Cant Decide! (Bard or Ranger)
 

I've heard that bards melee and that they are spell casters. I've heard that rangers are bowmen, but they do better with melee. Are bards more melee or are rangers more melee? I've also heard that almost everyone has made a bard, is that true? :confused: Would appreciate any help. :)

EDIT: Are bards as hated as people say they are?

Bards are hated when they swarm kite (fight a lot of monsters at once) because it makes it harder for others to kill stuff. The rest of the time everyone loves them ... but I don't think it's true that "almost everyone" has a bard.

Both classes melee primarily (Rangers can do some interesting stuff with archery, especially with certain soloing styles, but in general they melee). Technically only Rangers "cast spells", but Bards get songs which are very similar to spells.

Bards are, in my opinion, more powerful than Rangers. The two are similar, but Bards get plate (Rangers get chain). Bards can charm, Rangers can't. Rangers can track better, but both can track. Bard's can't heal, they can only speed up regen ... but Ranger healing isn't great. The main thing Rangers have is greater DPS and animal fear kiting (which let's them solo better than most melee/hybrids ... but bards are still probably the best melee/hybrid soloers).

All that being said, you should play whatever most appeals to you. There will always be more powerful and less powerful classes, but A) this server would be a very boring place if everyone only played the most powerful classes, B) if you pick a class just because it is/isn't popular/powerful you're not going to enjoy playing it, C) "powerful" is not one set thing, it varies by context.

One final thought: because they try to "twist" multiple songs at once (which involves hitting the same 4+ keys over and over every few seconds) Bards are by far the hardest class in the game on your body. If you play one be sure to practice proper ergonomics or you will give yourself carpal tunnel.

Personally, I wouldn't play either. Rangers are gimp and Bard song twisting can be hazardous to your health.

The classes themselves are not comparable. One is a melee DPS class and the other is a melee support class.

Ranger damage is comparable to a Rogue without backstab and level 9 Druid spells. Their only good feature is the ability to track.

Bards are like a hybrid Enchanter-Rogue-Ranger class that wears plate armor. They are truly a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none class. They can track short distances, pull with speed and lull, CC, charm, add an insignificant amount of melee DPS (sometimes with just an empty hand), sing mana songs when they're in the healer/caster group, sing resist and haste song when they're in the melee/tank group, open some locked doors. Although it's probably not advised to try to do it all at the same time. They also have the easiest path leveling to 60. Bards will find groups much easier than Rangers, too.

Overall, Bard is actually a diverse class that's fun to play. Twisting songs is not.

If you're trying to decide on a new main, I like self-sufficiency as a factor in deciding what class to play. Bard definitely fulfills that better than Ranger. But Enchanter, Shaman, Druid, Necro, Cleric, Mage, or Wizard would each be a better fit with me than having to twist songs.

Rangers:
-do less focused damage than rogues, monks, mages, necromancers
-damage comparable to a warrior
-track can be a huge boon depending on where/what hunting
-situationally are assets via snare, regen (higher lvs if none other can cast)
-root cc could be situationally useful
-unresistable harmony outside is amazing
-could tank if needed (aggro is easy) but not ideal.

Summary: *modest* damage dealer with some extras that could be useful or might not be worth anything. A smart and well played ranger is an asset but not really min/max.



Bard
-some of the lowest melee damage in the game, comparable to a paladin or shaman pet unless they have raid gear and even then it is bad
-can track but short range
-can lull effectively in all zones, resistable but works everywhere
-can lock down multiple mobs via mez. when focusing on this job. The fewer mobs to lock down the more they can focus on other jobs
-can short duration charm as means of cc while adding some dps
-can provide up to 50% haste for the group in the absence of enchanter/shaman
-some nifty group buff songs for combat
-lv 55 cantana gives more mana regen than clarity 2 and stacks with everything
-regen component of cantana and (pre 55) regen from level 6 song are modified by lute effectively giving your entire group 2 fungis that stack with everything
-Nivs as a niche is 5 more hp regen modifiable by lute and stacks with the other song line allowing you to give nearly THREE fungis when combined with the above lines to the whole group
-mana pulse is a flat 7 per 3 second song that stacks with everything
-it is possible to stack up to 72dps sustained in dots once all are loaded onboard at level 60 but you can't sing anything else
-faster and more mobile than any class in the game.
-hold aggro better than any other class. AC is ok but his are low. They can get the job done.
-can pump resists up insanely high
-Cannot do all of the above at the same time and need to stay flexible and constantly adapt to the needs of the group.

Summary: bard melee sucks. Bad bards focus on meleeing. Good bards do all the other stuff and melee as an afterthought. Bards do their best by making everyone else's job easy. they solo for fast xp. Good ones are always busy.

Did that help?

That's with melee ranger with bfg and trueshot do rogue comparable damage.

Edit : with my moderate weapons and raid buffs I've hit 77dps with melee on vindi. Could do better with bard which I didn't have. So it's not that bad and I don't have bis weapons.

What do you do for the 70 minutes while Trueshot is on CD?

wait on the next dragon. or melee, just with less effeciency

Resummon all the arrows you just used :D

Ranger is less strenuous. It's pretty weak early on power wise, he basically just a melee with a few useful spells. Ranger really becomes fun around 30+. Heavy gear dependency.

Bard is constant interaction with the key board. You might not be able to enjoy group interactions/pick up groups due to being too distracted to mingle.

Bard has major upside for fun factor and can make you feel elite. You really have to work for it. Bard is definitely less gear and more skill dependent.

You lose a lot of damage by using garbage summoned arrows