[nanatsu]

Combat skills for weapons = accuracy and attack for that weapon. The number doesn't take into account your raw stats, gear or food. **It's just that each additional point adds 1 accuracy and 1 attack.

And even though Flounder caps at 25, you don't need much extra accuracy when combined with your traits and sufficient gear. The reason why I consider it to be superior to sushi at **your level** is because it gives you just enough accuracy to hit something while adding some ranged attack as well. So it's definitely better. Pure attack food is always a far superior choice unless you're having trouble hitting something.

For a rng, acc food should only be considered when actually needed. Since you already have more accuracy than just about every other job in the game, meat will always be ideal in most situations.

EDIT: **It's not entirely correct to say that you can think of it as your base attack and accuracy, and I think that would confuse you more than anything else. So I changed my statement.

[Szkol]

OK- I'm going to do a little math here, just to see if I'm doing things right: Also going from memory on stats so bear with me-


Ranged Attack = {( 8 + Combat Skill + STR/2 + (+attack from gear) + (+attack trait/ability/minuet)) * berserk effect (if available)} * (1+ percentage increase from food )
Retrieved from "http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Ranged_Attack"


Here's my stats, to the best of my knowledge:

Archery Combat Skill = 152
STR = 50 (counting gear and food bonuses)
30 attack from gear
Ability Bonuses - Velocity Shot = 152 * .15 = 22.8
Rice Dumpling = 30% ratk increase capped @ 45

so

RATK = (8 + 152 + (50/2) (+ 30) + (22.8) ) * 1.3

RATK = (160 + (25) + 30 + 22.8 ) * 1.3

RATK = (237.8) * 1.3

RATK = 309.14 but Dumpling caps @ 45 so 237.8 + 45 = 282.8


Please, please, please let me know if I'm getting my numbers correct - It would be a huge help to know I'm doing this math right

[sedant]

Wouldn't velocity shot be a berserk type effect rather than a set bonus ability?

[nanatsu]

Originally Posted by Szkol

Please, please, please let me know if I'm getting my numbers correct - It would be a huge help to know I'm doing this math right

I'm no math genius or anything, but as far as I can tell you followed the formula the way you were supposed to. So everything looks fine to me.

[aegina]

65 Ranger here.

I'm still using Flounder Muniere. You say it caps at 25, huh? I can still tell a big difference when it happens to wear off, but I think it's time to move to something new. You guys say Rice Dumplings are better now? I think I'll give that a shot in my next pt.

I've noticed sushi is NOT better. I rarely miss, even when using no food, so I think you guys are right that I should be switching more to a RATT set. Most of my gear is still a RACC setup, with a couple pieces of str gear.

Originally Posted by mog

I used Subs and Meat Mithkabobs leveling up. I noticed a substantial increase in my sidewinder damage. (Like two-fold increase with comparable gear) I would go from doing 800- 1000 on lessers to 1600-1800 (depending on the party setup). This means you need to load up on a bit more ranged accuracy leveling up.

That big of a difference?!

Which subs is that? Coeurl? Most of my Slug Shots do around 800~1k-ish. (No Ebow yet )

Originally Posted by mog

(depending on the party setup).

Do those numbers include a Bard/Corsair?

[nanatsu]

If you're at 65 you should be eating Coeurl Subs for rATK purposes. You'll notice a huge difference. Even subbing /nin I could pull hate away just from normal shots on typical ToAU exp fodder.

For everyone's information, Meat Mithkabobs no longer affect ranged attack. And just so you know, once you get your final acc bonus at 70, if you ever need acc food again then you're definitely doing something wrong.

[Mog]

Originally Posted by aegina

Which subs is that? Coeurl? Most of my Slug Shots do around 800~1k-ish. (No Ebow yet )
Do those numbers include a Bard/Corsair?

Yeah, the highest I ever got was when a bard was in the party(double minuet). And it's coeurl subs that I usually use. I'm telling you, good attack food + E bow is godly on birds! x.x And I'm a taru!

[nanatsu]

Originally Posted by aegina

I've noticed sushi is NOT better. I rarely miss, even when using no food, so I think you guys are right that I should be switching more to a RATT set. Most of my gear is still a RACC setup, with a couple pieces of str gear.

You shouldn't completely forsake your rng acc gear btw. Rng attack from food and rng acc from gear and traits is a much more reliable combination because of how much rng acc you can obtain. The idea is to have enough rng acc so that you can eat meat comfortably. It's alright to replace some of your rACC gear with rATK gear, just make sure that you don't take off too much so you can hit. A rough idea of the gear I had at around that level is.

AF body
AF hat
Jaridah Salvars
RSE feet
Ranger Necklace
Francisca
Hawker Knife
Scorpion Ring+1 x2
Amemet Mantle+1
Deadeye Gloves
Vision Earring
Drone Earring

If you'll notice, I had a mix of rACC and rATK gear, placing rACC gear in slots where I could use it. This was so that I could eat meat without worrying about missing. With e-bow, I could reliably stay above 1K ws damage with this kind of setup. This also made me self sufficient, meaning I didn't need a BRD or COR to do a decent job. Having a BRD or COR was just icing on the cake and easily brought my ws damage at a range of around 1100-1400 depending on the mob and the songs.

Keep in mind my numbers are kind of fudgy because it's been a while and I kept that set for quite a few levels, but I know for a FACT I rarely dipped below 1K at around 65. As you get higher you'll notice the effect of meat kicking in more and more.

[aegina]

After listening to you guys, I feel like such a noob for still using the newbie foods at endgame
Thanks^^
______________________________

Originally Posted by nanatsu

You shouldn't completely forsake your rng acc gear btw. Rng attack from food and rng acc from gear and traits is a much more reliable combination because of how much rng acc you can obtain. The idea is to have enough rng acc so that you can eat meat comfortably. It's alright to replace some of your rACC gear with rATK gear, just make sure that you don't take off too much so you can hit. A rough idea of the gear I had at around that level is.

AF body
AF hat
Jaridah Salvars
RSE feet
Ranger Necklace
Francisca
Hawker Knife
Scorpion Ring+1 x2
Amemet Mantle+1
Deadeye Gloves
Vision Earring
Drone Earring

If you'll notice, I had a mix of rACC and rATK gear, placing rACC gear in slots where I could use it. This was so that I could eat meat without worrying about missing. With e-bow, I could reliably stay above 1K ws damage with this kind of setup. This also made me self sufficient, meaning I didn't need a BRD or COR to do a decent job. Having a BRD or COR was just icing on the cake and easily brought my ws damage at a range of around 1100-1400 depending on the mob and the songs.

Keep in mind my numbers are kind of fudgy because it's been a while and I kept that set for quite a few levels, but I know for a FACT I rarely dipped below 1K at around 65. As you get higher you'll notice the effect of meat kicking in more and more.

I'll make sure to experiment before I get rid of anything. Swap the old gear in and out, to make sure I'm not hurting my accuracy too much.

Also, your gear doesn't look too different from what mine is now... I guess all I really need to change is my food.

[Szkol]

Another update, and another new question:

I sat down and did some math tonight, using all of my current equipment, current combat skill, etc. and figured out my Ratk, Racc, and base stats for both RNG/NIN and RNG/SAM. With RNG/NIN I went with as much accuracy as possible, and with RNG/SAM I went with as much STR or Ratk as possible.

After calculating my base stats I then compared the two build using attack food for /NIN and Accuracy food for /SAM and here's what I found-

As /SAM using Accuracy food, my ending Racc ends up barely edging out my /NIN with full blow Racc gear. As /NIN using Attack food my Ratk ends up edging out /SAM by a slightly more noticeable margin. I thought this was case closed for a second, until i noticed that the STR on my /SAM completely blew away the STR on my /NIN. I thought i remember reading that STR is the primary stat for figuring your damage min/max damage, while great Ratk is going to make your numbers more consistent.

I feel I should mention that I haven't XP'd yet as /SAM, but as /NIN wearing Racc gear I have not had any trouble whatsoever hitting the mob.

I think the differences between the 2 jobs after food ends up being ~13 STR in favor of /SAM and 25 Ratk in favor of /NIN with /SAM having an ever so slight edge in Racc. I feel it should also be said that in a few levels I'll be able to add 7 Racc and 4 STR to /SAM without affecting any other stats, and also will be able to add 8 STR to /NIN at the expense of 10 Racc.




So after all of that gibberish, what would you all recommend if I want to be able to throw out some big sidewinders when the time comes?

[TDbank24]

I haven't played Ranger in nearly a year and a half, but i was 75 and i had the pimpest gear, merits, you could get basically. And i know this thread is old. I recently started a new character, on my way to starting Rng up again.

But all i can say is stack rng attk, str, and go with E-bow, you can't go wrong. Rng is a pretty simple job to play if you know what you're doing.

Just wait until you try Rng/War if you never have, it's a dream come true.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Stacking STR and Ranged attacks a lower levels isn't a great idea, not so bad at 50+ and 70+, but not the best way to go early in your career as you won't see as large returns for those stat bonuses as you would from ranged accuracy gear.

Often, people would tell you not to sub /WAR til 70, but that's being overly conservative, they really mean don't try a STR/Attack build until higher levels. /WAR is good the moment you get access to Berzerk, though one should learn to use that conservatively since it can make for some really brutal attacks that will get you hate.

Also, while Eurytos' Bow is cool and all, if you camp Eastern Shadow these days, he drops an R/E version called Vali's Bow now. You can blow 2 million or more gil for the epeen or you can get it for free by camping Easter Shadow or do the BCNM60 for E-Bow. If you can't scrape together the gil or lack to the time to pursue the NM or BCNM, then trying for a Selene Bow is also a viable option and will serve you just fine until you have the ability to get E/V-Bow.

[Tokitung]

From my experience as a 75 Rng, low level you want R. Acc and R. Acc food as the level of the mobs you face can varie quite drastically. Nothing sucks worse than pulling a mob that is highest level capped for that area and seeing a ton of wiffs. Make each hit count.

I tell all my buddies leveling Rng that until you hit 70+, go with R. Acc builds. Being 75 with full Archery merits, I can stack on Str and R. Att and eat R. att food and still not have issues with connecting. This is true for merit parties, as the level of the mobs you face do not vary as drastically. For End Game events though, make sure you bring substitues to increase your R. Acc incase of a much higher level mob or their TP moves (dragons and birds in particular with their evasion boost.)

For subjobs, it is all your choice. The best advice though, as Malacite mentioned at the beginning:

"Apart from all that, the best advice for any RNG is to learn very quickly how to ride the hate line. Too many RNG don't pace themselves and end up pulling hate. Learn when to unload on the mob. RNG don't start fights, they end them >;3"

Going /nin is for those fights you may have hate for a few rounds and need the survivability. Rngs are still glass cannons.

/war is for zerg fights or for flat out killing. Be prepared to die though, as you have no real defensive ability/spell.

/sam is a middle between the two. You get Hasso and Meditate, meaning bit strong WS and more WS. You also get Store TP, which if you have other Store TP items may give you a 5 hit build = more WS. If you get hate, you can toss up Seigan (if using Fire Staff) and third eye, giving you a bit more survivability (though with how flakey third eye can be, you never know.)

My Rng is only semi active now, as I believe it is too powerful for day-to-day activities such as meritting (I kill chains when everyone just engages a bird, then it dies almost immediately from a barrage and/or Sidewinder. Damn you delay for drawing weapons!) Big events, I go /war simply for the fact that I'm normally there as a power house. My job is to kill shit as fast as possible. Even End Game events you must guage yourself though. I.e. Killing Suzaku, I don't do anything until it's at about 70% HP (Anything before hand and you will get hate before your second sidewinder. Then it's normally Sidewinder (2.5-3K), Barrage (2.5-3k), Sidewinder (2.5-3k), then if it's alive I'll EES for between 2-2.5. That's low end 7.5k (9.5K w/ EES) to high end 9k(11.5) damage in about 20-30 seconds. No tank and probably no other DD anywhere is gonna get hate off you before you die if you don't kill it.

[TDbank24]

Originally Posted by Omgwtfbbqkitten

Stacking STR and Ranged attacks a lower levels isn't a great idea, not so bad at 50+ and 70+, but not the best way to go early in your career as you won't see as large returns for those stat bonuses as you would from ranged accuracy gear.

Often, people would tell you not to sub /WAR til 70, but that's being overly conservative, they really mean don't try a STR/Attack build until higher levels. /WAR is good the moment you get access to Berzerk, though one should learn to use that conservatively since it can make for some really brutal attacks that will get you hate.

Also, while Eurytos' Bow is cool and all, if you camp Eastern Shadow these days, he drops an R/E version called Vali's Bow now. You can blow 2 million or more gil for the epeen or you can get it for free by camping Easter Shadow or do the BCNM60 for E-Bow. If you can't scrape together the gil or lack to the time to pursue the NM or BCNM, then trying for a Selene Bow is also a viable option and will serve you just fine until you have the ability to get E/V-Bow.

Yea, i meant end game. Feel free to stack the shit out of rng atk and str. You're going to miss regardless, you might as well not over do it on the acc. I've tried pretty much everything on Rng, along with some friends. My buddy Matix on the Ragnarok server is an insane Ranger. Relic bow and everything. If you really need advice, he's the guy to ask haha.

I quit around the time Vali's bow came out, i wanted one so i could sell my E-bow but never ended up camping Eastern Shadow. How crowded is the camp for that NM anyways? I would assume not too many people camp it often as it's in the middle of nowhere and only Rng's can use it. I'll have to look into that when i get to that point in the game again.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Well, ever since the item went from RMT gravy to a R/E drop, I'd say the competition is down to you vs. other RNGs, which leaves you with practically no competition half the time. Its the respawn of almost-HNM proportions that make it camping it a pain, though. 16 hour lotto on two shade mobs and the drop rate is about 15% on top of that.

I got lucky, go it first try shortly after the update was released, RMT weren't clued it yet about it being R/E so they rushed in to check for it just minutes after I got it. That's what they get for taking a smoke break, but they would have been disappointed by its lack of saleability anyway. Was glad I got it when I did.