Ranger build as it should have been

[magisensei1]

Hi everyone,

While reading 3e Players Handbook I read about the ranger since I was thinking of making one for a IWD2 run through but the makers of IWD2 seriously underpowered/nerfed the whole class and as such its impossible to really use the class as it was meant to be. So I was wondering if it was possible to remake it as legal as possible with some nifty use of DK2 for an almost legal and legit (pure) ranger as it was meant to be. So I came up with the following solution:

1) unlock the levels in DK2 so you can multiclass without levels affecting the main character level of ranger. You will multiclass into 2 levels of rogue to get evasion at level 9th level since the IWD2 manual doesn't show that the ranger get this but if anyone has played up to a 9th level ranger and you do get this than this is not necessary.

2) Odd but IWD2 does not allow for humans to be a favored enemy unlike the PnP version but this can be fixed using DK2 as well - just go into favored enemy tab in DK2 and choose human - why choose human versus other creatures - well basically because a lot of the villains in IWD2 are human once you leave the prologue + humans poachers are abound in Fearun for poaching in forest so its a good favorite enemy to have if as a ranger you tend to realms/areas that have a majority human population.

3) To fix the weapon combat problem is more difficult - ie the improved combat style you get at level 6. There is no solution to this unless there is a weapon that adds an addition attack at a minus for the extra attack. A compromise would be to add 1 level of fighter for a +1 BAB or +1 to DEX or you can ignore the whole improved combat style for rangers while in IWD2.

4) Now the favorite enemy bonus was nerfed as well in IWD2 - you get a +1 which only goes up by +1 every 5 levels - there is no real solution to this problem - BUT some creative use of spells, potions and/or a strength increase should solve this problem:

a) spell solution - at 4th level you get the spell icon - using DK2 - you can add any spell from any class if you want - so just add some kind of strength spell for your favorite enemy that gives the damage bonus that it should have been - just remember to cast it.

OR

b) potion solution - give unlimited amount of strength potions - that vary in damage as your damage increases - so for example when you reach level 5 - your first favorite enemy should have a +4 additional damage - so just choose the appropriate strength potion that gives a +3 to strength - actually to make it more balanced use a potion that is a bit weaker since the favorite enemy bonus is for damage and not for BAB. Potion use is probably the best solution since it can be seen in the quick menu rather than trying to cast a spell which might take a round of action to do.

OR

c) a compromise would be a +1 to STR/5 levels (with a +1 given already for the first favorite enemy) so you don't have to worry about drinking potions and casting spells for those that don't want to micro-manage a battle. To keep it balanced this would mean that the usual attribute increase would go into something else other than strength or only add +1 to strength once at attribute increase (4th level) than put the attribute increase at 8th level etc. into something else.

OR some creative combination of everything.

5) Animal companion - no solution for this but a compromise might be to add an additional animal/monster summoning spell (no greater than about animal summoning 3 or 4) so instead of being able to cast 1 now you cast 2. Use DK2 to fix this or add scrolls to for this spell as appropriate. OR you can ignore this aspect of being a ranger since IWD2 uses d10 for HP instead of the d8 in the PnP - why they only got a d8 for a semi-warrior class is a mystery to me since they are a fighter sub-class like paladins and they get a d10. [side note: animal companions should not be too hard to add if you were the developer - remember BG2 had a wizard familiar you could get.]

So everyone is this a viable solution for ranger problem in IWD2? Not everything is solved but some things are some what fixed. Tell me what you think.