AA: 10/6/4 Mnk/Ftr/Rgr 36pt

[Ashbinder]

I've been dabbling with creating an Arcane Archer for awhile now, but with little practical experience with the class I've found it difficult to nail down a specific build I'd enjoy. Below is my attempt to roll together a character I'd enjoy playing at end game.

First and foremost I considered self healing. I loathe relying on others to heal my character, and as an AA especially it can be difficult to be in range of mass heals. I simply must have a reliable method of restoring hit points other than drinking pots.

Second I wanted plenty of hit points and a reflex save to support Improved Evasion. There's natural synergy between a build that needs plenty of Dex and an Improved Evasion build.

Finally I need a melee backup. This build sacrifices a fair few feats to ranged over pure melee but has a choice of putting down the bow and getting up close and personal with handwraps when needed.

Race: Half-Elf
Past Lives: Barb, Sorc
Stats: 16/16/15/11/13/8, +5 str from levels
Tomes: +1/+2/+3 supreme (per U13 TR Tome retention)

Levels/Feats:
1 (Rgr): Point Blank Shot, Favored Enemy (Evil Outsider), Half-Elf Dilettante (Cleric) [selected]
Past Life (Barbarian), Past Life (Sorcerer), Bow Strength [automatic]

2 (Ftr): Weapon Focus (Ranged) [selected]

3 (Mnk): Past Life (Berserkers Fury), Zen Archery [selected]

4 (Rgr): Rapid Shot, Two Weapon Fighting [automatic]

5 (Ftr): Precise Shot [selected]

6 (Mnk): Past Life (Arcane Prodigy), Dodge [selected]
Evasion [automatic]

7 (Rgr)

8 (Ftr)

9 (Mnk): Improved Critical (Ranged) [selected]

10 (Rgr)

11 (Ftr): Weapon Specialization (Ranged) [selected]

12 (Mnk): Improved Precise Shot [selected]

13 (Ftr)

14 (Mnk)

15 (Ftr): Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Greater Two Weapon Fighting [selected]

16 (Mnk): Power Attack [selected]

17 (Mnk)

18 (Mnk): Manyshot [selected]

19 (Mnk): Improved Evasion [automatic]

20 (Mnk)

Enhancements
14 AP: Arcane Archer [full chain including force burst arrows]
11 AP: Kensei I [including pre-reqs and longbow specialization]
10 AP: Ninja Spy I [including pre-reqs and Static Charge]
3 AP: Ten Thousand Stars [including Adept of Wind]
12 AP: Monk/Human Improved Recovery II
6 AP: Cleric Dilettante III
6 AP: Fighter/Racial Toughness II
6 AP: Way of the Patient Tortoise III
----------
68 AP spent on essentials

4 AP: Fighter/Human Strength I
2 AP: Monk Wisdom I
3 AP: Fighter Haste Boost II
1 AP: Ranger Sprint Boost I
1 AP: Human Versatility I
1 AP: Ranger Favored Damage I

----------
12 AP spent on non-essentials, adjustable with gear etc.

Gear
Body: Epic Red Dragonscale Robe (Blue: Toughness, Colorless: +1 exceptional constitution)
Goggles: Epic Raven's Sight
Helm: Epic Helm of Frost (Yellow: Wizardry VI)
Cloak: Epic Envenomed Cloak (Green: Good Luck)
Gloves: Epic Gloves of the Claw
Neck: Nyoko's Necklace/Gilvaenor's Necklace
Bracers: Wind Howler Bracers
Belt: Supreme Tyrant Mineral (+45 hp, +6 con skills, Heavy Fort)
Ring 1: Gilvaenor's Ring (20% healing amp)
Ring 2: Nyoko's Band (+2 exceptional constitution)
Boots: Epic Boots of Corrosion (Green: feather falling, Colorless: +1 exceptional wisdom)
Trinket: Epic Gem of Many Facets (Yellow: Greater False Life)

Stats
Str: 36 (16 +5 levels +3 tome +6 item +1 exceptional +3 profane +2 enhancement)
Dex: 28 (16 +3 tome +6 item +1 exceptional +2 wind stance)
Con: 26 (15 +3 tome +7 item +3 exceptional -2 wind stance)
Int: 14 (11 +3 tome)
Wis: 26 (13 +3 tome +6 item +3 exceptional +1 enhancement)
Cha: 18 (8 +3 tome +7 item)

Hit Points
32 Ranger (4d8)
60 Fighter (6d10)
80 Monk (10d8)
20 heroic durability
160 constitution modifier
20 Past Life (Berserkers Fury)
10 Past Life (Barbarian)
10 Argonessen favor
40 toughness enhancements
15 Way of the Patient Tortoise
30 GFL
20 Toughness item
45 greensteel
----------
542hp unbuffed

Saves
4/4/1 Ranger 4
5/2/2 Fighter 6
7/7/7 Monk 10
8/9/8 Con/Dex/Wis
5/5/5 Resistance
2/2/2 Good Luck
1/1/1 Alchemical
0/0/3 Epic Raven's Sight
----------
32/30/29 in antimagic
4/4/4 GH
1/1/0 Rage+Haste
2/2/2 Airship
----------
39/37/35 buffed

Healing Amp
1.4 base (human/monk improved recovery II)
1.82 Epic Claw gloves 30%
2.18 ToD ring 20%
----------
218% base healing amp unbuffed

Self Healing
Heal Scroll (level 11) = 240hp (95% dilettante success)

Miscellaneous
25% stacking concealment (ninja spy shadow fade)
Haste/Sprint/Attack/Versatility action boosts
Manyshot/Ten Thousand Stars burst dps
UMD around mid-20s with ship buffs and GH
23 ranks of concentration for Ki and scroll healing
Improved evasion with 542 hp, 30 reflex in antimagic

With this current setup, can this build compete at endgame? Will the burst DPS from manyshot, slaying arrows, ten thousand stars, haste boost, etc. compete with ranged DPS from a pure 20 Artificer/Savant Sorc? Is 10 monk levels with no improved critical: bludgeoning severely limiting this build's melee DPS potential? Can other builds accomplish the same goals as this one in a superior manner?

Insights are welcomed.

[Thrudh]

Explain why you picked 10/6/4 monk/fighter/ranger

6 levels of monk you need for 10k stars.

List what you get for 8-10 monk.

2 more levels of ranger gets you:

• another FE
• +1 FE damage enhancement
• +1 FE attack enhancement
• +1 Dex enhancement
• Manyshot
• ITWF

1 more level of fighter gets you:

• Haste Boost III
• Fighter Toughness III

In comparison...


8th level of monk gets you:

• Another die of damage for unarmed

9th level of monk gets you:

• Improved Evasion
• Touch of Death (very hard to fit this in on an archer build)

10th level of monk gets you:

• AC +1
• Ki strike: Lawful
• Monk Wisdom III
• Way of the <x> III

Maybe 7/7/6 Monk/Fighter/Ranger might be a better combo... You'd gain a couple of feats that way.

Many of us rolling up monk archers use 12/6/2 Monk/Ranger/Fighter... but your level split has a lot going for it... 6 levels of fighter is very nice too.

6 ranger is a sweet spot for any ranged build. Hard to leave that out unless you're getting something a lot better for it.

Also, getting manyshot at level 18 is going to make leveling your guy not much fun at all... Of course manyshot isn't worth much until you get BAB 11 (for 3 arrows), but I wouldn't wait until level 18 for it. See if you can fit it in earlier.

Stunning Fist is a nice feat if you can fit it in somewhere, especially with +10 stunning handwraps. You might also consider going wisdom based for 10k stars, and stunning fist, and easy AC.

Your build as stated will work at end-game... Manyshot, 10k starts, IPS, Haste Boost, Damage Boost, Slayer arrows, Lit II bow... it does work.

Have you ever played an archer? Definitely try to get 10k stars and/or manyshot early on, so you can enjoy leveling as an archer... It's hard... I admit that on my monk archer, I didn't start using ranged most of the time until level 9... but you don't want to wait until level 15 or 18 to enjoy a new style of playing.

[Ashbinder]

6 levels of monk is a given with 10K stars, and essential for viable DPS.

4 levels of ranger is essential for spell points.

6 levels of fighter gives me Kensei I and enough feats to make this character viable.

From there I looked at what each class would give me for my remaining 4 levels.

Fighter: More HP. A total of 18 more to be precise if I chose to take fighter toughness III. Haste boost III. Two more combat feats. Of all the choices this seemed the weakest, as with a base HP over 500 the hp isn't needed, and the build is already tight on AP. Haste boost II vs III is a loss of 5% DPS for 5 charges of 20 seconds and would have been my biggest draw towards this split.

Ranger: Favored Enemy enhancements and free feats to complete the ranged set. With Manyshot and ITWF for free I'd have enough feats to consider taking Improved Critical: Bludgeoning for melee. However the trade off would be Improved Evasion for 2 levels, 1d2 unarmed base damage for 4. Also a net loss of a few BAB points and saves.

Monk: Improved Evasion. The biggest selling point for me in this equation was the appeal of this feat. The build has enough reflex for a strong saving throw but certainly not in the no-fail range. Improved Evasion gives a defense buffer to absorb damage. Touch of Death would simply cost too many AP and be too infrequently used to justify. 7 Monk is a given due to Improved Recovery, 8th increases melee die and improves viability of non-ranged DPS, 9th grants Improved Evasion and 10th is just due to a lack of anything better from the other two classes.

Finally, I asked which split gives the best return on investment when I have to put down the bow and go spank something. The additional monk levels seemed most useful for increased unarmed damage. It's doubtful I'd be using any weapon other than bows and handwraps.

There are several reasons I've gone dex over wis on this character, but mainly because of Improved Precise Shot's 19 base dex requirement which I only just meet with a +3 tome. AC on this character will only land in the mid-40s and is therefore a pointless exercise to pursue, especially without taking Combat Expertise.

As for feats, swapping the leveling order will help there and I can probably squeeze Manyshot in a little earlier while improving my skill spread. I might play with it a bit.

Reviewing the split, Monk 9/Ranger 5 adds an additional Favored Enemy at the cost of third tier Patient Tortoise. Worth considering.

Thanks for your feedback!

[Petrovskis]

I would also look at 14 Ranger 6 Monk and 11 ranger 9 monk builds.

L11 ranger gives you CMW; with all those lovely monk healing boosts, empower healing and quicken will give you ~100 hp no fail heals. And since with monk levels meaning a high wisdom score your SP will be plentiful, its an easy and cheap way to heal (my L11 ranger has 700 sp with a greensteel item and 22 wisdom).

L14 ranger gives CSW which is even better.

Monk 6 and 9 splits are for 10K stars and improved evasion. Melee skills will be harder to fit in, but as an archer with 10K stars and manyshot you'll do just fine.

Petrov

meant to say you also get rogue dilly for extra yummy SA bonus

[FengXian]

7 Fighter 7 monk 6 ranger sounds interesting.

That's a grand total of 19 feats on a feat starved archetype. 20 if you choose to go 8 fighter 6 monk 6 ranger.

Let's see:

TWF (rgr)
ITWF (rgr)
Bow Str (rgr)
Rapid Shot (rgr)
Manyshot (rgr)

WF:ranged (ftr)
WS:ranged (ftr)
Precise Shot (ftr)
IPS (ftr)

Zen Archery (mnk)
Stunninf Fist (mnk)
Toughess (mnk)

PBS (selected)
IC: ranged (selected)
GTWF (selected)
PL: pally (selected)
Quick Draw (selected)
Mental Toughess (selected)
Power Attack (selected). Not sure about this one. Might be kind of a nuissance in this build. Either PL: monk or another Toughess or IC: bludgeoning can work well I guess. Might take dodge if going dark, I would consider going light here tho. Losing shadow fade and 1d6 damage for light buffs and healing fists might be worth it in this case.

Might also go 8 monk 6 fighter 6 ranger for another die step for monk damage but I wouldn't lose haste boost 3 for that.

[wax_on_wax_off]

My current build plan is the traditional 12/6/2 but lately I'm thinking of swapping the 2 fighter for 2 artificer. This loses me 2 feats but I don't have to take mental toughness so in my case I just lose extend (which I have for PL: SotF) which I think I can be ok with.

The upside is max ranks in UMD, +2 UMD with scrolls, +30% with scrolls/wands with Wand and Scroll Mastery I and +1 CL with scrolls. Being able to plausibly do traps and crossbow damage at low levels is gravy. Then there's the breaker of boxes enhancement with invis and passive mode on the puppy for some extra XP.

On another note, I'd definitely try to use wisdom as your attack stat. Your survivability will be lower but it is substantially more DPS. Initial tests indicate that each point of wisdom modifier contributes an additional 3% overall DPS from additional arrow procs from 10k stars. Take this with a grain of salt but if it's even close to it in reality then it is well worth the investment.

[Thrudh]

6 levels of monk is a given with 10K stars, and essential for viable DPS.

4 levels of ranger is essential for spell points.

6 levels of fighter gives me Kensei I and enough feats to make this character viable.

From there I looked at what each class would give me for my remaining 4 levels.

Fighter: More HP. A total of 18 more to be precise if I chose to take fighter toughness III. Haste boost III. Two more combat feats. Of all the choices this seemed the weakest, as with a base HP over 500 the hp isn't needed, and the build is already tight on AP. Haste boost II vs III is a loss of 5% DPS for 5 charges of 20 seconds and would have been my biggest draw towards this split.

Ranger: Favored Enemy enhancements and free feats to complete the ranged set. With Manyshot and ITWF for free I'd have enough feats to consider taking Improved Critical: Bludgeoning for melee. However the trade off would be Improved Evasion for 2 levels, 1d2 unarmed base damage for 4. Also a net loss of a few BAB points and saves.

Monk: Improved Evasion. The biggest selling point for me in this equation was the appeal of this feat. The build has enough reflex for a strong saving throw but certainly not in the no-fail range. Improved Evasion gives a defense buffer to absorb damage. Touch of Death would simply cost too many AP and be too infrequently used to justify. 7 Monk is a given due to Improved Recovery, 8th increases melee die and improves viability of non-ranged DPS, 9th grants Improved Evasion and 10th is just due to a lack of anything better from the other two classes.

Finally, I asked which split gives the best return on investment when I have to put down the bow and go spank something. The additional monk levels seemed most useful for increased unarmed damage. It's doubtful I'd be using any weapon other than bows and handwraps.

There are several reasons I've gone dex over wis on this character, but mainly because of Improved Precise Shot's 19 base dex requirement which I only just meet with a +3 tome. AC on this character will only land in the mid-40s and is therefore a pointless exercise to pursue, especially without taking Combat Expertise.

As for feats, swapping the leveling order will help there and I can probably squeeze Manyshot in a little earlier while improving my skill spread. I might play with it a bit.

Reviewing the split, Monk 9/Ranger 5 adds an additional Favored Enemy at the cost of third tier Patient Tortoise. Worth considering.

Thanks for your feedback!

If your heart is set on Improved Evasion (and that is very nice), then I'd suggest 9/7/4(Haste Boost III) or 9/6/5 Monk/Fighter/Ranger (Extra favored enemy)

[unbongwah]

Why monk 10 / ftr 6 / rgr 4 instead of the more common monk 12 / ftr 2 / rgr 6? Number of feats is the same, but you gain Earth III stance & Ninja Spy II, which seems to be a bigger boost to DPS than Kensai I, AFAICT.

[Thrudh]

My current build plan is the traditional 12/6/2 but lately I'm thinking of swapping the 2 fighter for 2 artificer. This loses me 2 feats but I don't have to take mental toughness so in my case I just lose extend (which I have for PL: SotF) which I think I can be ok with.

What's your feat breakdown? I don't have any spare feats. How did you fit in Extend AND a Past Life feat. Artificer is interesting to me as well, but I don't see a feat I can give up...

Do you give up GTWF? Or Dodge and give up Ninja Spy?

Feats (Granted):

• Bow Strength
• TWF
• ITWF
• Rapid Shot
• Many Shot

Feats(Taken):

• 1 - Ranger - Weapon Focus: Ranged
• 2 - Monk - Toughness
• 3 - Monk - Stunning Fist , Past-Life Paladin
• 4 - Ranger
• 5 - Ranger
• 6 - Ranger - Zen Archery
• 7 - Ranger
• 8 - Ranger
• 9 - Fighter - Mental Toughness, Point Blank Shot
• 10 - Monk
• 11 - Fighter - Improved Critical: Ranged
• 12 - Monk - GTWF
• 13 - Monk
• 14 - Monk - Dodge
• 15 - Monk - Precise Shot
• 16 - Monk
• 17 - Monk
• 18 - Monk - Improved Precise Shot
• 19 - Monk
• 20 - Monk

[wax_on_wax_off]

What's your feat breakdown? I don't have any spare feats. How did you fit in Extend AND a Past Life feat. Artificer is interesting to me as well, but I don't see a feat I can give up...

Do you give up GTWF? Or Dodge and give up Ninja Spy?

Feats (Granted):

• Bow Strength
• TWF
• ITWF
• Rapid Shot
• Many Shot

Feats(Taken):

• 1 - Ranger - Weapon Focus: Ranged
• 2 - Monk - Toughness
• 3 - Monk - Stunning Fist , Past-Life Paladin
• 4 - Ranger
• 5 - Ranger
• 6 - Ranger - Zen Archery
• 7 - Ranger
• 8 - Ranger
• 9 - Fighter - Mental Toughness, Point Blank Shot
• 10 - Monk
• 11 - Fighter - Improved Critical: Ranged
• 12 - Monk - GTWF
• 13 - Monk
• 14 - Monk - Dodge
• 15 - Monk - Precise Shot
• 16 - Monk
• 17 - Monk
• 18 - Monk - Improved Precise Shot
• 19 - Monk
• 20 - Monk

You've already posted in the build thread so I'm surprised that you didn't know where to find it.

In short, yes, I think 12.5% DPS a quarter of the time from GTWF is less valuable than +3 att/dam for 7 and a half minutes. I might be wrong about this but I think that it will be true in most content (barring perhaps epic lob ...) One thing that I haven't considered much with this choice is the effect on Ki generation but I think that at the times that it really matters the AB from PL: SotF will give more Ki due to better AB and will also help to land crucial stunning fists when you have aggro from scary mobs (with a 51 stunning fist DC to back it up).

I've actually skipped mental toughness until almost cap as I value 10k stars and improved precise shot more. This is subject to change though (and isn't relevant at end game).

[korsat]

Why I always see in the build the active paladin past-life?I think I will always have a cleric or fvs in party for recitation, that is a +2 to hit/damage, divine favor is +3 but is the +1 worth it?You give up improve critical bludgeon for it.

[wax_on_wax_off]

Why I always see in the build the active paladin past-life?I think I will always have a cleric or fvs in party for recitation, that is a +2 to hit/damage, divine favor is +3 but is the +1 worth it?You give up improve critical bludgeon for it.

Recitation is only +2 attack, not +2 damage. +1 damage comes from prayer. So, if a divine is in the party and casting prayer/recitation continuously then you get +2 AB/+1 attack or have the PL and get +3/+3. Either is good.

[Ashbinder]

I would also look at 14 Ranger 6 Monk and 11 ranger 9 monk builds.

L11 ranger gives you CMW; with all those lovely monk healing boosts, empower healing and quicken will give you ~100 hp no fail heals. And since with monk levels meaning a high wisdom score your SP will be plentiful, its an easy and cheap way to heal (my L11 ranger has 700 sp with a greensteel item and 22 wisdom).

L14 ranger gives CSW which is even better.

Monk 6 and 9 splits are for 10K stars and improved evasion. Melee skills will be harder to fit in, but as an archer with 10K stars and manyshot you'll do just fine.

Petrov

meant to say you also get rogue dilly for extra yummy SA bonus

I'd love to see your feat breakdown for these splits, or even a link if it's from a pre-existing build. Level 6 to 10 ranger seems very lackluster for feats, even if 11 adds three of the ranged types. Trying to tack on two metamagic feats seems far too expensive for a feat starved build. I understand the appeal of having a no-fail melee hjeal button; I find it invaluable on my bard, arcane and divine characters, but I think I could survive with 95% scroll success, especially running backwards with sprint boost active.

7 Fighter 7 monk 6 ranger sounds interesting.

That's a grand total of 19 feats on a feat starved archetype. 20 if you choose to go 8 fighter 6 monk 6 ranger.

Let's see:

TWF (rgr)
ITWF (rgr)
Bow Str (rgr)
Rapid Shot (rgr)
Manyshot (rgr)

WF:ranged (ftr)
WS:ranged (ftr)
Precise Shot (ftr)
IPS (ftr)

Zen Archery (mnk)
Stunninf Fist (mnk)
Toughess (mnk)

PBS (selected)
IC: ranged (selected)
GTWF (selected)
PL: pally (selected)
Quick Draw (selected)
Mental Toughess (selected)
Power Attack (selected). Not sure about this one. Might be kind of a nuissance in this build. Either PL: monk or another Toughess or IC: bludgeoning can work well I guess. Might take dodge if going dark, I would consider going light here tho. Losing shadow fade and 1d6 damage for light buffs and healing fists might be worth it in this case.

Might also go 8 monk 6 fighter 6 ranger for another die step for monk damage but I wouldn't lose haste boost 3 for that.

They're all strong, valid builds, but none grant Improved Evasion, which was one of my major goals with my split. 6 Monk sacrifices 10% heal amp, and without any wand and scroll mastery enhancements that makes a big impact on self healing potential. My gut intuition is that the DPS gains wouldn't offset the self-sufficiency loss.

On Dark vs. Light, I personally would far prefer the 1d6 sneak attack and 25% defense bonus to the melee only gains from Light. Light buffs are awesome but not really part of the focus of this build.

On another note, I'd definitely try to use wisdom as your attack stat. Your survivability will be lower but it is substantially more DPS. Initial tests indicate that each point of wisdom modifier contributes an additional 3% overall DPS from additional arrow procs from 10k stars. Take this with a grain of salt but if it's even close to it in reality then it is well worth the investment.

Where and how would you modify the starting stats to accommodate a wisdom focus? I'd love to see your take on this approach if it's such a large improvement in DPS.

Why monk 10 / ftr 6 / rgr 4 instead of the more common monk 12 / ftr 2 / rgr 6? Number of feats is the same, but you gain Earth III stance & Ninja Spy II, which seems to be a bigger boost to DPS than Kensai I, AFAICT.

I did some back-of-a-napkin mathmatics for your suggestions but I quite likely may have overlooked something, feel free to point it out if that's the case.

12/6/2 mnk/rgr/ftr
+1.5 extra unarmed damage per hit [melee]
+5% base movement speed
Ninja Spy II (2 AP):
+7 extra average sneak attack damage per hit
Earth III (12 AP):
+5 con vs. Air II (40 hp)
+15% physical damage reduction
+1 critical multiplier (Yum! Confirmed to work on zen archery ranged attacks?)
+1 ki when hit
-10% movement (net -5%)

10/6/4 mnk/ftr/rgr
+4 dex vs. Earth III (+2 to-hit) [ranged]
+8 hp (4 levels d10 instead of d8)
+10 hp (Fighter Toughness II 2 AP)
+5% attack speed boost (Haste Boost II 2 AP)
Kensei I (11 AP):
+2 to-hit (feat WF: Ranged and Weapon Mastery enhancement) [ranged]
+2 damage (feat WS: Ranged and Weapon Mastery enhancement) [ranged]
+6 critical confirmation (Critical Accuracy and Weapon Mastery enhancement) [+4 non-ranged]
+2 critical damage [ranged]
+1 reflex vs. magic
+1 ki on criticals

Overall:
Ninja II gains superior melee ability
Ninja II gains superior defense (22 extra hp and 15% physical DR)
Ninja II gains +7 sneak attack damage
Ninja II gains +1 critical multiplier for all attacks
vs.
Kensei I gains +4 to-hit ranged
Kensei I gains +2 damage ranged
Kensei I gains +6 critical confirmation ranged
Kensei I gains +2 critical damage ranged
Kensei I gains +5% boost DPS

The build as stands vs. standard enemy (non-favored, low AC) has:
18 BAB
9 dex
5 weapon
4 eRaven
2 Ninja ToD set
2 bracers
4 GH
1 haste
4 ship buff
Total of +49 to-hit ranged buffed

18 str
10.5 weapon (1d10 +5)
4 eClaw
1 bracers
2 ship buff
1 rage
+36.5 physical damage buffed

Therefore:
Ninja II (19-20 x4)
36.5*0.85 + 36.5*4*0.1 = 45.625 average physical +7 extra average sneak attack

Kensei I (19-20 x3, +2 damage, +2 critical damage)
38.5*0.85 +40.5*3*0.1 = 44.875 average physical

Ninja II wins in straight physical damage vs. low AC trash.

Suppose we went wis instead of str for this build? Start at 13 str/16 wis, levels into wis? Shift 8 points over, reduce str bonus by 4 on damage.

So in summary Kensei I vs. Ninja II: Ninja II wins by a large margin. 12/6/2 is far superior. Build is invalid!

[Thrudh]

In short, yes, I think 12.5% DPS a quarter of the time from GTWF is less valuable than +3 att/dam for 7 and a half minutes.

Hmm... Now you've got me thinking... I sure would love extend (helps with Ram's Might too... 12 minutes is a lot better than 6 minutes)... Maybe giving up GTWF would be worth it...

[Petrovskis]

11 ranger 9 monk feats (14-6 split gets same feats obviously):
hefl
L1-6 ranger
L7-12 monk
L13-17 ranger
L18-20 monk

starting stats for 34 point (could be better optimised if L20 saves were looked at to get more HP via dropping dex to 14 possibly):
str - 15
dex - 16
con 14
int - 8
wis -16
cha - 8

level progression:
L1 -rogue dilly, WF ranged
L3 - point blank shot
L6 - mental toughness
L7 - Zen archery (monk)
L8 - toughness (monk)
L9 - imp. crit ranged
L12 - dodge, stunning fist (monk)
L15 - emp. healing (or maximise, i don't know which is better, but i took emp. healing on my ranger)
L18 - quicken

Lacking the melee feats like imp. crit bludgeon which would be nice to fit in, PA though is a waste as you won't hit a lot with it on due to lower strength.

This is an archer first and foremost with decent melee damage via fists or suitable weapon sets and GTWF when required.

I've undoubtedly forgotten something though!

Petrov

[wax_on_wax_off]

Where and how would you modify the starting stats to accommodate a wisdom focus? I'd love to see your take on this approach if it's such a large improvement in DPS.

I've linked the build a post or two back.