So...no Arcane Archer in 4e D&D??

[CormEvyrncrest]

They are bringing in Swordmage with the FR books, but no Arcane Archer anywhere??

Swordmage isn't as unique as they want us to belive. Bladesinger, Spellsword, and a variety of others are all forebearers to what the Swordmage does...and they do it better.

But the Arcane Archer would be a Wizard's wunderkin...to be able to fire an arrow and have the area where it lands be your new area of spell effect? to get more range out of your spells? Even be able to help out the other ranged strikers?

The Arcane Archer is the first of it's kind...and WotC is leaving Wizards somewhat in the mud...spells are nice, but we don't get to be a versatile as what we were told, and we're often left to pick our spots more carefully, while the rest of the party runs in wiley-niley and leaves us waiting....sorry...not really want I wanted in a Wizard's ability to advance.

Did I miss something? Was Arcane archer added somewhere and I missed out??

 

[thundershot]

I haven't seen one yet, but I think it'd make a great Arcane Striker...

 

[Klaus]

They are bringing in Swordmage with the FR books, but no Arcane Archer anywhere??

Swordmage isn't as unique as they want us to belive. Bladesinger, Spellsword, and a variety of others are all forebearers to what the Swordmage does...and they do it better.

But the Arcane Archer would be a Wizard's wunderkin...to be able to fire an arrow and have the area where it lands be your new area of spell effect? to get more range out of your spells? Even be able to help out the other ranged strikers?

The Arcane Archer is the first of it's kind...and WotC is leaving Wizards somewhat in the mud...spells are nice, but we don't get to be a versatile as what we were told, and we're often left to pick our spots more carefully, while the rest of the party runs in wiley-niley and leaves us waiting....sorry...not really want I wanted in a Wizard's ability to advance.

Did I miss something? Was Arcane archer added somewhere and I missed out??

Use Warlock, with a bow as an implement instead of a pact blade.

 

[Andor]

It's really easy to morph the Artificer into an arcane archer. In fact I even wrote up a paragon path for doing just that. Enjoy.

[sblock=Arcane Archer PP]Arcane Archer

"The power of magic flows through me and into my arrows. Surrender now or it will flow into you as well."

Prerequisite: Proficiency with longbow or shortbow.

Arcane Archer Path Features
Infuse Arrows (11th Level): When making a ranged attack you can infuse the attack with magical power. You can add the fire, cold, force, lightning or psychic keyword and damage type to any ranged attack that uses ammunition.

Phase Arrow (11th level): When you spend an action point, ignore cover and concealment untill the end of your turn when making a ranged attack.

The Power of the Bow (16th Level): A bow or crossbow counts as an implement in your hands.

Arcane Archer Exploits

Arrow Storm Arcane Archer attack 11
Your arrow multiplies in midair until they fall on your foes like rain.
Encounter Arcane Weapon Zone
Standard Action Area Burst 3 within Weapon Range
Attack: Intelligence vs AC
Hit: 2[w] + Intelligence modifier damage
Effect: The area becomes difficult terrain until the end of your next turn.
Sustain: Minor the zone persists until the end of your next turn.

Conjure Arrow Arcane Archer Utility 12
An empty quiver is only a momentary inconvenience.
Daily Arcane
Minor Action Personal
Effect: For the rest of this encounter your ranged attacks no longer require ammunition. Add your constituion modifier as damage to all ranged attacks.

Bane Arrow Arcane Archer Attack 20
You infuse an arrow with energies particularly deadly to your foe.
Daily Arcane Weapon
Standard Action Ranged Weapon
Attack: Intelligence +2 vs AC
Hit: 5[w] + Intelligence modifier damage and if the target has any vulnerabilities the attack counts as that sort of damage.[/sblock]

 

[renau1g]

Andor, I think maybe another pre-requisite should have something to do with Arcane, otherwise the fighter (or anyone) can take the PP, despite only spending a feat on the weapon proficiency.

Otherwise, pretty neat.

 

[aurance]

Andor, I think maybe another pre-requisite should have something to do with Arcane, otherwise the fighter (or anyone) can take the PP, despite only spending a feat on the weapon proficiency.

But why would they do so? The two Int attacks and the 16th level feature would be pretty useless to a non-arcane user.

 

[renau1g]

I forgot that in 4e your non-primary stats are useles....

In all seriousness though, it isn't the best class match, but maybe the player (especially a ranger-type) decides "man it'd be cool to shoot magical arrows, with whatever energy type I want to take advantage of enemies weaknesses" and despite having no arcane background can all of a sudden do it...

It's a flavour thing, not everything has to be about the crunch/combat effectiveness...

 

[Phaezen]

Possibly adding the following prerequisite will help:

Arcane Class, or arcan multiclass feat.

Phaezen

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

The nice thing about the various powers is that they're so loosely tied to flavor that it's easy to imagine a very simple combination of feats and powers as an arcane archer.

1. Be a Bow Ranger. Use Dex/Int and Wis as your primary stats.
2. Take the Wizard multiclass feat.
3. Pick the later multiclass feats for encounter/utility/daily features.
(4. Select a Wizard PP, or even Paragon Multiclassing for added Wizard flavor.)

When you cast a ranged spell, flavor it as a magical bolt from your bow. Boom. Arcane Archer!

 

[Andor]

In 4e PPs are tied to specific classes. Since I intended it to be a PP for the Artificer I didn't see the need to specify more requirements.