Tweaking a Ranger

[Laserlight]

One of the other players in our weekly campaign has a level 6 ranger, who I think should be doing more damage than he is:


level 6 Half-Orc, Ranger
Build: Two-Blade Ranger
Fighting Style Option: Two-Blade Fighting Style
Ranger Option: Prime Shot
Theme: Bloodsworn

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 22, CON 17, DEX 22, INT 13, WIS 16, CHA 11

AC: 23 Fort: 20 Ref: 20 Will: 16
HP: 59 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 14

TRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +14, Dungeoneering +11, Nature +11, Perception +11, Stealth +14

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +4, Athletics +9, Bluff +3, Diplomacy +3, Endurance +8, Heal +6, History +4, Insight +6, Intimidate +5, Religion +4, Streetwise +3, Thievery +9

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Bloodsworn Utility: Bloodied Determination
Half-Orc Racial Power: Furious Assault
Hunter's Quarry Power: Hunter's Quarry
Ranger Attack 1: Twin Strike
Ranger Attack 1: Nimble Strike
Ranger Attack 1: Evasive Strike
Ranger Attack 1: Hunter's Bear Trap
Ranger Utility 2: Yield Ground
Ranger Attack 3: Disruptive Strike
Ranger Attack 5: Frenzied Skirmish
Ranger Utility 6: Healing Herbs

FEATS
Toughness
Level 1: Lethal Hunter
Level 2: Master at Arms
Level 4: Two-Weapon Fighting
Level 6: Predatory Action

ITEMS
Distance Throwing hammer +1
Leather Armor x1
Survivor's Leather Armor +2
Khopesh of Surrounding +1
Bracers of Defense (heroic tier) x1
Flaming Longsword +2 x1
====== End ======

Now, it may just be that his dice are cursed (last night I had to ask him if he was using d10s instead of d20s), but he doesn't think about efficiency either. We should hit level 7 next week; what should he be thinking about retraining? Note: this is not a complete rebuild, this is just retraining (although if you say "He desperately needs both A and B", well, the DM might buy it).

Also, the DM asked for our wishlist of level 7-10 items; I'd suggest he get a +2 longsword to replace the +1 khopesh, but what else is he missing?

Rest of the party is chargecheese barbarian, cavalier, swordmage, warlock, shaman

[Akodo Makama]

Assuming that Orc is +STR/+DEX, and that he used the +1/+1 at level 4 for STR/DEX, then this is a 67 point buy character out of a maximum 22, and even that requires extending the table to allow a 19 to start (pre-racial), which normally isn't allowed.

Final:
STR 22, CON 17, DEX 22, INT 13, WIS 16, CHA 11
Level 1:
STR 21, CON 17, DEX 21, INT 13, WIS 16, CHA 11
Pre-racial:
STR 19, CON 17, DEX 19, INT 13, WIS 16, CHA 11
Cost:
STR 20, CON 12, DEX 20, INT 03, WIS 09, CHA 3 (assuming WIS was the original 8)

If the rest of the party is similarly built, any assumptions made using the normal rules make would not apply. The to-hit ratio, average damage, HP totals, et al would all be way off. Character power will vary wildly, making cross-comparisons almost meaningless. While this character could be further optimized (to-hit first, static damage second, stop worrying about defenses), comparing him to the charge-cheese barbarian would be an exercise in futility.

[Laserlight]

Wasn't asking about his stats, which are per that DM's house rules and the other characters are about the same. We're not trying to compare him to the chargecheese. We're just trying to make this ranger better.


While this character could be further optimized (to-hit first, static damage second, stop worrying about defenses)

Okay, I'd suggest +2 longsword instead of +1 khopesh, so you improve by +1 for weapon enhancement and 1 for proficiency (not to mention +1 damage). What else?

[Juzer]

we need at least other character's stats (and of course, races and classes) to compare to:
normally with so much strengh and so high stat I would say "there are no weak point in this ranger at all: indeed i Would suggest to debuff everything down to the 22-point buy level because he's just to powerful!"

with so many bonuses for attacks and damage change between a khopesh and a logsword doesn't mean much, really: if you are all over the top already, the +5% to hit is pretty secondary

bring everyone down to 22 points is my suggestion: then you will see how a proper ranger should work

[GPuzzle]

He needs Off-Hand Strike and Ruffling Sting - also, he needs Jaws of the Wolf.

Check the Thrill of the Hunt guide in WotC's forum.

[Yakk]

Bracers of Power for +2 damage/hit is more important than a new blade.

Bastard swords (xfer enchantment).

Feat damage bonuses.

[Laserlight]

He needs Off-Hand Strike and Ruffling Sting - also, he needs Jaws of the Wolf.

Check the Thrill of the Hunt guide in WotC's forum.

DM says the ranger should take Jaws of the Wolf as "a rather delayed level 6 retraining", so we still have a retraining available.

[Sol]

If he's missing with a free effective +2 from the DM, what does the DM use for monster math? Is he using over leveled monsters? Giving them an AC bump? This is why custom stat arrays can backfire - they mess with the math enough that the instinctive reaction is to keep messing with the math more. In the end, in an ideal world, the DM arrives at more or less the same scaling WoTC built, which he could have used for a lot less effort.

But yeah, more info is required here. What are you rolling and missing with? If you're missing on 4s, and rolling dozens of them a night, that's a dice problem. If you need a 12 to hit, your DM is compensating for your increased power by making your enemies harder to hit than they should be. This may be for just one specific instance, intentionally, or may be a global issue that has nothing to do with your character and will likely just be compensated for again if you sufficiently improve your character to mitigate it.

[Laserlight]

If he's missing with a free effective +2 from the DM, what does the DM use for monster math? Is he using over leveled monsters? Giving them an AC bump? This is why custom stat arrays can backfire - they mess with the math enough that the instinctive reaction is to keep messing with the math more. In the end, in an ideal world, the DM arrives at more or less the same scaling WoTC built, which he could have used for a lot less effort.

But yeah, more info is required here. What are you rolling and missing with? If you're missing on 4s, and rolling dozens of them a night, that's a dice problem. If you need a 12 to hit, your DM is compensating for your increased power by making your enemies harder to hit than they should be. This may be for just one specific instance, intentionally, or may be a global issue that has nothing to do with your character and will likely just be compensated for again if you sufficiently improve your character to mitigate it.

I don't know the details of the monsters; however, the cavalier has +14 vs AC, the barbarian has +15 with charge bonus, the swordmage has +15. The ranger has +15 with his +2 longsword (which he just got--he'd been clinging to a +1 scimitar until a couple of sessions ago ) and +13 with his +1 khopesh. So, switching his offhand to +2 longsword should solve that. If there's a way to get it higher, that would be good.

For Twin Strike, he's doing 1d8+3 with the longsword, 1d8+2 for the khopesh. So...sounds like we need to buy him Iron Armbands and whatever else we can find to get his static damage up.

[Laserlight]

I don't know the details of the monsters; however, the cavalier has +14 vs AC, the barbarian has +15 with charge bonus, the swordmage has +15. The ranger has +15 with his +2 longsword (which he just got--he'd been clinging to a +1 scimitar until a couple of sessions ago ) and +13 with his +1 khopesh. So, switching his offhand to +2 longsword should solve that. If there's a way to get it higher, that would be good.

He just got a second +2 longsword, and hit level 7.

[Laserlight]

He just got a second +2 longsword, and hit level 7.

Also bought the armbands that give +2 damage to all melee, and retrained Evasive to Offhand Strike. He was doing some good damage tonight, and seemed pretty happy with the results. Kudos to Yakk and GPuzzle for the assistance.