Class Acts: The Ranger

Out of all the potential classes, I dont think ranger was on the list of likely candidates for a Class Acts article. Its short-yet-useful, spanning all of three pages. The first is devoted to some history on the Verdant Silence order, with the other two spent on actual crunch. There are a dozen powers in total, each suited for two-weapon rangers, as well as a weapon property that lets you shift whenever you hit an enemy twice with a ranger exploit that requires two weapons (and a daily power that makes them grant combat advantage).

The powers range from level 1 to 27, and they are all either encounter attacks or encounter utilities. I really dig the utilities, in particular death threat, which lets you deal ongoing psychic damage to another monster after you drop your quarry. It helps play up hit point abstraction, as well as the fact that not all damage of a specific type has to stem from the same source or inflict damage the same way. Basically, the damage caused by death threat is rooted in fear and stress, and I think its a great concept to play with, allowing martial classes to do stuff like that.