Ranger Dual Wield - DEX or STR?

[Mann]

Hello all.

Happy to see this site still prospering and doing a great job supporting NWN2.

I recently got the nwn2 virus and started a new OC game.I wanted to play a ranger (light armor, evasive, high DPS) class and take it later to the assasin path.

I chose human, lawful evil, with starting stats STR 16, DEX 16, CON 12, INT 12, CHA 10.

I now realize I may have put a lot of STR but I wanted to keep my options open if I choose later to go the strength path.

In particular, what I have in mind is:

- a great reflexer, avoiding lots of attacks
- high DPS through lots of succesful attacks per round (I need some help here)

now here are my questions:

- I 've chosen dual wield as style of fighting.Is it possible to achieve decent bow fighting ability?
- I have some concern about low will saves.Can that be compensated later in the game through items, or do I have to live with getting scared, confused, etc?
- what about roleplaying? I struggle to figure out a possible path of decent roleplaying.
- Is it possible to produce a high number of critical hits?
- What is your opinion of raising the BAB?
- What type of char to multiclass the ranger with? Is the Assasin a good option? What about some levels of rogue, would it help?
- Finally should I go the DEX or the STR path? Opinions?

Thanks for being patient and reading all this. :-)

[Mann]

Just FYI I picked the DEX path choosing Weapon Finesse - I know damage is lower with small weapons, but my char at level 10 is starting to perform and produce some decent DPS and more criticals as well (weapons with keen are super).

I am thinking of choosing rapid shot when having the opportunity to get some decent attack rate with longbow.
Ranged attack gives you an advantage (especially against mages) and you can always switch to melee weapon and either finish the job if you provoke aggro or join the tank in melee if you have to.

Final build will be Ranger, Shadowdancer (Hide In Plain Sight rocks!).I am just not sure about how many levels of shadowdancer I will get - I am thinking of 5 atm.

So Ranger 10, Shadowdancer 5....what else?

[Fletchman1313]

Add some Duelist.

[Mann]

Yes I was thinking of that path, Swashbuckler could add to the build too.Thanks.

But what about some rogue for sneak attack? I am thinking of HiPS then sneak attacking
I also think of going shadowdancer level 7 for slippery mind.What do you think?

[Fletchman1313]

I prefer Ranger/Duelist 21/9. Sneak attack and HIPS is good and all, but not when you're at Epic levels playing MotB.

Actually, another idea is to specialize in Archery as a Ranger and then take Duelist to increase your melee. And then use your Bear as a tank.

[Mann]

Unfortunately I am deep into the plot to start all over again.

Obviously I 've done some wrong decisions in my character design, for example STR should be a lot lower (maybe 12?) and I wouldnt opt for ranger spells so WIS would stay at 10 (not 12 as it is now) in favor of CON or INT for the swashbuckler/ duelist option.

My desire at start was to go for the assasin PrC for high DPS, but I changed my mind a lot on the road

Now I have a char with Ranger 9, Shadowdancer 2, Rogue 1, Assasin 1 and I am planning to strengthen my sneak attack via the assasin levels.

The Pros are the HiPS that works fine and is a life savior at times (normal difficulty) nice DPS through sneak attack but could be better, good reflex saves and lots of skill points.

The Cons is that I cant utilise bow attacks effectively and there are many feats in this multi-class scenario gotten multiple times.

Still it is a challenge as I want to move on MoTB, probably designing a char from scratch, following an archer scenario.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

[Mann]

Well some remarks on Shadowdancer abilities as final build would be:

- Ranger 9, Rogue, 3, Assasin 1, Shadowdancer 7

I am a level 4 Shadowdancer, so Shadow daze and Shadow evade are available.First daze isnt that effective and evade well I am not impressed either.

I just fought Light of Heaven and found out that my reflex was not that good as I almost died some times - to defeat her I had to HiPS then sneak attack still some misses also frustrated me.

Overall I liked a lot the "Light of Heavens" build since she had good reflex and really heavy attacks with those paladin auras she threw on herself.When I was running away she was switching to her crossbow (also good damage) and if she had some see invisibility option she would tear me apart

My AC probably sucks but still I thought I had some decent reflexes skill.

Anyway I think I am going for this paladinsque build continuing on MoTB.

Anyone who could provide any info on that NPC build would be of great help.

Thanks.

[Thorsson]

SD is generally only worth dipping for one level. If you start Ranger, then Ranger 21/Asn9 is a good way to go. You get full HiPS, Sneak (Death) Attacks, Camouflage (so you can run while sneaking outdoors), and Bane of Enemies. The latter is really useful in SoZ.