TWF ranger weapon choices

[Nareau]

I'm playing a dual-axe-wielding ranger now, and loving it. He's going battle axe/hand axe for now (for the versatility of throwing that hand axe). But once he can afford a second battle axe, that's the way to go. He's got Weapon Focus (Axe), so he gets a +1 damage to every attack he makes.

Nareau

 

[Gloombunny]

Statwise, I'd say bastard sword are the top contenders over the course of your career.

I'm not so certain. A ranger who's comfortable with being pure TWF and no archery can leave their Dexterity low and buy up their Con a little to get scale armor and the axe feats. Deadly Axe looks much more appealing to a TWF ranger than Heavy Blade Opportunity, and with heavy armor instead of Dex-based AC you can better afford to increase Wisdom for various benefits. (Particularly nice if you multi to fighter and take Pit Fighter for your paragon path.) The 17 Con to get Axe Mastery at epic is a bit steep, though. :/

Conversely, a ranger could also pump their Dex high and take Scimitar Dance and Stormwarden. With scimitars you can even take Heavy Blade Opportunity as well if you really want it.

Which is a damn shame, because the images in my mind of someone stumbling around with two four feet+ blades are causing me a headache. You don't even see that in movies, which should tell you something (Meaning, fight choreographer are unable to make it look cool so they stick to shorter weapons).

I've seen it look cool in comic form. They were more like side-swords than bastard swords, but they were nice and long. It's silly as hell in real-life terms, but then, so is using two weapons to attack twice as often no matter how big they are.

 

[Revinor]

For fun, get Blade oppurtunity and twin flurry, and attack 4 times on an OA

Why 4 times? Heavy blade opportunity will allow twin strike (2 attacks), twin flurry gives you secondary attack with off-hand only if you hit with your primary hand. Looks like 3 rolls to me, last one at -5 hit (but with str bonus to damage, as it is normal attack).

 

[Burne]

I'm struggling with coming up with some good weapons for a TWF ranger I'm working on. I expect the weapon focus feat will come in handy; the question is, which is the right combo to go?

- dual short sword? (both +3 to hit; one weapon focus covers both weapons)
- longsword/short sword (both +3 to hit, but you have to pick on to weapon focus...or blow a second feat)
- scimitar/short sword (scimitar is +2 to hit only; this might not be worth until until scimitar dance is available at level 11)
- battle axe/handaxe (+2 to hit; one weapon focus; deadly axe at level 11 to make them high crit)

Any advise on which way to go? Thanks for your help.

Two more options not to discount,
Choose Eladrin and Eladrin Soldier for +2 Damage with longswords (better than a spending a feat for Bastard sword)
Or same idea, Dwarf with Axes/Hammers for +2 Damage.

I'd argue that Dwarf is the best race for a 2twf ranger even without the Weapon Training feat, and as other posters have pointed out, you can re-train to Weapon Focus/Scimitar Dance in the Paragon tier, or go with Hammer Rythm or Deadly Axe and you haven't lost a thing.

 

[Arbitrary]

Why 4 times? Heavy blade opportunity will allow twin strike (2 attacks), twin flurry gives you secondary attack with off-hand only if you hit with your primary hand. Looks like 3 rolls to me, last one at -5 hit (but with str bonus to damage, as it is normal attack).

I think that what he is thinking is that you trade both the normal opportunity attack and the offhand -5 attack in for at-wills and you pick Twin Strike for each.

 

[Agrias Oaks]

Two more options not to discount,
Choose Eladrin and Eladrin Soldier for +2 Damage with longswords (better than a spending a feat for Bastard sword)
Or same idea, Dwarf with Axes/Hammers for +2 Damage.

I'd argue that Dwarf is the best race for a 2twf ranger even without the Weapon Training feat, and as other posters have pointed out, you can re-train to Weapon Focus/Scimitar Dance in the Paragon tier, or go with Hammer Rythm or Deadly Axe and you haven't lost a thing.

Those could work, but keep in mind they don't scale.

While those feats are better in the heroic Tier, they become obsolete. With weapon focus (Heavy blades) in the paragon tier, you gain +2 damage with longswords, scimitars, AND bastard swords. Meanwhile, Eladrin Soldier only gives +2 damage to longswords, You lose versatility. And weapon focus/Eladrin soldier don't stack. Much the same for Dwarves, imo.

This is not to discount them as options, mind! Perhaps it is just that I prefer humans far too much over the other races to see these feats as being worthwhile.

I think that what he is thinking is that you trade both the normal opportunity attack and the offhand -5 attack in for at-wills and you pick Twin Strike for each.

Correct. its a combo allowed by the rules, but I imagine its subject to your DM.