Good CRPG for playing a classic Ranger-type?

[mistformsquirrl]

So I've been kicking around in Guild Wars 2 of late, and really enjoying my Ranger there - it's kinda put me back in mind of my first MMORPG character ever (not to mention some of my earlierst CRPG characters) - and one of my favorite archetypes in fantasy... the classic bow wielding ranger with an animal companion.

I'm also kinda wanting something a bit more RPG than your typical MMO experience; GW2 is fun, but there's not exactly a lot of depth in terms of player involvement in the story (at least as far as I've gotten.)

Anyone have any good recommendations for this kind of thing?

Games I've already played (not that I won't play them again mind you; just that if I can find something new, so much the better) -

Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2
Icewind Dale 1 and 2
Skyrim*
Dragon Age: Origins**

Probably others that I'll remember as people start throwing out recommendations >.>

Anyways the chief requirements I'm looking for are:

Let's me use a bow and have an animal companion - preferably some level of choice in what kind of companion I get (bonus points for a wolf), the ability to switch to melee when necessary (and be somewhat competent at it) a plus - bonus points if I can use a spear and shield instead of two weapons; but that's just pushing it, I know.

Finally, but still very important - I gotta be able to customize the main character at least a bit - choice of gender is a minimum requirement. Being locked into someone else's main character just bugs the crap out of me.

*Unless I'm missing a mod for an animal companion it misses the mark sadly.

**Unless I misremember you pretty much had to fake it with the Mabari in a party slot, but it did work; and it was fun, so there's that.

[Winthur]

Baldur's Gate 2 offers you an "Archer" kit for your Ranger. It makes you a menace in fights, letting you excel in a ranged weapon of your choice and gives you an extra skill to give you that extra edge over an archery based Fighter.

Before that, Baldur's Gate 1 is basically a game in which ranged weapons will carry you through early game at least until acquisition of magic melee weapons and even then they're still tremendously useful.

An animal companion can't be gained in BG2 through normal means. A very simple glitch, however, lets your Ranger cast the arcane Summon Familiar spell which doesn't really have a huge impact on the game and should be fine for flavor purposes.

To do this, pause the game, drink a potion in your inventory, and swap its slot with the Summon Familiar spell. Your character should cast the spell. Unless this got fixed.

I guess you can also play a roguelike game. As an oldschool roguelike player, I recommend ADOM. There's an Archer class, it synergizes pretty well with Elves, and it can be competent in melee too. Spear & shield is viable. You can summon yourself an animal companion through, for example, the Scroll of Familiar Summoning (though that will come later in the game). And you can even answer questions during character creation to affect character's stats. (Too bad your character won't survive long enough for this to matter)

[Stabbey]

Well, it doesn't have all the features you want, but Divinity 2: Dragon Knight Saga has some of them.

You can play as a bow-using ranger (gender and appearance of your choice), and you can get a companion, but it's an undead monster stitched together kind of thing. You can do a some customization of the creature's appearance as well, but not enough to make it look like a wolf or even a werewolf. You can switch between bow and melee weapons with a touch of a button, but there are no spears in the game.

The way the attribute points work, Strength boosts melee damage, Dexterity boosts ranged damage, so you'd split your points... BUT you can also find fairly common bows and melee weapons that do higher magic damage than normal, and all magic damage is boosted by Intelligence, so you could use that one stat to support both a magic bow and magic melee weapon.

I'm sure there must be a mod for Skyrim that lets you use an animal companion. There are at least some spells in Skyrim that let you summon a familiar.

[Zen Master]

There are war dogs in Skyrim. And archery seems to be pretty effective. The dogs can't tank, though - but they are fine companions.

However, it might be worth noting that Sheogorath stole mine. I'm still angry with him for that.

[Divayth Fyr]

There are war dogs in Skyrim. And archery seems to be pretty effective. The dogs can't tank, though - but they are fine companions.
As long as you can get it on PC, mods will allow one to get most things they'd need - having tanking dogs/wolves isn't a problem ;)

[mistformsquirrl]

Well I suppose I could go mod hunting in Skyrim again, it has been awhile... and I do enjoy that game <._.>

[Gnoman]

If you don't mind ASCII graphics, ADOM would be a good fit.

[Cespenar]

I'd third ADOM. Rangers do start out with animal companions, IIRC. Also, you could tame other beasts if you level up your music high enough, and have a handy instrument.

[Divayth Fyr]

I forgot to mention Divine Divinity - it's a solid game which will allow you to be a competent archer/meele fighter. The only problem is that you only get summons (as opposed to animal companions), and the only animal among them (IIRC) is a rat...

And with some mods both Oblivion and Morrowind will fit most of the requirements ;)

[Wookieetank]

If you're looking for a challange as an Archer you could try out Demon's Souls or Dark Souls. You don't get an animal companion in either, but you can spec out in whatever you want, and you can summon in other players and pretend that they're animals... :smallwink:

[Ailurus]

Well I suppose I could go mod hunting in Skyrim again, it has been awhile... and I do enjoy that game <._.>

There's a couple dogs you can get in vanilla Skyrim, but Dawnguard lets you get the wardogs. And the Dawnguard wardogs are armored huskies, how can you not like that? (or you could join the vampires and get the death hounds, but those guys need a mod to turn their leveling on).

[Grinner]

Any of the more recent Elder Scrolls games would work.

Alternatively, Fallout 3 also fits the bill...in a sense. You can get a dog companion named Dog Meat.

[hobbitkniver]

*Unless I'm missing a mod for an animal companion it misses the mark sadly.

**Unless I misremember you pretty much had to fake it with the Mabari in a party slot, but it did work; and it was fun, so there's that.

Well for Skyrim, I'm pretty sure there is a mod as I've seen it in videos though it doesn't seem to be popular so it might not work very well. As for DA:O, there is most certainly a ranger class. You start as a rogue, move into the ranger specialization and then you can get some pets. I had a bear, though I'm not sure of the other options.

[mistformsquirrl]

There's a couple dogs you can get in vanilla Skyrim, but Dawnguard lets you get the wardogs. And the Dawnguard wardogs are armored huskies, how can you not like that? (or you could join the vampires and get the death hounds, but those guys need a mod to turn their leveling on).

I'm not sure how I missed the armored huskies on my previous run <o.O> I'm going to have to do that.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Does Geneforge count? I'm only partaway through the first game, but you learn to make critters of various types. You can't choose immediately what critters you can make, but as you learn to make more, you can change your party composition that way. And if you keep them around, they keep leveling up. There's also archery, magic, and melee combat options, though I don't know how viable it is to swap between archery and melee.

[mistformsquirrl]

Geneforge... I have heard the name, but I know literally nothing of it <o.O> Make your own creatures you say?

[Grinner]

Geneforge... I have heard the name, but I know literally nothing of it <o.O> Make your own creatures you say?

Yeah...don't get your hopes up. It's nothing as dramatic as what you're thinking. It's an isometric (pseudo-3D) RPG known more for its plot and themes than its graphics and gameplay. I second it on principle, but realize that "create your own monster" means "choose from a list of predefined NPCs and tinker around with its stats a little".

Edit: Still, the demos are free from www.spiderwebsoftware.com, and the entire series can be had for $15 from GOG.

[Morbis Meh]

Well I have recently started playing it and it isn't at the same level of Skyrim but Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning fits most of the bill: Archery (check) animal, companion (you can summon a monster to pal around with you), switch into melee on the fly (check), shield/spear... I am not so sure about the spear but you can sword and board it and customizable character (check). Some people dislike the game, others like it, I am fully enjoying a rogue caster right now and abusing chakrams is a lot of fun.

[Tylorious]

Well I have recently started playing it and it isn't at the same level of Skyrim but Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning fits most of the bill: Archery (check) animal, companion (you can summon a monster to pal around with you), switch into melee on the fly (check), shield/spear... I am not so sure about the spear but you can sword and board it and customizable character (check). Some people dislike the game, others like it, I am fully enjoying a rogue caster right now and abusing chakrams is a lot of fun.

i will second all of this with an emphasis on the chakrams

[mistformsquirrl]

True, I have Amalur and do like it quite a bit; may have to give that another go here soon too!

[ObadiahtheSlim]

I'd third ADOM. Rangers do start out with animal companions, IIRC. Also, you could tame other beasts if you level up your music high enough, and have a handy instrument.

Rangers don't start with a pet nor do they have music (although race may give it). If you want to start with a pet, then go with Bard and hope your random skill set gives Archery. Not starting with Two Weapon Fighting isn't a big deal.
*Spoiler*
There is a guaranteed source of Two Weapon Fighting. Wait until dwarftown before messing with the arena. Talk to the Dwarf Elder about "Quests" and he will eventually send you down to arena to become the champion. This will get you the golden gladius when you become champion. Give the sword to the gladiator in dwarftown to get Two Weapon Fighting plus a few other very useful skills and some weapon marks.

[Cespenar]

Rangers don't start with a pet nor do they have music (although race may give it). If you want to start with a pet, then go with Bard and hope your random skill set gives Archery. Not starting with Two Weapon Fighting isn't a big deal.
*Spoiler*
There is a guaranteed source of Two Weapon Fighting. Wait until dwarftown before messing with the arena. Talk to the Dwarf Elder about "Quests" and he will eventually send you down to arena to become the champion. This will get you the golden gladius when you become champion. Give the sword to the gladiator in dwarftown to get Two Weapon Fighting plus a few other very useful skills and some weapon marks.

Oh, sorry. I mixed it up with Bard, apparently. A Hurthling should guarantee that Archery, though.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

True, but if you are gonna start with a big dog for a pet, you might as well be playing farmer. Double weapon marks on spears is really nice.

[Lothorn]

Might try the diablo 2 expansion. It has a class called a druid, but its pretty much a renamed ranger. One of the skills also let you summon a wolf or dire wolf.

[Wookieetank]

Might try the diablo 2 expansion. It has a class called a druid, but its pretty much a renamed ranger. One of the skills also let you summon a wolf or dire wolf.

You can also turn into a bear!

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I also just realized that the Torchlight games fulfill this requirement. You have a pet who can carry loot, who fights alongside you. You can upgrade your pet's abilities with gear. You have a free choice of combat styles. Though...no bow in the first game; you have a musket instead. The second game has bows.

[Fargazer]

I also just realized that the Torchlight games fulfill this requirement. You have a pet who can carry loot, who fights alongside you. You can upgrade your pet's abilities with gear. You have a free choice of combat styles. Though...no bow in the first game; you have a musket instead. The second game has bows.

Torchlight 1 does indeed have bows.

Of course, as hack and slash, both of those games don't really fit the idea of having a serious involvement with the story. Its easy to play through those games without actually reading the dialogue and miss just about nothing. Plus TC1 doesn't let you choose your gender, or really customize at all.

[mistformsquirrl]

This is true hehe <;_;> I own both TL1 and 2; and while both are fun, they don't really quite work for what I'm after here <>_<> But that's OK; I appreciate everyone's ideas just the same <^_^>