Suggestions - Discussion 'Melee, Ranged, Both'

[Hurunewyz]

I was recently asked about my build (Lvl 9, Pure Elf Barbarian-Ravager ); to paraphrase the question was 'Melee, or Ranged?'...My response was, of course, 'BOTH'. After that: the discussion got a bit more heated. Essentially the argument was building a toon for 'Both' results in sub-par performance all around.

To be blunt; I was less than impressed with their reasoning.
A Pure Barbarian at Levl 30 will have? a dozen, or so Feats supplied by Level and then Enhancement Feats. At level 9, my Barbarian has 3 or 4 Level Feats, 5 or so Active Enchancement Clickies (max) and 8-9 Passive feats.

My point is that: a Composite Longbow has a range of 110 ft. A great-axe, if I'm not mistaken, might have a range of 10-12 ft. In the time it takes for You to close distance - or for the mob to close distance to YOU - [not even mentioning feats/items or enhancements (etc.)] You could easily have let off 3 attacks with a Long Bow, closed distance - or, remained stationary, and then switched to a Great Axe to melee and finish what was Left-Overs. For those who hate Math... 90% of the time you could have been doing damage to a Mob - you spent traveling... ?or, just waiting to be attacked.

So while I UNDERSTAND the idea of Min-Max has certain benefits to a particular 'style' of play & efficiency; I argue that being versatile, in general, is more true to the spirit of 'Dungeon's & Dragons'. Again the point of a 'GAME' is to be entertained, and that does not imply victory at-all-costs; everytime you quest or adventure. DDO:Eberron was-?IS marketed as a MMO-RPG, a role playing 'game'. So things such as 'how a character plays', things such as the look-style, the feel, and a character's backstory, as well as other creative elements - apart from DPS considerations - ALL contributes to an individual players enjoyment of their character and game. If your Party is dying horribly because of a single character's contributions, or lack thereof, maybe consider whether that's valid or not, and WHY. Veterans of DDO will not necessarily tell you that the kill count is an accurate description of what is going on 'the field of battle'. Efficiency does not have to take a back seat at all, but... To suggest that building 'for Enjoyment-Flavor' while at the same time being Useful is 'gimping yourself' is probably someone blowing smoke to hide their own inadequacies/misconceptions. I was quick to point that out to the group and not unexpectedly, was 'told 'to be on my way.

Again that would be a *typical reaction of 'Followers'. I mean to say, their was No Real Thought given in reply to a cogent argument. I'm not soured - But then, again: MANY people _STILL_ Playing DDO have been playing D&D since 2006, Beta & Before.

For those new to the game and for those who need a reminder: Sure, have a 'Focus & Direction' with your build, but don't be blind to where you can and ?should be trying to improve. Again, 'Nothing Wrong' WiTH General Jar Jar - As long as that's what you are going for, 'Padme'....

- Synistre

[Wh070aa]

I personally prefer ranged. Since why would you finish off things in melee, If you can keep killing things while moving around?

Standing still is death. You move or die. Otherwise you have to invest in defense (and IMO armor and stuff is completely useless in this game).

So while I agree that if you play melee, you need to take both (and to lesser extend you need melee on ranged to open doors and junk), doing just one also works. And you can get all the cool stuff for it, not just some of the low hanging fruits and whole lot of nothing like you do when going for both. Especially if you also do some spell casting, healing and trapping. Each role you want to fulfill (especially if you solo) demands some sacrifices, so people usually end up sacrificing some of the weapon diversity.

Also if you use all your speed boosts properly, switching weapons take way longer than closing in distance in most cases. The inflation of hp and damage spikes later in the game is real, so most players that are not as skilled at the game, and don't have reflexes (or friends who can do it) end up compensating to be able to keep going.