Dirtkick and fient might be good for a non ambushing ranger.

<Do rangers typically train in any of the combat maneuvers like cunning defense. My archer is quite young and already the Grimswarm cmans are a pain.

<Also, I don't intend to go the ambushing route but does training in ambush help one better hit the target?


<Thanks!>


I highly recommend Ambush for every archer (those that can double train in Ranged and ambush, I don't include the mutant mages or empaths, etc. that use ranged). The reason for this is that, after 40 trainings, you gain 1 point of AS for every 4 trainings in both Ambush and Perception. If you double train in both that equates to 1 point of extra AS per training. I believe (my memory isn't what it used to be) that there are also some hidden modifiers to the aiming skill as well. The down side to this is that it is EXPENSIVE. I actually sacrificed a lot with my primary character to achieve the highest AS he could get; I have always been a believer in the adage that if you can kill something faster than it can kill you, then you will usually come out on top in any given situation. There are, of course, exceptions to this, and maneuvers are one of these exceptions.

I would suggest you read "The Art of the Bow, by Nuadjha" on the GS Wiki, it is an amazingly informative doc about everything ranged and it has helped me a lot over the years.

General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq

Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato

www.radeekandoran.blogspot.ca

<I highly recommend Ambush for every archer (those that can double train in Ranged and ambush, I don't include the mutant mages or empaths, etc. that use ranged). The reason for this is that, after 40 trainings, you gain 1 point of AS for every 4 trainings in both Ambush and Perception. If you double train in both that equates to 1 point of extra AS per training.>

I've always considered the extra AS to be icing on the cake and not worth sacrificing needed skills for. That said, unless you're trained to make extensive use of spells and/or can fire your bow in 3 seconds, you should prolly be aiming for the eyes with every shot anyway and both ambush and perception factor into that. Once you get a few more levels under your belt, you're not going to be killing quickly via blood loss and will need to be relying on crits... and aiming for the eyes is the surest way to get a crit kill on most, if not all, critters.


Whether you train in S&H and rely on the shadows to keep you safe or use those TPs to boost spells like 610, 615, etc to keep you safe will be a personal choice. Whichever you choose, you should dedicate yourself to it rather then trying to go both routes at once(at least til level 75+). I should note that ranged users do NOT receive the stance pushdown/crit weighting for firing from the shadows that melee users do (it's a trade-off for being able to stay hidden).

As for the original question about CM, there really aren't any decent maneuvers available to ranger archers, esp snipers. You should def have at least 1x in it for CM defenses, but where you put the CM points prolly won't make or break you. Cunning Defense would be a good option for additional help with maneuvers and Shadow Mastery is good if you spend a lot of time in the shadows. If you want more active skills, Sweep is prolly the best choice, unless a bow counts as a weapon with with feint (or you master it)... but looking over the list available to rangers, there really aren't any GOOD offensive maneuvers available to rangers that don't use shields. Whatever you do, don't waste points on MFIRE.

Starchitin

A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.

Yes, though you can take a little time working your way up to it.... critter maneuvers don't start being a real problem for most players til around level 30. Even then it will depend on what you hunt that will determine how badly you need to train in CM. If the critters use maneuvers available to players (disarm, shield bash, etc) it will be most useful, if it uses maneuvers players don't have access to (burrowing, stomping,, tail sweeps, etc) your other skills will help pick up the slack.

Starchitin

A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.

My character does indeed fire his longbow in 3 seconds. For his CMANS I chose sweep early on because I knew he'd be hunting stronghold, mino's, then the bowels and it was VERY useful there. I have since dropped sweep for shadow mastery, even though he spends very little time actually sniping from hiding (eye shots are just that effective on most things). One thing I did forget to mention though, when my character went to ranged (it was rolled into the game when he was somewhere between 30 and 40 trainings, I really can't remember his exact level) you had to be a brawler as well in order to have any defense at all. Now, a lot of your defense comes from the dodge skill, so make darn sure you load up on that (I found single training in it until around level 70 was OK, but I also moved to Augmented Chain from FGB at around that time as well). Since then I have dropped a ton of TP's into dodge, and it has been worth it.

You also did not mention whether you were a group hunter or a solo hunter. My main character was almost exclusively a solo hunter for most of his existence, unless doing something with the Drakes Vanguard or Northern Fury, so I also skewed his training path to be more self sufficient when in the field. He also rarely relies on offensive spells, except in emergencies (as I stated earlier, he was built to be very, very effective with his longbow). To this day (and he is well past cap) he has no lore training at all, and I have never regretted it one bit.

General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq

Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato

www.radeekandoran.blogspot.ca

You can get by fine with a composite, but at least 1x ambush is a must.

<The longbow, is that something you train up to or is it personal preference? I like her Lut'Kazi. I want her to be self sufficient but not at the expense of rp. If that makes sense.>

As Radeek said, the composite bow is faster, but the long bow hits a bit harder. Unless you can fire a long bow in 3-4 seconds, you're better off with the composite bow in most cases. The long bow just doesn't hit hard enough against most armors to justify the longer RT, esp when you're aiming for the eyes.

If you find yourself hunting something that wears plate armor (not many critters do), you might want to grab a long bow. Other then that, you'll be just fine sticking with the composite.

Starchitin

A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.

Thank you so much for all your input. I am really enjoying my little ranger so far. I am not big on the mechanics side of the game so it is very good to know it will be difficult to screw her up!