A Guide
to Kiting…(warning
very long)

This is something I wrote on
another site and was asked to  cross postthis here. So here
you go hope it helps some.



This goes out to my friends on AB
who have asked me to put together a guide on kiting.

This is the
first guide; I’ve ever tried writing so if it’s not fully informative
or if my grammar is off, well blame my High school and college English
professors.

Very often I find myself
kiting while waiting for a group.  Even
more often I find myself sitting afk while explaining to a fellow
ranger exactly what it is I was doing, and how to do it effectively.

Coming from EQ 1 kiting is not
a new concept to me.  I guess it still shocks me a
bit that so many have no idea exactly what it is.  So
I’m going to write down some basics I’ve learned in my days as a ranger
to help those who may have questions perhaps get a little more out of
their class

What is Kiting?

The word kiting comes from Eq
1.  Back
then it was a way for classes, mainly necro’s, druids, bards and to a
small extent rangers (very very small) to solo effectively.

Kiting is very effective for
classes that can either increase their own movement speed during battle
and/or slow down opponents.

The basics
behind kiting involves using high damage abilities (direct damage
and/or Damage over time) to kill a mob while it follows you around
unable to get close enough to hit you.  In EQ2 this
is
more challenging due to the anti-kiting code which will have a mob
break encounter if you stray it too far away from its spawn point or
outdistance it too greatly.  EQ2 players have had to
improvise by running smaller routes and using
more finesse.

How do I Kite?

Kiting is something that is
easy to learn and hard to master.  There are several
different types of kiting that you can use dependent on whether you are
soloing or duoing.  Also the amount of foes you face
is a factor.  2 mobs are twice as hard to kite as 1
and 3 adds to the difficulty, etc.  The
more you add
the harder it gets.   Once
you get the technique down, it winning a battle is pretty much
determined by the amount of arrows you have.

There are several types of
kiting which I will discuss a bit later on.  The
most popular is solo kiting. This involves
picking out a foe' slowing its movement speed and running elliptical
circles while your bow ca’s and poisons do the work.  There
is also bounce kiting, for when you are duoing with another ranger. 
Or my favorite and the toughest to learn sweet spot kiting. 
Yes it is possible!

Remember the key to kiting is
NOT to get hit.  If that means holding off on your
CAs a moment while you maneuver around a rock or tree so be it. 
Keep yourself steady first, shoot second.  All
the damage in the world isn’t going to help you if you back peddle into
a wall and have a pack of reds on you.

What do I need to Kite?

Ah good question.  The
first thing you need is to be comfortable at your desk.  Seriously. 
I’m left-handed, so I use the arrow keys to move and keep my
mouse in my left hand.

When Kiting I keep the down
and right or left  arrows
keys pressed down with my control key to move in a circle, I use the
mouse for course corrections and to keep scrolling out as needed so I
don’t accidentally backpedal into a creature that most likely will not
have a strong liking of me.  I keep all my kiting
CAs on
the number hot bar so all it takes is a quick second to jam down 1, 2
for a quick flameshot/tripleshot combo.

Set your hotkeys up
appropriately. 

  size="3">A BOW- Yes
go ahead and laugh.  But If I didn’t mention it I’m
sure people would be out there trying to kite using their daggers =). 
Ok seriously you need a bow, and a good one.  Preferably
a long bow (high chance of procs) even better an imbued longbow (more
procs!).

2. Poisons- When
kiting you need to realize one thing.  Half your
damage is going to come from poisons and procs.  So
the more numerous and better quality you have the faster you kill. 
In general you will want to use 3 poisons.  A
debuff to poison resistance, a High Damage low dot poison and a Low
damage High dot one.

Why 2 different types of
damage poisons since they don’t stack?  Easy. Each
poison is an additional chance to proc from my understanding. 
So
if you have 1 poison at (using random numbers here) a 5% chance to proc
if you have 2 poisons you have two 5% chances to proc.  The
high Damage poison is for that additional zing when you hit the mob. 
Nothing like seeing 140 damage from poison hit on top of your CA. 
The high dot one is for continuous damage.  See
High damage upfront poisons have smaller dots so they are used just for
initial damage.  In
an ideal world, Your flameshot procs your high dd and then your regular
bowshot procs your high dot one which overwrites the dot portion of
your high dd one and does even more damage until your proc again. 

Wow I just read that and am as
confused as you are.  But trust me on this one.

The debuff poison stacks with
either of the two and will make them land much more frequently and for
greater damage.

On top of
poisons having damage procs like gleaming strike especially on a
longbow (your using a longbow for greater proc chances) will give you
even more additional damage.  There is nothing like
seeing
your triple shot hit with a double proc of your high DD poison on the
first two arrows and your high dot one on the last coupled with a
gleaming strike proc.  Is it common when that
happens? Not at all, all the more reason you cherish those moments.

1. Good drink-
   I cannot stress the importance of having good handcrafted drink. 
   More power means more Ca’s which means more damage. 
   You
   really want to try to avoid situations where you are out of power and
   kiting, then you’re just relying on bow damage, procs and poisons which
   is cutting your dps in half at least.  Having high
   level handcrafted drinks helps avoid this (go hug your local
   provisioner).  On a side not the PGT (polished
   granite tomahawk) is invaluable.  Its still procs
   off bow shots (shush don’t tell anyone) and the added power makes a
   world of difference.  With a pgt and good drink
   you’ll rarely be out of power.

1. Some open space! 
   If
   your going to try to kite in runneye, or stomhold or any dungeon well
   your either suicidal or should be writing this guide yourself. 
   Kiting is for outdoor areas.  At first
   you may need a lot of open space to do so effectively.  As
   you grow more accustomed you can do so in smaller and smaller areas. 
   For example I’ve kited Trial 2 of the SBS quest, by just
   moving around and using my jump key to avoid things.  It
   took a few tries but I did it.

1. Spacebar is
   your friend- Learn your jump button.  Love
   your jump button.  It will save you more then you
   can ever imagine.  I actually put on quite a show
   when kiting.  You’ll see me jumping over rocks and
   other obstacles and rarely letting them interfere with my art (and yes
   kiting is an art!).  Proper use of your jump key and
   mouse will let you avoid any and all obstacles and keep the flow of the
   fight in your favor.

1. Proper buffs!
   -  Ok real important as well.  You
   must keep all your buffs up when possible. Things like steady aim,
   Natural Instinct and especially adroit and Foresters insight are
   invaluable.  Forester’s insight gives you a 5%
   movement increase while IN combat.  That is a huge
   huge advantage which cannot be understated.   Bladeflurry
   should always be active (especially now that it’s fixed again) it’s
   another chance to proc more damage and therefore proc more poisons and
   dd’s!  However with all that said and done the
   single most
   important buff to keep on yourself at all times is survival
   instincts/adroit.  You will eventually get hit. 
   And having that additional chance to parry is huge. 
   I
   can’t count the amount of times adroit has saved me from being smeared
   into a wall because I parried away a swing or two when they got too
   close.

7. Arrows! - 
Make sure you have lots and lots of arrows.  The
worst feeling in the world is when you go to hit that CA and get the
missing component message.  Make
sure if you plan on kiting you have a huge stack of arrows ready to go.
As a reference point I normally carry around 15-20 Stacks and mash
makeshift whenever I can.

Part II The Art of
Kiting-

Ok so now you have your
poisons set up.  All your buffs are ready to go, and
you have enough arrows to take out a large group of infantry.

Now the fun stuff. 
How to maximize your damage.  There
are several Ca’s as a Ranger you will use during your fight for ease of
writing assume depending on your level which version to use (IE
Backshot/Snipingshot/Culling the herd)



These are:

Sniping shot

Flameshot

Tripleshot

Wounding arrow

Miracle shot

Trickshot

Leaping cut

Lunging thrust

Corner. 

Ensnare.

Flameshot/tripleshot/leaping
cut/lunging thrust/corner are going to be your staples as all can be
executed at a safe distance while moving. 

Sniping shot will be used to
start the encounter and to dish out that first dose of high damage.

Wounding arrow should always
always be your second follow up arrow as the now perturbed creature
charges at you.  Wounding arrow will allow your
following attacks to hit more often.

You should be
able to get off a 3rd stationary CA at this time I normally use
Trickshot as it requires line of sight where as Miracle shot does not
and can be used further out.

You should follow these up by
starting an HO’s and using corner/leaping cut to finish for some
additional damage.  So
now you have an Ho’ done and the mob dotted from your leaping cut as
well. Now keep moving in a circular route while watching behind you as
you land lunging thrust to further decrease piercing mitigation and do
a bit more damage.  Ok now it’s really mad. 
You’ve proc’d poisons a few times and have done a bunch of
damage.  So now we chain our big hitters while the
mob is still debuffed and flameshot/Tripleshot IN THAT ORDER. 
Never fire tripleshot first especially against healer type foes.



I’ll explain.  You
see you may take away 80% of a mobs life by using tripleshot first, but
if it’s a healer type by the time your 4 second cast time openshot
fires it will have healed itself so now your tripleshot may not kill it. 
However
if you fire openshot first the 1 second cast time on Tripleshot does
not allow enough time for a mob to heal itself, and many times that
small subtle change is the difference between an outright kill or
another 30 seconds of kiting.

Ok so now you’ve fired off all
your ranged Ca’s. So its time to rinse and repeat firing them off as
they become available.  From here on in its pretty
basic if you choose this route, run in a circle and continue pouring
out the damage using those Ca’s.  When
possible snare the mob to slow its movement speed get some distance and
fire off a stationary CA like wounding arrow or miracle shot.

Pretty basic right? Ok but
there is another way to add more damage by using your short range melee
attacks and other Ca’s.

I’ve chosen to
include these strategies separately as they take some practice to get
use too and many involve stun kiting with cheapshot.

Ensnare/stalk/Hiddneshot
combo- The easiest of the following.  Simply
enough ensnare and the stalk line can be used while moving, though
stalk will slow your run speed substantially.  You
need to make sure you have enough distance to get all 3 off or it’s
wasted.  The best time to do this is in the
straightaway portion of your elliptical circle as then is when you have
enough room.  Wait until you are mid turn and cast
impede/ensnare and Queue up Stalk.  It
will slow it down enough where the moment you stealth you can stop and
fire off hidden shot for some big extra damage. It is possible to move
slightly while firing stationary CA’s so if its getting a bit close
move back a tiny bit as you cast, you’ll learn via trial and error how
much is too much.   Also keep in mind if the
big bad guy is getting too close its better to cut your losses and run
then stay and get hit.  If you can get it off great!
If not continue along your kite.

Corner/Ensare/Cheapshot/sniping
shot combo- This is a bit harder to get down.  And
quite frankly I only succeed a portion of the time.  Yet
is a great way to get sniping shot in again once it refreshes. 
The best time to get this off is during the turning portion of
your loop as that is when the mob is closest to you.  You
want to start with corner to lower defense,  just
before you begin your turn, then in midturn cast ensnare/ queue up
cheapshot and turn off attack.  The moment cheapshot
casts RUN Past the mob and turn firing off sniping shot.  You
will get it off if your timing is right (comes with practice) Once you
fire your sniping shot get to moving again.  On a
side note if your going to get hit this is when it will be, so make
sure adroit is up when you attempt this.

Luckybreak/Ensnare//Cheapshot/Shadowlunge
combo- Similar to above but we substitute shadowlunge our high
damage backstab for snipingshot.  You will use this
at the same time you would use the cheapshot/sniping shot combo. 
Shadowlunge has nice range on it from behind so use the same
concept.  If you’re going to do this might as well
start an HO and take advantage of some additional damage (hopefully)
while doing it.  Lucky to start /cheapshot to
continue and lunge to finish.

Ensnare/Cheapshot/pouncing
attack/shadowflame combo- Ok first things first. You’re going
to get hit.  End of story.  No
way around it.  I tend to use this most against solo
mobs of even con or yellow I just want to finish off quickly. 
The
concept is simple once again just before you begin your turn snare the
mob and stun it. Immediately move to the Side of the mob (side is
closer then behind) and hit shrouded strike or pouncing attack. 
This
will break the Stun, however if your fast enough on the buttons you
will have shadowflame qued up and if the mob misses you, you’ll hit for
even more additional damage.  At this point you can
either continue kiting or slam down melee ca’s to finish off the fight. 
Do
not use this early on or midfight against creatures which can quickly
stun and kill you. The only exception is if using a pgt and your ward
just procced and can absorb some damage. Then it maybe worth it. 
It’s your call on that one.

These are the basic chain Ca’s
I use when fighting Solo mobs.  Keep
in mind these are all ineffective when there is more then one as your
going to get hit and then things become a bloody mess.  Using
any of those combo’s while doing a group often leads you in a panic to
hit your escape key, and well your kite just got eaten by Charlie
brown’s tree.

The Art of Sweet
spot Kiting- This is only only effective against Solo
encounters.  I stress this.  Try
this against 2 or more and it’s a swift invitation to beating time.

Ok we all have heard of the
sweet spot.  That elusive area where you can fire
off both melee attacks and bow ca’s without having to move. 
It can be tough to find when you’re stationary; it’s harder when
you’re moving.  It is possible though.  This
will allow you to work in more ca’s you would normally not have access
too when kiting such as mastery strikes, rip, Lightning strike,
quickstrike etc.  I often wonder if it’s worth it
considering how dangerous it can be.  But then I
proc a gleaming strike /poison proc combo off rip and grin like an
idiot.  If anything is going to get you killed while
kiting this is it.  I highly advise mastering kiting
first then moving on to this.

To
SS kite (should be SoS kite lol) you need to maintain the mobs height
difference in-between you. This is the maximum melee distance. 
Coming
from EQ 1 where as a raid leader I spent ¾ of my time Shouting
MAX
MELEE to everyone it wasn’t that hard to get accustomed too. 
If you can keep that distance mid kite while fighting you’ll be
able to work in a few extra ca’s for added damage.  I
can’t really describe how this is done.  It’s really
more of just a touch thing.  Practice on gray mobs
and you’ll eventually be able to get this down to a reasonable level of
success.  Just remember two things. 

1. Always keep adroit or its
   line up.
2. Its better to retreat and
   live to fight again then to get mauled like an idiot.

On a side not
if your timing Is impeccable it is possible to get off melee Ca’s while
kiting by stopping (yes stopping) mid kite queuing up a lightning
strike moving into the sweet spot and just as its about to hit move
back out of the mobs melee range.  It’s hard to do
but can be worth it.  If you make sure to err on the
side of safety you shouldn’t get hit.  Much.

Group Kiting or
OMG there are 4 of them!-

Ok remember all those pretty
combo’s you learned for solo fights? Forget them.  Every
single one of them. Their no good here.  Also
you might as well put your ensnare/impede key away because no sense in
snaring only 1 of 3 mobs it will just keep it out of range of your
extended range melee ca’s like lunging thrust and leaping cut while the
other 2 or 3 bare down on you.

When group
kiting I have one strategy mainly and that is dot kiting (unless there
is a healer or caster in the group then you want to burn that one down
ASAP before dot kiting).

Dot kiting
involves switching from mob to mob to make sure you have as many of
them poisoned and therefore taking damage at the same time as possible.

For those that don’t know the
Tab key is your friend. It allows you to cycle through creatures
engaged in the fight.  You
want to open up one mob with a flurry of Ca’s as if it was a solo mob.
When this is done, in all likelihood it will be poisoned, now you want
to move onto the 2nd one in the group and stay on it, until it is
poisoned.  Use leaping cut and lunging thrust as
available.  Once the 2nd one is poisoned move to the
next one.  The key is to keep as many poisoned and
therefore taking damage at once as possible.  Yes
that does mean you will not kill one super fast and therefore have a
greater chance of not surviving a stun/collision.  But
we’re kiting so we’re not getting hit in the first place right!

Keeping all mobs dotted will
substantially reduce the time and arrows needed to win the fight. 
Once you have cycled through pick the lowest health one and
finish it off.  Then rinse and repeat.  Once
you’re down to one treat it as a solo mob and unleash on the hapless
thing.

Bounce Kiting!-Or
how to duo with another Ranger

People have asked me,
what is my favorite class to duo with? That’s easy.  Another
Ranger!.  Bounce kiting is about as safe and
flawless as it can get. As long as you have 2 people who know what
their doing. 

To understand bounce kiting
you need to know how agro works.  Aggro is a number
basically.  Everything you do buff, hit, heal, Ca’s
gives positive agro.  In a group the person who has
the highest agro number is the one who the mob will be beating on.

Bounce kiting takes
advantage of this flaw by rapidly switching agro back and forth between
two people.   It
can take some practice, but [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] is it
effective (This is how myself and a 34 ranger took down a 40^^). 

Ok example.  You
and your ranger buddy find a very tough, very red foe in front of you. 
One of you sneaks behind him at max distance and the other in
front of him about halfway to him.  The Ranger
behind unloads with snipingshot/wounding arrow and as many other Ca’s
stationary Ca’s as possible.  This
will anger him quite a bit and now this bloody beast is heading
straight for you! So now your partner in crime opens up himself with
the same combo, plus another high damage CA like Tripleshot!. 
Guess what the extra CA will overcome (normally) the initial
agro bonus and it will turn right back around towards him!  Now
he begins his kite and as he does so you fire off your high damage CA’s
like tripleshot/flameshot etc.  The moment your CA’s
are done your partner evades/stalks etc to drop agro.  Guess
what? 9 out of 10 times he will turn around and make a beeline back to
you.  Now your partner runs behind him unleashing
ranged melee ca’s like Shadowlunge as you kite.  Eventually
you evade/stalk and wait for him to get agro back and then begin to
unleash more of your now refreshed CA’s like sniping shot/hidden shot!. 
You keep up this ridiculous pattern until either the mob is dead
or they nerf the hell out of it.  This allows 1 of
the 2 rangers to always have the creatures back to it as the other
kites.  There by doubling your damage. 



A few keys are knowing how and when to use agro reducers (evade/shadow
etc) and making sure you are using complimentary poisons.  Work
these things out before hand and bounce kiting can be a very effective
way to win what seems like impossible fights!

Ok, so now about 90 minutes
have passed and I can’t type anymore.  I by no means
claim this to be the end all be all guides to kiting, its just a few
tricks and tips I’ve learned in my day.  Many people
may feel a lot of what I’ve stated is pretty basic.

This is true. 
Hopefully this guide helps out a couple of people and makes
their time on Norrath more enjoyable. 

Kiting is not an efficient
way, to make xp.  It can be time consuming. 
And you will level faster in groups then soloing.  However
for those times when you just can’t find a group or don’t have long to
play, buff up pull out your arrows and go to work knowing you can still
get something done and have some fun while doing it.

Kiting is an art. And as with
most arts the more you practice the better you become.  Be
prepared to die a lot early on.  Be prepared to get
frustrated.  Be prepared to have people screaming at
you to call for help as you kite around 3 reds.  And
finally be prepared for that moment when you drop that heroic group of
oranges or that yellow double up and turn to those people and say
“sorry I was kiting and couldn’t type but thanks for the offer of
help!”

Those are the moments that
make being a Ranger supreme.  Remember you are a
Ranger, master of long distance combat.  Use that to
your advantage and I promise you’ll accomplish things that will leave
you and those around you in shock.

Well now I’m
off to Norrath, if you see a crazy ranger with a backpack full or
arrows running around in a panic while being chased by a group of Reds,
that’s me and no I don’t need help =).

Nial Bladestorm

33rd Ranger

Antonia Bayle

Disclaimer- Avoid Orange
con casters like the plague.  Especially Mystic
types.  If you can’t burn them down with 2 or 3 ca’s
they’ll tear you apart every time.   I promise.