Rework of Ranger Archer
Introduction: At the moment the primary use for Ranger Archer path is to either go into AA or a dip alternative for a cleric build. There lacks any real incentive to build heavy into ranger archer and it lacks the QoL that other ranged builds offer. At the moment most ranger archer focused builds will go with 21 ranger or 23 ranger. The last levels are either taken in fighter as the bonus damage is hard to pass up on a class that realizes its ab will never be as high as its ranged counterparts. With either a splash of 3 levels in monk for wis to AC or to bard for skills. Alternatives exist with blackguard although that spreads your stat points very thin with an increased windup. With animal companions less powerful than other summons on the server it isn’t worth the investment for 23 levels to take any of the animal companion feats. Even then they are left with a subpar summon. While it’s possible to forgo the levels in fighter, losing that amount of damage puts them less than the same damage output as AA against a target that isn’t a favored enemy.
There are no ranger spells that directly benefit range so there is no reason for an archer to use their spellbook. At the moment it just serves to lower your dispel resistance and make you “dispel bait”
A sample (pvp) arrow does
5 damage piercing
5 damage slashing (GMW)
1d8 fire (Elemental Weapon)
3 magical (Blackstaff)
------------------------------
10 physical
3 magical
4.5 elemental (mostly resistible with defensive essences or protection from element spells)
Generic Ranger Archer AB and Damage:
25 BAB
15 dex modifier
1 Epic Prowess
1 Weapon Focus
2 Epic Weapon Focus
4 Crossbow of choice.
2 Favored Enemy
2 Nature Sense
= 52 AB with 4 of it being conditional against targets and location.
This is not including short term boosts that are possible from consumables like aid battletide etc.
Ranger benefits to arrows assuming 21 Ranger 6 fighter 3 monk
3 damage from ranger archer path
2d6 damage from bane of enemies = 7 avg
5 damage from favored enemy.
6 damage from epic weapon specialization and weapon specialization
Total damage bonus against favored enemy = 21
Total damage bonus against regular target = 9
Generic Arcane Archer 18 Ranger 9 Monk 3 AB
25 BAB
15 Dex
1 Epic Prowess
3 Weapon Bow
1 Weapon Focus
2 Epic Weapon Focus
9 Arrow Enhancement
Total = 56 AB Against any target
Arcane Archer benefits to arrows assuming 18 AA sample build 9 ranger 18 AA 3 monk
1 damage from ranger archer path
9 damage from enchantment bonus to arrow
= 10 total damage
Summary of Damage and AB on the two classes:
While ranger has a total of 11 damage higher than AA it has a minimum of 4 less ab assuming ideal conditions. There are Arcane Archer builds that sacrifice other stats to push up to 57 or 58 AB moving that AB disparity up to 6 AB difference. Arcane Archer can also forgo defensive capabilities and take a fighter dip instead netting them an extra 6 damage as well as some feats. This build puts them only five less damage than a ranger against a rangers favored enemy.
Proposal: Create some of the Ranger Archer Benefits for higher levels in investment in ranger. At the moment the majority of Ranger Archers unique benefits are frontloaded. Allowing any class taking an archer dip to gain the majority of the benefits of Ranger Archer. If there was an incentive to use the spellbook that would be more appealing than the 6 damage and the boatload of free feats fighter gives then Ranger Archers would have a reason to use their spellbook. Alternatively giving a Ranger reflavoring of some of the Arcane Archer Abilities or the creation of Unique Ranger Archer Abilities would go a long way in giving some quality of life to a class that has been surpassed by other ranged options. At the moment the current gameplay of a Ranger Archer is: Chugging Potions, Using Buff Scrolls, or if a UMD Dip is taken, using wands, and using books. Finally left clicking on the enemy with the occasional use of other consumables that every class has access to. There has been a lot of good work done on AA and Ranger Archer is mechanically behind AA in terms of balance.
Potential Addition of New Abilities For Ranger.
Proposal Rework of Arcane Archer Abilities:
Death Arrow: -> Thorn Arrow: 1d4 Bleeding Damage per Ranger Level(Damage cannot crit) DC check on Bleed
Hail Arrow: -> Volley: Fires 1 arrow per ½ * Ranger level at nearby targets. One arrow per target max; extra arrows do nothing.
Additional Proposal Of Potential Abilities/Feats:
Precise Shot: Ignores a portion of concealment from a target.
Nature Steps: Gives a percentage concealment in nature areas. This could be a short toggle ability that lasts an amount of time per invested ranger levels. Or it could be a passive ability that is activated when the character is in a nature tile.
Tangential Role-play Proposal: Animal Messenger: Letting a ranger with enough investment send a short message through an animal would be enjoyable and add to the roleplay of Rangers. This can be done through the animal companion or through a spell.
Additional Proposal of Potential Spells:
Bladethirst For Crossbows Reasoning: Giving Ranger Archers a spell that permits them to modify their crossbow makes them suddenly competitive against another ranged class option. It also encourages ranger archers to actually use their spellbook. Now adding this would be beneficial if one also received the damage bonus you get from bladethirst or have it modify the mighty property. A ranger that uses this spell will still have lost six damage from their build making their current damage equal to an arcane archer that takes a fighter dip with the assumption of targeting a favored enemy.
Bloodthirst For Crossbow Example: Description: You grant a ranged weapon an enhancement bonus: 2 + 1 / 5 levels beyond the 11th (i.e. +2 at level 11, +3 at level 16, +4 at level 21, +5 at level 26). Additionally, when the enchanted weapon is wielded by a character with Ranger levels, it grants an equivalent amount of regeneration upon every hit. Blade Thirst may be cast on any kind of ranged weapon. If targeted on a creature, the spell will enchant the weapon in the primary hand of the target. Non-restricted weapon enchantment.
Poison Arrow: Reasoning: This can make up for lost damage if a Ranger decides to use their spellbook and forgo a fighter dip. The damage can be poison and could be multiplied when used against favored enemies. This permits counterplay of having poison defensive essences and adds a new feature to archers.
Poison Arrow Example: You lace your arrows with poison doing 2d4 poison damage this is increased to 2d6 when targeting a favored enemy.
On Rangers Animal Companion:
A ranger's animal companion is lackluster; it requires a two feat investment but the two feats makes it barely passable. A scroll of gate or planar binding will net you very similar stats for far less investment. There are two pictures attached with two sample builds one of them is the generic 27 ranger 3 dip. Typical of any melee rangers. The other is an archer build. Both pay the two feat tax to get the animal companion bonus. The spells used on the animal companion are.
Lesser arcane sequencer, greater magic fang, and awaken.
Ranger 23 Fighter 4 Specialist 3: This is using the spellbook on a ranger making the rangers dispel resistance CL 26 typically a terrible idea. As discussed earlier there is no benefit for a Ranger Archer to use their spellbook since dispels are so potent.
Ranger 27 Dip 3: Generic Ranger animal companion gets 50 AB and 39 AC only has 378 hp. This is one of the tankiest animal companion options avaliable. Compared to other summon options on other classes. While the AB is good the AC/ Damage/ HP is terrible.
Final Remarks And Questions For The Team: What are the current number of players that play a Ranger? What are the current number of players that play a Ranger Archer without Cleric or Arcane Archer? The goal of this proposal was to suggest ways to improve a class that is often overlooked for other options. I believe that Ranger is a fun class it just needs something to make it more enjoyable and help it stand out from other ranged options.