My friend is hosting a campaign and needed several character classes. I picked the Half-Elf Urban Ranger. Most combat will take place within the city, and magical beasts are essentially nonexistent in the whole campaign. I am playing a switch hitter ranger. He has a Composite Longbow for ranged, and a Great Sword for melee. The animal companion I chose was a wolf, I plan to use it as a mount. Now, my friend recently played in my campaign and broke his character (Witch) and completely smashed my whole campaign to bits by using his hexes quite efficiently. I am looking to break this Ranger as to frustrate him. I am asking you wise and powerful men and women to help me make this Ranger have a high AC and be able to hit hard. I want feat choices and weapon advice! HELP ME MAKE THIS RANGER A PAIN IN THE REAR.
You might find this thread useful where I'm getting help with my level 9 switch hitter.
Of course I'm assuming you've read the best resource so far for a Rangers.
I created a Ranger that was more melee centric with my build and didn't take Manyshot at 6th, which was a mistake.
A Wolf animal companion might have some issues inside the city. You may have to choose a Pony until you are 7th to get a Dog if you're in a city campaign - check with your DM.
Two-weapon melee is where the damage is...but if you want high AC then you may want to consider a Sword and Board.
Do you have a "tank" in the party?
Basically you have a high Str build, but you are also pretty reliant on Dex so high AC at low levels is going to be a problem. At higher levels heavy armor proficiency with mithril full plate will help. Later on you can get things like an animated shield and various other magical items to help AC. (rings of protection, amulets of nat armor etc). Later on having Overall, ranged is the best style for dealing consistent damage in pathfinder imo. Your standard feats for damage will look like this:
Melee: Power attack, Mounted combat, spirited charge, At higher levels your full bab will make qualifying for crit feats easy and effective.
Archey: Your using all of your bonus feats on archery and this is mostly self explanitory, i.e. manyshot, rapid shot, deadly aim (not on bonus feat list and must be taken separately).
Gear is going to be a different story. A dancing weapon is a good option pull it out, let it go, pull out another weapon (gotta love quickdraw). A seeking property on your bow will help eliminate some miss chance. Energy is a great way to stack on another d6 of damage even if it is negated from time to time. Speed is another good option as it is like having haste always casted on your weapon (it wont stack with haste). Make sure to pick up items like the efficient quiver and stat bonus belts (maybe headbands).
Do not forget to buff up your companion as well. You get magic fang greater spell which will give him a couple of extra numbers. Improved Nat Attack since he only has one attack. Boon companion will give you a significant boost to his abilities. Do not forget to take advantage of the trip maneuver for him either.
This should be a good start to your questions.
P.S. Did your DM specifically give you all of the campaign setting information?
Going up the Mounted feat tree might be an issue because if you're in a City you might have issues getting your charges off. Unless your party members maneuver out of your way that is. You probably won't have enough feats to go both melee and mounted trees unless you DM allows flaws.
How did your friend broke a witch? are you sure he and/or the DM didn't make some mistake(s)?
Anyway on top what the other have said i will say to switch from a greatsword to a falchion or nodachi at 6th-8th level.
Question:
When you said you plan to use your wolf as mount do you meant taking any mounted combat feats? because if you did i highly recommend against it.
TWF ranger. Spend a feat up front….EWP and get a falcata and a short sword. Both have good crit ranges. You get a ton of bonus feats for TWF for free and then get improved cirt for both weapons. Since you want to hit hard and have a high AC focus on STR and DEX. Later with TWR and the spell lead blades you will hit super hard and you can say in the fight with a high AC. If you do all that and someone buff’s you with an enlarge spell……Wow. If you have a Paladin in the party and they use their Aura of Justice at the same time......Oh my.