Ranger weapon advice: 2h vs 1h

[jgold16]

I know the often repeated wisdom: Woodsman's Staff until epics. However, the stick looks kinda lame and dual wield looks infinitely cooler. I managed to get an Exquisite Velium Warsword and Winters Fury. I am level 43. At my level, do those two 1h'ers compete with the Woodsman?

[Jibartik]

yeah no reason to really stress about it at that point, i enjoy blades as well!

Woodsman staff is fun if you have like really good haste items but other than that its just a decent weapon, like yours!

[jgold16]

Thanks!

Does silver chitin handwraps count as adequate haste?

I am not a min/maxer but I also hate feeling gimped.

[Ghost of Starman]

One hand only becomes viably competitive in the mid to high '50s, due to the main hand damage bonus increasing.

If you don't want to use the woodsman staff, you can upgrade to a exquisite velium 2H sword which also has a better ratio. When I was leveling my ranger I would use swarmcaller until the slow procced, If it didn't proc by the time the mob was at like 60 to 50% I would switch to the exquisite velium, I was able to level solo to 55, then pause the character until I got my sky cloak and epics.

[nilzark]

I am not an expert or min/maxer, but I do feel better wearing my Silver Chitin Handwraps at all times. I think you can have all the gear in the world and still not be able to Solo everything you want to solo.

[jgold16]

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

One hand only becomes viably competitive in the mid to high '50s, due to the main hand damage bonus increasing.

If you don't want to use the woodsman staff, you can upgrade to a exquisite velium 2H sword which also has a better ratio. When I was leveling my ranger I would use swarmcaller until the slow procced, If it didn't proc by the time the mob was at like 60 to 50% I would switch to the exquisite velium, I was able to level solo to 55, then pause the character until I got my sky cloak and epics.

So you would recommend I sell the weapons and get a woodsman until mid 50s or epics?

[jgold16]

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

I am not an expert or min/maxer, but I do feel better wearing my Silver Chitin Handwraps at all times. I think you can have all the gear in the world and still not be able to Solo everything you want to solo.

Thanks, I appreciate that. I mentioned the SCHW in response to Jibartik's response on woodsman only being fun if you have really good haste

[Tethler]

Originally Posted by jgold16 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I know the often repeated wisdom: Woodsman's Staff until epics. However, the stick looks kinda lame and dual wield looks infinitely cooler. I managed to get an Exquisite Velium Warsword and Winters Fury. I am level 43. At my level, do those two 1h'ers compete with the Woodsman?

Those are pretty solid 1h weapons. While it's true that the Woodsman would be better, it probably wouldn't beat them out by much. If you want to 1h it, go for it I'd say.

For the record, I used Woodsman until 53. Swapped it out for Plane of Hate rat whip and Swiftwind when I got it. Still kept the staff bagged for a long time to use when I was fighting mobs with a DS.

[Gustoo]

Haste is 100% a no brainer, highest priority item to have at all times as a melee. If you don't you're making a mistake. I was an idiot on live in 1999 and had a decked ranger but used haste money on cool looking cosmetic stuff rather than being a good melee.

So #1 is haste.

#2 is swarmcaller. You need to use this weapon its the exact same thing as haste. If you're attacking a monster and don't have a shaman slowing it for you, you need to use the swarmcaller. Its an elite weapon. Use it till it procs and switch to who gives a damn what else. This only applies to monsters that are gunna be hitting you for more than like 10 seconds. If your group is churning through stuff and you would basically be holding the swarmcaller all the time, use your best DPS setup. Swarmcaller for smaller groups/ duos and of course, solo.

#3 is some good ratio stuff. The woodsman staff looks baller because you're a ranger and you're a woodsman. If you can afford a cooler weapon like a tantors tusk or a velium weapon with a better ratio, than go ahead and get that.

Good ratio 1 handers are superior for DPS if you can afford them and now that velious is old there is a lot of really great ones for you to pick from. Don't worry about minmax, use 1handers except against damage shield mobs or when avoiding Aggro.

But use haste and swarmcaller in all circumstances. If you do those two things, you're fine. The woodsmans staff is a superior weapon to your 1 handers even though those are amazing dmg/dly ratios by kunark standards, the woodsman stick is still better mosta the time.

But I used lamentations because I liked the stats, made my guy feel stronger (because the numbers looked better)

Remember I said I was an idiot? Point is, in PVE it doesn't really matter. The monsters are gunna be dying all the time. If you wanna look cool, look cool.

[Philistine]

Originally Posted by jgold16 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I know the often repeated wisdom: Woodsman's Staff until epics. However, the stick looks kinda lame and dual wield looks infinitely cooler. I managed to get an Exquisite Velium Warsword and Winters Fury. I am level 43. At my level, do those two 1h'ers compete with the Woodsman?

If you're grouping instead of soloing I'd say do whatever you like the most! You're barely going to be in camp to DPS anyway if you're chain pulling like a mofo!

And yes, SCHW will be fine until epic. When you're tanking you can just flame lick and when you're DPSing if yall aren't getting it done it won't be because the ranger has 22%haste instead of 36%. I'd say you're all set!