D&D 3E/3.5 3.5 Archer help.

[RUMBLETiGER]

@Nezkrul I'm well aware of the drawbacks to Archery in general, and I wouldn't usually play one (hence why I was seeking additional assistance with it). The DM requested I play a martial ranged class.
I'm trying to get as far away from "situational awesomeness" as I can.

Once again, not trying to derail the thread with an alternate idea if it's not helpful, but I hear Clerics make pretty awesome archers. Plus awesome at a bunch of other stuff.

 

[TKDB]

My desire to refrain from Skirmish (an ability I don't particularly care for at early/mid levels) and GISH rules sort of pidgeon holes me into volley archery, which sounds fun, but lacks damage against higher level monsters with high DR. I guess I'll have to carry a lot of different arrow types.

If you're worried about DR, that can easily be bypassed if you have the cash. The Force property in the MIC is a +2 bonus enchantment for bows that turns any arrow fired from that bow into a force attack, letting it automatically overcome DR and ignore incorporeal miss chances. The arrow otherwise behaves as normal, so you can still use special arrows for all the usual crazy tricks you usually could. It does mean you won't be able to hurt creatures with immunity to force effects, but those are virtually unheard of. Certainly far, far rarer than all the various kinds of DR you might face.

 

[Sekhmet]

[MENTION=6690697]TKDB[/MENTION] Force is a great property. Thanks for the idea.

 

[TKDB]

@TKDB Force is a great property. Thanks for the idea.

I just so happened to be putting together a cloistered cleric Zen Archer just for kicks last night, so it was fresh in my mind