Ranger/Assassin help? (3.5)

[skyclad]

So, Im going to play with my friends (hopefully) in what will be a very unoptimized group. So Ive always been wanting to play a ranger/assassin with humans as favoured enemies, ambushing people, sneaking around, TWF (...).

SRD only.

I dont have an actual build yet since thats kind of what Im asking you knowledgeable guys for. All I know is I probably want to get into assassin at rng 6, so I get my improved combat style.

stats would be something like this (I think 28 point buy)

STR 12
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 10
CHA 8

I know, kind of mad, thankfully I dont really care about ranger casting and I will be focusing on dex, con and int, part time as skillmonkey/sneaker.
Ive been thinking about playing a halfing, for the dex boost and small size (to help with to hit and ac), but of course there are negative aspects of it. I dont find many feats that would be that useful so I dont really mind the loss of the human bonus one (unless someone can prove me wrong, please do).
The to hit and ac bonuses would help with my not 100% BAB and relatively low hp.

Feats weapon finess obviously, maybe WF: shortsword. besides that I dont really know, I guess improved initiative, + to will saves, things like that. Unless I should go down some feat chain that I qualify for.

The other people in my party will probably be, sorc, barb, bard or rogue and one undecided.
I realize this build will never be a powerhouse but I think it will be fun and interesting, and Id love some help with making the most out of it. It will start from level 1 and go up to at least 10.

[skyclad]

le bump :smallcool:

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Don't go WF.

I'll give you more advice as I look over the classes you mentioned.

Ok, to help qualify for Assassin, you will want a level of Rogue.
I recommend Rogue1/Ranger6 (for the feat) then going into Assassin.

I wouldn't worry about low stats, as long as you hit, you can sneak attack for quite a bit. Also, you have skills.

Consider buying an item of Mage Hand eventually and taking levels in Arcane Trickster after you finish Assassin, as you will qualify, I believe. This lets you apply a caster level boost to Assassin spells.

While we're on the topic of caster levels, the Assassin in the SRD has no means of determining caster level. One assumes that the caster level is equal to assassin levels. Talk with your DM about how to resolve this.

Oh, and swap Str and Wis. You may want to cast some of the first level Ranger spells like Entangle.

[JellyPooga]

Halfling works, but my advice would be not to bother with TWF, but rather take the Ranged Combat Style for Rapid Shot, get Quick Draw and use thrown weapons to take advantage of the Halflings +1 to hit with thrown weapons and slings. Only take Ranger to level 5 for your 2nd Favoured Enemy and enter Assassin at level 6. Improved Combat Style won't help you a lot as it's only usable with a bow (unless you can persuade your DM to allow you to use it with knives...I don't see why you shouldn't be able to, myself; if you can fire two arrows from a bow, there's no reason you can't throw 2 knives from 1 hand).

For feats, don't bother with Weapon Finesse or Weapon Focus. Point Blank Shot (1st level), Quick Draw (3rd) and Precise Shot (6th) are your friends. I'd be tempted to knock a 2 points off of Con and raise your Dex by 1 so that at level 4 you can get your Dex up to 18.

Alternatively, stick with your original idea of taking Ranger to 6th for Improved Two-Weapon Combat Style and take Point Blank Shot at 1st level, Quick Draw at 3rd and Rapid Shot at 6th. If you are allowed Flaws, get as many of those at 1st as you can. At level 6, with Improved TWF and Rapid Shot, you're looking at 5 thrown attacks per round as a full-round action (2 from iteratives + 2 from TWF + 1 for rapid Shot), albeit at -4 to hit, but with +1 to hit from being a Halfling, +1 for being Small and +1 from Point Blank Shot, that's only really loking like a -1 before you add BAB and Dex modifiers. Assuming a 18 in Dex by that stage (without considering magic items or MW bonus), you "To Hit" modifiers will look something like +9/+9/+9/+4/+4.

For further feats beyond those I've mentioned, Improved Initiative and Far Shot are handy. Run is an option if you ever need to make a hasty getaway...that 20ft land speed is a killer sometimes!

[Iferus]

Okay, so I have been looking into alternative Ranger features. Have a look at these:
Non-spellcasting ranger (Complete Warrior)
Ranger, Distracting Attack variant (PHB 2)

Together they grants a +10 ft speed bonus and gives your allies a flanking bonus on the first strike against the target with every attack you make.



Interesting sneak attack feats:

Arterial Strike (Complete Warrior)
On a successful Sneak Attack, you may reduce the Sneak Attack dice by 1d6 to cause a wound that bleeds
for 1 hit-point per round. The wound continues to bleed until it is magically healed or successfully
bandaged by a Heal check vs. DC 15. Multiple bleeding wounds stack.

Hamstring (Complete Warrior)
On a successful Sneak Attack, you may reduce the Sneak Attack dice by 2d6 to damage your opponent’s
legs, which reduces its movement by half.

[JellyPooga]

stuff

SRD only mate...I did the same as you and immediately started thinking of variants, but check the OP...only really worthwhile variant available might be the Urban Ranger variant and that only because it fits the Assassin theme better.

[Tsotha-lanti]

The problem with not using TWF is that you can't use Death Attack with ranged weapons (stupidly enough; there's a PrC in Champions of Ruin that gets death attack up to 30 feet or something, but...). Then again, Death Attack is pretty horrible.

Screwed either way, unless you can get the DM to approve death attack at the same range as sneak attack.

[raptor1056]

I would sub in two levels of fighter for ranger Something like: Ranger 3/ Fighter 2/ Rogue 1-- enter assassin. Fighter to two is a pretty widespread optimization technique for combat characters wanting to enter a prestige class, and needing feats for it. Oh, it's also really good.
This build is, of course, most useful outside of hand-to-hand combat, and more effective as... erm... an assassin. /insipidity
Anywho, this leads to a lot of fun roleplaying, as well as cool "I wait 18 seconds. True strike, bam," before combat actually starts. My advice for assassintion attempts is to use a variety of poisons to effect a higher chance of disability even if their Fort save against death attack succeeds.
EDIT: *looks at d20 SRD* Wow, qualifying for assassin is a lot easier than I thought. Go Ranger 3/ Fighter 2 instead. Human is probably your best bet to avoid multiclassing penalties.

[JellyPooga]

The problem with not using TWF is that you can't use Death Attack with ranged weapons (stupidly enough; there's a PrC in Champions of Ruin that gets death attack up to 30 feet or something, but...). Then again, Death Attack is pretty horrible.

Screwed either way, unless you can get the DM to approve death attack at the same range as sneak attack.

Meh, Death attack is only on a single strike, so TWF doesn't help it at all anyway. I still think you're best off avoiding melee for the most part; Halfling just screams "thrown weapons" because they (effectively) get free Weapon Focus.