Avowed features a limited range of classes for players to choose, though it doesn’t skimp on depth for each of them, providing a solid number of specialized skills, weapons, and equipment.
The Ranger is the game’s quick and agile class, capable of doing fast damage from a distance without ever getting caught by the enemies. To help you navigate through its robust skill tree, here is our best build for the Ranger class in Avowed.
Best Ranger build in Avowed
The Ranger can be played in one of two ways: an agile melee combatant or a sly ranged marksman. Naturally, you can do both, as the game focuses on providing you with as many simultaneous options as possible. However, to save yourself looting time, you should initially focus on one or the other, upgrading the required weapons and equipment to the max for optimal performance.
Best Ranger skills in Avowed
In terms of skills, the Ranger is provided with both spells and tons of passive buffs to help with your weapon damage output. If you are going for ranged, your first skill points should be spent on Tanglefoot and Steady Aim, and then on Marksmanship once you reach level five. With melee weapons, these skills don’t help you much, so you should look to grab Evasive and Parry and then Finesse at level five.
Points acquired in between can be used on parts of other classes to optimize the build a little bit, such as Constant Recovery from the Fighter tree or Armored Essence from the Wizard one (this last one should be taken anyway to reduce the impact of Light and Medium Armor on your Essence, as you’ll be using these Armor types the most).
Ranged players should continue down the skill tree by focusing on maxing Steady Aim and Marksmanship and getting the likes of Survivalist, which should be acquired by both melee and ranged players. Quick Switch should be the next priority, followed by Sniper, which should be maxed as soon as possible since it lets you play a true Skyrim bow build and decimate enemies from the shadows. You can finish the build off with Staggering Shot to significantly boost your ranged damage output and stun enemies with guns and bows.
Melee players on the other hand might profit much more from skills like the Power Slide, though ranged ones can pick it up as well for extra mobility. A must for melee Rangers is Arrow Deflection, followed by the powerful Bear Ally that lets you summon a bear to fight alongside you. Critical Strike is fantastic for both melee and ranged, whereas Flurry of Blows is crème-de-la-crème for melee players letting them unload on enemies quickly and violently. Piercing Thrusts should also be considered if you’re using daggers, swords, or spears.
Devastating Criticals from the Fighter tree are also advisable for melee Ranger players, while Toughness is a great general choice.
Best Ranger weapons in Avowed
Rangers specialize in fast and lethal weaponry, opting for bows and guns on the ranged side, and one-handed weaponry on the melee front. Daggers, swords, and spears are the most recommended weapons of this bunch, and you can get some quite powerful melee weapons in the early stages of the game, upgrading them as the story goes on.
Overall damage output seems to favor the bows for ranged Ranger builds, as their solid rate of fire and DPS are much more optimal compared to that of guns. I will say that dual-wielding two pistols might also be a good idea, as each pistol does its own damage, which can basically double your DPS for almost no cost. Your stamina will deplete rather often with this dual-wield setup, though you can always level your Resolve attribute to get more of it.
Melee players can also dual-wield, and here Daggers seem to be the best choice. Swords are a close second, though the speed of the Daggers is seldom matched and you can pierce and thrust to your heart’s content, flying across any given zone and running circles around the enemy. An awesome unique dagger called Sheathed in Summer can be acquired as soon as you arrive in Paradis as a reward for an easy bounty.
Best Armor for Ranger in Avowed
If you went for a ranged route, Light Armor is the absolute best choice for you. The less stamina you lose, the better, as it allows you to spam from a distance and kill enemies before they even reach you. Paired with Tanglefoot, you’ll be nigh invincible. Light Armor barely influences your stamina, which is just about perfect. The Vindictive Band accessory is also great for both melee and ranged as it buffs your critical attacks with poison damage, adding extra DPS on top of your already stellar output.
Melee players might want to consider Medium Armor instead, as getting up close and personal with enemies is bound to lead to some of them landing hits. The extra damage reduction is crucial here, and the stamina impact isn’t too great compared to the benefits. Upgrading these armor sets reduces their impact on stamina further, mitigating most of the negatives they have.
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