. Heart of Shadow - Teleport
6. Troll Unguent - Self Heal
7. Read the Wind - Preparation
8. Free Slot (Res Signet or Signet of Capture)

Other useful skills - Aura of Displacement (Elite), Scorpion Wire

Efficient Dagger Expert
=======================
Expertise does a great job at lowering the expensive Energy costs of Assassin
dagger attacks. This theme basically focuses on a high Expertise and Dagger
Mastery skill.

Sample Build:
At least a 13 in Expertise and 12 Dagger Mastery.
1. Leaping Mantis Sting - Damage, Cripple
2. Temple Strike (Elite) - Blind, Daze, and interrupt
3. Repeating Strike - It keeps going and going and going…
4. Horns of the Ox - Knockdown
5. Falling Spider - Poison
6. Whirling Defense
7. Lightning Reflexes
8. Free Slot

Assassin/Ranger: Barrage Sniper
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First seen as a post on GWOnline.net forums by shamed
I don’t have a section for this build (this is a guide about primary Rangers,
eh?), but this deserves a special mention in my book.  Apparently, arrows are
a lot like Daggers, because the Sharpen Daggers enchantment works with bows.
Combine this with Barrage and the inherent Energy reclamation of the Assassin’s
Critical Strike attribute, and you get the following build:
Critical Strikes 12 + Mask + Rune
Marksmanship 12
1. Critical Eye
2. Sharpen Daggers
3. Barrage
4. The rest up to you…
Basically, Critical Eye increases the already-high chance for criticals and
increases Energy reclamation.  Sharpen Daggers is an Enchantment, so it is NOT
canceled by Barrage.  Barrage will Crit about 40% of the time on each target,
and each target that is critically hit will start to Bleed.  Most of the other
standard Barrager rules apply.

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- Factions:Ranger/Ritualist (gwrg5h) -
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An alternative to the Monk, Ritualists provide a similar benefit to the Ranger
class.  While the “Held Item” skills are probably mostly worthless to a Ranger,
the Spirits and Weapon Spells are great bonuses.  This is combined with a great
ressurection skill (Flesh of My Flesh) and access to Restoration magic.

Brutal Barrage
==============
This theme uses a combination of Communing and Barrage (Elite) for an effective
damage combination.  Not only can you combined Brutal Weapon with Barrage for
more damage, but you can take advantage of the Ritualist ability to summon
damaging spirits, for even more spamming. With a high expertise, the Spirits are
cheaper to summon, as well.

Sample Build:
At least 13 in Expertise, with high Marksmanship and Communing
1. Barrage (Elite) - Main damage here
2. Brutal Weapon - More Barrage damage
3. Pain - Damage spirit
4. Bloodsong - Damage spirit
5. Favorable Winds - More Barrage damage
6. Whirling Defense - Defense skill
7. Flesh of My Flesh - Resurrect
8. Free Slot

Spirit Spammer 2.0
==================
Another take on the Communing Ranger, this theme utilizes Oath Shot (Elite) to
reduce the long cooldown times of Binding Rituals, as well as Expertise to
reduce the cost.

Sample Build:
Minimum of 7 Expertise (recommend higher than 8 points)
High Communing skill
1. Oath Shot (Elite)
2. Dissonance
3. Pain
4. Shelter
5. Union
6. Whirling Defense
7. Flesh of My Flesh - Resurrect
8. Free Slot