Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Ranger Questions?
MMOman101
Member UncommonPosts: 1,787
I am thinking about picking up this game and making a ranger.
Is the ranger class over or under powered?
Can you multi-class in this game?
Are sooooo many rangers out there that People will think "God not another ranger"?
Also can someone, please, tell me how the group dynamics work.
“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
--John Ruskin
--John Ruskin
Comments
Rangers are a lot of fun to play and are balanced. But don't expect to be really a pure archer. Single ranger class has usually both ranged and melee strong DPS.
Multiclass is possible and you can have up to three classes. Ranger/rogues is quite common combination as well as ranger/fighter, but nothing limits you to become even ranger/bard or ranger/cleric/wizard.
The number of rangers is not as high as sorcerers. All classes are being played by approximately the same amount of people.
REALITY CHECK
Under/Over powered: Depends on how you build it and your playstyle.
Multiclass: Very much so!
Too Many Rangers: some people have very narrow views so it is likely you might find someone who thinks "X Class is worthless" to find someone else claim "X class is overpowered". Most players try to identify a player rather then the character they are playing.
Group Dynamics: Lower levels permit for some soloing although it could be difficult and the quests might not always be solo-friendly to certain classes. the basic party is 6 characters while raids consist of twice the capacity while not requiring it.
The dynamics are nebulous. The old saying of "there's more then one way to skin a cat" applies here. While there are more traditional methods of playing someone else's "build" (ie, fotm) the better players are one's who tend to be less orthodox. You can have a full party of 6 rangers and do well on one quest to rerun it again with different players, but same classes, and have multiple party wipes.
The complexity of character creation might be confusing to new players who are unfamiliar with D&D 3.5 and play WoW. Character creation and builds are more dynamics in DDO then anyone could ever imagine in World of Warcraft.
For example, I play an Eleven Sorcerer that wears Mithril Chain Shirt and wields Rapiers. I have an a-typical fire/nuke enhancement build while focusing on Weapon Finnesse to using weapons to apply deBuffs; Curse, etc!
OP - what MMO's are you familar with so we can make a more applicable comparison?
Is there a site out there for skill, talent, and feat building? A site that allows you to see how your toon would look at any level.
--John Ruskin
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=87799
This one is great, he keeps it updated with each mod too. It's a big help for when I want to make a new character, especially when you multiclass.
--
DDO Permadeath guilds
I have no idea how they "balance" DDO, but in D&D...
I would recommend doing a fighter, a barbarian or a paladin as a main character, and later, if you know a dungeon/area where you enjoy hunting a LOT, make a ranger which is specialised against the mobs in that dungeon (favored enemies). You may also want to consider strongly the golem race...
In the PnP version, the ranger is always subpar to a paladin/fighter/barbarian...but...if you fight your favored enemy, then you are better then they are.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Just from this question, I would ask that before you pick up the game, please research how the game is constructed, etc. DDO is not your typical EQ/WoW/LOTRO open world MMO. Yes, in WoW, Vanguard, and LOTRO I know hunters/rangers are over-populated. But DDO, quite frankly, doesn't use the Holy Trinity (tank/heal/dps) group dynamics much (if at all) and it won't matter if you have 4 rangers in your group, especially since they're probably using 4 different builds.
It just sounds like you're expecting a WoW/LOTRO open world experience with D&D classes, and that's not what you'll be getting. At all. Try the trial first.
Just from this question, I would ask that before you pick up the game, please research how the game is constructed, etc. DDO is not your typical EQ/WoW/LOTRO open world MMO. Yes, in WoW, Vanguard, and LOTRO I know hunters/rangers are over-populated. But DDO, quite frankly, doesn't use the Holy Trinity (tank/heal/dps) group dynamics much (if at all) and it won't matter if you have 4 rangers in your group, especially since they're probably using 4 different builds.
It just sounds like you're expecting a WoW/LOTRO open world experience with D&D classes, and that's not what you'll be getting. At all. Try the trial first.
Well although I appreciate your input, I am not sure what you are basing it on. Firstly you do not know me at all. You do not know my expectations. I did not mention any “holy trinity”. Your theory about why I asked is completely wrong. There are 9 playable classes; therefore, there should be about 11% of the player base in each class--if the game is completely balanced. In almost all MMOs there is one class that a disproportionate number of people play. I simply do not want to play that class. I used to play rangers a lot in pen and paper AD& D and am looking forward to playing one in the MMO. However, if there is a negative stereotype against rangers, then I do want to walk into a game and have people distain me for the wrong reasons.
--John Ruskin
Great link Bill_Parady, I have been playing around with the character generator and I really like it. I appreciate the good info.
--John Ruskin
Only advice I have towards making a Ranger, a Ranger is very much like the Rogue class, both classes are very strong by virtue of their versatility. Both classes are very hard to build and learn to play, and most people have a bad perception of both classes due to the many poor players at lower levels learning the ropes.
A well built & played Ranger & Rogue is a thing of beauty to watch in action, a poorly built/played one is a party-wipe waiting to happen. Due to this fact many people are very leary of grouping with Rangers/Rogues they do not know. Check the forums and read up on the class before you decide to jump into the Ranger class.
Just from this question, I would ask that before you pick up the game, please research how the game is constructed, etc. DDO is not your typical EQ/WoW/LOTRO open world MMO. Yes, in WoW, Vanguard, and LOTRO I know hunters/rangers are over-populated. But DDO, quite frankly, doesn't use the Holy Trinity (tank/heal/dps) group dynamics much (if at all) and it won't matter if you have 4 rangers in your group, especially since they're probably using 4 different builds.
It just sounds like you're expecting a WoW/LOTRO open world experience with D&D classes, and that's not what you'll be getting. At all. Try the trial first.
Well although I appreciate your input, I am not sure what you are basing it on. Firstly you do not know me at all. You do not know my expectations. I did not mention any “holy trinity”. Your theory about why I asked is completely wrong. There are 9 playable classes; therefore, there should be about 11% of the player base in each class--if the game is completely balanced. In almost all MMOs there is one class that a disproportionate number of people play. I simply do not want to play that class. I used to play rangers a lot in pen and paper AD& D and am looking forward to playing one in the MMO. However, if there is a negative stereotype against rangers, then I do want to walk into a game and have people distain me for the wrong reasons.
MMO101, you're reading a lot more into the advice then was intended. Tayln is given you some GOOD examples on what/how to expect the game environment to be in relation to character classes. His "theory" on why you asked was actually dead-on accurate.
As for not knowing you, you actually told everyone that uses these forums quite a bit about yourself through the initial questions and you shouldn't be offended when someone is trying to help you understand the game. Did you see the part that says "it sounds"? Your questions were good ones even though they technically don't apply in DDO.
The "Holy Trinity" is a reference to the a-typical generics of Paper/Rock/Scissors that are typically emulated through the previously expressed "Tank/Dps/Healer" class structuring mechanism commonly found in other games.
Using a percentile as a means to gauge if the game is "balanced" is going to create some conflictions. People play character classes in DDO based upon playstyle's and roll's more then the class its self and multi classing is very common. You yourself even acknowledg that "almost all mmo's", did you suspect this could have been one of those cases of "almost"?
If you think people are going to have a predisposition agasint you then you are right, but regardless of what character you play there *will* be someone who can't think out-side-of-the-box and will insist X class is problematic for a random reason. There are players who can't understand anything other then the aforementioned HOly Trinity of character classes and lack comprehention of anything other then this - we occasionaly see them in DDO. And at times some groups won't need a particular class due to the rolls being filled thus it's likely you'll also experiance this.
Thanks, mindspat!
Yeah, all I meant by my post is that *in my opinion* much of the dislike of DDO from many players (on this site alone) stems from expecting one thing (the open world experience we get in every other MMO) and getting something else in DDO. I just ask that you try the trial first and know what you're getting into. I'd rather have you like or dislike the game on its own merit rather than jumping in blindly and become another one of the DDO forum flamers if it turns out the game wasn't for you.