Mystic or Ranger? [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

RDescha

11-05-2009, 09:38 PM

Hey guys, after quitting EQ2 back in 2004 and playing just about every other MMO since then (WoW mostly, AoC, WAR, Aion, you name it) I've decided to come back to EQ2 and try my hand at a pure PvE game for awhile.I'm aware that the population is dwindling, and groups will be sparse, however most classes can solo now.That being said, I'm aware of the way Mystics solo as melee, and that they solo fairly well.My questions are:1) Will a ranger be desirable at later levels/level cap? I hate to play a class that long only to be told my gear isn't good enough because I'm new and that they are full on rangers, etc. The mystic I know would have an easier time, but I was just curious about how bad it really is for a DPS class.2) My perception is this: Mystics = better soloing heroic content, Rangers = better soloing/grinding solo content. Is this about accurate?I'm very nostalgic of my old EQ1 shaman, soloing Lodizal and such, and I loved the challenges of camping/killing nameds. I'm assuming a ranger would not have the edge here?Part of my attraction to a mystic is seeing myself solo dungeons and things so I can see all the content (since grouping is dead, from what I read).I know it's going to be mostly a solo grind, and I know now the mystic does most the tanking for itself, which I don't think I'd mind. The ranger sounds very versatile and well, rangery, and like it might be a lot of fun.Any other thoughts or advice is appreciated. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Banditman

11-06-2009, 10:49 AM

<cite>RDeschain wrote:</cite><blockquote>1) Will a ranger be desirable at later levels/level cap? I hate to play a class that long only to be told my gear isn't good enough because I'm new and that they are full on rangers, etc. The mystic I know would have an easier time, but I was just curious about how bad it really is for a DPS class.Ranger is just about the worst. There are already a lot of them, and nobody really needs more than one. On the other hand, Mystics are very much in demand at end game. Certainly, you won't get asked to groups for your DPS, because you'll be one of the premier healers in the game.2) My perception is this: Mystics = better soloing heroic content, Rangers = better soloing/grinding solo content. Is this about accurate?I'm very nostalgic of my old EQ1 shaman, soloing Lodizal and such, and I loved the challenges of camping/killing nameds. I'm assuming a ranger would not have the edge here?If it can be snared, a Ranger can kill it, period. Rangers need room to work however, so solo'ing dungeons is not really all that attractive to them. Mystics can, when properly geared and fully AA'ed, kill some pretty impressive stuff. We are very reliant on our gear and AA's.Part of my attraction to a mystic is seeing myself solo dungeons and things so I can see all the content (since grouping is dead, from what I read).Grouping is dead, prior to the level cap (currently 80). At the level cap, and even a few levels before, grouping is very much alive and well. So long as you push your AA's hard, you'll be able to solo dungeons on your way up. Try to have about 30-35 AA's by level 20, then go for 2 to 2.5 AA's per adventure level. This will keep you ridiculously strong in white / blue / green heroic content. Yellow gets a bit harder and orange heroics will still probably kill you.I know it's going to be mostly a solo grind, and I know now the mystic does most the tanking for itself, which I don't think I'd mind. The ranger sounds very versatile and well, rangery, and like it might be a lot of fun.Any other thoughts or advice is appreciated. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>

Sprin

11-09-2009, 03:43 PM

<cite>Banditman wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>RDeschain wrote:</cite><blockquote>1) Will a ranger be desirable at later levels/level cap? I hate to play a class that long only to be told my gear isn't good enough because I'm new and that they are full on rangers, etc. The mystic I know would have an easier time, but I was just curious about how bad it really is for a DPS class.Ranger is just about the worst. There are already a lot of them, and nobody really needs more than one. On the other hand, Mystics are very much in demand at end game. Certainly, you won't get asked to groups for your DPS, because you'll be one of the premier healers in the game.Ranger provides almost ZERO group utility, only one lousy Temp DPS boost, and its not that graeat for the group, only you. Your strictly DPS, and a lot of classes provide both DPS AND utility, some of them are scouts, so people being greedy dont want to have mroe then one scout in their group and usually opt for a highish DPS / high utility class vs a pure DPS class... Raids will have 1 Ranger and thats about it, unless they are lacking in other DPS / utility classes. Mystics have great group buffs and are ubar healers... desireability is super high for both groups and raids, especially if your well geared and skilled at your class. That being said, ranger is much more fun to solo then mystics IMHO2) My perception is this: Mystics = better soloing heroic content, Rangers = better soloing/grinding solo content. Is this about accurate?I'm very nostalgic of my old EQ1 shaman, soloing Lodizal and such, and I loved the challenges of camping/killing nameds. I'm assuming a ranger would not have the edge here?If it can be snared, a Ranger can kill it, period. Rangers need room to work however, so solo'ing dungeons is not really all that attractive to them. Mystics can, when properly geared and fully AA'ed, kill some pretty impressive stuff. We are very reliant on our gear and AA's.Dungeons are a rangers nightmare... (solo that is) small confined spaces and multiple mobs in the same area make for a hellish long and tedious fight. Open world content = cant much you cant kill.. Orange con named mobs in the open, as long as they can be snared, they can be killed by a ranger... Just remember to cris cross the mob in the general area where they spawn, or else they leash and you have to start over. Remember mystics dont get roots, so if the mob hits hard enough to one shot your ward, you will have trouble with it. They have one AA line melee root, but if your relying on that to keep the mob at a distance so you can live, chances are you will fail at the fight. Luckily most content in lower tiers is in open areas. Stormhold, Blackburrow, Wailing Caves, Fallen Gate etc are the exceptions, but you dont need to go there to get level really.. and with Self mentoring now, you can just go there when its all gray except the names and kite the names around in there, without the worry of other mobs aggroing you in the process.Part of my attraction to a mystic is seeing myself solo dungeons and things so I can see all the content (since grouping is dead, from what I read).Grouping is dead, prior to the level cap (currently 80). At the level cap, and even a few levels before, grouping is very much alive and well. So long as you push your AA's hard, you'll be able to solo dungeons on your way up. Try to have about 30-35 AA's by level 20, then go for 2 to 2.5 AA's per adventure level. This will keep you ridiculously strong in white / blue / green heroic content. Yellow gets a bit harder and orange heroics will still probably kill you.Do quests and kill mobs for the quests and with the current XP gain you can get, especially if you have other lvl 80 toons. Leveling is fast and easy. You can always mentor down and roam the lands and kill named mobs that you missed later, at 80/90 and of course it will be exponentially easier to do at 80/90.I know it's going to be mostly a solo grind, and I know now the mystic does most the tanking for itself, which I don't think I'd mind. The ranger sounds very versatile and well, rangery, and like it might be a lot of fun.Of course AA's make a huge differnce in both classes, but remember this, a ranger doesnt get real "rangery" until lvl 44ish, when you get your first frontal based big snare / attack on a short reuse time and the use of Fettering poisons (at lvl 40 for these) before that, a single rear snare and a kinda junky frontal snare / debuff on a longish recast timer makes it difficult at times to really kill things before they get to you... Once you get fettering and Snaring shot (frontal ranged snare with 5 second reuse, 75% snare grandmastered at 44) its a whole new ball game and 99.9% of mobs are dead before they get to you...Mystics with very little AA can be quite powerfull melee artists, its been a while since I played my mystic, but it was my first toon to 80 and it wasnt painfull at all, even back then when there wasn't as much XP being given out for killing things. With the Proper AA setup, you can have all your attacks converted to melee attacks with 11 AA points spent, and get 100 percent melee crit with another 17 (Total of 28 points and your rocking some decent DPS), and then you work on the end line abilities in both those categories (AGI line on shaman tree, and Weapon Mastery / "Combat" line on Mystic tree) so with a total of 45 AA points you have both those lines finished and you can breeze through content with some ubar DPS goin on.Your first 28 points should look like this: (I prefer to get the melee attacks first and then go for crit, because if you have 100 percent crit melee but no melee attacks to use, its kinda worthless... auto attak at low levels will account for VERY VERY VERY little of your overall DPS, and the difference between a crit melee attack and non crit melee attack while your waiting for your AGI tree to fill up is not very significant... others prefer to get 100 crit first, though I have yet to figure out why... get your melee attacks first so killing is fast and you can get your next 17 AA points a lot faster / easier IMHO) Combat Tree in Mystic Tree FIRST and AGI tree SECOND.... trust meMystic Combat Tree looks like: 3 / 3 3 | | 1 1Shaman AGI Tree looks like: 1 AGI 4 4 8Then start filling the lines up after you have 100 percent crit and your 4 melee attacks ( plus your melee root from AGI tree)Any other thoughts or advice is appreciated. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></blockquote></blockquote>

Kayso

11-13-2009, 01:53 AM

I aint seen a ranger solo Bugaboo (epic 80x2 in unrest yet) ..... Mystic YESI aint seen a ranger solo COA yet... Mystic YESI aint seen a ranger solo OoA in Moors yet... Mystic YesI aint seen a ranger solo SoF yet... Mystic YesI aint seen a ranger solo Deep Forge... Mystic YesInfact thats just the beginning, but 5 examples of what to expectRanger 0 Mystic 5+ (god knows what else is being soloed nowadays)<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iglIPNNlw-E" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iglIPNNlw-E </a>said video there has a mystic stomping on a ranger btw

Sprin

11-13-2009, 01:55 PM

<cite>Jenya wrote:</cite><blockquote>I aint seen a ranger solo Bugaboo (epic 80x2 in unrest yet) ..... Mystic YESI aint seen a ranger solo COA yet... Mystic YESI aint seen a ranger solo OoA in Moors yet... Mystic YesI aint seen a ranger solo SoF yet... Mystic YesI aint seen a ranger solo Deep Forge... Mystic YesInfact thats just the beginning, but 5 examples of what to expectRanger 0 Mystic 5+ (god knows what else is being soloed nowadays)<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iglIPNNlw-E" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iglIPNNlw-E </a>said video there has a mystic stomping on a ranger btw</blockquote>Well I was trying to give a realistic and normal pro vs con of each class.. but I guess him posting in Mystic section he had to expect just getting the unrealistic stuff like this....someone having full set of TSO raid gear, avatar gear, fully mastered with Mythical, fully adorned with every god spell and signet and potion known to man, taking 3 hours to clear a zone... i guess thats realistic comparison of the classes?and like the OP even said, he understands that soloing heroics is much easier on a mystic...personally, since I've never played on a PVE server, I would think being a ranger is probably a bit more boring then being a mystic... ranger provides no utility, no nothing, just pure raw T1 DPS...So if you like sitting back and dropping a metric ton of Damage on a mob in an instance and not having to worry about ANYTHING else in the game at that time, then Ranger is a great choice.If you like group utility, like to have to think on your feet a bit more, like having to "stress out" a bit more... Mystic is the way to go... more dynamic in PVE... more things to worry about, more things to do at once... especially in Raid... cross raid healing / curing / reviving... death saves, emergency heals, when to buff, who to buff. etc etc...Mystic plays a much stronger and more dynamic roll in this game then a ranger does.... ranger is a pro at killing stuff. nothing more, nothing less... in a raid you will be doing crazy damage and nothing more, nothing less... (depending on the mob and the required strat of course) So I guess the bottom line to the OP is what you would enjoy doing more... doing massive DPS and not worrying about anything else... or having to be the "savior" of the group / raid... and taking on a more proactive role as you play. It's a preference really... a playstyle choice... Sometimes I like playing my mystic or my templar... sometimes I like playing my raner or my swashy... it depends on my mood really.

Kayso

11-13-2009, 05:10 PM

<cite>Ghettoblaster@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote>So I guess the bottom line to the OP is what you would enjoy doing more... doing massive DPS and not worrying about anything else... or having to be the "savior" of the group / raid... and taking on a more proactive role as you play. It's a preference really... a playstyle choice... Sometimes I like playing my mystic or my templar... sometimes I like playing my raner or my swashy... it depends on my mood really.</blockquote>or learn to play a mystic and be both 7,8,9 k dps and keep your group alive while thinking on your feet <--- best of both worlds

Kayso

11-13-2009, 05:13 PM

<cite>Ghettoblaster@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Jenya wrote:</cite><blockquote>I aint seen a ranger solo Bugaboo (epic 80x2 in unrest) ..... Mystic YESI aint seen a ranger solo COA yet... Mystic YESI aint seen a ranger solo OoA in Moors yet... Mystic YesI aint seen a ranger solo SoF yet... Mystic YesI aint seen a ranger solo Deep Forge... Mystic YesInfact thats just the beginning, but 5 examples of what to expectRanger 0 Mystic 5+ (god knows what else is being soloed nowadays)<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iglIPNNlw-E" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iglIPNNlw-E </a>said video there has a mystic stomping on a ranger btw</blockquote>Well I was trying to give a realistic and normal pro vs con of each class.. but I guess him posting in Mystic section he had to expect just getting the unrealistic stuff like this....someone having full set of TSO raid gear, avatar gear, fully mastered with Mythical, fully adorned with every god spell and signet and potion known to man, taking 3 hours to clear a zone... i guess thats realistic comparison of the classes?</blockquote>And this is realistic, 3 or the 5 was happening before TSO came outplus who wouldnt roll around with every pot possible and signet possible? thats just part of the game, use it to your advantage

Sprin

11-16-2009, 06:49 PM

<cite>Jenya wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Ghettoblaster@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote>So I guess the bottom line to the OP is what you would enjoy doing more... doing massive DPS and not worrying about anything else... or having to be the "savior" of the group / raid... and taking on a more proactive role as you play. It's a preference really... a playstyle choice... Sometimes I like playing my mystic or my templar... sometimes I like playing my raner or my swashy... it depends on my mood really.</blockquote>or learn to play a mystic and have avatar gear, full set of TSO raid armor / jewelry and every 30-gold-a-use-potion and food/drink and be put in the melee group and be given all the melee buffs and wear other RAID / AVATAR gear that isn't designed for mystics but you have been farming the zones so long that you can afford to get the DPS gear on your mystic so you can be both 7,8,9 k dps and keep your group alive while thinking on your feet <--- best of both worlds</blockquote>There fixed it for you... you live in a fantasy world... 99% of the mystics cant do what you are saying.... = unrealisticGet off your high horse and stop trying to impress people... it doesn't work... you just sound arrogant and demeaning... essentially saying "anyone that doesn't pump out 9k DPS and can solo heal their group at the same time = L2Play Mystic" when its just because you have the best gear that TSO could possibly have to offer and that isn't available to the vast majority of Mystics.... you think your comments make you sount "uber" they dont... trust me

Kayso

11-17-2009, 03:10 AM

I am saying that its possible (I didnt always have raid gear and what not) hell my solo gear is all rok or WoE crap

Gahnand

12-01-2009, 04:11 PM

<cite>Jenya wrote:</cite><blockquote>I am saying that its possible (I didnt always have raid gear and what not) hell my solo gear is all rok or WoE crap</blockquote>You people should listen to Jenya. I don't play PvP, but I stomp rangers in duels. They don't even stand a chance.As for soloing stuff, I'm not insanely good at this because I do it the easy way by boxing a dirge and illy, but I can clear all of the stuff that Jenya mentioned with my setup. I use the Molton Eidolon T3 set gear except the T4 healm, boots, and bracers. I found that this gives me maximum dps with maximum chances for Savage Healing.