help with a D3 demon hunter style build

[relytdan]

a friend wants a character that is in the style of the diabl3 demon hunter
what their thoughts are is to use the Thri-kreen race with dual composite greatbows - they also want to have good diplomacy skills

So far as sugestions have gone Rogue, Scout, Ranger, Peerless archer all seem to fit the demon hunter theme

feats - Point Blank, Rapid Shot, Precise Shot, Manyshot, Improved Rapid Shot, Greater Manyshot

placing the splitting weapon effect on a compsite greatbow

any other sugestions - ideas?

[ddude987]

rogue dual wield hand crossbows. Get hand cross bow focus. Best feat ever. Then just get the rest of the ranged feats and get two weapon fighting for more attacks.

[CIDE]

I saw an insane Hand crossbow Warblade build. Can't seem to find it anymore.

[gorfnab]

I saw an insane Hand crossbow Warblade build. Can't seem to find it anymore.
Might it be this one? (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=642.35)


One kind of archer that deserves mention is the Warblade Archer. Most people don't think of Warblades as archers because most manuevers don't work for archery, but the few that do rock amazingly, and the result is that Warblade archers are some of the best high level archers around. Here's a repost from the CO boards on it:

So, it was recently pointed out to me that grafts don't necessarily replace what they're grafting, and can be in addition. That's the last component I needed for this rather insane Warblade archer. Note that this particular build has some noticeable gear dependency... he needs a pair of Aptitude Splitting Great Crossbows. Yikes. Also, two Arm grafts (40kgp each), one Enervating and one Paralyzing would be my choices (Zombie lowers your dex, which really hurts, and ghostly would require your crossbows to be Ghost Touch). But man oh man does he pack a punch.

Warblade Archer of Doom: Human Martial Rogue 1/Fighter 1/Warblade 4/Fighter +1/Martial Rogue +1/Warblade +12

1: Point Blank Shot, Two Weapon Fighting, Rapid Shot
2: Hand Crossbow Focus
3: Crossbow Sniper
6: Precise Shot
7: Weapon Specialization (Hand Crossbow)
8: Woodland Archer
9: Improved Critical (Hand Crossbow), Improved Initiative
12: Improved Two Weapon Fighting
13: Quick Draw
15: Greater Two Weapon Fighting
17: Iron Will
18: Ranged Weapon Mastery (Piercing)

Stat priority: Dex above all, Int behind that, the rest is your choice. Strength, Wis, and Cha are all dump stats. Con is handy, but as an archer it's not the biggest thing in the world. Yay for SAD builds.

Now, your manuevers at lower levels are up to you, though Dancing Mongoose, White Raven Tactics, Lion's Roar, Sudden Leap, and the various save boosting counters are all good choices. And it's reasonably solid throughout the levels (Blood in the Water is your best friend, as explained later). But at level 19 this build goes insane, with Raging Mongoose combined with Time Stands Still. Here's how your attacks go:

First off, you're dual wielding your Aptitude Splitting Great Crossbows. The Aptitude enchantment means that all of those feats that apply to your Hand Crossbows apply to your Great Crossbows... including Hand Crossbow Focus, which means you reload as a free action (and get +1 to hit, yay).

Now, if we look at Raging Mongoose, we can see that it allows you to make two more attacks until "end of turn." Then we look at the rules for Standard Actions and Full Attack Actions in the PHB and see that a full attack action lets you make all the attacks that you're allowed to make. Result? If we get two full attack actions (hi there Time Stands Still) we get the bonus from Raging Mongoose twice. Awesome.

Also, we're threatening a critical hit on a 15-20 with our Great Crossbow... with Blood in the Water. With four arms (from the Grafts) we can dual wield those suckers at only a -2 penalty.

So let's put it all together. In the opening round of combat, activate Time Stands Still and Raging Mongoose. Your base attacks are 4+1 (Rapid Shot) + 3 (TWF line) = 8. Raging Mongoose pumps that up to 12. The Splitting Enchantment doubles that to 24. And TSS means you do it all twice, for 48 shots. Remember, that's on average 12 critical threats a round, and as a Warblade you have Int to confirm critical hits, so Blood in the Water should really take off. In the next round, take a move action to hide or find a better position and a standard action to refresh your manuevers. In the third round, start over. Remember that the first time you miss you get a bonus of +4 to hit on all other shots this round, thanks to woodland archery.

Now, this is downright awesome. If you can end the fight in the opening volley, you've averaged 48 shots a round. If it's going to end in two turns, instead of refreshing just use Dancing Mongoose by itself for 10 shots (at a nice high Blood in the Water bonus) to finish it, averaging 29 shots a round. If it's going for three rounds, fire, refresh, fire, averaging 32 shots a round. The point is, your average rate of fire is quite high, higher than the 24 shots a round you might expect. Also, because you fire so many shots, Woodland Archery is just plain awesome.

Plus, you can snipe like a madman. Before the fight, position yourself within 5' of total cover, where you're in cover... next to a wall or tree or something. Round one, fire all 48 shots, then step into cover. Round two, refresh, 5' step back out, and hide. Repeat. This means enemies can't fire back at you except with held actions. Nifty. Sniping meets artillary barrage.

By the way, I'd want to use Strongarm Bracers. They up the damage considerably on a Great Crossbow, and they up the range by 25% (larger ranged weapons have better range). Very handy. Your damage per shot will be 4d6+2+1/2 Dex + Blood in the water, which is exceptionally respectable. Assuming you can confirm 75% of your criticals (quite possible considering Woodland Archery, Int to confirm criticals, Blood in the Water bonuses, and the fact that the only stats you care about confirm your criticals in general, though you do have a base -4 to hit from Rapid Shot and TWF), each volley should result in a +9 to hit and to damage on future attacks. Very nice.

JaronK

[CRtwenty]

rogue dual wield hand crossbows. Get hand cross bow focus. Best feat ever. Then just get the rest of the ranged feats and get two weapon fighting for more attacks.

I think you forgot some blue text there buddy. :smallamused:

[Socratov]

I think you forgot some blue text there buddy. :smallamused:

Well, I must agree, it's free reload bit seems worth the spot.

Anyway, if you want to use rogue or sneak attack in general, why not use this one (http://dndtools.eu/feats/players-handbook-ii--80/crossbow-sniper--488/)?

[relytdan]

lets stick to the greatbow here
the rogue is good choice for the traps making
scout ranger is good for the bow and speed
Peerless archer for nifty abilities

but is this the best option for use with the greatbow