not sure what steps to take in ranger build. advice desired

[kelticpete]

I am playing a ranger and have been pumping points in bow and then stat wise into dex, concentration, end, and speed.

my stats:

str 15
dex 27
end 23
speed 20
int 15
wis 11
per 8
con 21

bow 36
lore 5
foraging 10 (all bought)
mercantile 5 (all bought but 1)
unarmed 1 (bought)

I have 6 stat points and 6 skill points saved up and about 4800 gold.

I kept hoping to find light armor book. no dice.

i was thinking I should buy up alchemy and then spend precious skill points on light armor and then use alchemy to make better armor.

I with my low magic related stats, that seemed smarter than buying up magicka.

advice? thoughts? abuse?

[Kreador Freeaxe]

You can stop pumping Bow now, as you've reached the maximum refresh rate for the Feat. I'd also suggest you stop adding to Speed and focus on End and Dex. Remember that it's usually best to get End to a factor of 5 and most other stats to factors of 10 for maximum benefit from them (most fractions in stat calculations are truncated rather than rounded).

Alchemy is a good thing to raise. Learn the 8 levels from the trainer and read the book and pick up a couple of the Brewmaster rings (+2 each) and you'll only need to add a few more levels on your own to max the enchantments on armor. The penalty is not that big a problem once you're at the level you're at, so don't worry too much about not having found the skill book yet. Wear what you want and keep checking for the book on occasion. Usually you find it at the shop in Eastwillow or in random loot.

[kelticpete]

So I shOuld bite the bullet and spend 3 skill points to get light armor.. I was afraid Of that.

[SpottedShroom]

Why learn armor skill as an archer? If nothing ever gets close enough to hit you, it doesn't matter if you're wearing a bathrobe.

I would suggest shifting stat points into Intelligence, Wisdom, and Perception, and buying up all the magic skills. If you don't need skill points elsewhere, you could buy Meditation, too, to offset not pumping Perception all this time.

My favorite build is a magic using ranger: all damage comes from the Bow skill, but with tons of support spells. For that build, I only ever put stat points into Intelligence and Wisdom to meet the minimums for casting spells, and dump everything else into Perception. I put almost all skill points into Bow, switching to Elemental and Divine mid to late game.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

So I shOuld bite the bullet and spend 3 skill points to get light armor.. I was afraid Of that.

Actually, my advice was exactly the opposite. The unskilled penalty is not large enough to matter. Wear what you want without the skill and when you find the book, you'll get the skill.

[kelticpete]

I thought by penalty you meant that you pay 3 skill points (feels like a penalty)

my bad.

[kelticpete]

Why learn armor skill as an archer? If nothing ever gets close enough to hit you, it doesn't matter if you're wearing a bathrobe.

the mean old archers in westwillow are my current reason for wanting armor.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

Learning some Elemental magic is the most helpful for rangers, particularly for the situation where you're having a problem. You can get two really good spells: Predator Sight to allow you to fire on opponents in the dark with no penalty, and Dense Nimbus which helps deflect ranged attacks from enemies. With item bonuses (assuming you haven't sold the pendant you get from Saint Gillem), you should have enough Int already to learn those spells.