User talk:Randolf fairhorn

'''Rangers Rejoice!! The Ranger as Last Line of Defense (LLD) / Sacrifice Protector'''

The Ranger class has always been kind of a "Tweener" class; not quite a caster, not quite a tank. This has caused many people to consider the ranger a Fill-in class used for drawing the enemy and carrying odd skills such as Frozen Soil, interrupt skills, extra rez skills, traps to buy time or inflict conditions, spirits summoned to adjust melee conditions, and pets to add to the warrior line of battle. Carrying specialized weapons or items besides bows to increase armor or magic ability leaves the ranger distinctly disadvantaged in other areas, primarily hand to hand combat and ranged attacks. This consideration often leaves the ranger class "Out in the Cold" when it comes to team farming and hard mode missions, as the ranger can neither provide sufficient firepower or magic ability to actively affect battle outcomes. Even the relatively high powered "Barrage/ Splinter", "Edge of Extinction" , "Trapper", or "Invincipet" builds pale in contrast to most nuker, degen, or tank builds. This makes it difficult for the ranger to join most groups unless they can be a "Lite" tank or caster with their secondary skills; good to fill in a slot, but never able to 16/16. But change is on the horizon with the addition of Eye of the North (GWEN or EotN).

The Ranger's resistance to elements, armor nearly as potent as line warriors, energy regeneration nearly equal to casters, and new skills such as Ebon Vanguard Assassin or Sniper support, Asuran creature summons, Deldrimor movement and skill buffs, and the powerful Norn Ursan, Wolf, and Raven transformations make for a unique opportunity for rangers to become a "Last Line of Defense" rather than a stop-gap character class. These new skills, with no class requirement, allow for the ranger to become a threat, and thus become a target for AI, taking the heat off of casters, healers, and warrior classes alike. The ranger can now become a mini-party unto themselves with a pet, EV Assassin, and summoned Asuran creatures, thus creating a secondary battle front that creates more targets and intercepts any baddies that penetrate the primary battle line and threatens the casters and healers. Add in traps, summoned spirits, and Norn transformation skills and this LLD ability allows for the escape of these lesser armored characters, who often are carrying rez skills to raise those that have fallen. The ranger mini-party can often defeat these interlopers in straight combat, or sacrifice themselves if outmatched to buy time for escape. The advantage of sacrificing with this type of build versus other physical attack classes is the ranger's abilty to remove death penalty at range in combat without being directly threatened with melee damage, and the fact that summoned spirits and Asuran entities, Ebon Vanguard, and pets incur no death penalty and always appear at full strength.

The build I commonly use for this purpose has a monk secondary, allowing for the re-usable Rebirth skill (protection prayers/ monk) to be equipped rather than the 1 use signet of resurrection or the 1 use Lightbringer signet of Rebirth, which also takes up a PVE only slot that can be more effectively used with a EOTN skill. To this load I add a Trap (wilderness survival), Volley (markmanship), Charm Animal, and Comfort Animal (beast mastery). To complete this load, I add the EotN skills Ebon Vanguard Assassin support (ebon vanguard t.t.), Ursan Blessing (norn t.t.), and Summon Ice Imp (polymock/ asuran t.t.). The ice imp acts as a barrage ranger and a slow nuker (ice), the Ev Assassin can be deployed instantly to stop opposing casters/ healers if not needed on the second battle line, and the Ursan blessing skill is used as a last resort against physical pummelling. When forced to use Ursan Blessing, I switch to a single hand weapon and off hand item equipped with maximum rank "Seize the Day" and "Live for Today" inscriptions, which adds 30 points to energy and allows for longer periods in Ursan form, without affecting energy degeneration. The trap is applied early and often around and on top of those being protected, while volley can be used for indirect support of tankers and melee characters. Various ranger spirit summons may be used in place of traps or Comfort Animal to augment party skills and supply another target for opposition to contend with. At a ranking of 10 in each EotN skill areas, EV lasts 15 seconds versus most creatures, and 30 seconds against Charr. The ice imp can be maintained continuosly, since it's recharge rate of 60 seconds is equal to it's duration of 60 seconds. With the change of weapons from bow to 1 hand/ offhand and the addition of the 30 points of energy due to inscriptions, the Ursan Blessing can be maintained virtually non-stop with even modest combat regeneration. I allocate the attribute points as follows: Pro Prayers-3, Beast Mastery-9, Wilderness Survival-8, Marksmanship-9, and Expertise-10+2(mask)=12.

Rejoice Rangers! A new day has dawned thanks to EotN, allowing you to be a productive party member no matter what the situation calls for.

Randolf Fairhorn