solo monk or ranger with no funds?

[Wiley]

I have enough for a couple wedding rings and either the Wu's 2 hander or swiftblade.

No funds otherwise, which would be easier to level you think?

I was leaning towards ranger for the ghetto heals, track, forage and the eventual sow. This seems better then relying on bandages and mend yes/no?

[Bierp]

I have enough for a couple wedding rings and either the Wu's 2 hander or swiftblade.

No funds otherwise, which would be easier to level you think?

I was leaning towards ranger for the ghetto heals, track, forage and the eventual sow. This seems better then relying on bandages and mend yes/no?

Not really. Mid-fight ranger heals aren't usually going to turn the tide. Recovering post-fight with bandages doesn't rely on mana. It also starts at level 1, not level 9.

Also, you can buy a full 13 piece set of cured silk armor for about 80pp and it's quite decent to start a soloing monk. (Wait a bit on one wedding ring if you need to.)

[Seltius]

Rangers get Bind Wounds also. I dont think there is a huge difference until later on that.

For Monks the mend and later fd are great also as was stated above armor is alot easier to get for a monk. Downside to mend is when it critical fails at lower levels. Monks can solo at lower levels weaponwise with just a nice pair of magic gloves. The dps isnt super but it can allow for time to get better gear.

Ranger can use bow and when they get their first spells they get root. So at that point when you get low health you can root and back off the shoot them. Tracking is great for locating targets and Forage is nice for food/water.

Out of the 2 I found Monk easier to solo with at low level and a faster leveling but I am really enjoying leveling a ranger now since you have alot more options and track means I dont have to really search for something to kill if its within my track range.

[fiveeauxfour]

w/o funds, soloing is going to be hard on both classes.

Instead, play which class you enjoy the most!

[lecompte]

Monk is the better solo'er do to mitigation and mend. That said, play a ranger. Rangers are the bestest.

Plus, I may make you my ranger baby and take care of you as you grow.

[Wiley]

Thanks for the replies, FD so hard to pass up but I think I'll go ranger.

And Lecompte, I'd have to OK it with the wife bringing someone else into the relationship. Will get back to you!

[Seltius]

w/o funds, soloing is going to be hard on both classes.

Instead, play which class you enjoy the most!

This isnt necessarily true monks can solo without high end gear it just takes effort and actually using skills that arent as necessary if you have a fungi, haste item, and weapons. Work up tailoring make your own bandages and armor as you go. Save all money and only buy food as necessary and then buy a piece of cured/Wu's at a time and later do whatever you want with weapons. The most dangerous part about monks is failed mend/fd and the fact that you have no speed modification.

If you play Iksar you regen faster but get the xp penalty. Also there are people who are nice enough to give new players items to help them so you can probably get magic gloves for free just for running to WW since they rot at Gnachrist the Destroyer camp regularly or used to. Human you have the most options of everything from xp camps to banking and selling also the easiest leveling xpwise.

Something twinked Monks also dont pay attention to is weight. Which affects their AC after a point at lower levels the stuff your carrying can have a large impact. I suggest in pretty much every thread convert any trash loot and coin into gems as soon as possible. They usually have the best resale value to vendors and can be used for utility purposes like rez and port. They weigh almost nothing and stack so they make the perfect currency.

As stated above play the class you enjoy. Dont be afraid to start a character of each class in different races until you find the one you just really enjoy playing. Focus on the play itself and dont worry about the pixels until later. Meet people and get to know them. Make friends that 10-12 years from now if your still playing online games you may run into again and want to hang out with. Thats what I did and had a blast the second time around too.

Sorry for the above if you have been playing for a while I didnt notice if you were talking about just starting another toon or a new account and new to server.

[Wiley]

Sorry for the above if you have been playing for a while I didnt notice if you were talking about just starting another toon or a new account and new to server.

I played for a while before kunark launched here, but am starting from scratch again. Got a druid up to lv15 but really would rather melee with something. I've played casters far too much.

Completely casual afk exp regardless of what i choose though. I figure any class can solo its up to me on how much down time i'm willing to accept.

[Kutsumo]

A well played ranger is pretty darn useful. Find yourself a sham to hang out with and you can snipe named all over norrath.

[ctre]

Ragers are capable of soloing, however they just suc, (solo = slow to level)
In a group they shine.

Shaman or clr / ranger combo is very very good xp.

[Aaramis]

My vote goes to Ranger. You can get by easily with cheap gear (ie sword of skyfire, GJB). And you have plenty of tools to deal with almost anything.

Mend is great as a Monk, but root + heals as a Ranger works just as well. And being a class that can slow is invaluable.

[Wiley]

The human ranger Maxijazz was born last night and already closing in on level 5, thanks everyone for the advice/thoughts/opinions.

Super thanks to lecompte for giving me a swiftblade at no charge!

[TheFishyOne]

Roll a Ranger, those DTs ain't gonna eat themselves.

[Roguejm11]

Play what you want to play is the way I would go.

Monks can solo and desired for groups. Because they are the puller and high dps.

Rangers can solo and aren't really looked for in groups. Which I find completely wrong. They have decent dps, they can pull, they can root for CC, they can track to find named mobs.

Makes me want a baby ranger now... damnit!

[Jimjam]

Logging on to my 18 ranger now.

Killing swamp water crocodiles near the ancient crocodile camp in upper guk seems good.

If you don't upset the frogs it is very safe and there is often a druid knocking about to give you ds/regen!

[trist4n]

I'll be joining you on the broke ranger thing. I have a treeweave, and at this point, that's the only item. I think I need to get some banded armor and then find myself a Swiftblade

[kaev]

I have enough for a couple wedding rings and either the Wu's 2 hander or swiftblade.

No funds otherwise, which would be easier to level you think?

I was leaning towards ranger for the ghetto heals, track, forage and the eventual sow. This seems better then relying on bandages and mend yes/no?

Ranger is very survivable solo, even budget geared. Banded is cheap, Fletching is cheap. The Swiftblade will carry you a long way, but don't forget to skill your other weapons. The wait for SoW will wear on you, but it's very nice when you finally get there.

Ranger's a fun class to play solo, it's very self-sufficient. You can wander all over the world once you have Harmony, Camo, and Snare. Be sure you know where your trainers are (Surefall, Kithicor, & Greater Faydark) and where to buy fletching components. Don't expect to gain levels fast.

Ranger: It's not a job, it's an Adventure!

[williestargell]

w/o funds, soloing is going to be hard on both classes.

This is the truth, soloing a melee class without excellent gear is going to be difficult.

Monk is the better solo'er do to mitigation and mend. That said, play a ranger. Rangers are the bestest.

I don't necessarily agree with this. Ranger slow swords make them darned good soloers.

[kaev]

Ranger slow swords make them darned good soloers.

Slow swords are overrated for solo play IME. I find that procs are so unreliable it works better to just kill the mob faster with decent dps weapons. Slow sword in a group is sometimes awesome tho, so it's a nice thing to have in your bag.

Archery is shitty damage compared to what you can dish in melee, but the mob isn't hitting you back and Snare is cheap to cast, as long as there's room to kite you can finish any mob even if you were losing the fight in melee. At L45 I got a Tolan's bracer (was 5kish at that time, think it's about the same now) and stashed my fletching kit in the bank. I miss the longer range arrows, but I don't miss the endless clicking to make them.

In most situations Harmony is far faster than FD for getting single mob pulls, it's probably a good thing that Harmony doesn't work indoors.

Learn to watch your UI and recognize the real server tick (usually involves your displayed HP going down, lol.) You can stand, cast a healing spell, and sit between ticks, so that you don't miss any mana regen while healing yourself after a fight, thus speeding your recovery.

You can put off a good bow for a little while, cheapo fletched bows you can make yourself are fine under L20, but buy a Runed Oak Bow (200-ish pp) if you can by the time you're in your 20's, or go hunt the centaur who drops it with a group of mid-20s (he's L30). The Runed Oak Bow is much superior to the Trueshot Longbow because it is classed "MAGIC" and ordinary arrows fired by a magic bow hit mobs that require magic to hit. The only (non-RP) reason to do the Trueshot quest is because you intend to continue on and do the Raincaller, and the Runed Oak is so cheap there is no reason at all to buy a Trueshot.

Lower cost items that are useful (beyond the obvious stuff like ac/hp rings and cheap magic weapons):
* Tolan's Darkwood Vambraces (clicky Stinging Swarm at L45) 13/tick dot isn't great, but it's zero mana cost and you can often use it to pull, also the AC don't hurt
* Tolan's Darkwood Gauntlets (clicky Snare at L45) cast is not fast (4.0sec) but it saves a spell slot and, again, the AC doesn't hurt
* Tolan's Darkwood Helm (clicky Superior Camoflauge at L45) slow cast (10.0sec) but who cares? also you don't get the spell until L49, also AC!
* Tolan's Darkwood Boots (utterly useless clicky at L45), more AC baby, more AC

Pricier items to save up for:
* you're a melee, the three most important stats for a melee are haste, haste, & haste.
* Woodsman's Staff (31/35 2hb), best dps for a long long time
* Lupine Dagger (9/18 p, proc's Greater Wolfform at L45), super long duration ATK & movement buff, you don't get the spell until L56
* Tolan's Darkwood Bracer (clicky Summon Arrows at L45) once you hit 45 this bracer is like gravy soaked gravy
* Raincaller (or do the quest)

[mystang89]

"Archery is shitty damage compared to what you can dish in melee, but the mob isn't hitting you back and Snare is cheap to cast, as long as there's room to kite you can finish any mob even if you were losing the fight in melee."

Just curious why you don't root rot them and shoot arrows while they are dotted? Do arrows break root? I thought only DD spells had a chance of breaking root.

[Daldaen]

Arrows do double damage on stationary, unrooted targets. If you root them you lose half the damage potential from archery.

It's also really annoying to spam archery when you don't have Endless Quiver, especially considering how many arrows it takes to bring down a mob. I recall reading a guide way back in classic on how to solo a hill giant at level 30 on a ranger (or it may have been 39 for SoW), either way the guide just said get 400 arrows and kite him for an hour lol. <3 those classic "guides".

[mystang89]

Arrows do double damage on stationary, unrooted targets. If you root them you lose half the damage potential from archery.

But with snare they aren't stationary either so aren't you doing the same dmg to them either way or am I not understanding something?

Also, I agree that in classic killing things with arrows takes for.........eeeeeeeeee.....verrrrrrrrr. What I've heard done is just take the mob down to 60 - 70% then meleeing it the rest of the way. Kind of trying to work in livability vs killing mobs before you grow old.

[kaev]

"Archery is shitty damage compared to what you can dish in melee, but the mob isn't hitting you back and Snare is cheap to cast, as long as there's room to kite you can finish any mob even if you were losing the fight in melee."

Just curious why you don't root rot them and shoot arrows while they are dotted? Do arrows break root? I thought only DD spells had a chance of breaking root.

Oh, I do root & shoot with him now when I need to take less damage, but that's at L51 so low blues are around 10 levels lower than he is and he has a longer lasting root spell besides. The level difference is what affects root breaks (mobs get a chance every server tick to resist, besides the bonused chance when they are DD'd). At lower levels you tend to fight mobs a lot closer to your level. I found that root & shoot didn't work so well for me until I had SoW at 39, SoW makes root breaks a lot less dangerous and by then root breaks were less frequent as well.

Snare always lasts full duration and is less mana to cast. At low level in cheap gear your manapool will be more of a manapuddle. If you're oom and the mob is snared you can easily catch a couple med ticks by getting some distance, sit for a tick -> stand -> shoot -> run -> shoot, rinse/repeat and you're ready to re-snare the mob. I always hated having to zone with a mob at 40%, ranger has the tools to kill most any non-caster outdoors so it feels like complete failure when you can't quite finish that last add off.


I generally use archery to finish a mob when I feel I'm taking too much damage to be safe, whether that's due to potential adds or just the toughness of the mob. Mobs that are blue at 51 can chew through a ranger's self-buffed hp pool very fast when the RNG swings their way. Root mob, back off, refresh DoT(s) and shoot between med ticks, maybe cast a few heals too if I had trouble getting it rooted, keep shooting until root breaks. Avoid undead, that last 20% where the mob doesn't fight back but just stands there snared is gravy.

[Cecily]

Arrows do double damage on stationary, unrooted targets. If you root them you lose half the damage potential from archery.

But with snare they aren't stationary either so aren't you doing the same dmg to them either way or am I not understanding something?

Also, I agree that in classic killing things with arrows takes for.........eeeeeeeeee.....verrrrrrrrr. What I've heard done is just take the mob down to 60 - 70% then meleeing it the rest of the way. Kind of trying to work in livability vs killing mobs before you grow old.

Dald is a druid, disregard. Regardless of what you do, you're only gonna get a solo 2x shot on the pull shot, if the mob is casting a spell, or if you snare a runner. I use archery when my usual DS tanking gets too dangerous to continue. I root, click tolans arms, regen / med, and fire arrows in between ticks. If the mob is too hard to root and there's room to run, snare and arrow kite provides some long term safety to summon more arrows, regen, run across zone to med in peace.

Archery is definitely NOT my preferred method of killing, but it maintains some DoT damage while you recover during a fight that's going badly. It's useful.

[Cecily]

In my (not so) humble opinion, opening with bow kiting is humongous waste of time. Here's how I leveled up solo*:


Check if you need harmony.
Open with an arrow shot to pull for a 2x + crit maybe. If fighting self buffing casters, do nullify x2 instead.
Engage mob with melee. Slow mob ASAP.
Once slow procs, switch to DPS weapon.
If your HP is about to drop critically low, root the mob.
Once HP is critical, back off. Drop clicky DoT. Med and fire bow in between ticks. Reroot as needed.
When hp recovers to 50% or so, repeat 3-6.


To fight like this you need a fungi tunic, swarmcaller / woodsman (or epics). Sky cloak is probably mandatory for mid 50s+ solo.
Decent bow, Tolan's arms, Tolan's bracer HIGHLY recommended.

Buffs = Str, Skin, Coat, DS, etc. Optional DS potions. The DS (Coat + Thorns + potion) accounts for a huge chunk of your damage.
Being able to cast chloro along with a fungi is insanely helpful for this also. Regen + DS is what makes this work.

*This obviously won't work for everyone, but I simply can't imagine doing the 50+ grind without epic / fungi / sky cloak. If you have access to this type of gear and more than a little bit of misanthropy, this method will take you to 60 solo.

[jibekn]

this thread must be a troll

[kaev]

this thread must be a troll

Nah, but your post is, take it elsewhere please.

[mystang89]

Thanks guys, lots of good info. I wasn't doing the sit in between ticks thing so that's something I can do a bit more of. I'm definitely not a huge fan of casters especially since the casters melee just as hard as a war mob + they have the dots, debuffs and everything else. But yeah, melee is nice if you can get your roots or snares to hit and not be resisted.