[bcbrown]

Originally Posted by Snaggles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

In general, with moderate gear (or even solid) you can’t end up with a ton of STR, DEX, hps and MR so a cut has to happen. The obvious choice for me outside WIS is DEX.

Yeah, I think that's probably right. Perhaps dex over MR until level 50 or so. And one huge benefit of dex is faster swarmcaller procs. But I think I've reached the point where I'm ready to transition out of str/dex gear and into hp/resist gear. Now that my dps weapons don't proc I have less use for dex, and my str is significantly above the point where FoS caps it on raids. But it's still nice to be able to self-buff to 240 str while soloing. I'll be getting some Skyshrine armor in the couple months so that'll be a nice boost as well.

I hit 58 the other night off frost giant elites in GD. I was surprised at them being decent xp, a little slow but steady. I was able to kill 2 or 3 between breaks, and if I had a fungi it would have been a lot smoother. But alternating between melee and bow-rotting gives time for Chloro and the ikky bp to heal me up. And since I started at Allied with the Kromrif it was tons of fun not being kos to the green giants while pulling the elites.

Originally Posted by TytosOfEight [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Are you all testing this with max str? Because str increases atk, so even if bow damage relied on dex it would still increase with + atk. You need to max str and then test the difference between something like 100 dex vs. 200 dex, adjusting for crits.

Not with max strength. I ran four trials: The first two kept dex constant and varied str at 239 and 162: max hit changed. The second two kept str constant and varied dex at 89 and 153: max hit didn't change. So if max hit didn't change with an extra 64 dex I'm pretty confident saying that dex doesn't affect max hit.

Originally Posted by Jimjam [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

In 2002, why may an ogre non crit be 120? In 2002 how would this be possible? Fellstrike? Or some kind of damage bonus glitch from a 2 hander (which seems in conflict with the comment that at 175 skill the min damage is still 1)?

One explanation would be that the OP was bowing without any weapon in mainhand (so no bonus), or that their statement about min-hitting for 1 damage was from experiences prior to hitting the level where damage bonus starts.

Originally Posted by Jimjam [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I really enjoyed the 8 skill archer laying down the law on how to play a ranger [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Fantastic quote! The combination of inexperience and overconfidence can be pretty funny... but you know I bet that guy was having the time of his life scooting around Qeynos Hills with a 10/50 bow, kiting grizzlies or whatever. I'm honestly starting to think it might be a lot of fun to try an SSF human ranger. Short Sword of Morin, Electrum-Bladed Wakizashi, Wakizashi of the Frozen Skies, Ivy-Etched Armor, there's some fun ranger quests.