Rangers - What's the Best Approach?

[Painted Lady]

When we were all waiting for Book II to come out, I used to enjoy scrolling back and reading the early postings. BW has had some dedicated fans since he first started the Eschalon series.

You are right though - it's not wise to do a lot of reading if you don't want to bump into spoilers. What surprised me was how many little details I had missed even though I had played Book I several times.

[IJBall]

p.s. Being new to Eschalon I've looked through these forums a lot and found a lot of useful information, but it is spread out all over and is sometimes in odd places. Such as HP regen in a ranger build thread. I've considered condensing all of this information into one thread. At the very least one thread with links to others that have the information.

As an aside it's almost a game in and of itself to search these forums for statistical and mechanical information without finding spoiler information.

It's funny you should mention this, as over the past couple of days I've been putting together a "Links for the Perplexed" posting for Book I (a la Randomizer's version for Book II).

It's pretty much finished - I just have to PM Randomizer and double-check with him that it's OK that I do this. If he's OK with me doing it, I'll post it on Monday, and ask BW to 'sticky it'.

So hopefully that'll make things easier for you, and any other late-coming 'newbies' who stumble upon Book I and this forum...

[Gandaug]

Good to hear. It'll save me the effort.

[Evnissyen]

I've done further testing on walking HP regen. At 40 Endurance I gained one HP per 21 steps. At 100 Endurance I gained one HP per 3 steps. So even this shows a definite improvement in HP regen above 38~40.

Interesting. I'd felt convinced that you were wrong, but it turns out you're absolutely right. While 33 Perception gave my mage 1pt. regeneration per turn, 28 Endurance proved really, really pathetic at restoring HP.

I have no idea why.

Book 2 doesn't appear to be any better at this. With 20 Endurance, 1 hp is regained after 30 moves. (15 Perception will regain you 1 mp after 22 moves.)

Sigh . . . I should'a been a Tester . Should'a been a Tester . Should'a been a Tester... .

Well... next time definitely.

If I'm still around by then.

EDIT: Well... then again, these numbers sort of make sense. While it's more than just a little nonsensical for you to be gaining back lots of health just by waiting around or by walking around . . . regaining mana should be much quicker, since mana is governed by different laws and is a different sort of thing, altogether, than physical health.

EDIT#2: Also, had I been a Tester, people would be blaming me for any faults in Book 2. Now they're blaming Jedi, Randomizer, Kreador, Dragonlady et al. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

NOBODY can blame ME! Nobody ! Well . . . except for not participating when I had the option.

Sigh... should'a been a Tester.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

I wasn't a tester, either, but I used to have the official job title of "Scape Goat" so people can certainly blame me if they want.

[Gandaug]

Nissyen, I believe the math for HP and MP regen makes sense. You don't even have to come up with fantasy rules for where mana comes from and such either. It's a simple game mechanic. If you're going to be playing a mage then your life begins and ends with your mana pool. A fighter's life on the other hand begins and ends with his equipment. Fighters have an unlimited use of their weapons and armor never breaks. There are of course specific situations in which armor can "break", but that's not what I'm talking about. A pure mage is going to be spending a minimum of two MP every turn in the game. Essentially bleeding out every single turn. The life of a mage would be tremendously difficult if he couldn't regen MP at a fairly significant rate. A fighter on the other hand can escape unscathed from many encounters.

To say it again it's a simple game mechanic that makes sense.

[SigilFey]

I've nearly completed the game with my Ranger, and I've had very little difficulty. I've focused on the following:

Primary Attributes: Dexterity, Speed, and Concentration

Secondary Attributes (only one point added here and there): Strength and Endurance

Skills: Light Armor, Dodge, Sword, Bow, and Survival

Basically, I started off concentrating on upgrading Dodge, Sword, and Light Armor until I got Sword up to 10. So, the character was more or less a fighter at the beginning. Then I started dumping points into Dodge, Bow, and Light Armor. By the time I had to head into the forest to find Lilith, I was able to whittle down most opponents with arrows, then finish them off with a blade when they caught up with me.

For tougher fights, like with the mercenaries, I tend to use hit-and-run tactics to wear them down. Put some arrows into them, then retreat steadily to the edge of a map. Re-enter the map area from a different spot, and hit them from behind. It can be a little boring, sometimes, but it is a very Ranger-like tactic in my mind.

Once I got Bow up to about 20, things became pretty smooth. I was able to whomp the Hive Queen using only one health potion, and I could take on three or four thugs with no real issues. I don't use any magic at all, but I bought a few training levels in Alchemy and Cartography along the way. Survival, I assign a point to here and there, but I try to find armor and cloaks that augment the skill so that I can concentrate on weapon skills.

Dodge, coupled with a lot of points in Speed, lends a great benefit in melee. I still use lighter swords, but the high damage potential from Speed with the regular attack bonus from a successful Dodge means that I can deal out the hurt at close range very quickly with only a little luck.

[WorBlux]

The really annoying thing I find about rangers is they cant hold a torch while shooting.

What I to I just invest in bow skill and go druidic. The above limitation means you really can't be effective in a dungeon anyway until you get predator sight or cat eyes. (Gravediggers flame is just putting a giant target on yourself, as I find ranged enemies on of the bigger annoyances to a ranger)

Following the main storyline quests and the easier side quest you can get to level 6 fairly quickly and have level 30 bow. (but not other skills) I train elemental first, then foraging, alchemy, one melee skill (just for bashing in doors and chests), and divination. Put a few skill points into light armor and elemental, but still mostly in bow.