I'm finally giving the ranger class a try. Not so much a newbie anymore I guess but funny how much you can feel like a complete newb once you step outside your build/cabal comfort zone.

I am trying to understand the ranger build options, and especially curious about savages. Can someone lay out their general play style, strengths and weaknesses?

A few questions...

1) What's the deal with metal and gear? The helpfile talks about them doing well without clothing, and I've heard they suffer from wearing metal or using metal weapons. How does this work?

2) What options do they have to lag their victims?

Any other big considerations or downsides to take into account with trying a cloud giant savage forester (likely Villager) ranger?

Summary: Nowhere near as flexible as other builds for PK.

Your strengths are your ambush power and semi-reliable
lagging with savage blow.

Your weaknesses:

* Completely gimped outside the wilderness, even more so than other builds.
* Heavily dependent on druids for transmuted weapons and gear,
to reach the pinnacle of their power they need both. Hitting vulns with
guaranteed savage boosted onslaught is very useful.
* Not as good defensively as other builds (smearmud is situational,
warpaint seems useless)

Given all of that, some races (giants, humans with str focus and ambush
damage edges) synergize extremely well and are a good match.

Others (felar) less so and require more work, limited gear, solid grasp on
ranger tactics and cabal powers in order to be truly powerful at hero.

Savages play very much like other ranger expertise of a similar terrain choice. You get juicy ambush and VERY reliable lag that is dependent on the terrain it is used in.

Most rangers are gimped out of the wilderness, savages do not fall victim to that anymore than the rest.

You are also only heavily dependent on druids for transmuted stuff if your area/gear knowledge is limited. I very rarely had to utilize druids for transmute.

The not as good defensively is a toss up. You forsake shield block as a savage, but you gain mace and protection from metals which makes you stand up far better against certain classes than other rangers do.

The choice between playing high str and high dex ranger has nothing to do with being a savage and has more to do with personal preference.

1) What's the deal with metal and gear? The helpfile talks about them doing well without clothing, and I've heard they suffer from wearing metal or using metal weapons. How does this work?

A: One piece of metal kills your onslaught ambush bonus. More will make other skills (camo, creep, etc) fail. As far as weaknesses of savage go, no metal is really the only one. Savages do have a few skills that key off of empty slots, but overall I'd say you are better off fully clothed unless you don't have non-metal options.

2) What options do they have to lag their victims?

A: Bearcharge if the build gets it and Savage blow. With size advantage, Bearcharge is more lag, but can be stopped by bash protection (protective shield, etc). I don't think there is a a counter to Savage blow, and Savage blow does ok damage as well and has a small chance to knock out your opponent.

3) Any other big considerations or downsides to take into account with trying a cloud giant savage forester (likely Villager) ranger?

I wouldn't go village because then you can't cast protection from metal which I would say is one of the biggest upsides of a savage ranger compared to survivalist. Also can't use entangle, call lightning, or imbue staffs.

To maximize the build I would go outlander since you will be wearing natural gear, you should be able to strengthen all of it and you will be more likely to have druid friends to transmute metal to wood for you.

I hadn't realized there were different kinds of ambushes. I see onslaught is damage focused. Can you explain further about savages and ambush bonuses? Do you mean simply that all savages get bonus damage when doing an onslaught ambush (when not wearing metal)?

You can have metal in your inventory without suffering a penalty, correct?

What skills key off empty slots (and which empty slots)?

Lastly, how hard is it for druids to convert stuff to wood-- I mean, are you asking a lot of them or is it a minor favor?

I can't say with 100% certainty on the savage questions, so I'm pulling from memory from old posts.

>I hadn't realized there were different kinds of ambushes. I
>see onslaught is damage focused. Can you explain further about
>savages and ambush bonuses? Do you mean simply that all
>savages get bonus damage when doing an onslaught ambush (when
>not wearing metal)?

Pretty much. If I *recall*, both improved chance to land it and improved damage.

>You can have metal in your inventory without suffering a
>penalty, correct?

Correct.

>What skills key off empty slots (and which empty slots)?

To my understanding, just smear mud and warpaint. From an old Daevryn post, I believe he commented that the larger the armor piece, the more impact it has. Breastplate, arms/legs, helmet making a bigger difference than belt, rings, wristwear, etc.

>Lastly, how hard is it for druids to convert stuff to wood-- I
>mean, are you asking a lot of them or is it a minor favor?

It's a pretty minor favor, so long as you don't need it converted *right now*. As long as there's no time crunch, it's no problem at all.

All savages get a bunus to onslaught if not using metal. W the power ambush edge on a savage giant, I have hit unspeaks w around an avg 20 weapon and 30ish damroll.

Metal in inventory is fine.

On empty slots, I never messed around w it much but have heard smearmud helps w bash and through if body is uncovered and kot if wrist are bare. Warpaint can screw w oppenents morale.

Metal in inventory is fine.

Biggest thing with change metal to wood is it may destroy the gear. Not a big deal for the druid, but it does lag them some and it has a timer on it.

Don't be shy. It's a minor favor.

My Druid developed several fun RP relationships that started as people asking me to transmute gear for them.