Elementary Ranger Queries [Vanilla]

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Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.angband (More info?)

Hi! After lengthy stints with Priests and Mages, I've begun to try my
hand at playing rangers. Unlike the earlier character classes, there
are some inquiries about Rangers I have that are non-obvious to me.

1. What stats are most important for a Ranger to maximize, assuming
point buy? Obviously, one wants to maximize their dexterity, but
afterwards I'm stuck. Constitution is always helpful for any class,
Intelligence allows the characters better use of their spellcasting
ability, and Strength allows more carrying capacity for heavy
ammunition and better damage dealing. Any priorities?

2. Related to the above question, which races are best for the Ranger.
Immediately, I want to ignore High Elf and Dunedain for this
discussion. I tried a Gnomish Ranger, but he seemed to have horrendous
problems actually dealing damage, and was too fragile to be allowed to
melee. Even worse, his failure rates were high enough that I didn't
want to rely on spells. I've had Half-Troll Rangers reccomended to me,
but I'm wary about the low INT.

3. Is there any reason not to use a Heavy Crossbow, barring weight
issues, and assuming all else being equal?

Thank you very much! Any other advice is appreciated!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.angband (More info?)

On Sun, 3 Sep 2005, Brian Trautman wrote:

> Hi! After lengthy stints with Priests and Mages, I've begun to try my
> hand at playing rangers. Unlike the earlier character classes, there
> are some inquiries about Rangers I have that are non-obvious to me.
>
> 1. What stats are most important for a Ranger to maximize, assuming
> point buy? Obviously, one wants to maximize their dexterity, but
> afterwards I'm stuck. Constitution is always helpful for any class,
> Intelligence allows the characters better use of their spellcasting
> ability, and Strength allows more carrying capacity for heavy
> ammunition and better damage dealing. Any priorities?

Rangers don't need much int, I set it at 18, the more the better but I would
rather put points into str/dex/con for a better fighting ability than
spells.

> 2. Related to the above question, which races are best for the Ranger.
> Immediately, I want to ignore High Elf and Dunedain for this
> discussion. I tried a Gnomish Ranger, but he seemed to have horrendous
> problems actually dealing damage, and was too fragile to be allowed to
> melee. Even worse, his failure rates were high enough that I didn't
> want to rely on spells.

You never do for a *long* time regardless of class, plus you are always
stuck with a 1/20 fail so if you rely on it you are likely to die. Rangers
have an exp handicap and high elves as well, when you combine them it gets
silly. I have a level 41 ranger at DL99. A human ranger advances faster but
will be much weaker endgame than the two uber classes you noted. Those are
the easiest to play and win with though. High elf being easier initially and
Dunedain in the late game.

> 3. Is there any reason not to use a Heavy Crossbow, barring weight
> issues, and assuming all else being equal?

You won't get the extra shots, rangers get three with a bow at high levels
and only one with the x-bow, so the damage output is way higher. The total
multiplier is x3x3x3 with a normal bow for 27, and x3x1x4=12 with the heavy
xbow even a heavy x-bow of extra shots can't match a normal bow for a ranger
at high levels, unless you find a really powerful xbow early Rangers are
better off with bows, even the short ones.

--
Cliff Stamp
sstamp@physics.mun.ca http://www.physics.mun.ca:80/~sstamp/

The one unforgivable sin, the offence against one's own integrity,
is to accept anything at all simply on authority -- Maureen Johnson Long

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. -- Publilius Syrus

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.angband (More info?)

Brian Trautman wrote:
> 1. What stats are most important for a Ranger to maximize, assuming
> point buy? Obviously, one wants to maximize their dexterity, but
> afterwards I'm stuck. Constitution is always helpful for any class,
> Intelligence allows the characters better use of their spellcasting
> ability, and Strength allows more carrying capacity for heavy
> ammunition and better damage dealing. Any priorities?

I play Rangers as warriors who have great bow skill and later get all
the "convenience" magic (satisfy hunger, identify, detection, etc.) So
early on, you want to make him as good a warrior as possible...for me,
that usually means a good combination of STR and DEX so he gets at
least 2 blows with a light weapon. If you play some of the fancy races
(e.g., High Elf) you can get up to 4.

That ability (basic melee) is what is going to carry you for the first
20 levels. You'll use your bow skill as needed and you can pretty much
forget about magic.

You'll never be able to completely rely on magic...at best, you'll have
a 5% (1 in 20) failure rate. That means you can use it as part of an
overall attack plan (e.g., frost ball a bunch of monsters, then pick
off the rest as they come around the corner), but you can't use it as
your main attack. However, you have terrific bow skills (see below)
that make up for this. The main uses for magic as a ranger are:

- one component of an overall attack plan. This does depend on playing
style...my current clvl 40 Ranger at 2650' has knocked off about 70% of
the uniques and I don't think I've cast a magic spell in combat, except
for Stone-to-Mud to build anti-summoning tunnels and buffing.

- buffing self before a battle (e.g., casting Resistance, Shield,
Heroism, etc.). If one of those fail, you can always just recast it
because you are not in battle yet.

- convenience spells (identify, detection, recall, etc.). One nice one
for Rangers is Elemental Brand, which converts a pile (up to 30, I
think?) of ordinary arrows into Arrows of Fire/Frost/Venom, etc.

One final note...I always put a little bit more into STR for carrying
capacity, because early on there are lots of things you need to carry
before you get the skills (e.g., staves of perception, WoR scrolls,
etc.) I'd rather have a few extra points in STR than CHR, because
Amulets of CHR are pretty easy to find and cheap to buy, and you can
just wear them in town. Later, of course, once you get to stat gain
(or are nearing it and have enough gold to buy potions), it doesn't
matter, of course...

> 3. Is there any reason not to use a Heavy Crossbow, barring weight
> issues, and assuming all else being equal?

Something I recently learned...at level 20, you get +1 blows/round, and
at level 40 you get +2 blows/round. This is really an awesome
advantage...later, when you're fighting +20 uniques and have hasted
yourself to +20, you can still deal out damage several times before
they get a strike in...and do it from a distance with an attack no one
resists!

This ability only affects bows (not crossbows). However, until you get
to level 20, it won't make much difference. My current clvl 40 Ranger
used a Sling of Power for the first 20 levels, then found a Heavy
Crossbow of Extra Attacks with great pluses that he used for some of
the early 20s until I happened upon Amrod.

Death to Morgoth!

-Drew

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.angband (More info?)

Brian Trautman wrote:
> Hi! After lengthy stints with Priests and Mages, I've begun to try my
> hand at playing rangers. Unlike the earlier character classes, there
> are some inquiries about Rangers I have that are non-obvious to me.
>
> 1. What stats are most important for a Ranger to maximize, assuming
> point buy? Obviously, one wants to maximize their dexterity, but

Always max STR if not playing spellcaster. Then consider rest. INT is
spellcasting stat for ranger and DEX is needed for blows. CON is always
good to have.

I'd say max STR and divide rest to DEX and INT. CON you can get from
rings when needed.

> 2. Related to the above question, which races are best for the Ranger.
> Immediately, I want to ignore High Elf and Dunedain for this
> discussion. I tried a Gnomish Ranger, but he seemed to have horrendous

Hobbit. Definitely.

> 3. Is there any reason not to use a Heavy Crossbow, barring weight
> issues, and assuming all else being equal?

All else is not equal. Ranger gets extra shot for bows at clvl 20 and
40. But only for bows, not XBows or slings. Othervise there is no reason
not to use Heavy Xbow for ranger.

> Thank you very much! Any other advice is appreciated!

Use your bow. Play this as Archer boosted with decent fighting and
spells. Don't rely on spells.

Timo Pietilä