Coat of Arms (Ranger Silent Spell)

Thuug

Dalayan Adventurer
After playing around with this spell for a bit, I have some comments.

In game description: +20% melee dps, 8pt damage shield and +162 ac

Parser: same but only +48ac which is reflected in game.

THOUGHTS: I like the concept of this spell, giving rangers a 'tank' stance type of effect, however it doesn't really actually DO anything 99% of the time. A 20% bonus to melee damage is still WELL behind my bow damage using similar tier weapons (Acid Tongue vs Surf Zone/Galeforce/Bane of the Fallen God). That is why I classify it solely as a tank stance type of effect. There are very few encounters that I cannot use my bow on and since the damage is not comparable to bow damage, there is almost no reason to use it outside of tanking.

When I first read the spell description I was actually pretty interested as the ac bonus was enough to push me up into a new tier of damage reduction (though still short of any actual tank...like I still cap out (without Coat of Arms) at about 1950 ac with my tanky gear vs ANY plate tank who should have 2400-2500+ac at this tier). Then when I get in game, it only gives +48 ac, way less than promised.

As I said I like the idea of this spell but it is really hard to find a niche for it. All of the effects push me toward tanking, which I do way worse than any actual tank (as I should). It is hard to imagine keeping the spell up for like 6-12 man content in case the tank drops since it eats up a buff slot that I don't have to spare. If the intent is to allow me to tank, I'd argue that the ac bonus should be AT least what the spell description says it is to make it actually have a noticeable effect. When the difference between me and a tank is 500 ac, a 50 ac bonus isn't going to make much of a difference in survivability.

Alternate take, this spell should just be a spell line rangers get through all the levels as it would make sense there. As a 65++ spell that only gives 48 ac and 8ds is not worth keeping up.


So far I generally like the silent spells, as they offer utility and flexibility (shaman) or at least are solid upgrades to current spells (cleric). I have written threads/posts about this and the SK spell because I think both of those have weaknesses that could be addressed.

Maybe my experience is different than others....have any other rangers had better/worse experiences with Coat?
 
to my knowledge, this spell was part of a larger melee re-work for rangers that never got fully implemented into the game. as a result, it feels pretty out of place/lackluster without some of the accompanying changes. maybe we'll see the rest of the re-work implemented someday so this spell doesn't feel so out of place.
 
Oh yeah, I remember that month where Ranger Tome 3 was kicked out of Project Mayhem and actually had a name....
 
Its useful and I would say a solid addition to the existing line. Not great or fun by anymeans, makes our melee suck less on forced melee fights and helps on big target ring monsters a little.

How useful depends on what you are doing. While I have access to several beefy knights and warriors I tend to not use them outside of boxing on raids simply because they're actively used by their owner or other guildies, if Im duoing Im often boxing a druid and its been pretty good for that since I have little over 2.2k ac buffed and my tank gear in. Raids, eh depends on the fight and if I need the extra ac and if I have the buff slot.

The current client on live was able to do 10 more buff slots than what we have now iirc, wish we had those.
 
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Glad to see this thread wasn't a complete bash thread when I walked in.

I personally like the spell, despite unpopular opinion. I don't think it was a great stand-alone upgrade to Rangers, or has many uses currently going off of what Tev said. I think it was supposed to compliment a few other tweaks to Rangers that may have got canned or we haven't seen yet, which I'll stay hopeful for. If any Devs need help with input on this please reach out as I'd be happy to help and have some good ideas in mind.

Ultimately what this comes down to and what may make this spell seem rather lackluster is Ranger's general lack of DPS weapons. Ranger's great melee ability is based off them being a dual wield class, and the fear of making a single weapon have that much power can get sketchy. Most of the later weapons tend to be in favor of very heavy spell damage rather than white damage as well, although I like to think the spell sort of helps with that balance a bit.

I think the spell overall is a good touch, and WILL help Rangers benefit but there needs to be some compliment to it.
 
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