Ranger class is now officially dead as a dps class...

[Chelios]

<p>With the NDA now lifted, it's pretty much a done deal for the ranger class as a viable raid class.  Do not expect tier 1 dps anymore and do not expect anything useful as a utility. Adornments that have flurry and surrounding attacks will greatly help other melee class dps-wise, but not rangers.</p><p><span ><span style="color: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p><p><cite></cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>timetravelling wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The goal w/ the cloaks was certainly not to antagonize rangers. I just wanted to give each archetype a cool semi-unique effect on the cloaks. Fighters and scouts got 4%aeautoattack, priests and mages got 5% maxhp.</p><p>Would y'all prefer the maxhp?</p></blockquote></blockquote><p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Code stuff, the effect simply doesn't work for ranged attacks, sorry!</span></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p>As you can see, we are worthless. Thanks for playing.</p>

[Carpediem]

<p>It's pretty obvious that the devs know nothing about our class at this point despite the fact that we gave over 900 posts of feedback (most classes were at around 200) on what we needed done and multiple paths on how to do it.</p><p>Take a look at recruiting on any of the servers and see how many guilds are looking for a ranger. The answer is 0, zip, none!</p><p>Brenlo was great at giving his little mission statement of working to make sure every class was wanted by a raid force, but did nothing to back this up.</p><p>One player tried sending him an e-mail pleading to do something about this and got an account warning for e-mailing him directly.</p><p>I work with many companies in my job and I have never seen another company treat their customers in this way.</p>

[Sydares]

<p>Pretty much. We got thrown a few bones in the way of removing some of our utterly useless abilities, but the core mechanics of our class are in need of a serious look... and of course, none of those issues were addressed, even the ones that wouldn't have impacted class balance a single iota.</p>

[Striikor]

<p><cite>Chelios wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>With the NDA now lifted, it's pretty much a done deal for the ranger class as a viable raid class.  Do not expect tier 1 dps anymore and do not expect anything useful as a utility. Adornments that have flurry and surrounding attacks will greatly help other melee class dps-wise, but not rangers.</p><p><span></span></p><p><cite></cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>timetravelling wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The goal w/ the cloaks was certainly not to antagonize rangers. I just wanted to give each archetype a cool semi-unique effect on the cloaks. Fighters and scouts got 4%aeautoattack, priests and mages got 5% maxhp.</p><p>Would y'all prefer the maxhp?</p></blockquote></blockquote><p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Code stuff, the effect simply doesn't work for ranged attacks, sorry!</span></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p>As you can see, we are worthless.<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> <span style="color: #ff9900;">Thanks for playing.</span></span><span style="color: #ff9900;">Thanks for paying</span></span></strong></p></blockquote>

[Venez]

<p>Rangers will be fine for solo, casuel guilds and pick up groups.</p><p>Unless you are already in a raid guild, imo I dont think you will find any that will be recruiting Rangers any time in SF. Raid guilds were not exactly open to getting new Rangers in TSO. As it was quite a few of the rangers in top raid guilds betrayed to assassins and another bunch have rerolled to another class to be desired and usefull to there raid guilds.</p><p>Going off the old dps tier, we were supposed to battle for the top as T1 DPS with assassin,wizards and warlocks. As it stands now, rangers will be T3 and will not be withing 10k dps of the other T1 class's. You have utility class's that now parse as high and higher than a top geared Ranger will.</p><p>Me, I dont want utility, never have, if i did I would have rolled a class that could bring both. I want the straight monster DPS I used to have.</p><p>Guess everyone has to have a Ranger alt ......or they will soon.</p>

[Boise]

<p>Nice. The ranger class has gone from a "decent" dps class to a third rate wannabe.</p><p><img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Ixtril]

<p><cite>Boise wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Nice. The ranger class has gone from a "decent" dps class to a third rate wannabe.</p><p><img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>LOL We've gone from a TOP DPS class to a "decent" DPS class to a third rate wannabe.</p><p>I have a friend who actually says "rangers aren't supposed to be a top dps class like Sorcs and Assassins". MAN HE GETS MY BLOOD BOILING. He's dead serious, its not a joke.</p><p>Yes he's a clueless idiot sometimes, but it has more to do with the prevailing attitude of the community as a whole. I don't think the devs get it.</p><p>If Rangers aren't T1 DPS what the heck are they good for? Newsflash, they AREN'T really that great at soloing with all the anti-kite built into the game. Root/Nuke for the win there folks.</p><p>I'm not a raider, I'm a Casual, but END-Game Casual. Can't the Dev's go roll an 80 Ranger, gear him up and play him a bit with a few clicks of the button? Obviously nobody has in the past.</p><p>When they can try to pug all day long and not get a group, pug a raid and maybe get a spot and get stuck down in group 4 with no buffs, and stay there even if they do manage to top the parse by playing well and having everybody else suck, STILL not get any buffs... maybe then they'd get it.</p><p>I have a guildie... plays an Ily... no kiddin, when we took him in at 80 he could only parse 200dps on the Dummy. I was asking myself, how the heck did he get to 80? Mobs can heal faster than that. Before long I realized, its cuz he's an Ily. He's the smart one, pick a class to play that's always wanted even if you suck. He has no problem puggin and raidin. Gets alot of nice loot from it too. These days he's parsin alot better, combination of loot and finally learning his class. Can't touch me for DPS... not even close.. but I know alot of ilys that CAN. I'm not uber, but when I gotta fight tooth and nail to keep ahead of utlity classes, no wonder I can't get a spot. I can't blame em.</p><p>Yah... alot of whining... but it comes from frustration. We are VERY frustrated right now Devs.... VERY</p>

[Siphar]

<p>Why don't you all chillax... I have a feeling beta will present some interesting things for the predators ... and certainly address some of the issues</p>

[duddwin]

<p>i agree even with the sf beta patch notes the other classes are getting stuff that makes them better too making us in the same position we where at int he first place... honestly whats the point in being a ranger anymore? speed? [Removed for Content] is that going to do end game... lose agro? okay... pvp why not nerf snare and stuff if your so worryed about us being able to snare and dps more besides there is more pve servers than pvp either way i dont see how ranger can be such a pos when it comes to dps considering they are a scout they should have some pretty decent parse maybe not as good as a lock or a wiz bot why cant they be decent even with gear they arnt doing good you cant even play a ranger with semi low dps and not have a mythic... as he said roll a ranger get best gear on it or something and compair it to say a brig or a assassin and see why its a bunch of crap... we just want to play a class that can do decent to good dps and be able to get in raids and enjoy end game without getting that "rangers dps sucks" crap.</p>

[Ademelo]

<p><cite>Siphar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Why don't you all chillax... I have a feeling beta will present some interesting things for the predators ... and certainly address some of the issues</p></blockquote><p>As a beta player and a Raid Ranger, I can tell you, with CERTAINTY, that they didn't. We still fall drastically behind our other T1 DPS counterparts, and still bring NO NOTICEABLE support for the grp/raid.</p><p>As stated in the other forums: "The devs know very well about our issues already, they just don't care anymore."</p>

[kartikeya]

<p><cite>Siphar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Why don't you all chillax... I have a feeling beta will present some interesting things for the predators ... and certainly address some of the issues</p></blockquote><p>The reason people are freaking out is because the NDA was lifted and they are now able to see just how bad it <em>is </em>on beta. This isn't even a matter of us occupying the same underpowered spot as we have been, this is a matter of us sliding even further back on the DPS ranks. Trust me. I'm in beta. We are in a worse spot than we were prior to SF.</p><p>Yes, some of our issues were addressed. Makeshift arrows and Stream of Arrows are now actually useful. Coverage had some of the restrictions removed, etc. But every class has had fixes like that, and the other classes are gaining significantly extra, for the most part. Rangers are desperately behind on Beta and the devs have no time to fix us prior to release, hence the outcry.</p>

[duddwin]

<p><cite>kartikeya wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Siphar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Why don't you all chillax... I have a feeling beta will present some interesting things for the predators ... and certainly address some of the issues</p></blockquote><p>The reason people are freaking out is because the NDA was lifted and they are now able to see just how bad it <em>is </em>on beta. This isn't even a matter of us occupying the same underpowered spot as we have been, this is a matter of us sliding even further back on the DPS ranks. Trust me. I'm in beta. We are in a worse spot than we were prior to SF.</p><p>Yes, some of our issues were addressed. Makeshift arrows and Stream of Arrows are now actually useful. Coverage had some of the restrictions removed, etc. But every class has had fixes like that, and the other classes are gaining significantly extra, for the most part. Rangers are desperately behind on Beta and the devs have no time to fix us prior to release, hence the outcry.</p></blockquote><p>This is exacly why the forums are being flamed on with rangers, i honestly cant see why the rangers where not the first to be fixed. yet they make everything better and leave rangers in the dust they do a few touches and say there they are back to being crappy dps again now we can move on to the other stuff. Honestly why where they not the first to be on the to do list. They have been messed up for a long time now and not much effort has been made except making the top parsers parse even HIGHER.</p>

[Noob1974]

<p><cite>duddwin wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>kartikeya wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Siphar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Why don't you all chillax... I have a feeling beta will present some interesting things for the predators ... and certainly address some of the issues</p></blockquote><p>The reason people are freaking out is because the NDA was lifted and they are now able to see just how bad it <em>is </em>on beta. This isn't even a matter of us occupying the same underpowered spot as we have been, this is a matter of us sliding even further back on the DPS ranks. Trust me. I'm in beta. We are in a worse spot than we were prior to SF.</p><p>Yes, some of our issues were addressed. Makeshift arrows and Stream of Arrows are now actually useful. Coverage had some of the restrictions removed, etc. But every class has had fixes like that, and the other classes are gaining significantly extra, for the most part. Rangers are desperately behind on Beta and the devs have no time to fix us prior to release, hence the outcry.</p></blockquote><p>This is exacly why the forums are being flamed on with rangers, i honestly cant see why the rangers where not the first to be fixed. yet they make everything better and leave rangers in the dust they do a few touches and say there they are back to being crappy dps again now we can move on to the other stuff. Honestly why where they not the first to be on the to do list. They have been messed up for a long time now and not much effort has been made except making the top parsers parse even HIGHER.</p></blockquote><p>         TBH Rangers werent the only ones that needed some dev love, summoners for example needed it and conjis got the dev love......</p><p>The main thing was the AE AA and flurry stuff when devs didnt talk to each other and created items that unbalanced  rnager class even more.</p>

[Neiloch]

Way I see it they only have a couple of weeks before it goes to critical mass. Most rangers have to get to 90 which is relatively easy. Entry level to mid range raiding can basically be done soon as people are 90. Then people gaining AA's and getting experts and some masters. Digital download release delay might be a factor but I imagine only a small amount of people are getting that. So I say a month tops before most rangers (and other players) start seeing the state we will be in this expansion first hand, if things aren't changed. So I hope we get some needed adjustments in a post xpac release patch within the first few weeks. Otherwise we will have to deal with further damage to ranger reputation which can not be patched.

[Noob1974]

<p>I thing it comes even worse for ranger. Remember how loot tables are implented... The best Bows dropp off Raidboss instances or contestants while melee upgrades always drop before. We didnt think about this in T8 as we had our mythical. Than only an upgrade to that Overking Bow made it an otpion for those who didnt have the mythical.</p><p>Giving how less ranger are in top end guilds that can go there fasts. About 80 -90 % rangers per server will have a hardtime for raids and moreso for groups as other melee scouts can put out more damage/dps in the beginning.</p>

[Donilla]

<p>I dont' play enough on Live and therefore don't have high end gear, though I do have all T2 some T3 and my myth. Because of that, I gave up hoping for raids, raiding guilds (not that I really want to be in one), and mucho group invites a long time ago, as I was not ubber enough and you don't take more than one ranger (if any), ever.  The whole vicious cycle in full play.  No gear cause no raids, no raids cause no gear.</p><p>But I was hoping to get a chance to experience more end game content, even if I can't/won't play 8 hours a day every day.  I'm highly discouraged since I will not be even more under ubber in comparison to the rangers who do play enough to get the gear etc. Guess I will have even less chance of seeing the end game now then before /sigh.  Will I betray? No, cause frankly, Rangers are the class of my heart. I'll see some action since I have friends,......but.  WIll I spend more time on alts? probably yes. Will I spend more time on my knees praying for some love, somewhere, sometime? I guess so. What I won't do is quite, I will never give up like that.</p>

[Ranja]

<p><cite>Donilla@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I dont' play enough on Live and therefore don't have high end gear, though I do have all T2 some T3 and my myth. Because of that, I gave up hoping for raids, raiding guilds (not that I really want to be in one), and mucho group invites a long time ago, as I was not ubber enough and you don't take more than one ranger (if any), ever.  The whole vicious cycle in full play.  No gear cause no raids, no raids cause no gear.</p><p>But I was hoping to get a chance to experience more end game content, even if I can't/won't play 8 hours a day every day.  I'm highly discouraged since I will not be even more under ubber in comparison to the rangers who do play enough to get the gear etc. Guess I will have even less chance of seeing the end game now then before /sigh.  Will I betray? No, cause frankly, Rangers are the class of my heart. I'll see some action since I have friends,......but.  WIll I spend more time on alts? probably yes. Will I spend more time on my knees praying for some love, somewhere, sometime? I guess so<strong>. What I won't do is quite, I will never give up like that.</strong></p></blockquote><p>Then they won. The only way you can vote in this game is with your money. They love silent subscribers like you. People who rarely play but cough up the money every month. The only thing that will get them to change is a loss of subscription dollars. If you are not ready to put your money where you mouth is  - this is all just talk.</p>

[Donilla]

<p>I don't agree, quiting just removes you and your dollars from the entire equation, saying you hate the entirety of EQ2. It doesn't do anything to address the ranger/class issues. After all they won't know you quit because rangers suck, they just know that you quit.  It's not the silent wheel that gets things done, it's the squeeky one. I said I would keep playing, never said I'd stay quiet.</p>

[Boise]

<p>The only thing rangers can do is keep reminding the Devs. Maybe one day, they will listen. Maybe.</p>

[Neiloch]

Actually yesterday I canceled one of my accounts because of this bull. They did a exit survey and got several small rants from me about needing to basically bump up ranger DPS.

[Crychtonn]

<p>A better way to get their notice is to simply betray.  If a significantly high enough number of rangers betray to assassins it'll get their attention.  Get it to where most raid guilds have zero on the roster and maybe they'll do something.  My ranger was made the day after the game went live and as of last week is now an assassin.  I know several other top guild rangers that have done the same.</p>

[Azrael_888]

<p><cite>Crychtonn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>A better way to get their notice is to simply betray.  If a significantly high enough number of rangers betray to assassins it'll get their attention.  Get it to where most raid guilds have zero on the roster and maybe they'll do something.  My ranger was made the day after the game went live and as of last week is now an assassin.  I know several other top guild rangers that have done the same.</p></blockquote><p>Hmmm with this logic it seems that Pally's would be boosted as most betrayed/created SK's...Wonder how that worked out for them</p><p>/sarcasm off.</p>

[Donilla]

<p>Except for the fact that being a Ranger is in my soul, that I hate Freeport, dispise being evil, and get ill at the thought of another 2 years to get back where I was, this is a path many have taken.   If I make a new toon, I am considering this option, though I may simply bring up the swashie and bard instead.  Yep more scouts <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>