I know this post is from 2013, but even back then it was that way

Skill tree was quite different 2 years ago, and I have not updated the post since. Nobody ever played rangers back then, and Blood Magic & Vaal Pact were on almost every ranger build so most archers were Marauders.

Additionally, the Witch tree was not in the best shape either, and dual totems were the go-to-build for them. Shadow nodes were usually much better for builds like Freezing Pulse due to the availability of crit chance.

“If you want a ranged archer pick a Marauder or Duelist”

I think you should edit this to RANGER. You didn’t mention this class there at all!

Also shadow only for melee caster? Did you live under a rock before and while writing this guide?
Shadow has easy access to Dagger and Claw Notes. so melee in general, not specifically caster, is pretty viable there.

I know this post is from 2013, but even back then it was that way.

It is. Rangers did get some changes in their skill tree after this post was published so they do have a more decent starting points now.

You’re right. Chain is worth 1 Chaos so regardless of quality on it you can sell it for more than you’d get by selling to vendors. Same goes for Multistrike (2-3 Chaos) and Cast When Damage Taken (10 Chaos). But I think those are pretty much the only gems that consistently sell for a Chaos Orb or more.

I changed the wording from “Any gems” to “Most gems” — I’ll write an article about the value of different gems in the next few days which should clarify it further.

“Any gems with less than +12% quality are best to simply sell to vendors (in bulk for Prism, not single!).”

That’s probably some of the worst information possible, and fits no where in a guide as useful as this. The value of a gem is entirely based on the demand for that gem, and many 0% gems can go for a Chaos or more. Chain is a good example, being drop only and very high in demand. Your guide says to vendor it, when you could easily get 2 Chaos for it. I’d remove that part, but aside from that, your guide could be incredibly helpful to new players.

This is so helpful. I’ve been playing for a while an kinda knew most of this. But good god, to have a reference all on one page is beyond useful.

Thank you, I can finally stop looking at the 13 notepads on my desktop, lol.

Keep up the good work!