Rangers.........up in the air?

[Vyper]

<p>Hello,</p><p>     I played a WoodElf ranger in the original EQ, and the Ranger class there was insane in raids, pvp, soloing....everything basically, and I loved it. Now I am hearing a lot about how the Ranger class in EQ2 is horribad, but nobody gives specific reasons...........is this true, is it even worth the time to level one? Now I don't know if players stay that becuase they get beaten in pvp / pve by the Ranger and just dont like the class or is it really the truth? I would appricate some honest feedback from the community.</p><p>Thank You</p>

[Solaar Wynd]

<p>Vyper,</p><p>A lot of Rangers are either just tired of repeating the issues over and over, retired, or have betrayed to evil to become Assassins. I'll give you a summary of the issues as I understand them, but I don't pretend to be a major voice in the one-sided discussion that is "Ranger Issues".</p><p>Many of us played Rangers in EQ.  In Everquest Rangers were a true hybrid with decent dps and a lot of flexability thanks to spells.</p><p>Everquest II Rangers are not hybrids;  we are specialists.  We were designed as a tier-1 dps class, side-by-side with Assassins (our dark twin), Wizards and Warlocks.  Over time this has changed, and Rangers are rarely even close to the top of the dps ladder, nor do we have any significant "utility" to offset this and make the class more desireable for raiding.</p><p>The usual answer to this objection is "but Rangers get to attack from a distance!  They don't deserve top dps like those who have to melee next to the mob!"  There may be a small nugget of logic there, but it all comes down to whether raid leaders really care where the dps comes from as long as they get it.  The raid situations that favor distance attacks seem few and far between compared to the encounters that, because of large hit boxes, confined space or required positioning really disfavor Ranger archery attacks.  Add to this the fact that to do maximum dps rangers must close to within melee range anyway (right at that sweet spot where we can use both melee and ranged CAs) to do most of our fighting.</p><p>In a raid context, it is dps that counts, not how it is achieved.</p><p>The second major area of "discussion" is utility.  Back in Everquest Rangers had a number of buffs they could throw around that were appreciated by a number of classes.  In Everquest II Rangers have almost no utility.  Their buffs/debuffs are generally insignificant in both power or duration.  There have been attempts to give us utility (the "Hawk" for instance), but there is always a limiting factor to anything we get that make such things look pretty pathetic next to the utility of other classes. </p><p>Remember, there are only a limited number of spots in a raid - if you aren't the best choice for dps, can't heal, can't tank, or don't have the best utility options, why should a raid leader want you if there are other good players available to fit the available slots?</p><p>Rangers are pretty much dead in high-end raiding unless you are a well-liked long-term member.  Rangers are still common in casual raiding guilds where friendship trumps uberness in most cases - this is the level I'm at.  I enjoy raiding, but it urks me to no end that I'm not pulling my weight like I feel I should.  I'm decently equiped, have done everything I can think of, tried every strat I can find, and I still rarely appear in the top 4 in the parse.</p><p>I have friends and family in my guild and in groups that help make the game fun for me, but it would be an awful lot more satisfying if I felt that, as a Ranger, I was needed.  But, alas, that's just not the case...</p>

[Chanson]

- Rangers don't get AOE auto-attack (it doesn't proc off ranged attack even if you have the proc on gear/buff) - Rangers don't get flurry (it doesn't proc off ranged attack even if you have the proc on gear/buff) - Relative to our counterpart, assassins, our CAs hit for less damage with a longer cast/recast. - Maximum damage requires being close enough for melee ca's and far enough away for ranged ca's and auto-attack. This is mostly an issue with raid mobs that have very large hit boxes. - Adornments proc off melee attack, putting rangers at a disadvantage compared to other scouts, and at a bigger disadvantage against mages (who have three slots for adornments) - Ranged combat arts can not be cast on the run (I think there might be one or two that still do), again putting us at a disadvantage against other scouts. I'm sure those rangers that have been playing longer than I have, and know the class better than I do can provide even more specific issues we are having.

[Vyper]

<p>thank you gents for your feedback, it is appricated espically both of you taking time to explain the issues to me. Looks like I will stick with my Delf Sin for now and hopefully rangers will get some buffs in the future to make it a viable class in raids in EQ2.</p><p>Thank You</p>

[Snosael]

<p>plz rename this thread to:   Rangers.........6ft under</p><p>thx</p>