Hi All,
I'm new to the EQ server and I must say I am LOVING the experience (even donated to the server although accidently under my other account )!
Anyways, the first thing I wanted to do when I got to 46 was to get my ranger's epics. I had heard they were "buffed" compared to live servers and was excited to journey for them. I did get them, however, I was disappointed to see that they were very outclassed even on this server. Is there any way these epics can be buffed to make them worth getting? Took me two days solind to get them and, honestly, I should have just spent my time farming. What does anyone else think?
I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I think you're after the actual weapon usefulness to be buffed (as in dmg : dly, maybe enhanced proc). The Epics are buffed when you consider that you can put 4 augments into them and pop them in a charm slot. That's the potential of an additional 690 hps (2x Smokey, 2x Soul Gems) and stats / resists!
I think the issue with buffing the epics too much (mostly in terms of dmg) is that they become the last weapon you ever equip (and Poru does enjoy adding new items which become the new BiS). To be fair, rangers at endgame should already consider their epics BiS anyway since when fully augmented they should be using range on bosses with the advantage of 3 epics with 12 augment slots (yep, some rangers and other classes have done their epics multiple times to equip multiple copies) and when you're not using range on bosses it should be a tulwar for trash or AA farming. There would be few other times it would be viable to melee, maybe if ranger is your only toon and you wanted to do Althea (the-invulnerable-to-all-but-magic Vampire), even then you'd probably prefer dual-wielding Spiked Steel Batons for the 2k proc crit (alternatively you might be able the use the magic acrylia-tipped arrows. TBH I don't use a ranger on Althea normally).
I understand that it takes time to do the epic, but you're already rewarded with the best charm-slot item you can currently (and potentially ever) get on this server. That's pretty much as balanced as epics are likely to get (i.e. their usefulness is similar across all classes). Buffing dmg / dly would mean you'd have to similarly redo procs/effects for priests and casters who won't benefit as much from dmg / dly improvements, and some of those effects don't translate well into upgrades unless you want to completely redesign the epic and thus lose the feel of doing class epics altogether because they become something closer to custom content.
I think. before buffing 1.0s. that it would be more prudent to release 1.5s with additional augments instead. That's just my take on it.
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What does anyone else think?