So I'm playing as a ranger in an upcoming game and I know that we are going to be encountering a Dragon (Young Adult - Adult). My party will consist of 5 people (race/class unknown at this point) which will be determined from a pool of 20 people.
We're all going to be at level 8 and can act as though none of our feats, favored enemies, spell choices, what have you have been locked in.
I'm playing a ranger and have the option to choose a new animal companion (of 4th level obviously :3) can take 2 favored enemies and 2 favored terrains, 6 feats in total (plus endurance).
We don't know what the enemy situation is going to be like, but the terrain is probably going to be mountains.
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The main question here is what would be a basic idea/build to be able to deal with a dragon (including animal companion) as a Ranger and still be able to assist with the Tank (we should be getting one) and the rest of the party?
I've got some ideas but any input would be great!
Greetings, fellow traveller.
Sorry, but I don't get that. What you are saying is - sorry for paraphrasing - that you've to create a lvl8 ranger from scratch and you need information how to deal with dragon.
Are you familiar with PF and its rules? If yes, please be more specific and/or provide more details (books allowed, point buy, setting etc.).
You are talking about a tank, which always puzzles me, because this term stemming from MMOs does not hold much truth in PF, since there is nothing to ensure aggro control.
Anyways.
Ranger, lvl8. I assume CRB and APG.
I would go full ranged, possibly elf due to their immunities, possibly human if you want the extra feat.
Hope that helps as starting point. Oh, and reading Treantmonk's guide for your purpose seems a good idea (just do a search).
Ruyan.
Dragon bane arrows.
Yeah, right, Leo.
How much money are you allowed to spend, pylfer? Average WBL (33k gp)?
Ruyan.
All books are open.
We've got 33k to spend on whatever we want but we can only spend a max of 8250 on any item (we're working from one level to the next [the previous one having been 4th level).
I'm running a 8th level Elf Ranger with STR14, DEX22, CON10, INT12, WIS17, CHA8
((As for the 'tank' I just refer to melee characters with high AC. hitpoints, CON, and Die Hard [etc, etc, etc]))
So far, equipment is based around a +1 element Comp Longbow (we have to deal with things other than the dragon [bandits, animals, things like that maybe]) and maybe a +2 Shadow Studded (unless there's something better)
I've got an efficient quiver, cold iron (bought last round), adamantine(bought last round), silver/alchemical arrows(bought last round), a +2 DEX belt and +2 WIS, and a cloak of resistance +2.
The bow, armor, belt, cloak, and headband are all coming out of my 33k for this round.
(I also wanted to pick up an animated shield for the +4 AC for a few rounds but money is getting tight)
Ah, ok.
So the bane arrows would be a definite buy, then! Concerning armor, there will always be the compromise for better AC by heavier armor vs. better armor by allowing for max DEX.
How about going for a mithral breastplate or scale mail (mithral allows for maximum DEX bonuses increased by 2, armor check penalties are decreased by 3 (to a minimum of 0) - from PFSRD), costs around 4000k - without extras.
For the rest - I think you are ready to go.
Ruyan.
Alright so gear wise It all adds up to 27k, how much is each individual Dragon Bane arrow going to cost?
I can only assume that seeing how the arrows are +1 D. Bane and the bow is +1 Element, they are of equal enhancement and thus I would have to chose whether the arrow or the bow applies for the enhancement (this porlly won't work at higher levels of enhancement on my bow so I'm assuming having a Comp Longbow handy would be beneficial).
I was thinking... do I have to apply my +1000 gp onto the armor to get it +1 and then another 4k to get it to +2 (5k +4k = 9k total) or can I get away with +2 Mithral Scale Mail at 4k+4k = 8k? I know to add properties you need to +1 it and then pay the +2 cost... but does just taking a raw item to +2 simply cost to +2 price?
[sarcasm] beg for another level to get evasion to assist you when they come breath weapon you for peppering them with dragon bane arrows.
But honestly you may be able to drop one in a round if you can Full Attack.
I made a ranger once specifically to beat dragons.. ended up going the shapeshifter route with natural attacks.
Favored Defense is probably a very worthwhile feat. (from apg)
Made him as tough as possible and able to dish out a huge amount of melee damage...
I figure its best to not rely on other people being in harms way and just assume its going to come right for you, just in case.
Was fun to play as a one-shot, but was extremely specialized to fight dragons and not nearly as good against other types.
Might be an angle to look into, though.