I'm looking to make a Dwarf for my next PFS-CORE character and have decided to multiclass these two classes, but am unsure of which class to take at 1st level and which one should be 2nd or later. I'd like to use a Sword and Shield as my primary combat gear if that affects which should come first. That said, this is still concept stage as I haven't done stats or anything yet. I do have one scenario down for it via Pregen, though.
Taking Ranger first gives you the flexibility to chose the weapons you'd prefer to fight with as well as few extra hit points.
PFS allows a free rebuild before you play level 2. So you can do druid for your whole first level, then before you play level 2, rebuild so that your first level was ranger (getting you the extra 2 HP) and your second is druid. Up to you. Having spells at first level is helpful, especially being able to use a wand of CLW, which if you got 2 PP for your first scenario, you should purchase.
|
Either way allows using that wand of CLW at first level.
Main reason to decide which one first would be backstory purposes.
@Rerednaw: Barbarian, Half-Orc, 20 Con, Toughness, and the feat or trait that gives a bonus +4 to Rage stats when with another such half-orc barbarian...
And then spend all your PP on retraining hit points.
As for backstory, I don't have one yet. There's not much to the character besides:
PFS/CORE
Dwarf
Druid & Ranger
Sword & Shield fighting style (though that Dwarven Waraxe is looking awfully tempting)
1 pregen use (Harsk in Whispering Way; late join -50gp)
Should I take Two-Weapon Style and use the shield as a weapon or leave it as defense and take Archery so that I might possibly hit at range into melee?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yes. By all means. Start as a Druid and reap all the benefits then mystically morph into being a ranger first who also just happened to be a Druid second for two extra hit points.
That should help mold you into the person you'll be for decades! Huzzah!
On the flip side, you could be molded into the kind of person who makes caustic comments on the internet for no good purpose!
I guess the question I have is why are you going to be a ranger/druid? Is one of them a dip? Are you going 50/50? What is the goal?
Initial thought was a Cleric with the Animal and Earth Domains, but no CORE diety offers both. My first CORE character is also a (partial) Cleric so I decided to look into something else. I was looking at full Druid but then I learned that the Ranger's effective Druid levels stack with the Druid's for Companion purposes. Rangers do get some nice things (I'm looking at you, Endurance), and having just played Harsk for my second time, I like the idea of a Dwarven Ranger. I'm not the kind of person who likes to stay one class throughout his career. Heck, my one attempt to be a pure Fighter wound up taking 2 levels of Brawler so far. But a multiclass Ranger with an animal companion (ie. Ranger/Barbarian) would have a companion that is far to weak to be taken into battle at higher levels. (ie. Ranger 6/Animal Cleric 6 has a companion level of 6) But multiclassing as a Druid gives me the same EDL as a pure Ranger and gives me more spells, better Will saves, possibly Wild Shape, and a better connection to nature.
So, I'm looking at about 3-6 levels of Druid. the 7th level Ranger class feature (Woodland Stride) is rendered moot by the 2nd level Druid class feature, though he still progresses BAB and gains access to second level spells. Favoured Terrain 2 and Evasion look nice but that would mean giving up 3rd level spells, Wild Shape, and Resist Nature's Lure... Perhaps Ranger 6/Druid 5 is the way to go.
The problem I see is that you really gain nothing from the ranger side when you go druid. You won't continue his combat styles and get a lower bab. Unless you are going with the natural weapon combat style (not core), I just don't see the class synergy.
If you go pure druid you can effectively be 2 classes in one. One class will be the caster druid, the other class could be the wild-shape melee.
While the animal companions stack with the classes (ranger at -3) you still don't gain anything for the animal companion by multi-classing.
(just to verify you say core meaning core rulebook only?)
The problem I see is that you really gain nothing from the ranger side when you go druid. You won't continue his combat styles and get a lower bab. Unless you are going with the natural weapon combat style (not core), I just don't see the class synergy.
If you go pure druid you can effectively be 2 classes in one. One class will be the caster druid, the other class could be the wild-shape melee.
While the animal companions stack with the classes (ranger at -3) you still don't gain anything for the animal companion by multi-classing.
(just to verify you say core meaning core rulebook only?)
CORE Campaign is the Core Rulebook, the Guide to Organized Play, and Bestiary 1 if the CRB calls on it.
Ranger grants additional feats, though it's looking like that doesn't matter anymore since Two-Weapon Fighting likely will not let me equip my shield in the same move action I draw my sword/axe. Still, Favored Enemy and Favored Terrain along with free Endurance, and good REF saves are still nice.
Perhaps Ranger 3/Druid 8? That way I've got good casting (better if I take Magical Knack), I still get the main things I want from Ranger, and I can grab Precise Shot for free without having to invest in other archery feats.
Why not be a Hunter?
Not CORE
If you are only going 3 levels in a class it doesn't matter that you are picking ranger as far as the animal companion is concerned. Is magical knack core?
Oh, forgot to include that the Traits Web Enhancement is CORE legal and it does include the Additional Traits feat. However, it only has Combat, Faith, Magic, and Social traits. Racial, Regional and Religion traits are not CORE legal. (which sucks since you could legally take the Adopted Social Trait, but there are no legal traits for it to give you.
I'm still debating on my actual level mix. A part of me actually wants to see him pure Ranger, which is quite different from what I'd planned, though it makes his knack for fighting Orcs better...
Anyhoo, I'm going to play him as a Ranger on Thursday and see how that goes. With 2 scenarios until I have to make my decision, I have 1.5 weeks to figure this out.