Which school for an Arcane Archer ?

[Chacal]

One of my players want to play an arcane archer
with a ranger/specialist wizard base
(we really like specialists wizards it started back in 2e with a
whole group composed of specialist with evocation as prohibited school )

The problem is determining which school will be better to choose, and
which shouldn't be barred from an arcane archer point of view.

Does someone has some experience/ideas about this ?

we use mainly phb spells, plus some Relic&ritual spells but we can use some others, at DM (me) discretion.


Chacal

 

[wolff96]

Transmutation is always a good specialization.

For an Arcane Archer, it really depends on the build. If you're going for a mostly-fighter build, then Divination (for the True Strike) is good. If you're going for a mostly wizard build, then the evocation spells (for being imbued into arrows) is good.

Overall, though, it really depends on what you want from the AA.

 

[Chacal]

Thanks.
She selected invocation as speciality (but as I only let her a few minutes to create the PC, I
told her she could change if something else is better/more fun)

As she's Ranger1(bowmen variant)/Wiz3, she's probably more
a wizard build.

Which (low levels) spells are more suitable for imbuing arrows ?


Chacal

 

[Rackhir]

To be perfectly frank, I've found that the imbue arrow ability is far over rated as to its usefulness. Most area effect spells that can be imbued into an arrow already have sufficient range that the extra range an arrow offers is generally irrelevant.

That said, the only low level imbue spell I've seen used effectively has been glitterdust. Of course the player had phenominal luck with victims failing their saves, but it at a minimum reveals invisible creatures and has the potential to blind the victim(s). Other obscuring spells might also work well, wall of fog, perhaps some illusion spells.

 

[Chacal]

To be perfectly frank, I've found that the imbue arrow ability is far over rated as to its usefulness. Most area effect spells that can be imbued into an arrow already have sufficient range that the extra range an arrow offers is generally irrelevant.

That's what I was afraid of. Are there good spells (maybe non-PHB) still working well with it, or is it doomed to be house ruled ? Anyone has experience with it ?

That said, the only low level imbue spell I've seen used effectively has been glitterdust. Of course the player had phenominal luck with victims failing their saves, but it at a minimum reveals invisible creatures and has the potential to blind the victim(s). Other obscuring spells might also work well, wall of fog, perhaps some illusion spells.

Thanks, I'll try to give those to my player.

Other good spells with imbue arrow (which should have a cool factor, IMO) ?

Chacal

 

[Nifft]

1st Level: Color Spray, Burning Hands, Obscuring Mist, Cause Fear, Hypnotism, Sleep

2nd Level: Web, Summon Swarm, Glitterdust, Scare, Shatter, Darkness, Daylight, Hypnotic Pattern

3rd Level: Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against <Law/Chaos/Evil/Good> -- consider the power of an inward-facing circle vs. a demon, Sleet Storm, Slow (normally Close range), Stinking Cloud (Medium range), Lightning Bolt (Medium range), Fireball (Long range -- so pretty useless), Halt Undead (Medium range)

I think the best "bang-for-buck" spell will turn out to be Burning Hands -- it could do 5d4 Fire damage to quite a few enemies clumped together.

-- Nifft

 

[wolff96]

Imbue Arrow is fun, but it isn't the end-all, be-all of Arcane Archery.

It can be used effectively with a couple of short range spells -- such as Summon Swarm -- but most of the big attack spells are long-range anyway.

---------------------------

One house rule that was used in a campaign I played in made the ability more useful: If you use a Save-or-Avoid spell such as Fireball for an Imbue and then directly hit someone with the arrow, they do not get a saving throw. This follows along with some of the spells like Acid Arrow -- if the spell requires an attack roll, it usually doesn't grant a saving throw. Plus, most spell attack rolls are touch attacks, whereas an imbued spell arrow requires you to hit the person or creature's full AC.

It turned Imbue Arrow from an underpowered ability into one that was very useful for nailing those hard-to-hit characters that have Evasion.

 

[Chacal]

Thanks for the replies !
I really like these boards.
You'll make my player (and me) happy

The house rule makes sense to me. I'll probably use it.


Chacal