Ranger or Paladin?

[slowpoke68]

Hi there. Just returned and trying to pick my class. Think I have it narrowed down to those two.

Played on p99 briefly a year or two ago, but played EQ at launch up through Velious.

Looking for any insights from long time P99 players. I will not be twinking at all.

Any insights?

Thanks much!

[Troxx]

They are completelty different.

Paladin is a true tank. Ranger is not.
Ranger can put out decent dps. Paladin can not.
Paladin has very good utility for the job of tanking.
Ranger has some good utility as a dps/puller.

The real question is what do you want to do? If the answer is tank, don't pick ranger. If the answer is dps, don't pick paladin. If the answer is to do either of those two roles the best, don't pick either of them.

[menadwen]

Monk

[slowpoke68]

Thank you much. One other question, is fletching pretty much mandatory for a Ranger?

[port9001]

Thank you much. One other question, is fletching pretty much mandatory for a Ranger?

No. You can buy a cheap pulling bow and store bought arrows if you don't like archery. Personally I think you'd be missing out on one of the interesting facets of Rangering but it is completely optional.

[Spyder73]

I don't think archery on P99 is all that great, Rangers do their damage via melee.

I guess you could theoretically kite mobs with archery but it would be very time and resource consuming and generally not worth it.

Toxx nailed it - Ranger is DPS and Pally is straight Tank. Both classes are in the conversation for 'worst' on P99 so you should know that as well. Problem with Pally/Sk is they can not tank raid mobs due to not having the warrior damage reduction Discipline, but on the flip side they are among the best small group tanks. Rangers get out DPS'd by just about everyone until they start getting good gear, then they turn into monsters. Rangers also have a special niche as the best trackers in game

[Rivera]

From now on, disregard everything I say oh ok!

[slowpoke68]

Thanks much guys for the advice. Will put some more thought into it.

[Canelek]

They are both pretty fun, but a bit on the slow/tedious side to solo, if that is your bag.

Personally, I am enjoying the ranger on and off. Yeah, until you get a Tolan's bracer, which you can use at 46, fletching 150 range arrows is tedious, but you get used to it. Arrows go quick! However, they make for a nice DoT for rooting, dotting and shooting the mob until it gets low enough where you can melee it without getting too clobbered.

I have only taken fletching up to 140 or so, but use the bone shaft/field point/parabolic fletching/small groove arrows due to them being cheap and having 150 range. It gets pretty damn expensive above that! I will need to try to make better arrows to see if there is a significant damage increase.

Also, you get SoW, Lev, Regen, small nukes, small DoTs and other decent utility spells as you progress.

Rangering is not about efficiency, if that is what you are into. I find it pretty fun though.

[Sage Truthbearer]

Do you enjoy the role of tanking more? Or pulling?

A Paladin will be the designated tank in most groups, and Ranger will often be puller (not always).

[dbouya]

Rangers are very fun to explore on, and arrow kiting isn't entirely worthless. It's not great but it can be useful as a way to start every solo'ing melee fight with the enemy at 90% hp.

[darkreap]

As a ranger you will most likely either be puller or tank. I usually find myself tanking on my ranger about 70% of the time in groups. Ranger does a bit of everything, puller, tank, CC and dps. At later levels with epics and sky cloak, a ranger/cleric combo can be as good as shaman/monk if there are easy pulls or rootable adds. I have never leveled a pally but it seems like they have less tools in their bag for a bit more ac and less dps. My vote is ranger!

[Jimjam]

Ranger / Necro is an awesome combo too.

[Beastagoog]

As a Paladin lover myself, I would say go Ranger.

Paladin's are a special kind of taste that most dont like.

[Lhancelot]

One important thing I got to mention if you roll a ranger.

Please get a fire beetle eye at lvl 2-5, and keep it forever.

I grouped with two rangers today, neither had a fire beetle eye, and both had to take tanking responsiblities at one point for the group.

I found it amazing anyone can get to 45-50 level as a ranger and NOT have a fire beetle eye on them!

So you know, fire beetle eyes are needed for you to cast your most important spell as a ranger, FLAME LICK!

This spell grants you snap aggro similar to a paladin's blind. As a ranger, eventually you will be thrust into the tanking position and this spell is a must have!

[Atmas]

I think Paladin is awesome and has a ton of utility. It's definitely not for everyone but I have a lot of fun.

[Rivera]

One important thing I got to mention if you roll a ranger.

Please get a fire beetle eye at lvl 2-5, and keep it forever. So fucking true, wth is up with this?

[Lhancelot]

So fucking true, wth is up with this?

2 rangers in one group session, neither had a fire beetle eye. It still astounds me. :p

[Gozuk]

Either way you go, both classes are great for RP.

[stormlord]

Paladin being able to spot heal and rez gives it a different feel than the tracking and easier traveling rangers have. But like someone else said, do you want to tank or dps? That's the most important. On live, I played a ranger from the earliest days, all the way up to 85 with 1500
AA. I also played a twink pally up to 65 and another pally up to 71 (and 85 upgrade). So I've played both classes.

It's like this:
Paladin = tank + cleric
Ranger = weak-tank + dps + druid

You might have better luck getting groups with the pally because of their tanking. Don't forget LOH. And like the ranger can snare mobs that run, pallies can stun mobs that heal themselves (like the kobold casters in velks).