Repeating Xbow Ranger build help

[Spakerman]

Hey all,

I'm thinking of rolling up a repeating xbow ranger. Now for the sake of this discussion let's just ignore the Bow Strength feat. I know it doesn't work with xbows ... I don't care.

So with that in mind, I was thinking this for my starter as a dwarf 28 point build. Also note I plan to play this character as a perma-death char (just a little spice for this one really)

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 2.70
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                  Starting          
                 Base Stats          
Abilities        (Level 1)             
Strength             10                   
Dexterity            18                   
Constitution         14                    
Intelligence         10                  
Wisdom               12                  
Charisma              6                    

I have several questions I would like to answer.

Heavy or light repeating xbows? and why...

what other feats to take with it?

Take repeating xbow as first level feat or wait for level 3?

Should I make him a Human instead and take weapon finesse as first level bonus feat?

My vague plan will be to take toughness at level 1 and repeater at level 3.

Any advice/comments on making this guy?

[Vengenance]

Roll him as a fighter instead.

[sigtrent]

You want Heavy Repeating Crossbow... why? It does a bit more damage and has no disadvantages.

What feats to take: Improved Critical Ranged, (Weapon Focus Ranged, Weapons Specilization Ranged, Improved WFR, IWSR), Point Blank Shot, (dodge, mobility, shot on the run), precise shot, improved precise shot. All of these can help in some way or another.

What feats not to take: Rapid shot, multi shot, rapid reload. Emperical evidence has shown that that these do not significantly effect the attack time of repeating crosbows. (Rapid reload does effect regular crossbows, some claim it effect repeaters but those who have done hard time trials have shown it does not.)

Why a Ranger? Fighter is probably a better choice for a true Repeating X-bow specialist. If you want TWF feats and ranger spells, then that is understandable, but for being good with an X-bow ranger has little to offer other than a dex boost.

[Spakerman]

thank you both ... rolling him as a fighter was pretty much the answer I came to during my drive home from work as well.

I'll consider some more whether I want to go ranger for the flavor of it (and spells) ... but the number of feats I would get as a human fighter is hard to resist. (rolling on a new server so drow or 32 is not a factor).

[Humperdink]

I rolled a high dexterity fighter repeater specialist last year when the repeater was stronger (rapid reload still worked, you could insta-switch weapons, content only went up to level 10, etc.). I found somewhere between lvl 8-10 it wasn't working well for me because:

1) When a fighter joins the party, the party generally expect melee ability and some amount of tankage. When a ranger shows up they expect ranged combat ability. "Why's our fighter always hanging out in the back?" ;-)

2) Using elemental and alignment based repeaters wasn't putting out enough damage to justify their use at the higher levels.

I ended up taking 2 levels of ranger and Power Attack. So I turned him into a TWF character with Weapon Finesse and Power Attack and an Archer with Bow Strength, Rapid Shot, and Many Shot. He's now 12fighter/2ranger.

I'm not saying a fighter based repeater build can't work. But things I would consider are the group dynamics (are you going to PUG, run with a guild, a dedicated group?) and the weapon selection (typically above 10th level you are going to get the most effect from cursespewers, greater bane, destruction, paralyzing, banishing, etc. versus raw DPS output.) I ended up building a bard with repeater capability and ended up enjoying it much more. I felt as a support character who is typically midline to backline in combat it was easier to position myself to use the repeater and contribute to the damage. (Notice I said TYPICALLY before anyone gets their panties all bunched up. Yes i know you can build battle bards and that bards can solo high end content.) And of course Rangers are going to have all the other benefits like casting self resists, barkskin, heal themselves, etc.

Just my two cents. I say build what pleases you and road test it. :-)

[GAULSTON]

Rolled my repeater user as a human rgr, only because he is based off a pnp character. Threw in a couple lvls of fighter fer xtra feats, but he was one of my first rolls and is in the process of bein rerolled to a 32 pt build. Have to agree w/the others, I went hvy, not lite, just fer dmg purposes. A couple xtra dmg points could make or break a quest. However, gonna roll a bard that can use all of the nice lite peaters I've been lootin. As for the fighter vs. rgr build, I also considered goin ftr, but realized that i dont wanna give up bark skin and other rgr abilities, not to mention imp precise shot feat fer free. Either way, not gonna b a major dps factor w/out str dmg bonus like bows, and imp crit is a must for the crit threat range. Peaters are mostly a supportive roll to any party, and are mostly dependandant on crits, or destruction/curse/paralize/banish/etc. I would say definately go for the shot on the run chain of feats asap as it is a must. I did'nt go after weap finesse or toughness cuz there r just too many ranged combat feats that I thought took priority, and I did'nt expect to be tankin it up any either. He is purely ranged. Also have to agree, that when I thought of goin ftr, that parties r gonna expect u to b a front line ftr when u join grp. Hope this helps...