Haldir
2014-02-05, 04:03 AM
I wish to make an addendum to the old lists of class tiers, adding this to the T3 lists of characters. Any comments welcome.
Ranger- Dragon Magazine Variants/Various Substitutions
Dragon 336, pg 105 introduced the Mystic Ranger variant, which gains spellcasting levels much earlier and introduces 5th level spells to the class, and expands the classes spell list, all in exchange for the useless Animal Companion.
For best results, combine with the feat Sword of the Arcane Order (Champions of Valor, pg.36) which allows Paladin and Ranger characters of 4th level to prepare Wizard spells from a spellbook, so long as you have the requisite intelligence score.
Combine with Arcane Hunter (Complete Mage, pg.32) to apply your Favored Enemy bonuses toward the most dangerous enemies in the game.
Dragon 326, pg.97 then introduces the Strongarm Combat Style, netting Power Attack, Improved Sunder, and Great Cleave feats, a vast improvement on the standard offerings, if building melee. Else the archery feats can still serve a Mystic Ranger well, especially when combined with Zen Archery and all the amazing Wizard buffs they now have access too. -Haldir
Cons: He’s MAD! MAD I tell you! Wizard spells are intelligence based, while bonus spells and regular spells are Wisdom based, and if you mean to do any fighting with that fancy BAB of yours, you’ll be lacking in some physical stats. The Mystic Ranger only learns up to fifth level spells, so they’ll never truly break the game. Additionally, Sword of the Arcane Order is unclear whether the wizard spells are arcane or divine spells, requiring DM fiat to settle, and this is almost never desirable. Your spellbook and spells that are loaded into it may require Spellcraft checks and/or access to Wizard levels, also a bit of a pickle, though not insurmountable. -Haldir
Pros: Half of the best spell list in the game, and a decent amount of uses per day. Other Tier 3 classes might get more spells of a higher level, almost none of them will get Wizard versatility as early as the Mystic Ranger.
Though Sword of the Arcane Order spells might be either Divine or Arcane, either way is actually great:
If the spells cast are divine, they qualify for Divine Meta Magic, and taking a class with Turn Undead such as Cleric or divine spellcasting PrCs will allow your Ranger slots to DMM Wizard spells, retaining a spell level under 5 but potentially keeping them useful at later levels. Consider Mystic Ranger 10/Cleric1/Any Fullcasting Divine Prestige class for 5th level spells off of both the Cleric and Wizard list, all malleable with DMM. Best of all, bonus spells for both spellcasting classes gear off of Wisdom, reducing MAD as you should have plenty of spellslots for Bulls Strength, Divine Favor, and Righteous Might. However, this may call for an increase in Charisma for additional uses of Turn Undead, but its totally worth it.
This goes just as well if the spells are arcane, as suddenly a bevy of useful prestige classes, feats and abilities open up to you. Consider Mystic Ranger 10/Wizard1/Any Fullcasting Arcane Prestige Class with the Dimensional Jaunt feat (Complete Mage, pg 41). For additional gishy-goodness consider Abjurant Champion (Complete Mage, pg 50). Anything that will allow you to use metamagic with your huge array of daily spells, such as Incantrix, Arcane Thesis, or metamagic rods are going to make your spells a force to be reckoned with.
Essentially, no matter how you go with the Mystic Ranger + SotAO, you can multi-class/prestige class into 1-5 levels of Wizard spellcasting, and still have room in your build for -another- 10 caster levels, offering magical versatility you will not find in any other T3 class. -Haldir
The skills [For Sublime Chord] might be a bit tricky, and you would need SotAO also — assuming the spells you get from this are arcane (The feat is silent on this) [but this nets you 9th level spontaneous arcane spellcasting.]
You can get into a number of other PrCs. Seeker of the Misty Isle is quite good for grabbing spells from the Travel and Magic domains, it's skills are quite good too. -nedz
Ranger- Dragon Magazine Variants/Various Substitutions
Dragon 336, pg 105 introduced the Mystic Ranger variant, which gains spellcasting levels much earlier and introduces 5th level spells to the class, and expands the classes spell list, all in exchange for the useless Animal Companion.
For best results, combine with the feat Sword of the Arcane Order (Champions of Valor, pg.36) which allows Paladin and Ranger characters of 4th level to prepare Wizard spells from a spellbook, so long as you have the requisite intelligence score.
Combine with Arcane Hunter (Complete Mage, pg.32) to apply your Favored Enemy bonuses toward the most dangerous enemies in the game.
Dragon 326, pg.97 then introduces the Strongarm Combat Style, netting Power Attack, Improved Sunder, and Great Cleave feats, a vast improvement on the standard offerings, if building melee. Else the archery feats can still serve a Mystic Ranger well, especially when combined with Zen Archery and all the amazing Wizard buffs they now have access too. -Haldir
Cons: He’s MAD! MAD I tell you! Wizard spells are intelligence based, while bonus spells and regular spells are Wisdom based, and if you mean to do any fighting with that fancy BAB of yours, you’ll be lacking in some physical stats. The Mystic Ranger only learns up to fifth level spells, so they’ll never truly break the game. Additionally, Sword of the Arcane Order is unclear whether the wizard spells are arcane or divine spells, requiring DM fiat to settle, and this is almost never desirable. Your spellbook and spells that are loaded into it may require Spellcraft checks and/or access to Wizard levels, also a bit of a pickle, though not insurmountable. -Haldir
Pros: Half of the best spell list in the game, and a decent amount of uses per day. Other Tier 3 classes might get more spells of a higher level, almost none of them will get Wizard versatility as early as the Mystic Ranger.
Though Sword of the Arcane Order spells might be either Divine or Arcane, either way is actually great:
If the spells cast are divine, they qualify for Divine Meta Magic, and taking a class with Turn Undead such as Cleric or divine spellcasting PrCs will allow your Ranger slots to DMM Wizard spells, retaining a spell level under 5 but potentially keeping them useful at later levels. Consider Mystic Ranger 10/Cleric1/Any Fullcasting Divine Prestige class for 5th level spells off of both the Cleric and Wizard list, all malleable with DMM. Best of all, bonus spells for both spellcasting classes gear off of Wisdom, reducing MAD as you should have plenty of spellslots for Bulls Strength, Divine Favor, and Righteous Might. However, this may call for an increase in Charisma for additional uses of Turn Undead, but its totally worth it.
This goes just as well if the spells are arcane, as suddenly a bevy of useful prestige classes, feats and abilities open up to you. Consider Mystic Ranger 10/Wizard1/Any Fullcasting Arcane Prestige Class with the Dimensional Jaunt feat (Complete Mage, pg 41). For additional gishy-goodness consider Abjurant Champion (Complete Mage, pg 50). Anything that will allow you to use metamagic with your huge array of daily spells, such as Incantrix, Arcane Thesis, or metamagic rods are going to make your spells a force to be reckoned with.
Essentially, no matter how you go with the Mystic Ranger + SotAO, you can multi-class/prestige class into 1-5 levels of Wizard spellcasting, and still have room in your build for -another- 10 caster levels, offering magical versatility you will not find in any other T3 class. -Haldir
The skills [For Sublime Chord] might be a bit tricky, and you would need SotAO also — assuming the spells you get from this are arcane (The feat is silent on this) [but this nets you 9th level spontaneous arcane spellcasting.]
You can get into a number of other PrCs. Seeker of the Misty Isle is quite good for grabbing spells from the Travel and Magic domains, it's skills are quite good too. -nedz