New group, high power, my ranger/scout needs to catch up.

[Dei]

Like the title says, I recently joined a new group and got what can only be described as a baptism of fire. My character was dropped into negatives in almost every fight and the DM, who realises how high powered his game is compared to most, gave me until the weekend (the next session) to spruce him up. I've tweaked him a little myself and so far come up with:

Shadow Template 2/Scout 3/ Ranger 3/ Fighter 2
Human:

Str: 10
Dex: 20
Con: 14
Wis: 12
Int: 14
Cha: 8

Speed: 55ft (30ft*1.5 from shadow template)+10ftscout

BAB: +7/+2

Ranged Attack:
+14/+9
+1 screaming Longbow
1d8+1d4+2 (+4d6 skirmish)

Feats:
Point Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Darkstalker
Swift Hunter
Manyshot
Improved Skirmish

Special Abilities:
Ranger:
Rapid Shot (Ranger bonus)
FE: Undead +4
Abberations +2

Scout:
Skirmish (+2d6, +1AC) grows to (+4d6, +3AC if I move at least 20 ft)
Uncanny Dodge
Fast Movement +10
Trackless Step

Shadow Template:
Cold Resistance: 13
Darkvision 60ft
Shadow Blend
Evasion
Mirror Image 1/day

He's focused around improved skirmish and swift hunter, using those two feats to become a highly mobile damage dealer and using his shadow blend ability to get into position/out of trouble. For progression I'm thinking of grabbing another level of scout to get Shot on the Run as a bonus feat then perhaps going into Order of the Bow Initiate after using my 9th level feat to grab weapon focus: Longbow. This will let me add ranged precision damage to my skirmish attacks and has the full BAB that I'm after.

However I want to make absolutely sure he's as good as he can be otherwise I'm not going to stand a chance against some of what our DM whips up. So, any suggestions on how I could make this guy better?

Many Thanks

 

[Darklone]

Shadow Template... Hmmm

Archers need high str and dex, your str is a bit low. Rapid Shot isn't worth it if your Str + comp bow isn't at least at str 16 (+some str booster).

Can't you do without the fighter levels? Turn them into Scout levels, you'll be better at skirmish and Scout5 gives you Evasion + 1 bonus feat. Hmm, since you already have Evasion, take 1 scout level and one ranger level. Level 1 spells (don't underestimate the ranger archer spells) and the bonus feat.

Why no Greater Manyshot? Why taking Manyshot if you get it with your ranger levels later anyhow? (Swift Hunter isn't that good if you increase Scout levels)

I don't know Darkstalker. Is it worth it?

 

[Dei]

Shadow Template... Hmmm

Archers need high str and dex, your str is a bit low. Rapid Shot isn't worth it if your Str + comp bow isn't at least at str 16 (+some str booster).

Can't you do without the fighter levels? Turn them into Scout levels, you'll be better at skirmish and Scout5 gives you Evasion + 1 bonus feat. Hmm, since you already have Evasion, take 1 scout level and one ranger level. Level 1 spells (don't underestimate the ranger archer spells) and the bonus feat.

Why no Greater Manyshot? Why taking Manyshot if you get it with your ranger levels later anyhow? (Swift Hunter isn't that good if you increase Scout levels)

I don't know Darkstalker. Is it worth it?

Well since he's focused around skirmishing it's going to be rare that I'll use my rapidshot and since the campaign is only 28point buy I'd have to sacrifice both skillpoints and health to get any kind of meaningful boost to strength. I did think about going pure scout but my BAB is low enough as it is and our DM loves to throw high ACs at us. I probably will grab the extra level of ranger on top of the level of scout as this will let me pick up the distracting attack class feature and start getting some spells too but that'll be a progression plan. The mobility and stealth provided by the shadow template really do add a lot to him I feel.

Darkstalker is a feat which allows my stealth abilities to affect creatures with extra ordinary senses, such as blindsense, tremorsense, etc. Again, my DM likes to use exotics a lot so I think it'll turn out to be a wise investment.

 

[Zurai]

Scout 3 / Ranger 5 if you really want to keep the shadow template. I don't personally think it adds enough to the build to be worth it, though; you're sacrificing 16 skill points, 2d8+4 hp, and 2 BAB for evasion (which you'll get anyway with enough ranger OR scout levels), Darkvision, a 1/day low level SLA, and minor cold resist.

Also, there's nothing that Fighter really gets you that Ranger won't do for you better. Basically, you want Greater Manyshot and as many ranger levels as you can get. Greater Manyshot, unlike Manyshot, can be used with precision attacks such as Skirmish. Greater Manyshot requires Manyshot to take. Conveniently, Manyshot is the Improved Archery Combat Style bonus feat.

If you were to go Scout 3/Ranger 7, you would have the same number of feats that you already have, more hp, more skills, higher BAB, ranger spells, distracting attack, 1d6 more skirmish damage, and another favored enemy bonus.

 

[Quartz]

Can you post some of the other characters for comparison?

 

[Dei]

Scout 3 / Ranger 5 if you really want to keep the shadow template. I don't personally think it adds enough to the build to be worth it, though; you're sacrificing 20 skill points, 2d8+4 hp, and 2 BAB for evasion (which you'll get anyway with enough ranger OR scout levels), Darkvision, a 1/day low level SLA, and minor cold resist.

Well the main attraction was its shadow blend ability. It's essentially complete invisibility for a standard action each round. It also massively increases my mobility which is another very important concern considering that if one of the DM's creations manages to actually catch/corner my character, he's pretty much dead regardless of 2d8+4 extra HP. Our tank has over 130, an AC of 33 and still usually needs a heal spell once every two or three rounds.

 

[MithrasRahl]

If he is getting dropped into the negatives each fight, there is a decent chance it's either that your combat ability isn't good enough for the style of campaign or you're trying to be too aggressive with a stealth character. If, based on the adventure so far, it seems the "stealth" role is just required for move silent/hide to give the party a bit of advance notice, why not become a more combat oriented archer, and then get the party spell-caster to cast things like invisibility on you while you're scouting?

This suggestion assumes you'll be allowed some 3rd edition PrC, so ask your DM

Wood Elf, 28 point buy: 14, 18, 14, 10, 12, 8

Ranger 1: PBS, Track, 1st Favoured Enemy
Ranger 2: Combat Style: Archery (Rapid Shot)
Fighter 1: Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (Long Bow)
Ranger 3: Endurance
Fighter 2: Far Shot
Deepwood Sniper 1: Quick Draw (to access Peerless Archer), Keen arrows, range +10 per DW
Ranger 4: Distracting Shot
Ranger 5: 2nd favoured enemy
Ranger 6: Improved Combat Style (Many shot), Improved Rapid Shot
Deepwood Sniper 2: Conceal reduction 10%, Improved critical modifier +1 (aka, x4 on a crit)

Next 3 levels would be Peerless archer, which was give you 1d6 ranged sneak attack, Power Shot with the bow, ability to create +1 arrows, and an ability to reduce the cover of your enemies.

The 10 levels above would come out to:

BAB +10/+5, +12/+7 melee, +14/+9 ranged

+10 Fort, +12 Reflex, +3 Will

Equip:
+1 True bane Composite (+3) long bow (32,600)
Mithral Shirt (1,100)
Belt +2 Str (4,000)
Gloves +2 Dex (4,000)
Cloak of resistance +2 (4000)
Hewards Handy Haversack (2000)
3000 left for random potions, masterwork melee weapons, etc

Modified Stats:

Fort +12, Reflex +15, Will +5

Attack with Bow: +17/+12 -or- +15/+15/+10/+10
1d8+4(+1 within 30 feet)+ 2d6+2 after your first shot hits (truebane)
19-20 threat range x4
AC 19, HP (using 3/4 rule) 83

You have 2 Ranger spells a day, so one (or both) should be Hunter's Mercy, which makes your next shot automatically hit and automatically threaten, and your crit modifier is x4

On average rolling you'd be hitting AC 26/25/21/20, doing an average of 9.5 damage on the first hit, and then 18.5 on the rest of them

On top of that, you still have Track as well as the skill points to boost up Move Silent, Hide, Spot, and Listen.

Your range with the bow is an impressive 185 feet, so you can scout ahead, cast hunter's mercy, attack from the shadows/trees on an unsuspecting target, and if 3 of 4 attacks hit, you'd be doing an average of 75 damage on that surprise round, and then you can retreat to your party and get ready to ambush the bad guys that will no doubt be following you.

Any thoughts/questions? I'm playing this character (though only level 6 at the moment) in a campaign, and not only am I the primary damage dealer, but I'm also the least hit (shooting from the roof, getting the wizard to cast fly so I can shoot from the air, etc)

 

[Quartz]

Your main shtick seems to be dealing damage from a distance. How and why are you getting hit?

Have you considered simply going Ranger 11? The +6 damage against your most favoured enemy is only one off +2d6, but it does get multiplied on critical hits.

 

[Patlin]

Improved Manyshot from the XPH (or SRD) ought to help. With Swift Hunter, ranger/scout without the other classes/templates is very strong.

 

[chitzk0i]

Your main shtick seems to be dealing damage from a distance. How and why are you getting hit?

Have you considered simply going Ranger 11? The +6 damage against your most favoured enemy is only one off +2d6, but it does get multiplied on critical hits.

The point of Swift Hunter is that you get full skirmish and full Favored Enemy.