I like dexers. The high AC you get from the dex makes your build survivable, secondly, since you only have to focus on 1 stat, you're AB tends to be higher than strength based builds. Unfortunately, dexers have a reputation that they are unable to dish out the damage, this builds attempts to address this problem.
Skills: I recommend maxing out spot, discipline, and of course tumble. This build gets lots of skills though, so you have a lot of options for what to do with the rest of them. I put them into craft and set trap because they seemed kinda rangery, and also hide and move silently.
What makes this build cool: So as a ranger you're going to want to dual wield, which I don't necessarily like because then you can't use a shield, and so then your AC will suck. Thats why you take the monk lvl, so that you can get you wis to AC. The naked AC on this guy is:
10+2 wis+9 dex+8 tumble+2 armor skin=31 which isn't too bad. On my server they only allow up to +7 armor mods on items, and with that and haste I can get it up to 76, 86 if I imp. expertise.
The other neat thing about this guy is the number of attacks and damage that each attack does. As a monk dual wielding kamas, I get 10 attacks per round hasted (6 main hand, 2 off hand, 1 haste, 1 flurry of blows). If I'm fighting a favored enemy, and I have 13 of them, my damage per blow is (13 fav. enemy + 2d6 bane + 6 fighter + 1d6 kama). This is serious damage, especially if you get some strength bonuses and a nice magical kama. Multiply that by 10 attacks per round, and it gets nasty.
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 10/10/07 14:32
You lose your Wis AC if you use a shield.
Syrath _________________ It's SHADOWDANCER, dammit, shadowdancer!!!
About favored enemy damage...
I think favored enemy damage is ranger levels divided by 5, not just the number of favored enemies you have. The manual is kind of hazy on this, but I do not think the epic favored enemies gained from ranger bonus feats add to the damage, so the build's damage would be 7+2d6+6+1d6. Not a big deal though. Minimum of 16 damage; maximum of 31. 10 attacks with that is still heavy damage.
My only concern is this builds lack of uncanny dodge, so if he is caught flat-footed he looses all his dex AC.
Firstly, I don't use a shield, I dual wield, that was the point of taking the monk lvl, to make up for the AC loss.
Secondly, favored enemy damage in NWN is the number of favored enemies that you have. I have played this build quite a bit and am sure of it.
Yes, no uncanny dodge sucks, it's what keeps this build from being a tank. However, if you stay alert and keep the guy attacking, he does ok.
Firstly, I don't use a shield, I dual wield, that was the point of taking the monk lvl, to make up for the AC loss.
You are being a bit blinkered here. Taking a shield at some points can help give you that AC boose you may require. (say +7 shields are available thats 8 AC of a difference if your in a tight spot).
Syrath _________________ It's SHADOWDANCER, dammit, shadowdancer!!!
Yes, but if I used a shield I would lose the extra monk attacks wouldn't I? Even if that's not the case, I would still lose 2 attacks from the offhand. So it's at least 2, potentially 5 attacks that I would lose by using a shield.
Also, assuming I can get +12 to wis from items, I would be looking at +8 wis AC compared to +10 AC that I would get from a Tower Shield assuming that it was +7. Of course if where you play allows higher than +7 mods the difference becomes more extreme... but that's the rules where I play.
Wasnt figuring on wis bonus items , very good point. Makes the difference between shield and wis minimal. However you take your monk level at level 37. Still leaves 36 levels where a shield could come in handy.
Syrath _________________ It's SHADOWDANCER, dammit, shadowdancer!!!
might just be missing it; but what is the: Base bab with unenchanted kama; against non-favoured, dualwielding?
A question; and this is just to try determine a way of keeping that dex ac. Bear in mind I know little about building characters short of what I've seen listed on these forums. Would this build benefit by losing the epic specialisation and getting 4 assassin levels instead of the fighter? Benefits (as I see it): 1) You have UMD (epic umd focus too I think if you plan it right) which gives you flameweapon scroll usage [off a scroll it casts lvl17 for 1d4 + 10 damage]; only needs 27/28 umd to cast successfully EVERY time. In my experience, the most useful kit _always_ ends up being a class you don't have. And that's just plain awful; specially when you are needing the item badly (ac bonus/feat/etc). 2) You get 2d6 death attack when the enemy is not focussed on you. Since you're not really a tank (as the poster noted; though with the assassin levels you could be), this should be little difference. 3) You get ghostly visage as a feat - which gives you 10% concealment, +1/5 dr and immunity to lvl1 and lower spells (blegh on the last two). 4) You can use poison on your weapon. 5) You get a +2 save to poison attacks 6) You get Uncanny dodge I
Drawbacks: 1) No epic weapon specialisation. See 1) 2) and 4) that, imo, is MUCH better for most cases. 2) 2 less feats [or three, not sure on calc]. This would easily be countered by the epic weapon specialisation; and perhaps epic focus - freeing you up to use any weapon you care to on your offhand with no pause to think.
FYI; someone asked on another post if flameweapon/darkfire stacks with innate fire damage on a weapon; I have tried it on a weapon with +Fire 10 damage and it stacked for me.
Edited By Khandahr on 03/29/05 13:12
Syrath, you're right, this can be a tough build for the first 36 levels, a shield might not be a bad idea in certain areas. In fact, on the PW I play, I did 32 ranger / 4 Ftr / 4 Mnk. That way I could take the monk at lvl 22 and also, not have a xp pen. However, I lost 2 favored enemies . I prefer the 35/4/1 build as just a straight lvl 40 build, that's why i posted it.
So, base attack, i'm assuming with no dex items, and without a magical kama would be:
30 base + 9 dex + 1 weap. foc + 2 epic wf + 1 epic prow. = 43. Against a favored enemy this would increase by 2. Dual weilding kamas decrease it by 2. Oh, and rangers can cast aid, so increase it by 1 for that. Using items to boost your dex would increase it by 6.
I like you're assasin idea. The uncanny dodge and umd would be very helpful. Plus you wouldn't have an xp pen. I guess the reason to go with my build over that would be if you're looking for maximum damage per hit. You'll lose 6 damage per hit, which adds up to 60 per round. I don't think you can count on your death attack to make up for that. Also you would lose 1 feat, which would mean I couldn't take either armor skin or epic proweress, which would be sad.
I like it though, an assassin with 13 favored enemies seems to fit.
. I prefer the 35/4/1 build as just a straight lvl 40 build, that's why i posted it.