Okay Flurry Rangers are cool, but when the closed captions transcribed it as "Flirty Ranger" I had a brief moment where I imagined a Charisma heavy Ranger using Bon Mot, and now I need that in my life.
I'm currently playing a Diplomacy and Occultism-centric Eldritch Archer Ranger right now with Bon Mot and Disturbing Knowledge as a back-up when caught in close combat I can confirm it is fun
While pathfinder prides itself on combat always allowing you to do different things. But if you only want to press the attack button because attack is fun, Flurry Ranger is a perfect fit.
@@Luchux177 Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking! I hope he comes back to some of these builds when he does start using the APG for these videos, would be pretty fun to see how they get updated
This was fun! Another possible direction to go instead of Rogue and Fighter dedication, is the Magus dedication... to get the dimensional assault conflux spell, so you can teleport and Strike with a single action. It helps you reach that enemy even if it's not your hunted prey! Very cool that you can use your master Nature skill on any creature - you're now as good at identifying many creatures as well as an 18 INT character who is only trained in something! Gotta love the proficiency system in PF2. Your Rogue DPR calculations might be coming out ahead because they assume enemies who are always flat-footed, which doesn't come up *all* the time. (You can't always count on flanking - you might kill your foe with your 1st strike and have to move on to the next one!)
It's more likely that he over-estimated opportune backstab triggering at the higher level one with the assumption of always flanking with no actions spent. The ideal outcome of that feat triggering should not be set at 75% with no action tax. 50% TOP with maybe another 25% for a normal attack going off. And that is for low and mid AC ONLY. With an action tax for you to be in position, it should be near 100% for low and mid AC unless you are the only melee in the group.
Something really fun about Hunt Prey on exploration with Monster Hunter and Monster Warden is that those bonuses have a practical time limit of one day. You can hunt prey on some tracks, recall knowledge as part of that action, and if you crit succeed, your party will start combat with those bonuses. You don't need to be in combat to grant the bonuses.
I am really loving the PF2e builds. I'm new to the system and it has so much to explore that it's a bit intimidating but this is a great way to learn more!
A couple of tidibits: First, you can get the build off the ground faster with the Dual-Weapon Build which already gives Double Slice at level 2. Later on it offers some Fighter feats, but also other unique Archetype Feats. Second, Quick Reversal [Fighter] is Great and fits this build quite well, however, you need to attack once before using this because of the [Press] Trait, for Flurry Rangers and Fighters, this is no big deal. At higher levels, when Flurry Improves, you'll be able to use Twin Takedown, follow up with a Quick Reversal and then land two more attacks, assuming you're Hasted (that's, of course, not accounting for Impossible Flurry). Btw, you're right on the money with Warden's Boon. On Flurry it greatly helps monks, on everyone else they will love the Precision Ranger adding d8's to their attacks.
I know it can be more work, but one way to really highlight different builds is to compare their high end with their low end. The ceiling vs the floor. Because yes, Thief Rogue has a great ceiling, but I don't know if it's floor would be as good if they can't get flatfooted or if they have only one action to Strike. Amazing build as usual, and I really like that you are enjoying the system and trying to crack it.
I'd like to argue that Deeps is not everything at least on a Rogue: It is, after all, also the class with the most total "skill", to deal with different situations . And, and least some of it can also be at least situationally relevant in combat , to improve their "low end".
I'll second this. Average damage isn't everything, and in particular for Flurry Ranger, I'd bet it's probability of doing any amount of damage is higher than most of the other builds; i.e., it may have a lower ceiling, but has a higher floor.
Haven't finished yet so maybe this comes up...but I believe that agile weapons with the grapple/trip/shove trait use the lowered MAP, so you could instead use weapons like a Kama, flail, whip, or tekko-kagi, instead of a dogslicer
They do not. MAP applies fully to trip/shove/grab/disarm at all times. And they always use strength, you can't use dex just because you're using a finesse weapon.
@@datonkallandor8687 They do, because agile specifies "attacks," not "attack rolls" like finesse does. Maneuvers are actions with the "attack" trait, making them attack actions even though they are skill checks. However, the caveat is that agile only provides said bonus to attacks made *with the weapon,* so unless the weapon you are using has the corresponding maneuver trait (thus allowing you to *use the weapon* for that attack) it won't apply.
@@datonkallandor8687 The errata in question: "Page 446: Attack Rolls. There was some confusion as to whether skill checks with the attack trait (such as Grapple or Trip) are also attack rolls at the same time. They are not. To make this clear, add this sentence to the beginning of the definition of attack roll "When you use a Strike action or make a spell attack, you attempt a check called an attack roll." To clarify the different rules elements involved: An *attack* is any check that has the *attack trait.* It applies and increases the multiple attack penalty. An *attack roll* is one of the core types of checks in the game (along with saving throws, skill checks, and Perception checks). They are used for Strikes and spell attacks, and traditionally target Armor Class. Some skill actions have the *attack trait,* specifically Athletics actions such as Grapple and Trip. You still make a skill check with these skills, not an attack roll. The *multiple attack penalty* applies on those skill actions as well. As it says later on in the definition of attack roll "Striking multiple times in a turn has diminishing returns. The multiple attack penalty (detailed on page 446) applies to each attack after the first, whether those attacks are Strikes, special attacks like the Grapple action of the Athletics skill, or spell attack rolls." There is inaccurate language in the Multiple Attack Penalty section implying it applies only to attack rolls that will be receiving errata." And oh, wow, would you look at that - looking at my *4th printing (current errata to-date) copy of the CRB,* seems like agile still only references an *attack,* and not an *attack roll* like finesse specifically does.
I think something to note is how much this build would benefit from magic items. You put a flaming rune on the magus' weapon and they'll do like 1d6 extra damage per turn. You put the same rune on the flurry ranger's weapons? 4d6.
My only problem with flurry ranger (and this might be a positive for some players) is...there isn't much decision making on your turn. You basically spend every turn just using every action to attack always and forever. In that way, it feels closer to a 5e martial where every turn is basically just "I hit it with my sword." Which, for me, gets pretty dull pretty fast. However, if you like doing heaps of damage over multiple attacks, it will be enjoyable.
Doesn't flurry also apply to athletics skill checks in combat (shove, trip, grapple, disarm)? If so I could see it being a good starting point for an athletics focus martial, with lots of fun combat options.
Or, thinking about it another way, since you have easy access to feats that allow you to Strike twice with a single action (Twin Takedown and Hunted Shot) and Flurry significantly increases the likelihood you'll hit one or both, you can do the damage in one action that takes other martial's two, leaving two actions you can use to do more things out of Striking. If one of those actions is to Strike again, you are getting near the same dpr as every other martial with another action to spare (you do have to set up Hunt Prey first but you could say the same about Barbarian and Rage)
Since most player's don't have attack of opportunity I feel it's more reasonable to assume you would need to spend a single action moving to maintain your "enemy is always flat-footed" scenario. It might be an interesting comparison point as well. 3 actions spent attacking without the enemy being flat-footed vs spending an action to move into flank and then 2 actions attacking. In any case, Rogue's damage in particular comes from the enemy being flat-footed, so guaranteeing that they can always sneak attack will naturally give them an edge compared to other classes. Frankly, any class that can almost match up with this ideal scenario rogue is going to do an absolutely ton of damage even without the flat-footed, whereas the rogue will likely drop to the bottom of the chart without sneak attack damage.
Did you include the attack of opportunity chance to this build like you with the rogue? I feel like this would raise the flurry ranger's DPR. Fighter's version of AoO much stronger than the rogue's iirc.
Not mechanically significant, but a fun coincidence: in the 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms setting, Driz'zt Do'Urden, the poster boy dual-wielding Ranger, was given 10 levels of Ranger, 3 levels of Fighter, 2 of Rogue and 1 of Barbarian. Colby's character today, at Ranger Level 10, has 3 Fighter archetype feats and 2 Rogue archetype feats. I could say something about recommended feats or fun PF design details or something, but today I figured I'd mention something that made me chuckle. Great video, as always! I've been loving these!
I've essentially been making the same character in every fantasy RPG I've played, table top or otherwise, a Two Weapon Fighting Elf Ranger. By far, PF2e has been my favorite version of my character; with free archetype variant to get Rogue, I get to be the agile, stealthy, woodland warrior I always wanted to be.
Awesome video. I love ur deep dive videos, so detailed, wholesome and relaxing. A little note, using Gravity Weapon, and Light Picks, you could reach 90 DPR vs low AC, and Surpass everyone except the thief in High AC--- the reason, the lesser armor the target has, the bigger chance of crit, so crit heavy weapons like the Pick, get super efficient. And with the added bonus, of doing encounter changing damage 45-50 not taking into account elemental runes.
Regarding the dogslicers, it seems like it would undermine the spreadsheet to let any build grab whatever uncommon weapons it wants while other builds take feats like goblin weapon familiarity to get access to them. I would personally just go for longsword + shortsword (or honestly, warhammer + shortsword) and stick to weapons a character has access to rather than rely on GM permission for some builds and not others.
Happy to see another Pathfinder Build! Haven't got playing yet but hoping to in the near future. A Geralt style build sounds awesome! I'm also interested to see how PF2e handles rangers as, like you're saying in the intro as I type this, they're a class that was quite lacking in 5e prior to Tasha's.
When you're looking for an agile martial weapon don't sleep on the Light Hammer. 1d6 damage, respectable. Unlike most of the agile weapons it is blunt damage, which will come in handy if you are fighting skeletons. But the big deal is the critical specialization effect, which you get as a ranger starting at level 5. When you score a crit with a hammer the target is KNOCKED PRONE. Prone is amazing. They are flat footed -2 AC until they spend an action to stand up. And you get it for free, just for scoring the crit.
It's worth mentioning about Disrupt Prey, if you crit, you disrupt the triggering action. This differs from Attack of Opportunity which only disrupts Manipulate actions on a crit, combining the effect of Monk's Stand Still that disrupts Movement in a crit. So, granted, it doesn't trigger on ranged attacks, and can only be used on your hunted prey, but when it does trigger, it's the best of all of them.
Thx for another great review PF2e style. I have built many test characters to help me learn all the feats etc. in PF2e and Ranger is my fave class so far. I'm trying to build the 'perfect' snare builder and animal companion character though. I just like the idea of doing damage to enemies out of turn and having a buddy to help with damage or support. My idea is not necessarily to do the most damage, but to have a build that will just be fun and confound enemies....and maybe scare them as well.
The most important thing about playing a Ranger: When the GM mentions that you hear something, you need to immediately say "I Hunt Prey on the source of that noise".
Buying the books is great, and I do enjoy having physical copies on hand, but you don’t have to, almost everything is freely available on archives of nethys. And they’re partnering with paizo
Excellent as always! Always love the reminder at the beginning that it's not the "right way" but just a mathematically powerful build! It always sets a great tone. 🤘
Not sure if other people mentioned this, I was rewatching this and something I missed the first time around. Quick Reversal has the Press trait which means you already have to be affected by a multiple attack penalty to use it, so you wouldn't be able to open up your turn with it.
There's not much reason to have two agile weapons, only one really needs to be agile. You can take that opportunity to get some fun traits instead like Shove, Trip or Grapple on your "primary" hand. Or if you just want damage: Fatal/Deadly. So, some good options for your first weapon are: Khopesh, Flail, Gaff, Warhammer, Pick and Longsword. Dogslicers are really good off hands, but I'm very much partial to the Light Hammer since it can be thrown in a pinch, shortswords are good too since they cover two damage types but if you can get uncommon weapons the kukri is really good.
Wardens boon is ace. Our level 20 dual pick fighter, making 6 attacks per round, was given ranger flurry. It was beastly. Broke 500 dpr a couple of times.
If you were using the APG, this build would've been slightly different and maybe come online a bit quicker, in that you would be able to take the Dual Weapon Warrior Archetype at level 2, which gives you Double Slice.
While you get Double Slice at Level 2, what do you do with Level 4? Neither option is useful to you. He said he didn't want to give up an action to Twin Parry, so level 6 is sub-optimal. After that, everything looks good though.
Dual Thrower definitely has some utility, don't underestimate the power of having a ranged option, even if its not super accurate. Also that archetype has some really good options like Dual Onslaught, which makes Double Slice practically guaranteed damage, and options to add a bit of bleed damage and a bit of debuffing
An important thing with damage calculations is that while a third attacking action does provide additional average damage, in reality it equates to "there's a tiny change you crit and deal a ton of damage, and the rest of the time you burn your action for nothing". Which is why usually you want to spend your third action on something else, unless you really need that hail mary. Flurry rangers benefit from having extremely consistent damage which means even if their damage average isn't the highest (still good tho), in practice they will deal on par or above average damage. This is on top of their utility and the versatility they often have, and they also have really good reflex saves and perception which are both good.
Your thief build is by far the most optimal so far, but just wait until you make a fighter. When every +1 matters, starting with a +2 higher than every other martial can not be understated
I've been following you since you've started doing PF2E material and now I see why a lot of my friends liked your material before. Good rationale for the choices, fitting the concept you outline at the start. A bit of humour and a lot of good mood mixed in. And on top of it all, you have an amazing shirt. EEEEEAAAAAGLEEEEE!
I really like having Gauntlet (Maybe even Bladed Gauntlet) + other weapon on my rangers so that I have access to every athletics maneuver and add in more of the janky utility I crave... Lose a little bit of damage for access to a lot of possible support options! Also I find flurry somewhat overrated, I think a lot of Ranger's power is in that you can share Hunter's Edge with an animal companion... I think Flurry Ranger is better *if* you have other things with your strikes other than damage since they can apply those on hit effects far more efficiently than anyone else. Trip -> Animal Companion Grapple -> Flurry 2 strikes into them is very good at support while not losing all that much damage! I really like this take on the Ranger! I think that PF2 Rangers can be very diverse in what they do and Flurry is probably the flashiest but I am a fan of my Bastard Sword rangers that go in with an animal companion if I want big damage!
knowing how much you like recall knowledge I really want to point at the higher level ranger feat where you can recall knowledge on any creature with nature 😁😁 Shcould have finished watching, it was a level 10 feat so you obviously picked it :D I'm playing my own flurry ranger with monk archetype and dragon stance for that juicy d10 at the cost of agile^^
My friends and I had an ongoing bet for you and PF2E, whether 3 of your first 5 builds were going to be a Monk, a Magus and a Flurry Ranger lol I win! Lol ❤
Fleet can be pretty nice as movement is really powerful. If you spend two actions attacking and 1 moving where you are faster than your enemy they have to spend two actions catching up to you only leaving one action left to attack. Or you can move twice and odds are it will need to spend all 3 actions just to keep up. My group did this a few times against slower tough enemies as we did a fighting withdraw down the hallway.
Another Option instead of the Fighter Dedication could be the Dual-Weapon Warrior Dedication which would give you the Double Slice feat at lvl 2 instead of lvl 4
Fyi you do not need specific skills trained to recall knowledge, DC would just be higher if you use other skill for certain creature. You also can always get some fancy lore which provides you with a broad variety of recall knowledge checks, like monstrology/history/literature/folk tales!
Warhammer + light hammer is probably the "best" weapon combination you could go for on a str based twf ranger, due to bludgeoning damage simply being the generally superior damage type and that amazing crit specialization, but I'm personally a big fan of the flyssa since it's effectively a dogslicer that loses the backstabber trait in exchange for the dagger crit specialization. Also an interesting thing to note is that beastmaster archetype goes extremely well with ranger, normally ranger gets the benefit of a stronger animal companion starting out but the companion boosting feats come a bit later compared to druid's. Beastmaster solves the issue since it gets mature animal companion and following feats at the same levels druid does and they boost all your animal companions, so you can have a normal scaled companion which also benefits from your hunter's edge, on top of giving you an extra ally to flank with. In the perfect turn where you already hunted prey before you could twin takedown > Strike > Command animal to strike twice or even do Double slice > twin takedown > free attack from your (mature) companion if you have all of that, plus some companions being able to bleed with their support abilities (bird is amazing but boar isn't bad either) the damage really starts to ramp up. Great video once again, here's hoping to see some casters at some point 😄!
No need to swap weapons for a new Crit Specialization with a new consumable item in Treasure Vault. It's called Weapon-Weird Oil. Allows you to Key the Weapons group as another. Item 7 though. We have made some use of swapping for the Knife for Bleed or Pick for bonus damage. Very Cool item.
Just gonna throw this out there, Geralt is closer, thematically at least, to being a Thaumaturge than a Ranger. That said, yeah, ranger build! Woot woot!
One of the first characters I made for 2e (though still haven’t had a chance to play him) was a Half-Orc Precision Ranger with a bastard sword and a tiger. Basically my attempt to poke fun at all the 5e Ranger memes. :D
For weapons that gives the sword aesthetics but does better than inflicting flatfooted on a crit, in the most recent book Treasure Vault, they released Flyssa, a 1d6 Slashing Common Martial Weapon with Finesse and Agile traits and it is in the Knife weapon group, so it inflicts bleeding on a crit. It also has a picture in the same book and looks pretty cool, a slightly curved single edged blade thats between shortsword and longsword in terms of length. What makes flurry ranger really good is the additional damage you can apply on your weapons through feats and runes. If you simply just use two weapon with striking runes (doubling rings) and STR + weapon specialization as your only damage source, it is not going to look so good, but if you start stacking small damage modifiers on top of it, the sheer amount of damage you get from it becomes insane. There are multiple ways to do it, but my favorite is a Hobgoblin Ranger with Marshal Dedication (Dread Marshal Stance) and Fighter Dedication who focuses on Demoralize. Here is how the build goes: Hobgoblin has 2 feats at level 1 and 5 that synergize really well. Remorseless Lash prevents an enemies frightened status to go below 1 if you hit the enemy with a weapon attack that turn, and Agonizing Rebuke deals 1-2-3 d4 mental damage to enemies frightened by you at the start of their turn. From Marshal Dedication, Dread Marshal Stance adds status bonus to damage equal to the weapons damage dice (1-4) and lets your critical hits inflict frightened 1. Also since its an aura, all the allies who are in it gains these benefits. From fighter dedication, there really is not much you want until very late but Fearsome Brute is an amazing capstone and I would pick that level 10 feat over any level 20 ranger feats for this build. Basically it adds circumstance bonus on damage equal to the 3 times enemies frightened status. Even if the enemy is frightened 1, thats 3 damage that stacks with the Dread Marshal Stance. So a normal level 20 Ranger would have 4d6 + 3d6 from different elements from runes + 7 strength + 6 weapon specialization damage, this build adds a +4 status and +3 circumstance on its own. To a total of 7d6 + 20 damage per hit. With Impossible Flurry (the 18 level feat) and the level 17 improvement on the Flurry Edge, you can make 6 attacks all at -2 penalty against your hunted prey for 3 actions. That is 42d6 + 120 damage if all of it hits, 267 being the average of it. Which means 2-3 turns of it will rip apart any boss (highest HP stat block in the game so far has 600 HP)
Its funny. I am a DM for a Pathfinder game, and I use these guides to learn more about what my players can do than making a character myself. Absolutely love these!!!
So, I also looked into the Flurry Ranger when I first got into PF2e, it was the 2nd or 3rd build I made, but instead of going for the fighter archetype, I picked the rogue. With the right ancestry feat, it's even possible to get that archetype at Lv1, if I remember correctly. And I just say, think about all the flurry sneak attacks you'll possibly get.
hooray new video. I did a double take on the thumbnail too! I'm happy (and sort of overwhelmed) by the amount of customization pf2 provides! Also that candle in the back on the chair arm is giving me anxiety. "that plan went out the window" ... yes, Colby, quite literally.
One thing I want mentioned about the dpr calculations is that some creatures are immune to sneak attacks, and in those cases rangers are better. Same goes if the target isn’t flat-footed
When the enemy is immune to precision damage, flurry ranger can get the edge over the rogue. And your knowledge about monsters can really benefit your whole party perfom optimally.
I like the build, good variety of options. If you want to get double slice the earliest as possible though, you want to take dual-weapon warrior dedication instead of fighter. This gets you double slice at level 2 and lets you keep your dex 12, which means an extra +1 you can put into the recall knowledge part of the build.
Iirc, ranged attacks are manipulate actions, so it would still trigger disrupt prey, but only against your hunted prey. AoO still activates under anyone else, so it still a little better
You are right about the range attack with aoo, but oddly enough most range attacks have the manipulate action. Shooting a bow includes taking the arrows out of the shives(this is raw) most spells have the somatic component(which means the manipulate action) and when you reload that counts as manipulation. Only range attack I can think of is a few ancestry abilities and thrown weapon.
I was just thinking about this build, thanks! I love pathfinder's take on the Ranger. Makes the class so much more flavourful and enjoyable Also, I'd recommend you take a look at the Wit Swashbuckler, especially in combination with one of the human feats that helps you with aiding your allies
Regarding the 75% chance to trigger for your Thief Build reaction, I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear that context changes its value! I've GMed for two different rogues with the feat, one with a Fighter flank partner and the other a Barbarian flank partner. The difference was fairly stark, as the fighter usually had a 65-80% chance to hit on their first strike (plus they'd often make a MAPed 2nd strike) where the Barbarian had just the one chance to trigger the reaction at only 55-70% odds to hit, as they were often busy Demoralizing and Raising a Shield. TLDR I think 75% is maybe high but not by a ton.
Speaking of more movement more better, elf with the nimble ancestry feat and fleet general feat has a base speed of 35 or 40 if you get another way to boost it (like, say the infiltration armor's overdrive feat). Then if you get a hasted action, you can move, attack ×2 then move again (or take another action)
heard a friend mention a multi-attack magus, but their idea used laughing step so i imagine it wouldn't be used for Quite some time, loving the pf2e vids! always a joy to watch (:
I did this same build but I gave them an animal companion instead of theif multiclass. I can now do 2 attacks at max attack, 2 at -4, and then command my companion to do it's own 2 attacks. I think that might stack up better than the D6's for sneak attack.
I'm starting to feel that the whole "allways flatfooted" for the damage reports is what is making the rogue go so above the rest in a way that just works in white room.
Just learning about 2e and found this while looking into the ranger, great stuff. I like this character concept, but I'd have to play a small race, taking monsters' legs out, Tasmanian devil style.
Not going to lie. That thumbnail made me double take. The face swap was too believable! Excited to dive into another one of your Pathfinder builds!
I can't look at him right now all I see is Paul Walker
same! :D
And all this time I’ve been getting these “Homelander plays D&D!?” Comments 😉
@@DnDDeepDive I was thinking Paul Walker.
Oh this thumbnail tripped me right out. Well played, Colby.
Okay Flurry Rangers are cool, but when the closed captions transcribed it as "Flirty Ranger" I had a brief moment where I imagined a Charisma heavy Ranger using Bon Mot, and now I need that in my life.
lol!
Swashbuckler Dedication to give it more... Panache? :P
Outwit Ranger let's go
That's sort of just a Fey Wanderer Ranger.
I'm currently playing a Diplomacy and Occultism-centric Eldritch Archer Ranger right now with Bon Mot and Disturbing Knowledge as a back-up when caught in close combat I can confirm it is fun
While pathfinder prides itself on combat always allowing you to do different things. But if you only want to press the attack button because attack is fun, Flurry Ranger is a perfect fit.
I seriously can't wait until you start using the advanced rulebook. The archetypes in that book are so so so fun
Preach, the Dual Weapon Warrior dedication would've been exactly what he wantes for this build.
@@Luchux177 Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking! I hope he comes back to some of these builds when he does start using the APG for these videos, would be pretty fun to see how they get updated
This was fun! Another possible direction to go instead of Rogue and Fighter dedication, is the Magus dedication... to get the dimensional assault conflux spell, so you can teleport and Strike with a single action. It helps you reach that enemy even if it's not your hunted prey!
Very cool that you can use your master Nature skill on any creature - you're now as good at identifying many creatures as well as an 18 INT character who is only trained in something! Gotta love the proficiency system in PF2.
Your Rogue DPR calculations might be coming out ahead because they assume enemies who are always flat-footed, which doesn't come up *all* the time. (You can't always count on flanking - you might kill your foe with your 1st strike and have to move on to the next one!)
It's more likely that he over-estimated opportune backstab triggering at the higher level one with the assumption of always flanking with no actions spent. The ideal outcome of that feat triggering should not be set at 75% with no action tax. 50% TOP with maybe another 25% for a normal attack going off. And that is for low and mid AC ONLY. With an action tax for you to be in position, it should be near 100% for low and mid AC unless you are the only melee in the group.
I was going to say, I'd like to damage comparisons with flatfooted calculated at lower levels (75%, 50%, 25%).
Something really fun about Hunt Prey on exploration with Monster Hunter and Monster Warden is that those bonuses have a practical time limit of one day. You can hunt prey on some tracks, recall knowledge as part of that action, and if you crit succeed, your party will start combat with those bonuses. You don't need to be in combat to grant the bonuses.
Aaahhh! I am about to start a PF2 campaign with a ranger! This is definitely what I need. THANK YOU, Colby!
Love the KOTOR reference! I also love the dual-wielding option.
I am really loving the PF2e builds. I'm new to the system and it has so much to explore that it's a bit intimidating but this is a great way to learn more!
I'm so glad that you did another Pathfinder deep dive.😁😁
Aaaaand the next Pathfinder Build made me finally pull the trigger on that sweet sweet channel membership! Awesome vid and awesome build als always!
woo hoo! Welcome :)
The ranger has always been my one of my favorite classes, and seeing it be so potent and cool in pathfinder was such a joy. Keep up the great content.
Ooh, more pathfinder. This should be good
Loving these Dathdinder Deep Dives :D
Loving the Pathfinder content :D Keep it up!
This was my brother’s first class. Looked like a lot of fun!
Also, holy balls that face swap was good in the thumbnail… the resemblance is uncanny.
A couple of tidibits:
First, you can get the build off the ground faster with the Dual-Weapon Build which already gives Double Slice at level 2. Later on it offers some Fighter feats, but also other unique Archetype Feats.
Second, Quick Reversal [Fighter] is Great and fits this build quite well, however, you need to attack once before using this because of the [Press] Trait, for Flurry Rangers and Fighters, this is no big deal. At higher levels, when Flurry Improves, you'll be able to use Twin Takedown, follow up with a Quick Reversal and then land two more attacks, assuming you're Hasted (that's, of course, not accounting for Impossible Flurry).
Btw, you're right on the money with Warden's Boon. On Flurry it greatly helps monks, on everyone else they will love the Precision Ranger adding d8's to their attacks.
Yes, dual weapon archetype is great, though I think he is still only using the core rules
I know it can be more work, but one way to really highlight different builds is to compare their high end with their low end. The ceiling vs the floor. Because yes, Thief Rogue has a great ceiling, but I don't know if it's floor would be as good if they can't get flatfooted or if they have only one action to Strike.
Amazing build as usual, and I really like that you are enjoying the system and trying to crack it.
I'd like to argue that Deeps is not everything at least on a Rogue: It is, after all, also the class with the most total "skill", to deal with different situations . And, and least some of it can also be at least situationally relevant in combat , to improve their "low end".
I'll second this. Average damage isn't everything, and in particular for Flurry Ranger, I'd bet it's probability of doing any amount of damage is higher than most of the other builds; i.e., it may have a lower ceiling, but has a higher floor.
Haven't finished yet so maybe this comes up...but I believe that agile weapons with the grapple/trip/shove trait use the lowered MAP, so you could instead use weapons like a Kama, flail, whip, or tekko-kagi, instead of a dogslicer
They do not. MAP applies fully to trip/shove/grab/disarm at all times. And they always use strength, you can't use dex just because you're using a finesse weapon.
@@datonkallandor8687 They do, because agile specifies "attacks," not "attack rolls" like finesse does. Maneuvers are actions with the "attack" trait, making them attack actions even though they are skill checks.
However, the caveat is that agile only provides said bonus to attacks made *with the weapon,* so unless the weapon you are using has the corresponding maneuver trait (thus allowing you to *use the weapon* for that attack) it won't apply.
@@ArceusShaymin They clarified that it's not how that works in one of the early errata.
@@datonkallandor8687 The errata in question:
"Page 446: Attack Rolls. There was some confusion as to whether skill checks with the attack trait (such as Grapple or Trip) are also attack rolls at the same time. They are not. To make this clear, add this sentence to the beginning of the definition of attack roll "When you use a Strike action or make a spell attack, you attempt a check called an attack roll."
To clarify the different rules elements involved:
An *attack* is any check that has the *attack trait.* It applies and increases the multiple attack penalty.
An *attack roll* is one of the core types of checks in the game (along with saving throws, skill checks, and Perception checks). They are used for Strikes and spell attacks, and traditionally target Armor Class.
Some skill actions have the *attack trait,* specifically Athletics actions such as Grapple and Trip. You still make a skill check with these skills, not an attack roll.
The *multiple attack penalty* applies on those skill actions as well. As it says later on in the definition of attack roll "Striking multiple times in a turn has diminishing returns. The multiple attack penalty (detailed on page 446) applies to each attack after the first, whether those attacks are Strikes, special attacks like the Grapple action of the Athletics skill, or spell attack rolls." There is inaccurate language in the Multiple Attack Penalty section implying it applies only to attack rolls that will be receiving errata."
And oh, wow, would you look at that - looking at my *4th printing (current errata to-date) copy of the CRB,* seems like agile still only references an *attack,* and not an *attack roll* like finesse specifically does.
I think something to note is how much this build would benefit from magic items. You put a flaming rune on the magus' weapon and they'll do like 1d6 extra damage per turn. You put the same rune on the flurry ranger's weapons? 4d6.
Yes! This is something missing from the DPR reports!
My only problem with flurry ranger (and this might be a positive for some players) is...there isn't much decision making on your turn. You basically spend every turn just using every action to attack always and forever. In that way, it feels closer to a 5e martial where every turn is basically just "I hit it with my sword." Which, for me, gets pretty dull pretty fast. However, if you like doing heaps of damage over multiple attacks, it will be enjoyable.
Doesn't flurry also apply to athletics skill checks in combat (shove, trip, grapple, disarm)? If so I could see it being a good starting point for an athletics focus martial, with lots of fun combat options.
Or, thinking about it another way, since you have easy access to feats that allow you to Strike twice with a single action (Twin Takedown and Hunted Shot) and Flurry significantly increases the likelihood you'll hit one or both, you can do the damage in one action that takes other martial's two, leaving two actions you can use to do more things out of Striking. If one of those actions is to Strike again, you are getting near the same dpr as every other martial with another action to spare (you do have to set up Hunt Prey first but you could say the same about Barbarian and Rage)
@@commenter1430 Yup it does. You can get wrestler dedication or even monk dedication for stances. Flurry edge and Flurry of blows...
Since most player's don't have attack of opportunity I feel it's more reasonable to assume you would need to spend a single action moving to maintain your "enemy is always flat-footed" scenario. It might be an interesting comparison point as well. 3 actions spent attacking without the enemy being flat-footed vs spending an action to move into flank and then 2 actions attacking.
In any case, Rogue's damage in particular comes from the enemy being flat-footed, so guaranteeing that they can always sneak attack will naturally give them an edge compared to other classes. Frankly, any class that can almost match up with this ideal scenario rogue is going to do an absolutely ton of damage even without the flat-footed, whereas the rogue will likely drop to the bottom of the chart without sneak attack damage.
Did you include the attack of opportunity chance to this build like you with the rogue? I feel like this would raise the flurry ranger's DPR. Fighter's version of AoO much stronger than the rogue's iirc.
Not mechanically significant, but a fun coincidence: in the 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms setting, Driz'zt Do'Urden, the poster boy dual-wielding Ranger, was given 10 levels of Ranger, 3 levels of Fighter, 2 of Rogue and 1 of Barbarian.
Colby's character today, at Ranger Level 10, has 3 Fighter archetype feats and 2 Rogue archetype feats. I could say something about recommended feats or fun PF design details or something, but today I figured I'd mention something that made me chuckle.
Great video, as always! I've been loving these!
I LOVE Scrubs. I used to watch it every day after school/college even if (or especially if) I had watched the ep a million times before
I've essentially been making the same character in every fantasy RPG I've played, table top or otherwise, a Two Weapon Fighting Elf Ranger. By far, PF2e has been my favorite version of my character; with free archetype variant to get Rogue, I get to be the agile, stealthy, woodland warrior I always wanted to be.
It's D4-P2 now, isn't it? 😁
Awesome video. I love ur deep dive videos, so detailed, wholesome and relaxing. A little note, using Gravity Weapon, and Light Picks, you could reach 90 DPR vs low AC, and Surpass everyone except the thief in High AC--- the reason, the lesser armor the target has, the bigger chance of crit, so crit heavy weapons like the Pick, get super efficient. And with the added bonus, of doing encounter changing damage 45-50 not taking into account elemental runes.
YOOOOO MORE PF2!
Regarding the dogslicers, it seems like it would undermine the spreadsheet to let any build grab whatever uncommon weapons it wants while other builds take feats like goblin weapon familiarity to get access to them. I would personally just go for longsword + shortsword (or honestly, warhammer + shortsword) and stick to weapons a character has access to rather than rely on GM permission for some builds and not others.
What about hatchets? The lower damage (compared to a longsword) seems to be offset by the Sweep trait. -1/-3 MAP? Yes, please.
@@ThomasWeaver-is7wg great for strength builds.
Thanks Colby, another great pathfinder build. We are loving this system and the characters. Nive video, wonderful work.
Happy to see another Pathfinder Build! Haven't got playing yet but hoping to in the near future. A Geralt style build sounds awesome! I'm also interested to see how PF2e handles rangers as, like you're saying in the intro as I type this, they're a class that was quite lacking in 5e prior to Tasha's.
I’m about to play my first pathfinder campaign soon and I’m gonna be playing this build. Thank you good sir!
When you're looking for an agile martial weapon don't sleep on the Light Hammer. 1d6 damage, respectable. Unlike most of the agile weapons it is blunt damage, which will come in handy if you are fighting skeletons. But the big deal is the critical specialization effect, which you get as a ranger starting at level 5. When you score a crit with a hammer the target is KNOCKED PRONE. Prone is amazing. They are flat footed -2 AC until they spend an action to stand up. And you get it for free, just for scoring the crit.
The ranger build has finally arrived! Thank you for showing off this cool class!
All these videos have really been making me want to find a group for PF2e!
It's worth mentioning about Disrupt Prey, if you crit, you disrupt the triggering action. This differs from Attack of Opportunity which only disrupts Manipulate actions on a crit, combining the effect of Monk's Stand Still that disrupts Movement in a crit. So, granted, it doesn't trigger on ranged attacks, and can only be used on your hunted prey, but when it does trigger, it's the best of all of them.
Thx for another great review PF2e style. I have built many test characters to help me learn all the feats etc. in PF2e and Ranger is my fave class so far. I'm trying to build the 'perfect' snare builder and animal companion character though. I just like the idea of doing damage to enemies out of turn and having a buddy to help with damage or support. My idea is not necessarily to do the most damage, but to have a build that will just be fun and confound enemies....and maybe scare them as well.
The trick with flurry ranger is to use double light picks for that sweet sweet Fatal d10 trait.
The most important thing about playing a Ranger: When the GM mentions that you hear something, you need to immediately say "I Hunt Prey on the source of that noise".
Another great build! Might have to buy these books if you are carrying on with these. Loved Scrubs the best episode was the musical one 😂❤
Buying the books is great, and I do enjoy having physical copies on hand, but you don’t have to, almost everything is freely available on archives of nethys. And they’re partnering with paizo
Excellent as always! Always love the reminder at the beginning that it's not the "right way" but just a mathematically powerful build! It always sets a great tone. 🤘
Thief rogue really really benefits from the best case scenario of flanking because of sneak attack which skews the results a bit.
It's great to see you attaining system knowledge so fast!
Not sure if other people mentioned this,
I was rewatching this and something I missed the first time around. Quick Reversal has the Press trait which means you already have to be affected by a multiple attack penalty to use it, so you wouldn't be able to open up your turn with it.
Hurray more PF2e content 👍👍👍
There's not much reason to have two agile weapons, only one really needs to be agile. You can take that opportunity to get some fun traits instead like Shove, Trip or Grapple on your "primary" hand. Or if you just want damage: Fatal/Deadly. So, some good options for your first weapon are: Khopesh, Flail, Gaff, Warhammer, Pick and Longsword. Dogslicers are really good off hands, but I'm very much partial to the Light Hammer since it can be thrown in a pinch, shortswords are good too since they cover two damage types but if you can get uncommon weapons the kukri is really good.
True. H e thinks It's important for double slice. But imo that should just be dropped
Super late to the party this week, but TGIT! Thanks Colby!
Wardens boon is ace. Our level 20 dual pick fighter, making 6 attacks per round, was given ranger flurry.
It was beastly. Broke 500 dpr a couple of times.
If you were using the APG, this build would've been slightly different and maybe come online a bit quicker, in that you would be able to take the Dual Weapon Warrior Archetype at level 2, which gives you Double Slice.
While you get Double Slice at Level 2, what do you do with Level 4? Neither option is useful to you. He said he didn't want to give up an action to Twin Parry, so level 6 is sub-optimal. After that, everything looks good though.
Dual Thrower definitely has some utility, don't underestimate the power of having a ranged option, even if its not super accurate. Also that archetype has some really good options like Dual Onslaught, which makes Double Slice practically guaranteed damage, and options to add a bit of bleed damage and a bit of debuffing
An important thing with damage calculations is that while a third attacking action does provide additional average damage, in reality it equates to "there's a tiny change you crit and deal a ton of damage, and the rest of the time you burn your action for nothing". Which is why usually you want to spend your third action on something else, unless you really need that hail mary. Flurry rangers benefit from having extremely consistent damage which means even if their damage average isn't the highest (still good tho), in practice they will deal on par or above average damage. This is on top of their utility and the versatility they often have, and they also have really good reflex saves and perception which are both good.
Congrats on the most cursed thumbnail I've seen in a while haha. Really caught me off guard.
Your thief build is by far the most optimal so far, but just wait until you make a fighter. When every +1 matters, starting with a +2 higher than every other martial can not be understated
I've been following you since you've started doing PF2E material and now I see why a lot of my friends liked your material before.
Good rationale for the choices, fitting the concept you outline at the start. A bit of humour and a lot of good mood mixed in. And on top of it all, you have an amazing shirt. EEEEEAAAAAGLEEEEE!
Scrubs is one of my favorite shows! I reference it all the time.
I really like having Gauntlet (Maybe even Bladed Gauntlet) + other weapon on my rangers so that I have access to every athletics maneuver and add in more of the janky utility I crave... Lose a little bit of damage for access to a lot of possible support options!
Also I find flurry somewhat overrated, I think a lot of Ranger's power is in that you can share Hunter's Edge with an animal companion... I think Flurry Ranger is better *if* you have other things with your strikes other than damage since they can apply those on hit effects far more efficiently than anyone else. Trip -> Animal Companion Grapple -> Flurry 2 strikes into them is very good at support while not losing all that much damage!
I really like this take on the Ranger! I think that PF2 Rangers can be very diverse in what they do and Flurry is probably the flashiest but I am a fan of my Bastard Sword rangers that go in with an animal companion if I want big damage!
knowing how much you like recall knowledge I really want to point at the higher level ranger feat where you can recall knowledge on any creature with nature 😁😁
Shcould have finished watching, it was a level 10 feat so you obviously picked it :D I'm playing my own flurry ranger with monk archetype and dragon stance for that juicy d10 at the cost of agile^^
If you add shocking or flaming runes to the weapon (its not in the abp, but its within level range) flurry ranger gains more from it than others
Awesome, thanks for sharing!
My friends and I had an ongoing bet for you and PF2E, whether 3 of your first 5 builds were going to be a Monk, a Magus and a Flurry Ranger lol
I win! Lol
❤
As a half-elf a decent tweak to this build using an elven curved blade instead of dog slicers could also be really nice.
I read that as furry ranger and was like. Hmm, werewolf ranger build? That could be interesting.
I have been LOVING these!! Hoping to see a Dresden/Constantine-ish Thaumaturge down the line! ❤
Fleet can be pretty nice as movement is really powerful. If you spend two actions attacking and 1 moving where you are faster than your enemy they have to spend two actions catching up to you only leaving one action left to attack. Or you can move twice and odds are it will need to spend all 3 actions just to keep up. My group did this a few times against slower tough enemies as we did a fighting withdraw down the hallway.
Another Option instead of the Fighter Dedication could be the Dual-Weapon Warrior Dedication which would give you the Double Slice feat at lvl 2 instead of lvl 4
Fyi you do not need specific skills trained to recall knowledge, DC would just be higher if you use other skill for certain creature. You also can always get some fancy lore which provides you with a broad variety of recall knowledge checks, like monstrology/history/literature/folk tales!
Warhammer + light hammer is probably the "best" weapon combination you could go for on a str based twf ranger, due to bludgeoning damage simply being the generally superior damage type and that amazing crit specialization, but I'm personally a big fan of the flyssa since it's effectively a dogslicer that loses the backstabber trait in exchange for the dagger crit specialization.
Also an interesting thing to note is that beastmaster archetype goes extremely well with ranger, normally ranger gets the benefit of a stronger animal companion starting out but the companion boosting feats come a bit later compared to druid's. Beastmaster solves the issue since it gets mature animal companion and following feats at the same levels druid does and they boost all your animal companions, so you can have a normal scaled companion which also benefits from your hunter's edge, on top of giving you an extra ally to flank with.
In the perfect turn where you already hunted prey before you could twin takedown > Strike > Command animal to strike twice or even do Double slice > twin takedown > free attack from your (mature) companion if you have all of that, plus some companions being able to bleed with their support abilities (bird is amazing but boar isn't bad either) the damage really starts to ramp up.
Great video once again, here's hoping to see some casters at some point 😄!
No need to swap weapons for a new Crit Specialization with a new consumable item in Treasure Vault. It's called Weapon-Weird Oil. Allows you to Key the Weapons group as another. Item 7 though.
We have made some use of swapping for the Knife for Bleed or Pick for bonus damage. Very Cool item.
Fun stuff this go around. Look at Fast Recovery -- I love that one in play!
Just gonna throw this out there, Geralt is closer, thematically at least, to being a Thaumaturge than a Ranger. That said, yeah, ranger build! Woot woot!
These build videos are so chill to listen to, thanks for covering pathfinder too! 😃
One of the first characters I made for 2e (though still haven’t had a chance to play him) was a Half-Orc Precision Ranger with a bastard sword and a tiger. Basically my attempt to poke fun at all the 5e Ranger memes. :D
For weapons that gives the sword aesthetics but does better than inflicting flatfooted on a crit, in the most recent book Treasure Vault, they released Flyssa, a 1d6 Slashing Common Martial Weapon with Finesse and Agile traits and it is in the Knife weapon group, so it inflicts bleeding on a crit. It also has a picture in the same book and looks pretty cool, a slightly curved single edged blade thats between shortsword and longsword in terms of length.
What makes flurry ranger really good is the additional damage you can apply on your weapons through feats and runes. If you simply just use two weapon with striking runes (doubling rings) and STR + weapon specialization as your only damage source, it is not going to look so good, but if you start stacking small damage modifiers on top of it, the sheer amount of damage you get from it becomes insane. There are multiple ways to do it, but my favorite is a Hobgoblin Ranger with Marshal Dedication (Dread Marshal Stance) and Fighter Dedication who focuses on Demoralize.
Here is how the build goes:
Hobgoblin has 2 feats at level 1 and 5 that synergize really well. Remorseless Lash prevents an enemies frightened status to go below 1 if you hit the enemy with a weapon attack that turn, and Agonizing Rebuke deals 1-2-3 d4 mental damage to enemies frightened by you at the start of their turn.
From Marshal Dedication, Dread Marshal Stance adds status bonus to damage equal to the weapons damage dice (1-4) and lets your critical hits inflict frightened 1. Also since its an aura, all the allies who are in it gains these benefits.
From fighter dedication, there really is not much you want until very late but Fearsome Brute is an amazing capstone and I would pick that level 10 feat over any level 20 ranger feats for this build. Basically it adds circumstance bonus on damage equal to the 3 times enemies frightened status. Even if the enemy is frightened 1, thats 3 damage that stacks with the Dread Marshal Stance.
So a normal level 20 Ranger would have 4d6 + 3d6 from different elements from runes + 7 strength + 6 weapon specialization damage, this build adds a +4 status and +3 circumstance on its own. To a total of 7d6 + 20 damage per hit. With Impossible Flurry (the 18 level feat) and the level 17 improvement on the Flurry Edge, you can make 6 attacks all at -2 penalty against your hunted prey for 3 actions. That is 42d6 + 120 damage if all of it hits, 267 being the average of it. Which means 2-3 turns of it will rip apart any boss (highest HP stat block in the game so far has 600 HP)
This is most excellent.. thank you
Its funny. I am a DM for a Pathfinder game, and I use these guides to learn more about what my players can do than making a character myself. Absolutely love these!!!
So, I also looked into the Flurry Ranger when I first got into PF2e, it was the 2nd or 3rd build I made, but instead of going for the fighter archetype, I picked the rogue.
With the right ancestry feat, it's even possible to get that archetype at Lv1, if I remember correctly.
And I just say, think about all the flurry sneak attacks you'll possibly get.
hooray new video. I did a double take on the thumbnail too! I'm happy (and sort of overwhelmed) by the amount of customization pf2 provides! Also that candle in the back on the chair arm is giving me anxiety.
"that plan went out the window" ... yes, Colby, quite literally.
Nice build Colby. Looking forward to the next one.
One thing I want mentioned about the dpr calculations is that some creatures are immune to sneak attacks, and in those cases rangers are better. Same goes if the target isn’t flat-footed
I can't wait for you to add features from Advanced Class Guide and get to pick from Versatile Heritages for extra Feat buckets!
When the enemy is immune to precision damage, flurry ranger can get the edge over the rogue. And your knowledge about monsters can really benefit your whole party perfom optimally.
“More damage, more good.” Yeah this channel definitely feels like home 😁
Awesome posters man, Fem shep true shep.
I must have missed the notification for this video. I feel bad your pathfinder content isn’t getting more attention. It’s awesome.
I like the build, good variety of options. If you want to get double slice the earliest as possible though, you want to take dual-weapon warrior dedication instead of fighter. This gets you double slice at level 2 and lets you keep your dex 12, which means an extra +1 you can put into the recall knowledge part of the build.
Fleet always seems like the best pick at level 3. I usually pick the Sylph or Tiefling heritage to get even more movement speed and have Darkvision.
Yeeey another pathfinder build
Thanks for this build !
We need an anarchist Alchemist to fulfill my darkest French Revolutionary fantasies 😂
Ghalt is basically Golarion's version of France during revolution, you might want to check a campaign/adventure set there.
@@okagisama thanks ! ✌️
@@okagisama Galt :)
Iirc, ranged attacks are manipulate actions, so it would still trigger disrupt prey, but only against your hunted prey. AoO still activates under anyone else, so it still a little better
You are right about the range attack with aoo, but oddly enough most range attacks have the manipulate action. Shooting a bow includes taking the arrows out of the shives(this is raw) most spells have the somatic component(which means the manipulate action) and when you reload that counts as manipulation.
Only range attack I can think of is a few ancestry abilities and thrown weapon.
A Bear animal companion for a flurry ranger is a good idea, its support benefit maul does 1d8 damage each time you hit, 2d8 once its levelled up.
I was just thinking about this build, thanks! I love pathfinder's take on the Ranger. Makes the class so much more flavourful and enjoyable
Also, I'd recommend you take a look at the Wit Swashbuckler, especially in combination with one of the human feats that helps you with aiding your allies
Regarding the 75% chance to trigger for your Thief Build reaction, I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear that context changes its value! I've GMed for two different rogues with the feat, one with a Fighter flank partner and the other a Barbarian flank partner. The difference was fairly stark, as the fighter usually had a 65-80% chance to hit on their first strike (plus they'd often make a MAPed 2nd strike) where the Barbarian had just the one chance to trigger the reaction at only 55-70% odds to hit, as they were often busy Demoralizing and Raising a Shield. TLDR I think 75% is maybe high but not by a ton.
Speaking of more movement more better, elf with the nimble ancestry feat and fleet general feat has a base speed of 35 or 40 if you get another way to boost it (like, say the infiltration armor's overdrive feat). Then if you get a hasted action, you can move, attack ×2 then move again (or take another action)
heard a friend mention a multi-attack magus, but their idea used laughing step so i imagine it wouldn't be used for Quite some time, loving the pf2e vids! always a joy to watch (:
I did this same build but I gave them an animal companion instead of theif multiclass. I can now do 2 attacks at max attack, 2 at -4, and then command my companion to do it's own 2 attacks. I think that might stack up better than the D6's for sneak attack.
I'm starting to feel that the whole "allways flatfooted" for the damage reports is what is making the rogue go so above the rest in a way that just works in white room.
Old 5e sub love the pf2 content my dude I missed this type of content so much.
Loving this Pathfinder content. Good use of multi-class.
Just learning about 2e and found this while looking into the ranger, great stuff. I like this character concept, but I'd have to play a small race, taking monsters' legs out, Tasmanian devil style.