Ranger stats and bow question?

[Ssee]

<DIV>I have searched the boards and just can't find the answer im looking for.   A ranger's primary stat is AGility.  What would the secondary be?  I would assume STRength, but I have also heard that INT is important for power.   But that does not make since to me because I thought Wisdom controled power.  Regardless, Strength would allow rangers to hit harder wouldnt it?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also, i have heard that stats above 200 loose their effectiveness.  Is this true?  Does that mean that once my Agility is at 200 i should focus more on strength?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And finally, Long bow or shor bow.  what's the concensus?  i like long personally, but am wondering about the spead of the short.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>thanks in advance for any advice and answers. </DIV>

[Zholain]

<font size="2">Since the combat update, it is popular opinion ( mine included ) that strength should be your first priority.  Your dps is determined by your strength, including ranged/melee CA's and ranged/melee auto-attack.  We get zero buffs to increase our strength, and several that increase agility.  Oftentimes when raiding, the raid leader will put the best strength-buffing classes in the main tank group ( for various reasons ) leaving you to work with what you brought with you, so to speak.  Strength is essential.  But that doesn't mean that agility isn't important.  Agility is actually what increases our power pool, as well as our avoidance.  If you're grouping a lot, avoidance may not be much of an issue, but if you're soloing it can definitely help although not as much as you might think. Intelligence increases spell damage.  It essentially has no other benefit for a ranger.  Currently, poisoning is considered a spell effect, and increasing intelligence increases the damage of our poisons.  I am not worried about intelligence.  If I get a nice piece from a drop with good int boost, I may use it but I'm not going to go shopping at the broker specifically for int items. The cap for all stats is 7x your level, I believe...so if you're level 20, the cap would be 140.  The benefits don't automatically cease if you go over the cap, but you will see diminishing returns (at least I think it still works this way ). Long bow all the way.  The stats on some short bows may be a bit better, but I don't believe they make up for the chance to get in additional attacks before the mob gets to you. Hope this helps at least a little. </font><div></div>

[Ssee]

Awesome!! thanks for the input.  It is really appreciated.

[Jaince]

Cap at 7x level means just for additional stats, or total?Means at level 20, if i would have 60 Agility and 20 strenght naked, and 140 my cap, would my total cap then be 140 agi and 140 str, or 200 and 160?

[Zholain]

<font size="2">It means that the cap for each individual stat would be 140 regardless of how it is obtained.  It's not the amount of the buffs, but of the stat itself. </font><div></div>