Ranger/Archery questions and discussion

[Harrier]

Heyo folks, I'm finally getting back into GS, and had a couple questions with regards to my training.

Here's me currently:


Harrier (at level 25), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 120 30
Combat Maneuvers...................| 70 15
Ranged Weapons.....................| 154 54
Ambush.............................| 105 25
Physical Fitness...................| 120 30
Dodging............................| 58 12
Harness Power......................| 105 25
Survival...........................| 150 50
Stalking and Hiding................| 150 50
Perception.........................| 154 54
Climbing...........................| 105 25
Swimming...........................| 66 14
First Aid..........................| 105 25

Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 1

Spell Lists
Ranger.............................| 25
Training Points: 114 Phy 17 Mnt
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)



Now, on to the questions.

1) Sniping vs. Open Ambushing

I've always kind of gravitated towards sniping, but through the course of playing so far have found it to be a waste of time. I get seen sniping quite often, even with 608. I find timing a stance dance from the open to be both faster and safer... is there a threshold where this will change? Because currently it has me reconsidering hiding entirely.

2) Armor type

Most Rangers I see are in Brig, though I see a lot of higher level Rangers using Aug.Chain. I've got a ton of extra Physical TPs, and am not that far off from using Aug as long as I don't cast much in combat (which I don't). My current brig is SWCP, but I'm wondering if I'll see noticeable survivability increase if I go to Aug. I often hear 'wait till cap' for Aug, but really don't understand that sentiment. Why not get it by 40 if I can?

3) CMAN/Dodging

Kind of a complicated bunch of questions here, I guess the TL:DR is what kind of training should I do for these two skills? I hear Ranger CMANS suck, and I should get Smastery if I'm going to be a sniper, but not worry about it otherwise. How much CMAN should I get for maneuver defense? Just enough to master Disarm? Should I aim for 1x Dodging if open ambushing? Will Aug.Chain seriously hinder dodging? Do I need to stick to Brig if i want to dodge?

Thanks for reading!

[droit]

Shoot from open. Saves a bunch of TPs, and sniping isn't all that much of an improvement over open.

Wear brig until 60ish. Aug chain is nice, but it's not worth overtraining in armor use until you get closer. I probably wouldn't switch until you can get 70 ranks because the spell hindrance penalty is huge. Aug chain will not hinder your dodging by a significant amount over brig.

As an open archer, the only CMANs you really need are disarm and cdefense. If you have the points, buy some CM ranks to get a few ranks of those.

[Harrier]

If I were to switch to open, what should my skill swap look like? Drop stalking/hiding and 2x ambush?

[Drazaan]

Yes, drop all S&H and drop ambush to either 1x or completely. Though I rarely hear others advocating for it, I personally prefer to drop all ambushing as an open archer ranger until level 60. You don't gain a single AS from 1x ambush until you are level 40 anyways. That's a good chunk of TPs you could put somewhere else for the time being.

I think I moved to augmented chain at level 50ish. I rarely hunt with outside spells and there was a noticeable improvement in my survivability when I moved to augmented chain. You could even wear double chain (for 60 ranks in Armor Use) as a step up from brig and that would protect your arms because a rank 2 wound will end your hunt.

To place an addendum to your thoughts on armor you mentioned, at cap plenty of rangers wear hauberk as well valuing that head protection.