Question On Ranger Ultimate

[The Mad Dragon]

Does anyone else feel this way about the Necro's Ultimate

yup.

I've used it in practice on several different maps.

it's like casting uber mass slow on your opponent.

actually combine it with mass slow, and you commonly can act 3 or 4 times to your opponent's 1.

it can be really nasty for fleshies.

anyone who wants to experiment with ultimates on single scenario maps might want to try out the mod i made so you can get them before level 20.

Hmmmm....interesting...I guess it's time to rethink everything then, lol

[Sir_Toejam]

with the latest patch, destroying the ballista if you have the skill is not quite so easy any more.

they added mucho hps as your skill level in warmachines goes up.

somewhere around 900hps IIRC when you hit expert level.

of course, by that time your ballista itself will be outsripping the fire damage by a large margin.

[fly away]

somewhere around 900hps IIRC when you hit expert level.

I usually don't take War Machines.

[Axem]

with the latest patch, destroying the ballista if you have the skill is not quite so easy any more.

they added mucho hps as your skill level in warmachines goes up.

somewhere around 900hps IIRC when you hit expert level.

of course, by that time your ballista itself will be outsripping the fire damage by a large margin.

I actually have Expert War Machines and Triple Ballista, looking to get Imbue Arrow. Didn't realize the hit points for Ballista went up.

[Elvin]

You usually are not offered warmachines Otherwise triple shot and imbue ballista can cause some major havoc! If you are lucky to get that AND flaming arrows you are in for a good treat.But otherwise it's pretty unattainable

[Axem]

I was very lucky to get War Machines early on at a Witch Hut. So, I've been able to build it up pretty quickly. First time I've really used War Machines this way. It's pretty cool.

[fly away]

I was very lucky to get War Machines early on at a Witch Hut. So, I've been able to build it up pretty quickly. First time I've really used War Machines this way. It's pretty cool.

If I saw my opponent to have Tripple Ballista imbued with something nasty, that would be my first target. That's why I don't like warmachines - too easy to put an end to it. And the warmachines are placed close to each other on the battlefield, so one decent meteor shower can rid you of the headache.

[Arqane]

I think both level and War Machines skill goes into the HP now. I believe in the campaign, one of the guys had a Ballista with 1200hp (triple shot me for an average of 450/hit). Of course, the rest of his army wasn't much above 1200hp, so it made an interesting choice.

With the new patch, it's hardly ever worth taking out the Ballista for someone that's focused in it, especially since the hero can't target it besides spells.

[DaemianLucifer]

So,balista became devastating now?What about the tent?Is it still as "usefull" as before?

[Sir_Toejam]

I actually have Expert War Machines and Triple Ballista, looking to get Imbue Arrow. Didn't realize the hit points for Ballista went up.

actually, it was 1100; 800 for ammo cart, and i can't remember for the first aid tent. I think argane might be right, it might also be hero-level dependent to some extent as well.

the damage goes up tremendously with level now.

my level 27 Freyda, with 30 attack, was doing 550 damage per shot (base) in mission 5.

of course, that's nothing to what the 1k marksmen were doing at the end of the map(around 12k damage ), but with a tiny army near the beginning of the map, it's quite useful. It's enough to take out a handful of angels every combat turn, even without luck.

[Caradoc]

The problem with going after the Utimate is that the Ranger has to pass on several very valuable skills -- Pathfinding, Tactics, Archery -- which are off path. And taking Defense means choosing only one of Leadership, War Machines, or a Magic School. I'm sure others may disagree, but I can live without Logistics, too.

You also end up with a mess of OK-but-not-great skills such as Familiar Ground, Stand Your Ground, Dead Man's Curse, and Last Stand.

[The Mad Dragon]

So what do you suggest for Ranger?

[Mytical]

Luck is almost a must have for Ranger. Elven Luck is nice as well (though deadman's is a bit underpowered). Double damage can never hurt.

Attack-archery is a very nice choice (you have one of the most potent archers in the game, use them).

Logistics is nice, but the specials are not that useful here..but still movement = good . So personally I take it about half the time.

Now magic is either light or summons. Both has uses, both can turn the tide of battle, and sylvan usually gets both . So take whichever you like. (both if you are feeling lucky). Destructive is really nice with imbue but make sure you have access to the right spells first.

Avenger you get and that counts toward your 6 so that is 5...oh and keep in mind to change your prefered enemy when visiting town if you know what creatures your enemy has.

If you have not taken two magics then here is where you get some possibilities. War Machine, Triple Balista, Imbue is always a nice combo (less useful without destructive magic though)..still Expert Wasp Swarm will cause havoc with the IB of your enemy . If they are immune to wasp swarm then choose some low level spell like Eldritch arrow, Curse, or such. Implosion is the ultimate combo with this however (tripple implosion ftw! but remember it is destructive). Also instead of War Machines you could take one of the other spell schools, enlightenment, imo the last ditch Defense. Note defense + Elder Treants = scary scary creatures .

Forgot Imbue Arrow, Rain of Arrows, and Deadeye shot. If you must leave one out, Deadeye should be that one. Imbue + rain of arrows is almost as good as Imbue, Tripple Balista .

Sorcery - never found a use for it with sylvan.

Dark - could be useful, hard to get the spells though

Enlightenment - Unsure about this, but proved handy occasionally when I took weird skills .

Sylvan lets you get away with more then most towns. Sometimes you can get totally strange skills and do fine with it. As for best combo...somebody else can probably give you that .

[The Mad Dragon]

Interesting thoughts...

[Gaidal Cain]

Summons? Destruction with the initiative hindering would be better IMO. Both requires SP to be really useful, but at least destructive has interesting side effects.

I'd definately go for luck and light magic, both fits Sylvan's style very well and comes with good enough abilities. Attack aint bad, since all base abilities are quite OK. Enlightenment works fine in the campaign, since you know you're going to be up against one type of creatures mostly, wchi makes Know your enemy more valuable. Intelligence is also an aid. Logistics is never bad, only problem is that you need to choose between familiar ground and pathfinding. I've never really tried the war machines path, buit coupled with imbue arrows, I see how it could be nasty.

[Mytical]

Expert Summons (wasp swarm) + imbue arrow + rain of arrows is actually pretty good. As well as AA and Summon Phoenix, but you are correct I would actually say Destruction is a better choice. I just love the negative init that the expert wasp swarm gives the enemy. Since you usually have the enemy as his most dangerous troups this can really come in handy. OF course if you go against necros ignore that and take Destruction anyhow. Summons is interesting as it is off the beaten path, and sometimes I go off the beaten path.

[Caradoc]

The problem with Imbue Ballista is that it has to wait for the Ranger to cast it and then for the Ballista to shoot. I usually have something for the Ranger to do first, like Mass Haste, so Imbuing only works well in longer battles.

As to my preferred path:

Light: Wrath>Storm Wind
Attack: Tactics, Archery
Luck: Resourcefulness, Soldiers Luck>Elven Luck
War Machines: Ballista>Imbue>Triple
Leadership: Diplomacy, Recruitment>Battle Commander
Avenger: DeadEye, Imbue

That's only 30 levels, but it's all I seem to be able to get.

[Axem]

Here's what I have so far with Ossir on level 23,

War Machines: Ballista>Imbue Ballista>Triple Ballista
Luck: Magic Resistance, Soldier's Luck>Elven Luck
Attack: Archery, Battle Frenzy>Nature's Wrath
Logistics
Avenger: Deadeye, Imbue, Rain of Arrows

Not sure what to take for the final skill. I'm thinking Destructive Magic if I can get it. Wise choice at this point?

[The Mad Dragon]

Probably not since Destruction wouldnt' appear in Sylvan towns.

[Sir_Toejam]

yeah, but if you do go destructive, and can get some high level destructive spells from a mage cache or dragon utopia or the like, then you can use your imbue ballista skill with triple ballista and do major damage.

imbue your triple ballista with meteor shower and watch an entire section of your opponents army get obliterated.

even fireball with fire mastery is a good deal; as it also lowers defense.

the obvious choice, hower, is light magic. mass haste plus mass righteous might really works well with elves.