Rangers - misunderstood or actually bad?

[Rooj]

Everyone's too busy playing the popular classes to appreciate things like Rangers, Paladins, Wizards, and Necromancers, despite them being just as useful as any other class. One thing I've noticed about Ranger is that it's the class that a lot of bad players play - you'll see this in every MMO. For WoW it was Hunters. In FFXI it was Thief. In FFXIV it's Dragoon, etc etc... Ranger, Shaman, and Bard are the 3 most versatile classes in the game which means they are the hardest to play well. Jack of all trades classes typically have to do a lot more work to do to reach their full potential. I have tanked on my Ranger from the start, but how many other Rangers can say that? The idea of a Ranger tanking is pretty baffling to many people. While I was leveling, I met a lot of people who didn't want anyone else to tank for them and chose me over the "real" tank classes because they trusted me more. That is the difference being a good player makes (sorry not trying to sound arrogant here).

So yes, people will not invite you to groups because of your EXP penalty, because you "suck", because you "bring nothing to the group", because your "DPS is bad", or for whatever reason. It's something you will definitely deal with - less so in this expansion however. Call of the Predator is amazing, Velious zones are HUGE making Tracking more vital than ever, the hybrid EXP penalty will be removed, and there are more Ranger buffs and QOL changes coming. As always, play what you want to play. Find friends and a guild that aren't dumb and who are just here to enjoy Everquest with some cool pals, and you'll quickly find that your choice of class never mattered to begin with.