Class Overview: Part 4 – Ranger (PvP)

This article has been edited to fit the game update of December 8th.

“While one may expect an outdoor type like the Ranger high up in a tree, or tracking some foe across a dusty plain, it is equally common to find them frequenting their local Public House (or wherever ale is served). For it is there that they pick up the work, and the skills, to track the most dangerous animals of all.” – The Emperor’s Guide to Thandar.

“The least dangerous ranger is a visible one. When they vanish, they intend to strike.” – The Emperor’s Guide to Thandar.

“The movements of Rangers are difficult to predict. Their skills were learned through family and other mentors rather than from a book. They will find what they wish to find, and be found when they wish to be found.” – The Emperor’s Guide to Thandar.

Lore from Hero Realms Blog Post

The Ranger is another popular archetype in games. It’s usually portrayed as a damage-dealer with some tricks and shenanigans up its sleeve and that is more or less how the character acts in Hero Realms as well. The Ranger can stack its deck and has more draw than any other class, which makes it a very dangerous opponent.

The Ranger’s skill is called Track. It allows the Ranger to look at the top of their deck – discard some of the cards and put the rest back on top of the deck in the order of their choosing. It can evolve in two directions. One direction where it is able to look at and discard more cards and one where the track skill is cheaper so it can be done more often.

The class ability allows the Ranger to stun a champion and eventually draw a card too. As with all of the other skill trees, it can be taken in two directions. For the Ranger, it means one path where it can stun more champions and one path where it gives the Ranger the possibility of getting to draw more cards by picking up bows and arrows from the discard pile.

The Ranger’s armor choices are a little different than most other classes’. Like the Cleric, it doesn’t have a low health option with its armor. Both choices are disabled at 30 health, while the Fighter, the Thief and the Wizard all have a 10 health option. The two choices seem to appeal to different play styles. The Hunter’s Cloak allows the player to choose between gold and health if they do enough damage. The Sureshot Bracer however deals damage if an arrow is played – linking this armor choice to the other arrow-driven abilities and cards.

Remember that any cards with both bold and italic text has different functions in PvP and PvE. Therefore look carefully at the italics on the Flashfire Arrow. You still get the card draw, but the damage output is determined by this text.

The below schematic attempts to give an overview of the Ranger’s starting deck and the upgrades available from treasures. 

Keep in mind that all of the RoT and LV treasures have been added in their row – despite the fact that only half of them will be attainable for a hero. Also, if a treasure card replaces a card in the starting deck, only the new additions have been counted in the treasure row.

The Ranger has the second highest starting health – 58 health – resting comfortably between the Fighter’s 60 health and the Cleric’s 55 health.

Along with the Thief and Wizard, the Ranger has a gold potential of 9 in their starting deck. It is however limited by the Horn of Calling which gives a 1-gold discount to only champions. If there are no champions available to purchase, its gold potential drops to equal that of the Fighter. The Ranger has no treasure cards that are able to improve on its gold profile.

Like the Fighter and the Cleric, the Ranger has a little bit of defense in their deck if they choose to get the Snake Pet. But since it only has 1 non-guard defense it is easily dealt with. Along with that, it has no heal and its damage potential superseeds only that of the Cleric (10 vs 7 damage). This means that the Ranger is very dependent on buying cards to strengthen their deck.

The Ranger’s strength lies in its draw potential. The Ranger has the highest draw potential among all characters (5 draws) in their deck – narrowly beating the Wizard and the Thief which each has 4 possible draws. The draws of the Ranger are not always guaranteed although they are more reliable than any other class’. Because while the black arrows might only trigger a draw if a bow has already been played, the Ranger’s ability to rearrange and stack its deck goes a long way to helping it do just that. Both the Light Crossbow and the Unending Quiver heightens the possibility of triggering these draws too.

As the only character, the Ranger has 3 special abilities where most other classes have only 1 or none. And these are not just trash abilities like with the Fighter’s or Wizard’s either. The Ranger has three treasures that add tricks to its toolkit. The Snake Pet is a weak champion, but it either triggers a draw or is able to stun a guard. And there aren’t even any restrictions on this guard. It can be a fully Cleric-buffed guard and the Snake Pet stuns it no problem. The other Special abilities are the Unending Quiver, which can draw an arrow from the discard pile into hand (in addition to also drawing a card) and the Pathfinder’s Compass, which allows the player to look at the top card of their deck and either discard it or put it back.

“Overall, it’s best to not worry about being hunted by the Rangers of Thandar. If they want you, they will get you.“ – The Emperor’s Guide to Thandar.

Lore from Hero Realms Blog Post