RNG Group 2 Merits

[pingpong]

what are you fighting on RNG/WAR that takes over 5 min?

[Quixotic]

Cerb and Khimaira are prime examples

[pingpong]

3/3 flashy shot in that case

[Shadida]

I'm curious to know if anyone got Stealth Shot, hated it, and backed it out? I can't imagine anyone who got Stealth Shot disliking it, having used it a lot myself.

[VZX]

flashy shot doesn't give any acc, I always use it with SS/US/PPA if I can.

I doubt it "it doesn't give any acc".
It's probably indirect. But if "level difference penalty" is totally removed. I guess your racc is kinda helped too.

I'm curious to know if anyone got Stealth Shot, hated it, and backed it out? I can't imagine anyone who got Stealth Shot disliking it, having used it a lot myself.

I can't think any situation I'd do stealth shot in any special /ra in any events I do :/ Barrage? Barrage / Sharpshot takes 3 seconds already to activate

[Tofs]

3 flashy / 3 snapshot for the same reasons Ruke and several other stated.

On a curiosity note what rng group 1 merits most people have? I only have rapid shot capped and cant really decide on what to actually lev there. Unlimited would be my choice atm but i dunno.

[pingpong]

flashy shot doesn't give any acc, I always use it with SS/US/PPA if I can.

I doubt it "it doesn't give any acc".
It's probably indirect. But if "level difference penalty" is totally removed. I guess your racc is kinda helped too.

hmm you are right I shouldn't say that, but let me restate to say you should be stacking as much racc as possible during flashy shot on HNM, I seem to get plenty of misses without SS + PPA.

[VZX]

On a curiosity note what rng group 1 merits most people have? I only have rapid shot capped and cant really decide on what to actually lev there. Unlimited would be my choice atm but i dunno.

That's kinda obvious... 5 rapid / 5 unlimited

flashy shot doesn't give any acc, I always use it with SS/US/PPA if I can.

I doubt it "it doesn't give any acc".
It's probably indirect. But if "level difference penalty" is totally removed. I guess your racc is kinda helped too.

hmm you are right I shouldn't say that, but let me restate to say you should be stacking as much racc as possible during flashy shot on HNM, I seem to get plenty of misses without SS + PPA.

Hence, what I am trying to implied above. Your ranged accuracy is decimated when shooting very high level monster (accuracy penalty due to level difference).

Have anyone tried land their shot at very nice hit-rate (70% or above) without sushi nor preludes?

[RKenshin]

3 flashy / 3 snapshot for the same reasons Ruke and several other stated.

On a curiosity note what rng group 1 merits most people have? I only have rapid shot capped and cant really decide on what to actually lev there. Unlimited would be my choice atm but i dunno.

My RNG is actually like one of my only uncapped jobs for merits. It's one of the weaker ones when it comes to merit options IMO. Nothing really substantially makes a difference other than maybe Flashy Shot, but even for that the obsurd recast kills it.

But yeah, I have capped Rabid Shot and if I were to do another category it would most likely be Unlimited Shot. I like having my timers line up correctly, and having a shorter recast on sharpshot would just annoy me since it'd be off sync with Berserk/Barrage.

So, yeah I'd probably go for Unlimited Shot.

[Tofs]

Unlimited shot recast is short enough for me on every situation i use rng nowadays (i always used to find it up when i needed, and recently after i fired my 5th or 6th PPA, havent been trying to get another one. Unlimited is more of a ammo saver only Not being windurstian and having to get 40k CP sucks)

Sharpshot really appealed to me to since i try to use meat 100% of the time and it really helps with accuracy but as Rukenshin said the main problem would be having its recast off sync with Barrage/berzerk and that irks the hell out of me.

Guess im just waiting in hope that SE someday let me merit Barrage

[Maruichi]

I went with:

1 Flashy Shot
2 Snap Shot
3 Stealth Shot.

Truth betold I couldnt be happier. I have had thoughts about lvl 3 Recycle to stack with hat to come near 40-50% but you know that's wishful thinking. With Level 3 StealthShot I am able to go beyond the hate threshold that is the norm for a ranger. -30 enmity JA stacked onto a WS coupled with, and at times released just after a Weaponskill is one of the more interesting hate management situations in the game. Ever seen someone stack flashyshot+Stealthshot and shoot a Besieged Boss like Medusa for 1k+ damage slugwinder and recieve 0 hate? Ever seen a ranger in a meripo let off a slugwinder way to early then let off a level 3 stealth shot and watch the mob go running back to the tank? It's fun times and has much more impact then other enmity reducing JAs. Hell it might even be placebo but I swear at times the StealthShot stacked onto a Sidewinder adds a lil dmg to it too.

EDIT: I think most people unlock lvl 1 stealth shot and see the -10 enmity shot as being meh... and with all due respect they are right. Most merits lvl 1 are meh. I figured lvl 2 would see some what of a significant difference since it was doubling lvl 1. I have to admit the difference between lvl 1 stealth shot and lvl 2 is very significant. The difference between lvl 2 and lvl 3 is marginal at best but I do see the impact of lvl 3. I have had thoughts of going down to lvl 2 stealth to go to lvl 3 snapshot or just opening up recycle to say that I have all of tier II merits but meh.
Basically I find it to be just I wanted in a JA. It allows me to be a retard without getting hate as well as allowing me to pull hate when needed then relequinshing it when the alliance desires.

[Seyrr]

Obligatory derail time!

Okay, you guys have made good arguments for me to change from my plan of 3/3 Recycle. I still need to worry about paying for my ammo, though. I've got all of the relevant crafts in the 50-60 range (cooking's at 95), so I can make a good selection of arrows, bolts, and bullets. If it comes to it, I can save materials from when I go farming and then pester friends to make the good stuff.

My current ammo selection looks something like:

Arrows: Scorpions; Bodkins as soon I get Black Choco Fletchings together
Bolts: Holy; Darksteel for WSes
Bullets: Silver

Bullets are actually one of the cheapest things for me; I swipe silver coins from the odd beastman when I pass through their areas, and then smelt 'em and fill 'em with firesand myself. As for the others, how much of a difference will upgrading my ammuntion make in my performance? And how much will this be affected by my choice of end-game activities? If it's worth it, I'm willing to put the time in to do it right, but I'd like to know just what "right" is.

Also, I'm curious as to why one might choose to focus on bows vs. crossbows vs. guns. It seems like it might be related to what I end up using RNG for, and I don't have a good understanding of the finer differences between them.

Sorry for all the newbish questions. I haven't played RNG seriously for a while, so I feel like I have to re-learn everything.

[Shadida]

What level did you say you were again? At 70+ I would strive to use no less than Demon Arrows if you can, and Kaburas for at least WS if not Barrage. Demon Arrows cap at WW61 so with support or a pair of mitts you could reliably craft them. Also, prices on ammo have gone down a lot recently, at least on my server. In any case, the better your ammo, the better your ranged attacks will be. If it's not worth the cost to you then that's your choice, but I try to use the best ammo I can.

Most RNG75s will focus on Archery primarily, since it tends to be best suited for end-game events and HNM where it's best to keep your distance and melee attacks aren't nearly as effective. Obow is still a great EXP tool for its versatility, guns are still feasible in EXP (and weapon of choice for many Kclub RNGs) but I've never really been in tune with the whole melee RNG vibe (cue Spider-Dan with the dictionary definition). You can make a lot of things work if you just work with them to see what you like to do and tweak things to get better results.

[Seyrr]

RNG73. I sat at RNG70 for a long time and only started exping again very recently. For most of the stuff I do they'd rather have me come as THF, so I have very little experience outside of exp paries. In exp, I use OBow with Holy Bolts, and only pull out Sbow and Bodkins (though my supply is nearly gone) when I level and need to recap archery. The lack of endgame RNG experience is the reason I'm asking all of these questions... I'd like to do more as RNG, and I'd like to do it right.

I suppose I should work on getting Demon Horns, then. I mean, if I'm worried about paying for ammo, a KClub is far out of reach. I know people who can make all of the relevant bits, and most of them owe me favors. :3 Thanks for your advice!

EDIT: What about Marid Arrows? Those any good?

[Shadida]

EDIT: What about Marid Arrows? Those any good?

Un-quiverable arrows are dead to me, lol.

[Vertabreaker]

EDIT: What about Marid Arrows? Those any good?

Un-quiverable arrows are dead to me, lol.

Lol qft.

Also Mofro, you said earlier that you'd like to find someone who merited Stealth shot and backed out. Before I took Flashy Shot to 3/3, I had Stealth shot merited and I backed them out. I just didn't see a big difference in enmity plus I'm the kind of ranger where I'm trying to maximize my dmg constantly and I figured if I'm going to die, I might as well be dropping bombs before I go down and being able to use Flashy as much as possible seemed more of a benefit to me.

[diemos]

ranged attack delay is based only on weapon delay, not ammo delay

So what does Ammo delay do?

[VZX]

ranged attack delay is based only on weapon delay, not ammo delay

So what does Ammo delay do?

extra TP from your shot

[diemos]

So more Ammo delay, more TP returned per individual shot? Or less Delay, less TP return?

[VZX]

So more Ammo delay, more TP returned per individual shot? Or less Delay, less TP return?

The prior one.
As I said, the actual ranged delay is ammo independent. The delay on the ammo only affects your TP return, since TP return is calculated based on the delay of your ranged weapon delay + delay of your ammo delay