Melee (Dual-Wielding) Ranger

[Vermilion]

Hello! I'm currently away and unable to get into game but I'm trying to put together a melee ranger build.

I've read some of the previous forum discussions- the character is a Chaotic Good human ranger from the south of Tethyr who focuses on tracking fugitives. From the building advice I already have, she needs to have 16 Dexterity & 14 Wisdom, though I'll be loading up Strength on level ups. For Calimshan heritage reasons (and not because of a certain (in)famous ranger snowflake) she will be using dual scimitars so I need outsized two-weapon fighting.

Other than that, I have loads of feat choices where I'm effectively guessing what might be good.

Hidden: show

I'll be wrong, they won't be good.

Is Ranger30 viable or would it be better to dip/dive into another class?

[K'yon Oblodra]

From what I heard in other threads ranger is one of the few classes that are actually viable for pure builds, but I bet there are ways to sprinkle in other classes for certain improvements... I'll leave the details to our pros XD

[aaron22]

as a human you can run a couple dips to get more out of your ranger build, but a pure ranger is a solid build. min number of ranger levels is 21 so you can get bane/PTWF. good ideas would be a FB for the enhanced power attack or fighter levels for weapon feats. can do R21/FB5/F4 for scimtar specialization and enhanced power attack. Id get KD/IKD somewhere too. If you are a bounty hunter feel you should run your detection skill max and favored would be human/elf/Helf/dwarf etc. could also go with some rogue type like R21/Sin9 for DA dice and HiPS inside and out.

[chad878262]

For a melee Ranger you can take DEX to 14 and use Mithral Chainmail + Cat's Grace. There is a +3 Mithral Chain available on a merchant, though there is a +4 Mithral Breastplate which is the benefit of 16 DEX. I agree with 14 WIS because relying on items for spells kinda sucks.

As for Feats for a a pure ranger dual wielding Scimmy's you want:
- Luck of Hero's.
- Oversized TWF
- Protective Ward (not a free feat on BGtSCC but worth taking for +2 AC at Ranger 24).
- Extend Spell (useful so you can use 2nd level spells for Barkskin, Halo of Sand and Embrace the Wild while Extending Cat's Grace, for example. Extended Blades of Fury is another strong contender).
- Practiced Spellcaster if you do plan to dip in to 1 or 2 other classes. For example a human can still take Cavestalker with 3 levels of Shadowdancer (darkvision), but that would require 19 DEX... Just realize that by getting CL28-30 you have much more reliable spells, meaning +5 natural AC (Barkskin), +4 deflection AC (Halo), +4 DEX, free Blindfight, Freedom of Movement, increased Attack Bonus, etc... I would generally either stick with a pure ranger or only dip Fighter 4 for Weapon Specialization or Assassin 8 for full HiPS (but only CL26, which isn't terrible).

After that you have some freedom. CE/ICE is really nice because as a dual wielder you sometimes struggle for AC... Hitting low-mid 40's would be the norm, but you can reach mid 50's with wands (IMA and Shield) and ICE. You should be able to reach an AB in the mid 40's so can afford ICE in some situations or at least CE and the extra AC will often be welcome. Could also consider TWD/ITWD for always on 1/2 shield AC at no cost to attack bonus.

In epics you want Epic Prowess, Expose Weakness, Bane of Enemies, and a whole bunch of Great STR's. End on an odd number and use the Belt of Growth and if you are left with one feat than I'd just grab armor skin.

Melee Ranger's two biggest weaknesses are Will saves and AC. So you'll want to prioritized getting +4 dodge boots, +4 Armor, Shield wand, IMA wand and ++Saves gear. This will make you a much more difficult to kill character.

Have fun.

[AlfarinIcebreaker]

Chad is spot on, I would just like to emphasize that for a Ranger, sweet spot is either 26 or pure Ranger. Why 26? Because that way you retain full casting progression with Practiced Spellcaster, you also make full use of Protective Ward (+2 AC on level 24), you get 6th FE on level 25 of Ranger and finally another epic bonus feat on level 26.

As to multiclassing options, I would suggest either Divine Champion (2 bonus feats, +2 to will saves) or Fighter (Weapon Specialization) for more melee power, or Assassin or Whirling Dervish for survivability and AC (Tumble and UMD access and a little Sneak/Death attack).

Too bad that Rangers don't get Tumble as a class skill, though. It would make sense from a RP point and wouldn't be overpowered, since Rangers are very skill intensive, so you'd have to invest some more ability points into INT.

[Utran]

Regarding a ranger - what FE do you recommend?

I know that undead and outsiders are usually a good bet. What else is here?

[Deathgrowl]

Ranger30 is definitely viable and good.

I prefer ranger21/assassin9 though. Strength focus.

[chad878262]

Regarding a ranger - what FE do you recommend?

I know that undead and outsiders are usually a good bet. What else is here?

Definitely Giants, Undead and Outsiders.

Goblins and/or Orcs are not bad for the low-mid levels (~5-14 or so)
With regard to epics Dragons, Monstrous Humanoids, Abominations, Elves (Drow) are also good picks.

If it were me I would prioritize them as:
1. Undead
5. Ousider
10. Giants
15. Monstrous Humanoids
20. Elves
25. Dragons
30. Abominations

Note that Yuan-Ti and Naga's are supposed to be Abominations, but I am not certain if they are defined as such by NWN2 engine which is why they are last on the list.

This said, my personal opinion is you should make some RP decisions instead of just mechanical for your favored enemies which can make for a lot more fun in DM events. Also have to consider potential for PvP, in which case outsider covers you against Tiefling, Asimar and genasi while elves covers quite a bit as well. Humans and Dwarves also have enemies on the server in PvE while obviously being player choices. Finally, if you don't like Chambordini you can pick gnomes.

[AlfarinIcebreaker]

Regarding a ranger - what FE do you recommend?

I know that undead and outsiders are usually a good bet. What else is here?

Take :

Outsiders
Giants
Undead
Orcs
Humans
Elves
Dwarves

This is for level 30 Ranger. For level 26 Ranger cut out one between Orcs, Undead or Dwarves.

[chad878262]

I would not drop Undead. There are Undead in the early levels, mid-levels and Epic so it's one of the very best FE's for PvE. If you are more interested in PvP then it is obviously of much lower priority.

[aaron22]

yes keep undead and outsiders. and for a bounty hunter feel i would then pick the playable races that seem the most viable to you.

i like the R21/Sin9 or R25/FB5 as i want to do more damage with the dual wielder.

[Valefort]

R 25 / SB 5 also works well, using kukris and with a noticeable INT score like 14-16. Late bloomer though.

[chad878262]

With the dispel fix I would go Ranger 22/Sin 8 personally. CL26 vs. 25 means only 20% of Ranger wards dispelled vs. 25% which when you add in HiPS is a good combo. The extra 3.5 damage from your death attack won't be missed though the 2nd cast of Assassin Improved Invisibility would be nice...Luckily you can get nearly the same thing 3/day with a cloak that usually sells for between 10-20K and has the same duration as level 9 assassin.

There is a lot to be said for opening up item slots as a melee ranger by having +5 Natural / +4 Deflection AC alongside +4 DEX and all the other nice buffs you can apply. However, the more dependent on your buffs the more it will suck if they get dispelled, thus you need to decide if you want to be more dependent on items and use your buffs for things that you don't mind getting dispelled or not.

I played a R21/A9 for my first ~2 years on the server and after the dispel fix (and before the introduction of epic shops) I did not like it any more. He didn't have any +4 deflection or natural items and there were a lot of places that became off limits to him. Now, since the introduction of epic shops and the reduction in dispel mobs it's a viable option again, but I personally would want to still try to mitigate dispels since your buffs are what really add to a Rangers power. They have buffs to increase damage (extended blades of fury), Attack Bonus (Aid and a couple others that only apply to ranged), and AC (Cat's, Halo, Barkskin) without which they are generally going to do less damage than about any other dual wielding build. With Epic Shops it is absolutely an option to use your ranger spells for the damage and situational buffs while having items for AC (though Barkskin will still give +1 natural, having it dispelled won't be the end of the world).

Just some things to think about should you go the less than full Caster Level Route. Assassin adds great synergy to Ranger and it's a lot of fun to play one, but it does bring with it an appropriate weakness that should be planned around.

[aaron22]

there are spells that stack up to make ranger damage pretty good. you will love them. but few if any will multiply on a crit like the IPA from a FB. with a scimmy build that will be awesome. difference maker.

supreme cleave and frenzy are really icing when you think of the effectiveness of the enhanced PA with IPA.

if played well this toon will have no trouble taking mobs out before they can get many licks on you.

[Vermilion]

So I think this matches up with Chad's advice.

As appealing as assassin is, it's a bit dark for this character. Went CE/ICE route as I can't squeeze in enough Dex for (Imp.)TWD. Fairly happy with the skills, I'll just eschew UMD.