Why not make Ranger/Shaman duo?

[Stonewallx39]

The duo should make one of the best named hunting duos possible and just seems so versatile. The only downside is they both wear/use the same type of armor chainmail and require wisdom items for mana. With the experience penalty gone I don’t see a lot of other down side.

Ranger brings root, snare, attack and damage shield/armor class self-buffs, “skin like” buffs, harmony for split pulls, access to higher AC armor, higher return on stamina (4.2 at 60 vs 4.0) wolf form, …Oh and tracking!

Shaman brings slow, haste, best melee buffs!!!, SOW at lower levels, root, dots, and more.


I’m aware that monk/shaman is considered the premier duo with a melee. In what ways would monk be superior? Is monk avoidance or DPS that much superior to ranger to account for the preference?

I imagine the duo would spend 1-40 with Shaman tanking and Ranger smacking or vice-versa. Mixing in groups as necessary.

Then at level 40+ Root rotting with ranger bringing a steady supply of single pulls by using harmony and then sitting back and slinging arrows and throwing ranger dots all while tracking down named mobs and placeholder’s. Ranger can also help CC with root and snare and beat runners in the back once they get low enough or root breaks.

Shaman is also highly desired for most upper end dungeons so getting or starting groups should be no problem.

I do have one question about root rotting and using a bow. Do shots from a bow break root or have a risk of breaking root? I know ranger dots are not the strongest but stinging swarm line should stack with basically every shaman dot and adds at least some DPS.

Please let me know why I might be missing. Thanks!

[Sajan]

I play a 60 Ranger and 60 Monk. Outdoors, you can't beat a Ranger's ability to safely pull singles consistently and efficiently. However, indoors is a completely different story. Monks shine with FD splitting in any setting as opposed to YOLOing an entire room of mobs and hoping you can Root CC everything before the both of you go OOM.

Bow shots do not have a chance to break root, but you don't get the double damage multiplier on rooted or moving mobs.

I never bother casting Ranger DoTs due to the outrageous mana cost spent casting them as opposed to more Roots for CC or heals to help take some weight off the Shaman's shoulders.

[jolanar]

Sounds good on paper, and you could certainly make it work, but Monk is significantly better in every way that matters for duoing with a Shaman. Rangers may be able to wear chain, but they are significantly worse at taking damage than Monks due to their very very low defensive skill caps. The lowest in the game by far for a melee class, it's actually quite embarrassing. Additionally, their offensive skills are severely handicapped starting at 40 and don't catch back up until the late 50's meaning you will be much weaker during that timeframe. Ranger offensive spells do not even come close to making up the difference in dps in that time either. But most importantly, pulling indoors. You would be completely reliant on root for pulling and CC.

It sounds like you aren't even wanting to melee, why even use a Ranger at that point? Might as well grab a druid.

[Jimjam]

Don't forget both classes can sneak (awesome for pulling), but monks have a much higher cap.

Rangers have the advantage of being able to sneak pull through some walls using taunt (monks can ghetto this with critical beg fails).

Edit: don't forget Rangers have to med to do all their things. Which is not possible when chain killing if the ranger is tank and pulls.

[Cecily]

Ranger, Shaman, Rogue was my leveling trio for my ranger and it was amazing.

[Vicatin]

Ranger/shaman is fine. If you're theorycrafting if its better than monk/shaman, id say no. I would say its better than war/shaman tho.

[Pulsing]

ranger for harmony pulls, rogue for the big dps.

[Spyder73]

Necro/Shaman is the power couple that no one ever speaks about. The synergy is outrageous

[Jmcwrestling]

Originally Posted by Spyder73 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Necro/Shaman is the power couple that no one ever speaks about. The synergy is outrageous

Hmmmmmm I actually like the sound of that one tbh.

[Raev]

Monks are simply better than Rangers in almost every way: they do a bit more damage, they tank somewhat better, and most importantly they can split indoors. Rangers do get Snare and good snap aggro, but then a Ranger doesn't tank better than a Shaman anyway. Also, Ranger bow damage is, contrary to Rosen, pretty miserably bad. I remember him parsing at like 15 dps vs Vindi which is pretty low even at L52. The whole point of a Shaman is that with 75% slow you don't care about being in melee range anyway.

Personal ranking of Shaman duo partners: Enchanter > Monk > Necromancer > Charming Druid > Rogue > Warrior > Magician > Shadowknight > Ranger > Bard > Shaman > Paladin > Normal Druid > Wizard > Cleric. So Ranger is about middle of the pack. It will work fine, just not be tremendously overpowered. I don't play a 60 shaman, though, so maybe they think differently <shrug>