Ranger tips? 4E PHB only

[Mooseberg0620]

It is more or less waiting for DM approval on my weapon choice (Doublesword) pretty sure I'll get it) so feat advice is welcome.

But never ran a ranger in any edition, much less this one rolled good stats at least.

So any advice is welcome.

Twins trike, hit and run, and jaws if the wolf on an elf.

 

[Dandu]

Which edition?

 

[Mooseberg0620]

4e, sorry.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

A melee ranger usually goes Strength primary and Dex secondary. (WotC suggested Dex primary and Strength secondary for an archer, but every archer ranger I've ever seen took Wisdom secondary.) As an elf, you'll have a high Wisdom anyway. Your high Dex will mitigate your low AC somewhat, but take hide armor. +1 AC helps. Take any power that lets you retreat when attacked; it's crucial to avoid being attacked in the first place (rather than try to boost your lowish AC).

Your Strength bonus to damage isn't terribly important, because Twin Strike ignores that. You do want every other bonus possible, especially those that "double up". So Lethal Hunter only gives you an average +1 damage at the heroic tier, whereas anything that gives you +1 damage per strike (other than Strength) is worthwhile. Weapon Focus is a good feat, as you don't need to be a fighter to take it (from what I see) and that's +1 damage per sword swing per tier
(basically +2 per round).

Your accuracy will suffer, as elves don't get a bonus to Strength. Invest in an appropriate expertise feat. It's a good thing you're using some sort of sword, as those give you +3 proficiency bonuses. Elven Accuracy is also nice.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

Thankfully the dice love me and I have dueling 18s in Str and Dex. If I do get the double sword that should put me at a comfy base 18 AC. Still not being hit is preferable. Sadly the DM really means PHB only, even the expertise feats aren't allowed. (Currently)

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Is there a real reason for PHB only?

If you end up using the Character Builder - which I recommend - you will have access to everything and it's actually hard (maybe impossible?) to filter things out.

 

[Igwilly]

Character Builder is not necessary to play 4e, especially if only the core books are allowed.
I allow many splatbooks, but no CB in my 4e games.
Also, I don't think you can adquire CB legally, now. Just the ones who already have it, it seems.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

DMS house rule. A lot of the players are new to gaming as well. Almost convinced him to run 5e, but he knows 4e better.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

From memory, a doublesword isn't in the PHB - that's the other reason I asked.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

You arw correct!

Hoping the DM will let me rule of cool that, but we shall see. Also it enjoyably would still count as both a heavy and light blade I'm planning to secretly use the Errata version but I could really really abuse that.

 

[Orc Breath]

Two-Weapon Fighting and Two-Weapon Defense are two good PHB feats for two-weapon rangers.

Two-Weapon Fighting was errata'd to be a +1 damage bonus to all melee weapon attacks, not just main hand (or is it off-hand?) as listed in the PHB. Also, you need it open up the Two-weapon feat tree.
Two-Weapon Defense gives you a +1 AC and Ref bonus.

A lot of your riders use your Wis mod, so keep that high.
If you plan on staying in Hide armor, then you need to keep your Dex up (with an 18 starting Dex, probably a fine choice). The other option is to take the Chain and then Scale Armor proficiency feats and run around in scale. This does costs you two feats, so Hide might be the better option.

Looking into your future, you might want to take a look at the Paragon Paths available to you. If limited to PHB only, then Stormwarden and Pathfinder are your only options (both good options IMO). Stormwarden favors high Dex, Pathfinder favors high Wis. So something to consider as you build and level.

 

[Tony Vargas]

But never ran a ranger in any edition, much less this one....

Probably just as well, the class was purely martial at that point, so you'd be un-learning the basic concept had you played prior-ed rangers.

The PH1-only TWF Ranger is pretty limited, even for a Striker (I'd be bored to tears with it in a matter of minutes, myself, not caring for strikers in the first place). It's probably the second-simplest PC option to play in the PH1, after the archery ranger - if you're an experienced player, even if not that experienced with 4e, you might find there are more interesting options for you, and maybe leave the strikers to the newbs. The Wizard, for instance, is more challenging and engaging, as are either of the Leader classes (and they're /not/ heal-bots).

That said, as I recall, the early PH1 TWF Ranger ran into problems maintaining AC, because of the need for DEX for AC, STR for attack and WIS to support riders. Since you used random stat generation, you've dodged that bullet for now, you'll likely be Paragon before you start noticing the symptoms of MAD.

DMS house rule. A lot of the players are new to gaming as well. Almost convinced him to run 5e, but he knows 4e better.

Much as I like to encourage support for the current ed, running it after getting used to 4e is a challenge (quadruplely so if you started with 4e), and it is a steeper learning curve for new-to-gaming players. So probably a good call on his part.

I assume from the double-sword preference that you come to 5e with a healthy appreciation of 3e? Mechanically, a double-sword is nothing for the DM to whinge over in the hands of a TWF ranger. You could just use a pair of longswords, anyway.

Anyway, PH1-only limits you, but if he's not using errata, it also opens up some crazy. MC to fighter and going Pit Fighter at Paragon, for instance. And unerrata'd 'Blade Cascade,' I think it was...

 

[Raith5]

I think you will also have to think about your CON. As a toe to toe striker you will get hit and need as many healing surges as you can.

I played a ranger up till 30th level (though I was an archer and I converted to a ranger - cleric hybrid at about 8th level because of in game reasons and because I found the pure ranger to be a bit boring). The key to the ranger is getting out of turn powers and on your turn using twin strike - it is really that simple. Disruptive Strike is a out of turn key power to save your bacon or help party members. Invigorating Stride and Yield Ground are really good get out of trouble powers. As a melee dude I think you will use these powers more than I ever did.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

Orc Breath- all good by me. Great advice. Also will have an 18 in my wis.

Mr. Vargas- yeah kind of like both versions. If I ever start a new pathfinder campaign I'll have to adapt to the spell casting.

And healthy appreciation for PF at least. never used a double sword before, but it fits the character I'm building.

Raith- should be a 14 con. But i might make it a 16 to make my wis and con both 16. And I will be sticking up on put of turn actions to keep things interesting.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Tell him to rule of cool the whole bloody lot!

It's 4E - not 3.5E - so it's basically well-balanced across the whole product line. And if you use the whole product line, you can also use the offline Character Builder, the offline Compendium, and the offline Monster Builder without having to self-edit your choices.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

Lol. He did give my weapon a pass. And I know a bug part of his reason for JUST PHB is because of new players.

 

[D'karr]

Is there a real reason for PHB only?

If you end up using the Character Builder - which I recommend - you will have access to everything and it's actually hard (maybe impossible?) to filter things out.

The character builder allows you to remove all unused sources using the Campaign Settings Tab. You can then save that as a campaign setting default and load it as necessary. I use that with my players to filter out a lot of cruft from the system.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

The character builder allows you to remove all unused sources using the Campaign Settings Tab. You can then save that as a campaign setting default and load it as necessary. I use that with my players to filter out a lot of cruft from the system.

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. I stand corrected.

 

[MwaO]

I think you will also have to think about your CON. As a toe to toe striker you will get hit and need as many healing surges as you can.

A lot of it is just not over thinking it. If you have an 18 Dex and a magical thrown weapon, you can always do Twin Strike. If you have a good Strength, Twin Strike doesn't function on stat, just to-hit.

i.e. Elf, 16 Str, 18 Dex = base 17 AC. Keep leveling up those two stats. That also gives you a 14 Wis and 12 Con. Sure, you don't have the 18 to-hit stat, but you have the one-reroll PHB class. You want +3 proficiency weapons if you do that so you don't miss too much. That means in PHB-only dual longswords and a magic dagger for throwing with Twin Strike.

I realize the stats are rolled - but that's how you make a good melee Ranger who can do toe to toe - the reroll on say Disruptive Strike will be a lifesaver...

 

[Garthanos]

Character builder does have the campaign settings stuff so with a little effort a dm could edit out what they didnt like...

For instance the flavor free anoying OP expertise feats