Advice on building a Horse Archer

[Thurbane]

I always wanted to make an alternative Barbarian who loses the rage ability but gains mounted combat and archery feats instead...

 

[Moon-Lancer]

does anyone have a good build for a druid archer that rides a mount? I think playing something like that could be alot of fun. A flying mount could be alot of fun, but then again Riding a dire wolf like creature has alot of flavor.

 

[Nifft]

Elf Paladin with the Ranged Smite racial sub level.

Halfling Ranger / Beastmaster with a Riding Dog animal companion.

Scout with pre-errata Skirmish.

Cheers, -- N

 

[szilard]

Natural Bond.

Thanks. My brain wasn't working.

-Stuart

 

[Machiavelli]

Hey Nifft, where did that Elf Paladin racial sub-level come from? That's something I may have been delighted to know about a few months ago when I created my Wood Elf Ranger archer. It still looks like something well worth knowing about, though.

 

[Darklone]

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 you don't want to go druid, search on the wizards site for the Wild cohort feat article, it's a weaker animal companion for non-druids or rangers. The abovementioned classes work fine with riding... and druid isn't a problem if you're a mounted archer, you don't need that many hitpoints, so focusing on dex and wis is fine. Or get simply a barbarian with the Wild Cohort feat.
Another option is the human racial paragon for ride.

does anyone have a good build for a druid archer that rides a mount? I think playing something like that could be alot of fun. A flying mount could be alot of fun, but then again Riding a dire wolf like creature has alot of flavor.

Druid archer builds are easy. Get a race with a dex bonus (elves are great due to the Weapon Proficiencies), three feats are usually enough (PBS, Rapid Shot, Precise Shot), Mounted Archery is something to consider... Put all your money into a bow and boost yourself with Cat's Grace. That's it. Weapon Focus CompLongbow would be nice as well... and don't forget to get str 12 or 14 at least for some damage. Don't forget to cast spells! Summon something and/or use Entangle to keep the enemies away, then shoot.

I always wanted to make an alternative Barbarian who loses the rage ability but gains mounted combat and archery feats instead...

The UA barbarians don't work for you, but these things might be interesting:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druidVariantDruidicAvenger
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druid
The second gives you some ranger abilities.

 

[Felnar]

thanks for the ideas
most of them require a bit too many levels (eberron campaign setting)
lvl1 warriors will have weapon focus
lvl3 warriors will get mounted combat/mounted archery (i'll pretend they didnt grow from lvl1 warriors)
ranger or ranger/fighter for classed characters

scout isnt as attractive now that i'm reminded of the errata
rapid fire and mounted archery seem most important, too bad the prereqs are huge chunk of resources

as for mounts, the region of eberron where this will be used has veryfast horses for the elves and the halflings get dinosaurs

 

[Felnar]

Hey Nifft, where did that Elf Paladin racial sub-level come from? That's something I may have been delighted to know about a few months ago when I created my Wood Elf Ranger archer. It still looks like something well worth knowing about, though.

Races of the Wild, i think

Darklone - you make archer druid look good, probly too many feats for the low levels i need tho

 

[Darklone]

Darklone - you make archer druid look good, probly too many feats for the low levels i need tho

Level 3 druid archers can already use Cat's grace and will have PBS and Rapid Shot, the rest is optional and useful, but not necessary

Remember that a druid archer does not have to shoot into melee (and needs Precise Shot), he can always Summon something instead or cast another useful spell.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

how about this.

Elf: Druid

lvl1 Point blank shot (flaw), ashbound summoning

lvl3 zen archery

lvl6 Rapid Shot

lvl9 precise shot

if you use the variant druid in unearthed arcana this means that owls wisdom spell gives a +2 to ac and attack, along with its normal +2 to will saves and spell save dc.

The main problem with this build though is lack of feats. (ug) however I think that ashbound summoning is a good feat (not too strong like greenbound summoning, but not weak)

dono. I have tried over and over to make a all round good druid with archery, but i just cant seem to find what I'm looking for. I don't want to drop zen archery though, because it really helps get rid of mad but really hurts in the feat department.

maybe this instead

how about this.

Elf: Druid

lvl1 Point blank shot (flaw), Precise shot

lvl3 zen archery

lvl6 Raped shot

lvl9 ashbound summoning?

spells i Found that druid spells that help a druid archer are splinter bolt, owls insight and wind tunnal.

a druid at level 1 an use produce flame, and a druid at level 5 can use splinterbolt (sc) 4d6 crit 18-20 2 attacks at level 7, 3 attacks at level 11. also owls insight and wind tunnal would give a +15 on these attacks at level 20, not to mention wis would be used to attack and that would be the number 1 stat and boosted with magic items.

maybe that could work?