3.5 Build Request - Ranged Character

[Honest Tiefling]

I know this is pretty vague, but I am just fishing around for very general ideas. What I am looking for is ideas for a build that does ranged. I know the player in question has a very short attention span, so anything that can do throwing plus other things would be quite nice.

I fear that bows and crossbows might be too limited in scope to base a character off of, so I am wondering if there are ways around this.

[Essence_of_War]

I always enjoy the Soulbow.

You could also check out the Bloodstorm Blade from ToB for thrown weapons. There are ton of ways to get into it, and heck, the easiest way is just WB 5.

You may want to toss in Master Thrower for the thrown weapon tricks to taste. I'm looking at you "weak spot"...

[Honest Tiefling]

Which book is the soulbow from?

[Essence_of_War]

It's one of the few good things to come from the complete psionic.

[Honest Tiefling]

Now I feel silly for not remembering that. Is there a non-psionic option? It is not that I dislike psionics, but I dislike the feel of psionics in certain settings. It does not help that another one of my players absolutely detests psionics.

[Seerow]

Really soulknife/soulbow touches so tangentally on psionics you can reflavor it to magic or whatever else without losing anything easily.

[Honest Tiefling]

Hrm. If that is the case, I will have a looksee into it. But I worry about the mechanics, as I have never used psionics before.

[Essence_of_War]

Honestly it should be a VERY quick re-fluff if you're interested.

The only thing mechanically psionic about the soulbow is that it is allowed to take psionic feats, and it has a power point pool (although it can't manifest any powers out of the box).

[Dusk Eclipse]

Another option is the ever popular Swift Hunter (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=103.0)

Basically you take the feat Swift Hunter (CSc), which lets you stack your Ranger and Scout (CAdv) levels to determine your bonus damage/AC bonus from skirmish and Favoured Enemy bonus, and the cherry in the cake, now you can skirmish your favourite enemy even if they are normally immune to precision damage.

[dextercorvia]

Totemist with Manticore Belt. Bard3 for some DFI and the Knowledge Devotion isn't an awful idea. When he gets sick of it, he can switch to Claws or Bite or Breath Weapon.

[Essence_of_War]

Switch my vote to what Dusk_Eclipse said. If you're not sure about the psionic flavor, Swift Hunter is excellent with minimal additional effort.

[opticalshadow]

theres an archery handbook aroudn that has alot of good info,

clerics can make good snipers (able to fire arrows from 4 miles away with dead accuracy) the builds im not 100% but they are on this forum.

[Honest Tiefling]

So other then Bloodstorm Blade, no one reccomends throwing? The impression I got was that any ranged was okay, except spells. She would not mind spellcasting, but does not wish to use it to hurl fireballs.

[dextercorvia]

So other then Bloodstorm Blade, no one reccomends throwing? The impression I got was that any ranged was okay, except spells. She would not mind spellcasting, but does not wish to use it to hurl fireballs.

Throwing has many of the drawbacks of other Ranged combat options, but is missing the primary benefit, since you still have to be in the face of the things that want to kill you.

[Person_Man]

My suggestion is Wu Jen or Dragonfire Adept. Each is capable of impressive ranged attacks and are relatively simple to use, but with plenty of other toys to play with. (You could also use a Wizard, Sorcerer, Artificer, Archivist, Cleric, Binder, Incarnate, etc. But those are more complex, and might be difficult for a player with a short attention span). Ranged weapons are inherently nerfed by poorly written mechanics which basically require 3-5ish feats in order for it to work effectively.

[Essence_of_War]

Warlock is a pretty good choice also. You can throw together a reasonable one with very little effort.

From the Warlock Handbook: (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19867354/Warlock_Handbook&post_num=8)


Basic Human Warlock 20 (EB Focused)

Warlock 1: Point Blank Shot, (Precise Shot)
Warlock 3: Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast)
Warlock 6: Spell Penetration
Warlock 9: Maximize Spell-like Ability (Eldritch Blast)
Warlock12: Sudden Still
Warlock15: Greater Spell Penetration
Warlock18: Extra Invocation

Least Invocations ( ---> denotes a switch in Invocations, if there is no note for when, assume ASAP)

Spiderwalk ---> See the Unseen (When you get Fell Flight)
Sickening Blast ---> Beguiling Influance
Entropic Warding

Lesser Invocations

Eldritch Chain
Beshadowed Blast ---> Voracious Dispelling
Fell Flight

Greater Invocations

Vitriolic Blast
Noxious Blast
Chilling Tentacles
Eldritch Cone (Through Extra Invocation)

Dark Invocations

Utterdark Blast
Eldritch Doom
Path of Shadows


Edit: In retrospect, some of those feats look "iffy". I'm sort of concerned Quicken SLA didn't make the cut.

[Hirax]

Here's a throwing based bloodstorm blade build I made (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199467)

[Draz74]

If it's a pretty advanced player looking for a flexible character with lots of cool options, the Totemist with Manticore Belt idea is great.

If "simple to play" and "magic-focused" are priorities, then Warlock or Dragonfire Adept are great choices.

If you want throwing, but not Tome of Battle ... the Master Thrower PrC from CAdv can get pretty good, especially if you combine it with Dragonfire Inspiration (Bard base) and/or the Boomerang Daze feat from Eberron.

[Honest Tiefling]

I will definitely recommend the throwing build to her, and see how she likes Bloodstorm or Master Thrower.

Warlock I forgot about...But I think I have heard of a warlock fix, so of I go to find one. Somehow I suspect she might not take the class, out of concern of going 'WHOO HOOOO I'M BLASTING EVERYTHING' but oh well.

[theForce017]

Signature Spoiler

[Optimator]

Chameleons make decent archers if you're willing do cherry pick all the best archery spells. Wind Tunnel, Sniper's Eye, Hunter's Mercy, etc etc