Tip.it Times Presents: "The Evolution of Ranged"

[Jenove]

luv it btw f2p ranging just benefited the d hide coif :twss: and i still remeber playing classic and yes ranging was even more hard for f2p #-o #-o

[ladycai]

Evolution of Range > Evolution of Mage

[BabyPunchers]

Ranged Ftw!

[battlerifel]

Good read. Ranging is not my favorite skill but I do think it needs more attention than mage or melee. At least right now. Melee has been getting a lot of updates lately -.-

[Leejjon]

I was hoping for a pvp review or something like that, because this story is just a bit history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are the new pvp range armour, javelins and throw axes good anyways?

[Atom Smash40]

Evolution of Range > Evolution of Mage

 

 

 

yea....when will mage get their decent bonus? i mean, sure, miasmic does wonders, but it only lasts so long. and the staff is 11m. im hoping jagex will make a new spellbook, since lunar is noncb (cept for vengence, and that doesnt last very long) and ancients are useless against rangers (the 2 skills were equal up until crossbows got the overhaul). plus, with armadyl armor, rangers are very well protected from all 3 types of attacks. but the best armor for mage is ahrims, and that doesnt do anything if one decides to dds you. mage is falling behind in the power struggle. i wish jagex would overhaul it with either new combat spells that dont cost insane prices (4 souls + a temporary 11m staff to lower atk rate by 50% for 48 sec, which is not too shabby but the cost is outrageous) or new armor that can hold its own against meleers and range (obviously not so great, but enough so a ranger cannot use like 4 arrows and get you down to 5hp from 80)

[Zaaps1]

No mention of d bow? That was a considerable update given the new ranged max hit, awesome spec, and ranting.

[king_muumuu]

I am surprised that the author did not mention throwing axes and javelins as being the most completely useless weapons for ranged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Javelins are uterlly underpowered; they fire slow (speed of 4), hit only 1 or 2 points higher than arrows at most and cannot be fletched, and the amount that a few select monsters drop of them are quite pathetic really (except for black dragons that drop 30 adamant javelins quite frequently).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Throwing axes are a bit more useful because they fire faster than the javelin (speed of 5) and the rune one has the special that hits multiple enemies. But the difficulty in obtaining them (no monsters that I know of drop them and they cannot be fletched or smithed) make them a weapon no one uses (I have never seen anyone use them).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You could argue that they are 1-handed, but knives, darts and crossbows are also and all 3 are superior. Knives and darts have a speed of 7. The crossbow has the same speed of a javelin, a much higher ranged bonus and can hit more than twice as hard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my opinion, the crossbow made even shortbows obsolete. I tested this at mutated bloodvelds (they have quite alot of HP). I would take up to 2 minutes to kill one using the mage shortbow, but never more than 1 minute 30 seconds with either darts or the crossbow. The release of the Dark Bow did not fix this either, despite the +95 ranged bonus and firing two arrows at once it fires so slow it's not worth it. The only real use it has is for the specials.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even crystal bows are obsolete now, the rune crossbow has a constant +90 ranged bonus, 1-handed and with a speed of 4, while the crystal starts at +100 but can go as low as +64 as it degrades, with a speed of 5. This would perhaps be balanced out if the bow hit higher, but no, I can hit 25's with the crossbow and around 19 with the crystal bow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jagex seriously has to re-balance ranged to give those weapons some actual use. Ask anyone if they use javelins and they'll laugh hard at your face.

[Dharockslayer]

ever tried the MONSTER PvP javelins? You do NOT want to come across those.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, the new thrownaxe is quite brutal too, and next time you manage to miss the darkbow, ill make you taste my specials :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good read none the less , good job.

[tortilliachp]

good article, but sadly it was lacking the dark bow. In combination with void armour its special has been invaluable to multi-combat pking. With dragon arrows it is arguably one of the easiest weapons to combine with other styles recieving insane hits that cannot be countered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The combination of range and melee or range and mage have also been missed out. these are insanely deadly if used correctly, as are adamant arrows on f2p.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Generally in f2p after addy arrows were realeased, it's at least my personal favorite for killing people effectivly.

[ScottEvil]

I'm sorry to say, but dark you may have played classic but not enough. I have played this game since day 2 of full release on classic and I must say, range is by far one of the top skills on classic to have for pkers. Back when R2h's costed 600k-800k each to pvp with, all melee pures had 25 prayer for protect item. As this happened you would see level 45-60's with 25 prayer 40 attack 60+ str hitting 25's based on the old combat system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mages and rangers were indeed the most needed pkers around, going back to speak with "A S H L E Y" who was the first pure to hit 99 range on classic, she undoubtably pked more people in classic with range than any other person to ever play, she infact killed me numerous times in full mith with 99 range hitting 15's constant without a second thought. When you would try to attack her, she would pull out r2h and hit constant 25's and 3 hit you down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You need to research the "usefullness" of the skill in more detail, because pkers relied to range more in classic than they do in runescape2. 3 hit fighting, (classic fight style) relied on having multiple rangers//mages to help knock down r2h'ers quickly and easilly, and infact, without having the defense effects and bonuses, a player with 65+ range hitting 10's at level 35-45 wearing full rune was undoubtably one of the BIGGEST advantages ever created in pvp that has ever been made and will ever be made. Including this advantage given to mages who could be combat 50 with 99 def 85+ mage and kill level 100's+ without a second thought with godspells.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JAGEX BRING BACK CLASSIC BECAUSE US OLD SCHOOL PKERS WANT TO BRING BACK 3 HIT PURES!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With love, "3 hit u" and his friends will live forever as the best pkers to ever touch runescape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- You did a good job on the article, but classic was not useless for the skill, you just obviously didn't know how to use it properly. I also know many players who ranged black dragons on their release along with KBD for the dragon meds which were worth over 9 million gp each on their release. (Exceeding the price of phats at that time)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look up this account on runescape it is "Scott Evil" and it was made back within the first few months of runescapes release.

[PlatSilver]

Lol, strawberries aren't the most cost effective food. They cost over 10gp per hp healed even at 30hp, while salmon and pike are cost 9.4 and 7.5 gp per hp respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And right now it's mage that needs an update.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it didnt actually say cost effective - it said effective...

 

 

 

ie 30 hp per inventory space > shark... just not very fast :

[cowmaster187]

nice article.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

im not really a ranger per-se. it is my second lowest combat skill not including summ of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and i have no real intrest in it. funny story actually:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

when i first started playing it was me and a bunch of friends from my school. we were all going to make a clan of sorts. me and another person were supposed to be the rangers of the group. well eventually i gave up on being a ranger because it was so expensive f2p. and soon after my friends quit. so i just went on doing what i was doing. that was almost 3 years ago now wow :ugeek: .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(range i think we need to break up its not me, its you :P) i prefer your more defensive cousin .. defense :P .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~~legoman187~~~

[Huta]

Lunar wasn't a true magic update. It was a farming update, a runecrafting update, a crafting update, even a melee and ranged update, but it wasn't a magic update. It doesn't bring anything to the table for a mage, it just helps other classes and skills out without helping an actual mage.

[fat_klutz]

I might have missed it but you skipped over XBow. Even though MSB was still a better finisher, Xbow hit a lot harder and at the same speed (if not faster). I think that should have been mentioned.

[Deathmath]

 

 

 

I would say Mage is the combat skill that's received the most significant updates really, especially with three separate spell books and all the extra mage robes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But magic hasn't been tweaked at all, it's stayed the same over the years. Sure it's had a few big additions but once they've been put into the game they haven't changed. Magic is definitely up there too, but I feel ranged has just had more significant changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They weren't tweaked because they weren't over/underpowered. I would say adding new things like the ancient/lunar spell books and even the addition of rcing add up to more than some of the minor tweaks you mentioned with crossbows and things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minor tweaks? The magic short bow nerf made range pking next to impossible due to having no ability to KO other people. The crossbow update has completely changed how range is done, people use crossbows all the time instead of magic short bow now and it's the "most" useful for bosses. The Ancient spellbook is pretty much useless outside of PvP (With the exception of rock lobsters pretty much). Lunars are very rarely used from my experience and it's really only one or two spells in it that are used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The evolution of Ranged has had a much bigger effect on the game than that of magic.

 

 

 

Yeah, GWD anyone? Loved the article

[davidium]

the author seems to have forgotten about the wonderful dark bow which is really a killer weapon for rangers when combined with other tricks ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and for those who say that this is only for pvp look at chinchompas...with them you can train range at a much faster rate than mage cause barraging would probably cost more...and for those who fill that chins are expensive there is always the trusty rune xbow with mithril arrows...i got my 99 range mainly from ranging slayer tasks such as blk demons etc =D

[Blutters]

I'm not sure all of the updates mentioned in the article are in the right order or at the right time.

 

 

 

I never played classic and the only info I know on it is what I read in random sources like this so thank you for that bit...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's see all of the more notable additions I can remember that you probably could/should've gone into more detail about (although by no means in order)...

 

 

 

• update #2 (enchanted bolts, etc) hitting very high...
   
   
   
  and included therein, extremely cheap and effective for most ends.
   
   
   
  , fairly cheap with frequent high hits through tough armor.
   
   
   
  and , with their insane KO ability.
   
   
   
  with the is probably the most useful of the three sets.
   
   
   
  , but more notably the fast and high hitting .
   
   
   
  , with its long range and reliable hits it sits inbetween the and everything else.
   
   
   
  and make the fastest combat skill to train.
   
   
   
  and both have the KO ability of the fabled ...
   
   
   
  Aside from just items, is the best way to reach and defeat .

[jamesgoh]

Umm..i dunno if this has been mentioned.. Back in Rsc, u can melee/range plus cast magic, hence double hitting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Umm.. Mages need to wear mage bonus armour or their spells splash, rangers just need a bow and they are good to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure all of the updates mentioned in the article are in the right order or at the right time.

 

 

 

I never played classic and the only info I know on it is what I read in random sources like this so thank you for that bit...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's see all of the more notable additions I can remember that you probably could/should've gone into more detail about (although by no means in order)...

 

 

 

• update #2 (enchanted bolts, etc) hitting very high...
   
   
   
  and included therein, extremely cheap and effective for most ends.
   
   
   
  , fairly cheap with frequent high hits through tough armor.
   
   
   
  and , with their insane KO ability.
   
   
   
  with the is probably the most useful of the three sets.
   
   
   
  , but more notably the fast and high hitting .
   
   
   
  , with its long range and reliable hits it sits inbetween the and everything else.
   
   
   
  and make the fastest combat skill to train.
   
   
   
  and both have the KO ability of the fabled ...
   
   
   
  Aside from just items, is the best way to reach and defeat .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

u forgot Darts and Knives

[Leejjon]

I might have missed it but you skipped over XBow. Even though MSB was still a better finisher, Xbow hit a lot harder and at the same speed (if not faster). I think that should have been mentioned.

 

 

 

Karil's crossbow still owns on looks :)

[hrmn]

Where are the bone bolts, dark bow and accumulator? Those seemed like pretty big updates to me, moreso then small tweaks to bows or the seercull.

[tintin113]

Nice read, but how did he manage to leave out the Dark Bow in an article about the evolution of Ranged? That's the single biggest ranged PvP update since Mage Short Bows could fire up to 3 specs in a row!

[Lord_Shalaj]

Knives totally made ranging training faster and cheaper. Darts are on their way there too :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Bow isn't that great, the best factor of the Dark Bow is its special attack which can be used as a KO factor at PvP. I have seen 36-41, so its quite fatal :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other than that, great summary! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I encourage other people to get something similar on different topics.. :thumbsup:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks..

 

 

 

Lord Shalaj

[Blutters]

Umm..i dunno if this has been mentioned.. Back in Rsc, u can melee/range plus cast magic, hence double hitting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Umm.. Mages need to wear mage bonus armour or their spells splash, rangers just need a bow and they are good to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure all of the updates mentioned in the article are in the right order or at the right time.

 

 

 

I never played classic and the only info I know on it is what I read in random sources like this so thank you for that bit...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's see all of the more notable additions I can remember that you probably could/should've gone into more detail about (although by no means in order)...

 

 

 

• update #2 (enchanted bolts, etc) hitting very high...
   
   
   
  and included therein, extremely cheap and effective for most ends.
   
   
   
  , fairly cheap with frequent high hits through tough armor.
   
   
   
  and , with their insane KO ability.
   
   
   
  with the is probably the most useful of the three sets.
   
   
   
  , but more notably the fast and high hitting .
   
   
   
  , with its long range and reliable hits it sits inbetween the and everything else.
   
   
   
  and make the fastest combat skill to train.
   
   
   
  and both have the KO ability of the fabled ...
   
   
   
  Aside from just items, is the best way to reach and defeat .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

u forgot Darts and Knives

 

 

 

I don't remember those ever being updated?

 

 

 

Ugh, I did forget though...

[deathfish27]

I feel like you mentioned several minor things, and updates that are now ancient history, but left out the recent and larger changes to ranged combat. Basically, I'm saying that you forgot about dark bows, and the new pvp ranged weapons. Both of them require very expensive ammunition, but they are extremely powerful pvp weapons that are worth mentioning. Oh well, the article wasn't bad.