Why play a Ranger?

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Have fun with your Ranger.

Sneak a bit around, remember to get some wands (Cure light; Polymorph?) or scrolls (Polymorph), and even use two weapon fighting from time to time (Shield Expert Feat?).
Enjoy the time in the wilderness, fighting favored enemies, and don`t listen to that people that say Rangers got the shaft..

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Dunii]

A lot of things were said here that I agree with (I like ranger) so there isn't much that I can say.

The ranger is a good class, I think. I would choose fighter except that they only get 2 skill points per level and none of the skills I like. I would choose rogue except they have worse BAB and they're not... "ranger-ish". I'll still happily take a few level of rogue as a multiclass though (no more than 5, that way I can still get level 4 spells).

And the ranger doesn't have sucky spells. Only the core PHB spells suck. Look in Magic of Faerun and other source books for better ranger spells.

The thing I don't like about the ranger is getting ambi-dexterity and two weapon fighting. I don't really want to use two-weapons and that would seem like a waste if I don't. But, thanks to other sourcebooks, I can always get twin weapon style (Forgotten Realms) and off-hand parry (Masters of the Wild, I think).
I'd also like the ranger to have tumble and diplomacy on their skills list but I can always take a couple of levels of rogue for those. And I would rather have better reflex saves becaue I want a character with quick reflexes.

You can get an animal companion and a cohort (with leadership, but I think you get a pentalty to the score when you have an animal companion). That's cool to have. A druid gets an animal companion too (a better one even) but a druid won't be as good in combat as a ranger and to be a druid you have to be a tree huggin' hippee.


Ack... can't think of anything else to say.

 

[kreynolds]

This is the most twinkish combo ever. I see so many of these that they make me want to puke.

Looks like gamecat knows what he's talkin' about. Here's some advice for ya' that might allow you to enjoy your games more. Simply ban all player classes, and allow only the Commoner NPC class. Maybe you'll be more satisfied with the game, as it will most certainly be less "twinkish".

 

[SpikeyFreak]

Too bad thats not what "twink" means in game terms.

Twinking is when you give a low level character high level equipment and cast high level spells on him to make him a lot more powerful than a character of that level would be. It originated with MUDs.

The ranger is a retarded class. It exists because Aragorn was called a ranger, and it gets half its abilities because the dorks that created 2E wanted to explain why Drizzt uses 2 weapons, and got it all wrong (drow were naturally proficient with 2 weapons in 1E).

Rangers shouldn't have ambi and TWF as class skills, and should get more abilities.

They have REALLY good class skills, and I think that makes the class actually playable, but I really think that bow feats would have been a much better choice for class abilities, and they shouldn'y be lumped in a 1st level. No class should get 4 abilities (3 of them feats) at 1st level and nothing else until 5th level. Thats just rediculous.

--Belligerent Spikey

 

[Umbran]

Too bad thats not what "twink" means in game terms.

Twinking is when you give a low level character high level equipment and cast high level spells on him to make him a lot more powerful than a character of that level would be. It originated with MUDs.

Yes, well Spikey, you forget that gamer jargon rarely stays static. The term may have originated with that meaning, but it hasn't stayed that way. In fact, if you check The Gamer Jargon Website you'll find the definition:

twink, n., MUDism
1. in online gaming, a power gamer. 2. on EverQuest, a brand new character who starts with items and abilities "inherited" from another character.

So, nowadays, while it still sometimes has the meaning you give it, it also has a broader one as well.

--Well Referenced Umbran

 

[SpikeyFreak]

I can't help it if people don't know how to use a term correctly.

Make every term mean powergamer and you lose the ability to talk about gaming efficiently.

And the term was around before Everquest.

--MUDer Spikey