Lightning Arrow (LA) Ranger Guide – From Beginning to End Game

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Skywalkerfx wrote:

2. Defense/Evasion/Armor –Evasion will be our main defense which is supplied by Dexterity and can be found on all non-weapon gear. As chest pieces have the highest evasion ratings of all gear, I suggest you wear the best rare or unique chest piece that you can afford. Basing our defense on evasion also allows us to use Acrobatics for an additional 30% chance to dodge attacks.

Dragging evasion is a bad thing as you will get hit too much. Try to keep it at 50% or higher (to check press C for character screen and then click on the Defense tab). Evasion erodes as you level because monsters gain more accuracy (chance to hit). So you will have to manage your evasion throughout the game.

What about Iron Reflexes? Let’s put this dragon to rest. Many popular bow builds out there take the Iron Reflexes Keystone. Iron Reflexes converts all Evasion to Armor. The problem with Armor is it only defends against physical damage. Why would a player choose to give up a chance to evade all attacks to have a boatload of protection against one type of attack? Armor is good for going toe to toe with end game bosses, but I think the evasion/dodge route is more viable for a Ranger.

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Skywalkerfx wrote:

Yes you could play a bow build with both armor and evasion in which case you would not use Acrobatics since it reduces your armor by 50%. I would still recommend Ondar's Guile if you are going to be in the Ranger skill tree for the double evasion against projectile attacks.

The Templar has some interesting armor and resist bonuses so it is certainly worth trying.

I'm not a fan of unwavering stance as you give up all your crit chance and crit damage. If you are going to play a bow user then it is better to use a lioneye's glare which in effect gives you 100% accuracy.

Another problem with giving up crit is that you can't freeze or shock unless you have certain uniques or you grab skill tree nodes.

At the beginning of the Ranger tree you can grab "Heart of Oak" and the two nodes on the top and bottom of it which reduces stun chance by 60%. Not sure what the best bet is if you don't come over to the Ranger skill tree.

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Asidra wrote:

I think you got Resolute Technique (100% Accuracy, no crits) and Unwavering Stance (cannot be stunned) confused.

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Skywalkerfx wrote:

Yes one and the same. Bailed from D3 shorttly after the announcement of their no-trade policy. A lot of players left then and I figured it was time to pick up PoE again.

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crushkyle wrote:

In D3 my main was a monk, secondary a Wiz, and then the WD. I remember learning a lot from your WD posts, so thanks. Stopped D3 about a year ago, but only came to POE this year and really enjoying it. Oddly the one thing I'm not so keen on is the difficulty in trading and crafting, I wish crafting was more viable for the non-uber rich. My 1st toon was an ice crit bowman as I tried to relive some of my D2 freeze builds, which I later changed to LA. Now leveling another bowman, as in Ambush I dived into trading and so can finally afford decent gear.

GL buddy, hope your Ranger is as OP as I recall your WD to have been