Rangers have always been my favorite class to play. I always liked role-playing Odysseus type characters which either meant playing a fighter/thief, since prior to 3E rogues had no combat proficiency, or a Ranger. While the paladin was a knight supported by divine powers and the fighter was the master of weapons, the Ranger was the perfect balance of warrior and rogue. Those qualities that can still be seen in the class in 3E. They have several rogue class skills and receive a base 4 skill points per level, but retain fighter hit dice and AB progression. Although the ranger is a spellcasting class, kind of a druidic paladin, their spells are not useful unless combined with other classes. Unfortunately, the Ranger is viewed by many as a dexterity based class, due to the free dual wielding feats and a literary Drow named Drizzt Do’Urden (It does make a good base for a dexterity based assassin or rogue). However its real potential is seen when this class is strength based. It is important to see the Ranger in the correct light, it is a jack of all trades and for each of those trades there is another class that does it better. The exception to this is damage output, the combination of Bane of Enemies and Favored Enemy allows this class to do massive amounts of damage against opponents that would be immune to critical hits and sneak attacks. Thus, let us examine this class and see where it fits into character building.
Hit Dice 1D10 –This is the second best hit dice available in NWN. While hit dice are not typically a high priority design consideration (at least for me) they can be an important factor at low levels. Hence, if multiclassing the Ranger class with a low hit dice class, it may be useful to take levels for this class early in the character’s career.
BAB progression (pre-level 21) +1 every level- Ranger levels can be used to gain a 4th attack by taking enough levels below level 20 to increase your BAB to at least 16. For these purposes alone, Fighter is generally the best choice, but Ranger may become more attractive given other considerations.
Preferred Saving Throw Fortitude- This is one of the more useful saving throws as it protects against most instant death attacks. With saving throw boosting items and/or a Champion of Torm or Paladin multiclass, it may even get high enough to protect against deavastating critical. Like most fighter classes, the weak point is the will saving throw for this class. Reflex saves are typically to avoid damage and the fighter classes should have enough hit points that a failed reflex save will not prove too lethal.
Skill Points per Level +4 per level- Only the shadowdancer (6) and rogue (8) classes get more skill points per level than the Ranger. Hence if rogue is not being considered as a base class, Ranger is good choice for a first class.
Class Skills Animal Empathy- A waste of skill points, it doesn’t work at the levels when you might need it, and by the time it does work a charmed animal is not going to do you much good. Concentration- Not the highest priority, but the ability to resist Taunts is useful. Craft Armor- Not very useful. Craft Trap- A useful skill, you can typically find materials to build traps and this class can set the traps too. Craft Weapon- Not very useful. Discipline- This skill provides defense against knockdown and disarm attacks, a must have. Heal- Unless potions and healing magic are restricted this is a useless skill. Hide- Even without sneak attacks, the ability to scout out your opposition and sneak up on opponents can provide a strategic advantage. Listen- Useful for finding concealed opponents and spotting ambushes. Lore- Only useful if identifying equipment is problematic. Move Silently- See Hide. Parry- Another skill of dubious value, if you have a dexterity based build it may be useful in blocking some attacks. Search- Without Disable Trap the use of this skill is reduced, but being able to find a trap or a hidden passage is always useful. Set Trap- Trap setting can be used to supplement the amount of damage you can do, and lets you harm creatures you may not be able to harm otherwise. The paladin and fighter classes can only harm opponents with their weapons, this gives the Ranger class a second mode of attack. Spot- See Listen.
Class Abilities Favored Enemy- Every five levels the Ranger class gets to pick a new favoured enemy. This feat gives the Ranger a +1 to damage and Spot, Listen and Taunt checks for every 5 levels of the class he has (plus 1 for the first level) against his favored enemies. Hence at level 40, a Ranger will get a +9 to damage and Spot, Listen and Taunt checks. In general the enemies that are immune to critical hits are a good choice so undead, constructs, elementals, outsiders and dragons. Following those, the player character races make a good choice. At epic levels the favored enemy feat can be exchanged for a bonus feat from the Ranger. bonus feat list. Thus one level of Ranger at epic levels is good for a free feat. Trackless Step- The Ranger gets a +4 bonus to stealth checks in outdoor areas. It may not be much, but it is better than nothing. Dual Wield and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting- The ranger gets these feats (Dual Wield is equivalent to Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting) for free, but they can only use light armor. Hence this is only useful for a high dexterity character. In this case it is better to take 4 levels of fighter to get the required feats. Animal Companion- With greater magic fang, the Panther can be a useful companion due to its sneak attack. For the most part though, an animal companion is only good for a distraction, their AB and AC are too low to be of any real use.
Ranger Epic Feats- 1 at level 23 and every 3 levels after. Coupled with the favored enemy feats, only the Fighter class gets more bonus feats. Bane of Enemies- You need 5 favored enemies and 21 levels of Ranger, but Bane of Enemies will give you an additional 2D6 of damage and a +2 to hit against any favored enemy. A level 40 a Ranger could have 15 favored enemies with a 9+2D6 damage bonus when striking any of them. Blinding Speed- If you have a 25 dexterity, you can have the ability to cast haste for 10 seconds on yourself. Unless haste items are banned and you don’t have anyone in your party that can cast it, this feat is useless. Epic Toughness- 20 hitpoints is 20 hitpoints. If you don’t have any other feats to take, then you can take this one. Epic Prowess- A +1 to hit with all weapons is always useful. Epic Weapon Focus- You need a weapon focus to choose this feat, but it gives you an extra +2 to hit. Favored Enemy- Another type of opponent for you to get bonuses against. Improved Combat Casting- Why? It’s absolutely useless for a Ranger…. Ehn, if your build has a spell casting class, you can take one level of Ranger in epic levels and pick up this feat for free.
Spells For the most part Ranger spells are not directly useful in combat. They do have some spells that can help you out occasionally. They are wisdom based, so for a Cleric/Ranger or Druid/Ranger multiclass you can use the Ranger spell slots to take some the cleric spells it’s nice to have but you don’t typically have space for. For the most part, it is not worth increasing your wisdom to get them. I’ll list the spells and comment on their use but I will leave out the descriptions, you can get that from the manual.
Level 1 Cure Light Wounds- At level 6 it’s pretty useless for curative purposes, but you can use it to hurt undead. Entangle- Good against a group of low strength opponents, but the save is too low to help against any opponents of your own level. Grease- Good against a group of low dexterity opponents, it can slow them down and keep them from attacking you. Again the save is too low to help against any opponents of your own level. Resist Elements- One of the better 1st level Ranger spells. 20 points of damage resistance against all elemental damage, which breaks down after 30 points, against opponents who have weapons that do elemental damage this can be a life saver. Summon Creature 1- This is a useless spell. By level 6 a dire badger is a useless summon. Ultravision- The best 1st level spell, particularly if one of your other classes can cast Darkness. The ability to see in the dark is very useful. Camouflage- This spell can augment your sneaking ability. Okay for Rogue/Ranger and Assassin/Ranger combos. Magic Fang- This spell can extend the use of your animal companion, allowing it to do damage against opponents that damage resistance against normal weapons.
Level 2 Cat’s Grace- 1D4+1 to dexterity can be very useful, it also stacks with castings of this spell from other spell lists and potions or scrolls. Hold Animal- Another spell that by the time you get it, it is not going to work against any of your opponents. Protection from Elements- An extended version of resist elements, giving you 30 points of damage resistance against all elemental damage that wears down after 40 points from any one source. One of the most useful 2nd level Ranger spells. Sleep- At 8th level this spell is not going to work against anything you are fighting Summon Creature II- The only thing more useless than a dire boar, is the dire badger summoned by the first level version of this spell. One With the Land- This spell will give you a bunch of skill bonuses, it can be a good way to increase your stealth and trap setting abilities. It’s odd but with their spells and increased wisdom requirement, Rangers have better stealth and detection abilities than rogues or assassins.
Level 3 Aid- The +1 bonus to attack can be useful. Cure Moderate Wounds- Too weak to be useful for healing purposes. But you can always use it to hurt undead. Invisibility Purge- The most useful 3rd level Ranger spell. It can really save you from getting sneak attacked. Neutralize Poison- Depending on what you are fighting it can be useful to memorize 1 or 2 of these. Remove Disease- Like Neutralize Poison, it can be useful to memorize 1 or 2 of these depending on what you are fighting. Summon Creature III- The dire wolf is another worthless summon. Greater Magic Fang- This spell can really extend the use of your animal companion. The spell increases your pet’s AB and lets them do magic damage to their opponent. Since magic damage is rarely resisted, this can be a good way to take down an otherwise intangible opponent (assuming you can get opponent to attack you and not your companion). Blade Thirst- Would greater magic weapon have been too much to ask for? If magic weapons are rare where you are playing your Ranger this can be an okay spell. But greater magic weapon would eventually give you a +5 enhancement bonus as opposed to a +3.
Level 4 Cure Serious Wounds- Like the other cure spells, it won’t be much help by the time you get it except as a weapon against the undead. Freedom of Movement- A useful spell, particularly if you use the grease and entangle spells in combat. Polymorph Self- After a battle you can turn into a troll to heal some damage. Summon Creature IV- The dire spider is a useful summon. The spider has enough damage reduction that it can survive a couple of hits and it occasionally poisons an opponent. Mass Camouflage- This spell is somewhat superfluous. If by chance everyone in your party has decent Hide/Move Silently skills, then this spell is great, but what are the odds of that? The first level spell is generally more than sufficient.
Multiclass Combinations In general the Ranger reaches its full potential when more than 20 levels are taken, at least 21 levels for Bane of Enemies, so multiclassing choices have to be considered with care. I’ve posted a good deal of Ranger builds so you can look over those. I’ll list a couple of classes that go well with the Ranger class and give some reasons. Rogue- Particularly good for a dexterity based Ranger, but it works well with a strength based build as well. Use the Ranger Favored Enemies to get extra damage against sneak attack immune creatures and plug up that weakness for the Rogue class. Assassin- In general good for the same reason the Rogue, but the Assassin class can also cast Darkness. Combine Darkness with the Ranger’s Ultravision for some nasty attacks. Blackguard- Good Saving Throws and some sneak attack ability to augment your damage. Fighter- Just a couple of levels for some feats. In particular Weapon Specialization and Epic Weapon Specialization. For a strength based (30 STR) Ranger 36/Fighter 4 using a two handed sword with Weapon Specialization, Epic Weapon Specialization, Favored Enemy and Bane of Enemies he can do 33-53 points of damage on a regular attack (that’s not including any bonuses from magical weapons, he didn’t have to spend any time buffing and he can’t have his damage reduced by a dispel magic spell, with a good choice of favored enemies he can more or less see to it that anything he fights will be a favored enemy or so trivial that he does not need that kind of damage). Cleric For buffing ability. Also there is a synergy between the need for wisdom for both a Ranger and a Cleric. The Ranger’s stealth ability can also be useful for a Cleric. Druid Not as good a choice as a Cleric. There is too much overlap between a Druid’s abilities and a Ranger’s, also the Cleric gets more buffs so the Cleric adds more. Still from a role playing perspective it makes good sense. Shadowdancer The Ranger is good way to meet the prerequisites for this class, although you will probably only want 1 or 2 levels of Shadowdancer anyway. Bard A good way to get some extra class skills for your Ranger, like Tumble, Spell Craft and Use Magic Devices.
In general the Ranger class can be the foundation for some good builds, but it should be the major class as it gets more powerful the more levels that are taken in it. Because you need to take a lot levels, you will not see too many builds that use this class as classes that show their potential with only a few levels are predominantly used for power building. Still, it provides a good way to do some extra damage against enemies that are immune to critical hits, or add some Roguish skills to a build without decreasing its AB. _________________ Two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do.
*Improving the ranger*
The ranger class can be played in several ways. You can focus on dex with weapon finesse, dual wield and ranged attacks, going in light armour. You can also focus on str, wielding a two hander or sword/shield, wearing a full plate armour. There is also a middle road with medium dex (buffed with cat’s grace and dex items), with focus on str, dual wielding in light armour. The ranger gets a good number of skillpoints and a good selection of class skills. It gets some supportive, low level magic and also an animal companion that can be of some use.
The main asset of the class, however, is the favoured enemies bonus. It doesn’t seem much at lvl 1 with +1 damage and +1 to some skills against 1 enemy, but at lvl 40 it can be a +9 bonus against up to 15 different racial groups. That damage bonus alone equals weapon specialization x 150% or divine might with Cha 28. In addition you get the bane weapon feat that adds 2d6 damage to every attack against a favoured enemy. This bonus system matures in the epic levels when you get bane weapon and can take additional enemies as the ranger bonus feats. Basically you want as high bonus as possible against as many enemies as possible. If you want to improve the ranger, you don’t want to hamper this system with heavy multiclassing. You get the last f.e. and bonus increase at lvl 40. You get the last bonus feat at lvl 38. Before that you get a bonus feat, a new f.e. and increased bonus at lvl 35. How many ranger lvls you sacrifice is a cost benefit decision, but imo it shouldn’t be many.
What the ranger lacks:
Uncanny dodge. The stealth skills and bonus feats of the ranger are linked to wearing light armour. That means a substantial part of your armour bonus is dodge bonus, based on your dexterity. And you don’t have uncanny dodge! You can get it from 2 lvls of barbarian, 3 lvls of rogue, 2 lvls of shadowdancer or 2 lvls of assassin.
Tumble. You have a character with a certain amount of dexterity, in light armour and dual wielding (no shield). The ranger should be able to learn to tumble as a class skill, but no… To get the skill as a class skill you have to multiclass with assassin, bard, harper scout, monk, rogue or shadowdancer.
What a power built ranger could benefit from:
Epic weapon specialization. You can get a +6 damage bonus with a given weapon class from taking at least 4 lvls of fighter.
Evasion. If you have some dexterity or if you have multiclassed before epic lvls with a class that has high refl saves, you will benefit from evasion, giving no damage from certain spells on a successful reflex save. You can get it from 1 lvl of monk, 2 lvls of rogue or 2 lvls of shadowdancer.
Hide in plain sight. Some call it overpowered, some call it a life saver. There’s no doubt it’s a resource for any stealthy power character. And as everybody knows, you get it from 1 lvl of shadowdancer.
Cleric spells and domains. If you give the ranger the wisdom to get lvl 4 spells, you can benefit from up to 7 cleric lvls, giving a better selection of healing spells and buffs. Some of the domains will also benefit the ranger skills or give a better spell selection.
Barbarian rage and movement. You get it from 1 lvl of barbarian.
Monk attacks progression. 1 lvl of monk gives you 8 attacks per round from clvl 17 when you dual wield kamas. _________________ There are no facts, only interpretations.
Edited By Mick Dagger on 12/08/04 11:59
*applauds* well done m8. I agree 100%. Rangers are defiantly one of the coolest classes (in my opinion) and few stop to consider that it is also a class that puts str into good use along with the dex. I've been trying to make a good build using Ranger, and your information as provided me with all the intel that I need.