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

1 - i have a 21/9 rogue assassin, doesnt use a bow tho, the damage is really good but very "unstable" if you will

mine has 21d6 SA which is high enough you can basically ignore whatever the weapons are doing because you wont be able to tell anyway, but her damage spread is basically anywhere between 22 - 126 ignoring weapons, average being around 80

as far as the low AB goes, since mine is melee i dont feel it as much because i use feint, being a ranged weapon user feint is not going to be an option and you will probably have to make most your attacks from stealth to have the lowered AC, but when you hit its gonna hurt

2-4 - i dont have any ranger builds, the closest i can compare is my drow AA assassin, shes 8 bard 9 AA 4 thief 9 assassin, so also doesnt have epic precision however does enough damage she can engage enemies at range and they are probably dead by the time they reach her, will likely be the same way for any that are favored enemies on a ranger build

the damage from assassin is nice but not needed, its more like a punishment for anything that manages to get close enough to make you hips out quick and hit them with the extra damage

as far as crit immune, you are just gonna hips and put some distance so not being able to get crits or SA is not that big of a deal

if i had to pick one of those 3 options to play i would go with the ranger SD for the convenience of hips everywhere and unless you are rping an assassin, its not doing too much more for you if you are not getting close enough to use SA, which is not needed when you have raw damage output, and while i love death attack most things dont have a low enough save for it to be overly reliable, not to mention it will require a decent INT to have a reasonable DC, both my assassins have a +6 INT mod and 9 assassin which is only a 25 DA DC, its decent and works here and there on those that can actually fail it, but not high enough to where you can rely on it to save you if trying to engage a group - or it can if you have the patience to wait for them to calm down from the last attempt so it can work again

poisons are also fun, but again with the save DCs

Sneaky bow-master:

7 Stalker / 11 rogue / 9 Assassin / 3 bodyguard (or hunter)

21 Ranger / 4 fighter / 5 OOTBI

13 Ranger / 3 SD / 10 OOTBI / 4 fighter

13 Ranger / 8 Assassin / 4 fighter / 5 AA

Etc ...

I also just build a hipster, but was disappointed that the epic bosses see right through it without needing to perform a listen/spot check. Which also means no spell dodging against these with hips

A Hateful Drow wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 11:03 am 4) Ranger 21 - Assassin 9: It has hips outside and inside, the AB is higher than the rogue version but it has no epic precision so crit immune enemies won't care about the assassin levels.

While I don't run this personally, while looking through Ranger builds I believe the Favored Enemy choices on this one tends to follow the pure mechanical logic of picking crit immune enemies for your choices.

Death/Sneak attack what's not immune, Bane of Enemies that which is.

Best of luck.

Kalgain wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:24 pm I also just build a hipster, but was disappointed that the epic bosses see right through it without needing to perform a listen/spot check. Which also means no spell dodging against these with hips

not true, most epic bosses simply have a base 85 spot/listen which means they will auto spot you

sucks i know, because i remember fighting the balor before that change happened, a group of sneaks could actually take it on and win and we did a few times

after that change... lol nope

blacksoft wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:00 pm Sneaky bow-master:

7 Stalker / 11 rogue / 9 Assassin / 3 bodyguard (or hunter)

21 Ranger / 4 fighter / 5 OOTBI

13 Ranger / 3 SD / 10 OOTBI / 4 fighter

13 Ranger / 8 Assassin / 4 fighter / 5 AA

Etc ...

You forgot bard 27/sd3

Blackman D wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 11:26 pm

Kalgain wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:24 pm I also just build a hipster, but was disappointed that the epic bosses see right through it without needing to perform a listen/spot check. Which also means no spell dodging against these with hips

not true, most epic bosses simply have a base 85 spot/listen which means they will auto spot you

sucks i know, because i remember fighting the balor before that change happened, a group of sneaks could actually take it on and win and we did a few times

after that change... lol nope

Reaching 80, 90, or even 100 Hide and Move Silently isn't impossible, however. I recall when I first place here (7 years ago), some characters would definitely roll above 100 on either. Might not have been absolute god-tier on the Sneak Attack dice, but they at least had Assassin, giving them some damage. One of them is still around from time to time, if you wish to hash out how to get there. Pan-some would be their name.

Which is totally correct, as 85 listen is take 105. You don't roll on your hide, so yeah, he saw you!

zhazz wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:23 am Reaching 80, 90, or even 100 Hide and Move Silently isn't impossible, however. I recall when I first place here (7 years ago), some characters would definitely roll above 100 on either. Might not have been absolute god-tier on the Sneak Attack dice, but they at least had Assassin, giving them some damage. One of them is still around from time to time, if you wish to hash out how to get there. Pan-some would be their name.

oh i know, my hin is in that range, you still get spotted within seconds

A Hateful Drow wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:51 am I got spotted by the fire general with 100 hide and 95 move silently which got me crazy.

its not, you need to be +30 to not be seen due to engine modifiers

so with 85 detection you would need 115 stealth minimum, which isnt possible

Terankar wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 11:50 pm

blacksoft wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:00 pm Sneaky bow-master:

7 Stalker / 11 rogue / 9 Assassin / 3 bodyguard (or hunter)

21 Ranger / 4 fighter / 5 OOTBI

13 Ranger / 3 SD / 10 OOTBI / 4 fighter

13 Ranger / 8 Assassin / 4 fighter / 5 AA

Etc ...

You forgot bard 27/sd3

I did say etc... to insinuate that there were others not mentioned. There are many versions of builds that can do well as a stealth archer.


As for those I did mention, it was mainly to ascribe to the camouflage feat paired with either's Ranger's version of HIPS or the actual HIPS feat.

Blackman D wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:26 am

A Hateful Drow wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:51 am I got spotted by the fire general with 100 hide and 95 move silently which got me crazy.

its not, you need to be +30 to not be seen due to engine modifiers

so with 85 detection you would need 115 stealth minimum, which isnt possible

What is the maximum amount of hide and move silently that one can get on gear, currently? Can you get 50 - 60 from gear alone? If so, seems doable for a really committed stealther as you can get (before spell or outside buffs) over 60 from build choice alone.

skill bonus from gear and spells is capped at +50
then you have ranks and feats and dex

so 33 ranks + 10 (30 dex) + 1 (wild child) + 2 (stealthly) + 3 (SF H/MS) = 49 base stealth

IF (big IF) you are able to hit gear/spell cap you can only hit 99 stealth

hin has +2 racial bonus to MS and +4 bonus to hide vs anyone larger than them so they would technically be able to hit 103/101 vs large opponents

my hin can hit like 99/97 or somethin like that fully buffed, sits at about 88/90? or somethin normally

camo alone pushes her to hide skill cap, but the issue is its much harder to boost MS and you want your stats to be close to each other if possible

Blackman D wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:30 am skill bonus from gear and spells is capped at +50
then you have ranks and feats and dex

so 33 ranks + 10 (30 dex) + 1 (wild child) + 2 (stealthly) + 3 (SF H/MS) = 49 base stealth

IF (big IF) you are able to hit gear/spell cap you can only hit 99 stealth

hin has +2 racial bonus to MS and +4 bonus to hide vs anyone larger than them so they would technically be able to hit 103/101 vs large opponents

I was thinking:

+6 Hin + 33 ranks + 12 (34 dex) + 1 (wild child) + 2 (stealthy) + 3 (SF MS) + 4 trackless step + 4 entropic warding = 65 + 50 (gear and spell cap) = 115

((Oh, shoot, entropic warding is a spell buff isn't it?))

-Perhaps BG's aura of despair lessens the skill check as well, but since it only says save, most likely not...
-Dex can be maxed at 36 for an extra 1 MS/H if you take all epic feats for it
-Cavestalker hide of stone
-Curse song can fill the difference to get you to 115

hins dont get a +6, its +2 MS and +4 situational hide that you dont see, i.e. ignore bc it doesnt even show on the character sheet, you just have to trust you get it

and while you could get a higher dex, what build are you gonna do it on that it isnt a waste of feats?

and trackless step is a druid only feat, no way you are planning a 36 dex druid build

and just because curse song gives a penalty, thats not the same as you getting a bonus, you are still not hitting 115, their detection will just be lower by however much