For what it's worth, i smurfin love headshot grinding. They key might be that I have enough AAs to open it up to it's potential. Add in the audio trigger of a loud death-cry each HS, and you can see the perverse pleasure a lifetime gamer will get from long streaks of headshotting. It's like dominating in a FPS. I especially like the fact that I have an option to accelerate my xp intake if I feel things are going too slow and I want my next level or AA ability asap. And when I want to cruise or box, I get a group setup and still put up good dps and have fun with the AA combos. When things go bad, I can hit all discs/AAs at once and get close to wizard like dps to annihilate the threats. I can also "hold the line" if the main tank dies, with my WeaponShield disc (almost invulnerable) for 36 secs; and to a lesser degree have a temporary defensive-ability (warrior) with my AA that mitigates 50% dmg up to x dmg. Asides from that I make a decent tank, but not uber. When things get hairy, I can crowd control with Vinelash (root+snare). I can self heal with guardian of the forest AAs, potions, spells, lifetap procs with Imbued Ferocity AA. I can do all this. But besides all that, I smurfin' love headshotting.
Now if they would change hotzones so HS'ers have to go back to being either real rangers or a waste of a char slot would be fine with me. Real rangers are sorely missed in the group game...come on back boys and girls this fad has run it's course.
HS grinding is effective. I can max out my 50 AAs in 30 minutes if I push it. HS grinding is also mind-numbingly boring. I think Sony is trying to phase out HSing, so I would recommend against creating a Ranger simply for HS. They did not include any new HS AAs with the latest expansion. The other problem with HSing is that it is restricted to very few good spots, very few. Since so many people have Rangers for the sole purpose of HSing it has made these areas prime real estate. If you play primarily during prime time then don't expect to be able to get one of these HS camps as they are usually camped all day long. They open up very late at night, and there are times you can get the camps during the day. If the prime locations are taken you can usually HS less desired areas while waiting for them to open up.
Even though headshot is not getting new ranks at this time, it is still super effective for AA grinding, leveling up etc. Everyone knows why it got nerfed. It's extremely overpowered and can easily disrupt zones. Feerrott is the ultimate example of this. On my server of Xegony there was rangers all over that zone murdering every lizardman in existance and the temples were camped by headshotting rangers 24/7. Argath was this way too. Again its kinda hard to miss it and devs did see it. Some people are just plain stupid and get their classes nerfed and don't understand why. How these people could think going to a popular hotzones and pretty much taking over the whole zone at once would not be noticed I cannot understand. Maybe these bad apples are jerks and don't care if they hurt their own class idk. Not all rangers that were in Feerrott were bad ones, but the jerks that sent rude tells and hogged the whole temple area 24/7 were enough to hurt the whole class. Making an area with 50+ mobs in it a ranger only camp was more than enough reason to get this nerfed. That being said at lower and levels and right now it is very good xp. It won't be until 1-2 years from now until it is completely worthless for grinding and just useful for powerleveling. I would be careful with headshotting. It's not really the best way to make friends.
Not really my style to bump old threads, but upon doing a search I was sent here. So here is my 2 cents. I am a ranger of the 92nd season and I will admit HS is overpowering. But one solution could be letting HS work on all mobs rather than just humanoids. It spreads the rangers out, and cuts down the camps a bit I think. Zerkers with decap can decap any mob, not just a specific type. That is where they fubared HS imo is by making it mob specific.
My ranger is perma level 85, I use her to PL characters from 56 to 65-70 in a hurry, (i do got to be in the mood for the grind) folk are somewhat stunned when their XP bar starts flying from the deaths of red mobs in quick succession. Whatever level is the target i have em go full XP and then do AA if there is some time left to kill (as they get AA based off the 85 value). Sadly, i just never got into the grinds to build mine to high levels, still a useful tool to bypass long grinds getting friends to be able to pick up high end MGBs
I've been reading countless posts on HS, and the melee v range argument. Players parsing at 6min, 3hrs, 8hrs (though if you're running a parse for 8hrs I bow before you - you are my god). Most posts come to the conclusion that DPS is better with melee for rangers, and I understand that. But does anyone consider the distance factor? The 2 or 3 seconds you can gain from being at a distance on a fight that goes south on you can be invaluable compared to the 25 to 30% loss in dps, imnho (in my noob humble opinion). I've molo'd to 60+ with my ranger, playing for free, using a tank, and while I'll need to take a close look at melee v range as I head to the 70's, in my experience I've done better ranged with my tank buffed, nuke spell set saved (haven't set up those awesome spell macros I've read about), and an endless quiver. So what if my tank dies. Maybe I'm gimped, and certainly I have much to learn, but there's something to watching a humanoid drop from a HS that keeps it from being entirely boring.
I have never liked rangers, myself. But if you can stomach them, you'll have what seems like an OP class. The perfect farming tool. They seem to have too many perks with no corresponding drawbacks. Makes me think of hunters from another MMO. Speed, tracking, cheesy killing ability, and very respectable dps. Bards are a jack of all trades, master of none. Rangers are a jack of all trades..... period. Enjoy
