Advice on ranger retraining

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

brassbaboon

Oct 25, 2009 20:28:45

Our party is likely to hit level 10 on our next session. At that time I'll be able to retrain one feat and choose a new one.


Currently my spiked chain wielding ranger has the following feats:


Defensive mobility (from archer type)


Spiked Chain training


Light Blade Expertise


Light Blade Focus


Exotic fighting style (allows him to shift between twin strikes attacks)


Spiked Chain expertise (chain ward)


Right now he is doing pretty solid damage, and has a +15 attack which will become a +16 when we hit level 10, which should be pretty decent. With Iron Armbands of Power, Bloodclaw chain and Gauntlets of blood, he gets plenty of damage in melee. However, with his +2 longbow he only has a +12 to attack, and very little damage bonus.


Our group is light on ranged damage. The other chars in the group are a barbarian optimized for charge attacks, a cleric, an invoker and a fighter. We've had a couple of encounters where our lack of ranged ability has either extended the battle or allowed some of the monsters to get away.


So these are the options I'm looking at for level 10:


1. Swap out chain ward for Bow expertise and take Distant Advantage for my tenth level feat. That would end up with my ranger having a +16 attack for melee and a +14 attack for ranged. With Prime Shot I could get to +15, so it's getting pretty competitive. I would probably also buy the Bracers of Archery so I can get an additional +2 to damage. I could still be a very effective melee fighter, but could beef up our ranged abilities pretty effectively.


2. Swap out chain ward for Two Weapon fighting and take Two Weapon Defense. This would give more damage and a better AC so would make him an even more effective melee monster. Most of our encounters are melee specific.


3. Keep chain ward, and swap out one of my other feats to take spiked chain novice, and use my 10th level feat to take Spiked Chain Specialist to focus entirely on spiked chain.


There are probably plenty of other options too, but what I'm really looking for is "should I try to beef up ranged abilities, or stick with melee and just let the group deal with ranged problems?"