In this review, we will talk about such a class as the Hunter-Ranger. Many players who are familiar with MMO RPG terms will immediately think: “Classic archer, what is there to talk about?” And they will be wrong. This character is unique in that he uses both melee and ranged weapons equally well.
Almost every ability (except, perhaps, daily skills) has two hypostases. One works in hand-to-hand combat, and the other for shooting. Moreover, this is not the only difference – not only the distance of the battle differs, but also the effects that each variety of the same skill has.
As you might expect, the Hunter Ranger is a very flexible class, able to perform well in a variety of combat situations. Good survivability, good damage, lots of controls and a very interesting gameplay – it’s all about him. But, first, you will need to learn how to play this character, and this guide is designed to help you with this.
Main features of the Hunter-Ranger
The main characteristic of the Hunter-Ranger is Dexterity, the secondary ones are Strength and WisdomThe stats that are important for this class are Dexterity, Strength, and Wisdom.
Dexterity is primary, and it increases damage, defense against various splash attacks, and parry chance. Strength (like Wisdom) is a secondary stat, and is not particularly important for the Hunter – it speeds up the recovery of vigor and slightly increases damage resistance. Much more useful is Wisdom, which increases the chance of a critical strike, as well as the effectiveness of your control and resistance to enemy control.
You choose the race based on your preferences, although the Forest Elf is best suited here. In addition, you can take a Drow or a Human, and for a melee Hunter, a Halfling or Half-Orc may be suitable.
Two development paths – Pathfinder and Stormkeeper, differing in damage and controlThere are only two class mechanics that deserve special mention for this character. The first is Tenacious Roots. Some skills cause this effect, and it keeps the target in place for a certain time. Especially useful against melee enemies.
The second mechanic is switching between ranged and melee combat. The melee stance unlocks at level 10, which is when the ability to equip melee weapons appears.
There are two paths of development for the Hunter-Ranger – this is the Guardian of the Storm and the Pathfinder. How do they differ? Stormkeeper deals more damage and has more area of effect attacks. He performs well in PvE and can work well in PvP. The Pathfinder is much weaker in terms of damage, but he has quite interesting controls and abilities to strengthen allies. A good choice for PvP fighters, especially good against single opponents.
Optimal leveling for the Hunter-Ranger
The optimal solution for PvE would be to take the path of the StormkeeperWe will be looking at a PvE build as there are too many different options in PvP and it takes a very good understanding of class mechanics to get really good results. So, let’s begin.
First of all, we take the path of the Stormkeeper – he is good at dealing damage, and will be very useful to us. From free skills we take Repeated, Split and Aimed shots. Among the combat skills we take Arrow Rain, Field of Thorns and Sky Shatter – we need them to deal damage. For survivability, you will need Marauder’s Escape, Boar Pelt, and Fox’s Cunning. We also need different controls.
From the one already taken here comes Sky Shatter (this is not only a good AoE, this skill also immobilizes your opponents), Interfering Shot, Entangling and Binding Arrows will also come in handy. The skill names are for ranged combat, but their melee variants will also be useful.
We take Concussive Shot and Demolition Shot for their daily skills, Forest Ghost and Forest Meditation will also be useful. And, finally, aspects – we take everything except the Aspect of the snake. And now let’s move on to heroic skills and paths of the ideal.
Of the heroic skills, we will need all that increase damage, in particular, Weapon Mastery, Flexible Fighter, Infinite Assault, and Agility Adept. Also take Train Scoundrel and Extra Action.
We have three branches of ideal paths – this is Shooting, Fight and Catcher. The first improves ranged skills, the second improves melee skills, and the third increases the effectiveness of your buffs on allies. We focus primarily on Shooting – we take everything that increases damage, critical damage and speeds up the cooldown of skills (that is, Critical Bloom). From the Combat branch, you can also take the Retreat Technique – additional action points will definitely not be superfluous.
And, finally, how to swing the Hunter-Ranger? In solo, we use controls as often as possible, and destroy enemies in groups. And in dungeons, hybrid tactics will work best – that is, in open spaces we use shooting and AoE more often, and in narrower passages we switch to hand-to-hand combat and use controls.
Few conclusions
Hunter Pathfinder is also good in PvP, he is the best tactician in the gameThis character is clearly intended for those who like an unusual, interesting and flexible style of gameplay.
The Hunter Ranger can be extremely useful in both PvP and PvE.
If you learn how to play it, then it will give out maximum dps with minimal damage received.
In terms of the number of different tactical decisions, he is perhaps in first place among all classes.
In general, go for it, defenders of nature!
May luck be on your side!
Video guide for the Hunter Pathfinder class
