New player (yes really) need some help with my Ranger Build!

[Catts]

I'm Catts ingame. My mom played this when I was like 10...and I remembered it about a month when I got tired of WoW. My trial for my ranger has ended and I'm afraid to spend the points before I figure out a build.

I'm looking for a fun but awesome, elitist build you might say...no fluff. This game is weird...in Wow you'd be considered a dps so the goal would be max damage. Not quite the same here...so maybe max damage, versatility, and survivability.

I've done my research, through these forums mostly..seems rangers have changed a bunch. I went Voln because I found a "Voln Fu" build...but then I learned later there is no Voln Fu anymore. Voln is interesting, I'm not sure what's best for a Ranger. Sunfist or Voln?

I went with the build I found in this thread: http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?76899-New-Ranger

Except I see a ton of extra points left over. Spiritual Mana control, combat maneuvers, seem good. (Although I couldn't figure out which cman to pick...focus? Mastery? Movement...shadow mastery?)

I'm not sure about spiritual summoning , MIU, arcane symbols? So many things to choose from and I'm not sure what I really need.

Anyway here's my current setup ( I really don't know why it cuts and pastes so fouled up)

Catts (at level 28), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 120 30
Ranged Weapons..............| 160 60
Ambush..............................| 114 28
Physical Fitness..................| 117 35
Dodging..............................| 114 28
Harness Power...................| 111 27
Survival...............................| 114 28
Stalking and Hiding.............| 160 60
Perception..........................| 160 60
Climbing..............................| 40 8
Swimming...........................| 25 5
First Aid..............................| 114 14
Survival...............................| 96 28

Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 3

Spell Lists
Ranger.............................| 25

Training Points: 275 Phy 75 Mnt

Name: Catts Race: Elf Profession: Ranger (shown as: Crimson Legion Reservist)
Gender: Male Age: 30 Expr: 900822 Level: 28
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)

Strength (STR): 89 (19) ... 91 (20) (+2 from adventure guild badge...not sure if this worth keeping charged? done it twice now)
Constitution (CON): 59 (4) ... 59 (4)
Dexterity (DEX): 99 (29) ... 99 (29)
Agility (AGI): 79 (29) ... 79 (29)
Discipline (DIS): 80 (0) ... 80 (0)
Aura (AUR): 79 (19) ... 79 (19)
Logic (LOG): 76 (13) ... 76 (13)
Intuition (INT): 89 (19) ... 89 (19)
Wisdom (WIS): 74 (12) ... 74 (12)
Influence (INF): 37 (4) ... 37 (4)
Mana: 34 Silver: 0

And if anyone knows how to copy and paste that better let me know heh...tried bolding it to help. ANY and all advice/criticisms welcome, thanks!

--Catts

[Catts]

Ok so I went on LNET and someone told me halfling rangers are the best...with .5x dodge, no hiding...how would that work? I'm intrigued

[Tgo01]

I've never played a ranger so I can't really comment on much but it's kind of hard to deny that halflings look pretty awesome on paper. Second best natural maunever defense, awesome natural TD, high agility and dex bonuses to help with DS, fastest spirit regen. The only thing they lose out on of course is carrying capacity and physical AS.

[Catts]

Yes , I think encumbrance will be tough for only for a while...I'm trying to get something down as far as a build goes. All I was told was no hiding,

[Tgo01]

No hiding for an archer? I thought hiding was an archer's wet dream?

Again though the only ranged character I had was a cleric so hiding was out of the question for me. I'm sure someone will come along shortly with some advice.

[Whirlin]

Halflings are one of the best races on paper. Netted out, they have +10 bonuses. Some of the newer races (aetoli, krolvins, gnomes) have +15, but then they don't have the other benefits of being a halfling: Maneuver defense (ok, gnomes have that), additional Warding DS.

But there's nothing wrong with being an elf... The only time it'll really come into place will be post cap, once you get full enhancives, and you're looking to have the absolute highest AS you possibly can, a halfling will beat you by like, 5 or 10.

For halflings, their strength suffers, and it makes it difficult (maybe impossible?) to use a longbow at minimum RT. But recent tests show that composite bows are pretty much on par with longbows except again.. plate? I think. I'm sure someone will fact check me on that one. And of course, enhancives can make up that difference.

However, that would also require a character reroll. Entirely up to you. It'd probably take about 2 months of scripting/heavy hunting to get back to where you are now. Worth it in the longrun, but for just a little statistical difference.

As far as your training, a couple things stand out:
Your skills are actually slightly undertrained. You have level 0 and next level training available to you. So Ambush, Dodge, and Survival (on there twice btw), should be at 30 ranks. Similarly, you're 2 spells under trained. You could snag those. I recommend getting up to Wall of Thorns in the ranger circle... Maybe stopping to get 107 along the way, but that's a preference.

Physical Fitness is a bit overtrained... you can bring that down to 30 ranks, in line with 1x with all of your other skills... Or rather than reallocating, just don't train in it for a couple levels while it evens out. No reason to go through skill reallocation if it's gonna be a burden.

Harness Power should be at level... so 1 more rank in that. Training next level and level 0 in Harness Power only nets you 1 mana... so keeping it at level is your best bet.

Maybe a couple more ranks of Climbing/swimming... 10 ranks in each will last you until 70ish, then you'll need 40-50 ranks in each of them before 80/90ish to get into some of the capped hunting grounds. But you can worry about those later. As you train, your stats will go up, and you'll be getting more TP per level, so you can dump those supplemental points there later.

If you still have points left over, the only other thing I could think of would be to dump the rest into either a Lore, a mana control, or combat maneuvers. But that's entirely up to you... Here are the strengths:

Mana control: +1 Mana per 10 ranks... Lots to train in to get it... I think it increases the potency of imbue (614) as well. At 25 ranks, you can multicast twice, which helps out spelling yourself or others up. 25 ranks is probably as high as I'd go with that though, because that gives you over 100% sharing potential.

I think Blessing Lores are good for rangers, iirc, they increase 601 potency as well as a couple other things. Maybe 613? No access to krakii at the moment, but you can look that up, If you do a google search for Gemstone Lore Benefits, you'll find a fancy chart and determine how high you'd want to take lores as well.

Combat maneuvers can do a variety of things. They'll help maneuver defense (I think they still do) which are things like bandits' special attacks, and will become more prevalent at later levels. You can then spend CMAN points on things like additional DS, TD, or some shiney actions... Word of advice though... don't get MFire... You can't aim with it, so aiming your shots ends up being much better. But training in things like Disarm, Cheapshot, Sweep, etc, will help your ability to defend against them.

[Catts]

ah really good info ! Thanks so much.. and I did reroll a halfling. I also like the idea of a halfling since they're easier for me to RP...Vaalor elves and the Legion are just not my personality, I'm much more goofy

Given me some really good info to think about. Currently level 5 on my halfling...His stats are all screwy so I can absorb more exp , but I've 30 days to figure that out.

I kinda like the idea of no hiding, and maybe getting lots more spirit spells and Cmans instead...relying on wall of thorns. These are just tidbits I snagged from lnet. I'm going to do a bit more research then put down a solid plan here for critique....like the 1x 2x things. Course if anyone has one I'd be more than curious

[Drew]

Being a halfling is fun but the encumbrance thing is going to be a pain your whole life, halflings actually get double penalties for encumbrance (it's pretty complicated but suffice it to say you will always have to travel light). Being an open archer with no hiding is fine, and is the most popular way for capped archer rangers to train. Next time Ryan or Max sign online I'll direct them to this thread because they are pretty much the ranger archer experts.

[Catts]

Ah thank you that'd be perfect...I think I'm willing to deal with the encumbrance. I'm already having a lot more fun RP'n with him...

What really sucks is I went to transfer all my gear/items/ zesty things ...but being a dumb new idiot I didn't realize dropping items to mule them doesn't work in this game

POOF

Also that LOTR sig is hilarious haha

[Drew]

Ah thank you that'd be perfect...I think I'm willing to deal with the encumbrance. I'm already having a lot more fun RP'n with him...

What really sucks is I went to transfer all my gear/items/ zesty things ...but being a dumb new idiot I didn't realize dropping items to mule them doesn't work in this game

POOF

Also that LOTR sig is hilarious haha


Yep you're not the first person to have their items poof. Usually you can just ask a stranger to hold them, especially if you put everything in 1 pack beforehand and you don't have anything too valuable. It's always worked for me.

Another method is to have both characters in the same exact room as you want to transfer, drop all the items to the ground and then login your other character. The login from the same account will kick the first character but the one you want to transfer to will basically appear instantly in the same room and usually the janitor won't strike that quickly.

[nocturnix]

Can i just interject:

We have a second generation player here. May I ask when you were born? Next achievement: a player who was born after the game was created. Maybe you even win this achievement!

Anyways, I have tears of joy right now...tears. Of...joy.

And also feeling old. Tears of feeling old too.

OK maybe i can add something useful: i didnt read every reply so sorry if I am repeating. IMO Voln is pretty awesome for rangers. Being able to hunt undead and bless your own arrows, decent AS/DS boosts, and of course fogging and seeking are pretty sweet. If you plan to hunt undead in any fashion I think voln is a no brainer for a ranger. I dont know that much about sunfist however, but I think it makes more sense at higher levels due to difficulty of warcamps. But I could be wrong. Have you mastered voln already?

OH and also, let me know if you need anything in game. Happy to help a genuine new player out.

[Whirlin]

I recommend a hiding build for a ranger. I also recommend a full 1x dodging, none of this .5x stuff.

The .5x dodge, no hiding seems more like a rogue archer build, aiming to get Redux and plate ASAP... Rangers CAN go that high, but only if you never want to cast anything, ever.

The strength of hiding really comes in when you use 608. Camo can stay active for more shots if you're able to stay hidden. It's already a nice AS boost... having it for multiple arrows is just spiffy.

Regarding halflingness... Drew definitely know what he's talking about... Halflings really do suffer pretty greatly with the low strength, and low armor lightening benefits and such. I recommend making an womanly alt, using the alt cybering with a warrior, and getting a massive warrior-made sheath out of it. Look up Jeril... I think he's a warrior...

Or you can just pay a warrior... either way. Warrior-made sheaths (can also be made quivers) reduce the weight of all items (can only put weapons/ammo in them) in them by 2 pounds. This ends up making bundles of 34 arrows weightless. So shove a couple bundles of 34 in there, and BAM, weightless arrows. Or be lazy, keep stacks of 100, and they'll still weigh less... I don't care, do what you want.

[Whirlin]

Ohh... right... voln... I never chimed in on that.

You're gonna be a halfling! Halflings have the fastest spirit recovery (tied with a couple) of all the races. It's something like, 3 times as fast as the spirit recovery you got with your elf.

This opens up the COL as an alternative. Voln offers a ton of utility abilities, such as blessing and stuff, I think some fogging, and some special thinking whatnots. GOS offers some padding and stuff that I dunno if it works with arrows, also a lot of warcamp stuff, which may be on the more difficult side without being trained in CMANs... I dunno... COL offers the highest AS/DS boost, but arguably the least outside of the AS/DS boost. All depends on what you want... the krakii articles have a lot of info on the different signs, symbols, and GOS-nonsense stuff on them.

[Catts]

I'm 28 actually, so that's '84. My mom played a char called Tizzrah (Labandita)..a bard I think. She's the creator and writer of the elanthian love songs (http://members.tripod.com/michelle_osullivan/elanthianlovesongs/id2.html) page. Most of those poems are about her husband, who she met in GS, and has been married to for like...12 years now?


Ah now I'm questioning if I should level up another guy to 28...and, I'm not mastered in Voln yet, no...I'm on step 19 or 20 out of the 25, so I havent tried fogging yet, I'm not sure how that works but...the excuse to avoid having to bless arrows might be welcome, because sorting blessed arrows from ones that have worn off is a nightmare.

As far as hiding goes, it can be kind of fun...but even with max points in it it's tough to stay hidden unless it's a dumb ogre or something. I'm not sure if late 20's are a rough patch for rangers but , I've died a lot in the last 5 levels...more than the ten prior. This game seems heavily reliant on pure defense vs offense...meaning chance to get hit vs mitigating damage...and on that note, it seems like you have to stance dance. Because regardless of armor if something does manage to hit you in offensive , it's 6 rounds of stun and a level 3 bleeder sometimes. I suppose that's more realistic than mitigating damage, but it makes for fearful hunting relying solely on the ability to stay hidden, and not get caught in offensive (which I've had a lot of trouble with lately).


And thank you all for your insight and welcomes! Very inviting and atypical environment for a mmo :)

[Catts]

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[Vorpodu]

Google Gemstone 4 stat cruncher and you will get what you need to maximize your stats for level 100. Useful tool. Figure I'd chime in about the ranger build. Pretty sure you want to be hiding as a Ranger since you get a lot of bonuses to it, especially for archery with Camo. Open archery is better left to heavy armor wearers (ie warrior/rogues) or a semi like a bard, who will be able to use song of tonis to open fire arrows in 1 second rt. Just my opinion take is as you will.

Aside from that, welcome to the wonderful world of Gemstone!

[Catts]

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[Whirlin]

Depends on your goal for stats... There are three ways you can view stat placement:
1) Max out important skills early on... Make your life easiest at the beginning, start with lots of TPs... Kinda slows down at higher levels.
2) Mid-Tier growth... Key stats start maxing out around 60ish. Little shorter on TPs at the beginning, more towards the end.
3) Perfect stats. All stats placed to maximize growth, ideally should max out at level 100, and not a level sooner. Lowest TP gains.

There are also fixstats potions which run about 40m. Expensive, yes... but if you're manually hunting and doing bounties, you may be able to afford one once you get to cap, or soon after.

[Rolis]

Or you can just pay a warrior... either way. Warrior-made sheaths (can also be made quivers) reduce the weight of all items (can only put weapons/ammo in them) in them by 2 pounds. This ends up making bundles of 34 arrows weightless. So shove a couple bundles of 34 in there, and BAM, weightless arrows. Or be lazy, keep stacks of 100, and they'll still weigh less... I don't care, do what you want.

Warrior-made sheaths have been updated! The weight of all existing sheaths created via WTRICK SHEATHM have been retroactively reduced to half a pound. All new sheaths crafted via Warrior Tricks will also weigh half a pound.

In addition, warrior-made sheaths will also reduce the effective weight of each weapon contained within by 2 pounds, to a minimum effective weight of half a pound. For example, if you place a 10 pound greatsword into a warrior sheath, it will be treated as if it weighed 8 pounds. A 2 pound dagger would be treated as if it weighed half a pound. This weight reduction will only apply to weapons placed into the sheath, not to any other type of item.

Coase

[Catts]

Depends on your goal for stats...

I figured I could use the 5 chances they give you in the first 30 days to make leveling faster...maybe using that calculator to keep optimizing for level 10, 15, 20...etc, depending on how many levels I can get in the 30 day period. And then use a build that'll make the leveling easier...maybe just doubling up on dodge, armor ranks....extra points to survival, first and and trading for skin money.

Then once I have to pick something I think I'd prefer #2 on your list. Seems like that's where a lot of people might plateau and spend a lot of time in the 60 to 100 than they did 1 to 60? I've no idea really.

Ahhh too many choices. I'm so use to just crunching numbers on a build and having something objective that proved "Here is your most baddass (Class) of Doom!"

Although I do like that tidbit about the sheaths, thanks Rolis...I need to find one.

[Catts]

Bleh although I'd love to have a halfling ranger instead of an elf at 28, after playing the halfling for a while, makes me realize how much I don't feel like leveling 1-28 again, heh.

Problem is i don't feel like playing the elf either since I destroyed all his items!

[Aluvius]

Yeah I wouldn't relevel after 28 either unless it was to make a new class. Where is your elf? I'm sure people wouldn't mind setting you up with some 4x gear.

Open archery as a ranger is perfectly viable, whichever you choose will work great though I'd chime in with hiding being the more optimal choice for hunting.

The good news is that at 28 you've just started to hit the point where things will start to get a bit easier and your tp's will start to open up a bit. 20-30 is probably the hardest time in the game for most any class. 30-40 is much easier. 40-50 you start to realize how much of a badass you can be at hunting. 50+ its almost a whole new game.

[Catts]

he's in the landing to pay for an auction which I don't need at all now but I'm not going to back out lol

[Catts]

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[Tgo01]

For me carrying capacity isn't that big of a deal. Disks are usually easy to come by so you can stow boxes, rangers get Phoen's Strength which helps carrying capacity. Just travel light and empty your pockets after each hunt.

[Aluvius]

Yeah it depends on play style. Myself I will end a fucking hunt to pick up another box so halflings while definitely monsters on paper are a race I just can't roll. :)

[BriarFox]

Your build looks pretty good. If you want a purely offensive build with good DS, do:

2x ranged
2x perception
2x ambush
1x dodge

If you want to be a sniper and shoot from hiding, you won't be able to do 2x ambush most likely, but you could do the above build with 1x ambush and 2x hiding. Sniping is very effective in the mid-levels, and especially from about 20-50 when your DS as an archer is still a bit low. Keep your dodge training at 1x and your ranger ranks up near your level and you'll be pretty good on DS in general, though.

You may also want to consider jumping into a heavier armor class to help with being hit, especially if you decide to just shoot from the open. 50 ranks of Armor Use will put you in double chain, which is a good intermediate choice for an open archer since it covers the torso and arms with a chain crit divisor and gives a chain DF to the rest of the body.

As for society, I'd recommend GoS. You'll find that it complements a ranger's abilities very well, and that sigil of determination is fantastic if you break an arm but want to keep hunting.

If you do go halfling, by the way, just invest in some strength enhancives, on your badge or otherwise.

In any case, you're definitely on the right track here.

[Catts]

Thanks a ton for the tips... I didn't realize ambush helped when you weren't hiding actually. One thing I'll have to keep in mind is I don't have a pocket mage and a second account like some rangers do heh, so I'll have to be pretty viable solo.

As for society, my halfing is level 8 right now (I got one to level 6 then rerolled because I didn't like his name lol)

You are a member in the Council of Light at rank 5.

You have learned and are able to use the following abilities:
Sign of Recognition
Signal
Sign of Warding
Sign of Striking
Sign of Clotting

GoS does seem pretty fun, but without hiding I feel like I'll get pretty mauled. I've seen some corpses after people die in warcamps (which is a lot)...death's sting is really annoying to me so I dunno, might hold off on GoS till like, the 50s

[BriarFox]

CoL is definitely easier. You can always start with CoL and then switch to GoS later if you decide to.

Ambush adds to your ranged AS at 1 AS per 4 ranks over 40. It also helps you aim while sniping. The difference at level 100 of 202 ranks of ambush is 40 AS, which some people find not to be worth the 900/900 training point cost. If you want to maximize your AS, though, that's the way to go. You could skip it early and pick it back up later.

By the way, if you haven't seen my archery guide, it's here: http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?49785-quot-The-Art-of-the-Bow-quot-GSIV-Archery-Guide (it's on Krakiipedia, too, but this version is updated).

[Catts]

CoL is definitely easier. You can always start with CoL and then switch to GoS later if you decide to.

My only concern is someone said there's a bunch of steps that are easier if you start them earlier..I'll have to see. CoL seems pretty nice just kinda a lame story, like they made the society up in 5 minutes...unless it gets better?

And that archery guide is brilliant!

[TheLastShamurai]

My only concern is someone said there's a bunch of steps that are easier if you start them earlier..I'll have to see. CoL seems pretty nice just kinda a lame story, like they made the society up in 5 minutes...unless it gets better?

And that archery guide is brilliant!

Just be aware they made some changes a few years back, and you can no longer just linger on a particular task or they'll demote you.

[BriarFox]

CoL's problem is that it's a lame duck. The UnDeath concept on which it was based no longer exists, and hasn't for almost 20 years. Really useful abilities, though.

Some of the steps in GoS are easier at lower levels, especially razing the warcamps, fighting the champions, and so forth, because with a few mass spells and such, you'll be way more powerful than the Grimswarm you're fighting. It's no real concern, though.

[Catts]

I think I may just try it then...because I can already tell I'm going to be absolutely sick of escorting children by level 40.

[Rhovan]

Just get some spells and you can solo a warcamp very quickly as an archer while you are young. At the time I was 2x in hiding and I didn't even bother. Just make sure you take out any other archers first!

[Catts]

as tempting as it is, there's not a lot of mages around Vaalor, and I hate asking for spells anyway. Plus I'm already step 9 in CoL...I guess I'll just wait

[SpiffyJr]

Ah thank you that'd be perfect...I think I'm willing to deal with the encumbrance. I'm already having a lot more fun RP'n with him...

What really sucks is I went to transfer all my gear/items/ zesty things ...but being a dumb new idiot I didn't realize dropping items to mule them doesn't work in this game

POOF

Also that LOTR sig is hilarious haha

Don't listen to all these encumbrance QQ'ers. As a ranger you will get access to 606 and once you get some max light augmented chain it'll help a bit as well. You can *easily* carry your container, arrows, bow, a satchel of herbs, and a few boxes per hunt with no problems. Just don't go ape shit on fluff and you'll be fine.

[SpiffyJr]

So I was doing some googling and I finally found something on a halfling ranger

http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?63921-L57-Halfling-Ranger

Is there any way of figuring out what his starting stats were? Luckily I'm already step 4 in CoL so that works.

Sadly though, this rogue/archer build really seems fun too...I'd be trading skinning/foraging for picking, though...and of course, no spells:

(4th post down by Gan)

http://forum.gsplayers.com/archive/index.php/t-23008.html

That's my Ranger and his stats aren't set for cap (which you want to do).

[Catts]

Ah! That's funny...once I get down my thirty days I'm going to set stats at (in order): 73, 62, 30, 62, 77, 82, 85, 62, 62, 65 (courtesy of Fiba)

[SpiffyJr]

Ah! That's funny...once I get down my thirty days I'm going to set stats at (in order): 73, 62, 30, 62, 77, 82, 85, 62, 62, 65 that should be cap according to that calc posted earlier

nvm: I'll take it up IG.

[Catts]

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[Androidpk]

Getting to cap certainly can take quite awhile BUT if you do think you'll be playing this game for a couple of years or longer then setting stats to cap might not be such a bad idea. Sure you can buy a fixstat potion for 30-35m or save up 1 million bounty points but you could also buy yourself some pretty nice gear too instead.

And yes, RT can be pretty ridiculous at times. I failed a warding spell pretty badly the other day against bind and was locked up for a good 2 minutes before it wore off.

[Catts]

wow 30 mill...that's good info there thank ya. I have a few more weeks to decide on that I guess. I just keep seeing something about "the annual fixskills" so I wasn't sure if that was a free one?

ok now I don't feel so bad ...I've just never played a game where something your level can make you worthless for that long...and there's abs nothing you can do about it lol...

[Drew]

Fixskills let's you change your skills, once your stats are set they can't be changed except with that potion. I once set my stats for lower level power but I eventually regretted it. The truth is that the difference between early power stats and cap growth stats are not that severe, I would always set a new character for cap. The only exception I would make is for a halfling I'd make sure my strength was at least 80 to start with, but it's such a slow grower that you might have to do that for cap optimized anyway.

[Catts]

So I've gotten a ton of help and referred to just about all the replies in this thread several times BUT...wonderin if I can pick some brains again. I'm used to tons of documentation on game mechanics, Googling and searching this forum (you may have noticed some old dusty threads, sorry about that). With games like WoW there's absolutely no mystery bout how things work, but this one's quite different.

ANYWAY on animal companions I found this site: http://drfuturepast.com/GSIV/GECP/

I'm havin a tough time with the idea that whatever I chose is gonna be a permanent decision...since my halfling ranger (Stanczyk) isn't really developed RP'wise and pets seem like a great RP source. I just haven't had time to think about how I want to RP him and who he's gonna become, and I picked this game to try to develop some RP skills, not because I have any.

As far as the species go, I see there's pretty much 3 mechanics you can do: DRAG, NUDGE, and MESSAGE

I'm wondering if there's any rangers about that use these often? I don't really understand what they do. I've an idea...but like with drag...is that items/people? Can you message someone from Illistim if you're in Vaalor? And I'm lost on what nudge means.

I like the idea of a small pet like a ferret since I'm a little halfling, but I saw a thread that says you get a dex bonus if you've a canine companion, which to me seems like it'd be the hands down winner?

I thought about askin on lnet but I tend to get torn apart whenever I ask noob questions (that channel can get nastier than any wow channel I've ever seen lol). I also feel like I'm abusin silverwood manor's silver bell and the mentors are gettin tired of me haha. I don't wanna ruin my discovery of the game , but the fact that it's a permanent decision is why I decided to post here.

I'm curious what pets any rangers have, or any they wish they'd gotten...or why they chose that companion.

[Ryvicke]

Animal Companions are most useful for RP purposes--definitely give the decision some time. The good news is you're not missing anything mechanically from not having one as soon as you turn 30.

Probably the best benefit AC's can offer are the bonuses they give to the assume aspect spell. All the bonuses on the play.net site are enhanced by having the corresponding type of AC (i.e. rodents will add a bonus to the benefits of porcupine, rat. Canine's add a benefit to wolf, cats to lion, avians to owl etc.) That's where that nice DEX bonus comes in. Aspect of the wolf adds a pretty decent DEX bonus as it is, but if you have a canine companion it will add a decent bit more. This doesn't really come into play hunting-wise until 70ish as maintaining 650 and it's 25 mana refresh every two minutes isn't easy at lower levels. Rodents add a nice bonus to porcupine.

But even if you choose a canine specifically you'll only get that bonus for 6 out of every 10 minutes you hunt. At a cost of 150 mana, so it's something to think about, but it's not game-breaking powerful or anything.

The DRAG function helps you drag bodies (and gives them wounds, I believe). The NUDGE function is near to useless, unless you're nudging cute things into rooms that you're not in and everyone says "omg look at that cute thing nudging cute things around." Avian messaging can go anywhere, I believe, unless the person is hidden or unable to be located.

I have a muzzlerat. It was exactly what I wanted RP-wise at the time and I don't regret it.

[Androidpk]

How is it a permanent choice? If you don't end up liking it just get a different one.

[Kastrel]

I thought that once you were bonded with it, you couldn't get another one. You can turn it away when you summon it out of the woods, but thats pretty much your last chance.

[BriarFox]

ACs have different mechanical benefits in their special abilities, their combat abilities, and their 650 bonuses. That said, please do choose for RP, because you only get one shot. There is *no* way to change an AC once you've bonded to it.

[Dendum]

Rodents actually seem really good for mechanics, I could be wrong but it just seems with aspect and thorns it would provide most rangers with the most benefit most of the time.
That being said I took a bird for rp reasons and I like it just fine, but if you want a rodent anyway I do not think mechanics wise it will be a huge loss.

[Catts]

But even if you choose a canine specifically you'll only get that bonus for 6 out of every 10 minutes you hunt. At a cost of 150 mana, so it's something to think about, but it's not game-breaking powerful or anything.

That's pretty much exactly the info I was lookin for, thanks a ton for explaining everything. I didn't even think about the mana cost.



... please do choose for RP, because you only get one shot. There is *no* way to change an AC once you've bonded to it.

Yeah I think I will definitely take some time to figure it out ...Thanks again for the replies!

(idle pondering below)

The drag function of a wolf seems to be a bit useful, and I bet you could do some evil RP stuff chewin up and draggin corpses heh...but I don't think my guy's gonna lean that way.

The idea of a bird sending a message somewhere is really appealing, since I don't have premium to meet up in FWI for trades, and I find there's a lot of good rpers who aren't on lnet. I just wonder how far it can go...and if you can observe stuff when you get there.

I think the RP choice would be some kind of mink/mongoose or ferret though, since it seems to fit well with a little energetic halfling. Also I didn't even think about what Dendum said...and since I don't have hiding that's somethin to consider...

[Dendum]

That's pretty much exactly the info I was lookin for, thanks a ton for explaining everything. I didn't even think about the mana cost.




Yeah I think I will definitely take some time to figure it out ...Thanks again for the replies!

(idle pondering below)

The drag function of a wolf seems to be a bit useful, and I bet you could do some evil RP stuff chewin up and draggin corpses heh...but I don't think my guy's gonna lean that way.

The idea of a bird sending a message somewhere is really appealing, since I don't have premium to meet up in FWI for trades, and I find there's a lot of good rpers who aren't on lnet. I just wonder how far it can go...and if you can observe stuff when you get there.

I think the RP choice would be some kind of mink/mongoose or ferret though, since it seems to fit well with a little energetic halfling. Also I didn't even think about what Dendum said...and since I don't have hiding that's somethin to consider...

If I recall the drag function is limited in the same areas player drag is limited, that is you can not drag over ice spots neither can the canine, the avian message is not bound and can go anywhere in the world as long as the target is outdoors and not under a spell effect that prohibits location. Information about location from pets is very very limited you will get the room name if you are lucky and more often than not the area name, sometimes this is helpful sometimes...like in the case of upper trollsfang the area needed to be searched would still be huge, you do not get any kind of familiar window information where you see the room through the familiars eyes.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that Simu once said something about player mail... I hope they take into consideration the avian companions and give them something else if they ever do such a player mail system, not that it is a sure thing they would get around to it....ever...but we said that about monks once upon a time as well.

I believe rodents are the best in combat? But that is probably the difference between being really really bad in combat and just really bad in combat as I almost never take the time to type out :tell comp to attack *target* because they are dead well before the companion gets around to doing anything.

http://drfuturepast.com/GSIV/GECP/

The above link is helpful in finding the look of the pet you want or knowing where to find what.

[SpiffyJr]

The primary factory (besides RP) for picking a companion is the effects on 650. Dragging from a canine can be handy if you're a small race, though.

[Drew]

Also worth mentioning is the fact that Simu once said something about player mail... I hope they take into consideration the avian companions and give them something else if they ever do such a player mail system, not that it is a sure thing they would get around to it....ever...but we said that about monks once upon a time as well.



LOL you're cute.

[Dendum]

LOL you're cute.

Hey,

I thought people were joking when I came back and they were talking about monks in game.

[Catts]

Thanks a bunch Dendum...answered a few other little questions I had about it. I think it's down to rodent or canine. I really like how birds get a tone more variety to their ambient messaging...and they seem better. Always makes me chuckle when I see "canine wags his tail!" oh boy! But I really like the idea of having a dog to help drag since it takes ages with a halfling...and the damage/650 utility of a rodent and RP that'd be fun with a ferret.


The primary factory (besides RP) for picking a companion is the effects on 650. Dragging from a canine can be handy if you're a small race, though.
I'm curious what you chose on your halfling?

[cwolff]

I didn't read all the posts, but I am wondering if you completely avoided the VolnFu build? It's not dead at all, you just have get good at UCS. It offers the non GOS archer the ability to finish hunts when injured to the point that you can't cast or shoot AND it's great on everything that arrows are weak on.

You were talking about an elite build. How'd you end up defining that and what'd that mean for your skills?

[Asha]

My wolf has never ever been able to drag shit. Players, boxes, corpses.. nothing.

[Catts]

.

[SpiffyJr]

Thanks a bunch Dendum...answered a few other little questions I had about it. I think it's down to rodent or canine. I really like how birds get a tone more variety to their ambient messaging...and they seem better. Always makes me chuckle when I see "canine wags his tail!" oh boy! But I really like the idea of having a dog to help drag since it takes ages with a halfling...and the damage/650 utility of a rodent and RP that'd be fun with a ferret.


I'm curious what you chose on your halfling?

On my own I picked a mongoose. On Prime, where I bought the guy, he came with an avian.

[Catts]

On my own I picked a mongoose. On Prime, where I bought the guy, he came with an avian.

Yeah I was really tempted with a rodent companion but I've since learned they don't have the DPS advantages they used to

[SpiffyJr]

Yeah I was really tempted with a rodent companion but I've since learned they don't have the DPS advantages they used to

They never had a DPS advantage. I've always thought it was just more of a chance to land the crits.

[Catts]

They never had a DPS advantage. I've always thought it was just more of a chance to land the crits.

maybe that's what it was then? I was talking to droit and he said something about how rodent pets were better combatants but they "fixed" that...course it's really hard to find anything like patch notes with this game lol...so I don't know how he learned that

[Drew]

I will say, being used to playing a hunter in WoW, my first impression of animal companions was that they're kind of useless. Although on bandit tasks she actually will react pretty quickly if they get a stun on me...she saved my life for sure yesterday as I was down to 8 health and she got two stuns off on them....barely made it out of there.

Enjoy this while you can, after about level 50 your companion won't do anything while you're stunned (except maybe to bandits who are pretty susceptible to being stunned), creatures just have too much resistance to stuns and the comp won't do any damage to them.

[Rolis]

Not near my computer but someone did some research a while back about ACs. Going off memory - wolfs/dogs had disarms, birds had call wind type abilities, cat types had a pounce/knock down and rodents attacked creatures in the eyes with theor teeth - peircing attacks which woulx result in deaths more frequent than other ACs and i think some ACs dont ever land crits that kills. Then again, this is all from memory and i have never toyed with the AC mechanics so some of it may be inaccurate.

[Catts]

Enjoy this while you can, after about level 50 your companion won't do anything while you're stunned (except maybe to bandits who are pretty susceptible to being stunned), creatures just have to much resistance to stuns and the comp won't do any damage to them.
BOOOOO! oh well...


.... rodents attacked creatures in the eyes with theor teeth - peircing attacks which woulx result in deaths more frequent than other ACs...

ahh that makes sense...I know the cat killed something once and it said "grey matter spills forth" but I'm not sure if it was a one-shot kill

[AestheticDeath]

wait... what happened to Voln Fu?

[Androidpk]

Monks.

[Catts]

Just to follow up here's the stats at 40...it's pretty great.

[Dendum]

Your ability to fit 20 of MS and 40 of the base + your high armor by 40 is pretty impressive, I loose a lot to stalk/hide and ambush it seems.

[Catts]

.

[Whirlin]

Took me a while to notice..

Ambushing and hiding.

Ambushing: Even if you don't hide... it's a straight Ranged AS boost, just like perception. I'd recommend it. Kinda just losing out on AS by not training in it.

Hiding, yes... subjective, and it does make attacking slower. HOWEVER, as a ranger, with 608, it will allow your AS bonus to persist to potentially additional attacks.

SMC is a bit more than just haste imbeds and mana... It's also about helping mana capacity of imbue and such. Therefore, everyone can win. Also, it helps you get more spells more easily from other people that can take spiritual mana.

Not sure why you bothered with First Aid... I mean, sure... money and everything... but at the sacrifice of ability to hunt with skills like ambushing... just doesn't seem worth it. Maybe it's a matter of level, but I'd rather have +1 AS than 1m from skins.

[Catts]

yeah I do love skins ..I guess my logic is it helps me afford enhancives heh, but if I got 1x ambush, isn't that only like 3 AS? As CoL and halfling I just don't seem to have a problem with AS. I mean if I need to I can web or spirit strike but usually cases where I feel like I need more AS is when the critter is wearing plate or is puncture resistant (kiramon), which AS isn't going to help with anyway.

It's more the fact that without wizard strength, I still take 5 secs to fire a short bow from the open (aiming). So hiding just sounds like a nightmare to me. I didn't consider that about SMC though, although I'm really just looking to max his output and $ rather than utility since honestly, most people seem to be near to capped than not, and there's no shortage of imbeded items on the market, or rangers for that matter.

[Whirlin]

You're not making much sense in your arguments. You're looking to maximize his output, but not his AS? I know your gear isn't that great yet, so I can accept the first aid training for skins.

Hiding and ambushing are both offensive and defensive abilities. What's holding you back from hunting 20 levels above you? AS? DS? Ambushing will increase your AS, hiding will increase your survivability, making DS less important. Ambushing adds AS for every 4 ranks above 40 ranks, exact same as perception. You can (and should work towards) 2x in it. if you were 2x in it now, it'd be +11 AS at your current level, and +40 at level 100.

Think about the price difference between like, 9x and 10x gear. Now imagine you had a way of getting an additional +40 AS on top of that and how much you'd pay for it...

Furthermore, Rangers are really built for hiding. 601, whatever spell sneaking is, etc... they all help with hiding. 608 insta-hides you and keeps a persistent AS bonus until you're unhidden. If you ever decide to pick up CMANs, there are also some hiding ones there too.

If you want to make the most out of Wizard's strength, then you should look into MIU and SMC to make better wands/rods/bracelets/anklets to get 509 imbeds that'll last longer... Unless youre premme. Premmes can usually get to FWI and get spellups relatively easily. Additionally, I don't know too much about Semis and Spellburt, but you should take a look into Spellburst equations and make sure you have enough extra mana potential.

[Catts]

.

[SpiffyJr]

...

Your skills look perfect for level 40 and with the high armor, halfling ETD, and large spells you're probably never getting touched. That's virtually identical to how I built my Ranger on Shattered for maximum ease while AFK. It looks like you're bumping up your dodge which isn't really necessary (and EXPENSIVE) until later. Personally, I'd start working on 1x CMAN (defense), 2x PF (semi-dux), 50 ranger ranks, 1x ambush (AS), lore (myriad of benefits) - in that order. As you get higher you'll start to worry about things like disarm and 3-4 ranks + cunning defense can really help that. I wouldn't start working on hiding until *after* that and only if you have nothing else to train in, especially since you aren't in GoS.

[BriarFox]

Your skills look perfect for level 40 and with the high armor, halfling ETD, and large spells you're probably never getting touched. That's virtually identical to how I built my Ranger on Shattered for maximum ease while AFK. It looks like you're bumping up your dodge which isn't really necessary (and EXPENSIVE) until later. Personally, I'd start working on 1x CMAN (defense), 2x PF (semi-dux), 50 ranger ranks, 1x ambush (AS), lore (myriad of benefits) - in that order. As you get higher you'll start to worry about things like disarm and 3-4 ranks + cunning defense can really help that. I wouldn't start working on hiding until *after* that and only if you have nothing else to train in, especially since you aren't in GoS.

^

I like the 1x dodge, though.

[Dendum]

I guess by output I was thinking just overall effectiveness in hunting. Although I'm not sure why I would, but my biggest concern hunting something 20 trains over me would be some kinda special attack getting me. With only wizard spells and the companion guarding he's got 520 in defense, so I do alright that way. I was thinking maybe lores would offer a lot towards 607 (sounds) [doesn't] which I use a ton, and 635/616.

But you're saying hiding/ambushing maybe even cmans would offer a lot. I think I'm just having way more fun with this halfling than I did with the stalking/hiding hunting of the elf ranger who I played to 28. From what I gathered, hiding doesn't ever jump in levels of effectiveness...there's always going to be creatures that'll find you (animals/undead), and I remember the annoyance of casting 608 and only getting a shot or two off before I was either spotted or the damn creature walked off.

That said I did notice around level 40 the ranger suddenly got a lot better at hunting without wizard spells, so I'm sure there's a compounding synergy between hiding/ambush/cmans. I don't think 400 PTPs is enough to pick them up 2x yet but at least it's a long term goal.

and again thank ya for your tips

My Gnome Ranger, at 40 normally gets 10 or so shots (assuming there is 10 things to shoot at) before pulling out of hiding with camo, this is against like level grimswarm trolls (who I believe are less perceptive than orcs but more than giants), that being said Hiding is a PTP intensive way to go, I have no lore, no spirit spells (well I have the first one), the bare minimum of magic item use skill...

I wouldn't recommend it just for mechanical benefits, I assume your spells and armor will probably balance out in survival when all is said and done, but for me it is almost as much part of the RP of that character as it is a way of hunting. The AS boost from camo is pretty extreme though, add that to sigils and I can often one shot anything...with sigils even plate wearing grimswarm.

[Catts]

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[SpiffyJr]

For some reason I misread dodge as being 50 something ranks. I'm going to change my original skillup order to put 1x dodge BEFORE everything else. It's that good.

[Catts]

For some reason I misread dodge as being 50 something ranks. I'm going to change my original skillup order to put 1x dodge BEFORE everything else. It's that good.

I was confused on what you meant by 3-4 ranks of disarm and cunning defense....but there it is in kraki (http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/Disarm_Weapon):
[Disarm Weapon] also provides defense against being disarmed, which is the main reason many professions choose to train in this skill.

Didn't realize that, pretty cool

[Czeska]

I'd just like to interject that if you're ever missing elemental spells (aside from times when you will later encounter spell burst), it's not. My. Fault.

[Taernath]

Maybe I missed it, but what are you hunting at 40 Catts? I fixskilled my OHE ambush ranger that I haven't played since 2003 into an archer, so I could use some advice. Also, what cmans are you using?

[spraggeth]

What do your stats look like?

[Catts]

.