So I've got a few questions. This is my first time building a pathfinder charecter and I decided to choose a archer style ranger and was wondering if you guys (and gals don't wanna discriminate ) could give me really good builds for my charecter I've decided to go with a half-elf as the race with my free bonus feat of skill focus of stealth.
Also a side note I wanna make him a straight ranger no multi classing just wonder what feats and weapons and armor to give him. Any advice would be soooo very helpful thank you.
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So I've got a few questions. This is my first time building a pathfinder charecter and I decided to choose a archer style ranger and was wondering if you guys (and gals don't wanna discriminate ) could give me really good builds for my charecter I've decided to go with a half-elf as the race with my free bonus feat of skill focus of stealth.
Also a side note I wanna make him a straight ranger no multi classing just wonder what feats and weapons and armor to give him. Any advice would be soooo very helpful thank you.
Lets start with Treantmonk's Guide to Rangers in Pathfinder because it is going to always come up with talking about rangers. It's a good start but if you have the option check out some of the feats in the Ultimate Combat which are not in guide.
Weapon is easy longbow, compound as soon as possible with a str rating equal to you character str. Might as well get the most from the bow. If you don't plan to get up close and personal, leather armor and a buckle of darkwood are good options. Especially if you are considering a mobile or hit and run build.
Which leads us to how do you see you character being played. Hit and run, quick from the shadows, artillery? A little more info would be helpful.
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Well for a 20 point buy you can do this:
20 point buy
STR 15
DEX 16 (16->18)
CON 14 (14->12)
INT 08 (08->10)
WIS 12
CHA 08
First increase goes to STR, all other increases go to DEX, a headband of +2 WIS will take care of your spellcasting
Feats:
1st Point Blank Shot
2nd Precise shot (ranger)
3rd Rapid Shot
5th Deadly Aim
6th Improved Precise Shot (ranger)
7th Manyshot
9th Weapon Focus (longbow)
10th Point Blank Master (ranger)
11th Quick Draw*
13th Boon Companion**
14th Parting Shot (ranger)
15th Farshot
*so that you will be able to make a full attack from the 1st round
**The small cat is the option i recommend from the ranger list
Well I wanna make my hunters bond with my companions and I also don't wanna spellcast. Also I plan to be a close to mid range nuker so to say so I kinda wanna put as much damage as I can on the target with just being a ranger.
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Why a half-elf? (Alone among race choices, they're not nerfed by multi-classing.)So I've got a few questions. This is my first time building a pathfinder charecter and I decided to choose a archer style ranger and was wondering if you guys (and gals don't wanna discriminate ) could give me really good builds for my charecter I've decided to go with a half-elf as the race with my free bonus feat of skill focus of stealth.
Also a side note I wanna make him a straight ranger no multi classing just wonder what feats and weapons and armor to give him. Any advice would be soooo very helpful thank you.
13th Boon Companion**
If you want Boon Companion, you should take it at 5th level.
= = = =
Half-elf (20pt) STR:15, DEX+16, CON:14, INT:14, WIS:12, CHA:07
racial alternative trait: Ancestral Arms
traits: Armor Expert, ?
rang1 Quick Draw, Exotic Weapon Proficiency [Fauchard]
rang2 [Rapid Shot]
rang3 Power Attack
....and, you're done: the switch-hitter cake is baked; and everything else is just frosting. (Take Boon Companion at 5th.)
Equipment: mithral breastplate (eventually), Quick Draw Light Shield, Composite Longbow, Fauchard, Cestus, Morningstar
Well for a 20 point buy you can do this:
20 point buy
STR 15
DEX 16 (16->18)
CON 14 (14->12)
INT 08 (08->10)
WIS 12
CHA 08First increase goes to STR, all other increases go to DEX, a headband of +2 WIS will take care of your spellcasting
Feats:
1st Point Blank Shot
2nd Precise shot (ranger)
3rd Rapid Shot
5th Deadly Aim
6th Improved Precise Shot (ranger)
7th Manyshot
9th Weapon Focus (longbow)
10th Point Blank Master (ranger)
11th Quick Draw*
13th Boon Companion**
14th Parting Shot (ranger)
15th Farshot*so that you will be able to make a full attack from the 1st round
**The small cat is the option i recommend from the ranger list
I've played a catfolk from level 5 to 9 to great effect with exactly the same feat progression (level 10 will be the same too): I've nothing to say about it, the build is perfect as far as I'm concerned, both very fun and effective.
I play with 20 pb with different stats and the guide archetype, which you may want to consider if you will play a lot at low level.
I started with
str 14
dex 16->18
cos 12
int 10
wis 14->12
cha 8->10
Leo proposed a build for an elf, if you want your character to be an half-elf I'd go with:
14
16->18 (all increments in DEX)
12
10
14
8
This is for a guide archetype. If you go for plain ranger (or another archetype) you may want to optimize more, since you will not always be able to be effective in the fights that matter at low levels (since hunter's howl require a will saving throw).
For a plain ranger starting at level 1 or so, I'd recommend to consider higher str. Anyway, try to have at least a starting 17 in dex (after racial bonus) and put at least 12 in wis and con: from there choose the numbers which better reflects the kind of campaign you will be playing in.
I second Leo in putting boon companion after level 10, but I'd favor it over quick draw and take it at level 11.
Quick draw is useful but you may often find that is better to do something else than attacking on the first round (for example casting gravity bow, or moving to find a better position on the grid).
If your campaign does not require to be often in melee range you can consider taking boon companion earlier and delay point blank master and weapon focus (in this case PBM will be your level 14 feat).
Other great feats (that can wait till level 11+) are those in the snap shot line. Another fantastic feat is clustered shots, which you may want to consider right after getting manyshot if your DM like monsters with strange DRs.
IF you want I can further elaborate what said about the guide archetype (APG) which imho keep being a really good choice up to level 15 or so (past that I'd go with plain ranger)
The archer ranger is probably my favorite type of character to play and I've grown to avoid the Rapid and Manyshot feats like the plague. They just burn through arrows too quickly and arrow management is something I'd rather not deal with when out of town for weeks at a time. And there are only so many arrows you can reasonably take with you.
The archer ranger is probably my favorite type of character to play and I've grown to avoid the Rapid and Manyshot feats like the plague. They just burn through arrows too quickly and arrow management is something I'd rather not deal with when out of town for weeks at a time. And there are only so many arrows you can reasonably take with you.
you can buy one (and then two) efficient quiver and have enough arrows for any combat. You then put a rank in craft weapons and armors and buy arrow shafts and arrow heads in hundreds and put them together between combats. There are also durable arrows from elves of golarion which do not break upon impact and that you can reuse.
By no means I would not take the best 2 archery feats.
Or you know, bring several hundred arrows with you on any given adventure. Whether its a henchman, mule, extradimensional space, etc. Bundles of 50 arrows are not large things.
The archer ranger is probably my favorite type of character to play and I've grown to avoid the Rapid and Manyshot feats like the plague. They just burn through arrows too quickly and arrow management is something I'd rather not deal with when out of town for weeks at a time. And there are only so many arrows you can reasonably take with you.you can buy one (and then two) efficient quiver and have enough arrows for any combat. You then put a rank in craft weapons and armors and buy arrow shafts and arrow heads in hundreds and put them together between combats. There are also durable arrows from elves of golarion which do not break upon impact and that you can reuse.
By no means I would not take the best 2 archery feats.
2 of the best 3. Deadly Aim, Rapid Shot, Manyshot and being able to pull full attacks from a distance is what makes archery the absolute best non magical means of dealing damage in pathfinder (short of RAGELANCEPOUNCE). Take those three feats, pump STR to 18 or 20, DEX as high as possible, get a comp longbow up to your STR rating, and enhance it to +5. Everything else about an archer build is fluff.
2 of the best 3. Deadly Aim, Rapid Shot, Manyshot and being able to pull full attacks from a distance is what makes archery the absolute best non magical means of dealing damage in pathfinder (short of RAGELANCEPOUNCE). Take those three feats, pump STR to 18 or 20, DEX as high as possible, get a comp longbow up to your STR rating, and enhance it to +5. Everything else about an archer build is fluff.The archer ranger is probably my favorite type of character to play and I've grown to avoid the Rapid and Manyshot feats like the plague. They just burn through arrows too quickly and arrow management is something I'd rather not deal with when out of town for weeks at a time. And there are only so many arrows you can reasonably take with you.you can buy one (and then two) efficient quiver and have enough arrows for any combat. You then put a rank in craft weapons and armors and buy arrow shafts and arrow heads in hundreds and put them together between combats. There are also durable arrows from elves of golarion which do not break upon impact and that you can reuse.
By no means I would not take the best 2 archery feats.
Yeah, 2 of the best 3. But then again there are some other feats that are not fluff at all: at least precise and improved precise shot are needed too.
And for the bow, making it seeking is great against invisible foes, and holy against evil ones (though I concede that making it +5 should be a priority, mostly for passing DRs :))
Yeah, 2 of the best 3. But then again there are some other feats that are not fluff at all: at least precise and improved precise shot are needed too.
And for the bow, making it seeking is great against invisible foes, and holy against evil ones (though I concede that making it +5 should be a priority, mostly for passing DRs :))
Those are usually needed, unless your group has very little melee, and seeking is great, as are goggles of see invis. There was something else that negated concealement too, but I can't think of what offhand. As for overcoming DR, weapon blanching (APG, equipment section, the stuff was made for arrows) and any enhancement bonus does the trick. I recommend the +5 simply because the damage bonus goes on every single arrow (including the two from manyshot) which makes it the most damaging option, above any other weapon qualities, which honestly get too expensive to bother with for my taste.
Those are usually needed, unless your group has very little melee, and seeking is great, as are goggles of see invis. There was something else that negated concealement too, but I can't think of what offhand. As for overcoming DR, weapon blanching (APG, equipment section, the stuff was made for arrows) and any enhancement bonus does the trick. I recommend the +5 simply because the damage bonus goes on every single arrow (including the two from manyshot) which makes it the most damaging option, above any other weapon qualities, which honestly get too expensive to bother with for my taste.
Yeah, 2 of the best 3. But then again there are some other feats that are not fluff at all: at least precise and improved precise shot are needed too.
And for the bow, making it seeking is great against invisible foes, and holy against evil ones (though I concede that making it +5 should be a priority, mostly for passing DRs :))
Yes, I forgot about weapon blanches.
Well, if you use those it's another reason to have greater magic weapon cast on your bow and invest in holy instead in enhancement.Also, this might depends on the AC of the enemy, but from a damage perspective the +2d6 from holy is usually as good as a +2 enhancement. True, you also fight neutral enemies, but in my game the majority of the foes are evil (and bypassing dr/evil without having to cast bless weapon on the arrows easily compensates for the times in which the ability is not used)
There is something to be said for a +2 Holy/Unholy/Axiomatic/Anarchic... Wait that was a different thread, and one of the funniest things I've read on this forum.
The archer ranger is probably my favorite type of character to play and I've grown to avoid the Rapid and Manyshot feats like the plague. They just burn through arrows too quickly and arrow management is something I'd rather not deal with when out of town for weeks at a time. And there are only so many arrows you can reasonably take with you.you can buy one (and then two) efficient quiver and have enough arrows for any combat. You then put a rank in craft weapons and armors and buy arrow shafts and arrow heads in hundreds and put them together between combats. There are also durable arrows from elves of golarion which do not break upon impact and that you can reuse.
By no means I would not take the best 2 archery feats.How do people feel about Abundant Ammunition?
Or do you not get enough castings at low level (i.e. before you get an efficient quiver) to make it worth it?
In my campaign its potentially worth it as magic items are hard to come by.
That along with gravity bow should be an archer ranger's best friends. They both last long enough that you can generally cast them pre-combat.
As said I don't use weapon blanches: as such I use abundant ammunition in combination with adamantine arrows to avoid spending too much on those. In particular, when the need arises, I have a quiver with just adamantine arrows (5 of them, the maximum I can shot in a round), I remove the arrows and from the following round I shoot as many arrows as I can. After combat I pick up the arrows which I originally took out (but not used so not to risk breaking/losing them).
For every other occasion I find it too circumstantial to prepare, but it may be me failing to appreciate its potential :\
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As said I don't use weapon blanches: as such I use abundant ammunition in combination with adamantine arrows to avoid spending too much on those. In particular, when the need arises, I have a quiver with just adamantine arrows (5 of them, the maximum I can shot in a round), I remove the arrows and from the following round I shoot as many arrows as I can. After combat I pick up the arrows which I originally took out (but not used so not to risk breaking/losing them).
Since Abundant Ammunition always replaces what is removed, there is no reason to ever bother recovering drawn ammunition -- and anything taken from the quiver while the spell is in effect will disappear a round later anyway.
