I know rangers havn't been exactly the most uber class and they really don't use many of the spells in their playbook. So here are some ideas they should consider.

Elemental Shield - Gen 4 Level 35

Selene blesses the faith with a shield of elemental fury. A shield of elemental power surrounds its caster, giving a different bonus. Only one shield can be casted at one time.

Shield of Earth - (A Shield of Pure Earth Protects You) All damage to you is reduced by ¹⁄₃ (depending on level and gen) also weapons are more capable of breaking while this spell is cast.

Shield of Water - (A Shield of Torrential Water Surrounds You) While under the shield of water. Your wounds in battle heal faster than normal. Also, the wait state of skills you use in battle are reduced. Depending on the level and gen.

Shield of Fire - (A Shield of Burning Fire Infuses You) Enraged by fire, you are able to attack with more ruthless aggression adding damage and speed to the ranger's power. Also rangers are more difficult to fatigue so they are not able to be sleepered/stunned as easy

Shield of Air - (A Shield of Swirling Air Defends You) Defended by the Air of Selene, those would be attackers would find it difficult to attack you successfully for the shield of air would deflect those attacks. Also there is a chance that spells will also deflect off the shield.

Just something that I thought that would be actually a good thing to have.

I think it's a pretty cool idea, but I'd like to point out some things and ask some questions.

-Shield of Earth's "weapon breaking" effect. Does it mean weapons that are used against the ranger with shield of earth will break?

-Shield of Earth's damage reduction (33%) is a lot! Even for the spell only being randomly casted.

-Shield of Water gives an effect that's pretty much equivalent to speed and Shield of Fire does the same thing.

-Shield of Fire does too many good things and seems unbalanced compared to the rest of the shields. (Damage, speed, and defense) My suggestion is to leave the speed with water and the defensive part with earth.

-Shield of Air's spell deflecting ability. Does that mean deflected spells will be redirected towards the caster?

The idea of rangers having more to do with the elements is great. The idea of rangers having another branding/passive type spell is a redundant even if it does different things it's a bit old fashioned.

Have you checked out my ideas? 'Gale' and 'earth spike'? It could use some criticism.

Dump the word shield and instead use aura, or essence or something. That way it doesn't hafta be limited to an actual shield type object. Then have each elemental affinity have a specific effect. Earth, reduce damage by 5%: Wind, increase speed: Fire, increase dam and hitroll: Water, regeneration.

Maybe gen 4 you get Elemental Essence and gen 8 you get Elemental Affinity, which you cast and you get 2 of said affects, OR a bolstered affect, such as an added shield. Earth shield is rocks floating around you and does damage like blade barrier, wind just deflects attacks, fire will set things on fire if they hit it, and water absorbs an attack.

You call upon the wisdom of Selene and feel the essence of Earth empower your defenses!/Air quicken your step~/Fire bolster your attack!/Water speed your recovery! or whatnot.

well with shield of earth the weapon takes more damage and wears out more than normal, however if it gets to a point it breaks then it breaks. and maybe the reduction of damage is a bit much but it can be adjusted for balance

shield of air no the spell does not return to the caster that would be a neat trick but no the spell is deflected all together.

shield of fire i guess as it it would be a little bit too power but it kind of works in same premise of clerics divine power

when you think about shield of fire yeah it does give a bit too much power but i was thinking about clerics divine power in a sense. but i like wraths idea about making them combine. but the original idea is the spell cast is randomized so you don't know which affect you will get. elemental branding is a good spell kinda of combines with it in a way.

Ranger is a very hard class to add skills and spells to. I have a gen 10 ranger and I don't think people realize how powerful a ranger can be if used correctly. The thing is, druids and rangers are two differant things and it looks like most of the suggestions latly are druid like, not ranger like.

After looking at all of the new and wonderful posts made today, it makes me really wonder: Who the hell is Ecstacy? Anyway!

The thing is, rangers in tempus are druid-like. This will be the second time I've drawn examples FROM the game. Type help ranger and it will say:

"…They are also able to draw upon the mystical energies surrounding the prime material plane as well, manifested as casting spells."

Until we get a class that says druid, I'll have to argue that our rangers are essentially druids and a little something more.

As to the topic, it's all nice but it's still very much like the current branding spell.

Similar in that they have the elements as their power source, but branding is for weapons only. Rangers utilize one real passive spell, and that's stone/barkskin. Thorn is great, but breaks equipment too quickly. Branding can be useful, but the mana it utilizes (and how often if fails) makes it a pita. I actually enjoy the idea, it could make rangers a bit more interesting.

thorn skin breaks equipment? This is news to me. :l Really.

yeah rangers are a hard thing to level (believe me I been playing ranger since I started tempus eons ago) but rangers are a 1 trick pony and greatly rely on their second class to be effective. but this could been something to give a chance to be somewhat on par with the other classes in the game.

How can this spell give rangers the chance to be on par with the rest?

On the topic of putting rangers on par with other classes, how about we make medic usable in combat huh? I mean, that is one of the major disadvantages to being a ranger. I think doing this alone would make rangers more widely playable.

Sure it's certainly unique and interesting that rangers have to retreat to heal themselves, but the whole basis of rangers doing damage is staying in combat. So most of the time, medic is essentially just slowing us down where many other classes don't have to slow down at all

well with something like this, they would be somewhat more formidable in combat. rangers are the only warrior class with no power attack (and if you think pele kick is a power attack well..) with something like this we just can attack harder and be somewhat more defensive in other ways depending on what spell was casted. true rangers have retreat and can heal. unless mobs track so better have !track available. would something like this help in PvP? highly doubtful but it just makes rangers more viable or even give a breath of fresh air for players to actually play ranger. it's believed if you can learn ranger the rest of the classes are cake cause they are one of the toughest classes to play. just makes the road easier in a way.

Are you kidding me? Ranger is the easiest class I've played.

The way I see it is that the spell won't make rangers any better than they could have with a little extra effort. Damage reduction, damroll, the ability to avoid attacks, even speed are obtainable. This spell only makes it easier and doesn't make playing ranger any less boring than it is currently.

Rangers are just as difficult as most classes to level. Yes, I have played rangers before and after they got thornskin, stoneskin, and elemental branding. If you told me I could obtain 100+ damroll and 75% reduction as a ranger with this spell, I'd tell you, "so what?", I could do that without it. And, many rangers are a testament to this.

Deneb has a very good point. A little extra effort goes a long way. Damage reduction, damroll, ability to avoid attacks, and speed are obtainable. Ranger will still be boring as he stated. Boring does not mean a class needs a new spell or skill to be effective.

Rangers healing in battle is not the answer. The argument that other classes can heal in battle is just the reason why rangers should not be able to heal in battle. Let me explain, if we were able to make a valid point every time a class is not able to do what another class can do, every class would end up being the same.

I also agree rangers can use and manifest energy in the form of casting but this does not make them a druid. Druid and rangers are differant. If your going to turn ranger into a druid class they will need to remove triple attack and perhaps some other skills. There is a post here where I introduced a druid class. Let me see if I can find the link and post it in this thread.

http://realm.tempusmud.com/forum/4/204/1138310844

This is a very good example of the differance between rangers and druid. I think you will find this thread very interesting. Infinity was me for those who wanted to know.

100 Dam 75% reduction and speed on a ranger…send me that list please. WINK

I don't think making rangers all druidish would solve anything. And a druid class in Tempus would be an interesting thing to say the least. I don't think battle healing is all that necessary just having some of the firepower to stay in a battle is the only thing required. But, I agree with Deneb that it does take a bit more effort to play a ranger. I'm a testament to it as well. But compare a ranger to a knight or a monk or even a bard. What's having 75 reduction when you can get beheaded - comboed and screamed before a ranger can get his fight on. What do you think could make rangers more interesting to play and be less boring?

After reading this thread over. Wrath has hit some real good points that seem to stick. The only problem us yet again its a passive type spell which Deneb pointed out.