I'm currently in a core game (only PH, DMG and MM are allowed) with a mage, a druid and a monk and I'm looking for easy ways to increase my damage! I'm playing a level 12 ranger / 2 cleric which needs a better weapon obviously, so you don't need to mention it
Here is my character sheet !
Things that I use / have that justifies my damage output :
- Shocking composite longbow (+4 str);
- Greater bracers of archery;
- Point blank shot feat;
- Mage spell : Enlarge;
- Cleric spell : Divine favor;
Things I need :
- Boots of speed
You guys have any suggestions, something that I missed. ??
Thanks a lot
Hi there !!
I'm currently in a core game (only PH, DMG and MM are allowed) with a mage, a druid and a monk and I'm looking for easy ways to increase my damage! I'm playing a level 12 ranger / 2 cleric which needs a better weapon obviously, so you don't need to mention it
Here is my character sheet !
Things that I use / have that justifies my damage output :
- Shocking composite longbow (+4 str);
- Greater bracers of archery;
- Point blank shot feat;
- Mage spell : Enlarge;
- Cleric spell : Divine favor;
Things I need :
- Boots of speed
You guys have any suggestions, something that I missed. ??
Thanks a lot
Well, there's your problem.
Honestly, Core-Only is NOT a good environment for anything easy, unless you're playing a full-caster.
Keep your attack bonus up (more Ranger or Fighter instead of Cleric from now on, probably) and focus on hitting the enemy; Manyshot isn't a bad call for this actually (Rapid Shot later attacks are likely to miss and deal no damage; manyshot is more reliable). This is why your SECOND composite longbow (+3 Distance) is actually better than your first one (+1 Shocking) - the +3 bow deals +3 bonus damage and hits more often, while the second deals +4.5 damage but hits less often. +1.5 bonus damage is not worth that many missed shots; sell the shocking bow and focus on the other one. (That said, Distance is a worthless enhancement; you get such insane ranges on a longbow anyway that it's not worth it. See if you can exchange it for Seeking - I'll show you why in a moment.)
If you want the best option open to you in core for damage output, talk to your team's mage. Have him ready spells like Black Tentacles or Solid Fog - anything that shuts down enemy movement and hoses their defenses. (If he favors fog spells, the Seeking enhancement lets you shoot at them without any miss chance, while they can't shoot back.).
Then, do what you can to buy several quivers of very special arrows - specifically, +1 Spell Storing arrows. (Total cost? 8302 gp for 50. You rely on your bow for the actual enhancement bonus.) During downtime, have the mage load them up with many of the powerful, situational spells of 3rd level or lower that you'd like to try. Basically, you can then "cast" any spells the mage could cast, but as fast as you can unload arrows. While this works quite nicely for countermeasure spells (i.e. I learned about this trick the hard way when the DM sent a perfectly-chosen debuff arrow at everyone in our team as part of a single Greater Manyshot. One standard action later, and that bounty hunter had prevented my psion from flying, Slowed our full-attacking chainsaw fighter, blinded our targeted-effect-using ardent, and almost entangled the swordsage (he made his saving throw)), it can also be used to give bonus damage if you'd like.
Good Sorcerer/Wizard spells to consider for Spell Storing include:
Shocking Grasp - Add 5d6 lightning damage to your attack (melee touch spells are targeted spells, not effect spells)
Magic Missile - Add 5d4+5 force damage to your arrow (with fewer arguments than the touch spells). A Manyshot full of these really hurts.
Charm Person - Shot through the heart, and you're to blame...
Cause Fear - A single arrow that sends a mook running is as good as a single arrow that kills the mook in one shot.
Touch of Idiocy - Less useful as you go up in levels since it isn't ability score damage.
Shatter - Remember that you can attack objects, even attended objects.
Tasha's Hideous Laughter - If your opponent isn't acting, you have basically "healed" your team of the damage he would have done.
Ghoul Touch - Paralysis is an amazing condition, but this is also a touch spell.
Darkness - You're an elf and can see twice as far through shadowy illumination than others who lack low-light vision can, so you can use this to hose human or halfling enemies.
Continual Flame - The opposite, an anti-stealth measure. You get one good shot off at the enemy rogue's armor, and he'll have a hard time hiding. It's a poor-man's Glitterdust.
Blindness/Deafness - Self-explanatory why this is useful.
Vampiric Touch - Another fun effect, although it's a touch and the temporary HP won't stack.
Suggestion - Like Charm Person but better. Works best if you shoot it from a hiding spot where they don't recognize you as the attacker.
Slow - Amazing debuff - the spell storing version will only hit one target, though.
Shrink Item - You use this in similar ways as Shatter. Think of your surroundings and you'll find fun things to shrink. (This can be fun if you use it on things like doors.)
Hold Person - Terrible duration, but great effect.
Explosive Runes - Yes, you can technically give your opponent some boom-graffiti at a distance this way, although some DMs call bullpucky on it. If it works, this is probably your best damage choice.
Dispel Magic - The quintessential support choice; firing off three or four targeted dispels in one round is a good way to seriously end your opponents' smiles.
Shocking Grasp - Add 5d6 lightning damage to your attack (melee touch spells are targeted spells, not effect spells)
Magic Missile - Add 5d4+5 force damage to your arrow (with fewer arguments than the touch spells). A Manyshot full of these really hurts.
Charm Person - Shot through the heart, and you're to blame...
Cause Fear - A single arrow that sends a mook running is as good as a single arrow that kills the mook in one shot.
Touch of Idiocy - Less useful as you go up in levels since it isn't ability score damage.
Shatter - Remember that you can attack objects, even attended objects.
Tasha's Hideous Laughter - If your opponent isn't acting, you have basically "healed" your team of the damage he would have done.
Ghoul Touch - Paralysis is an amazing condition, but this is also a touch spell.
Darkness - You're an elf and can see twice as far through shadowy illumination than others who lack low-light vision can, so you can use this to hose human or halfling enemies.
Continual Flame - The opposite, an anti-stealth measure. You get one good shot off at the enemy rogue's armor, and he'll have a hard time hiding. It's a poor-man's Glitterdust.
Blindness/Deafness - Self-explanatory why this is useful.
Vampiric Touch - Another fun effect, although it's a touch and the temporary HP won't stack.
Suggestion - Like Charm Person but better. Works best if you shoot it from a hiding spot where they don't recognize you as the attacker.
Slow - Amazing debuff - the spell storing version will only hit one target, though.
Shrink Item - You use this in similar ways as Shatter. Think of your surroundings and you'll find fun things to shrink. (This can be fun if you use it on things like doors.)
Hold Person - Terrible duration, but great effect.
Explosive Runes - Yes, you can technically give your opponent some boom-graffiti at a distance this way, although some DMs call bullpucky on it. If it works, this is probably your best damage choice.
Dispel Magic - The quintessential support choice; firing off three or four targeted dispels in one round is a good way to seriously end your opponents' smiles.
Here's what happened :
I bought a seeking composite longbow +5! It worked perfectly. I kept it until I rolled a treasure (all legit) into a Composite Longbow (3str) +5, which was Shock, Frost and Flaming burst... this bow was off the charts !
Other than that, my DM allowed spell storing arrows but under certain conditions since it seemed a bit too powerful (5 arrows with lightning bolt... etc). I proposed that the arrows could only store debuff spells, but he refused. Here are the conditions :
- requires full round action to use,
- only 1 of the arrows during the action could be a spell storing arrow.
The list of spell that I used for my storing arrows is listed in the 'other possessions' section : www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheet...
This might seems restrictive, but I found it fair ! Being hasted + rapid shot was giving me 5 attacks and when I had the chance, I'd use an arrow with lightning bolt on it. It was awesome
Sadly Valaria is now dead ... but it was my mistake. In the heat of battle I forgot about my Invulnerability 5 / magic armor, and got overrun... Luckily I always wanted to try a cleric !!!
Thanks