Keeping up with the jones's

[fatherpirate]

DDO need a new weapon in game

Exotic - rangers get it for free

Heavy Compound Longbow
Fires slightly slower than a longbow
Requires at least 14 str to use
does base 2D8 Crit 19-20 x3

Why ?

because rangers and bow guys are HUGELY out classed and out gunned by arties
with repeaters and the updated GXbow

Rangers are suppost to be the best at range weapon damage..and they are not even close

1d8 doesn't cut it

forget multi shot ect.. Xbow folks got that kinda stuff too

The long bow has never improved in game and everthing else has.

[Vengeance777]

The thing that balances Rangers and artificers is that Rangers get a full Two weapon fighting line. Your can use range from afar and swap to melee upclose. The majority of artificers are ranged fighters with a few spells, very few can melee, and their manyshot ability lasts less time than a rangers and doesn't recharge. You can usually build an artificer to melee and cast, or range and cast not all 3. Rangers get melee and ranged combat mostly for free and excel at both really well.

An optimal way to do DPS on a ranger is to activate manyshot and let death fly as mobs approach. Then swap to melee as whatever's left gets into range and melee anything left standing. A ton of rangers completely ignore their inherent two weapon fighting line which is a huge shame. They're loosing so much power.

Most ranger builds should be be meleeing while manyshot is off timer. Unless you build an optimized Arcane Archer, usually a multiclass with 10,000 stars feat, you won't out dps an artificer in ranged combat. Rangers excel in burst ranged dps followed by heavy melee dps in DDO this is the way its been in pen and paper for years. The pen and paper dedicated ranged with Bows dps class is Scout which sadly DDO doesn't have. Should really be added as a ranger prestige line though. Scouts are extremely fun to play and exactly what most ranged combat rangers are trying to make. Their skirmish ability is extremely fun doing extra damage while moving with a bow firing arrows.

If using Bows and nothing else is your playstyle that's ok. Play the game as you want to that's the fun of it and every DDO players rights. Please keep in mind though on a ranger if you are strictly using your bow you're only using half your classes abilities. The free two weapon line is awesome and insanely powerful try it out.

Happy gaming.

[Chilldude]

The thing that balances Rangers and artificers is that Rangers get a full Two weapon fighting line. Your can use range from afar and swap to melee upclose.

Sure, you CAN. However, I think the point of the OP and the million other rangers before him is that you shouldn't have to. A caster doesn't have to switch to melee. A single lightning bolt can hit for well over a thousand damage from nearly as far a bow. An archer should be able to maintain respectable DPS. Their ranged combat shouldn't be reduced to bonus damage you only use when many shot is off CD.

This, like nearly every problem with DDO, all boils down to the fact that the game has become a face roll. There isn't any strategy or tactics beyond run in and smack the ever livin' tar out of the closest thing until it falls down and then move on to the next. As such, the ability to inflict damage from afar with little or no retribution is almost meaningless, while the relatively low DPS of an archer is a constant strain on the face roll stampede.

[fatherpirate]

ok

different perspective

2 identical fighters
same...everything

one specializes repeater
one specs long bow

they duel

longbow dies

you give the longbow guy an extra fighter level and do it again

longbow dies

[In_Like_Flynn]

... Rangers are suppost to be the best at range weapon damageAccording to whom?

[FrancisP.Fancypants]

The thing that balances Rangers and artificers is that Rangers get a full Two weapon fighting line. Your can use range from afar and swap to melee upclose. The majority of artificers are ranged fighters with a few spells, very few can melee, and their manyshot ability lasts less time than a rangers and doesn't recharge. You can usually build an artificer to melee and cast, or range and cast not all 3. Rangers get melee and ranged combat mostly for free and excel at both really well.


Two small caveats, from an arti player: They're not technically melee, but repeaters function far better in close combat than longbows. And you forgot runearms. ;)

[fatherpirate]

How many repeater builds do your see on live server ? Many..tons

How many longbow/short bow builds do you see? Rare, almost none.

[Kyrgan]

I havent built a straight ranger yet. I went with a ranger/fighter multi. Mainly to go Tempest/Kensai. If I run with a pure fighter I tend to hang back and pewpew until the fighter engages the target(s) then go in and help mop up while the casters drop hot death...

[Gizeh]

Rangers do not only get several ranged and 2wf feats for free, they also get the following:

Bow Strength - meaning that melee and ranged weapons use the same stat for calculating the damage bonus. Together with all the ranged and melee feats rangers get for free no other class class can be as efficient in ranged and melee combat by simply switching weapons.

Favored Enemy - as above, up to +15 damage per hit with 5 different creature types. Choose those types wisely and you'll get to apply this bonus damage almost all the time in high level quests. In a way this is probably the equivalent to the rune arm - less damage, but it has no charge time and applies to ranged and melee weapons alike.

Imbue Arrows - Arcane Archer only. While I have never played an Arcane Archer myself this sounds pretty much like the damage enhancing artificer spells.

Also, while the attack speed of a bow might be slower than that of a repeater, the attack speed of a two weapon fighter is *a lot* higher than that of a repeater user.

The biggest strength of the ranger class is the ability to use both ranged and melee weapons relatively well. A ranger who insists on only using ranged weapons puts a limit on himself that is not intended by the game.

[LongshotBro]

Sure, you CAN. However, I think the point of the OP and the million other rangers before him is that you shouldn't have to. A caster doesn't have to switch to melee. A single lightning bolt can hit for well over a thousand damage from nearly as far a bow. An archer should be able to maintain respectable DPS. Their ranged combat shouldn't be reduced to bonus damage you only use when many shot is off CD.

This, like nearly every problem with DDO, all boils down to the fact that the game has become a face roll. There isn't any strategy or tactics beyond run in and smack the ever livin' tar out of the closest thing until it falls down and then move on to the next. As such, the ability to inflict damage from afar with little or no retribution is almost meaningless, while the relatively low DPS of an archer is a constant strain on the face roll stampede.

I'm only throwing in my 2cp because we were just discussing this last night while in a PUG. And you are correct: striking monsters for the most possible damage in order to destroy them is what it boils down to. All the fancy builds and tricks and even archer builds are designed around that very concept: the slaying of monsters for loot and xp. How you choose to do it is a matter of taste.

I am an on-again/off-again player for many years and play an artificer myself. Most of my past characters were ranged combatants of some sort as well. I have never felt like I didn't contribute much to a group whether it was as a bow-wielding ranger or xbow toting arty. It's not flashy certainly. There's no cool special effects and the like. But finding a high point and picking off targets to help your team is certainly a strategy. Throwing around paralyzes and other CC effects is a tactic.

As a frequent forum reader, I think there is a disconnect between DPS & one's contribution to a party as the basis for whether or not something is OP. It is true that casters can lay down incredible amounts of damage if spec'ed that way.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I understand the argument and would like to offer my perspective. If every class were equal in terms of DPS and the game is as stagnant as a lot of people seem to feel in that regard, then why even have classes? Then it would basically be like Skyrim or that sort of game, where your character just does whatever you feel like and gets better at the stuff you do more.

But this is D&D and it has always been a team-based game with various classes that have their own things to bring to the table. Even PnP some classes are considered more powerful than others, but the players of all classes can and do still have fun. Sometimes it's your character's perceived short-comings that ultimately make them enduring and fun to play.