Ranger

[Lune]

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

anyone twinked a ranger with a windetched staff @ 15 ?

dual wield with jade mace at 17 would be interesting....assuming a dex of 100+

Tried double proccers, it sucked

Silver swiftblade til 20, woodsman til epic

[blondeattk]

Originally Posted by Malone88 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Oasis is good for 15-20. No loot at all though.
Can solo or get groups for crocs/orcs.
Plenty of peeps in zone.

Once you hit 20, you can try orcs in Kith also (solo) or orcs/gnolls in
Highpass (group). Orc/Gnoll Scalps give extra HP and good faction or
you can sell them for up to 10pp per scalp in EC.

Mid to late twenties you can move into Highkeep and kill gobbies.
Gobbies drop ears that give bonus quest XP or can be sold to players
for around 30pp a pop.

I think this route depends on how much exp of EQ you have. IF you are new to server or or have played eq for aroudn 6-9 months then yes thats a very viable route.....or via crushbone/unrest/mistmoore

However if you are more experienced player, then you probably want a more niche route. Personally I look for high zem areas that arent too crowded.

Rangers are an odd class to lvl up in some ways, as they have a oddball skill set....a jack of all trades, and master of none.

Non twinked rangers, probably need to depend on kiting/puller model. eg outdoor zones

Twinkies can go solo in the niche areas.......not sure its a good plan to give those away tho [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Malone88]

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

However if you are more experienced player, then you probably want a more niche route. Personally I look for high zem areas that arent too crowded.

High ZEM zones many times are either indoors (not good for rangers) or popular
spots for PLers. Zones that have droppable quest items that can be turned into
XP (Crushbone/Blackburrow/Highpass/Highkeep/Overthere/etc.) more than make
up for a lower ZEM, IMO. Plus you have the option to use these items to level
your toon or sell to other players to make money. A place like Highkeep is a
goldmine because it has good ZEM + quest items + ultra convenient.

Also, as a ranger, I feel your far better off going to lower-ZEM zones which
have active grouping opportunities vs trying to solo. Even better, some lower
level zones (like Oasis) offer both soloing and grouping.

[Aborath]

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

Swiftwind easily a good weapon till 40 if you're broke
.

What, the ranger epic? Did you mean to type something else?

Also (not worth starting a new thread), right now I'm following the typical Silver Swiftblade 'till 20 route, and then I planned to swap to a Springwood Stave, as suggested in another thread. However, unless I come into some cash, it will be some time before any haste item becomes a possibility. So should I swap to dual wielding instead--until I can get a haste item?

[Tecmos Deception]

Whether you have haste or not doesn't affect how good a certain weapon is compared to others. I don't think you'll be able to match the springwood stave with 1h weapons unless you pay several times as much money AND are up near 50; I think dual wield doesn't really shine until higher levels, especially for rangers since they get such awesome 2h weapons.

[YendorLootmonkey]

Soloing as a ranger is not efficient unless you cannot find a group at all, or you are twinked out with at least a fungi tunic. Untwinked, I highly recommend against soloing until Velious spell revisions happen and we get Panic Animal and the hybrid XP penalty is removed.

In the time it takes for you to bowkite one mob, you could have been in a group that killed 10+ blue mobs. In the time it takes for you to melee one mob, root it, back off, heal, kill it, sit to med for the next one, etc, you could have been in a group that killed 10+ blue mobs.

Live in Blackburrow from levels 5-15 and XP off the gnoll fang quest. You should be okay soloing early on.

Beyond that, if you ARE going to solo and are not twinked, pick up at least one Ebony Bladed Sword at level 25. Then you at least have a mana-free root proc so, if needed, you can back off of the mob and heal yourself. After it procs, you can swap out to your regular melee weapons.

Pick up Swarmcaller at Level 46 for soloing after that, and make sure you worked on your 2HS skill your entire levelling career, so you can hopefully proc a slow on a mob you intend to solo.

The only time I felt soloing was more efficient than grouping was between level 42-46ish when I soloed the first room in Kedge. You can split out the fish with Lull/Calm Animal, but if you get anything but a lancer swordfish spawn, you're F'd.

Bloodgill goblins in LOIO are soloable too in your late 40s, with some rootparking/Careless Lightning before going in to melee, but good luck finding them open... the lowest HP mob for their level in the game, I believe, and everyone knows it this time around.

But honestly, just make some friends and get into groups. At level 22 after you get harmony, you are one of the kings of pulling in Mistmoore and can probably stay there until early 30s and get groups if you make a reputation for yourself as an awesome chain-puller, bringing in the XPs to your group. You won't be able to really solo anything after level 50 unless you're twinked out, and that's when you'll become heavily dependent on grouping and you won't have any practice in doing the versatile things rangers can bring to a small group ... pulling/crowd control/tanking/DPS/healing/buffing. The only way you can get a group is by having a reputation of being able to switch between all of those roles as needed, effortlessly, without being told, and bring more to a group than just sub-monk, sub-rogue DPS.

This all gets much easier once we get Panic Animal in Velious and the hybrid XP penalty drops. I tell anyone trying to start an untwinked/unpowerleveled ranger this late in the game to just wait it out for those two huge game-changers.

[Aborath]

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

Whether you have haste or not doesn't affect how good a certain weapon is compared to others. I don't think you'll be able to match the springwood stave with 1h weapons unless you pay several times as much money AND are up near 50; I think dual wield doesn't really shine until higher levels, especially for rangers since they get such awesome 2h weapons.

Why near 50 for dual wield to become more viable than 2h? Is it the skill cap?

[blondeattk]

`Soloing as a ranger is not efficient unless you cannot find a group at all,`

Have to admit that my relatively untwinked ranger has a crutch; my main is a shm, so i can feed the baby, sow potions, and +10regen potions. Tried ds potions too , but they come out at 3ds at low lvl.
Havent worked out yet if the haste potions are worth it, suspect they give low haste at low lvl.
Cant afford haste or regen itmes for this toon atmo so potions are a temp fix.

Prob keep this going till ~lvl 20, then reconsider where am hunting. Might move continents then and see if upper guk is worth it.

[Aborath]

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

`Soloing as a ranger is not efficient unless you cannot find a group at all,`

Have to admit that my relatively untwinked ranger has a crutch; my main is a shm, so i can feed the baby, sow potions, and +10regen potions. Tried ds potions too , but they come out at 3ds at low lvl.
Havent worked out yet if the haste potions are worth it, suspect they give low haste at low lvl.
Cant afford haste or regen itmes for this toon atmo so potions are a temp fix.

Prob keep this going till ~lvl 20, then reconsider where am hunting. Might move continents then and see if upper guk is worth it.

I can vouche for this. On my level 15 ranger, I can solo, but spamming light healing (or whatever it's called) as a recovery mechanic is horribly tedious, and only barely more effective than just sitting. I can only assume that it just gets worse from here. So duoing or grouping--if at all possible--is the answer. If you see Fingalad looking for a partner, be a pal and invite him. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That said, I'm still really digging my ranger. He is the soul reason why my gnome is still sitting at level 47. Sorry, Knights. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Malone88]

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

But honestly, just make some friends and get into groups. At level 22 after you get harmony, you are one of the kings of pulling in Mistmoore and can probably stay there until early 30s and get groups if you make a reputation for yourself as an awesome chain-puller, bringing in the XPs to your group. You won't be able to really solo anything after level 50 unless you're twinked out, and that's when you'll become heavily dependent on grouping and you won't have any practice in doing the versatile things rangers can bring to a small group ... pulling/crowd control/tanking/DPS/healing/buffing. The only way you can get a group is by having a reputation of being able to switch between all of those roles as needed, effortlessly, without being told, and bring more to a group than just sub-monk, sub-rogue DPS.

Great advice here! Rangers can shine as pullers/root parkers/etc in many of the popular zones because they are outdoors: Unrest/Mistmoore/Overthere/CoM/Karnors...to name a few.