D&D 2nd Edition need some help please

AlphaStorm

Hi. I am just about to play a campaign tomorrow with some people and i need a little assistance with my elf ranger lvl 1

1.I am in the process of making a lvl 1 ranger which currently has a ac of 3. Is that good since im wearing studded leather

2. my Thaco with my composite longbow is 16. Is that good

3. The DM has said that we can play with the sub abilties. my dex is 19 so i can change my balance to 21 which gives me a ac of 2 but my aim is then 17 which increases my thaco with my range to 17 instead of 16. any thoughts or should i just leave it at 19/19 which is ac 3 and thaco of 16.

Thank you very much .any assistance with these questions would be awesome

AlphaStorm

Any assistance would be awesome

LadyRhian

I am here to help! If your Dexterity is 19, that's better than human maximum, AC 3 is fine. Studded leather has a base AC of 7, so a 3 is pretty good. You can upgrade your armor at any time (Rangers are not limited to "Natural materials" armor like Druids are) to chain (base AC 5) or Plate Mail (Base AC3), which would bring your armor class down even lower. And in 2e, lower AC is better.

All classes start out at Level 1 with a base THAC0 of 20, so a 16 is considerably better. You'll be able to hit monsters much more easily than your companions (generally). If you don't already have one, you should consider upgrading to a composite longbow, which has a higher range. And if there are other warriors in the party, you can let them go into hand to hand combat while you stand back and pepper foes with arrows.

Elves also get a bonus to using bows, and it looks like your GM has already factored this in (as you are getting a +4 to hit with the bow (+3 from Dex, +1 from being an elf, which is why your THAC0 is a 16.) also remember you get to take 2 shots per combat round with your bow. If your GM has the Complete Book of Elves, there are special/trick arrows in there you might want to purchase- look into it.

To be honest, I think you are doing pretty well for a Level 1 elf Ranger. You will also want to look into the Complete Ranger's Handbook, if your GM has it, as you might want to end up taking the Archer kit or one of the Elven kits. There is also an Elven Archer kit as well. Kits are optional, but ask your GM if it's okay.

AlphaStorm

Thank you very much for that massive response. There is quite a bit of helpfull information right there and it was a very interesting read. I did notice that if i moved on from studded leather then i would not be able to do the two weapon fighting without -s. I currently have a composite longbow allready and 2 long swords since the dm aggreed to let me duel wield them. I am going to have a look at the kits to see if anyone of them will help me. Do you have any suggestions on kits that might be good for my character. He is a ranger with a bow and 2 long swords. I Did have a look at something on my character sheet which im curious about. I currently had 19 AIM and Balance and then i changed it to 21 Balance and 17 Aim so there is 4 point difference there and when i did that This is what happened. My ac went from 3 to 2 and my Range thaco went to 18 from 17 and my missile thaco0 went from 16 to 17. and then i leveled to lvl 2 and notice my range thaco went back to 17 and my missile thaco0 went back to 16. What do you think about that

skinnydragon

As a warrior class your thac0 improves by 1 every level so it will be one lower at level 2 than level 1

LadyRhian

A Ranger's proficiency with Two-weapon combat *is* predicated on being in light armor. That's out of the Complete Ranger's Handbook.

the_spyder

Just something to watch out for, some DM's play that the 'Off hand' weapon needs to be a small weapon (short sword, dagger etc...) or you get an additional penalty. Just ask your GM. You don't want to get caught by that little problem in the middle of combat.