First observations post LU20

[dbmoreland]

First in brief intro. I am a "casual player" (<20 hours per week play time), level 55 in mostly legendary equiptment, mostly adept 3 CAs. I play about 1/2 of the time solo, most of the rest in groups varying from duo with my RL wife (a lvl 52 Ill) to a full "classic" (tank, healer, Ill, me, etc) guild group. I also raid about once per week with our guild.Given the other posts that I have seen I am not sure I am playing the same game as the rest of you. While I have noticed a decrease in my DPS, mostly due to the much lower proc rate of my poisons and the effective loss of my quick shot proc, I CAN still solo the same mobs that I did pre LU20.At level 55 I have found that the tears grifters quests are some of the most challenging content because you have to kill some of the toughest solo mobs (i.e. those mobs designed for an individual, ranging from a group of 4 down arrow blues to a single one up arrow yellow) in a very tight space in order to complete these quests.While I can no longer walk in and start spraying the entire room with arrows and watch the mobs drop like flies I CAN, with a little extra thought and planning (and by using EVERY SINGLE ONE of my CAs) solo these quests easily, consistantly and reliably.Cheap shot WORKS for the same 6 or 2 seconds that it did pre LU20. Thorny Trap WORKS, it held the mobs I did not hit for the same amount of time it did pre LU20. If I hit a mob it broke for THAT MOB, the same as it did pre LU20.If you go into melee you MUST use your defensive stance or you WILL take a pounding. There is a SIGNIFICANT difference in the MOBS DPS between your offensive and defensive stance.We DID loose ONE CA that used to work "on the move", Dibilitating arrow can no longer be fired "on the move". This is indeed a significant loss, no question about it. I frequently used this on “up arrow mobs” after cheapshoting them as it was one of only two CAs (sharp shot being the other) that I could get off during the 2 seconds the mob was stuned.  However Culling the Herd and Storm of Arrows BOTH still work "on the move".IMHO the key to playing a ranger post LU20 is to understand that while you CAN still kill white no arrow solo mobs (those encounters DESIGNED for an individual) it WILL take a little longer, you WILL need to "set up" to do it, and you will have to take a short break between each encounter to "prepare" for the next one. The days of killing orange triple up heroics are over. The days of killing 100s of solo mobs without a thought or a break are over. But you CAN solo those mobs DESIGNED to be killed by individuals easily, consistantly and reliably, just not as quickly as before LU20.While there have been some significant changes to my ranger with LU20 I am still able to kill the mobs that I should be able to kill and because I actualy have to think a little more about each encounter I am having MORE fun playing my ranger at least for now. Hopefully tonight I will be able to find a guild group and see how the LU20 changes effect my ranger in that setting.<div></div>

[Nimana]

<div></div><div></div><div><div>For some reason, the posters expressing the least dissatisfaction with their solo ability post LU20 all seem to have rangers in their 50s (Sphiriah, Tobann, myself). Ieafnin expressed in one of his posts that "Old World/DoF mobs are not the same as KoS mobs.  I tested for two hours in several DoF zones before making the purchase of KoS confident that things were nearly not as bad as was stated.  Then I got intoTT things got bad quick [...]"  <a target="_blank" href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=39&message.id=23191&view=by_date_ascending&page=2">http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=39&message.id=23191&view=by_date_ascending&page=2</a> </div><div>It does seem that rangers are having less luck soloing in KoS than in DoF. Guess we need more data to conclude on this issue though...</div></div><p>Message Edited by Nimanael on <span class="date_text">02-22-2006</span><span class="time_text">10:01 AM</span></p>

[Ty Rohan]

<div></div>cheers for you i was thinking the same as watching a wiz solo the names in the clefts without any agro from surrounding mobs your feel good post makes me feel all peachy and fuzzy inside.....oh yeah did your ranger even ever solo those pre lu20 if he did i would like to know how because my lvl 60 couldnt lol

[Kthaara]

<div></div>I too would be curious to know which ^^^ Orange Heroic mobs your 55 Ranger could easily solo.

[dbmoreland]

Sorry that my sarcastic comment was misinterpreted. I have NEVER been able to reliably solo ANY triple up heroic mobs, much less orange ones. It appeared to me that several other posters seemed to think that they SHOULD be able to and in fact used to be able to solo HEROIC mobs pre LU20.As for conjurers I have ALWAYS felt that they have been able to out perform me in both solo AND group situations. I have NEVER been #1 DPS CONSISTANTLY. I was ALWAYS in a DPS race with wizards, warlocks, conjurers and necros. If I had ALL of my CAs up and fired all of them as fast as I possibly could and was using the absolute best poisons and got better than average proc rates I could manage to come in #1 DPS on SOME of the fights. But EVERY one NEVER. I wasn't #1 even 50% of the time. Did I EVER out DPS them, yes, but not to the point where it was Ranger #1 all others 0 the way some posters have seemed to indicate.And yes I have been very frustrated in Clefts watching a level 50 conj SOLO the three names for the blades quest CONSTANTLY whereas I could NEVER get the setup I need to even ATTEMPT it ONCE.But, do I think the Ranger is DEAD as a class because of all of the "nerfs", NO!!! I still enjoy playing him very much because now instead of waiding through unlimited blue mobs with impunity I actualy have the THINK about how to play the game again for the first time since Sept. Do I think they went too far, yes. Up arrow mobs, even those DESIGNED for indivuduals are a very dicey situation thanks to the reduced effect of cheap shot and having only ONE ranged CA that you can use on the run from the front, and that one is designed to be used vs a GROUP of mobs NOT vs a single mob. This game just got a LOT harder to play as a Ranger. Personaly I take that as a challenge not a reason to quit.<div></div>

[BSbon]

<div></div><p>My ranger is level 45 and has no trouble soloing provided i use my CAs as they were attended. I never used poison before the update so i was already using all of them. maybe the rangers that can solo should post their tactics for soloing then everyone can benefit.</p><p>bongo</p>

[Vlath]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>dbmoreland wrote: This game just got a LOT harder to play as a Ranger. Personaly I take that as a challenge not a reason to quit.<div></div><hr></blockquote><p>Finally , somone with a good attitude. Its refreshing to know that people like you exist. I was thinking that this board was full of teens with the "take my ball and leave" attitude.</p><p>YOU are worthy to play on the PVP server, if you arent, I hope you consider it!! Cheers!!</p>