Third most challenging class to play SSF

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Originally Posted by Troxx [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I think you’re underestimating how quickly you can bow kite something dead. Especially when the alternative is a knight (low dps to begin with) with crappy SSF weapon and no worn haste.

Standard vendor arrows, self-made quiver haste, and a self crafted bow along with a SSF very high delay (but otherwise crappy ratio) 2hander to milk that dmg bonus …

Killing with a bow really isn’t that bad.

I am not saying bow kiting is bad. Nor am I saying SSF Ranger is bad. I also think that a Ranger has some advantages at leveling for the first 40 levels or so over Knights, since Rangers get their key spells/skills sooner than Knights. This means they can do cheesy tactics earlier than Knights in outdoor zones, which are fairly common in the lower level range.

That is why I said Paladin is probably the hardest of the 3 hybrids to level for the first 40 levels or so earlier in the thread. They get all of their key spells/skills the latest of the three hybrids, and they don't have fear kiting or bow kiting to cheese mobs early on. Paladins start to really get good once you are in the later levels, when your buffs and heals start to mitigate a lot of damage.

However, the idea: "Harmony can sometimes pull faster, therefore Rangers are better/faster killers" is missing the key components of kill speed and recovery times. If you pull faster but kill/recover slower, then you may not be faster than a Knight at the end of the day when looking at kills per hour or total experience gained. Knights can level in dungeons and outdoor zones equally well. This means you need to take ZEM into account. Even if Rangers can get 2-3 more kills per hour via bow kiting, the Knight may still win out in the end in terms of total experience gained. You are going to get a lot more experience per kill in Sol A vs. an outdoor zone typically speaking, for example.

If you or someone else wants to show DPS numbers and kills per hour numbers showing a Ranger vastly outpacing a Knight, I would be happy to concede the point. I don't think anyone here (including myself) has this data on hand. It's experience and gut feelings talking.