GHOSTS
The monkey is in the basketball!
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So, you want to be a RAmarl, but don’t know where to start. Maybe you’ve got some time as a RAmarl under your belt already and you’d like to boost your game to the next level. Maybe you’re an old Gamecube or XBOX veteran that played RAmarl with your friends or solo, but it’s been so long that you need a refresher. Maybe you’re never played RAmarl for whatever reason (Dreamcast-only player, just never tried her in GC, XBOX, or official BB) and you want some pointers. Thankfully for you, I’m a veteran RAmarl guide and I’ve got the scoop that’ll let you play a RAmarl to her fullest.
Note to any RAmars reading this: many of the weapon choices also work for you!
RAmarl basics
If you’re reading this, you probably already know the basics of a RAmarl. If not, here they are.
The RAmarl is a female human Ranger that has good technique abilities to go with her guns. She can use all of the ranger guns out there and has access to level 20 techniques. Her male counterpart, the RAmar, has access to only level 15 techniques and cannot use debuffs, giving her an edge in those departments. She has low HP and attack power for a weapon-using class.
Now that’s done, here’s why RAmarls are worth playing.
Why RAmarl?
* You can do anything: buff and debuff well, eliminate strong enemies, freeze, paralyze, crowd control and even catch up with the Casts in terms of damage. You’re a hell of a jack of all trades, and you can almost excel in every role you have to do. From my experiences, a RAmarl is always welcome in a team. The exception is Time Attack, where you’re better off with other choices for single-player and team TAing.
* Have the second highest accuracy (ATA) in the game. Thanks to your high ATA, weapons with hit %s aren’t as important to you as they are to other classes. Laugh as you hit things with with the same ratio thanks to your inherent ATA that would take a RAcast 20 hit % to do the same!
* Solo like a champ. If you need to do some soloing, the RAmarl is your girl. Her diverse gear, level 20 buffs and debuffs, and good stats can let her do almost everything.
* Make the evasion stat useful. The RAmarl has the most evasion (EVP) in the entire game, and with a large amount of it, EVP is actually very nice to have. You’ll be able to block most melee attacks with your high EVP in Ultimate Forest and Caves at high levels, stand a good chance at blocking in Ultimate Mines and even Ruins, and basically be immune to melee attacks in One-Player Ultimate Episode 1 and all of online Very Hard and lower.
* The best handgun animation in the game. Yes, it looks stupid seeing your badass military girl shooting a pistol like she’s a gangbanger, but it’s actually faster than the regular handgun animation. With her, it’s speed is much closer to her rifle animation’s speed. Speed counts.
Weapons
What makes or breaks a RAmarl are her weapons. Thankfully, she has a lot to choose from.
Single target projectile weapons
Guns that hit a single target are the most basic of guns in the game. RAmarls have plenty of good options to let them beat the hell of out single enemies.
* Charge Vulcan: The bread and butter of major asskicking for almost every class. The Charge special greatly increases the amount of damage per shot, and with the 9 shots a Vulcan can shoot, that can add up to a lot of damage very quickly. Charge uses easily-replenishable money too! Even with the RAmarl’s low attack strength (ATP), you can still shred bosses with it if you’re buffed and the target is debuffed. 50 hit ones are so common there’s no reason not to get one.
A good alternate is the TypeME/Mechgun with charge special you can get from various events. A TypeME/Mechgun with 40 hit will have two less ATA than the classic Charge Vulcans with 50 hit and don’t get as much benefit from Shifta as Charge Vulcans do due to their less variable ATP, but overall they’re the same as a Charge Vulcan in terms of practical effectiveness, just with a different glowy thingy and shooting blue bullets instead of yellow.
If you don’t want to use Charge, you can swap it with a Berserk or Spirit Vulcan with 50 or more hit too. Those are just as viable as a Charge Vulcan. If you like a Berserk Vulcan more, it might be worthwhile to look for an M&A60 Vise, which will be discussed later.
* Heaven Striker: The ultimate ranger handgun. It is a mix of very good attributes; high damage, good ATA, rifle range for most attacks, and a berserk special that basically works as autoaim, letting you hit jumpy enemies easier and worry less about missing because you were angled as the wrong way, but it looked fine at first glance. The only downside is that the special attack has Shot range instead of rifle range, but frankly that’s only a problem if you’re trying to do something like hit Dark Falz 3 from across the arena (and the normal attacks work fine for that). This is great for removing medium-strength foes at a distance, like the Ob Lily or the Zu. It’s also a good choice when you want to take down some dangerous enemies, like the Mericarol, from a distance.
* Frozen Shooter: This weapon is one of the best options a RAmarl has for stunning enemies. One shot from the special will freeze a foe for several seconds if it connects. This can make some very difficult areas, like Phantasmal World 4, into a cakewalk by letting you freeze strong enemies like the Mericarol. And, with the RAmarl’s high ATA, you don’t really need extra ATA to make it work. It’s accurate enough that you can even freeze enemies with high evasion, such as the Deldepth, with one combo if you’re close to or at max ATA. Never leave home without a Froozer, as the cool (no pun intended) kids call it.
* Demon’s S-Rank Mechgun: Normally, this would be mentioned this in the S-Rank section, but it’s too important not to mention here. Demon's decreases an enemy's current HP by 75% if it connects. If you try to use Demon’s with a regular mechgun (the ones in orange boxes, in other words), each shot will have far less odds of activating Demon’s than a bullet from a handgun or rifle with Demon's would. But, there is a way to bypass this. If you add a Demon’s special to an S-Rank Mechgun, you have the ability to inflict full-power Demon’s against a foe 9 times because the game considers each shot from it full-powered. That means you can easily shred enemies with high hit points or defense to pieces with a Demon’s S-Rank Mechgun.
Now, RAmarls have naturally low ATP, so they won’t be doing as much against large enemies as other classes will. But with Demon’s, you can bypass this. By using a Demon’s S-Rank Mechgun against enemies like a Delbiter, Dorphon, or Episilon, you can actually take out most of their HP faster than almost everything else in the game! That lets you bypass the RAmarl’s low ATP and be of very good use against stronger foes. Getting one costs a lot of Photon Drops (PDs), but it’s very worth the initial investment. For someone that wants to be peak RAmarl, a Demon’s S-Rank Mechgun is a must-have, or if you just want to be able to actually inflict damage on bigger foes at lower levels. Even at high levels, you can still take down strong foes as well as, or even better than, many other classes.
* Arrest Laser: The Dorphon and Girtablulu enemies in Episode 4 are immune to freezing, but not paralyzing. With an Arrest Laser that has high hit (think 40 or more), you can paralyze pains like the Dorphon in order to make things much more manageable. This works even better if you have a v501 or v502, as they increase the odds of paralyze working. You won’t be paralyzing as well as a Cast will be since you don’t have their inherent boost to paralyze, but at least your shots will be hitting more thanks to your better ATA.
* Demon’s Laser: A Demon’s Laser is a great way to inflict major damage on strong enemies from a distance. Demon’s removes 75% of a foe’s current health if it connects, which can be a major help when dealing with tough enemies like the Ill Gill or Dorphon. With the Laser’s inherently-high ATA and a good hit % (40 minimum, but 50 is highly recommended), you can help take down strong foes in relative safety.
The Bringer’s Rifle works as a cool alternative that has a little more inherent ATA, but if you have a Force on your account, it might be better to let them have it and you pop ‘em with the Demon’s Laser.
* Hell Laser: Another damn Laser? Yes, but this is the last one. A Hell Laser is great for enemies weak to Megid, such as most of the enemies in the Central Control Area. With 40 or more ATA and a v501 or v502 (v502 recommended) to go with it, you’ll be deleting enemies almost as soon as they come up. Even without a v501 you can do some good damage and reach out and touch foes that your Hell Raygun-using companions can’t reach.
* Yasminkov 9000M: The Yas9k, one of the more sought-after weapons in the GC and XBOX versions, still has some life left in it. It’s a mechgun, but has the range of a rifle. If you need to reach out and touch enemies from a distance, such as Darvants and Dark Falz, while still doing good damage, a Yas9k fits the bill, though the Heaven Striker makes it completely obsolete. Even with the RAmarl’s low ATP, you can still inflict good damage with it.
* Last Swan: The Last Swan combines a good mechgun with handgun animations and range. With the RAmarl’s animations, the Last Swan is a very fast mechgun. It has a good amount of ATP for a mechgun too, so you can lay down the pain, even with a RAmarl’s low ATP. While not 100% essential, a Last Swan is a great choice for those that want a mechgun, but can’t stand how open its animations leave you. It doesn’t have the strength of a Charge Vulcan, but it does let you attack a lot more and gives you more time to dodge attacks and enemies.
* M&A60 Vise: This rare mechgun is basically an upgraded Berserk Vulcan. With a high amount of hit, it’s more accurate and does more damage than a Berserk Vulcan with high hit. If you prefer a Berserk Vulcan instead of a Charge Vulcan for your single target damage purposes, try to look for this. The problem is that getting one with high hit can be difficult. You have to either use the slot machine in Gallon’s Shop and hope you get lucky, or go hunting Ultimate Ul Gibbons as a Purplenum in order to have the chance of one with good hit dropping. Still, if you like Berserk, it’s worth looking for.
Multi-hit weapons
Rangers are great for crowd control, and the RAmarl is no exception. Here are some of the best CC weapons for her.
* Demon’s S-Rank Needle: Another S-Rank weapons that’s so good it needs to be mentioned with the regular weapons. See, a RAmarl’s biggest flaw is her low ATP, which means she’ll be doing fairly average damage while her teammates will be doing much more. But, with Demon’s, you can bypass her low ATP and do a ton of damage per shot (75% of an enemy’s current HP if it hits). Combine this with a fast-firing weapon, like a Needle, and you can be very effective with crowd control. A Demon’s Needle will let you clear out crowds fast with average teammates (I’ve managed to clutch some timed quests with low-level players in Ultimate thanks to a Demon’s Needle) and catch up with an army of buffed HUcasts in terms of damage. The non-Demon's attacks can also inflict a great amount of pain on a group if you have level 30 Shifta and the target has level 30 Zalure on it. Even level 20 buffs and debuffs can work once you have a high enough level.
As a RAmarl, a Demon’s S-Rank needle will be your best friend. Try to get one as soon as you can.
* Charge Arms: The Charge Arms with 50 hit is a great crowd control weapon. With it’s charge special, you can put the hurt on up tow five enemies, even with the Arms low ATP. The easy to find 50 hit version ensures that your bullets will hit more often than not. But, the problem is that it does noticeably less damage than the other shot choice, the Baranz Launcher, does. Ultimately, it’s a personal choice between Baranz and Charge Arms. Both are great crowd control weapons.
A TypeSH/Shot with a Charge special and 40 hit from various events is a good substitute for a Charge Arms with 50 hit if you have the eggs for it. It’s essentially just as effective as a Charge Arms is.
* Baranz Launcher: The Baranz Launcher is a shot-type weapon that has some differences compared to the usual shot-type weapons. It fires four shots instead of five and the “bullets” are physical objects that can be evaded easier thanks to the AI’s occasional tendency to spin around like an idiot or move at just the right time for it to “dodge” the shots. But, it compensates for these with two very big advantages; the highest ATP for a shot weapon that actually acts like a shot and a charge special, which makes it even stronger. As a RAmarl, you’ll need every bit of ATP you can get, especially in the early to mid levels for Ultimate. You should try to go for a Baranz Launcher as soon as you can; it’s got the power you need to keep you viable throughout the game (before you get a Demon’s S-Rank Needle, anyway) and is fairly easy to obtain (most Parts of Baranz usually cost about 2 to 3 PDs; a steal for such a good weapon). Even though I’ve been using my Demon’s S-Rank Needle for a long time, I always keep my Baranz Launcher with me to defeat bosses that have multiple points you can hit, such as the Dragon or De Rol Le, or just for something different.
* A bazooka: Bazooka weapons seem like gimmicks at first; they shoot a powerful shot that hurts nearby enemies when it hits something, but cannot be fired in a combo. However, they have infinite vertical range and can hit multiple targets in one shot, which gives them a good bit of use against certain bosses. See: the Dragon, De Rol Le, Gal Gryphon, and their variants are made of multiple areas to hit them with. They also have phases where they’re fairly far away from the team. Starting to see how bazookas could be useful? With a bazooka, you can hit the Dragon while he’s flying, De Rol Le while he’s swimming around, and Gal Grypon while he’s moving around in the air. Plus, all of these enemies have multiple areas to hit, letting a bazooka really max out its damage. You can even kill bosses with these weapons. With a bazooka, you can end certain boss fights faster. Some people even fight the Gol Dragon and Gal Gryphon, exclusively with a bazooka because of how fast those foes are, letting them hit those two nasties without having to constantly reposition and get close to either one.
For an actual bazooka, the Cannon Rouge is the best in the game. However, the bazooka is a fairly niche weapon, so a Gi Gue Bazooka can still be very effective while being easier to get. The Ano Bazooka is also a good beginner’s bazooka if you need one sooner than later.
* Hell S-Rank Needle: One more S-Rank weapon in the regular weapon section? Sure.
When combined with the Hell special, the S-Rank Needle can shred groups of Episode 2 enemies into pieces, particularly in the Central Control and Seabed areas. The Needle’s fast rate of fire and ability to hit up to five foes at once means enemies can be insta-killed very fast. You’ll need a v502 to really get the most out of it, but a lot of damage can still be done even without any v50x unit. Just make sure you’ve got a lot of ATA so that your shots connect in the first place.
Melee weapons
Even though you’re a ranger, you’ll have to get your hands dirty and do some meleeing, mostly thanks to the Satellite Lizard and Yowie enemies (also known as the lizards), which are immune to projectiles that hit them from the front. Thankfully, the RAmarl has several good choices in the world of melee.
* Charge Gungnir: The basic melee weapon every Ranger should have when starting out, the RAmarl included. A Charge Gungnir lets you hit multiple enemies at once, and thanks to its Charge special, lets you inflict good damage on foes, even with a RAmarl’s low ATP. Remember to get at least 40 hit (50 preferred) so you can constantly hit enemies with your special attacks. Until you move onto bigger and better melee weapons, you should always have a Charge Gungnir with you.
* Excalibur: What can be said about the Excalibur? It’s a Saber-type weapon that can hit three enemies at once and has a Berserk special, letting you put the smackdown on enemies’ asses. Oh, and don't forget that it has inherently high ATP, letting you put the hurt down, even as a RAmarl. Even better is that it’s ability to hit multiple targets makes it great or dealing with bosses that have multiple parts, such as De Rol Le. Use your Excalibur on them and watch as you quickly tear into them because you hit multiple parts with one swing. Oh, yes. For best results, get one that has Native % on it so you can down lizards faster. Hit % optional, but always good to have.
* S-Beat’s Blade: One of the “ubers” from Dreamcast V1 still has a lot of use for a RAmarl against Satellite Lizards and Yowies. Its special attack is Hell, which gives it high odds of insta-killing enemies weak to Megid and other insta-kill attacks, which includes the Satellite Lizard and Yowie. It has the same odds of killing instantly with each swing, unlike regular daggers would. RAmarls also have good dagger animations, so combine all of the above and you have yourself a nice little lizard killer that’s cheap to get. And, as a bonus, you can improve it’s hit by using photon crystals (see this for more), so with a little bit of PC investment and a V501 or V502, you have a solid lizard killer that can keep up with even Hunters.
* Vivienne: The Vivienne is the third (or second, depending on your view) best double saber-type weapon in the game. Boasting great ATP, you use it to bring the pain against lizards or any son of a bitch that gets close to you as you’re beating the tar out of lizards. This is always a good option if you’re playing as a female class, including the RAmarl.
* Daylight Scar: Remember how it was mentioned that the RAmarl has good dagger animations? Well, this also means you can make good use out of the Daylight Scar, the overall most powerful dagger in the game. It has high ATP and a Berserk special, which means you can quickly shred lizards with it if you can take care of yourself. Like the Excalibur, Native % on it means you can kill lizards faster.
Note to any RAmars reading this: many of the weapon choices also work for you!
RAmarl basics
If you’re reading this, you probably already know the basics of a RAmarl. If not, here they are.
The RAmarl is a female human Ranger that has good technique abilities to go with her guns. She can use all of the ranger guns out there and has access to level 20 techniques. Her male counterpart, the RAmar, has access to only level 15 techniques and cannot use debuffs, giving her an edge in those departments. She has low HP and attack power for a weapon-using class.
Now that’s done, here’s why RAmarls are worth playing.
Why RAmarl?
* You can do anything: buff and debuff well, eliminate strong enemies, freeze, paralyze, crowd control and even catch up with the Casts in terms of damage. You’re a hell of a jack of all trades, and you can almost excel in every role you have to do. From my experiences, a RAmarl is always welcome in a team. The exception is Time Attack, where you’re better off with other choices for single-player and team TAing.
* Have the second highest accuracy (ATA) in the game. Thanks to your high ATA, weapons with hit %s aren’t as important to you as they are to other classes. Laugh as you hit things with with the same ratio thanks to your inherent ATA that would take a RAcast 20 hit % to do the same!
* Solo like a champ. If you need to do some soloing, the RAmarl is your girl. Her diverse gear, level 20 buffs and debuffs, and good stats can let her do almost everything.
* Make the evasion stat useful. The RAmarl has the most evasion (EVP) in the entire game, and with a large amount of it, EVP is actually very nice to have. You’ll be able to block most melee attacks with your high EVP in Ultimate Forest and Caves at high levels, stand a good chance at blocking in Ultimate Mines and even Ruins, and basically be immune to melee attacks in One-Player Ultimate Episode 1 and all of online Very Hard and lower.
* The best handgun animation in the game. Yes, it looks stupid seeing your badass military girl shooting a pistol like she’s a gangbanger, but it’s actually faster than the regular handgun animation. With her, it’s speed is much closer to her rifle animation’s speed. Speed counts.
Weapons
What makes or breaks a RAmarl are her weapons. Thankfully, she has a lot to choose from.
Single target projectile weapons
Guns that hit a single target are the most basic of guns in the game. RAmarls have plenty of good options to let them beat the hell of out single enemies.
* Charge Vulcan: The bread and butter of major asskicking for almost every class. The Charge special greatly increases the amount of damage per shot, and with the 9 shots a Vulcan can shoot, that can add up to a lot of damage very quickly. Charge uses easily-replenishable money too! Even with the RAmarl’s low attack strength (ATP), you can still shred bosses with it if you’re buffed and the target is debuffed. 50 hit ones are so common there’s no reason not to get one.
A good alternate is the TypeME/Mechgun with charge special you can get from various events. A TypeME/Mechgun with 40 hit will have two less ATA than the classic Charge Vulcans with 50 hit and don’t get as much benefit from Shifta as Charge Vulcans do due to their less variable ATP, but overall they’re the same as a Charge Vulcan in terms of practical effectiveness, just with a different glowy thingy and shooting blue bullets instead of yellow.
If you don’t want to use Charge, you can swap it with a Berserk or Spirit Vulcan with 50 or more hit too. Those are just as viable as a Charge Vulcan. If you like a Berserk Vulcan more, it might be worthwhile to look for an M&A60 Vise, which will be discussed later.
* Heaven Striker: The ultimate ranger handgun. It is a mix of very good attributes; high damage, good ATA, rifle range for most attacks, and a berserk special that basically works as autoaim, letting you hit jumpy enemies easier and worry less about missing because you were angled as the wrong way, but it looked fine at first glance. The only downside is that the special attack has Shot range instead of rifle range, but frankly that’s only a problem if you’re trying to do something like hit Dark Falz 3 from across the arena (and the normal attacks work fine for that). This is great for removing medium-strength foes at a distance, like the Ob Lily or the Zu. It’s also a good choice when you want to take down some dangerous enemies, like the Mericarol, from a distance.
* Frozen Shooter: This weapon is one of the best options a RAmarl has for stunning enemies. One shot from the special will freeze a foe for several seconds if it connects. This can make some very difficult areas, like Phantasmal World 4, into a cakewalk by letting you freeze strong enemies like the Mericarol. And, with the RAmarl’s high ATA, you don’t really need extra ATA to make it work. It’s accurate enough that you can even freeze enemies with high evasion, such as the Deldepth, with one combo if you’re close to or at max ATA. Never leave home without a Froozer, as the cool (no pun intended) kids call it.
* Demon’s S-Rank Mechgun: Normally, this would be mentioned this in the S-Rank section, but it’s too important not to mention here. Demon's decreases an enemy's current HP by 75% if it connects. If you try to use Demon’s with a regular mechgun (the ones in orange boxes, in other words), each shot will have far less odds of activating Demon’s than a bullet from a handgun or rifle with Demon's would. But, there is a way to bypass this. If you add a Demon’s special to an S-Rank Mechgun, you have the ability to inflict full-power Demon’s against a foe 9 times because the game considers each shot from it full-powered. That means you can easily shred enemies with high hit points or defense to pieces with a Demon’s S-Rank Mechgun.
Now, RAmarls have naturally low ATP, so they won’t be doing as much against large enemies as other classes will. But with Demon’s, you can bypass this. By using a Demon’s S-Rank Mechgun against enemies like a Delbiter, Dorphon, or Episilon, you can actually take out most of their HP faster than almost everything else in the game! That lets you bypass the RAmarl’s low ATP and be of very good use against stronger foes. Getting one costs a lot of Photon Drops (PDs), but it’s very worth the initial investment. For someone that wants to be peak RAmarl, a Demon’s S-Rank Mechgun is a must-have, or if you just want to be able to actually inflict damage on bigger foes at lower levels. Even at high levels, you can still take down strong foes as well as, or even better than, many other classes.
* Arrest Laser: The Dorphon and Girtablulu enemies in Episode 4 are immune to freezing, but not paralyzing. With an Arrest Laser that has high hit (think 40 or more), you can paralyze pains like the Dorphon in order to make things much more manageable. This works even better if you have a v501 or v502, as they increase the odds of paralyze working. You won’t be paralyzing as well as a Cast will be since you don’t have their inherent boost to paralyze, but at least your shots will be hitting more thanks to your better ATA.
* Demon’s Laser: A Demon’s Laser is a great way to inflict major damage on strong enemies from a distance. Demon’s removes 75% of a foe’s current health if it connects, which can be a major help when dealing with tough enemies like the Ill Gill or Dorphon. With the Laser’s inherently-high ATA and a good hit % (40 minimum, but 50 is highly recommended), you can help take down strong foes in relative safety.
The Bringer’s Rifle works as a cool alternative that has a little more inherent ATA, but if you have a Force on your account, it might be better to let them have it and you pop ‘em with the Demon’s Laser.
* Hell Laser: Another damn Laser? Yes, but this is the last one. A Hell Laser is great for enemies weak to Megid, such as most of the enemies in the Central Control Area. With 40 or more ATA and a v501 or v502 (v502 recommended) to go with it, you’ll be deleting enemies almost as soon as they come up. Even without a v501 you can do some good damage and reach out and touch foes that your Hell Raygun-using companions can’t reach.
* Yasminkov 9000M: The Yas9k, one of the more sought-after weapons in the GC and XBOX versions, still has some life left in it. It’s a mechgun, but has the range of a rifle. If you need to reach out and touch enemies from a distance, such as Darvants and Dark Falz, while still doing good damage, a Yas9k fits the bill, though the Heaven Striker makes it completely obsolete. Even with the RAmarl’s low ATP, you can still inflict good damage with it.
* Last Swan: The Last Swan combines a good mechgun with handgun animations and range. With the RAmarl’s animations, the Last Swan is a very fast mechgun. It has a good amount of ATP for a mechgun too, so you can lay down the pain, even with a RAmarl’s low ATP. While not 100% essential, a Last Swan is a great choice for those that want a mechgun, but can’t stand how open its animations leave you. It doesn’t have the strength of a Charge Vulcan, but it does let you attack a lot more and gives you more time to dodge attacks and enemies.
* M&A60 Vise: This rare mechgun is basically an upgraded Berserk Vulcan. With a high amount of hit, it’s more accurate and does more damage than a Berserk Vulcan with high hit. If you prefer a Berserk Vulcan instead of a Charge Vulcan for your single target damage purposes, try to look for this. The problem is that getting one with high hit can be difficult. You have to either use the slot machine in Gallon’s Shop and hope you get lucky, or go hunting Ultimate Ul Gibbons as a Purplenum in order to have the chance of one with good hit dropping. Still, if you like Berserk, it’s worth looking for.
Multi-hit weapons
Rangers are great for crowd control, and the RAmarl is no exception. Here are some of the best CC weapons for her.
* Demon’s S-Rank Needle: Another S-Rank weapons that’s so good it needs to be mentioned with the regular weapons. See, a RAmarl’s biggest flaw is her low ATP, which means she’ll be doing fairly average damage while her teammates will be doing much more. But, with Demon’s, you can bypass her low ATP and do a ton of damage per shot (75% of an enemy’s current HP if it hits). Combine this with a fast-firing weapon, like a Needle, and you can be very effective with crowd control. A Demon’s Needle will let you clear out crowds fast with average teammates (I’ve managed to clutch some timed quests with low-level players in Ultimate thanks to a Demon’s Needle) and catch up with an army of buffed HUcasts in terms of damage. The non-Demon's attacks can also inflict a great amount of pain on a group if you have level 30 Shifta and the target has level 30 Zalure on it. Even level 20 buffs and debuffs can work once you have a high enough level.
As a RAmarl, a Demon’s S-Rank needle will be your best friend. Try to get one as soon as you can.
* Charge Arms: The Charge Arms with 50 hit is a great crowd control weapon. With it’s charge special, you can put the hurt on up tow five enemies, even with the Arms low ATP. The easy to find 50 hit version ensures that your bullets will hit more often than not. But, the problem is that it does noticeably less damage than the other shot choice, the Baranz Launcher, does. Ultimately, it’s a personal choice between Baranz and Charge Arms. Both are great crowd control weapons.
A TypeSH/Shot with a Charge special and 40 hit from various events is a good substitute for a Charge Arms with 50 hit if you have the eggs for it. It’s essentially just as effective as a Charge Arms is.
* Baranz Launcher: The Baranz Launcher is a shot-type weapon that has some differences compared to the usual shot-type weapons. It fires four shots instead of five and the “bullets” are physical objects that can be evaded easier thanks to the AI’s occasional tendency to spin around like an idiot or move at just the right time for it to “dodge” the shots. But, it compensates for these with two very big advantages; the highest ATP for a shot weapon that actually acts like a shot and a charge special, which makes it even stronger. As a RAmarl, you’ll need every bit of ATP you can get, especially in the early to mid levels for Ultimate. You should try to go for a Baranz Launcher as soon as you can; it’s got the power you need to keep you viable throughout the game (before you get a Demon’s S-Rank Needle, anyway) and is fairly easy to obtain (most Parts of Baranz usually cost about 2 to 3 PDs; a steal for such a good weapon). Even though I’ve been using my Demon’s S-Rank Needle for a long time, I always keep my Baranz Launcher with me to defeat bosses that have multiple points you can hit, such as the Dragon or De Rol Le, or just for something different.
* A bazooka: Bazooka weapons seem like gimmicks at first; they shoot a powerful shot that hurts nearby enemies when it hits something, but cannot be fired in a combo. However, they have infinite vertical range and can hit multiple targets in one shot, which gives them a good bit of use against certain bosses. See: the Dragon, De Rol Le, Gal Gryphon, and their variants are made of multiple areas to hit them with. They also have phases where they’re fairly far away from the team. Starting to see how bazookas could be useful? With a bazooka, you can hit the Dragon while he’s flying, De Rol Le while he’s swimming around, and Gal Grypon while he’s moving around in the air. Plus, all of these enemies have multiple areas to hit, letting a bazooka really max out its damage. You can even kill bosses with these weapons. With a bazooka, you can end certain boss fights faster. Some people even fight the Gol Dragon and Gal Gryphon, exclusively with a bazooka because of how fast those foes are, letting them hit those two nasties without having to constantly reposition and get close to either one.
For an actual bazooka, the Cannon Rouge is the best in the game. However, the bazooka is a fairly niche weapon, so a Gi Gue Bazooka can still be very effective while being easier to get. The Ano Bazooka is also a good beginner’s bazooka if you need one sooner than later.
* Hell S-Rank Needle: One more S-Rank weapon in the regular weapon section? Sure.
When combined with the Hell special, the S-Rank Needle can shred groups of Episode 2 enemies into pieces, particularly in the Central Control and Seabed areas. The Needle’s fast rate of fire and ability to hit up to five foes at once means enemies can be insta-killed very fast. You’ll need a v502 to really get the most out of it, but a lot of damage can still be done even without any v50x unit. Just make sure you’ve got a lot of ATA so that your shots connect in the first place.
Melee weapons
Even though you’re a ranger, you’ll have to get your hands dirty and do some meleeing, mostly thanks to the Satellite Lizard and Yowie enemies (also known as the lizards), which are immune to projectiles that hit them from the front. Thankfully, the RAmarl has several good choices in the world of melee.
* Charge Gungnir: The basic melee weapon every Ranger should have when starting out, the RAmarl included. A Charge Gungnir lets you hit multiple enemies at once, and thanks to its Charge special, lets you inflict good damage on foes, even with a RAmarl’s low ATP. Remember to get at least 40 hit (50 preferred) so you can constantly hit enemies with your special attacks. Until you move onto bigger and better melee weapons, you should always have a Charge Gungnir with you.
* Excalibur: What can be said about the Excalibur? It’s a Saber-type weapon that can hit three enemies at once and has a Berserk special, letting you put the smackdown on enemies’ asses. Oh, and don't forget that it has inherently high ATP, letting you put the hurt down, even as a RAmarl. Even better is that it’s ability to hit multiple targets makes it great or dealing with bosses that have multiple parts, such as De Rol Le. Use your Excalibur on them and watch as you quickly tear into them because you hit multiple parts with one swing. Oh, yes. For best results, get one that has Native % on it so you can down lizards faster. Hit % optional, but always good to have.
* S-Beat’s Blade: One of the “ubers” from Dreamcast V1 still has a lot of use for a RAmarl against Satellite Lizards and Yowies. Its special attack is Hell, which gives it high odds of insta-killing enemies weak to Megid and other insta-kill attacks, which includes the Satellite Lizard and Yowie. It has the same odds of killing instantly with each swing, unlike regular daggers would. RAmarls also have good dagger animations, so combine all of the above and you have yourself a nice little lizard killer that’s cheap to get. And, as a bonus, you can improve it’s hit by using photon crystals (see this for more), so with a little bit of PC investment and a V501 or V502, you have a solid lizard killer that can keep up with even Hunters.
* Vivienne: The Vivienne is the third (or second, depending on your view) best double saber-type weapon in the game. Boasting great ATP, you use it to bring the pain against lizards or any son of a bitch that gets close to you as you’re beating the tar out of lizards. This is always a good option if you’re playing as a female class, including the RAmarl.
* Daylight Scar: Remember how it was mentioned that the RAmarl has good dagger animations? Well, this also means you can make good use out of the Daylight Scar, the overall most powerful dagger in the game. It has high ATP and a Berserk special, which means you can quickly shred lizards with it if you can take care of yourself. Like the Excalibur, Native % on it means you can kill lizards faster.
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