Tuesday 29 September 2015

The Tempest (Yet Another Ranger Piece post Update 28)

There are a few artists to associate with today's title but for me it has to be Mike Oldfield. Update 28 has come and for me it has encouraged me to have a look at a first lifer in GrouseTanis my tempest ranger. There are many, many pieces out in the ddo blogosphere that will cover the ins and outs of a ranger and especially a tempest ranger but I don't want to focus on the high level end game around the builds but more those things that some one building a ranger for the first time might want to consider about the build and the combat mechanics. Once you have built 3 or 4 you will be able to do things from memory but I had issues building because I didn't understand the basics never mind the end game. And I still don't claim to be an expert just an ungifted amateur who writes too much.
The boring bit but it does give you some idea
So what are the different types of combat for melee? They are Single Weapon Fighting (SWF), Sword and Shield, Two Handed Fighting (THF) and Two Weapon Fighting (TWF). A lot of times you will see these abbreviations used by players and is denotes a style of melee combat. Each combat type has it's own benefits and certain classes are better suited to each style, however each player will have their own style and just because a style is supposed to be with a certain class doesn't mean it is the be all and end all. With the latest update however the focus has come back to the most specialised TWF in the Tempest Prestige Enhancement for Rangers. So why choose TWF style? Apart from the graphics looking pretty good the fact is you can do pretty good DPS (damage per second). The guide lines is any weapon in the strong hand which in DDO is right and a light weapon in the off hand (left hand), if you want to use two heavy blades then you require the feat Oversized TWF.
So I am now a bit overpowered for Gianthold 
As a ranger you get the key feats as freebies, TWF comes at level 2, Improved TWF at level 6 and Greater TWF at level 11. The simple saving on feats encourages anyone who wants to play using TWF to play as a ranger. Certain as a new player with a 28 point build you will struggle to get every feat recommended for TWF because of requirements such as the dexterity, when you consider you need a dexterity of 17 for greater TWF normally and a ranger does not need to meet the dexterity requirement. So in terms of feats a tip to new players is don't spend on TWF you will get the feats as freebies. This allows you to take feats such as toughness or weapon focus, I would avoid taking deflect arrows as that is granted in the core abilities of the tempest prestige enhancements when you reach level 12 so once again it is a feat you can save on if you are prepared to wait. I would say in terms of skills I am not a tumbler but I do put everything I can into balance at the start of the game, being knocked over is a good way to die very early on so personally I always invest in balance.
A rogue with Kukris is a fun TWF
So how to build a ranger? Really it is up to each player but I tend to split across strength, dexterity and constitution. If you want to be able to cast level 4 Ranger spells you will need a wisdom of 14 BUT with many pieces of equipment granting you +4 to wisdom at level 7 you need not worry too much about adding the wisdom points to your build. So concentrate on a build that will do damage and also focus on a weapon type such as slashing or piercing because you will want weapon focus and improved weapon focus. Whilst my ranger fights with paired Scimitars my rogue assassin uses a pair of Kukris and my fighter rogue uses a rapier/dagger combo which is more in line with the old dueling style and based on a character in a book that I have always loved. In terms of feats Toughness is always a good choice and I have a preference for power critical but so long as you remember what is free to a ranger you can work wonders on using feats. For those who know Dragon Lance you will realise that GrouseTanis will remain the race he has through every life.
Able to produce damage but a well built ranger will do more faster
So hope about equipping your ranger? You will obviously need to work on the weapons and also the equipment will make a big difference. Wisdom, Dexterity, Strength and Constitution items will have a tremendous impact but I also like to have speed, deadly, accuracy and seeking items which will increase your chances of doing more damage faster. These are likely to be the most over priced items in the Auction House (AH) so you may want to consider the amount of platinum you are prepared to pay early in game, health items are by far the most over priced items so look regularly and wait for a bargin otherwise you will see something that I have seen with a player begging for Plat to buy an item as they are new to the game. If you are lucky enough to be on Ghallanda I try not to over price items I auction so if you see a cheap health belt it may be me selling it.

Now there is whole piles of information on the community boards in the ddo forums but they may take a little effort to decipher so hopefully this will at least give some indicators to how to start a ranger.

GrouseTanis

7 comments:

  1. Rangers are awesome fun to play, but I am not certain I would recommend one to a first-time player; it is surprisingly easy to build an ineffective ranger by accident. But if someone insists, I would add one piece of advice to the (very good!) tips in this article:

    Specialize in melee OR in ranged attacks but don't try to build up both. Pick one and build for it exclusively.

    --- one ranger player's opinion

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    Replies
    1. Geoff thanks for that, I didn't even think of players trying to do both. There is a certain level of blindness when writing no matter how many times I have made mistakes myself.

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    2. "[...] if you want to use two heavy blades then you require the feat Oversized TWF."

      Not required. It is an optional way to defray some to-hit penalties but many builds will not bother to take this feat at all.

      "The simple saving on feats encourages anyone who wants to play using TWF to play as a ranger."

      This is not true for Fighters, who get as many or more Bonus feats which they can assign as they like.

      "I do put everything I can into balance at the start of the game"

      The difference between low/no balance and maxed balance is either negligible or does not exist. It is essentially a broken skill.

      "I tend to split across strength, dexterity and constitution"

      Intelligence is a good option, replacing Dexterity. As you mentioned the Ranger can ignore the Dex requirements for the TWF chain. The Harper tree has a lot of love for Int to hit and damage.

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    3. For a new player replacing dex with intelligence may not be the best option. As a VIP I have the Harpers tree but many new players might not. I assumed free to play or premium a lot of the time and whilst a ranger doesn't need the dex it adds to the defence.

      I am writing on the basis that some one wants to play as a ranger with two weapons. I run a TWF Rogue but a ranger has a better synergy and this is what I am trying to get over.

      I have found balance does make a difference especially in quests with Minotaurs and wolves. Maybe I am wrong and I am just lucky but I can only go on personal experience where my fighter goes down at the slightest thing but my rogue stays up. It could be my imagination and if balance is broken then hopefully someone will fix it.

      I prefer to avoid the penalties, it is a preference that suits my game play.

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    4. I would say as well that I am not trying to explain uber end game builds, there are plenty of blogs around that do that. This is the introduction to playing a ranger probably on a 28 point build with no veteran status. I have a character that was designed for epic end game by the ddo forums I asked and got a character that is now parked at 20. I had no enjoyment playing him and I will go with my own build next life. I have two first lifers at cap and a completionist that is working his way back up a rogue assassin. He is only level 6 and I am sure there are mistakes in him but I enjoy playing him.

      I run a dual wielding fighter, dwarf with dwarven axes. I found the oversized weapon feat to make a difference for me as I scrapped him at level 14 and rebuilt him because he really seemed to make a mess of what should be easy in my mind.

      So I am never going to write this is what you need for Uber builds but for the first time you run a tempest I would like to think this gives some clues. If on your blog you write up builds for epic end game then that would be interesting. The blog is more for players who are starting out. And as I always say everyone prefers different builds. I have 25 toons and between them they have had over 50 lives and none are the same as that would be boring. And fun for me is not epic elite solo raiding it is about enjoying being the character even if others consider him gimped.

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  2. Hi my name is kyle and im not an expert at this game but i play tabletop dnd all the time and this isnt much different. The tree is basically just a way of prestiging with out having to make a class for each one. So if you want a good tempest build i would recommend going with a twf scimitar build cause with a 13 int and an 18 dex to start with then 14 wis and 12 con everything else 10 cause you wont need strength at all when filling out the tempest tree cause you get dex to damage. I took some fighter lvls to get some bonus feats and to get weapon spec. Witch gives more damage and combos with weapon focus. The tempest also gets with scimitars the ability to weild them like theyre light weapons. The 13 int is for combat expertises witch i dont use but i do use the improved trip it gives me and it works pretty well. With this though you have to think about fighting large creatures though and improved trip wont help lol but the improved crit and power crit will espically with scimitars now you have 16-20 instead of 18-20.
    If you want to include str into your build though id recommend dropping con and going even on str and dex so you can twf and when needed carry a two handed weapon for the 1.5x str to damage.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi my name is kyle and im not an expert at this game but i play tabletop dnd all the time and this isnt much different. The tree is basically just a way of prestiging with out having to make a class for each one. So if you want a good tempest build i would recommend going with a twf scimitar build cause with a 13 int and an 18 dex to start with then 14 wis and 12 con everything else 10 cause you wont need strength at all when filling out the tempest tree cause you get dex to damage. I took some fighter lvls to get some bonus feats and to get weapon spec. Witch gives more damage and combos with weapon focus. The tempest also gets with scimitars the ability to weild them like theyre light weapons. The 13 int is for combat expertises witch i dont use but i do use the improved trip it gives me and it works pretty well. With this though you have to think about fighting large creatures though and improved trip wont help lol but the improved crit and power crit will espically with scimitars now you have 16-20 instead of 18-20.
    If you want to include str into your build though id recommend dropping con and going even on str and dex so you can twf and when needed carry a two handed weapon for the 1.5x str to damage.

    ReplyDelete