[D&D 4e] Warforged Crossbow build

[Lateral]

How do I make an effective build that shoots lots of crossbow bolts?

[Tengu_temp]

Be a ranger. Not much more to it.

[The Glyphstone]

Ranger with Twin Strike? That's the only ranged multiattack power I know of, but undoubtedly the Ranger is full of other ones.

[Lateral]

Well, yeah, but crossbows suck. How do I make them not?

Edit: I'm the DM. This is for one of my players. I was thinking of allowing him to have two shoulderbows that can only be enchanted as a magic weapon (no properties), gain no bonus damage on a critical hit, and fire as a minor action 1/round each, but I have no idea if that's fair or not. He really likes the idea of firing a crossbolt hailstorm.

[Trekkin]

Get your DM to agree that ballistae are a type of crossbow and use 3.5e siege weapon rules?

[Excession]

That shoulderbow idea would be overpowered IMO. There's a similar item in Dragon 364 that lets you make a ranged basic attack as a minor action, and it's a magic item daily power. Still worth adding one or two to the character of course, anything that gets you an extra attack is gold for a ranger and for your concept it seems.

The superior crossbow at least does not suck, for either a ranger or rogue. The hand crossbow can also work for a rogue; there's a Drow feat that buffs the hand crossbow which you could let the player take.

Below is my take on a self-mobile autogun, built as a ranger. The build really takes off in paragon, so I'm presenting it at level 11. At lower levels you may need to take the Speed Loader feat, the paragon path replaces it so you can retrain it once you reach 11. Note that there are multiple powers that grant immediate actions, take care not to use more than one per round.

Spoiler

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====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Autogun, level 11
Warforged, Ranger, Sharpshooter
Build: Archer Ranger
Fighting Style: Hunter Fighting Style
Ranger: Prime Shot

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 14, Con 15, Dex 21, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 9.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 11, Con 12, Dex 18, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 8.


AC: 23 Fort: 20 Reflex: 23 Will: 21
HP: 77 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 19

TRAINED SKILLS
Dungeoneering +13, Endurance +13, Athletics +11, Perception +13, Stealth +14, Thievery +14

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +9, Arcana +5, Bluff +4, Diplomacy +4, Heal +8, History +5, Insight +8, Intimidate +6, Nature +8, Religion +5, Streetwise +4

FEATS
Level 1: Weapon Proficiency (Superior crossbow)
Level 2: Weapon Focus (Crossbow)
Level 4: Distant Advantage
Level 6: Sneak of Shadows
Level 8: Hobbling Strike
Level 10: Novice Power
Level 11: Steady Shooter

POWERS
Ranger at-will 1: Nimble Strike
Ranger at-will 1: Twin Strike
Ranger encounter 1: Two-Fanged Strike
Ranger daily 1: Guardian Arrow
Ranger utility 2: Far Sight
Ranger encounter 3: Disruptive Strike
Ranger daily 5: Spitting-Cobra Stance
Ranger utility 6: Begin the Hunt
Ranger encounter 7: Biting Volley (retrained to Snap Shot at Novice Power)
Ranger daily 9: Thousand Arrow Awareness
Ranger utility 10: Spot Weakness

ITEMS
Hide Armor, Rebounding Superior crossbow +3, Magic Earthhide Armor +3, Periapt of Cascading Health +2, Shoulderbow Hand Crossbow +2
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

Your maximum 1-round bolt count is:
Two from Twin Strike.
+ One from the free-action ranged basic attack that you get from the paragon path when you spend an action point.
+ Two more from action pointed Two-Fanged Strike.
+ One from Snap shot as a minor action.
+ One from the Shoulderbow using your move action as another minor.
+ One from Spitting Cobra Stance, Guardian Arrow, or Disruptive Strike as an immediate action.
+ One from the opportunity action ranged basic attack granted by Thousand Arrow Awareness.
+ One from the magic item property of the Rebounding superior crossbow if any of those miss.
= 10 bolts total.

If I'm adding it up right, that adds up to 8d10 + 6d6 + 142 () damage if everything hits and the stars align correctly. Requires quarry and Spot Weakness in the previous round, and that you didn't move. Firing lots of arrows is also a very good way to optimise a ranger.

Target locked.
Firing.
Target destroyed.
Beep.

[Mando Knight]

Well, yeah, but crossbows suck. How do I make them not?

Superior crossbows are decidedly not-sucky. +3 proficiency and d10 damage dice with fairly long range (20/40, same as the longbow) makes it one of the best weapons in the game. Rangers might generally prefer Greatbows due to their increased [W] dice (Rangers shoot out enough arrows that they don't necessarily need the extra +5% to hit), but Superior Crossbows are not an inferior choice.

[Kurald Galain]

Well, yeah, but crossbows suck. How do I make them not?

Use a regular bow and pretend it's a crossbow.

fire as a minor action 1/round each, but I have no idea if that's fair or not.

Absolutely not. Ranger is one of the most powerful classes in the first place, and you're giving him two extra attacks per round? Bad idea. A magical item exists that shoots as a minor action 1/enc, and this had to be nerfed to 1/day because it was overpowered.

[Tengu_temp]

Use a regular bow and pretend it's a crossbow.

I don't know any DMs that'd let this fly. Just go with a superior crossbow, they're good.

[Tiki Snakes]

I don't know any DMs that'd let this fly. Just go with a superior crossbow, they're good.

It seems a pretty inoffensive change, really. It's not like calling your weapon something different would greatly change game balance.

[Tengu_temp]

I know I wouldn't allow it, at least not straight off the bat. If you want to use weapon X and fluff it as weapon Y, when weapon Y is readily available already, you better have a good explanation for that.

The only exception is refluffing two-handed weapons as fighting with a one-hander and nothing in the other hand. I always allow that, because fighting with a one-hander and nothing in the other hand is way cool.

[Trekkin]

The explanation is that crossbows, while (game)mechanically inferior to bows, appeal more to the player, and it's less of a headache all around to just give him the weapon his class is designed for. While I can understand a certain degree of confusion occurring as a result of the name change, it's not going to change anything beyond making a more memorable and enjoyable character for the player to use.

[Kansaschaser]

Get your DM to agree that ballistae are a type of crossbow and use 3.5e siege weapon rules?

LOL, they are giant crossbows. Crossbows are simple weapons. Ballistae are just larger versions. That's why anyone can use a Ballistae.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

He could be a rogue, to can use a crossbow with his rogue powers, including Blinding Barrage. Blinding Barrage is a 5x5 area attack which blinds everyone in it. Pretty dramatic, though it's also a daily power.

Rogues are the kings of versatility, though they're also expected to be sneaky and very tactical/opportunistic. A ranger is better for sheer damage.

[Trekkin]

LOL, they are giant crossbows. Crossbows are simple weapons. Ballistae are just larger versions. That's why anyone can use a ballista.

Technically, if we're going by order of development, crossbows are miniaturized ballistae. Unfortunately I doubt anyone is going to let a Ranger apply his feats to a siege weapon, as fun as that could potentially be, let alone allow said ranger to dual-wield them.

[Lateral]

You know what? He'll just dual-wield Superior Crossbows.

[Urpriest]

You know what? He'll just dual-wield Superior Crossbows.

That's pretty good in its own right. Two-Fisted Shooter, wield an attached (and therefore one-handed) Superior Crossbow in the main hand and a hand crossbow in the other hand, get a bigger crit range once you hit epic. It's one of the better uses of the ability to attach components.