Ranger Class Guide

*For general class information, see Ranger.*
As a ranged class, the Ranger can be expected to be more difficult to play than most melee classes. Rangers must be patient in the early stages of hero development, but the differences between Rangers and melee classes will shrink over time. Among the three ranged classes, the Ranger starts out more powerful than the Rogue in terms of combat ability, but less powerful than the Elf, who begins with higher stats (including 30 MGR) and can equip chain mail armor. In the late game, Elves, Rangers, and Rogues diverge in specialties, with each class having its distinct set of advantages. The Ranger's late game specialty is the their strength-boosted damage, and the combination of attack multiple foes and triple strike.

After leaving Valmorgen, item hunting play a big role in developing a Ranger. The Ranger should quickly take advantage of the Totemic Masks available to be found in Treldan Wood and other locations. Assembling the class-specific schematics item, the Greatbow of Speed, is a high priority for Rangers, since it dramatically increases damage output. Once this item is obtained, Rangers become on par or better than most melee classes in dealing damage. As a ranged hero, Rangers can also take advantage of the Fire Balm consumable buff to increase weapon damage.

Rangers are relatively challenging throughout the early and midgame. The late game transition, which is marked by obtaining Thallis items, is by no means an easy feat, since it requires defeating the formidable Thallis Rangers.

Once the Ranger's Thallis items have been obtained, the Ranger is one of the most powerful classes in the game due to superior equipment, relatively high HPs, and damage boosted by having Strength as the primary attribute. The Ranger's schematics weapon upgrade, arguably the best of all such upgrades, gives Rangers the triple attack ability. Once this item (the Grandbow of Speed) is obtained, the Ranger attains the highest weapon-based damage capabilities of any class when fighting highly armored opponents. A more subtle advantage is that monsters later on frequently have high parry, but very few have formidable dodge.

## Getting started

As mentioned, Rangers are difficult to start. While they do get three "free" rounds of ranged attacks, their damage is not enough to actually kill within this brief window. Once enemies have closed to melee range, your weak parry and modest hit points will not be much of an asset. Therefore, in the beginning of the game, Rangers may need to rely on followers (such as a Fighter from the Warriors Guild or Skeletons from the Temple to Krypta) or temple blessings (such as Wind Storm). For additional information, please see the getting started guide.

As with most other classes, the early game becomes easier after obtaining a ring of protection, a leather scale mail enchanted +3, and the two spells from the Valmorgen library.

## Items

Below are the optimal items for each category, as well as other notable items important to this class. For a list of all usable items, see items usable by Ranger.

* **Weapon**
	+ Greatbow of Speed (*Abandoned Library*) → Grandbow of Speed (*Damage: 11, RNG +15, Triple Attack; upgraded at Imp Workshop*)
	+ Early on: Elven Great Bow or Stealth Bow
* **Armor**
	+ Ranger's Armor (*Armor: 8, RNG +20, DMG +1*) (embed 3x Skull/Goblin Beard Rings)[Thallis item]
	+ Early on: Mithril Studded Leather Armor (embed with 3x Goblin/Skull Beard Rings) or Medusa Mail
* **Cloak**
	+ Cloak of the Archer (*Attack Multiple Foes +10, DMG +1, ART -5*)[Thallis item]
	+ Early on: Protective Cloak, Farmer's Cloak, or Forest Cloak.
* **Headgear**
	+ Circlet of Lycanthropy (*Wizard Tower Schematic*) → True Werewolf Circlet (*Adds modified artifice to combat stats, ARM +1, MGR +10; upgrade at Imp Workshop*)
	+ Early on: Totemic Mask of Earth (*+2 Armor*) or Totemic Mask of Fire (*+2 Damage*)
* **Belt**
	+ Belt of Ballistics embedded with a Quiver of Burning or Dwarven Quiver of Slaying
	+ Early on: Belt of Rage
* **Footwear**
	+ Boots of Lunord (*Armor: 2, PAR +10, DOD +15, MGR +5, DMG +1, Speed +2*)
	+ Early on: Wolfskin Greaves (*Armor: 2, RNG+10, PAR +5, DOD +5*)
* **Glove**
	+ Silverhide Archer Gloves (embed 2x Ratman Beard Rings)
* **Armband**
	+ Bracers of Marksmanship (*RNG +15, DMG +3, Attack Multiple Foes +20; not socketable*)[Thallis item]
	+ Mithril Bracers (embed 2x Ratman Beard Rings), or Nevryl Bracers (embed 2x Ratman Beard Rings)
	+ Early on: Bracer of Accuracy (*RNG +10, DMG +1*)
* **Necklace**
	+ Ranger's Amulet [Thallis item]
	+ Ring Amulet embedded with a Ring of Protection – Due to the primacy of attack over offense in the late game, the Ring Amulet should used in place of the Ranger's Amulet only when high defense is needed.
	+ Should also have a Rezzenthells Spellkiller or Dwarven Locket.
* **Ring**
	+ Ring of Protection, Dark Band, or Ring of Fortitude, depending on the circumstances
* **Accessory**
	+ Dwarven Quiver of Slaying (*RNG +15, DMG +3*)[Thallis item]
	+ Quiver of Burning
	+ Early on: Black Stone and Elven Quiver of Slaying are useful

## Items for the Thallis transition

The Ruins of Thallis is one of the milestones that marks the transition from the midgame to the late game. As noted above, Rangers have excellent Thallis gear, but to obtain them, the player must defeat Thallis Rangers. One possible strategy is to stack up on equipment that boosts Dodge. Having about 250 dodge will render the player practically immune to the attacks of the Thallis Ranger. Actual immunity appears to require 252 dodge, since the Thallis Ranger is estimated to have a ranged stat of 152.

Below is a list of items to obtain 250 dodge without the use of any temple enchantments. Dodge can be further extended by the Blessing and Vigilance enchantments.

* 83 base dodge for a level 34 Ranger
* +15 dodge - Stealth Bow
* +10 dodge - Mithril Studded Leather Armor
* +2 dodge - Farmer's Cloak
* +15 dodge - Circlet of Lycanthropy
* +10 dodge - Belt of Balance
* +15 dodge - Nevryl Amulet with 3x Varg Beard Ring
* +10 dodge - Nevryl/Mithril bracers with 2x Varg Beard Ring
* +10 dodge - Boots of Evasiveness
* +10 dodge - Ring of Protection
* +10 dodge - Silver Varg Gloves with 2x Varg Beard Ring
* +15 dodge - Black Leaf
* +35 dodge - Dryad Potion
* +10 dodge - Aura of Victory

Total: 250 dodge from levels/items