Gold’s Guide to Ranger

Created by Gold Zephzellian

Summary

Aim… and fire. The Ranger is a highly precise attacker who uses their weaponry prowess to debilitate foes for their allies to take advantage of.

Rangers are the debilitating Maneuver Ability users of the world, making pinpoint attacks that can debilitate foes in numerous ways on contact. They can even eventually spread their Debuffs and Status Effects around! This does come at a price, though, and that price is heavy usage limits on its most useful tools, heavily restricting their power. Its damage isn’t anything crazy either without investment, and Ranger can struggle to hit multiple targets at once without investment.

Despite this, though, the Ranger is a debilitating force to not be trifled with!

Sub-Archetype Statistics

Ease of Use – ★★★★☆

Offensive Ability – ★★★★★

  • Single Target – ★★★☆☆
  • AOE – ★★☆☆☆
  • Disabling – ★★★★★★*

Defense – ★★★☆☆

  • Passive Defense – ★★☆☆☆
  • Active Defense – ★★★☆☆
  • Healing – ★★★☆☆

Support – ★★★★☆

  • Offensive Support – ★★★★☆*
  • Defensive Support – ★★★★☆*
  • Miscellaneous Support – ★★★☆☆

Skills – ★★★☆☆

  • Mental – ★★☆☆☆
  • Social – ★★★☆☆
  • Physical – ★★★☆☆

*: Indirectly via debuffing, mostly!

*:When applying Taunt using Elemental Imbue. 5 stars otherwise.

Use this Sub-Archetype if you want to…
– If you want to be a weapon based debilitator. 
– If you want to see a target be inflicted with every Elemental Status Effect at once or if you want the best source of Taunt in the game.
– If you want to be a highly consistent, accurate team player, dammit!
Consider avoiding this Sub-Archetype if…
– If you struggle with selecting statuses. That’s… kinda this Sub-Archetype’s thing.
– If you don’t feel like dealing with strict usage limits.
– If you want to deal lots of damage. You won’t find that here. At least, not directly…

Features

Tier 1 – Blessed Attack

You can learn Abilities from the War Archetype. You can switch the Primary or Secondary Stat of a weapon to Instinct if neither of them already are. You can add 1d6 to the attack rolls of your weapon attacks if you use a Maneuver Ability on it.

Gain access to War Abilities. You may switch a Weapon’s Primary or Secondary Stat to Instinct if none already are. 

Add 1d6 to your Weapon Attack Rolls if you use a Maneuver Ability on it.

A pretty loaded feature, so let’s break it down. First, access to War Abilities. This gives you access to a lot more Weapon Maneuvers to play with, since Nature isn’t exactly stocked with them to begin with. Secondly, you get to switch a Weapon’s Stat to Instinct if it doesn’t already have an Instinct stat on it. This is great, because Nature inherently has Instinct as a Primary Stat, making it high value.

The third, and arguably most important part, grants a bonus 1d6 to Attack Rolls with weapons, but only so long as you use a Maneuver Ability on that attack. That’s a more than fair trade off, and makes you incredibly accurate right out of the gate. Stack with a cheap Path of Maneuver Ability option, and you’ve got accuracy for days. DAYS! A fantastic first impression from Ranger.

This is also a top-tier Multi-Sub-Archetype for Maneuver Attack Ability users, often being one of the most impactful buffs to accuracy one can get!

Tier 2 – Elemental Imbue

Whenever you hit a target with a Maneuver Ability you use with a weapon attack, you can apply an Elemental Status Effect to the target, Taunt it, or knock it Prone. The Status Effect lasts for five rounds if it is an Elemental Status Effect or if you Taunt it. You can only knock the target Prone if it is one size category larger than you or smaller.

Hitting a target with a Maneuver Weapon Ability causes you to apply an Elemental Status Effect, Prone, or Taunt to the target for the next five rounds. Prone can only be applied to targets that are less than one size category larger than you.

The single most defining feature of Ranger, folks! Every Maneuver Weapon Attack you land from this point doubles as a solid debuffing tool, inflicting one of a MYRIAD of statuses. Let’s cover each in order:

Burning: Probably your best overall choice for a damage status, Burning deals respectable damage (especially with some tools that appear in Synergies), but they can opt to put it out instead… at the cost of 3AP. That’s some fantastic control, especially against more squishy targets, who likely cannot tank the Burning damage, and thus, waste actions. The long duration it receives really helps it out.

Dissolving: The change to duration on Elemental Imbue really helped out Dissolving, finally putting it on the same level as the others! Denying Armor is a really strong benefit, and the longer duration really helps this one. It’s way better than it was, and I can firmly recommend it now.

Freezing: Probably the most reliable all-around control status effect, honestly! Most everyone will use Abilities, and this makes that an awful lot harder, cutting the amount of WP a target can spend on a turn significantly. I’d say go for it!

Poisoned: For single-attack Rangers… I’d say no. The damage is just too low to justify using it over other options and offers no control. However, it becomes a totally different story for multi-attack Rangers. Since Elemental Imbue has no per turn limiter, you can theoretically apply as many stacks of Poisoned as you have attacks. Stack this alongside some Synergies will see later, and this goes all the way to FLAVORTOWN. Amazing for Multi-Attackers, downright AWFUL for single-attack Rangers.

Shocked: Another fantastic control status effect! A recent rework has changed how Shocked worked to basically be a less consistent Stunned; rolling to potentially remove up to 3AP. This is arguably more brutal than the old version; potentially denying Multi-Action use or similar effects. This is a superb option against more martially oriented characters… throw this at ‘em.

Prone: Yet another solid all-rounder, Prone is a powerful status effect with a wide range of benefits. It can keep an enemy close and hurting to more melee oriented parties. It can force the enemy to spend AP to attack you effectively. It does have a size limiter after recent changes, but it’s still great. Alongside some Synergies, this can be a highly versatile status effect, and unlike every other Status Effect, has no duration restriction! It is admittedly the easiest to get rid of, but you can find ways to make it rather difficult anyways.

Taunted: For you tank Rangers out there, this one is for you! Taunted will keep a foe’s attention off your allies and on you, which is a potentially great thing for tanking purposes! It also applies with NO SAVE, lasts a LONG TIME, and has no further DRs. This is probably the best source of Taunt in the game at the moment, and it’s stuck around for long enough that I think it’s safe.

Phew… lot of Status Effects to choose from, huh? Don’t worry, you don’t have to commit to just one, you can use different ones depending on the situation. This makes it highly flexible, and a powerful option in any Ranger’s toolbox.

Tier 3 – Vines of the Forest

Whenever you apply a Debuff or Status Effect to a target with a Maneuver Ability, you can force every target of your choice within 3 m of the original target to make a Dexterity or Constitution DR (your choice). On a failure, they gain the same Debuff or Status Effect. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Primary Stat Bonus per full rest.

Whenever you apply a Debuff or Status Effect with a Maneuver Ability to a target, you may force every target you want within 3m of that target to make a Dexterity or Constitution DR. On a failure, they gain the Debuff or Status Effect as well. You can use this feature [Primary Stat Bonus] times per full rest.

Hoooo boy, where to start with this one? Well, first, that usage limit. Oof. This is going to be a common theme with this Tier and the next, you’re gonna have to ration this out carefully, as using it all willy nilly will run you dry fast.

That all being said, however, this is really good. Mass application of Status Effects and especially Debuffs can be downright evil, and coming with built in ally safety is great as well. You can use this with Elemental and Crippling Imbue, and that’s not a bad use for it at all, especially after the duration changes. However, this is best used with Abilities that inflict them, which is far better and can allow for a purely brutal spread of Debuffs. We’ll go over a handful of strong options in Synergies.

Overall, Vines of the Forest is a powerful feature with a strict usage limit you will have to manage carefully. But isn’t that what Rangers do?

Tier 4 – Crippling Imbue

Whenever you use your Elemental Imbue feature, you can choose to apply another Status Effect instead (except for Restrain, Madness, or Exhaustion). The Status Effect lasts for five rounds. The target makes a Constitution or Will DR (your choice) at the end of each of their turns. On a success, they end the Status effect early. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Tier per rest.

Whenever you would apply a Status Effect with Elemental Imbue, you may apply any other non-Exhaustion, non-Madness, Non-Restrained Status Effect instead with the same duration. However, after each of their turns, they get a Constitution or Will DR to end the Status Effect early. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Tier per rest.

OH THANK THE LORD! IT’S DEAD! RESTRAINED IS DEAAAAAAD! Now you have access to damn near every Status Effect! Restrained is off the table finally, so your choices here are now MEANINGFUL! All of these can be really powerful, hence the usage limit, so let’s go over each of the Status Effects we missed, eh?

Bleeding: Another class of damaging Status Effect, and with a different use case compared to Burning. While Burning can be smothered by Armor, Bleeding cannot, which makes this great for dealing with High Armor targets. It also completely SCREWS OVER Temporary Vitality based defenses, as it completely bypasses them. Also has a bunch of fun Synergies. It’s definitely up against some stiff competition in this Tier, though, and Bleed Attack may still be the better overall way to inflict this. Not bad, though, especially since it is guaranteed for five turns.

Blinded: An honestly fantastic status effect, Blinded doubles as a defensive and offensive status effect. It not only makes their attacks way worse by forcing disadvantage on them, but your attacks way better, granting all attacks against the target advantage. This can be fantastic for Rogues and other characters who equally appreciate the advantage provided.

Grabbed: Honestly? Probably the weakest of the status effects here, at least by default. Preventing movement is nice, but there are better ways to get Grabbed. Good news is; this keys off your DRs, is guaranteed to hold them for one turn, and potentially lasts a while, so it’s still good for keeping a melee-only enemy still, if briefly.

Restrained: The holy grail of your options here! Because your options are limited, choosing the only the best is important here… and yeah… this is the best. Completely denies an opponent their turn, force fails ALL Strength and Dexterity DRs they perform, causes all attacks to AUTO-HIT… It’s honestly kind of unfair how powerful this is compared to other options, and with no save. Just use this 99% of the time; you’ll be fine. Dead, and GOOD RIDDANCE. 

Stunned: Probably the single most brutal Status Effect on the list; Stunned completely denies most of an enemy’s next turn (or even a whole damn turn with Stunned Expert, more on that in Synergies), and potentially even more if they fail their DRs, unusual for a Stun! Probably one of the strongest all-around options here, and a good all-rounder pick.

Charmed: A great option for squishier Rangers, Charmed ensures that you cannot be affected by whoever you hit with it, buying you time to get help should you be injured. It also has a myriad of fun Synergies to play around with. Helps it lasts a long time; Charms tend to be pretty short in duration.

Frightened: A really helpful tool for getting threatening opponents off your back; Frightened ensures that you’ll at least keep an enemy from getting closer, and at best, cause them to run away. Some very neat Synergies here, too.

Tainted: Probably the single strongest defensive option on this list, Tainted just slaps a flat disadvantage on basically everything the target does. This has some knock off effects; since the save against Tainted is a DR, it is actually harder to shake off Tainted than other Status Effects here, and makes applying other DRs to them all the easier. It also has all the usual benefits from a defensive Status Effect too; making this a great all-around option to apply.

…You have a lot of choices, huh? Each Status Effect here has it’s niche, and can be very powerful. Just keep in mind the limited use supply, which can be a problem if you want to inflict these statuses regularly.

Tier 5 – Rage of the Woodlands

You can use your Vines of the Forest feature as often as you want.

Vines of the Forest no longer has a usage limit.

And just like that, the usage limit on Vines of the Forest is GONE! Make ALL your Statuses and Debuffs AOE; you’ve earned it, champ! Certainly better than the old T5, that’s for sure!

Synergies & Tips

Synergies

  • Path of Maneuver: The likely obvious Path choice. You make use of Weapon Maneuver Abilities a lot, and making them better is a generally good thing.
  • Path of Attack: Better than one might expect! Elemental and Crippling Imbue have no per turn usage limit, potentially allowing multiple Status Effects to be inflicted per turn with this! Awesome.
  • Path of Debuff: This has always been a weird little duckling, but it works well for Ranger, who already focuses more on Debilitation anyways. Consider picking a Maneuver Debuff to focus on so you can use it with Vines of the Forest.
  • Strike Series: A range of Abilities, all of which you have access to thanks to your access to War! A number of these inflict Status Effects, which work well with your usual gameplan and can be spread with Vines of the Forest!
  • Leech Attack: The first of your Maneuver Debuff options, this is what I’d consider the most bread and butter of em! The healing it provides is totally worth it (especially since it now ignores Armor), and Vines of the Forest can spread it like crazy. Top of the class option.
  • Sleep Attack: On the weaker side compared to Leech Attack, but definitely not bad! Restrained is an amazing Status Effect, even if restricted like this, and allows you to send your biggest, nastiest hit into them without worry of missing, or allows you to land a key DR to debilitate them. Not bad!
  • DR Power: You’re primarily a Debuffer, so having good DR Power from various sources is crucial to landing your most powerful effects regularly.
  • Expert Series Greater Talents: Now we’re talking! These bad boys are what make your Status Effects better. Some of them are just nice to haves, while others can revolutionize how a status functions. We’ll primarily cover the latter in this guide, but needless to say, these are all great.
  • Burning Expert: This is key if you want to maintain the threat that Burning can hold over squishier targets at later levels. 2d6 is threatening early on, but can fall off later. This helps it keep up, which is greatly appreciated. May even cause a Martial or two to think twice sometimes!
  • Freezing Expert: Evasion lowering alongside the already great initial effect is baller. Makes Freezing even more of an all-rounder than it already is!
  • Dissolving Expert: This serves as a potent, repeatable damage additive, best used on Multi-Hit Rangers. Thanks to the increased duration on Elemental Imbue, this is now real easy to apply. Pretty damn good!
  • Poisoned Expert: Doubling Poisoned stacks can be a formidable trick when used with Multi-Hit Rangers. A baller tool for them, but still skippable for Single-Hit Rangers.
  • Shock Expert: …and now the chance to lose AP comes with damage on top as well. Seriously, every Elemental Status Expert Talent is so, so GOOD.
  • Prone Expert: Remember when I said Prone was easy to remove? Hah, well, about that… This makes it far harder to recover from Prone, requiring at least 2 AP be spent to get back up. That’s really bad, and can be murder on the action economy for weapon attackers. Multi-Action can counter this, though, so keep an eye out for opponents with that Talent.
  • Taunt Expert: Forces at least one attack be sent at you if they want to target anyone with anything negative at all! Great for all Ranger tanks out there!
  • Charm Expert: OH, THERE WE GOOOO… Yes, you do have to have them fail at a DR, but Crippling Imbue means you only have to roll for 1 DR, and failure means you can CONTROL THEM. Awesome.
  • Stunned Expert: Makes an already awesome Status Effect even more awesome. Completely and utterly denies their whole turn, with the exception of movement. Amazing.
  • Blind Expert: A requirement if you intend to use this on the regular; blocks every vision they’ve got, including Omega Vision, which is a huge deal.
  • Tainted Expert: Yet another reason why Tainted is the BEST! Forcing an enemy to play a turn with only 2AP will make this all the harder to remove, and losing out on 1AP actions can sting.
  • Over Aim: One of the best Greater Talents in the game! You’re already highly accurate thanks to Blessed Attack, so this is a natural pick. Stack that with some other accuracy improvers and critical damage sources to turn your damage from merely okay to actually pretty good when this works!
  • More WP/WP Discounts: You’re a debuffer. Debuffers generally use WP. Having more of it or making your stuff cheaper is a good way to keep doing this.
  • Menace Adept: If you want to focus on Frightened, this can help make that more consistent to inflict. Stack with Fright Expert to truly become terrifying.
  • Unnatural Ailment: Pretty much a must for any damage status focused Ranger. Being able to do whatever damage type a target is weak to and bypassing damage immunities is gold.
  • Status Breaker: …and this is for everyone else (and maybe even damage status Rangers too!). Being able to bypass immunities to Statuses is incredible, and makes the already STRONG Crippling Imbue even more so.
  • Elemental Charge: I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you that getting Elemental Launchers or Throwers is going to be easy. It’s at least a Lesser Talent’s worth of investment, but it’s totally worth it if you want to consistently apply a specific Elemental Status Effect frequently. Lasts just as long as your normal stuff, too, and could be really mean with Poisoned Multi-Hit Rangers.
  • Elemental Cleave: Same verse, same as the first(!); except in AOE form! Awesome stuff, you usually struggle with AOE, and this can help patch that up.
  • Mind Cracker: You can quite easily apply Taunt freely, and if you can manage enemies getting up into your face, this can serve as a further source of consistency. Again, not easy to access like Tech weapons, but still totally worth the hassle.
  • Any Maneuver Weapon Ability Interaction: Because you use Maneuver Weapon Abilities for your best tools, anything that interacts with such Abilities is of great consideration for you. Too many different ones to go through; but they’re all very cool.
  • Regain Endurance: You have a lot of Features with usage limits, making this invaluable, even later with Crippling Imbue! A top-tier choice, but don’t take this until Tier 3.

Tips

  • It’s worth considering taking a Strike Ability for Status Effects you want to inflict on the regular, especially Elemental Status Effects, which tend to be pretty easy to inflict.
  • Vines of the Forest is surprisingly strict on what Debuffs you are allowed to spread with it. Basically only Leech Attack and Sleep Attack are your only options. As a result, don’t feel bad using it for Status Effects.

Sub-Archetype Build Showcase

Simple Build

This simple Ranger build focuses on action denial with Cold Strike and Elemental Imbue (Prone)! With a mix of Freeze Expert and Prone Expert, this build can just be awfully oppressive towards a single target. It can also deal highly respectable damage too; with a mix of Overaim, Evasion Reduction Effects, 2 stacks of Deathblow Ability, and just general accuracy boosts on Cold Strike, this build has highly respectable, if not crazy damage output. 

This build also has a bit of healing, defense, and utility built in, and can handle itself fine at all ranges, but definitely prefers long range with its rifle. The biggest downside it has is that it is so single-target focused, it can struggle against multiple targets. This is mitigatable with good targeting priority and teamplay, though!

Experimental Build

This Ranger looks to go a bit more of a… tanky route. With Path of Defense, a focus on Taunting Attack, and a little help from Challenger T1 and T2, this build can quite easily keep a whole field of foes busy with a rain of Taunting Attacks. Multi-Wielder and Relentless Offensive allow you to ensure you can land a Taunting Attack eventually, ensuring a Taunt on the hit foe, and possibly more depending on how the DR goes (likely not well, your DR Power is 18). From there, your exceptionally well-rounded bulk and Taunt Expert take care of the rest!

You’ve also got a handful of other buffs to keep up; Armor Boost for more durability when needed, and Taunting Presence for when Challenge Them All (Challenger T1) doesn’t cut it. Taunt helps get these buffs online whilist keeping your team relatively safe. The big downside is mainly your awkward WP situation, which can prove clunky at times. Still, this Ranger is no laughing matter!

Conclusion

Overall, I love this Sub-Archetype a lot. It has a lot going for it in terms of theming, reliability, and plain out status infliction, and recent changes have made it the healthiest it has ever been. Thanks for reading! If you have any fun builds that could help show off Ranger more, feel free to send them to me on Discord at goldzephzellian!