Ranger class is outmatched

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Nerd

Terrarian
Since 1.2.4, the Ranger class has become so bad I've never seen anyone enjoying it. Let's compare Ranger x Melee x Mage.
1.2.4:
Mage - Spectre armor, which regens health or incredibly boosts damage

Melee - Turtle armor, which has a 100% effective thorns and has huge amounts of defense
Vampire knives, which steals HP from enemies
Beetle armor, which reduces damage in 45%, with huge amounts of defense

Ranged - Shroomite armor, by far the hardest to get, and only is really useful when you're standing in a single place, being easily targeted by everything.
Piranha gun, which has bad DPS and is basically a summoner item.

1.3:
Melee - Solar armor, which has a inner Tabi
Yo-yos, especially the Terrarian

Mage - Nebula armor, which, by itself, isn't that good
Boosters, with +15% damage, +4 HP/s regen, +mana regen

Ranged - Vortex armor, with great damage
Stealth mode, which sacrifices so much speed it isn't even worth it
Phantasm, which was actually good until it's nerf

Please let me know your opinions on this.
 
While terraria is meant to be played solo and with friends, I feel like ranger is meant to be played with at least one friend, It has excellent damage, works extremely well against some enemies and bosses(moon lord, and flying saucer) but can't take the kind of punishment you get from being on your own, however when you pair it with a melee character wearing, say, solar armor, the ranger gets to stick back and deal massive damage, add a mage to heal the two of them to the mix and the ranger becomes even more powerful, I really enjoy the ranger class because of this, he's a team kind of guy.
 
Ranger is, in my opinion a fun class and he can deal insane DPS, but the main problem for me is the stealth set bonuses. I'd have to sacrifice most, if not all mobility to get the bonus, and ranger isn't a class that can just soak in hits that much. You need to be able to dodge around to survive.
 
My opionion? You're nuts. Phantasm has 15-20k DPS. Vortex Beater is probably the perfect balance of ease of use and raw, destructive power. Tsunami may as well shoot semi trucks, and megashark is, always was, and will continue to BE the dominant, no-questions-asked king of mid to early late hardmode.

Let's not even get into phoenix blaster being the defacto best pre hard weapon, CAR being a wonderful weapon until you get Megashark, how jester's arrows rip destroyer apart, holy arrows output absurd damage, and just to cheery the whole sundae off, how Expert EoC more or less requires frostburn arrows to take down.

Rangers kick obscene :red:. Always have.
 
Yes, I feel exactly like you, but what if you don't have a friend to play with?
That is where the ranger class requires(and people don't hate me for saying this) more skill/speed than the other classes, he can't take hits like them, and he can't just heal back, he has to be able to dodge and aim, and move constantly.
 
My opionion? You're nuts. Phantasm has 15-20k DPS. Vortex Beater is probably the perfect balance of ease of use and raw, destructive power. Tsunami may as well shoot semi trucks, and megashark is, always was, and will continue to BE the dominant, no-questions-asked king of mid to early late hardmode.

Let's not even get into phoenix blaster being the defacto best pre hard weapon, CAR being a wonderful weapon until you get Megashark, how jester's arrows rip destroyer apart, holy arrows output absurd damage, and just to cheery the whole sundae off, how Expert EoC more or less requires frostburn arrows to take down.

Rangers kick obscene :red:. Always have.
Now, resist +250 damage from lunar event enemies.
 
My other point is, Ranger has obscene damage. It's glass cannon, the idea is you try to avoid damage altogether.

But the funny thing is, both summoners and mages have even LESS defense. Mages have lifesteal, sure, but it doesn't mean much for Moon Lord.
 
I find Rangers stealth with shroomite/vortex armor works really well when paired with teleporters. If all your best damage comes while standing still or moving slow, but at the same time you are very squishy... it is best to dodge the attacks with minimal movement, yes?
 
I kinda feel like every 'class' is outdone by someone who uses whatever they want. Felt that way for a long time. I keep trying to understand the mentality, but I can't. Anyway, just using ranged weapons as sidearms I felt like they were just fine.
 
Yeah, but remember that the damage increase in stealth is FORTY FIVE PERCENT. Compared to Beetle's 30, with might, which can only be obtained by constantly hitting enemies.
 
I kinda feel like every 'class' is outdone by someone who uses whatever they want. Felt that way for a long time. I keep trying to understand the mentality, but I can't. Anyway, just using ranged weapons as sidearms I felt like they were just fine.
I feel the same way. I always use a combo of different things while swapping out armor sets, it seems to work the best.
 
Ranged is one of the most viable ways to defeat Expert Moon Lord without any kind of arena or setup, although it's quite difficult to do, especially now that Re-Logic have decided you aren't allowed to go more than a few blocks out of range of his laser beam (if at all, haven't tried lately). Expert celestial pillars are probably a little tougher with ranged simply because there's so much crap to dodge, and when you make a mistake, you pay for it with more health. Solar Flare armor spamming Star Wrath or Nebula armor with boosters spamming Lunar Flare or Nebula Arcana seem easier and more survivable.

Ranged is definitely the best choice for some bosses, be it in pre-Hardmode or Hardmode, Normal or Expert.

I would agree that ranged isn't that great for soloing, but for specific reasons: You use up nice ammo (or resort to using crap ammo) as you explore and, when you're focusing on digging or opening a chest and you get hit by an enemy, you take more damage. I don't need to test my 1337 dodging skillz while I'm mining chlorophyte ore.

I've also gotten up to 30,000 DPS with the S.D.M.G. and Luminite Bullets during Pumpkin Moon, solo or with friends. No other setup can approach that, except perhaps the Phantasm, which is also ranged.
 
That is where the ranger class requires(and people don't hate me for saying this) more skill/speed than the other classes, he can't take hits like them, and he can't just heal back, he has to be able to dodge and aim, and move constantly.

and in that moment Stealth bonus becomes useless...

Don't forget that Melee and Mage classes got weapons that can go through blocks!! (Lunar Flare and Solar Eruption)
and explosive guns like Snowman Cannon, Rocket and Grenade launcher or Celebration, electroball launcher are totally useless because there aren't explosive ammo with properties. like chlorophyte bullets, Holy arrows, Ichor bullets and arrows...and so on...

a lot of people say that ranged gameplay is Good because of it's DPS...but people forget that melee and mage class require less skill and movement to do things, maybe melee doesn't have the highest DPS in the game but you can just sit there spam cats or stars and kill anything, or you can just get under a roof and spam Solar Eruption all the way...the same with mages and Lunar Flare or you can just one shot stuff with the Last Prism. going through blocks is the new sexy.
 
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That's true, and something I thought of but forgot to mention: Ranger has nothing that can go through blocks, at least not more than the AoE of an explosive or fragmenting bullets. That is a massive weakness when you consider that the Stardust Dragon and Lunar Flare go through all blocks on the entire screen without any issues; and although their range/coverage/penetration are more limited, Star Wrath and Solar Eruption go through blocks too.

That's also another reason to not use ranged while exploring.

Still, I really have no problem at all with a class that's mostly good for certain events, certain bosses, PvP, and playing with friends. That's a nice spread of specialties. Summoner fits into that category too, except it's good for AFK farming and useless for PvP.
 
I've been a dedi-everything. I pick up a class and I can run with it. I know the feeling that your class does diddly :red:ing :red: to big mama over there spitting chaos elemental 5 blocks from your face while flooding the corridors with things that spit a pretty green light at you.

Biggest thing I noticed is that the weakest class is the one you dedi to.

You play as a melee dedi? Ranger completely outclasses you. There just isn't getting around it, ranger just feels so god damn stronger to a melee dedi.
Bu what about the ranger, surely the melee thinks he's tough, but what does the ranger think?

Ranger thinks he's pretty weak. Look at that mage with his god damned smirk and that... that... God, it goes though :red:ing walls. He's literally playing god. Sure ranger can close his eyes and hit something between the eyes after deflecting the bullet off a cloud. But that makes sense, it bounced. It didn't just go though a wall like it didn't exist! Mages are OP.

But mage is smart, he knows he's weak. He's zero potential of dealing up close, and is frankly terrified of the prospect of chaos elemental :red:s who defy logic and can appear anywhere, any time. Man, the fighter guy has it happening. Can actually handle those haxor pink blobs. Sure he complains, but damn if him and his kind dont fill the tavern after hours still alive enough keep mage boy up all god damned night.

In short, the class you dont play so much feels insane.
Not always the case, but for a lot this is how it is. Someone is always bigger and badder and got something you dont.

Edit:

I currently play a mix of primary melee, secondary ranger, and support from summons. I've tried all 4 primary classes against the moon event(using pre-moonlord gear) and discovered each one have sufficient capability to handle the entire event while remaining completely dedicated(although summoner has it very, very tough)
 
Not categorized as weapons and can go through blocks:

Solar Eruption = inaccurate, limited in range
Lunar Flare = inaccurate against mobile creatures
Star Wrath = same as Lunar Flare but can be obstructed by blocks
Stardust Dragon = You can't control it.

"going through blocks" IMO is not really a good example for a better weapon than ranged
 
Not categorized as weapons and can go through blocks:

Solar Eruption = inaccurate, limited in range
Lunar Flare = inaccurate against mobile creatures
Star Wrath = same as Lunar Flare but can be obstructed by blocks
Stardust Dragon = You can't control it.

"going through blocks" IMO is not really a good example for a better weapon than ranged

it doesn't matter how inaccurate the weapon is as long as you have blocks to cover you, you keep swinging until you hit it ;), because most enemies can't go through blocks and a funny fact ranged has really inaccurate weapons.
 
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