Missed opportunity with Edér

[AeonsLegend]

Can't really understand why Ranger was not a class choice for Edér. Sure I can add it with Unity console, but imagine the extra banter he could have had. I mean rogue is ok, because it adds a lot of damage, but RP wise Ranger would be the way to go.

[Dyxx]

At the beginning Eder was a rogue but was then changed to fighter, so that you have a tanky guy at the start of PoE1 regardless of your character.

So it's logically for me that Eder is a Fighter and/or Rogue.

I can't see Eder as a Ranger, he likes pets and is against animal cruelty.

But my understanding of a ranger goes deeper into caring for nature and stuff like this. I don't see this for eder.

Eder is the funny guy from the neighborhood 

[Boeroer]

I think it doesn't really fit his character. Just because he likes animals doesn't mean he's a dedicated ranger. His background story (Saint's War etc.) is pretty clear - and being able to make him a SC rogue is already near the knuckle in my opinion (but being a "Ruffian" still ok). Although he was designed as rogue in a first draft. But being a soldier from a farm and such... don't know. No-subclass fighter seems to be a good fit. 

You can use Berath's Blessing points to unlock the pet slot for Edér. I think that's a nice feature and for me it's enough to cater to his love of animals. 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Boeroer

[AeonsLegend]

Wow interesting. I think it fits his character perfectly. What doesn't fit him is rogue at all. No I don't see him as a dedicated ranger either, but as an option for multiclass with fighter makes a lot of sense. Given the comments he gave during POE1. But I guess that people will always be stuck to what they know. Ah well. I'm sure that if Obsidian changed him into a Ranger most people would have stuck with that and called it natural.

[Elric Galad]

There is also a backstory problem with Ranger NPC. One either has a pet or not. How to handle the dialogue if not. Ranger cannot be a skippable class for this reason.

The only Ranger NPC is Maia, and her Ranger Class is not Skippable.

Edited March 29, 2020 by Elric Galad

[AeonsLegend]

You make a good point. Well then I'd rather have Eder be the Ranger over Maia. At any rate there's no rule to having multiple Rangers available so you could still do both. It's more that the limited amount of companions that are available make it seem redundant. Baldur's Gate games had many the same type of classes available and that's what made it fun. So you could take your pick.

[xzar_monty]

I believe @Elric Galad pretty much nailed the Ranger question and the way it must be handled. Very good indeed.

[Boeroer]

I mean I would be totally ok if Edér was a ranger. It's just nothing that is mentioned neither in his backstory nor in PoE. Do they even mention a special pet he once had - like a dog on his farm or a cat or something? If so I can't remember (only the milkmaid thing I can't purge from my brain). If he was depicted with ranger-vibes right from the get-go then sure.

But introducing it in Deadfire just because he likes animals would have felt a bit slapdash. I think the unlocked pet slot (with the very nice name "Can I pet him anyway?") with BB is a better fit. Something special to him. Adding an additional pets to the party is actually a very good passive (so to speak). 

Funnily enough you can play him in more different ways in PoE than in Deadfire despite the multiclass feature of the latter. That is because PoE went a (very narrow yet interesting) partial classless route with the "cross class" talents like Runner's Wounding Shot etc. So a rangerish Edér was possible in PoE (with a bit of imagination) but it is not in Deadfire (unless you just pretend and give him a bow and run with a pet like the Bear Cub or something).

Regarding the "AC destroys dialogue options" argument: well it wouldn't have been impossible to come up with a special ranger subclass. E.g. one that hasn't a specific AC but is a friend of all animals and maybe can charm beasts as special ability or tame a wild animal and use it as stronger (non-steerable) pet that can also fight. Whatever. It would have been possible. Also sounds great now that I write about it, hehe.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Boeroer