Loholt's return

[Argante]

Hi Folks,

Now I have access to 32-point builds I want to resurrect Loholt. He was my Ranger Archer. However, I have completely forgotten how to build a ranger (a WF Mage took me 4 attempts before I was happy) so I’d like a little help.

Here’s what I want:

* Pure Ranger build unless there is an irredeemable reason for multi-classing (I have never played a multi-class character, I don’t hold with it).
* Evasion ofc
* Focus on archery, 2WF would be a nice addition but not essential
* Cloth wearer
* UMD if at all possible

Does anyone have anything that comes close to fitting the bill?
(I’m looking at you Legend)

Cheers,
Paul

[Sinaefay]

If going pure ranger, no reason at all to go for robes/outfits anymore. Light armor will give you some physical resistance rating, while a robe or outfit will give you nothing.

You want to have as high str as possible anyway, as str adds to dmg while dex doesnt. The base dex score you want to aim for at level 20+ is 21 (that is including a dex tome but nothing else), which is the requirement for combat archery (epic feat). The three stats you want high in is str, dex and con.

Just put 1 point in umd at each level, which is easy for a ranger anyway. Beyond that,  also get diplomacy, balance, and if possible, hide and move silently. Put 1 rank in tumble, so you can use the skill. In order to get a useable umd at high levels, you will need a shroud skill item (air, air, air cha skills are popular, or a conc opp item with cha skills if you got the ingredients for it).

Feat-wise you will probably aim for arcane archer, and beyond the feats needed for arcane archer (mental toughness, point blank shot, weapon focus ranged), you will want toughness and imp crit ranged. You have some freedom with your remaining feats, beyond one feat at epic levels which should be combat archery.

Im sure our resident master archer Nath have some additional advice, if you ask her 🙂

[Argante]

Thanks Barundar, there’s certainly enough there to get me started.

[Legend]

My Ranger is more melee based and I TR’d my archer about 2 weeks before they brought out all the decent abils for them!! so was going to suggest getting some advice from either Nath, Twinswords or Jan as all have effective rangers that use bow a lot, am sure there are a few others in guild too.

I do use bows with my ranger as manyshot a great abil so can add somethig on the remaining feats, as you will have mental toughness like Jan has said and you will also want to have an sp item and a greensteel sp item at tier 2 and 3, if you choose the feat empowered healing and equip yourself with a half decent devotion item (70ish+) you will have very nice self healing for soloing wihout spending too much sp and can also then use the heal scrolls outside combat like Jan has advised by maxxing the UMD.

It is ofc worth having 2 half decent swords for melee also, Scimitars do the job well without having to use feats.

Then it is just down to the gear and selection of bows, at low level (from 6) the Silver Longbow is still very viable, then getting into the higher levels there are a few named, but again people who have the dedicated archers will tell you the bows they tend to use, I tend to keep following selection: Epic Acid Long Bow from Canith Challenges (very handy), Epic Thornlord, Bow of the Silver Flame (ok for undead) Crafted Holy Burst of Greater Construct Bane, GS Bow Tier 3 fire, I would presume for an archer a decent selection of situational bows is a must!!

 

[Nath]

I just TR’ed my FvsAA into a pure 20 ranger and it was allot of fun. I think what made her more fun than the other 20 ranger I levelled is that she had greensteel hp and sp item, so running with 1300 sps and 500-600 hps at level 20 and up really makes the build more fun and survivable. I might also be more focussed on having self reliable characters – and I was able to solo allot of epic content with this character because of the self healing.

For this you will need maximize, 9 or 12% healing lore and devotion item, use enhancements etc (I used the upgraded gloves from Reavers raid (level 13) because I already had something in my head spot and there arent many items with both on, however if you have not got set pieces of gear yet I would rather use the 30% healing amp gloves from the new commendation turn-ins but that said getting dev/healing lore on a ranged character can be a pain, even just a good devotion can work).

I do not think you need UMD on a ranger, not the way I build it anyway.

Here are some specifics of the build, it might not be what others recommend cause I usually just do my own thing and not a big fan of math:

I made her an elf because that is her, but you could do half-elf for different healing options. My other ranger was halfling and I would probably make more if Arcane archer (non ranger build) did not require elf :S

Abilities at start: 16 STR, 17 Dex, 14 Con, 9 Int, 13 Wis, 8 Cha (34 point build, I have used several tomes tho, level up abilities all go into Dex)

Enhancements: Arcane Archer line, Sprint boosts, Elven and ranger ranged damage boosts, racial toughness x2, energy of the wild x 3, devotion 4 etc.

Selected Feats: Point blank shot, weapon focus ranged, mental toughness (this is a AA requirement unless you can bypass it through past life or other means, there are some options http://ddowiki.com/page/Arcane_Archer_enhancements), Improved critical ranged, toughness, maximize.

Epic feats: Combat Archery (Passive, Your Point Blank Shot damage is increased by +1(W). You also gain a +2% Dodge bonus while using a ranged weapon. Req: Point Blank Shot, Dex 21) hmmmm I dont remember what my last feat was now but mental toughness could be good if you dont make a greensteel sp item.

Equipment wise: Seems myddo characters isnt working… oh well… Epic dualist leathers were the best light armour I could find because of the dodge, but there are new cloaks coming in the next update with 4% on too which could make the woodmans set (from commendation hand ins) an option while I currently only used the boots and the goggles. I think it is important to get at least 9% dodge… the more the better, and a blurry/ghostly item is good too.

At low levels I use some bows I looted that I put icy burst etc on, but I looked at the cannith challenges longbow of earth and it seems to be a viable weapon around level 8, I also use the epic version at level 20 allot due to the nice greater acid arrow which gives ongoing damage and the improved destruction). I use a lighting 2 bow for levels 12 to 20 when I am not using a enemy specific weapon like banishing, smiting, disruption etc – these are all worth it.

Have fun, I even reconsidered if I wanted to Tr my FvsAA back into an FvsAA after I had so much fun on the pure ranger 🙂 so enjoy and feel free to ask questions here or pm!

PS. The coolest Epic Destiny Sharadi Chamption tier 3 ability is tea with the queen, max out diplomacy and make sure you have an item you can slot in when you use it 🙂 You will love it, things like 100 physical res for 5 minutes, +10 to all ability scores etc etc!! 🙂

[Argante]

Ok, some of this was confusing with Barundar saying to put points in STR and Nath saying Dex but I’ve put something together and would welcome comments:
Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.14.02
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Loholt
Level 20 Lawful Good Human Male
(20 Ranger)
Hit Points: 284
Spell Points: 503

BAB: 20/20/25/30/30
Fortitude: 14
Reflex: 17
Will: 8

Starting Ending Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Base Stats Modified Stats
(32 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20) (Level 20)
Strength 16 21 22
Dexterity 16 16 20
Constitution 14 14 14
Intelligence 8 8 8
Wisdom 14 14 14
Charisma 8 8 8

Starting Ending Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20) (Level 20)
Balance 5 16.5 16.5
Bluff -1 -1 -1
Concentration 2 2 2
Diplomacy 1 10.5 10.5
Disable Device n/a n/a n/a
Haggle -1 -1 -1
Heal 2 2 2
Hide 7 28 28
Intimidate -1 -1 -1
Jump 7 29 29
Listen 2 2 2
Move Silently 7 28 28
Open Lock n/a n/a n/a
Perform n/a n/a n/a
Repair -1 -1 -1
Search -1 -1 -1
Spot 4 23 23
Swim 3 6 6
Tumble 4 6 6
Use Magic Device n/a n/a n/a

Level 1 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Undead
Feat: (Human Bonus) Point Blank Shot
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Focus: Ranged Weapons
Enhancement: Human Versatility I
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Damage I
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Defense I
Enhancement: Ranger Devotion I

Level 2 (Ranger)
Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery I
Enhancement: Ranger Dexterity I

Level 3 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Ranger Skill Boost I
Enhancement: Ranger Sprint Boost I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Resistance I

Level 4 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Human Versatility II
Enhancement: Ranger Extra Empathy I
Enhancement: Ranger Energy of the Wild I

Level 5 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Giant
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Dexterity I
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Damage II

Level 6 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness
Enhancement: Ranger Dexterity II
\par Level 7 (Ranger)
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer I

Level 8 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Imbue Force Arrows
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II

Level 9 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Imbue Acid Arrows
Enhancement: Human Versatility III
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Conjure +2 Arrows

Level 10 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider

Level 11 (Ranger)
Enhancement: Ranger Dexterity III

Level 12 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Power Critical
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Imbue Explosive Arrows
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Damage III
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Conjure +3 Arrows

Level 13 (Ranger)
Enhancement: Human Greater Adaptability Strength I

Level 14 (Ranger)
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Damage IV

Level 15 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Lawful Outsider
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Imbue Force Burst Arrows
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Imbue Terror Arrows
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Attack I
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Conjure +4 Arrows

Level 16 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Attack II

Level 17 (Ranger)
Enhancement: Human Versatility IV

Level 18 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell

Level 19 (Ranger)
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Imbue Slaying Arrows
Enhancement: Ranger Arcane Archer: Conjure +5 Arrows
Enhancement: Ranger Energy of the Wild II
Enhancement: Ranger Energy of the Wild III

Level 20 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Dragon
Enhancement: Ranger Master of Archery
Enhancement: Ranger Item Defense I
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Resistance II

[Argante]

Ah, looks like this editor doesn’t like the Character Planner export. I tried to fix it by changing the [code] tags to tags but I think it actually made things worse. Is there a correct way to get character planner data on the forum?

Edit: Sort of fixed it but is there a better way?

[Nath]

The build looks good 🙂 I think that increasing STR with levels is a good idea, just discussed it with Ulf too, I didn’t think of that but to-hit is probably not a problem on a pure ranger 🙂

EDIT: I see you did not take all the devotions, I think its an important boost but I see you took human versatility all the way?

I dont take fav enemy dragon usually, I think there are ones you will get the benefit from more often.

Not sure about the tags problem it looks fine to me, otherwise I usually copy text via notepad to clear any formatting I dont want.

[Argante]

Hi Nath,

Yeah, I was wondering if I had enough SP. I didn’t realise how much I’d need until I saw the SP cost of some of the AA boosts. I’ll fiddle around with it a bit.

Cheers,
Paul

Edit: Oh, and I think I’ll swap Dragons for Aberrations, there seem to be a lot more aberrations around these days. Thanks for the advice.

[Nath]

Maybe some others can post their ideas about favoured enemy? I usually take undead, evil outsider, construct and the last time I levelled I took Drow/Elves due to the new content but there are lots of options, it depends on what is important to you – I usually took the ones I know there are allot of and that can have some resistances/difficult to kill. There are allot of Aberrations is a some quests (level 15-18 got some new quests for example), but hardly any in the new level 20+ stuff eveningstar stuff and challenges? Here is the monster list on DDO wiki: http://ddowiki.com/page/Monsters

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