ranger sucks now

[Cron]

First of all, soloing is a legititmate play style in this game no matter how many times people wish to say differently.  I have soloed for the most part up to level 44 with only a bit of grouping thrown in mostly for heritage, but not all.  There isn't any reason a ranger can't solo pre-patch or post. My first kill last night was a yellow caiman.  Nailed him with 60% or more health left.  Crippling Arrow does kite.  With the use of snares, you can run and stop and fire.  For those of you who never played a druid in EQ1, this is the way we did it.  Snare, DoT, run ahead, stop and med, cast again, run ahead.  We didn't get to cast spells on the run and we did just fine.  Rangers can do it here too.  Snare that beast.  Our snares work now.  Get ahead of him.  Pop two arrow shots into him.  You've easily got the 2 seconds it takes.  Rinse and repeat.  It is hard for me to tell any of you what is happening that greys and greens are owning you.  It could be a dozen factors.  Possible things to look at.. (if it doesn't count for you, ignore it).  You need to relearn to play your character.  You aren't using good enough armor.  You aren't using good enough weapons.  Check the poisons.  Personally, I'm using the same armor and poisons I was using.  So this probably won't help you.  I did go from 60% to 32% avoidance, but these numbers can't really be used to judge.  As someone commented to me last night, not only did we change but the world has changed too.  I, for one, think the change was for the better, although I'll miss the way I used to kite. So someone let me in on the defensive and offensive stances.  I didn't think to look into it last night.  Is it a combat skill in my KB or would it be under where my harvest skills are located?

[chanaho]

   I found 2 bow ca's that fired on the run. I thought it was trick arrow (line) and miracle shot but the above poster mentioned crippling arrow which may well be ( I was so busy trying to get all my stuff reorganized that frankly I cant remember exactly which two) but its 2 of the 3 above . I dont believe it was 3 however. What I did was find a mob got within range, picked one ca and moved back while trying to fire until i got the interupt message. I remember then that only 2 fired... but i latered dinged 44 and surprise got all 3 lvl 44 ca's right up front one of which is leg shot which has its own timer and did not get to check that one out.

[Stormykat]

Thanks Cronon for a great post! I logged on my lvl 47 ranger today and was definitely anxious to test things out in the new zones. After fiddling with my respec (I think I made a couple of mistakes). I tested myself out on a couple of blue down con mobs - not too bad.. got beat up a little.. i tested out myself on one of the tigers.. (one up arrow blue) he owned me.. time to recover my shard. I joined up in a group and went exploring - we were kicking large amounts of butt - my damage was amazing. It's taken me a few hours to get used to my ranger and my new combat arts but they really do rock. oh and YES WE DO HAVE STEALTH - it's called "Sneak" or "Hunt" and levels up with you as you go (this was all announced in the update notes) look in the beginning pages of your knowledge book! Our snare finally works!! I don't know bout y'all but I was sure excited about that. Poisons.. we can now see they are working! Oh and by the way.. damage poisons never stacked =) Only 1 type of damage would go off - therefore it's now simplifed to avoid any confusion - we can stack 3 is it? a damage poison, a resist debuff poison and a miscellanious debuff poison. I really don't like fighting without my touch of the beholder poison ( a stun poison ) - I found that fighting solo on a one arrow down conned blue or white mob - I would open with my hidden fire (1000 points or more dmg) then my triple fire then my various other ranged attacks... (most certainly my poisons are proced with these openings not to mention my weapon procs) if it wasn't dead by the time it got to me, it was certainly close to death. Oh and those tigers? I found out they were  pussycats! I killed them with ease, once I got used to everything. The above poster is very correct in his post. Learn your class and its capablities and what it can or can't do. Finally Rangers are going to be appreciated for their damage. You just have to practice on a few mobs and get to know your ranger over again. It's all about patience.

Message Edited by Stormykat on 09-14-2005 05:26 AM

[wilba]

Yes we sure can do nice damage but as someone else stated the gun'n'run has been smashed, my tradeskilling forays will suffer considerably since Feerrott is a [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] as it is as level 41 and the stealth I got at 40 was a BOON.

Strange how the archery skills involving actual Arrows seem to have had the reuse delay tripled or doubled, I am not quite sure by how much but I used to chain these out in group with my Girlfriend and her Fury.  Even with all the anti aggro buffs etc. still managed to grab aggro before a fight finished and they took serious bites outa my butt.

Now things will be worse with improved MOB damage and lower mitigation even tho I went after the choices to increase agi etc.

No high level Stealth and longer delays on tripleshot and similar abilities hardly seems a decent tradeoff imho.

Seems to be a LOT of heroic mobs now and some are double ^^ groups as well as ^^^ heroics with singles and ^ companions.

Seems almost like they decided to nerf Solo/small group players completely.

Nice being able to deal all this damage, it is just too bad we can only evac every 15mins though.

Noticed this 10 level mob break makes for a LOT of stupid ZERO xp downarrow green fights that can hold you up for a LONG time as well.  Can't sneak past ANYTHING over level 32 now either.

Shame they had to go ballistic with the changes like this.

[Axxon]

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wilba wrote:

Strange how the archery skills involving actual Arrows seem to have had the reuse delay tripled or doubled, I am not quite sure by how much but I used to chain these out in group with my Girlfriend and her Fury.  Even with all the anti aggro buffs etc. still managed to grab aggro before a fight finished and they took serious bites outa my butt.

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YES!  I was wondering if anyone else noticed this.  They take FOREVER to reset now - this is very bad, IMO.  Pre-patch, I had at least 3 stealth based, rear position attacks that I used all the time in a group.  The all required you start with some kind of stealth, so I would use the different stealths, paired with the different attacks, in 3 macros.  I did not get to play enough last night to see what the new deal is with the rear-attacks (shrouded strike etc.) but assuming they still exist, how can you use them in succession if you only have ONE stealth spell?  You can't. 

Add to that the loss of high speed stealth and suffice it to say I was disappointed.  Granted I have not played with snares yet, so I'll give that a go.  I was still able to get off 3 or 4 bow CA's before melee engagement by switching the order I did them in:  some can still be cast on the run.  After reading this post, I will have to take another look at Hidden Shot, because I was still opening with Sniping shot (rear) out of habit. 

Also - and now I am a bit worried - I did NOT choose the arrow upgrade because previously, our bow CA damage came more from the art than the arrow.  Has this changed?  As I recall, there was another Master I liked (maybe a bow skill) at that tier, so I passed on the arrows.  I hope that was not a critical error.

At any rate, time will tell what we can do and how we can do it.  I will tell you that I got shredded pretty badly on a group of 3 level 36 blue solo cons (I am 39) on my first attempt.  Maybe its time to switch the Enchanted Thicket Woven Armor for some medium armor when I ding 40. 

[Aringi]

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Cronon wrote:

So someone let me in on the defensive and offensive stances.  I didn't think to look into it last night.  Is it a combat skill in my KB or would it be under where my harvest skills are located?

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They defensive stance is the Androit line (at least thats what mine is at lvl33 not sure bout higher lvl) and the offensive stance is a new CA called Arrow Frenzy, I think, the lower lvl is Blade Flurry, but Arrow replaces Blade and buffs the same skills regardless of the name (i.e. Arrow still buffs slash, pierce skills).  They should be with all your other CAs in your knowledge book.

 

I played around in Zek a bit last night and to me soloing didn't change much.  I mostly used the defensive stance and finished fights with my health in green or just yellow.  I still have to do more testing to be sure about everything but, like I said, soloing to me is still very much an option.

[Zholain]

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Drakkonius wrote:

I did not get to play enough last night to see what the new deal is with the rear-attacks (shrouded strike etc.) but assuming they still exist, how can you use them in succession if you only have ONE stealth spell?  You can't. 

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We stil have plenty of stealth spells...the same as we had before, i believe.  Forgive me, because I can't remember the lower level equivalents, but at 50 there is the Sneak (which is the non-attack stealth), Surveil(hate-reducing in-combat stealth) , and Longshank(backstab the places you in stealth).  I never found myself lacking an ability to get me into stealth.  There's no problem with the number of stealth abilities we get.  The problem lies in the way they've been implemented.  Regarding that.... The worst part about it is that the basic stealth seems to be visible to many more mobs now, even mobs that I previously sneaked by with ease.  Blue mobs 2 levels below me can see through, and that's kinda silly.  Same with the swashbuckler's group sneak.  It's impossible to get down to Naggy's lair now without being spotted by those flame balls(whatever the heck they're called), and the loss of the fast sneak really hurts.  Those are the only two things that I really found to complain about. Agro management is a whole new ballgame now, and I actually kinda liked it.  Done properly, I can nearly go all out with my damage and not draw agro.  But if I get careless, then the mob wil really take a liking to me.  It adds a new challenge to combat, and that is what SOE wanted.  But our damage is absolutely incredible.  This is the damage we should have had since launch.  I've got to get used to the new timers, and develop a new 'pattern' for combat, but that's just a matter of playing....

[DeusMachina]

I LOVE MY RANGER! Things have definitely changed, and people just need time to adjust. I went out last night and mowed down the same Bitterwind Explorers in Everfrost that I had been hunting prior to the changes. Previously, I had to kite them for a minute or two before they'd finally drop, now they barely even make it halfway to me. Snares are really rocking now, opening with Culling the Herd Adept 3, and the Leg Shot Master 2 leaves mobs crawling to you just begging for more CAs. And if they somehow manage to actually get to you, Cheap Shot is working like a champ giving a full six second stun, so Surveil, run around, Hidden Fire instant dead. I can't wait to get a couple more levels to grab the CAs up to 50. I think I was the only one not crying in guild chat last night. Rangers are now kings of the solo mob burndown. 

[RedOktob]

Still early and I didn't have much a of a chance to solo yesterday...was in a group...but, i was also the tank...but then again..these mobs were solo to...but was only three of us..so....  However, my first impression:

Con:
Ummmm....[expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] happened to stealth?!  I had to rumble through the CA's in my knowledge book.  I found two old stealth abilities.  They weren't grey anymore and both had different "slow down" speeds.

I really miss kiting.  I still can...just not as effective before.

Pro:
Cheap Shot is my new friend.  Thus far, this is my style of play.  Nail the guy with the new hidden shot (think thats the name....not sure...nice damage though)....tripple shot....cheap shot...run back...flaming shot(forget name)...trick shot...melee

Sniping shot is nice....nail them...they run to you...but way slower and tripple shot and maybe flaming as well...cheap shot...back up..as above.

I love the DPS...and I love Slip...made all the aggro go on the caster (smiles fiendishly).

We did accidently aggro one group green mob...and they handed out [Removed for Content] to us.  Ummm....I think that might need a fix...if you in a small group..you should be able to nail the green groups.

Jury is still out for me.

[Jay]

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Zholain wrote:

Agro management is a whole new ballgame now, and I actually kinda liked it.  Done properly, I can nearly go all out with my damage and not draw agro.  But if I get careless, then the mob wil really take a liking to me.  It adds a new challenge to combat, and that is what SOE wanted.  But our damage is absolutely incredible.  This is the damage we should have had since launch.  I've got to get used to the new timers, and develop a new 'pattern' for combat, but that's just a matter of playing....

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I completely agree (as usual). Glad to hear you're enjoying the changes as well, Zho. I for one am thrilled at my increased damage and soloing is WAY more fun than before - actually a challenge instead of a mindless rinse-repeat drill. Goodbye kiting, hello Cheap Shot!!

 

Now, I don't want my enthusiasm for the changes to upset anyone - we have a lot of people that are really struggling; several of my young ranger padawans are so discouraged they're turning to alts as they're convinced our class is irrevocably broken. We're not. We're better off than before, but I think there are serious problems that need to be addressed for lower-level characters. So far much of what I'm reading seems to indicate that those of us in teh 40-50 range are generally very pleased, while ppl in the 20s and 30s are having way more problems. I haven't determined why there's that dichotomy, but I think it's something we need to look into and address as a group, so that we can present our case to the Devs in a constructive, intelligent manner.

 

I actually wrote up a very long post this morning, touching on many areas where we saw changes and setting out to both gather information from the rest of you regarding the problem areas as well as pass on my own recommendations for new tactics. But I took too long writing it, the forums logged me out, and I lost the whole thing. I'll try and rewrite it later tonight, in the hopes that enough people want to go beyond "my ranger sucks now" and actually determine what reasonable changes we can request to address those problems.  

[EverMan]

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Jay42 wrote:

I actually wrote up a very long post this morning, touching on many areas where we saw changes and setting out to both gather information from the rest of you regarding the problem areas as well as pass on my own recommendations for new tactics. But I took too long writing it, the forums logged me out, and I lost the whole thing. I'll try and rewrite it later tonight, in the hopes that enough people want to go beyond "my ranger sucks now" and actually determine what reasonable changes we can request to address those problems.  

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Good Job btw if u write it in word pad or any word program copy and paste it to fourm so it doesn't kick u out.

[zxinfini]

PLEASE, if you figure out a way to solo groups of mobs that are intended for soloers, post it here!  Soloing single mobs is cake, but how are we supposed to manage multiple enemies?  SoE forgot about that part. Right now, I think that this is the BIGGEST problem of them all, especially if you get jumped by a group of blue double down arrow mobs.  Standing there and fighting with a defensive stance simply did not work for me, even being half dressed in fabled armor.  It seemed as if the first hit took me down into the yellow, second hit down into the orange, third into the red, and dead. Gone. Hello, shard! On another note, being one of the only rangers I knew of who had Tier 5 Master 1 invis and know a couple of others who aren't rangers, we are extremely [Removed for Content] right now for having wasted several plat on the spell to suddenly have it taken away.  Not everyone can stay informed with the latest news from the Test Server, I demand my money back Sony!

[EverMan]

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zxinfinity wrote:
PLEASE, if you figure out a way to solo groups of mobs that are intended for soloers, post it here!  Soloing single mobs is cake, but how are we supposed to manage multiple enemies?  SoE forgot about that part.

Right now, I think that this is the BIGGEST problem of them all, especially if you get jumped by a group of blue double down arrow mobs.  Standing there and fighting with a defensive stance simply did not work for me, even being half dressed in fabled armor.  It seemed as if the first hit took me down into the yellow, second hit down into the orange, third into the red, and dead. Gone. Hello, shard!

On another note, being one of the only rangers I knew of who had Tier 5 Master 1 invis and know a couple of others who aren't rangers, we are extremely [Removed for Content] right now for having wasted several plat on the spell to suddenly have it taken away.  Not everyone can stay informed with the latest news from the Test Server, I demand my money back Sony!

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I know at lvl 50 Storm of Arrow rips thou groups of solo mobs, what lvl are u and do u have any ae attacks.

 

Also i feel for u on losing master 1 stalking prey, i had it to but didn't pay anything for it got it off of a raid but still [Removed for Content] on loseing it

[theorbell]

I am a very well equipped 50 ranger.  YMMV

From my perspective, i can't believe people are complaining.  I'm absolutely murdering groups at even con and have killed a group of 2 56^.  I took some time to study how my buffs worked on lower level mobs before going commando on the tougher stuff.  Maybe what our brethren need is a thread on tactics.  I'll see if one is up or start one when i get time - but for now here are some observations:

1.  If you have the choice for Leg shot master 2, i highly recommend it.  slows the mob by 64% - they literally crawl to you and you can kill it before it gets to your feet with longbow.  who needs kiting

2.  SOA simply shreds mobs, master 1 damage is around 2200 per mob.  Adept 3 ain't too shabby either.  with the increased rare drop rates, you should have less trouble getting rubies if you're not in a raid guild.

3.  Study your buffs - i usually put up arrow frenzy, primal reflexes (hate reducer), poisons etc when starting a fight.  if i get aggro in a group, or if i'm solo and haven't killed everything, i go defensive with (veil of forest? dance of leaves?  i don't have game open so can't remember right now).  it cancells the offensive buffs, so i'm cycling back and forth often, but it does make a huge difference to know when to switch off.

4.  Cheap shot, cheap shot, cheap shot.  it actually works now - you hit run and fire off a few shots.  or stun, run behind longshanks and crippling blade (or lower level equivalents).  mobs don't turn to face you and unless they're ^ or ^^ they will not break stun for 6 seconds.

[Mary the Prophetess]

I am a level 36 Ranger. 

I do not have 'Fabled' armor or weapons. 

I have about 75gp to my name.  I can't afford even one Master I upgrade.

My armor and weapons pre-patch are the best I could afford (all orange/yellow;  a couple of pieces of blue)

My CA's are at Adept I, which is all I can afford.

I play solo as a personal preference.  Pre-patch I enjoyed my play time, and I was advancing at a rate that I was satisfied with.

Now, I cannot solo anything other than single opponents.  

Impede and Cheap Shot are all well and good against a single opponent, but against multiple opponents, the only way to survive for me is by kiting and not getting hit.  I can no longer do that effectively.

In my opinion SOE has taken away the solo game from me, except under certain very narrow circumstances.

Why the designers, (through the game mechanics), insist that players must be in groups to be successful is something I have never understood, and really resent.

I may leave because of it. 

[Cron]

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Mary the Prophetess wrote:

I am a level 36 Ranger. 

I do not have 'Fabled' armor or weapons. 

I have about 75gp to my name.  I can't afford even one Master I upgrade.

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From the sounds of it, once you hit 40 things will start looking up.  The Masters everyone is referring to I think is the new spells you go to pick when you first logged in.  Those are all Master II level spells. Hang in there little sister.  We'll all put our heads together and see what needs to be done to give the same love to our lower level brothers and sisters. My sig is broke.  I'm 44.

[Rahmn]

Personally I find soloing even easier than pre DoF.  Most white con mobs are nearly dead by the time they get to me.

[theorbell]

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Mary the Prophetess wrote:

I am a level 36 Ranger. 

I do not have 'Fabled' armor or weapons. 

I have about 75gp to my name.  I can't afford even one Master I upgrade.

...I may leave because of it. 

---

Please don't leave the game hehe.  hang in there.  Good news is you don't have to be rich to get at least legendary stuff which should be good enough.  Now that rare harvests have been increased, i suspect with a little work you can outfit yourself in feysteel/ebon or legendary light armor and some good weapons like a cedar longbow.  You can upgrade to adept 3 which should also be good enough - i think you're right that with all adept 1s it would be a bit tougher. 

I know not everyone can spend time harvesting their way into legendary gear, but at least it's an option for those who want to put in the work and don't have a steady supply of raid loot coming in.

[xenaphobia]

Jeet,

   Your not really understanding, I didn't compare old guardian to new guardian. I compared soloability of new ranger vs new guardian. Class balance means they should all be able to kill the same con mob, (Yes I know in different ways) and that is why I said that. Now don't get me wrong I love the changes to our dps but we need "alittle" more avoidance and/or mitigation to make it even.

[xenaphobia]

Cronon,

     Your snares at your level might be good, I don't know but the ones at the lower levels aren't. There is no time to stop and get off archery shots and at the lower levels they don't get that one archery ability that can shoot on the run. So yes maybe the ranger at higher lvls is fine but the lower levels aren't.

[Morgonn]

Ok.  I spent a LOT of time evaluating my characters...35 pal...33 warden...33 ranger.  My paly and warden are parked.  Both of em took it in the shorts.  Sure I can play them, and do so effectively.  But they are not FUN to play now.  I enjoyed them before and do not enjoy them as they are whether I can play them or not (and I can...the learning curve is not that steep). My ranger is likely what will keep me in the game.  I do still enjoy him and the changes have not harmed us all that much, (but they sure made "adjusting" necessary LOL).  My biggest and most major complaint is that whichever dev had the mensa-level idea to take Hagar's Camo is someone I wanna talk to personally.  I have a few suggestions for him=)). Overall, rangers came off pretty good.  Could have been LOTS worse...LOTS.

[Deathwalker]

well, after another couple of hours of play under the new system, my ranger is done. the reality of it is with the slower recharge time and heavier reliance on a  few key skills, my ranger is boring. yes there are combo's and skills that can improve effectivness, but having to wait a minute and a half to recharge my ca's is boring. Since I am not typicly a grouper, I am having a hard time continuing this charachter.

[Guy De Alsace]

Now I've had a decent chance to play with mine, I have to say its a nuke with legs. I was soloing lvl 46 critters in Maj Dul at lvl 38 with no problems at all. Worst I got was maybe 50% hits. All you really need is space. Also you can still kite. Autoattack is very effective at kiting using the right stance and crippling arrow can still be launched while you are moving. One thing I need to remember is not to try soloing any up-arrow critters since Cheap Shot doesnt work on them.  Trick of the Hunter doesnt seem to root at all by the way. Different story with groups. Even weak groups are very very hard to solo. Once you get stunned your toast . Guess I'll have to rethink my strategy with grouped encounters. Conned greens are OK but blues are suicide.

[Mikeyb_71]

After some experimenting, I have no trouble taking out the 40 double down groups of 3 lizardmen in Feerott. (Mender, Warder Disciple) My DPS is great....over 600 on singles....easily 140+ on the groups, and I'm not exactly "decked" out. I was rather concerned with the changes, but I understand them...and can & will continue to adapt. Caution has changed to mild enthusiasm.....looking forward to more.... Rahboni 41 Ranger on Toxx

[Camn]

 
Re: ranger sucks now xenaphobia
Journeyman
Posts: 21
Registered: 12-07-2004

Jeet,

  Your not really understanding, I didn't compare old guardian to new guardian. I compared soloability of new ranger vs new guardian. Class balance means they should all be able to kill the same con mob, (Yes I know in different ways) and that is why I said that. Now don't get me wrong I love the changes to our dps but we need "alittle" more avoidance and/or mitigation to make it even.

09-14-200502:22 PM

 

================================================== ============================================

Ranger vs Guardian, they should not be able to kill the same con mob. The Ranger should always be able to take out a higher con mob then someone who is primarily just a damage taker and not a damage dealer. I am a level 20 Ranger and absolutely have no problem killing the exact same con mobs as I did when I was playing before the UL13. While I do take more damage now then before, my downtime is almost exactly the same. I do not have the best gear obviously or many skills. But I am able to constantly pull down fast xp. In about 2 hours I already made 40% towards 21. This rate is while harvesting resources and running around checking out what the mobs con as in different areas that I should be fighting in.

Lurker coming out of hiding for a moment. Feel free to flame my first post.

Message Edited by Camnar on 09-14-2005 10:39 PM

[chanaho]

  I would like to say that I really enjoyed my revamped Ranger. I only had about an hour to play around last night but I went right after the bitterwind pioneers and wolves in everfrost as they were the last ones I fought pre patch and wanted to see how I did versus those since i could get an idea as to where my ranger was at.    I had no problem from the start even before I worked on some good combinations. Once I got the feel of it (ill be honing them in more as i learn) my main pull as before was hidden shot followed by my new friend leg shot. I felt sorry for those things after watching them [Removed for Content] into me, so time to put them out of their misery! I was usually able at that point to get off trick arrow and miracle shot before they got to me but once they did i used crippling arrow as that is one of the run back and fire ca's (that i also put as a master 2 pick). Usually on a pull with more than one at this point there was usually minus one so on to the others...cheapshot, run back and usually just barely enough time for triple fire, sharp shot.    I wont go deeper but as people have mentioned before cheap shot is now a good friend. it allows us to go stealth and finally be able to use those deadly back stabs... which is nice waiting for bow ca's to come back.    But after using up my short online time (and 15 mins after telling my wife i would be right there) I got a further nice surprise... after trying to figure out what to buff up before fighting and generally checking, rechecking everything I noticed I forgot to put my poisons/debuffs on!    I use to notice this right off but with all the damage going on without it I didnt even notice. So this will only get better from here.    The song that came to mind while fighting I felt now defined my Ranger...babababad to the bone!    On a side not, i watched my first duel (even though i detest PVP) as it was a challenge from a healer to a lvl36 Ranger on the docks of TS. Let me tell you I felt real sorry watching the healer get so pummelled.  She could barely even get off any heals (which is what she needed to constantly do) before she laid dead on the pier...Ranger 90% health.  You could watch as he went behind her and invised then you would see this -350 pop up...lol. Chanahook lvl 44 Ranger Highkeep

[Saihung23]

I hate the loss of kiting, love the DPS changes...overall I think it makes our class more believable and still keeps us playable and soloable.  I think the sweeping changes only serves to make it all more interesting.  You just have to try to help them get the wrinkles ironed out.  This game is constantly changing...never pays to get too attatched to one strategy or way of attacking.  Change is inevitable in video games as well as life.  I love the new look.

 

 

 

[Vydian]

I too am loving the revamp for my ranger. Kiting to me before was just a means to an end. We really couldn't solo effectively otherwise. But not now, I can solo what I used to without even having to think of the word 'kite'. I've yet to try any grouped solo mobs, but I olbiterate normal solo ones. And to put that into perpective a bit.. I'm lvl 45 and do the solo lavastorm writs alot. The goblins I go after are all lvl 45 as well. Today, after I got used most of the changes, I headed out. I actually ONE SHOTTED one of the goblins. I guess techinally you can say it was 3, since it was triple fire, but still, just one single combat art and it was toasted. The norm was usually dead  before it could get to me, as Master II leg shot makes em crawl and I can just unload. If for some reason I missed a bow CA or 2, I usually just did an HO with cheap shot as the second move. This stuns them and lets you finish the HO as well as plenty of time to use a stealth/flank move or 2. The only real complaint rangers should have now is the loss of the no penalty sneak arts. I sorely miss those. Any other complaint boils down to people not used to the changes yet, or people not willing to accept them. The ranger is still a very viable class, just the playstyle is different. Zylin 45 Ranger 42 Provisioner

[Cron]

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Vydian wrote:I too am loving the revamp for my ranger. Kiting to me before was just a means to an end. We really couldn't solo effectively otherwise. But not now, I can solo what I used to without even having to think of the word 'kite'. I've yet to try any grouped solo mobs, but I olbiterate normal solo ones. And to put that into perpective a bit.. I'm lvl 45 and do the solo lavastorm writs alot. The goblins I go after are all lvl 45 as well. Today, after I got used most of the changes, I headed out. I actually ONE SHOTTED one of the goblins. I guess techinally you can say it was 3, since it was triple fire, but still, just one single combat art and it was toasted. The norm was usually dead  before it could get to me, as Master II leg shot makes em crawl and I can just unload. If for some reason I missed a bow CA or 2, I usually just did an HO with cheap shot as the second move. This stuns them and lets you finish the HO as well as plenty of time to use a stealth/flank move or 2. The only real complaint rangers should have now is the loss of the no penalty sneak arts. I sorely miss those. Any other complaint boils down to people not used to the changes yet, or people not willing to accept them. The ranger is still a very viable class, just the playstyle is different. Zylin 45 Ranger 42 Provisioner

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Being a level 44 Ranger, myself, I have to agree with you on the changes.  However, don't forget that all of the people having problems are lower level Rangers.  I can't say if they have issues or not.  We've already identified that level 40 and above aren't having many problems.

[Je]

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Camnar wrote:

 Re: ranger sucks now xenaphobiaJourneymanPosts: 21Registered: 12-07-2004

Jeet,

  Your not really understanding, I didn't compare old guardian to new guardian. I compared soloability of new ranger vs new guardian. Class balance means they should all be able to kill the same con mob, (Yes I know in different ways) and that is why I said that. Now don't get me wrong I love the changes to our dps but we need "alittle" more avoidance and/or mitigation to make it even.

09-14-200502:22 PM

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This is what you said - "Acualy I have a guardian and no they don't take alot of damage".  All I did by mentioning my guildmate was giving you a specific case where guardians actually are taking alot more damage, at least in regard to their past capability.  Try looking at the guardian forum, there seems to be a clear cut agreement that their tanking ability has been nerfed.  From hearsay, the rumor is Bruisers can match them in HP and mitigation now (thats just hearsay from last night). And killing the same con mob different ways....you just spelled it out man.  The guardian will stand there, take the beating, and win the war of attrition.  The ranger, as it is right now, should burst his DPS so that your target is dead or near dead before you even have to start into toe to toe fighting.  That is sort of why I mentioned my pit champ fight, but there are plenty of rangers in this thread that are saying what I just said. I don't want to judge your play style, but if you want more mitigation and avoidance, I can only assume you're standing toe to toe with your target.  That didn't really work before the combat changes either, at least not without taking a sizeable beating. Hanzo