Arcane Archer Wanted - Eldritch Knight or...?

[UngeheuerLich]

Our eldritch knight archer easily pulls his weight. And his weapon bond has proved a really useful feature in many combats. Its always good to have a weapon handy. It has also used as a way of communication as a scout. Dagger left with group. When trouble is ahead, the archer summons the blade. Also war caster is not useless because you may find yourself in melee troubles or a round of dancing light and a free shot is better than shooting into the darkness.
Our eldritch knight is tanky as well
Admiitedly we have comparably many long rests. But his efficiently used thunderwaves or shield spells are greatly reducing the need to rest at all.

 

[bid]

Also war caster is not useless because you may find yourself in melee troubles or a round of dancing light and a free shot is better than shooting into the darkness.

Warcaster?
Would an archer use a shield? Or did you think twf?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

shield spell. You only need 2 hands to fire the bow. So you have a hand free for casting. And it actually is not unusual that he does indeed use an action to don a shield if he fights lesser foes.

 

[the_move]

Dipping a couple of lvls into fighter might not hurt with any of the other options, because of Fighting Style (Archery), and Action Surge. +2 to hit on ranged attacks definately might come in handy. Fighters are proficient in constitution saves, which is very helpful on concentration spells like haste. There is an (though outdated) guide for EKs archers making use of haste as often as possible. Variant human (Bonus Feat) or variant tiefling (Feral + Winged) might be pretty good choices, too.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ht%92s-guide-to-Archery&p=6707748#post6707748

 

[bid]

shield spell. You only need 2 hands to fire the bow. So you have a hand free for casting.

Okay sure, you don't need warcaster while holding a bow.

So why are you bringing that feat in this thread?

 

[the_move]

Personally I would try multiclassing. 12 fighter (EK)/8 mage will provide 6 ability score increases/feats total, 3 attacks per attack action, a decent Second Wind, War Magic (if you want to use damaging cantrips), Eldritch Strike, a Maximum spell lvl of 6 + Arcane Recovery for even more spells per day, Ritual Casting and Spellcasting Focus. Good arcane traditions might be Divination (Portent), Evocation (Sculpt Spells, Potent Cantrip), or Transmutation (Minor Alchemy, Transmuter's Stone).

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Okay sure, you don't need warcaster while holding a bow.

So why are you bringing that feat in this thread?

I mistyped. It should have been war magic.

 

[bid]

I mistyped. It should have been war magic.

Oh, thank you. Now I understand.

Yes, cantrip + single attack is very useful sometimes. Mage hand for the door or lights.