Editing How to Ranger Basically (section)

==Weapons Introduction==

===Rifles===
''Read more: [[Rifles]]''

'''Rifles are perhaps the most basic of ranged weapons.''' Rifles shoots once per '''{{Square}}''' press, hits one enemy, and has a normal fire rate, with a moderately high attack score. Charge Shot 1 simply makes a bigger version of the normal shot. It's quite easy and straight forward to use, if a little unremarkable. CS1 also has 3 lock, and 2 hits on the initial impact, making it decent against Bosses, groups of enemies, and single enemies.

What makes Rifle unique, though, is the fact that '''Rifles has the longest range in the game'''. It's able to hit just about anything within the game's rendering distance. Combined with its general ease of use, and its access to FPS mode, makes it a good weapon for sniping from very far away, from on a different floor, or in some cases, from a different room altogether.

Rifle CS2 deals 4 hits but in a fixed distance from the player. It can potentially deal good damage, but is rather different from a typical rifle playstyle. It should be noted that the fixed hitboxes can easily miss enemies,  and lock-on via L is recommended to track the enemies. Also, if the character is knocked down while dramatically ''"Real men don't look at explosions"'', the entire shot cancels, so take extra caution.

===Shotguns===
''Read more: [[Shotguns]]''

'''Shotguns are one of the best single-target chain breakers in the game, and one of the biggest reasons to play Ranger.'''

Shotguns' number of shots (from either '''{{Square}}''' or CS) ranges from 3 to 5 based on the level of the PA equipped. A PA with LV21+ is what gives a shotgun its full potential, so make sure to get yourself one.

Its '''{{Square}}''' attack deals 3 to 5 hits in a spread fan shape, and deals respectable total damage. It also has a relatively higher status afliction rate, since it hits multiple times, and can be helpful if the weapon has Poison or Burn. However, it only stacks 1 chain, and roots the player in place for a second before they can move again. Since the player has to be fairly close to the enemy for all the hits to connect, this can be risky to use.

Its {{Triangle}} Charge Shot, on the other hand, is where the money is at. CS2 shoots 3 sets of 3 to 5 shots focused to the front, for 9 to 15 total 1 lock shots. These hits are devastating when used on a single enemy. When totaled up, CS2 shotgun is some of the best chain breakers in the game, and is an amazing asset to Rangers. CS1 only deals 1 set of 3 to 5 1 lock shots, but charges quite fast and consumes half as much PP as CS2, making it a consideration if the player is having issues with PP management. 

Note that even though the Charge Shots focuses the shots into a smaller fan shape than the {{Square}} attack, the shots still fan out enough that the player should try to be closer to land all the shots. 

=== Grenade Launchers===
''Read more: [[Grenade Launchers]]''

Grenade Launchers are one of the few weapons in the game with inherent 5-lock. With 5-lock on both its {{Square}} and its Charge Shot, '''a grenade can do quite a lot of work against bosses and large groups of mobs.'''

However, Grenade shots, unlike almost all other Ranged weapons, does not travel instantaneously. Instead, it has to actually fly for a bit, similar to a [[Foie]] cast. The shot only detonates on impact and when it reaches the end of its range. This then causes multiple issues:

*It's possible for enemies to move out of the way before the shot hits them.
*If the aim is off and the shot does not hit the enemies, it can fly past the enemies and detonate without damaging them.
**Using L for lock-on is recommended for the shots to hit the enemies easier.
*Long-range shot will increase the fly distance of the shot, which makes time and distance it needs to detonate even longer.
** Firing another shot or swapping weapons while a shot is flying will cancel the in-flight shot.
**It may be beneficial to use Save Shot or Power Shot to reduce the range of the shot, dependent on play-style.

Note that Grenades has access to the PA [[Photon Arts|Bomma Banga]], which allows its {{Square}} to launch the enemies it hits, in exchange for a massive increase in pp consumption and reduction in range. This allows the player to quickly shake off any enemies that got too close, or interrupt the actions of specific enemies.

The Grenade CS1 is essentially a more powerful normal shot, but with knockback attached. It shares the same properties as the normal shot as well. Its 5 lock is quite useful against bosses with multiple locks and groups of small mobs. However, since it's only 1 hit per enemy, it may feel a bit inadequate against a small group of enemies or single targets.

The Grenade CS2 has an incredibly huge PP consumption (120PP normally, 160PP full charged), which renders it almost unusable for most races (for reference, the Male Cast's max PP is 160). Besides the pp consumption, CS2 deals a large number of hits over a sizeable area, and can potentially be devastating.

===Laser Cannons===
''Read more: [[Laser Cannons]]''

Laser Cannons are similar to rifles, in that it's 1 hit per {{Square}} press, goes in a straight line, and hits once per enemy. However, in exchange for a lower range and a slightly slower fire rate, Laser cannon shots pierces enemies, allowing it to deal damage to all enemies within the line of fire. '''This makes Laser Cannons better against clustered groups of enemies than rifles, but worse at sniping from long range.'''

Laser Cannon CS1 shoots a persistent straight line, and deals 4 hits to each enemy within the line of fire. This is quite good if it lands on multiple enemies, and is decent for single target damage, even though it's inferior to Shotgun's single target damage. Since the range of Laser Cannons is fairly low, consider using [[Long-Range Prism]] to extend the range of CS1 to make it more effective and less risky to use.

Laser Cannon CS2 shoots a laser that rolls from left of the player to the right, dealing 1 hit for each enemy, and also launches them. While CS2 doesn't deal a lot of damage, '''it's one of the widest enemy-launching attack in the game,''' covering a wide distance around the player'''.''' It also charges quickly enough to hit the enemies again when they get back up, thus effectively stun lock them until your pp runs out. 

Note that PAs do not affect the range of Laser Cannon CS2. 

=== Twin Handguns===
''Read more: [[Twin Handguns]]''

Twin Handguns are the bread and butter of Rangers. '''It's the primary chaining method for rangers, as it deals 2 hits per {{Square}} press, making it chains twice as fast as most other ranged weapons.''' Although, since both of its hits only hits 1 enemy, it might be a bit inadequate against groups of enemies.

Twin Handguns CS1 deals a total of 4 hits, 2 hits from each gun, and is decent against single targets. Note that, since there's a bit of distance between the hits, with it being two guns and all, it's possible to land the 2 sets of hits on 2 different enemies.

Twin Handguns CS2 deals a total of 8 hits, but they involve the player rolling and then firing multiple shots in different directions. On paper it can deal a ton of damage to a single target, but steering is quite difficult, and it's quite risky to dive in an enemy group to get max damage. It should be also noted that, if the initial hitboxes does not connect, it's possible for a chain to expire by the time the second set of hitboxes connects, rendering the entire charge shot ineffective.

===Handguns===
''Read more: [[Handguns]]''

'''Handguns are, to put simply, a Rifle but single-handed.''' It deals 1 hit per press, hits 1 enemy once, and has a normal fire rate. Its range is about half as long as a Rifle's.

However, being single-handed, handguns allows squeezing in right-hand weapons, for either utility purposes (such as a Wand), or to fit in other weapon types to get past resistances.

A handgun also allows strafing while shooting, which makes it more versatile than some other ranged weapons.

Handgun CS1 is more or less the same as a Rifle CS1, being a bigger handgun shot. Similar to Rifles, it is also fairly decent against grouped mobs and multi-target bosses.

Handgun CS2 heals the player and all allies within the line of fire, and is the only weapon outside of [[Photon Arts#Resta|Resta]] that can heal allies. Its healing is usually worse than a [[Photon Arts#Resta|Resta]] cast, but it costs less PP to use, and can potentially out-range [[Photon Arts#Resta|Resta]] in some setups. Being Charge Shot allows you to use it while running instead of casting while standing in place. Feel free to exchange [[Photon Arts#Resta|Resta]] with it if you wish to invest in less TECHNIC weapons, since those costs more [[Extend Type|Type Points]] than Handgun. It also allows you to heal allies without a Lv11+ [[Photon Arts#Resta|Resta]], which makes it quite handy in early game segments and in [[Challenge Missions]]. 

=== Crossbows===
''Read more: [[Crossbows]]''

'''If handguns are single-handed Rifles, Crossbows are single-handed Shotguns.''' While it only deals 2-3 hits unlike the Shotgun's 3-5, Crossbows makes up with Strafe Shooting capability and a faster firing speed.

Crossbow CS1 1st stage is 3 way piercing, and CS1 2nd stage is 5 way piercing. The Fully Charged 5 way piercing is incredibly good against grouped mobs, as it can hit multiple enemies for multiple hits each, each hit with good damage. However, unlike the Shotgun, Crossbow's CS1 is not focused, and still fans out as it usually does. Therefore, the character must be close to the enemy to lands all the hits on it.

Cross CS2 deals a 3 sets of 3 hits, for a total of 9 hits to an enemy. While the damage is good if all the hits connect, the animation of the CS is quite long, and being attacked at any point during the animation will cancel the rest of the hits. Also, unlike what the lock indicator shows, the 1st set of hits has very short range, and the character needs to be close to the enemy to land those hits.

===Machine-guns===
''Read more: [[Machine Guns]]''

Unlike all other ranged weapons, Machine-Guns doesn't fire on a {{Square}} press. Instead, the {{Square}} button has to be held down for the Machine gun to fire. The Machine-gun fires continuously, and deals damage at a rather fast rate, '''making it fairly useful as a single-target chain tool'''. But in exchange, {{Square}} burns through PP very quickly, and can easily go through the entire PP pool in a dozen seconds or so. It is recommended for the player to test how many shots they can get in on one PP bar, and use Save Shot when necessary to reduce PP usage. '''Note that [[Meseta Fever]] can be used to bypass the PP disadvantage entirely, and is an invaluable chaining tool during the PP recovery period.''' The meseta cost is around 10 to 15 meseta per shot, making the cost effectively negligible.

While holding {{Square}}, the character is able to strafe, which allows them to follow enemies to a certain extent. However, the character is unable to turn until the shot is cancelled. Try to get in a position that faces a lot of enemies as opposed to shooting a stray enemy on the side. 

Machine Gun CS1 deals 4 hits to a single enemy, and launches the enemy on the last hit. It's decent, but usually inferior to other single-target chain breaking methods due to Machine Guns having less effective ATK. It can still provide good damage if Full-Charged on a good Elemental percentage. 

Machine Gun CS2 deals 7 hits to a single enemy. It does quite good damage, and counts as Strike damage instead of Ranged damage, which allows it to bypass Ranged Resistances. However, the charge takes longer compared to other charge shots, and its range is basically Melee Range. It takes a bit of getting used to, and can be a bit unwieldy to use at times.