Rangers

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Boxerpaws, Apr 19, 2020.

  1. Boxerpaws New Member

    Thinking about coming back and starting off as a Ranger. Thoughts?
  2. Shanarias Augur

    Pretty easy to level up with a Ranger. For a while, anyway. :)
  3. dubblestack Elder

    It's fun, but also, it's gear dependent, but a blast to play, great dps, track, buffs, can bow, tank pretty well, headshot. My favorite class.

    However, it may be hard to start right out of the box with one. If you're in big guild it may be easier to level as people are more likely to help. But if you're determined, do it.
  4. Valdest Journeyman

    Old returning player, that can tell you what a ranger is like till 80. Ranger is a master of none, trick of all trades type of class. I love the ranger, and I hate the ranger. The ranger is really gear dependent. You could be called to off tank, root park adds, single pull and countless other things. I mean this is the only class I know that has a level 5 spell memed at level 80... Tangling Weeds.
  5. Rolar New Member

    The only thing I remember about rangers was, in PoF raids we always wanted one to take the death touch.
    Valdest and Vumad like this.
  6. Valdest Journeyman

    in PoF raids

    Fixed it.
  7. SmoochyOfWolfington Augur


    In Classic EQ at least, Rangers were always sought after. Especially in the medium areas, people would basically be begging for one to take along in a group or even just on a trip for safety, but it would still happen in the early levels and I am pretty sure in the later ones as well. When one was not available, I would see players log off their main, just to get their alt which was of considerable lower level and use that in a pinch. Really I have heard, as others have said, a master of none, but a jack of all trades. Kind of like being O+ for blood. Everyone can and wants to use you. ^^!

    Now in modern EQ, where races and classes start to/have been dangerously mingling in becoming the same, at least at the higher levels with AA points and what can be purchased with them, I am not entirely sure how effective one would be. But I am pretty sure they have something good to offer.

    Semi possibly true, probably not entirely if at all EQ lore-
    Bak in me yunger 'ears, me gratgranpappy tuld me we trollz made gud rangerz till trollz got hungry 'n we ate all dem wood critters gud, bonez 'n, skinz 'n all. Then godz made uz no longa rangerz. But we still eat dem woody creaturez dou!
  8. dubblestack Elder

    I'm not sure what classes are becoming the same, they are all pretty different on live. Ranger is the only ranged hybrid/melee type class, with buffs and abilities that are different than others, same with beast, same with pally etc. Some classes abilities work much better with different group make ups. Groups are set up differently in raids and the normal game. Rangers are pretty popular in live, a lot of people play then, and they are nice in melee groups, or any group. They are pretty high dps if you click your abilities and spam the right spells, I pretty consistently hit top 10 on most current raid events.

    Generally, no classes are difficult to play, in that way they are similar, some are more busy than others. Most dps classes you have a spam bar set up and spam the same 5-6 spells/abilities over and over, click several discs, burn. Tanks are probably the most complex classes to play, particularly pally, where you have a decent amount of both offensive and defensive discs for many situations. Just what I've seen playing over the last two expansions. If classes are relatively easy now, I can't imagine how easy they were to play in classic with 1/10 of the abilities they have now.
  9. Vumad Cape Wearer


    I think by becoming the same you are being a bit too literal. I play ENC and I have been shocked by how effective rangers can CC. It's pretty insane. I play the epitome of the CC classes and have watched (a very skilled) ranger out perform the entire CC team (bards + ENCs). Their punt, snare, root, kite tactic is incredibly effective in so many situations. Other than the surprise breaks of roots, and the fact that mobs can still hit people who get to close, rangers have become the most effective that they ever have been.

    I'm talking a single ranger handling 8 adds on a raid. When I returned from HoT during RoS and didn't yet have my level appropriate mez spells, I watched rangers "CC" 4 adds at a time by kite/root/snare/punt while continuing to DPS with their bow which they can do while running.

    My point is simply that the class roles have never been more blurred than they are now.

    It's not that the classes have become the same, but rather that class abilities have evolved to the point that they are no longer different in results.
  10. SmoochyOfWolfington Augur


    A different wording perhaps, but the same idea. Every race and every class of Classic EQ (CEQ) served a unique purpose. There were no blending or blurred lines, not withstanding hybrids, but even they fell neatly into place. That is no longer the case. And with so many people choosing to power level, even going by what CEQ players used to do, is no longer needed. No one cares if their true starting city was tougher to others or nearer to a friendlier bunch, because they most likely all end up in Crescent Reach and then a quick trip to a book takes them anywhere they want.

    No one (or at least not as much a deciding factor anymore) cares if an Ogre can withstand a physical frontal stun if you can simply gain it later using the extra points you received and are most likely being powered leveled quickly enough to gain it in short order anyway. But in CEQ that frontal stun meant something.

    I have always heard Trolls could and would eat anything. I am not sure if this is true. I've never played one before (maybe ever so briefly many moons ago) until now and I "think" I had accidently eaten something I normally would not have been able to... an animal pelt or something odd I had clicked on and it disappeared. If it is true in Classic they could and even if they still can, so much food is basically given to the player from the start and gained during fights, that there is no reason a Troll would ever need to have that feature now. But in Classic it may of been a god send.
  11. runecrow Elder

    Depends on your style of play but I think the ranger is excellent, one of the best. Its versatility lets it excel in soloing and adds well to a group synergy as long as it fits. Obviously it's not as easy to fit into a group as straightforwardly as your archetypes. Its self-dependency doesn't jibe well with dependency - meaning tank is dependent on other classes for support which its lacking (like heals and such) so fits well into any group because groups are grouping because of dependency and the less dependency the less well you fit; the more narrow the niche.

    But you got options to melee and if that doesn't go you can break off, snare, go distance attacks. You got a superior ranged attack potential that is great for a variety of purposes. You got your near-instant snare, virtually nothing's getting away. Heals and damage shields. You got your foraging for when you need it, you got a great spell toolkit to compliment whatever attack strategy you're using. And of course you got the tracking mastery and to me tracking is probably the best ability in the game. It's just so singular and useful.

    I guess it's like any other classes. Has its upsides and downsides. But, in the end, tracking. So great.
  12. SmoochyOfWolfington Augur

    Wow! All this talk of rangers has me wanting to start one. The only time I have ever picked an archer class in any MMORPG was in Asheron's Call 2. It was interesting, but certainly not EQ.
  13. Old&Slow Journeyman

    Rangers are pretty fun. And effective solo/molo in the beginning to 70's or so. Leveling isn't that bad especially in open zones where you can root and shoot, melee a bit and in general give yourself room. Unaltered run speed helps escape from situations if you find yourself in over your head. With a good group combo, you can still be just as effective in the mid levels. You have no gate but with run speed and various clickies, books and GH ports that really isn't much of a problem. And I do okay with poor gear. I am not a hardcore grinder or anything, but I think if you are looking for something that has a lot of variety a Ranger can be a good choice.
  14. Fluid Augur

    Just me maybe. I always have a Magician handy before I start a Ranger. You can go cheap, I don't recommend it. Buy a decent bow and have the Magician summon several hundred arrows. If the Magician is high enough, summon a Quiver of Marr.

    If you are on a live server, just use Gloomingdeep to get to a level where you get your basic spells like flame lick and snare. There is a lull between the early levels before you get SoW and Stinging Swarm in the late 20s. From there up, it is easy to bow kite or root and shoot. On a TLP it is best to group on those early levels. As Vumad said, if you play the Ranger well you will be sought out for grouping. Good DPS, snares, root, heals, buffs, et al. You just have to play heads up. If there is a runner, you root it. If the healer draws aggro, you pull it off them. Riftwind's protection stacks with a Magician's flame shield, so add it to the tank and elemental.
  15. SmoochyOfWolfington Augur

    What would be the ideal Ranger though? A human that is an allrounder or more of the mystical races that have advantages in certain aspects like intelligence or wisdom for spells? A wood-elf or half-elf, maybe even a halfling, I assume the latter can be a ranger, big hairy feet and all. ^^!

    Edit: And no, unless something has changed from Classic, halflings can not be rangers... hmmm...
  16. SmoochyOfWolfington Augur

    I'd simply edit my other post, but too much time has passed. And speaking of time passing... apparently halflings can now be rangers... when did that happen? So what would make the best ranger or at least a decent ranger? I'm not worried about being the best, just competent and thus not totally hindering myself. Would a Wood-Elf or a Halfling be better suited to living rough and out in the wide with nothing, but the stars above and maybe a bedroll underneath and a warm fire near by? Or would a Half-Elf be better suited. I assume the Half-Elf has more strength for melee combat and to carry heavier loads, where as a the Wood-Elf is quicker and maybe better with a bow. But where does a Halfling fall into play? Thank you.
  17. Cragzop Cranky Wizard


    ...day 1...
  18. SmoochyOfWolfington Augur



    Not per my Kunark strategy guide. Also when did it change that certain races no longer get bonus AP at character creation? Now we have something that is highlighted green that you can take from and pool it out to your other characteristics, but no actual starting points. Or it is the same, just different?
  19. Cragzop Cranky Wizard

    I was actually just joking a little since day 1 for me was in 2002. Patch notes for the introduction:

    March 19, 2002
    ------------------------------
    - Halflings and Gnomes have new classes available to them: Halfling
    Rangers and Paladins as well as Gnome ShadowKnights and Paladins. All
    of the necessary NPCs and items should be available for these new
    classes.

    The AP character creation stuff changed around the tutorial introduction as they tried to simplify things. By then, defiant gear had kind of made a mockery out of caring about starting stats since it was so easy to hit the 255 cap. At least that's what I'm remembering.
  20. Vumad Cape Wearer

    The racial stats are negligible at higher levels. It's better to pick a race based on starting city rather than minor stats. We have heroic stats now, because stats are so far past our caps with armor that they made an entirely new version of the stats.