Today's comic came from the utterly baffling IRC chat that was copied at the FOH forums yesterday.

Turns out the objects we equip have a second hidden level stat. The one we see is the level you can equip it at, but there is also a hidden 'effective level'. I don't really see the need to hide this information, but *shrug*, I'm not really a number cruncher anyway. Anyone who has seen my DPS parses can see that. I hate DPS parses.

This basically it means that Rangers are finally getting some loving. A bit frustrating how long this took, since the problem predates Kunark by many months. Anyway, I am glad to finally see a particular update has been targeted for some changes. I am curious what the 'bit of utility' is going to be. Utility can be fun.

What follows is some patented Ranger whining*:
Rangers were VERY uber in EQ2 at one point. The proc mechanic was gloriously broken in our favor. Then, as usually happens with a strong class, they get ignored and people keep thinking they don't need work. We have not been really super powerful until they changed the way procs worked, shortly after Desert of Flames came out. The changes heavily favored melee for procs instead of bows. Then came the removal of the primary and secondary slot distinctions in 1 handed weapons, which made Assassins the undisputed king of damage.

What followed has been a long stretch of neglect, mostly due to Rangers being essentially the ONLY true bow class. Kingdom of Sky and Echoes of Faydwer really hurt when the +melee crit and +melee double attack items came out. The EQII Dev team didn't make any ranged DA or ranged crit items until Kunark. Hopefully the upcoming changes move us back into the DPS role we used to serve so well.

I don't need to be uber. I'll settle for adequate.



* The Ranger Whine (tm) was forged in D&D, perfected in EQ1, and continues to evolve in EQII.