Ranger Questions

[Cort Thundershot]

A few questions popped up as I was working on a pure ranger build. I've been away a long time, and have never been great with builds anyhow.
1) Do rangers get Protective Ward as a class feat? The builder gives it at level 6, but is it different on the server?
2) Is Deadeye Shot an activated ability or is it automatic?
3) I have Improved Initiative and Dodge mixed in my build, but I feel like there could be something different, maybe better to replace them with. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

[Tsidkenu]

Oh. My. God! It's HIM!

And yes Protective Ward can be chosen. The bonus improves to +2 at level 24 or something.

Deadeye shot is a semi-mode iirc. You click & attack a target, but your character won't actually fire unless there's someone attacking a foe in melee for you to snipe. I'll test this and get back to you.

And as for #3, no idea what you're trying to do with your ranger, but if you're a longbow archer you could consider dropping one of Dodge or Improved Initiative for Lightning Reflexes and then pick up the never-before-seen but absolutely freaking awesome Frontline Archer feat. It is -the- best thing ever, esp. if you have HIPS on your build too. Attack until a mob gets to melee range, KD them, attack one more round, HIPS. . . attack. . . knockdown. . . attack . . . HIPS. . . it's -amazing-

[Deathgrowl]

1) Do rangers get Protective Ward as a class feat? The builder gives it at level 6, but is it different on the server?

To be more clear: It has to be picked by normal feat choice. It's not a free feat.

3) I have Improved Initiative and Dodge mixed in my build, but I feel like there could be something different, maybe better to replace them with. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Depends entirely on the build. Improved initiative seems useless in almost all cases I can think of.

I would also never pick the Dodge feat unless it's for a PRC requirement.

What should you pick? Well, not knowing what kind of build it is makes it hard to suggest. But I'm guessing you're going for archery? I would perhaps consider getting extend spell. Other than that, maybe some skill focus hide/ms or the stealthy feat? What have you already got in the build and what is it you want the build to do?

[Storm Munin]

Deadeye shot really is not worth it if your archery talent is good.
Read as manyshot, post 40+ AB and high damage.

Its an activated feat for cripples.

[chad878262]

As an Archer you want to improve your AB to make up for the many shot penalty, some of that can come through spells, but you might still consider WF: Longbow to get another +1, and then I might also take Epic Precision later as well (many shot is -8 AB so you need as many bonuses as you can get.)

I highly recommend Extend Spell for a pure ranger since it vastly improves your flexibility with spells. I believe you get 3 that will each give you +1 AB at various levels so w/ WF and EP that's a total of +5 to help offset -8 many shot penalty...

Other feats to consider if you don't already have them might be Point Blank Shot and SF: hide/ms, move silently being the more important of the two since you can't buff it as high as you can hide. You could consider Stealthy as well though there are a few items that can also grant that feat.

[Cort Thundershot]

Thanks for the replies, the help is much appreciated. I did this build before I stopped playing, and now that I look back I think that Dodge and Improved Initiative were placeholders for other feats. Going with Extend Spell and and a Skill Focus.