ConcreteBuddha
First Post
Actually, my favorite archer is a Psychic Warrior.
So fooey on those four.
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The Deadliest Archer of Them All
- Thread starter Chun-tzu
- Start date
Actually, my favorite archer is a Psychic Warrior.
So fooey on those four.
Jeremy
Explorer
There is now a Greater Metaphysical Weapon power (I believe on the WotC website, though it could be in If Thoughts Could Kill) that is +5.
And psychic warriors with this and their numerous other abilities are quite deadly.
A psychic warrior with weapon specialization, a mighty bow, +5 psionic arrows from gmw, a +5 psionic bow from gmw, and 2 levels in deepwood sniper is doing +16 damage that could possibly be multiplied x4 with his 19-20 threat range arrows.
Throw in improved critical, a burst enchanted Oathbow and suddenly it's 2d8+32+1d6 and occasionally 5d8+80+1d6+4d10...
I love psychic warriors.
And psychic warriors with this and their numerous other abilities are quite deadly.
A psychic warrior with weapon specialization, a mighty bow, +5 psionic arrows from gmw, a +5 psionic bow from gmw, and 2 levels in deepwood sniper is doing +16 damage that could possibly be multiplied x4 with his 19-20 threat range arrows.
Throw in improved critical, a burst enchanted Oathbow and suddenly it's 2d8+32+1d6 and occasionally 5d8+80+1d6+4d10...
I love psychic warriors.
I dont like OBI, the only really good thing is his Close Combat ability to keep fighting in melee, the rest is horrible (sneak attacks with bows are rare and his Bank Shot is a high level ability).
I havent read the Peerless Archer yet, but I have played an Archer character to know that they do have REALLY HIGH attack bonuses and that Power Attack with a Bow is VERY DEADLY. (Can you Rapid Shot while using this Bow Power Attack ?)
Deepwood Sniper seems really good, but he lacks a bonus that IMO makes the AA the best of them all, Making Magical Arrows.
I believe that AA´s ability to make every arrow magical for FREE is unbeatable. Buying magical arrows or waiting for the spellcaster to cast Greater Magic Weapon is not as good as just letting the arrows fly away.
Since the arrows are magical you can put money on special powers for the bow, like flaming, shocking, or in my opinion, do what I did with my AA. Make a +1 Bow of Speed and shoot one more free arrow. In high levels every monster has DR and those magical arrows count, because you hit more and you bypass DR.
Seeker arrow is really cool, specialy after I read a response from the Sage as how it really works, and Phase arrow is kick ass to kill Dragons or other creatures/people with high Natural Armor and normal Armor.
I believe AA wins because ANY bow and ANY arrow in his hand are deadly, while the OBI without a special bow or arrow wont do nothing. And dont forget that AA has the Death Arrow it can make at high level.
IMO the best archers are Arcane Archer, then Deepwood Sniper and last OBI. (I didnt put Peerless Archer in my list, because I havent read him, but by the info on this thread I believe he would be my 1st or 2nd choice for power)
I havent read the Peerless Archer yet, but I have played an Archer character to know that they do have REALLY HIGH attack bonuses and that Power Attack with a Bow is VERY DEADLY. (Can you Rapid Shot while using this Bow Power Attack ?)
Deepwood Sniper seems really good, but he lacks a bonus that IMO makes the AA the best of them all, Making Magical Arrows.
I believe that AA´s ability to make every arrow magical for FREE is unbeatable. Buying magical arrows or waiting for the spellcaster to cast Greater Magic Weapon is not as good as just letting the arrows fly away.
Since the arrows are magical you can put money on special powers for the bow, like flaming, shocking, or in my opinion, do what I did with my AA. Make a +1 Bow of Speed and shoot one more free arrow. In high levels every monster has DR and those magical arrows count, because you hit more and you bypass DR.
Seeker arrow is really cool, specialy after I read a response from the Sage as how it really works, and Phase arrow is kick ass to kill Dragons or other creatures/people with high Natural Armor and normal Armor.
I believe AA wins because ANY bow and ANY arrow in his hand are deadly, while the OBI without a special bow or arrow wont do nothing. And dont forget that AA has the Death Arrow it can make at high level.
IMO the best archers are Arcane Archer, then Deepwood Sniper and last OBI. (I didnt put Peerless Archer in my list, because I havent read him, but by the info on this thread I believe he would be my 1st or 2nd choice for power)
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Actually, I designed a kick-@ss archer Psion before, using the feat that makes your attack rolls touch attacks at the cost of 5 pp per attack (Corlon is borrowing my psi handbook right now and has been doingso for about 5 months........so I can't actually look up the name of the feat). This thing could actually hit a great wyrm red dragon at 10th level. Combined with a bunch of feats and items that give you extra power points, this guy rewled.
-Jeph
-Jeph
Unless you've got some kind of instant death no save, no spell resistence arrows.
Ridley's Cohort
First Post
Numion said:
Ditto. Archers are going to outstrip the grunts in total to hit bonus. Their average damage per combat is already sky high because it is relatively easy for them to set up Rapid Shot full iterative attacks.
Stripping away those few advantages the grunt get is a bad idea.
Chun-tzu
First Post
Looking at the whole picture, a few things that strike me:
The Arcane Archer seems to hold up well to the others, IMHO. It seems to me that many of its strengths are hidden. For example, when comparing PrCs, we often focus on the list of class abilities, and forget about things like Saves, skill selection, and so on.
It seems to me that AA and DS are far better suited to assassination than PA or OBI, which are more like soldiers or battlefield archers.
It seems to me that the OBI comes in last, because its strengths are almost matched and outstripped by PA. PA is not necessarily better than AA or DS, though. The Peerless Archer is focused on offense, and has the poorest defense (light armor, one good save). It also lacks attack bonuses that the others have, meaning it will hit less often.
The Arcane Archer seems to hold up well to the others, IMHO. It seems to me that many of its strengths are hidden. For example, when comparing PrCs, we often focus on the list of class abilities, and forget about things like Saves, skill selection, and so on.
It seems to me that AA and DS are far better suited to assassination than PA or OBI, which are more like soldiers or battlefield archers.
It seems to me that the OBI comes in last, because its strengths are almost matched and outstripped by PA. PA is not necessarily better than AA or DS, though. The Peerless Archer is focused on offense, and has the poorest defense (light armor, one good save). It also lacks attack bonuses that the others have, meaning it will hit less often.
Jondor_Battlehammer
First Post
I'm a firm beliver that no one class is "better" than another, but the Arcane Archer wins in this paticular case for one simple reason.
Reliability.
At higher levels, and even more so in epic, DR is going to be a deciding factor. Since 9 out of 10 monsters are going to have some kind of SR, ungodly saves, and other defenses, if epic is played by the book a lot of fights are going to come down to HP slug fests. This gives the AA two advantages, bonuses to hit, and in all likely hood bypassing DR.
Reliability.
At higher levels, and even more so in epic, DR is going to be a deciding factor. Since 9 out of 10 monsters are going to have some kind of SR, ungodly saves, and other defenses, if epic is played by the book a lot of fights are going to come down to HP slug fests. This gives the AA two advantages, bonuses to hit, and in all likely hood bypassing DR.
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