New to D&D: First Character Build

renau1g · May 4, 2010

One thing I will mention is that I'd wait for your defender to get in there before charging in. Too many times have I seen a ranger/barbarian/avenger/rogue charge in ahead of everyone else and end up on his butt as the enemies counterattacked hard before the defender could get there. I don't know if Wis has to be that high. Are you planning on going to Pit Fighter Paragon Path? If not, I'd look at it as you add your Wis mod to damage, so pretty good for you. Need to grab a fighter multiclass feat at one of your level ups though.

FreeXenon · May 4, 2010

Welcome!

Welcome to the the boards and welcome to D&D!

We love and we know you will too! =)

0rbit · May 4, 2010

renau1g said:
One thing I will mention is that I'd wait for your defender to get in there before charging in. Too many times have I seen a ranger/barbarian/avenger/rogue charge in ahead of everyone else and end up on his butt as the enemies counterattacked hard before the defender could get there.

OK, I'll be sure to keep this in mind. This is the second time I've been told! After my very first build my friend had a look at it and he told me that I didn't need the extra +4 initiative feat. He said that if I act first all the time I'll probably just get in the way of my allies attacks and draw too much agro.

renau1g said:
I don't know if Wis has to be that high. Are you planning on going to Pit Fighter Paragon Path? If not, I'd look at it as you add your Wis mod to damage, so pretty good for you. Need to grab a fighter multiclass feat at one of your level ups though.

This is a one-shot 4 hour game. We don't plan on leveling up during this. So all I have to think about is what is best for me, right now, at level 7.

This character will likely be discarded afterwards. I'll take what I can learn from my first few games and then think about building myself a longer term character in the future.

0rbit · May 4, 2010

FreeXenon said:
Welcome to the the boards and welcome to D&D!

We love and we know you will too! =)

Thanks! Nice to be here.

0rbit · May 4, 2010

Question: If heavy thrown weapons are classified as ranged when thrown or when you intend to throw them, are you supposed to use Dex for your attack/damage rolls? Or do you always use Str even though it is considered ranged when thrown?

Obryn · May 4, 2010

This is a pretty common question with thrown weapon Rangers.

The short answer is that the Power's text overrides everything. You use whatever attribute is listed in the Attack and Damage lines. So, if you're throwing handaxes with Twin Strike, you use Dexterity for the attacks.

Only Ranged Basic Attacks use Strength as their statistic on Heavy Thrown weapons.

-O

renau1g · May 4, 2010

Obryn ninja'd me

0rbit · May 4, 2010

Obryn said:
The short answer is that the Power's text overrides everything. You use whatever attribute is listed in the Attack and Damage lines. So, if you're throwing handaxes with Twin Strike, you use Dexterity for the attacks.

OK, thanks.

So I guess it be better then to change my ability values from:

18, 15, 10, 10, 18, 8

to:

18, 14, 14, 10, 16, 8

effectively sacrificing +1 Wis for +2 Dex?

0rbit · May 4, 2010

It's funny though. When you look at Throw and Stab it states that the first hit must be made with a ranged weapon and then it says to check your attack roll with Str vs. AC for the thrown weapon. So it effectively classifies the thrown weapon as ranged and still uses Str for the attack roll.

When you read other attack powers it's ambiguous as to which roll you can use. If we followed the example set by Throw and Stab, we would use Str every time.

But I'm sure this issue has been debated quite a bit before and you are telling me that the consensus is that, unless otherwise specifically stated, any ranged attack should use Dex by default? Perhaps there is a difference between light thrown and heavy thrown... whereas light thrown would use Dex but heavy thrown is always Str?

From the PHB:

Heavy Thrown: You hurl a thrown weapon from
your hand, rather than using it to loose a projectile. A
ranged basic attack with a heavy thrown weapon uses
your Strength instead of your Dexterity for the attack
and damage rolls.

Light Thrown: A ranged basic attack with a light
thrown weapon uses your Dexterity. Light thrown
weapons don’t deal as much damage as heavy thrown
weapons, but some powers let you hurl several of
them at once or in rapid succession.

I suppose the keywords here are "ranged basic attack". Heavy thrown weapons use Str for rolls if it is a basic attack. But this rule is probably superseded by the wording of certain powers since the attacks are no longer basic.

Aulirophile · May 4, 2010

0rbit said:
It's funny though. When you look at Throw and Stab it states that the first hit must be made with a ranged weapon and then it says to check your attack roll with Str vs. AC for the thrown weapon. So it effectively classifies the thrown weapon as ranged and still uses Str for the attack roll.

When you read other attack powers it's ambiguous as to which roll you can use. If we followed the example set by Throw and Stab, we would use Str every time.

But I'm sure this issue has been debated quite a bit before and you are telling me that the consensus is that, unless otherwise specifically stated, any ranged attack should use Dex by default?

RBA is dex vs AC, with a line "Special: When using a Heavy Thrown weapon to make this attack, use Str instead of Dex for to hit and damage."

And yes, you always use the stat the power says to. Throw and Stab would be useless for a Dex-based ranger, because their charge is terrible.

Also Throw and Stab was nerfed today. >.>

New to D&D: First Character Build

renau1g

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FreeXenon

American Male (he/him); INTP ADHD Introverted Geek

0rbit

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0rbit

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0rbit

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Obryn

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renau1g

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0rbit

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0rbit

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Aulirophile

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