Hello! I'm coming back to the game and just now getting a feel for things again. I have three characters I primarily played, a Ranger, Bard, and SK. All of them are around level 80 or so. My main question is this: I don't have as much time as I have had in the past. So the target play style I am looking at is as follows; I want to play something that can solo/mono decently, is still welcome in light grouping content, and capable of going back and killing old raid bosses and rare spawns when I get the itch. Out of the three classes listed, which would be most optimal for meeting those three criteria? I have no interest in raiding. While I enjoy the SK play style in general the most so far for soloing(the durable HP stealing fighter) I'm not too sure how fond I would be of tanking. The ranger seems to be a lot of fun with headshotting and easy/quick EXP, but im not sure how welcome they are in groups. Bards seem like they would be fun in groups but I question their ability to solo well. Any thoughts/suggestions/opinions are welcome!
You seem to have the breakdown well. I would add: SK needs more gear/AAs and has slower dps; ranger headshot has been nerfed, and now fires far less often. If your priority is to be able to solo, then I personally would pick SK of the three, but you'd have to reconcile yourself with tanking in groups.
Are SK's just more capable solo machines than Rangers? How welcome are Rangers in groups? I was under the impression that SK's struggle with soloing more because of their slow dps, or are there other factors in play that I am not aware of? Edit: After doing some more research, SK sounds the most interesting, I'm writing Ranger/Bard off. But I have also discovered the concept of Heroic Characters... I enjoy playing melee, magic hybrids, how do Beastlords do on the solo front and the grouping front?
I have a 80 ranger with great gear and shes really impressive, she can keep herself and her merc up do good ranged and melee damage, great buffs. I would not write a ranger off, just get raid gear to start. What is said about rangers is untrue. Make sure you have all aa though. Even besides mobs as a side note, In actul pvp, I could decimate a sk of the same level with my ranger or a bst for that matter. They would have very little chance. Though bst are fun to play, really fun. I recomend them too. Though not shamans dont bother. Edit: a dude was jesting on chat that a sk has the dps of a magiacins pet. This is sad I like the idea of sk. I have a 65 one and she seems to run out of mana before she can kill much in most areas and its almost but not exactly as slow as a warrior, they are the way to go for tanks though.
go sk. get AC. gear up while relearning the class, flop your way to mobs rangers cant fight to and kill them.
Beastlords are ok. They go through a big dip in the late 70s as their pets drop in power, but catch up again 90+. They count as dps for groups, so have a lot to complete with, but also have more slots in a typical group. I should point out that most classes, especially tank/melee, change a lot past 70, so you can't use memories of the 50s as a deciding factor. Asks in particular gain the ability to "swarm" lots of light blue mobs for decent experience.
Can you feel the love? Wife and I group together with my SK and her Shaman - she'd be pretty insulted to hear anyone ragging on shammys - I do the tanking & she does cleanup, healing, etc. Have multiple rangers too across the accounts - my question to you is: Why choose right now? You have what? Eight character slots? No harm in letting the toons you're not actively playing just sit there, right? FYI: Heroic characters are a plus, especially if you have an old main or favorite severely lacking in AA's - felt I owed it to them, as it were.
I'd steer you towards the ranger. They are especially fun with all that juicy AA you get on a heroic character. They are fantastic molo with a heal merc, do great DPS, can track, single pull, etc. Given that you're not sure about wanting to tank, and also given that that's exactly what you'll be doing in every group your in, I'd also say ranger. Bards are awesome, my favorite class in the game, and they are really fun to play in groups, but they are cumbersome to solo with. It can be done, and done pretty fast, but it's a lot of work and doesn't lend itself well to casual 'log on and grind a bit' type gameplay. Ranger for me is way up there on the list of 'if I could only have one character'. Being able to track, camo, and snare is also really great for goofing around and sightseeing, exploring old content, tracking nameds etc. TLDR: Rangers are FUN!
Who would do better to survive tough mobs in long fights? Would the ranger's better DPS out weight the sustainability of an SK? Which one has a easier time leveling?
I just want to know what happened to the Dwarf City that was near Felwithe? I am just downloding now and looking to get back into the game, but I noticed it was no longer on the map. Please Advise...
It is one zone over in Butcherblock, and it is still there (Kaladim). The closest adjacent city to Felwithe is the wood elf city of Kelethin.
Yeah I rememer Kelethin. But I did not see Kaladim on the map, hence not remembering the name. I will go look again. And TY for the response.
Sk's are tougher, but they kill stuff at about 1/3rd the speed of a ranger. Well geared ranger with J5 heal merc is more than tough enough to tank the stuff you are going to be dealing with on a day to day basis grinding mobs. A ranger is not a tank, so in situations that call for a tank...you need a tank. When you molo, you tend to do a certain level of mob, when you are in a group, that mob level is generally higher, hence you need a real tank for it. SKs are fine and dandy, but you will spend all of your time in a group as the tank. The reality is, any class can do fine in todays game, both in group or solo, you just have to figure out what play style you want. The ranger will level faster if you're solo. If you're grouped, it won't matter. I can tell that no matter what you pick, you're going to have buyers remorse at some point. That's pretty inevitable as all the classes bring something different to the table. To that end, I really don't want to try and convince you one way or the other. All classes in EQ are viable both solo and grouped.
Gotcha, good idea. Did that to my old main, Getter - he was so outmoded when we returned to EQ, Old Hackin, Shammy Extraordinaire on The Rathe, made me feel bad so I upgraded him. Guild needed an active cleric/tinkerer too so bam, lvl 85 cleric to work on... it escalates rapidly lol.
