Does Mystic Ranger Make Rangers OP or Balanced?

[CyberThread]

This is taken into account that it is a full BAB and thinking of it equal along the thoughts of a duskblade.


Does Mystic ranger come on par of atleast a duskblade?

[Snowbluff]

It's pretty good. It makes Ranger T3, in my book.

With Sword of the Arcane Order, it's OP until level 10.

[tyckspoon]

Ranger spells aren't earth-shaking, but getting more of them and getting them at a reasonable time certainly helps them out (especially with Spell Compendium and other expanded spell-list access) and there's a couple of notable heavyweights on their added 5th level of new spells. A Mystic Ranger with Sword of the Arcane Order is probably in the running for best class in the game right up until it smacks into that wall at level 10 and stops gaining new spell levels. Certainly among the best for anything that doesn't require prestige classing.

[CyberThread]

Hmm, intresting

[TentacleSurpris]

I always understood that "Mystic Ranger" was the name of a class and that "Ranger" was a different class, and since Sword of the Arcane Order requires "Ranger level 4" then a mystic ranger doesn't qualify for it, any more than a Sorcerer qualifies for a "Wizard level X" feat. The classes are kinda the same but have different names, spells, abilities, proficiencies, and everything.

SotAO requires "Ranger 4th of Mystra; member of..."

From Dragon Magazine 336: "When a character elects to take a level in Ranger or Mystic Ranger, he may not later take levels in the other class."

It's an "other class." Not Ranger. No Sword of the Arcane Order. But, cheating hasn't stopped people on the CharOp board before...

[Spuddles]

It's pretty good. It makes Ranger T3, in my book.

With Sword of the Arcane Order, it's OP until level 10.

It's practically Lightning Warrior. It sacrifices animal companion for flavor....


I always understood that "Mystic Ranger" was the name of a class and that "Ranger" was a different class, and since Sword of the Arcane Order requires "Ranger level 4" then a mystic ranger doesn't qualify for it, any more than a Sorcerer qualifies for a "Wizard level X" feat. The classes are kinda the same but have different names, spells, abilities, proficiencies, and everything.

SotAO requires "Ranger 4th of Mystra; member of..."

From Dragon Magazine 336: "When a character elects to take a level in Ranger or Mystic Ranger, he may not later take levels in the other class."

It's an "other class." Not Ranger. No Sword of the Arcane Order. But, cheating hasn't stopped people on the CharOp board before...

Mystic Ranger is an alternative base class. It is still considered a ranger.

[Karnith]

Importantly, the Mystic Ranger class description says this:

The mystic ranger is a variant ranger. Unless otherwise noted, a mystic ranger advances in the same manner as a ranger (same Hit Die, base attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, skill points, and so on). When a character elects to take a level of ranger or mystic ranger, he may not later take levels in the other class. This prevents the character from gaining the benefits of a 1st-level ranger twice.
(Emphasis mine)

Variant classes were introduced in Unearthed Arcana, and the Mystic Ranger description includes the "may not later take levels" clause because the way that variant classes work with multiclassing is weird and vague. See the SRD/UA section on multiclassing rules for variant classes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm) for more details, but variant classes are basically treated as the same class.

[WhatBigTeeth]

Without SotAO, Mystic Ranger is pretty balanced with the Duskblade until level 13 or so (it has less damage potential, but more utility effects, and some interesting to play with).

With SotAO, Mystic Ranger is dramatically stronger than the Duskblade until very high levels, and even when the Duskblade gets level 5 spells and full attack channeling, the MR still has better spell effects.

But the Mystic Ranger's advancement is just designed terribly, so I'd recommend using the Bard or Duskblade's spell progressions if you're aiming for a Ranger fix, and fleshing the level 5/6 slots out with Druid and Cleric spells that include some spell level discounts (like the Bard's level 6 Hindsight/Irresistible Dance or the Duskblade's level 5 Polar Ray/Clenched Fist). That way, you can give the Ranger some abilities that are appropriate for high levels without the ridiculous front-loading that Mystic Ranger tends to do.