Best character setup for Ranger?


Advice


Hi guys,

Quick Q:

Can anyone direct me to the best Level 1 character setup for a Ranger / archer type?

Needs to be b#*&$~+s in melee, specialising purely in ranged so you have to keep him moving in combat to stay out of reach.

Any advice greatly appreciated. I tried to make a char like that and cocked it up royally.

Liberty's Edge

In the long run (and by long run, I mean from 2nd level on for a Ranger), archers wind up more stationary than almost anyone given their need for full attacks. Still, movement at 1st is a possibility. Here's a ranged specialist example, 20 point-buy, Human:

Str 14 Dex 18 (+2 from Human) Con 14 Int 12 Wis 12 Cha 7

Str 16, Con 12, Int 10, is possibly better, but also much better at melee, which you seem not to want.

For 15 point-buy, go Str 14, Con 12 and Int 10.

Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, grabbing Rapid shot via Fighting style at 2nd, and likely Deadly Aim at 3rd.

Favored Enemy will vary by campaign, but Humanoid-Human is usually solid.

Skills: Climb, Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Nature), Perception, Stealth, Survival, Swim, plus another skill of choice if going Int 12 seems solid, though you should probably not bother raising Climb and Swim after 1st level.


Think elf with an elven curved blade + finesse then everything else you take along the way is all ranged. Get quick draw when you can that way you can seamlessly enter and exit ranged attacks when you need to. (I'm assuming the expletive before "in melee" is badazz.) While the Elven Curved Blade is an exotic you get it for free being an elf and it's the only two-hander (that I know of) that you can use with weapon finesse.

Another good build is make it a dancing dervish build (found in the inner sea guide). So for one feat you can make your melee attacks be both +dex to hit and +dex to damage. Though you have to use your lvl 3 feat to do that since you need 2 ranks of the dance skill to do it. in that case you will porbly will want quick draw as your first feat.

Either way after setting up your melee I would do it just like how Deadmanwalking sez even useing his stats, skills and feats after that. Again I'm assuming you want to be potent in both melee and ranged.


lol. The expletive before 'in melee' was a curse word. I want to be as best as I can be in ranged whilst sacrificing the melee. That's my character's background. All ranged, would cack his pants in close combat!


Lol my bad then Deadmanwalking is correct + if you can swing some acrobatics (so you can move away from enemies without getting attacks of opportunity) it will help you keep some distance maybe a lil dip into rouge.


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If you want a high mobility archer, look at the monk archetype Zen Archer. High AC, extra movement, high jump, and all the archery feats you need by level 6. You get improved unarmed strike so you always threaten in melee, and you get point blank master at level 3. You'll miss out on weapon training and have a 3/4 BAB when you're not flurrying, but that's a reasonable tradeoff for what you get.

If you want to do nothing but damage, look at the fighter archetype Weapon Master. You get weapon training at level 3, and after you pick up point blank master at level 5, you won't care that you're in melee. You don't get armor training, but since you'll always want to full attack anyway, you can use heavy armor if you're willing to sacrifice mobility for the most damage with a bow.

Rangers make great switch hitters and excellent snipers, but you have to choose between point blank master and improved precise shot at level 6. You can't pick up weapon specialization and you don't get weapon training. Instead, you get great skill points, one of the best spell lists for self buffs, favored enemy, full BAB, and all martial weapons.

You just have to decide what's most important to you.

Final note:
One trick with both rangers and monks: make sure that you reserve your bonus combat style feats for ones you wouldn't otherwise qualify for. You can only ignore prerequisites on your bonus feats, so you're better off waiting an extra level or two for Deadly Aim so you can pick up Point Blank Master when it's available (which you otherwise can't get at all).

Liberty's Edge

For ultimate 1st level archer, be a Human Cavalier with Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot. Put your CON real low and let your mount take you out of the fray while you full-attack every round ;-)

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