02 Dec 2006 at 16:05 - 16
Quote:
Barrage is a good skill and btw i think you show some noobness by saying they brought it for only one target. Ture it does hit mulitple tagets but it also adds like 17 dmg at only 2 energy cost if they have like 9 exp.
There are better NONELITE bow attacks that deal much more to a single target.
And yes, some of them cost 5 energy without Expertise factoring in.
02 Dec 2006 at 16:06 - 17
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkpower Alchemist
I had a very interesting run in with a Ranger today. My guild officer wanted to beat up on Shiro so she could get a iron wing longbow with an amulet that she had.
So I meet her in the Imperial Sanctum with my ranger,she had a ranger,too. But then, she was in a group of rangers,all new to fighting Shiro. I was like, OMG what are we doing with a group of rangers? She is very helpful,so she was willing to try...it's her greatest strength, and her biggest weakness.
So, we get smacked by Shiro...myself getting caught by the uber super stance tank buzzsaw that is Mr. Tagachi as the last man in his way. We reorganize, get a couple of friends when the 1st of the PuG Rangers left.
So, we try again,after explaining to trap Shiro, so that the warrior can use his celestial skill as we hug close to Shiro. however, new rangers don't know "Hug" or "Stay close", they seem to only know "Range", "Shoot Arrows", and "Apply poison", and the last one is a show of the young Ranger's growth.
These rangers that I found myself with weren't even their. I mean it was ugly when I saw the R/E use meteor shower on Shiro...but then noticed that he was also using Barrage...and he apparently wasn't the only one.
Once my guildie tossed the novices, we beat Shiro easily( Though I did sneak change to necro, and put the bow away for SS and cursed him to death  ). My point for this thread is that young Rangers are lacking skill. They can't play their roles well, and I want to know what the more experienced would recommend as a way to stop such a skilled profession from being sucked into the Gimmicky masses.
For Christ's sake, he brought Barrage to fight Shiro...1 boss 
[skill=big]Barrage[/skill]
6 Arrows in a spread isn't a functional skill for 1 on 1 or even 8 on 1 combat scenarios. What makes these young rangers gravitate to this one situational skill? What makes them join this Cult-like following of Barrage wielding crazies who think that Barrage is "THE" skill for everything that has to do with being a Ranger?
We can't let the new blood flounder into idiodicy and become the butt end of bad jokes like the W/Mos that use mending. Help me stop this Cult from festering and becoming the thing of frustration that it is building up to be.
Teach the youth, or you are part of the problem called "Ranger Ignorance"  .
Did you forget that Barrage adds an extra +17 spammable damage, even on a single arrow? Apparently so.
02 Dec 2006 at 16:32 - 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by AuraofMana
There are better NONELITE bow attacks that deal much more to a single target.
And yes, some of them cost 5 energy without Expertise factoring in.
Yes there are, and exactly none of them have a 1 second recharge. the next best cheap spammable bow attack looks to be focused shot, same cost as barrage, 2 second recharge (which is fine given that bows themselves need a couple seconds), however it DISABLES all other attack skills for 3 seconds, whoops, guess you're not interrupting that nasty action mob X is about to do to you. Next in line is Crossfire and then Hunters Shot (IMO), both of which have even longer recharges. Barrage may not have the best +damage, but it's cheap, spammable and has no drawback other than no preparations which quite a few rangers don't even run.
For the record, the only other 1 second recharge bow attack is crippling shot and it costs 15 before expertise.
02 Dec 2006 at 17:34 - 19
my theory is this---barrage is strictly for pve situations with large groups close together...never ever ever ever EVER use barrage in pvp or against 1 single target, even though it is spammable, its not practical....if your going to fight against shiro (or another simmilar situation) and bring an elite bow attack, go with either poison arrow, burning arrow, or crippling shot....those would be my choices. if not elite bow attacks, go with traps or or elite evasion skills such as escape.
02 Dec 2006 at 19:04 - 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by FalconDance
I remember when my (first) ranger, Lili, capped Barrage in Prophecies. It was sooooo exciting because everyone said it was the ranger skill to beat all. I think she's used it about three times in two chapters (hasn't made it to Elona yet). The elite Poison is on her skillbar far more often for general PvE.
Sanura, my Elonian ranger, doesn't even have Barrage yet although whenever I choose Jin for hero (with my non-ranger characters), I equip her with it more often than not. For Sanura, Burning Arrow works better - and I have yet to see anything that isn't affected by it! Put BA on top of poison with a fleshy foe and watch their health bar plummet.
It's sometimes a challenge getting into a PuG without Barrage, though. Seems as if other professions assume that if you're not running Barrage, you must not be a very good ranger. *rolls eyes*
Barrage has its place, but personally I think there are far better elites to use. I would agree that a lot of rangers fall into the "but everyone says...." trap, but if there are enough of us old-timers giving them pointers, maybe they'll come around .
i totally agree with you barrage... i was so excited when i first got to cap it from that dude after that mission. Everyone was telling me how great it was and all that saying it was the skill to have and nothing else but i found out... That i rarely ever use that skill the only time i use it was when i farm trolls oh so long ago... but yea i too use Burning Arrow and it helps so much more than barrage.. I just dont really see why people always want B/P cause to me its like a meh NO... but yea here is a screenie and tell me if im still a noob ranger...
take in mind i rarely ever solo cause i only farmed trolls for like 5 skill points... so i could cap elites for title
02 Dec 2006 at 19:58 - 21
I love Barrage! But as is the case with every other skill in the game, there's a time and a place for it. Give the best sword in the game to a novice, and he/she will only end up hurting him/herself.
02 Dec 2006 at 19:58 - 22
Sorry, KazeMitsui, you're clearly a n00b ranger  .
Just kidding. Quite an impressive roster of achievements.
02 Dec 2006 at 20:04 - 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by AuraofMana
There are better NONELITE bow attacks that deal much more to a single target.
And yes, some of them cost 5 energy without Expertise factoring in.
|
Actually, not really. I'm far to lazy at the moment to redo and post all the math, but if you spam barrage immediately upon recharge on a single target (so every arrow you fire at him/her is a barrage), barrage will out-DPS every other non-elite bow attack in the game. I'm dead serious. Run to wiki and do the math if you don't believe me.
(I say "non-elite" because Burning Arrow will beat it when you factor in the 5 seconds of burning)
However, when you factor in preperations and the use of multiple bow attacks, the scale tips heavy in the other direction.
If single-target damage is what you desire (as is the case with fighting Shiro), then you're much better off bringing multiple single-target bow attacks and a nice preperation.
Personally, I love Barrage in PvE for the same reason I love Triple Chop, SS, and Searing Flames in PvE: it just does more overall damage than the alternatives 90% of the time.
Right now my ranger is running Barrage + Mark of Rodgort + Conjure Flame + Glyph of Lesser Energy 90% of the time, and the AoE damage is just ridiculous. The other 10% of the time when I desire better single-target focus fire and interrupt ability, I run Burning Arrow, a prep, and half a bar of interrupts.
The reason so many rangers run Barrage in PvE is that it's an excellent PvE skill.....90% of the time. Obviously, an alternative build is required for the other 10%, such as the Shiro example in this thread.
.
