Introduction

[sjwrai]

<DIV>I am pretty new to EQ2 (2 weeks) and the first charachter I rolled was a ranger.  Now Im lvl 22 and been floating around quite nicely, using the skills I have learned in other games, namely DAOC, to accomplish my goals.  Most important in any MMORPG is to eliminate downtime.  The faster you kill and move on, the quicker you will lvl.  plain and simple.  Mostly I got in good groups in BB, run quests, and solo's when need be.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I really like being a ranger, I can do almost anything I want to do, and when I get bored, I can go explore places most other classes cant see without an army.  (My wild run through dry river basin in Steppes at lvl 20 all the way to Coldwind cove.  Not so much sneak as pathfinding and modest use of sprint, but fun none the less).  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kiting.  Never really believed in it.  seemed counter productive in most games I have played and more or less cheating,  My buddy gave me the settlers long bow, and I hit with maeslyns crit shot for about 270, get in a wounding shot, then melee out.  no muss no fuss.  Im sure it wil get better as I get new archery skills.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Poison.  I admit to being a noob here.  Havent even looked into using em.  But after reading a couple posts about em, I may start working a trade skill for alchemy.  Sounds like Poisons make life a lot easier for my ranger.  (working on Aq4 and those scarabs and shrillers are actually kinda tough to solo.)  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Fun spells.  are these purely for looks?  I bought the falcon thing, and I thought it would be some cheap little fodder, maybe a couple extra points of damage.  But nope.  Nada  <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I was in a group the other day with 3 rangers and a healer.  Wow.  Uber damage.  very nice.  I was thinking that 4 rangers and a warden and a fury would make like the ultimate uber group.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Welp, thats just about it.  Just thought I would chime in while the servers are down.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Peace</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kaile</DIV> <DIV>22lvl Ranger</DIV> <DIV>Kithicor server</DIV>

[Jay]

<P>Heya Kaile, welcome to the fold. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Glad to hear you're enjoying your first steps along the path. If you're having fun now, you're gonna love the next 30 levels or so. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </P> <P>Sounds like you're totally on the right track, but you MUST buy poisons, my good man. They're not just helpful, they're considered essential. Our DPS is calculated under the assumption we're using it at all times, so you're handicapping yourself if you don't. I'd recommend stopping at an alchemist and picking up a vial of the red stuff and a vial of the purple stuff. The red is high direct-damage and low damage-over-time; the purple is the opposite. The high DoT poison is technically the greater total damage IF it completes all procs, but I tend to favor the higher DD poison as it piled most of the damage right up front, so you're not waiting around for all that lovely damage to finish up. </P> <P>Anyway, good to have you onboard; be safe and happy hunting. </P>

[Halade]

agree, can't stress the importance of poison enough.  Also check out the poison section of  <A href="http://www.eq2alchemy.com" target=_blank>www.eq2alchemy.com</A> for some really, really good info on how they work and what to use!  You'll notice a significant increase in damage dealt.