Greetings, Truth be told, I've been bored with EQ for several years. I have 3 characters between 90-95 and I just have not enjoyed the game much after level 80 and have really struggled to try and level past that. I was considering coming back and starting a fresh character. Probably a Ranger. I've also played a druid since the year 2000. I think the Ranger might give me the joy of melee with some of the druid aspects. I have a Cleric around level 75-80 that I might box with it and just use DSP mercs. I'll likely just be using the F2P options for now. At what point am I going to hit a wall and not be able to progress and tank the mobs as a Ranger? Maybe the answer for me is to stay around 75 with my characters and not worry about progressing past that and just continue to enjoy the content leading up to it. Maybe I should start a guild that focuses on those levels, Epics, progression ect... Love to hear any thoughts on the Ranger and things I have brought up! I play on FV btw. My 3 other 90+ characters and druid, bard, sk.
Back when I played with all my mates in school (2000s and on), my best friend was a ranger. He loved it, both for soloing and grouping. He never complained about any part of the process and was able to do his epic fairly easily. I considered ranger when I came back this year too. I can't help you with later progression, but I know that the early stuff will be a breeze (especially with mercs and easy to access gear). As far as choice, it's a fun one for sure. I can't help with progression, but I can say go for it if you want to enjoy the game in a literal and role-playing way! Hope that helps.
Start a second box and go for it. As far as f2p goes, if you have an account that is silver, when not subbed, make the Ranger on it for the 1K AA. I recently stopped playing anything over 80 because I find the game frustrating past that level and I am enjoying myself again as a Silver player. If you don't have silver access you can always go gold for a month, later on, and use the AA auto-grant. I will likely resub one account in June (knock on wood) just to have a J series merc available but haven't needed it so far.
Thanks yes both my accounts are silver when not subbed. I think, like you, I might also only play characters to level 80-85. The first 65 are the most fun for me. I think instead of trying to catch all the maxed players, I may just enjoy the Velious content and the PoP stuff again. I really miss the old Hot Zone methods. Where a set of old school zones were bonus exp.
When I saw thread title " return as a ranger" I thought immediately of a cruel instance of reincarnation when the gods frown on you. Ranger > Cockroach? Cockroach harder to kill. /nods
