Ranger
PathfinderCURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS PREPARATION & CLEANUP FOR PATCH 1.0
Overview:
Gas Grenade creates Poison Clouds which are ground surfaces that constantly apply Poison to Monsters within and grow in area over time. When combined with 
Herald of Plague, this build is easily able to clear large packs of Monsters, whilst the Pathfinder's 
Overwhelming Toxicity doubles the amount of Poison stacks, helping to solve single target Damage.
Main Combo
Drop Gas Grenades and immediately explode them using 
Explosive Shot to apply proliferating Poison to Monsters. Against tanky targets, use 
Despair followed by 
Entangle, then stack Gas Grenade Poison Clouds on the mob.
Be aware that the Ratha's Assault Support Gem linked to Explosive Shot will prevent the Skill from being reloaded normally - you need to dodge roll to reload 4 bolts per roll.
Note: Explosive Shot is OPTIONAL. If you prefer to play a one-button build and don't mind the delayed damage from grenades detonating from their fuse timers, you can play without it. Ensure you take 
Volatile Grenades on the Passive Skill Tree in that case.
Supporting Skills & Defences
Herald of Plague is used to provide Poison proliferation, allowing for smoother map clear - you can play without it, but I recommend using it as it prevents some backtracking for loot or getting bodyblocked in narrow areas. Despair will lower Monster Chaos Resistance, making them take more Chaos Damage from Poison, whilst 
Withering Presence applies Wither to nearby Monsters making them take increased Chaos Damage. Entangle is used to apply both Critical Weakness and Withered for single target Damage with the weapon swap setup.
This build invests into both Evasion and Energy Shield, making use of 
Wind Dancer and 
Ghost Dance for a fairly stock-standard defensive setup for a build on the right-hand side of the Passive Skill Tree. To help solve recovery alongside the regeneration from 
Ghost Dance, we're using 
Enduring Elixirs and 
Shavronne's Satchel for on-demand Life and Energy Shield recovery.
Levelling:
IMPORTANT - Make sure to review the written information for each build variant of progression under each section: Equipment, Skill Gems and Passive Tree.
This build uses a typical grenade spamming setup for levelling, making use of 
Explosive Grenade, 
Gas Grenade, 
Flash Grenade and even 
Oil Grenade later on. The switch to poison-based Gas Grenade begins at the end of Act 4.
Second Weapon Set:
Despair and Entangle must only be used by your second weapon set (
The Wicked Quill + 
Effigy of Cruelty). Open your Skill Gems panel, open the pop-out for each of these Skills and ensure the weapon set configuration at the bottom is correct.
Endgame Crossbow Craft:
These steps may refer to modifier tiers, see here for more information.
- Obtain a Magic rarity item level 82 Siege Crossbow with +5 to level of all Projectile Skills(suffix) and T1 or T2 flat Fire, Cold or Lightning(prefix). In SSF you will need to use Perfect Transmutes/Augmentations on Siege Crossbow bases until you hit. Note that item level 81 also works, but you will exclude the chance of hitting T1 local increased Physical Damage in step 4.
- Use a Greater Essence of Seeking to upgrade the Siege Crossbow to Rare rarity and add the Critical Hit Chance suffix.
- Activate an Omen of the Liege and an Omen of Sinistral Necromancy and use a Preserved Jawbone. Reveal Increased Grenade Damage/Duration at the Well of Souls.
- Activate an Omen of Greater Exaltation and use a Perfect Exalted Orb. You're looking for either of the remaining two flat added Elemental Damage modifiers or local increased Physical Damage to finish the craft.
Campaign Quest Bonus Choices:
- Act 2 Ancient Vows Quest: 30% increased Charm Charges gained
- Act 3 Corpse-snake Venom: 25% increased Stun Threshold
- Act 4 Blank Tattoos: +5 Dexterity, +5 Strength, +5 Intelligence
- Act 4 Goddess of Justice: 30% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
- Act 4 Shark Fin: 30% increased Armour, Evasion, and Energy Shield
- Interlude Seven Pillars: +5% to Elemental Resistances or +5 to all Attributes (replace with 3% increased Movement Speed when Resistances/Attributes are solved in late game)
