A ranger build that is close to Tier 3 classes?

Question

As the tittle suggests, i am looking for a ranger dual wielder build that can compete with tier 3 classes.

Our party is quite imbalanced as it is composed of a Druid, a Wizard, a Dread Necro, a Swordsage (new adition) and a Ranger. The casters are inexperienced players so they do not powerplay much, but the Dread Necro and the Swordsage (me) have some experience, and will probably dominate the game ( my swordsage has not been played yet, but he is roughly optimised).

So, to even things, i am looking for a dual wielding build strong enough to be considered Tier 3. I would prefer Ranger as the main class and maybe a prestige class or two, but not builds with 4-5 classes, prestige or not.

Answer 1

Check the builds here. Note that dual-wielding is considered the hardest of the ranger builds to optimize due to the resource requirements.

Ranger 6/Swordsage 14 looks to be an excellent bet save for the presence of an SS in your party. However, given that this is a dex-wis swordsage, it should work well in synergy, rather than fighting for the same theme.

This:

Cloistered cleric1/wildshape ranger17/monk2 (not necessarily in that order

Class variants:

Trades knowledge domain for knowledge devotion feat (CC)

Trades one of his evasions for spell reflection (CM)

Key feats: able learner, natural spell, sword of the arcane order, ascetic hunter, mulitattack, improved natural attack (unarmed strikes), practiced spellcaster, potentially a metamagic feat and DMM

18 BAB, unarmed strike damage as a 19th level monk

This seems quite solid to me. You've got a bit of castery, some nice wildshaping for utility, and significant damage. That should get you to tier 3 without too much trouble.

Huuuge list of builds here. But my recommendation would be to refluff something else into ranger. Or borrow from pathfinder updates and just shove them back into the old class to boost its... utility.