Ranger Discussion

[Mr. Magniloquent]

 

I've tested just about every animal companion, and found them all to be more or less equally vulnerable.

 

That's because the have the same Stamina and Health right? The Bear has higher DT and does ridiculous damage though, IMO they are the best atm.

 

 

There is definitely a preference to the Bear companion, but the mechanical difference in combat provided by The Bear over (other animal companions) is negligible. This is an opinion. My concern is against emphasizing the animal companion as a co-equal of The Ranger, rather than half of a whole unit. It's a fundamental conceptual question about the class. As it turns out, it may not be greater than the sum of its individual parts. Is this a reason to empower it beyond the equivalent power scope of other PC classes....debatable. Like the attributes, the balance rests upon the core fundamentals of the class as it is designed and conceived. Whether this is a failure of not relies upon delivery. Considering how little of the game the beta provides access to, that is yet to be seen.

[Sensuki]

The animal companion is part of the Ranger class, and weighing the animal companion against other animal companions is a fair thing to do, just as is weighing different attribute arrays, spell selections and the like. 

 

The bear seems to do very high damage compared to the others, I would not say that this difference is negligible. 

[IndiraLightfoot]

For the ranger class, there is but one companion that I want to see, and I know Josh would love to see it as well: the cassowary.

 

[Shallow]

For the ranger class, there is but one companion that I want to see, and I know Josh would love to see it as well: the cassowary.

 

Those things are pretty cool.

[wanderon]

For the ranger class, there is but one companion that I want to see, and I know Josh would love to see it as well: the cassowary.

 

 

I heard this was coming in the first DLC...

[Namutree]

They definitely should slightly boost the offensive power of the animals with powers by a little bit, and give more stat focused animals like the bear a very weak power.

 

I think improving the offensive effectiveness of the animals would improve the Ranger to being a competent class; without making the animal a tank.

 

Also; to make the Ranger more interesting OE should add the hunter talent I suggested at the beginning of the thread. 

 

Do all that and the Ranger will become a much cooler class.

[wanderon]

The animal companion is part of the Ranger class, and weighing the animal companion against other animal companions is a fair thing to do, just as is weighing different attribute arrays, spell selections and the like. 

 

The bear seems to do very high damage compared to the others, I would not say that this difference is negligible. 

 

I'm not a number cruncher but it seems to me that not having every animal companion created equal is probably a good thing - otherwise it becomes a one size fits all and the choices become pointless.

 

Does the bear do more damage than the stag if you count the carnage damage the stag does?

 

Does it's high DT make it less prone to damage than the supposedly highly defensive antelope?

 

Does the boars increase in might below 50% stamina bring it's damage up to the bears in a long fight?

 

Does the lions roar work well enough to make it as useful to the overall battle as the bears high damage by taking enemies out of the fight early on?

 

Haven't played with these enough to have any clue what the answers to those questions are but that's the type of questions I think need to be answered before a major overhaul of the animal companions is begun.

[Sensuki]

Neither have I, because Rangers are buggy - I will play them more when they are more stable.

 

They don't have to be the same, but they should all be equally viable choices and promote different playstyles.