I'm planning on adding a ranger/rogue to my next party, but I'm trying to decide on which weapons to use for maximum effectiveness. With Ranger 6/Rogue 4+, 2d6 sneak attack and two weapon fighting + Weapon Focus + Weapon Finesse in mind. Normally I would pick shortsword or dagger, but I was wondering if handaxe/cleaver worked with weapon finesse. Sure seems like two of those would be really strong! I'm also open to other options, but I can't seem to find a list of weapons that work with weapon finesse and sneak attack. Any information or suggestions would be great, thanks in advance! Edit: Additionally, what are the top five choices for favored enemies? Seems like goblinoids and undead would be high on the list, but what else is fairly common enough to get at least a little use from Favored Enemy?
There is a list of finessable weapons in the in-game rulebook, there should be a link in the feat description. IIRC, it's all light simple weapons and the rapier, but I don't remember for sure. So cleaver and handaxe are not finessable, but handaxe counts as a light offhand. If you plan to just develop the chara as a low-strength high-dexterity with finesse, you will eventually run into trouble dealing damage to creatures with damage resistance. I had a rogue with double shortswords once, he could not deal any damage to Balor whatsoever. Goblinoids do not show up much at all, and are weak anyway. The Undead favoured enemy is only necessary if you don't have a cleric. My top three are Human, Monstrous Humanoid, Evil outsider. I could also see Reptilian and Elemental as possible choices, quite a lot of those in the game.
Thanks for the quick reply! I just tested finesse with a handaxe (str 13 dex 17) in game, and in the attack bonus (main) info it showed the bonus from dexterity overriding strength, so it seems that handaxe is considered for finesse - hurray! I'm still wondering about the cleaver though, it says in the in-game description that cleaver is "handaxe" proficiency I think, but I don't know if it will work out. Great suggestions for favored enemy, I'll consider those for sure.
If cleaver uses handaxe proficiency, then it will work. Seems like I was wrong on Finesse - a quick check shows that it works for any light weapon. One more reason for the mods to edit the Cleaver - add a new proficiency for it, and/or make sure it's not a "light weapon"; or, maybe, remove it alltogether. I mean, 1d10, martial, light, 1-handed, 17-20 threat range... Fragarach should've been a Cleaver =))) Cleavers of Answering, anyone?
^ Well, yeah, but I never recall specifically lacking power to kill a group of goblinoids. I mean, they're pretty weak.
Cleaver uses the same proficiency as handaxe; however, the cleaver is NOT a light weapon. Therefore, Weapon Finesse does not apply. Do not forget that the Spiked Chain is a special weapon that can have Weapon Finesse applied to it.
Finessable: Handaxe - yes, cleaver - no. Favored enemy: my favorites are Human, Goblinoid, and then whatever you'd like for the third (though with a dual-classed ranger you may not get a third to choose.) If your rogue/ranger is your party face, definitely take Human, as it will help some of your social skills when dealing with the townsfolk.
Yes, another vote for Goblinoid - always my first choice, and keep it as the highest one. Three reasons: Bugbears, Bugbears, Bugbears. Rapier and shortsword a good dual/finesse combo, I find. I agree that you never really pour on the damage with that route. Have the same character take the archery path as a Ranger, give them another way to contribute.
Hi Folks Depending on how many levels of Rogue experience you go with (I usually go with an Elf Rogue/ Wizard Level 5/xx) I would recommend going with the archer variant myself. Unless your character has a really high Constitution, the 5 or so levels of Rogue mean that your character won't have a lot of hitpoints for some of the higher end melees. Yes, I know, the point of a Rogue - Ranger is to sneak in, whack someone and sneak out, but it doesn't always work that way. If you do go with the Ranger Archer one trick to keep in mind is to use "Full Attack" when shooting at enemies that are "Near Death". If you do a regular attack (I'm assuming you are using the "Rapid Shot" feat) and your first arrow kills your target, your ranger will wastefully shoot the rest of his arrows into the corpse. Using "Full Attack", if your first arrow kills the target, you can either shoot the rest of the arrows for that round at a different target, or cease firing (press the space bar). TRC
Oh, Bugbears are goblinoids? Never would've thought. Then yeah, goblinoids might be another choice. As for ranger type, I'd agree that ranger/thief is best with archery, and ranger/fighter is better for two-weapon fighting.
