I thought of this one myself....

[whitewolfpoet]

Thats right... me?? come up with a variant?? let alone a plausible variant?

NEVER!!! j/k

actually I was thinking of a "Ranger" of sorts.
An individual skilled in the arts of archery, swordsmanship (daggers short swords up to long swords but generally not anything larger) and traps

now I have looked at any sites for ideas etc it just came to me so if someone else has already done something like this then flame me now!! <Burn baby Burn>

Or else keep reading!

Take an assassin base char, you wouldnt be able to use any offensive spells/abilities other than traps and be limited to bows, swords from dagger to longsword type, and the assassin trap line. How far to allow to go into the tree that I dont know But it would be an interesting build as most of your skill points would be dedicated to either traps or passive skills

and no sorry Im going to have to say no to the shadow warrior copy of yourself .... *sniff*

now as most rangers are opportunists items or weapons of acceptable class or runewords that could be crafted would be ok. Although transformations to animal sprites, offensive spell charges should not be used. Automatic equipping auras and weapon/armor procs would of course alright as "Rangers" (at least from fantasy realms) usually had magical weapons of some type that boosted their abilities...

Just a thought Any thoughts suggestions ?

**edit
I forgot that throwing daggers/knives would also be acceptable modes of combat

[Occhidiangela]

For the record: I edited your various grammatical and spelling errors, and cut extraneous material, and replied below the initial post. Flame me if you like for presuming to do so. /s Occhi

I was thinking of a "Ranger" of sorts. An individual skilled in the arts of archery, swordsmanship (daggers short swords up to long swords but generally not anything larger) and traps

Take an assassin base char, you wouldnt be able to use any offensive spells/abilities other than traps and be limited to bows, swords from dagger to longsword type, and the assassin trap line. How far to allow to go into the tree that I dont know But it would be an interesting build as most of your skill points would be dedicated to either traps or passive skills

I'm going to have to say no to the shadow warrior copy of yourself .... *sniff*

As most rangers are opportunists items or weapons of acceptable class or runewords that could be crafted would be ok, although transformations to animal sprites, offensive spell charges should not be used.

Automatic equipping auras and weapon/armor procs would of course alright as "Rangers" (at least from fantasy realms) usually had magical weapons of some type that boosted their abilities...

Throwing daggers/knives would also be acceptable modes of combat

Just a thought Any thoughts suggestions ?

Comments on Traps and Shadow Skills.

Blade Fury is a Trap, a one point wonder, that is powerful all by itself. A pure Trapper is extremely powerful, in an elemental sense, since only one point and one prerequisite (prereq) are expended on non elemental trap skills. Bow or sword becomes nearly irrelveant when traps are in play, except in how a one handed sword's weapon damage is used by Blade Fury. (Two handers not so hot with Blade Fury.)

Blade Sentinal discussion at The Workshop Lurker Lounge forum are a few pages back. Use the search function to find other pointers discussion there, such as this one. There are also some good threads at the Amazon Basin Forums about Blade Sentinal.

Fire Blast is a good low level skill whose power comes from Synergies. Shock Web has a bug that renders it a poor skill to use when any missile is being used in conjunction with it. The other Fire and Lightning Skills are killers, though Wake of Inferno and Wake of Fire have some "next delay" issues that reduce their raw damage output, more bugs. Death Sentry is a crowd killer along the lines of Necro Corpse Explosion.

Not sure how you would want to restrict traps in your ranger theme, Blade Sentinal is probably the best "trap that acts like a hunter's snare" in the tree.

Shadow Skills.

OK, Shadow Master, Claw Block and Shadow Warrior are right out.

Do you want to allow the psionic like Psychic Hammer or Mind Blast, which both do paltry amounts of Physical Damage? The Mind Blast would allow the Ranger to convince "animals" (you need to classify animal type monsters in your variant write up) to fight with/for him. Otherwise, both are modest magical attack skills of nominal value. Telekenisis, Push, and Hold Person equivalents.

Venom. Can your Ranger Use Poison? If yes, use Venom, if no, then NO poison at all. You'll want to be consistent, deciding on how "woodcrafty" your Ranger needs to be.

Fade and Burst of Speed are basic, good Shadow skills.

Cloak of Shadows allows you to emulate using the forest for camoflage, and cuts DR of monsters, which is a good thing, since AR/DR issues will arise in Hell Difficulty for this variant.

Merc Selection:

Another fellow Hunter/Ranger? Rogue/Bow

A man at arms? Act II Merc, auras a huge temptation. Is it in theme? Suggest Holy Freeze or Blessed Aim as being in a nature or archery theme. Thorns likewise.

Act III Iron Wolf? I'd suggest Cold to be consistent with the out in the cold, outdoorsman type Rangers tend to be. No fire merc, only you can prevent forest fires!

Act V? I think this is the best fit, as a Barbarian is a swordsman, and like the Ranger lives off the land, is at home in the outdoors, etcetera. Also, boy meets girl hunk points for your pretty Assassin.

ShadowHM of RB did, IIRC, a Shadow Only Assassin to Hell Baal in HC a few years ago. I am sure she did on Single Player as well.

OK, those are my thoughts.

Occhi

[whitewolfpoet]

good add-on notes Occhi and no I dont mind people editing my posts, usually there isnt *that* much wrong with them. However, I will endeaver to proof posts a little more thoroughly.

on the mercs.. I would have to agree and say that the act 5 merc is the best fit if one was going to have a "companion"

fade, CoS, BoS, and venom would all be acceptable skills