For the love of Pete give out some bark!

[Yaga_Nub]

Casting barkskin on casters, clerics, barbarians, some fighters and rogues, and some rangers, and many bards is a COMPLETE waste of spell points.

Maybe you should ask yourself whether you really need barkskin or not, because more than likely you do not. If you have less than 50 AC, the ranger should not bother.

Of course that's 55 on hard and 60 on elite.

[Thailand_Dan]

Completely off topic, but as a sorc, I hate it when the ranger casts barkskin after I cast stoneskin, as I cant tell when someone's stoneskin has worn off. When I see a barkskin-happy ranger casting away, it just chaps my hide.

[Yaga_Nub]

Completely off topic, but as a sorc, I hate it when the ranger casts barkskin after I cast stoneskin, as I cant tell when someone's stoneskin has worn off. When I see a barkskin-happy ranger casting away, it just chaps my hide.

Actually you can. Once the stoneskin wears off the barkskin overlay vanishes as well.

[Thailand_Dan]

It's been my experience that if I cast stoneskin after someone has barks, I can tell when the stone is off, as they revert to barky skin. However, if I cast stoneskin, and then someone casts barks, they run around barky, and I cannot tell when it has worn off. If you are saying, that the barksin appearance disappears (even though it is still active), when the underlying stoneskin has run out or worn off, thanks for the tip, as I didnt know that. Please confirm my understanding of this.

[Missing_Minds]

This seems a no-brainer to me but last night I was running the shoud and our only ranger (ranger14/fighter2) said he didnt have enough mana to bark everyone. He then went on to ask for resists and protections. If your ranger is so gimped to not have enough spell points for these basic functions its time to re-roll. My ranger (ranger14/fgt1/rge1) with a 11 wisdom goes into a quest with 371 spell pts-more then enough to buff everyone and myself. I wear a wisdom +5 necklace and a magi item (extra 100 spell pts) when I shrine. I then remove the magi item when I'm done buffing. Once I get a clensing stone I will make a tier 2 green steel necklace for another 100 sp pts and wisdom +6.
Thanks rant off.
Strummer

Did you think to ask him if he needed a mana pot? Not all rangers have enough mana to do self buffing, then the party, and then heal themselves. Do you ever notice how often rangers do not get healing? about 8 times out of 10 I have to heal myself. So there are those out there that do not have uber gear, that self buff and MUST save the rest of their mana for their own healing.

BTW, if you really want bark without issues, down a pot, play your ranger, or offer a mana pot to pay for a bark. You have your build, others have theirs.

If you can't tell, I don't love Pete.

He said this was a level 16 ranger, so of course I posted as per the situation. If he said he was level 9 my post would read differently.

Mine doesn't.

i would say that your ranger is sort of gimped if you have enough mana to buff everyone

667 sp, extend spell, 30 str, 30 dex, 20 con, 18 wis for a mostly range build. How gimped am I? My build can and does buff a party and I still have enough for healing during the quest. I'll grant you, it did take a shroud item to achieve it this good (only a 2nd tier though) and 3 rerolls to get it the way I liked it. With level cap raise I may decide to ditch extend as normally a shrine would be hit.

[strummer]

Point is this ranger was asked by multiple players for bark. He claimed to not have the spell pts and couldn't even resist/protect himself (gimped). I do carry bark pots but prefer the extra 2 ac from the spell. The extra 2 ac puts my wizzy/rogue at 42 ac which may not be much but might save a few hits from trash mobs. I buff up everyone in the party usually with stone, gh, blur,and haste, etc but will not buff a ranger who does not give out bark.
Strummer

[Impaqt]

The Ranager in Question may or may not be Gimped..... (Pretty sure I was in that Group).... Regardles, Very few people actually benefit from barkskin.

You could always play the If I dont get it, thenyou dont and Bribe someone to Dispel his.

[Hadrian]

The extra 2 ac puts my wizzy/rogue at 42 ac which may not be much but might save a few hits from trash mobs. I buff up everyone in the party usually with stone, gh, blur,and haste, etc but will not buff a ranger who does not give out bark.
Strummer

And so the truth comes out. I am glad I don't PUG the Shroud.

[sephiroth1084]

i would say that your ranger is sort of gimped if you have enough mana to buff everyone

tempest rangers are dps machines not buffers

anyway, i give bark to those who have decent ac's & energy resist/protection to those who do not have mana or umd

however, all melee should have greater resist items because whining is unbecoming

On my paladin I hit myself with resists, and sometimes have enough to hit 1 other person, but that's because I'm 12 Pal/4 Fighter. If I switched those to have more fighter levels, I would still be struggling to find space for the items I have, yet unable to cast resists on myself in anyway except by using a wand, which, honestly, is a lot more expensive than requesting them from a secondary caster with spell points to spare.

On my wizard, if I am traveling with a ranger or paladin that has enough levels in their casting class to get to 30 point resists I ALWAYS ask them to hand resists out, since, honestly, what else is a ranger going to be using their spell points for? Ram's Might has a long duration. If they don't have enough to hit the whole party, I ask that they please give out what they can. Barkskin those who will actually benefit, and then hit as many as they can with resists.

Had one ranger complain about this, so I told him that I wouldn't spend 100+ of my own spell points buffing him with GH, blur, Jump, Rage, Haste, Stoneskin, etc...

I totally agree that someone with a **** AC should not be asking for barkskin, and I often tell rangers not to waste their SP on my wizard, ranged rogue/ranger or barbarian. On the other hand, I get very irritated when repeated polite requests for a bark on my intimitank go ignored for an entire quest. Sure, I have barkskin potions, but those are less effective and very costly.

[Vardak]

For the 3 end-game raids. Astonishing, I know, but there is like 300 other quests in the game that aren't the Shroud, the Hound, or Vision.

Some people play them, and in nearly every battle of every single one, AC still matters.

I know that in this particular example the OP was talking about the Shroud, and in that context the "don't bother" is perfectly true. But in game people tend to take broad statements like this to run 18 AC melee characters at level 8 and die every 4 minutes, or to not cast Barkskin at level 10, when it does a world of good.

_

Of course I could be wrong... but for my AC 17ish Sorc barkskin is completely useless in just about every single quest in the game.

[kingfisher]

Completely off topic, but as a sorc, I hate it when the ranger casts barkskin after I cast stoneskin, as I cant tell when someone's stoneskin has worn off. When I see a barkskin-happy ranger casting away, it just chaps my hide.

i bark'em all after the stonskin is applied. i like to see blurry brown toons running around. add a water breathing and the buffs are complete!

obvously this is different in a raid. then i make sure to save my mana to summon my uber kitty o death

[Arlith]

My ranger will barkskin anyone who asks. While toons with low AC may not become melee with bark on em, it could prevent a one shot kill. Besides while bark may not add a lot in and of itself, bark, and GH, and blur, and displacement, and haste, and bard songs, and stoneskin, and etc, etc, add up to quite a lot.

As for rangers who charge for bark, if my sorc is ever in your group I will happily pay 5k for your bark. Blur/displacement/resists/gh 5K, and haste/displacement 10K. Double the price for extend. And if won't pay for haste, and won't step aside so I can cast it on the group, the group will go without. Prices for CC are forthcoming. Of course you don't have to pay, and I won't have to cast. I might even pay the 5k for bark if I am low on pots. But if you are laying on the ground incap, I will giggle as I walk by instead of casting GH to get you up so you can heal yourself.

Sarcasm aside, charging for anything (barkskin, heals, etc) that helps the group as a whole, even a little, I consider low down and dirty. Entry fees for raids are right there with them. My casters buff (except for extorting rangers), my ranger will throw bark around, or resists, as far as her mana will go. Because anything that can keep anyone alive for even one more swing may be the difference between running stones to a shrine and a wipe.

As for noobz, they are only noobz until someone shows them the ropes. Unless instead of showing them the ropes, you use the ropes to strangle them.

[captain1z]

I have a MC ranger 9 ranger/4 fighter............. Im gunna finish out my levels as a fighter. I have 12 wisdom and 89 spell pts.

I carry resists of DR-20 at a cost of 10 sp each, I dont always offer it to others because its 20 pts and others in the group can give 30 pts. I resist myself with it and say Im good when the resists are coming around.

I carry rams might, a self only buff, what ranger doesnt and its 10 pts.

I carry barkskin which gives +4 protection at cost of 15 sp but I'll only cast it on myself and one tank (2 if I know I can get away with it)

If I hit myself with 2 resists a rams and a barkskin at start of the quest (20+10+15 = 45) and 1 other tank (45+15 = 60) that leaves me with 29 sp.

Good for 1 more resist and a bark or 2 resists if I find I need them until the next shrine. The whole group is not even an option and some groups actually notice how quickly my bar falls when I cast 2 spells so they either dont ask or trade DV's for it.

I'd be more than happy to hand out pots but the sp is very short, so are the durations.

[Mapa]

I throw "****skin" on everyone. Mainly to hide the disturbingly LOUD robes many casters wear and armor skins I am tired of seeing. I have 254 SP and can afford to be generous. It really doesn't hurt anyone and I don't go blind accidentally seeing a Sorc in orange and blue robes go zipping by.

And for the record, having 254 SP at level 16 does not make you gimp... it makes you diverse.

[esoitl]

I wish people would answer when I ask who wants barkskin. How hard can it be to just say "yes" or "no"? I can't tell just by looking whether the guy in the robe is an AC build and the guy in full plate + shield isn't...

Same for resists. If you need them, say so. If you have a greater resist item, say so. Even a magi item for buffing only goes so far...

you knowwhy i often don't say anything??
i've stepped into quests plenty of times with my characters and said that i don't need any buffs as i can handle all of my own only to buff up and then get rebuffed 2 seconds later.... often with extended buffs that will be half done when i shrine

people just plum don't listen, even if they ask, so i've stopped telling them

[shane1122]

This seems a no-brainer to me but last night I was running the shoud and our only ranger (ranger14/fighter2) said he didnt have enough mana to bark everyone. He then went on to ask for resists and protections. If your ranger is so gimped to not have enough spell points for these basic functions its time to re-roll. My ranger (ranger14/fgt1/rge1) with a 11 wisdom goes into a quest with 371 spell pts-more then enough to buff everyone and myself. I wear a wisdom +5 necklace and a magi item (extra 100 spell pts) when I shrine. I then remove the magi item when I'm done buffing. Once I get a clensing stone I will make a tier 2 green steel necklace for another 100 sp pts and wisdom +6.
Thanks rant off.
Strummer

I understand your point but this is really a question about builds. A DPS Ranger with little spell points is no more useless than a Nuker Sorc that doesn't buff the party or a battle cleric not speced for healing.

I solo a lot and like my spell points. I can cast extended (32 min) Bark on an entire Raid group and self (12 people) without putting too much of a dent in my mana pool (500-600 sp depending on kit I am using). I would rather do that for everyone in the Raid than have a caster or cleric not return the favor with buffs/healing when I need them because they are sore I did not give them Bark (even if it really makes no difference as pointed out above).

That said, I would not expect a 14/2 Ranger/Tank sporting dual khopesh to have enough mana to do the same thing. They are just different builds.

-Shane