Hey there! I had some free time these days, so I thought it would be a fun idea to mess around some concepts (abilities and rotation mainly) about the Dark Ranger.
Regardless of them being viable lore and gameplaywise, I think there’s enough room for Dark Rangers to differenciate themselves from Hunters, Shadow Priests, etc… While they share a lot, I decided to focus on these aspects of what could a Dark Ranger be about: a Melee combat component, Necromancy with undead pets, and spells with banshee/dark magic background, while keeping the bow and arrow fantasy.
All the numbers in the skills are only indicate, to resemble the supossed power of the skill.
LD: Lingering Death. MC: Marked Corpse
Hope you like it!
SHARED ABILITIES
New Resource: Some of your abilities generate Lingering Death, which can be stored up to 1000 resources. Your most powerful abilities consume Lingering Death to enhance their effects. The effects get amplified depending on how much Lingering Death you had stored, changing between specs.
Out of combat, your Lingering Death resets to 200.
Summoned Units: Dark Minions. Some of your abilities will summon Dark Minions. Dark Minions will attack your current target, or the targets affected by your marks.
Banshee’s Veil: 1m CD. For the next 2 seconds, gain a shield which will absorb the next magical spell or AoE effect on you. (Targeted Bosses abilities will go through)
Banshee’s Cry: 18s CD. Channelled spell, 4 seconds duration. Let out a banshee cry, dealing 50%X damage every second to all enemies in a 15yards area around you.
You can move while channelling, but cannot cast other abilities.
Generates 20 Lingering Death per hit.
Death Syphon: 45s CD. Gain 25% Leech during 10 seconds.
Spectral Form: 3m CD. Enter your spirit form, granting 50% damage mitigation and movement speed during 6 seconds. You can only use shadow spells during Spectral form.
Silent Scream: 30s CD. 40yards. Interrupt the enemy target cast, silencing them for 2 seconds.
Soul Shape: 2s cast. Switch to your spectral shape, granting 30% Movement speed and levitation until canceling or taking damage.
Passive: Tormented Anima: Store Tormented Anima every 30 seconds. Whenever you are hit by an ability, consume the charge to heal for 5% of your missing health over 5 seconds.
RUTHLESSNESS (Melee Spec)
Surprise your oponents with a quick succesion of deadly blows weaven between shadow magic.
Ruthlessness specialise on melee combat with a few hybrid capabilities. They have high burst, followed by periods of slow damage.
(Meant to be a spec who scales excellent the more stats you have, focusing on bursty ST gameplay.)
Mastery: Slice and Dice: Your Critical Strikes do 5% more damage, and your Auto Attacks have a 10% chance to generate 20 Lingering Death.
Coated Blade: 3s CD. Draw your blade to slash the enemy target, dealing 110%X damage and generating 250 Lingering Death. Marks the target.
Step from the Grave: 8s CD. 15yards. Quickly jumps next to the enemy target, exploding for 140%X damage in a small radio and generating 100 Lingering Death.
Banshee Slash: Cost 250 LD. Cut up the enemy target in 3 blows for a total of 180%X damage. Banshee Slash has an extra 20% chance to crit.
-With Lingering Death: 301-600, 25% extra crit chance. 601-1000, 30% extra crit chance.
Condemn: Cost 300 LD. Condenms the enemy to the horrors of afterlife, dealing 220%X damage over 26 seconds. Damage has a % to make your next Banshee Slash count as if it was used with 1000 LD.
-With Lingering Death: 100-300, 10%. 301-600, 20%. 601-1000, 30%.
Death Companion: 25s CD. Cost 100 LD. Summon an animal Dark Minion for 15s.
-With Lingering Death: 100-300, will cast Taunt. 301-600, will cleave nearby enemies. 601-1000, increase your mastery by 5%.
Death Touch: 20s CD. 20yards. Rip out the essence of your enemy, dealing 200%X damage and causing your target to take 3% more shadow damage from all sources during 8 seconds. Generates 400 Lingering Death.
Spectral Waltz: 22s CD. For the next 8 seconds, gain 30% Mov. Speed and 5% extra critical strike chance.
Shadow Dagger: 7s CD. 20yards. Throw a dagger to the enemy target, bouncing 5 times between the closest enemies, dealing 50%X damage each hit.
Intent to Kill: 1.5m CD. Instantly generates 1000 Lingering Death.
Lost Soul: 3m CD. Gain Lost Soul during 15 seconds, generating 30 Lingering Death per second and causing Shadow Dagger, Coated Blade, Banshee´s Cry and Death Touch to only trigger 50% of their CD during Lost Soul.
WITCHCRAFT(Spellcaster spec)
Witchcraft uses the power of the banshees to torment their enemies from afar. An AoE heavy spec who thrives controlling when to spend and when to store resources. (Meant to be a spec with a lot of aoe and multiple target benefits, and “okey” on ST. The more targets you fight, the more resources you get)
Mastery: Overwhelming Scene: Increase your damage by 1% for every 100 Lingering Death stored. (A visual representation of your Banshee form will appear the more resources you have)
Passive: Increase your Lingering Death generated by spells for 10% of your current Haste.
Haunting Wave: 20s CD. 30yards. Send forth a wave of banshees, dealing 30%X damage to targets it passes through. Reactivate again to teleport where the wave is.
Generates 100 Lingering Death if it hits at least 1 enemy.
Shadows Embrace: 40yards. 1s cast. An enhanced arrow that deals X damage. Generates 100 Lingering Death (150 on targets above 80% health) and applies Rot.
Rotten Flesh: 10s CD. 40yards. 2s cast. Absorbs the power of each Rot application in a 40yard radius, dealing 20%X damage to all targets affected and gaining 30 Lingering Death for each charge.
Wailling Arrow: 40yards. 2s cast. Cost 150 LD. A bolt of shadow damage for 170%X to the current enemy.
Possession: 40yards. Cost 200 LD. Possess your current target, dealing 30%X damage every 6 seconds during 30 seconds.
Each hit generates 40 Lingering Death and a charge of Hollow.
A charge of Hollow lasts 50 seconds, increases 15% the damage of your next Wailling Arrow or Locust Swarm, and can be stored up to 10 charges.
Locust Swarm: 40yards. 1s cast. Cost 150 LD. Target the area with a swarm of reanimated locusts, dealing 110%X damage to all enemies inside and rotting them for an extra 30%X damage during 5 seconds.
Further aplications of Rot will be added to the current damage.
Afterlife: 15s CD. 45yards. 3s channel. Cost 500 LD. Releases the spirit of the nearby dead, focusing them into a beam of shadows to the target, dealing 200%X damage to the target and 150%X to all enemies in the beam, slowing them for 30%.
Awakening: 45s CD. 40yards. 500 LD. Burst through a target afflicted by Possession, dealing 170%X damage to all enemies near the target, and converting Possession into Dementia, hitting for 20% more damage, but halved of the remaining time.
The Night Reaper: 2m CD. 1s cast. Reaps the living essence of nearby creatures, increasing your damage and haste by 10%.
Increase the effect by 1% for every dead player in your group/raid.
DARKSTALK(Pet management and arrow spec)
Darkstalk is a high ramp-up spec, which takes time to set, but excels on late fight damage both ST and Aoe. Based on the control of your Dark Minions. (Starts the fights building up your army with your Marked Corpse resources. Once you have summoned enough pets, your damage starts to become very high)
Mastery: Overlord Whip: Increases the Health and Damage of all your Dark Minions by 5%.
Arise: Cost 300 LD. Consume up to 4 Marked Corpse to summon a Dark Minion for every charge to fight by your side.
Banshee Wall: 1m CD. Cost 100 LD. Creates a spirit wall around the zone, rooting all enemies trapped inside for 5 seconds.
Master Summoner: (Passive) Your Dark Minions are permanent, but you can only have 10 at a time, and they die if don’t engage in combat every 30 seconds. Further summons will replace the initial ones.
Haste contributes to your minions Attack Speed.
Your Dark Minions have 1/8 of your maximum health, take 80% less damage from AoE effects, and generate 5 Lingering Death per attack.
Ominous Shot: 20s CD. 2.5s cast. 40yards. Shots a volley of dark arrows to the target, dealing 180%X damage that explode around the surrounding targets. Generates 3 Marked Corpse charges.
Spectral Barrage: 2s channel while moving. 40yards. Cost 450 LD. A rapid barrage of spectral arrows, dealing 250%X damage, increased against enemies below 25% health.
Grim Hunt: 1.5s cast while moving. 40yards. Deal X damage and generates 150 LD and a charge of Marked Corpse. (Charges dissapear after a short time after combat. Max 12 charges)
Shadows Volley: 1s Cast. 40yards. Cost 300 LD. Deals 50%X damage and marks the target, raging your Dark Minions to deal 5% more damage to that target for 6 seconds.
Necrotic Field: 12s CD. 40yards. Cost 200 LD. Create a necrotic area in the targeted location during 6 seconds. Your summoned Dark Minions will focus the enemies on the area and gain cleave damage for 30% of their base damage.
-With Lingering Death: 301-600, 40% cleave damage. 601-1000, 45% cleave damage and 8 seconds duration.
Black Arrow: 15s CD. 2 Charges. 40yards. Shoots a black arrow to the target, inflicting X damage every 2 seconds during 12 seconds. A Marked Corpse charge is given at the end of the duration. Whenever you kill an enemy, the CD of Black Arrow resets.
Generates 25 Lingering Death per hit.
Rising Death: 24s CD. 40yards. Consumes 8 Marked Corpse. Cast a dark volley to the enemy target, summoning two Engorged Dark Minions, dealing 140%X damage and marking the target, causing your Dark Minions to focus that target during the next 12 seconds.
Engorged Dark Minions lasts 12 seconds and don’t count towards the minion limit.
Horrific Vision: 40s CD. 45yards. Cost 400 LD. Horrifies the enemy target with visions of their imminent death, dealing 300%X damage and slowing his movement speed and attack/cast speed by 20% during 5 seconds. If the enemy survives, a curse overtakes them, dealing the initial damage again during 10 seconds. Gives a charge of Marked Corpse. (Duration reduced in PvP)
Queen of Sorrows: 5m CD. Consume 12 MC to summon the Queen of Sorrows for 1 minute along with 2 Dark Minions. You can reactive the ability to consume 8 marks and extend the duration for 1 min. The Queen will follow you and attack the enemies marked, with special abilities:
-Painful Experience: Channelled, drain the energy of the marked enemy by 10%X every second, generating 10 LD. (Automatic)
-All Will Serve: (Passive) Killing an enemy recently damaged by the Queen awards a charge of Marked Corpse.
-Graveyard Demands: 40s CD. Increases the damage of all active Dark Minions by 10% for 8 seconds. (Automatic)
-Unholy Ground: 20s CD. Generates 200 LD. Creates a patch of unholy ground beneath the target, stunning all enemies nearby and dealing 150%X damage. (Manual)
TALENT ROWS
Movility
Quick Reflexes: Soul Shape no longer has a cast time, and gets 10% increased Movement Speed.
The Heat of the Hunt: Consuming Lingering Death gives a charge of Heat of the Hunt for 4 seconds, increasing your Movement Speed by 5%. Stacks up to 5 times.
Step Back: 40s CD. 20yards. Throw a poisoned dart to the enemy target, rooting him for 1 second, and vaulting backwards from his position.
Healing
Consume Life: 30s CD. 40yards. 2s channel. Syphon the life energy of the target, doing X damage and healing for the same amount.
Mildly Tormented: Your Tormented Anima stacks now heal for 10%, but take 40s to charge.
Power of the Grave: Turn your Death Syphon into Power of the Grave, healing you instead for 25% of your maximum health.
Defensives
Banshee Pact: Once hit by an attack that otherwise would kill you, gain an immunity shield for 5 seconds. You cannot perform any action during the shield, and take 60% reduced healing. Can only proc every 5m once per fight.
Bloodless: You take 5% reduced damage from all physical sources, increased to 10% while below 25% health.
A Queen’s Resolve: Gain a absorption shield for every 300 Lingering Death you spend. The shield lasts for 20 seconds. Max shield equals 15% of your maximum health.
CC
Silent Room: Your Silent Shot now silences all enemies around the target, but the CD is increased to 1min.
Bound Horror: 1.5m CD. 30yards. 6s channel. Your targeted enemy fears in his place, for as long as the channel remains.
Tremble Before Me: Your Banshee’s Cry now slows your enemies by 20% for 3 seconds for every time they’re hit. This effect stacks.
Ruthlessness aoe
Bouncing Blade: Shadow Dagger now bounces up to 10 times, and the damage is increased by 10%.
Sharpened Cloak: 25s CD. 2 Charges. Spin twice, damaging every enemy in a 12yard radius around you. Sharpened Cloack has a 10% extra crit chance, and benefits from Lost Soul.
Heavy Slash: Your Banshee Slash now hits all enemies in a cone in front of you for 30% of its initial damage.
Witchcraft aoe
Bowing Plea: Haunting Wave deals 100% increased damage and generates 200 Lingering Death.
To the Core: Your Rot applications deal 20% more damage.
Unholy Storm: 1m CD. 2.5s cast. 500 LD. Unleash a storm on the targeted area for 8 seconds, dealing 200%X damage. Enemies who stand in the area for the whole duration will get stunned for 2 seconds.
Darkstalk aoe
Black Quiver: Gives 1 extra charge to Black Arrow, and reduce the CD by 2 seconds.
Shared Experience: Your Queen of Sorrows’s Painful Experience now channel up to 3 beams to nearby enemies.
Shadow´s Ambush: 40yards. Cost 200 LD. Empower your next set of arrows to fire in a cone, dealing 120%X, and more damage to the targets closer to you.
All specs
Trained for Battle: Ruthlessness, gain 10% haste. Witchcraft, gain 10% crit. Darkstalk, gain 10% mastery.
Borned for Grief: Ruthlessness, your Death Companion now summons 2 minions. Witchcraft, when Afterlife ends, summons 3 banshees to wander the area, exploding in contact with an enemy. Darkstalk, Queen of Sorrows gains the ability Behead(10s CD, Automatic) dealing 110%X damage to targets beneath 35% health.
Died for Glory: 1m CD. For the next 4 seconds, all your abilities cost half Lingering Death.
Final row
Afterimage(Ruthlessness): 45s CD. 15yards. Become invisible for 5 seconds, reactivate the ability to leave stealth and jump to the target, casting a Banshee Slash with 100% crit chance.
From Beyond(Ruthlessness): Attacks made on enemies above 80% health gives your character 10% haste for 5 seconds.
Otherwordly Senses(Witchcraft): Increase the duration of Possession by 30 seconds.
To the Bone(Witchcraft): 20s CD. 3s cast. 400 LD. Send a banshee to claim your target, dealing up to 300%X damage, consuming all your Hollow charges for increased damage.
Master of Puppets(Darkstalk): 2m CD. 500 LD. Summon the Eternal Servant, mimicking the Queen of Sorrows abilities for 15 seconds.
Death Claims Us All(Darkstalk): 5m CD. 40yards. Resurrect a member of your group as an Empowered Dark Minion for 30 seconds, gaining new abilities.
-Ravenous Hunger: Deals X damage to the target and heals for that amount.
-Vicious Leap: Jump to the targeted location.
-Claws of Woe: Cleave all oponents in front of you in 3 waves of attacks, stunning them for 1 second.
Conquering Presence(All): All allies in a 50yard radius have 3% lifesteal.
![:stuck_out_tongue:](https://d1bg94bbsh66ji.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/stuck_out_tongue.png?v=6" ":stuck_out_tongue:")
