The Big Game Hunter

[Artagon]

Ok, so this build is a 'concept' character of mine.. the idea is inspired a bit by the Hunter class in WoW, traps, pets, snipe shots and some close combat when the s**t hits the fan. Give me some input, would ya?

Big Game Hunter
Level 16 Chaotic Good Dwarf Male
(4 Fighter / 12 Ranger)
Hit Points: 268 (+stat item +GFL +minos +favor = 374)
Spell Points: 156 (+stat item +magi = 298)

Fortitude: 16
Reflex: 14 (+3 stat +4 resist +4 GH = 25)
Will: 6

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Stats Modified Stats
Abilities (Level 1) (Level 16)
Strength 15 20 +6 stat item 26
Dexterity 16 20 +6 stat item 26
Constitution 16 18 +6 stat item 24
Intelligence 8 8
Wisdom 12 12 +6 stat item 18
Charisma 6 6

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Dexterity used at level 1

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 16)

Hide 7 27
Jump 6 21
Move Silent 7 27
Spot 5 22

Level 1 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Undead

Level 2 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Point Blank Shot

Level 3 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Least Dragonmark of Warding
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Focus: Ranged Weapons

Level 4 (Ranger)

Level 5 (Ranger)

Level 6 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Lesser Dragonmark of Warding

Level 7 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Weapon Specialization: Ranged Weapons

Level 8 (Ranger)

Level 9 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Construct
Feat: (Selected) Greater Dragonmark of Warding

Level 10 (Ranger)

Level 11 (Ranger)

Level 12 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons

Level 13 (Ranger)

Level 14 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Giant

Level 15 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Oversized Two Weapon Fighting



Enhancement: Ranger Sprint Boost I
Enhancement: Dwarven Armor Mastery I
Enhancement: Dwarven Axe Attack II
Enhancement: Dwarven Axe Damage II
Enhancement: Dwarven Constitution II
Enhancement: Dwarven Toughness III
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark IV
Enhancement: Fighter Armor Mastery I
Enhancement: Ranger Deepwood Sniper I
Enhancement: Ranger Hide II
Enhancement: Ranger Move Silently II
Enhancement: Ranger Energy of the Wild I
Enhancement: Ranger Dexterity III
Enhancement: Fighter Strength I


I imagine play being a bit like this.. Set a room with traps and summon my pet, sneak forward to a group of baddies, snipe with my bow, (preferably a critical, with sniper line) then I boost, book it back to my traps and start firing away.. the monsters are slowed by spike growth as they run through the gauntlet of my traps, and my pet nips at their heels.. If they continue to live, I switch over to my trusty dwarven axes and finish the job. Oh, and the mission's traps? I just run right through em.

A possibility for some variation of the build would be to drop one level of ranger, pick up wizard for the bonus feat (probably maximize for the dragonmarks) and magical training for some bonus SP.

[jmonty]

a 12 starting con on my dwarf ranger gave me around 340 hp @ 14, which seems fine, in case you wanted more into other stats. i'm not sure how a few more points in int would affect your skills, but it might be enough to bump up a few other ones.

[Turial]

The stats look good for a ranged damage dealer. Personally I dont let any stat go below 10 but thats my choice. In a min\max situation its fine. Lot of health which is always a good thing to have on any character. Spell point pool is fine for the combination as you want to use dragonmarks.

Sadly on the trap and magic bit there are a few things to note. Spike growth has a reflex save to avoid the slow effect. With a wisdom of 18 you will have a DC of 10+4+2 (math might be off) = 16. A DC of 16 is pretty low compared to stats of mobs, my ranger can pull a DC of 10+6+2 = 18 and I have yet to see something get slowed by it. Unfortunately the damage delt by spikegrowth does not scale so even hitting at max every shot your only looking at 2 to 4 points of damage before it gets though. If I remember the rules of dragonmarks correctly they use charisma to determine the DC of the save. So the traps may not do much. Currently rangers do not recieve pets, codog has said it "may" change some day. This leaves you with summons. The top level summon for rangers is decent but lacks true staying power. In extensive testing with the summons I have found them to be speed bumps at best.

The concept is a good one but mechanics work against you.

You maybe able to shore up some of these things by utilizing a +6 cha item and boosting cha via tomes. If you take a level of wizard taking highten as your extra feat would raise the DC of your spikegrowth by 2 though it wouldnt help your higher dragonmarks. Increasing cha also makes it more likely for you to land an improved wild empathy which is a 5 min animal only charm effect. Charming a CR 15 razor cat and giving it bark and cats grace is a good way to have a nice "pet". Just remember that at the end of 5 minutes your "pet" is going to try to eat you. Also note that improved wild empathy can not be dispelled by players so I wouldn't recommend using it when you have to fully clear areas to move on, the opening chamber of Wiz king comes to mind. Solid fog also tends to work better then spike growth for slowing things down and its typically pretty easy to get multiple clickies of it. I still use it on my ranger at the cap.

Even if the main idea behind the build, traps and pet, don't work out for you, you have a solid character base with good stats. Improved critical slashing would up the DPS as well as power attack for when you find yourself hitting on everything with a roll of 5 or more.

[jmonty]

. Increasing cha also makes it more likely for you to land an improved wild empathy which is a 5 min animal only charm effect. Charming a CR 15 razor cat and giving it bark and cats grace is a good way to have a nice "pet". Just remember that at the end of 5 minutes your "pet" is going to try to eat you.

lol

would extend work on that effect? that would be cool. i still think we should be able to summon a higher CR pet though...

[sigtrent]

Nice one. I really like builds that have a solid foundation but arn't afraid to use a few less than stellar abbilities and enhancements to give it some flavor and personality. Of course trying out the less often used abilities can sometimes lead to discovering they are actually pretty good in the right circumstances.

[Turial]

lol

would extend work on that effect? that would be cool. i still think we should be able to summon a higher CR pet though...
Sadly as of mod 4 extend didnt increase the time of improved wild empathy. I dropped extend in response to the mod 5 changes so I dont know if it would do that today but its less likely.

[Ironforge_Clan]

If you aren't planning on melee as being a integral part of the build but only when the chit hits the fan why are you spending APs on Axe Attack and Axe Damage? Those points would be better spent on other enhancements IMO. Personally I would consider more Dwarven Armor Mastery, Dwarven Spell Defense (your will saves are attrocious), or more Engergy of the Wild.

[Artagon]

Axes are probably more integral as a member of a full party, as most parties are into the 'zerg more, wait less' approach to gaming.

Thanks for the info on charisma for dragonmarks, as well as the spike growth/solid fog info, I'll keep that in mind. On another note, I agree that the will save is pretty bad, but with equipment and buffs, you're looking at a +17, I simply didn't calculate it, I thought reflex would be the primary one we'd be concerned with.. As of right now, the highest DC spell in the game from players would be 34, so with a 17 saving throw, I need a 17 to save, but this is for a 34 charisma, spell focus, greater spell focus, spellsinger enhanced, greater focus item enhanced 7th level spell, which most mobs would have an extremely hard time resisting as well. If that spell was a damaging spell I could resist with reflex, I'd only need a 9.

I definitely could drop con 2 points and maybe invest more into wisdom. As for investing into intelligence, I just didn't feel that any other skills were truly necessary for this build. If I need to find a secret door I'll use some 'detect secret door' clickies :) And with my spot, I should have no problem knowing if I need to use the clickie.

Thanks again for the posts, keep em comin' :P