im not surprised given you saying that ranger takes more skill to play then rest of melees
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but that is how you gain more dps with ranger target furthest away with targets in between and do pen shot and atack side with less shields, behind or if its not possible with combo doing finisher hit on side wich doesnt have a shield.
its also usefull that combo starters dont have same initial hit as finisher blow to maintain shields on same side while doing finisher on unshielded, and some particular combo starters have higher damage then others depending on feats and class.