Tempest TWF Questions

[SabinSeptor]

I've been wanting to make a decent TWF dpser for quite some time now, but I'm coming into a problem here.

I understand you need 6 ranger to get tempest which gives you bow str, twf, imp twf, and many shot, with 2 favored enemies. While on the other hand going 9 gives evasion.

Now for the mix, would you go Fighter, Monk, Barb or a mix.

I have been thinking about a 6ranger/14 barb (of coarse that depends on how long for the update to go that high) But this gives me tempest, along with nice rages, and crit rage.

Another thought would be to go 9 ranger/4 fighter/?? barb. This gives me bow str, twf, imp twf, many shot, 2 favored enemies, 3 extra feats, and the barb lvls give me rages and extra con.

[BattleCircle]

I currently have a tempest barb build that I am working on, as of now he is 6 ranger/6 barb, Dwarf.... he is always kill count leader, and manages to reach lower 40's ac fully buffed, and raged with no raid gear, that is including improved uncanny dodge. By kill count leader I mean he will have twice the kills of anyone else, the only thing that ever comes close is a good wf barb, or a very good dps rogue. Dex is never going to be much over 20 so range is pretty much out, except for the occassional pull. Strength is very good. I believe he is at 25 at the moment before rage or rams. I gave him 14 wisdom so that he could have enough sp for rams without needing a slot for a wis item (the rest of the spells are not much to talk about).

[tihocan]

I gave him 14 wisdom so that he could have enough sp for rams without needing a slot for a wis item

You know you only need 11 Wis to cast Ram's? (and the extra bonus SPs really aren't necessary as it only costs 10 to cast it for 6 mins)

[Leyoni]

Two trains of thought here.

1) Ranger/monk mix for the AC. Tempest generally implies DEX for AC to overcome lack of shield. Combining it with monk WIS bonuses gives best possible AC. Additional splash of paladin is sometimes in the mix.

2) Ranger/barbarian for the rage. This means more focus on STR with minimal attention to AC -- settling for mid 40's before buffs, mid 50's after.

In the early and mid content the second build gets you by alright. After that it gets a bit trickier.

My main is a 500 HP barbarian/fighter/ranger that is sort of along the 2d build line. He is in great shape as long as there is someone else along to lead the charge or take aggro. But, he dies horribly if there is not.

I've been leaning more and more to building characters using the 1st approach. You'll still do great DPS but you will be able to survive as well.

[WeiQuinn]

11 Ranger gives you Greater Two Weapon Fighting along with Improved Precise Shot and Precise Shot. I know you said Dex would only be 20 or so, is that with enhancements? What is your base Dex? Greater Two Weapon Fighting requires a Dex of 17 to choose as a feat.

11 Ranger also grants you 30 point resists.

12 Ranger gives you a +5 Barkskin.

14 Ranger gives you access to the Freedom of Movement spell.

14 Ranger leaves room for 6 Fighter levels for Fighter Strength II and Weapon Focus/Specialization, leaving you with 2 Fighter Bonus feats.

-edited to fix erroneous information-
I'm waiting to see what the new Fighter Prestige Enhancements are before I roll up my Tempest Ranger/Fighter.

[tihocan]

Greater Two Weapon Fighting requires a Dex of 19 to choose as a feat.

17, actually.

[WeiQuinn]

That's right, I was thinking of Superior Two Weapon Fighting.

Dexterity 17, Two Weapon Fighting and Improved Two Weapon Fighting are the requirements for Greater Two Weapon Fighting.

[szalkerous]

I personally run an elven tempest fighter. Currently capped, the class mix is 8 fighter / 8 ranger. Two primary stats are STR and DEX, followed by WIS and CON. I loaded him down with all the TWF feats, and Exotic: Bastard Sword. He deals ridiculous DPS, but is light in the defensives... which is what I wanted to go for. I didn't want a cookie cutter DPS build, so I made it my own.

-Sz

[maddmatt70]

11 Ranger gives you Greater Two Weapon Fighting along with Improved Precise Shot and Precise Shot. I know you said Dex would only be 20 or so, is that with enhancements? What is your base Dex? Greater Two Weapon Fighting requires a Dex of 17 to choose as a feat.

11 Ranger also grants you 30 point resists.

12 Ranger gives you a +5 Barkskin.

14 Ranger gives you access to the Freedom of Movement spell.

14 Ranger leaves room for 6 Fighter levels for Fighter Strength II and Weapon Focus/Specialization, leaving you with 2 Fighter Bonus feats.

-edited to fix erroneous information-
I'm waiting to see what the new Fighter Prestige Enhancements are before I roll up my Tempest Ranger/Fighter.

I have an 11 ranger 4 fighter 1 barbarian strength based halfling. I have a feeling this will also be a viable powergamish option some sort of tempest ranger/fighter in addition to the 6 ranger 14 barbarian, ranger with monk splash, and pure ranger, but who knows what the prestige enhancement requirements will be and what they will actually do. So it is kind of tough to advise somebody on something that nobody knows anything about. Go with ranger 6 barbarian 14 or 15 ranger 1 monk.

[maddmatt70]

That's right, I was thinking of Superior Two Weapon Fighting.

Dexterity 17, Two Weapon Fighting and Improved Two Weapon Fighting are the requirements for Greater Two Weapon Fighting.

They scrapped superior twf and don't plan to add it. If they ever intend to re-add it into their plans +4 tomes and level up points are options.

[SabinSeptor]

I'm not that worried about AC, as the clerics I run with are awesome. But My initial thought was a Dwarf Dex Build. I'm thinking close to 40-42 dex if made right, but also high hp. I'll have probably a 16-18 str with this build, mainly for lugging around all the weapons. With going with a dex build, I'll also have the ability to do ranged when needed, for example DQ. This also does allow for a decent AC.

After reading what every has been posting, I'm leaning more towards 9 Ranger/7 fighter. After a little more thought I will post the build.

[maddmatt70]

After reading what every has been posting, I'm leaning more towards 9 Ranger/7 fighter. After a little more thought I will post the build.

Huh..

[Leyoni]

I'm thinking close to 40-42 dex if made right, but also high hp.

Huh?

(Can't figure how to get there. Did OP mean AC? I keep getting 18 (base) + 3 (tome) + 4 (levels) + 6 (item) + 3 (greensteel) = 34. Does greensteel +6 stack with non-greensteel +6 item?)

[ehcsztein]

After reading what every has been posting, I'm leaning more towards 9 Ranger/7 fighter.

I have one of those currently and it will continue to be my favorite to play (until i finish lvling up my rog-pal-mnk)

The original build was designed before tempest but I already had all of the dependant feats when tempest was released so it worked out good. My original plan was to have SoR and Whirlwind Attack by lvl 10 (which the cap was when I started it) Even though it is considerably gimped (28pt str based halfling with well rounded stats) I know how to play it so that it isn't that obvious to others lol

Planning on taking it to 12/8 @ lvl 20.

[SabinSeptor]

Huh?

(Can't figure how to get there. Did OP mean AC? I keep getting 18 (base) + 3 (tome) + 4 (levels) + 6 (item) + 3 (greensteel) = 34. Does greensteel +6 stack with non-greensteel +6 item?)

whoops meant 30-32

[maddmatt70]

Planning on taking it to 12/8 @ lvl 20.

What odd level splits. Why level 8 fighter.. Greater Weapon focus, but what else do you get currently. Why not add a third class: monk, barbarian, rogue, paladin, etc.

[Leyoni]

What odd level splits. Why level 8 fighter.. Greater Weapon focus, but what else do you get currently. Why not add a third class: monk, barbarian, rogue, paladin, etc.

Don't know for sure but....

If already 9/7 there is nothing going 13/7 is getting you that is especially better than going 12/8. If going 8 levels of fighter opens up GWF and adds 2 HP it is probably a better choice.

[Leyoni]

whoops meant 30-32

OK, thought I was losing it for a minute....

[ehcsztein]

What odd level splits. Why level 8 fighter.. Greater Weapon focus, but what else do you get currently. Why not add a third class: monk, barbarian, rogue, paladin, etc.

The 8 fighter gets me another feat. That is about as much thought as I put into it lol.

Character is t-Neutral so no paly / no monk. And I am not so much into the "splash" building thing anyways. I much prefer deeper multi-classing. I know that I want 12 ranger as I predict that Tempest II will require it.

Long term the 8 fighter may provide creative Enhancement options that a splash wouldn't allow. This is not an "optimal" toon by any right. Rolled in April 06 and leveled him through the era when rangers were generally frowned upon in the PUG world.

But, I am incredibly comfortable playing it and seem to do well enough to know that 12/8 can not be anymore gimp than 9/7 has been This is the closet to and actual RP build that I have.

Doing my first "optimal builds" currently one of which is this same build tweaked a bit to take advantage of 32pts and prior experiences

[maddmatt70]

The 8 fighter gets me another feat. That is about as much thought as I put into it lol.

Character is t-Neutral so no paly / no monk. And I am not so much into the "splash" building thing anyways. I much prefer deeper multi-classing. I know that I want 12 ranger as I predict that Tempest II will require it.

Long term the 8 fighter may provide creative Enhancement options that a splash wouldn't allow. This is not an "optimal" toon by any right. Rolled in April 06 and leveled him through the era when rangers were generally frowned upon in the PUG world.

But, I am incredibly comfortable playing it and seem to do well enough to know that 12/8 can not be anymore gimp than 9/7 has been This is the closet to and actual RP build that I have.

Doing my first "optimal builds" currently one of which is this same build tweaked a bit to take advantage of 32pts and prior experiences

Perhaps you will get bailed out by the enhancement changes, but at the momemt meh. There is nothing wrong with splashes. 1 barbarian level for instance gets you a rage which will be about 1 min long that gives +4 str and con which is great for short end boss fights and a 10% increase of your run speed. 1 level of rogue gets you d6+3 sneak attack and umd as a class skill. 1 level splash is often just plain old good character building. 9 ranger 7 fighter is definitely a gimpish build. The 7th level of fighter really gets you nothing. 12 ranger 8 fighter is only slightly better then 9 ranger 7 fighter atm. 12 ranger gets you +1 to your barkskin over level 11 ranger and level 8 fighter gets you one extra feat really not earth shattering stuff. If I were truely concerned about tempest 2 I would go with 12 ranger 2 barbarian 6 fighter depending on what fighter enhancements look like down the road or 13 ranger 1 rogue 6 fighter.

For that matter if the Op is deadset on fighter/ranger. Go 10 ranger 6 fighter for the 3rd favored enemy.

I would never suggest or recommend "roleplaying" builds to others.