Ranger (Hunter) is a Martial and Primal Controller

[thewok]

As one of those who had long been dissapointed by the lack of a Martial Controller, well, I'm still dissapointed. Tacking primal onto it spoils it as a Martial Controller in my book.

To me, it really depends on whether or not the utilities have sufficient martial-flavored options to keep a purely martial character, despite the hybrid power source.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

lol, RAW, rapid shot does friendly fire

And he can not only knock back, but slide (fluff does not match crunch)

But whatever... seems like a good class and pretty controllery...

 

[Klaus]

The description of the class reminds me a lot of how folks in Bree saw Strider, "one of them Rangers". I like it!

 

[fuzzlewump]

Interesting, reminds me a lot of the World of Warcraft Hunter class with the combination of various 'shots,' and stances which WoW also call aspects. I realize that's a touchy subject with some people, but actually I enjoyed WoW and I love the variety this brings to D&D.

Clever shot seems really cool: slowed (save ends) on an at-will? That's unheard of, up until now. And when slow is useless, you have two great other choices. I'm really glad they crossed the power source barrier. I prefer Rangers and Paladins (which I assume will have a similar thing going on, Martial and Divine) having a bit of both; hybrids by nature, as in 3E, but filling their own very specific niche, as in 4E.

Unfortunately, I may have to put one of my favorite classes, the Seeker, to rest if the new Hunter is all around really good.

@Shin Okada

Yeah, I guess it just depends on if any of the utilities will be primal. I assume at least a few would be, but on the other hand, they may restrict the primal abilities to the stances.

 

[Zaran]

I love the fact that the game has pretty much ignored the fact the ranger uses arrows with every attack. Unless Rapid Shot is some kind of Indirect Fire MIRV attack. That would explain the friendly fire. To be honest, I'm really not impressed. I'll stick with regular rangers.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Do those ranger attack powers trigger mark punishments twice? When you use the attack and when you make the associated melee basic attack by raw?

I don´t like the slide and I don´t like the every creature aspect and I don´t like the shift 18 squares part...

seems like some poorly thought out mechanics...

 

[DracoSuave]

I love the fact that the game has pretty much ignored the fact the ranger uses arrows with every attack. Unless Rapid Shot is some kind of Indirect Fire MIRV attack. That would explain the friendly fire. To be honest, I'm really not impressed. I'll stick with regular rangers.

The ranger does use arrows with every attack. Ranged basic attack uses one piece of ammunition, Rapid Fire requires one piece for each target.

Do those ranger attack powers trigger mark punishments twice? When you use the attack and when you make the associated melee basic attack by raw?[/quote

No, because the initial power is not an attack that targets an anemy other than the one marking you. It doesn't target any enemies at all.

I don´t like the slide and I don´t like the every creature aspect and I don´t like the shift 18 squares part...

seems like some poorly thought out mechanics...

They're primal powers tho... spirits are involved here. That means magic.

 

[scylis]

While I tend to be more of a fan of a purely Martial Ranger (thematically), the Martial/Primal blend allows for some of the more "typically D&D" Ranger concepts, so that's a welcome addition.

The build itself looks pretty nifty so far, though I'll have to see the whole thing before deciding if it's going to be my cuppa. Clever Shot looks mighty nice and so does Rapid Shot, I must say. Pretty good for a Controller that's not overly complicated. Also, they're entirely Martial in their feel, which I know some people will like (I could care less what power source the control comes from, personally, as long as it's reasonable-seeming).

Here's to hoping the Scout gets Twin Strike full on with other attack powers that modify basic attacks made outside the Scout's turn and stances that give Primal-feeling mobility and stealthiness. I suppose they could go with a Twin Strike-like power which modifies MBAs, but the wording would be all clunky, so they might as well just give them normal Twin Strike. Hmm... I wonder, though... Maybe the Scout's Striker mechanic could be an "off-hand attack" that just deals [w] damage once per turn. Hmm... Possibilities.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Like all of the Essentials stuff so far: I'm really digging it.

This wilderness warrior seems like a character I'd like to pretend to be. All raining destruction down with arrows and "ha! Hit your leg!" and swiftly scurrying through the underbrush strafing down all the punks in her way, using magic tricks learned from wild beasts. Sweeeet!

I wonder, though... Maybe the Scout's Striker mechanic could be an "off-hand attack" that just deals [w] damage once per turn.

<3 this. People using two weapons want to make two attacks and deal twice as much damage. This is the Reason For Dual Wielding. It's about friggin' time that D&D enables this. As a striker, the Scout's got an excuse, and as long as your weapons wouldn't deal any more damage than a Rogue's sneak attack, it should be well-balanced.

 

[TerraDave]

The primal power is a nod to the spell-caster that the ranger was for most of its existance as a class. It is also consistent with the essentialism that if something seems like magic, it probably is.