Ranger

From HGWiki

Jump to: navigation, search
  • Ranger information on the NWNWIKI

Rangers are skilled hunters with a wide variety of build options available to them.

Contents

HG Customization

  • Legendary BAB: +15
  • Forum Class Ability Board
  • Languages: Rangers can speak Animal. To speak it, use the command /l animal [message] to speak a single line in Animal, or !speak animal to speak it until you !speak another language or opt to !speak common.
  • Legendary Ability Bonuses: Legendary Rangers gain +1 per 5 legendary levels to Constitution.
  • A character with Ranger 25 will receive the Evasion feat, if you are Ranger 40 (and you are also immortal) on using the !level command you will receive the Improved Evasion feat and see this through a retrospective class edits message.
  • Wisdom AC Bonus: Rangers with 20 or less Wisdom modifier receive twice their Wisdom modifier as an AC bonus, capped at half their number of Ranger class levels. Rangers with 21 or more Wisdom modifier receive their Wisdom modifier as an AC bonus, capped at their number of Ranger class levels.
    • To receive this AC bonus, the Ranger must be wearing light armor, must not have a shield equipped, must not have a kama, goad, or nunchaku equipped, and if wielding a melee weapon must wield one which can be equipped in the off-hand.
  • Nature's Allies: At Druid 21 or Ranger 21 and at least 25 character levels, characters can acquire the ability to summon natural allies. The Animal Empathy skill determines the power and shape of those allies.
  • Called Shot: When used by characters with at least 35 Ranger levels and the Bane of Enemies feat against their favored enemies, Called Shot will mark the enemy for 2 rounds. If the Ranger hits the called foe within that time, the enemy has to make a Fortitude save or die. The DC of Called Shot is now Ranger class level plus half the Ranger's Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom (if using Zen Archery) modifier, whichever is highest. In addition, legendary and paragon Rangers receive +1 DC at Ranger 45, 55, 65, and 75. If the Ranger has the Zen Archery feat and is using it, they add an additional (Wis modifier / 6) to the DC. Even if the save succeeds, the target will still take (Ranger level including LLs / 10) points of Constitution damage.
  • Rangers gain additional bow damage dice from set bows (ex. Uro, PoM, Hive) for every 4 PLs reaching a maximum +5 dice at level 80
  • Note: To access metamagic spells using level 5 slots (people quite often take Extend Spell for longer duration if they have a spare feat) you will need the following - !enhmode must be switched on for the character in question, you must have a base casting stat (Wisdom in the case of Rangers) of 15 and you must be wearing gear with added level 5 slots.
  • Searching: As Search is a class skill for Rangers you should take this (if you have enough Intelligence) as this will allow you to find secrets in various Legendary Level areas (assuming you can get it to the maximum of 127). This requires 63 base skill +50 from gear/bard song/etc = 113 therefore you will either need a +14 Int modifier (38 Int after gear) and/or a combination of Int modifier and ESF Search +10 or SF Search +3 either from items (addition of an Embroidered Augmenter to a suitable item works for SF Search) or as Feats taken. Unless you know the locations of all the secrets it can be useful to obtain Elemental Potion of Locate Object to indicate the presence of secrets in an area. Elf base characters have a significant benefit for this activity as they are automatically in Search mode so secrets will just pop into your inventory assuming that you meet the skill requirements for making the checks.

Note: To access metamagic spells using level 5 slots (people quite often take Extend Spell for longer duration if they have a spare feat) you will need the following - !enhmode must be switched on for the character in question, you must have a base casting stat (Wisdom in the case of Rangers) of 15 and you must be wearing gear with added level 5 slots.

Build Types

Rangers either dual two melee weapons or use a bow with Zen Archery. All Ranger types can easily achieve both great defense and high kill counts.

NOTE: Splashing other classes also reduces the effectiveness of the Invisibility Purge spell effect which can be significant when attacking high conceal enemies. You can recover up to three temporary caster levels by using Netherese Power Orbs or through the Shifter Baelnorn Empower Ally effect.

Dexterity based Rangers are very easy to build and are an extremely well rounded build. With high AC, their own buffs and spare stat points to distribute to STR (so they can make STR checks) they can achieve phenomenal defenses. They also have very high AB and Called Shot DC so are excellent instant killers and damage dealers.

Since splashing in another class reduces Called Shot DC and impacts on the effectiveness of the Invisibility Purge spell, most dex rangers are pure. They are already such well a rounded build that there is rarely need to splash another class (although they do miss out on UMD). Dex rangers dual two melee weapons so they can get bonus Wisdom AC, katanas and bastard swords are the most popular choices for weapons.

Strength based Rangers are focused on greater damage output than their DEX based counterparts. They add their STR mod to damage on each attack so can reach significantly higher damage output. Although they have lower AC, it is still easy to reach upwards of 130 and in addition they receive crit immunity through the Polymorph Self (Zombie) spell.

  • NOTE: To obtain the Ranger dual wielding AC bonus on a medium size character whilst using a 2h weapon (and gaining the attendant HG 20% damage boost) you will need to equip either Spears or Tridents, on a small size character you can currently use other weapons although a mod change has been slated to Fix the use of all 2H weapon for Rangers as it has been deemed unbalanced in combination with their high AC. It is not possible to make a large size Ranger with 2H benefit due to the weapons available.

Some STR Rangers are pure and maintain a high Called Shot DC for instant kills whereas others splash in classes such as Weapon Master, Paladin, Fighter, Blackguard or Rogue for defensive or offensive benefits. Weapon Master is popular due to the increased crit range and multiplier which significantly increases damage output. Katanas and Bastard Swords are also popular weapon choices, although for a STR Wemic Ranger, Spears are also a viable option. Four Fighter levels can give you access to the Weapon Speciaization line of feats potentially giving you an extra 20 points of damage per hit. Two levels of Blackguard can significantly increase your saves (dependant on Charisma) and also allow using poisons for extra damage/other effects.

With the Zen Archery feat these builds use their WIS modifier instead of DEX for ranged attacks with a shortbow. By maximizing Wisdom they can achieve massive Called Shot DC, making them the best instant killer of all Ranger types. Due to the synergy with AC and Wisdom modifier for Rangers you can attain one of the highest AC values of any build although you will likely be vulnerable to Strength checks and possess some what limited damage options, although there are special Ranger Bows found throughout the mod that grant them some Shield AC and extra damage based on WIS modifier.

  • Shifting Ranger: This is a different take on the Ranger class using its synergy with Druid and Shifter to make an extremely effective shifting tank, they utilise the fact that your Str and Dex are form based so can focus on mostly taking Con giving a ridiculous amount of HP whilst not affecting AB, AC etc. These builds are well proven the only negative being they have to unshift to change weapon type which in the middle of a fight can be problematic. They are a lot less race dependent than many of the other builds and using a base race will have minimal impact on their effectiveness see http://highergroundpoa.proboards.com/thread/21471 in fact using races with survival abilities (plus other unique feats and/or abilities) and added base Con and Int can be more effective that those with added Wis.

Play Guide

Defenses

Most Rangers have excellent AC to help them avoid attacks and high STR and DEX to avoid KD checks. Together with Camouflage/Mass Camouflage (improved with high Hide skill), a good source of concealment, rangers make very sturdy tanks. Rangers with 40 base STR also receive temporary critical hit immunity from Polymorph Self. Polymorph Self can also be used to obtain stun immunity, levitation, water breathing or extra dodge AC for removing hell penalties.

The defense of melee Rangers is very good, so much so that often you will have no trouble tanking on the frontline and pulling the most dangerous spawns in the mod. The only drawback to pure rangers is they have no UMD to get themselves out of sticky situations. GS pots (from Hell Shop or as a consumable where BURs drop) are very useful and can help pure rangers keep out of trouble. Rangers that have splashed in a class like Rogue don't have this problem.

Damage Output

Rangers have a few key buffs and feats to boost their damage output. The first is to take the right Favored Enemy feats. Favored Enemies let Rangers choose races against which they will receive combat bonuses. The feat Bane of Enemies gives you a +2 ab bonus and 2d6 damage bonus against all your favored enemies. Note that Bane of Enemies is necessary for Called Shot to work anyway. Finally, there is also the Blade Thirst buff, which adds extra Positive damage (melee weapons only). It begins by adding 1 die of positive damage against favored enemies, increasing to 2 dice at CL31, 3 dice at CL41, and 4 dice at CL51. It also grants an enhancement bonus. This is +12 at CL 40, +1 each for GSF and LSF Enhancement. You can use a Ssithrak tome to obtain GSF Ench, but Rangers without slashing weapons may want to use a Transmutation tome instead, since without it, bludgeoning or piercing weapons will not receive the effects, however as only GSF Transmutation is required if you can find and equip an item with this feat whilst casting the spell you will be able to buff non-slashing weapons saving you from having to use the Transmutation tome. Blade Thirst is short duration (3 rounds per level) and doesn't refresh itself so you will need to memorise a couple. For this reason it is well worth obtaining the Heart of Thorns armour to double the spell duration and if you combine this with extend spell feat this can lead to a decently long lasting version of the spell.

Called Shot

Called Shot is an important part of most ranger builds. An effective DC is usually considered to be 52+, but can reach as high as 69 (without Foebane) for a maxed out Zen Ranger. The radial menu icon can be hotkeyed so you can target enemies while fighting them, but an easier option is to macro '!action cs opponent' to your quickbar. This command will mark your current opponent (what you are attacking) with called shot so you don't have to waste time trying to target an opponent. Called Shot is a swift action so you need to wait for it to cooldown a round (six seconds) after each attempt.
NOTE:You need at least 35 levels of Ranger (pre-Legendary) and the Bane of Enemies Feat to allow Called Shot to work

Notes

You cannot take Favored Enemy feats in legendary levels, as they do not work properly if you do.

Favored Enemies

This is a list of the most useful favored enemies in Legendary areas of the mod. They are listed in a fairly rough order of importance.
Note: The priority list for a Called Shot Zen ranger will likely be different to a Strength melee ranger as unless you can actually instakill Called Shot creatures there is limited use to having them as a FE for a Zen (Undead specifically come to mind here) however a melee ranger can benefit significantly from the additional Positive damage given by the Blade Thirst spell.

  • Outsiders: Outsiders are extremely common and are one of the most important favored enemies. Outsiders are very common in the Hells, Abyss and Elysium. Many other areas feature Outsiders as well including the Slaad in Limbo although these have painfully high saves making CS attempts unreliable. It should be the first Favored Enemy you take, as the earlier you take it, the greater the bonus it grants.
  • Aberrations: Very good for Aboleths, Beholders, Illithids and the Kaorti in Limbo (although these are not CS targets)
  • Monstrous Humanoid: This is very useful in a wide range of areas. It is good against a number of bosses, Thralls at Aboleths, Trolls at Feywild, most things in Rona (the Pharlans there are Monstrous Humanoid, not Half-Elf unlike when you take Pharlan as a subrace) and the Githerazi in Limbo.
  • Dragons: Good for a bit of extra damage against the many Dragon bosses such as Tiamat, Uroboros and Sissy. It's also useful at Uro against Spawn of Uroboros, Elysium against the Silver Dragonkin and Limbo (Pt2) against the Chaos Drakes however a lot of Dragonkin are critical hit immune so may not be as useful for a Zen.
  • Shapechangers: For Rakshasa in Hells and good for Elysium where there are many Shapechangers such as Equinal, Lupinal, Ursinal and a couple of Shapechanger bosses, also useful for various Limbo creatures, Keketar, Hagunemnon, Imentesh.
  • Animals: There are lot of Animal enemies throughout the mod, these include Ice Reavers (Hells), various Rona enemies, Elysian Boar (Elysium), Scorpions (Desert) etc.
  • Magical Beasts: Magical Beasts are spread throughout the mod, they include Elysian Thrush and Blink Dogs (Elysium), Pseudonatural Sharks (Aboleths).
  • Beasts: Present in various areas.
  • Reptilian Humanoids: Excellent for Ssithraks & Locathah, where nearly every enemy is a Reptilian Humanoid, also useful for the Yuan-Ti in the Abyss and the Windscythe/Windrazor in Limbo although the Limbo creatures have too high Parry skill to allow CS.
  • Vermin: Excellent for Hive. Many other places have some Vermin enemies as well, such as Dream Larva at Aboleths, Shimmerlings at Feywild.
  • Elves: Have moved up the FE tree since the introduction of the Feral type in the Limbo area, also useful against Tiefling types in the Abyss.
  • Fey: Mostly of use at Feywild, but you won't be useless there without it as Feywild also features Magical Beasts, Animals, Monstrous Humanoids, Elementals and Vermin. Water Sprites in Locathah are also Fey as are the Gremlins in Limbo.
  • Undead: Good for extra damage/AB at Pyramid, Uroboros, Elysium, Thanatos and and several Limbo Part 2 creatures. Unfortunately all undead are Crit Immune so you won't be able to Called Shot them making this an unsuitable FE choice for a Zen.
  • Elementals: Good for Pyramid, Feywild, the Elemental Planes and several Limbo Part 1 & 2 creatures (Aeolian, Erdeen, Pyrophor). As a Zen Ranger it is almost worth taking this FE just for the ability to CS Aeolians.
  • Humans: Currently only useful for the Dustmen in the Abyss.
  • Giants: Limited use in Legendary Levels with one or two creatures in Limbo, Unfinished Titan, Anarchic Storm Giant.
  • Half-Orcs: Currently only useful for the Chaonds in Limbo Part 1
  • Constructs: A lot of runs have the odd Construct in them but since Constructs are in general Critical Hit Immune and quite a lot have inherent Kickback (of either personal or AoE type) they are not one of the most useful Favored Enemies to take. Enemies include Baatorian Golems (Hells), Eidolons (Aboleths), Plutonean Golems (POM), S'Gob Slia (Sissy) etc.
  • Gnomes: Currently only useful only in Toyshop.
  • Half-Elves: Currently Only useful for the Drey in Manatakloss and the surrounding areas.
  • Dwarves: Currently No Legendary Level creatures of this type.
  • Goblinoids: Currently No Legendary Level creatures of this type.
  • Halflings: Currently No Legendary Level creatures of this type.
  • Orcs: Currently No Legendary Level creatures of this type.

Secrets

See Also

Retrieved from "http://wiki.hgweb.org/wiki/Ranger"
Personal tools