Kasenpoint’s Hunter Ranger Endgame/Hybrid Build

Kasenpoint’s Hunter Ranger Endgame/Hybrid Build

5v5/20v20 720P video of this build

ATTENTION PLAYER!
Due to the nerf performed on the Master of Archery feat, this guide has become less useful. As a result, i will be revising my PvE/PvP build in order to accommodate the nerf, man things have changed and i will be redoing my build. Thank you. I have uploaded some PvP matches, pre-nerf. Pretty fun stuff.
Player:
Drizzt Do’Urden@kasen420
Build Type

• Endgame/PvP DPS
• Archery

Play Style:

• Strategic Play
• Relies on key encounters/at-wills to produce massive damage
• Death from a distance
• High Crit and Crit Severity

PvP Role:

• Buff/regenerate HP for team members, provide sufficient control then deal death from a distance
• (Excess control is a waste. Excess damage cannot be made)
• Excels in Xv5/Xv4/Xv3 situations

Endgame Role:

• Provide AoE Damage
• Provide buffs for your teammates if needed
• Speed up the time it takes to do a dungeon

Race

• Elf – +1% crit chance, Very good starting ability roll (+2 WIS/+2 DEX) 10% resistance to effects that slow your movement – Perfect for an HR; a class which relies on speed and dodging in PvP.
• Drow – Darkfire Debuff (With every attack you have a 5% chance when attacking a foe to apply Darkfire for 4 seconds, reducing its defense by 10%.), +2 DEX, +2 STR/+2 WIS
• Human – You can never go wrong with 3 extra feat points. Go human if you’re planning on decreasing your threat. The reason for this is if you put your three points in Scoundrel Training (Your at wills deal 3%/6%/9% more damage to foes not targeting you) enemies will almost never be targeting you. That is a 9% damage increase at all times, basically.
• Half-Orc+5% Crit Severity, +2 DEX/+2 STR, Gain 10% bonus to run speed when you enter combat.

Powers

Note: I’m planning on spending points at next re-spec on Fox’s Cunning instead of Cold Steel Hurricane. At the present time Cold Steel Hurricane seems to be about a worthless daily.
Feats

Note: I’m planning on spending points at next re-spec on Nature’s Blessing instead of Bloodthirsty. (See below) This is because of the specialization with this build on Ranged attacks. I only go into melee mode to buff my party. Since I went full archery on this build, bloodthirsty has done me almost no good. Nature’s Blessing will make the effectiveness of healing 20% stronger on me, so its definitely worth it.
Ability Attributes: DEX > STR > CHA
Stats:
Power (no cap)
Critical Strike (softcap ~2400/hardcap ~3000)
Armor Penetration (softcap ~1750)
Recovery (softcap ~1600)
Life Steal (softcap ~1000/hardcap 1300)
Weapon Enchantment: Vorpal or Plaguefire
Armor Enchantment: Soulforged or Negation
At-Will:

• Aimed Shot (PvP)
  The most damaging At-Will that should always be used at long distances
  (archery tree gets 20% damage increase at maximum range)
• Split Shot (PvP/PvE)
  Does massive AoE damage, should always be used for DPS on multiple enemies
• Electric Shot (PvE)
  Comparable to Control Wizard’s Chilling Cloud. Usable in PvE but you will achieve more DPS with Split Shot
• Rapid Shot (PvP)
  Decent DPS but Split Shot achieves the same dmg on single targets because you can charge it.

Class Features

For PvP I use:

• Aspect of the Falcon – This increases your overall range to 89′ if you put 3 points into it. This is perfect for PvP because you can find that sweet spot where CW’s and DC’s can’t hit you but you can hit them.
• Twin-Blade Storm – With this passive you deal an additional 4% damage any time you hit 2 or more enemies.

For PvE I use:

• Twin-Blade Storm – See above
• Aspect of the Pack – This passive gives you combat advantage anytime you are within 10′ of an ally. So if you stick by your team members you will have combat advantage full time. Combat advantage is a major part of combat for any class, and boosts your damage quite significantly.

Daily Powers

Your dailies can be switch according to taste, the only daily i actually don’t recommend is Cold Steel Hurricane. As far as i can tell this daily does almost no damage, and has no effect over enemies. (may be broken)

• Seismic Shot – This daily provides a huge amount of AoE damage. When timed right (right after a singularity or Oppressive Force on Tab for instance) it will deal high damage, and string the enemies together pushing them back somewhat. You can use this daily to push mobs off of cliffs for instance.
• Forest Ghost – This daily does NOT make you completely invisible if you move out from the bushes. But it does give you combat advantage for a short duration and can give you enough time to perform and encounter, sneak away, or charge an aimed shot.
• Forest Meditation – I use this in PvP seldomly when i need a health bonus. Between this daily, a healing artifact, and a PvP potion you can almost regenerate ALL of your health. I only put one point into this power. I would recommend putting multiple points into for extra deflection chance, and control immunity.

Encounters

PvP

• Marauder’s Escape/Rush – In ranged mode this encounter provides an incredibly effective escape route from fights you need to get away from. In melee mode this encounter allows you to rush an enemy in a similar fashion. I prefer to use Marauder’s Rush in the middle of my rotation to throw the enemy off and if damage gets to heavy immediately Marauder’s Escape out of the situation.
• Hindering Shot/Strike – The grasping roots this encounter applies provide sufficient control in PvP for you and your allies to maximize damage. A major part of my rotation is to apply one shot of Hindering Shot, Marauder’s Rush in, apply Hindering Strike for even stronger grasping roots, then Marauder’s Escape out and apply another Hindering Shot. This is the ultimate troll encounter.
• Hawk Shot/Hawkeye – Hawk Shot does increased damage based on how far away you are from an enemy which is the basis for this build! At maximum distance this attack can do massive amounts of damage. I prefer to do it to enemies running away from me because the further they get, the more they’re hurting themselves. Hawkeye increases you and one allies damage on your next attack. It also spreads to more allies if you put more points into the skill (with a 50% diminishing return mind you) With Hawkeye i like to be far away from an enemy, apply Hawkeye and then use our fantastic At-Will Aimed Shot to do even MORE damage than it already does.

PvE

• Split The Sky/Throw Caution – Split the Sky applies mad decent AoE damage over a huge area. This is due to the fact that it does not apply to the tradition Rule of Five restriction on AoE attacks. (AoEs can only hit five targets at one time) The lightning strikes down individually upon your enemies, not all at once. So the only way the Rule of Five would apply is if 5 enemies struck at you or your allies at the same time, thus proccing 5 lightning strikes at the same time. Throw Caution is also good if you are in a situation where you’re not worried about damage. Any increase in damage is welcomed.
• Thorn Ward/Thorn Strike – Each attack of Thorn Ward lowers your enemies defense by a small amount. This with Split The Sky form your basis for achieving massive damage in dungeons. Thorn Strike is great for enemies with full health and once you cast your AoE encounters, your very next attack should be switching to melee mode and hitting them with Thorn Strike.
• Commanding Shot/Stag Heart – This encounter lowers the enemies defense so its great for mini-bosses and bosses alike. Stag Heart also provides temporary hit-points to you and your party.

Post Scriptum
A plea to Perfect World/Cryptic: Make respecing cost less, and make it cheaper in terms of Gold/AD. Real money for experimenting with builds only hurts you and makes us as leaders more reluctant to help other players by publishing builds like this.
I will be posting videos and updating this guide as soon as they decide to nerf the Hunter Ranger.
Feel free to add me on Neverwinter. My @ handle is @kasen420.

Resource http://mmominds.com/2013/12/14/kasenpoints-hunter-ranger-endgamehybrid-build/