Game Guides and Information (1 - 40)
The ranger - half warrior, half druid. This means they can fight with a sword (or other weapon) and cast spells, which can damage a monster, or help a friend. In a group, the rangers’ special skills make them the ideal scouts. Using the ability to sneak, they move without a sound, allowing them to explore an area without drawing the attention of potential enemies. They survive in the wilderness by foraging food and water and can track anyone and anything in a given zone. The ranger can also fight alone by using their spells and bow.
Before you create your ranger, it is worth checking out the following guide for beginners. This guide is also useful for more experienced players, as it reminds you on information about stats, keyboard shortcuts and abilities etc. The skills link shows you the different skill abilities of a ranger.
I have also created a chat terminology guide, which details common phrases used in Everquest. If you are new to the game, this is essential reading.
General Information
Please read the beginner's guide above, before proceeding.
When creating your ranger you will have an extra 20 ability points to spend (eg agility, wisdom). Choose the race that you feel most comfortable with and don't worry too much about their stats as they will balance out later. If I was creating a new ranger, I would probably put my stats in agility, dexterity and stamina. You may also want to add some strength.
When you first log into Everquest, you will enter the Mines of Gloomingdeep. Follow all of the instructions given and try to stay until level 10 or even higher before you enter other Everquest zones. Once you are ready to leave, you will be taken to your home town where you will find your guild master and some interesting quests. You will notice in your inventory that you have a scroll from your guild master. Every level you gain, you get 5 skill points to train for example on your one hand slash, or spell abillities. Hand the scroll to your guild master in your town and visit him/her regularly to keep your skills up and train any new skills that you can gain at later levels.
Once you reach level 10, you will need to retrieve your corpse when you die. Upon death at level 11, you will also start to lose some experience, which you will need to gain back by hunting again.
Keep on top of your spell abilities. By this I mean abjuration, alteration etc. The more you cast a spell, the higher your skill in that spell will be. I found it quite difficult to raise conjuration and divination, as I found that I didn't cast those type of spells as often as others. To improve your skill, simply find the lowest level spell you have for each abillity and cast it over and over. If you can get a breeze, clarity or other mind buff to increase your mana pool and regeneration.
Put foraging in your left and right direction keys, so that each time you move, you forage. Foraging gives you the ability to collect items (edible and non-edible). See further instructions in the tradeskill section of this website. As you get better at foraging, you can often sell the items you collect, either to players in the Bazaar or directly to vendors.
Keep your tracking skill as high as possible. Tracking gives you a list of monsters and players in the nearby area and points you in their direction. As your tracking skill gets higher, the bigger the area you will be able to cover. Some players will even pay you to track down a monster for them. As you get higher, you will need it more and more often, and it will be an essential skill that other players will require from you in groups and raids.
Spells
So as we are half druid, we do get quite a few spells that are essential to have. Obviously they aren't as good as a druid's but we can still heal a small amount, reduce a target's run speed (or even stop it moving), deal direct damage and damage over time (DoTs).
My favourite resource for getting spell information, which includes pricing and location is from Allakhazam. The link to their spell database can be found here. You shouldn't have to subscribe to Allakhazam to get the name of the vendor where you buy your spells, just look in the comments below the spell information and usually it is noted there. You can also use my database. It isn't finished as it only goes up to level 59 (it was a work in progress but just started to take up too much time). If you want to use it, the link is here and it goes into further detail including relevance, pricing and where to buy. You can also search by magical skill:-
All of your spells are important, however the most important one if you like to hunt alone (solo) is called panic animal. It is a level 16 spell and all information relating to it is in this fearkiting guide. It gives us the ability to solo animals up to and including level 52. Another very important spell is ensnare, which is a level 6 spell. This slows down the targets run speed so that when it is close to dying it cannot run away very quickly to either try to escape, or alert friends of danger. Using ensnare (or any of the higher level line of spells) is a critical part of a ranger's role in a group and when hunting alone. Spirit of wolf is an extremely popular beneficial run speed buff (spell) that players use to enable them to run faster. You can buy this spell at level 28.
The Bazaar
The Bazaar is a trading place where you can sell the items you loot from monsters and make from tradeskilling. Further information can be found here - thanks to Iceblossom for her guidance.
Lost Dungeons of Norrath Adventures
LDoN adventures are popular with low to mid levels and anyone from level 20 - 65 can participate. It is also worth checking this guide out from level 15 as you can use the LDoN camps to teleport you to different zones. You will have to wait until level 20 to adventure however. LDoN instances are fun and a great way to improve your gear/spells.
Click here for more information!
Depths of Darkhollow Monster Missions
Monster missions are groupable tasks (minimum 3 persons) where you can play a different class. The beauty of these missions is that there are no level restrictions, so you can have a level 1 group with a 75 if you wish. Upon selecting the mission, you each have to choose which class you want to play and then when you enter, you are given applicable skills and abilities pertaining to the class you have chosen. It can be a little confusing at first, but once you get into it (and save your new class template each time you play), they are really good fun and can have decent rewards in both experience and loot.
Click here for a list of monster missions below. The most popular one (that gives decent experience is Dains Frostreaver the First.
Click this tab for information relating to levels 41 - 80
If you do the tutorial, try to get to level 10 before leaving. It is much easier to level this way, plus you learn how to use the interface and some game experience before entering Norrath. When you leave the tutorial, you will zone into The Plane of Knowledge. As advised in the tutorial, go and visit Vivian the True in the library for further new player quests. You will also notice a guild note in your inventory, which will tell you where your home town Guild Master lives. Go and visit him or her and you may also find some interesting quests near by. Each level you gain, you get 5 skill points that you can train. To train them go and visit a Guild Master, either in The Plane of Knowledge, or in your home city.
For your first fifty levels, you will really be concentrating on attacking (or meleeing) with your swords in groups, rather than using your bow. This may seem strange, but a ranger does more damage meleeing until their higher levels. Ofcourse you should still use your bow, but not as often as you use your swords. As well as one hand slash, also try to keep your skills up with two hand slash, piercing, one and two hand blunt. This gives you many more choices of weapons which becomes more important as you level.
Remember to keep using your various spell skills. By this I mean, different spells use different skills, eg, abjuration, alteration, conjuration, divination and evocation. Some spells you will use more than others. The skills I found harder to raise were conjuration, divination and abjuration. Keep an eye on your skill level and if you need to raise your skill then choose the lowest level spell and practice until your skill increases. You will know if your skill is low by clicking on your skills button in your inventory and comparing your skills. You will also fizzle alot when you attempt to cast (fizzle means your spell fails to cast).
Your foraging skill is important too. Apart from foraging food and drink, you can also forage other items, which can be used for tradeskills or quests. Please check out the foraging guide on the tradeskill page, to find out how to 'auto forage', which will raise your skill much more quickly.
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