User:Erasculio/Ranger

This was my fourth (and fifth) character, the last one I played Prophecies with. By the time I had reached the Northern Shiverpeaks, the guild I was in demanded that everyone had a PvP only character (this was before character slots were available, and before the release of Factions), so I deleted my ranger. A few months later the guild disbanded, and so I remade my ranger with the same name and appearance (and even the same pet : D).

What amazed me the most with this character was the replayability of the first Prophecies areas: thanks to all the profession specific quests that I had never done before (my ranger was a R/W, and none of my previous characters had any of those two professions), it was a joy to play through Pre Searing and Post Searing Ascalon, finding new things and learning some interesting tidbits about the world (the deep of Little Thom's plots still amazes me).

The two things that make me sad about rangers is the lack of a pet stable and how most of the bow skins don't look that good. This character has had a Melandru's Stalker and now a White Tiger, but I wish I could have many pets and rotate between them freely (such as a Raven, a White Moa, and etc...). And most bows look a bit "meh" to me - there are a few very pretty ones, but even those pale in comparison to other weapons of the same set (like the Zodiac set and the Celestial set).

Armor
Two "sets": Norn armor (dyed white with black trousers) and Ascalon armor with 15k Druids gloves. I hate the 15k Druids armor, but its gloves are very fitting to the whole Ranger theme, so I keep them with the very simple armor first seen in Pre Searing. Plus, as always, one headpiece for each attribute, making a total of 7 inventory slots.

Bows
Silencing Longbow of Fortitude, req 10
 * Damage +15% when health above 50%
 * Lengthens Dazed
 * Health +29

Half decent mods in a somewhat useless combination. I'm not that fond of longbows in the first place (a pity that Zodiac and Celestial ones only come in such type), but a Silencing longbow does not fit any build I like to use. I'll likely destroy this bow and transfer the mod to something else.

Zodiac Longbow of Warding, req 12
 * Damage +15% when health above 50%
 * Armor +7 vs elemental damage

A skin I'm very fond of, but again in half decent stats. This is another one I'll likely destroy or give to a hero, as soon as I find a Zodiac bow with req 9 and an inscription slot.

Drago's Flatbow
 * Damage +15% when health above 50%
 * Armor penetration +20% (20%)
 * Health +30

Drago's Vampiric Flatbow
 * Damage +15% while in a stance
 * Life stealing: 5
 * Armor +5

Two classics : D Drago's Flatbow is still one of my favourite weapons, and the vampiric set has added damage despite the annoyance of swaping weapon sets and with the problem of requiring a stance.

Fiery Mursaat Hornbow, req 9
 * Inscription: damage +15% when health above 50%
 * Fire damage

The Stinger
 * Damage +15% while in a stance
 * Lengthens Poison
 * Markmanship +1

Hornbows aren't my favourite kind of bow thanks to how they excel only at armor penetration, being worse than everything else regarding other aspects. Still, those bows are useful (IMO IMO IMO) in builds that aim for damage with little room for anything else. While I think most ranger builds without interrupts are a waste, there are some exceptions...I plan to throw the Stinger away and replace with a new bow doing cold damage.

Shocking Ascalon Recurve Bow of Shelter, req 9
 * Damage +15% when health above 50%
 * Lightning damage
 * Armor +6 vs physical attacks

Nundak's Recurve Bow
 * Damage +15% when health above 50%
 * Lengthens Poison
 * Health +30

When using a Barrage build, the most efficient approach would likely be to use a Flatbow. But often I like to use Barrage with interrupts; in those cases, I would rather employ a Recurve bow, losing speed but earning accuracy. That's what the Ascalon bow is for (especially when I use Conjure Lightning with Barrage), but the skin is kinda meh...Nundak's Recurve Bow is useful, but I'm considering replacing it with a gold bow using a Silencing mod.

Ryver's Shortbow
 * Damage +15% when health above 50%
 * Lengthens Crippled
 * Health +30

Graygore's Zealous Shortbow
 * Damage +15% when health above 50%
 * Energy gain: 5
 * Armor +5

Not much to say here. Both bows have good stats for a Shortbow; although I almost never use Ursan Blessing, the Zealous bow is useful when trying to keep Norn forms up.

Things to do:
 * Find a Celestial Longbow with req 9 and damage +15% when health above 50%. I doubt I'll do this anytime soon.
 * Find a Zodiac Longbow with req 9 and damage +15% when health above 50% (probably one with an inscription slot).
 * Remove the mods from the Silencing Longbow of Fortitude, and give them to a Recurve Bow.
 * Replace Drago's Vampiric Flatbow for one with the same stats but +15% when above 50%.
 * Get a Recurve bow and add the Silencing mod to it. Give Nundak's bow to a hero.

Other

 * Candy Cane Longbow
 * Temple Guardian Minipet

Total

 * 19 slots taken
 * 26 slots left