Ranger.. Bad idea?

[Spradle22]

First of all: Hello everyone! Thanks for reading this post. I am a returning player from about 15 years ago. I played the game as a kid and the Nostalgia has been to great to handle for the past few years. I just have to kill me some crushbone orcs. Downloaded EQ and it was ugly. I can almost stomach even POK and other releases, but all my old zones are dead. And the fact that I can buy a lvl 85 character really gets to me. So I found p99, and new I had come home.

Anyways, I am considering starting a Ranger but I am wondering about this penalty I have heard about?

What exactly is it? How severe is it? Thanks a lot! I don't remember too much from when I was 12, just that I loved the game.

[solrokk]

You should definitely play what you want to play :D

I love rangers, they have their purpose. But in leveling groups.. they can tend to be ignored due to that penalty. (-40%) and lower dps output, especially if you arn't twinked.

For your first character, I may have to say, try not to start a Ranger. This is just my opinion. But if you want the challenge, and the struggle, give it a shot :)

[polishanarchy]

"Do what you love and love what you do."

The only bad idea in EverQuest is doing something you don't want to do.

The hybrid penalty is noticeable -- but to be honest, leveling is slow no matter what class you choose.

[joedirt87]

I've never had an experience where a group will not allow a certain class to join because of the exp penalty. Other things i have heard is that Rangers are one of the more gear dependent classes, but there are decent weapons for cheap for all classes out there.

[Aztefano]

Rangers are fun, but as above said need to be a bit twinked to have good DPS (and it is an offensive class after all) so not the ideal first character. Although, the Swiftblades (awesome wep until about lv 20) are awesomely cheap and you can probably afford one at lv 7-10 even on your first character by doing bandit sashes in WK or selling CB belts (3pp each). That wep alone will give you a good boost until you can make better money. As you have root you can single pull ice goblins in perma that now and then drops ore that sells for 50pp at about lv 15.

You are then able to raise about 500pp/level which means you will have 2-3k at 20 to twink yourself to a reasonable level. Also at least on the Qeynos side, older rangers will hand you down their old gear as liong as you dont go begging for it like some of the retards outside the ec tunnel. :P

[Wargrade]

I think it is -40%. It talks about it here: http://wiki.project1999.com/Ranger

[Lune]

First of all: Hello everyone! Thanks for reading this post. I am a returning player from about 15 years ago. I played the game as a kid and the Nostalgia has been to great to handle for the past few years. I just have to kill me some crushbone orcs. Downloaded EQ and it was ugly. I can almost stomach even POK and other releases, but all my old zones are dead. And the fact that I can buy a lvl 85 character really gets to me. So I found p99, and new I had come home.

Anyways, I am considering starting a Ranger but I am wondering about this penalty I have heard about?

What exactly is it? How severe is it? Thanks a lot! I don't remember too much from when I was 12, just that I loved the game.

Playing a ranger as your first character is very, very rough, but I've seen people do it and be successful.

The 40% exp penalty isn't that bad, and it's going away sometime in Velious. Iksar monks have 44% penalty and it's one of the more popular race/class combos.

Here's some ranger tips. (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156572&highlight=lune%27s+ranger+tips)

[Lilah]

I play a druid my husband plays a ranger, we have no issues duoing or gaining exp. e arent in it to blitz through levels. We havent had a problem grouping either. We do ok, kill sh1t that needs to be killed, having a blast.
Play what you want.

[Paleman]

I duo with a ranger in my guild from time to time. Since I am an iksar monk and XP penalty already sucks for me It just makes no difference. Rangers have alot of utility for duoing, SoW, snare, DS, and good damage output. pretty great if you ask me.

[curtischoy]

Rangers are fun. My 2nd char on blue is a 45 ranger. I tanked the whole time for my group. It was usually me, a shaman, a chanter, and a druid. Yes they are gear dependent but so are basically all melee.

Their utility is great as you can snare and root which can make for some great ghetto CC, especially if you are not tanking because you won't get the constant interrupts from being hit. Ranger heals are not the greatest, but you don't really need to use much mana so I would just spam my heals on the shaman during down time or pulls so he could just canni without ever having to heal himself. He thus had even more mana than a regular shaman and it was a great combo.

Also tracking is amazing. And having a good bow is really fun to pull with, you can pull mobs that you cannot even see. Track the mob you want to pull and head towards it, spam cycle NPC until you have it on target and shoot an arrow, boom, pulled. Obviously this works best outdoors : )

Forage is also a fun skill. Never have to buy food/water and never run out. Plus if anyone in your group needs it you should have a bag full of it ready to give away.

The combination of sow, levi, and camo is great for getting where you need to go.

[sox7d]

The only people that complain about rangers are either retards beating to death an archaic joke or number crunching tryhards. They're a fine class, play one if you'd like

[Feanol]

The only people that complain about rangers are either retards beating to death an archaic joke or number crunching tryhards. They're a fine class, play one if you'd like

Nailed it.

[Ella`Ella]

People ask this question all the time, and then people respond with all kinds of reasons why someone should or should not play said class.

Really, you need to tell the community what are your goals on P99 for the class you play?
Do you want to amass a fortune?
Do you want to fly through levels?
Do you like to grind out exp?
Do you want to have a ton of alts?
Do you want to level a char that you can PL others with first?
Do you want to DPS as a melee?
Do you lift?
Do you want to DPS as a caster?
Do you want to be raid useful?
Do you want to be self-sufficient?

These are just examples of questions to give people more insight on what you want to achieve/have fun doing.

[Wargrade]

People ask this question all the time, and then people respond with all kinds of reasons why someone should or should not play said class.

Really, you need to tell the community what are your goals on P99 for the class you play?
Do you want to amass a fortune?
Do you want to fly through levels?
Do you like to grind out exp?
Do you want to have a ton of alts?
Do you want to level a char that you can PL others with first?
Do you want to DPS as a melee?
Do you lift?
Do you want to DPS as a caster?
Do you want to be raid useful?
Do you want to be self-sufficient?

These are just examples of questions to give people more insight on what you want to achieve/have fun doing.

I want to be, the very best, like no one ever was.

[maskedmelon]

Well then, to catch them is your real test, to....

Ahem..

As far as the ranger decision goes, do it. Be a ranger. The penalty really just means that for your total xp, you should be two levels higher than you are. I have only ever run into one group that turned me down because of the penalty and a handful of peeps who complain about it.

As already mentioned the only people who take issue with it are either retards or min-maxers who often qualify for the first group as well...

Just be good at what you do and be a pleasure to be around and you will have no problems finding groups ^^

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

Ranger will be hard. It is a great class, but you will have trouble finding exp grps for grinding out your levels.

If your life is such, that you don't have hours to try to find a group, don't do a ranger unless you jyst want to mainly solo, find a group now and then, and also take a looooong time to get to 50, never mind 60.

One other factor to consider. You only start to kill stuff and het items that can earn you plat as you get higher in level. Many players on this server first rolled a character that a) can easily get groups for exp and b) can therefore level pretty fast or c) rolled a super strong solo class like a necro or mage (or enchanter if you want to lead a charmed life) to earn some plats to then have some bank to start out their real main character.

But you know what? This server is moving slow. Kunark has been out for years on p99 now. It stops at Velious, which I doubt will come out in 2015. So the slow game is actually no big deal as long as you have patience. So, you absolutely can do a ranger, as long as you don;t mind it's gonna take a good long while to get to 55+

The payoff will always be, you will be one of not many high level ranger mains. Sure, there are ranger alts. But not many ranger mains. ***If you have the time to put in and don't mind the long haul*** go for ranger, sure.

Rangers can do a lot. People who know the game like rangers. But it is a serious challenge because of the exp penalty and that people seldom want rangers in some of the best exp camps (they think they are racing somewhere, I guess)


Or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, you could be a cleric. Clerics are always in need, and when you hit 55+ everyone will want you to join their guild. The only problem with playing a cleric is that -- a rumor anyway -- is that all they do is cyber between casting CH.

[sox7d]

Ranger is an insanely OP class in MM, I'll say that. Between levels 20-39, I very, very rarely was LFG. Get harmony, camouflage, retarding pathing and bind sight down and while everyone's sitting on their asses waiting for pond, GY or CE to open up you can simply just take the yard, the tower or throne room with 3 people.

Or in CoM, if everything's camped, get a couple people together and use track to chain pull EJ for only 10% less XEM. Chain pulling beats the shit out of fighting over a mob every 6 minutes that yields negligibly more exp.


Be creative and rangers are fun and useful as hell.

[Burgy]

I play a ranger main because I wanted a challenge and it has been one to some degree. In my personal experience, getting groups as a ranger really isn't that difficult, even without twink gear at least up until 50+, and I think the difficulty getting a group there is a combination of there being stronger classes for a lot of the exp camps as well as the server is pretty top heavy so you're just competing for a slot against more characters in general.

If you think you would really enjoy the mechanics of the class though, which I do, I would say there shouldn't be anything stopping you from playing a ranger main. Just be realistic about your goals.. The main thing I have struggled with as a ranger is finding good solo cash camps as my gear is decent, but certainly not amazing. That's just my thoughts on the matter.

The short version is they are a damn fun class to play so long as you aren't expecting them to be the very best character there ever was.

[Fanguru]

I main a ranger. Save yourself the trouble and start with an easy class that will get groups or can solo cash camps.

Then twink a ranger and consider making it your main. Rangers are great but the community does not like us and it is hard mode.

[Erica]

I always giggle when someone says something like "Don't get the ranger, big exp penalty" as our two Iksar monks become silent with their slightly higher penalty. I don't think a lot of people are aware of that.

[maskedmelon]

I always giggle when someone says something like "Don't get the ranger, big exp penalty" as our two Iksar monks become silent with their slightly higher penalty. I don't think a lot of people are aware of that.

I might be so bold as to suggest that most are not ^^

[sox7d]

I main a ranger. Save yourself the trouble and start with an easy class that will get groups or can solo cash camps.

Then twink a ranger and consider making it your main. Rangers are great but the community does not like us and it is hard mode.

Don't listen to this guy, this is the carcinogenic mindset that's ruining the server.

[citizen1080]

Roll the ranger on Red...with group xp bonus no one cares about your xp penalty.

Oh, and red is better anyways!