Suggestions for Ranger Builds

[OVERCOVER]

Hello there! I am pretty new to the community, NWN2 and D&D in general, but I have been reading up on some Ranger builds and what I have the impression of is that Archer specific Rangers are sort of "nerfed" even if a lot of things were fixed from the 1st NWN. Has the class been balanced somehow in BGTSCC? Is it safe and effective to go a fully Archer specialized build with or without game recommended abilities and feats? What I intend to go with is a Wood Elf Archer with Wild Child background and otherwise only recommended abilities and standard Ranger package. Is there something I should be aware of here that could immensely improve the combat effectivity of my character?

Thanks in advance!

[Sun Wukong]

The caster level of Ranger is not the half of the ranger levels, your caster level is as high as your ranger levels. You can get divine casting PRCs as a ranger, and the ranger spell book has been expanded. Therefore the base wisdom of 14 is a pretty good starting point for ranger. The Epic Animal Companion feat no longer requires high wisdom, so you can get it even as a dexterity based archer, or strength based Brutal Throw thrower. Alternatively, you can go for a high wisdom and use Zen Archery to get wisdom modifier instead of dexterity as your source of Ranged AB.



As for the standard in game recommendation of a ranger... ehh... I do not even know what it offers.

But basically, you can just go for a Ranger 30 build and you will be well off.

[Khazrak]

The main issue archer rangers have is dealing enough damage to over come Damage Reduction, the flat number by which incoming damage is reduced on a given creature or character. It's quite easy to pump up your attack bonus (chance to hit) on a Ranger or any other archer type, but the key to standing out is finding a way to dealing good damage.

There are a few ways to alleviate this. Firstly, you're going to want Ranged Weapon Mastery - that much is a no brainer. Secondly, you need to figure out which weapon style you plan to use and map out how to maximize its damage. (Brutal Throw = an all-in strength-based build with less range but good damage potential; Crossbow Sniper = less attacks overall, but all your damage is based off DEX; archery = uses a bow, requiring less feats and overall doing good damage if you balance STR and DEX well; and slings function similarly to bows.)

Each of the above weapon styles operates just a little bit differently in NWN2. I've tried them all on other servers, and they're all very competent at what they do. The generally accepted wisdom is that bows and crossbows are really good, though as I said slings can function very similar to bows (and have no Mighty - strength bonus to damage - cap). I love throwing weapons, but don't recommend that path unless you want to spend a lot of time juggling your inventory around and dealing with not having a launcher to go with your ammo.

If you want a longer rundown on the ups and downs of each weapon style, you can get good discussion by asking about it, or find threads that talk about it. The gist is that bows and slings require no extra feats (which is great), crossbows require several extra feats and are limited to 3 attacks per round but are great for sneak attackers and the like, and throwing weapons require 1 extra feat and are annoying to handle but strike a sort of balance between Crossbow Sniper and bows/slings (as many attacks per round as you like, but NOT as much bonus damage as crossbows can get).

So the first things I'd do are:

1) Figure out what weapon you want to use.
2) Figure out what stat you want to base yourself off of. Wisdom, Strength, and Dexterity can all be used for attacking the enemy. (Wisdom would be a perfectly valid choice for a bow or sling, but not so much for a crossbow or thrown weapon.)
3) Make sure you get the right feat to use the appropriate stat to attack. (Zen archery for wisdom, Brutal Throw for strength-based throwing, Crossbow Sniper and its even stronger feat for DEX-based damage with crossbows.)
2) Find a race and concept that both is fun for you to roleplay and compliments the playstyle, if possible.
3) Figure out whether you wish to be a pure Ranger (30 levels of Ranger) or something more complicated.

As far as the Ranger goes, I know that favored enemy bonuses are great. Favored Enemy helps rangers push their damage into mean levels. You will choose different ones depending on RP and whether you want to focus on PvP or PvE (though either way you want to be competent at PvE). For instance, a PvP focused ranger would probably choose Humans and Elves for favored enemies, followed by the other main races (dwarves, gnomes, halflings, orcs, etc), whereas a PvE focused ranger would choose favored enemies based on the areas s/he would be grinding at higher levels. Roleplay value also factors in, obviously; I know I've had a Ranger/Rogue whose focus was hunting orcs because she REALLY hated orcs, and that was that.

There will be people who are more experienced with playing Rangers than me, especially on this server. Hopefully one of them shows up. I can give you general ranged advice, but nothing specific to rangers. (The only ranger I truly stuck with was a Half-Orc Ranger/Marksman on Dalelands, and that was both a long time ago and using a class you don't have access to... and subpar.)

[OVERCOVER]

Appreciate the enlightening responses! I'm frustrated because I am trying to make something viable in combat simultaneously as I try to make the character someone I'd love to roleplay. More tempted to go for a strong roleplay character rather than a strong combat character, but then again I'll have issues with level progression (unless I roleplay enough to compensate for it).

I am a picky person, so essentially what I "want" my character to be is a Strider (if you have ever played Dragon's Dogma, you know what I'm talking about). Very dexterous with dual wielding (daggers or short swords), but also well versed with a bow. That means using a bow to pull enemies, probably put some traps down for them to walk into, fire off a few more arrows and when they come close enough, cut them down with her blades. But I feel like the cause is lost in terms of combat viability, I may as well just make her a decent roleplay character and avoid un-grouped combat.

But I'll let this thread open for more responses, I really appreciate any help I could get!

[Khazrak]

As counter-intuitive as this may sound, melee rangers are typically used as high Strength characters. The main attraction of melee Rangers in NWN2 is their ability to outright ignore DEX requirements for two-weapon fighting, allowing them to get more damage out based on strength.

What you're talking about sounds like the Pathfinder concept of the "switch hitter," build-wise. That is: a character that begins the fight with ranged weapons, then switches to melee (which is their true focus) once the battle lines close. Using a bow for pulling and such makes perfect sense, and I think you'll find it does the job well.

My opinion is as follows:

1) If you want to be a melee ranger, you'll want Strength, probably.
2) BUT you can get a more dextrous theme with other classes easily.
3) BUT that no matter what anyone says, it is up to you. Your character doesn't need to be powerbuilt or highly optimized - just good enough for what you want to do.

If you want advice on 1 or 2, just say so, and help will be offered.

[OVERCOVER]

As counter-intuitive as this may sound, melee rangers are typically used as high Strength characters. The main attraction of melee Rangers in NWN2 is their ability to outright ignore DEX requirements for two-weapon fighting, allowing them to get more damage out based on strength.

What you're talking about sounds like the Pathfinder concept of the "switch hitter," build-wise. That is: a character that begins the fight with ranged weapons, then switches to melee (which is their true focus) once the battle lines close. Using a bow for pulling and such makes perfect sense, and I think you'll find it does the job well.

My opinion is as follows:

1) If you want to be a melee ranger, you'll want Strength, probably.
2) BUT you can get a more dextrous theme with other classes easily.
3) BUT that no matter what anyone says, it is up to you. Your character doesn't need to be powerbuilt or highly optimized - just good enough for what you want to do.

If you want advice on 1 or 2, just say so, and help will be offered.

This looks good to me! I will try to build something nice and get back here as soon as possible.

[Sun Wukong]

http://nwn2db.com/build/?282980 <= There is one dexterity based ranger 30 build.

[OVERCOVER]

http://nwn2db.com/build/?282980 <= There is one dexterity based ranger 30 build.

Nice one! I made a very similar one, but should the Int really be that low? And do you know if changing the deity will affect anything?

[Thorsson]

It's well-known that all Rangers are MAD.

[Khazrak]

Low INT helps spend points on other things. 8 INT could be more workable for your concept, perhaps - it suggests a character that is a little slow in the head, but not a drooling idiot.

But low INT is something you'll probably have if you want to maximize combat effectiveness. You could boost it to 8 or 10 fairly safely. Dropping WIS to 13 means you need a +WIS item to cast your best spells, but that's not a huge issue, and would get you 8 INT. It does reduce your will save, however.

Rangers are always a little MAD (which AFAIK means Multiple Ability Dependent), whereas other characters are SAD (Single Ability Dependent, like wizards). You want a decent STR and/or DEX, WIS, and CON to play a ranger, at the least; and a not-terrible INT helps with skills. Kind of spreads stat points thin.

Personally, I'm not sure how good Blinding Speed is. At high levels (speaking as someone who mostly played on other servers) I find it's best to just carry sacks of wands and potions everywhere, or to travel with a spellcasting buddy, so maybe I'm biased. Blinding Speed is a good soloing tool, but I feel like it could be better spent on... well, something else. Better saves? 12 Will at 30 isn't that amazing; Iron Will could help you maybe sometimes not get KO'd by a will-targeting spell. But then, I perhaps put too high a priority on high saves.

As I said in the PM I answered, Sunwukong's Dex build is very nice overall, and straightforward to boot. It captures the "Strider" vision you have pretty well. I think it's a good option. STR-based Ranger is better in melee, but for roleplay value and for a bit more flexibility, you'll probably like that DEX build.

[Sun Wukong]

http://nwn2db.com/build/?282980 <= There is one dexterity based ranger 30 build.

Nice one! I made a very similar one, but should the Int really be that low? And do you know if changing the deity will affect anything?

You are a ranger, you got enough skill points by default to max out stealth, survival, and detection. You can raise your intelligence at the expense of charisma for example, or perhaps strength if you want.

You can change your deity if you want.

If you drop Blinding Speed and Armor Skin, you can get Epic Animal Companion earlier and get 2 Great Dexterity feats.

[OVERCOVER]

This is starting to sound like something I'd really love to play as! Thank you guys.

Edit: So what about 8 int and 8 cha? I don't want my character to be incredibly stupid, but I don't need her to be super persuasive either. Would that 2 cha drop affect anything? :O

Edit #2: Nevermind, saw what you wrote now!

Edit #3: Not sure if I missed something or it's just the game bugging out, but apparently I still have 4 points left after assigning the 16 points to Survival, Spot, Move Silently and Hide. Am I supposed to start off with 20 skill points?

Edit #4: Wow, I ask questions and seconds later I find the answer. Apparently me rectracting 2 points from Charisma and putting them into Intelligence gave me those points! Gotta read attribute descriptions more often..

[Sun Wukong]

In that case you could put those points into Set Trap, and make use of Grease Bombs and Flash Bombs that can be bought for funsies, from at least Soubar. It is also fun to set up the random traps you will get from the loot.

[OVERCOVER]

In that case you could put those points into Set Trap, and make use of Grease Bombs and Flash Bombs that can be bought for funsies, from at least Soubar. It is also fun to set up the random traps you will get from the loot.

I went with healing cause I think it will benefit me more in the long term.

[Sun Wukong]

Yeah, heal is a good choice too. For you and your animal companion actually. I just forgot that it is also a Ranger class skill.