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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Empirate" data-source="post: 6131708" data-attributes="member: 78958">As you said earlier, that fight would probably boil down to initiative much of the time (which the wizard would be in a good position to win, given Nerveskitter). It would also depend a lot on circumstances: encounter distance (very important for the "Targeteer/Battlefield Archer"), terrain, pre-buffed-ness of the opponents, expended daily resources, surprise...    I'd say the fight would go one of these ways (assuming a Wizard 11, 14, and 15 vs., say, a Rogue 4/Fighter 1/"Targeteer/Battlefield Archer" 6, 9, and 10, respectively):  1) Wizard wins initiative, and there's no surprise round. OR: the encounter starts at such a distance that it's impossible for the T/BA to close the distance to within 60'. If the Wizard is at all aware what he's facing, it's one spell and game over (a lot of spells will either completely neuter the T/BA's ability to fight, make the Wizard unhittable, or effectively end the encounter, like Teleport). This is regardless of what level the T/BA has, regardless of what he does, regardless of buffs, regardless of encounter distance etc. It is also often regardless of any d20 rolls. Wizards are good at this kind of thing.Best case scenario for the Wizard: depending on spell selection, this is an almost automatic not-lose, and will often be an automatic win.      2) T/BA wins initiative, and the Wizard opponent is not at all buffed except for day-long buffs. Encounter distance is short enough so the T/BA can get into 60' range in one move action.  2a) If the T/BA is 6th level, he can just use his move action to feint, attack as a standard action, then rely on Arresting Shot to stop the Wizard from casting. The Wizard might move out of range of that ability on his own action, though (and using Arresting Shot to stop his movement uses up your immediate action!). He might also make his save and his concentration check, although that would be lucky indeed. Still, at this level, the T/BA cannot effectively shut down the Wizard at all.  2b) If the T/BA is 9th level, he has a good chance of hitting the Wizard with a Hampering Shot, dazing him for at least 1 round, since day-long buffs usually don't provide significant miss chance or DR or enough of an AC bonus to make the Wizard unhittable. T/BA also does a chunk of damage. On his next action, he can use his move action to feint with a good chance of success (probably close to an automatic success at this level, since most Wizards don't get Sense Motive, and have poor BAB). He can use his standard action to deliver another Hampering Shot. Repeat until Wizard is dead, or until the T/BA makes a poor roll - either an attack or Bluff. This is still a risk, but the T/BA has a very good chance now, especially with a different method of denying Dex to AC (such as a custom item of Greater Blink).  2c) If the T/BA is 10th level, this scenario gets much better, since he gets his 10th level capstone ability. Failing a roll doesn't break the chain, since the T/BA can spend a swift action to try again with another Hampering Shot. The T/BA can now be almost (though not entirely) assured of victory.    3) Short-term buffs, environmental conditions etc. can change only one of those scenarios, and that is scenario 2): the Wizard might be next to unhittable to begin with, rendering the T/BA useless. Miss chance stacking, very high AC, unfavorable terrain, a Wind Wall effect etc. can stop the T/BA from performing his schtick. But the reverse isn't necessarily true: even extremely powerful buffs on the T/BA won't massively affect the way this scenario plays out. At best, they can give the T/BA better movement options and reign in the Wizards moving away in 2a), and improve the T/BA's rolls in all subscenarios.4) If both combatants are on their last leg, having used up most resources prior to encountering each other, the momentum swings in the T/BA's favor: as long as he has ammo, he can do his thing all day. The Wizard, on the other hand, might have expended his "I win"-buttons. Even low-level spells (e.g. Obscuring Mist) can still save his bacon for a bit, but the T/BA has a good chance of winning this one. However, this chance is less dependent on the class's abilities and more due to the fact that Wizard can't to jack when they're out of spells.Overall, I'd give a slight edge to the Wizard, since he is not so dependent on the almighty d20. But circumstances will have a big impact on how this one plays out. Which is as is normal at the levels we're talking about!BTW, I think a more interesting comparison would be how well the T/BA would fare in a variety of combat encounters, as compared to a Wizard.</blockquote>

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