Been working on my ranger main after a 5-6yr break and now that I'm closing in on 100 (98 atm) and trying for a decent AA count (2.9k atm) I'm finding that there are things about the class that I need some help with. So in no particular order off the top of my head: 1) Raiding, are we primarily ranged or melee? Been looking at guides that are now 2yrs old and they point to a more melee based AA setup, not sure if this is still the case, or we just bounce back and forth. Where to stand for burn... 2) Base vs Heroic stats. Hitting a point where I've overstepped my base stats unbuffed, and shaman buffs give an equal amount of heroic+base(?), think I'm still fine w/ enchanter haste stats though. This something I should be concerned about later or no. 3) Hemorrhaging mana. I decided in a group last night to try to do the best dps I could and started burning all my arrow nukes (including ooc opener), both elemental nukes and both dots when possible, mana was drained darn fast (had foresight). 0 points in the gift of mana line, should I start focusing on this... 4) Weapon augs. Base dmg > any proc aug? 5) Epic 2.0 Worth finishing for clicky? Have my 1.5 and shouldn't be too hard to figure out where I left off. And on that note how much, if any, of Anguish is HS-able? Will update if I come up with more, in the meantime any answers/suggestions/tips/guide links would be much appreciated.
1) With all passives maxed, we only bow under disc. Of course if you have all of your bow aa's and none of your melee aa's, bow dps will be superior. 2) I'm not sure what you're asking 3) Don't bother with dots or arrow nukes. DPS spell line up is forecasted shots, focused rain of arrows, cold, fire, and summer's when you have mana. Yes, get GoM - can cast summer's on a proc. Max out your mana regen aa's. 4) Yes, base dmg over proc augs. Bow augs are 5 dmg plus a proc. 5) Yes, the only time my epic isn't clicked is when I have auspice or consumed effect running. Edit: The dot/ds recourse dot is worth casting.
Thank you for the info. #1 Burn had me really confused since the article I was reading on EQ Outrider said to pop Bullseye and Imbued Ferocity at start (among other things), which seem range/melee exclusive respectively. So it is melee till burn, drop back and disc, then run back in once it fades... #2 I think I may have just confused myself with heroic stats. Stat tab shows (shammy buffed) dex = 919/814 +204, thought this meant I'd only get 919 and lose the other 99, inv tab shows the full 1018 though. So heroic stats increase the cap and the stat, not just the cap...
919 is the amount of base dex you have - about 100 over the cap. 814 is how much dex you're allowed to have before heroics are applied. This number is increased with levels and aa's.
This post clarifies it all rather well for burst dps in general. http://www.eqoutrider.net/eqforums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=5500
Better late than never response: 1) Raiding, are we primarily ranged or melee? Both, but with all the AAs melee is supposed to be superior. Disc under bow every 30 mins though is the main power punch. 2) Base vs Heroic stats. Game provides too much base stats via equipment. Don't worry bout it, don't spend AA's unless it's to increase the cap. 3) Hemorrhaging mana. 0 points in the gift of mana line, should I start focusing on this... It helps, but mana regen AAs will help too. I personally dn't use the big ooc nuke starter. 4) Weapon augs. Base dmg > any proc aug? Yes, that is the current understanding and generally accepted principle. 5) Epic 2.0 Sure, why not? Not that hard to get these days. Some epics are still useful at L100 even (Shm, Ber, Mnk, Shk, Wiz, come to mind), nice to be one of the few. Of course, note that it won't stack with Invigorated by Hunt line, and iirc Auspice? If I don't have the buff proc up + Hunter's Fury, I'll click epic + Oacc or 7th vet to get the dmg boost and crits. Hope dis helps.
1) Depends on your guild. Our guild we have our rangers primarily do ranged DPS because 40% increase from Called Shots effect and the fact we have 5 or so Rangers on a raid increases the dps of all the bow damage. Another bonus for bow DPS is you are almost certainly out of AE ramp range and thus tend not to insta-die like some rogues/zerkers do so rangers tend to stay fairly consistent DPS over time. 2) Heroics always. I think DEX is the preferred one for Rangers as it increases bow damage. Secondary would be STR which increases melee damage. 3) At 100 your best DPS is as follows. Called Shots Line, Focused Arrow Line, Summer's Line. Dont bother with arrow spells or anything. You will burn mana very quickly if you spam summer's (like 4-5 casts between arc sequences). The key is to cast it once or twice unless discing. Gift of Mana line is VERY important for mana conservation though. It's a very high priority. 4) Base Damage is always better. Caveat: Bow Augs, they will be 5 Damage and have a proc and the determiner will be what the proc does. Best procs to get are Lifetap, -Hate or a Ice DD or Stun DD (Magic) proc since those will synergize with your Frost Arrows setup. 5) Yes. Though your Hunt line will overwrite it if you get kill shots. DOT/DS spell may be discouraged based on your guild in raid situations. Same with PA/FA as those take up precious debuff slots which means less necro dots. I'll melee on trash but bow on boss mobs.
Like this response. One thing I want to add is "DO" use the dots, but I start off with the nukes and fit the dots in between. The additional stack gives you two bonuses 1) it adds incremental dps, but more importantly it 2) adds slight incremental dps at savings in mana so you can dps longer. the dots cast in .5 seconds, so quick to get off. Don't get why anyone won't use these in any fights lasting more then a minute or two, but particularly if you are going to be in a raid fight that lasts longer then 3.5 minutes you will notice a difference.
