Swashbuckler or Ranger?

[Manc]

Im stuck between 2 chars, i have both a ranger and swashbuckler early 30's and cant decide what to play? Which is better for high end game? PVP? PVE? DPS? And survivability in general? I know they are both similar classes, but so far i would say the ranger is better for levelling, killing mobs much faster and alot more surviability when encountering a tough mob. Any info at all will be great

Cheers

[DwarvesR]

Manc wrote:

Im stuck between 2 chars, i have both a ranger and swashbuckler early 30's and cant decide what to play? Which is better for high end game?

Define "better?"

PVP?

Who cares?   Ok, jk on that, but since this game is about 98% PvE, asking PvP question in the general board doesn't actually get you much help -- most of us simply don't know becuz we don't play it.

PVE?

Swashies do lots of debuffs and utility while maintaining high dps.  They can function as tanks in a pinch, if necessary.  Rangers do lots of dps, and that's it.

DPS?

Rangers generally parse higher, but no one I know complains that swashies are bad at dps.  Solo, a swashie probably has an easier time bringing max dps against a mob, while a ranger needs a group to be distracting a mob more for his bigger hits to be possible.

And survivability in general?

Swashies can tank in a pinch.  Rangers are more "glass cannon-y."  However, especially in low levels, the fact that a ranger can kill a mob before it even gets to him makes him seem like he's got better survivability since he's not really getting hit at all.

I know they are both similar classes, but so far i would say the ranger is better for levelling, killing mobs much faster and alot more surviability when encountering a tough mob.

Swashies really come into their own in the 30's and then again in the 50's with the new attacks they get then.  Rangers begin to turn into archers about the same time, and as a result their playstyle begins to change.  Since you're still early 30's you haven't really seen that yet, but it will be more and more obvious as you continue to level the ranger.

This isn't to say the ranger is bad, just that they do begin to change at the point you're at, so you'll need to change with it.

[Lorzus]

I don't know much about the swashy but heres my 2cp:

Rangers solo quite will and kill mobs very quickly... However this takes some know how. You need snare poisons and liberal use of your other two snares and root. Typically the way I solo a mob is hitting it with our ranged root, let the poison proc and then reapply the snares and root as necessary, all the while kiting the mob and casting my heavy ranged ca's. With enough room you can solo pertty much any non casting mob.

I don't know much about pvp but from what i've heard is that rangers are bad times when you can get the jump on people. Using my above kiting method in duels I've done pretty well.

Rangers are pretty much dps, we only have a few utility spells that are better done by other classes. With the swashy you'll get the debuffs + decent dps.