The advantage of a ranger

[blueskin]

What is the advantage of a ranger?
I know they have charm animal (wow)...
In the description is says something like: They have a natural ability to resist disease&poison and stuff... Doesnt that depend on your CON ?
Why should i choose a ranger? The fighters level up faster and have 4* specialisation whilst Rangers only 2*

reactions please?

-BLU

[I wish my name was Baggins]

One of the big perks to being a ranger in my world is that the minimums for their attributes are so high it is possible to get vert high rolls while creating your character. This is also true for Paladins but rangers aren't restricted to being lawful good. As far as gameplay goes it is true that you can not get more than two stars in any single weapon specialization you do get the benefit of being able to hide in shadows like a thief which can come in quite handy at times.

[pritchke]

If you are playing a 1 to 3 player party than I wouldn't use a ranger. However with a party greater than that I would consider it. Stealth (can use your thief points on locks and traps and use the ranger for stealth), Tracking (pretty useless but it is fun to use and if you have never played before it can be helpful), bonus on one type of enemy, thay are decent fighters, higher levels they do get spells (having an extra resit fear spell can come in handy). They have there uses, can be fun to use, but you by no means need one in your party.

[pritchke]

Opps thought I was in the IWD forum, hardly anything I said about a ranger is true. But in BG they kick butt!

[n00body]

Actually Stealth is almost useless because, just like the thief, you have to have some pretty light armor equipped to use Stealth. So you can't sneak up on a Beserker Ogre (btw, where you do fight those guys?) wearing Full Plate Mail

Also, my Level 7 Ranger has two Cure Light Wounds spells, but they're even better than the Priest version as they are cast almost instantly as compared to the 3 or 4 seconds the Priest usually takes to cast it. AND I've got one slow poison spell. Charm animal is fun (like charming cows/horses, having their circle turn green denoting that they're on your team and then trying to get them to move...they won't!) but not that useful.

Yes, having high stats is a good thing. I've got 18/00 Strength (Hey it's still exceptional strength, but then again I dunno how exceptional strength is an advantage in BG exactly) *19* Dexterity (I didn't even know you could put the stats up that high at the beginning of the game, beats me how I did this...), and 18 Constitution (ok, ok, it started at 17 at the beginning but I used a manual to raise it). And fairly mediocre stats for the other 3, but Strength, Dexterity and Constitution are the 3 main stats you need to be a Ranger.

[Legolas]

I take it your cure light wounds and slow poison spells are under the special abilities button? Those are the spells your main character gets after each dream with each new chapter. They aren't really related to your character being a ranger, and will prebalby be xpanded with another slow poison and some draw upon holy might spells.

You'll want to pick a ranger over a fighter firstly because of their background (roleplay vs. powerplay, the eternal debate).
Aside from that, they have access to stealth and the charm animal spell. CA can be pretty useful in BG1 as most of the animals you'll face are pretty low level (like your party) and can be charmed relatively easily. Not only will it remove an opponent from the enemy's group, but it'll add the creature's teeth to yours.
Stealth is even better, as it lets you scout out the area safely, allows you to sneak up on bow-armed opponents without taking damage and it lets you fight meele-oriented foes from an advantageous position. If the ranger is armed with a missile weapon, you can also try hit and run tactics by hiding, moving to a good position, shooting and running around a corner. Then you can hide again and repeat the process. You could do the same with a thief, but the ranger has more specialisation and a better chance to hit.
Other than that, your ranger has access to a few simple low-level druid spells later on in the game, and there is the racial enemy. IIRC, this gives you a +4 THACO and a -4 armour class (both of which are good) against the creature type of your choice.

Finally, you have the aforementioned better stats.

There are a few other advantages, and there are some drawbacks as well, but personally I'd pick a ranger over a fighter anyday. Mostly for the background

[badet]

Well. If i would choose a ranger as the main character, i would be aiming on exporting it to bg2 for further use. I think that the ranger is far better in bg2 then in bg1, and exporting it to bg2 will get you a head start. Another reason (not mentioned in this forum i think) is the "natural enemy" option, i think it will get you a 4+ advantage against the right opponent. And as a fantasy fan, I would much rather choose the ranger before the fighter.