what are RANGERS GOOD for?

[Lifetime]

I like to think of rangers as guerilla fighters. The ability to creep around and start fights on your own terms should not be underestimated..


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Why?

[ShadowUK]

All in all rangers are really good charactcters........especially Archers....

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[Avatar]

Whoa..I leave the board for a few hours and everyone wakes up in the rest of the world.

My points are:
What most Rangers can do Fighters can do better.
Paladins have better special abilities.
Same hit dice d10 in manual...and in game
Worse armour for archer..get hurt easy..
Waste of an important slot!
But if you are role playing...a ranger is probably essensial for the game.
And like I said I totally AGREE...I am not a power gamer, but just thought paladins and fighters are better.

[Shadowblade]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Avatar:
[B]Whoa..I leave the board for a few hours and everyone wakes up in the rest of the world.

My points are:
What most Rangers can do Fighters can do better.
Paladins have better special abilities.
Same hit dice d10 in manual...and in game
Worse armour for archer..get hurt easy..
Waste of an important slot!

Paladins have to be humans, rangers can be elves who get a plus one bonus to dex. Elves look cooler, and are not brash fools like paladins, a high level archer is extremly powerful especialy with lether armour +5 on, which also gives him a hide in shadows bonus. Horaghh! another argument over, oh yeah and I ain't no power gamer. Thanks RudeWang(SP?)for info if only rangers had those abilities in the game eh?

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We are leeds, we are LEEDS,WE ARE LEEDS
WELCOME TO RUSSIA!

[Avatar]

Yep I can see the case for archers but surely a high master fighter in longbow+4
is just as deadly wearing Full Plate+3
beside you can't hide when the sun is out!
Paldin Inquisitor's true sight ability is awsome!

[Cayle]

Actually, in BG 1&2, you CAN hide when the sun is out.

-Cayle

[Avatar]

To do what? run?

[RudeDawg]

Originally posted by Avatar: Yep I can see the case for archers but surely a high master fighter in longbow+4 is just as deadly wearing Full Plate+3 beside you can't hide when the sun is out! Paldin Inquisitor's true sight ability is awsome!

Ranger's get Cerebus, whose True Sight ability is awesome...
Archers get the Called Shot ability (the only ones), which is MUCH more powerful than a fighter in longbow...

I'm not bashing fighters, but the truth is simple.
Scenario: My Archer ALWAYS scouts first, in stealth mode. He sees your fighter, then backs away. Called Shot, Arrow of Biting (20% of hit points per round, and I can shoot 5 per round). Game over. I've dealt out amazing amounts of damage in one round. I took out the Black Dragon with 7 arrows (1 of Dispelling, 6 Biting), in three rounds, with my solo Archer...


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[SSJ4Sephiroth]

yes, i was also able to man handle the Shadow Dragon w/ just an archer, but i did it differently. i used guerrilla warfare. i would run up and down the stairs, then take a few potshots at him every time i came back down. technically its not cheese cuz he cant get out the door of his lair! well neways, i dont see any fighters hiding in shadows, do you?

[sunder]

Ok, lets just compare a Archer ranger to a Archer fighter

Both have same basic stats and hitpoints. Both can Grandmaster in the bow of their choice. At this point, both are equal.
The Fighter cannot get any other advantages with his bow. If both are at 18/00 strength and 18 dexterity, and are using a normal bow,

They are both +4 to hit with their bow, and +3 damage. (+2 dex, +2 Grandmaster to hit, +3 damage Grandmaster)

Now if both are maxxed out in their levels, A archer has an extra +5 to hit and damage with their bow.
Fighter is +4 to hit +3 damage
Archer is +9 to hit +8 damage. Archer also gets the called shot ability.

Archer can't be great with melee weapons, where the fighter can. A fighter can Grandmaster a bow weapon and a melee weapon. A archer can only Grandmaster a bow. Thus the archer will not be as good in melee as a fighter, Though with a 2 weapon specialty can use a bow and be pretty good with 2 weapons.
The archer can't wear the armor a fighter can. Great warrior armor is about AC -1. Great archer armor is about AC 1. There isn't a big difference there. The Archer will get a few ranger perks also such as stealth and racial enemy. The fighter wont.

SO overall, I say both of these characters are Fighters, The archer being great at ranged attacks, the fighter being great at melee attacks. Its just a choice of what you want.
If you say that a fighter archer is just a ranger archer but better, You are 100 percent wrong. You obviously haven't played a Archer ranger. I can guarantee you If you want to pick up a bow with your Level 19 Grandmaster Bow fighter, and I pick the same bow up with my Level 17 Grandmaster BOW Archer, I will kick your fighters butt in archery, No contest.