Fractals Of The Mind

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Introduction
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Allright, Stalvros asked me to post my ranger build so here it is. The idea is melee-range tanking and heal support. Some of you will probably think that's crazy, but the ranger is only one of 3 classes with a water field, and the only one who's water field cleanses and procs vigor and three stacks of regen on pulse.

There are two parts to the tank, functionally. The first is a high toughness and healing power, coupled with a passive regen from Signet of the Wild and several traits. The second is the Greatsword. It's not well known, but unlike the rest of the classes greatswords, the ranger's is almost entirely defensive. It has a stun, an extreme leap, a block and counter, and most importantly: Every third auto attack gives you evasion, while still letting you move.

Every time I tell people I run cleric's I get someone saying that Healing Power doesn't scale well and somehow therefore isn't worth pursuing. In my experience, if Healing Power scaled any better I would be literally unstoppable in PvE. It's perfect where it is, being only useful if you go all out into it. It's the same with any other stat, do it half-assed and you can't expect to do anything exceptional. I may not do a whole lot of damage, but given enough time I can solo almost any open world champion with this build.

Spoiler (hover to show)

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Armor Set:
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Full Clerics
_{4 Sapphire Orbs
2 Superior Runes of Mercy (+400 toughness while reviving, useful for dungeons)}

The stats you should have, with no stacks or food:


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Trinket Set:
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Full Clerics

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Weapons:
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Cleric GS
_{Superior Sigil of Life (+10Heal on kill)}

Cleric Axe/Axe or Axe/Warhorn
^{_{Superior Sigil of Life (+10Heal on kill)
Sapphire Orb}}

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Skills:                Traits:
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Wilderness Survival:

(5)Natural Vigor: Increased Endurance Regeneration 50%
(10)Vigorous Renewal: Gain Vigor when using a heal skill.
(15)Companion’s Defense: You and your pet gain 2 seconds of protection when you dodge roll.
(20)Oakheart Salve: Gain regeneration for 5s when you suffer from bleeding, poison or burning. This can only trigger once every 20 seconds.
(25)Peak Strength: Deal 10% extra damage when your health is above 90%.
(30)Bark Skin: You and your pet take 30% less damage when under 25% health.

Nature Magic:

(5)Rejuvenation: Gain regeneration when your health reaches 75%.
(10) Circle of Life: Create a healing spring on death.
or
(10) Nature's Bounty: Regeneration you apply lasts 33% longer.

_{It's a toss up between these two. Use the former if the damage being dealt is untankable and it's likely you'll go down if you mess up. Use the latter if you're not having any trouble and are looking to support more.}

Beastmastery:

(5) Instinctual Bond: When you are downed, your pet gains quickness for 5 seconds. 50 second cooldown.
(10) Master’s Bond: Your pet has a bond with you that increses its attributes each time you kill a foe. Whenit is defeated or deactivated, the bond is reset.
(15)Loud Whistle: Pet swapping recharges 20% faster.
(20)Compassion Training: Pets heal for more.
(25)Nature’s Wrath: 10% of healing is given as a bonus to power.
(30)Natural Healing: Your pets have natural health regeneration.
_{Also affects you, or so the wiki says.}

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Playing this build:
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Your elite and first utility skill are interchangeable. Personally I like Lightening reflexes for the escape if you get knocked down and Rampage as one for the stability, but different skills fit different situations. You will never want to hit your signets, doing so will cause your tank to fall apart.

In fractals I usually use a devourer or ranged pet or set mine to passive and just use their abilities. They die way to fast in high levels, even with the extra stats.

Use the GS leap or warhorn blast in your waterfield for health. For food I run mango pies for extra health regen and sharpening stones for more damage. Your pet will be most of your damage in this build, so try and keep them alive but remember that keeping everyone else alive comes first. You'll want to be dropping that healing spring on the enemy at close range so that the frontliners get heals from both it and the projectiles coming in.

Also, remember that axe offhand is a reflect, which is a better defense than any toughness in dredge and grawl fractals. The pull is amazing as well.

I've run this build for my ranger all the way to 48, and I'd like to think it elevates the class to the point where it can be considered not leeching off the team the way so many rangers do.

Throw in a comment if you have any questions or if I left anything out from the guide. Happy fractaling!