Optimal Dragon Hunter Build

[Th3N3xtGuy]

Okay anyone know any optimal dragon hunter builds based around a archer.

A little background inspired by GW2 norn story. White Great Wyrm dragon woke up for reasons. Caused chaos killed off the greatest warriors and hunters of the north trying to defeat it. etc etc, think Scandinavia/Siberia environment. Character is from a barbaric culture. So my character's goal is to find a group or a army of the civilized south to help kill it.

Anyways semi-mundane, gish is fine but be a archer focused.(I'm thinking Ranger/Arcane Archer or something)

2 class and 2 PrC limit

Hes Human maybe a little giant blood (frost giant bloodline).

Thanks for any advice and tips ahead of time! Oh and any specific gear he should go while "adventuring" to help will be much appreciated.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1143551

The above might be useful.

You should probably also look at the Dragonstalker prestige class from the Draconomicon.

[CrazyNoob]

Foe Hunter prestige class from Master of the wild (3.0 and never updated)might actually have a good use... bonus damage die vs your Favorite Enemy, DR 11/-, Spell Resistances FE, and meh death Attack... Although the pre-req is kinda high, dragonstalker might be a good lead into it.

[Jowgen]

It's a good thing you're already thinking Ranger, because there is a lot of anti-dragon stuff you can do there.

The main thing is the Arcane Hunter ACF from Complete Mage. By the way its written, it should be able to stack with FE dragon, essentially doubling any FE boost you can get (provided the dragon is big enough to cast spells). Use the Solitary Hunter ACF from Dragon Mag to get your FE bonus to hit. A single Hunting weapon (e.g. armor spikes) will get you +4 damage, which ought to double to an effective +8. An Enemy spirit pouch can add +2 to basic FE and an extra +1 Competence to hit (if you can swing it, get a pouch of Arcanists and stack a dragon-pouch on top via MIC item-stacking rules). If you got the cash, a Gridle of Hate (Dragon Compendium) will double one of your bonuses.

Also, rather than going ranger 5 for 2 favored enemies, I suggest multi-classing into one of the many full-bab classes that can get FE as an ACF. Paladin works, I believe; and there is a Dragon Mag variant (Dragonslayer? Wyrmslayer) that allows you to multiclass between the two without restirction.

Adding all this together, with just one level of Ranger and ACF Paladin, you ought to be able to get the following:

To Hit: 2 Ranger Arcanist+ 2 Paladin Dragon + 2 Spirit Pouch Dragon + 2 Spirit Pouch Arcanist + 1 Compentence Pouch + 5 Girlde of Hate Doubling of either one = + 14

Damage: 2 Ranger Arcanist+ 2 Paladin Dragon + 2 Spirit Pouch Dragon + 2 Spirit Pouch Arcanist + 8 Hunting Weapon + 16 Girlde of Hate Doubling of either one = + 32

For general anti-dragon stuff, Dragondodger is a +1 ASA that gets you evasion against breath weapons. The boots of Sidestepping from Dungeonscape can let you immediate action move out of the way of line-shaped breath weapons and maybe get cover against cones. Weapon wise, there is of course Mage-Bane and regular Dragon-bane.

PrC wise, I personally recommend Peerless Archer (Silver Marches). The ability to do Power Shots is hard to come by outside of Hank's Energy bow, which competes with Bane Weapons. Also, you might be able to let your DM let it count as Power Attack, in which case you can get Favored Power Attack for even more damage. Its ability to create magic ammunition might come in handy to make some slaying arrows. Its ability to ignore part of cover or concealment needs some updating to 3.5, but if you can get Improved Precise Shot, it should combo to let you ignore even total concealment.

From the top of my head, that's about all I can think of.

[AvatarVecna]

Scout 3/Ranger 17; standard Swift Hunter build, with dragon favored enemy every time since level 1. Focus your skills on dragon lore and scouting, particularly stealth (which should be maxed out), and take the skill trick "Spot the Weak Point"; pick up Swift Hunter, Knowledge Devotion, Improved Manyshot, Improved Skirmish, Far Shot, Improved Critical, and Darkstalker. For items, you'll want a +2 Wounding Splitting Longbow, Item of Hide +20/Move Silently +20/Spot +20, a Belt of Battle, and some Dex gloves. By level 20, your Dex should be 36 (Base 18+Race 2+Level 5+Manual 5+Gloves 6).

Your standard approach should be something like this (we'll assume a Great Wyrm Red):

Find out where the dragon lives, and stalk it to its lair; use your stealth+Darkstalker+HiPS to remain completely undetected. Get within 30 ft of the dragon while still remaining undetected (note: your Hide/Move Silenty check before any potential magic item competence bonuses is +66, and the dragon's Spot/Listen check is +27 after distance, assuming they maxed it out cross-class, so you auto-succeed)

Make your Knowledge Devotion check (take 20 to guarantee full success if it's not auto-win already), and then use "Spot the Weak Point" as a standard action; with a +40 Spot check (assuming Wis 10 and 30 ft distance) against DC 41 (the dragon's AC), that's an auto-success, so your next attack roll is against Touch AC.

Begin moving stealthily (half speed, so 20 ft), and standard action "Improved Manyshot+Improved Skirmish" attack. This gives you a +31 (BAB 19+Dex 13+KD 5+Magic 2-Manyshot 8) against the Dragon's Touch AC of 2; all of the arrows from the Greater Manyshot (and the Splitting) use the same attack roll, so it's all Touch AC. Each of the 8 resulting arrows (which only miss on a nat 1) deals 1d8+7d6+30 (Magic 2+Deadeye 13+KD 5+Favored Enemy 10) on a hit, or 3d8+7d6+87 on a crit (which you threaten on a 19-20); hit or crit, they also deal 1 point of Con damage.

Assuming everything goes according to plan, the average result of all of the above (based on the attack roll's chance of success) is 503.6 HP damage and 7.6 Con damage; the Con damage reduces the Red Great Wyrm's HP total down to 500, which is just short of your average.



Certain items, feats, and PrCs can enhance your Favored Enemy damage beyond +10, but as demonstrated, that's not necessarily something you need, but rather another tool in the toolbox. Oh, and the best part about the Swift Hunter approach is that your other favored enemies can be things normally immune to precision damage: Swift Hunter makes your skirmish damage penetrate immunity to precision damage based on creature type. Hurray!

[darksolitaire]

Spellstoring weapon with Shivering Touch is mean in any dragon without cold immunity. Those who are immune often have fire vulnerability and can be hurt by Combust.

[LordOfCain]

The best dragonslayer build is Wizard 20.

[ComaVision]

Mystic Ranger with the Sword of the Arcane Order feat would be a great base to build on.

[Red Fel]

In terms of "gish classes that hunt Dragons," a big one is the Vassal of Bahamut. A limited casting list, classy armor, bonus feats, and big stacks of cash, as well as the awesome Dragonwrack ability. It's not an amazing class aside from Dragonwrack, but that ability is amazing against Dragons - it permanently drops their HP. The problem is that Dragonwrack triggers when you hit the dragon, or the dragon hits you, with melee attacks. If you're using a ranged combat build - and in 3.5, those are generally quite terrible unless you can squeeze in Hank's Energy Bow - Dragonwrack really doesn't come into play.

So let's skip Vassal of Bahamut.

Before I get back to classes, I'd like to point out several feats from Draconomicon - the Dragon Hunter line, including Dragon Hunter, Dragon Hunter Bravery, and Dragon Hunter Defense. Dragon Hunter gives you a +2 to AC against Dragons, to saves against their spells and such, and to opposed skill checks such as grapples. Dragon Hunter Bravery lets you and nearby allies be treated as having +4 HD when it comes to the Frightful Presence ability. And Dragon Hunter Defense gives you Evasion against Dragon breath weapons (although Ranger 9 gets Evasion anyway), and a scaling bonus (no pun intended) against Dragon spell-like and supernatural abilities. They're not the most potent feats, but they're flavorful.

The biggest obstacle to fighting Dragons is their mobility. Sitting and sniping with an arrow - even assuming that to be a viable strategy - is asking for trouble. You need to get airborne. Now, you could do so with magic items or grafts or the like, but instead, I'll suggest the Dragon Steed feat, which gets you a Dragonnel. A Dragonnel is a large Dragon with a 90 foot flight speed and average maneuverability, and a Roar attack that renders enemies shaken. You can attack while riding one, although you need to make a Ride check. The point is, you're a dragon hunter riding a flying dragon of your own.

Others have mentioned the Dragonstalker PrC, but it bears repeating. Again, not an amazing class, but it gives you a Sneak Attack, allows you to overcome a Dragon's natural armor once a day (later, twice), and gives you bonus weapon enhancement and damage against Dragons. It's very much what you describe, albeit a lackluster class.