Post/Author/DateTime	Post
KingNeo 06-20-06, 11:39 AM	Well I am glad I can finally get to this site, you have no idea what I have been through anyway enough of my life story. Have you or do you know of any classes that specialized in ranged (primarily the bow) combat and good (not suck)? This is besides Shadowfoot's classes which I have already looked at and are quite good. Thanks Your Friend Neo
Burpcycle 06-20-06, 11:52 AM	The Ranger and Arcane Archer both (can) specialize in ranged combat, but you can't beat the Scout from Complete Adventurer, it's the ultimate in ranged combat.
DragonDeadite 06-20-06, 12:52 PM	Scout makes a great archer type with the bonus AC and attack. Combine that with the Order of the Bow Initiate and you can start stacking up some major damage with a single shot. That's if you go for single shot massive damage though. Getting off multiple shots in one round stops the benifit of the Scout and OotBI, so you've got to think on that as well. If you want a single shot massive damage, go Scout, if you want the multiple shots you should go Ranger and stick to the Rapid Fire and Many Shot feat lines. For fun stuffs, if you go Rapid Fire line make sure you have a magic user in the area that can cast Sonic Weapon on your bow (or some other weapon enchanting spell) and see the arrows fly!! :cool: Single shot massive damage: Can do awesome damage on one target, usualy can bypass DR, but only to one target each round, no matter how many shots you eventualy get you should always be doing just one shot. Multiple shots: decent damage to multiple targets, especialy after weapon is enchanted, lots of shots mean you can drop lots of enemies, however it makes it very difficult to bypass damage reduction unless you keept a very large variety of arrows in your quiver. (I've seen this frustrate one of my players to the point where he almost left the game over it... DR 10/- makes most multi-shot archers just about useless.)
Lucan_Desmond 06-20-06, 03:16 PM	You could always play a fighter that uses all his feats on ranged combat. You would still end up better heading into a PrC after about 5 to 10 levels, but it's definitely a good start.
CONMAN2469 06-20-06, 03:21 PM	Fighter is a good start. Take 1 level of wizard, and use "Arrow Mind" spell from Complete Arcane, be sure to buy as many 1000gp Pearls of Power so you can have Arrow Mind cast multiple times per day.
technochris81 06-20-06, 04:32 PM	Human Fighter 10 / Order of the Bow Initiate* 10 1st: Weapon Focus 1st: Point Blank Shot 1st: Rapid Shot 2nd: Precise Shot 3rd: Far Shot 4th: Weapon Specialization 6th: Many Shot 6th: Improved Rapid Shot* 8th: Greater Weapon Focus 9th: Ranged Disarm* 10th: Combat Expertise SWITCH TO ORDER OF THE BOW INITIATE 12th: Improved Precise Shot 15th: Improved Disarm 18th: Improved Combat Expertise* * Complete Warrior
Kanachi 06-20-06, 09:35 PM	I hope you will forgive the shameless plug but... me and FrasMage made a Prc class that you might be interested in (click on the link in my sig to view it). The class offers a sniper/poison using option to the ranged weapon user. See what you think and live any opinions you may have. :)
Nephlite 06-20-06, 10:38 PM	Well I am glad I can finally get to this site, you have no idea what I have been through anyway enough of my life story. Have you or do you know of any classes that specialized in ranged (primarily the bow) combat and good (not suck)? This is besides Shadowfoot's classes which I have already looked at and are quite good. Thanks Your Friend Neo The Mystery Psionic Class in the Maddness Thread in Psionics Board will be on PDF form in June and book in July I think. It is a full bab manufesting class that is good at ranged combat I heard. But Rangers are good at ranged with their spells. Complete Adventurer helps.
tak3thatback 06-20-06, 11:02 PM	Arcane Archer is probably a really good bet, though. You never really have to buy enhancement bonuses. Just a +1 composite longbow and 9 total bonuses and your good to go. You even bypass epic damage reduction for *free at level 21. (arcane archer class feature lets you shoot +6 arrows + all the bonuses applied to your bow at 11th level of the class.) My current build uses this with templates that allow spell casting beforehand to offset that level 1 wizard :P and get attack bonus = HD. Ability to cast 1st level spells... (but you must play an elf/half-elf of some sort) Plus, decent skills are there (spot,listen)... 10 levels to play around with.
CyberWyld 06-21-06, 12:46 AM	For an archer it doesn't get any better for me then the Divine archer PrC. basically just like an arcane archer but with Cleric spells. A very cool class indeed. Ever cast Storm of Vengence on a group of Hobgoblins then sit back and rain your devistating arrows in on them just to show them how badass you are? You're missing out if not.
KingNeo 06-21-06, 04:42 PM	Scout makes a great archer type with the bonus AC and attack. Combine that with the Order of the Bow Initiate and you can start stacking up some major damage with a single shot. That's if you go for single shot massive damage though. Getting off multiple shots in one round stops the benifit of the Scout and OotBI, so you've got to think on that as well. If you want a single shot massive damage, go Scout, if you want the multiple shots you should go Ranger and stick to the Rapid Fire and Many Shot feat lines. For fun stuffs, if you go Rapid Fire line make sure you have a magic user in the area that can cast Sonic Weapon on your bow (or some other weapon enchanting spell) and see the arrows fly!! :cool: Single shot massive damage: Can do awesome damage on one target, usualy can bypass DR, but only to one target each round, no matter how many shots you eventualy get you should always be doing just one shot. Multiple shots: decent damage to multiple targets, especialy after weapon is enchanted, lots of shots mean you can drop lots of enemies, however it makes it very difficult to bypass damage reduction unless you keept a very large variety of arrows in your quiver. (I've seen this frustrate one of my players to the point where he almost left the game over it... DR 10/- makes most multi-shot archers just about useless.) Actually I found a prestige class that specializes in shoting as many friggen arrows as you can. It was made by Shadowfoot by the way. Oh also if you want extra attacks and a free always getting stronger bow you could always take the Kensai class (found in Complete Warrior), and take the manyshot feat. You take three levels of Kensai and you can make your bow a ghost touch weapon (automatically negating natural armor and regular armor) and pretty much guarantee hitting and hurting your enemy. Now incorporate skrimish, which can be used since manyshot takes a standard action to perform, and the shot on the run feat, and you get a lot of damage per hit. Here it is: QUICKSTRING Quickstrings pursue speed in archery above all other considerations, growing increasingly adept at firing multiple arrows per round and firing arrows when others could not. Requirements To qualify to become a quickstring (Qsg), a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Base Attack Bonus: +6. Base Reflex Bonus: +5. Skills: Jump 1, Sleight of Hand 4, Spot 9, Tumble 1. Feats: Improved Rapid Shot, Manyshot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot. Special: The character must have one of the following: Combat Reflexes feat, Dodge feat, Improved Initiative feat, Lightning Reflexes feat, Quick feat, Weapon Finesse feat, or the Evasion class feature. Game Rule Information Quickstrings have the following game statistics. Base Attack Bonus: Good (as a horizon walker). Hit Die: d6. Saves: Good Reflex / Poor Fortitude and Will. Class Skills: The quickstring’s class skills are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Jump (Str), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier. Class Features All of the following are class features of the quickstring prestige class. Weapons and Armor Proficiency: Quickstrings gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies. Mercurial Shot (-3), Shot on the Run Defensive Shot, Two Birds One Shot Lightning Arrow Mercurial Shot (-2) Snatch Arrows, Two Birds One Shot Lightning Arrow Mercurial Shot (-1) Defensive Archery, Two Birds One Shot Lightning Arrow Mercurial Shot (-0), Storm of Arrows Mercurial Shot [1st/4th/7th/10th level]: The quickstring can fire arrows with dizzying speed. He can fire an extra arrow each round at his highest BAB bonus, but all arrows fired that round suffer a –3 penalty to attacks rolls. This penalty drops to –2 at 4th level, -1 at 7th level, and disappears entirely at 10th level. Mercurial Shot stacks with the effects of Rapid Shot. Shot on the Run: His quicksilver reflexes allow him uncanny mobility when firing his bow. When in light or no armor, the quickstring enjoys the benefits of Shot on the Run, even if he does not otherwise qualify for the feat. Defensive Shot [2nd level]: His exceptional dexterity with the bow can protect him when the battle refuses to keep its distance. The quickstring may fire a single arrow each round without provoking the normal attack of opportunity from threatening foes. The quickstring can enhance Defensive Shot with the Defensive Archery feat. Two Birds, One Shot [2nd/5th/8th level]: The quickstring excels at firing numerous arrows per round, whether consecutively or simultaneously. When he employs the Manyshot feat, the penalty to his attack rolls is reduced by –1 at 2nd level and –1 every three levels thereafter (to no lower than –0). The quickstring can enhance Two Birds, One Shot with the Greater Manyshot feat. Lightning Arrow [3rd/6th/9th level]: His arrows literally move with lightning velocity. As a standard action, the quickstring can fire a single arrow that moves at nearly instantaneous speed, seemingly striking its target the moment it leaves his bow. The effect of this uncanny velocity depends on his quickstring level. At 3rd level, the target of the Lightning Arrow is treated as flatfooted and denied its Dexterity bonus to DC and cannot employ Deflect Arrows or Snatch Arrows against the arrow. The Lighting Arrow does an additional 1d4 points of Sneak Attack damage and an additional 1d4 points of piercing damage. At 6th level, the Lightning Arrow’s threat range is increased by 1, which does not stack with keen effects or other effects that increase threat range, and the additional Sneak Attack and piercing damage both increase to 1d6. At 9th level, the Lighting Arrow’s threat range is increased by a total of 2, which does not stack with keen effects or other effects that increase threat range, and the critical multiplier increases by x1. The additional Sneak Attack and piercing damage both increase to 2d4. He may now employ Manyshot and Lightning Arrow simultaneously, able to fire up to two Lightning Arrows with Manyshot and incurring a –1 penalty for each additional Lightning Arrow fired as part of the Manyshot, in addition to the penalties normally incurred by additional arrows fired with Manyshot. When employing Lightning Arrow and Manyshot together, all arrows fired must be Lightning Arrows; the quickstring cannot fire two lightning arrows and one regular arrow as part of the same Manyshot action. This is extraordinary. The quickstring can enhance Lightning Arrow with the Greater Manyshot feat. Snatch Arrows [5th level]: His exceptional archery reflexes apply both offensively and defensively. When in light or no armor, the quickstring enjoys the benefits of Snatch Arrows, even if he does not otherwise qualify for the feat. Defensive Archery [8th level]: So fast are his arrows and so sharp his reflexes that the quickstring can fire at threatening enemies without provoking the normal attacks of opportunity. Storm of Arrows [10th level]: The quickstring can explode with a volley of arrows. In lieu of his regular attacks, once per day he can fire an arrow at each and every target within range, to a maximum of one target for every quickstring level. Each attack uses his primary attack bonus, and each enemy may only be targeted by a single arrow. This is extraordinary. The quickstring can enhance Storm of Arrows with the Extra Arrow Storm feat. Epic Quickstring: The epic-level quickstring continues his Hit Die, skill point, and Two Birds, One Shot progressions. In addition, he receives bonus epic feats at 13th level and every three levels thereafter (13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd, etc).
KingNeo 06-21-06, 04:55 PM	For an archer it doesn't get any better for me then the Divine archer PrC. basically just like an arcane archer but with Cleric spells. A very cool class indeed. Ever cast Storm of Vengence on a group of Hobgoblins then sit back and rain your devistating arrows in on them just to show them how badass you are? You're missing out if not. What book is it found in?
KingNeo 06-21-06, 05:11 PM	I hope you will forgive the shameless plug but... me and FrasMage made a Prc class that you might be interested in (click on the link in my sig to view it). The class offers a sniper/poison using option to the ranged weapon user. See what you think and live any opinions you may have. :) Its a pretty good prestige class, of course I don't like using poison too much though. I pretty much perfer shoting an arrow in an enemy's crotch and making him scream in terror, pinning him to a tree using my arrows, or having him charge thinking he is going to slash my head off and shooting his sword out of his hand and into a river 300 ft. below. But again good though, especially if you say wanted to apply oh some drow sleeping poison and have the enemy lose its balance and fall off a cliff. Also thank you everyone for the good archer builds, I haven't played in D&D in a while and I usually specialize in melee combat so good looking out. Also I have a question has anyone ever have a character run out of arrows? Think about it you shoot a goblin in the eye and have a group of orcs charging at you at eight o' clock (thats to your left for you non military types), you reach for an arrow and you feel nothing, suddenly realizing you have ran out of arrows.
LordBritish2 06-21-06, 08:46 PM	That isnt to much of a problem at the high levels of play, you just get the Quiver of Annve or something like that. Infinite arrows :D I am sure some one here knows what I am talking about.