Mounted Warrior Builds

[Cabral]

Mount/Dismount as a move action (because you failed your ride check to do it as a free action ... 1's happen) and use Manyshot.

Use manyshot as your mount charges.

The main reasons for progressing in Ranger are level 2 spells and Evasion -> Improved Evasion.

By the way, Longstrider cast on your mount is great (Which you can do with Share Spells.) And at 12th character level (assuming pure ranger/outrider) your mount/animal companion would gain Devotion (+4 Will saves vs enchantment spells and effects)

Ranger definately bears looking into (no pun intended )... I'll do a build of an Outrider to 15th using Ranger and Hexblade to qualify later ...

At level 8 a Ranger can take a Wolverine for an animal companion ... which would be a wicked mount

 

[Artoomis]

Ideally, choose a class that gives much better survivablity to the mount, like Paladin, or be an archer that tries to stay out of melee combat.

Also ideally, find a way to let the mount fly (magic item). That lets you charge more often (3-D combat) and find a good spot to fire arrows.

I ran a paladin halfing on a celestial war dog with celestial armor. Very, very deadly in a charge, but it was difficult to set up the charge. In a four-round combat he'd do about as much damage as a fighter with full attacks, but his damage came all at once about every-other round, so he got more kills from the massive damage rule.

Very cool. Very heroic.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

As an archer, there is a fair chance that your mount is in less danger than as lance charger - most attacks will probably concentrate on you (especially since the mount usually is outside melee and doesn't provoke Attacks of Oppertunity). A archer might be able to survive some time without animal companion special abilities.

An idea might be to update your mount over time - The first 5-6 levels might be a Heavy Warhrose, but then look for alternative mounts, even if they are costly to come by (but this requires your DM to be flexible and a campaign that supports such mounts).

Ranger is certainly a good choice, multiclassing with Fighter might be a good idea, but it hurts your animal companion. Take the Ranger level first, even if it makes 1st level more difficult (if you can't get Precise Shot then) - the extra skill points are worth it.

The primary feat for every archer is probably Precise Shot. There is always someone in melee...
If you have a feat to spare (as if anybody ever would), Weapon Finesse is a good choice because it allows you to stay active even if you can't fight with your primary weapon style.

One problem with mounts is the space they require - a Heavy Warhorse can't go into every dungeon, unless you can summon it. A Dog is a lot more flexible, which gives Halfling (or Gnome) characters a important advantage. A mounted small character might be the most viable small melee fighter.

If your party lacks a front-line fighter, you might be in trouble as an archer, unless you have a lot of open space. Without a defense line, you will be forced into melee, and that sucks .

 

[Aikuchi]

I played a halfling outrider before and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Definitely possible with a fighter (and fun to play!) but I can see why a ranger would make a batter mounted archer. The character I had with a fighter based worked better as a mounted melee character.

Too bad the campaign was short-lived.
The DM couldn't take the stress of gaming with our group

 

[Cabral]

Alright, so my two suggestions for an Outrider are Ranger and Hexblade
Here are my builds for a Halfling Outrider (assumes 5 levels then 10 levels of Outrider):

Ranger 5d8 HD, 6+ Skills, Good Fort and Ref saves
2nd Favored Enemy, Track, Wild Empathy, Rapid Shot, Endurance, Animal Companion, 0+bonus spells first level spells per day.
Pros: Animal Companion advances with Halfling outrider levels. Divine spells are nifty.
Feats: Mounted Combat(1) Mounted Archery(3)

Outrider                          Druid     Possible
 Level    Feat                    Level[sup]1[/sup]    Animal Companions
    1     Precise Shot              3[sup]2[/sup]      Boar, Dire Badger, Wolverine
    2                               3
    3                               4
    4     Point Blank Shot          4
    5                               5
    6                               5
    7     Improved Precise Shot     6[sup]3[/sup]      Dire Wolverine
    8                               6
    9                               7
   10     Far Shot or               7
              Shot on the Run
[sup]1[/sup] For purposes of Animal Companion Abilities
[sup]2[/sup] If using a basic companion of a Riding Dog, Pony or Wolf, the companion gains 
+2 HD, +2 natural armor +1 Str, 2 tricks and evasion
[sup]3[/sup] If using a basic companion of a Riding Dog, Pony or Wolf, the companion gains 
+4 HD, +4 natural armor +2 Str, 3 tricks, evasion, and Devotion.

Note that not all large creature that big a deal (no pun intended) indoors ... for example, the Dire Wolverine should be fairly comfortable indoors. (At the same level you can have a normal wolverine with 2 bonus HD and a 10 ft burrow and climbs speed ... very versatile )

Hexblade 5d10 HD, 2+ Skills, Good Will saves
Hexblade's Curse 2/day, Arcane Resistance (bonus vs spells and spell effect), Mettle, Summon Familiar, Bonus casting related feat, and 0+bonus spells first level arcane spells per day with 2 spells known. (Note: Hexblade can cast in light armor with no spell failure like a bard)
Pros: Mettle+Evasion mean great things on a successful save, and your familiar as a mount plus augment familiar is very nice. Your mount would have half your hps. Half of (5d10+10d8 plus 15*your con modifier) and an effective HD of 15 will prabably result in a fairly survivable mount.
Cons: Familiar abilities are weak.
Feats: Mounted Combat(1) Mounted Archery(3) Combat Casting(5)
Feats: Improved Familar - Krenshar or Worg would require 6 levels in Hexblade prior to taking Halfling Outrider. whoops. After that, Point Blank Shot at 9, Precise Shot at 12, Improved Precise Shot at 15.

Both versions are certainly very light on the feats but they have other abilities fighter builds can't have. The Hexblade version would do well as a Hex 3/Fighter 2 prior to entering the Outrider then continue on afterwards. (Finishing at Hex 5/Ftr 5/Out 10) Or, if you don't suffer multiclassing penalties, you can have fun with whatever combos you like

Some other nice feats: Improved Rapid Shot, Improved Favored Enemy, Ranged Disarm¹, Ranged Pin, Ranged Sunder, Zen Archery if your Dex sucks

¹ The feat can be used with rays! "Cast your charms to disarm only!"

 

[Warehouse23]

The more I think about it, the more I think there's no good reason to take Halfling Outrider levels to make a small mounted archer.

Taking all the lead-up levels in fighter (read: Ftr 1-6), a halfling can pick up the following feats:

Level 1: PBS, PS
Level 2: RS
Level 3: Mounted Combat
Level 4: Mounted Archery
Level 6: Imp Mounted Combat, Imp Mounted Archery

Which, by the time I could take my first level of HO, would already make a fearsome mounted archer who only suffers -2 per shot if my mount is running (not full move) during combat.

This gets me thinking that the best multiclass combination is just to build a fighter/paladin (to get a primo mount). Ranger levels only count half towards an animal companion, and even then, there is little benefit in the way of feats (who really uses multishot anyways?).
Eventually, I think picking up OoBI will make the most effective mounted archer.

As far as a mount goes, if Eberron is fair game, all I really want is a flying dinosaur.... mmm.... flying dinosaur.

 

[Rackhir]

This gets me thinking that the best multiclass combination is just to build a fighter/paladin (to get a primo mount). Ranger levels only count half towards an animal companion, and even then, there is little benefit in the way of feats (who really uses multishot anyways?).
Eventually, I think picking up OoBI will make the most effective mounted archer.

As far as a mount goes, if Eberron is fair game, all I really want is a flying dinosaur.... mmm.... flying dinosaur.

Paladin will definitely do more for your mount than ranger, however Ranger has some really nice spells for archery. In particular the Arrow Mind, which is better than the OoBI ability since it enables you to threaten 5' (the OoBI ability doesn't, you just don't draw AoOs). Look through Complete Adventurer at some of the ranger spells in there. The OoBI ability is also further decreased in value, by the fact that your mount DOES threaten.

Manyshot is a pre-req for Imp Rapid Shot which eliminates the -2 penalty for rapid shot.

 

[kjenks]

Look at Figurine of Wondrous Power: Ebony Fly for a mount. Sure, it dies all the time, but you just command it big again. If you often run out of your 3 times per week, buy another one.

As for builds, you need feats, lots of them. And Fighter is the class for you, at least for a few levels.

Here are the feats you need as a really good mounted lancer:
Mounted Combat
Ride-by Attack
Spirited Charge
Power Attack
Shock Trooper (CW), requires Improved Bull Rush

With those six feats and a decent mount, you can dish out some serious damage most of the time, using the Heedless Charge tactic of the Shock Trooper feat.

A halfling fighter works okay, but you'll be riding wimpy riding dogs for quite a while if you stick with straight fighter.

A mix of Druid, Fighter and maybe Beastmaster will get you a Dire Bat for a mount. This mount can hover and it has good senses. Depending on your starting level, you could start with, say, Druid 4 and Fighter 4 and you have all six feats. If you have to work your way up from level 1, you might choose Druid 1 at character level 1 for skills and spells, then Fighter for a while to get the feats, then Druid levels all the way up. If you start at level 15, you can take all six feats as a druid.