TR: Ranger -> ??? -> Ranger

[brian14]

My main is AA 20. I really like playing Arcane Archer, but she is not the best build (not to mention 28 points, being my first toon). So I want to TR into ranger again, but am thinking long-term. I may do another class, THEN ranger again with benefit of two past lives. So my question is: what is best past life feat for ranger? Someone suggested paladin (+5% on all incoming heals) which sort of makes sense for a self-healing toon who soloes a lot, but +5% sounds a bit dinky for the effort of leveling a toon; Soldier of the Faith is a waste of feat IMO.

Any other suggestions? I do not have monk, FvS or artificer. And am not averse to just doing ranger three times in a row.

[Edited]: I just re-read DDO Wiki page on Past Life feats, and I think Barbarian and Rogue are best choices. They are the only ones with Tier 2 feats that remain useful into end game -- for a melee, that is. I doscount Fighter because I do not bother with tactical feats.

[Kmnh]

paladin is +10% healing.

rogue is +1 damage (passive) and 3 clickies of +5 to hit +10 damage on sneak attacks, +20 hide/move silently. It's a powerful DPS feat that doesn't work when you have aggro. It's amazing on raids.

ranger is +2 damage on ranged attacks. going ranger/ranger/ranger and then switching to a higher DPS build is fairly common.

[wax_on_wax_off]

paladin is +10% healing.

rogue is +1 damage (passive) and 3 clickies of +5 to hit +10 damage on sneak attacks, +20 hide/move silently. It's a powerful DPS feat that doesn't work when you have aggro. It's amazing on raids.

ranger is +2 damage on ranged attacks. going ranger/ranger/ranger and then switching to a higher DPS build is fairly common.

Rogue is probably the best option. Paladin is only 5%. If you like AA then perhaps try a different AA build.
12 fighter / 6 ranger / 2 monk is a popular build (helves angel)
12 monk / 6 ranger / 2 fighter is my favourite AA build, especially with the changes to 10,000 stars in U12.

[brian14]

paladin is +10% healing.

According to http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Feat:Past_Life:_Paladin it is 5%


rogue is +1 damage (passive) and 3 clickies of +5 to hit +10 damage on sneak attacks, +20 hide/move silently. It's a powerful DPS feat that doesn't work when you have aggro. It's amazing on raids.

That's what I am thinking too. Seems to be by far the best Tier 2 past life for a non-tank melee. How long does each activation last?


ranger is +2 damage on ranged attacks. going ranger/ranger/ranger and then switching to a higher DPS build is fairly common.
Considering that it took me 22 months to reach level 20, I do not think fourth life is an option!

Now if only I could get that stupid scale, and make ML 12 Mabar cloak for TR... :) October 27 and 28 I upgraded my main's and my second's cloaks to ML 20 and 16 respectively. Since then every time I log on, Dragon Chamber either just closed, or is thousands of turn-ins away. Tonight is my last chance.

[karl_k0ch]

Don't underestimate the active Paladin feat. It's a ~2 minute +3 to hit/+3 to damage, and the extend metamagic even applies to it, iirc.

But then, it's

the equivalent of +6 Str; before Crits
independent of Fortification
independent of the aggro status of the mob (SA works only if you don't have aggro/the Mob is bluffed/the mob is blinded)
independent of the range (SA only works within point blank range)
3*~ 2 minutes pre-Extend vs. 3*1 Minute (Sneak of Shadows)


Don't get me wrong; I do like the Rogue PL feat on my Rogue, but it might not entirely fit to your playing profile.

[brian14]

With my playing style Sneak of Shadows is better deal than Soldier of the Faith.

+5/+10 is obviously better than +3/+3, even with latter lasting twice as long. The advantage of SotF is I can use it from a distance -- but "to hit" and damage numbers of a capped AA's bow are so high, another +3 makes no real difference. Up close with multishot on cooldown, is when I really need all advantages I can get -- and whenever possible try to avoid aggro anyway.

Will have to put significant points into Bluff, though.

[Edited] Now that I think of it, making that third life AA a half-elf would absolutely rock. Sneak of Shadows, and helf Bluff, and Rogue dilettante. Spray death for 20 seconds out of every 2 minutes; sneak, bluff and backstab the rest of the time!

[karl_k0ch]

[Edited] Now that I think of it, making that third life AA a half-elf would absolutely rock. Sneak of Shadows, and helf Bluff, and Rogue dilettante. Spray death for 20 seconds out of every 2 minutes; sneak, bluff and backstab the rest of the time!

Meinir's first life was a 13 Rogue/6 Ranger/1 Monk. It was mainly a melee, but I really enjoyed Manyshot bursts in point blank range, as they applied all the 7d6 + 12 (Enh) + 8 (item) SA damage to each of the 4 arrows.
So, using the SoS clickie can also make sense at the start of a Manyshot burst, provided you are in point blank range. Of course, it's only 3d6 + 11 SA damage, but then, the slayer arrows add another 25 damage per attack.
But of course, it is also a viable option to enhance your melee performance.