Ranger Guide/Blog

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

I just picked up RNG and don't really know too much about it. Any blogs or guides ya'll would recommend?

Thanks!

[Belkin]

Are you looking for endgame material or just a normal guide?

[BroodIfrit]

I'd be interested in seeing a guide as well, for both endgame and normal situations. I have quite a few questions about how to gear myself, too. For example:

Does STR do more for Archery than Marksmanship? Should I have minor tweaks between the different sets stat-wise? Should I use Crimson Finger Gauntlets for Sidewinder, but Seiry's Kote for Slug Shot?


Which is better, STR or Ranged Attack? I've been spamming floor 80s in Nyzul for a Denali Jacket, and if the ranged attack is better, wouldn't this be better to TP in than Osode? Would this also make Hunter's Beret a free substitue to Wyvern Helm? Would War Boots be my best choice at 70, even over Rutter Sabatons?


How much MND is needed to make Holy Bolts more useful than Demon Arrows? When I get 75 I'll have +34 MND (Osode, Sune-Ate, Denali Wristbands, Denali Bonnet), but is it worth the extra damage to sacrifice the ranged accuracy?

[Sonomaa]

I'd be interested in seeing a guide as well, for both endgame and normal situations. I have quite a few questions about how to gear myself, too. For example:

Does STR do more for Archery than Marksmanship? Should I have minor tweaks between the different sets stat-wise? Should I use Crimson Finger Gauntlets for Sidewinder, but Seiry's Kote for Slug Shot?


Which is better, STR or Ranged Attack? I've been spamming floor 80s in Nyzul for a Denali Jacket, and if the ranged attack is better, wouldn't this be better to TP in than Osode? Would this also make Hunter's Beret a free substitue to Wyvern Helm? Would War Boots be my best choice at 70, even over Rutter Sabatons?


How much MND is needed to make Holy Bolts more useful than Demon Arrows? When I get 75 I'll have +34 MND (Osode, Sune-Ate, Denali Wristbands, Denali Bonnet), but is it worth the extra damage to sacrifice the ranged accuracy?

str is a direct modifier for side, though it helps marksmanship
ratk then str usually, osode is the best body for ranger period
AF2 > war boots
dont know about mind but scouts beret also has it

[Hoshiku]

As far as mind builds go in nyzul isle or temenos, korin obi + apollo's staff are all you need. Elsewhere it depends on the mob type. (I think as long as you get the +30ish added damage holy bolts keep up with demon arrow damage although it's been a while since I merited on rng. Also machine xbow >> obow for holy bolt spam.) Somewhere back in the very depths of KI there are some decent posts about ranger gear with calculations on mods for SS SW and dps.

[diemos]

Honestly, Ranger is such an interchangable job... it depends on everything IMO. /WAR, /NIN, Day of the week, weather, mobs..

For regular stuffs endgame, R.atk > STR > AGI (as far as WS's go).
An example, my TP+WS+Barrage setups for Archery:

TP
Main: Kreigsbeil
Sub: the other axe? lol
Head: Hunter's Beret
Neck: Qiqirn Collar
Ear1: Cassie Earring
Ear2: Bushinomimi
Body: Osode
Hands: CFG
Ring1: Behe+1
Ring2: Rajas
Back: Amemet+1
Waist: Precise (wanting Scout's+Buccaneer's)
Legs: Scout's Braccae
Feet: War boots/Hunter's Socks (wanting Scout's socks)
Ammo: Scorp

WS
Head: Wyvern Helm
Neck: Qiqirn/Peacock Charm (if i'm having acc problems)
Ear1: NINSJ: Genin Earring, anything else: Triumph
Ear2: Bushinomimi
Body: Osode
Hands: Seiryu's Kote
Ring1: Flame Ring
Ring2: Rajas
Legs: Dusk Trousers
Feet: Hunter's Socks
Ammo: Kabura

Barrage
Head: Optical Hat
Neck: Pcharm
Ear1: SJNIN: Genin earring, anything else, Triumph
Ear2: Drone earring
Body: Hunter's Jerkin
Hands: Seiryu's Kote
Ring1: Behe+1
Ring2: Behe NQ
Back: Jaeger Mantle
Legs: Dusk Trousers
Feet: Hunter's Socks
Ammo: Demon


I can not stress how good the e.bow/v.bow is.. second best bow in the game.. I don't use marksmanship at all, but I actually do have a setup for it.. Holy bolt, obi, HQ Light staff, etc..

[Burginator]

@ above poster -- Why do you not use Gorget on WS? Gorget on RNG WS is the most potent single piece I've ever used for a WS. It makes or breaks a meat setup on my RNG (imo), and I run capped merits.

[BroodIfrit]

Here's currently what I'm working with on RNG, keep in mind I'm only 64 and Eastern Shadow is a filthy whore.

TP:
Main: Fransisca
Sub: Trailer's Kukri
Ranged: Selene's Bow
Ammo: Scorpion/Demon Arrows
Head: Hunter's Beret
Neck: Ranger's Necklace
L Ear: Vision Earring
R Ear: Minuet Earring
Body: Shikaree Aketon
Hands: Deadeye Gloves
L Ring: Rajas Ring
R Ring: Scorpion Ring +1
Back: Amemet Mantle +1
Waist: Royal Knight's Belt
Legs: Jaridah Salvars
Feet: Hunter's Socks/Trotter Boots

Sidewinder:
Main: Fransisca
Sub: Trailer's Kukri
Ranged: Selene's Bow
Ammo: Demon Arrow
Head: Hunter's Beret
Neck: Chivalrous Chain
L Ear: Vision Earring
R Ear: Minuet Earring
Body: Hunter's Jerkin
Hands: Deadeye Gloves
L Ring: Rajas Ring
R Ring: Scorpion Ring +1
Back: Amemet Mantle +1
Waist: Precise Belt
Legs: Jaridah Salvars
Feet: Hunter's Socks
(If Sharpshot is up I use R.K. Belt, Shikaree Aketon, and Sun Ring)

For Barrage I add as much ranged accuracy as possible.

Gear I have waiting around:
Rutter Sabatons
Othinus' Bow
Triumph Earring
Sniper's Collar
Kriegsbeil
Fenrir's Earring
Behemoth Rings
War Boots
Archer's Jupon
Pahluwan Khazagand
Phaluwan Seraweels
Breeze Gorget
Scout's Braccae
Crimson Finger Gauntlets
Wyvern Helm
Kirin's Osode
Denali Bonnet
Denali Wristbands
Suzaku's Sune-Ate

Still hoping to see my Seiryu's Kote soon, and working on getting Hope and Faith Torques. I've pretty much given up on Eastern Shadow, so I'm saving gil to just buy a Eurytos' Bow, but with PUP at the same level it's hard to divide my gil to keep both jobs happy. Still trying to get a PCC or PCA, and also working on storing CP for a PP Arrow. Also currently sitting on Temenos RNG piece, will HQ my Hunter's Bracers asap. Any other suggestions?

[VZX]

. Also currently sitting on Temenos RNG piece, will HQ my Hunter's Bracers asap. Any other suggestions?

I personally will only get hands piece if you use your RNG for zerg where feint is applied or you already have capped racc already without CFG or Seiryu's Kote.

[Solar]

This might be a ridiculous question but I'll ask anyways... I used to merit with the KC+Gun combo (borrowed KC;; ), but since I've come back to game I was looking at a more affordable option, the Mercurial Kris. Just finished a merit party and 7 stacks of ammo later, I was wondering if the Merc would be a decent alternative considering it could potentially build enough TP to keep a chain going (fire off 2-3 ws / fight).

Anyone have experience meriting with it on Ranger?

[Sanoske]

This might be a ridiculous question but I'll ask anyways... I used to merit with the KC+Gun combo (borrowed KC;; ), but since I've come back to game I was looking at a more affordable option, the Mercurial Kris. Just finished a merit party and 7 stacks of ammo later, I was wondering if the Merc would be a decent alternative considering it could potentially build enough TP to keep a chain going (fire off 2-3 ws / fight).

Anyone have experience meriting with it on Ranger?

I'd actually like an answer on this as well. With a proper Haste setup I was curious how the M Kris would do. I sold my KClub before I quit, and dont have the gil to get another. (Well, maybe... but I'd have to sell all my BLM gear >.<)

[Solar]

;;

no answers yet huh, i may try it out to see how it goes. If I get one, I'll post how it goes.

here's another strange question. other than the simple coeurl subs, whats the best ranged attack bonus food that is cost effective? with 8/8 archery merits and a prelude I can get decent accuracy, though I've only started using meat fulltime with bard.

Anyone have any idea?

[Sasarai]

I'll bite.

Personally I would not consider M-Kris to be a viable option in merits for Ranger anymore. With Snapshot (and soon to be merittable even more!) and Velocity Shot, your overall damage will be considerably higher relying on shots for TP.

Coeurl Subs are best Ranged Attack stackable food, but generally rather tame in comparison to the effects of non-stackable meat. Red Curry and Dragon Soup will probably give you double the results of Subs, but are hidiously expensive. Personally I go for Bison/Marbled Steak, which you will probably find on the AH for in and around 10k.

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

How will a RNG without archery merits manage with meat? Here's the set-up I have available:

Vulcan's Staff
Axe Strap
E. Bow
Demon Arrow
O. Hat
P. Charm
Vision Earring
Triumph Earring
Kirin's Osode
Crimson Finger Gauntlets
Rajas Ring
Jalzahn's Ring
Amemet Mantle +1
Potent Belt? (Kind of unsure here; RNG AF2 belt unlikely)
Skadi's Chausses
Skadi's Jambeaux

[Sylphet]

Hey Zanz!

Finished off RNG a couple months ago myself. I do have 6 upgrades to archery but I've meritted with RNGs who don't. If you're at bird camp you should be fine eating meat even if you don't have a BRD. I was in a single BRD party there (was getting double Minuet, so no Preludes) where I ended up with 95% acc using my standard gear (so did the non meritted RNG) so we both changed out some of our gear to more Ratt/STR (e.g. changed from Sieryu's kotes to Crimson).

I suggest trying it out and parsing to see how you do. Chances are you won't really be meritting w/o a BRD so if your accuracy is poor then you can ask them for prelude and problem solved. Single BRD party will likely be doing March/Mad and Minuet so you won't need the first song anyway and a 2 BRD party you should have 2 Mins and Prelude which is <3.

[Solar]

Thanks for the answer! I ended up buying the Mercurial yesterday to test it out. I know dot is great on ranger, its just I pissed away 7 stacks of demons in an exp party and over time I figured the merc would be cheaper and more fun lol.

Bow xp compared to Melee xp is insanely skewed towards bow, though, I figure with the possibility of wsing at the start and end of a fight, every fight, it would be much easier to help keep a chain going; adding in culv+1 for ws and barrage and I think you can still put up some decent numbers while getting to chain 100+ (not to say the same cant happen just going with the bow)

Lastly, I saw the bison steak? yesterday and I think I'll be trying that out over the next few sessions. Yesterday in limbus with meat, it was impossible to hit without a prelude; though when prelude was on the numbers were amazing with coeurl subs.

[diemos]

If you fully merit Snapshot+Recycle, that's 25% of your ammo saved and 10% delay reduction. Combine that with Velocity Shot and your DoT goes through the roof while being efficient with your ammo!

Although, myself.. my RNG was built for Kirin. I'm doing Snpashotx4 Recyclex3 Stealth Shotx2 Flasy Shotx1!

I'm more of EPeen damage myself..

[Solar]

currently in the process of capping snapshot; recycle will come at the end and at most will be a merit or two in it.

With some haste gear, merc kris works fairly well, of course its nothing compared to the rng dot, but it does help getting 2 ws off / battle.

I'm going to play around with it some more; though just a comment, after playing with kraken in xp, merc is ridiculously underwhelming. Kraken turns Rng into http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2008/03...ll_450x250.jpg


edit: broke the page margins lol

[terraflarex]

I have so many different builds on Ranger it's disgusting, however I can give you some general TP stuff:

TP:
Main: Vulcan's Staff
Sub: Axe Grip
Ranged: Yoichinoyumi
Ammo: Usually demon, unless I am fighting hard things where I deem it appropriate to use Kabura.
Head: Hunter's Beret +1 (Rapid shot activation dominates str here, sorry)
Neck: Hope Torque
Earrings: Bushi/Triumph
Body: Kirin's Osode / Kyudogi / Denali (Depends on what I am doing, for straight up dmg, Kirin's Osode still wins for TPing)
Hands: Blood Fingers (Ideally, I would use Skadi's Hands here)
Rings: Rajas / J. Ring
Back: amemet+1
Waist: Scout's Belt (Buccaneer's is also very good)
Legs: Skadi legs (brings me into a one shot less build overall from 7store TP)
Feet: Scout's Socks +1

WS:
Head: Wyvern Helm +1
Body: Kirin's Osode
Neck: Breeze Gorget
Earrings: Bushi/Triumph
Body: Kirin's Osode
Hands: Seiryu's Kote (AGI is a direct modifier for Sidewinder, there's no reason not to use these on a WS that has horrible accuracy, capped merits and I can still miss)
Rings: Rajas / Omicron Ring
Back: Amemet +1
Waist: Buccaneer's Belt
Legs: Pahluwan Seraweels
Feet: Skadi's Jambeaux or Marine M Boots (I use Marine when I have Sharpshot or Unlimited shot up)

My Namas Gear is just about the same more or less (different gorget), but accuracy is not a problem with that WS so I use Marine Boots full time on that.

[Sanoske]

Whats a good food?

I've been eating Dhalmel Pies (@ 42 RNG now), but been wondering if there is anything better, or anything I should move onto soon.