Class Dilemma
Depends on what you mean by “better”, as which class is “better” can be quite subjective.
From what I know, Rangers are easier to level (since they have a pet) but are not as welcomed in dungeons (thieves aren’t exactly a favored class either, I think) due to most of them being solo builds (don’t have much party wide benefits). Thieves don’t have much in the way of really long range combat (their shortbow and pistols have 900 range only; ~1050 for pistols with the Ricochet trait after the patch next week, I believe), while Rangers have the longbow and a trait that can extend the max range as well.
Just a few points on either class.
In endgame, high skill runs, Thieves don’t bring much to dungeons other than stealth (don’t underestimate this for skipping trash) and one of the highest dps’ in the game.
In casual runs, you can easily add in a venomshare build or stealth/blast healing.
For Ranger, endgame high skill runs, you want to bring Spotter and Frost Spirit to give allies 150 Precision and 7% damage boost (10% every 10 seconds on one attack after the feature patch if it gets the ICD added). Additionally, Ranger has a lot more “noob” builds, which is why they’re not particularly wanted in dungeons. They have an AI attached to them, and AI in this game is pretty darn horrible, especially considering how much access to AI there is.
For thieves, it’s hard to be bad unless you’re dead, because you have a low health pool and rely heavily on evasion as your damage mitigation.
Wow thanks, That’s really good. I’ve seen alot of gap closers in this game, Would that kitten long range users?
There’s no minimum range in this game; that is you can shoot your target point blank with a charzooka if it came to that.
If you however mean if it would take away from the advantage of shooting them from afar, then there are ways to keep them off/away from you (cripples/slows on them and moving strategically away from them).
Yes, but it’s possible to get around that with skill management and skill.
There are gap closers, but there are also gap extenders.
Because the game scales reward with risk somewhat, melee weapons without exception always outdamage ranged weapons on a dps basis (some ranged options have good burst damage however). In PvE, you’ll still want to be in melee range most of the time for max effectiveness… just make sure you don’t die. PvP content is a different story, where keeping someone at range and plinking away can be more effective than closing in, since the level of risk involved with closing with good players massively outweighs any AI risk.