u/Normal-Oil1524

Weird thing that got me writing this, but hear me out on this. I love ranged builds as a concept but never played them in any Fromsoft game ever, but I felt that pull of Dark Souls again and I wanted to be something other than the rapier abusing knight-duelist that somehow I always end up as in the game (or the katana enjoyer, yes I’m that guy)

And it’s great, frustratingly great but - great, is one word to describe it. Really forces you to keep your distance more than you usually would, and the contour of the game just feels different, more gimmicky but I disagree with people who say that there was little thought given to ranged weapons. The playing field is just so much more asymmetrical. It’s also not as good as just using magic, but it’s viable, and it has flavor, it also feel surprisingly good when you mix in a bit of melee and weapons switch all the time.

This got me thinking, what are the best games all round for being an archer/ranger type, both from the perspective of roleplay but also judging on how fun they are to play. Whether they’re overpowered, underpowered or neither, I’m not taking about how meta optimal they are. 

For example, in ARPGs they tend to be bonkers (crossbow builds in Path of Exile or the Falconer in Last Epoch that absolutely shreds waves of mobs) or in some games you’re meant to synergize ranged and melee like in Van Hellsing. And from what I could tell, that newly announced arpg, The Dark West, even has an interface slot for ammo so I can only assume ranged gunslinging will pay a major factor in the class building. At least I hope so, I feel that too few of these games make ranged builds feel interesting, which is weird because Bowazon in Diablo was among my favorites, one of rare ranged builds I thoroughly enjoyed playing.

Then you have CRPGs and tactical games, where they’re so satisfying purely because of the tactical utility they give you as backliners (especially tactical games where height advantage and such is really key to winning a lot of battles).

And of course the soulslike action variety where ranged has always been (seen) more of a utility thing than something most players will base their playstyles around, especially with so many flashier options to choose from.

What’s your horse in this race? I myself didn’t care for ranged gameplay that much but I’ve begun making it a point to try exploring other playstyles other than the barbarian/warrior and occasionally classic mage types I usually go for.

I’ve been rebuilding our outbound flow recently and this is the part that keeps getting messy. Same prospect, same offer, but I constantly second guess the best first touch. Do I shoot over a cold email immediately or wait for a signal to reach out on LinkedIn?

Cold email is still the default for us. If our enrichment tools give me a solid verified work email and the company fits our ICP perfectly, they go straight into an email sequence. I try not to overthink it. When the data is clean and the pain is obvious, a direct email is the most efficient path.

But going LinkedIn first makes a lot more sense to me in a few specific scenarios

• The email data looks weak or personal-ish
• The prospect is highly active and recently posted or commented around the problem we solve
• Sales Nav shows a concrete signal like a role change or company movement
• The account is high value and I need some brand familiarity before hitting their inbox

The hardest part about running both channels is executing it without it turning into a messy spreadsheet nightmare. Email is easy to set and forget, but the LinkedIn side gets tedious fast. We ended up using Expandi as the glue for this. It handles the repetitive LinkedIn touches in the background like profile visits and connection requests so I don't have to manually babysit every step. It automates the tedious parts away so I can actually focus on the replies. But the actual sequencing still trips me up.

Email first feels cleaner when the angle is direct. LinkedIn first feels better when the prospect is visible and you need to build familiarity. Doing both too close together can feel thirsty, but waiting too long means your LinkedIn signal goes stale.

For people running both channels seriously, what is your actual framework for deciding where to make that very first contact?