Ranger: Bow Vs Melee (level 100+)

Discussion in 'Hybrid' started by Chaosflux, Jun 10, 2019.

  1. Chaosflux Augur

    Alright so I read a bunch of posts and the consensus seems to be Bow > Melee for regular sustained and for burns.

    Well I dusted off my COTF era Ranger who's level 100, and when I stopped playing that character I generally melee'd.

    So at what point does the switch happen? Is it worth banging out the EOK Bow aa's available at 100 before grinding out the last 5 levels or is melee better until 105 and then switch. Basically what's the catalyst for bow overtaking melee.

    Mainly talking sustained dps on the path to 105.
  2. roth Augur

    It will depend upon the exact weapons you are using, of course.

    But if memory serves, it was around TDS? TBM? That the switch from melee to archery took place. I *think* it was before EoK at any rate. Its been a while!

    However, one thing to note in all three of those expansions : 105 was the level limit.

    I’m not sure where (I was two boxing through those level ups) but your best bet for hitting 105 is likely going to be Headshotting, thus archery. Once you get a level or two above 105 Headshotting in FM will be your best leveling and AA’ing bet, I’m just unsure where you should go to get to that point.
  3. birdsong_pawn Augur

    Agreeing with Roth here -- I would suggest leveling to 105 before worrying about AA, with the exception of Headshot. At 105, most of the goblins in Frontier Mountains are headshot-able.

    Orcs in East Wastes, Zeixshi-Kar's Awakening are one possibility for headshotting at level 100. The Gribble missions in COTF are still decent experience in the low level 100s. Your best bet for experience would be a group in a higher-level zone like Frontier Mountains.

    If you have a gold account, you might consider leveling to 106 so that you can use Conflagrant gear.
  4. Fintank Augur

    It's a little dependent on what your weapons are. Bum bow vs good melees or vise versa. ROS is when I made the switch to going ranged full time outside of Pureshot, as raid adps parses put it ahead. I'm going to assume you aren't going to be loaded down with Bard/Shm/BL ADPS to make a strong enough case for it though. Also maxing bow AA's takes less time than melee and comes out ahead at 106.

    All of that being a roundabout way of saying stick to Ranged if you're not with a bard basically :p

    Best way to go would most likely be to re-max your Headshot, Ranged Finesse and Trick Shot aa's as you level to make things easier/faster.
  5. Belexes ForumQuester

    I would max all your archery AAs and headshot before leveling if using ranged for dps. It will help the leveling go faster. At 100 leveling to 101 if you have autogrant on, you should get some AA. I think you will get autogranted AA each time you ding for a few more levels.

    Ranged is the way to go for sustained and burns if you have the gear like Fin says.

    I didn't want to hit 105 and couldn't do squat range DPS wise, so I maxxed all my archery DPS AAs before going to next level. That way you are more useful in groups if you get them for DSP.

    Stack your hDex!!
  6. Brohg Augur

    level 105 to use the Wind Saber drop from Hardcore Sebilis that's available this month. Then doodle around to your heart's content before jumping to 110 for the Gnomework Spine Bow
  7. Chaosflux Augur

    Our group Is Paladin, Bard, Beastlord, Ranger, Zerker, Shaman so I definitially have about the ADPS one could expect on raids.

    Which might by why just from rough parses it seemed melee was still better at 100 (it was close without adps), I'll just bee line for 105 pick up a Wind Saber and Cone of Mystics from seb and carry on to 110 after I max archery aa.