D&D 4E 4e Ranger Build (yes, I'm a newbie)

Hello folks, I wonder if I can get some feedback on this build and perhaps some guidance on where I might want to direct him as he progresses; also, if anyone has any good recommendations in general I'm all ears (that's an Elf joke, son).

At present, he is level 5.

Concept: He is a walking arsenal. He wears a criss-cross of short swords on his back, broad swords on his hip, daggers here & there, and a pair of un-strung bows (long/short) like Samurai wear katana/wakasashi's. On the battlefield, he draws weapons & fights until the situation changes, drops weapons, draws new weapons, so on and so forth....

Tx,
Mac

PS Our GM grants a starting bonus feat to all characters, you'll see this in the build.


====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
_________, level 5
Elf, Ranger
Build: Two-Blade Ranger
Fighting Style: Two-Blade Fighting Style
Ranger: Prime Shot
Background: Elf - Wild Elf (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 13, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10.

AC: 18 Fort: 17 Reflex: 17 Will: 16
HP: 50 Surges: 7 Surge Value: 12

TRAINED SKILLS
Nature +12, Perception +12, Stealth +10, Acrobatics +10, Athletics +12

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +2, Bluff +2, Diplomacy +2, Dungeoneering +5, Endurance +3, Heal +5, History +2, Insight +5, Intimidate +2, Religion +2, Streetwise +2, Thievery +5

FEATS
Level 1: Weapon Expertise (Heavy Blade)
Level 2: Weapon Focus (Heavy Blade)
Level 4: Lethal Hunter
Feat User Choice: Quick Draw

POWERS
Ranger at-will 1: Twin Strike
Ranger at-will 1: Marauder's Rush
Ranger encounter 1: Off-Hand Strike
Ranger daily 1: Jaws of the Wolf
Ranger utility 2: Invigorating Stride
Ranger encounter 3: Disruptive Strike
Ranger daily 5: Snarling Wolf Stance

ITEMS
Cloak of Resistance +1, Dagger (6), Bloodcut Leather Armor +1, Shortbow, Short sword (2), Quick Broadsword +1, Catstep Boots (heroic tier), Bracers of the Perfect Shot (heroic tier), Distance Longbow +1, Potion of Healing (heroic tier) (5), Flaming Broadsword +1
====== Summary Tab ======

My only suggestion might be to forsake the Two-Blade style and go with Hunter style instead. Yeah, you lose out on the off-hand broadsword, but you'd gain Quick Draw for free. Also, as you are sticking with Prime Shot rather than taking Running Attack, it tells me you intend on firing your bow at very close range. And in that regard, gaining the +4 to AC against Opportunity Attacks from the Hunter style means you can fire your bow while in melee and be less worried about it.

I'd stick with two-weapon fighting and ditch Prime Shot for Running Attack (Martial Power 2), especially since you have Marauder's Rush. Otherwise, it looks quite good!

Essentially, this characters switches between melee & ranged quite frequently. He's a melee/range middle-ground character.

If I ditch dual-weapon fighting style for hunter fighting style, will I regret it come paragon level?

Also, is Marauder's Rush a good At-Will to accompany the Twin-Fang? If so, how does the running style work vs. prime shot?

Sorry for the stupid questions. A bit new to the game, and trying to make this Elf one dangerous pointy-eared bastard while staying within the concept of being a bow/blade user.

Mac

Oops. If I picked up hunter style, and get Quick Draw for free ... then what feat(s) would you recommend I look at next?

Also, any good Paragon's that match this characters concept that I should keep my eye on?

What about multi-classing? Are there any multi-class feats that would go with this ranger particularly well? Just curious.

Fighter is an obvious choice; it uses your high strength and wisdom (and dexterity, if you are planning on increasing that too) and makes you better in melee.

Warden is a good choice if you want to be primal, it gives you melee power like the fighter and magical abilities.

Paladin is another defender like Fighter and Warden, with divine magic.

Rogue or Monk could work if you want to increase dexterity or just gain some cool utilities.

Runepriest is good if you want some leader abilities.

Warlord's a stretch, but uses your strength and there are some powers and abilities that use wisdom.

Camelot said:

Warden is a good choice if you want to be primal, it gives you melee power like the fighter and magical abilities.

Click to expand...

If you need advice on Warden too, I'm here for you as well!

I'm a Wilden Warden, and probably the only one of my kind.

(Wilden Warden are very, very rare... finding a Wilden player in itself is rare, but finding a Wilden who bucks the trend and decides to go with a class that wasn't specifically designed for their race.. is probably even rarer!)

You're going to have some problems if you want to switch weapons commonly.
a) you'll need 2 melee weapons and a bow or crossbow at a minimum and if you want to switch to other weapons you'll need even more. That's a lot of magic weapons to be carrying.
b) you need a lot of feats to keep all the weapons up to a decent attack bonus & damage options. Considering how many options a ranger has for feats anyway I don't recommend trying to use too many different weapons.

you can get some ability of changing weapons by keeping them in the same weapon groups, instead of going from longswords to shortswords go from bastard swords to khopeshes or scimitars

I'd recommend against dropping prime shot for the other hunter options. There a feat that allow you to use it for your melee attacks and a feat that adds +5 to damage when you have prime shot.
In melee you'll have prime shot on all your attacks ...

Right. Useful concept but I'm not so keen on the execution. Changing weapons takes too many minor actions (one per weapon you sheathe or draw). Hunter style will reduce this by one minor action (so you can switch from bow to two melee weapons in only two minor actions). But let's start finessing.

First, the old Expertise feats are all obselete. You want the Master at Arms feat from Heroes of the Forgotten Lands p316. That will provide +1 to all weapons and allow you to sheathe one weapon and draw another as a minor action.

Second, you will want to multiclass into either Assassin or Monk to give yourself Access to Ki Focusses; enchant the focus and you can keep all your weapons up to spec rather than needing a dozen enchanted ones.

Thirdly, you are very easy to hit there. AC18 at fifth level? For comparison, my fifth level wizard with no real thought put into his AC will have an AC of 17 - my off-tanking Warlord has an AC of 24 at 5th level (although he has put some work into that). You're going down fast if you find yourself on the front lines.

Fourthly, is your character concept wedded to the Ranger and Two Weapon Fighting? Or is it versatility of weapons that matters? Because if you want to be switching between weapons that way and playing an elf, I'm going to recommend a Slayer from the Essentials line. (Not in the character builder yet - but they are fairly simple). Because nothing quite says you mean business like your primary weapons being a two handed axe maul, a polearm of some sort, a longbow, and a collection of throwing daggers - plus shortbow, shortswords, etc. Taking Melee Training (Dexterity) will allow you to drop your strength and put that 16 in dexterity (boosting it to 18 - which gives you +1 to hit and +1 to AC - both very useful). You'll shoot better (assuming Poised Assault and Bracers of Mighty Striking, +12 to hit, 1d10 + 10 damage with a longbow beats twin strike at +2*9 to hit, 1d10 + 1 damage) and in melee you're at +12 to hit, 2d6+10 damage vs a rough average of 2*+9 to hit, 1d10+5 damage plus Quarry. Oh, and you have a polearm for another combat mode - and your throwing daggers. About all you lose is Disruptive Shot (which is, admittedly, good if you can hit with it) and a couple of trained skills. You even gain hit points despite losing Toughness, and I haven't replaced your now irrelevant feats.