With the release of new Archetype Power Set info we can now look forward to builds for the Ranged/Support (Partisan) Spec of Rangers. Let's see how creative we can be with this build and also let's theorycraft builds of the Hunter and Gunner Specs and perhaps help the Devs with ideas on how to make those work best for the Ranger.
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Honestly I'm unlikely to make a Partisan, I always went Defender over Corruptor for instance. I just like having all my support powers as soon as possible.
I'll be all over Gunner, though, when it releases. Mmmmmm sweet sweet tankmagery*. I'll probably make a Psi/* Gunner in honor of my old Fortunata. Then of course a Vamp/* Gunner; Self defenses AND life siphoning? Yes Please! I could see myself making an Atropic/* Gunner as well. Having the mitigation to really survive the DoT nature of your attacks is a good thing.
*Note that I don't actually expect Gunners to be "Tank-mages" in the slang sense, rather simply as a Ranged character who's NOT a glass cannon.
Yeah what Im hoping for with the Gunners is to have "burst protection" What I mean is to be able to be nigh invulnerable for a set amount of time and then your def and/or resistance drops and then for a smaller amount of time you are extra vulnerable. So you cant be a true tankmage but can let's say if the tank goes down you can have enough protection to give the team time to retreat and recover. I never used the power in CoX but I guess it would worked similar to Moment of Glory. That's my hope anyways.
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I'm also really excited about Gunner, and always wondered why that wasn't included in CoH. My main thing is that, while it's great to have defense, I think its utility might be limited if the focus is all on ranged combat. However, that would likely give a great edge in ranged vs ranged fights.
When I ultimately use Gunner, I expect I will do a build that has a melee tertiary so that I can be sure that I'm a bit better rounded. I'm still deciding what I will do, but I'm thinking something that is "metal" based, armor plus metal attacks.
Been rewatching Gurren Lagann lately - a "drill blast" might be fun.
How soon after launch do we think we can expect gunner?
Name: Safehouse
Ranger: Gunner
Primary: Force Blast
Secondary: Atrophic Aura
Tertiary: Kinetic Melee
Travel Power: Parkour
Status: Traveling. Following rumors of a huge city in Massachusetts that is teeming with supers.
I suspect the Gunner will end up being the ranged tank of sorts.
I suspect most will use the Gunner to be a melee range fighter who uses range weapons :p
Man, I have this mental image of being surrounded by enemies, using my (melee) tertiary to knock some heads and take some names while popping defensive cooldowns, and then using a PBAoE to knock them all back and hopping back to range.
Might not be possible, but that's my mental image and I love it.
I am so excited for gunner.
Name: Safehouse
Ranger: Gunner
Primary: Force Blast
Secondary: Atrophic Aura
Tertiary: Kinetic Melee
Travel Power: Parkour
Status: Traveling. Following rumors of a huge city in Massachusetts that is teeming with supers.
Well here's how I think the Gunner is gonna be like. I picture Stalwart protection as the heavy armour of the game, Gladiator protection as the medium armour of the game, and Gunner protection as the light armour of the game. I expect a gunner not to be able to out survive an enforcer no matter what secondary that enforcer picked, but I do expect the gunner to out survive a hunter and partisan.
not my video just one I lke ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-SdIN0hsM
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I don't even want a Gunner per se. I want an Assault/Protection spec :) Something akin to Spines, which had range and melee. I don't even need that many range attacks. Just enough to fill out concepts without making them strictly melee.
Like a martial artist who uses ninja stars or throwing knives. I don't want to use a whole third power set just for that, but I want those attacks to actually be useful as well.
This is probably how it's going to shake out. Rangers will have a little extra protection just due to being able to attack from out of the enemies melee reach, while the Enforcers have little choice but to get right up in the target's face, so they need to be a little tougher.
On paper I'd say you are correct, but the buff/debuff tools available in the Hunter and Partisan secondaries need to be considered when calculating survival (which I am assuming will be very much like Blaster and Corruptor secondaries). Many of those abilities kept enemies away or debuffed them in some way as to make killing them faster. So while a Gunner might outlast a Hunter or Partisan in a head-to-head contest with an enemy in melee range, the Hunter and Partisan might be able to kill enemies faster (e.g. before the enemy even gets in melee) using the "best defense is a good offense" mentality, especially if abilities like "Build Up" are restricted to Hunter class secondaries and Partisans get a slew of debuff powers.
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