CS Ranger build from infancy

[Orthin]

I am level 9 at the moment and doing great. It is slower hunting for sure and I tend to underhunt just a tad but I am pretty successful at doing bounties. Also I am doing this with no outside spells or help so assuming you had outside spells/help (IE Dreavening) you would be even more successful.

I am pretty much unhittable as is with my current build. I only play my dude during lumnis (not my main) and I am thoroughly enjoying this.

[Silvasar]

Hell yeah! I think I'll convert my skills over to 8x magic then. I'm at level 10 and can invest in some enchanted doubles and a runestaff. I did catch the Dreavening bug. I can easily hunt without it at this level, though. Just concerned about later levels as a pure ranger, especially if I will at any point be hunting self buffed.

[TheLastShamurai]

How is this working out thus far? The revamped ranger spells brought me back to the game and want to try a pure druid build. Problem is I don't know what to expect later in the game. The highest I've ever trained is 18, and that was well over 10 years ago. Could I even survive with 8x magic skills and a good runestaff? Of course as much cman and dodge as I can fit too.

>skill
 Nroth (at level 61), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
  Skill Name                         | Current Current
                                     |   Bonus   Ranks
  Armor Use..........................|      30       6
  Combat Maneuvers...................|     152      52
  Physical Fitness...................|     162      62
  Dodging............................|     162      62
  Harness Power......................|     162      62
  Spirit Mana Control................|     150      50
  Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........|      70      15
  Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........|     147      47
  Perception.........................|     162      62
  Climbing...........................|      90      20
  Swimming...........................|      90      20

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

Spell Lists
  Ranger.............................|              71

I switched to pure at level 40 and am doing great. You might be able to get to 8x magic ranks if I drop a bunch of shit, but frankly it isn't needed and would probably make me weaker overall. I can hunt self-spelled just fine.

EDIT: Oh gear, my gear is 4xish.

[Silvasar]

>skill
 Nroth (at level 61), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
  Skill Name                         | Current Current
                                     |   Bonus   Ranks
  Armor Use..........................|      30       6
  Combat Maneuvers...................|     152      52
  Physical Fitness...................|     162      62
  Dodging............................|     162      62
  Harness Power......................|     162      62
  Spirit Mana Control................|     150      50
  Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........|      70      15
  Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........|     147      47
  Perception.........................|     162      62
  Climbing...........................|      90      20
  Swimming...........................|      90      20

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

Spell Lists
  Ranger.............................|              71

I switched to pure at level 40 and am doing great. You might be able to get to 8x magic ranks if I drop a bunch of shit, but frankly it isn't needed and would probably make me weaker overall. I can hunt self-spelled just fine.

EDIT: Oh gear, my gear is 4xish.

Okay, this gives me a bit more confidence. I bought some 4x leathers and a 4x runestaff. I'll play around with skills during the 30 day window and see what fits. 8x magic really strains my current training points and I doubt I could get enough summoning and blessing lore to my liking. Your build looks much better, although I was looking forward to bolting with moonbeam and fire spirit.

[TheLastShamurai]

Okay, this gives me a bit more confidence. I bought some 4x leathers and a 4x runestaff. I'll play around with skills during the 30 day window and see what fits. 8x magic really strains my current training points and I doubt I could get enough summoning and blessing lore to my liking. Your build looks much better, although I was looking forward to bolting with moonbeam and fire spirit.

I tried that on the test server, but our bolt AS is trash. And I suspect even if you managed to bring it up via gear, enhancives, MA'ing, and Ascension... the TTK on just 616'ing everything will still beat it out. And the maneuver version of 611 is busted if you're 1x Summon... that said, it's usually still a better idea to open with 616/sweep/sym sleep if you're trained for it than to open with 611; for my guy, anywho.

[Silvasar]

I tried that on the test server, but our bolt AS is trash. And I suspect even if you managed to bring it up via gear, enhancives, MA'ing, and Ascension... the TTK on just 616'ing everything will still beat it out. And the maneuver version of 611 is busted if you're 1x Summon... that said, it's usually still a better idea to open with 616/sweep/sym sleep if you're trained for it than to open with 611; for my guy, anywho.

Lol, well that settles it then. A shame about our bolt AS. What a waste of potential and code. They clearly intended it to be an option, so hopefully they buff it.

Mid-hunt I swapped skills to something resembling your build and my DS increased by roughly 20. I'm convinced! Mind sharing how you spent your cman points?

[TheLastShamurai]

Nroth, your Combat Maneuvers are as follows:

Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
----------------------------------------------------
Combat Focus focus 3
Cunning Defense cdefense 5

Available Combat Maneuver Points: 5

We don't really have amazing options to go with a Druid build, so I've been going with defensive stuff.

Pre-40, I found Sweep very useful as a non-mana setup for 616.

[TheLastShamurai]

Training CMAN is something you could potentially skip if you wanted.

[Silvasar]

I'll keep that in mind as I play around with skills. I definitely could use the extra points. I appreciate all the advice!

[GSIV Rogue]

Post cap pure casting druid here. Leveled up as a druid under the old spell system (did melee until level 23 and then used 616 exclusively after that). Also, did the entire game self-spelled with 4x gear. The new spells have vastly improved quality of life and I cannot say enough good things about them.

When looking at all factors = Shield/Brawl is going to be your best bet defensively for this particular build.

Don't go past 6 ranks of armor use until post cap. Stay in doubles forever.

You don't need summoning lore to be effective. Train 0 ranks until post cap. Blessing lore will be your best friend if you're going self-cast. TD - (specifically elemental/sorc/bard) will be your weakest link - but can be overcome.

Don't skip training CM - you will regret it - you will definitely want focus and cdefense. This build needs no help from the offensive CMAN list whatsoever.

Keep Ranger spells at 1x until post cap - further training is not necessary to level up 0-100. Learn up to 120 ASAP.

Use your tools. Start noticing how all the spells interact and you can make extremely effective hunting routines. Avoid puncture immune/flying/non-crittable mobs. Later on, this build is superb at locking down a room and facing mass swarms - you can really simulate the effect of turning the entirety of your surroundings against your enemies.

Dev is pushing druids to go runestaff but I would not recommend it from a mechanical standpoint.