1 rogue, 18 ranger, 1 WHAT?!!?

[fco-karatekid]

This character is on her way to being the above, but the "what" part I can't decide.

Helf Cleric Dilettante, arcane archer.

Intent is to be self-sufficient and have some survivability. My last ranger AA was a nightmare on that last part, but really versatile on the self-sufficient front... I guess you could say she could get to ANY boss just to die.

I've thought wiz/sorc for arcane wands, but her UMD is going to be very high, so I dunno if that gains me anything over the +2 will saves and a few spell points.

Also thought monk for the feat and the extra +1 all saves.

http://my.ddo.com/character/thelanis/redoux

Any constructive suggestions on what and when to take the other level (even if it's just to stay ranger for the last one?

[Munkenmo]

monk or fighter

google the exploiter build.

[countfitz]

Rogue... gives evasion...

[lhidda]

cleric .. go gimp =)

[zex95966]

Rogue... gives evasion...

uhhhh... no.
I'm hoping your were trying to be funny.

Fighter is best really. Fighter does what monk does without locking your alignment...

I like Barbarian though. Faster movement and rage is nice.

[Jiirix]

18 ranger gives already evasion, so an other rogue is more or less useless. Figther for the extra feat or monk for the AC. I would prefer monk because it is true that the AC wont do much for you in epics and elite raids, but it is a useful nearly everywhere else.

[boz666]

Rogue... gives evasion...

Umm, unless I'm mistaken, Rangers get Evasion at level 9. (Like the 2 posts above that ninjaed me stated)

I went Fighter on my Tempest Ranger, but only because I didn't have Monk. As a bonus I could then go True Neutral (Monks have to be lawful) and use crafted Superior Stability items.

[Dragavon]

I have 1 barbarian on my exploiter build, and very happy with that.

But he is a tempest build, an arcane archer might benefit more from something else.

[countfitz]

Good to know!

[in4theride75]

This should be moved to the melee classes forum area.

[DrNuegebauer]

monk.

You've got enough wisdom to get a decent enough pyjama AC.

[Alternative]

Monk is the most optimal choice here, although barb speed could be fun too, if you don't need that feat

[LeLoric]

For an AA I would actually consider wizard it is like essentially getting 2 feats. First you don't have to take mental toughness and can just use one ap instead and you get the wizzy bonus feat. Best used for maximize imo for some healing goodness. Should give you a pretty healthy boost to sp also.

[silvermesh]

What I'm having trouble with is why you want 18 levels of ranger on this build. ranger capstone is nice for archers, but between 11 and 20 there is nothing ranger gives that benefits an archer(other than AA enhancements that you have racial access to without ranger..), I guess unless you really like the ranger spells and favored enemy??
Really depends on your playstyle but you could greatly benefit from 4-8 levels of fighter for more feats... or just way more levels of rogue for more sneak attack and some boosts to those roguely skills(rangers arent too far behind here but its still nice). The exploiter takes 18 ranger for tempest III. You aren't worried about that here. 11rgr/9rog still gets full manyshot and also gets 5d6 sneak attack(plus enhancements).

If you really are into those ranger spells, I would definitely take your last level as wiz. thats two extra feats and a bunch more mana(as well as echoes of power), not to mention I'd guess you solo a lot based on your goal of versatility. grease sucks in party but its real nice for a solo archer. even if everything saves it still slows them down while you plunk those arrows.

[fco-karatekid]

Had not looked at fighter or barb, so let me look.

I COMPLETELY forgot echoes of power and maximize, so I am leaning wiz now.

Can't do monk on second thought because of alignment (not buying alignment switch).

And finally, ranger 18 for slayer arrows.

I am trying to give AA/ranged a chance - I have two monks (one pure, one tempest)who do very well at melee.

I made pwiesela's build and deleted it - too pure, heh.

[NaturalHazard]

Rogue... gives evasion...

9 ranger which he/she already has gives evasion...........

[NaturalHazard]

Had not looked at fighter or barb, so let me look.

.

I am trying to give AA/ranged a chance - I have two monks (one pure, one tempest)who do very well at melee.

.

you mean you have two rangers right?

[fco-karatekid]

you mean you have two rangers right?

nope, one ranger tempest monk, and one pure monk - in other words, didn't wanna try another melee-focused build (aside from the normal switching to melee close-range).

EDIT: which was directed at the folks recommending an exploiter offshoot.

[blametroi]

I'm working up an exploiter variant and I went monk. I took monk at level 2 and the AC bonus has been helpful. Yes, it delays Tempest I by a level, but she'll be fine with the delay. Playing for a streak has you running quests 2 levels later than you might, if that influences your tmiing choices.

[fco-karatekid]

Thanks all - with yer food for thought, I am going wiz w/maximize. I chose that vs. empower healing due to previous experience that showed the decreased hp/sp efficiency for a larger healing burst at higher level content is where she needs to be to stay alive and still fight.

[The_Rev09]

And finally, ranger 18 for slayer arrows.
.

I found that I don't use the slaying arrows all that much; you have to get a vorpal strike to get the bennie, and those don't happen often enough with the ranger, even with 4x multishot; I'd rather use force burst or something that gives me better damage on each shot. Just my humble opinion!

[fco-karatekid]

I found that I don't use the slaying arrows all that much; you have to get a vorpal strike to get the bennie, and those don't happen often enough with the ranger, even with 4x multishot; I'd rather use force burst or something that gives me better damage on each shot. Just my humble opinion!

Actually, I agree with that with an exception. Some of my favorite quests are in the two "madness" chains. Whether superstition or not, I dunno, but my other ranger seems to proc the natural 20 roll more in those. This has meant my other AA has become my Madness chain farmer; so I assumed it would be the case here. If I change my mind, I got time to stop her at 15 and adapt... or reroll :D. Doesn't take long to get there on first life, so no major issue.

[ainmosni]

lelo had a great suggestion for wizard, wizard will make people raise eyebrows but some of the more well-versed players know an odd wizard splash usually means arcane archer.... that's what i usually percieve anyway.


another good choice would be... monk! forget the armor class, forget the extra feat, forget the cool little enhancements it opens up.... handwrap usage is fantastic on a toon that gets GTWF for free. HANDWRAPS. handwraps. let me repeat that. Handwraps. they're freaking awesome.

[silvermesh]

And finally, ranger 18 for slayer arrows.


Wiki says helves get slayer arrows at 20? Could be bad info, I didn't ever buy helf cuz I don't like the look heh.

[dredre9987]

Rogue... gives evasion...

And so does 9 ranger so worthless for evasion. ( since you already have it )

[fco-karatekid]

lelo had a great suggestion for wizard, wizard will make people raise eyebrows but some of the more well-versed players know an odd wizard splash usually means arcane archer.... that's what i usually percieve anyway.


another good choice would be... monk! forget the armor class, forget the extra feat, forget the cool little enhancements it opens up.... handwrap usage is fantastic on a toon that gets GTWF for free. HANDWRAPS. handwraps. let me repeat that. Handwraps. they're freaking awesome.

I have another character I am contemplating deleting 'cause I don't like it. I will try this on a tempest build - hadn't thought of just how much flexibility this would give a TWF'er, and the idea's got me fascinated now.

Thank you +1.

[Zenako]

If you are going Ranger for the AA side of things, you could also just be an Elf and get AA that way AND free up a lot of choices along the way. I have some nice synergy on a 12Ranger/8 Rogue ELF character. Has Elven AA and Rogue Assassin PRE's at the same time for a little extra kick, not to mention the boost in Sneak Attack damage, which often occurs when flanking mobs. If you use ELF to get AA, there are a boatload of class options now open.

[gradeyshane]

Rogue... gives evasion...


18 ranger already has evasion.

I'd go fighter...monk isnt so bad either.

[savingsoul]

Has anybody tried an 18Ranger/1M/1Artificer AA variation on the Exploiter???

If not, I got dibs :)
[EDIT: see http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=361053&highlight=exploiter]

*Artificer still gives acess to trap skills as opposed to a rogue.
*Aritificer fulfills the equivalent of the mental toughness feat.
*If you go helf, you could take the rogue dilly feat.
*Artificer allows you to use repeaters during the early levels with conjured bolts that fully leverage your ranged combat feats.
[see link above for more]

[moomooprincess]

eom

[...v...]

Fighter, I hope you went str build not another gimp dex build.

[Tembyr]

And finally, ranger 18 for slayer arrows.


Arcane archer is also a prestige enhancement for half elves, though taken at level 8. If you take the elven arcane archer instead of the ranger arcane archer you would not need 18 ranger levels for slayer arrows, but would get them on 20 half elven levels. So unless you are really interested in the higher level ranger abilities (which do you not so much good), you actually can incorporate more non-ranger levels like other suggested and still keep your slayer arrows (though at level 20 instead of 18).

[brickwall]

at creation rogue lvl1 at lvl2 monk the next 18 levels of ranger to properly execute the build.

[ThePrisoner]

A level of monk will give you a feat, +2 to all saves, and wisdom bonus toward AC. Fighter will you give you a feat, +1 to your BAB, and you can put a point into fighter toughness (10 hp). Either are good choices, but I think there is a better choice than the 18/1/1 ranger right now;

You will want to do some serious research on the Ten Thousand Stars level 6 monk enhancement. If you are going to have a bow in your hands all the time, a second, lesser manyshot will be well worth it. Just remember to put some starting points into wisdom and take Zen Archery with one of your free monk feats.

As for the previous comments about slaying arrows not always being worth using, they do 500 damage 5% of the time. That's an average of 25 damage per hit. A burst effect will net you an average of around 4.5 damage per hit. Ranged rangers don't currently enjoy the best reputation for their DPS. Don't gimp yourself by ever having anything other than slaying arrows active on your character.

To address the cleric dilettante idea, you will be getting UMD from your level of rogue. Cleric dilettante will max out at a 75% chance (if I recall correctly) to cast heal scrolls. My rogue splashed ranger casts heal scrolls at 100%. Granted, it's a little bit of work to get your UMD up high enough to do that, but if you take cleric dilettante it will eventually prove useless. It will, however, help you while leveling. You could always take the cleric dilettante to start with a plan to change it to something else once you are capped. Just have a plan for what it is going to change to so that you have the proper stats in that catagory. For example, the palading dilettante requires a starting 13 charisma.

[unbongwah]

And finally, ranger 18 for slayer arrows.
You're a HE; you can take the racial AA PrE not the rgr one. That opens up a LOT of multiclassing possibilities. In particular, look at some of the monk 6+ AA builds which add 10K Stars to the mix, which now works w/bows if you have Zen Archery.

Or, uhh, look at them for your next life, since this char is already rgr 15 / rogue 1 / wiz 1.

[wax_on_wax_off]

I found that I don't use the slaying arrows all that much; you have to get a vorpal strike to get the bennie, and those don't happen often enough with the ranger, even with 4x multishot; I'd rather use force burst or something that gives me better damage on each shot. Just my humble opinion!

Slayer Arrows hit for 500 damage 5% of the time. That equates to an average of 25 additional damage/shot. Force Burst doesn't compare to that.

If I wanted a ranger arcane archer I'd go 12 ranger, 6 monk (to qualify for 10,000 stars enhancement) and 2 artificer or rogue. 2 rogue or artificer is really nice for wand and scroll mastery I giving +30% to scroll healing which is a massive boost to self sufficiency (much better than wizard with maximise). 10,000 stars is the most important ability to make ranged damage viable outside of the 20 seconds of manyshot that you get every 2 minutes.

[nibel]

If I wanted a ranger arcane archer I'd go 12 ranger, 6 monk (to qualify for 10,000 stars enhancement) and 2 artificer or rogue. 2 rogue or artificer is really nice for wand and scroll mastery I giving +30% to scroll healing which is a massive boost to self sufficiency (much better than wizard with maximise).

Why not bard instead of Artie/Rogue? 1 AP enhancement instead of mental toughness, also have 30% scroll mastery, and can use cure critical wands without UMD (and also have UMD as class skill). And even the small level 1 Inspire Courage may help a little while soloing.

[unbongwah]

Why not bard instead of Artie/Rogue?
Bard + monk = no go

[savingsoul]

Thanks all - with yer food for thought, I am going wiz w/maximize. I chose that vs. empower healing due to previous experience that showed the decreased hp/sp efficiency for a larger healing burst at higher level content is where she needs to be to stay alive and still fight.

I've done something similar in the past, but took extend because I found it more usefull for ram's might, barkskin, & energy res, FOM, mass longstrider, etc.

If you want to make a further tweak using a +2 lesser heart of wood consider the following thread:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=361053&highlight=exploiter
(also includes some more info on wax_on's suggestion earlier in *this* thread)

The only draw back vs. going arty over wizard is that you loose the extra metamagic feat, so if you prefer to have that I think you made a viable choice.

What did you take for your half-elf dilly feat?

-Soul

[savingsoul]

Bard + monk = no go

I've always dreamed of having a 2Monk/2Pally/16Bard w/ evasion, +2 feats, divine grace, decent casting, full martial weapon proficiency, reasonable melee. Alas, it shall always remain a dream :)

[shores11]

Rogue... gives evasion...

9 levels of rangers gives you evasion.

[Mellkor]

Barb for speed!!!!

[unbongwah]

I've always dreamed of having a 2Monk/2Pally/16Bard w/ evasion, +2 feats, divine grace, decent casting, full martial weapon proficiency, reasonable melee.
Sadly, the closest we can come is HE bard 16 / rogue 2 / ftr 2 with either pally dilly for +5 saves or monk dilly for +5 AC (and +20% heal amp).

[grodon9999]

Sadly, the closest we can come is HE bard 16 / rogue 2 / ftr 2 with either pally dilly for +5 saves or monk dilly for +5 AC (and +20% heal amp).

yeah . . . but you really need a 36 point build for this not to suck.