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Skjaldbakka
2008-11-30, 03:21 PM
I'm starting my first game in 4e, and as per tradition, I'm playing a ranger as my first character. Another post generated what looks like some great advice for building an archery ranger, but I'm looking to go the two-weapon route.

Race:
I am playing a Fox-Clan Barbarian. The setting has only humans, but effectively have races based on culture. As a fox-clan barbarian, I have the following racial stats:

+2 strength
medium size
speed 7
low light vision
+2 nature/endurance
cold resistance 5+1/2 level
Resilience : second wind as minor action
Wilderness Stride - ignore difficult terrain while shifting
+1 fort defense
Shadow Step
Daily Power Move Action
teleport up to 5 squares - must start and end in shadow - can break LOS

The fox-clan are the tricksters of the barbarian culture. From the DM's description, they seem very much like the Scorpion clan from rokugan.


I was planning to fight with longsword and battleaxe, and from flipping through the books, I really like the powers that give you free movement and let you force opponents to move.

I have no concept what to do with feats.

Edit-
party composition:

Paladin
Rogue
Cleric or Wizard
possible 5th player, unkown class

I have no idea how they are spec'd

Kurald Galain
2008-11-30, 05:44 PM
I am playing a Fox-Clan Barbarian. The setting has only humans, but effectively have races based on culture. As a fox-clan barbarian, I have the following racial stats:
Whuh? That race combines the strong points of an elf, dwarf, tiefling, and eladrin. Where on earth did that come from?



I have no concept what to do with feats.
Feats aren't that important in 4E. Good ones include imp initiative, human perseverance, sneak of shadows, and possibly powerful charge. And others, according to taste.

You're a striker, which means that your primary goal is boosting your to-hit as high as possible. Use a sword or other +3 weapon, invest in magic weaponry as soon as feasible, and take any and all feats that boost your hit chances (of which, come to think of it, there aren't all that many). In combat, flank whenever possible.

Totally Guy
2008-11-30, 06:02 PM
I thought you'd already done this character.

You picked multiclass Warlock for the Arcana skill and then went ritual caster.

Skjaldbakka
2008-11-30, 06:10 PM
Yeah, but the DM's not wanting that much multiclassing at the beginning of the game. So I may pick up some multiclassing feats later.

Tengu_temp
2008-11-30, 07:08 PM
Whuh? That race combines the strong points of an elf, dwarf, tiefling, and eladrin. Where on earth did that come from?


Homebrew setting with only homebrew races.

I agree with the "boost your hit bonus" advice. The best weapons for rangers are bastard swords and double swords - some people advice scimitars as well, but I don't buy it.

Invest heavily in strength, but that goes without saying. Have enough dexterity to buy weapon-related feats at paragon and epic levels. I found Action Surge to be a very good feat - it ensures that you'll have a very high hit chance with your encounter/daily powers. Weapon focus is better for rangers than other characters, since you have two attacks and therefore it gives you a double damage bonus, but whether or not it's worth it is still debatable.

Oracle_Hunter
2008-11-30, 07:44 PM
Cross posted, 'cause I'm lazy :smalltongue:

(1) Twin Strike
Note that Twin Strike only does [W], not [W] + STR damage. This means that, if you want to optimize your DPR, think about taking feats that give you damage bonuses. Eladrin Longsword Rangers and Dwarven Hammer Rangers work well here.

(2) Scimitar Dance & Hammer Rhythm
In the Paragon Tier, there are a couple of feats that allow you to do damage on a miss for all powers. Since Rangers tend to get many attacks, these are gravy. Check out the ability score requirements for these Feats and plan accordingly.

(3) Consider Heavy Armor
Scale is great, because it has no armor check penalty and gives +7 AC. Going the Heavy Armor route will allow you to skimp on Dex/Int pumping to keep your AC high, but it does cost 2 feats. In Heroic, Hide needs Dex 16 to equal Chainmail, and Dex 18 for Scale. In order to get Heavy Blade Opportunity (which you should get, if you can), you need to have Dex 15 by Paragon (so a minimum of 12 at LV 1). Being able to save those scores and boosts for CON or WIS can help you tremendously, and taking Improved Initiative can fix your Initiative problems. You'll have a low Reflex, but Lightning Reflexes in Paragon can fix that too.

Aside from Dwarven Rangers (for which Heavy Armor is nearly mandatory) this can be an attractive option. Think about it.

(4) Pit Fighter
I've found the TWF Ranger Paragon Paths a bit lackluster, personally. While Storm Warden is great (which it is!) you may not want to be such a... lightning-y guy. Pit Fighter is a great PP for Rangers because it gives you a +1 AC (good for folks without shields) and at LV 16, you can start adding your WIS to all damage rolls. Fighter has some great Utility Powers too (Boundless Endurance) so a MC Fighter is not a bad idea, if you can spare the Feats.

(5) Two-Weapon Fighting and Two-Weapon Defense
These feats may look like must-haves for TWF Rangers, but they aren't. TWF just gives a +1 to damage with your off-hand weapon; Weapon Focus will give you +1 to damage with both weapons, and it scales! The only reason to get TWF is to qualify for TWD - a +1 to AC and Reflex is pretty nice. IMHO, it's just not worth it; consider these Feats traps.

This is just general advice, of course. Specifically, I'd advise you to use either the longsword or the battleaxe - it's more efficient in terms of feat usage. Also, do you get access to any of the racial feats?

Yakk
2008-11-30, 08:29 PM
TWF you get after WF, because they stack. :)

Oracle_Hunter
2008-11-30, 08:34 PM
TWF you get after WF, because they stack. :)

Meh, I'm thinking there's got to be a better Feat at any level than getting +1 to damage on off-hand weapon attacks. Heck, once you reach Paragon it'd probably be the first thing you'd retrain to get a useful Paragon Feat.

greenknight
2008-11-30, 09:01 PM
Because there's a Rogue in the party, try to choose powers which allow you to flank your foes (with the Rogue being the other flanker, whenever possible). Here's what I'd suggest:

At Will: Twin Strike + Hit and Run

Hit and Run sets up Combat Advantage. Twin Strike then finishes the foe off, and is your main ranged attack.

Encounter: Evasive Strike, Disruptive Strike, Sweeping Whirlwind

Use Evasive Strike to set up combat advantage, Disruptive Strike to protect yourself, and Sweeping Whirlwind to clear out flankers.

Daily: Sudden Strike, Two Wolf Pounce, Attacks on the Run

Sudden Strike helps you flank, Two Wolf Pounce gives lots of damage, although it's against two different foes, and Attacks on the Run effectively gives you a double move in the round while attacking - good for those foes who start off at a distance.

Utility: Yield Ground, Evade Ambush, Expeditious Stride

Yield Ground helps set up flanking, and can help your AC. Evade Ambush is helpful on those occasions when your party is surprised (hopefully that won't be often), and Expeditious Stride helps all your movement powers.

For your feats, I agree that Weapon Focus is better than Two Weapon Fighting, but you need AC, so I suggest you give TWF and TWD serious consideration. The bonus damage from TWF and Weapon Focus should stack, so it does help you a little bit. Because you should have Combat Advantage most of the time, it might be worthwhile taking Power Attack. Just make sure you have Combat Advantage and a foe with an average (or weak) AC before you use it.

Oracle Hunter's Pit Fighter suggestion is probably the best PP for your character, so even though Student of the Sword isn't all that useful to you, you should probably take it so that you can qualify for that PP.

Try to get Scale armor proficiency as soon as possible. Your character moves quickly enough that you might even want to consider Plate proficiency, if you can qualify for it. Specialize in whatever armor you normally wear in Paragon.

Oracle_Hunter
2008-11-30, 09:05 PM
Try to get Scale armor proficiency as soon as possible. Your character moves quickly enough that you might even want to consider Plate proficiency, if you can qualify for it. Specialize in whatever armor you normally wear in Paragon.

Don't bother with Plate. Scale with Specialization (DEX 15) gives you +8 AC, full speed, and no Armor Check Penalty. Plate with Specialization (CON 15) gives you +9 AC, but -1 Speed and -2 Armor Check penalty. For a Ranger, the Plate is almost always a bad option.

If you want to be a Plate TWF'er, then the Tempest is far more friendly.