So I built this dwarven ranger... and share my thoughts with you.

[Slack83er]

Hi all fellow players. 

I'm not gonna pretend I'm expert at this game, 'cos I'm not. What I figured out, and I credit Boeroer for this, is the Ranger is an optimal all-round character. This thread is a place where I want to share thoughts about a particularly "jack of all trade" boreal dwarf. Please, comment and help me make it better if you, like me 1 don't care to play at high difficulty, 2 enjoy role play more than combat, 3 like a character that can hold his own in pretty every aspect of the game, be it social, combat or exploration.

 

So I gave him 16 PER and 15 INT (still working on this tbh, maybe swap INT with RES?) so he's got plenty of dialogue interactions and options, not to mention good MIG at 15 (but you may sack it for a bit more of PER or DEX, since damage is not the point of this build. Your pet will more than make up for it). DEX is at 16 too, recharging a crossbow or arbalest (my weapons of choice) is no quick task. CON is a standard 10. I don't think giving more would be much beneficial as, to be quick in combat, I gave him light armor, and thus, if too many enemies surround him, he's as good as dead anyway. I always try to stay well covered, and I let my pet draw aggro, as well as Eder. My role in combat is more that of a support. I cripple, snipe, and take out weaker targets.

 

Social interaction is good thus far. I read in another thread that 15 INT covers most possibilities in conversation, PER is often put to good use, and RES is just not the type of behavior I expect from my toon, as I see him as a keen but calm dwarf. (I'm still experimenting on this, as said up before)

 

I tried to enhance his survival (really good bonuses) as well as the ability to spot secrets and traps. No rogue is in my party and in my opinion, a Ranger can fulfill that role. No athletic for me, same reason as average CON. I'm thinking about Lore but I don't think I can spread my points too thin, and I gotta give priorities.

 

Speaking about pets instead.. on my first run i chose Bear. Sturdy, durable, good tank. This is my 2nd run and I'm testing a Boar. 

 

Well... that's my "point of view" on the ranger class with a little difference from the classic damage-dealer-bowman with a wolf. Comments, new ideas...everything is much appreciated, especially from expert players. 

Thanks for reading!

[KDubya]

My favorite pet is the war pig (boar) especially for a dwarf. Their extra high Con makes them as tanky as a bear but they attack a lot faster.

 

There are a lot of good crossbows, they have full crit damage unlike the bigger arbalests, they have good interrupts and benefit from the Gunner talent that will speed up their reload. Plus the Knight weapon focus has axes, swords and Morningstars to give you plenty of options for a non-pierce weapon.

 

I'd look to grab Interrupting Blows to double down on the interrupts, but if talents are tight you can wait for stunning shots.

 

The extra +15 accuracy against Wilder and Primordial enemies will help a lot throughout the game, Boreal Dwarves are my go to race for just about anything.

 

As far as skills go you'll need someone on the team with 13 or so Mechanics. This takes a lot of skill points so one needs to be dedicated, two guys with an 8 mechanics do nothing for you. You can find gloves that give +2 and there is a quest reward for another +1. If you started with a bonus due to culture this'd get you five free and you'd need 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8= 36 skill points. Without the culture you'd need 45 skill points, without the gloves you'd need 66 skill points.

[Slack83er]

Mmm maybe you're right on the mechanic skill.. but who can do it? Devil of caroc is not on the main game and I don't have the expansion for now... what shall I choose except obviously survival?

[draego]

I generally use Aloth for this since he will be casting plenty and starts with one mechanic. And yes almost every point has to go into mechanic. It usually works fine for most of game and there are resting bonuses and scrolls for mechanics if you need additional.

[Slack83er]

I generally use Aloth for this since he will be casting plenty and starts with one mechanic. And yes almost every point has to go into mechanic. It usually works fine for most of game and there are resting bonuses and scrolls for mechanics if you need additional.

 

At first, right when you start, (say level 2 or 3) Durance is the one that is most versed in trapfinding. Aloth is more adept in lore imo... I wonder what I can get specialized into... just survival?

 

EDIT/REQUEST: Boeroer, what's your thought on this?

Edited September 29, 2016 by Slack83er

[KDubya]

You can still have your Ranger be the mechanic, even my worst case of 66 skill points can be achieved by level 12 leaving 24 skill points left for Survival or whatever. Ten or eleven is plenty for the normal game, upscaled White march is where you need up to 13 or so. With re-spec you can just change out the mechanic skill later when you acquire Devil.

 

Plus there is always the +3 mechanics from resting at Caed Nua which you can use to free up 36 skill points. If you make the effort to use the resting bonus you can easily be the mechanic guy and have enough skills left over for whatever. This free's you from having to have a Rogue on the team, or anyone in particular for that matter as your Ranger will always be there and if he is the mechanic you'll always have one available.

 

I really like the Survival healing bonus for any sort of melee guy who has some sort of regen or healing and will be taking a lot of damage. Your Ranger will probably not be taking much damage and definitely will not be heal-tanking the mobs. This makes Survival nice for a Ranger but not really essential like a tier three +60% heal bonus can be for a melee guy.

[Slack83er]

What you say is true... Do you think that survival at 6 or 7 can be enough? I always take +PER vs Beasts or other creature during rests.. I also granted some sneaking to the guy, so that I can be the first to sneak in, shoot, sneak out.. Mechanic is one of my favourite skills, I like to find treasures... and of course it pairs with sneaking to be able to do it..

[KDubya]

I've always found Sneak to be fairly useless. Even with level one sneak you still see enemies before they see you and can reposition as desired. Apprentice Sneak Attack works for the first few seconds so your alpha strike will get the bonus regardless.

 

I have the same formation for scouting as for combat. I set speed to x2 and sneak scout with pause on enemy sighted. I find traps and secrets as I walk around and from the initial pause choose targets and then bum rush the mob. Now my teams are usually melee heavy, four plus, so with a squishier backline it may not work as good.

 

For Survival there are the blue pajamas (padded armor) in the light house that get you +2 survival, just wear those when you camp to get a higher skill level.

 

I try for lore level 8 for use of level four scrolls whenever possible.

[Slack83er]

I try for lore level 8 for use of level four scrolls whenever possible.

 

Wouldn't it be better to let other members use scrolls? Aloth...Durance? I'm pretty unexperience but I play at easy difficulty... so will I need scrolls to change the outcome of a battle?

 

Second question is: I take 1 single level in sneak.. and you told me that I can see enemies from afar (that's enough for me, I'm ranged)...but will it change something in the distance at which I find secrets or traps (since you must sneak to find 'em) or this is all on the mechanic skill?  

[Boeroer]

Stealth only affects how quickly you are discovered after you enter the enemies' range of perception. The range itself never changes. I never put any point into it.

 

Survival 10 is nice for the +15 ACC bonus.

 

I usually leave mechanics at 10 when I have no rogue.

 

Athletics: usually 0 points.

 

Offensive scrolls are great for the party members with the highest base (not weapon) ACC. This can be a fighter or ranger or rogue or monk and so on. Fighters can be really good with them because of Disciplined Barrage. They tend to crit a lot with scrolls. You don't need scrolls to beat the game though. But they can make hard encounters a lot easier. Lore 6 is easy to get and you can cast Fireballs and Twin Stones with it. I like Twin Stones: foe only and good AoE and damage.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Boeroer

[Dr <3]

Usually when i solo i go for 9 mech ( 11 with gloves) , 8 lore ( paralyze & confusione) and 4 in survival ( usually at the beginning for the +10 accuracy)

[Slack83er]

I don't think I will be able to boost mech survival and lore on a single char... I'll have to prioritize... survival is good imo, and mech is a skill I like much and just goes well with a ranger... how can I boost lore? That'd take too many points...

[Boeroer]

You don't need to pump it all into one char. A bit survival is good for everyone, but it's usually enough to give one or two chars a bit of lore and one does mechanics. If that's your ranger, then great. Fits a dwarven ranger - also for finding traps and so on... 

[Slack83er]

Oook thanks boeroer I'll try to give mech and survival then. Are there many equipments that boost skills?

[Boeroer]

Not too many. The most useful are items with +2 bonus to survival, mechanics and lore. For survival there's a padded armor, a plate armor and a hat. For mechanics there's only a random pair of gloves - so that's the hardest go get. For lore there's an amulet, a robe and even +3 boots. And there may be more items which I forgot about, but not many.

 

There are also items with bonus to athletics and stealth, but as I said nobody really needs that bonuses unless you want it for roleplaying reasons.

[Slack83er]

Just to clarify, let's see if I'm correct:

 

Lore lets me use scrolls as well as gives me some hindsight in dialogue

Survival boosts resting bonuses

Mechanics lets me spot traps, open locks and detect secrets.

Stealth just influences the time between when you enter the sight area of an enemy and your detection, but not the distance itself

Athletics lets me regain some endurance during combat

 

Am I right or am I missing some more benefit? 

 

Lore-wise, for my ranger, i only see Survival and Mechanics (and stealth...but it's apparently useless) as viable options.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Slack83er

[Boeroer]

That's all correct as far as I can see.

[Slack83er]

Fine, I'm a good student I have only one last doubt and it's about RES. Why is INT recommended over RES for a ranger? INT boosts AoE, durations... and will. So what's the use with a ranger?  RES on the other hand boosts deflect, concentration...useful stuff... with a crossbow in hand, which is quite slow in recharge, being interrupted for low concentration is somewhat disapponting... 

[Boeroer]

Yes, but normally you are in the backline - you shouldn't get hit at all - so you don't need neither high deflection nor a lot of concentration. INT on the other hand gives you longer durations for your Wounding Shot (making it easier to trigger Predator's Sense for the pet), your Marked Prey, your Binding Roots and so on. If you'd use Envenomed Strike, it will also prolong the duration and therefore raise the damage. If you have Twin Sting it will prolong the duration of Plague of Insects (=raising damage) and so on. Sure, it's not the no. 1 stat for a ranged ranger, but I think it's more useful than RES most of the time. 

[Slack83er]

I see, so the durations are extended to "everything that lasts for a while" and not only spells... my bad. Would you help me then redefine my stats?

 

16 PER is good I think...

15 or 16 DEX 

10 in CON

MIG 12? 13? 14?

INT and RES... how shall I divide?

 

Thanks Boeroer

[Boeroer]

Well - for example you can put 15 into everything but INT and RES. Then give INT 13 and RES 10. Or INT 15 and RES 08. Or the other way round if you like RES more. 10 INT isn't too bad after all.

 

This approach would also result in fairly balanced defenses. A few points here and there  (like 17 to MIG and 09 to CON and so on) really don't make much of a difference. If you dump something from 18 to 3 or so, that's another story...

 

Making the major stats 16 or 15 and devide the rest evenly is generally a good "non-minmaxing" approach.
 

[Slack83er]

Ok, so a just division between stats will do the trick. Do you think that MIG ought to be high? Like 17? I always kept it somewhat low... like 13, 14 tops... I didn't mean to be a damage powerhouse, but does it also influence my healing? Anyway I could respec in game if I feel something is not right...

[Boeroer]

MIG 13, 14 is also ok. It only affects damage and healing that you do to yourself or to others, not how much healing you receive from others.
You can put more points into DEX or PER or so.

[Slack83er]

I was thinking of this:

 

MIG 13

CON 10

DEX 15

PER 17

INT 12

RES 11

 

Would it be suitable with the concept of "all-round"?

[Boeroer]

Sure, go ahead.