Archer a bad idea?

Gandor · Post by **Gandor** » December 13th, 2007, 8:05 am

Hey, just looking for a little hint here. Was making an archer/ ranger a bad idea? I didn't think about the fact that I couldn't hold a torch and a bow at the same time until I got to the crypt-keeper's basement in the demo. Maybe I should add a melee skill at some point if there are a lot of dungeons? BTW, how many skills can I reasonably expect to excel at in this game, without diluting them by having the points too spread out? Thanks. Don't get too detailed.

Ihsan · Post by **Ihsan** » December 13th, 2007, 8:26 am

Ranger i think might be tricky. There is only limited availiable ammo and it only restocks every so often. I think ull probably shoot through it all and be abit screwed. I cant say for sure though as i havnt played a full ranger.

Also you will need to use predator sight potions or the spell to be any good at night time /under ground with a bow. The spell highlights enemies so you dont get the massive miss chance when shooting into the darkness.

I guess you can probaly expect to excel in 3-4 skills, so you could potentially have bow, sword, armor and maybe a light splattering of a magic skill.

Like i said im not totally certain having not played a pure ranger, just dabbled in bows with my other characters.

dalamber · Post by **dalamber** » December 13th, 2007, 8:32 am

Most of supplementary skills can be trained to a fair level with books and trainers. So you can easily excel in at least 2 weapons, or a weapon and an arcane school(predator sight rocks for dungeons!). Just roll the stats right beforehand.

Zevan · Post by **Zevan** » December 13th, 2007, 9:32 am

playing a pure ranger at the first 2-3 maps is not advisable since you simply dont have enough gold to buy arrows..

the game seem to promote using melee, (swords for the most part since it is the only one that has 11 damage) as a primary weapon and bows,maces and axes (for smashing) for secondary or spells for buffing..

Necromis · Post by **Necromis** » December 13th, 2007, 9:37 am

actually I found in my current build, buff warrior/archer type, that I am having no issues with arrows. Ariedle(sp?) in the armory has 160 arrows at 1gp each. With the money I got at the start I was able to fill up with that. Went down south to the old man and the sextant, and came back. Got the extra gold and restocked up. So just 1 hour of game play I have 200 Arrows AND level 5 Cartography. Arrows are meant to soften up the monster, I feel. So don't expect to kill them off. Then once you have them wittled down to half or so HP you melee to kill them off.

Zevan · Post by **Zevan** » December 13th, 2007, 9:42 am

well, like i said the game doesnt really promote playing a pure-class..

you simply have to be a melee/archer or melee/mage or archer/mage?

Gandor · Post by **Gandor** » December 13th, 2007, 9:47 am

So if I was to "roleplay" this dilemma, I think I can get enough arrows. But now that I'm hitting level two, maybe I should take a melee skill, or would it be better to build the skills I've got and just melee unskilled? I've been using the "soften them with arrows" approach, which works fine, since I seem to be pretty skilled at it already. But I need a plan for those dark areas.

Zevan · Post by **Zevan** » December 13th, 2007, 9:49 am

gravediggers flame

or

cat's eye + predator sight (these two are available in potion versions)

dak · Post by **dak** » December 13th, 2007, 9:56 am

I didn't have a problem with playing as ranger. It works pretty good, just make sure you have a little bit in melee in case you should run out of arrows, with the patch it is fine since the merchants have ample supply of arrows!

Jonas_Boggs · Post by **Jonas_Boggs** » December 13th, 2007, 10:17 am

I have been playing an almost pure ranger and I am now level 5. At first money for arrows was tight, but now it's not too bad.

I ran into the dark dungeon problem as well, so I took swords also for those dark places. I then took a splash of divine so I could heal and get cat's eye and now leatherskin.

Right now things are pretty good and I'm learning a lot. Maybe later I'll regret the ranger and make a melee, but now I'm loving it.

Gandor · Post by **Gandor** » December 13th, 2007, 10:31 am

Great, I think I'll go for it then. What the hell, I can't even remember my own name, I can certainly work through my other challenges as well!

Necromis · Post by **Necromis** » December 13th, 2007, 11:12 am

To answer though, any ranger/archer should have something in melee. After all an archer even in roleplaying will end up having to fight close combat at some point. Think about what you would do if someone snuck up on your sniping position. You won't have to lessen your roleplaying by buying mage skills if you don't want to. I would suggest learning Alchemy. Then you can mix your own potions for cat's eye, preditor sight. Plus it can be rationalized in roleplaying.

Gandor · Post by **Gandor** » December 13th, 2007, 11:38 am

I like the idea of learning Alchemy. Yeh, I could see doing that. I'll bet at some point (thought I don't know for sure) that I could tip some arrows in something nasty, too.

Necromis · Post by **Necromis** » December 13th, 2007, 11:43 am

no, that won't happen, but you can enchant them and your bow.

chamr · Post by **chamr** » December 13th, 2007, 12:47 pm

My Ranger's 10th level or so, and I'm having a blast. Mind you, I haven't played a pure-Archer, but more of what I think of as a classic Ranger: bow fist, melee backup, light armor, some Divination magic, Cartography, and a bit of concealment and Survival. I added Alchemy because I couldn't resist.

It's been a challenge, but a very, very fun one. I've found myself using all sorts of different tricks to deal with different tactical situations and escaping some tough battles with barely any resources or HP left. *phew* Haven't died yet.

I've been pumping bow the last couple of levels and it's starting to get really powerful, even without a great bow (base damage 3). I'm able to pop most baddies before they can even reach me. Mostly when I'm outdoors, but even when indoors, especially if I leverage Entangle and/or switch to magic arrows. In short, I highly recommend a Ranger type!