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Min/Max a Ranger

With only a 10 wisdom, you can only cast 0th level spells..and since rangers don't _have_ 0th level spells, you basically can't cast any spells. That means no animal companions.

IMO, Rangers are not the type of character to "min/max". Rangers tend to be generalists...they need a good score in just about every stat...

Str: needed for effective melee combat as well as being able to carry decent amounts of stuff without losing their "quasi" feats.

Dex: Needed for dex based skills as well as boosting their weak AC.

Con: Not critical, but it is always good to have some extra HPs.

Int: Necessary to really take advantage of the ranger's good skill selection.

Wis: Needed to cast spells as well as use Wis based skills.

Cha: Not really necessary unless you want to use skills like Animal Empathy...

The point of a Ranger is not to be a "stealthy fighter". If you want that, go with a Fighter/Rogue. A ranger is generally useful in a range of situations.

If I were to make an Elf Ranger with 32 points, it'd look like this:

Str 14
Dex 15
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 10

After racial mods...
Str 14
Dex 17
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 10

Then I'd concentrate on using a bow...feats like Weapon Focus (longbow), Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Precise Shot, etc.

Two weapon fighting is nice, but it has the unfortunate requirement that you wear light armor...light armor and melee combat is not usually that great a combination. Save the TWF for something to fall back on should you be forced into melee.
 

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But this isn't a min-maxed ranger - it is a min-maxed fighter who took a level of ranger for some free feats!

A better min-maxed fighter might be human with a high strength, initial feats Exotic(bastardsword), Quickdraw.

Thus he normally fights with his bastardsword 2H to maximise his strength bonus, but if he gets a full attack he quickdraws his shortsword and attacks with the bastard sword and the shortsword. This would give you a better damage output capability in various situations. Heck, if you wanted to get silly you could even fight with two bastardswords and let your 18 Str suck up the attack penalty :)

Contrary to Ullers' assertion, it is perfectly possible for a Ranger with 10 Wis to have animal companions. He just uses his class skill "animal handling" and trains appropriate beasts or animals. If he starts at higher than 1st level it is very likely that he will already have quite a few already trained - in fact with a high charisma, skill focus(handle animal) and animal empathy 9+ it is possible for a 10th ranger to have pet Tyrannosaurs as his trained animals. Somewhat more significant than the pitiful 5HD or less of creatures that he could have with "Animal Friendship" considering his measly casting level!

Now that is a *real* min-maxed ranger of a style which you don't often see :)
 


Hejdun said:


Animal companions don't really mean much to a ranger. They only get 10 HD worth at level 20, which is neglible.

Ya, by trying (and failing) to balance it for the Druid they totally screwed the Rangers use of them.
 

Invest your money carefully. A ring of Animal Friendship gives you +12 Extra Hit Dice, that might be enough for a Dire Bear. And than train him to wear Armor, and you have a combat effective monster.
 

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