Human Melee Scout Build thoughts?

[CaPtMalHammer]

Here is a Melee Scout concept I had.. Swift Hunter with Lion Totem and lots of Rank in Tumble:) And the two animal companions by the end don't hurt either:) 1 would be Level 16 and the other Level 20.

1- Scout (Skirmish 1d6) (Trapfinding) (Weapon Focus-Long Sword)(Skill Focus-Handle Animal)
2- Barbarian (Rage)(Spirit Totem-Lion)
3- Ranger (Weapon Focus- Handaxe)(Champion of the Wild)(Favored Enemy-Undead)
4- Ranger (Combat Style-Two Weapon Fighting)
5- Scout (Battle Fortitude +1)(Uncanny Dodge)
6- Scout (Swift Hunter)(Skirmish 1d6, +1AC)(Fast Movement)(Trackless Step)(Favored Enemy-Constructs)
7- Ranger (Endurance)
8- Ranger (Improved Trip)(Animal Companion)
9- Beast Master (High Sword Low Axe)(Animal Companion)(Wild Empathy)
10- Ranger
11- Ranger (Improved Combat Style- Improved Two Weapon Fighting)
12- Ranger (Natural Bond)(Favored Enemy-Elementals)(Woodland Stride)
13- Ranger (Combat Expertise)(Swift Tracker)
14- Ranger (Evasion)
15- Ranger (Improved Skirmish)
16- Ranger (Blind Fighting)(Greater Combat Style- Greater Two Weapon Fighting)
17- Ranger (Favored Enemy-Oozes)
18- Ranger (Combat Reflexes)(Camouflage)
19- Ranger (Eyes in the Back of Your Head)
20- Ranger

[Darrin]

1- Scout (Skirmish 1d6) (Trapfinding) (Weapon Focus-Long Sword)(Skill Focus-Handle Animal)
2- Barbarian (Rage)(Spirit Totem-Lion)
3- Ranger (Weapon Focus- Handaxe)(Champion of the Wild)(Favored Enemy-Undead)


Taking Weapon Focus twice isn't really advisable here... actually taking it even once isn't all that great. Consider taking Travel Devotion (Complete Champion). You can even take it twice if you so prefer.



6- Scout (Swift Hunter)(Skirmish 1d6, +1AC)(Fast Movement)(Trackless Step)(Favored Enemy-Constructs)


Another level of Scout gets you a bonus feat, and you can use it to pick up Improved Skirmish here.



7- Ranger (Endurance)
8- Ranger (Improved Trip)(Animal Companion)


Improved Trip can't be taken here because you still need to take Combat Expertise as a prereq (Complete Champion p. 50). I'd also advise you to keep your ranger spellcasting, at the very least just for spell-trigger wands (instant of power, blades of fire, impeding stones, etc.).

You can pick up Improved Trip without the prereqs with another level of Barbarian and taking the Wolf Totem ACF (Unearthed Arcana). Since they trade away different class abilities, these ACFs can be combined.



9- Beast Master (High Sword Low Axe)(Animal Companion)(Wild Empathy)


Take Knock-Down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown) (the SRD version) instead of High Sword Low Axe.

I'm not big on having two weak animal companions, as both of them get horked by the 1/2 ranger progression. At this level, they will suck up resources just trying to keep them alive. I don't see how the Beastmaster dip here really helps all that much. If you really want an animal companion, you're better off trading your ranger companion for the Distracting Attack ACF or the Spiritual Guide ACF, and then take the Wild Cohort (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) feat.



10- Ranger
11- Ranger (Improved Combat Style- Improved Two Weapon Fighting)
12- Ranger (Natural Bond)(Favored Enemy-Elementals)(Woodland Stride)
13- Ranger (Combat Expertise)(Swift Tracker)
14- Ranger (Evasion)
15- Ranger (Improved Skirmish)
16- Ranger (Blind Fighting)(Greater Combat Style- Greater Two Weapon Fighting)
17- Ranger (Favored Enemy-Oozes)
18- Ranger (Combat Reflexes)(Camouflage)
19- Ranger (Eyes in the Back of Your Head)
20- Ranger

One of the problems with the Champion of the Wild ACF is the bonus feats available are terrible. I don't think they add all that much to the build.

Something else to consider... Skirmish damage progresses very slowly. The best you can hope for with a straightforward Scout/Ranger build is 17 levels (Scout 4/Ranger 13) for 5d6 skirmish damage. You can get an extra +1d6 by taking Highland Stalker 2, and you already qualify for it just by being a Ranger.

You can also get a lot more skirmish damage by replacing some Ranger levels with Dragon Devotee 4/Unseen Seer 4, as this gets you +4d6 skirmish damage over 8 levels where you only get +2d6 skirmish damage from the same number of Ranger levels. Scout 4/Ranger 5/Dragon Devotee 4/Unseen Seer 4/Highland Stalker 2/Something 1 actually gets up to 8d6 Skirmish/10d6 Improved Skirmish, which is somewhat comparable to 19 levels of Rogue. Throw Dragonfire Strike (Dragon Magic) in there somewhere and it gets 9d6 Skirmish/11d6 Improved Skirmish damage.

That "Something 1" can be Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian 1 for Pounce or Cloistered Cleric for Travel Devotion, Knowledge Devotion, and some other domain (I try to pick up the Strength or Luck domain).

[Venger]

in addition to what Darrin's said, Dictum Mortum's handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=8722.0) covers the swift hunter basics.

[CaPtMalHammer]

Thank you,

I don't want unseen seer etc just not the beasmaster flavor im going for here.

Thank you for pointing out I need to take combat expertise earlier in this and I needed to take skill focus handle animal for the beastmaster level.

I should have mentioned that I cant use unearthed arcana, tomb of battle, home brew or dragon stuff in this build by DM rules.

How are the pets low level? With natural bond and the +3 you get from beastmaster one of the pets ends around level 12 and the other around level 14 which are moderate level pets and I was going to use one as a mount instead of buying one. The higher level one was going to be used for flanking etc and was going to make sure it had barding and extra HP etc so it didn't die :)

I did add travel devotion into this. Great Suggestion

I know the feats from champion are not the greatest but wanted a truly martial build with no arcane or divine flavor at all a true ranger beastmaster.

I know skirmish is slow but swift hunter allows for using it against undead etc which is fun. I know I could go rogue and unseen seer for far more damage but damage output was not the point here lol:)

The weapon focuses were requisites for high sword low axe:)

Im looking at the 4th level of scout for improved skirmish earlier.. thank you for that suggestion.

and I agree on pounce that's why its built in already at level 2 :)

[Flickerdart]

How are the pets low level? With natural bond and the +3 you get from beastmaster one of the pets ends around level 12 and the other around level 14 which are moderate level pets and I was going to use one as a mount instead of buying one. The higher level one was going to be used for flanking etc and was going to make sure it had barding and extra HP etc so it didn't die :)
You don't have two animal companions, as far as I can tell. You have 15 ranger levels (7.5 druid levels), Natural Bond (3 druid levels) and 1 beastmaster level (4 druid levels) that all stack together on one companion. This is an effective druid level of 14 and gets you, for example, a Dire Bear. A Dire Bear is a CR7 creature. No amount of barding will make it relevant against CR20 threats.