State of our Class - Rangers
***********DISCLAIMER**************
Before you read any further, know that this thread is specifically aimed at Rangers, WE ARE NOT DISCUSSING ANY OTHER CLASS BUT RANGERS.
We are also NOT Discussing PVP, a Vast Majority of the Rangers at Large are PVE Rangers, so we are speaking for them here. A Majority of Rangers (PVP and PVE Rangers) believe that PVP and PVE should be seperated entirely, as they have resounding effects on each other, but the problems of a few rangers on PVP is greatly effecting the raid justifiability of many of the PVE Rangers.
***********END DISCLAIMER***********
For any Developers that read here, here is a summary of what we feel is wrong with the ranger class, our observations, and our thoughts. This is a Compilation of many observations and statements of the Ranger community and not a rant but a general synopsis of the things we feel need addressed.
Statement: Rangers are supposed to be RANGE DPS. We have a total of 6 Melee Abilities that we can use other than Ranged attack and the majority (85%) of our AA lines are geared towards ranged combat.
FIRST ISSUE: Bow/Arrow mechanics.
As it stands right now, an arrow has to be the exact same level as a bow to be able to do 100% of it's possible damage. The reasoning for this was originally so each tier of tradeskilling would be needed with each tier of levels people went through.
(I.E. you could not use level 10 arrows and effectively get the same amount of damage as level 40 arrows in auto attack. The Ranged Ability damage for our skills are set in stone, and the only thing that really effects those are skills which Add to Combat Art Damage and Critical Hits.)
In practice and implementation this was a fair and novel idea for players and tradeskillers alike. Somewhere along the line someone stopped following up and let this problem get out of hand. Rangers are the only class that relies on their Bow for 80%+ of their DPS, so of course failing to follow up on this would immediately effect the Ranger more than any other class.
As it stands right now, the only way for a Ranger to get the damage their bow says they should be getting is to use an Arrow that is Exactly the Same Level as the bow. Mechanics-wise right now, it is more efficient and more damaging for a ranger to use a Tier 7 Fabled Bow with Tier 7 Ammunition than to even worry about upgrading to a Tier 8 Bow. Level 80 Woodworkers can only make level 67 Arrows, so there is not even an option of Tier 8 Ammunition to go with the bow. The Cart has been put before the Horse.
Current Example of Tier 7 Raid Fabled Bow versus Tier 8 Raid Fabled Bow:
Examples using /weapon command:
No Ammunition:
Rigid Scale Bow 805-3218
Dragonhawk 841-3363
As it should be, the Dragonhawk is a Tier 8 Fabled Bow and should be rated higher for perspective damage.
Deathtoll summoned Ammunition:
Rigid Scale Bow 869-3093
Dragonhawk 784-2753
The arrow mechanics come into play. Remember this is a raid-week lockout zone and a rather rare drop to get this ammunition in the first place.
Crafted lvl 67 bodkin Ammunition:
Rigid Scale Bow 892-3116
Dragonhawk 807-2776
This is the best Player-Crafted ammunition one can buy, level 67, and because of the mechanics you can get more damage with it from the Tier 7 Fabled Bow.
Basically you downgrade your damage by getting the New Higher Damage Rating Bow because of the spread between Ammunition Level and Bow Level.
SECOND ISSUE: Spells and Items that fail to acknowledge the Ranger Class.
I understand that Rangers are only 1 of the 6 scout archetype classes, but we are also the ONLY one (Once Again) who uses our BOW for 80%+ of our DPS and continues to be ignored when designing spells. Range and Melee should fall under the same buffs, however they do not.
The List of Offending spells:
Dirge:
Cacaphony of Blades and Upgrades: The haste does stick to rangers, however there are no other benefits. This would be less DPS for a ranger than any other melee scout because our weapon delay is 9.0 while most other scouts use 4.0 and less delay weapons - We still get no benefit other than haste.
Fury:
Agitate: Does not work with ranged.
Fae Fires: Does not work with ranged.
Templar:
Glory of Battle: Does not work with ranged.
Holy Redoubt: Does not give ranged benefit.
Sorceror:
Phoenixblade and other damage spells: 0 Ranged Benefit.
Guardian:
Call to Siege: Does not give any ranged benefit.
Items that do not give any beneficial effect when used with Ranged Attack are too many to list, and the ones that do are:
Maestro's Flame (Contested x2 Epic Mob)
Buckler of the Howler (5 Day Lockout Instanced x4 Epic Mob)
We are starting to see the set class armor (Tier 8 Fabled) give +Ranged Double Attack and + Ranged Crit, this is a step in the right direction and for that we are thankful.
Epic Quests for Ranger: 4 Epic Quest Lines, none of them useful for Ranged attack, and the one that was useful for Ranged attack was changed due to a "bug."
I would complain more about Tier 7 Itemization however we are no longer in Tier 7 so I feel it is not a valid complaint. Thank you to the developers again who have listened and (it looks like beginning) to see what we were talking about with + ranged crit and + ranged double attack chance on items with + melee Crit and + melee double attack chance.
THIRD ISSUE: Raid Usefulness
Because of these changes, rangers have become less useful than the other scout classes in raids. We offer nothing to the rest of the raid except some out of combat movement speed, which has no practical application in any raid setting. We offer no beneficial reason to be in a raid other than our damage and the fact that it is from range.
Because of Bow/Arrow Mechanics we have less damage than other classes and combined with the lack of beneficial buffs which do not effect ranged dps Tier 8 has shown improvement to the other scout classes while it has shown stagnation in ours.
Rangers are getting turned down for raids and guilds in favor of other (And Frankly, better suited.) classes which offer the same if not more damage per second and raid/group utility in the form of spells/debuffs/abilities.
Please look into these issues and please keep us advised of what you are doing or that you have even read this and acknowledge it.
----------------END OF STATMENT-------------------
-Hexus Lupis-
-The Ranger Community as a Whole-
Special Thanks to: Lewz, Detterrent, Ranja, Cocytus, FuriCuri, Firza, Encantador, Balerius, Medstbh
Thanks to all of the Ranger Players that have continued to stick with this class through the good and bad times.
Last edited by Hexus; 12-05-2007 at 07:21 PM.
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