Ranged Ranger

[Zkenic]

I've been playing around with archer builds, and I am stuck on making an excellent ranged ranger. Each time I play around with the numbers, a build with fighter seems to do better than a bow ranger.

So what is the best way to build a bow ranger? What are the pros over going fighter for high AB, with a lower level investment, and stacking a bunch of prestige classes? What is the best prestige class for ranger?

[wurdpass]

21 ranger/9 assassin is I believe considered a tier one build. Switching some ranger levels for Arcane Archer will also be potent.

You only need 4 levels of fighter to qual for Specialization and Mastery.

Looking at just dmg and AB ignores Evasion, Swift Tracker and Camouflage which do a lot for you, of course.

Not an archer, but a Savage Throw Ranger Stormlord could be fun?

A Zen Archery ranger can benefit from not needing Dex to qualify for Manyshot however you are limited to Light Armor so you still need some. The Hunter kit removes light armor requirement at the cost of spells, which you hate to give up on a Zen Archer.

[Theodore01]

The Hunter kit removes light armor requirement .....

Where is that stated ? It's still a Ranger class.

[chad878262]

Ranger 30 is a fantastic ranged build either as DEX or WIS based. Plus you have a solid pet to help keep the baddies off of you.

R26/F4 is great for Ranged Mastery (+2 AB/+2 damage), but you won't have as good a pet and DEX based is going to simply be better.

R22/A8 or R21/A9 is ok, but your spells can be stripped making it less great than it once was. DEX based again.

If you don't take in to account Favored Enemies/Bane of Enemies, +4 AB and +9 AC from Ranger spells, feat benefits, animal companion, etc. a Fighter is going to come out on top as you can see there benefits right there on NWN2db. However, when you start looking at the Ranger spells, including the archery based reserve spells, the favored enemy bonus damage (5 at 20, 6 at 25, 7 at 30) and the pet, Ranger builds will show to be quite comparable and even better.

Consider, R30 w/ FE Giants (a popular enemy type from ~CR 14+)

Damage ~4.5 + ~7 (2d6 BoE) + 7 (FE's) = ~18.5 + STR and any other bonuses (or 1d8+2d6+7)

R26/F4

Damage ~4.5 + 7 (BoE) + 6 (FE's) + 2 (Ranged Mastery) + 2 (Weapon Specialization) = ~21.5

Fighter build:

Damage ~4.5 + 8 (Epic Weapon Spec and Ranged Mastery) = ~12.5

Now, Manyshot Assassin is simply going to do more damage...period. However, you need to be within 30 feet of the target. If you are interested in Manyshot build, R11/A9/AA10 is an option, as is R11/F4/A9/AA6, for example. It just depends on what you want to use. If you don't want to use the pet or spellbook, consider Hunter Ranger and consider taking only 11 levels, or maybe 13 if you want camouflage.

[AlfarinIcebreaker]

I played 26 Ranger/4 Fighter extensively and it is a fantastic build, even more so with the all the nice stuff you can get now in shops. Splash of Fighter greatly helps with damage while retaining full 30 levels of CL. It was a solid build even with all my FE choices tailored for PvP (I didn't even have Giants as FE, but boy was it great in PvP), so if you mix it up a little bit you will have an even more easy time in PvE.

Where it really shines is 2x Oneshot with Bane of Enemies and Blinding Speed.

Another option is Zen Wisdom based 30 level Ranger. That one is practically a Beastmaster as you will have full companion progression alongside enough spells to buff it.

[wurdpass]

The Hunter kit removes light armor requirement .....

Where is that stated ? It's still a Ranger class.

The way I read it, unlike Ranger which gives you "Ranger Combat Style", Hunter just gives you the feat outright.

[chad878262]

The Hunter kit removes light armor requirement .....

Where is that stated ? It's still a Ranger class.

The way I read it, unlike Ranger which gives you "Ranger Combat Style", Hunter just gives you the feat outright.

To clarify, Hunter gives you Rapid Shot and Manyshot, but does not give you Improved Rapid Shot. So if you take Archery Combat Style Improved Rapid Shot would be subject to standard Ranger requirements (light armor). However, you could theoretically take Two Weapon Fighting Combat Style and spend a feat to take Improved Rapid Shot (while also getting the TWF feats). The downside to this is you wouldn't get One Shot in epics so if you are primarily going for ranged you should stick with that.

There is really no purpose to wear medium armor anyway on a Ranger. You only need 14 DEX to get max AC with Mithral Chainmail (light armor).

In any case, you can use manyshot with hunter in medium/heavy armor, but you won't have improved rapid shot unless you take archery combat style (which will then be subject to light armor requirement).

Make sense?

[wurdpass]

Hey Chad -

Thanks for clarification. I agree that theres no "Need" but 14 dex costs betw 4 for elf and 10 for gold dwarf point buy, so it can be leveraged to your advantage depending on build goals - e.g. a heavy armor EDM Thrower.

If I were to take advantage of this I would probably go 2 ranger (toughness)/10 Hunter and spend a feat on Improved Rapid, which (per wiki) does not have Dex req, only Manyshot, PBS and basic Rapid.

[chad878262]

If I were to take advantage of this I would probably go 2 ranger (toughness)/10 Hunter and spend a feat on Improved Rapid, which (per wiki) does not have Dex req, only Manyshot, PBS and basic Rapid.

You'd want 1 Ranger/10 Hunter. toughness will still be granted while taking Hunter progression (it's still a ranger)

[electric mayhem]

For anyone doing a Rng/Ass/AA build, highly recommend this split.
Rg13/Ass8/AA9
Ranger 13 gets you camoflauge. Running in stealth. Marvellous quality of life feat. Turns a typical "crawl slow and attack" build into a "Hips, sprint, turn fire, hips SPRINT" build.

Chad highlights the powerful addition of Ranger FEnemy feats. I've tried fighter builds for 'ranger' style characters. Mixed EArcher etc into them. Thought they were the best.
Until I tried adding Ranger instead of fighter. Huge difference having Favored enemies ALONG with the epic ranger feat Bane of Enemies. Big damage.

These builds also work with crossbow sniper builds for pure dex builds.

Note if you progress ranger to 17 and above, expecting to use the Hips feat.. it only works in areas marked outdoor. That's cool if you plan for it and mainly farm outdoor.

[Deathgrowl]

Ranger13/assassin8/fighter4/aa5 is actually slightly better. That is, if you go wood elf so you can avoid the XP penalty.