eval my ranger

[jpatter123]

This is my first serious go round as a ranger and just wanted some input on how it's looking so far. I originally intended not to switch to range till level 35-40, but hack and slash was driving me nuts. Any advice is appreciated.

Race: Sylvankind Profession: Ranger (not shown)
Gender: Male Age: 0 Expr: 607933 Level: 22
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 77 (13) ... 77 (13)
Constitution (CON): 81 (15) ... 81 (15)
Dexterity (DEX): 52 (11) ... 52 (11)
Agility (AGI): 73 (16) ... 73 (16)
Discipline (DIS): 85 (12) ... 85 (12)
Aura (AUR): 79 (19) ... 79 (19)
Logic (LOG): 85 (17) ... 85 (17)
Intuition (INT): 72 (11) ... 72 (11)
Wisdom (WIS): 66 (8) ... 66 (8)
Influence (INF): 74 (12) ... 74 (12)
Mana: 69 Silver: 0

(at level 22), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 54 11
Combat Maneuvers...................| 40 8
Ranged Weapons.....................| 148 48
Ambush.............................| 102 24
Physical Fitness...................| 102 24
Dodging............................| 102 24
Harness Power......................| 102 24
Spirit Mana Control................| 20 4
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 66 14
Survival...........................| 90 20
Perception.........................| 148 48
Climbing...........................| 25 5

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 6

Spell Lists
Ranger.............................| 20
Training Points: 107 Phy 0 Mnt (246 Phy converted to Mnt)
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)

[BriarFox]

Looks great. I'd push for brig for armor (30 ranks), but other than that, it's a very tight build. Stats are set for high growth, which makes things a little rocky at first, but you should be ok.

[Ryvicke]

Open (or non-hiding) archers have tons of TP's to play around with and depending on what you hunt or if you're perma-wizard-spelled I think there are some more effective and less-effective things to train in.

Your CM doesn't get you a ton with this build and I'm a huge fan of keeping Ranger spell ranks at level while also working in MnS, I'd drop SL:Summoning to do this.

You also are spending a bunch of points on ambush when you have no stalking and hiding to take advantage of its aiming enhancement, it's a really expensive skill to get the very small amount of AS it's going to give you. I wouldn't train it if I wasn't sniping.

A ranger spell rank (up to level and in some skills, beyond) gives you phantom ranks in dodge/perception (or just general aiming)/hiding and I would say for an open archer having 640 at 40 is a good goal and getting 120 as soon as possible after that is pretty great. If you read the circle descriptions for almost every ranger spell they get more powerful per rank, keeping them at level is like getting a bump to 10 skills for each spell rank.

You can drop Harness Power back to level (so in this case 22 ranks), the ranks after that just give you 1 more mana point instead of 3.

One of the core abilities of the profession is skinning and it's a pretty great way to make tons of coin at certain points--as an open archer with ridiculous extra TP's I liked keeping Survival and First Aid at level (so 24 ranks in this example).

Another thing to think about is pushing ahead in Armor Use to get to 70 as soon as you have the points and wear augmented chain (unless you have a really nice set of brig). Aug chain is pretty sweet.

[jpatter123]

Thanks guys for the input

Ryvike,
I haven't had tons of extra TP's that's for sure. Been struggling. Been debating the ambush ranks and have gotten lot's of mixed input when asking other rangers. I've debated dropping it all together, but with my Dex as low as it is already I think I may wait another 10 levels and then make a decision. If I dropped ambush I'd have plenty of points to place elsewhere and I could even go .5 ambush and just grab a rank here or there as more TP's present themselves later.

So your saying drop the Cman all together and use those points to bring up ranger spells? I had to drop behind the ranger spells a few, but figured I'd pick them back up over the next few levels.
I'm dropping mana share all together for right now so I can gain one spell back there as I only had the ranks so I could get mana from my friends in order to spell myself up. Again another skill I can pick back up in the future.

[Ryvicke]

I'd say drop all the ambush--it doesn't kick into the AS formula until you have 40 ranks, so at this point--unless you're 608'ing yourself and taking a shot from hiding it's not helping your aim or your AS at all at this point, so the TP's are a complete waste, and it's not cheap.

I know some people like using dirtkick although I never found much use for it, especially after I could aim at the head reliably, and once you can aim at the eye reliably, 607/610 is a much better way to set something up. I have had no CM through level 70 and never thought it was an issue. It definitely could be handy to train disarm and cunning defense, but it's not cheap.

When I say you have a lot of TPs I mean specifically opposed to a hiding/sniping build, which requires 2x stalking/hiding and at least 1x ambush, but is, in my opinion, the better build if you don't have access to a full wizard spellup at all times, or don't have really nice gear. A sniping build can also make warcamps feel like cheating at gemstone.

I'd drop all the summoning lore and never look back until cap, the benefits are just too miniscule and MTPs are too tight for a Ranger, I played with it for a long time and never thought it did anything amazing for me.

But really--it's incredibly hard to screw up a ranged ranger, when you get to the point where you can hit things in the eye reliably it won't matter what you train in, as long as you're hunting something with eyes--doubly so if you're in GoS and hunt hated enemies with Sigil of Major Bane.

[jpatter123]

I like it! I'm dropping the summoning and going stalk/hide which is what I had thought I would have been able to do anyway when I rolled the ranger. I was rather disappointing not having the TP's for it. Sniping is what I loved about my rogue. Gonna take forever to untrain, but oh well.

Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 66 14 0 26 days, 21 hours, 15 minutes

not too bad.

[Ryvicke]

Cool--you should get rid of that CM too and remember not to train harness power for 2 levels to tighten that up.

You may have some TP issues because your stats are really set for growth and you're not getting the best bang out of your prime stats at such a low level, if you need to skimp on any particular skill I'd say skip a few ranks of dodge, but bring it back up to 1x later.

If you need the points you can also do a little calculating of exactly when you'll have the PTP's necessary for 30 ranks of armor use and do some switching at that point and drop back your armor use ranks to 8 until that's possible, getting into brig should be a "sooner than later" goal though as it is going to keep you alive much better than doubles.

If you're going hiding I think it becomes incredibly important to keep Ranger spell ranks at level as now each rank contributes to 601/617 to even you up with a 3x h/s rogue (or as much as possible).

But I think it's not until 30 that you start really getting to hide and snipe more reliably, I remember 20-30 being a bit of a pain getting pulled out of hiding on anything but the blindest creatures and my aim to the head was 60/40'ish, which was annoying. It gets a lot better.

[jpatter123]

I should be able to be good on everything within the next 2-3 levels minus armor use.

I'll probably drop cman for now anyways as the little training I have is pretty much a non-factor and bring up armor use and then add Cman back in as I can. I really would like to get shadow mastery level 5 for the 2 second sneak and a couple ranks of cman defense, but g'damn that takes a ton of points and may just have to wait until post cap. I totally agree about getting to at least brig cause these doubles are for shit.

Thanks for the tip on harness power. I'm retarded on the mechanics of the magic system sometimes as waggling just isn't my thing(despite playing lots of high level wagglers).

I'm waiting on the TP's to migrate to test my hiding effectively as it sits it's 1x and I'm getting pulled by some perceptive creatures 7 levels below me and I sneak like a sloth. The good thing is I'm underhunting now so not being good till 30 shouldn't be a major issue and I'll grind these levels out.

Again thanks for all the input. I think you really helped put the ranger to what I wanted him to be.

[jpatter123]

just thought I'd revisit this for a then and now. I ended up not loving the sniper build as much as I thought I would have. Open archery just seems so easy for him that I was never hiding so I'm back to close to the build I started with except I dropped the CMans, lowered summoning lore a bit, and grabbed some ranks in MIU. I decide the minor AS boots from ambush isn't worth it for the time being. My Dex is finally getting where it needs to be so I can possibly uphunt a bit more.

Level 43 now

(DS in offensive with 6x bow, 5x armor, self spelled, wizard spells, COL signs, and 202 dims)
swings a closed fist at you!
AS: +32 vs DS: +349 with AvD: +4 + d100 roll: +75 = -238
A clean miss.

You fire a fiery orange arrow at a tusked ursian!
AS: +307 vs DS: +101 with AvD: +23 + d100 roll: +18 = +247
... and hit for 68 points of damage!
Attack punctures the eye and connects with something really vital!
The tusked ursian collapses heavily into a heap on the ground and dies.
The arrow sticks in a tusked ursian's right eye!

CS with 635

The surroundings advance upon a wood sprite with relentless fury!
CS: +189 - TD: +78 + CvA: +25 + d100: +30 == +166
Warding failed!
One of the thick, cold branches impacts a wood sprite square-on!
... 28 points of damage!
... 35 points of damage!
Hard blow to chest breaking ribs!
Hard to breathe!
The wood sprite is stunned!
... 30 points of damage!
A frigid burst of energy to the stomach leaves the wood sprite reeling.
The surroundings advance upon a forest bendith with relentless fury!
CS: +189 - TD: +106 + CvA: +20 + d100: +79 == +182
Warding failed!
A stout, cold branch crashes down from above, right into a forest bendith!
... 31 points of damage!
... 30 points of damage!
Good blow to head!
The forest bendith is stunned!
... 25 points of damage!
Near miss! Cool blast to the lower back and the forest bendith staggers.
As swiftly as the chaos came to be, it recedes again into the surroundings.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Race: Sylvankind Profession: Ranger (shown as: Hunter)
Gender: Male Age: 0 Expr: 1975108 Level: 43
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 84 (17) ... 84 (17)
Constitution (CON): 86 (18) ... 86 (18)
Dexterity (DEX): 71 (20) ... 71 (20)
Agility (AGI): 81 (20) ... 81 (20)
Discipline (DIS): 89 (14) ... 89 (14)
Aura (AUR): 84 (22) ... 84 (22)
Logic (LOG): 89 (19) ... 89 (19)
Intuition (INT): 80 (15) ... 80 (15)
Wisdom (WIS): 76 (13) ... 76 (13)
Influence (INF): 79 (14) ... 79 (14)

(at level 43), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 120 30
Ranged Weapons.....................| 190 90
Physical Fitness...................| 145 45
Dodging............................| 145 45
Magic Item Use.....................| 54 11
Harness Power......................| 143 43
Spirit Mana Control................| 50 10
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 45 9
Survival...........................| 145 45
Perception.........................| 190 90
Climbing...........................| 120 30
Swimming...........................| 120 30
First Aid..........................| 145 45

Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 20

Spell Lists
Ranger.............................| 40

[complac3ncy]

Leveling up I always use to like to see examples so ill just share mine...

I 2x perception and ambush and wear hauberk at cap as an open archer. Defend disarm and cman's pretty well being 1x in manuevers as well. I guess you could call it the turkey shoot build because that is what most hunts turn into. It's pretty easy and the ranger circle utility spells compliment it nicely, although with this build spells are pretty much just novelty because your ranged attack will take care of most anything except turtled enemies and you'll have plenty of manna for a bunch of spike thorn. Don't need to cast as often=get into some better armor for sure. Once I capped summoning lore I kept training in ranger spells and that is where i'm at today. Once I get about 125 ranger ranks, i'll probably drop MnS down to 20 from 40 and dump the rest into the ranger circle and have around 150 ranger ranks.

IMO its just about adapting to what you hunt to kill it faster. You can usually stick in any given hunting area for 5-10 levels. Thats plenty of time to come up with a plan to adapt to the area to kill the stuff quicker and also be ready to take on the next area by the time learning becomes too slow.

Right now, gunning down enemies with ranged is easy and I learn quick. However, with advanced spell research, the ranger circle will become much more deadly and that will cause my character to change because in my mind with the amount of TP's I currently have, he's trained to be the most efficient hunter in the given area where he hunts. At that point i'll train down from hauberk to brig or possibly even double leather.

Your guy looks fine. I think sticking to one plan is kind of boring or it will certainly get that way more than likely. Train your guy to kill the stuff you hunt faster and adapt, that is the luxury we all have now since you can migrate skills and use fixskills. It hasn't always been that way.