Best Archer Build?
- Thread starter mattcolville
- Start date
The "Sharp Shooting" ability to ignore cover and concealment needs to be converted.BadMojo said:
Cover:
3.0 cover was 1/4 (+2 AC), 1/2 (+4 AC), 3/4 (+7 AC) or 9/10 (+10 AC).
3.5 cover is basically cover (+4 AC) or improved cover (+8 AC).
The ability lets you ignore one (2nd level), two (5th) or three (9th) step(s) of 3.0 cover. I'd convert it by allowing the character to ignore two points of cover-AC for each "level" of the ability. (Example: A 5th level PA ignores regular cover, and the target only gets a +4 AC bonus from improved cover.)
Concealment:
3.0 concealment was 1/4 (10% miss chance), 1/2 (20% miss chance), 3/4 (30% miss chance), 9/10 (40% miss chance) and total (50% miss chance).
3.5 concealment is either just plain concealment (20% miss chance) or total concealment (50%). The rules mention that "certain situations may provide more or less than typical concealment" though.
The ability lets you ignore 10% miss chance per "step" (2,5,9, as for cover) and there's really no need for any conversion beyond that observation.
Nope.BadMojo said:
Magesmiley
Explorer
There's a feat in Heroes of Battle that lets you completely ignore the cover penalties caused by friendlies. The feat name is escaping me, but the archer in my game has it and its proved very handy on numerous occasions, allowing her to fire through the group's tank with impunity.
mattcolville
Adventurer
Magesmiley said:
True. But by 12th level you can take Improved Precise Shot, which lets you ignore all but total cover from anything or anyone.
ruleslawyer
Registered User
Korak's build is almost identical to what I was going to post. Another basic option is, as mentioned earlier, an elven Clr12 with the Elf and Time domains, Divine Metamagic, and Persistent Spell. This build gets fighter BAB from divine power, lots of other amazing buffs, and is a full spellcaster to boot. Good stuff.
Korak
First Post
Iku Rex said:
Is a 20% miss chance (ie. give up roughly one hit per round), and sacrificing a full attack in the first round (spend standard action to activate ring) and every 8 rounds after that to reactivate, in order to get an extra 2d6 damage on the other 80% of would be hits, against a limited set of creatures really worth it? Personally, I think that is very weak sauce for 27,000 gold pieces.
Iku Rex said:
Well, crossbows are a whole different ballgame. I haven't done all the math out on an optimized xbow build, but off the cuff, I think it would come out behind the archer. However, I still think it can be very valuable as a way to give a rogue more options for getting in his sneak attack.
Also, as to the sharp shooting ability... I didn't really address it because with the improved precise shot feat, it is superceded and irrelevant. Iku's suggestions seem reasonable for a peerless archer that doesn't take Improved Precise Shot (though I'm not sure why you wouldn't take it)
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If that was all you got: maybe. But fortunately you also get to strike as an invisible creature (no dex mod against you and +2 on attacks), attacks against you (including targeted spells) have 50% miss chance, you take half damage from area effects, half damage from falling, you can walk through walls and you can attack ethereal creatures. You can activate he ring as often as you like - in a dungeon you may not have to spend an action at the start of combat.Korak said:
And why only 2d6? If you're making a character that can get sneak attack on almost all his attacks there'll probably be more rogue/ninja levels in there. (I was replying to your comment in general, not with regards to a specific build.)
Korak
First Post
Iku Rex said:
I was contrasting the build I posted vs the ftr4rng2rog6 build that Green Slime suggested earlier in this thread... it has 3d6 sneak attack, vs 1d6 in the build I posted. 27,000gp also represents nearly a full third of the 12th level characters wealth, and would necessitate dropping something else valuable. I did account for the +2 to hit for being invisible because it also happens to be the difference in base attack between the two builds, so it's a wash. Opponents who are denied their dex can be nice... but 20% miss chance is very harsh... unless you are fighting things with 20+ dex, you are better off not having the miss chance. I'll agree with you that the defensive benefits of the ring are great, but even if you assume the character reactivates the ring every 42 seconds all day long, there is still a good chance he will lose a full attack in the midst of combat to reactivate the ring. That is a lot of lost damage potential.
The ring is cool, and a "must have" buy for sneak attack based characters around this level. In fact, pursuing a ranged option is often a great way to allow a rogue or ninja to contribute to combat. I think we're in agreement there. However, the heart of my position is just that you can build a more consistantly damaging archer with mostly fighter levels than with mostly rogue levels. Getting the most out of archery in 3.5 takes too many feats imo to not have at least 6 or 8 fighter levels.
I consider Point Blank, Precise, Rapid, Improved Rapid (and thus by necessity, manyshot), and Improved Precise to be required feats for a solid archer. It is a must to maximize the number of attacks and minimize the penalties to them... that leads to consistant high damage. Without all those feats, I might call a character "good with a bow," but I wouldn't call him an "archer."
