Ran14/Pal4/Art2... feasible?

[darkspyre2000]

Was theory-crafting a bit and decided to play around with CThruTheEgo's INT-based Ranger build. The idea is a self-sufficient beater (warhammers) with trapskills, strong ranged options and cheesy reconstruct courtesy of the Lord of Blades. I know this build screams out for the Tempest line but I wanted the defensive perks of the Sacred Defender and to play around with the Harper tree since going INT-based already invested me significantly. Going Arty at level 1 will obviously require an LR+1 but even with beefy intelligence it was tough to max out the required skills.

I haven't had a ton of Epic experience so I'd welcome any constructive feedback and/or suggestions regarding feat placement (etc...).

Thoughts?

BF Melee Hybrid
14/4/2 Ranger/Paladin/Artificer
Lawful Good Bladeforged


Level Order

1. Artificer . . . 6. Ranger. . . . .11. Ranger. . . . .16. Ranger
2. Paladin . . . . 7. Ranger. . . . .12. Ranger. . . . .17. Ranger
3. Paladin . . . . 8. Ranger. . . . .13. Ranger. . . . .18. Ranger
4. Paladin . . . . 9. Ranger. . . . .14. Ranger. . . . .19. Ranger
5. Paladin . . . .10. Ranger. . . . .15. Ranger. . . . .20. Artificer


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 12. . . .+6. . . .4: INT
Dexterity . . . .8. . . .+6. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 18. . . .+6. . . 12: INT
Intelligence. . 18. . . .+6. . . 16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .6. . . .+6. . . 20: INT
Charisma. . . . 12. . . .+6. . . 24: INT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: INT

Skills
. . . . . A .P. P .P. P .R .R .R .R .R .R .R .R .R .R .R .R .R .R .A
. . . . . 1 .2. 3 .4. 5 .6 .7 .8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Repair. . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 4. 1. 4 .23
Disable . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1. 23
Open Lo . 4 . . . .½. ½ .3½ 1½ 1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 . . . .3. 23
Search. . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1. 23
Spot. . . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1. 23
UMD . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 2. 3. 3. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. . . . 3 .23
Jump. . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 .1 .1 .7 . . 12
Balance . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .2 .1½ ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Tumble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .32 .6. 6 .7. 7 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 13


Feats

.1. . . . : Adamantine Body
.2 Deity. : Follower of: Lord of Blades
.3. . . . : Power Attack
.6. . . . : Cleave
.6 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
.9. . . . : Completionist
10 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Bludgeoning
15. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
15 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Precision
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Improved Critical: Ranged
28 Destiny: Holy Strike


Enhancements (80 AP)

Bladeforged (13 AP)
Improved Fortification
Mechanist III
Communion of Scribing III

Sacred Defender (27 AP)
Holy Bastion, Sacred Defense
Durable Defense III, Sacred Armor Mastery III
Bulwark Aura III, Resilient Defense III
Resistance Aura III, Tenacious Defense III
Reinforced Armor III, Swift Defense, Hardy Defense III

Harper Agent (39 AP)
Agent of Good I, Intelligence, Agent of Good II, Intelligence, Agent of Good III
Harper Enchantment, Strategic Combat
Magical Endurance III, Versatile Adept III, Know the Angles III
Versatile Adept III, Strategic Combat, Intelligence
Versatile Adept III, Intelligence
Harper Enchantment: Righteousness, Versatile Adept III, Magic of Patience

Knight of the Chalice (1 AP)
Slayer of Evil


Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought
Extra Action Boost III, Constitution
Momentum Swing III, Constitution
Lay Waste, Critical Damage III
Anvil of Thunder
Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
Master's Blitz, Pulverizer

Twists of Fate (22 fate points)
Balanced Attacks (Tier 3 Primal)
Grim Precision (Tier 3 Shadowdancer)
Impregnable Mind (Tier 1 Magister)
Endless Faith (Tier 1 Exalted)

[Grailhawk]

What are you getting from Arty 2? Rune Arms? are you not TWF? 15 Ranger would get you another FE which is think is a better choice. Honestly though 15 ranger on a melee toon when not going for Tempest is kind of wierd, there are other base classes that offer so much more. Switching the Arty levels to a fighter splash and the Ranger levels to Rogue would probably come out better getting more skill points along with SA to actually have some damage and that would work better with Harper tier 5 if you take Deception instead of Righteous weapons, I would think a 11 Rogue 4 Paladin 4 Fighter would come out better, or ever better would be 14 Paladin 5 Ranger 1 Arty, I don't know I just think there are better ways to approach what you are looking for then Ranger. Good luck.

[cru121]

I could see a 15/4/1 human. Kinda like Noyellowbar, minus fighter, plus traps. Also there are probably other better options that going T5 in harper

[darkspyre2000]

Arty 2 was simply for the top-up of skills at 20... not really required and could easily forgo this in favor of an additional FE and a second 4th level spell.

Ranger 12 gives a **** ton of feats (TWF, ITWF, GTWF, PS, IPS, MS) without a DEX requirement which plays to the heavily armored aspect of the build and the BF DEX penalty...not to mention SP for reconstructs and a few useful buffs. I understand the comments about Tempest but many non-Ranger builds opt for the TWF-line and don't suffer from the lack of the Tempest line... although rogues certainly capitalize on the additional sneak attack damage. I guess I'm a defensive player at heart. It might be that the points spent in Sacred Defender would be better spent in Tempest given that the Paladin class already provides pretty decent defenses.

Does the TWF-line work well with Cleave, Momentum Swing and Lay Waste? I've read a lot of back-and-forth about interruptions in the attack chain.

I appreciate the feedback since it's hard to mess up a heroic build but Epic viability is a completely different animal.

[Grailhawk]

t but many non-Ranger builds opt for the TWF-line and don't suffer from the lack of the Tempest line...

That's kind of my point Tempest is for the flavor. I'm not sure the free feat add much since you can get bonus feet from other classes or use you 7 selected feet to get them, but maybe...


Does the TWF-line work well with Cleave, Momentum Swing and Lay Waste? I've read a lot of back-and-forth about interruptions in the attack chain.

Cleaves are ok on a Ranger since they can afford the feat cost but there not that good (DoD tier 5 tempest is much better for AoE damage). The issues with the Cleave attacks on a TWF are 1) no off hand procs which means you are doing an attack that is only at ~50% of your total damage per attack, and 2) yes it interrupts your attack sequence most of the time you could deliver 4 attacks (2 main hand and 2 off hand not counting double strike) to a single target when you cleave which means you need to really be hitting more then 4 enemies for it to pay off.

[darkspyre2000]

Changed the class split to 15/3/2. Removed Power Attack, Cleave, Momentum Swing & Lay Waste. Re-allocated feats.

Seriously diluted Sacred Defender and bumped up Tempest. I know many would say to pour more into Tempest but I'm curious about the Harper tree. Famous last words right?

BF Melee Hybrid v2
15/3/2 Ranger/Paladin/Artificer
Lawful Good Bladeforged


Level Order

1. Artificer . . . 6. Ranger. . . . .11. Ranger. . . . .16. Ranger
2. Paladin . . . . 7. Ranger. . . . .12. Ranger. . . . .17. Ranger
3. Paladin . . . . 8. Ranger. . . . .13. Ranger. . . . .18. Ranger
4. Paladin . . . . 9. Ranger. . . . .14. Ranger. . . . .19. Ranger
5. Ranger . . . . 10. Ranger . . . . 15. Ranger . . . . 20. Artificer


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 10. . . .+6. . . .4: INT
Dexterity . . . 10. . . .+6. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 18. . . .+6. . . 12: INT
Intelligence. . 18. . . .+6. . . 16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .6. . . .+6. . . 20: INT
Charisma. . . . 12. . . .+6. . . 24: INT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: INT

Skills
. . . . . A .P. P .P. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. A
. . . . . 1 .2. 3 .4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Repair. . 4 . . . . . . . . . .1 .2 .2 .2 .2½ 2½ 1 .1 . . . . . . .5. 23
Disable . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. . .2. 23
Open Lo . 4 . . . .½. 3½ 1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 . . 2 .23
Search. . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1 .23
Spot. . . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1 .23
UMD . . . 4 . . . . . . .2 .2 .2 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .2. 23
Jump. . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .2 .4 .8 . . 18
Balance . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1½ 1½ 2 .2 .1 .1 . . 11
Tumble. . . . . . . . . .½ .½ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .32 .6. 6 .7 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 13


Feats

.1. . . . : Adamantine Body
.2 Deity. : Follower of: Lord of Blades
.3. . . . : Completionist
.5 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
.6. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
.9. . . . : Improved Critical: Bludgeoning
.9 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Giant
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Ranged
14 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
15. . . . : Precision
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
19 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Construct
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Point Blank Shot
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Holy Strike


Enhancements (80 AP)

Bladeforged (13 AP)
Improved Fortification
Mechanist III
Communion of Scribing III

Sacred Defender (9 AP)
Holy Bastion, Sacred Defense
Durable Defense III, Sacred Armor Mastery I
Bulwark Aura III

Harper Agent (36 AP)
Agent of Good I, Intelligence, Agent of Good II, Intelligence
Harper Enchantment, Strategic Combat
Versatile Adept III, Know the Angles III
Highly Skilled III, Versatile Adept III, Strategic Combat, Intelligence
Versatile Adept III, Intelligence
Harper Enchantment: Righteousness, Versatile Adept III

Tempest (22 AP)
Shield of Whirling Steel, Tempest, Graceful Death, Deflect Arrows
Improved Defense III, Whirling Blades
Improved Parry III, Whirling Blades
Whirling Blades


Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought
Extra Action Boost II, Constitution
Damage Boost III, Constitution
Critical Damage III, Constitution
Anvil of Thunder, Constitution
Devastating Critical
Master's Blitz, Pulverizer

Twists of Fate (22 fate points)
Balanced Attacks (Tier 3 Primal)
Grim Precision (Tier 3 Shadowdancer)
Impregnable Mind (Tier 1 Magister)
Endless Faith (Tier 1 Exalted)