I'd like to start a Ranger with this character and would appreciate any help/suggestions any experienced rangers can give.
I'm assuming an elf is the way to go and I'd like starting stats about:
str 40 wis 60 dex 33 con 42
Does that seem reasonable? I think that's what I'd need for advanced recall?
And is it best to get friend/train first or get some combat/slash first then go after the train?
Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Yours in animals...

Tapio

Would be great to see some more rangers around but they are not easy to play as they are not the best fighters. I would say much lower wisdom as advanced recall is a nice skill but won't win any fights... Also many other ranger skills do not require wisdom. If you lower wis then think about an increase in int and dex which are good for elves.

I would suggest you need to think about whether you wish to progress using your pet which requires int, dex and charisma to be trained effectively, or whether you wish to be a more effective fighter yourself in which case I would recommend dexterity to learn pierce and see if someone can find you a nice dagger rather than use slashing weapons.

Another good piece of equ is a ring which allows you to become invisible and in your position I would ask around for one.

Suggestions for a good pet trainer but a weak fighter would need int and dex in the high 40s. If you take this route then you need to gain your pet skills quickly.

A better fighter, so less reliant on a pet would be forties strength and fifties dex. A human would work just as well as an elf for this. If you take this route then pierce and dual would be priorities.

It is your character so why not try the settings you suggest and if you find you don't like them then try something different.

A decent befriend can get you to levels 60'ish pretty easy. After that I always found it to become more difficult, since I generally move on to sundhaven and they can easily die there. If you decapitate the pets head, you can get it back from a cleric that knows resurrection (not always easy to find).

You could try using archery, not a very exciting attack to level solely off of... however if someone else is tanking for you... sitting in back rows using archery might work out well.

My overall opinion is to go ranger/(something w/ hb)... use physical damage with headbutt to get through mobs. Ideally 2 headbutters works best in a group. If you find a friend who can help you meet 2 headbutters in the group, you can swap that for another class. Allowing you to use your melee damage and arrows and another class to compliment your ranger.