Spoiler tags are to help those who only wants to read specific things. There is no comparison to specific classes and skill other than our own. It would take up a lot more space and work if I went into specific skill and class comparisons. If a gm requests it, I'll pm them but I think this should be enough to give them a general idea. Hope you guys enjoy the read.
Self introduction:
Hello, I am Clogon. I have been researching the Ranger ever since it was released on kRO sakray and has had hands on experience for about 20 months now. I am very passionate and dedicated to my class. Not many people go out of their way to test Fear Breeze's bonus hit distribution twice.
The thing I like the most about the Ranger is its concept, Ranged dps via normal attack and Burst damage via skills with the goal of killing the targets before they can reach you. However, its implementation isn't what it could be. Over half of our skills are forced neutral with no ASPD increasing ability and our Ranged skills are nowhere near the strength of the melee class'. But I still have fun playing it.
I am saddened that Rangers are so useless in parties though. The way a level 110+ Ranger levels is quite monotonous. Luckily, Fire Trap opens up a very easy way to level. A lot of the changes to the Ranger from kRO make the class better. But the Ranger still can't contribute much to a party.
Renewal changes to the Hunter branch:
Renewal has brought a lot of changes this job branch. It killed many things that made people like the Hunter and Sniper in the first place. The popular Bow and Falcon have become quite useless and uncommon. Traps, on the other hand, got a huge boost and are now the primary levelling method.
Bows have become very weak in Renewal due to the changes to the ATK formula. Double Strafe is still our strongest bow DPS skill. The ever popular Focus Arrow Strike has become useless due to long casting time and is overshadowed by the Archer's Arrow Shower. The Ranger doesn't offer any good advances to the use of a Bow either, especially when Rangers have one of the toughest times getting 190+ ASPD with the Bow.
With no new skills to help the Falcon and the inability to have both pets at once, this iconic animal has become a rare sight to behold. Blitzbeat's DPS boost has become negligible especially with the new job exp table for third classes. Falcon Assault, once of the strongest Sniper skills pre-Renewal, is now absolutely useless. All that's left is Spring trap and Detect both of which can be replaced with the Ranger's Sensitive Nose skill. The Ranger's New pet outclasses the Falcon in almost every use.
Snaring tough and dangerous monsters then killing them for a large amount of Exp is no longer available with Renewal's change to PVM. Luckily, our damage traps have been considerably boosted. Landmine, Blast Mine and Claymore are now able to instantly kill any monster till at least level 110. It is thanks to this that Hunters and Snipers still have the one of easiest time levelling and hunting.
Renewal removed many things we used to enjoy. However it also gave us a new strength and a new play style. Levelling with purely traps was almost unheard of unless you lured all the monsters on the map into 1 cell. Now we can even go from 1/1 novice to Ranger with nothing but traps.
The current Ranger:
Positioning and terrain makes or breaks a Ranger. Over half of our skills will fail with a single misstep. Knowing the ins and out of a map will greatly help you avoid dangerous situations. You don't want your traps disappear while mobbing or unable to use the Warg to immobilize an enemy because of a single cell. One misclick and not only will you be unable to place a trap but even if you can it will not explode automatically. You will even hit allies in WoE/PvP when you aren't careful. With the right calculations though, you can instantly water monsters with 20k hp like Gazeti's in Ice Dungeon 3 from 13 cells away or kill Atroce unscratched. When well prepared, we can even do 30k damage from behind a corner where most other skills fail completely.
The Ranger's greatest strength is its ability to solo from 1->Trans->150 with little to no investment into equips, slave chars or even friends. It is the best solo class in the game. We can do this thanks to our traps and trusty Warg. With 3 Bomb Clusters, we can instantly kill anything with around 30 000 HP before they can even touch us. Warg Rider and Wind Walker allow us to traverse the map and lure many monsters without getting into their attack range. We can tank and kill large mobs with Hunter fly cards and Fire Trap easily.
But this great strength is also the class' greatest weakness. Rangers offer next to no party support or team play at all. We have absolutely no place in a party of 12. Not when the other classes are better at everything else than us, dealing damage, weakening the enemies or supporting allies. Our burst damage is incomparable to the easier to use skills of the other classes. We have no reliable or good debuffs to make killing enemies easier for our allies except for the single target Warg Bite which is only useful in PVP areas. The only ally buffing skill we have is Wind Walker which is outclassed by the Arch Bishop's Cantocandidus.
Being able to get to 150 fast and easy is nice, but a Ranger has nothing to do once they get there. With the Drop penalty hunting monsters is out of the question. MVPing is possible but when there is competition the Ranger falls easily to other classes. In WoE, a guild only needs one Ranger to lay down snares per castle. Other Rangers are much more useful if they play other classes. We offer no offensive abilities to breaking a castle.
Future Ranger buffs:
As of kRO's 05/04/2011 maintenance, the Ranger receives many gracious buffs. They make out strong points even stronger. The Ranger's soloing ability just gets better with the kRO changes. Damage skills get a boost. Traps become easier to use. And the various bug fixes help the Ranger considerably. The Ranger is unrivalled as a start up class.
The Bow's weak atk is compensated by new bows, arrows and equipment. And many +1 ASPD effects allow the ranger to get high ASPD for good DPS. Warg Strike and Bite receive a high damage increase. Camouflage will allow the use of many skills like Double Strafe, Focus Arrow Strike and Aimed Bolt which all benefit from the +300 mastery attack. This not only increases a Ranger's damage output, but it will also allow Rangers to level while cloaked further eliminating the need of not only rare equips and slave chars but also friends. Aimed Bolt gets a considerable damage boost on small and medium targets. While on large monsters it is only a slight boost. Though is this comparing to the previous Aimed Bolt not the nerfed one we have here on iRO, which would be a very big boost.
Rangers will be able to summon 2 Fire Trap and Ice Trap at once. Being able to place Bomb Cluster under enemies allows them to be used in WoE and other crowded maps much more effectively. No longer needing to dismount the Warg to place Electric Shock will surely increase its use in PVM. These changes lower the learning curve for trapping and the whole process is more forgiving when mistakes are made.
Of the many bug fixes kRO has done, 2 considerably help the Ranger. By fixing Warg Dash from immobilizing the Ranger when hit, this skill has become a great skill to escape monsters. Too bad, it isn't completely fixed. In WoE or when affected by movement prevention effects and skills, you will still be locked onto Warg Dash. But the removal of its After Cast Delay greatly mediates the problem. Magnetic Earth blocking Ranger traps is also fixed on 01/26/2011 which greatly helps against enemies. Now the only things that will prevent a player from placing traps are other traps skill and Maelstorm. Though fixing Aimed Bolt, Arrow Shower and Fear Breeze requiring a Bow equipped doesn�??t really help, it does make the use of a bow more important and force rangers to choose between bow and dagger with shield.
The buffs to this class make it even more independent. Being able to level while cloaked at range removes the need of recovery all together. Inexperienced players can now use Cluster bomb much more easily to deal better burst damage than Fire and Ice traps. Warg Dash can help escape mobs. Anyone will be able to easily play this class and farm up items well with low investment as traps and arrows are cheaper than potions. This is the ideal class to start with.
Unchanging flaws:
Partying:
Most of you who have been following the Ranger updates know that I am not really happy with them. They made things that were already good stronger, but most flaws are left untouched or made worst. Many players will make Rangers thanks to the buffs, but how many will stay as a Ranger? There is nothing to look forward to as a high level Ranger. What makes RO popular even end game is the MVP�??s, tough dungeons and WoE, all of which require partying. However, we still cannot contribute to a party. We are a pure PVM class but also suffer the same drop rate penalty as other classes. What motivation is there to keep and continue playing a high level Ranger?
The Ranger, like other 3-1�??s, are very specialized in what it is meant for. We have purely offensive skills, more so than any other class. We have nothing to reduce or prevent damage. Camouflage only prevents normal attacks. We can still be targeted by skills. All that we have is the ability to deal damage and kill; however, we are not the best damage dealers or killers in the game. We even hit allies with our traps. The entire new bow enhancing equipment prevents us from using defensive gears like Variant Shoes, Nydhogg�??s Shadow Garment, and KVM equipment. The bow itself prevents us from using a shield. The new +1 ASPD bow even requires us to get 120 AGI just like Sniping Goggles. That is at least 440 stat points that could be invested elsewhere like VIT. Rangers still have one of the lowest HP mods. For such a purely offensive class, why can�??t we be the best at it?
Our supportive skills get no improvement at all. Magenta, Cobalt, Maize, Verdure trap cannot be used against players or boss monsters but are still too expensive to use for regular levelling. Only a botter would even think of using elemental stones for these skills instead of crafting arrows, doing quests or selling to Sages and Blacksmiths. There is still no reason to invest into Electric Shock apart from level 1. The duration is the same at all levels and the SP Drain is negligible. Sensitive Keen�??s after cast is untouched while 40% Warg Bite auto cast is unreliable at preventing the reuse of Hide and Cloak. Since we are not the best killers, why can�??t we be more useful to our allies?
Heck kRO even nerfs the only good disable we have, Warg Bite. Requiring max level and Warg Tooth 10 to get the same duration (20s) and success rate (100%) as the current lvl 1 without Warg Tooth wasn�??t enough; kRO even gave it a 15s cooldown. The fact that it teleports any monster with the Teleport skill is untouched. And, like all Warg skills, it doesn�??t work if you cannot walk directly to the target so it can�??t be used in a pre cast team to stop enemies from safe areas. Our normal attack DPS heavily relies on auto casting Warg Strike. But with high ground, rivers or barricades separating pre cast defenders and attackers, our DPS is reduced to negligible amounts. Our killing skill Aimed Bolt still has no synergy with other class�?? disable. A skill requiring the luring of targets onto our traps or fight in open areas against non teleporting enemies so we can Warg Bite is unreliable from a party�??s perspective. With all of these limitations, what can we offer to a well organised and experienced party?
Aside from damage, Rangers can only offer knockback, immobilization and common status effects, all of which are either useless end game or can be replaced by other classes. We have nothing special or unique that is reliable and needed to a party. With Warg Bite considerably weaker, there is nothing left but damage. Plenty of classes will still kill better than us so what use do parties have for a Ranger?
Bow Skills and Falcon:
The bow and falcon have been with us for years. Yet these changes don�??t address them enough. Though we received many buffs to bow use thanks to equipment, the bow skills themselves are not enough to replace traps as a levelling tool or the Warg in both utility and DPS to warrant heavy investment. There is no love for the falcon in skill change or new equipment at all. Making us abandon this long time friend is heart breaking.
Aimed Bolt does high damage but still has no synergy with the disables of other classes and is only made harder to use with the Warg Bite nerf. Players can still avoid or destroy Ankle Snare, Electric Shock and Warg Bite. Boss monsters all have teleport and are immune to Electric Shock so only Ankle Snare is reliable. This skill is quite useless in PVM as there are no tough monsters that give high exp anymore.
Arrow Storm�??s damage is increased by 50% when we are 150 but it still does not compare to traps as AoE damage. 700%~1050% Atk for a 3 second casting time and cooldown is nothing compared to stacking 3 Bomb Cluster for 2100% Atk + 24k irreducible damage (except via Ghost Armour or WoE penalty). Yes there will be an armour set and a specific bow that increases its damage, but those are end game content. This skill takes 15 skill points to master compared to Cluster Bomb�??s 9.
I am tired of writing about how much I hate Fear Breeze. Here is a good quote to explain my feelings on the skill. The last sentence of the quote has been proven wrong since kRO released many ASPD gears for the ranger. However, we don�??t know their planned ASPD formula yet and kRO is currently using an older ASPD formula.
@Doddler: You know why I post that way. <.<
Fear Breeze is only 1*.9+.1*(2*.4+3*.3+4*.2+5*.1)=120% not 130% with no crit. If you had 100% crit (Vanberk card), it'll increase the DPS from 140% to 156% which is only an 11.4% increase overall. 30 Luk and Warg strike 5 give (30/3)%*6=60% more DPS damage that stacks fully with Crit (100% Crit +30 luk Warg strike = 200% Ctrl+Click damage). However Warg is not affected by Card reductions so it is WAY better than Fear Breeze when it comes to PVP/WoE (Which is the only place Ctrl+Click Ranger's thrive at).
In WoE/PVP, the ability to bypass % effects with the Warg far surpasses any mere 20% (Fear Breeze) or 56% increase of a highly reduced low damage (Fear Breeze + Vanberk). An average target in WoE will have -10% from noxious, -40 % from Thara + Beret, and at least 200 e.def (30% reduction). Ctrl+click will do 0.9(range)*0.6(demi)*0.7(def)*0.75(WoE penalty)=28.35% of your atk. Fear Breeze will increase it to less than 34.02% (less because each hit of Fear Breeze is reduced by s.def). Why try to make your weak points stronger instead of just focusing on attacking faster and Warg striking more? 30 luk = 10% warg strike = 60%*0.7(def)*0.6 =25.2%, 28.35(DPS)+25.2(Strike DPS)=53.55% DPS. With 150 luk = 154.35% DPS. This is with the current Warg Strike too. At 150 luk the DPS that Vanberk gives is quite negligible as I will already have high Crit. (At least 60%)
A pure Ctrl+Click Ranger will TAKE FOREVER to lvl to 150. <.< Without foods and etc, average Ranger ASPD is 184 till they are high enough to get 120 agi and a lot of luk for 187 ish ASPD. They deal less than 6k single target DPS on monsters all of which have 10k~50k HP in the 1XX lvl range. I doubt anyone is willing to be in double rainbow + full ASPD support (3 slave Chars, 1 SL, 1 Chemist, 1 j.lvl 50 Wanderer with lvl 5 Swing Dance and lvl 10 lessons) 100% of the time for 191+ ASPD.
I am pestimistic because it has been shown that the Devs and the iRO GM's think Fear Breeze is fine the way it is. And since they buffed Warg Strike to be an IMBA DPS increase, 150 luk+193 ASPD+1300 atk=42k DPS on someone with 200 def in WoE, the Ranger will have crappy ASPD to prevent the Ranger from being able to kill people in seconds.
With the Warg outclassing the Falcon in almost every way, Hunters and Snipers of old are forced to replace this dear companion to keep up with the ever changing world of Ragnarok Online. Being unable to have both at a time many Hunters opt to not get any of the Falcon skills at all. Blitzbeat�??s auto cast level is still based on job level so a Ranger requires job level 41 to deal all 5 hits. The Falcon deals negligible damage and DPS, its utility skills are combined into Sensitive Nose and Rangers get no skills to support this Hunter and Sniper skill branch. Please give this pet some attention.
List of kRO changes and new equipment for the Ranger:
Skill changes:
- Arrow Storm
- The area of effect of the skill increases with skill level.
- Level 1-5: 5x5 Cells
- Level 6-9: 7x7 Cells
- Level 10: 9x9 Cells
- (200+50*s.lvl)*b.lvl/100
- Fear Breeze
- Changed to only work with long ranged attacks. Requires Bow equipped to cast and receive the buff.
- Aimed Bolt
- The number of hits the skill does to small/medium/large monsters is changed from (2/3/4) to (2-3/3-4/4-5).Unknown distribution
- (500+50*s.lvl)*b.lvl/100*hits(If snared)
- Fixed Casting time reduced from 1s to 0.5s
- Cluster Bomb
- The trap can now be placed under a targets feet.
- Warg Rider
- SP cost reduced to 2.
- While riding the wolf, the following traps are now available for use: Cobalt Trap, Magenta Trap, Maize Trap, Verdure Trap, Electric Shocker.
- Warg Dash
- SP cost reduced to 4.
- Gives Endure now
- After Cast Delay removed
- Warg Tooth
- +30*s.lvl damage to Warg skills
- Warg Strike
- SP cost 20/22/24/26/28.
- 200%*s.lvl
- Warg Bite
- Skill cooldown time changed to 15 seconds.
- The skill base duration is reduced to 10 seconds + Tooth.
- The skill now has a chance of success or failure based on skill lvl and AGI of target, exact chance formula unknown.
- Duration on players is reduced by (AGI+DEX)/20
- 400%+200%*s.lvl+100%(if lvl5)
- Camouflage
- Skill duration is removed.
- However, max Crit is +100, and damage +300 mastery.
- Critical bonus though is not shown on the status menu but adds to Focus Arrow Strike
- Movement speed penalty stack with Wind Walk, Agi UP and Warg Rider. Need to test if it stacks additively or multiplicatively
- Has the same "bug" as banding where you will hear the animation sound when a Camouflaged ranger enters the screen or moves.
- Using skills will not remove it except:
Archer: Arrow Shower Attention Concentrate (It reveals in a 3x3 AoE) Hunter: Traps Ranger: Traps Keen Nose (Reveals in an AoE) Item: Sight from Horong Card (Reveals in an AoE)
- Firing/Icebound Trap
- You can now place up to two at a time.
Equipment are in order of release:
14.1 Arrows, Quivers and Cards:
1773#Elven Arrow#
An arrow crafted by the elves from an ancient tree.
When used in combination with Elven Bow, ranged attack damage + 50%.
Type: Arrow
Attack: 45
Weight: 0.1
Attribute: Neutral
Req Lv: 100
1774#Hunting Arrow#
An arrow crafted specifically with hunting large animals in mind.
When used in combination with Hunter Bow, Ranged attack damage + 50%.
Type: Arrow
Attack: 35
Weight: 0.1
Attribute: Neutral
4466#Beholder Master Card#
Ranged Attack Damage + 3%.
If compounded on a bow, at +10 refine or higher crants ASPD + 1, at +14 refine or higher grants an additional ASPD + 1.
Type: Card
Equips On: Weapon
Weight: 1
Equipment from Bio4:
18110#Giant Crossbow#[2]
A difficult to wield bow that is designed for consecutive firing.
----------------------------
Every 5 refine increases the damage of Arrow Storm by a %, and increases it's SP cost.
If the user has 120 base AGI, ASPD + 1.
----------------------------
Type: Bow
Attack: 160
Weight: 90
Weapon Level: 4
Req Level: 110
Class: Ranger
18111#Creeper Bow#[2]
A bow crafted out of strange magic vines, which when fired launches arrows covered in a spider web.
----------------------------
Dex + 1.
When dealing ranged pysical damage, has a chance to autocast fiberlock.
----------------------------
Type: Bow
Attack: 150
Weight: 150
Weapon Level: 3
Req Level: 120
Class: 3rd Job Archer Type
18570#Ancient Gold Ornament#[1]
A flashy gold ornament crafted with ancient magic. It's power varies based on it's users class.
----------------------------
When base level is 150, All Stats + 2.
When equipped by Swordsman, Merchant, Thief type: ATK + 8%.
When equipped by Mage, Priest type: MATK + 8%
When equippped by Archer type: Dex + 3, increases ranged damage by 10%.
----------------------------
Type: Helm
Def: 7
Position: Upper
Weight: 40
Req Level: 100
Class: Any 3rd Job
Mora equipment expansion:
White Wing set:
Spoiler2479#White Wing Boots# [1]
A relic from an ancient guild of rangers called the 'Icarus Guild'.
----------------------
AGI + 2.
Decreases the SP cost of Aimed Bolt by 10.
----------------------
Type: Boots
Def: 18
Weight: 40
Req Lv: 100
Req Job: Ranger
2580#White Wing Manteau#
A relic from an ancient guild of rangers called the 'Icarus Guild'.
----------------------
AGI + 2, FLEE + 10.
Ranged attacks have a chance to increase flee by 20 for 7 seconds.
----------------------
Type: Garment
Def: 15
Weight: 20
Req Lv: 100
Req Job: Ranger
2890#White Wing Brooch#
A relic from an ancient guild of rangers called the 'Icarus Guild'.
----------------------
DEX + 2, Increases ranged bow attack damage by 3%.
----------------------
Type: Accessory
Def: 0
Weight: 10
Req Lv: 100
Req Job: Ranger
15042#White Wing Suit# [1]
A relic from an ancient guild of rangers called the 'Icarus Guild'.
----------------------
Each refine increases your ranged damage by 2% and flee by 1.
----------------------
When equipped in combination with the White Wing manteau, boots, and brooch:
ASPD + 2.
Increases ranged bow damage by 30%.
Ranged attacks have a chance to autocast Double Strafing Lv 3. (Up to the level you've learned)
Increases damage of Arrow Storm by 50%.
----------------------
Type: Armor
Def: 45
Weight: 10
Req Lv: 100
Req Job: Ranger
Black Wing set:Spoiler2480#Black Wing Boots# [1]
An old relic said to help maintain concentration, branded with the black wing mark.
----------------------
INT + 2, MaxSP + 5%.
----------------------
Type: Boots
Def: 18
Weight: 40
Req Lv: 100
Req Job: Ranger
2581#Black Wing Manteau#
An old relic said to help maintain concentration, branded with the black wing mark.
----------------------
INT + 1.
Each refine above 7[ increases perfect dodge by 1.
----------------------
Type: Garment
Def: 15
Weight: 20
Req Lv: 100
Req Job: Ranger
2891#Black Wing Brooch#
An old relic said to help maintain concentration, branded with the black wing mark.
----------------------
INT + 2, Perfect Dodge + 3.
----------------------
Type: Accessory
Def: 0
Weight: 10
Req Lv: 100
Req Job: Ranger
15043#Black Wing Suit# [1]
An old relic said to help maintain concentration, branded with the black wing mark.
----------------------
INT + 2
Each refine increases attack by 3.
----------------------
When equipped in combination with the Black Wing Manteau, Boots, and Brooch:
Max HP + 15%
Perfect Dodge + 20.
Cluster Bomb damage + 20%.
Ranged attack damage - 30%.
ASPD - 7
----------------------
Type: Armor
Def: 45
Weight: 10
Req Lv: 100
Req Job: Ranger
Summary with skill change suggestions:
Rangers are good at soloing but are useless in parties more so with the kRO changes. A high level Ranger doesn�??t have much to strive for.
Please give some attention to the falcon.
Aimed Bolt is nice but has no synergy with other classes. Please change this by allowing it to work on any immobilization skill.
Arrow Storm is still too weak. Requiring endgame item to make this skill stronger is not a way of making it more viable to level with. And the boost isn�??t enough to deal good damage compared to Traps.
Fear Breeze is worthless. A good way to make this skill better and help the falcon is to allow Rangers to auto cast Falcon Assault at the same chance as Blitzbeat.
Magenta, Cobalt, Maize, Verdure trap are too expensive for their effect. Either reduce the cost or allow them to affect players at least.
Electric Shock needs to scale better. Currently level 1 is just as good as level 5 since monsters do not have SP and 5% SP/sec drain is nothing compared to instant 80% of Shockwave or skills of other classes.
Now that every other class either has a strong ranged skill, an instant movement skill that�??s enabled in WoE or both with the exception of the almost immortal RG, the nerfs have made Warg Bite considerably weak. At least allow it not to teleport monsters, specifically boss type ones, until they are hit so we can use Aimed Bolt more reliably or make it disable instant movement skills so it can offer something more than the immobilization of other classes to warrant the 15s reuse delay.
I find Sensitive keen unreliable but have no experience with it. I hope someone more knowledgeable can either suggest a change or convince me that it is fine the way it is when compared to the detection skills of other classes. The thing that irks me the most is its ability to hit and reveal targets behind untraversable terrain but unable to Warg Bite them due to the limitations of Warg Bite and Warg Strike.
Edit:
Forgot to list skill changes
Edited by Clogon, 06 May 2011 - 03:21 PM.