Forgot to mention- as there are melee weapons with Magic Damage too, you can use them just as well if you go for Intelligence and if you need to melee. Also, I am told that the damage boost from Intelligence is higher than that of Dexterity. I am not sure.
And what is it about those skills?
As skill points can be reset later (You can NOT reset stat points- so choose Dex or Intelligence at start), you may experiment with them a bit.
I am not listing all the skills here. You can check different guides for discussion on them.
For low level Rangers, here are my advice:
1. Poison Arrow: Good if you keep getting points in it, as you will be spending a lot of time with your bow.
2. Ranger Strength: Not bad, but as far as I know, the damage boost is for Ranged Damage, that is Dexterity damage. If you are building an Intelligence Ranger, don't bother with this one.
3. Stun Arrows: Good for 'kiting' Take if you are pure Ranger. Not sure if it works against bosses.
4. Ranger Stealth: This is a wonderful skill. Take it as soon as possible. You will get sneaked upon a lot less. Note that you need to be equipped with a bow for this talent to work.
5. Potion Efficiency: Not that good in low levels. Take only if you have spare skill points.
6. Ranger Surprise: No, thank you.
7. Hide in Shadows: One point must. Good as a panic button.
8. Summon Ghost: Good choice as a summon. It attacks AND heals you from time to time.
9. Lockpick: Yes. At least level 3 for Broken Valley. If you see some chests that require a higher level, mark it in map and come back later.
10. Fireball: Only if you feel you need an Area of Attack spell. You can live without it.
11. Magic Blast: My personal favorite. Specially for tough / high level enemies. Take it if you want. Not absolutely necessary.
12. Wisdom: No.
13: Mindreading: No.
Special: I know some rangers who take Mana Leech (Melee damage will regenerate mana) skill at level 10. This is tricky. You can take mana leech 1 point. Then if you are low on mana, just go melee, keep hitting them as you regenerate and then get back to bow.
Nobody gets attack skills but only lik mindreading and stuff, so don't you need attack skills?
Eh.... if you were referring to my post, well it was an experiment. I was playing without attack skills to see how useful Wisdom and Mindreading are and to see how hard the game is. The game is fairly easy even without attack skills. So, now I restarted in Hard mode with attack skills and spells (I play a warrior-mage). Wisdom and Mindreading are almost worthless.
Also keep an eye on this topic:
Skill Books/Stat Books/Dragon Skill Books Complete. Try not to miss any books.
Ask if you have any questions. I am still experimenting a lot with the game. So, I'll try and help.
