in need of help with Ranger (bow user)

[Drinzor]

okay here is the deal, I made a character half in sleep for a game.

we are atm level 3 and I chose to use a bow as main weapon :S
and what worse is I chose Half-elf :S (WTH)

so what you need to know:
Race: Half-elf
Level: 3 (ranger 3)
Feats atm: Point Blank shot, Rapid shot, Precise shot.

I need ideas for:

what to do next with levels, feats, gear :)

oh I have some half-elf substitution levels in level 1 there gives me Urban track, instead of track, and voices of the city instead of Wild Empathy. besides that I will not be going for a familiar if I chose to go ranger further.

anyways any imput would be awesome

[Flickerdart]

Go Scout 3 and then take Swift Hunter - it's a perfectly good use for those Ranger levels.

[Godskook]

Go Scout 3 and then take Swift Hunter - it's a perfectly good use for those Ranger levels.

This is a great suggestion. Swift Hunter is a respected build, to the point where it might as well be a base class, imho. What's better, its a precision based build that can readily achieve 4th iterative by level 20, a little more difficult if your DM decides to not use fractional BAB/Saves, but w/e.

You want to shoot for this:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#greaterManyshot

And preferably some way to move both before and after your volley, like flyby attack(via a flight speed) or travel devotion(via cloistered cleric). 'lesser' methods exist, too, like ankletes of translocation and belts of battle, but neither is a sustainable as the first two.

[Drinzor]

the problem is I am already level 3 ranger, we already played :( so need something there can work out from that

[Godskook]

the problem is I am already level 3 ranger, we already played :( so need something there can work out from that

That's what Flickerdart and I are suggesting, places to go from where you're *ALREADY* at.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Just take your next 3 levels of scout (Complete Adventurer) and at level 6 take the Swift Hunter feat (Complete Scoundrel).

[Daftendirekt]

Just take your next 3 levels of scout (Complete Adventurer) and at level 6 take the Swift Hunter feat (Complete Scoundrel).

And then, honestly, just go ranger for the rest of the build, put Swift Hunter to its fullest use. Plenty of BAB, pretty much full Skirmish damage, ranger casting and all the rest of the stuff it gets. It's a solid archer. Granted, swift hunters are the best when their first level is cloistered cleric with knowledge/travel devotions...

[sirpercival]

And then, honestly, just go ranger for the rest of the build, put Swift Hunter to its fullest use. Plenty of BAB, pretty much full Skirmish damage, ranger casting and all the rest of the stuff it gets. It's a solid archer. Granted, swift hunters are the best when their first level is cloistered cleric with knowledge/travel/trickery devotions...

Fixed That For You.

[Daftendirekt]

I dunno, keeping your 3rd domain and taking Celerity is rather tasty. That + quick trait + scout's fast movement = base 60 speed, and you can have that at level 4.

[Godskook]

Ok, to be more specific, here's my full suggestion:

Ranger 3/Scout 4/Cloistered Cleric 1/Ranger +12

Additional feats:
level 6 - Swift Hunter
Scout 4 bonus feat - Improved Skirmish
CCLeric domain substitution - Travel Devotion
level 9 - Free
Ranger 6 combat style - Many shot
Level 12 - Improved Many Shot

You get 18/20 BAB this way, 19/20 with fractional, as well as a solid method of activating skirmish without forcing your position. The best feats to take in your free slots are probably extra favored enemy, allowing you to bypass more foes, or more archery feats, although I'm not sure if there's any more good ones out there.

[Flickerdart]

Knowledge Devotion is not spectacularly useful for this character since he won't be likely to have a very high Intelligence score, and would suffer from a distinct lack of in-class Knowledge skills to make much use of it. His Skirmish should give him more than enough damage.

[Drinzor]

like it :D


well the cleric thingi is wired in my eyes, but yeah

[Flickerdart]

If you wanted to capitalize on Half-Elf, you have essentially one option, which is the pretty good Half-Elf Paragon. The first level gives you a free bonus feat, the third gives you +2 to any ability score. Then if you wanted more feats and ability bonuses, take three levels of Human Paragon. You do lose out on one die of Skirmish this way, but if you're short on feats it is a very good avenue to take.

[Randomguy]

If you have an animal companion big enough to ride (or decide to get one) and travel to spaces that are big enough to ride a mount, you could take ranks in ride and then take 3 levels of Wild Plains outrider so you can full attack after a move while mounted, so you can skirmish more often.