Advice on building a Horse Archer

[Salthorae]

Also check out the Player's Guide to Faerun for the feats:

Horse Nomad - added weapon proficiencies (lt. lance, scimitar, comp. shortbow), and ride check bonus

Saddleback - take 10 on ride checks + other benefits...

They are FR Regional feats, but you could include them in your game w/o problem I don't think...

 

[MarkB]

At levels 1-6 that shouldn't be a problem. Outside that I would use fighters to get the a bove mentioned feats. Possibly rangers, but I havent really looked at them since 3.5.

The advantage of a Ranger, long-term, is that you can choose a horse as your animal companion, which will make it tougher than the average horse and thus not a complete pushover. It'll still be your character's achilles' heel, though, since it's significantly weaker than a druid's animal companion.

 

[Darklone]

The advantage of a Ranger, long-term, is that you can choose a horse as your animal companion, which will make it tougher than the average horse and thus not a complete pushover. It'll still be your character's achilles' heel, though, since it's significantly weaker than a druid's animal companion.

Then simply go druid and be an archer. Archer druids rock.

 

[TheGogmagog]

The problem with full druid is lack of feats, and the temptaion to use those feats to boost the druid's actual strong points (spellcasting and wildshape).

MarkB: Good point on the ranger companion (as mentioned hadn't looked at it in a while). It would be a good option if the DM wasn't prone to making fantastic mounts available at higher levels.

Another option for tougher companion, would be the leadership feat for an improved mount. Or again depending on the nature of your campain you could talk a druid cohort to buff the party in the morning then assume the shape of a horse until it's time to heal. I wouldn't see that happening in any game I play in, but to each thier own. Or you could have polymorph any object change you to a centaur.

 

[MarkB]

The problem with full druid is lack of feats, and the temptaion to use those feats to boost the druid's actual strong points (spellcasting and wildshape).

MarkB: Good point on the ranger companion (as mentioned hadn't looked at it in a while). It would be a good option if the DM wasn't prone to making fantastic mounts available at higher levels.

Another option for tougher companion, would be the leadership feat for an improved mount. Or again depending on the nature of your campain you could talk a druid cohort to buff the party in the morning then assume the shape of a horse until it's time to heal. I wouldn't see that happening in any game I play in, but to each thier own. Or you could have polymorph any object change you to a centaur.

Another alternative is to have a druid Awaken your horse, making it an NPC who can advance by class level. However, the horse then becomes an NPC taking up its share of the party XP, and may not be interested in letting you ride it anymore - unless you took Leadership as you described.

 

[MadWand]

As the long-time player of a cleric-archer, I can tell you that archery mixes very well with a mount, because of the fact that you can take a move action and still attack. You don't even need any mounted combat feats or even much of a Ride skill for this to be a valuable tactic, although they help. Archery feats are your best investment. Rapid shot is fantastic. If you are cooperating with melee combatants, Precise shot is very good. On the open plains, where an attack/retreat/attack/retreat tactic is really amazing, Mounted Archery and Far Shot may be actually useful (they arn't much use for a normal adventurer). Instead of Far Shot, though, consider using Swiftwing arrows (Races of the Wild).

As to what classes your horse nomads should be, almost anything works, but the obvious choices are ranger or fghter. For cleric or druid archers, I strongly reccommend Zen Archery.

 

[szilard]

Ranger to level 6:
Feats: Mounted Combat (1), Rapid Shot (2, B), Mounted Archery (3), Manyshot (6, B), and either that improved animal companion feat or Point Blank Shot (6). Mount as animal companion.

-Stuart

 

[Darklone]

Ranger to level 6:
Feats: Mounted Combat (1), Rapid Shot (2, B), Mounted Archery (3), Manyshot (6, B), and either that improved animal companion feat or Point Blank Shot (6). Mount as animal companion.

-Stuart

Natural Bond.

 

[Stalker0]

Cleric Archer with shield other to protect the horse!!

And while not the sterotypical horse archer, nothing says a paladin can't pick up a bow and lay it down.

 

[Nazhkandrias]

Alright, I saw this thread and figured I might as well ask my question here, instead of making an entirely new thread.

I've had an urge to play a goblin recently, but I've had difficulty thinking of a class at which they'd REALLY excel. Naturally, rogue works fine, they can be OK Dex-based fighters, and they do OK at any class that benefits from Dex and doesn't need Cha too bad. But still, I want to excel. So, I thought, what would help out a small, agile character? And it hit me - a big, burly animal by its side. A mount.

So, I decided to make a Goblin riding on a Worg. But I don't know which class to pick! Naturally, Ride must be in-class, and paladin is a no-no, due to low Cha and Str. Fighter looks OK, but a little more flavor wouldn't hurt. I looked at Scout, but they lose the Skirmish ability while mounted. Barbarian is OK, but it's more emphasis on the Barbarian than a mount. As for ranger... I don't know. That would mean I'd have to put more than just a decent score into Wis, but I could double my Animal Companion as a mount. Druid might work, but that's a LOT of Wis, and I wanted to focus more on Dex.

If anyone has a copy of Dragon #346 (a friend said page 87) handy, can they check and see if there's a Scout variant that focuses on mounted combat? I think it's called Light Cavalry. Does that allow Skirmish while mounted? And if I do get this mount, I think archery is the way to go. But what's best for that? Ranger gets the feats for free, but Scout is better for Dex-based characters. I'm torn.

In addition, is there any way (besides Animal Companion) that I can beef up a Worg mount a bit? It would be nice to not have that thing keel over and die when I need it the most. If this helps at all, I will be taking some ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering), as this goblin's specialist role will be dungeon delving. Lots of ranks in Hide, Move Silently, and Ride. The Worg is good at all of these and won't get skittish (if I get someone to train it), so it should perform fine. All I need is a good bow, a longspear, and the correct class, and I'm good to go.