Best skills for a Tempest Ranger

[Kage72]

I am curious which skills would be best to compliment a Tempest Ranger build? I've been max'ing out my balance and have a decent jump skill.

Is Hide/Move Silently anygood? Do i need any concentration? Any idea how much extra HP the heal skill adds at shrines? Is UMD worth putting into with 6 start CHA?

[Kage72]

hmm, nobody has any opinions/advice?

[Belwaar]

Personally, I go with Jump, Balance, Tumble, Search, and Spot (in no particular order)...but I'm a fan of finding hidden doors/traps and it comes in handy when the rogue in the group can't find it and you can.

[Dawnsfire]

I like balance, spot, jump until 10, 1 point in tumble and then anything left in concentration or move silently (invis clicky will cover hide most of the time). If you have a level of rogue UMD ftw!

[Kage72]

whats the major benefit fo spot? Seeing hidden mobs? The basic warning of traps? Will it help prevent sneak attacks in any way?

[Dawnsfire]

Primarily it allows you to see hidden mobs and in areas you are not familiar with, it will tell you when to use your find secret doors clicky

[Mithran]

I started with a relatively high Intelligence (11). My maxed Skills:

Hide
Move Silently
Spot
Jump
Tumble
Balance

I know that much without checking.

Spot can show you the silhouettes of stealthed enemies and also warn you not to walk into a trap.

[Kaganfindel]

Bear in mind I've only been playing for a few weeks, and I'm just parroting things I've read here from more experienced players.

I have read that jump only needs to get as high as it takes you to have a +10 with your STR bonus, as the Jump spell gives you the other 30 you need to hit the hard cap on jump distance. I've also heard that most of the ranger's spellcasting is done before and after combat, so you're unlikely to need concentration for combat casting.

Healing is apparently mostly useless, as it does nothing for you when you solo, and in a group someone is just going to stand people up with healing spells if they drop. Hide and MS have been saving my life every night as a soloist, but in multiplayer content you might never need them.

Search is extremely important, I've read, and my very limited experience playing has borne that out. Listen has been billed as useless, and spot gets mixed reviews, with the common sentiment being that there should be a veteran player along on most multiplayer runs who already knows where all the hidden stuff is. I figure I'll be soloing a lot, and my first character is probably going to be a disposable one as I learn the game, so I'm spending a few points on it here and there.

Swim lacks content support, so it's mostly useless. Balance affects the amount of tme you spend on your ashcan when you're knocked down, so it's something you'll want to keep up.

You're going to have to take the Mobility feat, so you might as well dump a couple points into Tumble to start with so you can have the option of using it. Apparently it's not something you'll want to top off, though.

Use magic device has been called the most useful ability in the game, and some of the advanced builds go so far as to spend character levels and feat slots on getting it to the piont at which you won't fail when using certain items. It seems that it's something you either crank or ignore, but you'll probably want to do a little digging to get a good understanding of it.

Again, salt to taste - I just puked up what I've read in the last couple of weeks.

[Kage72]

ahh oki. Sounds good. How about stuff like bluff? It reads something about giving chance to sneak attack? Does it make the mobs not wanna fight you?

[GeneralDiomedes]

whats the major benefit fo spot? Seeing hidden mobs? The basic warning of traps? Will it help prevent sneak attacks in any way?

Spot is good for seeing hidden mobs .. you can't spot traps over DC 20 (although this looks like it is currently broken) without a Rogue level. Seeing hidden mobs is really good if you are unfamiliar with the quest, and still good if you are familiar because you can increase your kill count by getting to the mob first.

Balance is a useful combat skill, Jump is an all-around useful skill. If you plan on doing some soloing, hide/move silent will allow you to bypass mobs.

I think Search is extremely useless on a Ranger (are you really going to spend enhancements on it too?) .. even swim is going to see more in-game use (faster underwater travel speed supposedly).

At least 1 point in Tumble is useful, although I like a high tumble because I like to drop without featherfalling (it's faster).

Concentration is an interesting choice; some Ranger builds go for spell point regen via items and self heal with empowered or maximized Cure Serious. I kind of doubt you could get it high enough to matter when it counts, but it might prevent some miscasts.

UMD kind of goes without saying.

[PopeJual]

I am curious which skills would be best to compliment a Tempest Ranger build? I've been max'ing out my balance and have a decent jump skill.

Is Hide/Move Silently anygood? Do i need any concentration? Any idea how much extra HP the heal skill adds at shrines? Is UMD worth putting into with 6 start CHA?

You can cast the Jump spell yourself, so don't bother pushing the Jump skill much. You'll get +20 Jump skill with the spell at level 5 and you'll have a good Strength to push that higher as well. I don't regret pumping some skill points into Jump for my character, but I'm a Paladin, so I can't count on Jump unless there's a handy Ranger or Arcane caster around.

You don't need Concentration since you'll be casting all your spells before you get into combat and not when you're in the middle of a melee.

Hide and Move Silent are great if you want to sneak a lot. If you go through quests with a party, though, it's kind of worthless. You'll have those Fighters and Clerics stomping past you in Full Plate and alerting mobs while you're trying to sneak up on the monsters.

The Heal skill is worthless. You have Cure spells. Blow the last of your mana before you shrine and you'll get more HP back than any bump in the Heal skill will give you. Or just buy a stack of 100 CLW potions for a trivial amount of money and use them between battles.

To my mind, the list of skills that a melee Ranger needs are:

- Use Magic Device
- Balance
- UMD
- Jump (up to 10 points of skill including Strength bonus because you'll cast the Jump spell when you need it)
- Use Magic Device
- Spot
- UMD
- Search
- ...and a point or two into Tumble.



Also, if you start with a level of Rogue, you have enough skill points to keep 3 RGR cross class skills + 2 RGR class skills maxed as a 12 Int Human.
That gives you:
- UMD
- Open Locks
- Search
- Spot
- Disable Device

[Sweyn]

DO NOT! Put points into jump on a ranger! It is an utter waste of skill points. Assuming you have 30 Strenth, which is VERY easy for a ranger to get, then your jump with The spell "Jump" will be maxed out. 30 from spell + 10 or more from str bonus = 40+, the cap is at 40. Putting skill points into jump means you will have a 50+ jump, which is the same as a 40, don't do it

[GeneralDiomedes]

Putting skill points into jump means you will have a 50+ jump, which is the same as a 40, don't do it

Some reasons why you STILL might want to.

- Until I had 3 level 1 spell slots, I carried Ram's Might and Resist Energy. Therefore, in practise my skill points in Jump were being put to use
- Dispel/Anti Magic
- Save some mana

Also, I'm a speed freak that like to jump over anything in my way .. so having a high jump at all times is required.

[Sweyn]

Some reasons why you STILL might want to.

- Until I had 3 level 1 spell slots, I carried Ram's Might and Resist Energy. Therefore, in practise my skill points in Jump were being put to use
- Dispel/Anti Magic
- Save some mana

Also, I'm a speed freak that like to jump over anything in my way .. so having a high jump at all times is required.

I don't know how many times i say this.. but don't build your toon according to what will be ebst while leveling up, build it for endgame. Endgame whether or not you put those points into jump, you will still have the same as someone who didn't. If you did, well, you're out some skill points which could have been uses someplace else, meaning your toon is less effective... yes it might be so small it is not noticable, but you did somewhat gimp yourself by putting points into jump.

Example, my guildie wanted to roll up an exploiter ranger. He knew endgame that Khopeshes would be better than Dwarvan axes, but he made the toon dwarf because "He has some cool D axes he could use while lvling up" Endgame, his toon might be less effective, at the cost of easier leveling.

If your going to spend a few weeks to a month getting to 20, and possibly over a year playing that lvl 20 toon, wouldn't it make sense to build your toon for endgame?

Yes i agree that dispell is anoying, but you can cast it again.

And with the saving the SP stuff.... jump costs 10 SP lol, a ranger should have somewhere around 500, sp is never an issue to consider

[Belwaar]

I don't know how many times i say this.. but don't build your toon according to what will be ebst while leveling up, build it for endgame. Endgame whether or not you put those points into jump, you will still have the same as someone who didn't. If you did, well, you're out some skill points which could have been uses someplace else, meaning your toon is less effective... yes it might be so small it is not noticable, but you did somewhat gimp yourself by putting points into jump.

Example, my guildie wanted to roll up an exploiter ranger. He knew endgame that Khopeshes would be better than Dwarvan axes, but he made the toon dwarf because "He has some cool D axes he could use while lvling up" Endgame, his toon might be less effective, at the cost of easier leveling.

If your going to spend a few weeks to a month getting to 20, and possibly over a year playing that lvl 20 toon, wouldn't it make sense to build your toon for endgame?

Yes i agree that dispell is anoying, but you can cast it again.

And with the saving the SP stuff.... jump costs 10 SP lol, a ranger should have somewhere around 500, sp is never an issue to consider

But not everyone plays the game for the "endgame"...I do, so I'm not talking about me, but I do know a TON of people that play the game for fun. I personally only use Great Axes, Dwarven Axes and sometimes Mauls and Warhammers for all my Dwarven toons, because that's what I like. My dps is fine, and I could honestly care less if I have the highest kill count. As long as we finish that quest/raid and we all get our xp/loot/ingredients/etc. I could care less about that stuff.

[GeneralDiomedes]

I don't know how many times i say this.. but don't build your toon according to what will be ebst while leveling up, build it for endgame. Endgame whether or not you put those points into jump, you will still have the same as someone who didn't. If you did, well, you're out some skill points which could have been uses someplace else, meaning your toon is less effective... yes it might be so small it is not noticable, but you did somewhat gimp yourself by putting points into jump.

Where else would you put it to make a pure Ranger more effective? The fact is, there are only 5 other skills that are effective on a Ranger (Spot, Balance, Hide, Move Silently, UMD), and you have 6 to spend. I am assuming you have a +2 Tome.

Example, my guildie wanted to roll up an exploiter ranger. He knew endgame that Khopeshes would be better than Dwarvan axes, but he made the toon dwarf because "He has some cool D axes he could use while lvling up" Endgame, his toon might be less effective, at the cost of easier leveling.

Race != points in Jump

If your going to spend a few weeks to a month getting to 20, and possibly over a year playing that lvl 20 toon, wouldn't it make sense to build your toon for endgame?

Your mileage may vary ..

Yes i agree that dispell is anoying, but you can cast it again.

And with the saving the SP stuff.... jump costs 10 SP lol, a ranger should have somewhere around 500, sp is never an issue to consider

10 mana is 10 mana .. I'd rather save 10 mana than not, and you are the one supposedly trying to squeeze every bit of effectiveness out of your character.