jstageman said:
Add in cover, firing into melee, the very limited damage potential of a single shot and it really doesn't seem worth it to go the archery route unless it is strictly for character purposes.
Well, Precise Shot and Improved Precise Shot nicely take care of some of that. And again, Rapid Shot or Manyshot to fire more shots per round. The elven ranger/fighter/deepwood sniper (a broken PrC from the old Masters of the Wild book) in our For More Than Glory campaign was extremely effective because he had a high attack bonus, Improved Precise Shot to make concealment and such almost meaningless, Rapid Shot and Manyshot to make multiple attacks during both full-attacks and standard attacks, Weapon Specialization and good Strength to deal an average of about 5 or 6 damage per arrow (before factoring in weapon enhancements). Even when we were low level he was effective, though not broken until he got up to Deepwood Sniper. :\
Speaking of which, I guess I now get to play a quick game of 'Defending your Character Build and Feat Choices,' since I apparently made many stupid ones. As a couple of people pointed out, I am indeed going for Shot on the Run, mostly because it is something I have never seen used and would appear to fit well with the Skirmish ability, which is also a mechanic that has not seen any action in our game.
All very understandable. Heck, most of the characters I actually play in campaigns are made to be funny or interesting rather than powerful.
But it was a poor decision to try for Shot on the Run so early, without focusing on several Fighter levels first to do so; it's too feat-expensive to try acquiring early on otherwise. Could have chosen to wait until 4th or so to start picking up Dodge, Mobility, and Shot on the Run (like from 2 fighter bonus feats and the 6th-level character feat). Those feats just aren't useful at first if you're aiming for a ranged combat focus. The character's high Dexterity already fairly represents his natural agility; the feats to further reinforce that didn't really have to come right away.
You don't really have to be a powergamer or a cherry-picker to make a character that's useful. But you really did seem to choose several things that didn't work together in any coherent theme; if your concept was a mobile archer or something, it only would've made sense to pick up archery feats first. Just like a melee character would see that Power Attack, Cleave, Weapon Focus, or Combat Expertise might be useful to them.
PS- Does anyone have some insight into why there is no analog for the Xbow Sniper feat using 'regular' bows? Is it just the reloading thing? If so, big whoop, you only get the Sneak Attack/Skirmish damage on the first arrow anyway; what's the big deal if you get an extra one or two attacks? Any thoughts again would be appreciated.
It's because Crossbow Sniper is meant as a kind of 'sorry, here's something for you too, crossbow guys', as crossbows are normally really pathetic ranged weapons. They do a mediocre bit of damage with no modifiers, and take move or full-round actions to reload.
They're only suitable as backup weapons for characters with low strength and/or no proficiency in bows. Crossbows can't get any damage bonuses normally except from magical enhancements; whereas normal bows, and throwing weaopns, can get Strength added to damage. So Crossbow Sniper gives them a boost and makes crossbows more useable, rather than just being poor backup weapons.
