Just occurred to me the other night - as much as it sucked getting nerfed that hard, I have to admit that it's knocked the complacency out of me altogether. I'm much more active, engaged, and attentive now, b/c I can't rest on the ungodly proc damage anymore. I'm a better player because of it, since I have to maximize my potential, instead of just hanging out in back with the casters, flinging ranged CAs and relying on massive procs to churn out awesome damage. Gotta work for it now. I don't think they handled the nerfs well, but we had a reduction coming - no question about that. But in the end, one silver lining is that they've forced me to re-learn my class and put sincere effort into filling my role effectively. I've had to rise to the challenge, and I'm glad that I'm becoming a better player because of it. What do you guys think?
I have said before that assassins are going to be pissed, because the majority of rangers have relearned there class and are peaking DPS that wouldent be reached by typical means. When these updates go live we will be doing much more damage, and the same tactics so we will be doing FAR more damage than many of our counterparts because we have learned how to effectively maximize our DPS under tight circumstances.
/agree Jay I used to have the same sort of thing. Being able to rest in the fact that my procs would churn out insane DPS. Most of the challenge for me in the game at that point was to figure out how best to equip myself to proc the most and the hardest. Now I have to move in and out, debuff, use all of my CAs, not just the ranged ones. It's much more fun.
I've stopped posting here for the most part cause there is so much negativity. But I'm actually having more fun now than I ever did during our 'glory days'. I was as disappointed as everyone else about the nerfs. But I've always been more about facts and dealing with what I've got rather than missing what I had. For awhile, I found it ironic that I would have more fun in battle now (knowing that I'm parsing low) than I ever did when I was always top dog in parse. I guess it's the challenge now. I actually have to DO something besides turn on SoA. I'm actively striving to max my DPS, and it's fun. I'm having a blast, and I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. /cheers
i think so yes.. i am by far a better Guardian now that I stoped screwing around with my not-as-much-fun-as-he-used-to-be Ranger. infact i am able to get 2 levels every 3 days right now and went from 49 to 56 very quickly once I relearned that the game was still fun.
I bow down to you my friend. I think all the classes have to work hard now for their DPS, tanking, healing, protections, etc. When I had my guardian Prior LU13 (I believe) I was on the glory of tanking. In my opinion the rangers dont ahve problme ith their DPS. I think they need a little bit more utility for soloing and groups. The problem how much of each. My ranger is not high enough for me to make an assestment. Good luck to you all and i hope what ever comes out LU21 not only help you gusy but also helps the game over all
I haven't felt a whole lot of difference, but then I didn't have a proc-heavy setup. So my tactics haven't changed much.
Personally i'm having a blast. I've dusted off the left hand side of my hotbar setup (where i keep my melee attacks) and move and jump and skitter around like i did waaay back before LU13. My buddy and guildmate Skylancer were used to being top of the dps heap in raids - at least 2x dps and many times 3x the next nearest raider. Just standing there still letting the bow do the work. The game is much more exciting now, we're not top dps in every fight especially when we're not on our toes and weaving with the flow of battle. I feel my class is much more like what i wanted it to be - not boring and stagnant string pullers - but lithe prancers at death's doorstep. Rush in - debuff - weave through the foes to an advantageous distance behind - dot and fire away - stun when the tank and healers need a break - come back in for the kill and loot the chest! Woot what more fun can you have? All that and very respectable - even top - dps if you take time to refine your tactics and role within the group. I don't believe we're broken with LU20 - and the LU21 tweaks should help us get top tier dps a bit more consistently. All i know is that i feel like a much better player today after the initial shock of LU20 and my subsequent transformation as a player.
The two assassins in my guild are doing 1k-1.3k dps on T7 epic encounters. I am doing between 600-900 on the same encounters. I think I know how to maximize my dps...and they know how to maximize theirs. We'll see what changes are actually made for LU21, but based upon what I've seen in the test notes, I see no reasons assassins should worry about falling behind in dps much less doing so by a large margin.
Not to be the stick in the mud of the thread, but I'd have to reply that LU20 has not really made me a better player--it's made me a less interested player. I never just sat back and relied on my procs--I was always moving around, looking for the sweet spot, using my stealth and positionals, etc. My playstyle has not altered a whit with LU20--I'm doing the same amount of work, but getting disappointingly less results for it. I still have fun with my ranger, but one of the main things I really loved about EQ2 is that rangers were finally the badasses we should be. Now, instead, we're comparatively mediocre. I frankly do not believe we were as overpowered as we were purported to be, and I think that they hit us way too hard with the nerfs. I've always played a ranger in EQ, for six years now. I play a ranger or the equivalent in every MMO I've been able to, out of the 30-odd I've played. Sadly, the recent changes in EQ2 have dealt a harsh blow to what I really loved about the game. Whether they will correct that before I lose interest in the game remains to be seen. I hope they do. I really hope. /negativity mode off We now return you to your regularly scheduled happy-go-lucky thread!
Yeah LU 20 really didn't hit me all that hard other than the fact that Tripple arrow is now useless piece of crap CA. I mean before LU 20 I spent most fights in melee range using my melee CA because most mobs weren't worth my arrows. But on named mobs I use to drop back and unload my massive proc damage... or when ever I wanted to make the nearest wanna be tier 1 dps class weep for the mommies. And so, LU 20 only really hit me hard as far as the damage of tripple arrow goes. I only ever kited while soloing if I had safe room (90% of the time you don't) and the mob was a ^.
I would say no, I've always played my best. That being said I really havn't played my ranger much since the changes, to discouraging for me as a soloer. Likely just aswell I have to many characters anyway & it lets me focus more on my alts (conj, monk, berserker & fury). My main now is my Swashbuckler, they were the same level (ranger & swash) but the swash is pulling ahead now. He still does what my ranger did before the change, chain killing +3-4 level ^ mobs, just to slow to solo xp with the ranger now. Message Edited by Shadeslay on 03-17-200610:45 PM
I'm with a prior poster, it just made me less interested. I always knew how to max out my DPS, and if I wasn't breaking 1000 DPS, I wasn't happy. (Hey, it gave me something to shoot for) Nowadays I'm lvl 70, 30 aa's, and bored. I can sit LFG for hours on end, and I get passed over in guild groups, and even raids, for DPS classes. (To quote one wit during a PoA group 'So let me get this straight, 2 rangers = 1 conjuror?!' Seems he'd been parsing the damage... Conj was doing 800-900 DPS per fight, and the two ranger who'd joined since were 350-400 each.) Will Sony ever fix this? Doubt it. They've shown an amazing lack of foresight, understanding of their own mechanics, and intelligence with this ultra-nerf. So, personally... Well, I already had a lvl 60 Conjuror <evil grin> When does Vanguard come out? Maybe they'll have a clue.
Honest answer is no. I always used every single skill I had before LU20. For me the one benefit to come out of LU20 was that the wannabe rangers who wanted to be "uber" has rerolled now that Rangers are not instant DPS. Saying that however, your deluding yourself if you believe a well played Ranger can keep up with a well played Summoner/Assasin. Knowing your class helps, but if the game mechanics are not with you, you'll never be able to match them.
I pay atention to melee more now....and i tend to use a 1hs and shield combo for ranged for better stats.
Heh, If I played pre LU20 the way I play now, there wouldn't be a power in the 'verse that could stop me from getting agro. Didn't matter what/who was tanking.
Nah....can't really say it's changed my personally style of play. I took a few months off from the game just before LU13, came back in October last year and spent most of that time leveling alts and tradeskillers. I really started playing my Ranger again when my Fury was high enough to group them together. So, I missed most of the uberness of post-LU13 Rangers...I didn't even get SoA until after the nerfs started dropping. I never really got out of my old habits from pre-uberness. I will say this however: I never liked the fact that we were so dependent on poisons and procs to generate consistent damage. It didn't seem right to have to rely on my alchemist being available or the broker having a good poison selection to be able to be effective in the field. If I ran out of poisons or came up against a resistant mob, shooting my bow was about as effective as slapping the mob with a wet noodle. I do like the balance I have in my attack much better, now. I have more weapons flexibility, and less reliance on any one damage type. I still notice a dps change when my poison drops, but not nearly as severe. If I leave them off until a break in the action or miss a couple fights it's no big deal. With the addition of melee and ranged crits and some appropriate damage boosts in the right places, this could turn into a very nice change of direction for our class. Those upcoming tweaks really need to be effective, though - I just don't have the muscle in my attack right now to feel like a dps class. When I'm in the mood to lay down damage, I'd usually rather log onto my Monk.
I agree. All those so-called Rangers who went off in a hissy fit and cancelled their accounts just cause they couldnt be top of the heap are pathetic and should be ashamed of themselves. They arent worthy of being part of our community. I have seen several people saying that we rangers can adapt to all situations, and so some of us have. Like you say things will be even better after the next update and until then we have to think hard about how to maximise our potential. NEVER GIVE UP!!!
