Greenmage still better Ranger?

[zArgan]

Hey,

I started playing Solasta a long time ago on game pass but had to stop after some hours.

In the past most people said that the greenmage is better when I like to play with an archer class because of his versatility.

Is there any advantage to pick a ranger now?

Or is the greenmage still just the better archer?

I mean he can have all the pros that the ranger has too like hunters mark, casting berrys for food or choosing lowlife for lockpocking.

Thanks a lot.

[Spicy Camel]

Green mage is caster with full wizard spell progression, ranger is martial with multiple attacks per round, they are two different things.

[Aimee]

Rangers can equip medium armor, shield and any bow type. And also gain extra attack at level 5.

Green mage can equip only light armor and shortbows, and dont gain extra attack.

Other than those differences Green mages are better rangers, if you want to do spellcasting with them. But for pure bow damage output, the Ranger is better.

If you want to make a melee character, you are better off with a ranger, because of the shield and option to select from different fighting styles. But you will still need the warcaster feat to cast spells if you have something equiped in both hands... or switch to your secondairy loadout.

For a character that can do both melee and ranged, you are better off with a ranger. You can equip a dex based weapon in one loadout with a shield. And a bow of choice in the other loadout where you can also cast spells with.

All in all, Green mages are stronger and more versatile in most cases. So yes i would say they are the stronger option overal. But if you ever need a melee option, like a secondary tank. Or run out of spellslots, then the ranger is a bit better. But those cases should be a lot more rare.

[Azure]

Both are good for different reasons ~ primarily one is a Caster with a side order of ranged combat and the other is a good all-rounder in Melee or Ranged with utility casting.

Presently playing with a Green Mage and Swift Hunter Ranger in the same group and its been a good match up. The Mage and the Druid do solid ranged support when not slinging spells and the Swift Hunter and Spellblade mince things in melee but are both able to do ranged if needed.

[zArgan]

Thanks. Is there any difference between both when using a bow? Or are they equally strong with it?

Maybe the ranger have some skills that make him more efficient in bow usage?

I don’t care about using a ranger in melee. :)

And do hunters mark count for your ranger when it was casted by the greenmage?

Thanks

Originally posted by Azure:

Both are good for different reasons ~ primarily one is a Caster with a side order of ranged combat and the other is a good all-rounder in Melee or Ranged with utility casting.

Presently playing with a Green Mage and Swift Hunter Ranger in the same group and its been a good match up. The Mage and the Druid do solid ranged support when not slinging spells and the Swift Hunter and Spellblade mince things in melee but are both able to do ranged if needed.

[zArgan]

Is the medium armor and the shield a big difference while the green mage also can use protection spells?

I want this character mostly stay ranged so I’m not sure if the extra attack and better armor is worth choosing a ranger over a greenmage.

When it comes to damage it sounds like the ranger is the better option. Or can the greenmage compare with it without the extra attack?

Originally posted by Aimee:

Rangers can equip medium armor, shield and any bow type. And also gain extra attack at level 5.

Green mage can equip only light armor and shortbows, and dont gain extra attack.

Other than those differences Green mages are better rangers, if you want to do spellcasting with them. But for pure bow damage output, the Ranger is better.

If you want to make a melee character, you are better off with a ranger, because of the shield and option to select from different fighting styles. But you will still need the warcaster feat to cast spells if you have something equiped in both hands... or switch to your secondairy loadout.

For a character that can do both melee and ranged, you are better off with a ranger. You can equip a dex based weapon in one loadout with a shield. And a bow of choice in the other loadout where you can also cast spells with.

All in all, Green mages are stronger and more versatile in most cases. So yes i would say they are the stronger option overal. But if you ever need a melee option, like a secondary tank. Or run out of spellslots, then the ranger is a bit better. But those cases should be a lot more rare.

[Spicy Camel]

Green mage damage comes from wizard spells like fireballs. Bow is at best secondary weapon, like another cantrip.
If you insist on using only bow, ranger will do much more damage per round.

[Grinnar]

Rangers have such cool abilities, and the two can barely be compared.

[Frostfeather]

Greemage will always be a better character if you use your spells well.

If it's damage you're concerned about, not only will the Greenmage have very good area damage potential, but the ability to give themselves and others Advantage more easily gives the group more damage overall. And Entangling Shot gives your group more of that without even using Concentration, which is extremely valuable.

I usually have my Greenmage pre-Haste themselves, then use a spell *and* an attack every turn until combat is dying down, then just attack twice. Works very well.

[mk11]

Ranger does more damage with bows than Greenmage does with cantrips or bows. Greenmage does more damage with per-long rest abilities. Depends how often you take long rests.

[Aimee]

Originally posted by zArgan:

Thanks. Is there any difference between both when using a bow? Or are they equally strong with it?

Originally posted by zArgan:

When it comes to damage it sounds like the ranger is the better option. Or can the greenmage compare with it without the extra attack?

Like i already explained in my post, there are quite a few differences.

Rangers get extra attack, that means you can attack with a weapon twice in a round instead of once. This is not something Green Mages get, they are always stuck on a single attack with any weapon per round.
If you get to make 2 attacks instead of one per round, you will do more damage with your bow or other martial weapon.

Shortbows are generaly the weakest version of the existing bows. And since Ranger can equip any bow (shortbow, longbow, crossbow), you deal more damage on average with bows on a ranger because you have more choice.
If you get that magical longbow or crossbow thats stronger than your shortbow, you cant equip it on the Green Mage, but your ranger can switch freely between them.

Green Mage is still stronger, if you take spellcasting into account. Any ability that has limited uses, tends to be stronger than weapons that you can use without having to recharge it.
This means that the Green Mage spellcasting is much stronger than the Ranger. Not just stronger than the Ranger spellcasting, but also stronger than the Ranger's bow or melee attacks. This means that Green Mage will always have a higher potential to deal damage than the Ranger does. But this advantage gets lost if you either; are out of spellslots, or choose realy bad spells.

Originally posted by zArgan:

And do hunters mark count for your ranger when it was casted by the greenmage?

The description of spells are generaly pretty clear what it does. In the case of Huntersmark, it adds damage to weapon attacks (not spells) for the character that cast it. Only on the target you cast it on.

Originally posted by zArgan:

I want this character mostly stay ranged so I’m not sure if the extra attack and better armor is worth choosing a ranger over a greenmage.

Then there is little point in taking the ranger if you look for pure damage output. Also spells can be used outside of combat, and the Green Mage gets more known spells and more spellslots.
Ranger is not bad, but you certainly wont get as much useage out of it if you dont use it in melee combat once in a while.

[Grinnar]

Originally posted by mk11:

Ranger does more damage with bows than Greenmage does with cantrips or bows. Greenmage does more damage with per-long rest abilities. Depends how often you take long rests.

Yeah, rangers have higher sustainable damage. Plus you can get that one that gets the reactionary bow attack as well. Which is super cool.

[BigRockWall]

Swiftblade Ranger is the strongest archer out of all the ranger classes as well as the green mage. The 3rd attack granted by the swiftblade is added to your main attack action with any weapon, as opposed to the archer ranger subclass getting their 3rd attack as a bonus action and bow only. Bonus action for the attack gets in the way of using hunters mark.

Also, couple times per rest swiftblade can do paladin level melee damage by activating battle focus for an extra 2d8 per swing (which is added to all 4 attacks in 1 round if you don't spend the bonus action on moving hunters mark). I know OP says they don't care about melee, but the option is there where it is NOT for the green mage.

All in all, I would take a sorc over a green mage when it comes to casters, and a ranger over a green mage when it comes to martials. Green mage is a useful hybrid for certain compositions, but far less useful now that sorc and druid and swiftblade ranger all exist.

[THAC0]

Originally posted by Spicy Camel:

Green mage is caster with full wizard spell progression, ranger is martial with multiple attacks per round, they are two different things.

yeah not sure why you would say one is better then another there trying to do things in completely differnt ways

Idealy you want something like a Physicol Damage dealer AND an Arcane damage dealer for any situation mind you but still

[Frostfeather]

Thinking about it, I'd actually recommend a Warlock with Pact of the Blade to op. Either the Timekeeper one for Haste or the Tree for Ranger-like spells.

I did a Timekeeper archer and he was fantastic. 3 attacks at level 5 with Haste, you don't have to conserve your spells because you get them back on a short rest, and the higher level spells like Mind Twist are extremely useful. It's an option that's more martial oriented than a Greenmage and more magic oriented than a Ranger. Those old posts you're remembering didn't have newer classes and subclasses available so there are more options now.

[zArgan]

Do Pact of the Blade also count for bows?

Originally posted by night4:

Thinking about it, I'd actually recommend a Warlock with Pact of the Blade to op. Either the Timekeeper one for Haste or the Tree for Ranger-like spells.

I did a Timekeeper archer and he was fantastic. 3 attacks at level 5 with Haste, you don't have to conserve your spells because you get them back on a short rest, and the higher level spells like Mind Twist are extremely useful. It's an option that's more martial oriented than a Greenmage and more magic oriented than a Ranger. Those old posts you're remembering didn't have newer classes and subclasses available.