So... ideas about a self-sufficiency build, halfling with dragonmarks, post U19?

[Talon_Moonshadow]

I gotta say: the new enhancement system makes Halfling Rangers look very attractive to me.

[mna]

...and could swap out Weapon Finesse after taking 6 ranger, IF there are enough APs to take Graceful Death from the Tempest tree...? And in that case the melee Imp Crit feat should be slash for scimitars, probably...

Both cleric and wizard splash variants of the 13 rogue/6 ranger/1 other plan are in play, at 9 and 7 respectively with the +20 hearts.

Found that, as of U19p1, it isn't possible to get dex to damage with scimitars with just Ranger 3, even if you have Finesse. However, Ranger 3 + Rogue 3, Finesse, and the ML3 cores from both Tempest and Assassin do allow dex to damage with scimitars.

I believe there's a bug in that, and hopefully it'll eventually get fixed in the direction that Ranger 3 + Finesse should suffice...


Still. Given that we need the feat until Ranger 6 anyway, and don't get Improved Critical until almost then... is there any advantage at all in actually using scimitars until the point where we get rid of Finesse? (Well, except for the logistics, that is?)




And apparently Headshot has an annoyingly long cooldown and is sort of underwhelming otherwise too, according to another thread. I wonder if I should give up on that and go with thrown for the ranged option... in that case Quick Draw looks like an attractive feat, I suppose... oh well, I have the free LR still available.


At the moment the wizard-splash version does feel a bit more... flavor-appropriate... but that could well change as they gain levels. Cleric-splash version does feel a bit more straightforward to play though, what with unmeta'd Cure Light Wounds being castable from echoes and all.

[mna]

And then there's this variant of the 13 rogue / 6ranger / 1 other, 1 feat less total and no invis SLA but, given that we'd then have the 6 ranger to start EDs with Primal Avatar, and Emp Heal does help Rejuvenation Cocoon... and now we do get Emp Heal.

Then there's what we'd swap Finesse into. Dodge, Combat Expertise, Precision?

... or something more "exotic" maybe? (Quick Draw and go with thrown instead of repeaters for the ranged option?)

Also, I suppose it's technically possible to start this without any tomes at all. That does require starting with str 7 or less, though, which isn't all that newbie-friendly, and also having lower dex. (7/15/14/18/8/8 - even gets a few more skill points total.)

Alternatively, I suppose 7/17/14/17/8/8 with the first stat point into INT...

Anyone want to test the 7/17/14/17/8/8 version (level 4 increase INT, everything else into DEX)?
It's completely f2p, so if you can live with the low carrying capacity or have +Str stuff stashed away somewhere...

[mna]

Well.

I have the cleric-splash version at 13, banking 14.

Swapped Finesse to Precision, that looks like a nice one for this build... although there's something funny going on with the training dummy in the guild ship, NO way I should be hitting it for THAT much per non-crit melee swing. (I wouldn't really mind if I could get those numbers on actual mobs in quests, though... but doesn't seem to be happening.)


But, in the planning stage, the level 18 feat and epics... which is higher priority, Improved Critical Ranged or Improved Precise Shot? The old plan back there has IC Ranged at 18.


Largely because, well, DWS Sniper Shot (3rd/Ranger 6 DWS core) with a repeater is AWESOME on single targets already. If it works on multiple with IPS, no question about feat order - IC Ranged can wait. Anyone test that yet?


(It's not just the damage it does, it's the bluff... which procs on first hit and the others from the volley get SA damage already... it's that the enemy turns around and can't hit / cast / whatever back at me. Or wherever it was aiming before. And with a Deception repeater... I actually felt useful at Elite Madstone as a level 13 28-pointer, with the TR zergers... well, until I started running out of bolts. Pack sale soon, pretty please? So I can go get Deneith favor for the 75% returning bolts?)



And there's still time to think about epic feats, but, well... IC Ranged or IPS, Improved Sneak Attack, Combat Archery, Epic Skills, ... what kind of an order of importance?
And I suppose I'll start EDs in either Shiradi to get easy access to Primal for Cocoon and then FotW, or Shadowdancer for... well... "core" abilities for the skills and traps kind of thing... how annoying is LD going to be to get through, if I don't have Power Attack or any of its dependent feats?