Arcane Archer busted?

[mirivor]

I am currently gaming with a player who has a fighter/mage/arcane archer/deepwood sniper... I am always thinking that the Arcane Archer may be unbalance. Consider this: The largest drawback, by far, for an archer is the cost of his arrows. An enhancement bonus on a bow doesn't hit monsters with DR so the archer is forced to purchase his arrows. The Arcane Archer bypasses that completely. This ability's advantages cannot be over stated. Each time a 10th level Arcane Archer fires 50 arrows, tally up 50,000 gold. That is HUGE! No other class ability really compares. That is comparable to allowing each other PC in the game to automatically obtain a Cloak of Major Displacement for each quiver of arrows that the Archer fires. And then there is his Seeker arrow ability, or whatever it is called. This is another problem with the class. How is the phrase "known to the archer" defined? That is ridiculous. My gaming buddy was Meteor Swarm'ed by a mage who we could not see, who's name was unknown to us, and who we generally didn't know squat about. Yet the stupid seeker arrow found him anyhow. That is really dumb. I realize that it is the DM's responsibility to crack down on overpowered abilities, but this ability should have been more defined. When I querried the player as to how he would make that shot, his reply was "I designate the target as the mage who just meteor swarmed us"... As if the arrow could understand his wants. Stupid...in my opinion. Any comments?

 

[Dr_Rictus]

This is a topic which has been discussed a great deal. Many people seem to agree with you. Not everybody.

 

[hong]

Consider that the greater magic weapon spell completely trumps the arcane archer's magic arrow ability, and he can only use seeker shot once per day. I think your issues are more with the player than the character class.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, Greater Magic Weapon completely owns permanent magic arrows!

Each casting of a 3rd level spell nets the cost of 50 magic arrows!

In fact, the problem might be the cost of magic arrows...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Crothian]

Arcane Archers are too much of a one trick pony. They need arcane magicato qualify, but it never improves. They also have to be an elf, so it seems fine to me.

 

[Oni]

Question, how is all of this actually unbalancing play? Does this character outshine all of the other characters in your game, and how so? Being broken isn't really about how something looks on paper, it is about how something disrupts actual play. How do these gripes you mention actually affect the session to session play of your game?

 

[mkletch]

I am currently gaming with a player who has a fighter/mage/arcane archer/deepwood sniper... I am always thinking that the Arcane Archer may be unbalance.

I am guilty of being the player of the character mentioned. Howdy, mirivor.

Consider this: The largest drawback, by far, for an archer is the cost of his arrows. An enhancement bonus on a bow doesn't hit monsters with DR so the archer is forced to purchase his arrows. The Arcane Archer bypasses that completely. This ability's advantages cannot be over stated. Each time a 10th level Arcane Archer fires 50 arrows, tally up 50,000 gold. That is HUGE! No other class ability really compares. That is comparable to allowing each other PC in the game to automatically obtain a Cloak of Major Displacement for each quiver of arrows that the Archer fires.

Well, they are only usable to the arcane archer and no other. It would be a bit different if you could pass 'em out like candy at a circus (like those greater magic weapon). So really, how is this much different than giving the AA a spell-like ability of GMW once or twice a day, and using the character level for the caster level? The deepwood sniper get magic weapon as a spell-like 1/day; fairly similar, except that it gets better with level. BUT...it's restricted to use by the caster AND can only be used on non-magical arrows - you cannot improve an existing magical arrow.

Now, GMW lasts for hours, so duration should not be a major concern. Give a prestige class a spell-like ability of displacement once or twice per day (lasting rounds instead of hours), and that would be fine.

And then there is his Seeker arrow ability, or whatever it is called. This is another problem with the class. How is the phrase "known to the archer" defined? That is ridiculous. My gaming buddy was Meteor Swarm'ed by a mage who we could not see, who's name was unknown to us, and who we generally didn't know squat about. Yet the stupid seeker arrow found him anyhow. That is really dumb. I realize that it is the DM's responsibility to crack down on overpowered abilities, but this ability should have been more defined. When I querried the player as to how he would make that shot, his reply was "I designate the target as the mage who just meteor swarmed us"... As if the arrow could understand his wants. Stupid...in my opinion. Any comments?

Well, it's not quite that simple. Meteor swarm has a visible effect that extends from the caster to the target. I was hit directly by the meteors, so I figure I saw it. Oh, there's a wizard behind that tree - I shoot him, using seeker arrow to negate cover and/or concealment. Identifying the target is not some mystical process that requires these seven forms be filled out in triplcate...

I could similarly whine about the continued use of harm by the party cleric, but we decided to use the PHB and DMG 'as is' (but including errata). It is all for the benefit of the party. I did actually use metagame knowledge, and restrain from following up with a phase arrow to kill off another character's nemesis (per their background). I could have 'overshadowed', but chose not to. Sometimes dirty laundry is cleaner than it might at first appear.

-Fletch!

 

[Piratecat]

I think deepwoods sniper is a more powerful prestige class than arcane archer. In our playtesting and play, we haven't found it to be the least bit overpowered. (I think it's fun, though.) As has been pointed out, you're much better comparing the enchanted arrow ability to GMW.

Personally, I'd rule that "known to the archer" means that you could pick him out of a crowd. Your DM disagrees, though.

 

[Thanee]

About the 'known to you': I think you need the same knowledge as you would need to cast a scry spell.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Arcanus]

Nah, its far from being a broken combination.
It could be alot worse.
You should check out the Cleric Archer smack that I posted on Sultans of Smack a few minutes ago.

With only 1 actual magic item in his possession he could do around 140-300 some points of damage in a round off of one critical hit arrow.