Skill Points for a Ranger

Remove all ads!

Basically I need some pointers with skill points distribution.

I just got my ranger to level 6 and had been having some fun with the Black Panther as my animal companion. My Elven ranger's stats are as follows:
STR 13
DEX 17 (19 with magic items)
CON 14 (or was it 16)
WIS 13
INT 10
CHR 10

And for role-playing purposes, I'd like to level up as a ranger until level 8 or 10.

I equipt my ranger with Composite Long Bow+1, for range attack. Long Sword (upgraded with diamond, the one with sonic bonus) and medium shield+1. And two weapons, rapier and short sword (both upgraded by the smith in chapter 1).

Base on my INT and class selection, I only have 4 skill points at my disposal during level ups.

So...
1. I've already put around 8 points into PARRY, is that enough already? My DEX is quite high

2. ANIMAL EMPATHY, exactly what does this do? I don't cast charms spells or summon animals (except for animal companion). Can I go about without it? Or does this affect my animal companion's performances?

3. WEAPON and ARMOR CRAFTING, what are these for?

4. How much skill points of HEALING, CONCENTRATION and DISCIPLINE do I need?

5. I have a feeling that BLUFF and PERSUADE basically have the same function. Am I right? Otherwise, base on my CHR count, how much PERSUADE skill points should I invest in? Or which is the better choice of the 2 skills?


FEATS:
1. FASTER RELOADS (for archers), it says that it will allow your character to reload missiles at the rate of Crossbows? It doesn't show when I use Long Bows or Composite Long Bows... I mean I'd be lucky to get 2 shots at a single target before it got close enough for melee (I still didn't get POINT-BLANK SHOT). Do I need some other FEATS to augment it?

2. Is SKILL FOCUS feat worthwhile?

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the reply BTA.

Yes, I did put around 9 points each for Hide and Move Silently. As for SEARCH, I'm trying to focus on the skills that might be more usefull at the time being. Besides, I get some bonus to search being an Elf and Tomi also have a high SEARCH skill.

Rapid Reloads (correcting Faster Reloads), is only for crossbow. I went over the description and realized that you were right. Sucks to know I've wasted that feat.

 

Discipline hasn't been a cross-class skill for the ranger for awhile. It is a class skill now.

 

The rapid reload feat isn't wasted since your ranger is taking the 2 weapon fighting feat progression. Just get him a good crossbow later on.

 

Parry does not do anything.

 

Depends what you are going to do after level 10. If you are going Shadowdancer then put it all into Hide and Move Silently. I have never used Parry because that just makes fights go longer. I have not found a use for it in single player campaigns. I usually put points into Heal because I use healing kits all the time.

 

I'm having a little problem with Animal Empathy. I didn't put a single point into it, am I missing anything? I got a glove and a ring of animal empathy which combined actually gave me close to 16 points but I still can't talk to a deer. What am I doing wrong here? Anybody?

 

Animal Empathy is a trained skill only, if I'm not mistaken.

What class are you? As far as I know you can only talk to animals if you are actually a ranger or druid (Even without ranks in animal empathy).

Personally I think animal empathy can be quite usefull (especially on lower levels), as it is basically a dominate animal spell (with a skill check onyour part instead of a save on the animals part)

By the way, is there any way to change the name of your animal companion?

[ June 26, 2006, 15:11: Message edited by: Cantlos ]

 

Indeed, parry is pretty much useless in the OC unless for roleplaying reasons. You already get loads of magic items that raise your AC to godlike heights. In some low-magic PW's parry is very powerful though.

 

@Cantlos, I didn't know that the thread title would still prompt you to ask what class my character is. Sorry, couldn't help it.

You can change your animal companion's name during the first time it was made available to you. It's pretty much like choosing you character's name. You can use "Generate Name" or just type in the name you want. During level ups, your animal companion also levels up with you (assuming you level up in the appropriate class), I *think* you can also change the name of your animal companion... but I could be wrong with the level up situation.

 

No. Parry does really not do anything. It's a bug.

Or did Bioware fix it?

 

The only downside is that it's capped at a maximum of 3 attacks per round. Apart from that, it works fine.

 

Got me there . Still hope I was of some help (since I'm ussually the one asking for it )

Never noticed that menu. Must've rolled a natural one there. Multiple times...