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Guide Index:
Treantmonk's Guide to Rangers in Pathfinder
Rangers were a class that struggled to find its place in 3rd Edition Dungeons and
Dragons. In 3.0 the Ranger was a one level class, the quick way to give your rogue two
weapon fighting. In 3.5 the Ranger gathered a bit of dignity, but still tended to have
difficulty finding a place where he excelled. Yes, he was sneaky, and could shoot a bow,
and spot things, but so could a Fighter/Rogue, and the Fighter/Rogue was the better
combatant. The Ranger's spells weren't very good, his animal companion was a
complete waste, and even Druids were better trackers.
However, come Pathfinder the Ranger has something exciting, actual options to be
effective. The new Ranger is an effective melee combatant, an effective archer,
unchallenged as the best tracker in any party, and finally can put aside his nostalgia for
1st and 2nd edition.
The Builds: A Pathfinder Ranger has two mechanical options, the "archery" path and
the "Two weapon fighting" path, but when it comes to optimization, these actually aren't
your best build-theme options. I think from an optimization standpoint there are two
viable Ranger Styles if you aren't multiclassing, and neither are two weapon fighters. I
will also suggest what to do if you are interested in a Two Weapon Fighting build, which
in a nutshell, is don't be a straight Ranger.
The Guide to the Guide: In this Guide we will be discussing a lot of options,
because Rangers have many choices. Therefore, in order to provide my advice on these
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choices, I'll be Color-coding and rating them. I will also color coat the Ranger abilities,
just so you know which ones are great, good, or just flavoring.
ONE STAR * This is a choice I don't recommend - keep clear
TWO STARS ** This option is good, but not great
THREE STARS *** I recommend this option
FOUR STARS **** I highly recommend this option - practically a "must have"
Simple enough, like a movie review. So lets move into the Ranger skills and abilities:
Favored Enemy ***: Now a +2 bonus right from 1st level, also, now gives a bonus to
hit (in addition to damage and a few skills). Favored enemy is tougher than ever, but,
unfortunately, as always, it is circumstantial. It's very hard to pick what your favored
enemy will be, because what you are going to be fighting all the time really depends on
the campaign. If you have no idea, then these are the favored enemies I think are
pretty safe bets: Humanoid (human), Undead, Outsider (evil), Magical Beast. These are
all pretty common enemies, but if your DM will give you a suggestion, take it.
Track **: WOW, Rangers are once again the best trackers in the game. Add half your
level to your survival for your tracking rolls, which means, really, nobody else in your
party needs even bother taking survival.
Wild Empathy **: Diplomacy for animals. The great thing is you get this (basically
maxed out) for free, the bad thing is that it is based on CHA (a dump stat).
Nevertheless, it is handy to have, and a great ability to use in conjunction with Charm
Animal, allowing you to move the animal from your worst enemy, to your loving
companion forever.
Combat Style ****: 5 bonus feats over 18 levels, what's not to like? Much improved
in that you can actually CHOOSE which feat to take, in addition, as always, you can
avoid prerequisites, which means a Ranger with a moderate Dex score is still quite
viable.
Endurance *: The Endurance feat as a bonus feat, yippee. This is the feat that nobody
takes unless it's given, but nevertheless, I'll take it when it's given.
Favored Terrain **: A new ability for Rangers (we saw similar abilities in 3.5 Prestige
Classes), you get this at 3rd level, and over your career you will get a total of 5. The
bonus begins at +2, and like Favored Enemy, increases with each additional favored
terrain. The bonus isn't to anything too impressive, but it does add to initiative (which is
nice), and some other skills. Rangers leave no trail in favored terrain, but can still be
tracked by scent we assume, so Pass Without Trace is still going to be a good spell.
Hunter's Bond ***: Now the Ranger gets a choice whether he wants an animal
companion, or the ability to share his favored enemies with his allies. Here's the quick
rundown for you. The bond with the companions gives 1/2 his favored enemy bonus
against a single target only, as a move action, for as many rounds as his wisdom
modifier (so likely 2 rounds). Yuck. The other is to get an animal companion far
improved from Rangers of 3.5 (now it's your full level -3 advancement). Get the animal
companion. I know, animal companions for Rangers have always sucked before. Not
anymore, and the alternative really does suck. Get the animal companion every
time .
Woodland Stride **: Move through overgrown terrain (as long as it is natural) at full
speed. Very, very circumstantial, but hey, I'll take it. A good way to lose pursuers as
well.
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Swift Tracker **: Track at higher speeds. If you use track a lot, this is going to be
quite helpful, especially if you are tracking something that specifically is trying to get
away from you.
Evasion ***: A wonderful ability to have. You have to wait until 9th level, but a very
handy ability to have. Enemy wizards love to blast.
Quarry *: Provides a small attack bonus and automatic critical confirming to one enemy
per day (at 11th level). If he tries to run, god help him, because you can track him in
your sleep. Not a huge ability, but basically an offensive output buff, which is always
nice, however, it takes a standard action to activate, which means that quite often, this
simply will not pay off in the long run. If your enemy attempts fleeing, slap this on,
otherwise, not worth it most of the time.
Camouflage **: Granted at 12th level, this is basically Hide-In-Plain-Sight for all your
favored terrains. Obviously this will be trumped when you get the real hide in plain
sight, but until then, hide in plain sight is a nice ability to have.
Improved Evasion ***: Wade into fireballs and cones of cold without concern. Even a
failed save means you will take reduced damage. If you happen to have Resist Energy
up, you are all but immune to wizard blasting.
Hide in Plain Sight ***: Not granted until 17th level, Hide in Plain Sight means you
can use stealth anywhere at any time. In an open field in daylight with a horde of
guards specifically staring at you? No problem, goodbye.
Improved Quarry ***: You can now use your Quarry ability as a free action, which
suddenly makes this ability quite a bit more useful. Also, his bonuses double, and he
only has to wait 10 minutes between new quarries, which means probably one quarry for
every combat.
Master Hunter ****: In most campaigns you will never see this ability, and in the few
campaigns you do, you won't see it until the end. Yes, it's a great ability, as capstone
abilities often are, but they are level 20 abilities for a Reason, to give you something you
can always look forward to. Once you get this, there's nothing left.
Spells ***: For anybody who gets these, this is a big advantage. Naturally, if you
multiclass, you should expect to give up the lion's share of this advantage. You can live
without, but, when you do have it, you'll be glad for it. I have a detailed spell section
after the builds.
Recommended Skills:
Handle Animal ***: If you get an animal companion, and as mentioned before, you
should, handle animal is very necessary for proper training. Furthermore a Ranger who
doesn't have Handle Animal simply can't be a Ranger anymore, sorry.
Intimidate **: Not 100% necessary, and based off a dump stat, but you don't have a
lot of skills allowing you any advantage when interacting with humanoids, so you may
find this useful for that. You can live without it, but nice to have.
Knowledge (nature) ***: Of the knowledge's you have, this will be the most useful.
Lots of creatures are identified through the Knowledge (nature) skill. Knowledge
(Dungeoneering) should be considered as a secondary option of you have the room.
 
Perception ****: Simply the most used skill in the game period. Also, what kind of
scout doesn't have perception? This is absolutely the most useful skill, the most iconic
skill, and your #1 priority. No Ranger should not have perception, are we clear?
Ride **: This is a definite maybe. If you plan on having your Ranger mounted (which is
a viable option), then this is necessary, otherwise, it may be occasionally handy, but can
be lived without, or with just a couple levels.
Stealth ****: I would max this out every time. Scouting requires you to be sneaky, so
you have this as a class skill for a reason.
Survival ****: You use this for tracking, and you are a Ranger. It's also used for
survival in the wilderness, and you are a Ranger. A must have.
Climb **: I would never max this out, but taking 1 rank at level 1 will give you a decent
chance at modest climbing, a cheap investment for something that may come in handy
Swim **: I would never max this out, but like climb, 1 rank is a good investment. It
will give you the ability to swim decently, which normally will be all you need.
Favored Class Bonus: For the archery build, you are probably OK with the extra
skill point, but for any build entering melee, you probably want the extra HP.
Animal Companion Choices: Your bond should be an animal companion, here
are your choices:
Badger **: Not a terrible combat option, gets Rage for 6 rounds/day. Doesn't have a
great Str score, so until you get to 7th level, it will have a pretty light hit. Does get both
burrow and climb which can be handy. Also has scent and low light vision, also both
handy.
Bird **: The obvious advantage here is the ability to fly. The cost is the ability to fight.
Birds are small, so large enough to threaten, which means large enough to flank, and
they get 3 attacks per round, so they aren't entirely useless in combat, but without
animal growth, you will likely find their hits to be pretty unimpressive. They will
eventually have a high enough Str to qualify for Power Attack, this is a must have.
Camel *: Clearly a mount option for specific types of campaigns. Generally a worse
choice than a horse, so even in a desert campaign, I would normally choose the latter.
Cheetah/leopard ****: Not any faster than a horse or camel, and the damage is
poor. However, has a great Dex which means that you can get weapon finesse for a nice
chance to hit. Also the sprint ability gives it short range bursts of speed that will be
impressive. Agile maneuvers will allow you to use the dex modifier towards combat
maneuvers, and these get a trip attack with a successful bite attack. Specifically an
archer might find that handy to keep the enemies at distance. Gets scent as well, which
is handy to have.
Dire rat: There aren't stats for the dire rat in the base book because Dire Rats appear to
not be an option for Druids. I wouldn't expect much more than a potential disease
attack (which tend not to be to great), so probably no big loss.
Dog *: One obvious advantage is that a dog is going to be welcome in pretty much any
city, but otherwise this is purely a weaker option than the Cheetah or Leopard.
Horse ***: If you plan to be a mounted Ranger, this is likely your best choice. Horses
are actually pretty tough in combat with decent STR scores and large size. At 7th level it
 
will become war trained as well. The horse also has scent, making it just as good at
tracking by scent as a dog. Horses, like dogs, are going to be welcome in any city. A
good choice.
Pony *: Pretty much worse than the horse in almost every way. If you are small size,
you may need a smaller mount, in which case this is an understandable choice,
otherwise, there is no reason to go this route.
Shark: Aquatic campaigns only, in an aquatic campaign, it's really the only choice, in a
non-aquatic campaign, it's a non-choice.
Snake, constrictor ***: The point of this guy is to grab and constrict, something he
won't be doing on medium foes until 7th level, after that, he's OK at it. Note that the
snake is also a swimmer, giving you that versatility as well. Snakes get the scent ability
too.
Snake, viper *: Like the constrictor, but give up all the combat stuff for a poison bite,
which won't cease to let you down. If you want a snake, go for the big one.
Wolf ***: Very iconic choice, and very competitive with the Cheetah/Leopard. Stats
are very similar and both have the tripping ability. Both advance similarly at 7th level as
well. The Wolf does not have the sprinting ability, and it uses the single attack rather
than the triple attack, so in the end, probably slightly weaker.
Deadly Aim except that it is normally better to use deadly aim then not to. This can
change if either: Your base damage before deadly aim happens to be very high (eg. you
are fighting a favored foe), or your to hit number is very high. Always apply Deadly Aim
"to hit" modifiers before deciding whether to apply Rapid Shot.
Archery Basics:
As a Ranger, expect that using a Bow is very often going to be part of your character. It
may be your main focus, or it may be just one aspect of the whole. However, some
changes have occurred to archery in Pathfinder (mainly for the good), but sometimes it's
hard to know which feats you should be applying to which shots.
Vital Strike: If you want to play hit and run, this is really your only archery option to
increase your damage. Make a full move, fire with Vital shot, do more damage. Period.
Vital Shot is NOT for full attacks, and when you can get a full attack, it is almost always
better to take it then to use this feat.
Rapid Shot: Rapid shot is available right at level 2 with an Archery style, and level 2 is
when you get the biggest bang for your buck. Essentially you double your arrow output
for a -2 on each arrow. When do you want to use Rapid Shot? If Rapid Shot or firing a
single arrow are your choices - then the only time that the single arrow is better is if you
need to roll an 18 to hit before adding Rapid Shot (so RS brings you to an even 20 to
hit). Any other time, rapid shot is the better choice.
Manyshot: Absolutely a must have for Rangers, gives you an extra arrow without any
minus like Manyshot. Always better than firing a single arrow. If you have Manyshot
and Rapid shot, always use manyshot on a full attack, and use Rapid Shot as well
whenever your target number "To Hit" is 15 or less, if you need more than a 15 to hit
before adjusting for Rapid Shot, then don't bother with it. Once you get a 2nd attack at
level 6, reduce that number to 13. 14 or higher to hit, don't use Rapid Shot, 13 or
lower, use it.
 

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