Ranger vs. Huntress DPS (w/skins, preferences etc)

[RedKirby]

For those who do run a ranger/huntress from time to time, which do you prefer? And with which costume(s) if any?

I know the theoretical numerical comparisons, i.e. tuxedo ranger has more damage/hp but is much slower than SL huntress. I'm looking for actual game experiences from people who use them and why they prefer their setups.

I personally like the outlander ranger mainly because it can float and yes, so can the EV, but variety is the spice of life. It does seem weaker (and has less HP) than SL huntress.I can go with a tuxedo ranger but not sure if it's worth the speed penalty.

[Frezmo]

Jester

[Acen]

In my experience the slower speed but extra damage is ok when fighting bosses. I like speed though when fighting mobs. So I made different huntress/ranger to fit what I intend to fight.

[🐇]

Huntress has better abilities. Her invisibility is great, especially on maps like Greater Turkey or on the Old One. Ranger invisibility is terrible. His ab2 is better as long as you're at point blank range and you're not fighting a breakpoint boss, otherwise huntress ab2 is significantly better.

SL Huntress actually has more HP than Tuxedo Ranger. His main advantage is that he does more damage and has better pet damage scaling. Besides that, he also looks stylish.

My ranger is an AFK-only monkey ranger for Volcanic Eruption. I use huntress for anything else.

[Black Mambo № 5]

I use both depending on situation.

For Old One fight I prefer SL Huntress becasue that little extra speed means you can dodge or get out of a sticky situation quickly. Not to mention you can go through all the 3 cycles with her invisibility on, so you don't have to worry about mobs attacking you and blocking you out. Ranger Invisibility on the other hand drains out before you even reach the head/face level on the 1st cycle. Its just trash with the amount of mana it consumes. Not to mention it also has a higher cooldown time for his invisibility field compared to Huntress's.

For bosses like ToL Cupids I prefer the Tux Ranger because more damage and if you're like me using the old-school builds, then on the Boss wave you barely have to move, so more damage output is preferable.

For running around in public games killing trash mobs I have a Outlander Ranger with a flamethrower.

I use my SL Huntress more often than the Rangers though. SL Huntress is just too good overall.

[RedKirby]

Nice. Exactly the sort of feedback I was looking for. Actually forgot about the ab1 differences which matter quite a lot. Ok, looks like I'll run an outlander, tuxedo and SL huntress. Got 40 spots so no reason not to.

Is the the flamethrower the core drop weapon from Aquanos or reward, BM#5? I used to use a depth charge just for fun, but I noticed the core drop version of the depth charge absolutely sucks since it never has any projectile speed so it has awful range.

[SerOffline-Alot]

Possible QoL:
Make Ranger invis the same as huntress. Afterall, it is the same ability.

[Sugar]

Originally posted by SerOffline-Alot:

Possible QoL:
Make Ranger invis the same as huntress. Afterall, it is the same ability.

Doesn't the ranger's invis also cloak nearby allies? Seems like a good trade off for it to cost more.

[SerOffline-Alot]

Originally posted by Toomuchsugar:

Doesn't the ranger's invis also cloak nearby allies? Seems like a good trade off for it to cost more.

I don't know, I've only used Huntress over the Ranger. I like the long range Ab2 over the Rangers pointblank one. Just seemed like everyone here was saying that the Huntress invis is much better and lasts much longer. Group invisibility seems like it was thrown in by Trendy, the minute before release.

edit: the rangers Ab2 gives himself, nearby allies AND hero defenses invis. But defenses can still be seen. Probably if there is nothing nearby.

[🐇]

Originally posted by SerOffline-Alot:

edit: the rangers Ab2 gives himself, nearby allies AND hero defenses invis. But defenses can still be seen. Probably if there is nothing nearby.

I don't know if I understand this last part you wrote. Yes, it makes defenses invisible, and that causes them to lose aggro, so ogres walk directly to your cores and destroy them. In other words, you can lose a map just by turning this ability on. It also interferes with Huntress invisibility and costs a huge amount of mana.

Under most circumstances the Ranger invisibility is considerably worse than useless!

[stealthkiller22]

it depends on the build though you wont always lose your cores if you got walls covering them the ogres just get stuck cause they think nothing there lol it also hides allies so heros

now unless your minion wall for example is not blocking enemies path to the crystal then it a different story cause they will still follow that path the ability is somewhat situational depending on the type of build used

[SerOffline-Alot]

The description for the Rangers Ability says "defenses as well, but they can be seen" So I assume if there is nothing to Aggro to, an Ogre will detect X tower. The Rangers Ab2 is s**t and should be changed to the Huntress's ability(or completly revamped) as they are pretty close to the same for DPS.

[stealthkiller22]

does it consume more mana if you are hiding the defenses i remember playing campaign temple of water just going invisible and was nearly invisible the whole wave even late waves but was mostly targetting harbingers and i only had like 1.8k points in the ab1

alot of the mobs i was killing was dropping alot mana aka the ogres and harbingers

[Black Mambo № 5]

As Plane mentioned -- it interferes with Huntress Invisibility -- basically if you have a Huntress in your party who is using her Invisibility, and if she gets under the influence of Ranger's InvisField, she becomes "visible". Which is kinda counter productive!

Also the mana costs for having it AoE and keeping others as invisible isn't viable for most Bosses. Also the fact that hardly anyone will stay inside your InvisField when they can go hug bosses and do their thing. In fact most people just run around doing their own thing so even from that perspective it is just useless.

On topic of tweaking/improving abilities for alternate characters --
1. https://dungeondefenders.com/1/topic/139746
2. https://dungeondefenders.com/1/topic/146240
3. https://dungeondefenders.com/1/topic/144691
4. https://dungeondefenders.com/1/topic/152750

(I might be forgetting out one or two more threads!)

Originally posted by stealthkiller22:

does it consume more mana if you are hiding the defenses
*snip*
alot of the mobs i was killing was dropping alot mana aka the ogres and harbingers

Try it on a map like CD Old One phase where mana is scarce.

[stealthkiller22]

yeah i can see it not being as effective on CD but it does have some uses that why this game has many different classes to choose from so everything is used for the best scenario possible

i wouldnt say it 100 percent useless like what people are saying in here

[Black Mambo № 5]

It has no uses for 99% scenarios. Making towers lose aggro and having Ogres go to whack the crystal is not really a "use". If anything its actually a massive grief tool.
The only time you would want them to lose aggro from towers is when towers are being whacked and are critically low HP so that gives you time to repair(early NMHC scenarios).
In that case, why are you not using some other and better support character than Ranger... like I dunno... a Monk, or even an Initiate? So that ability is pretty much useless in its current state.

Originally posted by stealthkiller22:

that why this game has many different classes to choose from so everything is used for the best scenario possible

Except, no one really uses those other classes becasue the base classes already outclass them in more than one ways.
Have you seen people use Initiate as a support booster on Boss fights?
Or Countess as primary DPS? Or maybe... Adept as primary DPS?
I haven't. Some solo players like me that like to have fun with characters aside I don't see people using those "many different classes" to play the game, at least on NMHC public games.
Why? Because most of them are trash for even being half decent support classes in early-mid NMHC games.