Smickers said:
I just started playing SoD
Welcome!
Smickers said:
I prefer Melee to Caster, i also like the ability to do some solo work aswell as get groups, not to mention having certain utilities such as Tracking can be fun too. One thing bugs me tho, i had a flick through various pages in these forums and read everything i could on this topic, but anything that mentioned Ranger was usually bad news. People say they are fun til 45 but boring after, or monks are better tanks etc. Can someone please tell me the good and the bad and give me some personal opinions to help me make up my mind?
Rangers definately melee more than they cast, though you have a nice lineup of spells to solo with (snare, root, nukes, lesser dots, spirit of eagle, bow/weapon procs, and the such); however, on raids the only spell you're likely to cast regularly is Icerend (a nice nuke, though it has a 45 second recast, which allows you to essentially chain cast it indefinately) as well as your atk buff Call of the Predator.
As far as soloing goes, its a very viable option at pretty much any level. Your bow does good damage from the start (as opposed to only at the upper end on live) and you have an innate chance to crit with archery from level 1. In the lower-mid levels, you'll be stocking up your bags with arrows if you plan to arch, but by the time you're 60+ you're in a position to obtain a Huntsmans Bracelet (drops of a lower tier raid mob, and has clicky summon 1 dmg arrows) or Endless Quiver which will make your bowkiting that much more convenient. Dare I say it, but I think a ranger is the best soloer (in terms of exp) in the game in the sense that we can kill endlessly with no downtime and can handle any amount of mobs (that dont summon, or cast too much if your resists are subpar); the only real competition may be a bard with relic dot. Its quite efficient if you are geared/aa'd properly, maybe even on par with an okay group. However, after 65 lvl's + AA's, you may start getting sick of it
As far as utility goes, tracking is fun as well as foraging, coupled with SoE and Innate Camoflage (one of the best AA's to get IMO - instant cast invisibility with a 6 second recast) make traveling and pulling/scouting nice and easy in the vast majority of zones.
I've also noticed a lot of anti-ranger sentiments on these boards lately, I may not be your 'typical' ranger but honestly I feel that if you liked them on live you'll like them here (I sure do, though its not quite perfect). I cant speak for leveling 1-65 nowadays, but I'd assume towards 60-65 you may get over the novelty of your class, but once you start raiding and getting aa'd it gets interesting again. Monks are better tanks yes, but when you get into the higher end game the gap starts to close (though they always remain marginally ahead, at least until foresight is implemented). Overall you'll do good dps with weapons or archery, can tank anywhere from laughably to great depending on your aa's and gear, and have a few little fun extra spells/abilities/aa's to keep you entertained.
If you want to do the best melee dps, make a rogue. If you want to be the best tank, make a warrior. If you want to do the best caster dps, make a wizard. If you want to be the best puller, make a monk. If you want to have the best utility, make a shaman or enchanter. But if you want to do all/most of these decently well (or better) and you enjoyed playing a ranger in the past, then I dont think anything should hold you back
Hope this helps,
Aeran
