Ranger and "other" mix, which class?

[Lopke_Quasath]

I told her the options, and she's leaning towards Psychic Warrior. Psychic Shot sounds cool. Also the PW gets Bonus feats as well, Sure the BAB is a little lower, but she's okay with that.

I'll mention the Warlock though, she may like the sound of some invocations, and having a "back-up" blaster that's a touch attack is cool (I've already shattered a bow, and almost shattered a 2nd, and that's after 2 sessions!).

 

[Aus_Snow]

2 levels of Psychic Warrior would be perfect, IMO. Of course, 2 or 4 of Fighter is classic too, but PsyWar is more fun, again IMO. Also, it's only one BAB lost. Quite a lot to gain, though.

 

[Kat']

(And I don't really like the Warlock!)

Don't you? 2 levels net you Detect Magic at will and the two invocations every archer will want to have: See the Unseen and Spiderwalk (both last 24 hours and are usable as often as you wish). If you take a PrC advancing arcane spellcasting as well as your Ranger stuff, you might get Lesser invocations and the very nice Walk Unseen or Flee the Scene. If you have the patience to take 4 levels of straight Warlock, you'd even get Deceive Item. Warlocks DO bring a LOT to any sneaky class, IMO.

 

[Slaved]

I believe that somewhere in one of the various books there is a weapon that can be used as either a quarterstaff or a bow and counts as both.

If that is true then she could take levels in Druid with the Unearthed Arcana substitution giving her monk armor class, monk speed, ranger favored enemy, and ranger tracking. If the dungeon master will allow it the substitution could instead give the swordsage armor class and initiative bonus instead of the monk armor class and speed.

At this point she could then cast shillelagh on her quarterstaff and she would have a really fun bow!

 

[irdeggman]

I ran a ranger 1/warlock 3 for a while.

He was a demon hunter.

Choosing the correct favored enemy applies to the damage of the EB when w/i 30 ft (like any other ranged weapon).

But since the character in question has a low charisma following the warlock path is not real viable.

Could just go fighter for the extra feats to help focus it out (boring but effective).


Of course the dip into rogue is real handy - 2 level dip gets you evasion and sneak attack, 3 level dip gets 2d6 sneak attack, and of course the large amount of skill points.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Don't you?

Nope.

I mean, I like the idea, but I dislike the execution (crunch and fluff).

 

[udalrich]

I ran a ranger 1/warlock 3 for a while.


But since the character in question has a low charisma following the warlock path is not real viable.

It's possible to build a good warlock with a charisma penalty. Invocations are at will and don't require a minimum charisma. There's also plenty of useful invocations that don't have a save, such as the ones mentioned which improve your vision.

 

[irdeggman]

It's possible to build a good warlock with a charisma penalty. Invocations are at will and don't require a minimum charisma. There's also plenty of useful invocations that don't have a save, such as the ones mentioned which improve your vision.

Right - they are fine for a while - but most of the those that affect more than one target (except for chain) do allow saving throws.

And one of the warlocks' core features is charisma dependent (UMD).

So for a slight dip it is fine, other than that it starts to lag.

 

[Mistwell]

Have you considered Marshall or Dragon Shaman or Bard? A stint into a buffing class can be useful for a long time...

 

[Nifft]

Straight Ranger is excellent, if the spells from Spell Compendium are allowed in. She should not delay her access to those if possible.

Barbarian is very nice, both for running around the battle field with her +10 ft. speed, and also for surprising the foolish bad guy who tried to get in melee with the squishy archer. Draw Greatsword, Rage, win. One or two levels is all she'd need. The Extra Rage feat is nice.

Cheers, -- N