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I don't know if it's already written, but I've found nothing, so: what do you think is the maximum bonus of Beast's Claw? 20? You are wrong! Max bonus is infinite! Watch my cute little ranger having (for the moment) a beast's claw bonus of 37: First bonus says "x6" but is actually "x21" has you can see from combat log: Notice that the bonus applies also on ranged attacks Obviously it is also true for defenses values, i.e fortitude: How have I get that? Noting weird, I did a fight versus kith in SSS, finished it, save, then another battle and I see the +6 bonus of first battle remains in its place and the another +16 bonus appeared... Another battle, another +15 bonus and the first two were merged together, if I saved after another battle, all three bonuses merged: I don't know if it works only for kith or not. So I think if you want you can cheese about that how much you want; I don't know whether it works only in the crucible, but if you wanna maximize that, some questions: What are the best weapons for that? I go two weapons, one and with Sun and Moon (because of 2 hits instead of one) and Stalker's Patience in the second for Legendary and +5 accuracy bonus (more chances to hit --> more chances to get +1 semi permanent bonus from Beast's Claw). Are the other weapons which hits more times likes Sun and Moon? I spend one empower point every battle to regain bonds and to use Beast's Claw more times in a fight: is it worthwhile or not? I think at least you can keep the last empower point for when you are satisfied of the bonus you get, but if you have better ideas... Which battle/zone/situation is better for stack this bonus for kith? I'm doing and re-doing "Contest of the Seeker" and "The Bloodletting" till death but in SOLO they are hard and long battles; I can go i.e. in an inn and massacre who is inside but I prefer to not "clean" such areas. If you know better ideas, let me know please. I think it's not a bug you can build around it, you can reach the bonus you wish with every ranger/subclass but remember that when you need bonus against some other new race you have to sleep and restart the "process". Please Note: I bumped into it when I was trying to do the SSS "Changelin's Dance" trial SOLO with my Wildrhymer: tried many thing but think only that can do the job Very stupid fight for a completionist

I haven't started playing POE2, so I'm incline to avoid any spoiler. But through the trailer, I already knew one of the recruitable companions is a firearm-using ranger whose animal companion is a bird. That's not the type of ranger I want. Therefore, I would like to know whether it's viable to build a hired adventurer as a single-class ranger and an off-tank. I would also like to make him an expert lock picker and trap remover. And I'll make his animal companion an antelope.

How are the rangers and their pets in 5.0? My impression was that they were pretty bad early on, so i skipped the class. Having returned after all the DLC releases, i'm considering doing a ranger multi with Chanter. My experience with rangers back in the beginning was with Maia, whos pet i found more of a liability than help, though she was a decent ranged autoattacker with spells (geomancer). Have rangers improved since early on? Are pets worth the investment now? Or would i be better off jus going Ghost Heart and sticking to Marked Prey and Wounding Shot?

[This post has been edited do to accidentally posting before it was completed] Most of the time when I play an Rpg I just try to get a balance of Attack and Defense. This normally means I play as rogues, barbarians, fighters, and any other close range fighter. As of late though I’ve felt yearning to do something different, so I’m going to do a ranged build. Ranger, of course, is my first choice. And I would like to multiclass. But if there is any other ideas I want to hear them.

Hey folks! Long-time forum lurker getting back into the game and looking to build a Seer hireling that I don't have to manage super carefully - my biggest obstacle currently is that I can't seem to find a way to get the behavior settings right for marked prey. Namely, I've found that even if I use "Target: affected by marked prey (not)" as the condition and place it below an action set that commands auto-attack on marked prey targets, the Seer still spams marked prey on all targets. I'm guessing that's due to the game considering ALL possible targets without marked prey as satisfying the marked prey action set conditions and NOT satisfying the auto-attack action set. I'm aware of the action set cooldown option, but this seems like a really lame way to work around the issue. Basically, I just want the character to cast marked prey if NO target with marked prey exists. FWIW, I am currently using the expanded AI conditions mod. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Nothing I've read online has answered this question specifically, and it's quite possible that it's a lost cause but I figured I'd ask here just in case there's a workaround. Thanks! - Cheshire_Khajiit

I have 2 Rangers, 2 Paladins, 1 Cipher and 1 Chanter. I really like this setup so far, also, I cannot think of any classes that would make snese for Sagani/GM/Kana/Pallegina aside from their standard one, aside from Eder, who I think makes quite the fitting Kind Wayfarer Though I could imagine him as a Ranger as well, with his high affinity to animals. But 3 Rangers would be a bit insane I think xD So, stats look like this: Orlan Ranger MC: M17 C3 D19 P20 I15 R4 Arbalest as main (One-Eyed Molina with nexus patch) Sagani Ranger: M20 C4 D17 P19 I15 R3 Hunting Bow main (Currently still her personal one) Eder Paladin KW: M17 C10 D14 P14 I18 R5 Greatsword main (Justice so far, but Imma buy some others soon) Zealous Focus Pallegina Paladin: M16 C10 D15 P14 I20 R3 can't decide and constantly switch between SnS with Outworn Buckler, or dualwield small weapons. Zealous Charge (that thing saved me so many times) is insane. GM Cipher: M16 C8 D14 P16 I16 R8 Warbow/2handed main, switch between the 2 depending on scenario. Haven't found any unique Warbow/Poleaxe/Estoc yet, currently she has Durance's Staff and a Fine Warbow with Wilder enchantment on. Quickly became my second-hardest and most efficient hitter next to MC Ranger. Went down only once (against my first encounter with an Ogre Druid - never again), Kills second highest number, deleted Raedric with Soul Ignition after buffs. Kana Chanter: M20 C8 D15 P14 I18 R3 am really not sure how to build him effectively as a support ranged unit. Just Ila constantly is good enough I guess, collecting phrases for an emergency heal or a summon, but eh, I feel like he's a bit underutilzed there, aside from the tangibly ridiculous speed buff he gives my MC. Also, he has Gallant's Focus to buff the backline even more... I thought (and tried) a gunslinger style setup, but it's weird... Kana I feel like I need the most advice with. The others work very well so far and I feel neither like they are carrying the rest of the party nor that they are underutilized, but Kana is in a weird place imo. But of course I am open to any kind of advice/criticism

Glanfathan Soul Hunter Game Version - 1.2 Difficulty - PoTD up-scaled / Solo / Deadly Deadfire Race: Wooden Elf Class - (Ranger) Ghost Heart / (Cipher) Ascendant Alignment - Neutral (The strongest survives) Culture: Aedyr God - Galawain Companion - Bear Increase difficulty mod: Deadly Deadfire Hardcore (https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/43) Videos: Showcases L20 - Equipment (On this video I didnt have Bracers of Greater Deflection) L20 - Abilities, Attributes (On this video, I used my old setup, check new version in abilities section) L20 - Queen L20 - Ukaizo L19 - Fampyr L15 - Adra lighthouse L13 - Ondra Temple Attributes Might - 10 Constitution - 10 Dexterity - 19 Perception - 10 Intellect - 18 Resolve - 11 Skills Alchemy 19 History 19 Abilities Whispers of Treason (CL1) + Marked Prey (HL1) Resilient Companion (HL2) Penetrating Visions (CL3) Draining Whip (CL4) + Gunnery (HL4) Marksman (HL5) Weapon and Shield Style (CL6) Ectopsychic Echo (CL7) + Evasive Roll (HL7) Protective Companion (HL8) Hammering Thoughts (CL9) Body Attunement (CL10) + Stalker's Link (HL10) Recall Agony (CL11) Bear's Fortitude (HL12) Ring Leader (CL13) + Driving Flight (HL13) Borrowed Instinct (CL14) Tactical Meld (CL15) Disintegration (CL16) + Survival of the Fittest (HL16) The Empty Soul (CL17) Defensive Bond (HL18) The Complete Self (CL19) + Superior Camouflage (HL19) Snake's Reflexes (HL20) Equipement Pet: Abracham (https://pillarsofete...dia.com/Abraham Weapon 1: Bronlar's Phalanx (https://pillarsofete...cordeo's_Trophy) + Scordeo's Trophy (https://pillarsofete...cordeo's_Trophy Weapon 2: Hand Mortal(https://pillarsofete...com/Hand_Mortar) + Cadhu Scalth (https://pillarsofete...om/Cadhu_Scalth) Weapon 3: Dragon's Dowry (https://pillarsofete...ven's_Cacophony) Armor: Patinated Plate (https://pillarsofete...Patinated_Plate) Head: Heaven's Cacophony (https://pillarsofete...ven's_Cacophony) Belt: Girdle of Eoten Constitution (https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Girdle_of_Eoten_Constitution_(Deadfire)) Ring: Ring of the Marksman (https://pillarsofete...of_the_Marksman) + Small Ring of Protection Footprints: Boots of the Stone (https://pillarsofete...ts_of_the_Stone) Gloves:Bracers of Greater Deflection (https://pillarsofete...eadfire_bracers) Cloak: The Giftbearer's Cloth (https://pillarsofete...eadfire_bracers) Belt: Captain Belt (https://pillarsofete..._Captain's_Belt) Amulet: Strand of Favor(https://pillarsofete...Strand_of_Favor) Modals: * Large Shield * Pistol * Blunderbuss Food: Captain Banquette Gameplay: Charm enemies Put Ectopsychic Echo on Companion Generate Focus and RS with Scordeo If enemies surround switch on Hand Mortal and use Heaven's Cacophony active skills When you Ascended put Disintegration on each enemy around you Tips: Food: Captain Banquette prevent you from Rogue distraction and stop enemies sneak attack Food: Captain Banquette prevent you from Fear, Terrified Food: Captain Banquette prevent you from Domination Alchemy: Potion of Piercing Strikes with Body Attunement helps penetrate Golems and Ukaizo armor Alchemy: Potion of Ascension increase Disintegration damage

i'm playing deadfire for ps4 and i want to create an archer build. What is the best bow user in the game for single target dmg? Ranger single class, Rogue singe class? Scout? And which sub class would be better for this dps role? Initially I thought of creating a AA and multiclass with assassin and open combat with stealth fire ball. But it seems that AA still has the problem of spell penetration. Perhaps Sharpshooter with assassin is better? Or just Sharpshooter? Any tip is welcome

How bad of an idea is this? What stats/ability picks/gear would you suggest? I know generally how AA works, I've fixed the scaling of bues with a mod. I was thinking of using priest for AOE dmg situations and AA for big hard targets. Berath is for flavor and the end game choices of the playthrough more than anything else. I'd probably use spearcaster or dragons dowry.... This is for turn based. I'm worried about running out of bond fairly quickly, just using it on imbues and takedown combo. The alternate is the obvious paladin. Thanks in advance for any help, references, pointers, or waive-offs!

One handed (no off-hand) is considered mostly suboptimal, but it happens to be my favourite combat style rp wise. For my next character I want to try to make the most out of it. My idea is to put the emphasis on the high accuracy, therefore my watcher is going to be a single class ranger (ghost heart for rp reasons). With passives, a bit of hunter's claw metagaming (does the blunderbuss trick still work ?), high per, and of course 1 handed style, my hope is to crit a lot, but since nothing in the ranger kit emphasizes crits until pl9, I am looking for suggestions of weapons with good on crit effects. So far I'm thinking about ball and chain (before getting stunning shots), last word (making a great boss killer If you can land a crit every 6 sec+ your int bonus), and maybe scordeo's blade (with a lateral approach to the question: if you trigger the no-recovery and put a salvation of time on it, all of a sudden 1h is way superior to dual wield). Do you guys have any other idea ? General advice on the build ?

Hello, guys Have not played Deadfire for long time, and if there is anybody still here, could you say please is this intended that Arcane Archer pen does not scale with his PL?

The ranger's ability of Evasive Fire is something that can be easily abused in the turn-based mode. With 8 bond a Ranger can get off 9 shots in the opening round (1 from their Action point, and 8 from using Evasive Fire). I think a simple solution to this would be to make the shot gained from using Evasive Fire only occur on the first usage of the ability each round. This way you'll gain the benefit of 1 extra shot and the mobility aspect, but you can't just kill off a bunch of guys by spamming it

i have 2 rangers (Maia is a multi-class wizard) and they both have bonded grief and i cant get rid of it. my main char got it in a boat battle. It happened when i was fighting Malnaj my stag was charmed and my party killed it. Maia's happened when i was fighting Fampry at the splintered reef. Though this may have something to do with the fact that my party members had no injuries but were dieing anyway (though i believe thats just part of the fog). Ive tried knocking them both out and resting but to no avail. dropbox save file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/az4rvieol7qowsg/namelesfear%20%28ThePickledEel%29%20%282382561b-30e8-4223-805d-376dc3e0fe51%29%20%28776076517%29.zip?dl=0 output_log.txt DxDiag.txt

Hope this helps. Keep in mind basically all the companions feel the same after some testing, only difference was die roll, recovery speed, and defenses or innate abilities. Pet doesn't seem to scale of player stats either on their attributes, and they receive standard bonuses from ranger directly. Pet Str Con Dex Per Int Res Pen Acc AR Deflection Bear 15 12 9 13 5 10 6 30 7 25 Lion 13 13 12 11 5 11 6 30 5 25 Wolf 10 10 13 15 5 12 6 30 5 25 Boar 11 16 8 10 5 15 6 30 5 25 Stag 13 10 12 15 5 10 6 30 5 25 Antelope 10 10 14 15 5 9 6 30 5 35 This is using a multiclass Rogue/Ranger with 17str 14con 17dex 16per 12int 14res (using Blessing of Berath). Only differences I saw was the speed of attacks between most of them and the die roll. Wolf seemed to have highest die roll out of 20 hits. Bear ran behind it, but with the high strength bonus it was almost the same. And lowest hit overall was Antelope.

Hey guys, simple question: When summoning the Ghost Pet (which drains a resource point) and than use a summoning spell from chanter, the pet will be gone. Is it a bug or intended? When intended - whats the reason because everywhere I can read that the ranger is overall a little bit weak compared to the other classes? Thanks!

Maybe it's just me but i feel like the choices of companion's are pretty bland in looks and passives. At the end of the day, you will end up using a boar or a bear because they're the only pets that can take a few hits on POTD SOLO. Here are a few things I feel would make Rangers more neat. 1. Option to choose a different pet skin (e.g Black Bear, Polar Bear/ Wof -> War Hound) 2. Pet Stable/Shop where the ranger can switch to a different companion or have access to different companion skins maybe at a price, can we get a bird too? I mean if your the main character of the story, and you can't have an exclusive pet... it's kinda sad. 3. Let pet's have special unique actives, because at the current state whats the point of having a wolf with only increased damage when he has no accuracy to hit, and he gets 2-4 shotted, when you can have a boar who regens and can take a few more hits, or a bear with amazing armor. Even a once per a encounter move would be a big help to a ranger. Examples for abilities 1. Wolf - Pack Howl - Increases nearby allies/ranger damage/ action speed for a short period of time 2. Lion - Pounce - A stealth attack that stuns, and leaves surrounded enemies shaken for a short amount of time 3. Stag - Antler Guard - +2 Engagement with significant increase in deflection, but is unable to move from position 4. Antelope - Kick Dirt- Blind's Enemies in a small area around the antelope. 5. Bear - Maul - Attacks cleave enemies in a cone for a short duration 6. Boar - Wild Charge- Boar casts, or charges for a short duration, and will run in a linear fashion at a given location. First Enemy hit gets knocked down, and has decreased armor, or it could just knock everyone out of its way. 4. Customizable Pet Stats.. Give the ability to customize pet stats on character creation, maybe even add unique pet armors 5. Beast Master subclass, making the hunter having an extra pet.. penalty? more GRIEF yayyy 6. Last but least I want to talk about some of the skills, I just want to put it out there... but what is with binding roots being a ranger skill? It's completely out of the theme, you have every other skill based on physical attacks and pet skills, then you have that one where it feels like the ranger went to druid school for a day just to learn how to grow grass. Why not just make the ranger throw caltrop on the ground, and when the enemy walks on it you give the same effect.. this would be so useful as a starter ability... 1 attack and the enemy just ignores your pet and hunts you down like a wildebeest. Not to mention ghost heart... and the amazingly useless ghost that cant hit because the enemy keeps moving after you at the trade of a bond point, and its ability to not engage (pretty harsh).. speaking of first tier skils next point. Wounding strike? It's pretty much a insignificant version of the rogues Crippling Strikes, what makes it worst, is that you pretty much have the option to upgrade the wounding strikes into the rogues crippling strike with a lower hobbled duration. and the other upgrade you only receive a 20+ accuracy... so your more accurate, but you can't be more accurate to expose weakness on the armor, or do a little extra damage. Play Dead and Revive Pet- extremely redundant, why not just make it one move? Tier 8 & 9, not worth getting., these moves should be on a lower tier.. Whirling strikes? Thats extremely out of place, you even require a melee weapon for it, especially when you have all these ranged passives then you get this skill.. I doubt anyone would use a ranger as a melee class unless its multiclassed with something else defeating the purpose of this skill. Who said Bow's and Firearms can't be used as melee weapons? Stock strike? Pistol Whip? Now that I mention it... It would be extremely cool, if the ranged firearms (because of there deadly reload time that takes 1 million years) had its specialty too switch into a melee weapon using the > that x distance, or < x distance formula even if it does significantly less damage it at close range it would make whirling strikes make more sense to have. I dont know how someone can be reloading that arquebus cleaning out the chamber while the enemy slaps you in the face... Rifles can have bayonet's... maybe this would make a good idea for a unique weapon???? haa?? wink wink* Shadowed hunters..... again you have the rogues ability.. but this time its the final move.. WHAT!!!?!!!?! Forget the healing it has, its slow, and pointless. Only works while you hide in the corner. It might as well be closer to the starting tiers. At the end of the day it will be used the same way the rogue uses stealth.... to get out of combat. 30 seconds to heal up is way too long, at this point it's just another fancy play dead but this time the ranger escapes too. At least give it a sneak attack bonus like the rogues 100% dmg if it's going to be so high up on the tier. 3 bond is pretty pricey to be insignificant for 30 seconds It would make more sense if rangers had a summon like Aspect of Galawain or some beast that they discovered while being independent in the wilds, or unlock special specific pet skills similar to the ones i stated above. maybe even having a pack hunter ability where you summon copies of your current pet to assist. I would even be more please if there was a aimed strike ability, that can hit vital body parts putting a deadly debuff depending on the area hit. I don't know, but for a class whose life style is based around independence and isolation.. you feel very dependent. Feeling like a watered down rogue, with a mediocre pet that dies in 3 hits and makes you suffer more... Even chanter's summons are more tanky. Love this game so far, but I feel some classes needs more love.. Not sure if this is the right place to post this.. sorry im a bit new on the forums ;p

Hi guys, Description: Wounding shot description : Deals 20% weapon damage per 3.0 sec for 6.0 sec ​I did several tests with 1H, 2H,2x 1H weapons, and it never deals 20% weapon damage, but only 10% ​Is this a bad description or bugged skill ? In my example, i deal 48 damages + 3 * 4 damages over time (instead of 3 * 8 ?) Steps to Reproduce the Issue: Shot random NPC ? (in my case, I apologize to Xoti) Screenshots:

Hello everyone. I've wanted to create and play with a "Arcane Archer" for a while now. So first i made a Ranger/wizard hybrid but after a while i decided i wanted to make as much use of the Frostseeker bow as i could and for this i decided to go pure ranger and use a few Arcana scrolls for the "Arcane" feeling. The bow itself gives u a very arcane feeling on its own tho. In any case, this build is very simple, it uses Frostseeker bow with Twinshot skill + driving flight and avenging storm scrolls for massive burst dmg. The more targets we hit with the frostseekers small AoE on crit the better the effect so we also use Sparkcrackers, thorny roots and pull of eora scrolls to crowd enemies together and keep them there. This is extremely effective and i have prepared a showcase video to show you. All gameplay recorded was on lvls 16-18 Enjoy: As for Abilities its very hard to go wrong because as a singleclass ranger u dont really have much variety but here is my abilities as of lvl 18: Class Choice: Ghostheart Ranger with Boar pet. The boar is quite good at taking hits and as a ghostheart i never have to care if he dies. Race Choice: Heart Orlan for "Minor Threat" (5% hit to crit vs whoever is targeted by an ally, this works with pet as well) Important Gear: The Red Hand, get it and enchant it for "Unburdened Soul" and get 20 kills with it for a +20% dmg mod wich applies to your frostseeker bow and ur scrolls as well. Frostseeker Obviously, ur main weapon. DoC breastplate for +2 resources. Acina's Tricorn, its Acc bonus applies to everything u use at range and not only the weapon. https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Acina%27s_Tricorn Ring Of The Marksman. Mainly for the +1 Pen with ranged weapons. https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Ring_of_the_Marksman Firethrower gloves for Dex and Arcana boost. https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Firethrower%27s_Gloves Then feel free to mix and match. Attribute Priority: Mig: Medium Con: Low Dex: High Per: High Int: Medium Res: Dump One could argue that a ranger does not "need" high perception, but those few extra points could mean the difference between a crit and a hit, and we really want to crit to proc the AoE blast on Frostseeker as much as possible. We deal loads of small dmg numbers instead of few big ones so might is not overly important. Drug of choice: Coral Snuff for action speed. Important Skills: Arcana atleast on rank 13 for Avenging Storm scrolls. Stealth quite high to make it easier to sneak in and use sparkcrackers and crowd the mobs. Other then that feel free to mix and match however u want em. This build can be played solo wich is what ive done (but i havent finished the game with it) but it suffers on fights vs the very big HP enemies such as dragons and Nemnok because while the burst dmg is very high it is not enough to take down those big boys with the limited resources we have and the dps without resources is very weak on a ranger. So party play is recomended but solo potd is possible but hard at times.

Up front, my game is up to date. I have no mods installed, and I have wm 1,2, and the deadfire stuff installed. I noticed recently, while in the endless paths around level 12 or so, I noticed Sagani's pet was moving insanely slow. I know there were pet bugs before but I thought those all got patched out years ago. I tried conversation, knocking out sagani, taking on and off all gear and modals, and knocking out the pet. I haven't tried respeccing or kicking her out of the party yet (I was stubbornly trying to beat the final level of the dungeon despite the bug just to save me a trip back topside, but the fight even at level 13, is still kicking my ass on potd) I'm not sure what the community or obsidian needs from me for information, so lemme know if it'd be helpful to post my gear, builds, etc.

Despite setting my Ghost Heart Ranger's Animal Companion AI to "Aggressive", I still have to command it to attack when summoning it.

[CLASS BUILD] Commander Shepard Sharpshooter/Bleak Walker Description: I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite gun build on the forums. Word of warning, you will need to pull mobs carefully! This is my attempt at creating a sniper arquebus build. What this build promises is an insane amount of accuracy (138 with passives), a cuddly meat tank you can lay your hands on and the ability to deal 200 dmg(around there, depending on immunities) per shot. To be honest, I just wanted to call it Commander Shepard and make stupid jokes. You can snipe squishy targets with this build though and it feels really good seeing the numbers pop. Spoiler: Ranger is actually really useful here. Not even joking. Race: No.1: Pale Elf (flame damage rating), Orlan for the crit (I used Elf for the resistance instead but the crit should be the best choice here) No.2: Moon Godlike (AOE heals, your pet will need it, trust me.) No.3: Wood Elf (for the resistance) Difficulty: POTD Solo: Yes Version: 1.02 Stats : 18 Might 10 Con 18 Dex 18 Per 10 Intelligence 3 Resolve Maxing might is obvious. Max Dex for action speed, Perception for accuracy. 3 Resolve because everything will hit you in PoTD anyway. Companion: Bear for tankiness. Skills: Go for hunter for the mechanics and flavor. Boost mechanics till you reach 6 so that you can unlock most chests. Dump the rest into stealth to breeze through the earlier levels and respec into Arcana right before tough boss fights for scroll usage. Metaphysics if you plan on using Nemnok Quarterstaff. History if you plan on wearing the fampyr cloak. Split evenly if you plan on using both. Proficiency: Arquebus: Meat of this build. YOU MUST PICK THIS UP. Rod: For AoE clears. Quarterstaff: For crush damage. The rest are up to you. Blessing of Berath: Highly Recommended: 50k gold +5k gold Recommended: Double Skill bonus and bonus attributes, Stormwind Sails (makes farming money a lot easier) Great if you have it: Unique Vendor (For the flame accuracy ring early on) Whatever: The rest. Gear: I will split it up into early/mid/late game for those who are newer. Early game: Weapon: Dragon's Dowry (Neketaka, Brass Citadel Vendor, the gun smithy guy, 45k+). This is why I highly recommend the 50k start. Absolutely critical to this build. You must get it asap. Above everything else. Get. It. Now. Enchant it with Volatile Runelock and Blazing Fury asap as well. Weapon 2: Watershaper's Focus, Tekehu's rod. Just pick him up from the Watershaper's guild in (Neketaka, Periki's Overlook). Note: This weapon is hard to upgrade but it's a pretty decent aoe weapon. Not too important but it's a backup weapon for those large crowds. Primal Water can be purchased from the vendors in periki overlook(sometimes) and you can loot 3 from the animancer quest in Sacred Stairs. You will need more but that's up to you to find. (I forgot where I got mine) Armor: Devil of Caroc: The plus resource enchantment from this breastplate is crucial to this build. Get it. (Periki's Overlook, Vendor, Metalwork something something if I'm not mistaken.) 25k+ Once again, it costs a lot to gear up this character. You can grab a decent alternative from Fort Deadlight by killing Benweth but ultimately you want Devil of Caroc. Necklace: Whatever you can get your hands on, I suggest the necklace you grab in Port Maje or Charm the Bones(from Neketaka vendor, forgot which one) until you can get Orishia (Flamewalker Velassi???). You can get it from a bounty. I managed to defeat him at level 11 though it is probably possible earlier. (I didn't try it) Gauntlets: Gatecrashers. For the might+2, essentially anything with might +2 is fine. The unique vendor in port maje has one such glove or you can just buy the fancier version in Neketaka, Queen's Berth. Burglar's gloves: for utility. +2mech Cloak: Cloak of Greater Deflection or Protection. Vendor Neketaka or the unique vendor, easy find. Rings: Anything to be honest. The flame accuracy ring from the unique vendor is pretty nifty for Flames of Devotion. I picked up a ring of regeneration for a bit of heal. Feel free to pick up anything else. Belt: Some generic +2 con belt or just nothing if you want to be fancy. Boots: Boots of the Stone for the affliction resistance. Alternatively, grab any boots with +stride. Helmet: Thaos's helmet. Recruit Aloth to grab this. If anyone has a better suggestion, feel free to tell me. I just picked this for ACC. I'm sure there are better alternatives so feel free to use them. Pet: I didn't bother with this too much but there was a pet that reduces recovery speed(Nalvi). Honestly, just pick a pet that boosts ACC. The name of the game is accuracy. With arquebus, you DO NOT want to miss a single shot. Consumables: Anything with summons. Buy the adragan from dark cauldron and the siren from dunnage(radiant Court) Late/Mid Game: Helmet: Serpent Crown. Kill the Queen of Neketaka. Pretty nice helmet. If you are going to end the game, I suggest killing her just for funsies. Gets you a nice helmet as well. Aloth helmet still works well either way. Belt: Maker's Own Power. For the heal. It's the troll bounty in Dunnage(Lifter's Refuge). You need to pick up the bounty quest from the NPC(Dessiral, Radiant Court) before he turns up (Lifter's Refuge). Optional. Honestly, belt doesn't really matter. If you have a good suggestion, feel free to tell me. Weapon Backup: If you can kill the guards leading to Nemnok's sanctuary, you can technically stealth your way to the treasure chest without fighting him and grab Veilpiercer and the quarterstaff(Not sure how you are going to lose aggro though). Alternative is to run a dual wield combination of the blunderbuss from Delver's Row and the pistol from Poko Kohora Ruins. They give a decent per use spell as well as a +25% dmg buff that causes your attacks to bounce. Before heading to Ashen Maw, make sure to kill Nemnok and grab the Veilpiercer bow . Pick the free recovery enchantment for the bow. IMPORTANT or you can't kill a damn thing in Ashen Maw Cloak: Giftbearer's Cloth. It's slightly south of Junvik and Nemnok. The area is called Fampyr's Crypt. Northwest corner of the map. You need to pull them one or two at a time. Alternatively, you can try stealing the cloak after clearing out the first two blocking off the passage. It's in a chest below. Honestly, it's pretty easy to kill them if you pull them properly. Equipment Procurement Guide: Gold/XP: Once again, buy four imperial long guns, buy a slightly improved sails/hulls and stock up on repair supplies. Buy the cheapest food and etc. Hunt down every ship you find and turn in the bounties. You can easily hit lvl 10+ like this. Fort Deadlight is a pretty easy quest to clear and you can stealth through most of it. Hasongo is a pretty easy quest to clear with decent drops. Clear the initial few mob pulls and just sneak through the rest of the areas. There's a triple archer mob area which cannot be skipped. Once again, free money so just kill them. Arkemyr's Mansion: No fighting involved. Just need mechanics 6 +2 from gloves, +2 from drugs or hylea blessing. Robbing your companions. Animancer's Tower: The first test is really easy to solo. The last boss can be kited easily. Gives primal water and spirit residue. Needed for Vailan faction quest so just do it. Double turn in. Primal Flame: Ori o Koiki Vendor. She sold me 5. Rathun fireships. Black Pearl: Ori o Koiki, throne room chest Pyrite: Radiant Court (the npc in the north, you have to enter another area) Orishia: Chances are your aoe still sucks so here's an easy way to grab this necklace. Stand as far away as possible from the first guard and use your ranger's mark to pull the naga. It will pull only two or so mobs in one go. You can easily snipe Flamewaker to death or just focus down the marauder. It should take 2-3 hits at most to kill the melee guy if you have Dragon's Dowry. You should pick up the adragan summon from Dark Cauldron(the arkemyr vendor, name might not be accurate) (Neketaka, Periki's Overlook). Feel free to grab the mini drake summon item from Arkemyr's mansion as well. Nemnok Fight: Bring enough potions (I used 7 minor and 3 moderate) because he is tanky. Kill the brat. Clear one side first and slowly pull the mobs. Even though it says immunity o mind effects, the siren summon is still able to dominate it. Slowly whittle him down and always stay in melee range unless you have corrode resistance. His melee attack sucks. I did it at 15. You can try it slightly earlier if you are feeling adventurous. Swap tanking with your bear/pet to allow yourself some breathing space. I had some penetration problems so I just went close range in both cases. Turn on your arquebus modal. Jaderferlas: Make sure you have Devil of Caroc enchanted for resolve afflictions. Make sure you have Veil Piercer enchanted for free recovery on crit. Make sure you have a greater ring of regeneration equipped (Neketaka Vendor, I think. Some vendor sells it.).Get a cup of coffee. Start of the fight bring her to the choke point near the pillar. Throw on your marks and just slowly fire at her. Make sure your bear is somewhere far away. Once she spawns a second wave of slime, pull her further into the choke point such that you are surrounded by slimes and she can't hit you. Her meteor shower hits targets near her so you can avoid it somewhat by being surrounded by slimes. With Pale Elf resistances, the slimes do 2-3 damage and your ring can easily heal through it. Turn on AI mode and wait for your character to kill her with Veil Piercer. Because there are slimes nearby, the additional attack from your ranger passive gives you an additional chance to crit and fire right away. Afk till she is dead. Alternatively, just sneak past her... If you do not wish to fight that warlord rathun guy, don't tell them you killed the dragon. He doesn't give much anyway... Guardian of Ukaizo: Save your buffs for the second phase. Use your bear to kite the initial adra spawns while you use your arquebus to take them out. One Flame of Devotion can kill off one adra or severely injure it. Because of your bouncing attack, your next FoD will definitely kill one or two adra, saving you that zeal point. Because I ran a Pale Elf and had 167 reflex, I mostly tanked through his fire/corrode effects attacks. I saved my Hylea's blessing for that additional +10 reflex. You can pick up a passive to boost your defenses if you want. I used my basic attacks to trigger his next phase. Just bring along like 3 major healing potions as insurance. You might end up using 1 or 2 to kill the boss, if you aren't careful. For the second phase where the giant sentinels spawn. Make sure you are right at the entrance of the island and have your bear near those statues. Just use it to kite the sentinels around all day. Third Phase( The point where you can damage the boss). Turn on blazing fury and spam all the flames of devotion you can. Use your empower to recover resources here. Easy kill. Don't even bother using Lay on Hands to heal yourself, just drink a potion. Make sure to avoid his frost puddle, I think it knocks you down. Avoid the purple ball of somethingness because why not. He has flame breaths but they will miss you. Assuming you are at a lower level than me, you can avoid it if you want. It only hits in a straight line. Ability Choices: (There might be some error here since I wrote this after a retrain, I think there's a bug which eats up your level one point.) Initial Abilities: Sworn Enemy(P), Marked Prey® 1-3: Lay on Hands, Deep Faith 4-6: Zealous Aura, Marksman, Inspired Defense, Gunner 7-9:Revive Companion(Meh), Eternal Devotion, Two-handed Style, Retribution, 10-12:Wounding Shot, Exalted Focus, Scion of Flame, Accurate Wounding Shot 13-15:Sworn Rival, Driving Flight,Uncanny Luck 16-18: Improved Critical, Virtuous Triumph, Survival of the Fittest, Tough 19-20: Stoic Steel, Concussive Shot(Meh), Exalted Endurance(Meh). Alternative: Dump wounding shot for Takedown Combo, great for the early stages, sort of. You can dump Exalted Endurance, Revive Companion, Concussive Shot for AoE defense passive and Will defense. Wounding Shot was taken because of the excess of ranger resource points, you can pick up more defensive abilities with this like the +armor rating on your bear but I feel that this build needs another activated offensive ability. Strategy: Open up with marked prey, sworn enemy ->cast a summon (adragan), use Kitchen Stove buff( if necessary, turn on your arquebus buff (it's per encounter) and then Flame of Devotion (FoD) the casters/ranged/melee in that order. Once you reach level 12/13 or so, your attacks start to bounce so you can prioritize those who have less health. Use your bear to try and distract the enemies (block choke points or just throw him at them, you can live with the bonded grief). Lay on Hands as necessary. Most of the time, if you pulled correctly, you won't have to cast your per rest abilities. Choices I Skipped: Takedown Combo: 100% dmg buff. I tried it, wasn't great. The bear rarely hits too. Doesn't give the OMG crits. Healing Pet spells: Lay on Hands is sufficient and that bear is kinda just a decoration except on rare occasions where you need it to buy extra time or block a choke point. Paladin buffs: Too short and too resource intensive. Other pet revive options: Waste of points and honestly, you only need it for that initial window. Just revive it once and tuck him in a safe corner. Pets are for petting not fighting. Why not XXX class? Chanter: Well, it would end up as a summoner build wouldn't it? Honestly, chanter is just too op and I wanted to give Ranger abilities a try. Chanter would probably fare better lul. Monk: Too op for my liking. Fighter: Interesting choice to toy with. I considered picking this but I just wanted to call this build Commander Shepard... If you were to pick fighter, I suggest picking up Charge for that delicious arquebus aoe spam. Discipline Barrage (the crit buff). Mob Stance/Cleave sort of doesn't work in generating additional hits but the recovery is nice. I don't suggest picking up Black Jacket. One arquebus is enough. Trust me. Cipher: I considered Soul Blade but soul annihilation is melee. You can test out takedown combo and soul annihilation, it might just work. The focus generation with this build is actually pretty good so a better cipher player might find this useful but not me. Wizard: No. Priest: Buffs take too long. Rogue: Sneak attacks do not pair too well but I can picture a melee range arquebus and perpetual distraction, deathblow build. You get more mobility. Druid: Why? Barbarian: Melee focused. This is a gun build. Pure Ranger:... Pure Paladin: You give up too many offensive passives. Why Ranger: Bouncing Attacks( Driving Flight): AoE for arquebus. Ranged passives and great accuracy options. (Gunner, Marksman, Marked Prey, Survival of the Fittest, Accurate Wounding Shot, Concussive Shot.) Yes, the active abilities are kinda crappy compared to other classes like rogue. Why Paladin: Obviously, the bear isn't going to survive long without heals. Lay on Hands is a great way to heal it and you (SYNERGY *thumbs up*). Flames of Devotion gives massive flame +corrode damage along with accuracy. Easily spammable too. Massive tankiness from passives. Nice aura. Final Thoughts: I just wanted a gun build to be honest. Ranger seemed pretty fun and the passives honestly aren't that bad. There were situations where I found myself really glad that I had driving flight to pair with Dragon's Dowry. My bear turned out to be really useful when I needed those precious 30 seconds. Keeping it alive wasn't hard with Lay on Hands, damage sucked though, but then it's the bear. Honestly, the paladin side really carried but the ranger side really surprised me at times during the leveling journey. Dragon's Dowry is only possible because of ranger IMO unless you have someway to generate free aoe attacks (Monk's Swift Flurry or perhaps charge.) However, you lose the benefit of marked prey and a number of accuracy buffs. With marked prey, I never missed a single shot especially with the arquebus modal of +20 acc. Sharpshooter was useful for penetration and honestly the recovery penalty was nothing. Pale Elf really surprised me as well. So many chickens used fire attacks to try and hit me. I guess that's why they are dragons. Given the abundance of points, it's possible to finish the game at 17-18, I ended up fighting the boss at 20 to try out the passives. They weren't really needed. Chanter would honestly be better here but chanter is better everywhere...nothing new there. Yes, I know it's ShepHErd.

My run is on POTD/all levelup(only up) Helwalker / ranger The reason I am choosing normal ranger is the sharpshooter subclass is kinda weak imo. We get +15% hit->crit when target > 4m and +1 pen when target <= 4m at the cost of 10 def and 10% recovery time. Hit to crit is kinda worthless for a high-acc build, 10% recovery time is a huge debuff. Helwalker can provide +12 acc & +10 might with Dance of Death and passives. Ranger can provide very high ranged acc and some mobility to avoid taking dmg which would stop death dance. And swift flurry is amazing with weapons can do multiple hits. And there comes ranger's driving flight. In the picture, my ranger dishes our 11 dmg instances with only one mundane attack. He is level 8 right now, no driving flight yet. The weapon is called frostseeker. It normally has 3 projectiles. With Swift Flurry, 11. And it should be much more with driving flight. Also, +12 acc/+10 might improves dmg output. Updated May 19th, Well, this run is about to end, time to write a short summary. I also tested other weapons (Frostseeker is just too OP and makes the game boring) and some abilities. Core abilities: Monk: Swift Flurry, +10 MIGHT, +10INT&+50% fire dmg, +2pen&+5might (2 wounds), +12 acc Ranger: Driving Flight, +10acc(mark), +5acc(marksman), +20acc(wounding shot), +100%base dmg(knockdown combo), potential +10acc(stalker link) +10acc(survival of the fittest), and mobility Currently some good(or broken) combos: 1. Swift Flurry + Driving Flight + any weapon that do multiple hits. The most broken one is Frostseeker. It fires 3 projectiles and does aoe dmg on crit. With a very high ranged acc, Swift Flurry would chain proc and instantly kill most enemies within seconds. 2. Stunning Surge regens much more mortifications then intended. The tooltip of Stunning Surge says if the attack crits, refund mortifications cost. However, I found that a crit would +2 all monk resources (+2 morts + wounds) instead of the actual cost (2 morts). Using a weapon that can only hit 1 time, that's OK. But multi-hit weapons such as frostseeker, every crit would +2 monk resources. Thus, unlimited monk abilities. 3. Ranger Leap Shot(I forgot the name). This upgraded ability allows the ranger a 10m blink + 1 free attack. Its casting time and recovery are both close to 0. A ranger can mark on a target and instantly fire 8 times without recovery time (9 bonds total). Combined with monk goodies, it would be a ton of dmg. 4. Concussive Shot + Frostseeker + driving flight. A lot of interrupts, enemies cannot do anything. Ranged acc, The screenshot shows a 178 acc(without stalker link), that is definitely not the optimal value. My character started as 19 10 14 15 10 10 just to "play safe". I would lower some CON&RES and add more DEX&PER. You can also use Berath's Blessing to make it stronger. And I was trying to upgrade the soulbound arquebus (relatively low enchantment bonus, and inherited -5 acc). At that acc level, the base crit rate is > 50% for almost any enemy in the game( as far as I know) , which means hit->crit is less effective. Ranged dmg A hit with lvl2 soulbound arquebus(basically a normal "exceptional arquebus") 200+dmg, not so bad, and could potentially follow with some lucky swift flurry free hits.

After playing BB4 for several hours, I'm sold on my Beguiler/Ghost Heart (Seer) Watcher. While the build certainly falls in the viable but not optimal category, it suits my character's backstory: a wandering neutral good type whose destiny is guided by spirits (often manifesting as wolves), and whose lack of enthusiasm and cosmopolitan skills are often overlooked for his grit, honesty, and kindness toward the downtrodden. This isn't set in stone obviously, as release and subsequent upgrades will probably shift it. That being said, I'd appreciate any feedback - with an understanding some decisions are RP. I plan on taking this Watcher through Hard Mode/upscaling on critical path with story companions. Seer (Beguiler/Ghost Heart) Race: Pale Elf Culture/Background: White that Wends/Mystic Pet: Ghostly Wolf Level: 9 Primary Active Skills: Alchemy, Stealth, a bit of Athletics (I may reverse the latter two). Primary Passive Skills: Metaphysics, Insight, Survival Mig: 15 Con: 8 Dex: 13 Per: 15(+1) Int: 16 Res: 10 (Again, these stats are for RP purposes. Even though the character is a backliner, I don't want to dump RES because I feel surviving in the White that Wends would require a degree of resilience. I didn't mind dumping CON a bit, though, since my character's physical development was a bit stunted, stemming from undefinable, haunting visions that kept nights long and friends fair-weather.) Weapons: War Bow, Hunting Bow, Rod (Blast), Arquebus (for alpha strikes), maybe Crossbow for interrupts. These choices will largely depend on unique weapons, but I would like to stick to bows if possible. Core Ideas: This build combines ranged damage and afflictions along with an upgraded, disposable pet that can easily move through the battlefield (immune to disengagement attacks) to disrupt enemy spellcasters and archers/gunners or help the backline in an emergency. Unfortunately, both Rangers and Ciphers are starved for ability points compared to other class combinations (no freebees beyond character creation), which can impede optimization. (Though you could also argue no point goes to waste like multi-class Fighter). Beguiler: Beguiler's range bonus (20 percent) to Deception Powers couples well with a Seer and often allows faster, safer opportunities to cast wide afflictions on mid and backliners. Ideally, enemies should always be covered in afflications (other party members like a Blast Rogue or Druid will offer redundancy), which generate Focus when attacking or casting Deceptions. This character will always initiate combat from Stealth, negating Beguiler's attack and Focus generation penalties when target is ineligible for Sneak Attack. Beguiler Abilities: Powers: Eyestrike, Whisper of Treason, Phantom Foes, Secret Horrors Eyestrike being a third level affliction right out the door is nice and Whisper of Treason offers some useful tricks with Stealth. While its effect is weak, Phantom Foes casts quickly and can cover a wide area, often hitting backliners when directed at stragglers racing to the frontlines; and since Mental Binding has fallen from grace, it gets tossed out for a passive or Ranger ability. Secret Horrors is a solid Power, which disables active abilities and lowers CON and RES, which helps Eyestrike and physical attacks land along with increasing affliction durations across the board. Passives: Beguiler, Biting Whip, Hammering Thoughts Since there's not a large choice of Powers, I picked Biting Whip and Hammering Thoughts for extra ranged damage. I skipped the 10 percent duration bonus to afflictions (name escapes me atm) since I felt having an INT at 16 and a good Focus flow was enough. Ghost Heart: A Seer Mystic summoning a fallen companion from beyond is appealing to me, and I never liked the Grieving Bond penalty, so Ghost Heart became my immediate choice. Calling the beast into Eora is quick and doesn't incur a recovery penalty, which lets the Seer immediately follow the ritual with Powers. Higher INT boosts the summon duration, extending the companion's use. Unfortunately, the skill has a short range, making timing an important factor in narrow encounters: before foes are bottlenecked but after they are engaged. (I try to time the summon into my Priest's rotation so the pet gets an inspiration while heading out.) The ghostly companion has its own set of properties, which makes it different from its living counterparts. It functions as a spirit-type with its associated strengths and weaknesses (afaik its not possible to actually see these effects) and is immune to disengagement attacks, which allows it to effortlessly swap between enemies when needed and bypass the opposition's frontliners. Ghost Hearts cannot learn the skills Heal Pet and Revive Pet, though this may not be such a sacrifice considering their hefty Bond costs and ability investment. When the pet expires due to death or duration, the Seer will not be affected by Grieving Bond, which will keep his Powers and attacks accurate. Side Note: Ghost Heart companions are handy at distracting, kiting, and blocking small side groups of enemies, and at one Bond point and short cast and recovery, can easily be summoned when necessary. A ghostly bear or antelope could make for a resilient (albeit temporary) tank. Ghost Heart Abilities: Bond: Wolf Companion, Takedown, Marked for the Hunt I chose the wolf (named 'im Volkhavaar) for my companion for RP and extra damage - lions make a good secondary choice for their increased attack speed. Takedown disrupts enemy backliners and can be upgraded for extra PEN or a damage boost. Marked for the Hunt deserves its own mention. Its baseline ability (Marked Prey) is far superior to Wounding Shot: the latter has been repeatedly nerfed, the Wounding effect doesn't generate Focus, and spending two ability points for a level one affliction or a selfish accuracy buff is a waste in a crunched build. Marked Prey and Marked for the Hunt never miss, cast fast, have no recovery, and last as long as the marked target; and Ciphers always appreciate more accuracy. Marked for the Hunt transfers the effect when the marked foe is killed, and combined with the Ghost pet's immunity to disengagement, allows the strange apparition to safely move to the next target - often messing up enemy pathing for a brief time. The ability's jump-on-death effect seems to have no limit, which helps cut down on Bond points in longer battles; however, it can vanish if its next target dies too fast. Passives: Ghost Heart, Marksman, Merciless Companion, Vicious Companion Marksman plus Marked Prey/Marked for the Hunt synergize, giving the Seer a +15 bonus to accuracy from over four meters away; and as mentioned earlier, Beguiler's ranged bonus to Deception powers lets him stay a touch back. The Companion passives are there to increase damage, add PEN, and apply a moderate Sneak Attack bonus, which will be triggered often. Rotation Example Start the battle in Stealth with an Arquebus (modal on). If possible, position your frontliners in a way that can open a path for the pet. Begin the frontline engagement/prep inspirations/shoot a long-range foe with your Arquebus to generate some Focus. By using an Arquebus, recovery is at 0. Follow the shot with Marked for the Hunt on a ranged foe (no recovery), then summon your pet (also no recovery). (Note: Marked for the Hunt breaks Stealth, which is why I shoot before using it. Casting Deceptions from Stealth can be useful, but recovery can significantly hinder the rotation.) Have your pet attack or use Takedown on the Marked foe depending on the circumstance, then cast Phantom Foes on an enemy that gives the most coverage. Follow this by swapping to a bow or rod, then work to cast Secret Horrors and Eyestrike. Follow Marked for the Hunt as it bounces through enemies and focus fire for the best effect. Continue casting Deceptions, attacking marked targets, and summoning when needed. --Will add other thoughts and variations after waking up. Thanks for reading.

.. very annoying wondering why he wont attack to have to remember to turn the AI for the pet on every single fight.

For Deadfire I'm planning on importing my PoE character, an arquebus-wielding ranger with a bear companion. I found the Apprentice Sneak Attack talent in PoE to be great. My question is two-fold: Firstly, to be dealing out the damage, should I be looking at playing a Scout for the Sneak Attack and other abilites or would a single-class ranger work fine? Secondly, does a Scout play much differently to a Ranger? What's the "feel" of both options? Thanks heaps, TheDogProfessor