Massively^™

This is my bow. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My bow is my best friend. It is my life. My bow without me is useless. Without my bow, I am useless. Such is the life of a Ranger in Funcom's Age of Conan, at least once you've gotten out of the starter area. While the careful use of abilities plays a larger role in determining the success of any given Ranger, using the right equipment is still paramount maximizing damage. And when you're a straight DPS class, that's why people want you in groups.

That's why we were so delighted to see a guide being built over on the official Age of Conan forums, detailing the locations and stats of the most desirable rare bows, crossbows, and quivers in all level ranges from Tortage to the end-game. With the truly tremendous amount of bitching that goes on over at those forums, we love to see useful information like this floating to the top of the morass. If you've got a Ranger or regularly group with one, make sure to check out the list to see if you've got the best bow for your level.

We're pleased to report that this week's Tabula Rasa Feedback Friday is uncharacteristically juicy. The decision was made in the Classes and Combat teams that Rangers and Spies needed a serious looking at in patch 1.7. Their logic was that the two Ranger classes, Spies and Snipers, are too narrowly restricted by their class-defining weapons. Snipers have been struggling with this recently with the changes to Torqueshell rifles. And while Spies have been anything but hindered by their spectacular Blade damage, their effectiveness discourages Spies from trying different tactics.

Among the changes that will be heralded in patch 1.7 (it's worth reiterating here that patch 1.6 is still in testing and has no confirmed release date) is a new ability called Fire Support, which will take the place of Carpet Bombs in the Ranger repertoire. It's different effects at different ranks should give it increased utility for single-target DPS. Another ability with the potential to be quite cool is Tactical Evasion, which, at pump 5, would give the Ranger player the ability to set up a temporary beacon that you will teleport back to after a given amount of time. It sounds like a near way to rush into a crowded area, take out an important target, and get away quickly. To check out the full range of changes, make sure to check it out on the official site.

Arena.net's Guild Wars has a rich and satisfying Player vs. Environment experience, but the Player vs. Player component of the game is really the title's core. The official game site regularly releases what they call 'State of the Game' articles; snapshots of the game's play experience at the time the article is written. Their most recent articles are all about thinking tactically in the game's PvP arenas.

A post from early this year concerns frontline coordination, giving hints for ways in which Warriors and other melee classes can keep the pointy end of the sword pointed in the right direction. Their two more recent articles are about a subject they call 'the Midline shutdown'. If the frontline keeps the opponents occupied and the back row keeps the party alive, it's the job of the midline to keep the other party disrupted and ineffective. They have suggestions on how to accomplish this task with a Ranger (with skirmishing and condition spam). They also explore shutdown possibilities with a Mesmer, a possibility that I imagine most PvP teams find a bit disconcerting.

Session Play in Lord of the Rings Online is a feature that allows you to take the form of a different character, and experience Middle Earth from a new perspective. From the official website, "You could play as a Ranger, a Troll, or... a chicken." Well, it looks as though your only option for now may be of the feathered farmyard variety, according to this post on Turbine's official LotRO forums.

The announcement from Turbine Community Specialist Saffron tells us little other than that there have been unspecified issues with Trolls and Rangers in Session Play, and that they will not be available until further notice. These two character types were formerly playable in the Ettenmoors Monster Play (PvP) zone, with Rangers for the Free Peoples and Trolls for the Monsters. A quick visit to the Monster Play forums shows that Trolls and Rangers have already been a topic of hot debate, with many feeling they were overpowered. Perhaps they will be tweaked along with other PvMP updates due with Book 12 -- we will have to wait and see what changes have been made when they are made available for play once more.