Class Acts: Ranger

[Cadfan]

1. Archer rangers really ought to be on the front lines anyways, or at least skirmishing around, to get that Prime Shot advantage. And yes, to absorb some damage and keep the heat on the melee guys a little lighter. They just have the convenient option to NOT be on the front lines if they decide they don't want to be.

2. Most of the powers are fine, not particular great or terrible, but usable. Though I don't like the level 6 one. Its another one of those ones that can lead to outcries about the martial power source being too magical. I can only really think of three or so of those in the entire game, but I don't particularly like them and I really, really don't like listening to people try to make Grand Unified Theorems about 4e out of their presence.

 

[Klaus]

1) yeah, but that's not how I see them played, usually.

 

[Mad Mac]

Being a ranged character has it's own advantages. In particular, being a Ranger with a powerful missle weapon that outranges most spells and special attacks, coupled with the mobility to outright avoid melee attackers rather easily allows Bow Rangers to spend most of the battle handing out massive damage in relative safety. They can also afford to dump strength in order to pump Dex and Wis as high as possible, compared to two-blade rangers.

Melee Rangers aren't bad by any means, but they have a lot more things to juggle in both character building and combat (Trying to balance Strength, Dex and Wis so their AC doesn't tank, trying to dish out their heavy damage without being splatted or nullified by status effects, do you want ranged potential as a backup? ect)

Of course, it probably helps that optimizing a bow ranger is as easy as selecting, Race=Elf.

 

[WalterKovacs]

On the archer ranger: It has a few advantages over the archer ranger. Initially, it was that archers had the elf, with the TWF ranger didn't really have the right race (although now it has both the longtooth and the half-orc). Secondly, an archer can pump dex and wisdom, while the two weapon fighter has to either invest in con and spend feats on armor, or has to invest in dexterity. This either means a mediocre AC, or a mediocre wisdom. On top of all that, if the TWF is using his ability to dual wield non-off hand weapons, he'll need to be upgrading both constantly, eating up a lot of his magic budget compared to the archer ranger.

As for this article ... I really like the powers, although it took me a couple glances to notice. Nearly all the encounter powers (especially the higher level ones) are interupts ... and they have no triggers, meaning you can decide to do them whenever you want. Definitely makes for an interesting concept for the TWF ranger as you basically never stop attacking ... making an extra 2 attacks during the round after you made however many during your turn. This is especially nasty for hybrid rangers. A rogue/ranger can use these powers as a means of dealing quarry damage after hitting with a rogue power for sneak attack on his turn.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The Hybrid Synergy is a good catch. I wonder if this is a problem or if it's good?

I suppose it's not too broken. You deal more damage in a shorter time frame, but not overall more damage - it are still encounter powers, after all.

 

[Remathilis]

The Hybrid Synergy is a good catch. I wonder if this is a problem or if it's good?

I suppose it's not too broken. You deal more damage in a shorter time frame, but not overall more damage - it are still encounter powers, after all.

Faster damage = faster death = less healing surges spent defending

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Faster damage = faster death = less healing surges spent defending

Under the assumption that you are able to direct your attacks against one target and don't have to split. A fair one, I suppose. We're talking Strikers, not Defender or Controller.

 

[Vendark]

Nearly all the encounter powers (especially the higher level ones) are interupts ... and they have no triggers, meaning you can decide to do them whenever you want.

It's probably a copy/paste error. Immediate actions always have triggers. The ones that don't are likely meant to be standard actions.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I'd like to suggests that people interested in the Archery v. TWF debate fork the thread.

It's probably a copy/paste error. Immediate actions always have triggers. The ones that don't are likely meant to be standard actions.

This was also my impression.

Also curious about bending branch. Can anybody else think of utilities that allow you to make a basic attack? I thought the point of them being utilities was that you didn't attack (or they would be attack powers). Bending branch + virtue of cunning bard?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I'd like to suggests that people interested in the Archery v. TWF debate fork the thread.



This was also my impression.

Also curious about bending branch. Can anybody else think of utilities that allow you to make a basic attack? I thought the point of them being utilities was that you didn't attack (or they would be attack powers). Bending branch + virtue of cunning bard?

I don't know any off-hand, and I am not a fan of it. I also don't like the Utility that deals ongoing damage.