Ready to roll a Ranger, could use some pointers...

[goldenchile]

I'm ready to roll a new toon, and have decided it will be a Ranger. I do not use paths; firm believer in custom building my toons, however I know that I want him to be the biggest, baddest, TWF this side of the moon. (so tempest-ish, i guess). I am going w/ human (for the feats), and i'm thinking Dex-based build will better sit goal of pure, raw, murderous DPS, TWF-style (though i'm sure some would disagree). I've searched for build/playing guides and come up empty, which I know cant be right. Any links would be greatly appreciated, as well as any and all advice, opinions, etc. Ideally i can find the right build that is solo-able as well as easy to pug with. And, ofcourse, w/ one eye focused on end game performance too. I have 3 toons; first is a 20/human/Paladin, who, i'll be the first to admit, is certainly gimped. 28pt build (was f2p until lvl 17), recently respec'ed to KotC (need to do it again. lol). I'm just waiting til I get enuff tokens to reincarnate him. 2nd toon is Drow/20/Wizard(Arch), and she is hands down my favorite to play. 28pt build as well, as i hadnt unlocked 32's yet when I rolled her. I belive she will stand up under any inspection. My 3rd and last is a dwarf/7/cleric... had battle-cleric in mind when i rolled him. Anyway, needless to say, i'm more than ready for some old-fashioned, death dealin', blade whirlin' dps style of play. Thx all.

[Loftus]

It is fine that you do not want to go a path for the ranger toon. Now the only thing I thought of at all when I read this would be to maybe try a dwarf so you could use a dwarven axe dual wield that should put out some impressive damage. Best of luck sounds like a cool toon is in the works.

[Mark_G]

Is your plan to be a pure ranger or are you considering some sort of split/splash build? While I am far from an expert, I believe you'll want to have a decent strength score to complement your dex score (keeping them fairly even is a suggestion I've seen many times).

Another question for you. Since the Ranger gets the TWF line of feats for free, why are you making your Ranger a dex build? I'm not disagreeing with you...just wondering.

Good luck!

[FlyingTurtle]

Tihocan's build.
http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...0&postcount=16

[Traznex]

My frist Ranger build was dex based and i was not happy with it. And rolled Str. For TWF i feel it works a lot better. Human 1rogue 18ranger 1 fighter is my build as pure has no use for tempest. Very fun class.

[unbongwah]

Tihocan's build.
http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...0&postcount=16

There's also the Exploiter and my own Tempest build in my sig.

[yawumpus]

Most of the builds lying around have not been updated past the great U5 nerf. At this point ranger 6 no longer was the great goal of rangerhood, and ranger 18 was rarely worth taking (if you want a max DPS ranger and have all *all* the gear it might be). Also note that you will be happy you waited until you had 32 points for this build.

Things to know:

rangers need at least 12 levels of ranger. Any less and you don't get GTWF without the dex.
at 15 levels of ranger you get your 4th favored enemy and an extra enhancement to total +3 against favored enemies. You also get all your 4th level spells.
at 18 levels of ranger you get a 5% of a doublestrike on your primary hand. Likely a 3% increase in damage. If you are getting something like 80 points per swing [takes *lots* of epic/raid gear] this is what you want.

Rogue splashes:
1 level of rogue: Rogue abilities (always worth it for a ranger, you can find/remove any trap in the game with one level of rogue and max those skills+UMD) +7? damage from sneak attack (includes enhancements.
more levels of rogue +d6 for every 2 levels past 1. Also more rogue haste and other sneak attack enhancements.

Fighter splashes:
Feats (at 1,2,4,7 others?) Toughness enhancements, strength enhancements. Haste boosts.
at 4 levels you can take specialization (locks up two feats).
Note that most of the power of Kensei 1 can be grabbed at 4 and leave you with all the ranger powers of ranger 15. Carefully consider the difference between enhancements and that the enemies that matter by teh time you take these levels tend to be your favored enemies.

Monk splash:
Wisdom bonus to AC. A feat. Note that getting the gear to make this profitable can be an issue.

[grodon9999]

There's ONLY the Exploiter a . . .

One build to rule them all.

(Dump Combat Expertise for a healing Meta-magic)

[shalateaus]

i recently started a drow ranger ill take pointers what are the best hirelings best path for start out i went for tempest i was thinking a alt of my fighter in the style of drzzt do'urden =

[grodon9999]

Friend don't let friends roll drow

[shalateaus]

whats wrong with drow?!

[Bobthesponge]

whats wrong with drow?!

CON penalty at start makes it difficult to build an effective melee.

[shalateaus]

agreed and why cant i buid one like zaknafein do'urden anyway? you know big build drow weapon master

[Bobthesponge]

i recently started a drow ranger ill take pointers what are the best hirelings best path for start out i went for tempest i was thinking a alt of my fighter in the style of drzzt do'urden =

punctuation is your friend.

[grodon9999]

CON penalty at start makes it difficult to build an effective melee.

bah . . . if 20 HP makes you gimp something else is wrong. Now it's NOT ideal but people on these forums make a bigger deal out of it than it is.

Drow just adds not value to ranger. The + to INT and CHR really aren't important. if you want something pretty that looks good in a trollop outfit Elves look just as good and are more useful as you have the freedom to assign your own stats.

Human is a better race for a melee ranger, dwarf as well since they have a built-in HP item and rangers have no class-based toughness ENH. Horc's have better damage output, even Halflings as well as since Tempest isn't very AP expensive you can pump up your cunning and guile. WF/Drow are about the worse races for a ranger as the WF healing penalty kinda screws your ability to self-heal and Drow really are a caster race.

[shalateaus]

bah . . . if 20 HP makes you gimp something else is wrong. Now it's NOT ideal but people on these forums make a bigger deal out of it than it is.

Drow just adds not value to ranger. The + to INT and CHR really aren't important. if you want something pretty that looks good in a trollop outfit Elves look just as good and are more useful as you have the freedom to assign your own stats.

Human is a better race for a melee ranger, dwarf as well since they have a built-in HP item and rangers have no class-based toughness ENH. Horc's have better damage output, even Halflings as well as since Tempest isn't very AP expensive you can pump up your cunning and guile. WF/Drow are about the worse races for a ranger as the WF healing penalty kinda screws your ability to self-heal and Drow really are a caster race.

i see thanks

[unbongwah]

i recently started a drow ranger ill take pointers what are the best hirelings best path for start out i went for tempest i was thinking a alt of my fighter in the style of drzzt do'urden =

Golly, that'sa build concept we've never heard before...

[Bobthesponge]

bah . . . if 20 HP makes you gimp something else is wrong. Now it's NOT ideal but people on these forums make a bigger deal out of it than it is.

I said "difficult", not "impossible".

[Rogann]

Make sure u go twf once manyshot is done cause ranged dps is pretty fail

[stille_nacht]

sadbut true, take out two swords once the manyshot times out even if you are an AA (and i really recommend tempest)

i vote exploiter also...
(drop the AC feats, you wont really need them if you are just starting out, plus, they arent even effective after vale)