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Post by Lythe Featherblade on Aug 21, 2007 5:15:47 GMT
Update: tweaks after playing this a bit (April 5th 08) Main tweaks - dropped dodge for extended spell, dropped starting wis by 2 and bumped con by 2, This build can be adapted to many subraces from free to BUR, and even as a free subrace you can still get a hells capable build.  If you wish to make a pure melee dex ranger, this build gives the optimal distribution of stats/feats for AC, beyond that for tweaks you can easily drop 2-4 great dex feats if you want something special (like epic/legendary hide for more conceal, extended spell, +14 weapon buffs, etc)conceal can be gotten from +hide items/bard song and maxed, you want to keep dex fairly high for AB. If there is a feat you really do want to fit in (such as exotic weapons) either drop extended spell, or drop toughness; if it's a LL feat you need move iron will to pre-20 I currently have the stargazer variant malbolge tagged with few regrets, the main downfall being pitfiends (a problem every dexer faces). thrikreen and doppleganger variation to follow updated to current changes in game Stargazer variation - pros - epic dodge, improved evasion cons - tight on feats Starting points distribution: Dex 16 con6 int 4 wis 4 so starting stats modified by subrace: str 8 dex 20 con 12 int 14 wis 16 cha 6 All levelup points into dex Feats 1 Blooded, 3-18 ,Finesse, Weapon focus, Improved critical, blindfighting, toughness, extended spell 1,5,10,15, 20 favored enemy each time 21 armor skin 23 @ Favored Enemy* 24 Great dex 1 25 @ Favored Enemy* 26 @ Favored Enemy* 27 Great dex 2 29 @ Favored Enemy* 30 Great dex 3 30 @ Favored Enemy* 32 @ Favored Enemy* 33 Great dex 4 35 @ epic weapon focus 35 @ epic prowess 36 epic fort 38 @ blinding speed 39 called shot 40 @ bane of enemies 42 LSA tumble 45 epic dodge 48 legendary weapon focus 51 iron will 54 legendary will 57 Great dex 5 60 great dex 6 Final (geared) stats - str 8(20) dex 44(58) con 16(28) int 18 wis 18(30) cha 6 1050 hp total ab 20base+10epic+7feats+15LL+23stat+ =75 (before weapon buffs) pre20 40 60 gear stat feat epic F LLfeat luck total fort 12 10 5 20 9 _ 4 _ 60 ref 6 10 5 20 23 _ _ _ 64 will 6 10 5 20 10 2 _ 7 60 tumble ignore, then catchup after you get LSA-tumble at 42 Due to no free feats, not being human and taking epic dodge, plus the -con, stargazer is very tight on feats. In comparison doppleganger (human) can take luck of heros and legendary luck, and ends up with 3-4 more feats, plus has higher con to begin with. As AC and AB is the same it's your choice whether epic dodge is worth it enemies Outsiders Abberations Undead Elementals Reptilian Humanoids Animals Dragons Constructs monstrous humanoids vermin? beasts Skills - maxed animal empathy discipline hide listen parry tumble Craft weapon (not quite maxed) Final AC using UR items - 130 with shield, 139 dual wielding in UR light armor |
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Post by nwthepredator on Aug 22, 2007 19:00:55 GMT
LoL at this ->Level progression: 1-15 Ranger 16-19 Ranger 20 ranger (to max ab of course) 21-29 ranger 30-38ranger 39-40 ranger, essential now to get that final skill dumps on all the ranger skills ------ btw keep up the good work i wanna see more ranger builds around, there sure aren't plenty  |
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Post by Lythe Featherblade on Aug 22, 2007 19:38:02 GMT
Generic variation - Thri-kreen, Doppleganger (human), Pixie
"Doppelganger" (secret UltraRare subrace) - no race requirement (changes Appearance)
STR -2, CON +2, WIS +5, CHA -2, free feat: Alertness, free feat: Creature Weapon Speacialization, free feat: Martial Weapon Proficiency
"Pixie" (secret subrace) - requires Human (changes Appearance)
STR -2, CON -2, DEX +2, INT +2, WIS +2, CHA +2, +2 listen, +2 search, +2 spot, increased base movement rate - very fast, sr 10 + 1/lvl, free feat: Low-Light Vision, free feat: Dodge, reduces character size to small, able to walk on quicksand, speaks Sylvan, speaks Pixie
"Thri-Kreen" (secret subrace) - requires Human (changes Appearance)
DEX +2, INT -2, WIS +2, CHA -2, increased base movement rate - fast, free feat: Alertness, free feat: Ambidexterity, free feat: Armor Skin, free feat: Deflect Arrows, free feat: Immunity to Sleep, able to walk on quicksand , speaks Thri-kreen
Starting points distribution: Doppleganger (human)
Dex 10 con 6 int 6 wis 8
starting stats: str 6 dex 16 con 16 int 14 wis 20 cha 4
All levelup points into dex
Starting points distribution: Pixie
Dex 10 con 6 int 4 wis 10
starting stats: str 6 dex 18 con 12 int 14 wis 18 cha 6
Starting points distribution: Thri-Kreen
Dex 8 con 6 int 6 wis 10
starting stats: str 8 dex 17 con 14 int 12 wis 18 cha 6
Feats
1 strong soul, blooded,
3-18 ,Finesse, Weapon focus, Improved critical, extended spell, blindfighting, toughness (can drop extended spell to take an exotic weapon)
1,5,10,15, 20 favored enemy each time
21 armor skin (thri-kreen take an extra great dex)
23 @ Favored Enemy*
24 Great dex 1
25 @ Favored Enemy*
26 @ Favored Enemy*
27 Great dex 2
29 @ Favored Enemy*
30 Great dex 3
30 @ Favored Enemy*
32 @ Favored Enemy*
33 Great dex 4
35 @ blinding speed (or extra enemy especially if you're thri-kreen and already feel you're fast enough)
35 @ epic prowess
36 epic will
38 @ epic weapon focus
39 called shot
40 @ bane of enemies
42 LSA tumble
45 Hardened Soul
48 legendary weapon focus
51 Great dex 5
55 Great dex 6
57 great dex 7
60 great dex 8
AC will be 140 for doppleganger and 139 for pixie/thri-kreen
AB will be 76 plus weapon buffs (75 for doppleganger)
HP will be 1050 (pixie), 1110 (thri-kreen), 1170 (doppleganger)
Saves will be 64 fort, 63 reflex, 59 will
Skills -
maxed
animal empathy
discipline
hide
listen
parry
tumble ignore, then catchup after you get LSA-tumble at 42
~58-60 points left over, suggesting maybe 40 craft armor for an extra AC and the rest into concentration for combat buffing (bladethirst does drop a fair bit) (thri-kreen will have 63 less points, maybe skip this last part)
Weapon choices -
pixie may want kukri or dagger (additional -2 ab on medium weapons)
Doppleganger/thri-kreen should also consider sickles, short swords, light maces (19-20x2 crits) or light hammers, hand axes (20x3 crits)
Note that if you pick a non-slashing weapon you won't be able to use bladethirst until you study the transmutation tome at 40+, though I had no problems using sickles/handaxes until 40 even though I was focused in daggers
With new weapons, you can finesse katanas, rapiers are a decent choice if you're new because you can get 2 ranger secret rapiers until you find the good ones, and CEP weapons should not be discounted either, light picks do have a 20x4 crit modifier for instance
enemies
Outsiders
Abberations
Undead
Elementals
Reptilian Humanoids
Animals
Dragons
Constructs
monstrous humanoids
vermin?
beasts
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Post by Acaos on Aug 22, 2007 19:56:11 GMT
40 ranger gets improved evasion. Stargazer subrace gets defensive roll (oh I'd love a confirmation of this, but the boards do say so).... put that together and you get epic dodge. They do. It is possible to build a monk or ranger using Stargazer and get Epic Dodge. Stargazer isn't -just- for theurges. Acaos |
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Post by wnxhalfwingseen on Aug 23, 2007 8:15:22 GMT
Or even Acaos a Shadow Dancer star gazer is used in my head for a ton of stuffses but alas i dun have it |
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Post by jackpace on Aug 24, 2007 17:34:54 GMT
That stargazer build looks intriguing.
Someday maybe I'll get a BUR race. But I need to get a character to 55 first so I can even have a chance of rolling for one.
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Post by Lythe Featherblade on Sept 3, 2007 2:15:40 GMT
edit - modified original build (first post) to take into account the new armor changes (light is now 24 minus base ac for dex modifier)
sidenote - as of this posting rangers can get 2 sets of wis ac, offhand ac that is 1.5 times wis modifier capped at level/3, and straight wis modifier ac that is dependant on the ranger wearing light armor and no shield. Right now these stack, which leads to insane ac builds (150ac+ unbuffed), so the builds are made with the assumption that they won't stack in future, and holding an offhand cancels the straight wis ac (which was intended for archers)
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Post by Acaos on Sept 3, 2007 2:41:52 GMT
edit - modified original build (first post) to take into account the new armor changes (light is now 24 minus base ac for dex modifier) Just as a note, light is going back to 22 minus base AC. We forgot that light armor gets +16 and robes get +14 base UR AC, and we wanted to make 60 the Dexterity breakpoint for robes to have better AC. Our goof. Acaos |
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Post by Lythe Featherblade on Sept 3, 2007 4:47:14 GMT
Noted the drop back to 22 minus base ac on light armor
Still hoping to hear about the wis AC in light armor stacking with the offhand AC, simplest solution seems to only make the higher of the 2 count, as that puts a defensive dex build in the 134 range, right where a lot of dexer builds already fall
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Post by DragonChyld on Sept 3, 2007 4:48:43 GMT
Hands Lythe the Nerf Stick, "here ya go mate, beat er some more"  |
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Post by Lythe Featherblade on Sept 3, 2007 5:01:41 GMT
It's a tough one, on the one hand I'm giggling with glee because I have 127 ac at level 43 making it easier to survive runs (and thus gather xp if I could find the time to play), on the other hand I know that having a build hit 148ac is just wrong and unbalanced, and the sooner it gets corrected the faster I can finish my build plan. Maybe there's no point in more AC after a certain point, but were it to stay like that I could make a 136ac build that's much more powerful offensively.
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Post by sabregirl on Sept 3, 2007 7:12:37 GMT
Well I'll say this to the idea that you should EITHER get wis ac in light armor or the offhand bonus. For the average ranger - that isn't putting oodles of points in wisdom at the expense of AB, the bonus is necessary I think if a bit too high - possibly nerfed sufficiently as acaos describes it. The average dualing dex ranger without 26 wisdom needs pretty good ac due to their questionable conceal. And the poor str rangers . . . I don't think they particularly need an AC nerf. -S |
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Post by Lythe Featherblade on Sept 3, 2007 14:56:14 GMT
That is a good point, while my build is meant to hit the offhand AC cap and be put in the middle of the dexer pack for AC, even acaos has commented on how low my dex (and resulting AB) is. One would think that at least with the most suitable UR races you should get a balanced build, especially if you do go pure and aren't going into feat expensive sideventures like weaponmasters and such.
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Post by johannhowitzer on Sept 3, 2007 15:35:57 GMT
Stargazer is a wonderful suggestion. I just got a Ranger quiver and Stargazer in the same trade (!!), and I have a Ranger bow, so as soon as I get word that the Ranger edits are finalized, I'm making something like this. Will be the first pure build I've ever made. I am going to go much further in WIS however... even this build could get 1 more DC on the mortal strike by taking 4 more points in WIS, at the cost of 2 AB/AC. You need 42 WIS to get that second bonus point to DC. My build will thus have lower AC, but plenty of will save and spells.
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Post by Lythe Featherblade on Sept 25, 2007 7:22:40 GMT
updated
please move to the active build forum
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