Int based ranger/arti for heroic

[Wh070aa]

Can I just dump the dex, str and stuff, and go pure int with harper?
Or I still need other tings for it(some stat requirement I forgot?)?
I have full artificer/wizard gear, and since I am thinking about doing ranger life, can I just do 11 ranger, get all the ranged feats, and do repeater build to level to 20?
I was thinking something like 2arti(rune arm)4ranger(feats)1arti(level 2 arti spells, and Lightning Sphere stun ),7ranger(feats),'6arti*'(armor of speed, 22% ranged speed?). Could go more ranger, but I don't see any point.
*can replace the 6 arti with fighter, or monk , or whatever, doesn't change much).
Planing to do as much of ranged stuff as possible, and having UMD and trapping.

Pros - 1.5 int mod to damige (know the angles + int to damage). Lightning Sphere AoE stun. Can use any weapon pretty good. Traping and UMD buffs.AoE heals, and decent buffs? Also extra feats from artificer.(Also full SLA spamming in epics). Full bank of gear available.
Cons- Insightful reflexes needed. BAB is not good (and so goes the Manyshot). No good persistent AoE, or reliable burst damage.wasted shots on reload. Really spread out enchantment points.

Or I just just try to get Dex items, bows, and stuff for regular ranger? I am still probably splashing 1 arti for trapping, and early game repeaters (or rogue?).

So can I do this, or I am missing something important? Because I feel like I forgot about something.

NO NEED FOR EPIC ADVICE, GONNA TR AFTER IT.


Update.
Okay, I made a quick iconic for test. Enchantment points are tight, and I might have to drop the arti stun and some deep wood for arcane archer stuns(haven't tested them yet?), and for first 3 levels it really sucks(because no damage, or to hit). Surprising amount of free(-ish) feats. Point blank, Improved critical ranged, insightful reflexes, quicken, and that's it. Can get maximize or power critical, or whatever.Precision needs 13 dex, so not really good against high fort targets.
You can get ether deep wood sniper stuff, or arcane archers slaying arrows (unless you dump artificer).
Gonna test some more, but its kinda like monk/ranger, only more sustained ranged/casting, and less melee/stunning blow w/bursts and long cool downs.
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More ideas
After the arti and ranger levels(3arti,11 to 12 ranger), I am considering getting 3 barbarian, for movement speed, and Icon Enhancement Supreme Cleave, for AoE damage. Way better than taking fighter levels and wasting feats. This gimps heals, and removes potential enchantment point savings, and some epic ability (meh). Gonna see how much I need melee on this character.

[unbongwah]

Precision is a must-have on any ranged-focused build, IMHO; I'm presuming you've taken a DEX tome on this toon, so start DEX 11 or whatever and take Precision after it applies. Otherwise I don't believe you have any stat pre-reqs to worry about.

What were you planning on for self-healing?

[DeathdefyBeta]

I agree with Unbongwah on precision - it's worth dropping 2 points from Con to put in Dex if need be.

Arti splashes are more exciting these days. Assuming you have Harper Spy, which you do, you're no longer obliged to take 6 levels for insightful damage. There's free feats + the dog at level one, Rune Arm Use at 2, maaaaybe Elemental Weapons 1d6 (oh boy) at 3, and once you're there, the free feat at 4.

I can see the argument for going anything from 1 - 4 levels (for the first bonus feat), or all the way to 6 for Flame Turret if you're only concerned about heroics and want to gun through levels 6 - 12 as fast as possible before the turret becomes useless again.

I also agree with stopping Ranger at about 11 (though 12 for another 5' of PBS range and 1d6 SA from the Deepwood Sniper Core is hard to pass up).


Honestly you could do almost anything int based harper spy arti/ranger with crossbows, and it'll be absolutely fine for heroic levels.

Do pick up at least Sniper Shot (the level 6 core) from Deepwood Sniper. It's bonkers good. AA, to me, was too SP (and AP incidentally) intensive for too little return. Deepwood Sniper, for heroics (so no Adrenaline Arrow of Slaying) is imo superior for the sneak damage, increased pbs range, and free multiple different 'shot' clickies.

Unbongwah's right again on healing. Just have a plan:
- If you're well-off, wands/scrolls and the arti enhancement line are perfectly adequate for heroics (and epics imo but that's an unpopular view), or
- you could also rely on Ranger healing, but you'll want, again imho, Maximize and Quicken at a minimum, or
- you could go halfling and get your healing dragonmarks on, again probably with metamagics.

I'd choose one and build for it though - even the first one requires 100k odd squirrelled away explicitly for the purpose of healing supplies (mostly scrolls).

Honestly, this is exactly what I'd do for a ranger life these days, so good luck. I'd personally go:
- halfling (so IPS hits wolves and other short things more easily, and for bonus sneak attack damage if need to burn AP, and maybe dragonmarks)
- 2 arti,
- 12 ranger,
- then... some trash that doesn't matter since you'll be a (heroic) golden god. Maybe 6 wizzie for web sla at level 3 because it amuses me.

Good luck anyway - will be a fun life whatever variation you choose.

[Wh070aa]

Precision is a must-have on any ranged-focused build, IMHO; I'm presuming you've taken a DEX tome on this toon, so start DEX 11 or whatever and take Precision after it applies. Otherwise I don't believe you have any stat pre-reqs to worry about.

What were you planning on for self-healing?

Not 100% on the healing. probably lesser regen from sniper(that's not a lot of hp tho, even if maximize and stuff), and artificer mass potion drink(/ just drink pots), and heal wands/scrolls after that. If I keep up my umd for blurr and stone skin, and can max(/near max) my con, and it should not be too bad. biggest problem I see is elemental resistances, but I can probably scroll/potion/ship them, until I get my ranger up.

For race I might go human for expeditious/ddor dragon mark, and extra skill points,human boosts, and healing amp (if I can get enough points for it). Long strider is not very good, and haste potions and clickies, while nice, wear off way too fast, and ddor is really nice to have, in case I have to go afk in middle of dungeon. +4 umd/trapping clickie from enchants is really nice also.

My biggest worry, is what to do against large swarms of low to mid level undead(deleras,necro1,2 and 3), before IPS (and constructs). Favored enemy does not help all that much, and sneak attack is hard to get.

What about spell selection? Jump vs rams might(vs energy resist)?

[gzargel]

Can I just dump the dex, str and stuff, and go pure int with harper?
Or I still need other tings for it(some stat requirement I forgot?)?
I have full artificer/wizard gear, and since I am thinking about doing ranger life, can I just do 11 ranger, get all the ranged feats, and do repeater build to level to 20?
I was thinking something like 2arti(rune arm)4ranger(feats)1arti(level 2 arti spells, and Lightning Sphere stun ),7ranger(feats),'6arti*'(armor of speed, 22% ranged speed?). Could go more ranger, but I don't see any point.
*can replace the 6 arti with fighter, or monk , or whatever, doesn't change much).
Planing to do as much of ranged stuff as possible, and having UMD and trapping.

Pros - 1.5 int mod to damige (know the angles + int to damage). Lightning Sphere AoE stun. Can use any weapon pretty good. Traping and UMD buffs.AoE heals, and decent buffs? Also extra feats from artificer.(Also full SLA spamming in epics). Full bank of gear available.
Cons- Insightful reflexes needed. BAB is not good (and so goes the Manyshot). No good persistent AoE, or reliable burst damage.wasted shots on reload. Really spread out enchantment points.

Or I just just try to get Dex items, bows, and stuff for regular ranger? I am still probably splashing 1 arti for trapping, and early game repeaters (or rogue?).

So can I do this, or I am missing something important? Because I feel like I forgot about something.

NO NEED FOR EPIC ADVICE, GONNA TR AFTER IT.


Update.
Okay, I made a quick iconic for test. Enchantment points are tight, and I might have to drop the arti stun and some deep wood for arcane archer stuns(haven't tested them yet?), and for first 3 levels it really sucks(because no damage, or to hit). Surprising amount of free(-ish) feats. Point blank, Improved critical ranged, insightful reflexes, quicken, and that's it. Can get maximize or power critical, or whatever.Precision needs 13 dex, so not really good against high fort targets.
You can get ether deep wood sniper stuff, or arcane archers slaying arrows (unless you dump artificer).
Gonna test some more, but its kinda like monk/ranger, only more sustained ranged/casting, and less melee/stunning blow w/bursts and long cool downs.
-----------
More ideas
After the arti and ranger levels(3arti,11 to 12 ranger), I am considering getting 3 barbarian, for movement speed, and Icon Enhancement Supreme Cleave, for AoE damage. Way better than taking fighter levels and wasting feats. This gimps heals, and removes potential enchantment point savings, and some epic ability (meh). Gonna see how much I need melee on this character.

My recommendation would be a 11ranger/6rogue/3arti split completely int based. EPs into mechanic to tier 5, assassin pick up sneak attack dice, and same with DWS see if you have enough to get to killer. I have not done anything with the harper tree yet as I still have not purchased it.

Make sure you have a radiance gs repeater (it is way more damage than a lit2) and a pos2 for undead.

You should be able to max out search/disable/umd and have tons of points to spare.
I would do arti level first to be able to use a repeater. Craft a screaming of bleeding repeater you can use at lvl 1, if you have a crafter.
I would choose human as the race to get an extra feat.

Great saves and scroll healing keep you from ever dying.

Good Luck!

[Wh070aa]

I TRed to this build, and now I am level 7.
Went for 2arti,2ranger,1arti,-ranger up to 11 progression.
This build works a ton better in parties (because sneak attacks, and weapon buffs, and AOE heals). Soloing is ok, but I have to bluff, and getting tripped is not fun.
For feats I went point blank, maximize, and insightful reflexes (and human ddor dragonmark)
As for enchantments, 12 points in harper tree really is a drain, but +10 to hit, and +15 to damage, (probably like +2 more from other stuff) is worth it. Got human skill boost, and int, thinking about getting ddor, but no free points at this time, and Deepwood Stalker (2 sneak dice, and empathic healing line). With maximize the regen heals 4 or 5 ticks of 5 to 8 (12 on critical) HP, without healing items, ( I probably should get some) but Divine Healing from 2 levels of cleric is way better(but then no sneak dice). Infusion (maximized) heals for 23 to 30-ish points, 70 on crits. Without maximize healed for 7 points, at level 2. Not sure whats that all about, seems really inconsistent. I mostly have been healing with potions, because lazy, and not feeling like switching weapon sets, or waiting on casting animation (no quicken kinda sucks). The animations are not too bad. I seen longer. Flame arrow wands/scrolls are good. So is stone skin, blurr and heroism (pots). I had to chug some cats grace and fox cunning pots at level 1, and 2 for more to hit. I recommend having some lottery xp stones to get you up to level 2, so you get int to hit. Also ice storm scrolls are decent for the slow effect.

Average damage is about 23 to 33 (+2d8(rune arm),+2d6(weapon enchants, flame arrow), +2to8 (from weapon), +2(rams)*) up to 83(critical(favored might be included here)) + 2d6(sneak),+ 2(favored enemy),* if I can get it (+ other stuff*).

Only problem is that this will probably not change anytime soon. Gonna get some more attack(like +3, and another 3 for favored enemies), and dobleshot from DWS, but that's about it till level 14-ish. Tested out the melee power, turns out that it doesn't to anything. (+1 damage for every 100 damage dealt, per point). I might get artificer stun, but haven't yet, getting more sneak attack, int and healing instead. I don't think I need arti stuns, as long as I am in party anyway.
Been getting lucky with parties this life. Exempt for a 2 weapon fighting wizard (not in PM form), most people have been TR's, that can play really good. Still people forget to have elemental resists, and fight in melee when under 40 hp. Only deaths so far have been because of running into poison traps, while typing in guild chat. I should probably gimped more STR, and gotten more Wis, but I wanted to have ability to get cleave later on, if I had to. Turns out wis would had been tad bit better choice (still does not matter tho), as I don't really use melee.

There are 2 huge problems wit this build tho. 1 is lack of AOE damage, which leads to extended kiting, and nob melees chasing down the mobs you are kiting (use speed boost, or intimidate guys, or go after casters, so I can actually kill stuff that's chasing me, and don't have to shoot at casters instead.Precise shot fixes the random aggro from missed arrows, so that's good.)
and that you have to run backwards constantly. I don't know the quests well enough, to tun forward with my back turned to them. Kiting backward, or in circles is a option, but depending on zone will take a lot of extra time, or get me killed.
Also I would have a HUGE amount of problems from getting CC'd while kiting, if I did not have the FoM potion. My hp is pretty large 150-ish at 7, not even wearing too much HP gear right now, and I got regen, so its not too bad, but still its a thing to consider.

Well now I am up to the boring part of the game, till I get to level 15 or so, and can actually get something that's not +1 bab, or +1 damage for 2enchantment points.All ranger skills cost 2 enchant points. Its really boring, when you need to spend like 2 levels to get +3 to damage. Seriously. Not rewarding at all. Especially, when you have prerequisites that also cost like 2 points per level. Combined with really extremely boring. Read the Favored Accuracy ting. +3 to hit for 6 enchantment points, and only works on favored enemies. And it's a must take prerequisite. That's a level and a half of getting absolutely nothing. for it.

Update:
Level 12 now. Sleet storm is still awesome. So much sneak attack from it. Or Ice storm in groups. Using a lot of sniper shot, and got the killer (3 stacks of 5% dobleshot each, 4 stacks soon). Getting for shots every 2 to 3 clicks, sometimes even 5 shots per click. I am pretty sure that ether the damage log is broken(it is, but not sure if in this way too), or I am getting sniper shot on all 3 of the repeater bolts.200-250 damage on crits each, not counting extras. Still lacking artificer stun.
Got evasion, but at 27 (30-ish buffed) its not all that great. Fort some reason I get hit by traps, when I am nowhere near them, and evasion does not work on that (no save damage for no reason). Maybe it messes with my hitbox or something? Not sure but since I got to 12 (ranger 9), traps have been worse than usual. Wearing crimson chain for +5 reflex, haste guard, and damage reduction.Changed my healing amp to damage boost, for extra enchantment point. Wearing 13% healing crit belt, and + something to healing ring, and deadly necklese, +6 int ion stone, Minos, and marbar (level 12) cloak. I might start using tensers scrolls, but so far damage increase is not great enough. I really don't get why people like it so much. Only ting its good for is opening STR levers.
Using level 8 humanoid bane+electrical (d8 and d8) for most of the stuff, and level 10 undead bane electrical d10 and d8 repeaters, because no green steel (I don't think its even necessary). Can 1 to 2 hit most stuff, I have bane for (bit more if no sneak attack or stronger enemy/damage reduction). Got +12 int modifier from tomes 'n stuff.
Because of lack of AoE effects, I been using the hand of toms fireball thing. 7 to 60 damage or so, AoE.
I overdid wit the jump skill, so I have 55+ jump now, with buff, and item. Still switching out the item at level 13 (Cliffdiver for wind howler), so no biggie. Still kind sad, could had gotten more haggle, or lock picking.
I have 200+ health, and I probably could have done this with less.The ranger heals are massive, and when combined with umd, not even that spell point intensive.(Special thanks to Blurr, stoneskin, displacement, and sleet storm scrolls, and freedom of movement).

So far its going really good, only problem I see is repetitive game play, because there is nothing but activating boost, and shooting stuff, while occasionally healing, and sometimes using sniper shot. I guess tier 4 ranger stack tings are supposed to remedy that, but I don't care about them enough to change game play.

The Ddor ,and harper enchantments (19 to 20 points) are really holding me back from getting anything game changing. Its still better than waiting on cool downs. I have spent surprisingly small amount of time minimizing game, and browsing inter webs, while waiting for 9 years of cool downs. Also leveling up is pretty fun, I have something to look forward to each level (exempt ranger 7 and 8 (respectively character 10 and 11)). I can feel ranger side of this getting worse and worse by the level. How you guys pure ranger, I don't know.

Update
Level16 now, now I am 4arti/11ramger/1barbarian. Barbarian offers a lot of movement speed. The dobleshot ting procs tons of arrows. I gotten 6 shots from 1 shooting animation on multiple occasions, and 4 shots happen quite often. Got my good repeters now. Doing like 450 crits with sniper shot, and like 40 to 80 damige per bolt, not counting the bonuses which are really hard to keep track on.
Got empower heal, and empower, so my heals are now massive (got potency on my rune arm, + critical chance on belt). Regeneration ticks are 21 to 25 ish, and highest crit I seen is 80 so far (no healing amp, maybe 10% from ship buffs). Ranger heal spells are fine too. Could keep alive rouge that was tanking the mired in cobolds dragon. Guy was great tank tho.
I find the burst damage really lacking. Also when playing level 18-ish quests to hit vs higt armor enemies was lacking, so I had to change my healing power item for accuracy one.
Barbarian rage speed boost is pretty good. Gotta chug them lesser restoration pots tho. I need more barbarian past life's!