| Colette Brunel |
Alchemists, barbarians, clerics, druids, fighters, monks, paladins, sorcerers, and wizards now all have 5 trained skills to start with. Rangers still have their old 6 trained skills to start with, exactly one more than most other classes.
With that in mind, what is actually left for rangers? This has been spoken of many times elsewhere, so I will be brief: the ranger is not that good as a class. Hunt Target is poor during the first two or three rounds of combat, the most important rounds of combat, unless the ranger conveniently gets to spot a combat target before initiative is rolled. Even the best of the ranger builds, the Small-sized ranger with a Medium animal companion, and the crossbow ranger (only by 4th level with Running Reload, granted), still are not that good due to everything else about the ranger being lackluster.
Rangers are sorely lacking in good class feats even compared to the barbarian, the fighter, the monk, and the rogue. While rangers have good class features (by martial standards, anyway) at 3rd, 7th, 13th, and 15th, the class features at 5th, 9th, and 11th are terribly weak and crufty. The 17th and 19th level class features focus on making Hunt Target "okay," when it should have been a good class feature to start with.
The skill update may have been minor, but to me, it sinks the final nail in the metaphorical coffin for rangers. I have seen two crossbow rangers before the skill update, and I was not impressed by either of them.
| Ivarrwolfsong |
The PF2 Ranger is really, really, really bad. Until they re-do it from scratch, it will remain group poison. It is sad, but its the truth.
For the 9th level Play Test, I made myself a more archetypical "ranger" by making a Nomad background fighter spec'd for archery. I took the Rogue Archetype at 2nd (Rogue Focus) and 8th (Skill Mastery- Stealth).
This gives me a stealthy (Assurance - Stealth, Swift Stealth, Terrain Stalker) archer who treats everyone behind me in initiative as flat footed on round 1, who has good Survival (Nomad gives you Assurance - Survival and Lore <terrain>). I rounded it out with Half Elf, Fleet, Cat Fall and Kip Up.
I'll let you know how it turns out... Hopefully it's more fun than my two weapon fighter. That was a yawn-fest.
| N N 959 |
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Alchemists, barbarians, clerics, druids, fighters, monks, paladins, sorcerers, and wizards now all have 5 trained skills to start with. Rangers still have their old 6 trained skills to start with, exactly one more than most other classes.
Yes, I had the same thought. I find it incredibly ironic that the worst class got zero help. Fighter, Cleric, Rogue, have all gotten positive feedback. But the one class which is universally panned, got zero help. No wait...they did make Hazard Finder work without having to search.
Hunt Target is poor during the first two or three rounds of combat, the most important rounds of combat, unless the ranger conveniently gets to spot a combat target before initiative is rolled.
That actually fixes nothing. Even if you start with the target designated, you're getting a 5% boost on damage, if you can take a second attack. The action cost of Hunt Target is not the issue. The fact the benefit comes on 2nd and 3rd attacks is the issue. Paizo needs to abandon this approach.
Even the best of the ranger builds, the Small-sized ranger with a Medium animal companion, and the crossbow ranger (only by 4th level with Running Reload, granted), still are not that good due to everything else about the ranger being lackluster.
The Ranger brings, essentially, nothing to the party (figuratively and literally). But that can be fixed. Bring back Tracking. Make it do a lot of cool things. Make it useful in nearly every encounter. Let the rulebook mandate that nearly all things leave tracks where they reside. Let Rangers confer benefits to themselves and others, pre-combat, from tracking, and now the class has purpose and something unique.
The 17th and 19th level class features focus on making Hunt Target "okay," when it should have been a good class feature to start with.
Yes, I fear that everytime someone criticizes Hunt Target, Paizo starts pointing to agile TWFing MAP of 0/-1/-2 and thinks that justifies sixteen levels of a nearly worthless signature ability for everyone else.
The skill update may have been minor, but to me, it sinks the final nail in the metaphorical coffin for rangers. I have seen two crossbow rangers before the skill update, and I was not impressed by either of them.
I honestly think the class would have been better received had it been called the Hunter and Paizo said they are reserving Rangers for a later date.
Paizo, give us a Ranger for people who actually enjoyed playing the Ranger. Thanks in advance.
EDIT: I'm hoping that the Ranger is taking so long to fix because they are reworking it from the ground up, rather than just trying to tweak one or two things.