(3.5) Ranged Scout Build

[theoneorange]

I am about to start in a campaign at level five. I am planing to play a ranged scout, but am having trouble deciding what other classes I will also put into my build. Warlock and Master thrower both seem like valid options. Master thrower adds the double throw abilitie, which greatly increases my damage output. Warlock give me the eldrich blast abilitie and many evocations which would add versatility. What other things would these classes add, and what are other classes to consider for my ranged scout?

[Troacctid]

Scout is often combined with Ranger, as the Swift Hunter feat allows you to deal skirmish damage to enemies who would normally be immune to it.

[aleucard]

With some fiddling, it's possible to get access to the Mindbender PrC with Warlock, and through there one of the best sensing abilities in the books for non-mindless targets; Mindsight. There's other ways to get the telepathy required, Mind-style Hellbred for instance if you're going to be playing well after level 15, but this is one of the earliest. Just about the only thing that comes to mind that's strictly better than Mindsight is the Crystal Master's access to a permanent Touch-sight (go look that power up), but since it can easily get access to Mindsight as well, the difference is in what it detects and what it doesn't. The fact that you have access to all the Psionics juiciness is also a plus. Making one that can stand up in a melee fight will need some finangling (the Masochistic Psicrystal springs to mind), but scouts are at most hit-n-run anyway.

EDIT: Just so we're clear, we're talking about the Scout character type (sneaky recon slash enemy detector) rather than the Scout class, yes?

[theoneorange]

Sorry for not making it clear. I am talking about the actual class.

[MilesTiden]

I would suggest a Totemist, actually. Lots of great sensory skill boosting, Manticore Belt for spines that you can throw, and all sorts of neat stuff.

[aleucard]

In which case, you should try and find something to let you move 10' as at least a swift action every round. One of the more notorious examples is the Sparring Dummy of the Master that lets you turn your 5' steps into 10' steps, and a more recent example is the Sudden Leap maneuver. I'm not too sure if teleports would count, but if they do, a one-level dip into Conjurer Wizard for the PHB2 ACF and numerous cheap items would give a solid number per day. Pounce would've been nice if you were going to do melee, but if you have room for it, skirmish damage don't care if you're hitting with a gauntlet.

[Fax Celestis]

If you don't want to have skirmish be your primary damage source, you could hop into the Dread Commando PrC. Heroes of Battle.

[Extra Anchovies]

Seconding the Totemist suggestion. Manticore Belt is a standard action regardless of the number of spines fired, so you can just take a move action and not worry about any of that Travel Devotion cleric-dip dilly-dallying and get straight to damage dealing. Totemist 4/Scout 5/Hand of the Winged Masters 8/Highland Stalker 2/Hand of the Winged Masters +1 has BAB +14 (+15 with fractional), can launch 5 spines with one standard action, and has skirmish +8d6/+3 after improved skirmish (and even if you pick a race with a base speed of 20 feet, you can still trigger improved skirmish every round). Five attacks at base +15 for 9d6 each (total 45d6, not too shabby) is a pretty good deal.

Also, thank you MilesTiden for getting me to look into the Skirmisher Totemist. I like this build, and want to try it sometime.

ETA: you could also replace the last two levels of Scout with levels of Ranger, pick up Swift Hunter, and take favored enemy (undead) or (construct) to bypass their precision damage immunity. A slightly more swift-hunter focused build would be Totemist 4/Scout 3/Ranger 5/Hand of the Winged Masters 8, for skirmish +7d6/+4 (after improved skirmish) and the ability to deal skirmish damage to Undead and Constructs, which leaves the not-nearly-as-common Oozes, Plants, and Elementals.