Melee/Ranged Mix

[Kenzan]

I'm looking to TR into Ranger, I haven't done a ranger life for a while now. I've been reading up on the forums on the builds and I've more or less narrowed down what I want.
My goals are pretty simple:
-Be mostly melee focused with the ability to go ranged as well.
-Be able to level in both heroics and epics.
-Be able to assist in grouping and more importantly stay alive :P

I'm still undecided as to which would be better:
-Dex or Str based. If Str based, Khophesh Human. If Dex based, Scimitar Elf.
-Whether Power Attack or Precision would give more dps.
-Whether to be pure or splash rogue.
-What destiny would be the most viable.

I'm not completely geared out and I'm not focused on being completely on having the best gear possible, I usually just use what I have available until I get something better.

Any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[CThruTheEgo]

My goals are pretty simple:
-Be mostly melee focused with the ability to go ranged as well.
-Be able to level in both heroics and epics.
-Be able to assist in grouping and more importantly stay alive :P

Check out the Divine Cuisinart in my sig for a build that accomplishes all these goals.

-Dex or Str based. If Str based, Khophesh Human. If Dex based, Scimitar Elf.

Str based human with khopesh offers more dps. Dex based elf with scimitars isn't gimp, though, and offers a higher reflex save. This is a personal choice. If you want max dps, go with human. If you prefer a more traditional ranger, go elf.

-Whether Power Attack or Precision would give more dps.

Early and mid game – power attack offers more. Late and end game – precision offers more. Power attack has better synergy with dreadnaught (improved power attack, momentum swing, lay waste), if you plan to run in that destiny.

-Whether to be pure or splash rogue.

Again, personal preference. The capstone provides a solid amount of dps while rogue splash offers utility and more xp through the trap bonus. So what do you prefer, dps or utility?

-What destiny would be the most viable.

I like divine crusader personally. It offers a nice combination of both offense and defense. Dreadnaught is another solid option. Those two would be the most optimal choices. I wouldn't go with fury of the wild on a melee focused ranger. Fury has greater synergy with ranged burst dps. Other destinies would certainly be "viable," but not optimal.

Hope that helps.

[unbongwah]

All of the builds in my elf ranger thread are designed to be melee / ranged hybrids; it's just a question of which is your primary focus, since there aren't enough APs to go around to be equally good in melee + ranged.

[C-Dog]

... it's just a question of which is your primary focus, since there aren't enough APs to go around to be equally good in melee + ranged.

<nods> Nor would you want to be. If you did balance them, you'd be "meh" at both by endgame - you want to be able to bring the heat with one, and accept that you have the other to fall back on if/when.

Obviously (but I'll spell it out anyway), focusing on Ranged means (hopefully) that few ever get (very) near you, but you're in trouble if you're mobbed, so you have to be careful who you snipe at, and when and where and how.

Focusing on melee means ranged just "softens them up" and you'll always be toe-to-toe for the real juice.

Dealer's choice.

[Kenzan]

With those tips I believe I have enough info. to make a better decision right now.
I'll go Str based with Khophesh using PA. For ED I'll fish around to see what best suits my playstyle and work to suit.

Thank you for all the help guys!

[KodeWraith]

Str + Khopesh is very very nice.

Also check out Eth's NoYellowBar2.0 build. I just ran one as a human khopesh str build and it's ridiculous in melee. I was doing about 1k on a crit with AOE from DOD and divine might and ... It's a stupifying amount of damage.

It's main advantage over pure ranger melee is you still have crit dmg with bows and you have heavy armor and PRR from sacred defender.
What you lose are the tempest cores, which is now more of a problem than it used to be now that the tempest cores are nice. You are also more feat constrained since you need to take GTWF and imp PS.

So it's a strict DPS loss from the Armor piercing and DS and offhand DS from tempest cores. What you pick up is huge survivability win with LoH and much more PRR.

[unbongwah]

It's main advantage over pure ranger melee is you still have crit dmg with bows and you have heavy armor and PRR from sacred defender.

Yes, the irony is if you want a "balanced" ranger, you're still better off with a rgr 5-6 / pal 14-15 split for Holy Sword, because if you took all of the +1 crit range & multiplier enhancements in rgr, you wouldn't have enough APs to take a capstone (31 AA + 21 DWS + 21 Tempest = 73 APs) and you'd be stuck with T5 AA. It's counter-intuitive, but a pure rgr is better if you want to specialize in melee or archery b/c of how you want to spend your APs.

[Basura_Grande]

The tempest Tier 5s are too good not to take.

Just be a tempest and Blitz, when you whip your bow out the damage will be fine.