Attack/Movement speed: Rangers have early access to a large number of passives that boost attacks speed, as well as some of the only movement speed perks in the game.Evasion: A large number of dexterity nodes means Rangers will infrequently be hit by enemy attacks, completely bypassing HP loss and related status effects.While she has some access to wands, shields, and axes, the Ranger is all but cut off from blunt instruments like clubs, maces, and staves. Relying on high accuracy, fast rate of attack, and devastating critical hits, the Ranger is closest to abilities relating to penetrating weapons such as swords, claws, daggers, and (of course) bows. The Ranger spawns with 30 dexterity, 14 intelligence, and 14 strength in the southeast skill area.
Ranger: Dexterity aligned Initial attributes You’ll also be disadvantaged by the fact that early-game skill gem rewards will, by default, be strength and intelligence aligned… not particularly useful for an archer! That said, skill gems can be traded easily, so if you’re determined to create a bow-wielding Scotsman, it’s possible – just difficult. In other words, while you can certainly create an arrow-slinging Templar if you want, you’ll be “wasting” at least twelve skill points just to get him into the appropriate part of the passive skill tree. By contrast, a Templar (whose home is in the exact opposite corner of the ability tree) would need to spend at least eighteen skill points to reach his first archery ability! For anyone choosing the Ranger (and to a lesser extent, the Duelist and the Shadow), getting bow bonuses will be possible by level 6, if not sooner.
You see, while any class could access bow-based passive abilities, the dexterity-centric Ranger begins her leveling process extremely close to the bow ability nodes. Of course, you might wonder what the point of choosing a class is at all, which brings us to the second most important point: your class dictates which skills are easiest to acquire. The first and most important thing you need to know about character creation in Path of Exile is that every class has access to the same passive and active skills. In other words, no matter who you pick, you can (in theory) create whatever type of build you’d like. Note: See the interactive Path of Exile passive skill tree for reference throughout this article. The wrong decision could end in dozens of wasted gameplay hours! Luckily, this overview was designed to help you pick the profession that’ll best suit your digital deathdealing playstyle. Sure, all the lore-heavy descriptions sound intriguing enough, but actually choosing a class could be a big commitment. If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands who have been enticed to try the free-to-play hack ‘n’ slash Path of Exile during its open beta, you might find yourself stumped before the game even begins… at the character class select screen!