You will have to craft lots of Studded Leather to get atleast Ranged Crit on it.
Movement Speed and Attack Speed is recommended and preferable.
If you fail to see how useful Movement Speed is, you fail to understand Ranger.
The extra total speed allows you to sprint backwards faster than people can run.
Resistances and Armor are not that important for this Ranger build.
Your goal is not to get hit and murder everyone before they reach you.




Potions are cheap to craft and can be very useful if used correctly.
Regen Potions can counter poison and other damage over time abilities.
Healing Potions can full heal you, however Regen Potions are far superior.
Critical Potions can increase your crit damage with a bonus up to +100%.
Speed Potions can give you the same speed boost as the Rogue's Ability.
Invisibility Potions can basicly replace your Camoflague Ability.
Tracking Potions can show the enemy through walls, invisibility and blindness.

Tracking & Regen Potions is a must have. All others are optional.
There are far more potions but of less value to this build.


*Crit damage only applies if you hit crit spots. On most mobs it's the head or neck. On some others it's below them. It all depends on your enemy, up to you to discover this and get familiar with it.

*Also recommended are Fire Armor Scrolls and Divine Shield Scrolls.

You will be using lots of abilites and potions and melee is not an option for this build.
So if you are short on buttons to use for abilities, change button F from block to ability.
And change button 4 and button 5 to CTRL button and ALT button for easier access.

Example: 1 2 3 Q E R F CTRL ALT MMB LMB RMB


Rope Arrow is your special ability. You can use it on terrain, enemies and even allies. It basicly pulls you to where you shoot this ability. Try to master this to become a true Ranger. For example, if you shoot this in the roof, you can get some height for a perfect Explosive Arrow.



This is my favorite ability. It allows you to zoom in for easy headshot. You can get almost 300% crit with gear and 400% with crit potion. And this skill basicly makes it easier to crit and gives you another damage bonus on top of that! This is by far the strongest single target ability.

This ability is optional and not necessary in this build. The poison is slow but effective. So I use this against some bosses and some tanky characters like Fire Golems.

This ability is entirely useless. The reaction time is slow and the range is short. Your auto-attack is faster. Besides if any enemy gets close enough for Counter Strike. You probably failed and died.

This ability is optional and can be replaced with Speed Potions. I do recommend it however if you have good reaction time. Because If one of those Great Cacodemons throw you in the air and you are out of stamina to Rope Arrow into safety, this ability can safe your life.

This ability is a must-have and can safe your life if used correctly. It stuns your target for quite some time and hitting him does not free him unlike Trap.

Amazing ability, a must-have. It does great damage and has larger AoE than you might think. The explosion itself goes through walls, floors, roofs, mobs and players.

Another must-have. You can melt through a single target or spread headshot multiple targets if you have the reaction time and accuracy. It takes some time to master this.

This ability is optional. You can compare this to a shotgun. Most effective if enemy is up your face. Does tons of damage if all arrows hit the same target. This is the only ability that can one-shot those Greater Cacodemons. I personally don't use it, because most mobs die before reaching me.

This ability is not recommended. You can't move while using this or it will turn off. Most of the time you don't need to be invisible, besides Invisibility Potions are far better.

This ability is a must-have until you have Tracking Potions. Even then it's recommended.
It shows enemies through everything, including invisiblity and blindness.

This ability is useless. It has short range and is takes time to plant. Enemies die often before even walking on your trap. Even if you do stun someone with this ability, hitting him once sets him free. Paralyzing Shot is far superior and has lower cooldown too.

Example of an ability bar set-up.

Don't be shy on Tracking Potions. Your survivability is dependant on sight.
See the enemy first, kill the enemy first - Strike first, strike hard.
Any small mistake or enemy that you haven't seen can get you killed.
If you make mistakes easily, get safety-nets like Fire Armor Scrolls.

Speed is everything, but try not to get your stamina below 50% unless if you use Second Wind.
Sprint backwards when enemies get too close, while doing this - shoot them down.
With near-top gear you can actually sprint backwards faster than most can run forward.
Use Speed Potions if you do not have good speed bonus on your gear.

Strafe often near crowds to avoid those random hits.
You can avoid, dodge, prevent most abilities & attacks. Some examples:
Meteor can't 1-shot you if you kept strafing - because the center does most damage.
Those Great Cacodemons can't kick you into lava if you rope arrow onto them or other things.
Poison or any other DoT can't kill you if you spam regen potions, you will outheal it.




Your accuracy is very important to this build. You need to have better than average accuracy.
With crit bonus of nearly 300% on good gear, you want to aim for critical points.
Often the critical points are the head & neck, on other mobs its the chest or bottom.
This is entirely up to you to figure out, get familiar with it and even master it.

You can headshot many mobs in 1 single hit, so make those hits count!
Fire Golems die in a single headshot before they pop-up Fire Armor.
Ghost Ladies die in a single headshot before they pop-up their AoE.

It might take some time to master this for some of you, but trust me on this:
Once achieved - you can kill a crowd of 10+ mobs on insane, far before they reach you.




You are a ranged character with great damage that can take down targets easier.
So make full use of this and kill those damage dealers first, like mages and archers.
When fighting Ghost Ladies and Greater Cacodemons at the same time, aim for the second.
Those Ghost Ladies will outheal and you can outheal their AoE with regen potions.

When near a boss-fight, eliminate the enemies between you and the boss first.
Make the fight become between you and the boss and not some random mobs.

Use Explosive Arrows on crowds before engaging them, to obliterate most of them.
Use Explosive Arrows to obliterate Fire Golems before they pop-up Fire Armor.
Use Paralyzing Shots on ranged mobs, not melee mobs - unless if there is no other.
Use Poison Arrow on tankier characters like Fire Golems with Fire Armor turned on.
Use Deadly Aim to 1-shot those Ghost Ladies before they can even react.

And so on... Make your own play-style. Feel the Ranger, love the Ranger.




First make sure the path between you and the boss is clear & safe.
Engage with Deadly Aim on a critical point like his head, then immediatly use Rapid Shot.
Sprint backwards while shooting the boss and when he comes too close - Rope Arrow.
If you don't have enough stamina for that, you can actually kite the boss too.

Most bosses die from Deadly Aim + Rapid Shot on Insane Mode with crits.
The rest dies before reaching you. If the distance is smaller - you can outplay them.
And if your aim is below average, you could even abuse them by standing on something.

This is my favorite way to play in team. You basicly run infront of everyone and have clear aim & sight on enemies. If you have near-top gear and great aim, your team won't always be able to catch up, so slow down a bit for your fellow players.

If you have suicidal team members that pull large crowds out of nowhere, then make sure you have Explosive Arrow prepared to use in case of emergency.

Make sure to strafe just enough to avoid those 1-shot hits. Don't strafe too much or you will be annoying your teammates by bodyblocking them or blocking their attacks & abilities.

When teammates bodyblock you, there is a chance that you might be thrown off guard and die in the process. If it happens often, tell your teammembers to stop hugging you.




This is the best way to play if you have a few melee players in your team or lots of bodyblockers.
It's also great for those who are trying to improve their aim or are short on Tracking Potions.

In the back of the team it can be sometimes hard to hit certain abilities or even land your auto-attacks. You could always Rope Arrow into the ceiling, shoot the enemy and then Rope Arrow back into safety. This might take quite some practice to master, but it is very rewarding.

Prioritize the enemies behind your allies that could take your team out before you know it.
Like those Rogues or Champions that teleport or dash into your teammates.

You can get Resurrection Scrolls at the small Chapel left of the Church in Sanctuary.
You can have a maximum of 1 in your inventory and 1 in your bank. Use the Bank-Imp for this.
Try to always do dungeons with Resurrection Scrolls, those teammates will be thankful.
Even if there is a Cleric in your team. Safe it for incase that your Cleric dies.

Use Fire Armor Scrolls to mitigate any mistake you make. Another option is Divine Shield Scrolls, which is not as strong as Fire Armor. Clerics can cast Divine Shield on you too.

Use Tracking Potions around corners and other places where you have low or no sight.
Some places can get you killed if you don't use it, like staircases and doorways.

Freeze lag seems to be often the cause of the amount of players in the dungeon.
If there is too much freeze lag, move at a safe pace and stay behind your team.

Alchemy and Leatherworking is a must-have, Weapon-Smithing is also welcome.
The Alchemist is at the Wizard Quarters and the Leatherworker at Upper End District.
Since you can only have one profession on each character, you should make alt-characters.
Lava Dungeon Boss can drop Faultless Recipe. (Bow lvl 50 / 490)

Try to always run huge dungeons, since you can leave at any moment.
If you can't manage the lag, then run smaller sized dungeons or reduce settings.

Don't oversprint the parkour parts in dungeons, this can get you killed often.
Especially if you have extra speed bonus on your gear.

If you die often, practice on nightmare first then on insane.
With near-top gear and good skill/aim, nightmare will be like easy mode.

Help those new players out, they will probably return the favor.
You can help them level up or help them around Everdale and whatnot.
If you play in the EU, I can level you up if I am around and available. :)



*There is no section in the guide for PVP, because it's broken.
You can 1-shot most players and 2-shot every player.
Tracking Potion counters invisiblity and gives you sight.