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Help me with my archer build?
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<blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1928238" data-attributes="member: 3146"><p>My own recommendation:</p><p></p><p>Class:</p><p>for an archer in 3.5, you can't beat a fighter. Ranger can get a lot of tricks, but a dedicated fighter archer will score far more damage than a ranger any time the ranger is not fighting his favored enemy.</p><p></p><p>All of the good archery p-classes are 3.0 or non-WotC. There's an alternate Arcane Archer on this board that grants caster level increases and is actually somewhat interesting. There's Order of the Bow Initiate in Complete Warrior--that's worth taking two levels for the ability to fire into melee, but no more. There's halfling outrider which is a rather interesting class. It would make a good addition to a fighter build and an even better addition to a ranger build.</p><p></p><p>Feats:</p><p>The essential feats for any archer character are, in order: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and Rapid Shot. For a lot of archers--cleric archers, for instance, that's all they ever get.</p><p></p><p>A human fighter build:</p><p>Ftr 1: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot</p><p>Ftr 2: Weapon Focus: composite longbow</p><p>Ftr 3: Iron Will</p><p>Ftr 4: Weapon Specialization: Composite Longbow</p><p>Ftr 6: Manyshot, Improved Rapid Shot</p><p>Ftr 8: Improved Crit: Comp. longbow</p><p>Ftr 9: Greater Weapon Focus: Comp. Longbow</p><p>Ftr 10: Far Shot</p><p>Ftr 12: Greater Weapon Specialization, Improved Precise Shot</p><p>Ftr 14: Mounted Combat</p><p>Ftr 15: Mounted Archery</p><p></p><p>And that's pretty much it for archery feats.</p><p></p><p>Dealing Damage:</p><p></p><p>The first rule of dealing damage as an archer is this: Don't skimp on strength. Since you don't have the ability to power attack, don't really have much ability to benefit from temporary strength increases (since using a bow that's too weak for you makes you suffer a -2 attack penalty, you won't want a bow that you can only fully use when raging or otherwise buffed), and won't usually have the ability to sneak attack (except in the first round), your damage will come from three sources: your bow, your strength, and Weapon Specialization or Favored Enemy. The strength bonus is very important. And so is weapon specialization. A 12th level fighter archer with an 18 strength and a +1 flaming shock bow might do 1d8+9+1d6 fire+1d6 electricity damage per arrow for an average of 20.5. A 12th level fighter with a 10 strength would do 1d8+5+2d6 per arrow for an average of 16.5. A 12th level non-fighter with a 10 strength would do 1d8+1+2d6 for an average of 12.5 damage per arrow. The strong fighter does nearly twice the damage per arrow that the weak non-fighter does and is more likely to hit to boot.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Elder-Basilisk, post: 1928238, member: 3146"] My own recommendation: Class: for an archer in 3.5, you can't beat a fighter. Ranger can get a lot of tricks, but a dedicated fighter archer will score far more damage than a ranger any time the ranger is not fighting his favored enemy. All of the good archery p-classes are 3.0 or non-WotC. There's an alternate Arcane Archer on this board that grants caster level increases and is actually somewhat interesting. There's Order of the Bow Initiate in Complete Warrior--that's worth taking two levels for the ability to fire into melee, but no more. There's halfling outrider which is a rather interesting class. It would make a good addition to a fighter build and an even better addition to a ranger build. Feats: The essential feats for any archer character are, in order: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and Rapid Shot. For a lot of archers--cleric archers, for instance, that's all they ever get. A human fighter build: Ftr 1: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot Ftr 2: Weapon Focus: composite longbow Ftr 3: Iron Will Ftr 4: Weapon Specialization: Composite Longbow Ftr 6: Manyshot, Improved Rapid Shot Ftr 8: Improved Crit: Comp. longbow Ftr 9: Greater Weapon Focus: Comp. Longbow Ftr 10: Far Shot Ftr 12: Greater Weapon Specialization, Improved Precise Shot Ftr 14: Mounted Combat Ftr 15: Mounted Archery And that's pretty much it for archery feats. Dealing Damage: The first rule of dealing damage as an archer is this: Don't skimp on strength. Since you don't have the ability to power attack, don't really have much ability to benefit from temporary strength increases (since using a bow that's too weak for you makes you suffer a -2 attack penalty, you won't want a bow that you can only fully use when raging or otherwise buffed), and won't usually have the ability to sneak attack (except in the first round), your damage will come from three sources: your bow, your strength, and Weapon Specialization or Favored Enemy. The strength bonus is very important. And so is weapon specialization. A 12th level fighter archer with an 18 strength and a +1 flaming shock bow might do 1d8+9+1d6 fire+1d6 electricity damage per arrow for an average of 20.5. A 12th level fighter with a 10 strength would do 1d8+5+2d6 per arrow for an average of 16.5. A 12th level non-fighter with a 10 strength would do 1d8+1+2d6 for an average of 12.5 damage per arrow. The strong fighter does nearly twice the damage per arrow that the weak non-fighter does and is more likely to hit to boot. [/QUOTE]
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