Need Help Optimizing For E6

[Master of None]

I'm going to be playing in a West Marches E6 style campaign soon and most likely going to be playing solo with the DM/GM a fair amount. He doesn't want to scale the solo sessions to possibly make it more interesting so I need to have a chance of sustaining myself in solo play. I was hoping to run a character inspired by Aragorn from LOTR and was originally going to shoot for some form of Horizon Walker. I'd like to keep to the Aragorn inspiration but I'm wondering what choices I can take to optimize it for an E6 campaign, suggestions?

[Nifft]

Mystic Wildshape Ranger: the excuse is that Aragorn was also secretly one of the giant eagles.

Seriously though, Mystic Wildshape Ranger is one of the few solo-happy classes that works at every level in E6. It's very strong, and it covers multiple niches effectively. If you take the ACF that trades out Track for Trapfiding, it can cover all 4 core roles adequately.

You probably want a [Reserve] feat at level 6 -- maybe even before you take Natural Spell.

To survive the lowest levels, you may want a Wild Cohort (from here) -- it's available earlier than the Core Ranger's animal companion, and frankly those first 3 levels are when you might need it most.

[Silly Name]

If you're playing E6, you can get only the first level of Horizon Walker. IMHO, it's not worth it.

If you want to be Aragorn-like, my suggestion is making either a full Ranger or a Fighter/Ranger multiclass. A third option could be full Scout or Ranger/Scout with Swift Hunter.

Whatever your choices are, talk with the DM and see if you can take some Ranger ACFs. Specifically, I would try to get the alternative combat styles (from one issue of Dragon Magazine) if you don't want to go Archer/Dual-wielder. If you don't care for Ranger spells, you can trade them away too (just don't take the martial Ranger from Complete Warrior).

[Master of None]

Thanks for the quick responses. I'm actually a big fan of this Mystic Wildshape Ranger and think I might try to work that out. What kind of feats should I consider going into this outside of Natural Spell. I've talked with my DM and he's given the okay for the different ACFs and also given me the option of running multiple characters. I'm also liking an idea involving the scout for more of a group/duo play and having them be more Aragorn esque.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

For a Mystic Wildshape Ranger, if you go with a Frostblood Half-Orc in Dragon Magic you can get Sword of the Arcane Order as a bonus feat at Ranger 4. Frostblood Half-Orcs get Endurance as a bonus feat at 1st level, and if you would later gain Endurance as a bonus feat again you can take any feat you qualify for instead. Mystic Ranger delays the Endurance bonus feat to 4th level, which is exactly the Ranger level you need to get Sword of the Arcane Order.

Combine that with the Desert Half-Orc variant (tundras with little rainfall are technically deserts), and use the Half-Humans and Humanlike Races variant in Races of Destiny p150 to count as a Human and a Half-Orc, instead of counting as an Orc and a Half-Orc. Take Magical Training (PGtF) at 1st level to get a spellbook and the ability to prepare and cast a few spells from it, which per the Rules Compendium automatically allows you to add more spells to it just like a Wizard does. This gives you the ability to learn additional spells that you can later prepare and cast using Sword of the Arcane Order.

Your 6th level feat and your first bonus E6 feat should be Natural Spell and Extra Wild Shape (CD), depending on priorities. Extra Wild Shape increases your Wild Shape uses to 4/day and each of those has a 6-hour duration, so you'll be able to be in an animal form (Fleshraker dinosaur) for 24 hours per day.

Take two flaws if possible (Bravado and Cold-Blooded) and start with Toughness and Troll Blooded (Dragon 319, gives Regeneration 1). Take Power Attack at 3rd since you'll be able to cast Wraithstrike at 4th level.

[Goaty14]

For a Mystic Wildshape Ranger, if you go with a Frostblood Half-Orc in Dragon Magic you can get Sword of the Arcane Order as a bonus feat at Ranger 4.

But then he can't heal himself?

[Nifft]

But then he can't heal himself?

He can cast both arcane and divine with the feat.

(You could also just be a Human and take the feat after level 6 as one of your epic thingamabobs; note the feat is FR-specific and has some group membership implications, unless your DM strips those out.)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

But then he can't heal himself?

Sword of the Arcane Order allows you to prepare Wizard spells in your Ranger spell slots, but it doesn't take away your ability to cast normal Ranger spells.

I also included getting Regeneration 1 on that build, so any damage you take that's not from acid or fire is nonlethal, and heals at a rate of 1 point per round. So you'll never be killed unless by acid or fire damage, you'll always regenerate back even if you lose a fight, and you'll regenerate back to full health between encounters without needing any healing.

[Doctor Awkward]

A few notes on Sword of the Arcane Order:

-You must have the requisite Intelligence score to cast the prepared wizard spells. This means a minimum of 13 Int to be able to cast 3rd-level spells.
-If for some reason the personal spellbook doesn't pan out, the Spellcraft DC to prepare from a borrowed book is 15 + spell level. So you'll need a +17 to get 3rd-level spells and run no risk of messing it up.
-You have to worship Mystra. This isn't so bad though, since her patrons clearly get the best class features and substitution levels in the Forgotten Realms source books.
-The feat is also unclear as to whether the spells are divine or arcane after they are prepared. If the DM rules that they are arcane, then you qualify for things that require arcane spellcasting (Vecna-Blooded, eternal wands, etc.), but you are subject to arcane spell failure.