Revisiting paths: Builds for new players (2024)

Tempest (L18 Ranger/L1 Rogue/L1 Fighter)

Concept: High damage dealer with decent survivability and self-sufficiency, focused on dual wielding weapons, but able to pull out a bow when needed.
Original path's flaws: Some weapon feats are messed up (e.g. Elves are given Improved Crit: Slash and Weapon Focus: Pierce, Humans are given Khopesh proficiency but Improved Critial and Weapon Focus in Piercing weapons).
Main fixes: Revised combat feats, also splashed Rogue and Figther for UMD and an extra feat.

Multi-class progression <- click for more info: Create your character as Rogue, then take levels 2 to 5 as Ranger, level 6 as Fighter, and 7 to 20 as Ranger.
Alignment:

Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Good, Neutral, Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Good

Stats and Race (28/32 pt):
........Drow.....Dwarf......Elf.....Halfling...Human...Warforged.
.Str.....16......16/17.....16/17.....15/16.....16/17.....16/17...
.Dex.....16........14........16........16........14........14....
.Con.....14........18........14........14........16........17....
.Int.....10........8.........8.........8.........8.........8.....
.Wis.....10......10/11.....10/11.......11......10/11.....10/11...
.Cha.....10........6.........8........8/9........8.........6.....

Ability increase every 4 levels: All in Str.

Skills (except Human and Drow): At L1, max out Balance, UMD, Concentration, Spot, Tumble, Jump, Open Locks. On next levels max out UMD, Open Locks and Spot (make Open Locks absorb the skill points lost by the Fighter level, so that eventually Open Locks should be -2 compared to the max score you could reach).
Skills (Human and Drow): Same, but at L1 you can dump extra points into Haggle, and on next levels spend your extra skill point into Balance (except at the Fighter level and the three levels after, where you should use this skill point to catch up on UMD, Open Locks and Spot to max them out).

Feats (by level), except Human: Toughness (1), Favored Enemy: Undead (2), Dodge (3), Mobility (6), Spring Attack (6), Favored Enemy: Construct (7), Improved Crit: Slash (9), Power Attack (12), Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider (12), Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh (15), Favored Enemy: Elemental (17), Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting (18)
Feats (by level), Human: Dodge (1), Toughness (1), Favored Enemy: Undead (2), Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh (3), Mobility (6), Spring Attack (6), Favored Enemy: Construct (7), Improved Crit: Slash (9), Power Attack (12), Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider (12), Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting (15), Favored Enemy: Elemental (17), Skill Focus: UMD (18)

For more information about picking enhancements please read this post.
Enhancements (Fighter): Attack Boost I (except on Human), Toughness I
Enhancements (Ranger): Devotion II, Dexterity II, Energy Resistance Boost I, Favored Attack I, Favored Damage II, Favored Resistance I, Skill Boost III (except on Human), Sprint Boost I, Tempest III
Enhancements (Rogue): Haste Boost I, Sneak Attack Training I
Enhancements (Drow): Enchantment Resistance I, Racial Toughness II
Enhancements (Dwarf): Constitution I, Racial Toughness II, Spell Defense II
Enhancements (Elf): Enchantment Resistance I, Racial Toughness II, Ranged Attack I, Ranged Damage I
Enhancements (Halfling): Cunning I, Guile II, Hero's Companion III, Luck (Fortitude) I, Luck (Reflex) II, Luck (Will) I, Racial Toughness II
Enhancements (Human): Adaptability Strength I, Improved Recovery I, Racial Toughness II, Versatility III
Enhancements (Warforged): Constitution I, Construct Thinking I, Hardiness I, Healer's Friend II, Racial Toughness II

Soloability by level:
No hireling..: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
With hireling: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Tips:
- You may start dual-wielding weapons at L3. Before you obtain Khopesh proficiency (i.e. before L3 for Human and before L15 for others), your ideal main-hand weapon will be a scimitar (or a Dwarven Axe on a Dwarf if you invest on the axe enhancements - remember to get rid of them once you start using Khopeshes). In the off-hand, start by using a light weapon (ideally a kukri, or possibly a race-favored weapon if you pick enhancements for it). Once you see you are almost never missing anymore (or once you take the Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting feat), switch to a weapon similar to your main hand for better damage output (ultimately, you should be dual-wielding Khopeshes).
- Good khopeshes can be difficult to find (this is a reason why except on the Human version, the proficiency feat is taken rather late). But once you reach L15 you can start looking into crafting to make your own.
- Remember that you need a Wis of at least (10 + spell level) to cast a spell. You can use items, enhancements, tomes and the Owl's Wisdom spell to meet this requirement.
- You may start casting spells at L5, but will receive very few base spell points to do so. Use items giving bonus spell points ('of Power', 'of Wizardry') and increase your Wis (for bonus spell points) so as to get a larger spell point pool. You can also temporarily pick the Energy of the Wild Ranger enhancement to boost your spell points at early levels.
- Once you get Evasion at L11, make sure you are using light (or no) armor as otherwise Evasion will not work.
- This build has the potential to reach useful UMD, but it will take a while (and some gear) before it really makes a difference.
- Rangers get archery feats for free. Even without being a bow specialist, starting at L8 you will be able to deal meaningful damage from range while Manyshot is active (drag it somewhere on a hotbar!).
- Remember you can open locks, so carry thieves tools and try to get your hands on an item boosting this skill.
- You may start using healing wands at L2, even if you are not able to cast any spell yet.

Variants:
- It is possible to go Dex-based instead of Str-based, in which case dual-wielding rapiers would be your best weapon choice. It requires Weapon Finesse (taken at L3, so that a non Human would delay Toughness to L15, taking Dodge at L1), and gives better AC/reflex saves/ranged to-hit, at the cost of reduced damage output.
- With slight modifications, this build can be able to handle traps as well. Increase Int to 14 (12 on a human), so as to be able to max out Disable Device, Search, Open Locks, UMD and Spot (give up a few points in Open Locks to compensate for the loss of skill points on the Fighter level). 32 pt build, Drow and/or going Dex-based will make this easier to achieve. On a Human, you may want to keep the Ranger Skill Boost, in order to avoid running out of boosts when facing difficult traps.
- Instead of going for traps, +4 to Int (obtained by 32 pt build or by taking down Con/Wis slightly) can let you max out the Hide and Move Silently skills, if you enjoy sneaking (which can mostly be useful in solo play).
- The so-called "exploiter" build consists in replacing the Fighter level with a Monk level, the goal being to reach higher AC. For such a build it makes most sense to be Dex-based, and ideally to add Combat Expertise in order to be able to reach really high AC. Wisdom should be increased to at least 14, at the expense of Str, and Int should also be boosted so you can qualify for the 13 Int requirement for Combat Expertise (access to 32 pt build and Int tome will help with that). Also, remember than Monk requires being Lawful.
- Even if you do not care about AC, replacing Fighter with Monk can be a reasonable choice: you gain +2 Reflex and Will saves, at the cost of 1 BAB and 10 HPs.
- Races who get bonuses with specific weapons through enhancements (Dwarf, Elf and Drow) may use these weapons instead of Khopeshes without incurring too much of a DPS loss. Khopesh may then be replaced by Skill Focus: UMD, or one may choose to go for either a pure Ranger or a Ranger 19/Rogue 1 build instead (both are also very good options). Remember to swap feats for Slashing weapons by similar feats for Piercing weapons when using Rapiers.
- If you already have good Khopeshes to use at L12 on a non Human, feel free to swap Power Attack and Khopesh proficiency.
- Other potentially useful Favored Enemies include Aberration (useful from mid to high level), Giant (low-mid to high level), and Goblinoid (low to mid level). In the current state of the game, the most important Favored Enemy to get in the long term is Evil Outsider.

Color code: best to worst =

green, yellow, orange, red