3.5.5. Tier Six
There are some great upgrade options in tier six – some very powerful ranged and melee
attacks, as well as new versions of the defensive and offensive stances. There are new
skills in existing lines, as well as some completely new abilities – extreme damage skills
and a very interesting utility skill in Thorny Trap.
As with other tiers, your first picks for upgrading are the high damage skills as well as the
ones you use the most often. In addition the offensive stance in particular is a great buff
to upgrade – not so much the defensive stance, so far I’ve found that the adept I version
of this has been fine so far. If I upgrade the defensive stance it won’t be until most of the
other skills I want have been done.
The order in which you upgrade skills will of course depend on how fast you level – if
you’re going fairly slowly it’ll just be a case of upgrading as you find rares, but if you’re
leveling fast you have more choice as to what to do with rares as you might find you have
several levels worth of skills to choose from. Either way, my list for upgrading in tier six
looks like this so far – (I decided to go with the Stealthy Fire Master II so it’s not on my
list). This first list are the skills I hope to upgrade first.
Dire Blade Precise Shot
Lunging Blade Triple Arrow
Shocking Thrust Stream of Arrows
Culling the Weak Sniper Shot
That’s my “A list” of skills to upgrade as a priority. The “B list” is as follows – these are the
ones I’ll get once everything on the A list is upgraded to at least adept III level.
Fatal Reminder Arrow Frenzy
Sroud of the Forest Snaring Shot
Thorny Trap
3.6. Master II List
Starting at level 14, you will receive a bonus training skill every 10 levels. You are given
four options to choose from, and may choose any one of these to upgrade to Master II
level. You get new choices at levels 14, 24, 34, 44, and 54.
Level 14 Choices
Name Level
Shadow Blade 10
Bleed 12
Hunter’s Instinct 13
Impale 13
Level 24 Choices
Name Level
Wounding Arrow 20
Makeshift Arrows 20
Shadowflame 21
Shadow Lunge 24
Level 34 Choices
Name Level
Miracle Shot 32
Pouncing Attack 33
Crippling Arrow 34
Salvaged Arrows 34
Level 44 Choices
Name Level
Hidden Fire 40
Triple Fire 42
Blazing Thrust 43
Leg Shot 44
Level 54 Choices
Name Level
Backup Quiver 48
Dire Blade 52
Fatal Reminder 54
Stealthy Fire 54
Level 64 Choices
Name Level
Devitalizing Arrow 62
Focus Aim 64
Reclaimed Arrow 62
Selection 61
3.5.3. Tier Four
Tier four doesn’t contain many good upgrade options. Many of your skill lines are due for
upgrades in the first few levels of tier five. In this tier, Crippling Blade is your best
choice for upgrading to adept III. Your second choice should be Honed Reflexes, which
is the skill made available with the Bloodlines expansion pack. You don’t need to own the
expansion to purchase an apprentice IV or adept III version of this skill. Honed reflexes is
a short duration self-haste so it is well worth upgrading.
3.5.4. Tier Five
In tier five a lot of the main ranger attacks get new versions so there are many great
choices for upgrading in this tier. My top choices are
Longshank
Tanglethorn
Storm of Arrows
Blazing Thrust
Triple Fire
Culling the Herd
Longshank and Tanglethorn are top choices because they’re fast refresh staple attacks
that don’t rely on any particular damage type. Blazing Thrust is another good fastrefresh
attack that’s a great upgrade option. Culling the Herd and Triple Fire should be
your first choices for bow skill upgrades, followed closely by Storm of Arrows, which is a
fantastic high-damage AE bow attack that really benefits from the upgrade to adept III. It’s
devastating in a group where you’re fighting a lot of multiple mob encounters.
3.5.1. Tier One & Two
I would not recommend spending money on upgrading anything in tiers one and two
unless you have a lot of rares or money on hand. Since most skills are replaced every 14
levels, and you’ll level relatively quickly at this stage, there isn’t much point in putting a
high priority on adept III upgrades. If you’re lucky enough during these levels to harvest
rares that can be used in making spell upgrades, then Shrouded Strike and Shadow
Blade are your two best options for adept III damage skills.
3.5.2. Tier Three
In tier three, Shadow Flame and Lightning Strike are the two skills you should consider
upgrading first. They’re both short recast skills (10 seconds or less) so you’ll be using
them a lot, and that makes them ideal options for upgrading. Shadow Lunge is another
strong option, as it’s the hardest-hitting skill in this tier.
Especially if you spend a lot of time soloing this is the tier in which you’ll want to start
looking at upgrading bow skills. Even if you’re melee-soloing rather than kiting, softening
up your pulls with your bow while it’s moving towards you is a tactic you’ll use heavily all
the way up till level 60. The best bow skills to upgrade for this purpose are the ones that
don’t require stealth or a position behind your target.
In any case, now that you’re starting to get a wider array of bow skills, you’ll find yourself
using them in groups a lot more often so the higher damage bow attacks are good
upgrade options even if you’re not much of a soloer.
3.4. How to Upgrade Your Skills
If you’re just looking for apprentice IV and adept I upgrades then broker is the way to go
(unless you decide to become a jeweler). However when you start getting adept III skills
made you’ll normally need to contact a jeweler to make these specifically for you and you
will also need to supply the rare yourself in most cases. Expect to pay 1-20g for a skill
combine depending on the tier of the skill you’re getting.
People often worry that they don’t know who to trust with their rares – but most of the time
you’re quite safe. High level crafters usually want to protect their reputations and it’s easy
to join the Qeynos crafting channel (listed in your chat options menu) and find a reputable
jeweler.
To upgrade your skills you’ll need to harvest, loot, or buy a rare crafting item. The type
you need depends on the tier of the skill you want. The following table lists the names of
the harvested items.
Tier Rare
One Solidified loam
Two Alkaline Loam
Three Malleable Loam
Four Ductile Loam
Five Fused Loam
Six Alkalai Loam
Seven Spongy Loam
The Desert of Flames expansion introduced skills for each class which can only be gotten
at adept I or III level. There are three skills for each class that fall into this category. For
the ranger, they are Thorny Trap (52), Stream of Arrows (55), and Sniping Shot (58).
As another point of information, at 50+ you do not automatically gain apprentice I versions
of skills each time you level. Instead you must purchase crafted or dropped versions of
the skills. There are similar skills in the Kingdom of Sky expansion.
3.5. What to Upgrade – A Quick Guide
In this section I’ll go through each tier and point out the best skill lines to upgrade – the
most useful skills to get to adept III level and what will give you the best return for your
money.
When deciding what to upgrade, remember that for most skills you’ll receive an upgrade
within 14 levels. This means that if, for example, you find a rare towards the end of a tier,
you should avoid upgrading a skill that you got at the beginning of the tier, as it will be
replaced quite soon.
As well, try to base your upgrade choices on your play-style. If you solo and/or kite a lot,
then upgrading certain ranged attacks first will be the best choice (see section 4.2.2. for
advice on the best attacks to use in kiting) If, however, you prefer to play in groups, you’ll
want to upgrade the attacks you use the most often in groups.
When choosing upgrades at the level cap bear in mind that the last few levels in a given
tier will not be upgraded in the next expansion that comes, due to the 14-level upgrade
rule – this means those very high level skills are good upgrade choices as you’ll be using
them a long time.
Name Level Description
Forester’s Noose 51 decreases heat mitigation of target by 1020, slows
movement speed of target by 40%
Dire Blade 52 585-971 melee damage (requires stealth and rear or
flank position)
Confusion Arrow 52 265 melee damage and 50% increase in hate
generation for next person to attack target
Thorny Trap (adept III) 52 places a trap in front of you that will root an encounter
in place and do instant piercing damage
Primal Agility 53 decreases hate gain by 34%
Fatal Reminder 54 26-43 ranged damage instantly and 70 damage
every 4 seconds
Stealthy Fire 54 835-1392 ranged damage (requires stealth)
Brutal Instinct 54 increases DPS by 54%, increases melee weapon
skills by 24
Shroud of the Forest 55 Increases AGI by 43, increases attack speed by
15.8%, increases combat movement speed by 5%
Lunging Blade 55 53-89 ranged damage instantly and 48-80 damage
every 4 seconds
Stream of Arrows (adept III) 55 roots the ranger in place and fires one arrow every
1.5 seconds for 393-655 damage (no other melee or
ranged attack can be used for the duration
Improved Surveil 56 Stealths you and lowers threat by 510-850
Triple Arrow 56 Three ranged attacks, dealing 87-145, 175-291, and
262-347 damage
Culling of the Weak 57 554-924 ranged damage, slows movement speed by
37% (requires rear position
Shocking Thrust 57 178-297 heat damage
Arrow Rip 58 293 melee damage, summons 1 indium arrow
Precise Shot 58 Double ranged attack, 133-222 heat damage per hit
Snaring Shot 58 121-202 ranged damage, slows movement speed by
40%
Sniper Shot 58 3731-6218 ranged damage, stuns target (requires
stealth)
Archer’s Frenzy 59 increases weapon skills by 25, decreases defense by
17.7, grants Quick Shot proc (30% chance of 330
extra damage for each ranged shot)
Amazing Shot 60 449 ranged damage (does not require line of sight)
Dance of Trees 60 Increases AGI by 44, increases parry by 26,
increases defense by 34, decreases melee weapon
skills by 18.4
Name Level Description
Longblade 61 flanking attack that does moderate damage and
stealths the ranger
Selection 61 high damage ranged AE attack
Devitalizing Arrow 62 decreases target’s deflection and parry
Reclaimed Arrow 62 summons arrows
Emberstrike 63 high damage attack that does heat damage and
requires stealth
Focus Aim 64 greatly increases ranged skill, attack speed, and
attack damage but reduces melee skills
Cover Fire 64 long range attack that decreases target’s defense
Hawk Dive 65 calls a hawk to attack the target. Each time the hawk
hits the target it reduces the hate of the ranger’s
group
Vines 65 snare and fire resist debuff
Confounding Arrow 66 melee damage and 50% increase in hate
generation for next person to attack target
Ranger’s Blade 66 very high damage attack that requires stealth and a
rear or flanking position
Mortal Reminder 68 high damage-over-time attack
Veiled Fire 68 extreme damage, long-refresh ranged attack that
requires stealth
Cloak of the Forest 69 increases agility, attack speed, and in-combat
movement speed
Lunging Joust 69 ranged attack that does piercing damage over time
Triple Volley 70 series of three ranged attacks
Rain of Arrows 70 high damage ranged AE attack
Surveillance 70 lowers threat and puts the ranger into stealth