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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rhael" data-source="post: 447678" data-attributes="member: 5269">my AUD0.04 (allowing for exchange rate)I think this has been said by a few different people, but as it stands (in the Core rules) the Ranger is probably a little too reliant on the DM constructing the sessions so that there is something for the Ranger to do.  That said, the player must be aware of the abilities that his Ranger has and use them wherever possible.By this, I mean think about the surroundings that the GM has you in and use your wilderness lore skill whenever you can - just for Roleplaying, if nothing else.  A ranger gets Search and Spot as class skills - they can be very, very useful, and for some time my ranger was working with the rogue in tandem as the party scouts.  (that all came to an end when he started wearing full plate, but that's another story - see below).  Indeed, Spot is one of the most often used skills in our games (again, the GM has to make the ranger useful in many circumstances), as is search (although the rogue excels here, so that's his job now).We all know that the favoured enemy is probably too dependent on the GM, but I don't agree with the take that you would have +5 v Orcs at 20th level where it is useful, but only a +1 or 2 against dragons.  Just because you can't use it for 5 levels, doesn't mean you shouldn't take it.  For my character, the favoured enemies I took were more related to the character's personality than any real desire to pick a monster I'd be fighting heaps and get a bonus - however my plan for my character was slightly different.After about three levels of advancement, my GM started using Monte Cook's ranger (the one with d8 HD), but kept the PHB casting advancement.  This was fine for me because I wasn't planning to be a 2-weapon fighter (yes, that old chestnut), but maybe, just maybe, if the ranger in the party had gone with the 2wpn combo option, he wouldn't have changed the rules.  It was a bit tough initially, because my HP dropped from 39 to 33, but I picked up an extra feat, so it was all good.As previously mentioned, a dungeon-hack may see a standard ranger struggle slightly where his wilderness-related abilities don't get used, but Tracking is always useful.Where party-usefulness is taken into account, the ranger comes into his own.  You may not be the best at everything, but you'll be good at lots of things.My final point about rangers is that they can make very useful 'other' classes.  IMHO, a ranger/cleric is one of the coolest duals around.Now, for those who are wondering what I'm talking about, my ranger was never going to be a pure, single class ranger.  When discussing the character with my DM and what I wanted to do we came to the conclusion that perhaps Knight of the Chalice (DotF) might be appropriate given the setting.  My ranger was always more of a paladin in personality, just more outdoorsy anyway, and he is a tank (just the way it turned out).  As he stands (at 10th level) he's a 5/4/1 Ranger/Cleric/Knight of the Chalice, speaks seven languages, has five separate knowledge skills (most cross-class and with at least a few ranks in each) and is trying to overcome a -1 Cha mod to be a good diplomat.  The reason for the above paragraph of self-indulgence is that to look at a ranger (or any class for that matter) and say : they're a little underdone, is to be a bit short-sighted because of options further along the way.</blockquote>

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