The social ranger

[Dark Elf]

Hi! 

 

Suffering from a severe case of restartitis, I have settled on a ranger. I figure bows, guns and animal companions will be my thing. However, rangers want Might and Dexterity, and I wonder how I should do to build an effective ranger that can still do well in social interactions? I guess I need Resolve and Intellect for that, no?

[gkathellar]

Intellect is an effective social stat, and is of acceptable value to a ranger - it'll help with Wounding Shot and Binding Roots, anyway.

 

You might also get some value out of Perception and Interrupt. /shrug

[Onuist]

You can build for interrupts.

 

Hunting bow, max Perception, the interrupt talent at 6 and a chanter singing the Concentration debuff at all times.  Get pet knockdown. This lets you be somewhat useful but dump Might and Con. Also take the +20 damage skill at 1 since huge Int and fast attacks synergize with it better than the DoT.

[Dark Elf]

I suppose that instead of min-maxing, I'll go for a balanced approach where I get some Intellect and Perception in then. Won't make me much worse at rangering, but better at talking which is what I want.

[ErlKing]

"+20 damage skill" is either bugged or have wrong description, I expected it to give +20 to damage for ranger or his pet, but it seems that it is +20% damage for ranger or pet (and Iam not sure if it is working at all).

[Infares]

You can build for interrupts.

 

Hunting bow, max Perception, the interrupt talent at 6 and a chanter singing the Concentration debuff at all times.  Get pet knockdown. This lets you be somewhat useful but dump Might and Con. Also take the +20 damage skill at 1 since huge Int and fast attacks synergize with it better than the DoT.

 

 

"+20 damage skill" is either bugged or have wrong description, I expected it to give +20 to damage for ranger or his pet, but it seems that it is +20% damage for ranger or pet (and Iam not sure if it is working at all).

Indeed, if the skill is meant to give +20 damage, then it is indeed bugged. (imagine how sick that would be with a blunderbuss, lol)

 

I think it's supposed to be 20%, though I haven't personally tested it since I've all but sworn off Rangers pending a major overhaul.

[gkathellar]

I suppose that instead of min-maxing, I'll go for a balanced approach where I get some Intellect and Perception in then. Won't make me much worse at rangering, but better at talking which is what I want.

 

Well, that gives you two dump stats, so it's not like you're going to miss out on a ton of power or something.

[Onuist]

Keep in mind you want at least 16 for most dialogue options, sometimes 18.

 

You might be disappoined if you dabble 13 or 14 points in conversation stats. That leaves you mediocre at both combat and dialogue.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Onuist

[gkathellar]

Keep in mind you want at least 16 for most dialogue options, sometimes 18.

 

You might be disappoined if you dabble 13 or 14 points in conversation stats. That leaves you mediocre at both combat and dialogue.

 

/manifests

 

twoooo duuuump staaaaats

 

*drifts into the ether*

[Dark Elf]

I'm thinking 16 Might, Dex and Int, 10 in the others. Should make me competent enough in battle, give me a fair go in most conversations while still not presenting any real weaknesses. 

[Faerunner]

Don't take my word as the Gospel Truth, but I also wanted some social skills for my ranger without completely sacrificing combat competence (it helps that I'm playing on Easy), and think I found a decent solution.

 

I made a ranger with:

 

16 Might

 

16 Dex

 

12 Perception, Intelligence, and Resolve.

 

Not to give anything away, but pretty soon you'll find inn rooms and items that grant bonuses to "social stats" (though temporary with inn rooms, so time it carefully) which will give you a decent boost for those skills. While many conversations require 16-18 Int/Per/Res, a decent amount also have 12-14 Int/Per/Res checks. So if you can hold out for stat-boosting items, it's pretty satisfying. (Better than D&D-style cRPGs, where Rangers had NO social skills whatsoever.)

 

I'm thinking 16 Might, Dex and Int, 10 in the others. Should make me competent enough in battle, give me a fair go in most conversations while still not presenting any real weaknesses. 

 

That's a good solid build, though I'd personally recommend 16 Might, 16 Dex, 14 Int, and 12 Perception. (And 10 everything else.)

 

Reason being that I've noticed that a decent amount of conversations only require 13-14 Int and/or 12 Per checks. (Resolve? No, they almost always require more...) I found the Int modifier frustrating at the starting game since I only had 12 Int, yet kept bumping into 13-14 Int dialogue options ("So close, yet so far!"), but after I got access to some Int-boosting items and inn rooms, it's been smoother sailing. 14 Int is also a pretty good spring board to hop into the desired 16 Int with items and inn rooms later, while still having 12 Perception to sprinkle onto the occasional conversation like garnish.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Faerunner

[Kai]

Don't take my word as the Gospel Truth, but I also wanted some social skills for my ranger without completely sacrificing combat competence (it helps that I'm playing on Easy), and think I found a decent solution.

 

I made a ranger with:

 

16 Might

 

16 Dex

 

12 Perception, Intelligence, and Resolve.

 

Not to give anything away, but pretty soon you'll find inn rooms and items that grant bonuses to "social stats" (though temporary with inn rooms, so time it carefully) which will give you a decent boost for those skills. While many conversations require 16-18 Int/Per/Res, a decent amount also have 12-14 Int/Per/Res checks. So if you can hold out for stat-boosting items, it's pretty satisfying. (Better than D&D-style cRPGs, where Rangers had NO social skills whatsoever.)

 

I'm thinking 16 Might, Dex and Int, 10 in the others. Should make me competent enough in battle, give me a fair go in most conversations while still not presenting any real weaknesses. 

 

That's a good solid build, though I'd personally recommend 16 Might, 16 Dex, 14 Int, and 12 Perception. (And 10 everything else.)

 

Reason being that I've noticed that a decent amount of conversations only require 13-14 Int and/or 12 Per checks. (Resolve? No, they almost always require more...) I found the Int modifier frustrating at the starting game since I only had 12 Int, yet kept bumping into 13-14 Int dialogue options ("So close, yet so far!"), but after I got access to some Int-boosting items and inn rooms, it's been smoother sailing. 14 Int is also a pretty good spring board to hop into the desired 16 Int with items and inn rooms later, while still having 12 Perception to sprinkle onto the occasional conversation like garnish.

 

Getting +2 bonuses to abilities get pretty easy by ch2, and another +1 or +2 can be obtained from inns (and +4 for int), but if I want a char that can pass almost all speech checks, would I need something like 15 in per/int/res? I too seem to recall a lot more 16+ resolve options, so it seems reasonable to get that one higher.

[Exoduss]

Dont build ranger as your PC you not gona solo this , so why **** up ur rangers build with useless stats just for conversations when you can pick another char more suited for conversations as your pc and make ranger in the INN , i am all about Rangers too but i dont agree with gimped builds for some dialogue options , imo either skip dialogues or make another pc and get ranger as companion from the inn , and you really want to have Might Dex maxed and then either max Perception ( for interrupts ) or Intelect for AOE but only 1 of thease thats the choice you gota make for a good build .