Analysis of the Elven Ranger

[Marshal_Lannes]

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!

If you go back to my reasoning on ability scores you will see that I opted for the extra CON for the extra 30 HPs. This is clearly only going to happen at L30, so no, I did not consider what a +1 CON item was going to do for me at all. It is also certainly logical that warrior elves would be the most hardy of all Elves so I don't feel a high CON is out of character.

[Marshal_Lannes]

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.

Thanks, glad you are enjoying it! I have had a lot of fun playing the character.

[Saekee]

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.

yes, nice to see these kinds of reflective posts. My only suggestion for new players playing a dex-based Aerenal elf is to use rapiers, not longswords, when meleeing

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 24

Feat - Combat Archery
Gear - Pinion, Strength Planar Conflux

As I alluded to in the L23 post, the 3BC chain bled into this level. Precious Cargo is a great quest and everyone had a blast. We had our full group stay together for the whole chain so that was nice. After finishing up this chain I switched over the Fatespinner ED so I could eventually get into Draconic. I think I will want the corrosive energy burst since I already have high corrosive going with the elemental arrows. I joined a EH Deathwyrm filled with L29 and L30s and I mostly Piked. I attempted again to get a VoD and ToD going but these quests just won't fill (on Orien anyway). I also tried a long time to get an ES chain 1 to fill on EE. I set the level max at 25 since I wanted to get XP from explorer zones. Should these epic zones have their questing cap lifted? After doing King's Forest for a while I finally decided to solo, switching back to Fury ED. My first attempt at Impossible Demands didn't go so well since I kept getting Feared then Greater Commanded. It was then that I remembered GH gives you immunity to Fear. I had picked up a Draconic Necklace in my Shavarath questing (a very nice item to have) so with that 15 mins of GH in tow I took on Hekta Szind again and prevail pretty easily this time. I have noticed in epic play that my two weaknesses are low UMD, even though I maxed it (not wearing a CHA item) I can't raise dead reliably and my will saves are a bit low.

Still taking on the Drow invasion alone, I solo'd Unquiet Graves on EE. Took my time and furyshots really put the hurt on the Necromancers. Was fairly easy with that and Displacement. Visors of the Flesh Render provided my deathward. I finally got a couple people to join me for the Lost Thread. My Ranger excelled there topping the kill count 73-23. They couldn't stay for Battle of Eveningstar so I finished the level by running a EN Wiz King and Von3. Epic levels going pretty fast.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 25

Gear - Quiver of Poison

Well obviously Pinion added greatly to my DPS and in no quest did I feel overwhelmed by mobs. I don't need to add much about Pinion other than it looks great, has excellent DPS and is a marvelous bow. One of the great things I have noticed about Ranger is you really don't need a lot of weapons. I don't know if I even need to make a TF or LGS Bow after Pinion. Maybe LGS, though I don't completely understand it. In any event, I got lucky and there was an LFM up for Stealer of Souls. I didn't think I would be able to get this quest done since so few flag for it now. Myself and two other great guys went thru it and had a blast. I gotta hand it to Sorjek, even today he has lots of HPs on EE and he died hard.

I posted for EE Battle of Eveningstar and finally got some people to join up, though the group filled in full when we were IP. This turned into a strong questing group and we proceeded to go EE on Don't Drink the Water and the Druid's Deep chain. My Ranger performed well, though kill counts tend to be erratic in these quests with me sometimes on the low end and sometimes in the top two. The group moved very fast thru these and EE high HP/Dmg mobs provided little challenge - however, when they threw in wisps and their fear/stun effects that changed things a lot. This seems to be an interesting way Devs could provide challenge to characters. So while I was only semi-useful in Outbreak, I was vital in Overgrowth where I saved a party wipe and ended up leading in kill count as many in the party ended up dead. Once again the Draconic necklace providing a huge benefit here as well as a Rangers very high reflex saves and evasion. Thorn and Paw I was on the low end of the kill count while in Druid's Deep I led again. In all quests my DPS felt very high in relation to the mobs HPs/Defenses.

In another gaming session, I posted for the 2nd ES chain and had little luck in filling it. It seems people do not run these quests often even though the story is outstanding. I did some explorer zone slaying in Schin then eventually decided to solo Rusted Blades on EE. I completed that w/o too much trouble, running in LD ED to get one martial one capped. I had a Rogue join me for Broken Chains and we completed that along with the Matron battle in which I pulled the House Seal Ring. The Rogue died his fair share of times, but was vital in disarming traps. My Ranger's DPS and surviability carried the rest. I now have over 4089 Favor on the march to 5000. I was close to capping LD so I jumped in an EN Devils Details to do that. I was able to solo the upstairs side.

I next joined a EE GH group, joining Prison of the Planes in progress. Running in Unyielding Sentinal ED now to cap a Divine. In this group for the most part two high level Paladins and a Bard scored high on the kill counts with me in 4th leading the lesser DPS characters. I would say EE GH was the first time I felt the mobs HPs, with Champions having over 10k - though it must be said I was in US a non DPS destiny so all things considered I was pretty pleased as it wasn't exactly like I wasn't killing things. I had my glory moment again in Foundation of discord where I saved a wipe again. At the end fight I took up position one of the towers and was firing down into the Pit at Patrick the Maniacal. Well the party got feebleminded en masse, including myself, but I avoided most of the damage from the fire elementals. With everyone dead but me, I ended up killing off the fire eles, getting everyone back to the shrine and raised and finishing off Patrick. One thing I noticed in this EE run and the EE Druids Chain, a Warlock and a Bard had high kills but they died a lot. Not everyone should build for an 11 on DPS, maybe a 9 DPS and a 9 Defense is a better strategy. EE Cabal and Cry for Help were total zergs moving as fast as groups do in heroics and maybe faster. In EE Feast I broke into the top 3 in kills but as I was actually going for it using manyshot often on grouped mobs. During the course of this GH questing I passed L25 and started earning toward 26. Oh one tip I had to figure out - when you start epic GH questing you have to go thru the front entrance to start all the slayers/explorers, you can't do it by porting in to say the stormeye encampment. This threw me for a loop for a few minutes.

A fun level with no dailies, and some good proving grounds in EE play.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 26-27

Feat - Epic Spell Focus Corrosion

Most of the road to L26 was spent in Draconic ED. I did switch to other EDs for the raids. In Demon Queen I went full DPS in Fury. For Deathwyrm I went US for survivability and for Fire on Thunder Peak I stayed in Draconic for the reflex save increase.

From the previous GH group we did EE Cruciable. My ranger was a huge help in killing the windlashers and dishing out FoM as we went for the puzzle wheels. The night was winding down and the only group left was dailies one so I did a normal Von3/Spies/Wiz King.

Next session myself and a Warlock 2 maned EE ADQ and EE DQ. If felt that was a pretty cool accomplishment. I then joined an EE group doing House of Death Undone. The group had two very powerful warlocks and a wizard. They were moving at light speed zerg style but since it is so hard to get people to join these groups I gritted my teeth and just followed along. EE Portal Opens followed along with all three of the Abyss quests. The warlock players were really nice to everyone in the group making sure everyone found their way to each Abyss quest before starting. There was no reason to do anything in Trial by Fury or Deal and the Demon because they were making jumps around barriers and I couldn't follow fast enough so I basically piked. I was at least useful in Reclaiming the Rift since everyone is in the same zone. Finally this group did Don't Drink the Water (which I ran thru again, invis run, picking up someone who got ovewhelemed and died) and Belly of the Beast. I didn't have the portal to this quest but neither did one of the other group members so we eventually found it, however the quest was almost over so we mostly piked that one too. Having had my share of zerg play I dropped group. I have mixed thoughts about this Drow chain. I think the quests are fantastic but they are really hard to get groups for and those that do run them do so at break neck speeds. After this I took level 26.

I started out the road to L27 with some raiding, joining EH runs of Deathwyrm and Fire on Thunder Peak. Unlike the last DW where I basically piked my Ranger was a very useful member of the group. As one of the more powerful DPS builds I was continually going thru Phylactory portal and eventually was the one who took it down. We had to go this method instead of breaking phylactories at the same time because not everyone could hear voice and we couldn't coordinate. Fire on Thunder Peak was a lot of fun and I didn't die once which is a testament to my reflex saves and some of the nice new loot gen that gives pretty high fire absorbtion by this level. Had a blast and raiding really is fun, great group.

Joined an EH run thru the Necropolis. My character did very well here, acid now adding over 100 damage every shot thru spell power and my spell power isn't even anywhere near the 500 some people are saying they can get. I'm around 220-250 depending on what ED I am in. I picked up a Belt of the Thoughtful Remembrance and this will really help next level, I'll give a full gear level layout after I take level 27. I tried to get an EE Grim and Barrett going as I really want the quiver from there, but no one joined the LFM and it was up a loooong time. While I was waiting I ran thru the Stormhorns getting all the ports, popping a slayer pot and racking up a lot of XP. This is a gorgeous zone to explore and I spend almost two hours in here. Got lots of XP and my character was OP for the content easily taking down all the mobs. I was close to level and no one was joining Grim and Barrett apparantly so I jumped into the ever present dailies group and did Von3 and Spies and hit level. I still have Stormhorns and Wheloon to do but I suspect they will be hard to get people for like the Drow chain was. Will take a crack at them next level. Also made my ToD boots of anchoring in case I ever get to run the raid.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 28

Feat - Blinding Speed

Gear - As promised here is my full gear layout for L27

Head - Epic Minos Legens
Neck - Necklace of Mystic Eidolons (upgraded)
Trinket - Planar Prowness of Strength +8
Cloak - Deadly 7/Wizardry 6
Belt - Epic Belt of Thoughtful Remembrance
Ring 1 - Dex +12/ Cold Absorb 31
Ring 2 - Featherfall (don't really have anything to put here atm)
Gloves - Corrosion 103/Armor Piercing +14
Wrist - Steady Handed Armbands with Draconic Soul Gem and Globe of Imperial Blood slotted
Quiver - Quiver of Poison
Goggles - Epic Glimpse of the Soul
Bow - Pinion with Devotion 90 slotted
Armor - Chainmal 34 spell resistance/39 healing amp/ blue slot unfilled

Nothing really rare here and I don't even have on ring slot in use for anything but featherfall. My cloak could also easily be upgraded and I am not using slots on any of my items except the armbands. This shows that you don't have to be geared to a 10 to be effective in EE play with this build. I mean I would say I am probably geared to a 4 or a 5.

So the power of the epic feats are really starting to push the build to high levels. Started a gaming session doing EE Madstone Crater and led a good group in kills. Interestingly the whole group was ranged except one caster, who I guess is also ranged too. We then did EE Tor with all the dragons which we dispatched pretty easily. Everyone got some good loot from the run and we had a blast. Tor really is a good quest. I then joined a HE Shroud for the favor since I imagine LE Shroud might be a bit much till I am 30. It was pretty fun but got boring quick, it was like running in god mode.

I tried to get an EE Wheloon group going, could only get a Paladin to join for Friends in Low Places. The Paladin died quite a few times, I was in US and the extra defense really helped. I basically solo'd the whole last fight and that really showed off the power of my build taking down a 250K HP boss along with 3 waves of mobs. IPS and Displacement are vital. My Displacement now lasts over 5:30 minutes with extend, very glad I took that feat. These are high HP mobs that hit hard and my Ranger passed the test. It was not easy and was definately a test of my kiting and defensive skill but was worth the challenge. It also shows that US is not a useless ED. Yes, DPS isn't as good but it sure makes you die hard. Kill Counted ended up being 138 to 24. We didn't press on to another quest because they take a bit too long to duo like this and no one else would join up.

I formed up a ES Challenge group and we did all 6 at CR 30. We had a fantastic group and had a lot of fun doing them all. We got 5 stars on each one. The big first time XP bonus was enough to push me to L28. Ranger DPS and Defense are very effective in all EE content thus far.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 29

Feat - Doubleshot

Started off the session jumping into an EH Creeping Death run. Was about 15 mins late in but still finished 2nd in the Kill Count. DPS looking good for Legendary Content on first try. Started an EE Devil's Assault group. We three manned it and my Ranger really cleaned up the Devils - Kill Count looking at 137-39-34. Again, all the epic feats really stacking up making my Ranger very lethal. Led a late night LN Tempest Spine run and everyone had a great time. Was drinking a bit at this time so I don't remember the exact kill counts but my Ranger did well!

Next gaming session I joined an EH Subversion group. I usually jump into the first LFM I like when I log on to get my feet wet for the day then decide what I want to do. Anyway, good quest. I put up an LFM for EH Curse the Sky to finish flagging for Legendary Shroud. I ran some GH slayers while waiting and Epic GH is now easier for me than Heroic GH was back in the heroic levels. Got a full group for Curse the Sky and again led Kill Count despite not having DR breaker and my acid damage not having any effect on the Abashai. I did notice a drop in my DPS though obviously and will have to consider some DR breakers for Devils. Not sure I would respect to Lightning though for Devils specifically as it doesn't effect undead. I might drop my 2 points in Inferno Shot for Force Shot so I have something to switch to for Devils. I also don't seem to be getting much use out of Inferno Shot. Does it work for anyone else? After this I jumped in late on an EH Deathwyrm, piking most of it.

Finally, I joined a group for LH Shroud. I have to say I was a little disappointed in my effort. I was grouping with all 30s and I felt my DPS was only average. Two players were far ahead of everyone else then 3 players were in the mid-20s in Kills and then I was with a group of 3 in the mid-teens and 4 people barely killed anything. I also died 5 times and I have to say the mobs damage was a bit eye opening, especially the cleave attacks by the devils/orthons. I am sure I will perform better next effort it is definately something I should be better geared for. The massive XP total from Shroud had me hitting L29.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Level 30

Feats - Harbinger of Chaos, Epic Damage Reduction, Scion of Earth. OK, Scion of Earth (or whatever element you AA into) has great synergy with Rangers. The other two supposed high level epic feats are a bit blah for ranged characters though. Epic Damage Reduction is pretty blah - 10 PRR for an epic feat? Give us at least 20. Nothing really else to take though. I would need a +7 Tome and a power up into Con to take epic toughness. Nothing else looks good at all. As for Harbinger of Chaos it seems the best of a bunch of bad options. Dire Charge is useless for me as are all the caster feats since they won't effect my acid arrows. Deific Warding falls into that same category as Epic Dmg Reduction. Anyone have any success with something I didn't consider?

Joined an EH Dailes run to see if it offered any more sembalance of a challenge which it didn't. Joined an EE ADQ/DQ raid which is fun. Solo'd HE Blown to Bits for favor, started a group for EH Demon Assault so I would be flagged for DoJ. Led KC by 78 to next was 36 again despite not having a DR breaking attack. EH Grimm and Barrett was similiar, still no quiver. Finally I capped to L30 in style by running a 3 man EE Haunted Halls. It was myself and 2 Rogues and we had a really fun time.

So now I am L30...what now? I will revisit this as I discuss end game Bows once I look into them. For my character I want to get the leather of the celestial. For my Character Analysis I am not sure what I am going to do next. The three I am kicking around are a Drow Assassin, a beginning Warlock or a Gnome Illusionist.

[adrian69]

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.

The original PnP ranger actually used a great sword or a one handed axe and shield, if I remember being a teenage boy preparing to play one right. They also had a following. The ranger of DDO is more based on the Salvatore and Cunningham rangers of later fan loved books. However, the original ranger back from the days of imagination was based on part on Aragon.

[unbongwah]

The original AD&D ranger was just a Good-aligned fighter subclass with a few druid spells, tracking ability, and bonuses vs giants (the proto-Favored Enemy, as it were). And apparently didn't get along with each other? "No more than three rangers may ever operate together at any time."

[There's a joke about men asking for directions in there somewhere, I just know it... ]

Anyway, they didn't become their own class until 2nd ED, which is when they gained inherent dual-wielding among other perks, IIRC. And the only allowed multiclass back then was ranger / cleric (the proto-Tempest Warpriest, as it were).

</nerd trivia>

[Kodwraith]

There was a Dragon magazine article somewhere pre-2nd ED about the Archer class as a thing.

IIRC They got bonuses to number of arrows fired per round and bow damage. But they were never an "official" class.

http://www.bobsenk.com/rpg/rules/chclass/archer.html

[Marshal_Lannes]

Bows

OK - let's talk Bows. For most of your leveling purposes the most important quality you will find on a bow is the Crit profile. This is because most longbows only crit on a 20 (the old Battle of Hastings arrow thru the eye of Harold strike). This is also why the high crit profile bows listed below are going to be better than even the new Vorpal bows that drop in the new random loot. Let's take a look:

Lumric's Longbow ML4 scarab powder turn in reward for Necro1 quests. This is your go to bow for all the ghostly foes until you get a source of enhancement or item that allows you to hit ghostly foes. Extremely useful in Necro2

Silver Longbow ML6 found in the Church and the Cult. This bow is fairly easy to get, in a group of 6 on HE one will usually drop in the group. This should be the primary item you get before embarking on your career as an archer. Worst case scenario this bow can take you all the way to level 23.

Sapphire Sting ML7 found in Temple of Elemental Evil. This bow is very hard to get and while it is an upgrade over the Silver Longbow I wouldn't worry about going after it. One of those where it's nice if you have it but not needed.

Bow of Sinew ML14 found as an end reward to the Harbinger of Madness chain. Somewhat easy to get as you can run the chain on normal and get it as an end reward. The seeker 8 makes this a big step up from the Silver Longbow. A very powerful bow for the rest of your heroic content.

Unwavering Ardency ML14 drops in the Abbott raid, or can be picked as a 10th Anniversary DDO gift. Huge base damage for a heroic bow. Gives you blur and makes you immune to fear effects. The lack of 8 seeker can be made up by finding a seeker item which are fairly common now. Since everyone has access to this bow now as a gift, it is well worth using your token on, unless you don't have Pinion,which you should take.

A couple notes on other heroic bows - Petrfying War Bow would seem to be good but it doesn't really proc enough to matter and the DPS is far less than the above bows. There is no need to make a greensteel bow as I don't see them being any better than the above bows. Same thing with Alchemical Bows.

Epic Bows

As noted above, any of the DPS bows listed above will take you up to Pinion which can lay claim to being one of the greatest bows in the game. ML23, Pinion also gives you a Planar Conflux bonus and fully upgraded it can serve you just fine thru end game. The other Epic bow that has a good crit profile is the Epic Sapphire Sting which is an upgraded version of the heroic version. It is pretty difficult to get, basically needing to run ToEE on EE. Is it worth farming this bow over Pinion which is available as a 10th anniversary gift (or was available in the Birthday Battle Box)? Personally I would save my farming for LGS. What about Thunder Forged? I view this as a situational bow to be used on Dragons or on High Fort mobs if you add Dragon's Edge. As for LGS I think this is the bow you eventually want to get for your Elven Ranger and this is what I will be working towards. The unique spell power benefits that are available on a LGS bow has amazing synergy with our Corrosion arrows and scion of earth procs (or whatever scion of element path you take). So to summarize in Epics - get a Pinion as your main DPS weapon, only worry about Sapphire Sting if you really like running ToEE (I don't), grab a TF Bow for dragons and high fort mobs, eventually get a Spellcrafted Longbow with spell power enhancements on it.

Other Epic bows - the Tortured Livewood bow and the Epic Elemental Bow would be nice if their corrosive procs were enhanced by spell power, but they are not so you are better off with Pinion. Epic Bow of the Silver Flame is a nice to have but not needed and I'm not even sure you would end up using it over Pinion since you have morphic arrows. Epic Thornlord gets a nice crit profile but it doesn't have any bells and whistles (and is really hard to get)

So as you can see you really don't have to worry about all that many weapons with the Elven Ranger making it a new player friendly build and saving you valuable inventory space!

[Hobgoblin]

ml-

i wouldn't discount gs bows. they are still nice to have! I would say they are in the catogory of not essential, but something to go for!

[Alfhild]

Silver Longbow ML6 found in the Church and the Cult. This bow is fairly easy to get, in a group of 6 on HE one will usually drop in the group. This should be the primary item you get before embarking on your career as an archer. Worst case scenario this bow can take you all the way to level 23.

The red augmented ML8 version is what currently drops in the quest.

[Marshal_Lannes]

ml-

i wouldn't discount gs bows. they are still nice to have! I would say they are in the catogory of not essential, but something to go for!

Right. It's always fun to craft things so if you have the Mats go for it. If I were making one I would make it a situational or quirky item. Like a Vaccuum and try to Trap the Soul a lot on Manyshot. I don't think there is a reason to make one for DPS but certainly there are some fun effects you can do or for role playing elements. A Triple Positive might actually be pretty decent with morphic arrows.

Alf - good to know, thx for the update, I'm used a ML6 version. Augment would be a nice slot for devotion at low levels.

[Hobgoblin]

Right. It's always fun to craft things so if you have the Mats go for it. If I were making one I would make it a situational or quirky item. Like a Vaccuum and try to Trap the Soul a lot on Manyshot. I don't think there is a reason to make one for DPS but certainly there are some fun effects you can do or for role playing elements. A Triple Positive might actually be pretty decent with morphic arrows.

Alf - good to know, thx for the update, I'm used a ML6 version. Augment would be a nice slot for devotion at low levels.

havnt tried since the update, but manyshot + lit2 could deal an insane amount of damage. iirc, lit2 adds an average of 20 damage a hit

[Glenalth]

havnt tried since the update, but manyshot + lit2 could deal an insane amount of damage. iirc, lit2 adds an average of 20 damage a hit

If you have a decently high plus to damage and seeker, even Silver Longbow can outperform GS Lightning against targets without much fortification. The addition of ranged power to Manyshot put the Silver Longbow at an even greater advantage.

[Hobgoblin]

If you have a decently high plus to damage and seeker, even Silver Longbow can outperform GS Lightning against targets without much fortification. The addition of ranged power to Manyshot put the Silver Longbow at an even greater advantage.

nice!

thinking of revisiting a ranger life on jaimmee. was going to grind out a lit 2 bow. this changes things for me. debating between going for a min2 bow or a triple pos.

i may just say screw it and use the silver longbow until 16, then bow of sinew, then pinon then tf.

i tr'd my ranger right before the range pass update, so i may be off base here. the only other thing i can see making for fun would be a vacum or ooze bow

[unbongwah]

My preferred weapon progression on a purely ranged archer would be:

• Greatbow of the Scrag: 2[1d8] base dmg and blunted ammo means you don't need Morphic arrows for skeletons, oozes, etc.
• Sapphire Sting or Silver Longbow: Sting is better but a PITA to farm, so SL is good enough for heroics until...
• Unwavering Ardency or Bow of Sinew: if you already have a Pinion, use your 10th anniversary gift to claim a free UA; otherwise just use BoS until epics
• Pinion: you can get one free if you don't have it already and it's still the second-best epic named longbow, so why wouldn't you?
• eSting: best named longbow; still a PITA to farm, tho.

Situationally useful bows: Shatterbow for constructs in Threnal, VON, etc. (turn on Morphic Arrows and use House D adamantine ammo for clay golems); Bow of the Silver Flame for undead (until you get lucky and find a good Disruption bow).