Hunters - Overrated, or what?

[Shockme58]

I'm in Oscan's Fortress, with a level 84 Hunter. The crit hit is nice, but frankly this thing gets killed, or stoned, or poisoned, or drained, in nearly every single encounter. I'm spending so much in healing spell points, that I'm no wondering if it's worth using. Particularly since my Monk is nearly invincible at this point. My Bard doesn't even get damaged to the extent this Hunter does. Those of you that like the Hunter, what kind of armor, weapons, etc. are you using to keep this thing usuable?

[Clawfang]

Hunters can crit at range, and there are weapons that hit at up to 90’. Killing a summoning monster at 90’ in the first round is huge.

[Trojanski]

As it stands the Hunter’s AC is the same as or less (with hunter gloves) than the Rogue. This is not normal for The Bard’s Tale. The Hunter needs access to better armour. Hopefully this will be addressed in BT3.

[Wakawaka]

In the last couple of dungeons in BT2, the weakness of melee in general starts to show up.
And there aren't any armor upgrades from BT1, so the classes with so so AC start to really fall behind.

I gave my hunter all the best AC stuff, including diamond dagger, and the hunter was fine, but in the last dungeon especially melee has issues both hitting and avoiding attacks. So I just ran from everything in the last dungeon, since you only need to win 1 easy fight in the whole dungeon.

I think with death dagger. stone blade, hunter is totally replaceable except for the new crit at range ability that they added. The range ability is actually very good. I think in BT3 maybe it will be OP, since you don't really need a rogue for sneaking and backstabbing people anymore. ( I added a hunter and rogue after BT1, just for some variety even though they aren't as good as the other melee classes.)

[redandblue625]

In the Grey Crypt and Destiny Stone, enemy HPs can exceed 2000. My lvl-100+ Monk tops out at 11-1200. A hunter is very useful in one-shotting these foes.

[SHOOP]

Try equipping your hunter with a "Deadlyrang" ranged item. Your innate crit can now be applied to monsters 90' away as Clawfang pointed out.

As to your statement of class utility, my belief is that there is only one melee character worth having in your group in BT2 (in BT3 there are 2 you need): a bard. If you run Spellsong outside combat and stack Lucklaran and AC song in combat, you can just run 5-6 archmages in your group after that. 5-6 double damage Mangar's Mallets or Dreamspells in round 1 is the best it can possibly get.

Don't forget you will absolutely need a rogue in BT3!

[Benny Mac]

Main reason I always run Travelers tune is to keep Hunter from getting hit. I do like the Sword of Zar on him for the long range capability while still letting him equip a shield in the offhand to keep his AC low.

[redandblue625]

Originally posted by Benny Mac:

Main reason I always run Travelers tune is to keep Hunter from getting hit. I do like the Sword of Zar on him for the long range capability while still letting him equip a shield in the offhand to keep his AC low.

Give the SoZ to a WA, equip a Shield Staff and an Aram's Knife

[Benny Mac]

Originally posted by redandblue625:

Originally posted by Benny Mac:

Main reason I always run Travelers tune is to keep Hunter from getting hit. I do like the Sword of Zar on him for the long range capability while still letting him equip a shield in the offhand to keep his AC low.

Give the SoZ to a WA, equip a Shield Staff and an Aram's Knife

Good idea on the Shield staff. Don't have a warrior, but my paladin has the Sceptre Snare and Aram's knife. Sceptre snare seems to give him a lot of critical hits and allows him to load up on accuracy boosting gear.

[redandblue625]

Originally posted by Benny Mac:

Originally posted by redandblue625:

Give the SoZ to a WA, equip a Shield Staff and an Aram's Knife

Good idea on the Shield staff. Don't have a warrior, but my paladin has the Sceptre Snare and Aram's knife. Sceptre snare seems to give him a lot of critical hits and allows him to load up on accuracy boosting gear.

Give the Bard the Snare. Makes him way more useful.

[wefuntw]

I put the hunter in the 5th rank, so he never gets killed , and I can equip him with range 90" weapons and critical hit every monster in 90"

[WebMonkey]

If I remember correctly, in BT3 you will WANT a Hunter. There are lots of monsters that are near impossible to kill unless you've got somebody who can dish out crit hits.

[redandblue625]

I played through BT2 again from scratch. Anyone overlooking them, especially in this remake, is missing out:

A high-level hunter with an Aram's Knife one-shots Lagoth Zanta

[redandblue625]

Originally posted by Benny Mac:

Originally posted by redandblue625:

Give the SoZ to a WA, equip a Shield Staff and an Aram's Knife

Good idea on the Shield staff. Don't have a warrior, but my paladin has the Sceptre Snare and Aram's knife. Sceptre snare seems to give him a lot of critical hits and allows him to load up on accuracy boosting gear.

Diamond Dagger gives you +4 AC and bonus to hit. Dual wielding with an Aram's Knife is the way to go.

[kajelis]

Originally posted by redandblue625:

Originally posted by Benny Mac:

Good idea on the Shield staff. Don't have a warrior, but my paladin has the Sceptre Snare and Aram's knife. Sceptre snare seems to give him a lot of critical hits and allows him to load up on accuracy boosting gear.

Diamond Dagger gives you +4 AC and bonus to hit. Dual wielding with an Aram's Knife is the way to go.

The Diamond Dagger gives +4 AC? I didn't realize that!?! I'll have to add that to my hunter.

[redandblue625]

Originally posted by kajelis:

Originally posted by redandblue625:

Diamond Dagger gives you +4 AC and bonus to hit. Dual wielding with an Aram's Knife is the way to go.

The Diamond Dagger gives +4 AC? I didn't realize that!?! I'll have to add that to my hunter.

I think it's about that--it gives more than the shield staff. Very useful for hunter and rogue