Anthem Javelin Profile: Ranger
This series of posts is aimed mostly at those dipping their feet into the waters of Anthem for the first time. If that’s you – welcome! If that’s not you… well, also welcome! But more in-depth content to come once we get our hands on the game. :)
Play Style: The Ranger is being toted as the versatile, jack-of-all-trades Javelin. You have a medium amount of health and shields and a medium degree of mobility. The Ranger is also capable of dealing all elemental damage types — giving it a good range of options when it comes to dealing with heavily shielded (lightning, frost) or armored (acid, fire) enemies. Consider the Ranger akin to a Soldier in playstyle, with grenades, rockets, and a good range of weaponry.
Movement / Dodge: The Ranger is capable of double-jumping, and can dash quickly in any direction to avoid danger.
Special: The only Javelin capable of priming enemies with a melee attack. The Ranger’s Shock Mace is capable of priming with the Lightning effect. Also the only Javelin capable of activating and firing their Ultimate while flying (not just hovering like the Storm, but proper travel-mode flight).
Combo Effect: Detonating a combo as the Ranger deals a good portion of bonus single target damage, making them ideal for taking out the heavy hitters of the game.
Weapons CAN Equip: Heavy Pistols, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, Marksman Rifles, Machine Pistols, Light Machine Guns, Sniper Rifles.
Weapons CANNOT Equip: Autocannons, Grenade Launchers.
Armor: Heavy
Melee Attack: Shock Mace — Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening…Er, yes. As noted above, the Ranger’s Shock Mace can prime enemies with the Lightning status effect.
The Skills
Grenade Gear
- Frag Grenade: Throw and trigger an explosion on impact with a moderate radius.
- Inferno Grenade: Throw and trigger fire damage both immediately and over time.
- Frost Grenade: Throw and apply frost status, freezing enemies in place.
- Seeker Grenades: Throw a single grenade which then splits into multiple grenades that will seek out nearby enemies.
- Sticky Grenade: Latches to the first surface hit, be that the ground, a rock your enemy is about to pop around, or heck, the enemy’s face. Then it explodes. Ouch.
Assault Gear
- Seeking Missile: Launch a missile that will home in on a single nearby enemy, exploding on impact and dealing damage in a small radius.
- Pulse Blast: Fire an energy burst at a single target.
- Spark Beam: Deals continuous damage to your target, you can sweep it around to touch multiple targets while your charge holds.
- Venom Darts: Fire a volley of three acid darts, dealing damage and applying the acid status effect.
- Blast Missile: Dumb fire missile, but with a large area of effect compared to other Ranger abilities.
Support Gear
- Bulwark Point: Places a dome of energy around you which deflects enemy projectiles. Allies can enter the radius for protection also.
- Muster Point: Places a dome of energy around you which buffs your weapon damage. Allies may also enter the dome to have their weapon damage buffed.
Ultimate Ability: Multi-Target Missile Battery
A swarm of missiles erupt from your shoulder launcher after a period of locking on to anything around.
As the name suggests, it will target multiple targets if they’re available–but if you’re against say a boss without any trash about, all missiles are also capable of hitting the same target for some pretty, pretty, hefty damage.
As with all ultimate abilities in Anthem–heal yourself to full upon activation and become invulnerable for the duration. As the Ranger though, you can also be in full flight-mode with your Ultimate firing off. No other Javelin can do this, although the Storm can hover.
