When to invest in Adept CA's

[Kaeldrim]

I have just recently gotten back into EQ2. I used to play a little when it first came out but was discouraged by the amount of grouping required and that would be required the higher level I got (I didn't even get a char past level 13 really). I am glad to see a lot of content is now soloable and I am really looking to try and be a ranger since I find the class the most interesting. Now to my dilema.I have a level 22 ranger and he currently takes a beating. I can barely take on a even conned mob, but any time there is an add I usually have to run. Is this because I do not have anything better than app3 or 4 for most of my skills or am I doing something else wrong? Secondly I know classes get new CA's every few levels that replace old ones. Is it even worth it to invest in adept CA's if I am just going to get a new CA to replace it in a few levels? Lastly (I promise this is the last question) What are some good soloable quests that reward decent gear between 20s and 30s?Oh and I have tried to search for information on this topic but I was unable to find any, so I do apologize if this has been answered before.

[seahawk]

<cite>Kaeldrim@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote>I have just recently gotten back into EQ2. I used to play a little when it first came out but was discouraged by the amount of grouping required and that would be required the higher level I got (I didn't even get a char past level 13 really). I am glad to see a lot of content is now soloable and I am really looking to try and be a ranger since I find the class the most interesting. Now to my dilema.I have a level 22 ranger and he currently takes a beating. I can barely take on a even conned mob, but any time there is an add I usually have to run. Is this because I do not have anything better than app3 or 4 for most of my skills or am I doing something else wrong? Secondly I know classes get new CA's every few levels that replace old ones. Is it even worth it to invest in adept CA's if I am just going to get a new CA to replace it in a few levels? Lastly (I promise this is the last question) What are some good soloable quests that reward decent gear between 20s and 30s?Oh and I have tried to search for information on this topic but I was unable to find any, so I do apologize if this has been answered before.</blockquote><p>Simple answer is yes.  You need to upgrade your arts and gear.  Especially if you solo.  If you don't have the money to buy rares, I suggest harvesting.  The rares you don't use are a nice money maker anyways.  At a minimum, on a pve server, you should have adept 1's.  Anything less makes your life harder.  </p><p>Also, you should always upgrade to the next tier spell.  It will land more often.  Even if the "upgrade" doesn't seem like much.. it is.</p><p> As for where to go at level 22.  I would suggest Butcher Block, Thundering steps and Nektolus forest.  IF you have not done  Timorous Deep yet, go there.  The gear there used to be heads and tails better then many t3 zones and it is a t1-t2 zone.  ( note, since the last game update the t3 zone gear should have scaled.  So check it out before you waste your time there.. unless you need AA. ))</p><p>Edited to add ... I forgot about the armor class quests available at level 20.  If those have scaled with the latest update, they might be worth doing again.  I think the first 2 quests you can solo.  After that, you will need to find groups to finish them.  Unless they have changed the quest.  It's been a long time since I  have done them.</p><p>Last thing.. make sure you are using the best poisons you can buy.</p>

[PRALL]

<p>On your first question, it will always benefit you to keep spells and CAs at at least adept 1 as Seahawk91 stated. However, having soloed most of the way to 52 on my ranger, I can tell you that I didn't always do this and I did ok. At 22, get adept 1 in everything you can, but make sure you prioritize your CAs and do your best buffs and highest damage arts first. That said, I suspect that you may want to try a different technique on your soloing. If you have a hard time with even cons, then I think you should use more ranged arts. I like  to pull with the high damage steath range CA, hit the mob with a leg shot (slows movement) and a triple shot all on the initial pull. From there, I like to snare then stun, then step back and land a couple more ranged CAs. If the mob isn't down by then, you should have no problem from there using melee arts.</p><p>On the second question, the short answer is yes. If you can't afford the upgrade right away, you still want to use the new CA like Seahawk said. At the lower tiers, I believe Adept1 is fine for most arts, and look into one or two adept 3 upgrades on your best and most used arts. Once you get into your 40's or 50s, this will change and you want to get adept3 or better on everything you can IMHO.</p><p>On your last question, I'd say that you should do every quest you can. While working hard on quests with gear rewards is good, doing more quests is better. The reason for this is that while there are some decent armor quests, obtaining AA points is also very vital to the progression of your avatar. Which is easier... relying on gear to boost stats, or having the gear and some AA abilities that will add to your crits and movement speed?  Focus is good, but sometimes you have to take a step back and look at the whole picture.</p><p>Hope this helps, and happy hunting!</p>

[Tommara]

<cite>Kaeldrim@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote>I have just recently gotten back into EQ2. I used to play a little when it first came out but was discouraged by the amount of grouping required and that would be required the higher level I got (I didn't even get a char past level 13 really). I am glad to see a lot of content is now soloable and I am really looking to try and be a ranger since I find the class the most interesting. Now to my dilema.I have a level 22 ranger and he currently takes a beating. I can barely take on a even conned mob, but any time there is an add I usually have to run. Is this because I do not have anything better than app3 or 4 for most of my skills or am I doing something else wrong? Secondly I know classes get new CA's every few levels that replace old ones. Is it even worth it to invest in adept CA's if I am just going to get a new CA to replace it in a few levels? Lastly (I promise this is the last question) What are some good soloable quests that reward decent gear between 20s and 30s?Oh and I have tried to search for information on this topic but I was unable to find any, so I do apologize if this has been answered before.</blockquote><p>Gear and combat art upgrades make a huge difference. </p>

[EverAfterIt]

I'm a 22 ranger as well at the moment and I can kill stuff 3 sometimes 4 levels higher than me solo. I have been killing Single Orange con mobs in TS and leaving with half hit points at least. I made sure I have a set of MC chainmail armor (Steel in the 20's range). I have the bow from the end of TD (captain's or something) and am aiming for Stormfire at 28. I have also used a MC (fir imbued for 20's range) bow, but like my TD bow better.I do not have Adept 3's. I plan on it, but lack the loam so far. I rely on App 4 upgrades for now. I also have MC hand axes (two Steel Imbued). I don't have any jewelry yet either. I use Caustic poison now that I'm 22 (the MC caustic poison). I also have 20 arrows made by myself (woodworker). I start of with Aim, then depending on the position I'm in, I use either backshot or cripple. Then I hit the fire arrow CA (can't recall the name). By then, the mob is either dead or in the red range. If the mob makes it too me, I hit it with the stun and move behind it, hit it with the CA that invis's at the strike and then use the burning guy CA ( why the hell can't I remember the names of these arts? lol ). If he is still alive, hit it with lunge strike ( our little root CA ) then move back slightly and hit with the burning arrow again if it's up. Dead. If there's more then one mob, then you should be able to handle it in similar manner as the melee action stated above.I had a hard time killing multiple things at first too. The MC armor helped alot. The poison helps as well. Also, I've chosen to do my best boosting up STR over AGI (which AGI for me is in 230 range @ lvl 22 and STR is about 190-ish ). This helped me immensely as well. Try it out. I have found timing to be of importance as well. Pay attention to that auto attack bow shot if possible. That auto auto attack can be big hit. The rest of the Rangers were talking right when they say it. (By the way all you more experienced Rangers out there, Thanks for indirectly teaching me a crap load of stuff about Ranger'ing from the forums here and at EQ2 Flames. I sucked as a Ranger badly before investing some evenings reading up on things you've posted <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> )Also, join the world ranger chat channel. There's always rangers in there talking about ranger'ing stuff. I learn stuff by watching the channel too.Practice makes perfect... and good luck with it  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[StealthM0]

<cite>Kaeldrim@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote>I have just recently gotten back into EQ2. I used to play a little when it first came out but was discouraged by the amount of grouping required and that would be required the higher level I got (I didn't even get a char past level 13 really). I am glad to see a lot of content is now soloable and I am really looking to try and be a ranger since I find the class the most interesting. Now to my dilema.I have a level 22 ranger and he currently takes a beating. I can barely take on a even conned mob, but any time there is an add I usually have to run. Is this because I do not have anything better than app3 or 4 for most of my skills or am I doing something else wrong? Secondly I know classes get new CA's every few levels that replace old ones. Is it even worth it to invest in adept CA's if I am just going to get a new CA to replace it in a few levels? Lastly (I promise this is the last question) What are some good soloable quests that reward decent gear between 20s and 30s?Oh and I have tried to search for information on this topic but I was unable to find any, so I do apologize if this has been answered before.</blockquote><p>Ive upgraded everyone of my cas to ad3/m1/m2 even if it was a ca im going to outgrow quickly. it helps that much more to burn through the tier faster, to maximize dps, etc.</p><p>I would say yes, every ca upgrade, except your master 2 choices. And then when you can find them and if they are a good improvement over your ad3, get the master 1 equivalents.</p><p>Poisons as always are excellent for our class. As well as appropriate arrows for the mobs you are facing, i reccomend field point or bodkin for any tier you are in.</p><p>20-30s quests that are good....</p><p>strange black rock</p><p>dwarven work boots</p><p>manastone</p><p>fishbone earring quest</p><p>these are all heritage quests btw.</p><p>i dont know if you are traveling in the ruins of varsoon, or deep stormhold/fallen gate, or what....but these instances are great for gear as well as quests. Stormhold drops a nice 1h sword named the Sword of Thunder, its a very nice weapon quest. Later on in tier 5, you can do another quest named the bone bladed claymore, and the sot can be merged to this weapon and make the electrified bone bladed claymore....a very powerful tier 5 weapon.</p><p> these are just a few of the challenges you could face in the 20-30s range, there are many more. Many many more that i forgot to mention. but these will get you started and help you get some gear....</p><p>the bow out of stormhold i would suggest getting asap, its called vhalens bow or something. been a while since i was t3, sorry. long questline but worth the effort.</p><p>i hope this helps you out on your journeys. also there was a guide stickied here for tier 3 armor quests. try searching around 2005/2006ish....keyword, tier 3 ranger gear....<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>lastly, learn to use your stances in combination with your "buffs", use your aa tree wisely, and pursue whichever tree you wish, most rgrs go agi/str/int in the pred line, and vary greatly in the ranger line. learn what type of dmg your mobs are doing, and use potions to counter the effects when possible. use best gear you can afford, treasured isnt going to protect you much or do much dmg...but legendary, or fabled, will defend and cause much dmg...mc legendary is nice, but on some servers expensive. talk to your local armorer about rare armors, and maybe your local woodworker about a rare bow....good stuff.</p><p>And try different strategies with mobs. Kiting is still a rangers best tactic, although more challenging then it used to be, learn to use your cas in chains to properly debuff, stun, get range and hit your opponents before they get you back to melee. Find the sweet spot on mobs where you can range and melee at the same time. Consider duoing, small grps of 2 or 3, dont need a full grp always.</p><p>hope this helps...</p>