New to Ranger, have some questions

[Yutuyu]

1) Is Crossbowman's Ring trash? +5 RATK looks decent, is it not?

2) When should I start using STR rings, if ever? What about Rajas Ring?

3) Is Eurytos' Bow really the best bow next to relic? What about Cerberus +1? I've read the threads that compare EBow and Selene, so I'm not looking to rehash that.

4) Is it practical to always use Archery? I don't like Marksmanship much.

5) Any tricks for determining ranged distance on PS2?

6) How is Vali's Bow drop rate and NM Pop conditions NOT proof that SE hates us?

Any other bits of advice that can be offered would be much appreciated.

[Asrun]

1) Is Crossbowman's Ring trash? +5 RATK looks decent, is it not?

2) When should I start using STR rings, if ever? What about Rajas Ring?

3) Is Eurytos' Bow really the best bow next to relic? What about Cerberus +1? I've read the threads that compare EBow and Selene, so I'm not looking to rehash that.

4) Is it practical to always use Archery? I don't like Marksmanship much.

5) Any tricks for determining ranged distance on PS2?

6) How is Vali's Bow drop rate and NM Pop conditions NOT proof that SE hates us?

Any other bits of advice that can be offered would be much appreciated.

1) I wouldn't bother with it. Stick with ranged accuracy rings appropriate for your level.

2) After 70. I still use two behemoth rings at 75, but I swap in STR rings for Sidewinder. Also, Slug Shot does -not- have a STR modifier, it is pure AGI so they won't help you on that.

3) Pretty much, yeah. I can't afford it so I have Selene's, but I'm very happy with the damage output of the EBow -1 (depending on moon phase, etc).

4) Yes. In fact, more rangers use Archery than Marksmanship these days. However, I would keep your Marksmanship skill up, OBow is a godsend, fantastic crossbow. Also, if you do events such as Limbus or Dynamis as RNG, you'll learn to love marksmanship (it's frustrating to only get one shot or two in before the mob dies and you have to retarget).

5) Not really. But if you play RNG long enough, you get used to it and you'll instinctively know.

6) I don't know d00d.

[ringthree]

2) After 70. I still use two behemoth rings at 75, but I swap in STR rings for Sidewinder. Also, Slug Shot does -not- have a STR modifier, it is pure AGI so they won't help you on that.

Don't be fooled by this, STR effects every shot that a Ranger takes, in fact it will have a larger effect on all your shots and WS's than the modifiers will if I am not mistaken.

[Asrun]

2) After 70. I still use two behemoth rings at 75, but I swap in STR rings for Sidewinder. Also, Slug Shot does -not- have a STR modifier, it is pure AGI so they won't help you on that.

Don't be fooled by this, STR effects every shot that a Ranger takes, in fact it will have a larger effect on all your shots and WS's than the modifiers will if I am not mistaken.

Depends on what you're fighting and your gear setup. If you're constantly missing, having all the STR in the world won't make a difference. Yes, STR does effect every shot a RNG makes, archery or marksmanship, but for the same reason you TP in sniper's rings, you would want to shoot in ranged accuracy rings.

[Yutuyu]

Should, yeah. RNG attacks use fSTR2 instead of fSTR which give you about a 50% STR mod. The AGI one is lower than that. People get confused often though because STR isn't listed on the WS mods and they don't know the damage equation.

[Meepein]

1) Is Crossbowman's Ring trash? +5 RATK looks decent, is it not?
I like R. Acc rings, since that is what will help the most.

2) When should I start using STR rings, if ever? What about Rajas Ring?
STR rings are decent to have for Slugwinder IF your accuracy is fine. Always remember that Slugwinder is naturally inaccurate, so you have to pay some attention to R. Acc here. But, if you are fine, Rajas and/or Flame are perfectly fine here.

3) Is Eurytos' Bow really the best bow next to relic? What about Cerberus +1? I've read the threads that compare EBow and Selene, so I'm not looking to rehash that.
I got Vali's Bow and Selene. Personally, I believe that unless you plan on going for the Relic Bow, you will get no better bow than Eurytos/Vali's. It is a damn good bow. Selene's is good too, but overall, E/V Bow is better.

4) Is it practical to always use Archery? I don't like Marksmanship much.
I did both, personally. Then again, I had Marksmenship to 230 due to THF, but once it became uncapped, I used it after capping Archery. X-Bows are the way to go for Marksmenship, they hit for less but stuff like Acid's make up for it. Plus, the ammo is super cheap.

5) Any tricks for determining ranged distance on PS2?
No clue, I would say wing it.

6) How is Vali's Bow drop rate and NM Pop conditions NOT proof that SE hates us?
Well, I went 1/1 on it. Went down there with no ToD, killed 2 mobs, it popped, I killed and got the drop. Never going back. No clue of how indicative of the drop rate that is.

[Sonomaa]

1) Is Crossbowman's Ring trash? +5 RATK looks decent, is it not?

2) When should I start using STR rings, if ever? What about Rajas Ring?

3) Is Eurytos' Bow really the best bow next to relic? What about Cerberus +1? I've read the threads that compare EBow and Selene, so I'm not looking to rehash that.

4) Is it practical to always use Archery? I don't like Marksmanship much.

5) Any tricks for determining ranged distance on PS2?

6) How is Vali's Bow drop rate and NM Pop conditions NOT proof that SE hates us?

Any other bits of advice that can be offered would be much appreciated.

1: STR helps side more than it helps slug, but I personally balance a little bit of everything across the board, a misswinder is fail

2: I use rajas and behemoth+1 and pop on my optical hit, with ebow you get 15 tp per arrow with nin sub, without rajas its 14

3: Yes

4: I like archery, its personal preferance, holy bolts are cheaper though, but always be prepared

5: sweet spot is basically out of range of the mob via melee, but personally if you arent meleeing your doing it wrong. We have high axe and dagger skill and an exceptional amount of natural accuracy. I find it better to melee then take a step or two back, fire my shot, then run back in. This is a serious issue for current ranges who stand out in bumfuck and think they are doing great damage, or the ones who only fire off a few arrows then wait till the mob dies. RANGER IS NOT A JOB YOU DO IF YOU HAVE MONEY ISSUES, SPEND THE GIL TO GET THE ARROWS THAT MAKE THE THINGS DIE AND USE THEM. (ok,rant over but I hate those shitty rangers so much)

6: SE hates you, its not a horrible drop rate sometimes, but other times you hate yourself

[Yutuyu]

Thanks guys for the responses, specially Sonomaa for the looong version. Very useful.

[Sanjiyan]

1) I used it for a while, when I needed to eat sushi (overhunting) during the low levels (like 45-50+) when there's nothing else to wear on the ring slot. It's ok, but I've since moved on to better options.

2) I mostly wear STR rings when I'm eating sushi. For meat stick with +racc rings full time.

3) AFAIK Ebow all the way, with Selene being the alternative, and stuff like MC bow situational (if ever). Cerb +1? You can probably buy 2 Ebows by selling one of those, and it isn't really comparable.

4) It's good to have both levelled. Don't be like a WAR who only has axe (these days I guess it's g.axe) skilled enough to use. Obow is awesome; same damage as bows and like 2/3 the delay. Similarly, marksmanship extends to guns as well, arguably the best spike damage weapon available to RNG (or the whole game) for those fights requiring fast damage (dynamis, KV, etc). Holy bolts are super cheap and effective for many things (not to mention much lower hate vs bows during exp, easily noticeable), and acid bolts are pure sex on things it works on. RNG solo (they suck for solo, but who knows, people still do it, eg. solo Selene's bow and Gration) is based around status bolts too, so if you're into that...



As a side note, consider garrulous ring as a second str ring to compliment the rajas. It's no flame ring, but it's cheaper and good for many levels. Basically 2str vs 3agi on WSs. I'm a cheap ass so I just stuck with the garrulous ring. The difference is minimal.

[Vertabreaker]

5) Any tricks for determining ranged distance on PS2?

What I used to do before I made the switch to playing on PC was, walk back until you see the message that it's too far away to melee, then take 2 - 3 more steps back.

You just have to eyeball it basically and guestimate it.

[VZX]

1) Is Crossbowman's Ring trash? +5 RATK looks decent, is it not?

I bought this once when I try to fiddle around with ratk setup... in the end, I gave up and back to STR build.

2) When should I start using STR rings, if ever? What about Rajas Ring?

If Acc Bonus IV is obtained and the monster is VT to low IT and not a THF mob

3) Is Eurytos' Bow really the best bow next to relic? What about Cerberus +1? I've read the threads that compare EBow and Selene, so I'm not looking to rehash that.

More or less. Cerberus +1... no comment, probably good if you like long delay (not so much now since VShot + 3x snapshot pretty much makes everything feel faster)

4) Is it practical to always use Archery? I don't like Marksmanship much.

It's fine. There are some places Obow + Holy can outdo Ebow per shot damage, regardless acid is sticked in or not.
I considering myself to convert full marksmanship one day (if I have enough time to re-merit) as there's always be cases that all the +racc from using archery won't bump my racc high enough to convert from using sushi to meat on certain fight.
If Ebow can have enough acc for that fight, then HF+1, should too...

5) Any tricks for determining ranged distance on PS2?

Radar... maybe. Eyeballing them is the best practice.

6) How is Vali's Bow drop rate and NM Pop conditions NOT proof that SE hates us?

Yeah... 8-16 hours window sucks.

[Outlaw]

Hi there. I just started posting here. I know some people have already responded to this but I just wanted to add my two cents.

1) Is Crossbowman's Ring trash? +5 RATK looks decent, is it not?

What the other people said. Just stay with Ranged Acc. rings.

2) When should I start using STR rings, if ever? What about Rajas Ring?

I would start using them in the late 60ish range. Just sub them in for a WS. Sometimes you can get away with having STR rings equiped if the monster is not hard to hit for a little better overall damage. I agree with above poster. Garrulous ring is nice.

3) Is Eurytos' Bow really the best bow next to relic? What about Cerberus +1? I've read the threads that compare EBow and Selene, so I'm not looking to rehash that.

I can't say anything about Eurytos bow cause I have never had one. ^^; If you can't get one though defanitly try to get a Selenes bow. It's really nice. I still use mine for Archery. During Full Moon Ranged Acc. is high and during New Moon Ranged Attack is high. Cerberus wouldn't be worth it in my opinion. It has a higher delay and I think the sything lvl is high and it would be really hard to HQ one.

4) Is it practical to always use Archery? I don't like Marksmanship much.

I think so. If that's what you like I would say go with that.^^ I like Marksmanship myself. I like to use Guns when I can. It helps on HNM's or maybe with a mission.

5) Any tricks for determining ranged distance on PS2?

Guns range is just a few steps out of melee range, Crossbows are a little farther back than that, and bows are the farthest distance. The right spot is not as much a big deal as it used to be. It's a much wider area. Like people said just do some testing and you get used to it pretty easy.

6) How is Vali's Bow drop rate and NM Pop conditions NOT proof that SE hates us?

No comment.. lol but I know how you feel. That's the only reason I don't have one now. I have fought it before but never got the drop.

Any other bits of advice that can be offered would be much appreciated.

Some people probably won't agree with this but I think it's not always best to stand back and spam ammo. Sometimes it's ok to melee a little. In a party I will usually stay up close for a bit at the start of the fight and not go all out so to let the tank get some hate then I hang back and shoot.

Make your own parties. Ranger invite rate is still decent but sometimes I can go for days without getting a invite if I just sit there searching for a party.