| Panther_Hammer |
I have been working on my first Pathfinder character and i am looking for advice from those of you more experienced with society play and character building.
The build i am going for is that of a switch hitter ranger, i have been somewhat loosely going off of trentmonks guide. Thematically i wanted to design the character somewhat around the idea of an undead hunter but i have seen many say that rangers are better off selecting human as their favored enemy.
That being said my primary questions are:
Would I be at a disadvantage take Favored enemy undead prior to Human or is it entirely situation?
Do you have any recommendations for a second trait?
Trentmonk indicated that in early levels i would most likely find myself in melee so i didn't worry as much about affording a bow figuring i could get a long bow at a later time so i went with a sling as a temporary replacement and picked up some bullets for it. Do you think this should be alright or should i try to re-budget for a short bow?
Is The infiltrator archetype legal in pfs? I found the ability to get a +2 natural armor bonus from favored enemy undead very tempting considering i may find myself in melee allot.
Are there any pfs legal alternatives to scale mail or great swords i should consider from books other than the core rule book?
I supposed this is a more mechanics related question but can a ranger use a wand of cure light wounds without a Umd check since it is on his spell list?
Obviously any advice you can give me in regards to building a switch hitter ranger will be appreciated i am trying to get it ready for my first game on Friday.
Race: Half-Elf
HP 11 AC: 17
Str: 18 (Racial went here) Dex:14 Con: 13 Int: 13 Wis: 13 Cha: 07
Feats: Power Attack
Traits: Armor expert, 2nd trait undecided
Favored Enemy: Undead or Human
Weapons:
Great sword
Sling
Armor:
Scale mail
Skills:
Climb, 5
Handle Animal, 2
Knowledge Nature, 5
Dungeoneering, 5
Perception, 8 (Racial skill focus)
Stealth, 3
Survival, 5
Swim, 4
| Chris O'Reilly |
Yes, you can use the wand as long as you dont trade out spells via an archetype. To see whats legal check the additional resources page, it was recently updated pre-gencon.
You can buy a bow later, or use prestige. A MWK darkwood composite longbow +2 STR comes in under the 750 value limit for a 2 point prestige purchase. I would get a healing wand first, then the bow, and make the bow adaptive later. Until you have the feats for it you will probably only use it if you have no other choice.
A lot of the newer scenarios do not feature a lot of undead, but we dont know what the new season holds. Unlikely to be undead though. The older seasons feature undead frequently, so if your area plays them evenly you should find a use for undead favored enemy. However, human is universally good and probably comes up in literally every scenario ever. You will be competent enough without your favored enemy bonus that you can choose undead for concept reasons, but know that you might run several scenarios in a row where you dont get to use your bonus at all. You can use your second trait to add to the concept, I believe the trait is just called undead hunter and is about your family being famous for hunting undead.
Perception is important sure, but so are will saves. I almost always recommend the half elf alternate racial bonus to will saves.