Newb DPS ranger help

[Aiyana]

Ok please bare in mind this is my highest lvl char and I've only been playing 5 weeks :p

Aiyana FarWalker 7 rng Drow

Str 10+3(Enchant) - 13
Dex 21+3(Feat)+3(Enchant) - 27
Con 10
Int 10
Wis 14+2(Enchant) - 16
Chr 10

Hp-76 Sp-165

Feats Dodge , Weapon Finesse , Mental Toughness

Dex is going up 2 points next lvl and I am already using robes since the 2 extra armor my best armor gives me does not seem to be worth losing the various specials I can get from the robes I carry.

Current Weapons are a pair of +3 daggers one Ice one Thunder and a +3 bow.

I think I am doing decent dmg so far but would like to go more towards DPS and could use some advice on doing so. Thinking of respecing out Mental Toughness since its not doing me as much good as I thought it would. Sadly I already used my free respec to change Point Blank Shot for Dodge. Any help would be appreciated :)

[Osharan_Tregarth]

I'll take a stab at pointing some things out you might not be aware of...

You have a high dex, low str build. DPS isn't really going to be your "thing". Stat damaging weapons like wounding, puncturing, and that sort of weapon is where you are going to end up aiming for when you can get ahold of them.

Although the daggers may be the best weapons you have right now, you are going to want to ditch them. They have a low base damage, and honestly... You will be better off with a plain +2 or +3 rapier, then you would be with a +1 flaming dagger.

Which leads me into...

Drow get racial enhancements for using shortswords and rapiers, and you can dual wield a rapier/shortsword combo without too much effort. (Just make sure that the rapier is in your main hand). So adding enhancement points into the drow melee weapon enhancements will help out some in the damage dept. Just stay away from the ranged enhancements(you will have NO reason to use a shuriken on a regular basis)

Send me an in-game mail to remind me, and I'll see if I can score you some better weapons. Umm.. I'm usually on Isharan these days, so that'd be the best character to look me up on.

However, my take on things would be to make up another character similar to that one, and only start with an 18 dex. Feed those other points into a minimum of 13 str, and some more points into con, and you'd probably be better off in the end-game play. That would let you pick up power attack, which is one of the ways that high dex builds can boost their dps.

[Blazer]

Osh already pointed out where you're going with this current character so I'll go a different path. I'll make the case for you to reroll with different stats which should make your character stronger overall. Here's what I see wrong with your current ranger, IMO:


You started at 20 DEX which is a waste of 6 build points. 18 DEX is more than enough. This frees up 6 more points to put into STR and CON.
Unless you're building for Spring Attack or Shot on the Run, spending a feat on Dodge is a waste; 1 feat for 1 AC isn't worth it really.
As Osh pointed out, with a 10 STR (hence, no additional damage modifier to your attacks), DPS won't be your thing at all. You don't even qualify for Power Attack, so couple that with your low STR and you're stuck doing effects or stat damage with your weapons. But since you said you wanted to improve your DPS, I don't think this is the way you want to go.
If you were to reroll, I would go with more of a stat distribution like this:

STR 15
DEX 18
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 10

Ok, so your DEX and WIS are one modifier less each, but your CON is one modifier more and your STR is far better. If you still go about putting all of your level up points into DEX, you'll still easily hit 30 DEX with a +4 item with 34 DEX as your upper limit for now (+6 item, +2 tome - way down the line, I know). You can still take weapon finesse and will still have a very high attack score with the drow enhancements for ss/rapiers.

However, you now can take Power Attack as a feat which grants you a bonus to your damage at the expense of your to-hit score. This is a good way to boost your overall DPS since it will end up being +5 damage per weapon for -5 to-hit. Combine this with 7 attacks/round at lvl 11 (Greater Two Weapon Fighting) and that's an additional 35 points of damage per attack chain. Power Attack - combined with an Improved Critical feat - is a great way to boost your DPS.

[Jaysensen]

Id suggest playing the character and maxing her out. Since youve only been playing for 5 weeks, just focus on learning, and dont worry about any numbers. Get some experience under your belt, and farm some loot. Ask your group mates for tips.


PS: wasnt Kimberly the Pink Ranger?

[Blazer]

PS: wasnt Kimberly the Pink Ranger?

Yes, yes she was. :)

[Aiyana]

I plan on getting her to 14 with no more rerolls. Since I am trying to catch up with my guild , rerolls are not a option :) .

Isharan hooked me up with a couple of +4 weapons and I reset my enhancements and took the drow melee ones so went from a d4+3 to a d6+7 for damage. Have not yet been able to test it out but its pretty obvious that its gonna do alot better. Thanks for the help and advice :)

Oh I have been the Pink Ranger since before EQ's first expansion :)