TDS - Ranger DPS

[Minisca]

Here is a screenshot of the hotkeys I use for burns and just general gameplay.



Both the Melee Keybind and the Nuke Hotkey are what I spam. The ordering of spells/abilities in each of these keys is important. You do not want to use large hate producing abilities upon first click (Ferocious Kick/Summer's Cyclone).

The Melee Keybind: When this key is clicked once, it will activate the first bound ability in the hotbar. the second click will activate the next ability and so on. {edited} So click 1 = Kick + Jolting Cut Kicks, click 2 = Focused Storm of Blades, click 3 = Ferocious Kick. Upon mob engage, I tend to avoid clicking this key a third time due to how much hate Ferocious Kicks produces. I wait until Jolting Kicks is un-greyed before clicking again. If tanks have solid agro you can spam this key but do watch that hate meter and act accordingly.

Macros: A macro basically just activates the abilities on each line with a slight pause between each ability. /pause 3 (3/10 of a second) works for me but you may need to adjust this depending on how much lag you have. Remember, macros activate from right to left,... for whatever reason. Important: keep in mind that an entire macro will take 1 or more seconds to fully finish. Therefore, avoiding clicking any hotkeys/keybinds/spells until all abilities in that macro are running (greyed out) or an ability may fail to activate.

The Nuke Hotkey Macro: This key functions much the same as the melee keybind. The first /cast (spell#) line in the macro will always activate first, unless you fizzle that spell. The ordering here is important as well because you always want to use Anticipated Shots before using Focused Arrow Rain. You also want to have Summer's Cyclone last in the order due to how much hate it produces. I personally tend to click a lot of spells manually. However, this hotkey is a quick way to get your most important nukes in without having to move the mouse. There are probably other/better ways to set the nuke key up, but this works for me.

Empowered Blades Macro: This is your melee macro that works really well with all your melee abilities and against melee only mobs. Once all abilities in this macro are running, you will want to spam your melee keybind and then use your nukes if mob is not immune. I've labeled each /alt activate code so you can see what is going on. Empowered Blades tends to be the highest DPS for its duration (approx. 34sec), (time to refresh = 10 minutes)

Copsestalker's Discipline Macro: Currently, this is the main long term DPS burn macro (Copsestalker's Discipline time to refresh = 19.5 minutes). Once all the abilities in this macro are running, you will want to use your nuke key twice (Anticipated->Focused Arrow). Once Focused Arrow has been cast, click the Forceful Rejuvenation AA and then your nuke key twice again (Anticipated->Focused Arrow). If your Self Guardian AA is up, use it with this macro. Otherwise use your Group Guardian AA. I tend to run the Empowered macro followed by the Copsestalker's macro. In this scenario you will have time left on Self Guardian and can click Group Guardian once self wears off. Also, Outrider's Accuracy has a quick refresh time and you should be able to get a click in before Copse wears off. I tend to use my other abilities, Pack Hunt/Spire/BP click during Copse's duration but you can use them with Empowered as well.

Pureshot Discipline Macro: Currently, this is the situational ranged DPS burn macro (Pureshot Discipline time to refresh = 19.5 minutes). Use this in place of the Copsestalker's macro when the strategy calls for a ranged burn. Same as the Copsestalker's burn, you will want to cast spells in the same order once all of the macro's abilities are running.

Pureshot Macro Hotkey
Anticipated Shots
Focused Arrowrain
Forceful Rejuvination
Anticipated Shots
Focused Arrowrain



I currently only use this on the Nomia event. The DPS is decent for range but not even close to what Copsestalker's discipline puts out.

-Mini

[Minisca]

I know you Ranger types like DPS numbers....so enjoy!

I've done some testing with weapon setups, post the damage bonus change, and here are the results.

These tests were done on a level 105 Test Dummy with 612 AC and I'm fully raid buffed. No kicks/spells/or other AA's were used besides the buffs listed.

The first image shows the setups. NOTE: I have 2 +10dmg augs in the TDS weapons and 2 +8dmg augs in the CoTf (19DLY) weapons.



Here are the results in a 200sec and 600sec parse. (Note: I have some differences in the buffs for the 200 and 600sec parses)



I have the highest parse numbers marked in RED in each of the parse sets.

You can see that without Empowered Blades or Copse Disc running the TDS weapon setup is better. However, when on Empowered or Copse disc, the 19dly CoTF weapons are the way to go.

One caveat to note: The 22DLY weapons do better in the first 30 seconds. The 19DLY weapons get better and better over time but take at least 60 seconds to ramp up past the 22 delay weapons when using Empowered AA or Copse disc. I assume this has something to do with procs and the fact I have better dmg augs in the 22DLY weapons and of course the RNG.

Enjoy,
-Mini

[Furro]

Minisca, can you please update your post to reflect the current TBM expansion.

[Huevos]

I'll keep mine simple.

Make a social

/cast # for anticipated Shots
/cast # for focused arrowrain
/disc focused storm of blades
/alt activate 15073 (banestrike)
/cast # for summers cyclone or dichotomic fusillade

spam key