Analysis of the Elven Ranger

[Marshal_Lannes]

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.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 7

AP - Aimed Shot, Dmg Boost II, DM focus II

Gear - Interesting set of armor that gave +4 CON and some Corrosive Enhancement. Finally got another stat item.

Quests - Started with a pure piking of Pit coming in 12 mins into the quest and then finishing just as penalty wears off. Then led a serious run thru 3BC. All quests done, Ranger build holding up very well. Fun to play, high Spot lets you hit a target before they can ever see you. At this point I am almost exclusively ranged mainly because it is working well and also because I have not upgraded my longswords. Completed L5 quests in Tangleroot, House K tavern and started Necro I which bled into the next level on a hard cap. Ranger is highly effective in the long corridors of 3BC. Favored enemy and the turn in ghostbane bow for the Necro1 quests makes for a very decent undead beater.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 8

AP - DWS Dex I, Melee/Ranged Power boost III, Favored Hunter I

Gearing - Added a +5 set of Dex boots and a Wis/fire resistant cloak. Stat items now +5 Dex, +4 Con, +4 Wisdom. Also upgraded helmet to +63 SP/+3 saves.

Grouping continues to be vacant. Very few groups so most quests again solo'd or done in duos. A solo of Bloody Crypt was a nice accomplishment, the ghostbane Longbow turn in really showing dividends. Valek's Mauseleum is really a fantastic quest. Challenging at level, timed, levers to find and pull. A hidden classic. Bounty Hunter was a thrill to play, a fun game of hide and sneak. There are lots of stealthy ranger types in the quest and it offers good opportunities to spot/shoot. Nimeth Celihal the L8 FVS is an outstanding hireling. Very offensive with the SPs but a real asset in quests.

Gameplay all longbows this level, never drawing swords once. Silver Bow the standard and Ghostbane Longbow for undead. Search good enough to find all secret doors. Spot really offers a different style of gameplay and continues to allow my ranger to take down most enemies before they can even engage. Many of these L6 quests continue to have very long hallways or outdoor zones.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 9

AP - Survivalist III, Killer I, Merciful Shot
Feats - Evasion (!) and Improved Critical Ranged

Grouping finally starting to pick up. Had a solid group for the Delera's Chain. Rangers really are nice undead killers with favored enemy undead and morphic arrows, did excellent in all 4 quests. Another group went thru a long session of the Sentinals chain plus the rest of the high profile L7 quests, Gwylans, Tear of Dalkan, Taming the Flames and Graverobber. A strong diverse party, with 2 Rangers, a rogue/ranger mechanic, a Warlock and a sorc. Myself and the Sorc alternated at the top of kill counts. Other ranger had paralyzing arrows but much lower DPS. I think this was part not having a Silver Bow and part not going into the DWS tree. There seems to be good balance between mechanic and longbow at this level. The mechanic has a high RoF but the Alpha damage from my Ranger is outstanding. Sniper Shot + Manyshot functions very much like a fury shot and kills pretty much anything. Once again never drew swords at this level. This might cause me to consider how much I eventually go into the Tempest tree vs AA tree. Of course the nice thing is can always reset enhancements.

The Ranger enjoyment level is extremely high at these levels. Stealth, evasion, useful clickies w/o too many of them. One note - spells, using Ram's Might, Barkskin and Jump atm.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 10

AP - Leg Shot, DWS DEX 2

Gear - Finally two good longswords, Sirocco and a Shocking Burst of Lacerating

A Fairly epic level. Solo quests in Haunted Library, the two Cult of Six L8s and Shadow Knight. Controlling a cleric and rogue while killing incorporeals was a great challenge in Shadow Knight. A Duo in Stormcleave was a fun quest. It felt like a hunting trip with various degrees of elevation and the many enemies. Highly entertaining bow hunting. Most fun experience of the level was Shadow King. Had a three man party of myself, another ranger and a warlock. The warlock was one of the OP builds lamented about in these forums and was zerg/soloing till he was moving too fast and died in a trap. With the red DA he left my self and the other ranger were overwhelmed and killed. As is typical of players with the zerg mentality he immediately left the party, despite him causing the deaths. Our two rangers would not be detered though. I released (bound way back at the Information is the Key inn!) and came back in the quest with a cleric hireling, raised my ranger companion and we proceeded to slowly clear the rest of the quest. A really good achievement for two rangers on elite with all those mobs and relying only on our bows. We followed that up with duoing Shadow Lord, also a really epic experience for two rangers relying on bows and having to split. Finally we knocked out Spies in the House (other ranger was rogue splash able to get traps). The Ranger spell prot from energy really came in handy here. All in all we were pushed to the max and able to overcome some really difficult quests when you don't have access to AoE spells. Highly, highly fun and a good example of DDO at its finest.

Thru ten levels an elven ranger feels like one of the more fun and balanced classes in DDO.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Levels 11-12

AP - Advanced Sneak Attack, Strike Like Lightning, Head Shot, Lesser DM of Shadow, Aerenal Weapon Training II
Feat - Took Empower Healing for some punch on my heal spells and eventually cocoon

Level 11 goes by quick even with doing all quests. In fact I hard capped before I even go to the Red Fens. A couple quests stand out from L9. First, Keeper's Sanctuary. This is a fantastic quest. The map is so beautifully detailed with gothic architecture. I highly recommend this quest to those who usually blow past the L9 quests because of Shadow Crypt. I also did ToEE pt1 at this level. Had a great time in with a group of players. We went pretty slow, saw a lot of the quest and felt like we were playing a D&D module.

Level 12 I solo'd the Therenal chain and had good success with the long corridors. Leg Shot worked great vs the Renders. In Tempest Spine my ranger had almost twice as many kills as the next character. In VoN raid I led by over 20. At this level I feel Ranger is better than the Mechanic. Manyshot does big time damage with head shot and IPS and clear out a room quickly. Very strong DPS and I don't often get hit as leg shot can slow foes advancing on you. Still using silver bow from level 6.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 13

AP - DM Focus III, Greater DM (Displacement!)
Gear - The new loot and ranger pass has made access to and use of devotion and corrosion items quite useful. One ring I am using right now is a +88 SP/+5 Protection. I also added the Minos Helm. Changed from the Silver Bow to the Bow of Sinew. Using three named items now, greater nimble trinket, minos and bow of sinew.

Level 11 quests were a bit harder on my Ranger, mainly because the corridors did not offer those lovely fields of fire. Quests like Enemy Within, Offering of Blood, Dreams of Insanity and Spawn of Whisperdoom are close combat quests where you get swarmed a lot. They are very clausterphobic when you are used to ranged fighting. Still, I stuck with the bow almost all the time rather than switching to swords.

Grouping was fairly easy at this level. Warlocks start to look very powerful. OP? They trivialize most things, but the warlock who was killing a ton of stuff in quests like Dreams of insanity and Enemy Within died a ton in Made to Order which punishes zerging harshly. Maybe we need more quests like Made to Order? Evasion and an Empower heal/devotion boosted heals really make Rangers tough to kill.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 14-15

AP - Elemental Damage Imbue, Extra Favored Enemy
Favored Enemy choices - Elemental for level and Elf for extra
Feat - Extend (for discplacement)

Gear - Pretty nice suit of leather with +7 CON and +25 Healing Amp. That feels like a raid quality item. Retired the Greater Nimble Trinket for the Planar Compass.

Highlights include the Diplomatic Impunity Chain. Invis and high sneak made this quite fun. Framework was an absolute blast, a serious turkey shoot from various angles and heights in the castle. One of the most fun so far. Ran the Necro3 chain as well. This chain remains difficult and challenging. Was a great grouping experience. What is harder Necro3 or Necro2? GH walk ups always seem to get groups to fill - the saga most likely. All these quests went very well. Summerfield Chain also was an enjoyable group quest experience.

Had to solo Wiz King, Mired in Kobalds, Chains of Flame and Relic of Sovereign Past. I used greater gnoll slaying arrows to great effect in Chains.

Finally, duo'd Trial of the Archons. By far the toughest quest of the two levels. The monster spawns are serious and have lots of HPs. Manyshot is golden here. Was working with a Wizard who had web but little else, though that did come in handy a couple times. Had to kill most of the mobs but it's a testament to the Ranger's ranged power in DWS that it can handle this challenge.

Defensive level is now incrediable with healing amp, devotion item for a very strong cure serious wounds and basically perma-displacement along with ghostly from the Planar Compass and sitting at 444 HPs @ L15. At this point I am not sure there is any reason to go into Tempest as the ranged ability is far better than I thought it was going to be and far, far better than (some)people have made it out to be on forums.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 16-17

AP - Aerenal Weapon Training III and IV, Elven Dex I, Skill

Some thoughts, Acid Wit sure is tough when you are arcane archer acid based! Made the swim in elite Cruciable which is a nice benefit. Why is Necro4 easier than Necro3 and Necro2? How do you ever get flagged for Litany of the Dead these days? Should they ditch the whole frame? I would vote yes. Back in the day you had to run these quests multiple times for the XP. Now there are so many high level quests you don't have to repeat anything so getting the Frame is a real pain. Devil's Gambit chain seems easier than the Archons chain even though it is higher level. The abashai are a welcome change and a bit tough in a small group they get up on you fast! Tough for an archer but IPS can still rule the day. Permanent displacement is awesome, very glad I took extend. The elemental imbues are a big big deal and add a LOT of DPS which scales nicely since your corrosion item keeps getting more powerful (or at least it should).

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 18-20

AP - Elemental Dmg III, Mark of the Hunted, Horizon shot, Inferno Arrows II, Improved Archer's Focus, Grace, Killer II, Improved Reactions III, Acrobatic I, Haste II

I am pretty happy with my AP spread. I got pretty much what I wanted. The only thing I am kicking around is whether or not to keep Inferno II. Could use those points on Heavy Draw, but not sure I want the -5 to hit.

Feats - Toughness, Favored Enemy Construct

Gear - Drow Smoke Goggles, Mithrail Cloak of the Wolf L20 version, PDK Gloves, +8 DEX ring/25 Spell resistance, Treads of Falling Shadow HE version. Named items as you see are starting to replace random Gen loot. Still using Bow of Sinew or Silver Bow.

Since I am also going for 5000 favor on this character I will probably do most of L20 on heroic quests. There is a TON of xp in the game now and I didn't even get close to doing everything heroic wise before I capped. Never go to any of the IQ, the 2nd Madness chain, Shavarath or Reavers Refuge (not sure how I am ever going to get Stealer of Souls done).

One thing I notice is that you really into OP Mini-Thors from level 18. The game officially breaks right around L18. Characters have way too much power in relation to the quests. Power gap is very noticeable between characters post L18. Another thing I notice - almost all builds I group with in Pugs are all ranged builds. Melee builds are extremely rare from my experience. Lots of Rangers, Mechanics, Warlocks, Throwers.

As for the Elven Ranger, it was extremely easy to level up and tons of fun to play. Highly rated and as you can see from my posting the only real named item you need is a sliver bow and or bow of sinew both which are pretty easy to get. I will continue updates as I go thru epics. For EDs, I only have 10 points unlocked so my twists are:

1. Pin
2. Brace for Impact
3. Coccoon

Running in Fury of the Wild atm seeing how that plays. Will check out the build in Fury, Divine Crusader, Shiradi and LD.

[Basura_Grande]

. . .At this point I am not sure there is any reason to go into Tempest as the ranged ability is far better than I thought it was going to be and far, far better than (some)people have made it out to be on forums.

trust us, Tempest is even better.

[Marshal_Lannes]

It very well could be Grande but personally I am not a huge fan of melee characters. I enjoy the ranged/caster play. In particular in this game ranged play almost feels like a Cabella's big game hunt mini-game in the explorer areas which is quite fun. I will be trying what I have heard is one of the more challenging melee builds in my next analysis, that of the Drow Assassin.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 21

Feat - Overwhelming Critical

Going from level 20 to level 21 was probably one of the most enjoyable experiences of DDO. I did not do any epic quests, I didn't rush anything, I formed some groups and did some high level heroic content and had a great deal of fun. I staying in Fury ED for the HPs and high burst damage which were good meshes with the quests I was running. Went to Reavers Refuge and solo'd Prey for the Hunter while putting a PuG together. Then we did Enter the Kobald and Monastary of the Scorpion. Kobald was far too easy - I was able to stand in end room and fury shot while occasionally coccooning. My (reflex)saves are just too high for a L20 character. Monastary however was a lot of fun and required a ton of teamwork because of the puzzles which none of us really knew how to do. The quest ended up taking over 40 minutes but great fun was had by all. Outstanding quest design. Myself and a Warlock ended up killing the end boss vs doing the final puzzle which a group member said was impossible back in the day which I guess gives a pretty good indication of the power creep in the game.

Had a great, great time in Shavarath. Did New Invasion, Bastion of Power, Weapons Shipment and Wrath of the Flame. DDO at it's absolute best. Weapons Shipment seriously might be the best quest in the game. Wave after wave I started to feel like I was in a last stand scenario like Custer or Davey Crockett. The Devils of Shavarath pack really is brilliant, I hope to finish flagging for and running ToD next level.

The Lord of Stone/Eyes chain really has terrible, terrible XP. The quests are pretty boring. Acute Delrium required some teamwork which is good but in general I don't really like these Xoriat themed quests. I did die for the first time in ages in Lord of Eyes when a champion Beholder energy drained me 8 levels in one shot then disintegrated me. Also in the boring zone was Schemes of the Enemy.

Another good quest at this level was in the Demon's Den. Again, a quest that needed teamwork to handle the Djinns and I loved the 5 chests. Popped a small jewel of fortuen and ended up getting 3 Legendary Guild pulls out of the 5. Finally ran the Jeets chain which was alright. Overall character was overperforming which is to be expected even in BB range with the ED and the massive burst damage possible. Again, I don't know why there ever thread complaining about manyshot being nerfed - it certainly wasn't.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 22

On the road to 22 I continued to knock off high level heroic quests for favor. I also unfortunately entered the mini-Thor zone as my character started dominating kill counts. I imagine this occurs because some classes are much more adept at killing high HP enemies than others and you start to run into HP heavy mobs at these levels. In the IQ Kill counts looked like 51-2-2-1 in Ship Wrecked Spy, 32-4-2-2 in Eye of the Titain, 25-5-2-2-1 in Reclaiming Memories and 45-5-5-2-1 in Mining for Ancient Secrets. The trend continued in a different group as I finished Shavarath with Sins of Attrition being 195-2-1 and Genesis Point 179-10-3. Displacement was huge in Sins of Attrition allowing me to effectively ignore most of the swarming Devil Mobs. With Extend my Displacement now is over 4 mins long per cast so over 16 mins of it between shrines. I think this puts Elf way ahead of other classes for Rangers the defensive benefit is so large.

Ran the Terminal Delirium Chain. I have to say Terminal Delirium is the hardest quest in the game. We had a pretty good group and everyone died at least 5 times. However, the rest of the quests in this chain are a bit of a let down. Fashion Show feels half finished and Palace of Stone feels somewhat pointless. Finished up the Cannith quests, tried to get a VoD raid going, no interest. Tried to get a ToD going, no interest. I finished up the level doing King's Forest Explorers and Thunderholm Explorers. I went into LD destiny for both the explorer zones. I did just fine in Thuderholm at L21 and it is also kind of funny that this provides the biggest grouping experience aside from the new Legendary Raids. Haven't run any Epic Quests yet except the two explorer zones.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 23

You really see the power of the epic 'dailies' when you have been questing for favor. It took me 7 quests to go from L22 to L23. I jumped into a EH Devils Details. My L22 Ranger did very well (with a L14 bow still!). Once again displacement was a huge help. At this point I am convinced all a Ranger really needs is Displacement and the bow of Sinew or the Silver Bow as long as you select the right feats (and really the class itself selects most of the feats for you). I guess a corrosion item (or whatever element you choose to make, may come back to that topic later). Then I joined a dailies group. It was a good group, people were talking and at least communicating. Still, these quests give way too much XP in relation to others. So, ran Spies, Wiz King, Von3 and Offering of Blood. Just about hit level. Joined another group running EH 3BC and after the first two quests I hit 23. My Ranger was 1st or 2nd in Kill Count in all the 3BC content, again still with a L14 bow.

Tried again to get a group together for VoD or ToD but no luck. Quick progression thru this level will try again next.

[FranOhmsford]

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.

Considering the aim to "roleplay" I've got a couple of problems with the above:

1) I'm sorry but UMD does NOT fit this archetype!
Move Silently, Hide or Balance would all be better choices to max if you're gonna stick with the "roleplay". {Move Silently would be the obvious one of course}.

2) You're an Elven Ranger and the first weapon you choose is the Ember Greataxe? You Mini-Thor you!
Jeets even had your Longsword there waiting for you!

3) You spent an extra 3 pts in Con over pushing your Wis up to 12 or your Str to 14 and Wis to 10?
Just No!

[Marshal_Lannes]

I ended up having the skill points to max Hide as well (so I have the option of taking the L30 hide/SA feat). I think UMD does fit as Elves are a magical race by nature. It makes sense they would have an affinity for scrolls. Balance is already high due to Dex. Basically I had more than enough skill points to mess around with.

I don't get all this Rangers can't use THF ideas. Aragon used a THF sword! While it is true Jeets did have a longsword available, I have to solo low level quests basically naked since I was mostly taking what I found in the chest. In that regard THF weapons worked out nicely at low levels when there aren't a lot of options to group.

I probably would go 14 CON and 12 WIS if I could do it again. I didn't realize how many HPs you got from the DWS tree.

[FranOhmsford]

I ended up having the skill points to max Hide as well (so I have the option of taking the L30 hide/SA feat). I think UMD does fit as Elves are a magical race by nature. It makes sense they would have an affinity for scrolls. Balance is already high due to Dex. Basically I had more than enough skill points to mess around with.

Elves are a magical race yes but you're a Ranger NOT a Bard!

More to the point your own flavour as you as having trained for battle NOT for adventuring so again UMD doesn't fit UNLESS you're Meta-Gaming!

I don't get all this Rangers can't use THF ideas. Aragon used a THF sword! While it is true Jeets did have a longsword available, I have to solo low level quests basically naked since I was mostly taking what I found in the chest. In that regard THF weapons worked out nicely at low levels when there aren't a lot of options to group.

Actually Aragorn most likely used a B-Sword one handed and two handed depending on the situation.

Aragorn is a Lord of the Rings character NOT D&D, Lord of the Rings Rangers aren't the TWFighting Specialists of D&D, They're closer to a Fighter/Ranger Multiclass {P.S. I don't know or care what they're like in LotRO only what the Books say!}.

Aragorn is also a Super-Human last of the Dunedain and an Epic Character in his own right NOT a Lvl 1 Elf who's been trained in Longsword and Longbow but for some reason is using a Greataxe!

I probably would go 14 CON and 12 WIS if I could do it again. I didn't realize how many HPs you got from the DWS tree.

You realise 15 Con gives no more HP than 14 right?

The reason you went 15 was so a +1 Con item would up your HP rather than having to wait for a +2 item which again is Meta-Gaming and Min/Maxing as opposed to Role-Play and Flavour which was supposedly the point of the build!

[Sunnie]

Your flavour is not tasty! You're doing it wrong!

Now, people often have differing ideas about things, but telling someone what they're doing is just metagaming and not roleplaying because it doesn't conform with one's own ideas is when it's time to take a step back, a deep breath, and ask oneself whether it really is a discussion worth having.

Also, Aragorn was a big inspiration for the D&D ranger, the class is not a carbon copy of him, but a lot of elements from the books flowed into the designs.

[kendo]

Now, people often have differing ideas about things, but telling someone what they're doing is just metagaming and not roleplaying because it doesn't conform with one's own ideas is when it's time to take a step back, a deep breath, and ask oneself whether it really is a discussion worth having.

Also, Aragorn was a big inspiration for the D&D ranger, the class is not a carbon copy of him, but a lot of elements from the books flowed into the designs.

totally agree. you can, and should, make some choices in the game to help improve your character, still within the overall context of the build, and I really don't see where what Marshal has done would be considered metagaming, in my book. and yes, that's just my opinion

Marshal, I have really enjoyed reading this and I think it is fantastic that you took the time to post this information. threads like this can be a big boost to new players going through the forums and reminds us that fun can be had with new characters without complete sets of twink gear sitting in the bank.