Elven Ranger

[Liadon Xiloscient]

So I was thinking about it, and I've always wanted to run an Elven Ranger, something about it seemed natural. Many people have suggested I created a "throw-away" character I can't do that simply because I have this mental retardation that makes it impossible NOT to connect to any character I create. Ever.

What I want to know is:

How PK-able are Elven Rangers and if not a Ranger my second idea was to create an Elven Ninja/Rouge.

This person would be from the same place as Liadon but would NOT know her personally.

[Dale]

They can be a pk powerhouse if you dual mindflayers I hear.r than that

Other than that rangers are very survivable, they can make food from corpses, camoflauge, and make their own staff. Pets are a big plus and if you go archer you will have alot more very useful options at your disposal.

Shoot, I might roll one.

[mya]

In my opinion Elven Rangers are an underdog Powercombo.

Underdog because almost no one plays them. Powercombo, because I think that even although inferior to Ogre Rangers, they are very powerful in a certain way.

A Elven ranger with 2 pets, with Archery mastery, casting Thunderstorm, wield a spear and a offhand Mindflayer has in theory an insane burst damage.

I would go full HIT/DAM and just mow things through.

Although the new changes to mindflayers have made them more balanced.

You main concern will be Sanctuary and Protection. Which will be now a lot harder to get.

[Imoutgoodbye]

Dwarf Blademaster.

To learn PK, you want to be able to stay in PK situations a LONG time. Big HP, fairly easy to cover vuln, good magic resistance, and if you join Warmaster you'll see lots of fighting.

Not to mention Blademasters offer you a great variation with the anatomy expertises and masteries. I see them as being like a little of each class rolled into one.

[mya]

Except the training will make you insane.

[Imoutgoodbye]

Except the training will make you insane.

No! I played one and I'm still okay.

[Erana]

I would choose a different race for the ranger. Not because race will play such an important role in beginning PK, but because you already are playing an elf. It would be best to branch out and try other races.

Rangers are a very beginner-friendly class. Any race will do fine. Choose it based on your personal interest.

[The-Nameless]

I would agree with Erana, and not give yourself an elf stigma. Playing one race leads to repetition, and overall decline in game quality. Some equally fun Rangers are:

Halfling: Insane ac because of dex, naturally resistant to magic so mages are less trouble, and just fun to play jolly shire folk!

Werebeast: Probably the most under used race in fl. I rarely see them, although I will say I have seen an influx in them recently.

Human: People say bleh, I say Yay. Humans get some bonuses to using magic items, staves, leaves etc, meaning those consumables you use, go farther which is a pretty useful bonus in all honesty. Great if you like Vanilla.

I would not suggest using races with vulnerabilities until your more comfy with FL. Ogres, Ferals, Stone giants all can be MONSTERS but only after you learn to cover the areas they are weak.

The best way to decide what to make is to think up the RP EXCEPT the race. See what race fits best into that rp, then roll it up. If no races fit? Well make one up! (help restring)

[KRins]

As far as new to the class friendly... I would suggest tracker... concealment is just too nice. The thing I hate more than ANYTHING is my mammoth giving me away and becoming invoker meat... Throw is also very decent and can hit just as many vulns as archery + some more.

[Liadon Xiloscient]

I'm going to look up some of the races, and I'll get back to you all on what I decide. Before I get to that though I'm going to get Liadon to her Pinnacle then "freeze" her there for a little bit to learn a bit more on PKing and how to handle myself in those kind of scenarios.

I still get WAY jumpy when people try to assassinate me for the bounty over my head...

>__<'

[KRins]

I'm going to look up some of the races, and I'll get back to you all on what I decide. Before I get to that though I'm going to get Liadon to her Pinnacle then "freeze" her there for a little bit to learn a bit more on PKing and how to handle myself in those kind of scenarios.

I still get WAY jumpy when people try to assassinate me for the bounty over my head...

>__<'

I feel your pain. I probably have higher blood pressure in a PK than any fight I've ever been in...and I've had my fair share. I also sympathize with your inability to just roll a throw-away char. Even the chars I've rolled with this intention end up something I'm invested in.

The thing I did to help...reduce the stress of PK is to further delve into the character. My elf pally doesn't fear death, he knows full well where he is going when he dies. He only cares about winning a great victory for the Light or helping the down-trodden. If you can actually "become" the character mentally, the fear of losing gear falls away... because you don't care about gear... you care about whatever your agenda is.

[The Professor]

I have the same dilemma, I get personally attached to my char's...all of them with their own backstory and personal preferences... I also get the shakes in battle! it's been 10 years and I STILL get the shakes... I have tried making char's that are pk oriented...but find it is more of a chore than anything...RP is very limited, at least in my experience...don't get me wrong, there are a few exceptional char's/players that can balance both quite well. (Dey's most recent Warmaster Leader for instance..Scholin "sp") but usually the scales are almost always unbalanced in favor of one or the other. even joining a PK cabal, which will give you a lot of practice in the pk field...however it favors PK over RP. Also, training isn't fun, but a must, though...you don't have to worry about going in search of pk, cause it will find you, being in a cabal or not!

[Dale]

You may like the halfling ranger, they have insane dex with more hp than elves. Plus a magic resistance.

And I agree with not playing the same race/class it does lead to repetition, just take Atticus for example:

When I was showing him FL for the first time creating a new char, he seen the classes and races and noticed ninja was one. Well five feral ninjas later here he is:D

You need to play differant races/classes so you can see what each of them have to offer, it will greatly help you in pk.

[Liadon Xiloscient]

Thanks for your input, I always read through everyones posts and I learn a lot.

Whoever plays Nashmurlan REALLY has helped me have the confidence NOT to just break down when the capital red letters start to show up on my screen, but instead I flee, then I move about.

AND! You'll be proud to know that I had that area memorized and instantly started running away blind and I actually was able to run away long enough for Liadon to rub the dirt out of her eyes.

BEFORE I gated I was already at full health and EVERY ONE of my protection spells where thrown up.

Thanks everyone for being so kind and helpful.

I have to admit, the first thing that caught my attention here was the RP aspect, and reluctantly I was forced into a few different PK scenarios and I HATED it. I hated the idea of taking away someone elses character that probably put just as much effort or more into there character as I had for Liadon.

As a player I still feel a little pang whenever I think about killing someone elses character. So for now I'll enjoy being a Healer that refuses to take other people's lives.

Again, thanks for all the advice. ALL of you rock!

<3 Lia Lia

[Liadon Xiloscient]

Okay I have a character in mind.

A hulk of a man, covered in scars and his right eye is glazed over as a huge set of four clawed scares are drug down over the right side of his face. It is safe to assume that he had nearly had his eye mauled out.

Aside from the scars of stretch marks that cover different parts of his body, not a single inch of his body is not covered in permanent ink, he is has a braided mohawk that hangs down past his rump while he has a thick bear that is neatly trimmed which is also braided and hangs down to his chest.

His eyes reflect a constant rage, and he looks at anything, anyone smaller than him as if they are pathetic, and becomes noticeably irritable whenever he is away from his forest.

Yaoi Vlech is dressed in thick furs and finely tanned leathers, all of which are created in a way to blend perfectly within his environment. He speaks proudly and his voice is at such a low tone that anyone standing near him can feel the rumble within his words.

Finally he looks off and notices the sign of fires and the sounds of war within a nearby forest... His Mother Gaia's forest. Both sides MUST be destroyed, they wage there pathetic wars at the sacrifice at the loss of life WITHIN his forest. Both sides must be crushed and pounded into the Earth until they become one with it.

With a deep growl the man utters, "These ****ing kids never learn... It's time to show them what it means to level a weapon to a real warrior." The man roars loudly and leans forward pounding both of his large clawed hands into the ground and within a moment his body ripples with giant muscles and there stands a giant Bear. The creature stands as if built for destruction, the bones of it's spine spread out of it's back as sharp spikes. All of the primary joints have this same effect. The creature is pure white with black skin, the dark eyes glow a deep red.

The werecreature growls deeply and thunders through the forest towards a battle, to end it.

After the battle has been ended, it is time to bring the flames back to THEIR home. To have them watch as there wives and children burn trapped within THEIR homes.

Gaia is biting back, and she's taking back what's rightfully hers.

[Imoutgoodbye]

Sounds like Wolverine and Sabertooth got it on and produced a tree hugging hippie.

[The-Nameless]

Its a very vivid description, but I was always told that the best way to write a desc, is to literally take a picture with text. Close your eyes, and envision what you want. Type exactly what you see in your head. From the abnormal curve of his sword face, to the brown scuffs on his(or her) boots.

[Liadon Xiloscient]

Obviously that's now how I'd describe him... geeze. That would be cheating.

[Balgashang]

I dun remember if it was this one or my other mud, but aside from remembering being told somewhere like Nameless, you weren't supposed to impart any sort of feelings. Like, This mans visage fills you with feeling of foreboding as you gaze upon him sort of thing. Like I said I dun recall where I heard it at, but I just usually take that into account anyway and haven't had any issues.

Edit: Its better to let someone feel what they will then impose forceful feelings/thoughts/emotes. For instance, most people find clowns amusing, at some point in thier lives, but its also true that some people are terrified of them. How do you know which category each viewer will fall into?

Forceful emotes are like, emote reaches and grabs you by the throat. (sometimes this is easily down in rl, but also, sometimes people fail thier attempt, so

emote reaches in an attempt to grasp you by the throat, I was told somewhere is better because it allows the other party to get more involved, gives them a chance to be caught off guard and grabbed, try to avoid or, etc, and generally I've found when you're more open with your emotes, people will generally allow you to go through with more of your attempts.

I guess its a trust sort of thing, at the same time. I used to play sometimes still play a role playing mud, there's pk, but its like, no levels/skill proficiny thing, its real slow developing compared to fl though. But its where I feel I learned to rp, and I guess thats what I mean by a trust thing between players with open ended emotes.

Like on that mud you get 1 life, if you die, make a new char, some people have had chars there for like 8 yrs rl. But giving that setting, and rp being the focus, you get some really well rp'd scenes of dire situations, you get disappointing ones too like anything, but for the most part, the open ended emotes I have found are conducieve to fostering interesting role-play.

Dunno why I really typed that, prolly cause my pipe isn't broken like Dales But just some random thoughts for ya'll anyway

[Liadon Xiloscient]

o__O

You gaiz!

Geeze...

You see just if sometime you see Liadon Xiloscient on, check out her description... I obviously know how to do it.

LoL

Gaiz...

[Croyvern]

Elven rangers are fine, I agree with Erana that its not a great choice for you for the reasons given. If you ever roll an elven ranger, the go hit/dam on eq is not the best advice. +hp eq will be necessary, the low con will leave you with few HP and slow HP regeneration, which is tough for a melee class to overcome. The High Int will allow you to master skills quickly, meaning you will do well in combat. And there are several elf only weapons, I would suggest the Princess Orelinde's sword for your primary, the Captains sabre or the mindflayer for your off hand.

[The-Nameless]

I disagree. The low hp can be circumvented with naturally high ac, use of AC buffs like armor shield stone skin, you already get barkskin. High mana pool means you get more freedom to insect swarm (great great great skill) also great for fighting blms since they *WILL* predict dirt. If you go archery, you get very reliable damage as well as some nifty bonuses. Elf ranger is actually pretty buff.

But the real issue is don't hem yourself up to one race, there is so much more to do. Try an EVIL!!!!!!!

[Liadon Xiloscient]

I can't do evil... I can't connect to it.

In movies... video games... anything.

Not only that but there are already enough of you healer slayers out there to boot. i dun need'ta help.

EDIT:

I take that back, the werecreature is kinda evil... in the sense that he wants revenge on the cities...

[kaboomer]

Lida, I really commend you on your dedication to getting better at this game. It really is an excellent 'alternate reality' to spend some time in!

A couple of points:

- I like that you are interested in making a ranger. I highly recommend it! I used to play in 1.0, quit for a LONG time, came back, and found that the PK game had totally changed. I had a few unsuccessful characters, tried a ranger and ended up doing very well with him. I even got to the top of my cabal. Ranger has major, major survivability mixed with offense.

- As far as race goes, I would pick a halfling or human, and I would go neutral. It would allow you to explore a new alignment that you can really connect to. (I would argue that most humans in real life are a neutral/neutral.) Halfling offers a fun RP and major resistance in both AC (due to high dex) and magic (racial perk). The downside is the small size. You can easily get bash locked if your AC isn't through the roof, which it won't be at first because you won't have great equipment early on. Like the others have said, human is a middle-of-the-road race, but it would aid in getting better several aspects of the game.

- Last point I would recommend is to start being a bit more secretive about your characters. Some folks here might disagree, but I think there's a bit of an unwritten code about being flagrant about your characters. Trust me, you're not doing anything wrong. You're letting people know your characters right now for the sole purpose of improvement. Kudos! As time goes by, you'll get good, and believe it or not, you'll make a few enemies of other players. Isn't that a sad truth? Anyway, at that point, you'll want to keep your characters to yourself, I think. Just my two cents.

Keep up the good work, and I'm glad to have an excited new player in the FL fam!

[Liadon Xiloscient]

*girlish skwee*

Anyways...

Liadon is the only character i plan on being so "open" with and eventually even I'll stop talking about her. Like you mentioned I do it to get pointers to see if I'm playing her character correctly.

As for the Ranger thing it was just idea concept, DO NOT actually expect to see him in game.

*smiles*

And I'd never try to bring anything up here that people could use against me IN-GAME.

like always thanks for the tips and pointers. i keep notes on everything everybody says. I hope it's obvious in game that I'm actually learning.