Best solo melee class?

[TytosOfEight]

I’ve noticed a lot of people who “play” rangers either don’t understand the class or just aren’t very good at it. It’s kind of cringe. In group content, my ranger consistently kills faster and takes less damage than my monk, even though both are similarly geared (mostly BiS or second BiS). My ranger has a bit more HP, while my monk has higher AC. The real difference? Earthcaller is overpowered.

I prefer my monk for places like Seb Disco because he can flop there, but in almost every other scenario, my ranger is the clear winner. To test this, I recently parsed 30 Geos on both characters, testing the difference of 100 AC. The result? My ranger took less damage overall, thanks to Earthcaller. Even during leveling, my ranger outpaced my monk, despite my monk being better geared. Around level 50, my monk’s progress slowed, but my ranger just kept trucking with Swarmcaller.

Another example: I was recently taking on the back four Guardians in Skyshrine. On my monk, I had to bandage/clicky heal after every fight. I swapped to my ranger, used Harmony to split, and downed all four before even needing to med. No contest.

Sure, a BiS monk with 1600 AC will tank better in raid content, but for group content, if Earthcaller lands, my ranger takes less damage. Oh, and I regularly tank HoT, Fear, Hate, and ToV trash on my ranger. Slap on an Aary shield and a 100 HP weapon, and you’re golden.

TL;DR: Rangers are underrated in group content, especially when played well. Earthcaller/Swarmcaller make them surprisingly tanky and efficient.

[zelld52]

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

My ranger has a bit more HP, while my monk has higher AC. The real difference? Earthcaller is overpowered.
.

Wait, so you're telling us a mob that's slowed 50% will do less damage than an unslowed mob?

Dude, you're about to change the game with this insight. All you need to feel powerful as a ranger is a 200kp perma farmed item from Plate of Hate

For real though - how could you possibly compare slowed vs. unslowed fights.

Monks have the best melee damage mitigation in the game. It's not debatable. They have the highest defensive skill caps, they get block - and they get stonestance.

If the same mob was slowed with the same percentage - the similarly geared monk is taking less damage 11 out of 10 times. I duo'd from with my friend on his monk and ranger with similar gear on my shaman. The monk never needed heals - while the ranger needed an occasional heal. Same exact mobs, same exact camp. Ranger got beat up. Monk did not.

Again - not debatable. It's mathematics.

Monk:
Defense 252
Block 225
Riposte 225
Dodge 230

Ranger:
Defense 220
Parry 220
Riposte 185
Dodge 170

[kjs86z2]

Originally Posted by zelld52 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Wait, so you're telling us a mob that's slowed 50% will do less damage than an unslowed mob?

Dude, you're about to change the game with this insight. All you need to feel powerful as a ranger is a 200kp perma farmed item from Plate of Hate

For real though - how could you possibly compare slowed vs. unslowed fights.

Monks have the best melee damage mitigation in the game. It's not debatable. They have the highest defensive skill caps, they get block - and they get stonestance.

If the same mob was slowed with the same percentage - the similarly geared monk is taking less damage 11 out of 10 times. I duo'd from with my friend on his monk and ranger with similar gear on my shaman. The monk never needed heals - while the ranger needed an occasional heal. Same exact mobs, same exact camp. Ranger got beat up. Monk did not.

Again - not debatable. It's mathematics.

you aint too smaht is you

[zelld52]

Originally Posted by kjs86z2 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

you aint too smaht is you

oh fuck i thought i blocked you lemme fix that. idiot.

[TytosOfEight]

Originally Posted by zelld52 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Wait, so you're telling us a mob that's slowed 50% will do less damage than an unslowed mob?

Dude, you're about to change the game with this insight. All you need to feel powerful as a ranger is a 200kp perma farmed item from Plate of Hate

For real though - how could you possibly compare slowed vs. unslowed fights.

Monks have the best melee damage mitigation in the game. It's not debatable. They have the highest defensive skill caps, they get block - and they get stonestance.

If the same mob was slowed with the same percentage - the similarly geared monk is taking less damage 11 out of 10 times. I duo'd from with my friend on his monk and ranger with similar gear on my shaman. The monk never needed heals - while the ranger needed an occasional heal. Same exact mobs, same exact camp. Ranger got beat up. Monk did not.

Again - not debatable. It's mathematics.

I don’t get your logic here. Was the purpose of this thread to compare a class that can slow vs. one that cannot slow? Or, was it about comparing the overall class? Title is best solo class, not best class once someone else has slowed the mob. My ranger can 50% slow mobs and a monk cannot. They can slow with clickies but for not nearly as much or as consistently.

Oh, and BTW, Swarmcaller is like 400 plat and does the same thing: 50% slow.

[zelld52]

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

I don’t get your logic here. Was the purpose of this thread to compare a class that can slow vs. one that cannot slow? Or, was it about comparing the overall class? Title is best solo class, not best class once someone else has slowed the mob. My ranger can 50% slow mobs and a monk cannot. They can slow with clickies but for not nearly as much or as consistently.

Oh, and BTW, Swarmcaller is like 400 plat and does the same thing: 50% slow.

youre comparing apples to oranges. you made a comment about how rangers take less damage than monks.

[bcbrown]

Originally Posted by zelld52 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

youre comparing apples to oranges. you made a comment about how rangers take less damage than monks.

He soloed 30 geos on each and found that the ranger took less total damage than the monk. That seems like apples to apples. Easy access to a 50% slow (via swarmcaller) is a big part of the solo ranger's toolkit. I'm sure you understand the difference between taking less damage on a per-swing basis and taking less damage overall when considering spells and procs. It's the former that seems to me to be apples and oranges when soloing.

[zelld52]

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

He soloed 30 geos on each and found that the ranger took less total damage than the monk. That seems like apples to apples. Easy access to a 50% slow (via swarmcaller) is a big part of the solo ranger's toolkit. I'm sure you understand the difference between taking less damage on a per-swing basis and taking less damage overall when considering spells and procs. It's the former that seems to me to be apples and oranges when soloing.

you his fuckin lawyer or something?

[sammoHung]

I have a question: if rangers do much better than monks why aren't there more rangers? Is feign death just that fun to use? (i mean it is, but)

I always thought relying on weapon procs was not a reliable metric for determining viability though. It's not like rangers get a spell slow, like a shaman for instance.

[zelld52]

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

I have a question: if rangers do much better than monks why aren't there more rangers? Is feign death just that fun to use? (i mean it is, but)

I always thought relying on weapon procs was not a reliable metric for determining viability though. It's not like rangers get a spell slow, like a shaman for instance.

rangers are not better soloers thank monk. they have worse DPS and they suck at tanking. hope that helps