Getting refused into Vale of Twilight raids (Shroud, Hounds, VOD)

[kcalbyz]

I let my rep in game speak for me, I have both an Temp/Rng and Arcane/Rng and I get invites without even asking to join, I have only 220 hp on my ARC/Rng I can deal one hell of a lot of damage not to say I also stay alive 90% of the time. Play smart use the area to your advantage.

I have saved a shroud run with 2 other rangers from having a wipe on Hard. What I say to you is this. If someone dont let you in, START YOUR OWN RAID. and let others see what you can do.
Good luck have fun

Woo...it is possible to do it on 220 hp? Nice...offers me a glimmer of hope.

Okay I will try to attempt to start a raid with one or two guildies and hope it goes well... time to read up on Shroud guides and walkthroughs.

Ranged toons can very much contribute to Shroud runs - in fact, the game-wide first Shroud Hard completion was achieved by a group with SIX rangers that all used ranged weapons on Harry (some meleed until blades were in, then used ranged, others used ranged the whole time).

The problem, however, is that ranged doesn't really contribute much to the usual strategy as they do notably less damage than equivalently equipped melees and are actually harder to heal (they take less damage, but miss out on the Mass Heals/Mass Cures thrown on folks in the middle).

Ranged-heavy strategies, however, are very capable of beating the raid on any difficulty. It's just difficult to get a group of 12 together to do it a different way to the usual.

That is exciting news! So it is possible to go ranger-heavy and win...hmm...

Yeah...I was thinking about going in to melee directly and tank the hits. I have evasion and decent reflex so just might make it. Trying to find some melee boss beaters for the times when manyshot is cooling down.

[Chai]

Out of your 5 reasons which were.

1) HP is too low - 318 with 20 con with evasion and reflex of 27, unbuffed
2) I don't have vorpal weapons (does slayer arrows count? )
3) I am an deepwood sniper (respecced to arcane yesterday) and deepwoods are weak
4) I am an arcane archer and I draw aggro due to high DPS
5) I don't have melee boss beaters (even though I got a +4 Metalline Longbow of Pure Good with Frost and Force Critcal)

1. Your hp is too low. If you started with 12 con I would LR and get that to 14 base 2 tome and 6 item bring it to 22. The first item I would craft would be a 45 hp item in the shroud. I have a 20 rogue who has 401 hp with a tier 2 GS hp item - I still wish he had more hp. Before I had the tier 2 item I had to kick claw and scrape for every point of HP I could get. (actually I still have to) Rage pots are your friend. If you try to start leg humping raid bosses with 318 hp, you gonna die boy...

2. Vorps are cheap after level 12 - get 2.

3. Unfortunately deepwoods are weak. I do like arcane alot more now that they gave it some love. There will always be ranged combat haters. To date, ranged dps is still inferior to melee dps, but it is getting better. Min maxers love to pick on anything that isnt one of the three known templates for max dps. Get used to this. It is a reality that you will deal with as a non cookie cutter max str two khopesh dps build.

4. Arcane Archers draw aggro due to mobs hating ranged more than melee for some reason. There have been threads discussing this. If the raid leader trys to hate on archers because of this, please read #5. Archers have to stand real close to the raid boss they are shooting to not cause it to run all over the place. This brings #1 your hp into play. Some people who have built archers I have spoken with think they need less HP because they arent right next to mobs. This is not true because mobs have a way of putting themselves right next to you if they choose, heh.

5. Get 2 melee boss beater weapons. Ranger is still solid melee without tempest if built right, and can contribute to dps in more ways than just their one chosen spec. These can be had fairly cheap on the AH.

[kcalbyz]

Ok really drunk so read the first post (kinda) and skipped the rest...

318 HP ***????

My L12 Ranger (Pauleo of Kyhber if you want to MyDDO him) has 296.

Theres why you are being rejected...

Right or wrong it comes down to HP - not enough dont try to join raids.

Sorry to be so brutal but I do spend a bit of time on the advice channels trying to explain why 6 con vs 30 AC isnt that great a trade off in the long run...

Well...you are melee specced so hard to do exact comparison...and I don't intend to do so.

I think 300 hp is about the average for non-melee specced chars including clerics and casters so I don't think I am to be condemned to the bin.

I get invites to join the lower raids all the time though since HP is not that big a requirement in raids like DQ or Reaver's Fate. The spinning blades do zero damage to me and I am about the only one firing away at DQ constantly no matter where she teleports too...so probably I do better in that area I guess.

[grodon9999]

.is thier something wrong with wanting to shoot for 500 hps?not in my opinion 318 tells me personally youve made no effort to get hps and can be very healer dependant

So 500 HP means you're NOT healer dependent in the Shroud? Do you play the same game I do where 500 HP magically means you don't need spammed mass-heals to survive?

No effort? he's NEW, it's simply NOT POSSIBLE for him to have more HP until he get's more gear. he can't get the gear unless he does the Shroud and other raids over and over again. A starting 12 CON Elf-ranger will have at most 447 HP with +6 CON, Minos, GFL, +2 CON tome, +45 HP shroud item, and a +2 Exceptional CON from SOMETHING. he can shoot for it all he wants but 500 hp ain't gonna happen (not counting short-term buffs like rage, madstone, yugo-steroids).

I've got 30+ Shroud completions on 2 toons and I only have 1 tier III item amongst them (missing a large or two for a second). Don't give me any BS about "no effort." This guy is clearly new and with the way larges drop will need 30-40+ completions for his lightning bow and a +45 HP item.

[grodon9999]

My L12 Ranger (Pauleo of Kyhber if you want to MyDDO him) has 296.

With an AC of 29 - you'll NEED the 296 at 12th level

Comparing a dwarf to an elf in HP is not fair at all, my dwarf will have a ton as well.

[kcalbyz]

Ok really drunk so read the first post (kinda) and skipped the rest...

318 HP ***????

My L12 Ranger (Pauleo of Kyhber if you want to MyDDO him) has 296.

Theres why you are being rejected...

Right or wrong it comes down to HP - not enough dont try to join raids.

Sorry to be so brutal but I do spend a bit of time on the advice channels trying to explain why 6 con vs 30 AC isnt that great a trade off in the long run...

318 HP is fine for normal, I'm a MyDDO "elitist pr1ck" and you'd make my cut for a normal run. You'll be fine as long as you don't stand in the blades.

My elf (was an AA, respected to Tempest) is level 20 with 382 HP. You should be able to hit that with a Minos Helm and a GFL belt, the Knost's from Amrath is ideal.

You need to know when to put the bow down. All rangers are archers, all rangers are TWFs. Not not utilize one of these gifts is just silly. Get some cheapy vorpals, I use hand Axes because I used to be a finesse build. get some Metaline/PG short-swords or hand axes to beat on the boss for when manyshot is on timer. You will simply do more damage that way over all.

Your first greensteel item should be a Lightning II bow, the extra 45 HP form a GS HP item won't make as big of a deal for your overall effectiveness.

Are you anyway on Orien? I would love to join your raids if you would have me. =)

Yeah gonna try to figure out a way to further boost HP.

Definition of cheap? The cheapest vorpal I see in the AH on Orien is about 2mil...I have only 1.5mil after spending 2.5mil on a +2 con tome yesterday. I am poor-broke and out-of-work ranger.... =P

Yeah was gunning for a Lit II bow but hearing the advice given so far...I was kinda thinking about getting the +45 HP GS item instead. I am also in a dilemma...should I improve damage so I can do more DPS or reduce damage so I won't draw aggro? The hardest thing for me to figure out is this. I think most peeps are worried I draw aggro and due to my low HP, I will die fast...

[kcalbyz]

One other benefit for rangers that get the Necro Pack, is the quiver that can be obtained from the Black Abbot Raid. It gives a ranged alacarity bonus of 10% (which i believe stack with the ranger capstone) and the Litany , which is +1 to all stats, good for any toon (that is neutral...and some that arent ).

Yeah...1 more reason for me to farm favours to get Necro 4.

You are a low HP archer.
A lot of leaders won't take low HP people
A lot of leaders won't take archers.

You have advice on how to improve the HP some, in addition I would work towards getting Yugolith favor eventually, for Yugo con pots.
The archer is always, no matter how you cut it, going to get you rejected from some parties. Sucks for archers, but it happens.

I don't know...feeling kinda suicidal (thinking of rerolling to be a melee with enormous HP) now since it seems archers are considered junk.

personally i dont see a problem with ranged but one issue......wen you take agro they tend to jump around and kite forcing the rest of the meelee to scamble and chase and thus forcing the cleric to miss heals due to line of sight or mass healing the one whose not with group or such...

if you are an archer
me myself i always state and tell you you have to take it like a man ie stand thier and take the hits....thus youll need still 500 hps.....so far ive seen only two on thelanus who do that...one was in legion and the other one is actually xyfiel who posted here

I have no problems standing still and tanking since I do that often when meleeing. Just hope I don't drain too much of the healer's SP trying to keep me afloat.

[grodon9999]

I think 300 hp is about the average for non-melee specced chars including clerics and casters so I don't think I am to be condemned to the bin.

300 HP is low - I'm defending you so don't get me wrong when I say it is low. 300+ is enough to survive the Shroud, you will have a HELL of a time in Amrath (pun is intended). In the close-quarters combat where most of the mobs can teleport on you you're a corpse since you got no AC.

Get a Minos helm, get a GFL item and you'll be sitting at 382. It's what my elf has and she does the raids all the time and survives.

[grodon9999]

Are you anyway on Orien? I would love to join your raids if you would have me. =)

Yeah gonna try to figure out a way to further boost HP.

Definition of cheap? The cheapest vorpal I see in the AH on Orien is about 2mil...I have only 1.5mil after spending 2.5mil on a +2 con tome yesterday. I am poor-broke and out-of-work ranger.... =P

Yeah was gunning for a Lit II bow but hearing the advice given so far...I was kinda thinking about getting the +45 HP GS item instead. I am also in a dilemma...should I improve damage so I can do more DPS or reduce damage so I won't draw aggro? The hardest thing for me to figure out is this. I think most peeps are worried I draw aggro and due to my low HP, I will die fast...

Sorry I'm on Ghallanda. I was running a Hard shroud last night and I had people with 250 HP and 0% fortification trying to join so you are NOT as bad off as you're thinking.

Keep looking for vorpals. Hand-axes are ideal for you (I hope you have weapon finesse) otherwise Long-swords/scimitars/Kukris are fine. Most of these devils in Shroud don't have great AC so even if you have to use a non-finessable weapons you'd be okay.

Go for the lightning bow - the HP item won't make you that much tougher though it'd be the second thing I'd make if I were you. An extra 45 HP versus being able to pump out 10,000 damage in a manyshot? Hmmm . . . .

The best way to avoid the aggro problems is stand next to the BFD (big fracking devil) and shoot him right in the junk. This way if you do get aggro nobody will have to chase after you. Switch to your metaline/PG weapons when manyshot is on timer, even with the 500 point slayer arrows you're average damage will be better with rapiers.

Also - get a bloodstone! Get the desert pack and farm the **** out of it. This will give a huge increase to your DPS for all weapons.
.

[kcalbyz]

On my AA I have a Wounding of puncturing bow, get one it still rocks
get a paralyzer bow if you dont have one. great for crowd control.
Banashing rapiers in the vale and a lot of the other quests work awsome.
I am still working on a greater construct bane for that extra damage, but my current bow works just fine.


1)I supect you are an elf and started with12 con so nothing wrong there. but more is better.
Getting into shroud is where you want to be to craft the GS 45hp item, get minos helm if you don't have it and a GFL item. Target breaking 400+HP for endgame.
2) Vorpals are good but still situational just like banishers, paralyzers, smiters,disruptors. If you have vorpals great, but not necessary in many situations. otherwise every barb, fighter would be swinging vorpals instead of GS min2 or the SoS. in some quests and in Epic Vorpals are useless as everything has DW, or Epic Ward.
3)Respeccing to AA was a good plan, Deepwood sniper at higher levels is significatly weaker.
4) If you are ranging everything in sight and causing party wipes then yes you should quit the game now.
but seriously, AA is a great contributor, can range to pull in mobs without aggroing other ranged mobs, kiting mobs while party deals with casters/clerics etc.. comes down to knowing when to kite/bring into party. You can avoid pulling aggro by saving manyshot until the dps line has established a solid aggro lead. using manyshot out of the gate will generally give the rest of the party a hard time to get that aggro back especially since most Ranged fighters are jumpkiting away from the mob. Not a party favorite. The party does not want to be chasing a mob chasing the AA around a room. Be smart and control the mobs bring them to the melee dps so they can box the mobs in. Work on mobs the melee's have a hard time getting to etc..
5) You are an AA any thing you use with slay living arrows is a dps weapon, what you have now is just fine.

As to mass heals, you are a ranger you can heal yourself.. stay ranged and take minimal damage, it doesnt matter where the mobs are you can range them...tip.. stay near clerics and guard them, pull aggro away from anything trying to go after the clerics/casters, the high reflex will also allow you to block the meteor attacks if they get through the mobs towads the healers. Getting out of range of the healers can be a detriment, I know when I am on my cleric, I try to heal the ranged rangers seperately from the main group but If I cant target them because they are out of range, I stop trying.

I suspect someone advertising that they don't want AA is someone whose had bad experiences with them, and they are out there AA who try to kill everything kite the mobs away from the party and end up getting themselves killed.
You will have a had time getting into those groups regardless of how good you are unless you get known by people in that group as a decent player.

Keep at it shroud groups happen pretty regularly, in the meantime build your existing gear and collect your vale quest ingredients. You will need them.

Got a +3 Wounding of Puncturing Bow in my bank...does it bypass DR of the raid boss? I also have the following;

1) +1 Holy Burst Rapier of Puncturing with Icy Burst and Force Critical
2) +3 Bodyfeeder Rapier of Puncturing with Icy Burst and Force Critical
3) +1 Paralysing Rapier of Puncturing with Icy Burst and Force Critical

I normally pair 2 and 3 together for CC and tanking damage. 1 and 2 when I have a healer and need DPS.

Well to fit in with the crowd, I will work my way to a vorpal or 2 so easier to get into a group. Rolling 20s are easier during manyshot though so thought my Slayer arrows can replace vorpals.

I typically melee like 80% of the time. I only range when I hitting bosses or when mobs are out of reach. Yeah I know what you mean about kiting around. What I do is start with manyshot and standstill whilst the boss make his way to me, then I switch to melee when manyshot is over.

Yeah will try to find my way into Shroud raids and build my armory again from scratch. Thanks for the advice!

[grodon9999]

Got a +3 Wounding of Puncturing Bow in my bank...does it bypass DR of the raid boss? I also have the following;

1) +1 Holy Burst Rapier of Puncturing with Icy Burst and Force Critical
2) +3 Bodyfeeder Rapier of Puncturing with Icy Burst and Force Critical
3) +1 Paralysing Rapier of Puncturing with Icy Burst and Force Critical

I normally pair 2 and 3 together for CC and tanking damage. 1 and 2 when I have a healer and need DPS.

Well to fit in with the crowd, I will work my way to a vorpal or 2 so easier to get into a group. Rolling 20s are easier during manyshot though so thought my Slayer arrows can replace vorpals.

I typically melee like 80% of the time. I only range when I hitting bosses or when mobs are out of reach. Yeah I know what you mean about kiting around. What I do is start with manyshot and standstill whilst the boss make his way to me, then I switch to melee when manyshot is over.

Yeah will try to find my way into Shroud raids and build my armory again from scratch. Thanks for the advice!

Don't use the W0P on a boss as it won't bypass DR and bosses are immune to stat-damge. It's a trash weapon, it's a GREAT trash weapon. As I said before all rangers are archers, all rangers are TWFs. The W0P is the go-to bow for my temptest as stuff just dies so fast with it on manyshot. Weakening is great for beholders as they only have like 8 STR, 2 manyshot bursts and they can no longer cast anything.

Against bosses the Silverbow is bar far your best bet until you can craft a lightning bow. Critting on a 17 is huge, you will out-damage anything except a Holyburst of Great Evil Outsider bane.

[kcalbyz]

yes for normal raids but it wouldnt end thier next hell be looking at epic questing so may as well kill it with one stone...hell need and want 500hps ish and actually in the shroud part 4 he wouldnt even have to be in as harry dont move and in part 5 hes boxed in....but then keep in mind if you have 318 hps and arent in the direct fight and take 200 damage you wont be getting healed fast and could loose that last 118 fast....

back to shroud lets say the troll is in part 2 if the troll catches him as hes being told not to kite hell drop those 318 in seconds flat....it really boils down to this people playing the clerics would prefer to see a hp buffer zone before thier ina panic to have to heal heal heal a person...atleast i know i do.....is thier something wrong with wanting to shoot for 500 hps?not in my opinion 318 tells me personally youve made no effort to get hps and can be very healer dependant

Frankly I have no idea how to hit 400 hp prior to getting the advice from here. I started playing for about 2 months or so and started with a 28 point build with Deepwood as preset path. You can call me a noob if you want but seriously HP was never a problem till I hit the Vale. I do Gianthold fine and soloed most of the time. No one complained about my HP and I do my fair share of healing people since I can cast Cure Serious Wounds.

If only I have access to 32 point build and the advice from earlier then maybe I wouldn't have made the mistake of not having enough HP for end game.

Actually I am beginning to have the feeling that end game raids are meant for Casters, Healers and Melees only. Not particularly Ranged Ranger friendly.

[ssgcmwatson]

Are you anyway on Orien? I would love to join your raids if you would have me. =)

If you see Elphyba online, feel free to /tell me and we can run together.

She's a 17 AA / 2 trapmonkey on Orien; luckily while I was still pretty noobish got brought into a guild with leaders who believe in helping young toons along.

Here's my experience:
1) For mobs, try not to shoot before melee guys engage, that way you are less likely to draw aggro
2) Focus your manyshot on the casters during the run-up to the boss, and you make life much easier on everyone.
3) You can throw some decent buffs, so you may be able to help the casters focus their SP on offense
4) Keep a variety of two-weapon combos in your hot-bars. There's five combos I personally keep handy, and I'm always thinking about how to improve: vorpal/paralyzer, two ghost touch, two bludgeon (for skeletons, etc), metalline/smiting (for constructs), two (greater) undead bane. I've got a TWF combo for just about anything that gets up close and personal.
5) Similarly, I keep a variety of bows handy and switch out as appropriate. One of my wizards buddies and I have a great thing going: I hit them with improved cursespewing and then they don't save against his finger of death. Just got a paralyzing bow last night, so I'm excited to try that out.
6) Bringing a pet is wonderful 99% of the time - it gives the enemy someone else to shoot at. Just be very care in Sleeping Dust

Good hunting!

[grodon9999]

Actually I am beginning to have the feeling that end game raids are meant for Casters, Healers and Melees only. Not particularly Ranged Ranger friendly.

You're dead on. it's why i re-specced my AA as another tempest since I pretty much just run her for raid now (she'll most likely be a tempest-assassin in her next life). All the end-game raids are is beating on a BFD with massive DPS until it drops. yes there are tactics, but with the immunities things have that's pretty much it. Very one-dimensional, it's still fun but not great if you don't fit the mold. Questing with my AA was great, raiding not so much.

Look at the bright-side, you'll never get turned down for DQ!

[Mr_Ed7]

Conratulations you have been Thunder-Struck by Uber-Elitists!

Ever hear how its is said that some cops were picked-on in high-school, and they now get society back by giving them speeding tickets?

Well the uber-elites were ostracized from the supposed upper-echelon of society in their youth and now have the chance to hold-predjudice against others they deem unfit to quest with.

With a mantra of " I can Zerg! I can Solo! I can Zerg! I can Solo!" or
"My Milk-Shake brings all the boys to the yard! My Build is Better than Yours!"

They form groups and pass judgement on other characters and their playstyles!

Play with friends and guildies and eFg them!

That is all... for now...

[kcalbyz]

So 500 HP means you're NOT healer dependent in the Shroud? Do you play the same game I do where 500 HP magically means you don't need spammed mass-heals to survive?

No effort? he's NEW, it's simply NOT POSSIBLE for him to have more HP until he get's more gear. he can't get the gear unless he does the Shroud and other raids over and over again. A starting 12 CON Elf-ranger will have at most 447 HP with +6 CON, Minos, GFL, +2 CON tome, +45 HP shroud item, and a +2 Exceptional CON from SOMETHING. he can shoot for it all he wants but 500 hp ain't gonna happen (not counting short-term buffs like rage, madstone, yugo-steroids).

I've got 30+ Shroud completions on 2 toons and I only have 1 tier III item amongst them (missing a large or two for a second). Don't give me any BS about "no effort." This guy is clearly new and with the way larges drop will need 30-40+ completions for his lightning bow and a +45 HP item.

LOL! Now seeing that no matter what I push for I won't hit 500 hp, I am feeling suicidal (thinking of re-rolling). =P

Think the only way I can hit 500 hp is if I can go for a 16 Con build and go for a melee tempest.

[grodon9999]

LOL! Now seeing that no matter what I push for I won't hit 500 hp, I am feeling suicidal (thinking of re-rolling). =P

Don't, you need some more gear and you need to play with people with more open minds. you're in a guild use it to your advantage. if not, join a different guild.

Think the only way I can hit 500 hp is if I can go for a 16 Con build and go for a melee tempest.

You need a dwarf. My human Exploiter with a TR and tons of gear will be able to hit 495 (unbuffed, rage, madstone, yugo-steroids will give him more). He sits at 400 now and is fine, when I need more I down a rage and yugo pot for another 60.

That "all melees must have 500 HP" garbage that is thrown around is for non-evasion toons with no AC.

[kcalbyz]

300 HP is low - I'm defending you so don't get me wrong when I say it is low. 300+ is enough to survive the Shroud, you will have a HELL of a time in Amrath (pun is intended). In the close-quarters combat where most of the mobs can teleport on you you're a corpse since you got no AC.

Get a Minos helm, get a GFL item and you'll be sitting at 382. It's what my elf has and she does the raids all the time and survives.

My AC is about 44+ when buffed. Okay I won't spend TP and get that Amrath pack, noted.

Working on my HP now.

Sorry I'm on Ghallanda. I was running a Hard shroud last night and I had people with 250 HP and 0% fortification trying to join so you are NOT as bad off as you're thinking.

Keep looking for vorpals. Hand-axes are ideal for you (I hope you have weapon finesse) otherwise Long-swords/scimitars/Kukris are fine. Most of these devils in Shroud don't have great AC so even if you have to use a non-finessable weapons you'd be okay.

Go for the lightning bow - the HP item won't make you that much tougher though it'd be the second thing I'd make if I were you. An extra 45 HP versus being able to pump out 10,000 damage in a manyshot? Hmmm . . . .

The best way to avoid the aggro problems is stand next to the BFD (big fracking devil) and shoot him right in the junk. This way if you do get aggro nobody will have to chase after you. Switch to your metaline/PG weapons when manyshot is on timer, even with the 500 point slayer arrows you're average damage will be better with rapiers.

Also - get a bloodstone! Get the desert pack and farm the **** out of it. This will give a huge increase to your DPS for all weapons.
.

There lies my dilemma. I pulled Arraetrikkos (do you guys call it Harry?) aggro the other day when I open up with manyshot whilst still being DWS. Imagine the aggro I will pull when I use Slayers. Should I go for even more DPS and shoot the hell out of it and pray that my healers can keep alive OR just find 2 melee boss beaters and hide in the crowd to avoid aggro...

Bloodstone..got it..took me 3 weeks of running Desert chests dry before getting it. That is why I do a lot of damage with Silver Bow despite being just a DWS and not Arcane.

[grodon9999]

There lies my dilemma. I pulled Arraetrikkos (do you guys call it Harry?) aggro the other day when I open up with manyshot whilst still being DWS. Imagine the aggro I will pull when I use Slayers. Should I go for even more DPS and shoot the hell out of it and pray that my healers can keep alive OR just find 2 melee boss beaters and hide in the crowd to avoid aggro...

If the big brooding barbarians get their aggro stolen by a 90-pound elf, they should be embarrassed (except in VoD, Sulu just does some funny stuff when a bow is involved). Save the manyshot for the "money shot," whip it out and give Harry a nice slayer-arrow facial when he's at 5%. You won't draw aggro that way and if you do he's about to die anway.

Even on my tempest in part 4 if we're getting laggy healing (game's fault, not the healers) I'll jump back and hit manyshot when the blades come in. Even a tempest can do out about 5000 damage in a manyshot with a Silver bow, yes it's less DPS than i do with my blades but it's still good damage.

[kcalbyz]

If you see Elphyba online, feel free to /tell me and we can run together.

She's a 17 AA / 2 trapmonkey on Orien; luckily while I was still pretty noobish got brought into a guild with leaders who believe in helping young toons along.

Here's my experience:
1) For mobs, try not to shoot before melee guys engage, that way you are less likely to draw aggro
2) Focus your manyshot on the casters during the run-up to the boss, and you make life much easier on everyone.
3) You can throw some decent buffs, so you may be able to help the casters focus their SP on offense
4) Keep a variety of two-weapon combos in your hot-bars. There's five combos I personally keep handy, and I'm always thinking about how to improve: vorpal/paralyzer, two ghost touch, two bludgeon (for skeletons, etc), metalline/smiting (for constructs), two (greater) undead bane. I've got a TWF combo for just about anything that gets up close and personal.
5) Similarly, I keep a variety of bows handy and switch out as appropriate. One of my wizards buddies and I have a great thing going: I hit them with improved cursespewing and then they don't save against his finger of death. Just got a paralyzing bow last night, so I'm excited to try that out.
6) Bringing a pet is wonderful 99% of the time - it gives the enemy someone else to shoot at. Just be very care in Sleeping Dust

Good hunting!

Yeah, I rarely shoot until the melees are in. Although I do just open fire on DQ since rarely do melee get near her.

Buffs I typically throw out are Barkskin (everyone's favourite), Jump, Freedom of Movement (only to melees or healers since mana-intensive), Mass Camo, Resists and Protection.

I think you can skip the 2 Ghost touch weapons since the Force arrows are already GT. I don't see a lot of incorporeal mobs beyond Deleras although I have a GT bow just in case. With all those weapons...space must be a premium =P

Just sold a +2 Para shortbow for 45k gold. Put it on for 100k the other day and no one bought it. Para are really cheap now. But they are still good in Vale since the mobs there have very low Will Saves.

Pets? I don't know...I have only 2 spell slots for Level 4 spells and I use them for Freedom and CSW. Don't find them really useful since I can charm animals if need be. The White Winter Wolf in the Vale is neat since the Cold Breath is AOE and does 45 damage to me.