Does anyone have anything GOOD to add about being a ranger?

[chrsle]

I hit 18 yesterday, too late to betray, and now I am noticing all the negativity toward rangers on these forums. How the devs completely SCREWED us by making all our skills bow skills but not allowing any real damage to come from them, it just makes no sense at all. So basically if we are forced to melee all the time, we would do much higher damage just being an assassin. It makes no god damned sense. Why call them rangers if they aren't going to be fighting at a range effectively? I know the devs will never fix this, because they never fix a damned thing, and this pisses me off so much. How can you proudly play a ranger when you can't range, and when a class you can't play because you leveled too much before betraying or didn't want to betray because you had your guild in Qeynos (like me) will outdamage you while at the same time being more badass in both name and style?

Message Edited by chrsleey on 01-26-2005 03:27 PM

[Artr]

sigh....read the post by the level 50 guy (sorry I can't remember your name right now).Arrows: 3sp/eachBow: Hours in SHArmor: Weeks on AQWeapons: Months in front of a forgeOutdamaging your entire group again: pricelessThere are some things normal people can kill, for everything else there are Rangers.

[Kcool]

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chrsleey wrote:I hit 18 yesterday, too late to betray, and now I am noticing all the negativity toward rangers on these forums. How the devs completely SCREWED us by making all our skills bow skills but not allowing any real damage to come from them, it just makes no sense at all. So basically if we are forced to melee all the time, we would do much higher damage just being an assassin. It makes no god damned sense. Why call them rangers if they aren't going to be fighting at a range effectively? I know the devs will never fix this, because they never fix a damned thing, and this pisses me off so much. How can you proudly play a ranger when you can't range, and when a class you can't play because you leveled too much before betraying or didn't want to betray because you had your guild in Qeynos (like me) will outdamage you while at the same time being more badass in both name and style?

Message Edited by chrsleey on 01-26-2005 03:27 PM

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so far i have a ranger and wizzie and i love being a ranger...... i also live using the bow and my parser shows me with usually the highest dmg output. i know im' low still but i'm loving it. i acually havn't seen anyone outdamage me unless they are 2 lvls higher than me. so idk what you are complaining about here.

[sysr]

Im 50 and usually outdamage all in my group on most encounters. Sure when the assassins big hits are up (5 min timer or 10 min cant remember which i just know its long) they will outdamage you, but thats only 1 fight out of many.

Message Edited by sysreq on 01-26-2005 10:08 PM

[Neec]

Rangers are not screwed there are times you feel a little gimped whil leveling when that other rogue class gets an uber skill 2 leveld before you get an equivelant skill and for those 2 levels can make us look average, 2 profesions can do that at level 50, Assasain when its 2 big hits are up (1 on 5 min timer other on 30 min timer) but thats only 1 mob.. And Bruiser..

 

We look this good with BROKEN skills, our bow skills dont seem to do more dmagage as we get upgrades for them, i think many of them are just copy and paste jobs of lower level skills, poisons are not really efective atm..

 

So we are this good WITH broken SKILLS, without poison working properly how good aare we going to be when all this is fixed...

 

Nope for once im glad i chose ranger classnormally we are the gimped class but this time we are one of the uber classes.. IMO

[Sunjaguar]

I love my Ranger. I never have any trouble getting a group, in fact I find it to be much easier to find a group than in EQ. I often hear something in game I rarely heard before and that is a request for a DPS or "damage dealer", and they actually mean a Ranger. I'll often send a tell to such a request letting them know I'm a Ranger and I get instant invites. I would not pick any other class.

 

Ajacks

(DE Ranger Antonia Bayle)

[Bonedadd]

Don't buy the whining you hear on these boards as extremely  important concerns.  I played EQ for over four years and there will always be a certain amount of boo-hooing, REGARDLESS of what decision the devs make.  The most important part of this type of game playing is the player behind the character.  Any class can be played badly.  Sure there are some things about the ranger class that were a bit different, but it is up to me to play as well as I can and not wait for the devs to come up with a strategy to make rangers BETTER. 

 

RAngers rock and I usually out DPS most members I play with.  This isn't because I am amazing, it is because I have 4+ years of playing this type of game.  Sure there needs to be some parity, but I think some folks just like to whine.  Play a ranger and see for yourself, keep your weapons, armor and combat abilities up to date, play solo and in gps, and try as many different ways to increase DPS and have fun. 

[Axxon]

Yes.  Read my post in the other thread you started.

[Kcool]

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Bonedaddie wrote:

Don't buy the whining you hear on these boards as extremely important concerns. I played EQ for over four years and there will always be a certain amount of boo-hooing, REGARDLESS of what decision the devs make. The most important part of this type of game playing is the player behind the character. Any class can be played badly. Sure there are some things about the ranger class that were a bit different, but it is up to me to play as well as I can and not wait for the devs to come up with a strategy to make rangers BETTER.

RAngers rock and I usually out DPS most members I play with. This isn't because I am amazing, it is because I have 4+ years of playing this type of game. Sure there needs to be some parity, but I think some folks just like to whine. Play a ranger and see for yourself, keep your weapons, armor and combat abilities up to date, play solo and in gps, and try as many different ways to increase DPS and have fun.

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btw about the whinning.... your right. read any other boards. every board i've seen the DPS question has been brought up. Apprantly everybodies class has the lowest dps compared to every other class . so trust me i've done a parser and i do the highest (or second highest) in my group almost on every mob.

[Cex]

I love my Ranger. Nuff said. Now go love yours.

 

 

~Catalyst

42 Ranger

Ofiicer of Paragon

www.paragonguild.com

Message Edited by Cexia on 01-27-2005 08:39 AM

[DrazenCuv]

Sadly rangers peak early then realy drop down in the later end of the game. I am hoping this will change when they review the damage tables per a developer thread in the Wizard/warlock section. The DPS of rangers really drops down in the later game and we really lose our nich. As scouts our escape was a big thing but they gimped escape to be just like every other classes evac we just get it earlier. Our damage is in the lower range alot more often in the higher end and we in no way compare to our evil counterpart the assassin. By a good amount of our skills being ranged and bows being so slow we lose DPS by using our ranged attacks more then when we initially enmgage in an encounter if we start at ranged distance. To give you an idea of how far we drop I was in a 4 person group in permafrost last night doing the high giant loop. I am a 45 ranger, we had a 48 SK tankg, a 48 Coercer, and a cleric. We had a parse going and continually the SK was doing about 2k more damage then I was per battle and I was only getting about between 150-200 more damage then the chanter. This was also unloading with skills every fight becouse I had a lot of power regen going thanks to some new items. Now rangers are fun to play and great early on, but unless there is a big change in the current game for ranges from lvl 45-50 they aren't a great class for the long term. I just keep hoping that there will be some changes that come in and help to fix the ranger class to be more in line with it's base description.

 

On a side note do not buy the Tear apprentice 4 skill for awhile. it is broken. stay with app2 or adept.

[Kcool]

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DrazenCuvar wrote:

Sadly rangers peak early then realy drop down in the later end of the game. I am hoping this will change when they review the damage tables per a developer thread in the Wizard/warlock section. The DPS of rangers really drops down in the later game and we really lose our nich. As scouts our escape was a big thing but they gimped escape to be just like every other classes evac we just get it earlier. Our damage is in the lower range alot more often in the higher end and we in no way compare to our evil counterpart the assassin. By a good amount of our skills being ranged and bows being so slow we lose DPS by using our ranged attacks more then when we initially enmgage in an encounter if we start at ranged distance. To give you an idea of how far we drop I was in a 4 person group in permafrost last night doing the high giant loop. I am a 45 ranger, we had a 48 SK tankg, a 48 Coercer, and a cleric. We had a parse going and continually the SK was doing about 2k more damage then I was per battle and I was only getting about between 150-200 more damage then the chanter. This was also unloading with skills every fight becouse I had a lot of power regen going thanks to some new items. Now rangers are fun to play and great early on, but unless there is a big change in the current game for ranges from lvl 45-50 they aren't a great class for the long term. I just keep hoping that there will be some changes that come in and help to fix the ranger class to be more in line with it's base description.

On a side note do not buy the Tear apprentice 4 skill for awhile. it is broken. stay with app2 or adept.

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Wow maybe if you read the article you will know that not in EVERY group the class with the "should be" highest DPS does have it. First the SK tank was 3 levels higher than you and so was the Coercer. I realized level difference does make a huge change in damage. Second what if the SK and Coercer both used Adept 3? So far every 50 ranger i talked to loves it and says their DPS rocked. Maybe you should try and group with others .

[Neec]

As a level 50 Ranger i conmfirm Our DPS rocks..  In my styatic group i hit 180-190 dps nearly every fight and thats only going to get better when poisons work properly past 40 when all our broken skills are fixed.. I have no complaints in fact i have always been one of hte top DPS in my groups through the game..  

 

A LOT depends how conciencious you are about your KIT i see so many scouts in thier mid to later 40's wearing kit i was wearing in my 20's armor from the level 20 AQ's jewelry thats given away with SUB level 20 quests and weapons i see so many scouts with weapons well below their station...  NOT to mention Adept 3 skills the are easy to get if you are patient and do harvesting yourself not to mention the cash you make from it..

 

I have always had my skills at at least Adept 1, some adept 3's and some masters..

 

There are a lot of quests to do also for good kit that most seem to skip in thierhaste to power level, on my way to 50 i completed about 400 quests.. 

 

Individual items dont make a huge diference to DPS but if you got top kit and adept 3's the stacked benefits are huge..

 

Also JUST because you have a skill doesnt mean u need to spam it to get DPS, some skills are slow and low damage and actually take away from your DPS, learn to use your skills and what each of them do.. Debuff the mobs with the skills that debuff and use your skills wisely..  

[Sotaudi]

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chrsleey wrote:
I hit 18 yesterday, too late to betray, and now I am noticing all the negativity toward rangers on these forums. How the devs completely SCREWED us by making all our skills bow skills but not allowing any real damage to come from them, it just makes no sense at all. So basically if we are forced to melee all the time, we would do much higher damage just being an assassin. It makes no god damned sense. Why call them rangers if they aren't going to be fighting at a range effectively? I know the devs will never fix this, because they never fix a damned thing, and this pisses me off so much. How can you proudly play a ranger when you can't range, and when a class you can't play because you leveled too much before betraying or didn't want to betray because you had your guild in Qeynos (like me) will outdamage you while at the same time being more badass in both name and style?

Message Edited by chrsleey on 01-26-2005 03:27 PM

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Players of virtually every class of every game ever played complain that their DPS is not what it should be.  They always think the skills on the other side of the fence are greener and deadlier.  You cannot base your opinions on the forum whiners who want to be the top under every conceivable scenario and are sorely disappointed when they are not.  And you cannot take every complaint about the class (because not everyone is a whiner) as an indication of problems.  Every profession has slow points in their progression.  What you could do five levels earlier, you cannot as easily do now.  But in a couple of levels when you get a couple of important skill upgrades, you suddenly are doing more damage than the other class that had gotten a higher damage attack when you were just getting buff upgrades.  In short, take everything in these forums with a grain of salt and make the best of what you have.

Add to that the fact that many people take a class and try to play it incorrectly.  For instance, if I tried to use my Illusionist as tank or even played him as my Wizard friend would play his Wizard, I would be sorely disapppointed.  He will never have tanking abilities nor as much DPS as my Ranger or my friend's Wizard, but there are things I can solo with him that I would never have considered with my Ranger at the same level.  Add to that what Neecha says about making sure you have top gear and your CAs upgraded and about using your skills wisely, and I really do not see how you can be disappointed with Ranger.

And I really wish people would get off this "I do not have the best DPS" kick.  This game is way too complex to be focusing on only one factor.  For instance, as a Ranger level 26, I can pull a MoB with my bow, and if I have the room, do between 400 and 600 damage (if everything hits right) before they do any damage at all to me, and with a properly coordinated group, finish my last bow shot right as they get in range of my group where a good tank can pull them off of me and allow me to use my highest damage melee attacks for the rest of the fight.  Being able to bring a MoB into a group so that it ihas already got a Deflection and Parry debuff (Wounding Arrow) and is already down 400 to 600 points in damage is an asset even if, once they get there, I do not do as much damage as someone else in the same way that my Illusionist contributes greatly to a group by being able to mez and stun mobs and drop a bunch of DoTs on them without ever being the Highest DPS player in the group.  If DPS was the only contribution to the group, then there would be only one class and we would all be bored.

[SinR]

we're faster than assassins

[Jowa]

Someone did a dmg parse for me when I was level 35.  I scored 130 dmg/sec.

 

I think that is on-par with the best DPS out there.

[cmptrfrea]

eh dont listen to the whinny rangers... Ranger is a fun class and has the DPS to compete with anyone

[CloakV]

You should try reading the Warlock and fury forums. Just about all the spells from about 25th level onwards are broken or substandard versions of earlier spells. Warlocks expecialy get it bad by comparison to rangers. Lower hit points, poor armour, equal power points but with higher casting costs and as stated mostly broken or non effective spells. At least for the most part our skills are upgrades and work. Plus we get two skills nearly every level, warlocks only get two on occasional levels. Having said that I really enjoy playing my warlock because of the group i play with and having the knowledge that one day it'll be fixed. I also really like my ranger and I'm very appreciative of the fact that for the most part I have something to look forward too every 50-60% exp. All i can say is thank god this games not PvP or the boards would be even more full of people moaning about how crap their character is compaired to character x. PvP brings out the worst in most people.

[mellowknees72]

There are tons of great things about being a ranger.  Unfortunately, as it seems on a lot of these boards, most of what you hear is the negative stuff.  It seems that positive messages are few and far between on these forums...mostly what I've found are posts and more posts of people complaining about this or that about their characters' spells, abilities, appearance, quests, etc.

 

I have a level 25 ranger and I absolutely love playing her.  She didn't start out as my main, but she's rapidly becoming my most played toon.  She's tons of fun -- I can run fast, sneak past stuff, make arrows out of nothing (makeshift arrows ability), track things...and I can solo just fine as long as I don't take on anything that's too out of reach.  I've been able to defend myself successfully from green ++ group mobs with very little trouble.  I carry a few healing potions (I know they don't do much for me at this level, but they're great in an emergency) just in case I need them and usually I do just fine.

 

The thing that you have to remember about rangers is that they are NOT tanks in any way, shape or form.  They're not designed to get smacked around that much.  Keeping your agility high and using defensive abilities like Survival Instincts can make a big difference in who wins a fight between a ranger and a gnoll.  Learn what all of your abilities can do and how to best make use of them and you'll do just fine soloing or grouping. 

 

Seriously, it's all about how you use what you're given to the best of your ability.  Sometimes you have to be creative -- if you want to work hard you can learn how to get off your backside only attacks while soloing (YES it can be done - if you hit the mob with cheap shot, turn off attack, jump behind it and then hit Shrouded Strike or another attack that can only be done from behind or flank).

 

It's true that the game isn't perfect.  Some abilities do not work as intended.  But, the devs actually LISTEN when you use things like these forums and the /feedback feature in the game.  If you don't believe it, scrounge through everything that's posted here and then read the update notes.  You'll find that a lot of things suggested by the players DO get implemented.  If there's something broken about the ranger class that I'm not aware of (being only at level 25 meself), let them know by using the tools you've been given.  If enough of us give good feedback to the devs, things eventually get fixed.  But no one ever solved anything by simply whining.

 

Anyway, I guess my point is that there are good things and bad things about every class.  If YOU like playing a ranger, then play a ranger, and nuts to those people who don't like them for whatever reason.  If you find you don't like playing a ranger, try a different class and see what you think.  All of them have pros and cons - it's just a matter of finding which "cons" you can live with and still be a happy gamer.

[Rexcilli]

The worst thing that ever happened to online gaming is the parser.  It is a lying stack of poop.  Too many of us are looking at parses and saying we suck.  BS.  A parse is only valid if everyone in the group has the same level gear and skill upgrades AND are all the same level.  The parse has to be run for hundreds of fights, not one every time the assassin's big hitters are up.

 

Then, I have never seen a parse that doesn't miss a lot of damage being done.  I have totally discounted parses since EQ where I could stand back and fling arrows at a mob doing zero damage to the mob, according to the parser, and watching the mobs hp plumett.  A wizzy I know would have little or no damage showing at the end of a fight, but if you manually looked at his logs, he would do half the damage done.

 

When you hit a MOb does its hp drop?  Are you having fun playing the game?  if so, my advise is, anyone drags out a parser in a group you are in, tell 'um you play to have fun, so put the parser back on the shelf where it belongs.  They cause nothing but discontent from every class.

 

I love playing my ranger.  IDC what some [Removed for Content]' parser says, my ranger rocks.  If yours sucks....well. 

[Rexcilli]

Bah  Double post

Message Edited by Rexcillius on 02-09-2005 05:34 AM

[Axxon]

I posted once or twice whining about the agility nerf, but I have to admit my reaction was a little too knee jerk.  I am only level 25 so I still don't know what effect if has on higher levels, but I have been able to work around any issues the "nerf" may have caused and can still play effectively as a Ranger.  I love backing up and loosing arrows into the mob, and I have 3 macros that put me in stealth and use a rear assault strike.  Someone else listed all the great things we can do, so I won't repeat them.  I think I complained so much initially because I like my Ranger so much and didn't want anyone messing with him.  Now that I've finished AQ6, he is really doing well in groups and solo.  Don't let anyone tell you we're [Removed for Content] - we're so not.

Message Edited by Drakkonius on 02-09-2005 05:57 AM

[Raahl]

At level 23, I find that I am having a blast!  Even with the Agility nerf!

 

I love being able to explore the depths of Stormhold without worrying about being bum-rushed by a ton of mobs!

 

You'll just have to learn to use your bow skills in combat (group mostly).  I'm still trying to get the hang of it. 

[Soluz]

im very proud of my ranger. Many days before eq2 comes out, my idea was to create a dark elf ranger and i did it. Today, im 28  and im just so happy !! Our skills rocks, we can stealth, then let explore the huge world of Norrath !! Tracking is a very good skill, specially for the quests, when u must find this or that type of mob, no way to walk the whoole antonica or TS to find it !! Our combat skills are so cool, from behind, front, range, debuff, snare !!! Compared to the other dps classes, i think rangers are the most varied class. Casters cannot jump in the melee to drop few dmg when they are oop !

And imo, all the classes are cool to play. We have so many differents ones ! The most important thing is to be happy and proud of our choice, our class, our race !

Everything is good in this game, eq2 rocks !!!!!

 

 

[Mik91]

It all boils down to what you like to play. Personally I hated just standing there with my fighter and mashing buttons as soon as they come active. With the Ranger I'm constantly trying to find the sweet spot (where ranged and melee attacks will both work from), going in and out of sneak, and just being a general bad (Faarbot got me). Our ranged attacks rule becaue they are debuff shots as well as damaging and we just look plain kewl launching arrows. I loved being a ranger so much in EQ2 that I rerolled 4 times just to get the right race to go along with my personality. (Ratonga) And all this enjoyment is coming from an EQ life long Cleric. Ranger = the most fun you can have in Norrath.

 

 

BTW - This is the funniest thing I've read in weeks

Arrows: 3sp/each
Bow: Hours in SH
Armor: Weeks on AQ
Weapons: Months in front of a forge


Outdamaging your entire group again: priceless

There are some things normal people can kill, for everything else there are Rangers.

[Soluz]

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Artrus wrote:

Arrows: 3sp/each
Bow: Hours in SH
Armor: Weeks on AQ
Weapons: Months in front of a forge


Outdamaging your entire group again: priceless

There are some things normal people can kill, for everything else there are Rangers.

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[FaarNerfed!].....

arrows : >makeshift arrows< L21 spell, ten arrows (adept1---> 30 arr )

Bow: some are very cheap in broker, but dont say hours....

armor: weeks....*SIGH*....if you dont like playin, go somewhere else. You can not necessarly focused on the quest, and btw, the lvl range of the mobs you have to kill gives ya exp and stuff.....

Weaps: steel stileto -> drop from giants, cheap in broker, you can dual with another or with a steel rapier....

Rangers rocks !!!!

[Belar2001]

My Ranger is BY FAR the most enjoyable character I have ever played in any MMORPG, I had a 44th level Shaman, 53rd level Druid and a 65th level bard in EQ1.

 

The great thing for me, with Rangers, is that there is some strategy involved and some skill in using the class.  Like my Bard in EQ1 you have to plan how you approach each situation, and plan your attack.  When pulling solo use your speed debuffs first so you can gain distance to get some of your higher dmg shots off, I can normally get a white or yellow solo mob to yellow health before engaging in melee, at that point just by using your HOs you can take down the mob easily.  Now, I am only lvl 26.5 but I can easily solo in TS and generate substantial xp.

 

I love my Ranger and think that for once Sony got this class right.

[CloakV]

I bet I'm not the only one who would like to change our opinion after the constant stream of nerfs we've received. Plus the lack of fixes on broken skills. My opinion now is if you want to solo ranger is the very last class you should pick. If on the other hand you like getting killed by blue mobs and being sometimes beaten within a few % of your life by greens then this is the character for you. At 26th level i'm now having to fight the same mobs i was at 20th level again, with about the same difficulty, due to nerfs and nemerous mob buffs. Oh and getting very little exp for it.

[Xran]

While comparing Assasins, don't miss out Brigands. Check out the brigands forum. They do pretty insane dmg.