What's the purpose of a Ranger?

[Ektar]

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.

[stormlord]

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) [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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

[deakolt]

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

[bakkily]

depends on what arrows you are using, i play one myself, but are we the only class that can get fletching/archery the highest?

but bow soloing we do great, but the thing is this, it depends on your archery skill and arrows being used, well bow of course as well, but a good bow is easy to get, at lvl 34 soloing in kunark, and i usally stick to rhinos, since they are the easiest to kill, and yield same exp as a db cactus, will take me 5 mins to solo, i've done a yellow cockatrice once, and took me about 20 mins to finish the guy, with half my health left and 20% mana, did a red lioness and that took me over 30 mins, near the end i was being seriously raped by it, and would've died if a druid didnt stop by and heal me a few times

but soloing with a ranger, almost all out door zones we do great in, usally no matter what at lvls 1-20 you'll find a group, 20-30 we do very well in lake, because for one goblins near the river are great exp with a 22 ranger i grouped from lvls 21-24, and we do well pulling the sarnak fort, great exp 24-30, even soloing in unrest is great exp at lvl 30-35, though i left the area due to basement or fr camped, and people bitching if i took singles from areas they're not even killing

in doors we do not so bad, after a pulls made, snare everything so the clerics/mezzer feels safe

[stormlord]

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

depends on what arrows you are using, i play one myself, but are we the only class that can get fletching/archery the highest?

Archery sub-lvl 50 Cap/Cap after 50:
Rogue: 200/255
Warrior: 200/240
Ranger: 240/255

Fletching caps are the same for each class. But we get a dexterity bonus to our archery crits. Dexterity is used in-place of intelligence or wisdom when assessing skill gain, if higher.

but bow soloing we do great, but the thing is this, it depends on your archery skill and arrows being used, well bow of course as well, but a good bow is easy to get, at lvl 34 soloing in kunark, and i usally stick to rhinos, since they are the easiest to kill, and yield same exp as a db cactus, will take me 5 mins to solo, i've done a yellow cockatrice once, and took me about 20 mins to finish the guy, with half my health left and 20% mana, did a red lioness and that took me over 30 mins, near the end i was being seriously raped by it, and would've died if a druid didnt stop by and heal me a few times

but soloing with a ranger, almost all out door zones we do great in, usally no matter what at lvls 1-20 you'll find a group, 20-30 we do very well in lake, because for one goblins near the river are great exp with a 22 ranger i grouped from lvls 21-24, and we do well pulling the sarnak fort, great exp 24-30, even soloing in unrest is great exp at lvl 30-35, though i left the area due to basement or fr camped, and people bitching if i took singles from areas they're not even killing

Our ability to kite is not as good as a druid or a bard, but it's there. It may not always be the correct choice, but it does allow us to kill high cons that would otherwise kill us in close combat. In a normal experience grind, this is unlikely because we don't normally kill high cons when we grind. But if there's a tougher than normal aggro on you, or a special named creature with good loot that's yellow/red to you, then using our kiting abilities is effective enough to terminate it.

in doors we do not so bad, after a pulls made, snare everything so the clerics/mezzer feels safe

We're not nearly as good indoors, for a number of reasons. :/

[Corrodith]

It really doesn't start to get good until 55+ and you have good gear (thanks TMO!) and especially a few key items. Honestly I've never put myself through something as sad and pathetic as leveling a ranger 1-20 being fresh to the server. Just awful. It's still pretty sad even up to 50, although bow kiting allowed me to get through some tough periods (since the nerf a couple patches ago it's not really viable anymore, sadly. I killed so many highkeep guards this way to get through the 30s and make money to start getting out of banded armor).

Key items that turn things around:

Dark Cloak of the Sky - sky quest cloak, 50% clicky spell haste. Makes you infinitely more useful in small group situations with no one casting haste. Combined with a nice haste item and good weapons you can churn out 50-60 dps with only self buffs.

Fayguard Parrying Dagger - one of the best mainhand weapons in the game right now at 9/17. Fairly easy to get and nothing else is better for pure DPS until velious. Procs an AEdd but can be used on most raid encounters without causing agro trouble. Definitely helps to close the DPS gap with rogues.

Swarmcaller - again, makes you very useful in small groups that don't have someone to slow. If you have some good situational dex gear the slow procs can be somewhat reliable. Causes mega agro but you can easily jolt it off. These are very cheap nowadays.

Lupine Dagger - From what I hear they're pretty cool, sadly no one's selling them. Ever.

Tolan's BP - instant banking, you never get stuck anywhere. With an OT hammer you can mobilize yourself around the world pretty well. Look for these popping up in EC soon lol.

200 range bows (Wind Striker or Rain Caller) - with 150 range arrows it allows you to pull dragons without risk of being feared (300 range AE). Once you agro a dragon, it will not find your guild's camp spot for you, though, lol.

Generally having all the high-end gear gives you quite a bit of AC and HP, and brings out the ability to actually main tank and take CHs pretty well in regular exp/loot groups, especially if you're slowing with swarmcaller.

[Motec]

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

Dark Cloak of the Sky - sky quest cloak, 50% clicky spell haste. Makes you infinitely more useful in small group situations with no one casting haste. Combined with a nice haste item and good weapons you can churn out 50-60 dps with only self buffs.

VoG. This item is irrelevant for all but moments where it doesnt matter from a dps perspective. Otherwise its fairly cool.

Fayguard Parrying Dagger - one of the best mainhand weapons in the game right now at 9/17. Fairly easy to get and nothing else is better for pure DPS until velious. Procs an AEdd but can be used on most raid encounters without causing agro trouble. Definitely helps to close the DPS gap with rogues.

Lol at close the dps gap. Compared to a rogue, you do nothing. You do laughable damage. hahaha.

Swarmcaller - again, makes you very useful in small groups that don't have someone to slow. If you have some good situational dex gear the slow procs can be somewhat reliable. Causes mega agro but you can easily jolt it off. These are very cheap nowadays.

Truncheon of Doom, Locustlure, etc. So suddenly warriors and rogues are magical slowers too? No. Its a shit idea, a shit slow, and having a rogue instead of you means the mob would die faster than your slow % would reduce DPS*

Lupine Dagger - From what I hear they're pretty cool, sadly no one's selling them. Ever.

What does this comment even mean? A minor atk buff? yay.

Tolan's BP - instant banking, you never get stuck anywhere. With an OT hammer you can mobilize yourself around the world pretty well. Look for these popping up in EC soon lol.

Hey guys clerics are awesome, you get this donals BP when you roll one ands it makes you the most imbalanced class in the game. Oh wait, you're talking dragon loot from a highly contested mob to share amongst 100+ people.

200 range bows (Wind Striker or Rain Caller) - with 150 range arrows it allows you to pull dragons without risk of being feared (300 range AE). Once you agro a dragon, it will not find your guild's camp spot for you, though, lol.

Allows you to kite dragons, until you get lost, loop and have levitate dispelled etc. Otherwise, sound point. Rangers can doi something that bards do infinitely better.

Generally having all the high-end gear gives you quite a bit of AC and HP, and brings out the ability to actually main tank and take CHs pretty well in regular exp/loot groups, especially if you're slowing with swarmcaller.

Yes massivly over gearing your target encounter definitely makes the ranger a viable tank.

Meanwhile lower guk has become easier for everyone else at level 60 in kunark and sky gear.

[Tasslehofp99]

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

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

lol lets see how many mobs a warrior/rogue can solo in 30 minutes [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[akahdrin]

Weaponshield lets them tank VS as I'm pretty sure it's the longest damage avoidance in the game, they just need enough dps to down his 14k hp in that time and enchanters to chain cast rune. I've done it previously on live during Kunark with my ranger there.

Trueshot is no joke for short term dps. In groups they can do things other off tanks can't do. CC with root, snare, pull agro in a hurry off a caster, assist with debuffing via swarm caller or epic once it's in, also helping with downtime healing or spot healing in a pinch. Also they do have fairly potent spells with a fast cast time that allow for burst dps as well. Also a well equipped ranger has 86% haste unbuffed via dark cloak of the sky which actually isn't hard to get if you're in a guild that can do sky.

They're not going to top the charts, but they do bring more to a group other than just dps.

[Rieve]

you had weaponshield during Kunark? that is impressive sir!

Also, the Dark Cloak of Sky is anything but easy to get. Been doing sky for 7 months now and still have yet to see 1 drop...