Build Input: Ranged Skirmisher [Archive] - Wizards Community

Build Input: Ranged Skirmisher [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Mithrus
03-01-07, 08:54 AM Current Build:
Goal: Insane movement + skirmish. Is there some way to make this work as a Wood Elf and Wildrunner2 thrown in for even more movement and primal scream? This would also mean not gimping charisma.

Race: Human
Note: I use () for level based feats, and [] for class abilities/bonus feats
1) Scout1 (PBS, PS) [Skirmish 1d6]
2) Scout2 [Uncanny Dodge]
3) Scout3 (Dodge) [Skirmish 1d6/1AC, Move+10']
4) Scout4 [Mobility]
5) Scout5 [Skirmish 2d6/1AC]
6) Scout6 (Shot on the Run) [Flawless Stride, Skirmish 2d6/1AC]
7) Scout7 [Skirmish 2d6/2AC]
8) Scout8 [Improved Skirmish]
9) Barbarian1 (Extra Rage) [Rage, Move+10']
10) Barbarian2 [Improved Uncanny Dodge]
11) Scout9 [Skirmish 3d6/2AC (+2d6/+2AC)]
12) Scout10 (Quick Draw)
13) Scout11 ([Skirmish 3d6/3AC (+2d6/+2AC), Move+10'])
14) Scout12 [Improved Precise Shot]
15) Scout13 (Woodland Archer?) [Skirmish 4d6/3AC (+2d6/+2AC)]

Note: Probably would retrain Dodge to Expeditious Dodge after getting Shot on the Run.

The ending movement on this character is 60. The one main question is when is the right time to plug in the barbar levels. The 2nd level of barbar I suppose is semi-optional, but getting Improved Uncanny Dodge is just nice.
Sieylianna
03-01-07, 12:57 PM IMO skirmish is not a good mix with ranged combat. You're giving up multiple attacks for skirmish damage, which doesn't affect every opponent.

Ed
Jay_Ibero_911
03-01-07, 01:04 PM You could do Ranger3/Scout4/Wildrunner2/Ranger6, with the Swift Hunter and Improved Skirmish Feats, so scout+ranger stack for skirmish+favored enemy and you get skirmish damage on all favored enemies even if they are normally immune, and Improved Skirmish gives you some more damage...Overall you lose only 1 BAB....alternately, you could drop 2 ranger levels for barbarian as well for rage, more fast movement, and improved uncanny dodge...Still, skirmish is suboptimal for an archer, but this combo will at least make your one shot hurt. Would have to be wood elf though...and would need 3 barb levels to avoid an XP penalty...
Lightblade
03-01-07, 01:14 PM My suggestion: take a level of Ranger, and take the Swift Hunter(?) feat from Complete Scoundrel. For your favored enemies, take things immune to crits, which opens them up as skirmish bait for you. You probably want Undead, Constructs, Elementals, and maybe even plants or abberations, near retirement, but that depends on region.

Shot on the rum seems pretty nifty, but it does restrict you to the attack action, and not other things that attack as a standard action (so no manyshot, OotBI, etc). My archer was a suboptimal ranger/scout build until Complete Scoundrel came out, and now i feel happy about 3 to 4 levels of scout in an otherwise archer ranger build.

Note that with PHB2 out, Ranged Combat Mastery is a very attractive feat, and i'll bet that we'll start to see more archers with figher levels (or possibly other classes that give Weapon Specialization, like Pious Templars, Divine Crusaders, and Favored Souls). Or maybe not.

You're adding barbarian levels pretty late. Won't you have a set strength bow by then, making rage really not that attractive for you?
AnexCDC
03-01-07, 01:46 PM I would suggest adding in the ranger + Swift Tracker as well. Being able to expand your skirmish as Lightblade mentioned means you are not gimped in alot of combats. Though I do see why you would take aberrations, since most aberrations are critable. Further it would give you the ability to track which would expand your out of combat use. I also agree with Lightfoot that taking more Scout than ranger makes more sense given your speed based build. I can see taking the levels of barbarian for speed and improved uncanny, but I don't believe that as an archer its worthwhile to get extra rage. Though recently a friend came up with a silly idea of taking barbarian early as an archer with extra rage, and then getting a bow with the str mod of your raging str.

I like your idea of shot on the run. The one thing that I would suggest is to try to get methods of bringing your own total cover to the battle field to hide behind. The only thing that comes to mind atm for me is Quals Feather Token: Tree.

While you might not be the most effective archer, you provide an immense amount of out of combat utility. Tracking, trapfinding, and spot/listen are all very useful abilities for a party and having it all built into 1 character.
Lightblade
03-01-07, 01:54 PM I only threw abberations in there because my archer is a Dreadwalker from Keoland, and is quite passionate in his contempt for them. So yeah, it's more of a roleplay choice for me, although in fairness there are a couple of abberations immune to crits. (Gibbering Mouther, and some kind of amorphous blob thingie?) I suppose oozes would be a better high-level choice, given that they probably come up more often than a couple specific abberations.
Jay_Ibero_911
03-01-07, 04:38 PM I only threw abberations in there because my archer is a Dreadwalker from Keoland, and is quite passionate in his contempt for them. So yeah, it's more of a roleplay choice for me, although in fairness there are a couple of abberations immune to crits. (Gibbering Mouther, and some kind of amorphous blob thingie?) I suppose oozes would be a better high-level choice, given that they probably come up more often than a couple specific abberations.

I'd say the Hierarchy of uncrittables by frequency goes something like this:
Undead
Elementals
Oozes
Constructs
Plants
Abberations

Subject to slight variation by region of course...
Cynric
03-01-07, 06:21 PM Looks kida similar to the build I have. Ranger 2 scout 5 Dread commando 5. He can track, disable search spot listen etc. While he may not do a lot of damage, he has many ways to contribute to the party. Once he gets those Dread Commando levels every one likes the initiative bonus.:D
Japangirl
03-01-07, 06:43 PM I'd say the Hierarchy of uncrittables by frequency goes something like this:
Undead
Elementals
Oozes
Constructs
Plants
Abberations

Subject to slight variation by region of course...

I'd say that the order I've seen is Undead, Constructs, Elementals, Oozes, Aberrations, Plants but again that is regional variation cropping up.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mithrus 03-01-07, 08:54 AM	Current Build: Goal: Insane movement + skirmish. Is there some way to make this work as a Wood Elf and Wildrunner2 thrown in for even more movement and primal scream? This would also mean not gimping charisma. Race: Human Note: I use () for level based feats, and [] for class abilities/bonus feats 1) Scout1 (PBS, PS) [Skirmish 1d6] 2) Scout2 [Uncanny Dodge] 3) Scout3 (Dodge) [Skirmish 1d6/1AC, Move+10'] 4) Scout4 [Mobility] 5) Scout5 [Skirmish 2d6/1AC] 6) Scout6 (Shot on the Run) [Flawless Stride, Skirmish 2d6/1AC] 7) Scout7 [Skirmish 2d6/2AC] 8) Scout8 [Improved Skirmish] 9) Barbarian1 (Extra Rage) [Rage, Move+10'] 10) Barbarian2 [Improved Uncanny Dodge] 11) Scout9 [Skirmish 3d6/2AC (+2d6/+2AC)] 12) Scout10 (Quick Draw) 13) Scout11 ([Skirmish 3d6/3AC (+2d6/+2AC), Move+10']) 14) Scout12 [Improved Precise Shot] 15) Scout13 (Woodland Archer?) [Skirmish 4d6/3AC (+2d6/+2AC)] Note: Probably would retrain Dodge to Expeditious Dodge after getting Shot on the Run. The ending movement on this character is 60. The one main question is when is the right time to plug in the barbar levels. The 2nd level of barbar I suppose is semi-optional, but getting Improved Uncanny Dodge is just nice.
Sieylianna 03-01-07, 12:57 PM	IMO skirmish is not a good mix with ranged combat. You're giving up multiple attacks for skirmish damage, which doesn't affect every opponent. Ed
Jay_Ibero_911 03-01-07, 01:04 PM	You could do Ranger3/Scout4/Wildrunner2/Ranger6, with the Swift Hunter and Improved Skirmish Feats, so scout+ranger stack for skirmish+favored enemy and you get skirmish damage on all favored enemies even if they are normally immune, and Improved Skirmish gives you some more damage...Overall you lose only 1 BAB....alternately, you could drop 2 ranger levels for barbarian as well for rage, more fast movement, and improved uncanny dodge...Still, skirmish is suboptimal for an archer, but this combo will at least make your one shot hurt. Would have to be wood elf though...and would need 3 barb levels to avoid an XP penalty...
Lightblade 03-01-07, 01:14 PM	My suggestion: take a level of Ranger, and take the Swift Hunter(?) feat from Complete Scoundrel. For your favored enemies, take things immune to crits, which opens them up as skirmish bait for you. You probably want Undead, Constructs, Elementals, and maybe even plants or abberations, near retirement, but that depends on region. Shot on the rum seems pretty nifty, but it does restrict you to the attack action, and not other things that attack as a standard action (so no manyshot, OotBI, etc). My archer was a suboptimal ranger/scout build until Complete Scoundrel came out, and now i feel happy about 3 to 4 levels of scout in an otherwise archer ranger build. Note that with PHB2 out, Ranged Combat Mastery is a very attractive feat, and i'll bet that we'll start to see more archers with figher levels (or possibly other classes that give Weapon Specialization, like Pious Templars, Divine Crusaders, and Favored Souls). Or maybe not. You're adding barbarian levels pretty late. Won't you have a set strength bow by then, making rage really not that attractive for you?
AnexCDC 03-01-07, 01:46 PM	I would suggest adding in the ranger + Swift Tracker as well. Being able to expand your skirmish as Lightblade mentioned means you are not gimped in alot of combats. Though I do see why you would take aberrations, since most aberrations are critable. Further it would give you the ability to track which would expand your out of combat use. I also agree with Lightfoot that taking more Scout than ranger makes more sense given your speed based build. I can see taking the levels of barbarian for speed and improved uncanny, but I don't believe that as an archer its worthwhile to get extra rage. Though recently a friend came up with a silly idea of taking barbarian early as an archer with extra rage, and then getting a bow with the str mod of your raging str. I like your idea of shot on the run. The one thing that I would suggest is to try to get methods of bringing your own total cover to the battle field to hide behind. The only thing that comes to mind atm for me is Quals Feather Token: Tree. While you might not be the most effective archer, you provide an immense amount of out of combat utility. Tracking, trapfinding, and spot/listen are all very useful abilities for a party and having it all built into 1 character.
Lightblade 03-01-07, 01:54 PM	I only threw abberations in there because my archer is a Dreadwalker from Keoland, and is quite passionate in his contempt for them. So yeah, it's more of a roleplay choice for me, although in fairness there are a couple of abberations immune to crits. (Gibbering Mouther, and some kind of amorphous blob thingie?) I suppose oozes would be a better high-level choice, given that they probably come up more often than a couple specific abberations.
Jay_Ibero_911 03-01-07, 04:38 PM	I only threw abberations in there because my archer is a Dreadwalker from Keoland, and is quite passionate in his contempt for them. So yeah, it's more of a roleplay choice for me, although in fairness there are a couple of abberations immune to crits. (Gibbering Mouther, and some kind of amorphous blob thingie?) I suppose oozes would be a better high-level choice, given that they probably come up more often than a couple specific abberations. I'd say the Hierarchy of uncrittables by frequency goes something like this: Undead Elementals Oozes Constructs Plants Abberations Subject to slight variation by region of course...
Cynric 03-01-07, 06:21 PM	Looks kida similar to the build I have. Ranger 2 scout 5 Dread commando 5. He can track, disable search spot listen etc. While he may not do a lot of damage, he has many ways to contribute to the party. Once he gets those Dread Commando levels every one likes the initiative bonus.:D
Japangirl 03-01-07, 06:43 PM	I'd say the Hierarchy of uncrittables by frequency goes something like this: Undead Elementals Oozes Constructs Plants Abberations Subject to slight variation by region of course... I'd say that the order I've seen is Undead, Constructs, Elementals, Oozes, Aberrations, Plants but again that is regional variation cropping up.