Ranged DPS Preferred Over Melee DPS?

[TGE985]

This seems to be the case, is this really how it is?

[Ashtoncutter]

For a solid group you want as much melee as ranged, and it just so happens there's more melee than ranged.
That's why so many people ask for ranged.

[Paulosio]

I've even seen people specifically requesting ranged dps for things like Sartharion and easy naxx 10 bosses for the weekly raid quest. Some people have an idea in their heads of what the best group composition is and they don't actually think about anything beyond that. Regardless of what you are doing they will decide you need 2 tanks, 3 healers and a mix of ranged and melee dps.

[Paulrevere]

Claim - Range will be preferred
+reason - It seems so
=Conclusion - unsound argument.

Why does it seem to be ranged preferred over melee? If you're going to be using your amazing skills of reasoning and deduction, give us your reasons why you thinks o.

[S7orm]

show them your Shadowmourne and they'll prefer you

anyway that's normal, most of pugs want ranged for generally 2 reasons:
-ranged take less damage
-RL are 9/10 tanks, and they want all the loot

[westernhat]

In terms of raids, no range is not preferred over melee, rather you want a balance between melee and range. With that said, there are some rights that would make having melee easier while some fights having range make the fight easier. for example, you want a balanced raid for surafang where too much melee means getting hit my adds while having too much range means less room to spread out and less focused dps on boss, for OS zerg you might want all melee just to make movement from firewall easier. This is all assuming you don't out gear the content, if you do, then if doesn't really matter what you bring.

[Taeloria]

I always try to bring a balance of melee and ranged, but I've been in others' groups where they say we only need 1 melee and rest range otherwise it will somehow magically turn into a wipefest.

[Headayke]

I've actually noticed alot of vise-versa.

Recently through most of the newest content(i cannot speak for Ruby Sanctum or Lich King) but Toravon(Ice Orbs), Marrowgar(Huge hit box for huntards), Saurfang(Beasts), Putricide(orange ooze has to get to melee) and Blood Council(Kinetic Orbs) all seem to bring most of the trouble to the ranged.

While counting the most recent content for melee we have Rogue Traps and Putricide(melee has to stay away from green ooze in case they are chosen).

I understand this is all to maximize the dps possible but there are more mechanics against the ranged dps than against the melee. the melee can pretty much afk through the majority of the boss fights and not have to worry as long as the healers keep the melee alive during ice orbs, they get the bone spikes, no aoe duing beasts, switch targets to the orange ooze and not get aggro from the nexus orbs.


In essence i would rather have 4 good ranged multitasking that are able to do what they do best to help maximize the dps of the 11 melee.

[Peanus]

I got a theory that ranged DPS will be even more preferred in Cataclysm contra WoTLK. Because it seems that alot of the encounters as of now, and those to come, just benefits ranged. But its only a opinion I have, and a gutfeeling.

Discuss

[sethers656]

I think it is just because so many more people play melee.

My guild has been melee heavy the whole expansion. There are just so many more people that like to smack stuff. I find myself a lot having to look for ranged dps to get the balance and raid comp I need.

[Syntic]

Many encounters right now are made much more trivial with ranged DPS, that doesn't, however, mean that melee are obsolete. In the Lich King encounter for example, melee are useful in phase 1 to cleave down the ghouls, and ranged are useful in phase 3 to kill the Vile Spirits (if you don't soak them). This is of course a very brief example, but there are many others.

[Fornaw]

In terms of raids, no range is not preferred over melee, rather you want a balance between melee and range. With that said, there are some rights that would make having melee easier while some fights having range make the fight easier. for example, you want a balanced raid for surafang where too much melee means getting hit my adds while having too much range means less room to spread out and less focused dps on boss, for OS zerg you might want all melee just to make movement from firewall easier. This is all assuming you don't out gear the content, if you do, then if doesn't really matter what you bring.

You know if you have too many ranged on Saurfang you can have some of them move into melee range right?

In general "Melee hating mechanics" (target switching, point blank AoE, etc) can't be sidestepped by melee but "Ranged hating mechanics" (vile gas, coldflames, etc) can be ignored by anyone who isn't a hunter. Melee do take more damage (except in fights that force you to have X ranged or everyone dies eg Festergut).

Back in the day you needed some melee DPS because their buffs caused the tanks to generate more threat and rogues were the highest DPS in half the encounters. Tank threat is less buff reliant these days (and ranged can provide some of those buffs) and rogues do comparable DPS to other pures. In the end there is hardly any advantage to bringing a melee, there is frequently an advantage to bringing ranged DPS (faster add switching, take less damage etc etc). As a result of this most raid leaders prefer to lean a little heavy on ranged classes in their composition. Meanwhile melee specs are among the most popular in the game.

Now for all of that a raid with no melee DPS isn't in great shape, but it is at least playable. A raid without any ranged won't make it halfway through any Wrath raid.

---------- Post added 2010-09-26 at 10:39 PM ----------

I've actually noticed alot of vise-versa.

Recently through most of the newest content(i cannot speak for Ruby Sanctum or Lich King) but Toravon(Ice Orbs), Marrowgar(Huge hit box for huntards), Saurfang(Beasts), Putricide(orange ooze has to get to melee) and Blood Council(Kinetic Orbs) all seem to bring most of the trouble to the ranged.

While counting the most recent content for melee we have Rogue Traps and Putricide(melee has to stay away from green ooze in case they are chosen).

I understand this is all to maximize the dps possible but there are more mechanics against the ranged dps than against the melee. the melee can pretty much afk through the majority of the boss fights and not have to worry as long as the healers keep the melee alive during ice orbs, they get the bone spikes, no aoe duing beasts, switch targets to the orange ooze and not get aggro from the nexus orbs.


In essence i would rather have 4 good ranged multitasking that are able to do what they do best to help maximize the dps of the 11 melee.

Here's the thing, Saurfang isn't a fight that "favors melee" it is a fight where there is a job that only ranged can do. You don't stack melee on Saurfang unless you want to wipe. Toravon works similarly, someone needs to kill the orbs or you wipe, ranged are much much more effective at it. Marrowgar I will give you as a fight that isn't good for hunters, but does it hurt to have locks or mages? Ranged are great at killing spikes and dealing damage during bonestorm.

If we exclude hunters there's really only 2 things that melee classes can do that ranged classes cannot (for the most part). Those are interrupt and cleave. Both have usefulness in wrath raids, but realistically you don't need many melee to have a fair amount of cleave damage and interrupts. Ranged (excluding hunters) will always have 1 key ability that makes them more useful than melee, they can DPS anything from 0-40 yards away.

[Willferel]

In 25m I want 3 Tanks, 7 melee, 10 ranged with one or two healing os, and 5 healers. I main raid utility melee have are to help with interrupts. I like it pretty even. It's plenty of melee for chain healing. Generally melee are lazy too based on running away etc. It is just a fact for pugs. Melee is easier to find however. Ranged also generally covers more buffs.

[Peyj]

I know what you mean. I think the problem is whatever you play, you're more sensitive to it. I never noticed that melee was always full until I played melee.

If you see "full on ranged", but you play melee, you don't think a lot of it. I never really noticed "full on melee" before, but I always noticed "full on Paladins" etc.

[Leylin]

Putricide(orange ooze has to get to melee)

That's Incorrect , It dosent matter who it goes on and its random who it targets anyway.

[Kiea]

Ranged is prefered alot because they have the utility that melee don't on a lot of fights, but try to do LK 25heroic, the cleave from ret paladins, warriors and death knights is a huge damage to those valkyrs and they therefor add alot more damage to the lich king by quickly killing the adds, certain ranged classes got good AoE for all 3 (Seed of Corruption, Mind Sear, etc) but without melee, they will go down alot slower and you will therefor have less damage on the lich king.
Same goes for halion 25HC, if you dont have melees with cleave for the small adds (Melee is prefered since they can use a couple of GCDs for extra AoE (Dks) and still target and do heavy damage to the boss while ranged would have to change their damage on the boss to only AOE, thereby not giving the same amount of damage.

[The Cat]

Basically, imo, it comes down to not having enough ranged will cause you to wipe in a lot of fights. Vile gas, saurfang adds, normal putricide maleable goo or hm debuff, etc. Not having enough melee does not have the same effect. Pugs generally have the better safe than sorry attitude and try to get more ranged than needed. In terms of a guild raid I doubt there is going to be a preference as long as all raid buffs/debuffs are accounted for.

[Foibles]

Many add killing mechanics are based around being at range, and melee are very popular.

[MrProper]

dont forget that ranged dps have often only magic based attacks, while melee dps consist of physical damge mostly.

also dont forget that some fights require minimum ammount of ranged people spread out, or you risk getting debuff to melee group.

[Deleted]

show them your Shadowmourne and they'll prefer you

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