Hello mates, I just started here in Uthgard and have been playing a little bit of DAoC randomly throughout the years but never getting too far nor playing any realm other than Albion. Here however I decided to play Hibernia and Blademaster grabbed my attention (my first toon was a Merc back in classic DAoC). But hearing all this talk about Melee Rangers, I had some questions to my fellow realm mates.

Why play a melee Ranger over a BM? or a BM over a melee Ranger? What exactly is the purpose of this toon? (sorry, I am technically a noob) Do people chose RNG over BM just for the stealth? Do they even use stealth openers? Because it seems that once exposed, there isn't much of a difference between the two, other than BM having Charge and higher AF.

Is it for the play style? (RNG being solo, while BM being group orientated?)

Thank you guys,
Maximilian

BM deals more damage, can spec shields, has Access to Charge and Det,has flurry, gets Stoicism and has a very good defensiv RR5.
Thats why for Group play, it is the way better choice.

Ranger has Stealth, Bowspec, Selfbuffs. Thats what makes it better for playing solo.

I guess thats pretty much it in a nutshell!

Ranger can also specc Det

But all the other things makes a huge difference. The possibility to Charge, to Slam and with Stoicsm, enhanced evade (360° Evade), Flurry, Tripple Wield & Prevent Flight - there is a huge difference to Rangers.
Blademasters are mostly Group orientated. Rangers are mostly solo orientated.

which do you guys find generally more fun to level/play? BM sounds more fun to play in group pvp but seems incredibly boring to level being a pure melee, while Ranger while being almost the same, has stealth for additional variety?

Actually, I think the bm might be slightly more fun in pve. Most rangers autotrain bow for some extra points at 50. So you get a bm wannabe as a ranger. The bm can also spec in shield and be more of a tank type lvling up. Which gives some variety. Both will be 'equally' wanted in lvling groups as pure melee dps. Bm has some additional tools ofc.

Puz wrote:Both will be equally wanted in lvling groups as melee dps.

Atm Blademasters are definitivly more wanted in PvE Grps. Protect + Block + Guard makes them more wanted
Even only with Protect, almost everyone will prefer BM instead Ranger. Even without Shieldspecc.

BM can get aggro of 2 mobs easily due to protect, a ranger can max get aggro of 1 mob. So you always will prefere a BM over a Ranger.

I have one of each toon, and all the above posts summed it up. For ANY group stuff BM is ALWAYS the better choice, whether its for PvE or PvP. If you enjoy the stealther wars in RvR then ranger is the way to go.

Don't forget... Rangers get PD (Physical Defense)

and I believe BMs get parry...

these are potentially very important factors...

BM's also get PD- It's just not spec'd that much on BM's since they need other things like charge, determination, purge, and mastery of pain.