Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Hello builders! I was mulling over some character concepts with RCR period coming to halt, and stopped at Ranger. The Ranger favours heavy investment but it also needs something to round it off - IMO the sweet spot for the Ranger is 26 levels + 4 extra.

With that in mind, it's hard to pass up on Cavestalker which progresses FE, Animal Companion and Spellcasting, while opening up Tumble, Spellcraft, broadens HiPS and Camouflage use and tops it off with an extra point of AC and some bonus skills.

Usually a Wood Elf is a "natural" choice for a Ranger but (surface) Elves cannot qualify for Cavestalker as they don't have Darkvision.

So Dwarf seems like a very good alternative. I am having some doubts about which weapons to use and feats so please advise. This is the build layout :

Starting stats :

16 STR (+7)
14 DEX
14 CON
14 INT
14 WIS
6 CHA

Feats : Luck of Heroes, Knockdown, Protective Ward, Improved Knockdown, Improved Critical, Spare Feat, Spare Feat, Epic Prowess, Expose Weakness, Bane of Enemies, Great Strength I,II,II,IV.

I have a couple of spare feats as you can see, so I need to make a decision. Since Cavestalker progresses Animal Companion, Natural Bond is one of the options, but I would also have to take Epic Animal Companion instead of Great Strength IV, and the plan is to end the build on 30 STR. This is still doable if +4 STR item is going to be added, anyone knows when and if is this going to happen?

Other feat options are tied to the weapon choice. First what comes to mind in regards to weapons are Dwarven Waraxes, so that would require Oversized Two Weapon Fighting feat. However, there is the Blackjack light flail which seems like by FAR the best choice for STR based Ranger : +4 EB, +1d4 slashing damage, +3 hide and ms (x2). And it doesn't require OTWF.

So effectively this would mean exchanging 2 damage (base range difference between falil and waraxe) for +6 hide and +6 move silently (the best shop found Dwarven Waraxe is a +4 EB and +1d4 magical damage and some useless skills). If you consider that you can pick Stealthy vs OTWF which is mandatory for waraxe option that is +8 hide and +8 ms vs +2 damage.

What do you think? How would you go through with this one?

I’ve got an RCR ready to go when my comp is working again. Dwarf R26/CS4, but I’m picking brutal throw and maxing strength. Melee he’ll be sword and board. Will lay the hurt with throwing axes from a distance then finish with high strength and buffed animal companion (boar). Will pick Northern Hewing to make use of the flail and high strength. Can use the Avernus light shield which gives bonuses to hide/ms. Should be fun.

AlfarinIcebreaker wrote: (the best shop found Dwarven Waraxe is a +4 EB and +1d4 magical damage and some useless skills). If you consider that you can pick Stealthy vs OTWF which is mandatory for waraxe option that is +8 hide and +8 ms vs +2 damage.

What do you think? How would you go through with this one?

just saying, i have one extra axe up for sale in case you go for the dwaraxe ranger ^^

A ddefender4 with powerful charge+direcharge is also nice if dualwielding.

TWF rangers want AC. CE and ICE will serve you well.

@chad Generally, yes, but I don't think I will have problems with Dwarf. AC would be :

+10 base
+10 Mithral Chainmail
+5 Natural (Skin of the Cactus)
+4 Deflection (Halo of Sand)
+4 Dodge (Boots)
+4 Armor (Bracers of Blinding Strike)
+1 Luck of Heroes
+2 Protective Ward
+1 Hide of Stone
+3 Tumble
+4 Shield rune

That's 48 AC. Dwarf will also have +4 vs giants and about 400 HP.

It will be fine for most area's, but is still a bit low for a front line fighter. Having HiPS in outdoor and indoor natural area's will help for sure though. With IMA wand you hit 50 so that should be enough. However, you will have plenty of AB so having 3 or 6 extra AC that can't be dispelled would mean 47/50 AC without shield broach (I expect you'll be carrying about 6 of them, or go with a wand to conserve inventory space). Just something to think about, if you have the feats, CE/ICE on any Ranger is generally a good pick up since Power Attack doesn't get as much bang for the buck when wielding two weapons.

Regarding wisdom score, your character can get away with starting at 11, and put on a +3 wis item to unlock tiers 2 thru 4 spells. Spell progression will happen in the background but sit 'invisible' in your spell book, until you increase your Wis score. Either with items or level up stat increase.
If spell slots are an issue, there are plenty of Ranger spell slot items floating around. Rings and Helms are obvious choices, helms because of that sweet Deflection AC spell you get

Yeah, good call mayhem, didn't think about that. That way I can start with 17 STR and 11 WIS and pick Epic Animal Companion instead of Great Strength IV. That also calls for Natural Bond so it narrows down my dilemma to one spare feat between Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus, Stealthy and OTWF. Thanks guys.

Use finessable weapons (but don't pick finesse, you got strength). That means you can go for combat expertise and deadly defense. +3 AC and +1d4 damage for -3 AB. Might as well pick up ICE, of course, which makes it +6 AC and +1d4 damage for -6 AB.

Handaxes are cool for dwarves!

I struggled myself with this very same decision. Animal companion feats or CE/ICE. On paper they both seem equal. On practice though, it is very different. The AI forces the companion to do stupid things and get hurt, however the new companion controlling feat helps a bit. The additional chore of buffing the companion in order for it to be relevant gets a chore over time. After playing some ( much ) time i decided to ditch both companion feats for CE/ICE.

Finally, I avoid getting deadly defense unless it is absolutely necessary, ie a weapon finess build. Even thouvh on my main i use oversized weapons, the best balance point is a mediumweapon on the main hand and a small on the off hand. The damage is simlar without having to spend a feat and the big positive comes when you are against mobs that are not included in your FE selection and have DR. Then go two hander using the 1.5 STR to damage for more average damage.