lvl 9 ranger on Teal, 2 hander or 1+shield better option?

[Teflondon75]

My options are like a bone bladed claymore or a dragoon's dirk(or other fast? 1 hander) plus a chitin shield. I see rangers recommended using silver swiftblade's and woodsman's but obviously those are a long long time away haha. Not sure what is best bet with current items available. Thanks all!

[Pyrion]

Go with whatever gives you higher damage. Higher damage = shorter fights, less damage taken.

Only use shield when you are tanking for a group.

[Teflondon75]

Right on, for sure. The ratio on the BBC is obviously much better than any 1 hander i can get currently. I am pretty new though, not sure how bonus damages work etc so without really being able to test them both and being poor I thought I'd ask lol. Thanks!

[Legidias]

Don't worry about bonus dmg in classic really. They don't get too meaningful unitl 40/50's

[Jimjam]

Not many young rangers can handle a BBC, you really want to be out of your teens before you'll get the proper enjoyment from it. If you're still in single digits... Just wait until you've dinged, too young and your damage will be appauling, factoring in the delay.

One word of warning, the BBC is not easy to handle, many users even find it difficult to walk once it has filled their primary slot. You may find 'feet like cat' will let you maintain your pussy like pounce should you not be so agile without aids.

As an aside of interest in classic the BBC was secondary slot equipable, but only by NPC. I guess they just knew something we didn't.

[Oblivion]

Not many young rangers can handle a BBC, you really want to be out of your teens before you'll get the proper enjoyment from it. If you're still in single digits... Just wait until you've dinged, too young and your damage will be appauling, factoring in the delay.

One word of warning, the BBC is not easy to handle, many users even find it difficult to walk once it has filled their primary slot. You may find 'feet like cat' will let you maintain your pussy like pounce should you not be so agile without aids.

As an aside of interest in classic the BBC was secondary slot equipable, but only by NPC. I guess they just knew something we didn't.

This comment is a winner.

[Keebz]

There's a cap on the maximum damage you can do via attacking with weapons on p99, and it's calculated on a level range basis. It is as follows:

levels 1-9 - damage cap is 20
levels 10-19 - damage cap is 28
levels 20-29 - damage cap is 60
levels 30+ - no cap

This overrides the normal max damage calculation (2 * weapon damage). So to avoid having your damage capped prematurely capped, you want to use a weapon with:

levels 1-9 - up to 10 dmg
levels 10-19 - up to 14 dmg
levels 20-29 - up to 30 dmg
levels 30+ - as much as you want

Suffice to say, I'd hold off on the Bone Bladed Claymore til 20. Also, everything JimJam said ;).

[Jimjam]

Thank you for backing my post up with the numbers.

As you can see, OP, my rhetoric is flawless (except when I called the 'number two' slot 'secondary').

[Noselacri]

The bigger consideration is dual wield skill. DW is trash until well into the 20s. You can't even double attack with your off-hand until around level 30. Until your DW skill approaches 150ish, your off-hand accounts for like 10% of your total damage output. A two-hander (if comparable quality) will outperform DW before then.

[Teflondon75]

Thanks guys, Enlightening to say the least haha.

I did infact buy the BBC as it was a good price and I noticed right away the 20 top end hit at 9. I don't mind the 28 at 11 now, seems pretty decent :)

Is the BBC something I could expect to handle right into my 30's or are there better alternatives I might hunt around for? Thanks all ;)

[Mercius]

I'm still using a 2HS at 32 brother, the 1HS weapons are just too weak and I don't proc quads often enough to compensate yet

[Man0warr]

Rangers get two very good quest weapons you can have done by mid 30s in the Short Sword of Morin and Orc Impaler.

[Danth]

Is the BBC something I could expect to handle right into my 30's or are there better alternatives I might hunt around for? Thanks all ;)

Yes to both: Bone-bladed claymore is a good enough weapon to get into the 30's with, but there are also better alternatives out there you may obtain before reaching that point. I consider the claymore level-appropriate for the late teens/early 20's and basically okay through the 20's. It's starting to get long in the tooth by the early 30's and it's more or less obsolescent by the mid/upper 30's.

Danth

[Jimjam]

You can bbc while you orc impaler btw. Orc impaler makes a great range slot when you din't want to use the resist stick.

[Sarkhan]

Give it a few more levels then I'd say go on a great adventure and head to Everfrost and get yourself a gigantic zweihander by bow kiting Karg. It is a challenge but as a ranger you've already shown you are up for challenges!

Did it myself at lvl 16 (or 17?) and not only was it incredibly fun but very rewarding. Fantastic weapon and you'll feel like a champ. Take out Matar while you're there and hopefully you'll leave Everfrost wielding both the Zweihander and the cloak of the ice bear!