Actually, if you really do want to help Wolf shoot me some Demo tips and builds. I think Demo will probably be my next guide, its obviously your main, and I don't know any high-level Demos to ask for advice.

Anything aimed at new players or leveling builds, etc. would be helpful. I've looked over guides on the AoC forums but (again) most of them are dated.

Shoot me an e-mail at mikey1504@gmail.com

I actually made a new Rng for this guide but I really don't like the stealth classes in this game very much. My "main" is a necro, but I'm usually playing different alts. Because of real life stuff I'm moving and haven't had much time to play either. (Plus I'm trying out WAR now as well)

Actually every gameplay feature I've described is accurate. The only things your having problems with are mechanics, and overgeneralizing like that doesn't help.

*sighs*

Simple googling. Try googling Vanguard SoH Druid.
You will see something from TTH that is 2 years old, and all the info is dead and changed. Only parts are true.

That is what you got when you googled.

You just said that the mechanics haven't changed since beta. Playing the game isn't going to give you information on what checks or controls happen on the server end every time to shoot your bow or hit the stealth key. For this info I have to turn to the internet. I've tried to find the most accurate information regarding this but because all AoC info is fairly dated it's tough.  If you find other info I'd be happy to hear it but you've still yet to provide any sources that suggest otherwise.

Some parts of the guides and whatnot you found is true, a lot of it isn't.

Stealth works how it works. I can be a guardian in full plate walking around and if I have trained stealth enough, I shouldn't be discovered by a player.

Same holds true for a rogue class, only they move a lot faster under stealth and have special attacks from stealth.

Being detected is the same. A guardian with 800 points trained in stealth will be the same as a Ranger or Assassin with 800 points except he will have stam drain and move slower than a rogue. Players cannot really detect other players. Broken mechanic or intended... who knows.

I'm not talking about a guardian or ranger with 800 hiding I'm talking about one with 50-100. And I'm not talking about players. Yes player detection has been broken since release. I know from first hand experience that a ranger's hiding isn't as effective as an assassin/barb's at low levels (1-20). Why? because of this armor check. It's in the Ranger guide on the AoC forums as of late May and I've searched patch notes trying to find a change to this mechanic but to no avail.

Elevation does not help. It was something they wanted, but never made it in the Gold version of the game. All elevation does is allow you to attack from locations players will have to work to get to... meanwhile you are still picking them off. There is no increase to range or accuracy. That only works if you are in FPS mode.

I'll conceed on this point, but it hardly compromises my article as "a work of fiction."

Heh, it isn't the bow speed, it is the combo refresh you are refering to. If you use a common attack for bow and xbow, the move refreshes the same speed and when the "cool down" is over, you can attack again, bow or xbow.

This is just nit-picking. Combo refresh still slows down the overall speed of the xbow when compared with a bow, because I should hope everyone is using combos when they attack.

Mike, you did say to switch to melee...Read your overview again... which seems shorter now... odd.

No I said: The bow and crossbow suffer penalties when used within melee range, so it's best to switch to a sword.

Nowhere did I ever say you HAVE to switch to melee, but I think its better in the early levels DPS-wise.

I'm not sure what you're insinuating about it being shorter either as I have as much ability to edit it as you do right now. I wrote this article in late August, submitted it, and haven't seen it until now.

Check out this post...

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=169800

It has current rangers from the current community talking about this overview.

Its going to be hard getting good review when your original post pretty much says "Tell me whats wrong with this guide"

I DID base most of this guide off tortage knowledge because 1.) thats the audience i'm aiming for and 2.) i really don't have time to level characters much higher than 1-20 when writing these guides. Due to the limited number of AoC players, let alone people willing to commit to writing 1-2 articles about the game every month, I really only have a week or so to test out every class.

This is why the first paragraph of the guide says:

This is by no means an in-depth guide for the ranger savvy, but if you're new to the class and interested in trying a Ranger this is a great place to start.

Its a completely different game in early levels than it is at 80.

That being said I'm done with this thread as it's going no where and is only turning into a flame war as this point. I've provided evident to backup my info and I'll let that speak for itself.

But it is disrespectful and rude to slander someone's hard work when you provide absolutely no evidence to back up your claims. Correspondents are putting a lot of time and hard work into these articles, and if you don't like them you should become and correspondent yourself and make them better.

Mrbloodworth says it well in his signature:
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Mrbloodworth

  Originally posted by WolfClaws

Mike, Did you play the game or just compile old guides together?

Actually I just used these as proof and it took me a while to find them all. Simple googling.

Look, I am not trying to disrespect you here, but the "guide" written in May is nice. But it was also going off of a LOT of assumptions too. A LOT.

Seriously, armor does not matter with stealth. Like I said, cloth and light armors have +stealth on them where Medium armors on the whole do not. There are a couple of exceptions though.

I'm not talking about +stealth. the mechanic IS there you just don't notice it at 80. I mean i don't know what else to say I've shown you examples to prove my point unless you have similar examples you're pretty much just giving me your word.

Bow and xbow speed doesn't matter. They aren't a factor. The Wiki is right that the Xbow does hit harder, have shorter range and has some AoE stuff. But the Bow has an AoE move too. Just didn't hit as hard, and has more range.

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?p=854559

I don't know where you're getting this either because I've found speed to be a huge factor early on. Again look through the eyes of a 1-30 ranger not your 80 ranger with an epic xbow.

Elevation does NOT play a factor in range for any class. Because the mechanic isn't there. It measures X to Y... Z being elevation isn't included in the equation. It just seems further cause you are on a mountain top... and that player will have to run up the top and bypass invisible walls to get to you, but that isn't increased range.

First i never said it increases range, secondly this is a mechanic that was definitely in during beta so if your next statement is true it should still be in.

The game mechanics for that stuff has not changed since Beta, the PvP Weekend, Open Beta, Early Access or Live.

Oh, and you never have to shift to your melee weapons... ever. Because range is not an issue. The instruction book has a tip that states you should switch to melee if the enemy gets close cause range is for range and all that. It is true in Vanguard (well bugged at the moment) and WAR, but not here. Don't believe me? Try it yourself.

When did I ever say you HAD to switch to melee? I said your ranged damage suffers a penalty at melee range. Which is true.

And again, it doesn't matter how much stealth you have.. daytime for NPCs you will always be uncovered.

PvP you might get spotted by a player if they search for you... might. But mostly not.

This just proves my point that more than just hiding skill is factored into determining your stealth.

And here is a question for you personally... I know that the info you obtained is... old. But why use it? You could have had this as background info, and played the class yourself, test things out. You said you talked to high level rangers... they tell you that they switch to melee cause their ranged damage sucked at close range? I bet not.

I did. I have a 40 level ranger. He's not amazing but again thats why this guide is a newbie guide. At 1-30 level range melee damage is good and I kill as fast with sword and shield as my bow so i recommended using it. The gap between melee/range widens as you level.

Why didn't you check your facts?

I did, and I've back mine up with sources. You should do the same.

Armor Info:
http://www.aocsale.com/aoc-news/Age-of-Conan-Ranger-Class-Guide-574.html

Rangers do face one disadvantage, in that the armor that they wear heavier armor than any other class in the Rogue category, meaning that when it comes to sneaking around they are not quite as capable as other, similar classes. Still, rangers are versatile characters with flexible attacking capabilities.

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=14135

Your hide ability works depending upon a few factors. Time of day. (Obviously it is easier to hide at night then in daylight). Secondly the type of armor that your character is currently wearing.(You make less "noise" in cloth armor then you do in medium). Thirdly the amount of points you have in Hiding and the level of the enemies you are trying to avoid.(I keep my hiding skill maxed out)

I really meant that a ranger's stealth isn't as good when compared to other classes becasue of this armor bonus. I probably should have worded it differently, but hindsight is always 20/20. The difference might be negligable at endgame but again that is why this is an overview aimed at newer players.

Elevation:
http://conanvault.ign.com/wiki/index.php/Ranger_Guide

Solo Tips

Start combat from the farthest distance possible. Attack from high ground when possible (yes, AoC actually takes elevation into account!)

Melee penalty:
Ten Ton Hammer: Is there any penalty for firing a ranged weapon at a close proximity? For instance, if a Ranger continues using a bow even when a monster is eating his face, will he still get full damage on his arrow attacks? Conversely, is there any penalty for being at an extremely long distance other than not doing damage to the creature? Does the damage change for the distance you are away?

Evan: Although you will be able to use ranged weapons up close, the Ranger will suffer some penalties in melee range. However, he will have a handful of melee combos and crowd control methods to deal with these limitations

------

Cons (Weaknesses)

At times easily overwhelmed when taking on multiple enemies in close quarters. Heavier armor means stealth skills are not as strong as they could be. Ranged weapons suffer penalties when used at melee range. Rangers don't really differentiate themselves from other rogue classes until the 30s, where they really come into their own.

You also have to remember that this guide was written well over a month ago. Before the PvP patch, before Craig took over, etc. This game is changing drastically as Funcom tries to bring back a lot of its subscribers, which may date some of the info but I really can't do anything about that.

-Mike DeHart