Optimizing a Ranger in pathfinder with 3.5

[Iwasforger03]

Alright, I've got a Ranger lvl 16, human. She's got a str score of 42, and otherwise decent stats elsewhere. Beastmaster Archetype. Pathfinder. Her animal companions are a Tiger and an Owl. She's a twf ranger. She dual wields Katana.

What can I do to enhance her combat abilities? I'm also interested in any suggestions for skills or non-combat abilities, but mostly the issue that comes up is her keeping pace with the rest of the party.

I've got twf, imp twf, greater twf, double slice, two weapon rend, critical focus, bleeding critical, and improved critical. I can ditch Bleeding Critical, technically, since this is a pathfinder conversion from 3.5, and bleeding critical is something she gets because she has more feats in pathfinder, and the build isn't finalized yet.

I have access to the entirety of 3.5 and Dragon/dungeon magazines. Suggestions?

[Snowbluff]

Add some Warblade. Time Stands Still (Go into Eternal Blade), Dancing Mongoose, as well as an option to pounce. Wolf Fang Strike replaces Double Slice (unless that's the PF version). Blood in the Water will give you bonuses for critting more.

Dip Lion Spirit Totem Barbarian for Pounce ASAP.

Take Power Attack. That Str will help make up for the attack penalty for either version.

[Iwasforger03]

*smacks forehead* I have power attack ANd Lion's Charge spell on boots, so I can Pounce and I've got that extra dmg, i just forgot to list them. And It is PF Doubleslice (actually worth it for me because of that str score).

[Snowbluff]

Are you starting at 16 or are you at 16? :smalltongue:

[Person_Man]

Alright, I've got a Ranger lvl 16, human. She's got a str score of 42.

How did you get a Strength score of 42?


What can I do to enhance her combat abilities? I'm also interested in any suggestions for skills or non-combat abilities, but mostly the issue that comes up is her keeping pace with the rest of the party.

If your goal is to optimize damage output (which appears to be where you put all of your resources), then Ranger, Two-Weapon Fighting Feats, and Improved Critical Feats are generally considered sub-optimal ways of doing so. Ranger is a Tier 4 class (fewer resources then a Magus, Cleric, Druid, etc). Two Weapon Fighting deals less damage then Two Handed Fighting. And the benefits gained from Improved Critical Feats are mathematically rarer then the benefits gained from other Feats. Are you wedded to all of your choices, or are you willing to consider other options?

Also, what are the other party members playing, and how much are they optimized?

[Iwasforger03]

I'm stuck with a twf ranger. That isn't gonna change. I can't change it. Not won't. Can't. She is currently AT lvl 16. I've got room to spare for 3 feats that I'm getting because we went from 3.5 to pathfinder, with its superior feat progression. One of those feats is gained by taking Two Drawbacks, which was houseruled to be worth a feat instead of two more traits. Limited to 3 drawbacks, so I can ONLY get one feat via this method.

Girallon's Blessing + Fuse Arms + Permanency + Belt of Giant's Str (+6) + base score of 20.

I'm fully aware of the hate towards Two weapon fighting. I have a personal preference for it. As stated, I can't change it, but I wouldn't anyways. Thank you all the same.

Also, I believe you mean the critical Focus Crit feat tree. As it stands, with full atks, I crit almost twice a round(3 attacks in 10, almost one third of my attacks should be a crit threat). I get 6 attacks a round before any spell buffs etc to gain more attacks a round. I have boots of Lion's Charge, so I can charge and full Atk.

I was looking at Two weapon fighting, improved, and greater, Double Slice, and Two Weapon Rend, improved Critical, Power Attack, critical Focus, and Bleeding Critical. I want to know of useable suggestions for this build (which again, is stuck with Two Weapon Fighting) to further improve it, and the critical selection is up in the air.

Ranger spells, obscure feats, Other spells that would be useful as magic items, etc. I apologize that i did not provide enough information in the initial post.