Ranger Pets

They scale up, but not very well. You need to invest quite heavily in pet traits to make them somewhat survivable and even then they're little more than disposable distractions.

Alas, the only time they were truly useful is when they suffered from the boon-stacking bug.

 

I love the ranger class. I started playing it during the Backer Beta. I play on normal and not on hard so that may make a difference. My current PC has a bear companion. Excellent for stealth use and the health is high. I haven't done the boar or the wolf so can't speak to those.

People keep complaining about the ranger class, either it is too weak or it is too powerful. OE keeps re-balancing it so it is hard to say how it will end up. I just started this character in patch 1.05 to see how the class works now. So far all as been good.

 

Bear is your best bet if you want to keep the pet alive (which you do because the penalties for dead pets can be quite crippling). They have the highest DR and Health if I'm not mistaken.

Ranger has never been too strong aside from when buffs stacked incorrectly. They can dish out some good damage when specced properly, but they're a one trick pony for the most part.

 

During the Backer Beta someone came up with a sword and board ranger I don't remember which animal he used. I tried it out with a lion and the ranger made an excellent melee fighter in tandem with his companion. There have been changes since then. I am currently using him ranged with the bear.

I tried the stag and didn't care for it.

 

Yeah, but during the beta, the stat bonuses were different and you and the pet shared health which made the combat dynamics considerably different.

 

That is true and was one of the major complaints about the ranger class. I haven't tried a sword and board ranger since then.

 

The primary problem with melee rangers is that they have a -15 accuracy penalty for using melee weapons, IIRC, which really seems to make that style of ranger a non-starter. Also, since you can use ranged weapons at close range without penalty (other than the "penalty" for not switching to a "sword and board" setup for the increased defenses), it would seem that one could fight at close quarters with a bow and potentially not get dinged with that -15 acc penalty, though I don't know with 100% certainty that you wouldn't get dinged in some way for it.

Bears are the most sturdy of the AC's. And I've read where some suggest taking the "Resiliant Companion" class talent to give it another 3 DR to make it that much more survivable. Of course, if you have a Paladin in your party, he/she could have the "Endurance" aura (i.e. the one that gives nearby allies a DR bonus) active, and you could place the AC next to this paladin to make it even a little more durable.

Personally though, I'm not at all fond of "wasting" ability and talent points on the animal companion. It would be nice if the game allowed you to take some AC related abilities/talents that didn't count against the Ranger's own pool of available ability/talent points. Like, say, on the level 4, 8, and 12 level ups, you'd get to select a talent or ability that was ONLY for the animal, and was separate from the normal talent and ability selections. This would allow people to improve their AC's without feeling that they're really hurting the Ranger's own progression. I could be wrong, but none of those animal related talents seem like OP deal breakers to me.

 

Care needs to be taken that the ranger is not overpowered. With my Ranger and bear and Sagini and her fox it is almost like having a party of eight. Played on easy or normal the party can just dance through common encounters.

 

You can dance through most encounters on any difficulty with a full party. It's not an issue with rangers being strong, it's an issue with AI, combat mechanics, and encounter design.

 

How underpowered are Rangers compared to the other classes, really? Is the companion a useful ally or more of a gimmick? I'm getting mixed reviews but that seems to be the general consensus on gaming forums. I plan to get this game at some point and will probably use one as my PC if they are at least decent.

 

From what I understand, they sucked initially but have been rebalanced significantly in the recent patches. By some accounts, they're now one of the most reliable DPS classes.

 

Depends on how you define "underpowered". If you only care about DPS, then they're certainly not.

 

All depends on your party composition. Rangers "CAN" be good. Rangers "CAN" be crappy. It's all about the team in PoE.

My current party, all hired adventurers, has PC as a Druid who morphs into a Stag. He kicks ass while morphed and I usually fight in between the Ranger's Bear and my Pally, which keeps my Druid from being surrounded. Animal Companions are very useful as they hold enemies up so you can pick the others apart. I typically use a frontline of Pally, Fighter, Barbarian, AC Bear and Druid with Cleric and Ranger in the back. The Ranger gets all day to plink awat at enemy spellcasters and stop them from casting. Switching to firearms when encountering a Wizard to bypass their aura.

 

Unfortunately, the only niche that a ranger fills in a team is providing a disposable meat shield without a daily limit.

 

That's what I was afraid of. Oh well, there's still the monk and druid classes

 

Again, depends on your party build. My Ranger performs a specific role. To keep enemy spellcasters from casting by shooting a thousand holes in them. It stops negative status effects to my front liners who then buff and chop the enemy into a gore-ee mess. He also provides a meat shield with the bear. Every class has it's pros and cons in this game. If you want an archer, choose the ranger. "Archer" is a major player in the fantasy industry and many choose that style in their gameplay.

The Ranger also ha some disabling offensive ability. I think they are well-rounded.

 

Which can be filled by virtually any other class.

I honestly dislike the fact that many RPGs want to sell you ranger as an archer. That's not what the "range" in ranger is about.

 

Any class can be replicated by another and none of the classes are necessary. It doesn't make ithe Ranger class worthless. It makes the classes balanced. A refreshing change.

 

Actually, no, they can't. A ranger or a barbarian has no hope of filling the shoes of a wizard or a chanter. A thief or a cypher can't tank anywhere near as consistently as a fighter or a paladin.

Some of the classes are interchangeable to a degree, but that's not really what you would be interested when looking at a class. You want to know what niche they can fill that others can't.