D&D 5E Help with an Archer build

[Dasem]

So I've decided my next character is going to be an Archer. Now the question is, what class?

Valor Bard has a lot of merit, but I'm a Lore Bard right now and would like something different.

Fighter shows promise. Lots of attacks. Battlemaster and Eldritch Knight are both good. EK enables me to have some AoE spells, and can cast Faerie Fire for advantage. Battlemaster has Precision Strike and some other goodies.

Ranger... Deep Stalker Ranger seems solid. Able to hide as a bonus action at level 3, amazing Darkvision (which allows me to be a Human for a bonus feat), Hunters Mark, AoE spells, Deep Stalker also gets nice bonus spells. But the core Ranger features aren't great.

Rogue... Solid. Lots of skills. Expertise. IMO, Assassin is a bit overrated, but I don't know what other route to go for an Archer Rogue. Cunning Action is great, enabling Hide as a bonus action, but only one attack, or two with Crossbow Expert (though it now competes with my ability to hide).

I was thinking Eladrin for the race, Misty Step enabling me to get good vantage points or escape from melee with ease.

So, what makes for a good Archer? Which one stands above the others?

 

[Yunru]

Warlock makes a good arcane Archer (well, the best arcane archer, a good archer in general).
Obviously the best martial archers are all at least a little Fighter.

 

[Dasem]

When you say Warlock, do you mean just using Eldritch Blast? Or somehow manifesting a Pact Blade with a bow? (Which I think works if the bow is actually magical).

 

[Yunru]

Eldritch Blast. It's all the benefits of a longbow and Extra Attack with none of the hassle.
Scorching Ray for the occasional flame nova.

 

[Dasem]

No Sharpshooter, though.

 

[agreenspan]

I'm building the following right now:
14FTR/6BRD Battlemaster / Lore
Crossbow Expert
Sharpshooter

Hand Crossbow user.

At 5FTR you'll get 3 natural 1d6+10+mod attacks a turn. You'll get the archery fighting style to offset some of the accuracy penalty to begin with. You'll also have precision attack to ensure you hit so you can use sharpshooter's -5/+10 tradeoff with confidence. Superiority dice, action surge and second wind are per short rest. If you start FTR u get proficiency in CON saves which is great to keep concentration.

At 6BRD you get haste from magic secrets and d8 cutting words per short rest which should function like the Defensive Duelist feat for you and your allies. It not quite as good as the shield spell but its close. Lore bards also get expertise and 4 bonus skills total.

 

[famousringo]

I probably wouldn't go EK. Its AoE is weak, and it's more about abjuration and melee cantrips, IMO. I mean, you can use Firebolt then shoot a bow with War Magic, but it doesn't feel very "archer", does it? EK is better suited to melee.

If you don't like Assassin, there's nothing wrong with going Arcane Trickster for some utility/defence/control spells. Protect yourself with Mirror Image and give yourself advantage with Mage Hand. Gives more of a sniper feel rather than the Legolas machinegun style. Doesn't leverage Sharpshooter well, but that just frees you up for other feats, IMO.

 

[Ovarwa]

No Sharpshooter, though.

Nope! But you do get Repelling Blast and Hex. Never run out of ammo. And you're almost a full caster (but not quite; the warlock casting mechanic and spell list are inferior to real casters.) Much to like.......'Best' really depends on what you want. Is the best archer a flying tiefling or aarckoa(sp)? Elven ranger or fighter? Lucky halfling fighter with hand crossbow? You'll get the best single-target damage with a fighter or fighter/rogue. You'll get the best multi-target archery damage with a ranger. You'll get the best multi-target damage with a fiendlock casting fireball; kill the stragglers with EB next round. Lots of multiclass possibility all around. Fighter/rogue? Warlock/Sorcerer? Warlock/Paladin for giggles? Fighter/Ranger? I'm less of a fan of bard archers, but that's also very good. Really, what makes an archer best? (A bad archer can't hit or does little damage. But there are good trades for slight losses here.)