Ranger Archive

What does everyone think of this combo after the feedback on scout and ranger? They seem to go together even better now - knockdown traps, an attack rifleman is missing, and the new camps sound like it would work well for rifleman. Rifleman/Ranger was actually what I wanted to be when I first started playing about 3 weeks ago, but I've changed my mind countless times since then.

One question for those that have mastered both, or plan to: what did you do with your extra 18 skill points? The logical choices to me are ranged support IV/pistol 1/carbine 1, or novice medic with one skill (probably first aid I).

I think Rifleman/Ranger will be a much better combination now, and potentially one of the most effective....here is why:

1) Hunting Blinds will likely be of great use to a Rifleman...we don't know the full details of this camp yet, but, if similar to its real life counterpart, pared with a rifle or other long range weapon will likely be the best combo.

2) The new traps play perfectly into Rifleman style play...especially the bear trap and trip wire. Imagine this scenario:

A Rifleman/Ranger conceals himself then approaches a group of creatures that also have a tendancy to attack enmass. The player lays out the land in safety from conceal, then picks out his optimal point of attack. He moves slightly away from the group of creatures then places a Bear trap in front of him. Moving further back he places one or two trip wires. Then he builds himself a hunting blind. Finally he lays out a lure right in front of the blind.

After waiting a minute or two,a creature, attracted by the lure, starts moving towards the player. After moving away from his packmates he suddenly gets caught in the bear trap. The ranger, from within his hunting blind, opens fire on the trapped creature begining to wear him down with his rifle. The creature, eventually breaking itself free, is disoriented for a minute as to the players location as he keeps up the assault from the blind. Finally, the creature spots the player and charges, only to hit a trip wire and be knocked down. The ranger stands up from his blind and slowly moves backwards as the creature stands and charges again, hitting the next trap, where the player finally finishes the critter off.

Now the above is hypothetical mind you, but you get the idea....the major disadvantage the rifleman had soloing in PvE was keeping the enemy at range and avoiding being rushed. With the new Ranger trap system, potentially combined with camps and fascilitated with conceal, a Rifleman should be able to with greater ease, keep a single creature at range longer, and potentially use things like a trip wire as a backup failsafe to give him time to flee if needed.

I'm pursuing rifleman/ranger, along with some brawler and medic skills I acquired earlier. I've known for some time that brawler would eventually have to go, as I earned more rifleman skills, though now I'm faced with the prospect of dumping even more of my medic skills (have FA4, Diag 4, O Chem 4 currently) to make room for the Wayfaring and Trapping skills in Ranger that I hadn't wasted any points on thus far.

I have so far gotten Marksman Expert Pistol, to give me some short range power to replace my Unarmed skills, when they go bye-bye. Ranged Support 3 I'd also consider a must, for Warning Shot. I'm not yet convinced that Suppresion Fire is a valuable enough skill to spend 5 skill points on (Ranged Support 4).

Medic skills are extremely handy for those who like to solo. I typically am allowed time for 3 rifle shots on a creature before it charges, and if one or two of those miss or do low damage (life with a laser rifle), being able to give myself a quick shot with a good Stimpack B while I spam Warning Shot to shoo away the monster tearing me to shreds, has saved my life a number of times. The tripwire trap sounds like it will help prevent such desperate situations sometimes.

I've heard suppresion fire in invaluable to a rifleman. Combined with flurry fire it creates a knockdown effect. I have the same concerns with my medic skills, I've just trained some of them and would hate to lose them. But with master rifleman and master ranger, you could only take one box of medic anyways. Seems like take the ranged support line makes a lot more sense, and idealy the warning shot and suppresion fire will help keep MOBs away from you and allow you to avoid the damage in the first place.

I have been shooting for rifleman/ranger from the get-go. I enjoyed the crawl bonus from wayfaring, the high quality camps that allow me to heal wounds in the field, and the creature to-hit bonus, but to be honest ranger just wasn't really worth the skill point investment... Until now. With these upcoming changes, I think that rifleman/ranger will be perfect for my kind of playstyle, and make me much more useful to groups.
I am definetly planning on mastering both now (I was going to skip ranger trapping until the new additions were announced!). With the leftover points, I will keep ranged support 4 for sure. The few points remaining might as well not even be there, but they will probably be on pistol 1.
In any case, I actually enjoy this combo quite a bit right *now*, even, and the future only looks brighter. (possibly excepting the vicious and IMO unnecessary nerf to T21's that may be coming)

Btw, current levels:
rifle 4 2 0 2
ranger 4 3 4 1 (almost 4 on frontiering as well)

I agree completely. Asa rifleman/ranger, it definitely is hard to keep the enemy at bay long enough to take some of them down. I think if the conceal ability works in PVP, that would essentially make rifleman/ranger the stealthy assassin of the battlefield. Can you imagine a small group, crawling through the jungle, covered, concealed, and awaiting a group of pc's to come along. Lying in wait...........

That just sends chills up my spine. I cant wait to see that, even if it's used on me. =)