Ranger Archive
Thread: Supporting skills for Ranger
I'm plotting out the course for my character skill progression, and I've come to a dilemma: how far to advance in skills supporting my Ranger.
I started my character with my eyes set on Fencer (I've always played melee characters), and I picked up Pistol as well. Now I've had a change of heart, and really want to be a Ranger. I'm pushing my way through Scout right now. But how else to distribute my skill points?
I've decided I really like being self-sufficient. I want medic skills sufficient to stop my own bleeding (First Aid II) and make my own Stim-B's (Organic Chem II).
I have a hard time letting go of the Fencer dream, and I like being able to whip out a sword whena critter gets in my face. But I won't have enough points to master Ranger and Fencer and be a decent shot with a Pistol. Being a casual player, I currently only have 1-hand III and Pistol III, so my options are still pretty open.
I've also read many people seem to prefer the Ranged Support skills for their ability to keep a MOB at range. Would I be hamstringing myself if I didn't get those skills? How high good of a ranged weapon skill do you need to be able to hunt the big game?
Advice appreciated.
You must have Ranged Support 3. If you don't have WARNING SHOT, you're as good as poodoo.
How high good of a ranged weapon skill do you need to be able to hunt the big game?
DarthEric2 wrote:
You must have Ranged Support 3. If you don't have WARNING SHOT, you're as good as poodoo.
How high good of a ranged weapon skill do you need to be able to hunt the big game?
OR just give up the whole ranged thing altogether. Your traps have a range of 50m so in effect you already have a 50m ranged weapon that you can use to pull with. Give up the marksman tree altogether and put those points in melee skills. Who cares if they die 64 meters away from you or at your feet? As long as they die before you do, that's what counts.
Agree with Tsion. I think you can plan on kissing some of those medic skills goodbye. I have all of the first two med boxes as well as first aid 3 and organic chem 3. I don't think there's a way to go Master Rifleman (in your case Fencer or Pistoleer) and Master Ranger and keep a lot of medic skills. I kept my Survey skills (whew) for camo kit purposes, but I know my healing is going bye bye.
It's a tough call but thats part of the fun of the game. Good luck!
"If you're a master at melee, I dont know how valuable pistol would be let alone ranged weapon support."
- If it is possible to massage your skill points to included both a melee and ranged weapon skill then you would be sitting pretty.
- You could pick up Rifle and use it for the first couple shots, until the critter got too close (or until you get completely swarmed)
- And then you could pull out your melee weapon and finish them off.
- Sadly you would never be able to master either profession (if you want to keep Ranger that is). You could only dabble in both. 
That's actually the way I fight MOBs now. I start masked and prone, blasting away, then when they charge I get up and draw my sword. It's fun, and I like it. So, even if it's not the most optimal mix of skills, I'll probably hold on to both.
The more I look at what I want, the more I realize I may actually end up crafting a true jack-of-many-trades, master-of-none. I was trying to figure out how to have the combat skills I liked, without mastering the combat professions, and also get Master Ranger. The more I think about it, however, the more I think I may elect not to master the Ranger profession. By skipping out on a couple of the top-tier ranger skills, I can get some of the other cool combat skills I want, and hold on to the medic skills.
Of course, the beauty of this skill system is that if I try that for a while, and don't like it, I can always abandon some skills in favor of something else.
Thanks for the advice. I think I will pick up the ranged support skills for now, just to play with them and see if I like that syle of play. I've got a lot of combat XP that I haven't used yet, so I can probably go from nothing to Ranged Support II without doing anything. We'll see how it goes.