I know that crossbow fighter is better but I'm making a Ranger as part of a semi-aquatic campaign (thinking about an underwater crossbow) and I'd like to keep raw ranger but will dip Fighter if need be.
Race is probably Human but I may pick Undine as a long shot.
Thinking stats (Human) would be:
10
20
12
10
11
10
I'm having trouble thinking how to maximize my crossbow damage. Any tips?
X-bows aren't made for damage so much as other range weapons. Can't rapid shot, can't many shot, can't even fire that often per round. Deadly aim is your best bet.
Crossbow Combat Style get Crossbow Mastery A.S.A.P.
Unless you are taking the Skirmisher archetype or don't expect the game to go much beyond 6th level, you should probably have a slightly higher wisdom for spellcasting.
Edit: Gravity bow.
Higher WIS, bump CON a bit, & a little more STR for Carrying Capacity.
12 Str, 19 Dex, 12 Con, 10 Int, 13 Wis, 10 Cha is better; possibly 13 Str, 18 Dex, 14 Wis. Carrying capacity (armor, crossbow and bolts) and spells (aspect of the falcon, gravity bow) are fairly important for a ranger.
For feats, I'd recommend:
1st- Point Blank Shot, Rapid Reload (Heavy Crossbow)
2nd- Combat Style Crossbow (Precise Shot)
3rd- Rapid Shot
5th- Crossbow Mastery (Heavy Crossbow)
6th- Combat Style (Improved Precise Shot)
7th- Deadly Aim
9th- Vital Strike or Clustered Shots
10th- Combat Style (Shot on the Run)
X-bows aren't made for damage so much as other range weapons. Can't rapid shot, can't many shot, can't even fire that often per round.
Rapid Shot can definitely be used with a crossbow or any other ranged/thrown weapon; only Manyshot is specific to bows. Rapid Reload (+ Crossbow Mastery for a heavy crossbow) reduces reload time for a crossbow to a free action, which means the only benefit that a bow has over a crossbow (other than not having to take one or two extra feats) is the ability to add Str damage (if a composite bow crafted with a particular Str rating) and the use of Manyshot.
Crossbow Mastery as your level 6 feat lets you skip the Rapid Reload pre-req. But I would still get it at level 7 the normal way because Imp. Precise Shot 5 levels early is too good to give up.
An issue with Xbow Ranger that needs to be resolved is the Point Blank Master feat. The feat says Rangers with the Archery style can get it as a bonus feat if they have Weapon Focus. But no mention of Crossbow Ranger, even though PBM feat works for either weapon. It's a huge oversight, IMO.
If you go Ranger, you will simply not do much damage. Sorry. Only way to change that is if you can play in a game where you mostly fight one enemy type. Or by cheesing the hell out of Horizon Walker prestige class, but that doesn't all come together for a looooooooong time. And you won't be good because you're using a crossbow, you'll be good because when you're getting like +30 to attack and damage, *ANY* weapon looks good. If such psychological factors matter to you.
Changed stats around since it was switched to 15 point buy
10, 19, 12, 10, 12, 8
Thanks for all the help was just having trouble picking the order of feats to make the pre-reqs all fall into place.
Archery Style is superior for Dragonchess's Build.
Changed stats around since it was switched to 15 point buy
10, 19, 12, 10, 12, 8
Thanks for all the help was just having trouble picking the order of feats to make the pre-reqs all fall into place.
12 Str, 18 Dex, 12 Con, 10 Int, 13 Wis, 8 Cha will probably be more worthwhile. A 10 Str only lets you carry up to 33 lbs as a light load and 66 lbs as a medium load; 12 Str adds another 10 lbs to the light load and 20 lbs to the medium load. Studded leather (20 lbs), (underwater) heavy crossbow (8 lbs), 2 cases of bolts (20 bolts total; 2 lbs), trident (4 lbs), dagger (1 lb); you're already at 25 lbs without even counting a traveler's outfit (5 lbs) and other gear. Even in leather armor (15 lbs), you can only carry 8 lbs more before hitting a medium load with 10 Str; a masterwork backpack will only net you an extra 3 lbs at light load (2 lbs heavier, +5 lbs to carrying capacity). A masterwork backpack at 12 Str gives a net increase of 5 lbs to carrying capacity at light load (exactly the weight of a buckler).
Crossbow Mastery as your level 6 feat lets you skip the Rapid Reload pre-req. But I would still get it at level 7 the normal way because Imp. Precise Shot 5 levels early is too good to give up.
Improved Precise Shot at 6th is one consideration. The other is Rapid Reload at 1st level lets you shoot that heavy crossbow every round (move action to reload) instead of every other round. At 1st level, especially when focusing on ranged combat so heavily, this matters a lot.
12 Str, 18 Dex, 12 Con, 10 Int, 13 Wis, 8 Cha will probably be more worthwhile. A 10 Str only lets you carry up to 33 lbs as a light load and 66 lbs as a medium load; 12 Str adds another 10 lbs to the light load and 20 lbs to the medium load. Studded leather (20 lbs), (underwater) heavy crossbow (8 lbs), 2 cases of bolts (20 bolts total; 2 lbs), trident (4 lbs), dagger (1 lb); you're already at 25 lbs without even counting a traveler's outfit (5 lbs) and other gear. Even in leather armor (15 lbs), you can only carry 8 lbs more before hitting a medium load with 10 Str; a masterwork backpack will only net you an extra 3 lbs at light load (2 lbs heavier, +5 lbs to carrying capacity). A masterwork backpack at 12 Str gives a net increase of 5 lbs to carrying capacity at light load (exactly the weight of a buckler).
You're right carrying is going to be a big problem. I usually have my stats more spread out when I make characters and I don't know why I abandoned that practice this time around.
I'd pick Deadly Aim at level1. You need damage. It's more important than reloading a little bit faster. Take Rapid Shot a little bit later or drop Point Blank Shot at first, use the Ranger Combat feat at level 2 for Rapid Reload.
You could also try the double crossbow + vital strike + gravity bow cheese. Fire and switch hit to a melee weapon until you Crossbow Mastery lets you reload as a move action at 6th level, and vital strike kicks in at 7th. It still isn't as effective as using a bow, but sometimes it's just fun to be different.
Crossbow Mastery as your level 6 feat lets you skip the Rapid Reload pre-req. But I would still get it at level 7 the normal way because Imp. Precise Shot 5 levels early is too good to give up.
An issue with Xbow Ranger that needs to be resolved is the Point Blank Master feat. The feat says Rangers with the Archery style can get it as a bonus feat if they have Weapon Focus. But no mention of Crossbow Ranger, even though PBM feat works for either weapon. It's a huge oversight, IMO.
If you go Ranger, you will simply not do much damage. Sorry. Only way to change that is if you can play in a game where you mostly fight one enemy type. Or by cheesing the hell out of Horizon Walker prestige class, but that doesn't all come together for a looooooooong time. And you won't be good because you're using a crossbow, you'll be good because when you're getting like +30 to attack and damage, *ANY* weapon looks good. If such psychological factors matter to you.
Bumping this instead of making a new thread but I did find out that PBM is probably going to be allowed in the Crossbow style.
My new plan is
1-PBS, Rapid Reload
2-Precise Shot
3-Weapon Focus(Heavy)
5-Rapid Shot
6- Point Blank Master
7-Crossbow Mastery
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Can I reccomend to use a light crossbow instead? that let you take deadly aim at level 7.
Not really. He needs both PBM and Crossbow Mastery so he won't provoke when firing & reloading either type of crossbow. Every other feat taken is required as a pre-req, except for Precise Shot which is necessary to avoid that -4 penalty for firing into melee (which you still need even if you have PBM and are standing adjacent to your foe if that foe is engaged in melee with a friendly).
The only downside with the OP's most recent feat chain is that you don't get anything from Rapid Shot until you take XBow mastery (where as, with a light XBow he would)