What follows is an in depth analysis of the Elven Ranger based on actual gameplay situations.

Levels 1-6

Starting Stats are:

STR: 12
DEX: 20
CON: 15
INT: 10
WIS: 9
CHA: 8

I am building an Elven Ranger whose background would be military training within the Elven army based on archetypes like Tauriel from the Hobbit or the armies of Kith-Kanan. While some elves may have functioned as pure archers, the core fighting arm of the elves would be skilled in both archery and the traditional elven weapon the longsword. Starting stats are flexiable except for DEX which is the primary stat. Ultimately taking 15 CON and the 30 extra HPs outweighed an extra +1 hit/dmg and 1 wis DC. Doesn't really matter aside from a max dex and 14 CON though one should not dump STR.

Initial Feats - Dragonmark of Shadow, Point Blank Shot, Precision. (1/3/6)
Alignment - Lawful Neutral. This I believe is the primary alignment of traditional or 'high' elves. Many sources incorrectly define elves as being chaotic good. I believe this perception has been altered by elven characters from literature who may have acted in this manner, but they were usually rebelling against an elven society that was very traditional. Examples include Legolas and Tanis Half Elven. In much of fantasy literature elven society is very structured and they are quite haughty in their relations to other races. As such, I have chosen to go with Lawful Neutral.

Skills - Maxing Heal, UMD, Search, Spot. Spreading excess points around balance, hide, move silently

Gear - I am using mostly found gear to test out the usefulness of the new random loot except where noted.

The First 24 APs -

Elf: Elven Accuracy, DM Focus, Aerenal Training
Tempest: Shield of Whirling Steel
AA: AA, Morphic Arrows, Conjure Arrrows, Corrosive Weapons
DWS: Far Shot, Sneak Attack, Sniper Shot, Increased Empathy 2, Tendon Cut 2, Survivalist 2, Melee/Ranged Boost 1

Questing -

L1 - Skipped with daily die rolls
L2 - Korthos: Being pretty much naked except for a rusted mail outfit made these quests somewhat challenging on elite. Started using the ember great ax, quickly found a L2 mastercraft greatsword with 1d6 Law dmg. This and a Barb hireling took me thru Korthos. Class played as a weak fighter swinging a big sword.

L3 - Harbor and vorpals: Pulled a ML3 vorpal shortbow. This is a godsend vs elite kobolds. Had to solo much of Harbor despite LFM up for Harbor elites, just aren't many players on. Frenzy the Barb and my shortbow went forward, still switched over the mastercrft greatsword when I was swarmed. ML3 vorpals seem ok and balanced. They are not game breaking but allow an undergeared character to get thru elite content. Several times I found myself muttering roll a 20, roll a 20!

L4 - Cerulian Hills and quests, Misery Peak, finish Harbor: Added Greater Nimble Trinket, big increase to defense. Pulled a ML4 vorpal longsword. Combined that with a Timeblade for TWF now, ditched the THF weapons. Some grouping, some solo. Felt moderate to underpowered. TWF combination better than the shortbow at this point.

L5 - Catacombs, Waterworks, Kobald Assault and Magnificient Cabal chain: I have noticed right off the jump that there is a decided lack of stat items in the new loot. I am running only with a +3 Dex item and a +1 Wis item! My DPS has a large increase though with both a corrosive equipment bonus and an insightful corrosive bonus. Corrosive arrows from vorpal shortbow now doing better than normal DPS vs other characters in group. TWF combination still very useful when in midst of mobs, especially without agro. Favored enemy Undead was very useful for catacombs. Small groups at this level, a trio for Cats chain, a duo for WW, a trio for Kobald Assault and a few others. Good group for Cabal chain, being under level I was weak but still useful ranged support though much weaker than the mechanic in the group.

L6 - Shan to Kar, Sharn, Proof Poison, Depths, Start Tangleroot, other L4s: Added Silver Bow. With this, many shot and sniper shot there is a huge DPS increase. Now at or near top of kill counts in groups. Noticed there is a serious lack of useful armors. 3 or 4 armor choices from every quest reward and all are of marginal use. Still no stat items. With fort and insightful fort able to have 96 fort. Other than fort and vorpals none of this new loot is particuarily great or invalidating. Used the trapblast goggles from STK right away for example. Using cloak of the asylum from Cats and silver bow replaced the vorpal shortbow. Reports of random loot being over powered seem vastly overrated.

Summary

A fun beginning, as long as you aren't in a group with a mechanic, then you wonder why your rate of fire feels like you are in quicksand. However, this is balanced by the high crit numbers attainable from sniper shot/many shot. Also nice versatility - there are many options where it is great to be able to switch over to swords for indepth fighting, especially when you don't have the agro. A class that is both solo friendly and group friendly. Initial spells of Ram's Might and Jump thru L6 are both very useful.