Making rangers shine!

I always was fond of the Ranger class, and I've been playing one now that really struck a chord.


The ranger has 3 benefits over the fighter, which is the standard ranger replacement class.

Animal companions
Favored enemy
Spells


None of which, in a large party, makes that much difference.

The key to make your ranger shine is.... start out him solo!

The ranger excels at soloing. Surprinsingly! The human favored enemy makes him a viable face char. Actually, the best face char at lvl 1 is a half elf ranger with negotiator, human favored enemy and 18 CHA. But you don't have to go that far. Any ranger with high CHA can get decent scores and reach lvl 2 in hommlet where you can even bring him a single rogue level to gain Tumbling, UMD and all social skills. He has high skill points and lots of crossover skills so he can be pretty much all you need skillwise in your party.


From lvl 3, on, you should specialize in two weapon combat to enhance your solo capabilities. Archers probably won't work as well soloing.

Then comes the real treat...

If you play it right, just before lareth's fight you'll reach lvl 5 (lvl 4 ranger if you gave him one rogue level like I did) and you'll be able to choose another favored enemy. Choose whatever you like but make humans +4. This will pratically guarantee victory in the lareth fight. No other class can have this much to-hit bonus in this fight. Not even a fighter. And, you'll now have an animal companion to stall the guards. I usually sneak into lareth's room and with the holy sword + something else, sneak attack him. This usually kills him and leaves only the guards, who come with crossbows into the tiny room and give me lots of AoOs.



The strength of the ranger does not come into play when he is on the same level as his comrades. THAT's what I discovered and it changed the class forever in this game in my point of view.

If you have a ranger in a regular party of 4 or 5, or even 3. He always seems to fall behind of what either a fighter or a fighter/druid would have in his place. But if you level him up quickly before bringing others into the party. He becomes the pillar of the party instead of some opportunistic gimped fighter.

And while soloing, spells like summon animal I become pretty useful to stall an enemy for more than 1 round. The animal companion is also very useful in that early stage.




Later on, I plan to build him with high UMD to make use of mirror image and displacement scrolls (eventually, Mislead scrolls) so he does not get hit a lot and perhaps augument summoning later on to help since he'll be accompanied by only a bard enchanter and a crafting cleric.

 

IIRC, Favored enemy does not grant a bonus to hit in 3.5

In pathfinder they do, making them extremely powerful.

 

Druid is better for soloing. He doesn't even need to be close to take them out.

 

Except when he turns into a big freaking bear and starts knock'n folks around. :yes:

 

You know, I have never used the shape shift ability. Between summons, lightning, flame strikes, etc... I rarely use my druid for melee.

 

Same...but at high level, druids can even get in and take out a few baddies without it.

I summon a few huge earth elementals and get the show rocking and rolling.

 

Even if you have a melee druid, shapeshift is not useful. You can't use equipment while shapeshifted and no animal is as good as a well-equipped character. A well equipped character has a FAR superior AC and damage capability; and a better to-hit modifier. I've played a solo melee druid and shapeshifting was never beneficial (lightning and flamestrike aren't very useful either once you're well equipped - the damage from those spells pales in comparison to the damage from a quality weapon wielded by a 24+ Str character).

 

Yeah, but ...... You get be a BEAR! Come on, that's pretty freaking cool. ROWRRRR!

 

I like the hill giant form.

 

Did they ever fix that so you can cast spells and use weapons?

 

Hi
I don't know about using weapons ( I kind of doubt it, because in order to use weapons you need hands to hold them...) but there is a Druidic Feat called "Spellshape" that allows a Druid to cast spells in Animal Form.
The Royal Canadian

 

In nearly any party I make that has a ranger he will be the primary warrior (sometimes there's a barbarian but not too often). I see the ranger as more of an opportunist in battle- someone that can take advantage of the situation due to the right selection of skills, feats and weapons. I like to use them as tactical, hit and run characters rather than trying to emulate the classic straight up fighter. Give him TWF, Quick Draw and Precise Shot w/Point Blank Shot and he/she can cover just about any combat situation. I've never viewed their animal companions and spell use as something to focus on but rather as something that's beneficial w/o being overpowering- they aren't the O.M.A.C. that a druid could be but they hold their own rather well...

 

Hill giants have hands.

 

I think it is called natural spell

 

Hi
In order to Wild Shape into a Hill Giant, you need a Wondrous Item. If you read d20SRD
( http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#wildShape ) you will find that "The form chosen must be that of an animal the druid is familiar with." Granted, at higher levels, you can shape change into an Elemental, but you still won't be able to use any items or weapons.
The Royal Canadian