Need Recomendations for Ranger/Rogue/Fighter Build

[amourfou]

I am interested in making a Human 18 Tempest Ranger and possible 1 Rogue/1 Fighter build. I have been reading some really old posts with good information but I'm concerned with how out of date the info is. I would really appreciate up to date info regarding this build type.

I'm assuming Rogue at 1st lvl, but when to add the Fighter? And what starting stat distribution? Would it be better to add Monk over Fighter, or 2 lvls of Rogue, or with current status of the game would it be better to spend less levels on Ranger, possibly only go 12 Ranger ?

I like the idea of 2 Weapon Melee fighting style, with capability of decent Ranged abilities, good stealth and ability to open locks. I really enjoy solo play with a Cleric Hireling, but want to join parties and raids at upper levels.

Thanks for any help.

[Kinerd]

I would definitely take 1 monk over 1 fighter. That's the traditional Exploiter build, I believe the fighter variant was invented for F2Pers. You definitely don't want 2 rogue because all that really gives you is Evasion which you already have via ranger. Either 1 monk or 1 fighter will give you a bonus feat (albeit potentially different bonus feats).

18 ranger is less popular these days, but I still like it. To my eyes the big thing that sets ranger apart from other melees (except paladins) is spike self-healing and a bit of ranged. If you stop at 12 you have CMW at base 2d6 + 4 + 10 = 21. If you stop at 15 or higher you have CSW at base 3d6 + 6 + 15 = 31.5, which at 50% is a pretty big improvement. If you're at 15 anyway, you may as well drive on to 18, you're not getting much out of 4 fighter or 4 monk (although the Dodge changes make the second option a bit more interesting). Ranged-wise 12 is just as good for a bit of ranged and dramatically better if you want a lot of ranged as it allows you to take 6 monk for 10k stars, but it sounds like a bit of ranged satisfies you.

Stat-wise, I think a strong baseline is 16 Str, 16 Con, 14 Dex for 26 points. Rangers get 6 skill points and class Search, you need 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 7 skill points to keep Search, Disable, Open Lock, and UMD maxed, which you have as a human with 10 Int. Throw in a +2 tome at some point and you can have an easier time covering the slow learner fighter level and adding some other goodies, and that's us done for a 28 point build. For a 32 I would go 10 Wis 10 Cha, and then for 34+ whatever you want most: more skills, more SP, slightly better UMD.

[unbongwah]

Given the many changes to AC and addition of PRR, monk splashes have lost their luster, IMHO, unless you're planning to use handwraps. BTW, rog 2 gets you Wand & Scroll Mastery I; unless you really need the extra feat, I would argue a free +30% to all Cure wands & Heal scrolls is way more useful to the self-sufficient toon.

See my Tempest trapmonkey thread for how I do the classic Tempest III Tango.

[boredman]

I prefer the monk splash over the fighter cause handwraps are the best you can use against elementals, skelletons, golems, and other fortified enemies. And, for leveling, handwraps can be even more useful if you get a banishing ones, for example, or with a good magical effect, helping to kill low-mid level enemies quickly from magical effects.

[yawumpus]

Nobody knows [largely because the splits are assuming a gimped tempest 3. Turbine has been silent about any revisions to expansion since the last one got scrapped for the expansion]. My best guess is a 1/13/6 rogue/ranger/fighter. This will leave you with some hard decisions about where to put skill points, but should work fine (you can more the extra level to fighter if you prefer those enhancements). The main reason for 6 fighter is to unlock fighter EDs, as the standard ranger ED is ranged only.

Monk is fairly dead. You might need named armor to beat monk AC, but it shouldn't be hard. It was somewhat hard to get ranger AC, even if you ignored getting the chattering ring. Use fighter levels.

Rogue levels are likely 1 or 7. You don't need evasion as you get it at 9th level. Going this way gives you a decent strength rogue with good hit points, but loses 2/3 of the sneak attacks. A non-dinging rogue, as it where. Note that you can dump int and interleave your rogue levels to keep your skills up. Slightly botched example here. Note that power attack is missing: stuff a fighter level somewhere reasonable (12th level? This takes ranger 9 and evasion first) and lose either a level or ranger or rogue (your choice). Rogue skills become a lot harder to max with just one level of rogue and even less levels of ranger.

Ranger makes sense from 12-15, but 15 isn't enough to unlock a better ED. Six fighter levels are recommended for that (it looks like a decent TWF ED, even if it is far better for THF). 13 is pretty good (check the wiki and compare it to fighter 7 before starting your build). 18 levels of ranger isn't exactly dead (especially with serious gear, those doublestrikes matter), but will largely depend on a new enhancement system actually being delivered next year, and not following the inevitable pattern of nerfing ranger after it has already been nerfed to the bottom.

Fighter levels also tend to 1,6, or 7, but have a lot more break points in between. Look at both feats granted and enhancements, and remember that each level of fighter is an empty space for your skills to die.

[TheLegendOfAra]

Personally, I like a 12Ranger/7Monk/1Rouge Or 12Ranger/7Rouge/1Monk Both of which would be WSS builds, using longswords and Earthstance for HP and Waterstance for Saves when needed, as well as handwrap use until you get good named longswords.

Both offer good DPS, with the rouge variant having a bit more DPS because of Sneak attack, and better self heals through Wand and Scroll Mastery. Both will have enough skill points to max all the needed skills for both trapping, UMD, sneaking and whatever else you would want.

You could go Helf and up your DPS even more, or human for an extra feat. Both let you start in the Primal sphere, with your choice between Shiradi Champion, and Fury of the Wild(arguably the best TWF destiny) This build will also give you good ranged ability with all of the free ranged feats you will get. And you could also use an epic feat to grab zen archery and with the 7 monk split you could have both manyshot and 10K stars for even better ranged DPS.

While these builds are not top tier DPS, they're both very survivable, and you bring enough to the table to not be a wasted spot in raids/quests.

I would also advise taking Precision over Power Attack on both builds, not only for the ranged damage boost, but with all the sneak attack, armor piercing is very nice. (Both builds have plenty of sneak attack, given the monk variant is a dark monk.)

If the loss of monk stances doesn't bother you on the rouge variant you could even swap to Khopesh's and get even more DPS, but I wouldn't advise that with the Monk variant.

Anyways, that's my 2 cents. Good luck finding a build you like.