Food, Equipment, Etc. (Returning Ranger)

[greydaze]

Okay, I'm out of the loop. It's been a long time since I played my 62 (almost 63) ranger. When I left, I had an ebow, dual hawkers +1, amamit's +1, etc. I used yelow curry (except on coeurls, on which I used sushi). Now, this was before the "nerf" and I don't know how much things have changed.

1) Do we use RATK foods anymore, or just RACC?

2) Do we still sub NIN for the extra RACC, or is WAR the new favorite sub?

3) Are there certain new equips I should know about?

4) How is Selene's bow VS e-bow? And how hard is it to get? Is it being camped much?

5) Anything else you find relevant to tell someone who hasn't played since almost a year and a half ago?

[Mainevent41]

1) Do we use RATK foods anymore, or just RACC?

2) Do we still sub NIN for the extra RACC, or is WAR the new favorite sub?

3) Are there certain new equips I should know about?

4) How is Selene's bow VS e-bow? And how hard is it to get? Is it being camped much?

5) Anything else you find relevant to tell someone who hasn't played since almost a year and a half ago?

1) Yes and No. Once you get into the 70's, Meat and RATK foods become more popular. Before 70, I always used Suishi. You'll see alot of RNG's using STR/RATK builds more as well 70+. I suppose these Rangers still use Suishi as food.

2) NIN sub is still the choice for most people except on HNM/Gods from what I hear. Either is perfectly acceptable these days.

3) Nothing you need to know about. Just please don't try to pull off a STR build until you hit 70+.

4) Selene's is a good cheap alternative to E-Bow. Many have parsed it to be within the same DD'ing ability as the E-Bow. E-Bow is slightly better because it has quite a bit less delay allowing for an extra shot over time compared to Selene's. The bow isn't heavily camped since it is Rare/Ex and is a pop NM. It is somewhat of a rare drop. The NM can only be popped at full or new moon by trading a carrot to a ??? in Uleguerand Range. There may be another RNG camping the bow when you try, but more than likely not since the bow has been out for a while now.

5) Things have changed immensely... This game is vastly different than it was before RNG got the "nerf." RNG now requires skill to put up big numbers and you can no longer melee to build TP faster than any other job. In case you didn't already know, you now have to shoot at an optimum distance to achieve the best dmg and accuracy with your bow/gun/xbow.


Good luck. I hope I helped.

[greydaze]

Yes, you helped immensely! Thank you so very much!

As to #1, thank you so much! It used to be RATK all the way, but now I'll change my plans. Thank you!

As to #5, I've known for a while, and to tell the truth, the only thing that'll bother me is finding the "sweet spot." I never was a close-combat melee ranger.

Thanks for your help!

[Macht]

Well... Mainevent41 got most of the point pretty dead on.

The change to RNG just caused more strategy design to it and created more separate niches for RNG/NIN and RNG/WAR. I personally never liked the idea of giving up 20% Attack boost just to get what will be at max +14 Rng. Acc. (or comes to about like 4%-8% Accuracy boost) the logic made no sense to me.

Now RNG/NIN for Utsusemi made more sense meaning you could push you damage above the tanks and not worry as much, that is RNG/NINs real power. Now with the nerf that power is better regulated because the closer the mob is the better you'll hit but the worse damage you'll get off.

In the end RNG/NIN and RNG/WAR both now need to ride the hate line for max potential damage. Both can draw hate relitively quick if needed, the difference is one can do it faster and even shorten the battle times with well placed Barrage and Sidewinders. The other can do decently fast doesn't kill the mob as quickly but makes up for it generally in that they get a few attacks on them nulled.

For HNM/Gods it still a kind of either or, really as I see it RNG/NIN probably still has a good advantage. RNG/WAR could be good with HNM/Gods as long as they are very well equipped (This is needed to cover the missing Utsusemi's). The definate advantage of RNG/WAR is their damage potential, they are very capable of dealing out higher numbers even when using weaker arrows.

[greydaze]

So, am I right in assuming that you, Macht, support /WAR above /NIN post-nerf? Has it really affected accuracy so much that rng/war is no longer in as much danger from overwhelming hate?

I wonder if it would be better to be a /NIN with +RATK food or a /WAR with +RACC food?

Would my inability to use an E-bow come into play (Y'know, since each arrow from Selene's bow will already hit for more than each from ebow...), making RACC more important?

My stupid internet connection (@!$$%@!!%@^#$@) has caused update to stop three times, so I still haven't been able to get into the game.

[qaitakalnin]

Having just got my rng to 70 i hope noone minds my 2 gil.

I have dont /nin for all but the first 24 lvls, but then again I am an Elvaan so i have felt that racc was what should dictate my build. I have a Selene's bow, the nm is actually pretty easy, not soloable, but my standard xp party was able to kill it without breaking a sweat.

my gear is:

Francesca
Archer's knife
war beret
ranger necklance
wing earing
genin(sp?) earring
Hunter's Jerkin
war gloves
coral ring
coral ring
Arimet(sp) Mantel
Royal Knigt's Belt
War Brais
war boot

And honestly i have been usin elemental arrows and doin 100-117 dmg, not including add dmg, in the "sweet spot" and about 78-80 dmg up close (when i pull hate). I hit aobut 75% of my shots. I open light with arching arrow which hits for 450-600 dmg, barrage for about the same (depending on how many arrows hit hehe) I use hedgehog pie when available or coruel subs for bcnm's or if the pie isnt on sale.

I am waiting for a friend of mine to upgrade the archer's knife to a hawker's knife (he is going to sign it for me /cheer). But i am pleased with that, and even when I wasnt in my static pt I got complimented on my abilities to do dmg so that makes me kinda happy (cause we all know that there are things you can get away with in a static that wouldnt fly in a pick up pt, but like i said I was happy that both the static and the pickup parties i have had have been pleased with my preformances)

Ok so that was more than 2 gil, but that is my rng after the update.

[greydaze]

Qait: So, my RNG is 62 (almost 63). If I go /nin, would it be safe to go with +RATK foods still as a Hume? I would be picking up selene's bow (all my old friends have 1-3 jobs at 75 by now), using double +1 rings, full AF, ranger's necklace, archer's knife (other hand would have fransisca), double wing earrings (unless there's something better; I haven't played in almost a year and a half), RK belt and amemit's mantle.

If I went /war, I'd definitely go with RACC foods, but then I'd have to *sigh* level WAR through about 20 levels...

[Mainevent41]

Like the guy above you said, if you can stand 75% accuracy, then yes, RATK food is fine. Personally I would rather hit almost all of my shots (90%+) rather most of my shots for a little more damage. you can do either, but I think once you start missing Sidewinders to open and close SC's you'll quickly go back to RACC food. I haven't tried RNG since the "fix" that came with ToAH but I find it hard to believe sharpshot could make that huge a difference for 1/5 minutes.

[greydaze]

Hmmmm... Ok, so I have been using elemental arrows, double hawkers, drone earrings, a peacock charm (on loan from a rich friend), amemit's, etc. I was levelling off VT-IT's in the new areas (Y'know, chimeras and spiders) at about 8kxp per hour last night (awesome party). And I hit most of the time. I was using curry and in the sweet spot, all my shots hit for about 110-140 depending on closeness to mob (closer on some that others if I had trouble hitting). It was a great PT, and Sidewinder with PPA didn't hit for as little as I thought it might: 800-950.

Thanks for your advice guys. I love my /nin, but I'm thinking seriously about levelling war for some flexibility now, which I wouldn't have thought about before. I still carry sushi and curry with me, and wait a fight or two to use food and see how it goess.

BTW, PT last night was me, DRG, BRD (probably big part of accuracy), WHM, NIN, PLD. We got consistant chain 5s with XP between 120-280 each, and mob kills in 1.5-2 min. was amazing. and zero downtime.

[Mainevent41]

BRD makes life easier. With Prelude, I could easily see you pulling off RATK food easier than without. It makes a big difference.