Ranger - Melee or Ranged

[Excalibur_2102]

Hi,

 

So Im finally starting PoE and cant decide what class to play, however I was wondering if a ranger could be played in melee effectively.  I usually like Greatswords, nut I dont know if this is viable or not?

 

I will likely be playing the game on Hard mode

[DreamWayfarer]

Hi,

 

So Im finally starting PoE and cant decide what class to play, however I was wondering if a ranger could be played in melee effectively. I usually like Greatswords, nut I dont know if this is viable or not?

 

I will likely be playing the game on Hard mode

It is viable, and actually powerful. Just remember to read the ability descriptions before taking them. For exemple, Wounding Shot, Stunning Shots and Quick Aim work on melee despite their names, but Vicious Aim does not.

 

And pay attention while playing, because both the Ranger and the pet are frail damage dealers.

[Excalibur_2102]

Alright...  I will likely still carry a bow as a secondary weapon depending on the situation but id rather focus on melee just as personal preference.  So basically neither the ranger or pet will be "tanky" and I should just be going for more damage with both?

[DreamWayfarer]

Alright... I will likely still carry a bow as a secondary weapon depending on the situation but id rather focus on melee just as personal preference. So basically neither the ranger or pet will be "tanky" and I should just be going for more damage with both?

You could make your Ranger tanky... but not with a greatsword . Although with the right gear you can still be quite sturdy, but I don't want to overload you with uniques instead of letting you discover them.

 

For the pet, Resilient Companion is still something you want to take. Can't do DPS if you are dead.

 

EDIT: If you want to use a greatsword, I'd recomend using a arbalest or arquebus instead of a bow as a secondary weapon, since those share a weapon focus talent and are good for an opening before going into melee.

Edited April 17, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[Excalibur_2102]

What sort of attributes would you recommend?  Not quite sure whether I want to use the great sword or a sword and shield now, lol.. Will have a think about the ranged weapons too

[KDubya]

Check out Boereor's Riptide melee ranger build for some good discussion and ideas.

 

Pet's can take an ability that gets a big +50% damage boost against targets under the effect of a DoT. There are a two melee weapons that have a DoT effect, a two handed weapon and a one handed weapon. With these you can go two handed, weapon and shield or dual wield. Using a shield will make you much more tanky, the other two styles will do more damage.

 

Stunning shots work with melee and the duration is affected by your intellect. With the goal of being able to chain stun the target, you'd want a 10+ Intellect if you are using a two handed weapon, but a fast one hander would let you get by with a much lower Intellect like a 3. This would free up a lot of stat points for other uses, but since you want at least a normal Will defense the points you drop from intellect would be put into Resolve. A 10/10 Intellect/Resolve is the same Will as a 3/17 Intellect/Resolve. The 3/17 would get you some good dialogue, good concentration and better deflection but would have greatly reduced durations so you'd want to avoid those types of abilities.

 

Rangers have the highest base accuracy so you could leave Perception at 10. Or you could max it out to get more crits and a high interrupt chance. The high interrupt can mitigate incoming damage but if you are chain stunning a target you can't be attacked anyway.

 

Dexterity is always good for action speed and faster attacks. Even with zero recovery a high dexterity will attack faster.

 

Might is always useful for more damage.

 

Rangers have a lower base endurance and health so Constitution has less of an effect but you still would not want to drop below 10.

[falchen]

You can play a melee ranger and probably even beat the game with one, but there's like no point. They have a lot of good abilities for ranged combat and nothing for melee, plus you get bonuses for attacking things together with your pet which is easier if one of them is just shooting things from afar.

 

So viable, yes, efficient, no.

[Blunderboss]

Most of the Ranger stuff works both in meele and in ranged , the ones that dont work are mainly modals , tho Swift Aim works with melee and you cant stack modals so its all good , so its only Vicious Aim , Twinned Arrows , and Powder Burns ( can be used on hybrid melee + guns quick switch ranger ! ) excluding modals there is only one ability that wont work in melee and thats Driving Flight , so basically by going Melee ranger you lose one ability because you cant stack those modals anyway .

 

Im pretty sure that if Stormcaller didnt exist melee rangers would be all round better than ranged 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Blunderboss

[Elric Galad]

Melee ranger are a good choice as ranger is a very good class.

 

Basically you loose twinned arrows and driving flights which are truly awesome skills.

 

You win defensive bond (which is IMHO only interesting with melee ranger), and probably better stunlock with stunning shots because of better attack speed of some melee weapons, especially when dual wielding.

 

Superior damages from melee attacks compensate for the loss of double attacks, but you loose ranged flexibility.

 

I find melee ranger overall suboptimal, but it has a few perk where it is superior.