For a checklist guide to going through the PvE campaign, look in Appendix:
Ranger PvE Checklist [gwrg9e].  It lists the most efficient way to unlock all
of the ranger skills in the game in order.

———————————–
- General Ranger Tactics (gwrg6a) -
———————————–

Most of these techniques, unless otherwise specified, are also useful in PvP
as well.

Focus Fire
==========
The most efficient and effective way to deal damage to enemies is to have all
of the party members attacking a single target, typically in the order of
Healer, then Spellcasters/Archers, then Warriors.  The easiest way to have
everyone attack the same target is to “Call” a target by holding down CTRL and
double-clicking on an enemy.  Everyone can target the most recently called
target by pressing T, then spacebar or a hotkey to attack.  Rangers are in a
good position to call targets, as they often don’t have to move to attack a
target, and they generally don’t have to watch health bars or the skill bar. It
is important that there is only ONE target caller… having multiple targets is
confusing and not a good idea in general.

Higher Ground
=============
Elevation plays a key role in the effectiveness of a bow.  Guild Wars uses a
hit location system for armor, with the head, feet, and arms targeted less
than the legs and torso.  If you are on higher ground, your bow can shoot
farther and you are more likely to hit the head of a target (usually doing
more damage against the majority of monsters).  If you are on lower ground,
your bow’s effective range is reduced, and you are more likely to hit the feet
and legs.  In general, always seek the high ground in PvE, but don’t go there
in exclusion of your own safety… stray too far from the group, and you will
be focused and surrounded very quickly.

Luring groups
=============
While this skill is almost essential for any class, Rangers are uniquely suited
to lure enemies, with their combination of defensive skills and ranged attacks.
The name of the game is divide and conquer… monsters are easier to kill when
they are in smaller, easier to handle groups.  The idea of Luring is to draw
a small group of enemies to your waiting party.

Sometimes the best way to Lure a group is to not attack at all. Instead, simply
walk up to the nearest enemy until it is within the “aggro range” on your radar
and run back to the group, allowing the enemies to follow you.  Other times,
walking up within that range alerts more enemies… in this case, use a
long-range bow to get the attention of a monster beyond your aggro range, and
then have it follow you into the group.

In some cases, you are going to get hit with knockdown attacks and the monsters
catch up before the party arrives. Sometimes they exclusively target you, even
though there are fresh and tasty tanks near your location. In that situation,
activate your defensive skill, Throw Dirt or Whirling Defense or whatever, and
try to escape.  Sometimes you have to stand and fight, and in those situations,
rely on your teammates to back you up.

Pets are quite annoying when it comes to luring, as they attack anything that
you click on, and tend to have a mind of their own.  When you are luring, leave
your pet back in the city (don’t worry, it can take care of itself).

Traps are an interesting way to soften up a target while you are luring. If you
lay down a trap exactly between your party and the monsters, then when the
monsters run to your party, they will trigger the trap.  This can be especially
effective in adding a pre-combat condition to the monsters like Bleeding or
Blind.

Skill Buffering
===============
Sometimes you want to chain several spells or skills in rapid succession. There
is a technique called “buffering” that allows you to use a skill almost
immediately after another skill.  Basically, while your first skill is being
cast and “flashing”, hit a second skill.  The second skill won’t cancel out the
first skill, and will fire off immediately after the first skill finishes. Note
that you need to have enough Energy in reserve to use the second skill to
buffer it, but the Energy isn’t taken away until the skill is actually cast.

This normally applies to Rangers when they use several Bow attacks in rapid
succession.  It works remarkably well with the various “interrupt” bow attacks,
which aren’t limited by your fire rate, in laying down multiple arrows very
quickly.

Status Reports
==============
If you hold down CTRL and click on various places, you can relay important
information to your team.  For example, holding down CTRL and clicking your
Energy bar will announce your current and maximum Energy to the team.  While
doing this many times in a row can be annoying and detrimental to teamwork, it
is a quick and efficient way of telling your teammates that you have low Energy
or you are Crippled or you are using a Resurrect on a fallen teammate.  Often,
you can agree ahead of time that when someone uses CTRL-click to show that he
or she has low Energy, the team will then take a breather and let the Energy
regenerate.  It also avoids the confusion of multiple people Resurrecting a
fallen teammate.

Using Nature Rituals
====================
Occasionally, you will want to use a Nature Ritual when you are out
adventuring.  Nature Rituals summon up a spirit which gives some sort of area
effect passive benefit.  They give the bonus to ALL creatures in the radius,
be it friend or foe.  This radius is approximately 2.5 times the distance of
the “Aggro Circle” on the radar (my testing shows that the Aggro Circle is
about 20 pixels on my radar and the nature rituals extend to about 50 pixels).
The spirits can be killed, and are often the target of melee monsters when
they charge in.  This is a tactical consideration you must take into account
when summoning spirits. Sometimes you can use a Spirit as bait for traps or
simply to draw the attacks of enemies for a short period of time.  Monsters now
target the weakest/lowest armored creature preferentially, and often this
creature is the Spirit.

While the cooldown times for the Nature Rituals are rather lengthy, the
durations of Nature Rituals are equally long. The effects from multiple spirits
of different types stack, but multiple spirits of the same type do NOT stack, as
in the case of a hostile and friendly spirit overlapping in area. Think of them
as enchantments tied to an area, much like the Elementalist’s Wards.

Spirits are immune to Enchantments and Hexes. Also, as of the 8/25/05 Update,
Nature Rituals no longer affect Spirits (so Fertile Season doesn’t buff your
other Spirits). Another thing changed in the 8/25/05 update is the fact that
when you lay down a second spirit of the same type as one already laid down by
an ally, the previous one is killed and the new one takes effect. Thus, while
you can layer DIFFERENT Nature Rituals, you can’t layer Spirits of the same
type.

Because Nature Rituals can help/hurt both friend and foe, be sure to give some
thought as to how useful any particular ritual will be.  Favorable Winds, for
example, is useful for your bow attacks, but if the enemy has archers, you are
going to be helping them more than you are helping yourself.  Fertile Season
looks great on paper, but it also makes your opponents harder to kill.

———————
- Questing (gwrg6b) -
———————

Pre-Searing Ascalon
===================
The beginning of the PvE game starts you off in an easier version of the game
often called Pre-Searing Ascalon.  Before you leave Pre-Searing and go into
Post-Searing, be sure you’ve gained your secondary class, done the Resurrect
Signet quest, and found all of the quests that give Ranger skills:
* Ranger Test (outside Ascalon City gates)
* The Ranger’s Companion (from Master Ranger Nente in Regent Valley)
* A Test of Marksmanship (from Ivor Trueshot in Regent Valley)
* Unnatural Growths (from Aidan in Wizard’s Folly)
I would also do as many quests as you can handle, but this is purely for
experience points.  One of the quests in Pre-Searing Ascalon also gives a skill
point, so you should probably complete that one as well. I typically don’t
leave Pre-Searing Ascalon until I’ve hit at least level 7, as it will make the
going easier on the initial missions.

Gaining Skills
==============
Remember that gaining skills as a quest reward does not cost skill points.
There are many skills that are offered by both a Trainer and a quest. It is
almost always better to get it as a quest reward than using up skill points
to buy them from a trainer.  Be sure to look at your whole quest list before
you buy a skill and make sure that skill isn’t on any of your rewards. Trainers
tend to only offer skills that are rewarded before you meet the trainer (i.e.
skills that you “missed”).  When in doubt, delay buying the skill until you
reach the next big town.  The Ranger PvE Checklist [gwrg9e] that I’ve written
in the Appendices can be helpful in this regard.

Any time you get a new skill, re-evaluate your build… is your build better
with this skill? Can you start a new build entirely? How can you best integrate
the skill into your style of play?

The Ranger Progression
======================
When you finish Pre-Searing Ascalon, you’ll barely have enough skills to cover
your skillbar. As you progress through the game, you’ll be gaining many skills,
and it can be difficult to figure out what to use early on and what to discard
(for now… no skill is useless in Guild Wars).  Here are my suggestions for
what skills you should be using in the Early PvE game, assuming you are gaining
skills from quests and Trainers.  Note that I will always leave one or two free
slots, assuming you are using your secondary class as well, and I will always
option the Resurrection Signet in the 8th slot.

When you arrive at Ascalon City, your build should probably look something like
this:
1) Power Shot
2) Dual Shot
3) Ignite Arrows/Read the Wind
4) Troll Unguent
5) Comfort Animal
6) Charm Animal
7) Free Slot
Free Slot/Res Signet

As you gain the first few early skills from Post-Searing Ascalon, I’d add to
the build several skills: Penetrating Attack (to replace Power Shot), Favorable
Winds, and Distracting Shot (although you won’t have enough points to heavily
invest in Expertise at this point).  If you complete Caravan in Trouble, you
get Lightning Reflexes as well, but until your Expertise is higher, you should
probably wait to slot that in your skillbar:
1) Penetrating Attack/Distracting Shot
2) Dual Shot
3) Ignite Arrows/Read the Wind
4) Troll Unguent
5) Favorable Winds
6) Comfort Animal
7) Charm Animal
Free Slot/Res Signet

As you approach the Northern Shiverpeaks, you’ll have a growing number of
skills, but some old staples will still be valuable (like Dual Shot/Ignite
Arrows).  You can pick up Kindle Arrows at Grendich Courthouse, for slightly
more damage.  With a higher level and a Marksmanship of at least 9, you can
start investing more in Wilderness Survival and Expertise.  You should also
consider ditching your pet, as they are less useful at this point in the game
without a significant investment in Beast Mastery.  Your first real big break
comes when you complete the Stone Summit Beastmasters in Traveler’s Vale, and
you get Whirling Defense:
1) Penetrating Attack/Distracting Shot
2) Dual Shot
3) Kindle Arrows/Favorable Winds
4) Troll Unguent
5) Whirling Defense
6) Lightning Reflexes
7) Free Slot
Free Slot/Res Signet

After proceeding through the Southern Shiverpeaks and arriving at Lion’s Arch,
your first priority is to complete The Ascalon Settlement quest, and arrive at
the Ascalon Settlement.  You will get Throw Dirt from the quest, and Captain
Greywind sells you the valuable skill, Apply Poison:
1) Penetrating Attack
2) Distracting Shot
3) Apply Poison
4) Troll Unguent
5) Favorable Winds/Throw Dirt
6) Whirling Defense/Lightning Reflexes
7) Free Slot
Free Slot/Res Signet

After this point in the game, your build is your own, and you should start to
experiment with your other skills.  The core will always be 1-3 defensive
skills, Troll Unguent, a single preparation, and 1-3 bow attacks (preferably
including Distracting Shot).  Learn to adjust your build for the situation at
hand.  For example, D’Alessio Seaboard mission has a LOT of undead, so Poison
will not be a good choice.  Instead, you can bring Kindle Arrows/Dual Shot. The
Monsters in Nebo Terrace are heavy on Melee attacks, and the Ettins have a
skill that breaks stances, so Throw Dirt (rather than Whirling Defense) would
be the best defensive option there.

Capturing Elites
================
Starting in the Crystal Desert (the pre-Ascension missions), Rangers can start
to capture Elite skills from the Bosses.  They have a light green glowing aura
around them, and are found throughout the missions and areas after the Amnoon
Oasis.  All you have to do is kill a boss, then use a Signet of Capture while
you are near its dead body.  A menu will show up, and you can select a skill
from the boss’s list.  Elite skills are bordered in gold.

The Doppelganger battle
=======================
Rangers have it incredibly easy when it comes to battling their Doppelganger.
Because the Doppelganger believes (foolishly) that Spirits are helpful, it will
spend its time casting every Spirit available in the skillbar.  If one brings
along 7 Spirits and the damaging bow attack of choice, the Doppelganger will
waste 35 seconds casting the Spirits, giving you plenty of time to wail away on
him with arrows.  The only Spirit I wouldn’t bring to this battle is Fertile
Season, as it will give the Doppelganger a hit point boost and make it harder
to kill. My suggested loadout for the Doppelganger:
1) Penetrating Attack <- Your only bow attack
2) Favorable Winds
3) Winter
4) Quickening Zephyr
5) Symbiosis
6) Predatory Season
7) Edge of Extinction
Winnowing
All of these Nature Rituals are available before fighting the Doppelganger.
However, it is my experience that you only need maybe 4 or 5 of them total, as
the Doppelganger is fairly easy to kill in 20 to 30 seconds.  Alternatively,
you can slot some Traps or Preparations (both of which take 2 seconds to cast).
Another technique is to bring Troll Unguent and Distracting Shot, and to use
Distracting Shot on the Doppelganger if it tries to use Troll Unguent.

All-Trapper Party in the Underworld
===================================
One effective way to clear out the Underworld is to have a party of 8 Trapper
Rangers, all with 4 Traps per person.  Often, you’ll be able to lure the small
monster groups into a large pile of traps and eliminate them without even
drawing your bow.  The procedure is a bit more methodical and slow than the
usual “lure, then kill” groups, but it has the advantage of being almost risk-
free, as long as you have time to lay down several layers of traps. In general,
each Ranger should lay down each trap at least twice before pulling a group to
the traps.  You should keep a tight grouping, but spread out enough to cover
the chokepoints.  You can use spirits as a “wall” or bait to stall the enemies
over your traps.  It helps to have two or more “layers” of traps, with an outer
and inner wall, so that you have enough coverage. Anything that isn’t killed by
the traps, you can focus fire and kill with bows.

——————–
- Farming (gwrg6c) -
——————–

Farming is a term often used to describe the repeated killing of monsters in
order to “harvest” their loot, often in a solo fashion (as soloing gives you
every loot drop for yourself).

Note that currently, it seems that repeatedly “farming” the same area 5 times
or more will drastically reduce the loot drops within a given period of time.
The same restriction seems to apply to repeatedly killing the same creature
within a span of time.  I haven’t fully tested this, but the implications of
this is quite big for farmers.  You’ll have to engage in a bit of “crop
rotation”, and rotate between several farming spots, in order to keep the loot
flowing.

Here are several good farming areas for a solo ranger:

Gates of Kryta
==============
To do this, you’ll have to survive against the Undead. Ranger/Monks have an
advantage here, but anyone can do this run with a Healer Henchman or a Monk
friend.  After fighting your way to the outpost in the middle of the mission,
beating Skeleton Rangers, Mesmers, and the occasional Zombie Warlock, you will
exit the outpost and head straight. Just keep heading straight, and you’ll end
up in the Lightning Drake Beach.  Follow the sandy path from Lightning Drake to
Lightning Drake.  Watch out for the Lightning Orbs, which do a significant
amount of damage again as of the June 1, 2005 update.

Sanctum Cay
===========
The easiest way to get to Lightning Drakes, and it also has Executioners (who
drop good armor).  If you bring along some running skills like Dodge or Storm
Chaser, you can run past the first batch of Fire Imps, then you’ll end up on
the beach of Lightning Drake heaven.  Lightning Drakes are incredibly easy to
kill, as they don’t do much damage at all and they drop Level 18 loot. There is
a barrel at the end of the beach that you can get (next to the restless spirit)

After that, if you feel up to it, there are a couple of Executioners in the
valley between the two cliffs, followed by a Skeleton Ranger, 2 Hellhounds, and
an Executioner.  You can keep moving on this mission to kill more and more
undead, if you’d like.

The Scar
========
Just outside the Thirsty River exit to the Scar, there is a Dune Burrower that
you can outrange with a Longbow because you are on high ground.  Plant your
Favorable Winds spirit and zap him with Poison, making sure to use Distracting
Shot to interrupt his Healing Spring.  After he dies, you can walk up to get
his loot, but you’ll face a couple of Jade Scarabs. Do NOT afflict them with
poison. Instead, activate your Whirling Defense and Troll Unguent (to offset
their Vile Touch attack) and whittle them down with your bow.  You should be
able to take out two of them with ease.  Next, take out the 1-2 Rock Devourer
Scarabs. These guys you CAN poison, as they can’t get rid of it or reflect it
back at you.  They also use Frenzy, which means double damage from your bow.
After that, hug the South Wall and you should be able to outrange the next Dune
Burrower with your longbow again by firing over the small dune.  While
collecting that loot, you’ll face a couple more Jade Scarabs.  This is a fast
run (just a step away from an exit/entrance) that takes no more than 5 minutes.
At the very least, it’ll net you a lot of Jade Mandibles and Dune Burrower Jaws

Diviner’s Ascent
================
This place is full of Sand Drakes. Sand Drakes are level 21, are Elementalists
(Geomancers to be exact), and can cast both Aftershock (which does a lot of
spike damage) and Ward vs. Melee.  Since you are generally using bow attacks,
you’ll have no problems with the Ward vs. Melee.  As long as you keep up your
defenses and use Poison to whittle down their HP, you should be able to make
short work of 1 or 2 of them.  They drop reasonably good loot, and are a very
short distance from the Elona Reach entrance.  You can also continue into the
Diviner’s Ascent to kill more Drakes and Rockshot Devourers.

There used to be a good wreckage farming run here, but that was taken out in
the June 15th update. The last wreckage in the run is still in there, but the
other three were removed.

Elona Reach
===========
You can also enter the Elona Reach mission, and clear out some of the Minotaurs
using the Spike Mines for support.  As long as you only take on a pair of them
at a time and keep your defenses up, you should be able to Poison/Bleed them
to death fairly quickly.  The Minotaur horns that they drop can be exchanged
with the collector Luven Underwood just outside of Elona Reach for the coveted
11-22 Fire Wand with 20% improved skill recharge.

Abaddon’s Mouth
===============
There used to be a good Wreckage run here, but that was taken out in the June 1
2005 update.  The entry is left here for posterity.

Witman’s Folly
==============
I’ll briefly mention this area, as it is the place where folks use the famed
“Grawl Bomb” technique.  Since almost all the creatures in this area are Grawl,
a powerful enough Edge of Extinction can wipe out a huge number of them in one
big chain reaction.  By using skills like Mark of Pain or Barrage (Elite), one
can whittle down a group of Grawl, and then have the subsequent EoE chain
reaction take care of the rest.

Sample Build: R/N using Curses
1. Mark of Pain - Main area effect damage
2. Oath Shot (Elite) - Recharge stances
3. Whirling Defenses - Projectile damage against you triggers Mark of Pain!
4. Lightning Reflexes
5. Throw Dirt
6. Dryder’s Defenses
7. Troll Unguent - Healing while tanking with stances
8. Edge of Extinction - the Bomb

Note: As of the August 17, 2006 update, this build has been nerfed with the
proviso that creatures need to be below 90% Health to be killed.  It still
works (sort of) but not as well as it used to.  Stay tuned for a modified
version.

Factions: Pongmei Valley
========================
This place is rapidly becoming my favorite spot to farm.  There are several
groups of Undergrowths and Stone Scale Kirin that are easily defeated with a
Barrage/Live Vicariously/Vigorous Spirit build (with a liberal dose of dodge
stances).  The rewards amount to 100 gold piece drops and many high-end
(including max damage) items, as well as all the Stone Horns and Dragon Roots
you can eat.  Be wary of the Rot Wallow groups, and remember you can enlist
the help of the NPCs in the area by dragging the groups to them.  There are a
couple of Island Guardian trees that seem to be stationary, for some reason, as
well.