Shadow Knight with a Ranger Question...

[Umbrari]

<DIV>I play a lv26 Shadow Knight Dark Elf, and i was thinking of making an alt...its not that i'm bored with Aeseir, its just that some times its good to get back to the basics or a completely different outlook on playing the game...also i have a very limited friends basis and no guild.  So i find myself wondering aimlessly becuase it becomes less interesting soloing as i level.  (plus all the fun stuff is heroic group stuff)...so to attempt to compensate for that time i tried crafting, lv15 Outfitter right now and boy is it boring...so alt is my idea.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>(enough of the long winded explanation)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In real life i spend a great deal of time doing two main things:  </DIV> <DIV>Martial Arts (mainly close range and swordsmanship) and Archery</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So, i didnt want to play another fighter because this char would level slow...i got to group with a ranger yesterday and got to thinking....</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I like to play evil chars but assassins arent really archers....is Ranger the dominent archery class, and is there no way to be evil?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also can some people let me know some interesting facts they stumbled upon, i dont want to invest time then find out i hate the class...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thank you for your time</DIV> <DIV>Aeseir</DIV>

[Axxon]

<P>I play a 31 SK and a 27 Ranger, among other alts.  I also am not bored with SK, but I have been playing nothing but the Ranger for the past few days.  They really are completely different tactics, and I think you will enjoy the change.  To answer your question, yes - Rangers are the masters of archery.  Read some of the posts here:  once you get up in levels, using archery and kiting techniques can allow you to do things that heavy armor and a paultry 25 hit point lifetap cannot.  </P> <P>Add to that tracking, stealth (upgrade to the high speed stealth trait when you can) nice melee skills, ability to use poison (nice DPS there) run buffs and 3 second group evac, and you have a very nice and fun class to play.  Being able to solo quests like Relics for Aldorad in SH and Calling in the Forest in Nek at level 25 is not too shabby.</P> <P>I hope you decide to try ranger.  Next to my SK, it is the class I play the most.  Like I said, this past week has been nothing but Ranger time.  </P> <P>Good luck!</P>

[Blackin_DeMast]

<P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffcc>Some perspective from a level 47 Woodelven Ranger...</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffcc>I read 99% of the whines on this forum and usually just shake my head and laugh to myself. All the folks screaming that the sky is falling for Rangers, that we're gimped, that we don't have this or that, that something's broken, etc, etc, etc, etc...</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffcc>I dearly love my class and have a blast playing it. I can easily solo yellow/orange solo mobs, green ^^ usually with ease as well. We get tons of nifty utility things, like free runspeed, great invis so we can wander all over the place safely, safefall so we can jump from the top of the Sears Tower without hurting ourselves and yes.... we are the ONLY masters of the bow. Assassins are supposedly our evil counterparts, but they don't have near the bow skills we do. All scouts get at least a couple of bow skills to use for some decent DPS, but then all scouts are split after that. Assassins get a HUGE backstab skill that almost makes up for the rest of our bow skills.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffcc>At lvl 47, I have 8 separate Bow skills I can use, provided i'm in a group. If not in a group, I can usually get off about 5 before having to yank blades. We also have a decent array of melee skills we can use. In a group, I rarely just sit there and swing. There are more than enough skills to keep me using one almost at all times. These skills, at 47, are hitting from anywhere around 150-200 up to 1000 points. Then, remember we get buffs that will allow us to hit up to 3 times on a single swing. AND… don’t for get poison. Poison is good for tons of damage! Hell, I’d say 15% if not more is done by poison alone during a fight.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffcc>And Evac… You’d be amazed how handy Evac is in some circumstances. The crapola hits the fan? You’re outta there in 3 seconds. Need to do the JBoot runs? Almost impossible on some of them without Evac. </FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffcc>Ever need to find a mob or NPC really bad and frustrated as hell cause you’ve no idea where they are? Tracking. I keep it up at ALL times.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#ffffcc size=3>Wanna play a evil Ranger? Just betray!! I betrayed a Dark Elf Warrior over to Qeynos within a couple evenings. Biggest pain is the 500 Gnolls you have to kill. Time consuming basically.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ffffcc><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Hope some of this helps you decide on whether or not you’re cut out to be a Ranger.<SPAN>  </SPAN></FONT><SPAN><SPAN>J</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>

[Bayler_x]

<DIV>One thing you should know ahead of time: We don't really become archers much until our late 20's.  Before then, we only have one or two ranged combat arts - used mostly for pulling; and ranged autoattack on its own isn't too spectacular.  Once you get Triple Shot at 28, though, you've got a strong bow CA arsenal, and it just keeps getting better from there.</DIV>

[Umbrari]

Yes, i can see that i can play a Dark Elf Ranger that lives in Quenos but in all honesty i'm in love with Freeport, i like the way its set up very much, so there is no way for me to play a Dark Elf Ranger who lives in freeport?

[Blackin_DeMast]

Not that I;m aware of. :smileysad:

[Davilan]

<DIV>Yeah there is no way to do that. You have to worship the queen and listen to annoying feminine fairy NPC men asking u to hear them sing (ie willow wood) as u run by :smileymad: Thats why I live in the wild :smileyvery-happy: Ranger is far worth the such small annoyances :smileywink:</DIV>

[Gareorn]

<DIV>"and listen to annoying feminine fairy NPC men asking u to hear them sing (ie willow wood) as u run by <IMG height=16 src="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-mad.gif" width=16 border=0>"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hail him, and he'll give you a very easy 5 minute quest that shuts him up.  Dang that guy is annoying...as a matter of fact, maybe people will pay good gold to learn how to shut him up.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anyway, back to the topic.  My main is a Wood Elf Ranger and my secodary is a Troll SK.  I love playing both, but the ranger just simply rocks.  I was hoping the EQ2 SK was going to be a cool as the EQ1 SK, oh well.  To be a DE ranger you have to betray at or before level 17.  Watching a DE turn a mob into a pin cushion would be really cool.  I know we have many DE rangers, but I don't get the opportunity to group with other rangers much.</DIV>

[Davilan]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Gareorn wrote:<BR> <DIV>"and listen to annoying feminine fairy NPC men asking u to hear them sing (ie willow wood) as u run by <IMG height=16 src="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-mad.gif" width=16 border=0>"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hail him, and he'll give you a very easy 5 minute quest that shuts him up.  Dang that guy is annoying...as a matter of fact, maybe people will pay good gold to learn how to shut him up.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anyway, back to the topic.  My main is a Wood Elf Ranger and my secodary is a Troll SK.  I love playing both, but the ranger just simply rocks.  I was hoping the EQ2 SK was going to be a cool as the EQ1 SK, oh well.  To be a DE ranger you have to betray at or before level 17.  Watching a DE turn a mob into a pin cushion would be really cool.  I know we have many DE rangers, but I don't get the opportunity to group with other rangers much.</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>NO WAY!! WOOHOO!! Thanks man, finally get to shut him up!

[Umbrari]

<DIV>Well i already have a Dark Elf Shadow Knight so i'd probably play a Iksar Ranger, think that would be interesting...umm how do you do the betrayal quests i've heard of them but never seen them...</DIV>

[Axxon]

<P>Look in the quest search at <A href="http://www.eq2.ogaming.com" target=_blank>www.eq2.ogaming.com</A>.  It has a nice walk through.</P> <P> </P>

[Blackin_DeMast]

<P>As a side note... if you JUST want to be a Dark Elf Ranger and don't care which city you gate to, then just make whatever class you WANT and goto Nek Castle and get teh Guise of Deciever. It's not all that hard to get with a decent group, and it's a cast-on-the-fly Dark-Elf illusion. I use mine all the time. Normally, if I'm in a dominate evil group, I'll kick it on for roleplay.</P> <P>Just a thought.</P> <P> </P> <P>Black</P>

[Ahlspiess]

<P>Yep rangers are THE archery class.</P> <P>Assassins get 3 archery CA's Two being 3 second cast making them effectively the solo/kite skills. One primarily a group skill since it is a 1 second cast backshot.</P> <P>Ranger's will solo better because of more archery skills. Since scouts have [Removed for Content] poor AC and you want to keep your distance unless you have no choice. Assassin's are close combat. I selected Assassin because in a enclosed environment both classes will have difficulty with bow skills and Assassin's are more heavily melee. However, Ranger's kill monsters in solo much faster.</P>

[Blackin_DeMast]

<P>Ahlspiess is almost correct, but I think describes it a bit unfairly.<BR></P> <BLOCKQUOTE><EM></EM> <HR> Ahlspiess wrote: I selected Assassin because in a enclosed environment both classes will have difficulty with bow skills and Assassin's are more heavily melee. However, Ranger's kill monsters in solo much faster. <BR><EM></EM> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Yes, we'll be a bit more efficient at solo than an Assassin, well, most scout classes for that matter, but doesn't make us much less deadly in close combat in a group situation. Assassins get one VERY large backstab skill that we don't get. Otherwise, we're almost exactly the same from behind the mob. And running a parse shows that in a group, they get maybe 10-15% more DPS than we do. If given an extra 10 feet to step back and unleash our 7-8 bow skllls and then step back in and continue melee, we're untouchable as far as DPS except by Wizard/Warlock.</P> <P>More folks need to run parsers and they'd see that all the folks screaming that the sky is falling and scouts get outdone by Zerkers, Monks and Furys and such... well, not Rangers.  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  We just need a few feet to step back, load our gattlin gun.... errr.... bow... and we're quite deadly compared to any other melee class. I have no clue what the whiners complain about honestly.</P> <P>And yes, in a solo environment, if I can start out behind a mob and have about 50-75 feet to run backwards, I can generally take down Orange solo mobs. Red if I'm paying attention. Green ^^ usually are no issue, but we tend to have more problems with ^^. Not sure why. Maybe cause they are just triple hitpoint mobs and take longer to kill. Scouts thrive off their ability to do severe damage quickly so they don't HAVE to rely on their gear to keep them alive. In a longer solo fight, we lack pretty bad. That's why you see Tanks regularly soloing blue and even ^^ mobs with ease and Scouts are stuck trying to do the green ^^.</P> <P>**Shrug**</P> <P>Ramblings of Blackan DiMaster</P> <P> </P> <P><EM>Blackan - 47 Ranger of Toxx</EM></P>

[Tazzrin]

<DIV>Yes assassins get multiple bow abilities. One of which lowers the poison mitigation of a mob by a lot. Assassins are the melee wizards of EQ2.</DIV>