Ranger beginner's guide to kiting

I've read of many players who may be new to the ranger archetype (or MMOs in general) playing Aion, and haven't the slightest clue of what kiting is or how to do it. So here's a quick and simple guide for the lower levels, when you first get your bow.

When you pick Ranger at level 10, you get two bow-specific abilities - Entangling Shot and Swift Shot.

Although the tooltip doesn't say it, you have to be standing still to cast Swift Shot. It's a great opening shot to use, and you should generally stand at maximum range before starting combat.

After firing off Swift Shot, turn around quickly and fire off Entangling Shot to slow the mob. (For Hunters coming in from WoW, this is your basic Concussive Shot) If you haven't already gotten the hang of mouse turning, this is a good time to do so, as keyboard turning will only be detrimental to you in the long run.

Occasionally turn around and auto attack the mob once in a while so that you keep its attention on you, and so that it won't reset. As soon as Swift Shot is off cooldown, fire it again, and make sure you keep Entangling Shot up as soon as it's off cooldown.

Mau Form makes kiting a walk in the park, as it increases your run speed and attack speed. So be sure to pop it as often as possible. The cost of 2000 daeva points is a little steep, so just make sure you don't die!

At level 16, you get Arrow Strike, which is essentially three free auto attacks after you fire Swift Shot. You can shoot these off while moving (as well as facing forward, interestingly enough), so as soon as Swift Shot goes off, backpedal a little to give yourself some distance and hit Arrow Strike at the same time.

This level also gives you Spike Trap, which is tons handy for getting some distance back if Entangling Shot happens to fail. (it does that from time to time) Spike Trap roots the enemy in the ground for about 20 seconds. During that time you are free to continue damaging it. (unlike the Freezing Trap from WoW, it does not break on damage)

That should be enough to get you going until at least level 19, when you get some nifty new abilities which I'll talk about another time.

In the meantime, I should probably get working on a kiting video...

Why kiting is important
Rangers are in the second lowest armor class, and can probably be considered squishy. They do have some evasive moves, but in general you don't want to be up in a mob's face taking damage. The less damage you take, the less downtime and healing you have to do after each fight.

Kiting is also plays an important role in pvp, especially against melee classes.

More general Ranger advice

• Always make sure you're stocked up on supplies before leaving town. That means arrows and tripeed seeds for traps. You can equip up to 10,000 arrows in the ammo slot.
  
• Power shards are not necessary for levelling, especially if you're doing it with a dedicated group. The extra damage is usually negligible, so save yourself some kinah.
• When kiting, always be sure to look around you for other aggressive mobs. You don't want to accidentally run into another mob that can potentially chew your face off. Plan a path if at all possible.
• Don't forget to keep popping Devotion every time it's off cooldown. Bind it next to your auto attack button so you don't forget.
  

Rangers become tons more fun after level 19, as you get more new abilities. So hang in there!