Looking for insight on a lizardfolk melee ranger


Advice


So our resident DM is thinking of running a PF2e campaign, and I have an idea to play a lizardfolk ranger (ranger like Aragorn, not Legolas)that relies on his unarmed attacks via claws and bite. Still working on a reason why the character would only use his claws and bite for melee. However I am not sure how the final build should look or what stats I should prioritize. I am not sure if it will even be worth it because it seems it could easily be overshadowed if I used a weapon.

I would probably be going with flurry for the hunter's edge, and given the claw and bite attack are considered finesse weapons, I am not sure if STR or DEX would be my primary stat.

Suggestions/thoughts/advice on this idea of a unarmed lizardfolk ranger? I have talked to our DM about it, but I would also like to get some "uninterested" point of views.

Thanks for your thoughts!


I would go the STR route and Precision instead of Flurry, because Hunt Prey - Move - Bite will happen often enough, while with Flurry you will be thinking that if you had Twin Takedown you would be doing better (because more attacks).

Something like:
18STR/12DEX/14CON/8INT/16WIS/10CHA
With Cliffscale or Sandstrider Heritage

If you want Monk dedication for Flurry of Blows change DEX to 14 and CON to 12.

For feats you will have to go for stuff like Monster Hunter (if you invest in Nature) and other passives for the first few levels or maybe get an Horse from animal companion.

Disrupt Prey is something great for you and Skirmisher Strike too.

You could play a hit and run character if you want with Cliffscale and investing in Athletics, Bite someone then Quick Jump on a wall to be out of range of melee attackers.

Shadow Lodge

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Technically, your claws would be an 'unarmed attack' which would not be usable with Twin Takedown or a lot of other abilities:

Lizardfolk Mechanics / Claws (Character Guide pg. 57) wrote:
Your sharp claws offer an alternative to the fists other humanoids bring to a fight. You have a claw unarmed attack that deals 1d4 slashing damage and has the agile and finesse traits.
Chapter 6: Equipment / Weapons / Unarmed Attacks (Core Rulebook pg. 278) wrote:
Almost all characters start out trained in unarmed attacks. You can Strike with your fist or another body part, calculating your attack and damage rolls in the same way you would with a weapon. Unarmed attacks can belong to a weapon group (page 280), and they might have weapon traits (page 282). However, unarmed attacks aren’t weapons, and effects and abilities that work with weapons never work with unarmed attacks unless they specifically say so.
Twin Takedown (Core Rulebook pg. 171) wrote:

Frequency once per round

Requirements You are wielding two melee weapons, each in a different hand.
You swiftly attack your hunted prey with both weapons. Make two Strikes against your hunted prey, one with each of the required weapons. If both hit the same hunted prey, combine their damage for the purpose of its resistances and weaknesses. Apply your multiple attack penalty to each Strike normally.


A level 3 outline, Ranger with the Barbarian dedication (Frog Animal Instinct)

Str 16
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 14
Cha 10

Background:
Martial Disciple (Athletics)

Ancestry:
Cliffscale Lizardfolk
Razor Claws

Skill feats:
Quick Jump
Cat Fall

Class Feat:
Hunt Prey
Claws
Monster Hunter
Barbarian Dedication
Iron Will

General Feats:
Toughness

Bonus Feats:
Combat Climber
Breath Control

-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

As a barbarian I would go with the Frog Animal Instinct path because its totally on point.

Climb up places and frog’s tongue people. I'm pretty sure the tongue can be used to grapple/shove people around. Don't quote me on that, just demand it from your GM.

If you don't like the tongue idea, go Fury instinct and just claw people, use the terrain to your advantage because you basically have a climb speed. You should also be pretty good at grappling stuff. You can also go for the precision damage feat with the Rangers hunter ability which works nicely assuming you don't fight any constructs or oozes.

You can also fall back to using a bow at any point which is always nice. Good luck with your chameleon tongue puncher!


So yeah, unarmed doesn't work well with the normal Ranger build.

But is it a Ranger (class) you want or a ranger (guy like Aragorn) that you want?
You can make the former work, but the latter's much easier, it'd just use a different class (+Survival, Stealth, Nature, and whatever else you think fits your PC's imagery).

Unarmed suits a Monk, so you could skip getting a stance and go w/ bite (Str build) or claw (Dex build). Your damage would be slightly lower, but you'd enter combat quicker.
I'd recommend Ki Rush, Stunning Fist, & Wholeness of Body (plus the faux-Ranger skills & skill feats you want.) When the damage difference matters due to more weapon dice, maybe pick up one of the more powerful 8th level stances. (I could see some early stances re-skinned as "lizard" attacks too, though getting to Wholeness of Body sooner, and not skipping Stunning Fist, seem like a good opportunity.)

Barbarian would work with bite (Str), but unless its feats attract you, I wouldn't bother. I do like the Dragon theme and having your hands free would work for grappling (et al), but neither seem to suit the "Aragorn" feel, and neither does the implied anger.

Fighter can work, though many of its feats require weapons so it's not better than a Ranger (and perhaps less so re: Aragorn building because you don't want to need Int to get the core skills).

Rogue can work great, though the Dex-to-Damage is for weapons so you should go Ruffian w/ bite. The skills & skill feats open up tons of opportunities for faux-Rangerness, tracking, leaping, and more. I'd still recommend the Monk most for combat (while totally denying you're a Monk), but Rogues unlock so much skill potential it's ridiculous.


For some reason I thought claws/bite would be considered weapons for those kinds of feats, but that is a good point. It does not include unarmed anything as a weapon.

Well I will talk to our DM about that, he usually is flexible and understanding.

One thing though, I thought DEX/finesse weapons only apply the DEX mod to your attack rolls, not your damage. Or am I reading that wrong?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

You are not wrong.

Only thief racket rogues apply DEX to their damage with finesse weapons. And that is only with finesse weapons, not finesse unarmed attacks.

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