Late to the party...just got it...

[Jimbo]

Any tips?  I'm trying out a ranger, looks like I have to shoot with my bow, then switch to melee.  Unfortunately, I'm by myself on this adventure, more trying it out for the graphics.  The animations when I do a critical are pretty cool.  Should I play a barbarian to get more of them?

[Lantyssa]

Barbarians felt very squishy to me when I hit the 20s.  Conquerers felt similar to Barbarians to me, but sturdier.

Are you using your traps?  You can keep things at range a little longer with them, although it does involve more work and gets tedious having to prepare for every fight.

[Jimbo]

Yes I'm clueless, I realize now that I have traps and a bow ability that slows them down.  Reading up all the guides, at first I thought the Ranger was kind lame, but my bow seems to be doing great now @ 12 where I'm not having to switch unless I pull 3 or more.  Yesterday I was grouping with someone and it was sick how fast we were killing things.

Am I going to be disappointed later on, in that now I can kill the bosses, or will it turn into every other MMOG where you have to have a group to kill some of the bosses or be higher level?

Besides our list of resources anyone have any other input?

[Xuri]

A tip to make life slightly easier when pulling more than one mob:

1. Go into stealth mode
2. Fire a normal shot at one of the mobs to "mesmerize" (aka "Mezz") him
3. Switch to the other target and try to kill it before the other one "wakes up"
4. Trap the secondary target when he approaches and regain some distance
5. Kill secondary target

:P

[Cheddar]

Why?

[Jimbo]

Why?

Free game, wanted to see what the new computer can handle, and no way am I giving Mythic any money or players.

[Senses]

Rangers are alot of fun, and honestly, don't feel the need to ever drop your bow for melee weps.  Can pretty much fire point blank at mobs assuming you can handle the beating.  Rangers are especially nice on pvp servers.

[Falconeer]

Rangers are great on PvP servers up to a certain level. They keep being good all the way to 80 but require a certain "cowardish" playstyle. They rock, but don't expect them to stand toe to toe in duels with all classes unless they can land the first shot from a distance.

[Senses]

What you would call "cowardish," I would call playing to the strengths of the class.  You freely admit that toe to toe a ranger would have a hard time beating many other classes, so why the hell would anyone who plays a ranger want to fight that way?  Dueling and 1v1's are no show of skill or ability in games where classes are not supposed to be balanced for that kind of fighting. 

[Cheddar]

What you would call "cowardish," I would call playing to the strengths of the class.  You freely admit that toe to toe a ranger would have a hard time beating many other classes, so why the hell would anyone who plays a ranger want to fight that way?  Dueling and 1v1's are no show of skill or ability in games where classes are not supposed to be balanced for that kind of fighting. 

Defensive much?

[Engels]

A bit defensive, sure. But to be fair, Falconeer picked a poor choice of words. Its called ranged combat. You know, that type of combat that's been widely used since mankind figured out how to stuff gunpowder down a barrel and throw a rock in after it.

[Threash]

A bit defensive, sure. But to be fair, Falconeer picked a poor choice of words. Its called ranged combat. You know, that type of combat that's been widely used since mankind figured out how to stuff gunpowder down a barrel and throw a rock in after it.

Im pretty sure it started with just the plain rock :P

[Falconeer]

I didn't pick a poor choices of words. I was referring to what on PvP server is the playstyle of MOST rangers (not all of them, of course).

While the "strength of the class" is ranged combat, hiding until your enemy is engaged with mobs and low on health to kill him from a long range and difficult to reach position is at the same time good use of the "strenght of the class" AND a cowardish playstyle. Which, of course, is fostered by the ranger characteristics AND some people love for winning.

So back to my post, they lose their edge (ranged or not) with levels. To keep that edge some infamy is required.

[Senses]

What you depicted is ganking, and something any class can do with any sense of good timing.  Simply popping out of stealth and attacking you from range is quite different, and shouldn't be described as cowardly.  There is far more pvp exp in it for me if you have full health and aren't being attacked.  That being said, if I plan on killing 3 people, I might let you get involved with a mob first.  Either way, cowardly or not, I'm not going to attack if I haven't bothered to stack the deck in my favor.  That's just stupid.

[Falconeer]

I am just saying the funny things you can do in PVP in the first 30 levels or so, when the ranger is uber and basically spoils whoever is playing it, require some moral adjusting later on as an upkeep for those priviledges.

Never meant to say whoever uses a bow to attack is a coward.

[Sky]

Nobody said playing cowardly wasn't smart. But I don't recall John Wayne popping out of stealth to attack some indians while they were fighting a mountain lion, you big pussy.

[Senses]

You're absolutely right.  I believe it states in the Marine Graduate Handbook, "before attacking enemies, tap them on the shoulder and ask if they would be interested in a friendly duel."  Being called a pussy makes me smile though, thats the exact same reaction you get when you kill someone for the second time while they are trying so hard to get that last quest done before bedtime. 

[Lantyssa]

Falc wasn't talking about a specific person.  Defensive much?

[Cheddar]

Falc wasn't talking about a specific person.  Defensive much?

Much love   

[Senses]

I suppose when a thread circles all the way around and begins to repeat itself, its a good time to bow out.  Happy hunting.

[Lantyssa]

OMG!  The playstyle even holds up on a forum.

Someone got my back when I'm engaged in a post elsewhere?

[Samwise]

So is this game worth playing yet or what?

[Falconeer]

Worth it, but wait for the next big patch (and server merges), second half of January.
And don't forget to roll on a PvP server. It's viable, not too harsh and lotsa fun. You'd regret rolling on PvE.

[Samwise]

Worth it, but wait for the next big patch (and server merges), second half of January.

Is the next big patch going to be The One?

[Falconeer]

Fun was patched in long ago. It's just not the game cool kids are supposed to play.

But well, no. It will be a big, very good one with new content and stuff, and the merger will patch in more server population.
No patch can make it what it's not though. And if any patch will ever be The One, it'll be the one that patches in more PvP stuff. They are still so behind on that front.

[Nebu]

You're absolutely right.  I believe it states in the Marine Graduate Handbook, "before attacking enemies, tap them on the shoulder and ask if they would be interested in a friendly duel."  Being called a pussy makes me smile though, thats the exact same reaction you get when you kill someone for the second time while they are trying so hard to get that last quest done before bedtime. 

Yes, please use more real life examples to explain why you enjoy being a douche in a GAME.  If the only way that you can kill an enemy is by attacking them while engaged in another activity, then you're either terrible, 12 years old, or both. 

You should give a fair fight a try.  The challenge may build some character.   

[Morfiend]

How are HoX doing in PVP these days?

[Falconeer]

HoXes are good and fun in PvP, both dueling and mass stuff. The biggest problem with PvP right now is that in november they broke some stuff and made Tempest of Sets and Necromancers totally overpowered, especially in mass mayhem situations being able to oneshot everything with less than 5000 HP. Next patch is supposed to fix this, but HoX are going strong anyway on PvP servers. Fun, strong, dynamic class.

[Senses]

"Yes, please use more real life examples to explain why you enjoy being a douche in a GAME.  If the only way that you can kill an enemy is by attacking them while engaged in another activity, then you're either terrible, 12 years old, or both.  You should give a fair fight a try.  The challenge may build some character."

First of all, I believe I made the clarification that attacking someone while they were attacking someone was ganking.  I never posted in this thread to defend ganking.  I posted in this thread to explain that the nature of ranger combat was not inherently cowardish.  I'm assuming you didn't read the whole thread so I'll let that slide.

Secondly, what is a fair fight?  How can a lvl 50 ranger kill a lvl 55 barbarian in a fair fight?  I would tell you there is no such circumstance of that happening without the ranger using surprise to his advantage.  In your world, and in your mind, pvp is something that happens between two equal competitors who stand toe to toe and type /duel then battle out letting only their true skill in video combat decide the outcome.  Obviously there are far more variables involved like the rock, scissors, paper nature of class balance, levels, the gear of the combatants and yes, of course, the skill.

So if you want to argue that the guy that waits for you to be half health fighting a mob before he attacks  is a pussy, I'll save you many lines of text and agree.  But simply coming out of stealth at an innoportune moment for the victim and killing them is not.  I have to wonder why half of you even play on pvp servers, when all you really want is a place where you can /duel fair fights when your in the mood for it.

[WindupAtheist]

It's 2009, if you're getting ganked in an MMO it's because you deliberately went looking for the type of game/server where ganking happens. I have/would gank the shit out of someone and not even care. (Not in Conan, because well, lol, but in WoW) Yes while you're fighting a mob. What?

[Falconeer]

Nothing wrong with it. As nothing is wrong with the word "cowardish" applied to a certain, completely legit, playstyle.

[shiznitz]

Anyone who takes that much offense at being called a coward probably is one.

[Nebu]

Anyone who takes that much offense at being called a coward probably is one.

That goes for people taking offense by most things, actually.  If being called something bothers you, you should probably take a moment for some internal reflection.

[Sky]

Hey, I thought that ganking pussy bowed out of this circular thread.

[Rasix]

Hey, I thought that ganking pussy bowed out of this circular thread.

Are you really bored today or something?  Or just dabbling in necromancy?