Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="FadedC" data-source="post: 6342991" data-attributes="member: 55463">I'm making 2 assumptions which you aren't.First I'm assuming an AC well below 20. My impression has been that even at lvl 11 AC 20 would be very rare (or possibly even non-existent) even among very tough enemies. A more realistic AC would definitely favor the beast ranger more.My second assumption is more questionable, which is that at lvl 11, or shortly after lvl 11, rangers get a 3rd attack. I base this off of the alpha book appearing to have just left out mention of 3rd attacks for all classes (though maybe I missed them), and the fact that the ranger appears to have the same attack progression as the fighter, who gets a 3rd attack at lvl 11 in basic. If this is not the case, then volley becomes comparably much better and the beast master ranger worse.Branduil's math shows that against an extremely high ac enemy and with only 2 attacks (a worst case scenario) the beast hunter does still hold his own quite well, though he has to use a hound rather than a panther if he want maximum damage (though he loses party utility in doing so).On a completely different note, it is kind of weird that volley has such a bigger AoE spread than whirlwind attack. Whirlwind attack will rarely be worth using rather then just attacking but volley has much more potential.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="FadedC, post: 6342991, member: 55463"] I'm making 2 assumptions which you aren't. First I'm assuming an AC well below 20. My impression has been that even at lvl 11 AC 20 would be very rare (or possibly even non-existent) even among very tough enemies. A more realistic AC would definitely favor the beast ranger more. My second assumption is more questionable, which is that at lvl 11, or shortly after lvl 11, rangers get a 3rd attack. I base this off of the alpha book appearing to have just left out mention of 3rd attacks for all classes (though maybe I missed them), and the fact that the ranger appears to have the same attack progression as the fighter, who gets a 3rd attack at lvl 11 in basic. If this is not the case, then volley becomes comparably much better and the beast master ranger worse. Branduil's math shows that against an extremely high ac enemy and with only 2 attacks (a worst case scenario) the beast hunter does still hold his own quite well, though he has to use a hound rather than a panther if he want maximum damage (though he loses party utility in doing so). On a completely different note, it is kind of weird that volley has such a bigger AoE spread than whirlwind attack. Whirlwind attack will rarely be worth using rather then just attacking but volley has much more potential. [/QUOTE]

Verification