While trolling around the internets for Aion information the past couple months, one topic that seems to come up time and time again is the comparison of the Ranger and the Sorcerer. If I had a dollar for every thread in Ranger forums comparing the two classes I would buy NCSoft so I could be playing the game right now.
We see so many threads with topics like "OMG Sorc or Ranger! Help me pick!" or "WTF... Ranger damage sucks! I pix Sorc". So in hopes of dissolving any false stigmas (no pun intended) of our class, I am writing this article to clear some things up. Many of you already dedicated Rangers will know this information all too well but hopefully this will educate some.
First of all, Sorcerers destroy our DPS. There... I said it. The sorcerer is the king (or queen) of ranged DPS. We cannot come close to them in a simple pew pew contest. Is the poor ranger broken then? Absolutely not. Let's look at why we are perfectly fine.
Rangers have more natural armor, having leather, increasing survivability. We also have plenty of traps, roots, and snares up our sleeves to slow our enemies down or in some cases completely stop them from doing anything. We have chance on crit stuns. We are built to survive while using hit and run tactics.
Sorcerers are built to primarily stand in one place and blow things to kingdom come. The second they get focus fire, they are in severe trouble because they are squishy clothies.
Now which is better? Which class is superior? The answer is "none of the above". I am here to tell you, fellow Aion community, that comparing the two is like comparing apples to tomatoes. They may both be red (sometimes) but they are not the same. Rangers and sorcerers are both DPS classes but they are not the same and should not be compared solely on their DPS.
The name of the game is play style. Play style is where these two classes are a world apart. So make your class decisions on that, and that alone. If you are a DPS whore, then by all means, pick the Sorcerer and enjoy it. No one will think lesser of you. If you enjoy hit and run, while staying mobile in combat, then pick the ranger.
The point that many players are missing is that when a class excels in something, it must give up other attributes. Sorcerers excel at DPS while sacrificing survivability and defense. Rangers excel at survivability, while sacrificing DPS. There is no right or wrong answer when picking classes as long as you fully understand how the class you are picking is built to be played and want to play that way.
The ranger is a hard class to play. There is no denying this. It requires much more strategy and interaction to make things click in PvP. You must constantly be on your toes and be aware of your surroundings. That is the allure of the class for many of us though. The rewards of outsmarting your opponent and wearing him/her down is a very rewarding thing in my opinion.
Hopefully some of you ranger/sorcerer fencers can take this information and make an educated decision. Always remember that games are meant to be entertaining. Pick what you think sounds fun, not what you think will dominate. That being said, rangers are better than sorcerers. Just kidding!