fairly new into game, are rangers that bad compared to other class's?

[Thund3r]

Hesitating to start fresh...A ranger barely does 2-6 dmg when it actually hits...
A huge tanky 2H can just run in and do 16-20 if they hit, without having many downsides compared to a ranged unit.
I specd into that +4 on precision, yet miss 2/3's of time...

[avaririot]

I haven't tried it, but I seriously doubt the stormcaller Ranger/Archer is lacking firepower. The flamewarden is good for melee types, the Freebooter is a deadly 2H fighter.

Vanilla Ranger is better as an all around switch hitter type tha comes with a pet. vanilla ranger is the classic versatile Ranger but will be mid tier as a damage dealer.

Bottom line , if you want your Ranger archer to deal top tier damage, go Stormcaller.

[Valandryl]

Originally posted by odinswill:

Originally posted by Valandryl:

With 16 str and 18 dex, a composite longbow, you'll quickly hit often and hard

I have this, and the +4 accuracy boost, yet miss 2/3's of shots. Do I really have to re-roll human, i rolled an elf., with the storm trait.

Nope, all you need is buffs : Linzi's inspiration, bless etc.

[Kommissar K]

Originally posted by odinswill:

Originally posted by Valandryl:

With 16 str and 18 dex, a composite longbow, you'll quickly hit often and hard

I have this, and the +4 accuracy boost, yet miss 2/3's of shots. Do I really have to re-roll human, i rolled an elf., with the storm trait.

Note missing 1/2 of your shots is kind of the design of the game. So missing on 2/3rds of your attacks isn't really that far off/not that unlikely/not that much of an indication of a bad build.

If on your attack roll you roll less than a 10, you probably should assume the attack missed.

You have an attack bonus, plus a D20 roll. Your target has a set of AC bonuses + 10 = total AC. Your enemies are considered to be rolling average at all times, and you are trying to roll higher than them.

If your attack bonus isn't greater than their armor bonus, you're less than 50% likely to hit on a given turn.

You likely are starting with an attack bonus in the +4-6 range. Your enemies have their Dex + armor, which is easily greater than your bonus.

[Thund3r]

Originally posted by Aloriel Lelyn:

Umm... Rangers in the paper game are one of the seriously overpowered classes, especially as archers.

Play human, or any race that boosts DEX but doesn't drop STR.
Get a decent STR, maybe 16, and a 20 DEX, dump most other stats. As you level up, push DEX higher.

Grab feats:
Precise Shot
Point Blank Shot
Rapid Shot
Many Shot
Clustered Shots
Deadly Aim

Also, weapon focus composite long bow doesn't hurt...

Many of these feats are bonus feats for the archery weapon group in Ranger.

With this combo, you now have a static damage bonus near or exceeding 15. Your first shot is two arrows at a minor negative. Your second shot is the same negative as the first. All shots, including those from standard level up, cluster and count DR only once for the lot.

In PFS, I had a ranger that by level 9 was doing in excess of 100 damage per turn regularly, and without favored enemy bonuses.

Speaking of favored enemies: Humanoid, fey, dragons
Favored terrains: forest, plains, (first world or mountains)

What subclass should i Take : Ranger, Freebooter, Flamewarden, stormwalker?
Thanks for this reply, I have something to work towards :)

[Kosiciel]

Originally posted by Kommissar Klose:

Also, consider the spell "Lead Blades."

Or rather Hurricane Bow, also Aspect of the Falcon and Sense Vitals.

[March]

Archetypes are up to you. Keep in mind that they often *replace* core abilities. I usually just go straight ranger.

Ranger animal companions can be incredibly powerful, and don't forget boon companion as a feat too. That will make your animal companion be the same as if you were a full druid.

[Kosiciel]

Originally posted by odinswill:

What subclass should i Take : Ranger, Freebooter, Flamewarden, stormwalker?

Stormwalker is awesome archer. Go, create one!

[avaririot]

Originally posted by Kosiciel:

Originally posted by odinswill:

What subclass should i Take : Ranger, Freebooter, Flamewarden, stormwalker?

Stormwalker is awesome archer. Go, create one!

If your central concept is a Ranger archer that fills up the damage sheet like a top tier melee class, Stormwalker is the obvious answer.

[Thund3r]

this is what mine looks like :

https://monosnap.com/file/NbUOCEZFxBhuoXCldgA1LwFO88rSUD#

Please let me know if you think it's viable or should i start again?

[Kain Yusanagi]

Originally posted by Kommissar Klose:

Generally you're going to want to be using a composite bow. Which means you don't want to dump Str. Yes, Dex is needed to hit, but you also need Str to damage.

Also, consider the spell "Lead Blades."

Eventually, get the Clustered Shots feat.

Not "Lead Blades', you want "Hurricane Bow". Enlarge Person also stacks with this, giving you two size steps up in damage, which is pretty significant.

Originally posted by odinswill:

I mean if they would attack quicker and more precise for less amount, I would understand, but having myself shoot 10 arrows hitting barely 3. yet one swing of a 2H hits total amount seems like a no brainer...

Note also that the difficulties are really borked compared to the TT; they combined the quick advancement and detailed advancement for enemies when upgrading the difficulty; set monsters to weak and they're actually about equal, maybe a little better, than TT is.

[The Silver Santana]

Basically, in levels 1-4 in pathfinder, everyone pales to the dumb idiot with big muscles and a stick. It can be a metal stick, but that is optional.

Occasionally, other people heal the big idiot, or make him bigger, but he's still king.

Once you hit level 5, and in particular later levels...the equation changes. Big dumb idiot is running about swinging a stick at dragons while you are firing arrows the size of ballista bolts at three times the speed of sound. When they hit, blood and bone splinter, acid and fire come worth in waves, and ruin is left in the wake of your arrows.

(Of course, the crazy man who mutters about magical formula and ♥♥♥♥ can turn the entire mountain you're standing on into cheese, but still)

The main benefits of archers is three fold.

A. You get full attacks constantly.

B. You are incredible buff targets. You can sit outside of special vision range in some encounters, under greater invisibility, and have constant flat footed ac. Stack on the damage mods-use oversized bows, deadly aim, you name it, it is all pure damage when you add +20 to hit on the final iterative and the magical number is 21.

C. Theres is quite a bit of magical item support. Bracers that improve to hit and damage, bows that fire oversized arrows, etc.

D. Several spells, particularly ranger spells, are very good damage buffs. Rangers can give themselves discount sneak attack, increased damage dice without having to be large (hurricane bow) and a host of other benefits.

All of these get better over time, until archers rule the roost.

The one thing going against you is Ekun is in the game, and he's pretty optimal; you won't be useless, but might feel like he's redundent. He's a lawful good character though, so if you want to be Stag Lord 2.0, feel free to murder the ♥♥♥♥ out of him to preserve your uniqueness. "There can only be one ranger in these here parts..."

Now, fighter archers are entirely valid as well, but a ranger works perfectly fine. Just make sure you have high STR and maxed DEX. Ekun has a pretty good array when you find him, you can copy him, or min-max even more.

[Naked Granny]

Originally posted by Kommissar Klose:

Generally you're going to want to be using a composite bow. Which means you don't want to dump Str. Yes, Dex is needed to hit, but you also need Str to damage.

Also, consider the spell "Lead Blades."

Eventually, get the Clustered Shots feat.

It's not Lead Blades. In the PnP it's called Gravity Bow, in this game it's called Hurricane Shot.

[AzureTheGamerKobold]

Originally posted by odinswill:

Hesitating to start fresh...A ranger barely does 2-6 dmg when it actually hits...
A huge tanky 2H can just run in and do 16-20 if they hit, without having many downsides compared to a ranged unit.
I specd into that +4 on precision, yet miss 2/3's of time...

2-6 is just normal damage what did you expect?

Wizard spells at level 1 do 1d4 to 1d6 damage

long sword is 1d8
shortsword 1d6

only weapons do LARGE damage at low levels are two handers and while they do large damage they are capped at 4 attacks at level 20 while a bow gets a ton of shots and dual wield gets lots of attacks each round.

Composite bow helps, on top of magic arrows.

So no there damage is fine... don't expect huge numbers in this game... if you want huge numbers play a sorc or wizard.

[climbingeastofwinter]

Rangers are good, just keep in mind that a single die of sneak attack adds an expected 3.5 damage to your attacks against flanked enemies (which is just about every enemy so long as you have party members alive and able to engage, the way flanking currently works). A ranger's main combat advantages are Favored Enemy and Camoflauge, and favored enemy only adds +10 attack, +10 damage, and thats only against one group and at level 20. If you take 5 levels of rogue for 3 sneak attack dice, you're going to average the same damage bonus against all sneak attack vulnerable enemies across all racial groups susceptible to sneak attack.

[emberember]

My main is a stormbringer archer, LV 13, with the right feats and good equip, fighting with a longbow with speed trait that has a base damage of 3 to 15. I have barely any strength just like 12. but alot of dex. And my meeles are running their asses off to get a hit on enemies before she kills them all by herself. Maybe exagerating a bit, but she's really strong by now, though I do think rangers start off a bit weak, but it gets better.