Mundane Archer

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Fargreze
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Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2019 6:00 am

Mundane Archer

Post by Fargreze » Sun Jun 28, 2020 3:59 pm

Given the fairly recent changes to the rules about who counts as mundane, I've been playing with the idea of a Ranger-Archer with no casting. Not like you could Blade Thirst on a bow anyway. Thoughts on a build like this, which overcomes the usually low CL of a 21 Ranger? Lots of feats go to saves instead of Finesse+Expertises for melee capability.

Ranger 21, Fighter 6, Spec 3 (Human)

STR: 10
DEX: 18 (20 w/ Gift) (28)
CON: 14 (16 w/ Gift)
WIS: 8
INT: 14
CHA: 8

Gifts:
Gift of Grace (+2 Dex)
Gift of Endurance (+2 Con)
Spot Gift?

Human: (Quick to Master)
01: Fighter(1): Luck of Heroes, Strong Soul, Blind Fight
02: Fighter(2): WF Missile
03: Fighter(3): Toughness
04: Ranger(1): DEX+1 (DEX=21)
05: Ranger(2)
06: Ranger(3): Lightning Reflexes
07: Ranger(4)
08: Ranger(5): DEX+1 (DEX=22)
09: Ranger(6): Imp Crit: Missile
10: Ranger(7)
11: Ranger(8)
12: Ranger(9): DEX+1, Great Fortitude (DEX=23)
13: Ranger(10)
14: Ranger(11):
15: Ranger(12): SF: Lore
16: Ranger(13): DEX+1 (DEX=24)
17: Ranger(14):
18: Ranger(15): Iron Will (or FE)
19: Ranger(16)
20: Ranger(17): DEX+1 (DEX=25)
21: Ranger(18): Epic Weapon Focus (Missile)
22: Fighter(4): Weapon Spec (Missile)
23: Fighter(5):
24: Fighter(6): DEX+1, Epic Weapon Specialization, Blinding Speed (DEX=26)
25: Ranger(19)
26: Ranger(20): FE (Epic Prowess? Nah)
27: Ranger(21): Bane of Enemies
28: Specialist(1): DEX+1 (DEX=27)
29: Specialist(2)
30: Specialist(3): Great Dexterity I (DEX=28), ESF: Discipline
Discipline 33, Lore 33, Spellcraft 33, Tumble 30, Spot 33, Hide 33, MS 33, (optional) Search 31, Open Lock 1, Disable Trap 1, Spare 0

(Realized later that I could have taken Fighter 4 to get Weapon Spec out of the way Pre-Epic. No effects other than easier levelling?)

AstralUniverse
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Re: Mundane Archer

Post by AstralUniverse » Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:41 pm

1) I believe at lvl 18 you get both general feat and FE cause it's 15th ranger so no need to decide there.

2) I'd probably get the 4th fighter out of the way soon. Archers really need that damage early on.

3) I would totally take at least 16 UMD. Not sure if you just forgot or some other reason but there's no UMD in there.

4) at lvl 26, 20th ranger, can you even take prowess on that feat? If you can, you might want to actually consider taking prowess, depending on what you're preparing against. From my experience, with 21 ranger and 8 wisdom, you will lack some FEs for pve if you focus pvp races, or vice versa so from that point, you might as well go for that general +1 ab instead, but there's no clear cut answer there.

5) With this many spare feats I'd take weapon finesse instead of SF lore, expertise instead of lightning reflexes and at least have the option to toggle sword-n'-board when I'm cornered hard. But if you're really good, you wont need it. Still nice to have tho with this many feats.

My five cents.
Svrtr wrote:

I've spoken with Kenji and warpriest will be allowed to take elemental avatar so keep this in mind too


Gouge Away
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Re: Mundane Archer

Post by Gouge Away » Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:21 pm

Fargreze wrote:
Sun Jun 28, 2020 3:59 pm
Not like you could Blade Thirst on a bow anyway.
You can cast it on a template, though it's not as effective as a melee weapon.

dallion43
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Re: Mundane Archer

Post by dallion43 » Tue Jun 30, 2020 3:33 am

My experience with ranged is limited so take below with a pile of salt.

Taking 4 fighter lvls pre-epic will net you +1fort save.

Wild elf is preferable if you are fine with elf PC. (drop search).
That 10 str is painful weight wise, +1AC, toughness, +2vs mind.ench, keen-sense(this is big for spot).
12/20/16/8/14/8.

Personally I would take wild elf 13/19/14/8/12/8 (+2dex,+2int gifts).
Drop +3lore feat and +2reflex, +1dex epic feat; take +2AC feat(AS) and imp.exp.
This will net you 61AC before mage armor scroll, shield spell and skleen.
Some say 51(54)AC is nothing, but if you evade even one hit out of 5, this means -20% damage received.
This becomes even more important when you take the threat roll into account.

This isn't AA, drop most useless FE for prowess.

For FE prioritize PvP choices.

All above is imho, of course.
Hope some of it helped.

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Kenji
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Re: Mundane Archer

Post by Kenji » Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:32 pm

As mentioned by others, take Fighter 4 pre-epic, get the extra damage earlier and 1 fort save.

The low wisdom actually means losing 3 SEs overall due to the negative wisdom modifier, taking an FE over prowess is suggested.

Trade some search for UMD for QoL if you’d like. Though you can consider squeezing in Set Trap if you’re going the PvP route. It is a good zoning tool to have.

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