Quote from Archibald;153356:
Ya I get all that but I mean there are certain things high level rangers do and look for in their sets that the rest of us don't. Of course high dex but how do those who use Food stat growth do that? What missions are great for leveling using range? Should you max damage or crit? Should you use alot of magnum or AR? What should be endgame goal for sets, stats, etc.
Thats what I mean for guide.
With weapon in particular, rangers need to pay attention to weapon speed and firing range.
With AR, weapon speed is crucial to pay attention to. It determines how fast you can successively fire AR rounds, a short bow(fast) can fire off about 2~3 arrows per second, while a long bow(slow) can hardly get 1 in.
Firing range determines how fast you aim. As a human, this matters less, but is still crucial. Weapons like Long Bows(far range) usually fare better for slow-aiming skills like magnum shot and crash shot.
As a ranger, you need to pay attention to crit. You want 30% critical on ANYTHING you're against. About 160~170% critical is the highest possible in the game currently, and it can indeed have 30% on even alby adv HM monsters.(~60-65% protection)
A ranger needs to know their situation and equip for it. Achieve as much critical as needed, then fill in the rest with damage enchants. 90% critical rate Wing Bows are a godsend, because in most situations this frees up the rest of your whole equipment set and title to focus on damage.
Make sure you pick the right bow to match your situation. If you're playing with others, you might want to consider a slow, long-range bow and take a position in the back to play support role. If you're solo-ing or playing a main damager role, you might want to consider a faster bow with more emphasis on AR spamming and close-range ka-pow'ing.
If you're in a large dungeon or on the field, you might want to consider a bow with longer range. Mobility is limited with bows, so keep that in mind.
The only bow that you won't sacrifice as much mobility with is your crossbow, which is one of the best bows in your arsenal for close-range rapid-fire use. They have great dura, and you have the ability to walk with AR and Magnum.(note: you cannot move once magnum is done loading)
There might be more so say, but I hope that sums up a lot of your questions.
Also:
Magnum is great against high-defense/protection enemies. AR at r1 does 490% cumulative damage across five shots, and defense and protection is calculated for each individual hit. With Magnum, it does 500% and def/prot is only calculated once, therefore higher damage. As a human, magnum spam is unreliable, especially with close range weapons. It is quite possible with range 2000+ bows, though.
As for missions, once G12 comes along any mission good for WM'ing through becomes good for Crash Shot'ing through. For now, The Other Alchemist is a great solo mission for archers, as the multi-aggro isn't as much of a problem when you're sitting back. I like Enemy Behind, as well, because I'm not constricted to a single dungeon room. Space!