New Ranger Questions

[Jobu]

Just a couple of things I've been trying to decide on before starting a new Ranger...

1. Are there any Combat Maneuvers that are considered "must have"? I would guess disarm, just for defending against it...but I'm not sure beyond that.

2. I'm planning on ranged as my primary weapon skill. Would brawling or edged be better to train as a backup for piercing-resistant things?

3. How important (if at all) are Spiritual Lore and Mana Control?

Any advice anybody feels like tossing out there would be greatly appreciated..thanks!

[Celephais]

1. New rangers won't see much "must have" need for CM skills. If you bother training in it, might as well just get what you think you'll have the most fun with.

2. ... especially ranged weapon users. Brawling would be the better choice especially if you go voln (well a must if you go voln as a ranged ranger), but a better backup plan is just to not hunt things that can't be pierced.

3. umm... i'll let someone else answer this one, just read through your spells.

[BriarFox]

Just a couple of things I've been trying to decide on before starting a new Ranger...

1. Are there any Combat Maneuvers that are considered "must have"? I would guess disarm, just for defending against it...but I'm not sure beyond that.

2. I'm planning on ranged as my primary weapon skill. Would brawling or edged be better to train as a backup for piercing-resistant things?

3. How important (if at all) are Spiritual Lore and Mana Control?

Any advice anybody feels like tossing out there would be greatly appreciated..thanks!


1. Not really. Disarm is good for prevention later in the game.

2. Frankly, neither. I've tried both. Ranged by itself is fine - just pick what you hunt (stay away from things in plate, made of stone, puncture immune, etc.)

3. Not very. Lore is fun, but pick it up as a tertiary skill. I have 0 SMC at level 87. It's useful if you plan to use 620 a lot or group hunt all the time. Also good for 614. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

[thefarmer]

Picture how you want your character to be roleplay wise, then find skills that you think would fit.

It's hard to fuck a ranger up even at low levels.

[AKOE!]

I think ranged/fu is great combo. You should probably have disarm too if you don't lose your bow. It's really fun to use once you've mastered it too. And even if you do drop your bow you can finish nearly anything off with a roundhouse kick to the head :D

A lot of rangers I know don't care for Voln because of the whole +35AS/DS thing (and wracking) but +26AS/DS isn't that bad considering you can also learn how to punch a hole in something's chest. Kinda gruesome but really effective

Oh and as for the role play aspect, I think that should come first. It's much easier to build your character when you have an idea of what they're about. I think

[Jobu]

I was definitely thinking about taking brawling as my secondary and going into Voln...but I'm kind of concerned that it'll be hard to hunt undeads until I get throw/punch/kick. I can't get my fists blessed...and I seriously doubt anybody would have the patience to bless individual arrows. Any ideas/suggestions for low level undead hunting?

[Stunseed]

....

If you're in your first 30 days, get a claidhmore and mess some stuff up until you get to level 6-7ish. Then go to IceMule and hunt snow spectres (9) and work the favor for voln with a blessed two-hander. You'll get the favor to get to Voln-Fu quickly and at the end of your 30 days, fixskill to Archer/Fu.

[BriarFox]

....

If you're in your first 30 days, get a claidhmore and mess some stuff up until you get to level 6-7ish. Then go to IceMule and hunt snow spectres (9) and work the favor for voln with a blessed two-hander. You'll get the favor to get to Voln-Fu quickly and at the end of your 30 days, fixskill to Archer/Fu.

Dirges in the Landing graveyard (9) are also easy peesy.

[graysun]

I don't have much useful to add to the questions posed in the OP, except that I am not such a big fan of training lores in the early-going. To me, the TP-cost isn't worth the benefit until later.

Also, 10 or 15 ranks of SMC will allow you to share pretty well with sprit-leaning pures - if you ever hunt with any. With 15 ranks, I have been able to transfer over 90% with a pure (who singles in it) for some time now. It is probably not worth it unless you are sharing mana on a regular basis, though.

[AKOE!]

I picked up the 24 ranks of mana share because I'm always sending and getting sent mana. It also helps with 614 which I use frequently. Other than that you can get by without it.

Lores are really nice too but I just can't afford them.