What's the purpose of a Ranger?
 

I was thinking about this today, and realized, I don't have a clue why anyone would want to play one of these? If AA's were in game, it would make sense, but what purpose do Rangers serve in regular groups and raiding at this stage of the game...I don't get it? I actually think they look fun, but don't see what purpose they serve...

about only thing they got on other classes is able to track a bigger distant

Track bots! And paper tanks , plus anyone who plays a ranger supplies comic relief

Sup it's all in the sigs.

Post Yendor, post!


Good dog.

Give me the option and I'd roll an Iksar Ranger right now! :)

the obvious answer is so there's someone to take DTs.


But really it's for people who like rangers and want to be a ranger.

To eat DT's.

Honest answer - Rangers are filler. They don't do anything really well except for track.

They CAN snare, pull incredibly well outdoors (harmo) do decent dps (have a pure melee offense skill cap) and be an offtank.

Not a bad class but doesn't fill any role incredibly well except for random utility.

It's not as bad as you think.

We have:
Dual Wield
Double Attack
Parry
Dodge
Riposte
Kick

Check: a bard doesn't have double attack or kick or 2handed weapon skills.
Check: our dual wield is higher than a warrior at cap (260, versus 245)
Check: our riposte and parry cap is higher than a bard
Check: we get a 30% attack bonus, but i'm not sure if this is the case on p1999 yet.

We get damage shields (unresistable) which help to make up for losses in hp/defense. We get snare and bow criticals and summoned arrows (tolan bracer), which helps us to kite (if needed). We get dots and direct damage spells that augment our dps in all situations.

We have track for outdoor zones. It allows you to really be in your element. The track list shows you the con of hte creature so you can hunt down creatures that will give you experience. You can track by distance or con or other things. You can also find special creatures that drop valuable loot or craftables.

I've used track quite a few times to check for dangerous creatures so I can avoid them. On pvp servers, it gives you forewarning as well.

Our regenerating mana augments our HP because we can cast healing spells on ourselves. In a solo situation this is especially important. It's like having two or more hitpoint bars.

We get a invisibility spell so don't have to purchase cloudy potions. Good for convenience. We also get sneak; useful to sell/buy from/to hostile vendors. Hide is very useful when you're afk and might not be back for a while. This is because invisibility spells can break early, but hide won't.

Our root/snare line allows us to control a couple adds. It requires a lot of attention, but if you play it right it's very effective. It's all about timing and not losing focus. Typically, rangers lose focus when they start to do too many things at once: dps, cc, tank, etc. If they focus on cc they're effective.

We have outdoor-only harmony so it's easy to pull in a controlled fashion. Powerful.

We can tank, kite, cc, dps, etc. We don't specialize. We're best in a small group where our skills can be used rather than needlessly repeated and made redundant or ineffective in large groups.l

Last but not least, animals won't attack you when you sit down (most of them) :)

If you like the idea of bieng a lone wolf or adventuring with a partner or two, is a nice choice.

ranger bow kiting? doesn't that take like 30 minutes a mob?