Chomba vs Waraz Suggestions

[Questioner]

Just a suggestion Chomba, switch from throwing shields, to throwing ranger staffs or flaming weapons. You will give out more damage. Plus every round he was hitting you for five lacerates. Also, get those skies cloudy and beautifully lit with lightning so you can cast thunderstorm on his a**.

[Tantangel]

Yeah, I've decided to not throw shields anymore anyways. It almost never hits the damed person, and when it does it never lags them enough for me to keep them in battle. Would rather throw fiery weapons though compared to a ranger staff since he's Feral, and as for thunderstorm, my mana is extremely low (618), thunderstorm is 45 mana per cast and control weather is 25 and it takes a LOT of control weathers to make it nasty. Not to mention, some of the Ranger skills require mana to use them (warcry, herb, ranger staff and I believe fired weapons as well) along with my Cabal skills (which I normally never use anyways except maybe 2 and one is obvious). So far though I've gotten this from it and being told by two others what to try:

-Go staff instead of weapon choices. BLMs don't have a staff and I have both pugil, staff and two handed which might help defense better.

-Primary whip and dual one of the weapons. They don't get whip either and it's most offensive in the game.

-Dirt and disarm. Yeah, so doublegrip helps them from getting disarmed, but if they're blinded they can't pick it up, especially a Feral wielding a polearm like the one he had.

-Wield vuln weapons and possibly even throw vuln at him to try and get some extra damage in.

To be honest though I wasn't really totally prepared to fight him, for one, BLMs are far too strong even in rags for the most part as long as they have a decent weapon or three (polearm and two dual wielding weapons). I was expecting him to go for Evandros who was a short distance away from me when he ran through before coming back at me while my group and I were beating on the raid in Val. All of which were my own fault for not thinking he wouldn't do anything. Lesson learned though, try to get cures for poison and buy teleport pills, I had a much higher chance at surviving a teleport than surviving him after I ran out of moves in the end.

Lesson learned though, he's only the second BLM I've fought on this character and like fourth BLM I've fought since they've come out. I may eventually find some way to fight them, but it might not be anytime soon. It was pretty hard to actually fight him, as I was hoping the shield would have lagged him enough from keeping him from actually using his critical strikes when I should've just gone with more damage.

[L-A]

You're going to have to give up on dual wielding vs BLMs - notice he's easily outmelee'ing you - that's got more to do with him having a 2h weapons (feral defs help here too). You're right to go to staff (as long as you have high hitroll which an ogre shoud) as he won't know it outside of using a certain stance (at which point you're pets should help you slam him).

You really need to get the amount you get hit down and the amount you hit him up. Until you can do that you're f***ed everytime you fight him IMHO.

L-A

PS - I see BLMs again having it way too easy with 2h weapons - and I thought it got changed...

[Deykari]

Staff would be a good option here, or possibly go the shield route if you can't get a good staff but have access to another good weapon that BLMs can't use. BLMs have awesome melee offense as well as defense so you can't really afford to dual wield here, ESPECIALLY as the blademaster was using a polearm - a weapon that will cut through your defenses easier (as you don't know it) whilst allowing him to defend well.

Weapon choice was the main here IMO. Though, weapon choice aside, for someone as well dressed as you at the time of the fight, considering the EQ difference (Waraz wearing considerably less I believe), I'm amazed as to how you were getting cut up that bad though with you doing little back to him.

Dey

[Ex-D&Der]

throw a shield when he's pretty hurt or awful to keep him from fleeing, although with his defenses it might still take too long to finish him. You might be better off throwing in a t-storm at that point to blow up his arse. Judging by the effect of your arrows, he has neutralized his fire vuln, so I would throw ranger staffs (although normally you would want to throw fiery daggers at a feral). Wield a two-handed weapon or a whip and shield (again normally you could try a flaming sword and shield, although you might have trouble hitting a blm with one).

[Kyzarius]

you do realize that control weather only works onc per tic.

so you cast it once a tic worse/better and that is your influence for that tic. Usually you can sway the weather within 3 or 4 tics, and maintain it by casting it once every other hour or so. This is of course if no-one else is making it better while yourmaking it worse.

[The Forsaken]

I would really re consider your thoughts on thunderstorm. It's an amazingly offensive tool in the rangers belt. One round lag, and I've seen it hit oblits on kiddos without sanc. And if you reallllly have reserves against using it. Throw a rangers staff in my opinion, not a fiery weapon.

[Calron]

PK isn't cut and dry. You definitely had a lot of opportunities to change tactic mid-fight and it basically looks like you just spammed shield throw even after (hopefully) you realized it wasn't working. Rangers are not meant to have reliable lag, so your shield throw is not supposed to stop Waraz from criticalling you. There is an urge when you have quality weapons just to use those against anyone you fight because you think it will make up for the non-vuln/known weapons deficits. This will screw you over, so get some fire weapons.

He was not predicting, and you were getting cut up like no other. Sanc your pets and he will waste a lot of time if he stays in the fight to kill them while you rescue. AFTER you rescue might be a good time to use shield throw to try and get a couple rounds in. If it were me, I would time it right so he wastes two rounds criticalling a pet, and than throw a shield as his lag is up.

You should also have been using detect magic, and noticed when his sanctuary was going to fall. I've played a lot of rangers, fought a lot of blademasters with expertise/mastery against me, and played a couple blademasters as well, and IMO use a staff. You might block a few more attacks (not many, its just the way blms with polearms are), but you definitely aren't going to kill him that way. All you will do is draw out the fight and give him more time to slice and dice with criticals. In fights with blademasters who have your expertise/mastery you need to make things quick and brutal. If things don't go your way, rest up and try again.

You have to treat expertise/mastery blademasters like super dangerous shamans. As the saying goes, "Always have an escape route". When I fight a shaman with a ranger, I will never let them land curse, faerie fire, and enfeeblement all together. If two land and they aren't going to die eminently, I am gone.

[killalou]

You guys have it all wrong....Blademasters tear up rangers like nobody business unless the ranger is hitting them with many different things. Staff alone will not help you here. I fought multiple blademasters dual wielding and with staff it did not make a difference. Blademasters have INSANE hit roll due to stances and different effects. Those bastards will always hit you, even with swords. Alright this is what you can do.

Weapon Choice

Blademasters dont have staff, axe, flail, or whip. But to be honest...I have not notice anything different with these weapons versus blademaster known weapons. Blm have such good defenses that it really doesnt matter. I mean the only difference I have realize is a *slightly* more attack rate with whip, and a *slightly* more defense ratio with staff compared to dual wielding my sword and exotic. The best thing to do is keep your hitroll high and wear the weapons you expertise in. The next thing you have to think of is whether you want a curse weapon or not....if you follow the tactic 1 mentioned below this might be annoying, however you are safe from 3rd level onslaught 100% disarm.

Weapon Tactic:

Duel wield or use the ranger staff given the circumstances. For me, duel wielding works well if they are duel wielding, and switch to staff when they switch to a two handed weapon. The key is to keep your hit roll as high as possible when duel wielding. When switching to staff you shouldnt have a problem if wielding a ranger staff due to its properties. I dont know why people hate the ranger staff, its like the best staff IMHO ever. Shield block works wonders....if you are outputing outputing enough damage. I can not stress this even more. If you arent damaging a blm enough wearing a shield then you are just making a losing battle longer. So use a shield if you have access to some knight skill that inflicts extra damage (I have no clue due to me never playing a knight) or thunderstorm is up. This might make an excellent tactic for your path because you can also damage with throw. See tactic 2 One thing though...make sure you have status afflicting weapons, especially poision.

Inventory:

-vials/pills/drugs/items that sanc you AND your pets for a long time.

I cant really give you advice on what to get on this one due to me comming back after 3 years to finish off Valadis and the whole game changing. I know they are out there because I see people use them all the time.

-Curatives to prepare against critical strikes

-Extra weapons if you get disarm. Find the nice high hit or dam (too bad there isnt both) non rare weapons.

-Status/vuln arrows (Dont ask Valadis, he doesnt like selling arrows )

-Throw weapons (Carry light weight weapons, they are easier to throw and damage the same because throw damage depends on rank.)

-1 Spare ranger staff

Battle Tactic 1:

First of you, you are luckier then Valadis because you have more hp and you have throw path. Smart blademasters either go deathweaver or the stance that blocks arrows when fighting against rangers. This tactics makes you deal as much damage as possible as fast as you can. Your friends in this tactic is two dual high hitroll moderate dam weapons (you might make some exceptions due to ogre strength), the mighty ranger staff, throw weapons, insect swarm, pet rescue, *fired weapons, and *thunderstorm.

Dual wield

-Like I mentioned several times, dual two high hit, mod dam weapons when the blm is duel weilding. Use double sheath to your advantage, either dual sheath two more high hit mod dam weapons or the ranger staff to save you from 3rd level onslaugh disarm if you dont want to do my flee tactic mention below.

Mighty Ranger Staff

-Remeber to keep a spare! These buggers rot, but they last a pretty long time. If the fight has been going on too long make sure to make some more. A good rule of thumb is to replace 1 after every 10 hours. Use them if the blademaster is fighting with a polearm.

Throw

-Throw is going to be your Joker card. It can either help you (if it connects) or it will screw you. Like you mention throw tends to miss a lot (thats why you should throw light weapons) and lags for 2 rounds. Dont bother with throwing shields, they are a waste of lag.

U]Insect Swarm

-Use this always, its the most underrated ranger skill out there.

*Fired Weapons

-Use this as a check to see what stance the blademaster is in. If the blademaster is in the anti-fired weapons stance, simply remove arrows from quiver. Due note that when checking its important NOT to use status arrows because if they are blocked back towards you, you now have a chance to get that status effect. Valadis was once slepted by his own sleepy arrows, lol.

*Thunderstorm

-Like you mention setting this thing up drains too much mana. If thunderstorm is up, use it, if not dont worry about it.

*Pet rescue

-Purpose is for them to take the onslaughts for you in case of an onslaught spamming blm.

For this tactic the tricky part is starting the battle, I suggest to start the battle by firing a shot few rooms from the target to see what stance they are in. When battle commences take a look at what the blm is wearing and adjust your stragety to the appropriate weapon tactic, or battle tactic. Always insect swarm first for potential plague/poision + damage. If you are weilding status afflicting weapons this will help even more. You want to mainly poision and plague your enemy as soon as possible. Poision will drain moves and lessen mana and will be constantly hitting if you have a poison weapon. Plague will just add on to the poison effects. Blademasters rely HEAVILY on mana, and if you cut off their supply then you can make them think twice before engaging you this will be more beneficial in tactic 2. Now the problem is how to deal with onslaught, predict, and flee/re-engage, and throw.

Onslaught

For onslaught the best solution I found was to make your pets take them for you. You can either flee and comeback (make sure to have autoassist on), or order all rescue. The problem with the first method is that you have to do a quick flee/scan re-engage mechanism. The number one thing people do is flee when they see their opponents flee. Because we are rangers we have no lag unless or pets get a lucky trip. Second you can do a rescue call. This however is a 2 round lag and the opponent can either flee and charge you or just simply reaim. But at least they have to restart the onslaught count again right .

Predict

You going to have to watch your fight very, very closely. First you have to test out what they are predicting. Most likely it will be dirt. But if you start to use insect swarm a lot, they are going to have a very tough choice to make. Also if your throw is striking a vuln with accuracy thats another thing to for the blm to worry about. To find out what they are predict you going to have to take a twin-counter and use that information to your advantage. Remeber that blm cant predict if they are wearing a two-handed weapon (this would be spell kill) or if they have a one-handed weapon (disarm if it aint curse!), and last if they are critical striking you. They also cant predict if forced slept. So if they arent in the the arrow blocking stance wear some sleepy arrows!

Flee/Re-engage

This is a very big issue for me. Murder will run the risk of you being twin countered, and if you are not fast enough you will be charged. The thing you can do to prevent this as a ranger is either ambush, kick dirt, insect swarm, thunderstorm, fired weapons, or *throw.

Ambush isnt reliable because it only works to a certain hp limit. However it can not be countered. Kick dirt is good IF they arent predicting it. Insect swarm tends to be a good choice, but it drains needless mana if you already used it and it has not "recharged". Thunderstorm is good if out doors and not spelt killed, but it can waste mana by spamming it waiting for the enemy to walk in. Fired weapons is a gamble. Its good if the blm is not in the right stance, but still the chances of you firing as they walk in the room is slim. You will either shoot before they walk in or when battle already started. The whole point is to return to combat without getting twin countered or charged. Throw also tends to be a gamble. It's excellent for a re-engage tactic but it leaves you with a two round lag, where the blm can flee and charge you back if they are fast enough. Which you use is up to you.

*Throw

For this battle tactic I would recommend using throw as a engager due to its 2 round lag. In battle you will need those valuable 2 rounds of lag to study the situation, look at blm eq, and order pets to rescue. You should keep your main battle devoted to pet rescue or lag free to adapt to different situations.

The main point in this tactic is to cripple the blm by using many DIFFERENT attacks while crippling their mana due to poison/plague and blm stance use. Different attacks will aid you in damage output as well as making predict nearly useless. Due to my low hp and low con this is the tactic that I employ because of my low hp regen rate. This pretty much sums up tactic 1.

I will post shield tactic 2 shield use later.

[The Forsaken]

Well organized post.

Although, I would extremely disagree with you EVERY dual wielding against a blademaster. You did it in the log we saw, and the outcome was easy to see. Blademasters, and especially feral blademasters because of the extra attack, are strait up nasty with a two handers. And on the note of vulns, Waraz made an excellent choice. Your best bet is wielding a cursed staff. I've dual wielded whips against a blademaster before that was in an offensive stance and he still parried/dodged/two-hand blocked everything I put on him.

Your best option here is to dish out damage he can't stop. I've almost given up on beating a blademaster as a melee class. You simply can't hit them, and they hit you way to often. Wield your most defensive weapon, i.e. a staff, and hit him with thunderstorm. He can't stop it. Throw is a two round lag. With the amount of damage he is putting up against you, you don't want to lag yourself for that long.

I've played quite a few rangers, and to be honest, my favorite was my werebeast, Austa. It was one of the few rangers I had that could whip a blademaster. The only reason being was because of transform and werepower. Unblockable damage. It's your best friend versus a blademaster.

(please don't dual wield as an ogre ranger against a blademaster using a weapon skill that you aren't proficient in(polearms))

[Calron]

Your post is too long for me to comment on killalou, so I'll just suffice with the correction that ambush can be countered.

[Ex-D&Der]

Tant, please note the change to my posting above.

[killalou]

Your post is too long for me to comment on killalou' date=' so I'll just suffice with the correction that ambush can be countered.[/quote']

Predicted maybe...but regular counter no. Let me rephrase that a TRUE ambush (camou + ambush) cant be countered.

[Tantangel]

That's probably a bug then. But yeah, the post was rather long but very informative. I agree with some of the things, just not everything that I could've done, which I'll have to keep in mind for the future when fighting BLMs, I always tend to forget about insect swarm (only used it on Jevrax), so I'll have to think about trying to incorporate it into more fights, especially when fighting BLMs and other mages when I may be winning to try and knock their mana down further.

[Aulian]

I'll tell you this now tant - insect swarm is one of a rangers best skills. Use it every fight besides maybe clerics or healers (they can heal most of the afflictions) its effects are well worth the trouble of casting it on someone and especially for an ogre with a hugely exploitable vuln - can mean winning or loosing.

[Chief]

Unblockable damage is the way to go, With my Druid I found Thunderstorm was the only way I could beat Blademasters.... well pretty much anyone but anyway with his eq, his ac should be enough to give him nasty damage from Thunderstorm. Just don't let him fury you or Thunderstorm will go out the window. and like the others said a staff is needed against that kind of melee.

I am unsure how throw really works but if it goes by what weapons are made off, try throwing the Firebrand spear or a uncursed Durindel if you are furied.

one last thing if you are losing the battle, screw it, Camo and camp then try again.

[Aulian]

Yeah with druids it was alright but inconsistent - only with BMAG and meteor swarm did I really overcome a blade properly.

[bokluci]

My suggestion is that you just use a no disarm staff. Do not throw anything againts a blademaster except if you've done other things before that. Use your insects. They work wonders on the blademasters sometimes. He was using a certain stance, no arrow blocking and no predict. Other than that, you are an ogre. Use your regeneration after a landed dirt. Just my opinion. Blademasters were not that much of a problem for me with Grimoar.

[Tantangel]

Ogre regen was dropped in a recent change. I heal roughly 100hp a tick sleeping and you can't camp right after a battle either.

[Ex-D&Der]

The wait for camp is pretty short though--it's not like you can't be bloody.

[Tantangel]

The equivalent of 2-3 ticks or so I believe is the wait. Even then though camp isn't always the best thing to do in the heat of combat (unless not in Cabal wars since you're usually either going to be trying for the kill or trying to defend and if there's multiple people you're facing one is capturing and the other is after you). Just really depends on how far you're beaten and how long you have between rests. Obviously though in this situation I had enough time in between the fights to heal to full without having to camp (especially since I was trying to avoid a rush in with Pithytah or however as well since he was running around when Waraz couldn't see me). Only time I've found Camp useful was when I ran out of mana and needed to rest some up or when I dropped down to below half my HP since you are camping for 4 ticks and supposedly if you wake up sooner than the 4 ticks something bad happens (never woke up before the time was up so not sure what's bad about it, but I really don't want to find out either).

[Questioner]

Think of it like waking up too early in the morning.

[Tantangel]

So I'll be pissed and moody.

[Questioner]

Pretty much.

[Bl3h]

I haven't every really fought a blm as a ranger before, but I have as a warrior, and staff was definitely my best choice. You will be able to block alot more of his attacks (considering atm you are blocking maybe 1 a round ), and he doesn't know the weapon so you will hit him more. Can't remember who said this before, but feral blademasters don't get the extra attack bonus.