We have another remaster build this week and it will probably be the last one of the year! As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Consider checking out the video on YouTube and voting on the next remastered character. Also, let me know if you fine folks would be interested in a series of Disneycember builds!
Let's get into the build for Rengar the Pridestalker from League of Legends!
RENGAR THE PRIDESTALKER
SOURCE League of Legends
BUILD GOALS
o Rengar was a runt born to the chief of his people who was cast out. He followed and learned from a human hunter, eventually becoming an unparalleled hunter himself, always seeking his next trophy
o A melee champion able to ambush and execute targets before escaping with help from situational defensive abilities
o Fights using a blade known as a kirai saber and a clawed gauntlet
o With Unseen Predator, his abilities generate Ferocity up to four. At four, his next ability consumes the stacks and become empowered. Additionally, Rengar will pounce from bushes and collects trophies from slain foes, granting him greater strength
o Savagery empowers his next two attacks with increased speed and damage. If this consumes Ferocity, he increases his attack speed for several seconds afterwards
o Passively, Battle Roar stores some of his damage taken as grey health. Activating it deals magic damage around him while healing him and cleanses him of crowd control if he has Ferocity
o To prevent prey from escaping, he uses Bola Strike to hurl a bola that damages and slows the first enemy hit. If he consumes Ferocity, this instead roots the enemy
o Thrill of the Hunt camouflages Rengar and increases his movement speed. Attacking or casting abilities ends this camouflage but his next attack is empowered and reduces the armor of his targets
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Hunting Catfolk
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Charisma, +Strength, -Wisdom
o Ancestry Feat: Saber Teeth
Background: Hunter
o Ability Boosts: +Wisdom, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Survival (trained), Tanning Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Survey Wildlife
Class & Subclass: Ruffian Rogue
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Deception (trained), Intimidation (trained), Medicine (trained), Nature (trained), Society (trained), Stealth (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Twin Feint
o Skill Feat: Experienced Tracker
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +4, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +1)
Rengar keeps the catfolk ancestry and his hunting heritage, but goes for Saber Teeth this time as his ancestry feat. He doesn’t need Catfolk Weapon Familiarity due to some proficiency changes and while he doesn’t employ them in gameplay, he does have a nice set of pearly whites for some gnarly bites. He likewise sticks with his hunter background, representing his clan’s culture and his attempts to follow it. A notable difference this time though is that rather than doubling down on that, Rengar is going to use the rogue class for this remaster. The fresh proficiency that rogues have with martial weapons is a significant boost here as it will let him fight with his flyssa, taken due to it being a 1d6 knife, and claw blade. Already, the extra damage of sneak attack could be thought to resemble the enhanced damage of Savaery, filling a similar function as the precision ranger’s edge. This also allows him to sneak attack with bolas if he has an enemy at range or just lets him use its ranged trip property – ironically reflecting his Bola Strike’s empowered effect before we’ve quite figured out its basic effect. Given the burliness of Rengar, he takes the ruffian racket so that he can take a boost to Strength and he could potentially take up a bigger blade with this if he wanted to. With Rengar wielding blades in each hand, he’ll get the most benefit out of Twin Feint from his class feat and then takes Experienced Tracker as his skill feat, befitting his role as a hunter and predator.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Quick Draw
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Adopted Ancestry – Human
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Skill Increase: Survival (expert)
o Gear: +1 flyssa, cloak of feline rest, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Talisman Dabbler Dedication
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Skill Increase: Stealth (expert)
o Gear: doubling rings, +1 flyssa, necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +2, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +2)
o Ancestry Feat: Pride Hunter
o Skill Feat: That’s Not Natural
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking flyssa, doubling rings, thrower’s bandolier, necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest, psychopomp mask
Between his use of dual weapons and bolas that he hurls at enemies, Quick Draw is an important aspect of his build, reducing the actions needed to arm himself. He also explores the increased AD Unseen Predator grants him from hunting different champions with the Talisman Dabbler Dedication. The idea is that he claims little trophies and the like from his hunts and then incorporates them into talismans that he uses to empower himself – or his teammates if he’s feeling generous. There’s some important skill feats here. Quick Jump and Powerful Leap will both be important in representing the way that Unseen Predator allows him to leap from the bushes. Intimidating Glare is mostly just reflective of the fact that he hunts beasts, creatures that he doesn’t share a language with by virtue of them not having a language. Finally, That’s Not Natural is inspired by his rivalry with Kha’Zix, a decidedly unnatural adversary that our great cat has some serious animosity with. There’s also Adopted Ancestry for human, reflecting some of the rearing and learning that he had at the hands of the hunter Markon though there’s also some mechanical reasons behind taking it that will be clearer in the next block. Finally, Thrill of the Hunter lets Rengar disappear midfight, and Pride Hunter will start reflecting that by allowing him to disappear amongst his own allies.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Quick Fix
o Skill Feat: Shadow Mark
o Skill Increase: Nature (expert)
o Gear: +1 hide, +1 striking flyssa, thrower’s bandolier (+1 striking), doubling rings, necklace of knives, Jack’s tattered cape
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Skill Increase: Stealth (master)
o Gear: lesser grub gloves, +1 hide, shadow armor rune, +1 striking flyssa, doubling rings, thrower’s bandolier
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Deeper Dabbler
o Skill Feat: Terrain Stalker – Underbrush
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: boots of bounding, lesser grub gloves, lesser dread armor rune, +1 hide, +1 striking flyssa, thrower’s bandolier (+1 striking)
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Ranger Dedication
o Skill Feat: Foil Senses
o Skill Increase: Crafting (trained), Survival (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, cloak of illusions, lesser grub gloves, thrower’s bandolier (+1 striking), +1 striking flyssa
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +3, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +3)
o Class Feat: Basic Hunter’s Trick – Twin Takedown
o Skill Feat: Monster Crafting
o Skill Increase: Nature (master)
o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient hide, corrosive weapon rune, boots of bounding, thrower’s bandolier (+1 striking), +1 striking flyssa
With an archetype in mind down the line, this fearsome feline features Quick Fix as his next class feat, letting him attach talismans more swiftly whereas Deeper Dabbler simply allows him to put together more during the day. Before he takes his next class feat, that Adopted Ancestry will allow him to take Multitalented, which in turn calls back to his premaster build with the Ranger Dedication. This allows him to specifically hunt prey, but more importantly allows him to take up Twin Takedown. This condenses two Strikes into a single action, allowing him to attack quicker and resemble the two swift attacks of Savagery. Shadow Mark and Terrain Stalker for underbrush will allow him to pick out a victim and stalk them with greater proficiency while Swift Sneak lets him do so at full speed. On that note, there’s also Fleet so that he can move faster, per his Thrill of the Hunt granting him increased movement speed. Foil Senses lets him thwart the variety of creatures he might hunt and he rounds out options this level with Monster Crafting to better claim his trophies, using his Survival skill to craft talismans and the like out of the creatures that he slays.
During this block, he also gains debilitations as a rogue and among those is the ability to slow creatures he hits with a sneak attack, which is a great way to demonstrate the slowing effect of his Bola Strike.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o Gear: +2 striking flyssa, armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak, +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, thrower’s bandolier (+1 striking)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Fantastic Leap
o Skill Feat: Cat Fall
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: +2 resilient hide, +2 striking flyssa, thrower’s bandolier (+2 striking), armbands of athleticism, corrosive weapon rune, shock weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Wary Skulker
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking flyssa, +2 resilient hide, greater doubling rings, thrower’s bandolier (+2 striking), armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Advanced Hunter’s Trick – Relentless Stalker
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Skill Increase: Thievery (expert)
o Gear: propulsive boots, +2 greater striking flyssa, moderate grub gloves, +2 resilient hide, cloak of the bat, thrower’s bandolier (+2 striking)
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +5.5, Dex +4, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +3, Cha +3)
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Feat: Legendary Sneak
o Skill Increase: Stealth (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient hide, propulsive boots, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking flyssa, greater doubling rings, thrower’s bandolier (+2 striking)
One of the main reasons that this remaster build uses the rogue over the ranger is that the original build kind of failed to actually cover the leap he got as part of Unseen Predator. But rogue offers Fantastic Leap, a simple feat that can be used to create the feel of this effect. In part because Rengar needs to be ready to take another archetype, he takes Advanced Hunter’s Trick to gain Relentless Stalker. Fleet doesn’t offer much in the way of speed, so having this effect that grants him extra movement outside of his turn can help to better simulate the speed increase of his Thrill of the Hunt. He also captures the spirit of his Battle Roar with Battle Cry though this won’t be our only way of doing so. Wall Jump references the way he leaps between some of the trees in the New Dawn cinematic and he finally gains Legendary Sneak, which allows him to Hide and Sneak even without cover or concealment just like his Thrill of the Hunt. The other notable feat of this block is Fast Recovery as this will allow Rengar more easily recover from afflictions similar to how an empowered Battle Roar will remove afflictions.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Wild Mimic Dedication
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient hide, 14, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking flyssa, thrower’s bandolier (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Predator’s Growl
o Skill Feat: Legendary Guide
o Skill Increase: Survival (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking flyssa, greater corrosive weapon rune, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient hide, propulsive boots, thrower’s bandolier (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Roar Mimicry
o Skill Feat: Scare to Death
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (legendary)
o Gear: bracer of hammers, +3 greater striking flyssa, 16, greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient hide, thrower’s bandolier (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: True Perception
o Skill Feat: Legendary Survivalist
o Skill Increase: Nature (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient hide, bracer of hammers, major shadow armor rune, +3 greater striking flyssa, greater corrosive weapon rune, thrower’s bandolier (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +6, Dex +4, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +4, Cha +4)
o Class Feat: Enduring Debilitation
o Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary), Arcana (legendary)
o Gear: +3 major striking flyssa, +3 greater resilient hide, greater dread armor rune, bracer of hammers, quickstrike weapon rune, thrower’s bandolier (+3 greater striking)
A dip into the Wild Mimic Dedication doesn’t get us much too start with and I have mixed feelings about including feats like this in the build because they require you to have faced something to even acquire them. However, Roar Mimicry is too perfect to not to use to resemble his Battle Roar, giving him an AoE damage effect. Mainly due to other options not really fitting, Rengar finally settles on Enduring Debilitations as his capstone feat, which will allow him to slow a creature until they die. Alternatively, you could use his new archetype for Pounce Mimicry, letting him Stride and Strike as a single action all while remaining hidden, which is handy in referencing his Thrill of the Hunt. Cloud Jump will allow him to leap insane distances from bushes per his Unseen Predator and he also takes the legendary Survival skill feats. Of note is Legendary Survivalist since he hails from a desert region, and this makes living there just a bit easier. He takes True Perception to represent his Oracle Lens so that he can hunt deep in the jungle of his foes without fear.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: A free archetype game suits this build quite nicely as it allows Rengar to explore his rogue class a bit further. Ruffians uniquely have access to Vicious Debilitations which can leave an enemy with a weakness, reflecting his ability to shred armor when attacking with Thrill of the Hunt. Options such as Dread Striker, Opportune Backstab, and Twist the Knife. From his ranger archetype, Eerie Environs could be fun as could something like Skirmish Strike and Favored Prey. Another factor of a free archetype game is getting Wild Mimic Dedication earlier, which should allow him the opportunity to take Rend Mimicry or the aforementioned Pounce Mimicry.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Rengar the Pridestalker is a hunting catfolk ruffian rogue with a hunter background reflecting exactly his pride and skill. His Adopted Ancestry for a human reflects his training of the human hunter Markon, which nets him a Ranger Dedication through Multitalented that he uses to further express his mastery over the craft. Rengar pounces from bushes using his Fantastic Leap to resemble his Unseen Predator while he can collect trophies to empower himself through Talisman Dabbler and his Monster Crafting feat. He can condense his actions with the ranger's Twin Takedown to resemble the enhanced attack speed of Savagery while sneak attack simply shows off its increased damage. He fails to recreate the healing of Battle Roar but does have a Battle Cry and Roar Mimicry replicates the damage of it while effects to shake off conditions with greater ease, such as Fast Recovery, can be thought to represent its empowered effects. He relies on Quick Draw to sneak attack with his bola and inflict a Bola Strike slow through his debilitations while its rooting effect comes from his investment in Athletics and the ranged trip of the bola. Finally, Legendary Sneak lets him disappear from plain view, just like his Thrill of the Hunt and he uses Fleet and Swift Sneak to hunt with greater swiftness.
This prowling predator pierces the protections of prospects with purposeful potency, puncturing their personage with perfidious power and punishing those that perturb his preserves.
Let me know what you think and what other builds you'd like to see!
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog. With this remaster completed, we have a vote up for the next rebuild, which you can find on the MM Discord or YouTube. Next week, we're looking at a build for an equally ferocious figure who might just prove that the female is the deadlier of the species.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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