Part 70: Job Profile: Ranger
Job Profile: Ranger
In-Game Description posted:
Rangers are experts in ranged combat. With their bows, they can attack for full damage from even the back line! Their Barrage ability allows them to unleash a hail of projectiles at the enemy!
Unlocked: Fire Crystal
Weapons: Bows, Thrown Weapons
Shields: No
Armour: Heavy
Unique Command: Barrage
Stats (Level 50):
Str 38 Agi 45 Vit 34 Int 26 Mnd 26
Stats (Level 99):
Str 71 Agi 85 Vit 63 Int 45 Mnd 45
Rangers are a class that uses bows. Bows hit for full damage from the back row. Do you know what else hits for full damage from the back row? Black Magic. Do you know what other classes can use bows? Black and Red Mages (and Warriors). The Ranger's Barrage ability isn't exactly a blue ribbon winner, either: it hits four times on random enemies, dealing reduced damage each time. Before job level 21, the damage done comes out to less than the damage from a single attack, and you will never need to be doing less damage than you could. Barrage could maybe be handy in a fight with a lot of weaker enemies, but that's not a very threatening situation. Plus, since bows take both hands and usually only come out about equal with weapons like swords, you end up taking a hit on physical damage anyway, which isn't good for an ostensibly physical class. Tack on the fact that arrows are consumable and you suddenly have a class built around doing physical damage with limited longevity (though you can at least buy arrows), and that's not a great proposition, either.
Stat-wise, the Ranger is okay for Strength and above average for Agility, but it can't really make as much use of that Strength (plus bows might not even get a bonus to damage from job level) and it's beaten out in Agility by the Thief. Unfortunately, the Ranger doesn't have a Vitality advantage over mages, and they can't heal (they could in the NES version), so there's no reason to drop a White Mage for them anymore. Rangers could be okay if you really needed some physical damage out of the back row, but that's pretty unlikely, and there'll be better options for it before too long, anyway.