New Ranger Looking for Advice

[Alleriah]

Oh we're talking about level 5? I thought i read lvl 60 bow dmg is 1/2 as much as melee. Woops.

[Ennewi]

Oakwynd would be the undeniable exception, the one ranged weapon to shoot down the debate above, not that the bow will likely ever find its way into anyone's range slot on p99. That said, early on bows can be decent, mostly risk-free damage. With a Runed Oak Bow and cheap vendor arrows you can strafe around NK and shoot willowisps, farming greater lightstones for plat. But there are quite a few ranger-only weapons that don't cost much and will be more reliable damage which is expected in group settings.

In these discussions it's worth considering the last few patches up ahead, specifically the patch that gives hybrids a much-needed boost. With their defenses adjusted, rangers should be a bit more well-rounded as group tanks and their damage output should be better with the two-hand damage increase, but to what extent? Having an aversion to math, I can only speculate. But if at that point snap aggro tanking becomes the main reason rangers are sought after, than the traditional knight setup could be a viable alternative to dps. Stacking hp/ac and possibly even equipping a shield in off-hand + stat item in ranged slot, so the real dps classes can rush the mob as soon as it's in camp.

But given that rangers have very few quality shields to choose from and plenty of two-handers thanks to Kunark/Velious, it seems reasonable to assume that most will choose to wield the latter, possibly neglecting dual wield outside of high ac raid targets.

Right now rangers still feel ambiguous. A filler class lacking any definitive role except in outdoor dungeons. So the entire time you're grouped with minmaxers, it's like interviewing for your own job but with dps reports instead of tps reports.

Yet, with the right gear, rangers can adjust to most situations well enough and even excel in unconventional groups when fulfilling more than one role is a must. The more multitasking involved, the more useful the class proves itself to be, despite its egg carton tankiness, its butter knife dps, and its sticky tack cc. The problem with this is, many players on p99 have a variety of alts they can switch to in order to keep a group functioning properly, which leaves rangers with very little to contribute.

No, it's not the botb or most synergistic class but it gets the job done, especially when all aspects of its design are put to work. Having levitate, camouflage, bind sight, harmony, sow, and track at your disposal, plus bfg/trueshot, you will feel like a predator drone.

[deezy]

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

What does that have to do with this, the post being replied to?

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

Oh we're talking about level 5? I thought i read lvl 60 bow dmg is 1/2 as much as melee. Woops.

...

Originally Posted by ghost2050 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

im a level 5 ranger

Originally Posted by ghost2050 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

and i was wanting to ask when im in a group should i be meleing or using by bow attacks looked through some guides and never saw a clear cut answer

Answering this again for clarity... Assuming the melee weapons and bow are of similar quality, melee will be higher dps. However, with the use of the trueshot disc, which isn't available until level 55, bow damage will be higher than melee for two minutes. The remaining seventy minutes melee will be higher dps. Thus, without the use of trueshot, melee dps will be approx double that of archery dps. Even at level 60. Even with the best bow in the game.

[Alleriah]

I'd take a properly geared ranger over a pali/sk/warrior any day in a group [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Snaggles]

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

I'd take a properly geared ranger over a pali/sk/warrior any day in a group [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You listed one DPS and 3 tank classes. Might put some fine print on that...

[Jimjam]

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

You listed one DPS and 3 tank classes. Might put some fine print on that...

In group content levelling up file warrior under dps.

From the day he gets snare to the day his defence skill stops raising Ranger is the king tank!

[Snaggles]

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

In group content levelling up file warrior under dps.

From the day he gets snare to the day his defence skill stops raising Ranger is the king tank!

A ranger, sham or bard can tank any content with the right gear and a quality slow (for the later levels). Being able to snare/root/flame lick puts the ranger above most the other tank classes for sake of aggro.

A problem for rangers besides stat itemization is as you mentioned skill caps. The bigger one (I feel) is fighting the dogma that they can't tank. If you are expending a ton of energy trying to prove yourself into a role that can be best spent elsewhere. Hell...I'd rather turn my LFG tag on and go kill hill giants in the Karanas than queue up the Powerpoint presentation and explaining what a Swarmcaller is.

More advise to the OP though:
*Get used to Harmony and using track.
* Learn to skim it on the move and chain pull.
* Snare everything that might run.
* Learn how to root park when you get that skill.
* Get up to about lvl 60 in Fletching and make some low dmg 150 range arrows for pulling.
* Keep your tank thorned if no mage or druid in the group (srsly)

The gear game is a tough one to win but being great at your class is free...it just takes time and some dying.

[Xaeophi]

Ranger tank best tank unless raiding.