Help me optimize a ranger

[VenomTongue]

I am a lvl 5 ranger and I am looking to increase my damage output. The idea of the character was supposed to be a hidden sniper kind of character but it turns out that is pretty hard to pull off. Also we are going to Ravenloft so nearly everything will be immune to crits and sneak attacks.

[Extra Anchovies]

So you want to be a Ranger, and you want to deal more damage. First, have a handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4621).

Are there any parts of your build that you can't change, or is everything up in the air?

If can rebuild freely, I recommend mixing some Scout levels and picking up the Swift Hunter feat at 6th level; both of those can be found in Complete Adventurer. A one-level dip into Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric) can get you Travel Devotion, which allows swift-action movement every round for one minute (once per day, and you can spend turn/rebuke attempts for extra uses), and Knowledge Devotion, which lets you get scaling bonuses to attack and damage from Knowledge checks to identify monsters. Both devotion feats (which can be taken in place of domain powers) are in Complete Champion You don't need to max every monster-identifying Knowledge skill (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Local, Nature, Planes, Religion), but one rank in each of them gives you at least +1 hit/damage against everything. For a Ravenloft game I recommend maxing Religion and Nature. For your third domain, good choices are Elf (Point Blank Shot for free!), Liberation (reroll failed charm/compulsion/fear effects one round after the first failed save), Patience (1/day delay a spell's effects on you by 10 rounds, after you know any saving throw results), Time (free Improved Initiative), or any domain that grants the power to turn or rebuke creatures (more turn attempts is more daily uses of Travel Devotion).

[Rebel7284]

any domain that grants the power to turn or rebuke creatures (more turn attempts is more daily uses of Travel Devotion).

Agree until this part. As I recall, only Turn/Rebuke attempts can be used to power devotion feats. I mean, outside of Azurin cleric sub-levels, rebuke dragons, and destroy undead ACF, but those explicitly mention devotion feats or "count in all ways" type language.

[Extra Anchovies]

Agree until this part. As I recall, only Turn/Rebuke attempts can be used to power devotion feats. I mean, outside of Azurin cleric sub-levels, rebuke dragons, and destroy undead ACF, but those explicitly mention devotion feats or "count in all ways" type language.


Special: If you have the ability to turn or rebuke undead, you gain one additional daily use of this feat for each two daily turn or rebuke uses you expend.

Accessing this part of the feat requires "turn or rebuke undead", but using this part of the feat expends "turn or rebuke" uses. It doesn't care if you feed it t/r undead or t/r lollipops as long as you have an ability that turns or rebukes undead and spend uses of an ability that turns or rebukes. Yes, it's a weird rules loophole, but it's also how divine feats should work.

[Eldariel]

Even without Swift Hunter, you'll be fine but that's certainly a solid option. I personally find 'em boring to play, and consider the range restriction to kinda negate the point of archery in the first place. That said, straight Ranger or Ranger X/Cloistered Cleric 1 should look to pick up Knowledge Devotion anyways (you have a lot of skill points and knowing your enemies is your thing and you get a Knowledge-skill in class from the Devotion anyways). If you keep just going straight Ranger, your biggest advantage are the spells. You have few per day but Pearl of Power I is rather cheap and you can get some bonus from Wisdom anyways.

Player's Handbook spells kinda suck for a Ranger but Champions of Ruin, Player's Handbook II and Spell Compendium give you an incredible set of spells to enhance your archery (or melee). Champions of Ruin in particular has a lot of good "Arrow bonus"-spells though they mostly start up off level 2. Spell Compendium gives you some 1st level spells that make hitting easier alongside Hunter's Mercy which guarantees crits (but is obviously at its worst in Ravenloft-style settings unless you can get a Greater Truedeath Crystal [Magic Item Compendium]) and some good melee boosts. Player's Handbook II basically only has Hunter's Eye, a level 2 spell that grants you Sneak Attack for 1 round.

Also, if you're facing a lot of Undead, you could actually specialize a bit in Favored Enemy: Nemesis [Book of Exalted Deeds] gives you a handy enemy radar along with some incidental damage bonuses. Improved Favored Enemy [Complete Warrior] is also +3 additional damage bonus. And if you happen to be an Elf, Elf Ranger [Races of the Wild] has Undead as one of its improved Favored Enemy options for Elf Ranger racial substitution levels, gaining +3 bonuses instead of the normal +2.


You could also take 1 level in Barbarian with the Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy )-variant; as long as you're hitting well and have a bow that can take advantage of the Strength increase (Bow of Winterymoon [Magic Item Compendium] & Energy Bow (http://s13.photobucket.com/user/animefunkmaster/media/EnergyBow.jpg.html) for example) and you can go from shooting 3 arrows at -2/-2/-7 to firing 4 arrows at -4/-4/-4/-9, with bonus damage to boot. Just take Extra Rage [Complete Warrior] once and you can afford to Frenzy in the bigger battles.

If you have a deity with your Bow (I'm just assuming you're mostly going archery at this point) as a favored weapon, you can take 3 levels in Pious Templar [Complete Divine] to get Weapon Specialization in it, qualifying you for Ranged Weapon Mastery [Player's Handbook II], a decent increase in your damage particularly if you're shooting a lot of arrows. If you have decent Wisdom, you can get massive bonuses from a single level of Shiba Protector [Oriental Adventures], which adds Wisdom to both, your damage and hit bonus.

If you have access to 3.0 sources, you have additional prestige class options in Deepwood Sniper [Masters of the Wild] (crit-based though so you need a way to bypass the immunity), Peerless Archer [Silver Marches] (Power Shot in particular is solid if your to hit is properly augmented) or Order of the Bow Initiate [Sword & Fist] (unlike the 3.5 class in Complete Warrior, this class is pretty good though makes some use of Sneak Attack so you'll probably want some way to bypass the immunities).


Make no mistake though, much of archery damage is about enhancing your bow just right. Some feats (Mercantile Background [Player's Guide to Faerun], Ancestral Relic [Book of Exalted Deeds], Item Familiar [Unearthed Arcana]) enable you to do it more easily. It's still a matter of getting the right enhancements though (in Ravenloft, "Holy" is a pretty safe pick). Instead of repeating everything I've written, I'll point you towards Archery Handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2892.0) for more data on the subject.

[Darrin]

What sourcebooks are available? Online content ok? How about Dragon magazine?

Race? What feats have you taken so far?

Swift Hunter (Complete Scoundrel) solves two problems for you: bonus damage in general and bonus damage against undead (you get to apply skirmish damage to your favored enemies). So yes, I would heartily recommend you take four levels of Scout next. Ranger 5/Scout 4 can pick up Swift Hunter, Improved Skirmish, and hopefully another feat in there like Manyshot/Greater Manyshot or Travel Devotion. And while a Cloistered Cleric dip is a good way to get extra uses of Travel Devotion, you can also take Travel Devotion more than once, if need be.

But before that your first priority should probably be getting either Greater Manyshot (multiple arrows on a standard action attack) or Improved Rapid Shot (more arrows on full attack). Greater Manyshot is more reliable (you can use it every round to move + standard attack), but the penalties are a bit higher and the "fire multiple arrows simultaneously" doesn't quite work with Woodland Archer (Races of the Wild). Improved Rapid Shot requires some sort of swift/free action movement, so it's harder to pull off consistently, but you wind up firing more arrows, the penalties aren't as high, and it works very well with Woodland Archer. Also, fitting in the Cloistered Cleric dip *and* getting Improved Rapid Shot is going to take longer.

And unless you took the Champion of the Wild ACF or did something with flaws, I don't see Swift Hunter really happening until level 9 or 10... that could be a long wait.

1) Ranger 1. Bonus: Track. Feat: ???
2) Ranger 2. Bonus: Rapid Shot.
3) Ranger 3. Bonus: Endurance. Feat: ???
4) Ranger 4.
5) Ranger 5.
6) Scout 1. Feat: Precise Shot.
7) Scout 2.
8) Scout 3.
9) Ranger 6. Bonus: Manyshot. Feat: Greater Manyshot.
10) Scout 4. Bonus: Swift Hunter.
11) Ranger 7.
12) Ranger 8. Feat: Improved Skirmish.
13->20) Ranger +6/Highland Stalker 2