I finished up my game as a Ranger Lord. My other second level class was Shugenja.
The Hawkeye ability (kill shot with one arrow) is the reason to ascend to Ranger Lord. I finished with the skill at 10 and wasn't about to go any higher due to the cost. The critical hit works for all ranged weapons - Bows, Knives, and Shuriken.
The Ranger Lord quest boss uses the Bow of Vines, so it can be gained that way and is a decent weapon for the Hawkeye skill (it will stop most targets allowing several chances for the kill shot). I picked up a Necrotic Battle Bow in the Naga Temple, or maybe the Tomb of Souls (?) and used that more then the Bow of Vines. The Winter Shuriken works well also, stopping most enemies at a distance, particularly in close quarters.
Unless it is a boss type enemy with a name (rather then enemy type), I believe that it can be hit with a critical. I don't remember getting a critical hit on one of the larger demons (cacodemon?) in the Demon Realm, so that is still questionable. It seems like most of the enemies that have a large amount of HP will not be hit with a critical until their HP is low. I do remember killing a demon in the Druid Temple with the first hit though, so it may just be the odds (though maybe close to 10,000 to 1). I think your odds of getting a critical hit get better the fewer HP the target has remaining as you'll find that weakened enemies and low HP get critical hots more frequently.
In the end, is it worth it?
It works, you can take out drakes with the bow but there are better ways to do it. You don't need to be a Ranger Lord to kill a drake with a bow if you want either. It is nice when you see a horde of skeletons coming toward you in the swamps, you pull out the bow and drop the first 3-4 before they get close enough that you need to move.
One regret I had was no ability to use heavy weapons or heavy armor. I made lots of cash selling heavy items, but I would rather have been able to use them.
I relied on the bow for much of the game after getting the Hawkeye ability. Lots of shoot and move, keeping my enemy away from me while firing off arrows as fast as possible. That went out the window in the Maze. About the time I got to the spawning Minotaurs the bow was put away for good. I only used it to take out Irkella from the window after that. No, correct that, I did use it to shoot down the creatures that fly in the Demon Realm, but only because I didn't want to use magic and couldn't hit them with a sword.
Ranger Lord is tons of fun for most of the game. But when you are surrounded by Barrowgrims men and trolls at Talendor, you better have something other then a bow. And that thing at the end? You'll be there a long time trying to kill it with a bow (a few cataclysms work so much better).
Maybe Ranger Lord/Battlemage would work out for more balance (looking back I'd trade in the Ninjitsu of the Shugenja for the Heavy Weapons/Shields/Armor of a Battlemage, though I like the Eastern Heraldries). Ranger Lord would certainly be something to consider for a MP game.
Ranger Lord
Nice- Thanks!
Since you have just progressed through with a Ranger Lord.. You might want to consider this instead (from one of my other replies):
http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/dunge ... 72-p3.html
..................................................................................................
Relevant Excerpt:
"
One last parting suggestion.
Ranged weapon attacks and particularly ARCHERY are not well represented in the game through a class progression. The Ranger Lord *seems* to be "it". The class progression up to and including the Ranger Lord give several learning bonuses to Archery.. but is it really necessary? I've found that 1 Learning bonus seems to be enough for ANY weapon or armor, and additional point expenditures don't seem to pay-off to any great extent. Also the one "killer app" skill, Hawkeye (basically critical strike), is rather is weak and difficult to accumulate points in.
Let me suggest a better alternative though:
1. you only "need" 1 learning bonus in Archery (..and really, thats only if you import the best bow in the game - which I would recommend as its otherwise unavailable).
2. you should select an eastern class (for "The Master").
1 & 2 suggest either the Monk or the Samurai. The Samurai adds Inflict Wounds, while the Monk provides considerable magical learning bonuses. Either class would be excellent.
Choose the 3rd tier class Shadow Lord and get Stealth up to 16-17.
Fill-in with any other 1st and 2nd tier you want thats available.
Summon your minions, pull back from the fight - and fire away without significant fear of reprisal."
................................................................................................
I'd recommend this class combination specifically (in order):
Adept, Fighter, Samurai, Valkyrie (Human Female), Shadow Lord.
The Human Female will allow for the Valkyrie class and has a MUCH easier time of increasing Strength (vs. the Elf Female).
The Adept will provide access to otherwise unobtainable divine spells.
The Fighter will provide access to the +10% damage Heraldry and the Samurai class.
The Valkyrie will provide access Heavy Armor AND a learning bonus. Additionally it will also provide access to the +20 percent damage bracer.
The Samurai will give you access to the Eastern Heraldry "The Master", a Learning bonus in Archery, and Inflict Wounds (which functionally should be as or more useful than Hawkeye).
The Shadow Lord of course will provide High Stealth & a learning bonus in Nether Magic for summons. Do the Shadow Ruins and then go to Staroxia before any of the other (east of Fargrove) compounds.
I'd import the "Bow of the Avenger" *AT THE START OF THE GAME* (with the utility in the sticky post listed in the forum here), and start using it once you have met the attribute prerequisite of 50 in Strength. I've personally played with it a lower levels and frankly it still isn't that great a weapon.. so its not like you are giving yourself an fantastic advantage - ESPECIALLY if you are only using bows. You can then always switch over to the Necrotic Battle Bow latter (..and I agree, I like this bow better as well with the Nether Strike).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Again, the basic idea here is multiple summons and pull-back and start shooting.
(I'd get out of the sewers as quickly as possible - ignoring EVERYTHING, chest opponents, etc.. You can always come back latter when you are more skilled. Early leveling can be accomplished near the fighter's guild with the spawn rate on high.)
Anyway..
You can summon a bunch of undead (or rats even), and use this technique to good effect early in the game. Latter when things get more "crowded", like at Ulm (Faithen Compound), you can then use Poison Cloud. In the Elven swamp (..Devil Moon quest) you can summon a bunch of trolls. At these lower levels tougher opponents shouldn't "zero-in" on you as much.
At higher levels the tougher opponents will "zero-in" on you - BUT with the Shadow Lord class and a high stealth you should be able to negate this.. even against the Minotaur Spawn in the maze and the Lord Barrowgrim "drop point" near Talendor. (..of course here you'll summon a bunch of Deathlords and perhaps a couple of Divine Interventions.) Now physically getting to the gems for the Minotaur spawn area may require a few Poison Clouds to incapacitate them while you push your way through to the gems.
Well thats basically it then.. with a few final thoughts:
One of the nicer things here is that you really won't be using a lot of magic (beyond summons and poison clouds), AND both are in Nether Magic. Nor do you really need a high Nether Magic for most of the game (..you can always "crank it up" past level 8 once you get your learning bonus from the Shadow Lord class). Also, the prerequisites for the class won't be terribly difficult to obtain either. Nor will you have to spend a lot of experience points on skill sets (..unless you want to try other things), the only exception being Inflict Wounds. Also, Inflict Wounds is available quite a bit earlier than Hawkeye is for the Rangerlord progression (assuming plot restrictions). Finally.. *IF* you want to try-out any weapon, spell, or armor - well then you have that option.
Anyway - its just a suggestion.. but IF you do try it out then please report back here.
Since you have just progressed through with a Ranger Lord.. You might want to consider this instead (from one of my other replies):
http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/dunge ... 72-p3.html
..................................................................................................
Relevant Excerpt:
"
One last parting suggestion.
Ranged weapon attacks and particularly ARCHERY are not well represented in the game through a class progression. The Ranger Lord *seems* to be "it". The class progression up to and including the Ranger Lord give several learning bonuses to Archery.. but is it really necessary? I've found that 1 Learning bonus seems to be enough for ANY weapon or armor, and additional point expenditures don't seem to pay-off to any great extent. Also the one "killer app" skill, Hawkeye (basically critical strike), is rather is weak and difficult to accumulate points in.
Let me suggest a better alternative though:
1. you only "need" 1 learning bonus in Archery (..and really, thats only if you import the best bow in the game - which I would recommend as its otherwise unavailable).
2. you should select an eastern class (for "The Master").
1 & 2 suggest either the Monk or the Samurai. The Samurai adds Inflict Wounds, while the Monk provides considerable magical learning bonuses. Either class would be excellent.
Choose the 3rd tier class Shadow Lord and get Stealth up to 16-17.
Fill-in with any other 1st and 2nd tier you want thats available.
Summon your minions, pull back from the fight - and fire away without significant fear of reprisal."
................................................................................................
I'd recommend this class combination specifically (in order):
Adept, Fighter, Samurai, Valkyrie (Human Female), Shadow Lord.
The Human Female will allow for the Valkyrie class and has a MUCH easier time of increasing Strength (vs. the Elf Female).
The Adept will provide access to otherwise unobtainable divine spells.
The Fighter will provide access to the +10% damage Heraldry and the Samurai class.
The Valkyrie will provide access Heavy Armor AND a learning bonus. Additionally it will also provide access to the +20 percent damage bracer.
The Samurai will give you access to the Eastern Heraldry "The Master", a Learning bonus in Archery, and Inflict Wounds (which functionally should be as or more useful than Hawkeye).
The Shadow Lord of course will provide High Stealth & a learning bonus in Nether Magic for summons. Do the Shadow Ruins and then go to Staroxia before any of the other (east of Fargrove) compounds.
I'd import the "Bow of the Avenger" *AT THE START OF THE GAME* (with the utility in the sticky post listed in the forum here), and start using it once you have met the attribute prerequisite of 50 in Strength. I've personally played with it a lower levels and frankly it still isn't that great a weapon.. so its not like you are giving yourself an fantastic advantage - ESPECIALLY if you are only using bows. You can then always switch over to the Necrotic Battle Bow latter (..and I agree, I like this bow better as well with the Nether Strike).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Again, the basic idea here is multiple summons and pull-back and start shooting.
(I'd get out of the sewers as quickly as possible - ignoring EVERYTHING, chest opponents, etc.. You can always come back latter when you are more skilled. Early leveling can be accomplished near the fighter's guild with the spawn rate on high.)
Anyway..
You can summon a bunch of undead (or rats even), and use this technique to good effect early in the game. Latter when things get more "crowded", like at Ulm (Faithen Compound), you can then use Poison Cloud. In the Elven swamp (..Devil Moon quest) you can summon a bunch of trolls. At these lower levels tougher opponents shouldn't "zero-in" on you as much.
At higher levels the tougher opponents will "zero-in" on you - BUT with the Shadow Lord class and a high stealth you should be able to negate this.. even against the Minotaur Spawn in the maze and the Lord Barrowgrim "drop point" near Talendor. (..of course here you'll summon a bunch of Deathlords and perhaps a couple of Divine Interventions.) Now physically getting to the gems for the Minotaur spawn area may require a few Poison Clouds to incapacitate them while you push your way through to the gems.
Well thats basically it then.. with a few final thoughts:
One of the nicer things here is that you really won't be using a lot of magic (beyond summons and poison clouds), AND both are in Nether Magic. Nor do you really need a high Nether Magic for most of the game (..you can always "crank it up" past level 8 once you get your learning bonus from the Shadow Lord class). Also, the prerequisites for the class won't be terribly difficult to obtain either. Nor will you have to spend a lot of experience points on skill sets (..unless you want to try other things), the only exception being Inflict Wounds. Also, Inflict Wounds is available quite a bit earlier than Hawkeye is for the Rangerlord progression (assuming plot restrictions). Finally.. *IF* you want to try-out any weapon, spell, or armor - well then you have that option.
Anyway - its just a suggestion.. but IF you do try it out then please report back here.