D&D 3E/3.5 Building an archer, Pathfinder/3.5 home game

[Sunseeker]

Can you point me to that archetype.
Does the 'sneak attack' still work at 100yds?

Aw go and spoil my fun. Then I really don't get the point of the class, since I really can build a rogue with the same deals and better....

After number crunching, without the extreme distance being allowed for the "sneak attack" damage, I think a fighter is really going to shine as a more reliable long-range damage dealer with consistently high damage, higher attack bonuses, as well as a much more generous helping of feats.

Zen Archer is a possible alternative though, bonus feats cover a lot of the damage-themed stuff I'd pick up through fighter and Flurry with bows sounds pretty sweet.

 

[RigaMortus2]

You could do a Gunslinger "sniper" type.

You could also take the Scout archetype for the Rogue, and gain sneak attack if you move at least 10 feet. Take tricks that extend the range of your sneak attack.

You could also do Ninja with the same Scout archetype. But with Ninja, at level 10 you can pick up assassinate trick. Go invis, study target for a round, and sneak attack from 60 (or more if you choose) feet away from the target, and then assassinate them from that distance. Vanish or Disguise trick to get away.

 

[qstor]

I would never turn down rapid or manyshot. All far too fun. Especially since we'd be starting at level 10.

I've done some cooking with the classes and the biggest upside to the Fighter is the insane number of feats. I've taken most of the things I can think of and still have about 3-4 feats slots left over.

My friend made a monk zen archer and it seems to work pretty well.

But I agree with you that while ranger is the way to go. I'd take at least a level of fighter off the bat. Since your PC wont be human I'd start with fighter and take Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot. Those are the basis for any archer.

Mike

 

[1Mac]

No one's mentioned the archer archetype for the fighter.

Kobold Quarterly published an Elven Archer base class. I see no reason not to make it a generic magic archer class with no racial requirements, if you're into that.