as above ... any advices ...???

A ranger isn't necessary, but I found mine to be extremely useful. His autosearch is a gem, plus his ranged criticals are a God-Sent (imagine, he wiped out a 400hp+ monster in the early levels with just one arrow).

That and the fact that he can also learn Alchemy spells (albeit rather slowly, but with some practice those skill levels jump up.) ;) If your slots are filled with non-alchemy characters, a Ranger or Ninja will fill in nicely.

Cheers,
-Sazerac

I also endorse the use of a Ranger. His autosearch and alchemy and ranged criticals are wonderfantabulous [img]smile.gif[/img]

My party is Lor, Sam, Ran, Gad, Pr and Mag

I think I may start one with a Bishop instead of the priest.

Still trying to dope out the best party...I understand Vi is supposed to leave you at some point but she hasnt yet and Im into the swamp/mine area....hope she doesnt bail in the middle of a fight.

Yes, get a ranger. My 6th level ranger has had more ranged criticals than my previous level 13 ninja who had a skill of 83 in criticals ! There are a lot of good bows and arrows to be found so they can really provide good ranged damage.

Hi,

God yes, get a Ranger! Having the auto-search is a nice bonus, and eventually some Alchemy spells are learned. The ranged criticals happen more and more as they level up. My Ranger is only level 11 and he criticals usually once every 5-10 attacks or so. I think his ranged combat skill is about 80, and likewise for his bow skill.

The only draw back is the arrow use. Currently my Elven Ranger attacks twice per round with 2 strikes per attack. So, this eats up the arrows really fast. Luckily, he's also quite skilled with spears and uses that as a back up.

I'm also using the Elven bow from Wiz 7, but there a lot of nice ones to find in Wiz 8 that give your character some stat bonuses. Some of the arrows, such as Peacemakers do a TON of damage and can really help in a big fight.

In most RPG's I've played, Rangers have been horrible characters (like in WW, nothing impressive), but in Wiz 8, they are one of the best classes!

Best

Scronan

For me rangers are one of two must have classes (bard being the other). You can mix and match the various fighting and spellcasting classes, but rangers and especially bards give you something unique.

The ranger's big thing is they get ranged criticals as a part of ranged combat, so this is like getting critical strike for free. This means they only need two combat skills (my samurai needs six!), and thus become good very quickly. My ranger was the first to get an extra attack, first to get instant kills, and is head and shoulders above the rest of the party in kills.

And scouting is kinda nice, too... [img]smile.gif[/img]