Rng specific questions from a new player

sr22ger · 10-27-2006, 10:29 PM

A couple quick questions from a noob rng...I'm a former endgame player from FFXI and can't get over how different this game works and feels compared to FFXI. Really a nice change of pace.Anyways, a couple questions about gear, stats and MII ability upgrades:1. Changing gear in macros was huge in FFXI based on what ability you were using (spells, weaponskills, dot, att+, haste builds, etc) -I looked over the rng macro stickies, but didn't see any gear swaps at all -Does each of the rng abilities use the same stat mods (agi is what I am focusing on, but correct me if I'm wrong) basically allowing you to use the same gear for everything (outside maybe different gear of soloing, raiding, xp groups, etc)?2. I only have a few bow abilities at my level (14), so say if I decided to look for an xp group, should I focus on using my stealth/flanking melee abilities or sit back and spam arrows only to come in for a shadow leap when the timer is up and a bleeding cut to open the fights? I guess a better question is how I maximize my damage at lower levels?3. I dinged 14 last night and was offered a master II scroll upgrade for free.... -I looked around a bit and couldn't find much info on which abilities were recommended to upgrade over others, other than that I noticed you get these upgrades every 10 levels starting at 14. -Well I decided to pick shadow leap because of the huge damage upgrade...and because its my favorite ability right now to either open a fight or go cheap shot > sneak attack > shadow leap. The other one I considered was Hunter's Instinct but I found the ability upgrade was mainly for the 25% movement speed in combat as for the rest of the stats were upgraded in later versions of the ability. I mainly based this on the fact that in FFXI, combat speed was pretty much worthless on a rng because it's ranged attacks were not affected by the haste and I assumed EQ2 was the same..... Also I figured I could just spend more time getting better agi+ gear to make up for that difference. Did I make a mistake here? Is there a guide somewhere that stats what abilities are worth upgrading to MII?4. Is agi the only modifier on ranged attacks or does str also affect them? Right now I am focusing on stats in this order, agi > str > power. Is that a good way to prioritize gear upgrades?Thanks in advance, I'm really enjoying my time in the game so far!Eeon from Butherblock

Message Edited by sr22ger on 10-27-2006 11:30 AM

Message Edited by sr22ger on 10-27-2006 11:33 AM

Zholain · 10-27-2006, 10:57 PM

sr22ger wrote:1. Changing gear in macros was huge in FFXI based on what ability you were using (spells, weaponskills, dot, att+, haste builds, etc) -I looked over the rng macro stickies, but didn't see any gear swaps at all -Does each of the rng abilities use the same stat mods (agi is what I am focusing on, but correct me if I'm wrong) basically allowing you to use the same gear for everything (outside maybe different gear of soloing, raiding, xp groups, etc)?Changing gear is not really necessary in EQ2 except when you get up to raid level, primarily for specific resists. Unfortunately, the game provides no ability to quickly swap out gear. You can indeed macro it by creating your own macros, but there are several caveats that make it of limited usefullness. Also, our damage, both ranged and melee, is based on strength.2. I only have a few bow abilities at my level (14), so say if I decided to look for an xp group, should I focus on using my stealth/flanking melee abilities or sit back and spam arrows only to come in for a shadow leap when the timer is up and a bleeding cut to open the fights? I guess a better question is how I maximize my damage at lower levels?You'll quickly learn that as a ranger, you'll constantly need to mix up your attacks between melee and ranged in order to maximize dps. The number of bow attacks that you get will increase drastically by the time you get to level 28 or so.3. I dinged 14 last night and was offered a master II scroll upgrade for free.... -I looked around a bit and couldn't find much info on which abilities were recommended to upgrade over others, other than that I noticed you get these upgrades every 10 levels starting at 14. -Well I decided to pick shadow leap because of the huge damage upgrade...and because its my favorite ability right now to either open a fight or go cheap shot > sneak attack > shadow leap. The other one I considered was Hunter's Instinct but I found the ability upgrade was mainly for the 25% movement speed in combat as for the rest of the stats were upgraded in later versions of the ability. I mainly based this on the fact that in FFXI, combat speed was pretty much worthless on a rng because it's ranged attacks were not affected by the haste and I assumed EQ2 was the same..... Also I figured I could just spend more time getting better agi+ gear to make up for that difference. Did I make a mistake here? Is there a guide somewhere that stats what abilities are worth upgrading to MII?I wouldn't worry too much about the master 2 choices at lower levels. You'll level so fast that you'll outgrow them quickly. However, combat speed(haste) is indeed very meaningful in EQ2, for melee as well as ranged. As you level up some, you'll get a better feel for your playstyle and you'll be able to make a much better informed decision on what skills warrant the master 2 choice, not that Shadow Leap was a bad choice.4. Is agi the only modifier on ranged attacks or does str also affect them? Right now I am focusing on stats in this order, agi > str > power. Is that a good way to prioritize gear upgrades?Strength is actually our primary stat when it comes to dealing damage. Aye, it seems weird for a ranger, but that's the way it is. The way the game currently works, strength will increase the base damage of your CA's (combat abilities), intelligence will increase the damage of your spells (primarily poison damage), and agility increases your power pool and avoidance.

Welcome to a great community. Playing a ranger is a blast, even if it does require a lot of work to properly fulfill your role. If you like to be very active in combat, you've chosen the right class. SMILEY

Message Edited by Zholain on 10-27-2006 03:00 PM

VisualFoundry · 10-27-2006, 11:57 PM

Actually gear-swapping using hotbars is possible, and I use it every five minutes or so to swap in Ichorstrand to make arrows, then swap it out again for Wurm Destroyer (both are high-end bows, the first of which makes 99 arrows every 5 mins). To set this up I put both bows in my inventory and dragged each from my inventory to my hotbar. I then equipped one to the ranged slot and dragged it to another hotbar slot. The backgrounds of the buttons that were dragged from inventory will show as either blue if unequipped or tan if equipped. Clicking on the one that is unequipped will equip it, while clicking on the one that is equipped will show an examine window for the item. The third button - the one that was dragged from the ranged slot - was only really necessary for me because the item has a castable effect. Otherwise one can drag any items they wish to quick-swap to the hotbar quite easily.

With that said, however, I don't think you'll find gear swapping very necessary at the lower levels. Poisons need not be equipped in the charm slot to be activated, and thus can just be buttoned from inventory and used. What gear specifically were you planning on swapping?

-Hask

70 Ranger of Tacticans of Vengeance, Kithicor Server

Prandtl · 10-28-2006, 12:23 AM

I like putting my poisons on my hotbar, as well. The icon will show the number remaining in the stack, and if need be you can cast it in combat without opening your bags. Just click the hotbutton. It's also handy for changin poisons on the fly, i.e. an emergency mental breach.

sr22ger · 10-28-2006, 02:22 AM

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I wasn't planning on swapping gear if it wouldn't be benificial for most situations like mentioned. Basically I wanted to know that if certian abilities were str based and other agi based, would I be benifited by swapping str or agi gear in for those abilities and swapping back in my gear for melee/ranged attacks. Thanks for clarifying what str and agi do as well. I like the poison's to hotkeys idea, I will give it a try!

10-27-2006, 10:29 PM	#1
sr22ger Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 10	A couple quick questions from a noob rng...I'm a former endgame player from FFXI and can't get over how different this game works and feels compared to FFXI. Really a nice change of pace.Anyways, a couple questions about gear, stats and MII ability upgrades:1. Changing gear in macros was huge in FFXI based on what ability you were using (spells, weaponskills, dot, att+, haste builds, etc) -I looked over the rng macro stickies, but didn't see any gear swaps at all -Does each of the rng abilities use the same stat mods (agi is what I am focusing on, but correct me if I'm wrong) basically allowing you to use the same gear for everything (outside maybe different gear of soloing, raiding, xp groups, etc)?2. I only have a few bow abilities at my level (14), so say if I decided to look for an xp group, should I focus on using my stealth/flanking melee abilities or sit back and spam arrows only to come in for a shadow leap when the timer is up and a bleeding cut to open the fights? I guess a better question is how I maximize my damage at lower levels?3. I dinged 14 last night and was offered a master II scroll upgrade for free.... -I looked around a bit and couldn't find much info on which abilities were recommended to upgrade over others, other than that I noticed you get these upgrades every 10 levels starting at 14. -Well I decided to pick shadow leap because of the huge damage upgrade...and because its my favorite ability right now to either open a fight or go cheap shot > sneak attack > shadow leap. The other one I considered was Hunter's Instinct but I found the ability upgrade was mainly for the 25% movement speed in combat as for the rest of the stats were upgraded in later versions of the ability. I mainly based this on the fact that in FFXI, combat speed was pretty much worthless on a rng because it's ranged attacks were not affected by the haste and I assumed EQ2 was the same..... Also I figured I could just spend more time getting better agi+ gear to make up for that difference. Did I make a mistake here? Is there a guide somewhere that stats what abilities are worth upgrading to MII?4. Is agi the only modifier on ranged attacks or does str also affect them? Right now I am focusing on stats in this order, agi > str > power. Is that a good way to prioritize gear upgrades?Thanks in advance, I'm really enjoying my time in the game so far!Eeon from Butherblock Message Edited by sr22ger on 10-27-2006 11:30 AM Message Edited by sr22ger on 10-27-2006 11:30 AM Message Edited by sr22ger on 10-27-2006 11:33 AM __________________

10-27-2006, 10:57 PM	#2
Zholain Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 641	sr22ger wrote:1. Changing gear in macros was huge in FFXI based on what ability you were using (spells, weaponskills, dot, att+, haste builds, etc) -I looked over the rng macro stickies, but didn't see any gear swaps at all -Does each of the rng abilities use the same stat mods (agi is what I am focusing on, but correct me if I'm wrong) basically allowing you to use the same gear for everything (outside maybe different gear of soloing, raiding, xp groups, etc)?Changing gear is not really necessary in EQ2 except when you get up to raid level, primarily for specific resists. Unfortunately, the game provides no ability to quickly swap out gear. You can indeed macro it by creating your own macros, but there are several caveats that make it of limited usefullness. Also, our damage, both ranged and melee, is based on strength.2. I only have a few bow abilities at my level (14), so say if I decided to look for an xp group, should I focus on using my stealth/flanking melee abilities or sit back and spam arrows only to come in for a shadow leap when the timer is up and a bleeding cut to open the fights? I guess a better question is how I maximize my damage at lower levels?You'll quickly learn that as a ranger, you'll constantly need to mix up your attacks between melee and ranged in order to maximize dps. The number of bow attacks that you get will increase drastically by the time you get to level 28 or so.3. I dinged 14 last night and was offered a master II scroll upgrade for free.... -I looked around a bit and couldn't find much info on which abilities were recommended to upgrade over others, other than that I noticed you get these upgrades every 10 levels starting at 14. -Well I decided to pick shadow leap because of the huge damage upgrade...and because its my favorite ability right now to either open a fight or go cheap shot > sneak attack > shadow leap. The other one I considered was Hunter's Instinct but I found the ability upgrade was mainly for the 25% movement speed in combat as for the rest of the stats were upgraded in later versions of the ability. I mainly based this on the fact that in FFXI, combat speed was pretty much worthless on a rng because it's ranged attacks were not affected by the haste and I assumed EQ2 was the same..... Also I figured I could just spend more time getting better agi+ gear to make up for that difference. Did I make a mistake here? Is there a guide somewhere that stats what abilities are worth upgrading to MII?I wouldn't worry too much about the master 2 choices at lower levels. You'll level so fast that you'll outgrow them quickly. However, combat speed(haste) is indeed very meaningful in EQ2, for melee as well as ranged. As you level up some, you'll get a better feel for your playstyle and you'll be able to make a much better informed decision on what skills warrant the master 2 choice, not that Shadow Leap was a bad choice.4. Is agi the only modifier on ranged attacks or does str also affect them? Right now I am focusing on stats in this order, agi > str > power. Is that a good way to prioritize gear upgrades?Strength is actually our primary stat when it comes to dealing damage. Aye, it seems weird for a ranger, but that's the way it is. The way the game currently works, strength will increase the base damage of your CA's (combat abilities), intelligence will increase the damage of your spells (primarily poison damage), and agility increases your power pool and avoidance. Welcome to a great community. Playing a ranger is a blast, even if it does require a lot of work to properly fulfill your role. If you like to be very active in combat, you've chosen the right class. Message Edited by Zholain on 10-27-2006 03:00 PM __________________

10-28-2006, 12:23 AM	#4
Prandtl Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 474	I like putting my poisons on my hotbar, as well. The icon will show the number remaining in the stack, and if need be you can cast it in combat without opening your bags. Just click the hotbutton. It's also handy for changin poisons on the fly, i.e. an emergency mental breach. __________________

10-28-2006, 02:22 AM	#5
sr22ger Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 10	Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I wasn't planning on swapping gear if it wouldn't be benificial for most situations like mentioned. Basically I wanted to know that if certian abilities were str based and other agi based, would I be benifited by swapping str or agi gear in for those abilities and swapping back in my gear for melee/ranged attacks. Thanks for clarifying what str and agi do as well. I like the poison's to hotkeys idea, I will give it a try! __________________

10-27-2006, 11:57 PM	#3
VisualFoundry Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 35	Actually gear-swapping using hotbars is possible, and I use it every five minutes or so to swap in Ichorstrand to make arrows, then swap it out again for Wurm Destroyer (both are high-end bows, the first of which makes 99 arrows every 5 mins). To set this up I put both bows in my inventory and dragged each from my inventory to my hotbar. I then equipped one to the ranged slot and dragged it to another hotbar slot. The backgrounds of the buttons that were dragged from inventory will show as either blue if unequipped or tan if equipped. Clicking on the one that is unequipped will equip it, while clicking on the one that is equipped will show an examine window for the item. The third button - the one that was dragged from the ranged slot - was only really necessary for me because the item has a castable effect. Otherwise one can drag any items they wish to quick-swap to the hotbar quite easily. With that said, however, I don't think you'll find gear swapping very necessary at the lower levels. Poisons need not be equipped in the charm slot to be activated, and thus can just be buttoned from inventory and used. What gear specifically were you planning on swapping? -Hask 70 Ranger of Tacticans of Vengeance, Kithicor Server