Newb Tempest Question

[GimliTakeTwo]

Hey - so if I want to train the Tempest enhancements for my Ranger, do I need to be a Tempest from the point of character creation? ie do I need to be on its "Path", or are Ranger levels in general all that's needed to qualify?

I noticed if I started a character as a level 1 Rogue and then switched to Ranger (I am thinking of going something like Rogue 1/Ranger 19 or maybe taking one more Rogue level at some point) it didn't say "Tempest" on my character sheet (like it will if I make a level 1 Ranger and choose Tempest during creation) and when I leveled to 2nd and switched to Ranger, I could not choose Tempest there like I could when the character was first created.

[MateCarefor]

No, Tempest is a Prestige Enhancement (PrE) you will be able to take as you level up.
In fact, most would recommend not following one of the pre-set paths if possible.

More info on the requirements and the Tempest line:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Tempest_enhancements

[Joseph]

You are doing the right thing taking Rogue for your first level.

The build you want would likely be at least rogue 2 and ranger 18.

The easiest way to see what you need for Tempest is to go up to the 'compendium' link at the top of the forums and see what the requirements are (outside of granted ranger feats). Then make sure to take those feats as you level, and you are good to go.

I recommend staying away from the template builds. They are not so great.

Others who have more knowledge will comment here, but that is my two cents.

[GimliTakeTwo]

Thanks guys, that was very quick!

I had checked the wiki but still wasn't sure but now I get it, the "paths" are just the lame "reccomended" builds and one happens to have the same name as a line of enhancements, that's all it is.

For going Rogue, yeah I made a human and think I can keep the Rogue skills up well enough as a Ranger. If I were to take a second level of Rogue, when would you recommend it? I was figuring I wanted at least 4 levels of Ranger to be able to cast some heal spells, and then I could take one more Rogue level after that, or wait until I felt I needed the skill point boost.

[Otherworld]

Most people take their 2nd rogue lvl around lvl8-10.

[Silvershaper]

I had checked the wiki but still wasn't sure but now I get it, the "paths" are just the lame "reccomended" builds and one happens to have the same name as a line of enhancements, that's all it is.

Exactly! (Though it's on purpose that the names match.)

For going Rogue, yeah I made a human and think I can keep the Rogue skills up well enough as a Ranger. If I were to take a second level of Rogue, when would you recommend it? I was figuring I wanted at least 4 levels of Ranger to be able to cast some heal spells, and then I could take one more Rogue level after that, or wait until I felt I needed the skill point boost.

I have a 1rogue/18ranger/1barb, and she's able to disable all traps except for epic with an Int of 12 (including a +2 tome). She also has high enough Open Lock to be very useful here. Remember to get your search and spot up as well, since a trap you cannot find cannot be disabled.

You will not be able to cast heal spells at ranger lvl 4, since cure light wounds is spell lvl 2. I would recommend delaying that extra 1 lvl of non-ranger till later, and consider either fighter or barbarian instead of rogue. The benefits from rogue lvl 2 are not that great (you have evasion as ranger 9), so you might be getting more out of a first lvl from a different class. You will want ranger 18 though, since this is where you get Tempest III (you can stop at ranger 12 for Tempest II, but this is a very different build, and I would not recommend doing that without building the entire progression in the build planner first).

[Eladiun]

For going Rogue, yeah I made a human and think I can keep the Rogue skills up well enough as a Ranger. If I were to take a second level of Rogue, when would you recommend it? I was figuring I wanted at least 4 levels of Ranger to be able to cast some heal spells, and then I could take one more Rogue level after that, or wait until I felt I needed the skill point boost.

You can keep Rogue skill high enough to get all traps w/ just one level of Rogue. Most people splash 2 levels of something else on a Tempest mostly because the Ranger Capstone really doesn't help much and there is more advantage to be gained by splashing other classes. Two Common splashes are:

1 Rogue/1 Monk/18 Ranger (Exploiter Build)
1 Rogue/1 Fighter/18 Ranger

There are a number of benefits to splashing Monk or Fighter. I suggest playing around with the character planner to see some or browsing builds.

As for self healing, as a Ranger you will have a limited sp pool and I find it is more useful for buffing and for self healing wands or scrolls work better.

[unbongwah]

If I were to take a second level of Rogue, when would you recommend it?

Actually most people don't do rogue 2 / ranger 18, since rangers get Evasion at lvl 9; they do something like rogue 1 / ranger 18 / fighter (or monk) 1. This is my human Tempest trapmonkey build for new players.

[GimliTakeTwo]

Actually most people don't do rogue 2 / ranger 18, since rangers get Evasion at lvl 9; they do something like rogue 1 / ranger 18 / fighter (or monk) 1. This is my human Tempest trapmonkey build for new players.

Thanks again for the replies suggesting I not take the second level of Rogue. This build is pretty close to what I was going for, I don't have the Monk class opened but I can take a Fighter level. But I also went with a Human with a 12 Int, but I did start with a 10 Wis.

I don't mind being spoiled on this one, how far in to the game will I need to be to find Wis items? The only one I've seen so far was the "Devoted" pair of rewards you can get from the first town (which I didn't take, I have the "Anger" set), I think I am at level 3 now.