Questions & Grievances

[MadLordOfMilk]

I've had a Ranger for a couple weeks, overall pretty fun and a nice change of pace, and have a few questions (lower down). Also, one thing bugged me, and that's the fact that one has to be about the same distance from every mob (fairly close at that) to be able to maximise DPS by being able to use both ranged and melee CAs. It makes the fact that we even use bows in the first place almost pointless when you couple in the fact that a lot of dungeons are fairly cramped <span>:smileysad:</span>Now, with the current game mechanics, we need melee attacks to be able to solo and for cramped conditions... but I've gotten to thinking.<ol><li>CA range should really be based off of the range of w/e bow one is using - obviously the game code probably doesn't allow for this as-is, but it would make a lot more sense. Bows' ranges vary from what, 25-50m depending on the bow? Obviously some skills might need to have a capped distance, but simple damage CAs shouldn't.</li><li>Having a split between melee and ranged CAs makes it a smidge odd to have the range in the first place, mechanics-wise (except in the case of avoiding raid AEs), plus it seems like it'd be hell to balance. Imho it would make more sense to have a set of bow CAs and a set of melee CAs, with the melee dealing less damage, and have the abilities share recast timers... that'd be nearly hell to set up hotbar-wise but it would make sense. It'd allow the option of ranged or melee when the situation calls for it, along with them both to be able to be balanced as opposed to balancing based on when it's possible to use ranged and melee CAs. The problem is, it'd be a really big change (and if not done right it - but it does make sense to use something similar as a way to allow ranged damage without gimping melee damage.</li><ol><li>To clarify: have enough melee and enough ranged CAs w/shared recasts to allow one to stay at ranged or at melee without having to move to be able to do <i>something</i> inbetween auto-attacks. I know I'll be getting more abilities to use at range, but at range most of the time it seems like I'm firing off a few CAs then sit there auto-attacking for a while.... with 7sec between auto-attacks... kinda gives the "you're not doing anything" feeling.</li><li>If anything, this'd make sense for lower level chars to have something to do other than melee... because honestly, right now, a low level Ranger versus a Ranger at higher levels is nothing alike, which goes completely against the idea of starting off at lv1. It may not be a problem at higher levels but it seems like it right now.</li></ol></ol>Alright, now for a few <b>questions</b>:<ol><li>Does STR increase ranged damage? Going by the description in the tooltip, it doesn't, but I've been told it does. Just looking for clarification.</li><li>Why can't arrows be summoned in-combat? From a roleplaying perspective it makes sense, but from a gameplay perspective it seems like an unnecessary hinderance, particularly for the case of long fights (IE raids, low DPS groups, things of that nature), and when not in a grouping situation w/quick killing it makes the ability even less useful when you have to wait a minute or two past the recast timer. It's got a 3sec cast time anyway; the point is to save money and to allow a greater supply of arrows, obviously, or for use when you're out, so I can't see where in-/out-of-combat use comes into play here at all.</li><li>At higher levels, is there still a lack of things to keep you busy while at range? Like I mentioned earlier, after I get my 6-7 ranged CAs off, I'm literally standing there doing nothing waiting for either another CA to come up or for my long bow's timer to go. This even happens when going straight melee - once again coming back to "you have to stand X distance from the mob to do everything" point I made earlier.</li><li>I don't mind mixing up ranged & melee CAs, but the moving around seems to make me pull a lot of adds (and I pay attention, I just can't stand my screen being über-zoomed out just so I don't aggro something in a cramped dungeon, not to mention the camera often hits the ceiling so I can't even zoom it out enough to effectively see what's behind me. Any suggestions? It wouldn't be as bad if tanks would ever spin the mobs, but between tanks getting rooted (on that note, why does everything and its grandmother in dungeons seem to root what its attacking now?) and tanks who don't listen, it doesn't happen nearly as often as it should. Also, I have trouble getting a line of sight in some areas, also contributing to the problem, but that's not really something that can be fixed much by playstyle.</li><li>Is crafting your own arrows cheaper than buying them from a vendor, and if so by how much? Oh, and please answer the question I asked, "It would take a long time to make that many arrows." is not relevant to what I want to know <span>:smileytongue:</span></li></ol><span>That's all I've got for now - thanks <span>:smileyhappy: I should probably split this into two posts, but meh, questions shouldn't need to be answered 500 times (though I know they will, 'tis the nature of forums to see the same answers for 20 posts in a row hehe).</span></span><div></div>

[Teksun]

<div><blockquote><hr>MadLordOfMilk wrote:I've had a Ranger for a couple weeks, overall pretty fun and a nice change of pace, and have a few questions (lower down). Also, one thing bugged me, and that's the fact that one has to be about the same distance from every mob (fairly close at that) to be able to maximise DPS by being able to use both ranged and melee CAs. It makes the fact that we even use bows in the first place almost pointless when you couple in the fact that a lot of dungeons are fairly cramped <span>:smileysad:</span>Now, with the current game mechanics, we need melee attacks to be able to solo and for cramped conditions... but I've gotten to thinking.<ol><li>CA range should really be based off of the range of w/e bow one is using - obviously the game code probably doesn't allow for this as-is, but it would make a lot more sense. Bows' ranges vary from what, 25-50m depending on the bow? Obviously some skills might need to have a capped distance, but simple damage CAs shouldn't.</li></ol><font color="#66ff00">Max Range is based of your bow for both CA and autofire. Minimum range is standard no matter what bow you use. I don't see this changing, ever <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></font><ol><li>Having a split between melee and ranged CAs makes it a smidge odd to have the range in the first place, mechanics-wise (except in the case of avoiding raid AEs), plus it seems like it'd be hell to balance. Imho it would make more sense to have a set of bow CAs and a set of melee CAs, with the melee dealing less damage, and have the abilities share recast timers... that'd be nearly hell to set up hotbar-wise but it would make sense. It'd allow the option of ranged or melee when the situation calls for it, along with them both to be able to be balanced as opposed to balancing based on when it's possible to use ranged and melee CAs. The problem is, it'd be a really big change (and if not done right it - but it does make sense to use something similar as a way to allow ranged damage without gimping melee damage.</li><ol><li>To clarify: have enough melee and enough ranged CAs w/shared recasts to allow one to stay at ranged or at melee without having to move to be able to do <i>something</i> inbetween auto-attacks. I know I'll be getting more abilities to use at range, but at range most of the time it seems like I'm firing off a few CAs then sit there auto-attacking for a while.... with 7sec between auto-attacks... kinda gives the "you're not doing anything" feeling.</li><li>If anything, this'd make sense for lower level chars to have something to do other than melee... because honestly, right now, a low level Ranger versus a Ranger at higher levels is nothing alike, which goes completely against the idea of starting off at lv1. It may not be a problem at higher levels but it seems like it right now.</li></ol></ol><font color="#66ff00">You need to find the sweet spot. There is a distance you can get at where you can use both melee and ranged abilities. Of course this is only good in group/raid. Solo you will have to use stuns/roots to get off additional ranged attacks (stun/root, step back, launch CA)</font>Alright, now for a few <b>questions</b>:<ol><li>Does STR increase ranged damage? Going by the description in the tooltip, it doesn't, but I've been told it does. Just looking for clarification.</li></ol><font color="#66ff00">Yes. STR increases autofire and CA's. INT increases poison damage</font><ol><li>Why can't arrows be summoned in-combat? From a roleplaying perspective it makes sense, but from a gameplay perspective it seems like an unnecessary hinderance, particularly for the case of long fights (IE raids, low DPS groups, things of that nature), and when not in a grouping situation w/quick killing it makes the ability even less useful when you have to wait a minute or two past the recast timer. It's got a 3sec cast time anyway; the point is to save money and to allow a greater supply of arrows, obviously, or for use when you're out, so I can't see where in-/out-of-combat use comes into play here at all.</li></ol><font color="#66ff00">It's never been useable in combat. With a 10 minute recast, it shouldn't cause much problem though.</font><ol><li>At higher levels, is there still a lack of things to keep you busy while at range? Like I mentioned earlier, after I get my 6-7 ranged CAs off, I'm literally standing there doing nothing waiting for either another CA to come up or for my long bow's timer to go. This even happens when going straight melee - once again coming back to "you have to stand X distance from the mob to do everything" point I made earlier.</li><li>I don't mind mixing up ranged & melee CAs, but the moving around seems to make me pull a lot of adds (and I pay attention, I just can't stand my screen being über-zoomed out just so I don't aggro something in a cramped dungeon, not to mention the camera often hits the ceiling so I can't even zoom it out enough to effectively see what's behind me. Any suggestions? It wouldn't be as bad if tanks would ever spin the mobs, but between tanks getting rooted (on that note, why does everything and its grandmother in dungeons seem to root what its attacking now?) and tanks who don't listen, it doesn't happen nearly as often as it should. Also, I have trouble getting a line of sight in some areas, also contributing to the problem, but that's not really something that can be fixed much by playstyle.</li></ol><font color="#66ff00">As above. Find the sweet spot. It's really easy to find. Just watch your icons until they are useable.</font><ol><li>Is crafting your own arrows cheaper than buying them from a vendor, and if so by how much? Oh, and please answer the question I asked, "It would take a long time to make that many arrows." is not relevant to what I want to know <span>:smileytongue:</span></li></ol><font color="#66ff00">Crafting arrows is probably cheaper, but if you are going to craft for use, I would sugget poisons. Just summon arrows while you are crafting, and you should have plenty. If you do plan on TSing, remember you have to keep your TS level >= to your class level, which is usually a PITA.</font><span>That's all I've got for now - thanks <span>:smileyhappy: I should probably split this into two posts, but meh, questions shouldn't need to be answered 500 times (though I know they will, 'tis the nature of forums to see the same answers for 20 posts in a row hehe).</span></span><div></div><hr></blockquote></div>

[xandez]

<div></div><div></div><blockquote><hr>Teksun wrote:<div><font color="#ff9900">Just some minor additions (and my opinions)  to Teksun:s answer</font><blockquote><font color="#66ff00">Max Range is based of your bow for both CA and autofire. Minimum range is standard no matter what bow you use. I don't see this changing, ever <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></font><font color="#ff9900">Selection line and SoA have a set max distance value. Others are just like you said, bow dependant. (iirc) </font><font color="#66ff00">You need to find the sweet spot. There is a distance you can get at where you can use both melee and ranged abilities. Of course this is only good in group/raid. Solo you will have to use stuns/roots to get off additional ranged attacks (stun/root, step back, launch CA)</font><font color="#ff9900">Yes , the sweat spot helps a lot. However, it not mandatory if you like to do mucho bow CA:s, just dont be too far away... In normal grouping, the mobs usually die so fast it doesnt matter if your in the sweet spot or not. But, if the fights last a bit longer, it will increase your DPS.</font><font color="#66ff00">Yes. STR increases autofire and CA's. INT increases poison damage<font color="#ff9900">STR also increases our offensive proc dmg. </font></font><font color="#66ff00">Crafting arrows is probably cheaper, but if you are going to craft for use, I would sugget poisons. Just summon arrows while you are crafting, and you should have plenty. If you do plan on TSing, remember you have to keep your TS level >= to your class level, which is usually a PITA.<font color="#ff9900">I would also suggest an alchemist, but if you really want to support youc char in the most efficient way... Its just like Teksun said, you have to be >= to your class level. </font></font><span></span></blockquote></div><hr></blockquote><font color="#ff9900">++Xan</font><p>Message Edited by xandez on <span class=date_text>09-14-2006</span> <span class=time_text>12:24 PM</span>

[Imlach]

<P>most of your questions has been answered quite wisely by others,</P> <P> </P> <P>i just would like to add, having an end game alchemist myself, that should be your TS to go... crafting your own potions/poisons is a treasure plus Alchemists do have a steady income much better than a woodworker... </P>