Looking for advice for a Aasimar Ranger Character

[Awakeninfinity]

I'm current building a character who is both my current character's twice removed cousin and a potential replacement for if things go south. I've had her leveled up to ECL 3 but not sure what to do for the next level. I was thinking Fighter for feats and talking to my GM about Dragon Magazine and balancing the Favored Enemy feats to be more in line with what WotC published...


Female Aasimar Rgr2/Ftr1
CG Medium Outsider)(Native)

Hp:18+1d8+1d10
AC 21 TC 17 FF19
fort+8 ref+5 will+5
Resist 5 Acid; Cold; Electricity
DR 3/-(Armor)

STR 18. INT 12
DEX 14. WIS 20
CON 16. CHA 12


-all stats start at 8 with 40 points to spend
-minimum score 8/ Maximum
score 18 before Racial Adjustment
- points are all bought a 1:1 basis

Weapons
Mwk C. Longbow (+4 STR)
Katana
Dagger

Spell-like Ability: Daylight CL 3rd

Armor
Reinforced Chain Shirt
Bracers (Destana)
Darkwood Buckler

Feats
Zen Archery
Track(b)
Power Attack
Dodge

Skills
Hide+7
Move Silently+7
Knowledge (Nature) +6
Listen+12
Spot+12
Survival+10
Climb+7
Jump+7
Swim+6

Scrolls
A scroll of 3 CMW
A Scroll of 2 Entangle
I have 2490 GP left to spend according to my GM

*note: I am using the Solitary Hunter ACF and Moon Warded ACF from Dragon. I also have not selected a favored Enemy yet though I'll probably either select Outsider (Evil) or what ever my GM suggests

In truth It's reasonably unlikely that I'll even play her this game. It's just a precaution so I have a character with a backstory ready just in case.

Edit: I forgot to mention that we are using Armor as DR rule variant.

[Eldariel]

So...given any thoughts to going Archer? If so, the Fighter-level should definitely be Targetteer [DR310] taking the Arrow Swarm special ability. This lets you make two more attacks but all attacks at -5. Combine that with Woodland Archer [Races of the Wild] and you've got quite the potential for damage, and the accuracy to make up for the hit penalties. 1 level of Barbarian with Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) is a gimme - take either Fast Movement if you plan on pure archery, or Pounce [Complete Champion Spirit Lion Totem] if you plan on switch-hitting with melee/range. Take Extra Rage [Complete Warrior] whenever you can - 3 uses should have you covered for most of the day. I personally like Arcane Hunter [Complete Mage] for Ranger's favored enemy: Arcanists is quite the broad category covering many monster types too. Though if your campaign is heavy on Evil Outsiders, that's certainly a fine line to push too. Then you can take Nemesis-feat [Book of Exalted Deeds] to autodetect these enemies within 60' of you. Knowledge Devotion [Complete Champion] is also excellent down the line; it could be taken with a Cleric dip.

After the 4th level, you can just enter Warblade [Tome of Battle] (or Swordsage [Tome of Battle] if you want a more trickery/Wisdom focus) and go to town on the maneuvers. Ranger 2/Fighter 1/Barbarian 1/Warblade -> or Swordsage -> is an absolutely wonderful chassis for any archer and pretty solid for a melee type too. Those class levels combine really well with some maneuvers.

[Awakeninfinity]

I'm probably going archery; and the GM doesn't have theme in mind for enemies from what I can tell... but Arcanists sound like a good favored enemy to have given the setting. I was considering Lion Totem but we are as like to have tight corridors as not so it might be better to have it as the Ranger spell. Targeteer looks awesome; so I'll have to talk to my GM about it. Warblade looks like the best choice as far as ToB goes; but will probably keep on going Ranger. Any items I should keep an eye out for?

[Eldariel]

I'm probably going archery; and the GM doesn't have theme in mind for enemies from what I can tell... but Arcanists sound like a good favored enemy to have given the setting. I was considering Lion Totem but we are as like to have tight corridors as not so it might be better to have it as the Ranger spell. Targeteer looks awesome; so I'll have to talk to my GM about it. Warblade looks like the best choice as far as ToB goes; but will probably keep on going Ranger. Any items I should keep an eye out for?

I do recommend Warblade if you lean towards martial options. It combines beautifully with the Pounce (Bounding Assault and White Raven Charges get full attacks while still leaving actions open for boosts/counters) and makes you a wonderful switch-hitter; you have the bow full attack options but equally scary melee full attack options and in tight quarters like dungeons, something like Pounce + Bounding Assault [Diamond Mind 4] is one of the best ways to ensure your mobility in melee and get that first hit against enemies waiting behind turns or walls. You can even combine it with the Leading the Charge stance for pretty sizable damage bonuses, and you also get a bunch of great utility stances. And maneuvers like Dancing Mongoose, Raging Mongoose and Time Stands Still combine to add to your ranged full attacks, and maneuvers like Sudden Leap, Wall of Blades, etc. make you wonderfully equipped to add some mobility and extra defenses to your whole setup.

You give up ranger spells but the advantage is that you don't have to spend actions on things like pouncing charges; it's automatic. That said, with those stats straight Ranger is wonderful (though multiclassing is a bit painful since you push the big spells further) and Mystic Ranger should be extremely alluring. Higher level Ranger-spells are immensely useful for archery and it gets them early enough to matter. I'd say that's really the big choice; whether to go for the high level Ranger spells or martial maneuvers. Ranger spells are generally way stronger with fewer encounters and absolutely shine in enhancing archery (though the melee buff spells are nice too), while Warblade maneuvers enhance both melee and range to a degree (really, the offensive maneuvers for bows are Blood in the Water, Dancing Mongoose, Raging Mongoose, Time Stands Still and Lion's Roar), give you some teamwork utility (White Raven Tactics, Order Forged from Chaos, etc.) and allow you to keep going all day.


EDIT: Items? Well, Strongarm Bracers are great. For non-full casters, this list (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items) is pretty huge and Bunko's Bargain Basement (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?445114-quot-Bunko-s-Bargain-Basement-Magic-Items-That-Are-a-Steal!-quot-(from-Wizards-forum)) too. You definitely want Strength-adjusting bow like Bow of Winterymoon [MIC] or Hank's Energy Bow. Do check out the Archery Handbook (http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=2892.0) for more Archery-specific stuff and remember to stock up on various Bane- and perhaps Brilliant Energy/Phasing Arrows to make use of the unique option bows have of combining weapon enhancement and arrow enhancement for massively powerful and engineered weapons.

[Awakeninfinity]

Great; just got done reading through them- those resources look great! I'll need to talk to my GM about whether or not she'll come across some of those items later. One last question; in a Armor as DR rule setting should I still endeavor to increase AC? I want to say yes; because AC can mitigate power attack somewhat... Would that be a good assumption?

[Bronk]

Great; just got done reading through them- those resources look great! I'll need to talk to my GM about whether or not she'll come across some of those items later. One last question; in a Armor as DR rule setting should I still endeavor to increase AC? I want to say yes; because AC can mitigate power attack somewhat... Would that be a good assumption?

I don't think it can hurt... it'll also protect you better from ranged attacks. Actually, that might be another reason to grab Hank's Energy Bow if you can, because any armored foe will start to shrug off your own normal, non power attacking arrows.

It's a little early for an ECL 3 ranger, but you might eventually want to look into the Hunter's Mercy (Ranger 1, Spell Compendium) and Hunter's Eye (Ranger 2, PhB II) spells.

[Awakeninfinity]

A spell with no CL cap? Count me in! Any ideas on how to raise my Ranger CL through Items? I was thinking about it because of Resist Energy is a level off 30( In my case it will be three levels) anyways and having a useful sneak attack whenever it would be useful would be awesome sauce with a side of dps spike. Although I am working Practiced Spellcaster into the build; It would be nice for sustainability against dispel magic. My GM will be using spellcasters at some point (I've never seen him use a mage before so I don't know what to expect).

[Bronk]

A spell with no CL cap? Count me in! Any ideas on how to raise my Ranger CL through Items?

Well, there's the orange prism ioun stone for +1 caster level, although it's a bit pricey at 30,000 gold.

Vial of the Last Gasp from Complete Adventurer, temporary +1 caster level, 2200g.

You could buy wands of all ranger spells with increased caster level, since all ranger spells are spell levels first through fourth.

You could take some bloodline levels. Each level taken raises all level based calculations by 1.

Edit: This isn't caster level related, but I thought I'd throw in mentions of the 'improved favored enemy' (+3 bonus to all favored enemy bonuses) and 'extra favored enemy' feats, as well as the 'Girdle of Hate' (one favored enemy bonus doubled) from Dragon 314.

[Darrin]

Coatl Feather (10 GP, Book of Exalted Deeds) has a 35% chance to increase the CL by +2. Buy three, use them together, and you've got a pretty good chance that at least one of them will work.

[Awakeninfinity]

So after double-checking and playing a few more sessions; I've come to realize that I need to change this PC into a cohort for my current character. She also needs to be a switch hitter... from what I can tell. Now to decide whether to play her attentiveness off with several feats devoted to Diamond Mind and be potentially devastating in melee - or devote one to Knowledge Devotion and save the feats to make her better at the Archery part. She'll be pretty good at archery until the enemy actually get into melee; unless I take precise shot. Is there any way to negate cover without taking improved precise shot? I'm fairly certain there is no other way to negate the -4 without taking precise shot- but your allies still grant soft cover when you have just precise shot; right?

[Eldariel]

Bow abilities can negate all the stuff. Blood-Seeking negates cover vs. living and even allows for shooting behind obstacles (toral cover) at known targets. Knowledge Devotion works for both, melee and ranged so it seems quite optimal for a switch-hitter.

[Awakeninfinity]

So first draft of my final build (goes up to 20 in case of epic) is...


Lv 4: Rgr 3 Endurance(B); Strength +1
Lv 5: Rgr 4 Ranger Spells
Lv 6: Rgr 5 Favored Dodge( First FE)
Lv 7: Rgr 6 Skin of the Moon (ACF)
Lv 8: Rgr 7 Woodland Stride; Strength
Lv 9: Rgr 8 Swift Tracker; Martial Study: Action before thought
Lv 10: Ftr 2 Martial Stance: Pearl of Black Doubt
Lv 11: Rgr 9 Evasion
Lv 12: Rgr 10 Improved Toughness; Constitution+1
Lv 13: Rgr 11 Indomitable Mind(ACF)
Lv 14: Rgr 12
Lv 15: Rgr 13 Camoflague; Martial Study:
Ruby Nightmare Blade
Lv 16: Rgr 14 Constitution+1
Lv 17: Rgr 15
Lv 18: Rgr 16 Practiced Spellcaster(Ranger)
Lv 19 Rgr 17 HiPS
Lv 20: Rgr 18 Constitution+1

I am considering dropping Improved Toughness and Ruby Nightmare blade and then moving the Martial Study feats down a slot; the fighter level will be just after the first Martial study feat. But I am wondering If placing Knowledge Devotion on in the level 6 slot and Favored Power Attack in the 9th slot will work or if I should do something entirely different. Maybe I should drop martial study entirely and keep Improved Toughness while grabbing Improved Buckler Defense?