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AETAS’ MELEE RANGER GUIDE version 1.0.9
Author: Aetas (Cyclotron) with significant contributions from
Kirstena and Dr. Giggles. CONTENTS: I.
INTRODUCTION II.
SKILLS a.
Paired Attack + Triple Threat b.
Hunter’s Intuition III.
QUESTIONS a.
Should I take missile paragon or melee
paragon? b.
Should I dual wield or single wield? IV.
CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION So you want to be a melee ranger? Well, you have a very tough journey ahead of you for what, at
this time, many believe, lacks much reward.
Paper tanks they call us… Able
to dual wield and do massive damage (especially when buffed) yet unable to
withstand any. Able to use swords and
bows, yet unable to switch easily between them while in the heat of battle
(as the offhand weapon cannot be hotkeyed)… Well, I’ve been a melee ranger for almost my entire life on
Darktide (PvP) and I’m writing this article to hopefully help save you from
most of the pain and frustration associated with living life as a
“gimp”. Read on. There is still hope for you as well as an
interesting twist that will put you on par with your melee peers… II. SKILLS First, let’s talk about melee ranger special attacks. In the interest of focus, I will not
discuss non-melee skills such Nature’s Aid, Rabies, Forage, etc. and will
only discuss the following melee ranger skills: Paired Attack, Triple Threat,
and Hunter’s Intuition. a. Paired Attack +
Triple Threat Paired attack is a double-strike melee attack. Spending XP on it increases the amount of
damage done. My take on this skill is that it is not worth the credits. Unbuffed, it does not do much more damage
than a single round of basic attack with dual wield. Paired Attack costs 170 base vigor (not
including the vigor rating on your weapons).
In addition, each swing of the double-strike attack is rolled
separately (meaning you can hit with one sword yet miss with the other) and
each hit’s damage is calculated against the opponent’s armor level as well as
your weapon ratings. In PvM, this
skill is nothing to go “Ahh” or “OMG” about.
And in PvP, this skill is absolutely worthless as the armor level of
your foes will seriously drive down the damage you deal. Of course with any basic or special
attack, buffs always help. But in
that case, this skill is just “Ok”. Triple Threat is not that much different from Paired
Attack. It is a triple strike melee
attack, which can only be used after an attempted Paired Attack. Spending XP on this skill increases the
amount of damage done. “WOOT a 5-hit combo!!! “, you say. Well, it’s not as good as it sounds. My experience with this skill has been abysmal given the vigor
cost and damage output of the Paired Attack and Triple Threat combo. Like Paired Attack, each swing of the
Triple Threat attack is rolled separately and each hit’s damage is calculated
against the opponent’s armor level as well as your weapon ratings. I have not
noticed much difference in damage between a successful single hit in Paired
Attack versus a successful single hit in Triple Threat. Given the high vigor cost of the Paired
Attack and Triple Threat combo, you’ll probably only be able to get this off
two or three times before running out of vigor. Your hit results could look something like the following “Hit,
Miss, Hit, Hit, Miss,” and now you’re down 400+ vigor. I trained Paired Attack and Tripple Threat up to 37pts when I
was in my late 30s. The hit rate and
damage output looked similar to the following “Miss, 140, Miss, 170, 170”
against a mob. Much less damage was
observed against players. On a
brighter note, with full buffs and a gossamer skin, you can probably double
the damage output of each hit. At
level 47, with full buffs and gossamer flesh, each of my swords can hit for
the low 400ish with basic attacks against mobs. b. Hunter’s Intuition Hunter’s Intuition is an extremely powerful melee attack. The official skill description implies
that it is more effective if performed after the ranger’s pet has
successfully attacked. Spending XP on this skill increases the amount of
damage done. It takes 200 base vigor,
recycles every 5 seconds, yet has comparable damage to Mighty Blow (a
defender skill that takes 450 vigor and recycles every 10 seconds). I’ve tested this several times with my guildmate and fellow ranger,
Kirstena. This skill is a must have
for any aspiring melee ranger. Your
attacks will be centered around this attack being successful and hitting
hard. There are two components to a
successful Hunter’s Intuition attack.
The first component pierces armor and the second does not. At level 50 skill, the armor piercing
portion hits for a flat 400 pts of damage regardless of your weapon’s damage
rating. I’ve seen up to 465pts of
damage on this when it lands immediately after a successful pet attack. The second non-armor piercing portion hits
for anywhere from 170-700+ depending on buffs, debuffs, as well as your
weapon’s damage rating. On average,
this second component hits for approximately 250-300 with level 45
swords. While testing this, Kirstena
pointed out something very interesting… that the second component’s damage is
based on your right weapon’s damage rating only, completely ignoring your
left weapon. Remember this fact as it
leads into that “twist” I mentioned earlier regarding melee rangers. III QUESTIONS a. Should I take missile paragon or melee paragon? I asked
this very question once and received a very interesting reply from a Dr.
Giggles. The following information in
quotes is taken directly from his response: "Well, if you are going to play a "pure" dual
wielding ranger with very little bow use except for occasional pulling or
using ranger skills then this is how I would build one. Firstly, ALL your
attacks while dual wielding will be based off your MISSILE and ranger masteries.
Melee masteries will only help in evading incoming melee attacks. Since you
have only one paragon trainable this is a conumdrum. Does one train Missile
to paragon and melee to GM or vice versa? Each has it's pro's and con's. With
missile paragon your chances of hitting are maxed but you chances of not
being hit aren't so good. If you do the opposite well it's the opposite as in
you dodge well but don't hit often. So what would the Doc do? “As for pvp and standing toe-to-toe with a pure melee, you'll
have a definate advantage here tho. With melee paragon your chances to dodge
their attacks are HIGH but since your attacks are based off the missile tree
they will have a "lower" chance usually to dodge your attacks.
" Thanks Doc. These few paragraphs of advice have done wonders for my
survivability against mobs and players.
No longer can I be considered a “paper tank” as now I can take the
damage. For PvM, having missile m/gm
plus ranger adept (without missile paragon) has only decreased my dual wield
damage output by a small amount as I am still able to hit well against mobs
(although noticeably not as well as before).
For PvP, my overall performance against melee has increased
dramatically, magic has stayed the same, and missile has decreased to a
typical melee and magi level. One thing to point out is that taking melee paragon over missile
paragon will make you significantly weaker versus players that have taken
missile paragon (i.e. archers). Your
most powerful attack, Hunter’s Intuition (based on missile masteries and
ranger adept), will be evaded much too often to be useful against them. This is quite a difficult obstacle to
overcome, but there is still hope.
Remember that “twist” I mentioned way back when. Read on. b. Should I dual wield or single wield? All this time, we assumed that all ranger melee attacks required
dual wielding to be executed. Well
this is true for all but one special attack… Hunter’s Intuition. Remember when I pointed out that Hunter’s
Intuition ignored the damage rating of your left weapon… Well another thing Kirstena discovered was
that you could execute Hunter’s Intuition with only one weapon (but not
shield)… This is the “twist” I mentioned earlier. So what does this mean for a melee ranger? Wielding 1 weapon versus 2 has the following benefits: -
You can now hit with basic attacks based off of your melee m/gm/p
rather than your missile m/gm therefore increasing your chance to land a hit. -
You can now hotswap very easily between bow and sword therefore
making attacking from range and switching to melee all the more fluid. Imagine how quickly you can welcome any
incomers with Hunter’s Intuition. -
You can now access ANY melee attack in the basic melee tree
therefore allowing you to follow up Hunter’s Intuition with Find Hole,
Backstab, Peripheral Blow, and/or Unpredictable Blow. Four of those attacks each have an armor
piercing component equating to devastating damage. Most often players are dead after a successful Hunter’s
Intuition + Find Hole / Backstab combo.
Also imagine the damage versus vigor cost of the Hunter’s Intuition
and Unpredictable Blow (while vulnerable) combo. -
You can now execute a devastating three hit combo with only 330
vigor (Hunter’s Inuition, Find Hole, Backstab). Currently, I’m level 47 and have 1500 vigor. In other words, I can execute this combo 4
times without replenishing vigor. IV CONCLUSION Rangers are not gimps. They are complex and challenging to play
but the rewards are a very versatile damage oriented character with the good
looks of a human. The melee ranger,
or any ranger for that matter, is a very intriguing and challenging class to
play. For whatever path you take, you
should be commended. As your base template, I would recommend the
following for a melee ranger:
Afterwards, you should have 15 credits extra
at level 50, meaning you could achieve this template early in your ranger’s
life. With your extra credits you can
get creative with your skill selections.
For example, currently I’m toying with the possibility of opening my
attacks with Double Shot, Gated Arrow, and then switching to sword and
following up with Hunter’s Intuition, Find Hole, Backstab. In other instances I open with
Envenom. But most of the time, I just
dish out the damage with my single sword attacks and heal/regen my vigor with
basic heal + rushed recovery. As a warning to the faint of heart, without
major heals, you will live a very reckless life. Regardless, I urge you to open your mind to the
possibilities. There are already reports
of missile ranger templates that are just as effective if not more. This is not the greatest class to play nor
the be all end all melee template… but I must admit the melee ranger is a
very powerful template that if played right can lead to a very fun and
rewarding experience. But like any
class, know your limitations. Goodluck! Aetas (Cyclotron)
– Level 47 – Melee Ranger – TAO – Darktide |
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