Baby ranger weapons/shield question

[Chinetter]

Thanks for all these comments folks, that's exactly the sort of feedback I was hoping for.

To clarify, yes my 24/7 weapon is an Ebony Bladed Sword. The other, the 22/6 one is a Silverish Scimitar. For late-teens/early 20s it seems to be an effective combo even though I'm not getting the first one's proc yet.

I'm a bit surprised that a 2HB which I could plausibly afford would out-damage that combo, I must be misunderstanding the math there. But I'll keep an eye out for one and will try it if the opportunity arises.

When soloing I've been experimenting with using both weapons versus using the Shiny Brass Shield. E.g. I cleared a couple sets of the Nybright Sisters each way, did some Crushbone Legos each way, etc. The outcomes thus far are not hugely different though it does seem as if I do maybe a bit better using the two weapons. My dual wield skill is now in the 80s and yes I did notice the thing where I got skill-ups even when using the shield, heh.

The fact that the shield is a decent light source factors in a bit. Wood elf vision is just okay and I personally find game-nighttime EQing to be more pleasant with the shield on. The little light-source spell that rangers get at lvl 15 is lame.

For grouping, at these levels my role in the group varies. Sometimes I'm asked to tank, other times to DPS/off-tank. (Which is fine, variety of experiences is one reason I'm enjoying playing a ranger and I'm more of an EQ tourist than an aspiring endgame raider.) Seems obvious that in groups I should use the shield when face tanking and the two weapons when not....what makes it viable to be carrying them all is that a few levels ago I lucked into a Box of Abu Kar. (Some high level folks were going around Faydwer killing guards and left a box to rot and called it out in /ooc.)

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Spotswood, level 17 Ranger on Green