Ranger: Bow and Quiver
The Ranger build guide for the class-locked weapon rules, covering the bow matrix, the quiver off-hand, supports, Disciplines, and gear priorities.
The Ranger carries a bow in the main hand and a quiver in the off-hand. That configuration is permanent. The class never changes weapon family, and no other pair of hands is legal. The hub tolerates a missing quiver. Map entry refuses one.
Your weapon
The main hand accepts a bow and nothing else. The off-hand accepts a quiver and nothing else. A Ranger can never hold a shield, a talisman, or a second weapon.
Bow bases, with the first map tier that drops them:
| Base | Map tier |
|---|---|
| Hunting Bow | 1 |
| Galehook Bow | 1 |
| Hawkeye Recurve | 3 |
| Moonstring Bow | 5 |
| Stormflight Longbow | 7 |
| Fargrave Warbow | 10 |
Quiver bases, with the first map tier that drops them:
| Base | Map tier |
|---|---|
| Frayed Quiver | 1 |
| Hawkfeather Quiver | 1 |
| Galestring Quiver | 3 |
| Emberflight Quiver | 5 |
| Viper-Reed Quiver | 7 |
| Farstar Quiver | 10 |
The quiver is a full affix slot, not a decoration. It carries accuracy, attack speed, projectile damage, added elemental damage, and life. It also completes the loadout predicate. Without a quiver in the off-hand, every bow matrix gem goes inactive.
Your skill matrix
The bow family owns ten matrix gems. Every one is exclusive to the bow and quiver loadout.
| School | Single target | Area and clear |
|---|---|---|
| Physical | Power Shot (single) | Broadhead Volley (volley) |
| Fire | Cinder Arrow (single) | Ember Rain (rain) |
| Cold | Rime Arrow (single) | Hailstorm Volley (volley) |
| Lightning | Thunderhead Arrow (single) | Stormfork Arrow (fork) |
| Chaos | Serpent Shot (single) | Blackrain Volley (channelled volley) |
Every matrix gem requires character level 1. Every matrix gem deals 100% of its listed school. The gate is the exact loadout, not the gem tags. A bow and a quiver activate all ten. Any other pair of hands deactivates all ten.
This matrix is pure bow projectile. Every gem in it carries the attack, projectile, and bow tags, so one projectile affix line pays the whole bar.
Pick one single-target gem and one area gem at minimum. Deep maps punish a bar with no pack answer. See the Skill Gem Index for the full data.
Two shouts exist, and the Ranger reaches neither. Both require a melee weapon in hand, and a bow is a ranged weapon. Spend the free slot on an aura or a third arrow. All six auras are universal, and only one aura runs at a time.
Starter kit
A new Ranger starts with these items and nothing else.
| Part | Value |
|---|---|
| Starter gem | Broadhead Volley |
| Main hand | Hunting Bow, item level 10 |
| Off-hand | Frayed Quiver, item level 10 |
| Attributes | 8 strength, 22 dexterity, 12 intelligence |
Every class starts with exactly 42 attribute points and exactly one gem. There are no pouch grants. Every other gem arrives through a global drop or through player trading.
Support gems
Each active gem instance holds four support slots. The slots unlock at gem levels 1, 5, 10, and 20, and they cost 1,000, 10,000, 75,000, and 500,000 gold. All four cost 586,000 gold together. The first slot is not free. The unlocks belong to the gem instance and survive a trade.
A support gains levels only while its host gem stays equipped. Bench a gem and its supports stop progressing.
Some supports fail on delivery shape rather than on tags. A plain volley skill has no area to resize, so Broadhead Volley and Hailstorm Volley reject Increased Area, Concentrated Effect, and Expanding Pulse. Blackrain Volley is a channelled volley, so it accepts those three and every channel support as well. Blackrain Volley also rejects Quickened Execution and Deliberate Force, because both exclude channels.
Verified supports for the bow matrix, by role:
| Role | Supports | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Raw hit damage | Crushing Momentum, Critical Focus, Executioner, Giant Slayer | Every matrix gem |
| Attack tempo | Martial Tempo, Sure Strike, Ruthless Cycle, Blood-Fueled | Every matrix gem |
| Projectile shape | Split Volley, Piercing Flight, Forking Flight, Chaining Flight, Returning Flight, High Velocity | Every matrix gem |
| Range band | Far Shot or Point Blank | Every matrix gem, one only |
| Area shape | Increased Area, Concentrated Effect, Expanding Pulse | Ember Rain and Blackrain Volley |
| Area repeat | Aftershock | All four area gems, including the two plain volleys |
| School penetration | Armor Breaker, Cinder Penetration, Frost Penetration, Storm Penetration, Void Penetration | The matching school only |
| Ailment payoff | Bloodletting, Kindling, Virulence, Deep Freeze, Overcharge | The matching ailment only |
| Channel payoff | Faster Channeling, Deep Channel, Final Burst, Steadfast Channel, Measured Breath | Blackrain Volley only |
Far Shot and Point Blank share the distance_damage conflict group. Attach one of the two, never
both. A bow usually wants Far Shot.
Auras take twelve aura supports and no hit supports. Amplified Presence, Rhythmic Pulse, and one of Concentrated Presence or Expansive Halo make a solid set.
See Support Gems for the full compatibility rules.
Discipline directions
A character binds three panels from the twenty-panel catalog. Slots unlock at character levels 1, 10, and 20. Levels 1 through 48 grant one Remembrance Point each, for 48 total. One panel accepts at most 16 points. A Greater Truth unlocks at 9 invested points, and a Final Truth at 16. Level 49 Crowns one fully invested panel. Levels 49 through 53 grant five Ascendant Points.
The Ranger cannot hold a shield, so the Block panel gives it nothing. Never bind Block on a Ranger.
Four directions that fit the bow:
- Projectile, Evasion, and the school you deal. The default. Projectile pays every gem, and Evasion is the defensive layer the bow leans on.
- Projectile, Chaos, and Poison. For a Serpent Shot and Blackrain Volley bar. One affix line and one aura pay the whole loadout.
- Projectile, Lightning, and Fork and Chain. For Stormfork Arrow. Fork and Chain pays the extra legs that the gem already produces.
- Projectile, Critical, and Recovery. A throughput and sustain shell for a single-target bar that farms bosses.
See Disciplines for Truth and Crown mechanics.
Gear priorities
Read How Survival Actually Works before you plan a single affix.
- All four resistances to the cap. Deep maps subtract a fixed penalty from every uncapped total, so overcap. Partial resistance is worth close to nothing. A pack delivers its damage in one school inside a few seconds, so the worst school decides the death.
- Chaos last to arrive. The three elemental schools close on ordinary drops. Chaos does not. Hunt suffixes that pay an element and chaos together, and read the affix before you assume an all-resistance roll covers chaos.
- Evasion. The Ranger has no shield, no block, and no shout. Evasion is its defensive layer. Take it on every armour base.
- Life. Take life rolls even on evasion bases. Evasion answers a share of hits and never all of them.
- Accuracy. A missed arrow deals nothing. The quiver, the helmet, and the rings carry it.
- Offence last. Projectile damage, attack speed, and the school your matrix gems deal.
Traps
- The class lock is the trap. A powerful sword, scepter, or wand drops, and it does nothing for you. The equip rules reject it in both hands. Sell it or trade it.
- An empty off-hand kills the bar. A Ranger with no quiver keeps its bow and loses every matrix gem at once. Replace a quiver before you replace anything else.
- The Ranger has no shout. Both shouts demand a melee weapon. Plan the fourth slot around an aura and gear, not around a buff you cannot reach.
- Block is dead weight on this class. A Block panel node that reads a shield never fires for a Ranger. Bind a panel the bow can use.
- Volley skills reject the area supports. The bench hides the failure by default. Read the rejection line and believe it.