A good ranger build?

[Domi_Ash]

Heya, I was wondering if the power-gaming aces could suggest a good build for a ranger, female, half-elven for me? No extreme min-maxing, though, if possible, I want her Inteligence and Charisma set to at least 10.

Thank you!

[Redrake]

Str: 12
Dex: 16
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 12
Cha: 12

Weapon Finesse with Small Blades and NG or LG alignment.
I used this build plenty of times. 12 Charisma is for Animal Empathy skill and because for roleplaying purposes half-elves are good looking.

[kmonster]

From the powergaming point of view the 12 instead of 10 cha is useless, the 2 points are better spent for higher strength.
I'd even start with 15 str and 11 wis, raise wis to 14 at level 4,8 and 12 and str later.
Good feats are dodge and rapid shot.

[kmonster]

The best choice for favored enemy is goblins.

[Domi_Ash]

Thanks, folks.

[Redrake]

Originally Posted by kmonster

The best choice for favored enemy is goblins.

Goblins? Goblins are easy to kill. Why would you want a ranger to get bonus against a creature that most of the time dies with only one hit? Favored enemies should go to creatures that are found often in the game and are of medium to hard difficulty to dispatch. In that regard giants, trolls and undead are the winners. Goblins are too easy to kill and can only be found in the prologue and Chapter 1.
The same is true about IWD1. I find dreadful the builds where people go for a ranger/cleric with skeletons as favored enemies. Sure, there are many skeletons in the game but they are too easy to kill. You don't need the extra bonus against them. Trolls, spectral undead and giants are the best racial enemy to be picked in IWD1. Especially giants. There's not shortage of them in the game.

[kmonster]

The hardest battles in IWD2 are in the first chapter. The bonus to hit and damage will often make the difference. There are far less battles with giants, trolls or undead, they are easier and +1 damage doesn't make that much of a difference any more when the monsters have 100 HP.
PS: Even in the last chapter you have to fight a half-goblin.

[Domi_Ash]

I like goblin suggestion because it also makes RP sense, actually (ie Targos is under attack from a goblin horde).

[Sir_Toejam]

as to the goblins... can't you purchase an anti-goblin dagger from the wife of the lord?

If you are playing the "undead targos" mod, obviously the better choice would be to take undead as your first favored enemy, and buy the goblin slaying dagger.

even without the dagger (it's pricey), I still think you will be better off picking undead as your first, as when you hit level 5, it will add 2 damage instead of one, and that can be useful if you are attacking undead with things like swords and bows, since most undead are resistant.

[Klorox]

The best Ranger build involve taking only 1 level of Ranger, and not being a Half-Elf.

[kmonster]

as to the goblins... can't you purchase an anti-goblin dagger from the wife of the lord?

The anti-goblin dagger does only 3-6 damage vs goblins, it's quite useless.
But there's a very effective anti-undead weapon in the game and you can even turn them.

[Sir_Toejam]

Originally Posted by kmonster

The anti-goblin dagger does only 3-6 damage vs goblins, it's quite useless.
But there's a very effective anti-undead weapon in the game and you can even turn them.

ah, I'm thinking of the HOF version; it kills gobbos instantly.

btw, that "very effective" weapon you get much later, and really, for high level undead (ones with base fort saves over 9), it only has about a 5% chance (unless you modify the effect via editor) of dispelling undead/outsiders.

low level undead (and those with fort saves under 5) can be taken out fairly quickly with it.

as for turning... rangers don't turn undead, so that seems a rather tangential point to raise.

...which leaves what i said earlier - if you are trying to play a RANGER, then undead are tough unless you pick them early on as hated enemy.

[Redrake]

Originally Posted by Klorox

The best Ranger build involve taking only 1 level of Ranger, and not being a Half-Elf.

And it is called powergaming. In case you failed to notice Domi is searching for ideas to improve her IWD2 NPC mod.

[GawainBS]

Originally Posted by Redrake

And it is called powergaming. In case you failed to notice Domi is searching for ideas to improve her IWD2 NPC mod.

She asked the powergamers for help, so you should accept the fact that rangers are barely viable in IWDII.
Domi, if you're looking to improve your NPC-mod, don't go for such things as 12 CHA for a ranger. It's worse enough that it is a half-elf Ranger.

If you want a singleclassed Ranger, I'd suggest this:
STR 18
DEX 14
CON 18
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 6 (Or lower and higher INT/WIS/DEX.)
On a sidenote: Rangers aren't known for their great social skills.

If you could live with some multiclassing, a personal favourite, but by no means uber, would be:
Ranger 4/Fighter 4/Wizard 22.
STR 18
DEX 12
CON 18
INT 18
WIS 8
CHA 6

[Redrake]

I think she was just being sarcastic when she said powergaming aces. 12 Cha is good for roleplaying which is what her mod is all about. Same for half-elves. Cha 6 means only one thing, she's ugly as hell.