Post/Author/DateTime	Post
stezerok846 03-24-07, 01:08 AM	hey so earlier I made a topic about TWF/Archer rangers. And after thinking it over here is what I came up with: With a splash of 4 levels of warrior here would be my feats Combat Expertise Improved Disarm Improved Feint *Endurance Die-Hard Improved Critical Improved Initiative Point Blank Shot Precise Shot *Improved Precise Shot *Rapidshot *Manyshot Two-Weapon Fighting Improved Two-Weapon Fighting Greater Two-Weapon Fighting *these are feats that I will get as just being a Ranger. So what do you guys think? good? Solid? are there any suggestions about changes, or any suggestions as to what levels I should get which first? Any help would be appreciated!
Rillek_Denar 03-24-07, 02:28 AM	Swap out Improved Feint for Ranged Disarm.
Nathreet 03-24-07, 02:40 AM	The problem a ranger faces is the heavy hit to AC from light armor and the lack of a shield (if he uses his combat style). And for what? 3 free combat style feats and evasion. Even his spellcasting doesn't require it. But, even in medium or heavy armor (assuming you gain proficiency somehow), you still get a favored enemy, track, wild empathy (diplomacy with animals), endurance, an animal companion, camouflage, hide in plain site, spells and a very decent chunk of skills. Together these mean you can get around pretty well, especially in the woods. IMO I see two ways to go then: 1. If you want to fight in melee, get the better armor and ditch the combat style (or spend a feat to get it, oh no!). Pump str and con and pick up a shield. If you pump dex instead and get weapon finesse, the hit to damage isn't worth it. Now you'll only be a little weaker than the party fighter/barbarian/paladin, and you'll have some nice ranger abilities and skills. 2. If you are a ranged character or skillmonkey, your dex is probably high already, and you can stick with light armor. Maybe even get a level of rogue so you can completely fill the skillmonkey role. Pump int and dex if you go skillmonkey. And unlike TWF (which gets you killed and makes you split your money across 2 weapons), the free rapid shot is very helpful and has few drawbacks.
stezerok846 03-24-07, 02:40 PM	The problem a ranger faces is the heavy hit to AC from light armor and the lack of a shield (if he uses his combat style). And for what? 3 free combat style feats and evasion. Even his spellcasting doesn't require it. But, even in medium or heavy armor (assuming you gain proficiency somehow), you still get a favored enemy, track, wild empathy (diplomacy with animals), endurance, an animal companion, camouflage, hide in plain site, spells and a very decent chunk of skills. Together these mean you can get around pretty well, especially in the woods. IMO I see two ways to go then: 1. If you want to fight in melee, get the better armor and ditch the combat style (or spend a feat to get it, oh no!). Pump str and con and pick up a shield. If you pump dex instead and get weapon finesse, the hit to damage isn't worth it. Now you'll only be a little weaker than the party fighter/barbarian/paladin, and you'll have some nice ranger abilities and skills. 2. If you are a ranged character or skillmonkey, your dex is probably high already, and you can stick with light armor. Maybe even get a level of rogue so you can completely fill the skillmonkey role. Pump int and dex if you go skillmonkey. And unlike TWF (which gets you killed and makes you split your money across 2 weapons), the free rapid shot is very helpful and has few drawbacks. well... because I bought TWF as a regular feat and not through the combat style (which I used on archery) I actually can use medium armor while TWFing as theres nothing on d20srd that says its a requirement aside from rangers who get it through combat style... Unless theres some other source that says otherwise, I can still fill both roles with medium armor quite efficiently.
Tonil 03-24-07, 02:54 PM	Not criticisms but comments: Greater Two Weapon Fighting: Several people have commented that since the third off hand attack often misses anyway it may not be worth the feat. But that depends on your characters Attack Bonus and thow often you are able to take a full-round attack. Improved Critical: Doubling a crit threat range from 20 to 19-20 is still doubling, but in game play you still do not crit very often. I would only recommend this with a weapon with an original range of 19-20 or 18-20. Die-Hard and Improved Initiative are often crticized as weak, but with a ranger they can work very well. Combine Die-Hard with a memorized cure minor wounds and you are very hard to kill. And Improved Initiative is especially helpful with ranged attacks. I think this came up in your earlier thread, but using the same weapon in both hands can increase the power of weapon specific feats when using TWF.
Father Dale 03-27-07, 10:28 AM	Steadfast Determination from PHB II. Don't auto-fail fort saves on a nat 1, and use your con instead of wis for will saves.