Hi All,
I'm a returning player from a few years ago and while I am remembering a lot of things I feel like I am at a total loss on combat, gear, and where to hunt as a level 32 Sylvankind ranger. Always before my preferred method of combat has been sword and board, usually stance dancing, and using hide/ambush as main attack. Since I've been back for a few days now I have been looking for a place to hunt. I have tried up hunting up on the glacier, typically I can bring down a giant on its own easy enough but I usually get swarmed pretty quickly up there and get beat-up pretty easily. I am sure most of it is because I am terrible at combat after all these years but wanted to get some advise on good hunting areas (preferably live critters), stats, and gear.
GEAR
As far as gear I have an acid pitted warsword with flares, I believe this is +20 enchantment? I have brig armor with no enchantments which I'm guessing I need to up this as soon as possible but currently don't have enough money for the +20 ones in the player stores.
Current Skills
Armor Use..........................| 120 30
Shield Use.........................| 122 31
Combat Maneuvers...................| 122 31
Edged Weapons......................| 162 62
Ambush.............................| 162 62
Physical Fitness...................| 122 31
Dodging............................| 122 31
Harness Power......................| 122 31
Spirit Mana Control................| 25 5
Survival...........................| 122 31
Stalking and Hiding................| 122 31
Perception.........................| 122 31
Climbing...........................| 50 10
Swimming...........................| 50 10
First Aid..........................| 122 31
Spell Lists
Ranger.............................| 30
Combat Stuff
My current method of combat (aside from spelling up before heading out) is usually hide/ambush leg until they fall then hide/ambush head. I set my companion to guard to give me a DS bonus and occasionally use spike thorn for some extra damage. As a COL member I also use sign of swords and sign of shields to help with bonuses.
Seems like there has been a lot of changes over the last few years so I might be missing out on something critical that will help. Would appreciate any advise on hunting areas, gear, and stats to get me back on my feet!
CYRUSSPHERE
WOLFSAGE
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 01:09 PM CST
I'm also a recent returnee and also a sword and board ranger, but a a little higher level. Here's some advice to get you started. First, get your equipment checked more carefully. Your sword may or may not be 4x, I've seen weapons as low as 1x with flares. So go to the AI crystal in the Abandoned Inn near the Landing and find out more about them (the AI crystal wiki explains how it works). Next, start looking in the pawnshops for better equipment if you have access to the backroom. I just bought a +25 axe in one for 32,000 silver and a +27 shield for 45k. That's a lot less than the playershops and shopping the pawnshops should help to make you more capable since 4x equipment is regularly available. Consider another armor instead of brig. Most rangers I know of go with double leather or augmented chain. Personally, I use double leather because of the freedom of movement and the lack of spell hindrance.
Be sure to get all of the spell protection you can. Don't go up to Glatoph at your age without at least full massies in addition to your own spells. If you aren't doing so, be sure to provide colors for the community in a town square. It often leads to someone else providing blurs and guards and sometimes kind, older wizards will look favorably on your having done community service and provide you with a free spellup. When you are in the field, tanglevines are great, but try to make more use of spikethorn when you can. (I never did, but that was only because I was too stupid to figure out that I needed to target the spell since I'd never had one that I had to do so with before) Perhaps instead of guarding, you might want to have your companion attack and substitute spirit barrier for the protection that the guard offers you.
When I was in my early 30s, I hunted Glatoph, with my primary focus ice trolls and crones. I'd take on a frost giant solo, but I'd checked the surroundings to make sure that there wasn't any obvious help for it that would come and swarm me. Even so, I had to stance dance with the giants and if one turtled, there wasn't much I could do about it without spikethorn. It was risky, but I was usually successful and at that age I was able to advance very quickly. Be willing to turtle and run if you get into a situation that you can't handle. Glatoph is over-hunted now, so money might not be that easy to come by, but eventually you should be able to hunt richer ones on the other side of Icemule, just beware of the ice giants, even the level 41 lesser ice giants can swing at +375 when their eyes glow and that's nearly 100 points higher than the frost giants when they do the same thing.
Hope some that is useful. If you see me in game feel free to say hello. I'd be happy to help and offer whatever advice I can.
Jaffrey
RATHBONER
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 01:35 PM CST
Have you tried 610 for swarm control on the glacier? I'm not sure how well it works uphunting, but if you are in hiding that sort of critter normally runs away from a room with a vine so you can get on with finishing off the one that was in no condition to flee without fear of retaliation. I had the mana to make heavy use of 610 before level 20, 616 was for giggles, but 610 was pretty efficient. Plus when the vine brings a victim down, you don't need to leg it, and the head shot is a whole lot easier to land.
Check the pawnshop tables for brig each time you sell loot. You can INSPECT before buying now, 4x brig is there quite often and you'll have a pretty good chance of picking up something a bit better than plain 4x when the Duskruin loot rush hits the pawn tables.
Check the pawnshop tables for brig each time you sell loot. You can INSPECT before buying now, 4x brig is there quite often and you'll have a pretty good chance of picking up something a bit better than plain 4x when the Duskruin loot rush hits the pawn tables.
CYRUSSPHERE
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 01:41 PM CST
Appreciate the advice! I will check out the Abandoned Inn to figure out the weapon, it was a long time ago I picked it up and remember it was pretty decent but I should figure out exactly what it is. I will also keep an eye out for the armor in the pawnshops, it would be nice to get a little bit more on the protection side
WOLFSAGE
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 02:58 PM CST
One or two more things. Make liberal use of the new 603. It's great! For me, a vine, three casts of 603 consecutively and my companion can take out any of the giants I've hunted up to the greater ice giants without any more help from me, so I can focus on other threats. 619 is also useful for crowd control.
ECROCKEN
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 04:13 PM CST
Your training is fine for a S&B ranger.
Don't forget you have Mass Calm. This is great for like level swarms. If you use it, though, try to not use a vine or have your companion in attack mode as they may attack a different creature than you want and get everything all riled again! You can always take the time to TELL COMPANION TO ATTACK <creature> but they'll go rogue and choose their next target on their own once the creature dies unless you repeat targeting their attack, again.
Tangleweed and Swarm are also very helpful for crowd control. They can both put creatures on the ground for that head shot.
You may want to read up on the spell changes, as suggested. Several work nicely with each other and also give you buffs for further attacks!
~EC
Don't forget you have Mass Calm. This is great for like level swarms. If you use it, though, try to not use a vine or have your companion in attack mode as they may attack a different creature than you want and get everything all riled again! You can always take the time to TELL COMPANION TO ATTACK <creature> but they'll go rogue and choose their next target on their own once the creature dies unless you repeat targeting their attack, again.
Tangleweed and Swarm are also very helpful for crowd control. They can both put creatures on the ground for that head shot.
You may want to read up on the spell changes, as suggested. Several work nicely with each other and also give you buffs for further attacks!
~EC
OM1E5GA
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 04:52 PM CST
As an ambushing ranger you should be making use of a disabling spell against every critter you fight to get them on the ground/stun/RTlock/etc (I recommend 610 as your go-to for this). Then get into the shadows and ambush from there. My ranger has been going this with a dagger since her 30's and is in her mid 60's now still going strong with it.
A few other things:
-Rather then having stopping spell research at level 30, you should keep going in it. Now that you have 30 spells in the Ranger circle, you should have the Minor Spiritual Circle up to 103 at your level and should getting 1 spell/level in that circle until you have 120.
-Spells are important, but don't cheat yourself by using spells you can't cast yourself as a crutch. All professions are perfectly capable of hunting solo with only their own abilities. There's nothing wrong with getting outside spells, but they should be as an extra perk.... NOT because you NEED them to hunt. If you can hunt with or without then, you don't need to spend time hunting them down or silvers purchasing them.
-at level 32, I'd recommend Hisskra in RR. It's just a quick hop through the boot from the Landing (you'll need a crystal amulet to get through the boot) and if you stick to the path around to the gate you only have to worry about a couple at a time, so it's perfect for getting your barrings back. You'll wanna get your climbing up to 15 ranks to get there though.
-Consider using daggers and aiming for the eyes since you're ambushing from the shadows. It's an easy way to get death crits and you spend less time in RT
-Consider dropping Ambush to 1x and raising S&H to 2x. You won't lose much, if any, ability to hit what you're aiming for and hiding/staying hidden will become much easier
-You have to be swimming in unspent TPs... your ranger has very similar training to mine, but mine had the following at your level as well: 1x SMC, 2x S&H, and full 1x spells.... and none of your skills are higher then what mine had at that level other than your Ambush. Don't let those TPs just sit around unused, if you need help figuring out where to put them, feel free to poke me on Discord: Starchitin#9989
-Better yet, here's my Ranger's current training. Just divide most of the skills by 2 and you'll have what I had at your level (the SL: Summoning was .5x until I got the 28 ranks, stopped training in Dodging and SMC along the way to pick up Trading ranks and just never started back with them):
(at level 64), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 120 30
Shield Use.........................| 165 65
Combat Maneuvers...................| 165 65
Edged Weapons......................| 230 130
Ambush.............................| 165 65
Physical Fitness...................| 165 65
Dodging............................| 142 42
Harness Power......................| 161 61
Spirit Mana Control................| 155 55
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 114 28
Survival...........................| 165 65
Stalking and Hiding................| 230 130
Perception.........................| 166 66
Climbing...........................| 70 15
Swimming...........................| 70 15
Trading............................| 105 25
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 20
Spell Lists
Ranger.............................| 45
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
A few other things:
-Rather then having stopping spell research at level 30, you should keep going in it. Now that you have 30 spells in the Ranger circle, you should have the Minor Spiritual Circle up to 103 at your level and should getting 1 spell/level in that circle until you have 120.
-Spells are important, but don't cheat yourself by using spells you can't cast yourself as a crutch. All professions are perfectly capable of hunting solo with only their own abilities. There's nothing wrong with getting outside spells, but they should be as an extra perk.... NOT because you NEED them to hunt. If you can hunt with or without then, you don't need to spend time hunting them down or silvers purchasing them.
-at level 32, I'd recommend Hisskra in RR. It's just a quick hop through the boot from the Landing (you'll need a crystal amulet to get through the boot) and if you stick to the path around to the gate you only have to worry about a couple at a time, so it's perfect for getting your barrings back. You'll wanna get your climbing up to 15 ranks to get there though.
-Consider using daggers and aiming for the eyes since you're ambushing from the shadows. It's an easy way to get death crits and you spend less time in RT
-Consider dropping Ambush to 1x and raising S&H to 2x. You won't lose much, if any, ability to hit what you're aiming for and hiding/staying hidden will become much easier
-You have to be swimming in unspent TPs... your ranger has very similar training to mine, but mine had the following at your level as well: 1x SMC, 2x S&H, and full 1x spells.... and none of your skills are higher then what mine had at that level other than your Ambush. Don't let those TPs just sit around unused, if you need help figuring out where to put them, feel free to poke me on Discord: Starchitin#9989
-Better yet, here's my Ranger's current training. Just divide most of the skills by 2 and you'll have what I had at your level (the SL: Summoning was .5x until I got the 28 ranks, stopped training in Dodging and SMC along the way to pick up Trading ranks and just never started back with them):
(at level 64), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 120 30
Shield Use.........................| 165 65
Combat Maneuvers...................| 165 65
Edged Weapons......................| 230 130
Ambush.............................| 165 65
Physical Fitness...................| 165 65
Dodging............................| 142 42
Harness Power......................| 161 61
Spirit Mana Control................| 155 55
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 114 28
Survival...........................| 165 65
Stalking and Hiding................| 230 130
Perception.........................| 166 66
Climbing...........................| 70 15
Swimming...........................| 70 15
Trading............................| 105 25
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 20
Spell Lists
Ranger.............................| 45
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
ECROCKEN
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 05:00 PM CST
<<As an ambushing ranger you should be making use of a disabling spell against every critter you fight to get them on the ground/stun/RTlock/etc (I recommend 610 as your go-to for this). ~Starchitin
I don't agree with needing a spell for this. First shot, left/right leg. Second shot head/eye. Poof! Dead critter.
The RT on daggers in fantastic but their AvD is horrible, ie: great for eye shots and little else.
Welcome back and good luck!
~EC
I don't agree with needing a spell for this. First shot, left/right leg. Second shot head/eye. Poof! Dead critter.
The RT on daggers in fantastic but their AvD is horrible, ie: great for eye shots and little else.
Welcome back and good luck!
~EC
OM1E5GA
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 05:27 PM CST
<I don't agree with needing a spell for this. First shot, left/right leg. Second shot head/eye. Poof! Dead critter.>
If you're using spells like 610 to get a critter on the ground, there's no need to ambush their legs and it's faster then hiding/ambushing twice (esp if you're using falchion/handaxe).
<The RT on daggers in fantastic but their AvD is horrible, ie: great for eye shots and little else. >
When she was like level to them, my ranger routinely used her dagger to get tomb trolls (brig) on the ground by ambushing their legs when her mana was running low (cause I was too lazy to stow it and pull out her falchion). The crit weighting from ambushing from the shadows more then makes up for the AvD differences with anything that isn't in chain or plate (which, honestly, is most critters). Besides, you don't need to remove the leg, just stun them and get them on the ground... in the case of the tomb trolls, they'd have grown them back before the stun was over anyway (not that they lived that long more then a couple times).
If you're going to be going for crit kills by aiming for the head, by all means go with a falchion of handaxe.... but if you're just looking to get them on the ground with leg shots and use the eyes for crit kills, AvD doesn't matter against MOST critters if you're ambushing from the shadows.
Also, towards the end of her time in the Keep WAYLAY came out and using that with her dagger on flesh golems only needed a couple attacks to kill them most of the time. Granted, it MIGHT have been more efficient to use her falchion, but again... too lazy to switch.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
If you're using spells like 610 to get a critter on the ground, there's no need to ambush their legs and it's faster then hiding/ambushing twice (esp if you're using falchion/handaxe).
<The RT on daggers in fantastic but their AvD is horrible, ie: great for eye shots and little else. >
When she was like level to them, my ranger routinely used her dagger to get tomb trolls (brig) on the ground by ambushing their legs when her mana was running low (cause I was too lazy to stow it and pull out her falchion). The crit weighting from ambushing from the shadows more then makes up for the AvD differences with anything that isn't in chain or plate (which, honestly, is most critters). Besides, you don't need to remove the leg, just stun them and get them on the ground... in the case of the tomb trolls, they'd have grown them back before the stun was over anyway (not that they lived that long more then a couple times).
If you're going to be going for crit kills by aiming for the head, by all means go with a falchion of handaxe.... but if you're just looking to get them on the ground with leg shots and use the eyes for crit kills, AvD doesn't matter against MOST critters if you're ambushing from the shadows.
Also, towards the end of her time in the Keep WAYLAY came out and using that with her dagger on flesh golems only needed a couple attacks to kill them most of the time. Granted, it MIGHT have been more efficient to use her falchion, but again... too lazy to switch.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
ECROCKEN
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 05:40 PM CST
Basically, CYRUSSPHERE, there are many ways to play your ranger. Use whichever one works best for you!
If you have a chance, read the spell change documentation and mess around with the spell changes and different training plans on the test server, then make whatever changes you want. You should have a fix-skill available if you do make changes!
~EC
If you have a chance, read the spell change documentation and mess around with the spell changes and different training plans on the test server, then make whatever changes you want. You should have a fix-skill available if you do make changes!
~EC
OM1E5GA
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 06:43 PM CST
<Basically, CYRUSSPHERE, there are many ways to play your ranger. Use whichever one works best for you!>
Definitely.... it's one of the most forgiving and versatile professions. You pretty much have to put effort into making them nonviable.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
Definitely.... it's one of the most forgiving and versatile professions. You pretty much have to put effort into making them nonviable.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
CYRUSSPHERE
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 07:13 PM CST
Thank you everyone for all the advise! I do agree there are many ways to go about it. I am grabbing a bit here and there from everyone who replied and see what I can do. Appreciate it!
DMWCINCY
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 09:34 PM CST
So I have a capped Sword and Board ranger. Due to recent spell changes and the upcoming changes to weapons, shields, and such I'm not 100% sold yet that shields will be in my future or not. That said I will tell you my opinion on what is today as we do not know what the future changes will be for sure yet as its still in design phase.
Current Skills
Armor Use.............I would stop at 27 ranks and stay in brig. You can use TPs elsewhere
Shield Use............1x and keep to a medium shield
Combat Maneuvers......I 1x for sure and added extra as I went. Every 2 ranks give you 1AS
Edged Weapons.........2x
Ambush................I 1x and was fine for a long time. 2x wont hurt though
Physical Fitness......Depends on society. If GOS 1x min with extra as you can afford for stamina
Dodging...............1x
Harness Power.........1x
Spirit Mana Control...This is an odd one. I have up to 50 right now and wont get more but this was post cap. Needed to add more targets to AoE spells now. I think I had 20 or so at cap.
Survival..............1x
Stalking and Hiding...1x
Perception............1x
Climbing.............. .5x I alternated trainig per level with swimming
Swimming.............. .5x I alternated trainig per level with climbing
First Aid.............1x
Now for spells and lores. This is where my advice is a guess and not in practice as I was post cap with the new spell release.
Spells: 1x - 1 (basically I skipped one training of spells). I personally went 640 then 120 then went the rest of the way with ranger spells. 640 is a godsend and the extra bonus to mobiles is huge.
Lores: This is super tricky for me right now as I already had a lot of lores at cap. Part of me says get as much lores as you can afford to. Get 10 ranks in blessing to get the AS boost from 610 vines. Sprinkle in summoning until 10 ranks then work heavy on 10 ranks. I'm currently at 60 summoning/20 blessing. I may eventually get 30 blessing but right now raising my ranger spells is a higher priority. at 60/20 post cap goal I have been very happy with hit rate and damage done. I simply admit I can't tell you as you level where to go here. Really depends on how much you like using spells.
Current Skills
Armor Use.............I would stop at 27 ranks and stay in brig. You can use TPs elsewhere
Shield Use............1x and keep to a medium shield
Combat Maneuvers......I 1x for sure and added extra as I went. Every 2 ranks give you 1AS
Edged Weapons.........2x
Ambush................I 1x and was fine for a long time. 2x wont hurt though
Physical Fitness......Depends on society. If GOS 1x min with extra as you can afford for stamina
Dodging...............1x
Harness Power.........1x
Spirit Mana Control...This is an odd one. I have up to 50 right now and wont get more but this was post cap. Needed to add more targets to AoE spells now. I think I had 20 or so at cap.
Survival..............1x
Stalking and Hiding...1x
Perception............1x
Climbing.............. .5x I alternated trainig per level with swimming
Swimming.............. .5x I alternated trainig per level with climbing
First Aid.............1x
Now for spells and lores. This is where my advice is a guess and not in practice as I was post cap with the new spell release.
Spells: 1x - 1 (basically I skipped one training of spells). I personally went 640 then 120 then went the rest of the way with ranger spells. 640 is a godsend and the extra bonus to mobiles is huge.
Lores: This is super tricky for me right now as I already had a lot of lores at cap. Part of me says get as much lores as you can afford to. Get 10 ranks in blessing to get the AS boost from 610 vines. Sprinkle in summoning until 10 ranks then work heavy on 10 ranks. I'm currently at 60 summoning/20 blessing. I may eventually get 30 blessing but right now raising my ranger spells is a higher priority. at 60/20 post cap goal I have been very happy with hit rate and damage done. I simply admit I can't tell you as you level where to go here. Really depends on how much you like using spells.
OM1E5GA
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/08/2021 10:49 PM CST
<Lores: This is super tricky for me right now as I already had a lot of lores at cap. Part of me says get as much lores as you can afford to. Get 10 ranks in blessing to get the AS boost from 610 vines. Sprinkle in summoning until 10 ranks then work heavy on 10 ranks. I'm currently at 60 summoning/20 blessing. I may eventually get 30 blessing but right now raising my ranger spells is a higher priority. at 60/20 post cap goal I have been very happy with hit rate and damage done. I simply admit I can't tell you as you level where to go here. Really depends on how much you like using spells. >
I think lores for rangers are largely personal preference and availability of TPs to spend on them... and the more physical the ranger the more they're icing on the cake than they are necessary. Of course, I'm mostly assuming the weed mage/druid builds rely on them more, my ranger was a sniper until level 30 when I fixskilled her into a melee ambusher.
The reason I have 28 ranks in Summoning was cause I wanted to be able to whisper to friends in other realms with Whispering Willow, which now no longer requires the lore. I just haven't bothered fixskilling them away cause there's nothing else I feel the NEED to get with those TPs and they do help with 610. I honestly don't think I'd miss those ranks at this point if I didn't have them, though.... and I don't feel like I'd notice the benefits from Blessing lore if I moved them over their either.
<Climbing.............. .5x I alternated trainig per level with swimming>
Cause all my characters are based in RR I make sure I have 15 ranks in swimming and climbing by 30, then I ignore them until I'm coming up on a hunting area I'll need them to get into and just get what I need all at once. There aren't many places that require more then 15 ranks in either to get into, and most of the ones that do are level 70+ (minotaurs, the Rift, etc)
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
I think lores for rangers are largely personal preference and availability of TPs to spend on them... and the more physical the ranger the more they're icing on the cake than they are necessary. Of course, I'm mostly assuming the weed mage/druid builds rely on them more, my ranger was a sniper until level 30 when I fixskilled her into a melee ambusher.
The reason I have 28 ranks in Summoning was cause I wanted to be able to whisper to friends in other realms with Whispering Willow, which now no longer requires the lore. I just haven't bothered fixskilling them away cause there's nothing else I feel the NEED to get with those TPs and they do help with 610. I honestly don't think I'd miss those ranks at this point if I didn't have them, though.... and I don't feel like I'd notice the benefits from Blessing lore if I moved them over their either.
<Climbing.............. .5x I alternated trainig per level with swimming>
Cause all my characters are based in RR I make sure I have 15 ranks in swimming and climbing by 30, then I ignore them until I'm coming up on a hunting area I'll need them to get into and just get what I need all at once. There aren't many places that require more then 15 ranks in either to get into, and most of the ones that do are level 70+ (minotaurs, the Rift, etc)
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
LOWEBW1
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/10/2021 08:52 AM CST
I'll say that I was a sword and board ambusher when archery first came out, then left the lands. I came back and sword and board was all I knew, but I took a risk on archery and will never go back. Consider that option when the annual FIXSKILLS comes around.
LAWRONIUS
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/11/2021 01:53 PM CST
I am curious if the general Lore meta will change with the new updates. In the past people generally leaned pretty heavily on Summoning for the extra damage, but also in the past Spikethorn-Spikethorn-Spikethorn was just how rangers used their magic MOST of the time.
With the new spell changes there is both a.) a lot more useful stuff in the toolkit and reasons to vary casting them because they all synergize off of each other, and b.) I feel (personally) a lot more benefits and uses to Blessings lore now.
I still haven't figured out what my total endgame split will be, but I'm definitely leaning towards more Blessings earlier (getting those 10 Blessings ranks for the Tangleweed AS boost is a must), and maybe more overall in general.
But I think it also depends on your hunting style and DS. If you ambush, or have good armor, or routinely only hunt with big spell-ups, then maybe you don't need as many defensive and TD bonuses from Blessings, and you'll want more oomph on your Spikethorn and Call Swarm and Nature's Fury and can lean into the traditional Summoning-heavy build. On the other hand, if you're attacking from the open and routinely getting hit, then maybe more Blessings for the overall benefits would be best (in addition to the Tangleweed AS boost at 10 ranks of Blessings, you also get the ability to use Barkskin while incapacitated at 15 which could be a lifesaver, Camouflage applies to your Animal Companion at 20 ranks, and you can re-grow forageables in a room at 30 ranks.)
Finally, the last thing I'll say is all of the lore decisions are probably going to not be something you'll think about until later in life, they tend to come after other core thresholds are hit and when you get a few extra TPs to spare at the higher levels. If you wanted to hit lores harder earlier you'd probably have to sacrifice some other core areas of training for them, (or if you were going as a pure CS caster build maybe). I do think it's worth targeting Blessings to 10 ranks as early-ish as you realistically can, but otherwise Lores tend to come into your training more at higher levels and then post-cap than in your 30's.
With the new spell changes there is both a.) a lot more useful stuff in the toolkit and reasons to vary casting them because they all synergize off of each other, and b.) I feel (personally) a lot more benefits and uses to Blessings lore now.
I still haven't figured out what my total endgame split will be, but I'm definitely leaning towards more Blessings earlier (getting those 10 Blessings ranks for the Tangleweed AS boost is a must), and maybe more overall in general.
But I think it also depends on your hunting style and DS. If you ambush, or have good armor, or routinely only hunt with big spell-ups, then maybe you don't need as many defensive and TD bonuses from Blessings, and you'll want more oomph on your Spikethorn and Call Swarm and Nature's Fury and can lean into the traditional Summoning-heavy build. On the other hand, if you're attacking from the open and routinely getting hit, then maybe more Blessings for the overall benefits would be best (in addition to the Tangleweed AS boost at 10 ranks of Blessings, you also get the ability to use Barkskin while incapacitated at 15 which could be a lifesaver, Camouflage applies to your Animal Companion at 20 ranks, and you can re-grow forageables in a room at 30 ranks.)
Finally, the last thing I'll say is all of the lore decisions are probably going to not be something you'll think about until later in life, they tend to come after other core thresholds are hit and when you get a few extra TPs to spare at the higher levels. If you wanted to hit lores harder earlier you'd probably have to sacrifice some other core areas of training for them, (or if you were going as a pure CS caster build maybe). I do think it's worth targeting Blessings to 10 ranks as early-ish as you realistically can, but otherwise Lores tend to come into your training more at higher levels and then post-cap than in your 30's.
JARHEAD
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/12/2021 09:46 AM CST
I pretty much agree with everything Pup says except this:
<<Stalking and Hiding...1x
Double it or don't do it at all, IMHO.
General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq
Walkar says, "Taladorian soldiers cursed only one name more than my own."
Walkar nods to you.
Walkar says, "...you more than proved your love for this town and its people Radeek, time and again."
Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato
http://radeekandoran.blogspot.ca/
http://thetehirchronicles.blogspot.ca/
<<Stalking and Hiding...1x
Double it or don't do it at all, IMHO.
General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq
Walkar says, "Taladorian soldiers cursed only one name more than my own."
Walkar nods to you.
Walkar says, "...you more than proved your love for this town and its people Radeek, time and again."
Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato
http://radeekandoran.blogspot.ca/
http://thetehirchronicles.blogspot.ca/
IZDEN
Re: Train 32 Ranger advice
02/13/2021 08:14 PM CST
<<I feel like I am at a total loss on combat, gear, and where to hunt as a level 32 Sylvankind ranger.
I grew Izden, human ranger, through that age in Ice mule, Ice Plains, Northward Trail and Southern Slopes, and the abandoned farm. Good variety for s&b build. Range of critter perception if hiding, mind the wind gusts and frost bite.
Think I was in doubles that age, moved to brig sometime between 30 and 40, still in brig.
Sometime around the 30-40s I moved to bows. Then went to a bow and brawl. In 60s got 640/130, so reduced s&h stopped spells and added ohe. Ran mutant build into my 90s. Just recently dropped the ohe to round out ancillary skills to better survive the rift.
Variety and compromise, if you wonder why or how. I kept bows, brawl and perception between 1.5x and 2x, while Ohe I kept 1x to 1.5x. Compromised most on ancilliary skills. S&h 1x + 608 sufficed, most critters were animal/undead with stupidly high perception, or giant/troll with low perception. Cm training for cunning defense rank5, then sweep rank5. First aid only enough to take off a couple seconds of rt. PT to max HP. Harness power to 35, so mana hunger was tolerable. Climb and swim at 15 untill rift. No archane, miu, smc, or lores. Metered training so Izden does just fine, most one shot eye or UAC, and a good variety of setups and ambush pushdowns.
The variety works well to hunt anything I've come across like-level, the compromise was up-hunting. Very challenging up-hunting level to +5 critters. Lots of death engaging critters more than +5 levels.
Hard to do a ranger wrong. Perfectly ok to do one dirty.
Izden
Those who look back will take us for mad men.
I grew Izden, human ranger, through that age in Ice mule, Ice Plains, Northward Trail and Southern Slopes, and the abandoned farm. Good variety for s&b build. Range of critter perception if hiding, mind the wind gusts and frost bite.
Think I was in doubles that age, moved to brig sometime between 30 and 40, still in brig.
Sometime around the 30-40s I moved to bows. Then went to a bow and brawl. In 60s got 640/130, so reduced s&h stopped spells and added ohe. Ran mutant build into my 90s. Just recently dropped the ohe to round out ancillary skills to better survive the rift.
Variety and compromise, if you wonder why or how. I kept bows, brawl and perception between 1.5x and 2x, while Ohe I kept 1x to 1.5x. Compromised most on ancilliary skills. S&h 1x + 608 sufficed, most critters were animal/undead with stupidly high perception, or giant/troll with low perception. Cm training for cunning defense rank5, then sweep rank5. First aid only enough to take off a couple seconds of rt. PT to max HP. Harness power to 35, so mana hunger was tolerable. Climb and swim at 15 untill rift. No archane, miu, smc, or lores. Metered training so Izden does just fine, most one shot eye or UAC, and a good variety of setups and ambush pushdowns.
The variety works well to hunt anything I've come across like-level, the compromise was up-hunting. Very challenging up-hunting level to +5 critters. Lots of death engaging critters more than +5 levels.
Hard to do a ranger wrong. Perfectly ok to do one dirty.
Izden
Those who look back will take us for mad men.
