scout help

[zigato]

i was wondering if there are any items the give the scout more skirmish dmg or feats that would help

[Empedocles]

Not that I know of, but the Iaijutsu Focus skill combined with skirmish could give him some mean damage without sacrificing mobility.

[RMS Oceanic]

i was wondering if there are any items the give the scout more skirmish dmg or feats that would help

Improved Skirmish (Complete Scoundrel) is the easiest way to boost Skirmish. If you move 20 feet instead of 10, you get another 2d6 damage and another +2 to AC.

Also the Rogue's Vest from the Magic Item Compendium gives you 1d6 extra to Sneak Attack, Sudden Strike or Skirmish.

[Darrin]

i was wondering if there are any items the give the scout more skirmish dmg or feats that would help

Gloves of Agile Striking (2200 GP, MIC): 2/day adds +2d6 damage to a skirmish attack.

Rogue's Vest (18000 GP, MIC): Adds +1d6 skirmish/sneak attack/sudden strike damage.

Skirmisher Boots (3200 GP, MIC): Adds +2 damage to skirmish attacks.

With the right PrCs, you can get a Swift Hunter build up to 10d6 skirmish damage:

Race: Human, Azurin, Strongheart Halfling
1) Ranger 1. Feat: Travel Devotion, Bonus: PB Shot, Bonus: Track
2) Ranger 2. Bonus: Rapid Shot
3) Scout 1. Feat: Precise Shot. Skirmish 1d6
4) Scout 2. Skirmish 1d6.
5) Scout 3. Skirmish 1d6 +1
6) Scout 4. Feat: Swift Hunter. Bonus: Improved Skirmish. Skirmish 2d6 +1/4d6 +3.
7) Dragon Devotee 1.
8) Dragon Devotee 2. Skirmish 3d6 +1/5d6 +3
9) Dragon Devotee 3. Feat: Manyshot. 1st level Sorcerer casting (get at least 2 divination spells)
10) Dragon Devotee 4. Skirmish 4d6 +1/6d6 +3
11) Unseen Seer 1. Skirmish 5d6 +1/7d6 +3
12) Unseen Seer 2. Feat: Greater Manyshot. Advanced Learning: Hunter's Eye
13) Unseen Seer 3.
14) Unseen Seer 4. Skirmish 6d6 +1/8d6 +3
15) Highland Stalker 1. Feat: Improved Rapid Shot.
16) Highland Stalker 2. Skirmish 7d6 +1/9d6 +3
17) Ranger 3. Bonus: Endurance. Skirmish 7d6 +2/9d6 +4
18) Ranger 4. Feat: Travel Devotion.
19) Ranger 5. Skirmish 8d6 +2/10d6 +4
20) Spellsword 1.

[Red_Dog]

=>Darrin

Don't forget Hunter's Eye! ^^ A great boost to precision damage. Correct me if I am wrong, but one should be able to crank out or buy a wand with that at max CL at cost of 30k and shove it in a wand chamber of a bow? Than trigger it as swift action? Could be one nice boost on important fights ^^.

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That aside, while greater manyshot strategy is pretty great, I myself actually like an "alternative" crossbow kiting. With Crossbow Sniper, you get 60' distance. As a swift hunter, you can go with wildshape ranger and stack to movement buffs to get speed of 50' [or just haste, w/e works ^^]. In addition one can slap a bayonet on the crossbow so you would legally threaten squares, than take evasive reflexes+hold the line, and presto! => Dodge charges against you (as far as I understand). Combined with Combat Reflexes and a High Dex9which will be high, you're dex based) and you could dodge charges from many people at once. I wouldn't do it without hit'n'run fighter 2 dip, but still. So basically 4 feats(sniper, focus, evasive reflexes, hold the line)+1(improved skirmish) is very doable for a normal human scout.

+1 Quickloading crossbow which by level 6 you can afford is a nice thing. However, for a scout that expects to make one attack per turn (until battle belt, travel devotion or other shenanigans come in play), its not even THAT necessary. A +1 Seeking Crossbow actually seems cooler.

This is by far is NOT optimal solution, however I think you would probably be able to crank out enough damage to matter and zoom around using all those physical skills (jump, balance, etc.) that no one ever gets to ^^.

P.S. The build work even better when, done with swift ambusher. Since sneak attack and skirmish stack and grow as you would advance both classes, => this lets you deal this damage at 60' range. This however taxes your feats, which means probably no evasive reflexes shindig until later.
P.S.2. if one goes with cloister cleric dip, consider war domain for free weapon focus to get crossbow sniper cheaper in terms of feats.

[Kansaschaser]

From the Magic Item Compendium
Gloves of Agile Striking (page 105)
Rogue's Vest (page 130)
Skirmisher Boots (page 136)

These items all add extra damage when dealing Skirmish damage. Unfortunatly, the Gloves of Agile Striking only function twice per day. The vest and the boots work all the time.

Edit: I see I've been Swordsaged. At least I have page numbers. :smallyuk:

[Golkiwu]

A dip in Cleric with travel devotion gives full movement as a swift action leaving full attack with skirmish. Works best with ranged Scout.

[zigato]

the thing is im building melee scout not ranged

[Kansaschaser]

the thing is im building melee scout not ranged

What an odd duck. :smallconfused: /shakes head and walks away

Well, you might end up needing Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack. You could eventually work your way up to Bounding Assult and Rapid Blitz.

[Red_Dog]

the thing is im building melee scout not ranged

Aaah! so its a melee scout you're after! Excellent! ^^

Race=> Any that helps. Humans are the top choice as usual, but a race with favorite Ranger or Scout would help.
Scout 4/Ranger[variant wildshape] X. Splash of hit'n'run fighter if one can afford it.
[B]Progression=>Scout 1+Ranger 2+Scout 2+Ranger 1+Scout 1+Ranger X
*The reason for leapfrogging? Getting SwiftHunter by 6 and Scout bonus feat by 7 to grab Improved Skirmish*
Feats=> Combat Expert[1st], ImpTrip[1stHuman], Dodge[3rd], Swift Hunter[6th], Improved Skirmish[7thScout], Elusive Target[9th].

If you can convince the DM, beg for armor of mobility to give you mobility as bonus feat, so you won't need to dip fighter at 8. Otherwise it might be necessary to leapfrog ranger/scout all the way, because he build is TIGHT on feats. Perhaps a single can also solve this.

Mechanic=> You run. run fer ya life! ^^ Basically Due to scout and variant ranger getting stack-able move speed, you move at 50' per round. Run by enemies provoking attacks of op from them. Due to Mobility, having a shield[NOTHING stops you from having a heavy shield as a scout!^^], scout armor, and etc. you actually have a great AC. Every time they miss you, you trip them, every time you trip you smack them, and since you are running, you apply skirmish! ^^ Due to elusive target, you will be able to deal with a LOT of melee, and just by being a scout you have skills out of wazzoo ^^

P.S. I know build looks a bit discordant. Here is an original, I just disorganized it a bit so one can see room to change it ^^=>
Fighter 1/Scout 4/Ranger[wildshape variant] 4
Breackdown=> +2S, +2R, +1S, +1F, +1R, +1S, +1R
Combat Exp[1st], Improved Trip[1stHuman], Dodge[3rd], Swift Hunter[6th], Mobility[6thFighter], Improved Skirmish[8thS], Elusive Target[9th].

Spoiler contains tips for Elusive Target using, Shield and Spear wielding, slightly spartan resembling, Str based scout ^^ Its not a full build, because I only needed it until lvl9. However it can be adjusted to w/e purpose. ^^ There are a lot of melee scout, this one should be very "active"[uses a lot of those jump, balance & etc. skills] ^^. Just make sure to try to get a warning weapon. Due to low dex, initiative is one area you lack.

Hope this helps! ^^
P.S. for bonus points, be a Raptorian! You can pull elusive target routine for areal combat to drop your enemies from the sky! Yes you CAN trip natural flyers! ^^ Also, raptorians get an amazing racial diving attack with spears as a back up option to elusive target shindig
Also, don't forget, this build in general requires you to yell obscenities at enemies. Remember a good DM won't just "stop" AoOs from happening if you giving the enemies a reason to AoO you. You know, like yelling about there mother ot something should get there attention ^^.

[Morithias]

If you're doing a melee scout, the 10 foot step is your best friend

In OA with a DC 40 tumble check you can do a 10 foot step instead of a 5 foot. Also in the "clockwork" magic items from the wizard's site (I don't have the link) there is a 14k pair of steampunk boots that also let you do a 10 foot step if you can't make the check.

10 foot step, then full attack baby!

[Empedocles]

Aaah! so its a melee scout you're after! Excellent! ^^

Race=> Any that helps. Humans are the top choice as usual, but a race with favorite Ranger or Scout would help.
Scout 4/Ranger[variant wildshape] X. Splash of hit'n'run fighter if one can afford it.
[B]Progression=>Scout 1+Ranger 2+Scout 2+Ranger 1+Scout 1+Ranger X
*The reason for leapfrogging? Getting SwiftHunter by 6 and Scout bonus feat by 7 to grab Improved Skirmish*
Feats=> Combat Expert[1st], ImpTrip[1stHuman], Dodge[3rd], Swift Hunter[6th], Improved Skirmish[7thScout], Elusive Target[9th].

If you can convince the DM, beg for armor of mobility to give you mobility as bonus feat, so you won't need to dip fighter at 8. Otherwise it might be necessary to leapfrog ranger/scout all the way, because he build is TIGHT on feats. Perhaps a single can also solve this.

Mechanic=> You run. run fer ya life! ^^ Basically Due to scout and variant ranger getting stack-able move speed, you move at 50' per round. Run by enemies provoking attacks of op from them. Due to Mobility, having a shield[NOTHING stops you from having a heavy shield as a scout!^^], scout armor, and etc. you actually have a great AC. Every time they miss you, you trip them, every time you trip you smack them, and since you are running, you apply skirmish! ^^ Due to elusive target, you will be able to deal with a LOT of melee, and just by being a scout you have skills out of wazzoo ^^

P.S. I know build looks a bit discordant. Here is an original, I just disorganized it a bit so one can see room to change it ^^=>
Fighter 1/Scout 4/Ranger[wildshape variant] 4
Breackdown=> +2S, +2R, +1S, +1F, +1R, +1S, +1R
Combat Exp[1st], Improved Trip[1stHuman], Dodge[3rd], Swift Hunter[6th], Mobility[6thFighter], Improved Skirmish[8thS], Elusive Target[9th].

Spoiler contains tips for Elusive Target using, Shield and Spear wielding, slightly spartan resembling, Str based scout ^^ Its not a full build, because I only needed it until lvl9. However it can be adjusted to w/e purpose. ^^ There are a lot of melee scout, this one should be very "active"[uses a lot of those jump, balance & etc. skills] ^^. Just make sure to try to get a warning weapon. Due to low dex, initiative is one area you lack.

Hope this helps! ^^
P.S. for bonus points, be a Raptorian! You can pull elusive target routine for areal combat to drop your enemies from the sky! Yes you CAN trip natural flyers! ^^ Also, raptorians get an amazing racial diving attack with spears as a back up option to elusive target shindig
Also, don't forget, this build in general requires you to yell obscenities at enemies. Remember a good DM won't just "stop" AoOs from happening if you giving the enemies a reason to AoO you. You know, like yelling about there mother ot something should get there attention ^^.

Just a though...flaws would make a lot of dips/leapfrogging this build suggests unnecessary. Otherwise, it looks like a good plan :smallsmile:


If you're doing a melee scout, the 10 foot step is your best friend

In OA with a DC 40 tumble check you can do a 10 foot step instead of a 5 foot. Also in the "clockwork" magic items from the wizard's site (I don't have the link) there is a 14k pair of steampunk boots that also let you do a 10 foot step if you can't make the check.

10 foot step, then full attack baby!

DC 40 isn't really possible until higher levels...

[Flickerdart]

I would recommend going with Pounce instead of Spring Attack, because one is terrible and the other is amazing. Especially if you're going Wildshape Ranger, all of that skirmish damage on all of those claws makes you a terrifying death machine, and there are plenty of Barbarian variants so that you can get permanent Pounce without necessarily getting Rage.

[Kansaschaser]

I would recommend going with Pounce instead of Spring Attack, because one is terrible and the other is amazing. Especially if you're going Wildshape Ranger, all of that skirmish damage on all of those claws makes you a terrifying death machine, and there are plenty of Barbarian variants so that you can get permanent Pounce without necessarily getting Rage.

I second that. Wildshape Ranger would be much better than having to get Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, etc...

[Darrin]

the thing is im building melee scout not ranged

Great! What sort of weapons layout do you prefer? Dual shortswords, oversize TWF, net/trident style, or something more exotic?