Arcane Archer prereqs optimized [Archive] - Wizards Community

Arcane Archer prereqs optimized [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
MaximumHavoc
07-18-06, 02:42 PM To fulfill the prerequisites for Arcane Archer, which of the following paths seems better to you?

Duskblade6 (ch lvl 6 - BAB +6 - arcane spells 6/6/3)
Ranger6/Sorceror1 (ch lvl 7 - BAB +6 - arcane spells 5/3 - ranger spells 1)
Bard8 (ch lvl 8 - BAB +6 - arcane spells 3/3/3/1)
VonRichthofen
07-18-06, 02:58 PM Duskblade.

But who's gonna trade that very nice class progression for a lousy Arcane Archer?

Your enchanted arrows can be easily replaced by a Greater Magic Weapon spell (or a Quiver of Anariel, later on - wanna' fire endless numbers of adamantine-tipped +5 arrows, anybody?) your oh-so special abilities suck - and you need to be an elf or half-elf, to make things even worse.

Go for duskblade with a few archery feats if you must (though mêlée works better, I guess), maybe two levels AA for the imbue arrow thing, but that's that.
Some Like It Hot
07-18-06, 03:04 PM Arcane Archer is best taken as a two level dip for the imbue arrow bit.

After that, battlefield control is a lot of fun. Your spells won't be as powerful as a straight caster and you probably won't have as many, but the things you can do with imbue arrow add a lot of versatility.

Also, get a bow with the splitting enhancement. Having all those spells go off twice is pretty brilliant. It's like having Twin Spell applied to every area spell that you imbue into an arrow.

Also, if imbue arrow is the way you want to go, skip Duskblade altogther. They have pretty few area spells. If you're going Arcane Archer for any other reason than Imbue Arrow, the Duskblade will probably trump it mechanically.

-SLIH
ninjarabbit
07-18-06, 03:10 PM bard8/arcanearcher2/sublimechord2/eldritchknight8, probably the best AA build I can think of
MaximumHavoc
07-18-06, 05:40 PM thanks for the input
solbergb
07-18-06, 08:30 PM The answer depends on what you want.

Arcane archer style #1 - take it only for the imbue arrow ability and cripple your spellcasting to toss close/personal range area spells at arrow length.

Arcane archer style #2 - take it to 10 levels (and eventually go epic) with the primary idea being a near-full-BAB archer with decent skills and a few weak magical tricks. Best in a campaign where GMW is NOT automatically assumed (your party members are unwilling or unable to cast it) or where you will go epic and not want to suddenly cough up a half million gold to raise your +1/holy/fire/frost/shock bow to +6.

For the first one, the usual entry is bard8 or wiz/sor 12

For the second, the usual entry is FULLBAB6/diviner1 (these builds usually want skill points, which int provides, usually have no use for charisma at all and pearls of power can often get more out of your 3 spell slots than the 4 sorc slots - sorc also gets into multiclass issues with some FULLBAB6 choices). The most typical FULLBAB6 builds are:

ranger6 (usually for the massive # of skills)
ranger2/fighter4 (usually for weapon spec)
ranger2/fighter2/barbarian2 (with extra rage)

These approaches need books beyond the core, but can enter the class a level earlier. Downside is that their spell list is inferior to ranger or wizard list for archery.

duskblade6 (PHB2)
hexblade4/fighter2 (CW)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
MaximumHavoc 07-18-06, 02:42 PM	To fulfill the prerequisites for Arcane Archer, which of the following paths seems better to you? Duskblade6 (ch lvl 6 - BAB +6 - arcane spells 6/6/3) Ranger6/Sorceror1 (ch lvl 7 - BAB +6 - arcane spells 5/3 - ranger spells 1) Bard8 (ch lvl 8 - BAB +6 - arcane spells 3/3/3/1)
VonRichthofen 07-18-06, 02:58 PM	Duskblade. But who's gonna trade that very nice class progression for a lousy Arcane Archer? Your enchanted arrows can be easily replaced by a Greater Magic Weapon spell (or a Quiver of Anariel, later on - wanna' fire endless numbers of adamantine-tipped +5 arrows, anybody?) your oh-so special abilities suck - and you need to be an elf or half-elf, to make things even worse. Go for duskblade with a few archery feats if you must (though mêlée works better, I guess), maybe two levels AA for the imbue arrow thing, but that's that.
Some Like It Hot 07-18-06, 03:04 PM	Arcane Archer is best taken as a two level dip for the imbue arrow bit. After that, battlefield control is a lot of fun. Your spells won't be as powerful as a straight caster and you probably won't have as many, but the things you can do with imbue arrow add a lot of versatility. Also, get a bow with the splitting enhancement. Having all those spells go off twice is pretty brilliant. It's like having Twin Spell applied to every area spell that you imbue into an arrow. Also, if imbue arrow is the way you want to go, skip Duskblade altogther. They have pretty few area spells. If you're going Arcane Archer for any other reason than Imbue Arrow, the Duskblade will probably trump it mechanically. -SLIH
ninjarabbit 07-18-06, 03:10 PM	bard8/arcanearcher2/sublimechord2/eldritchknight8, probably the best AA build I can think of
MaximumHavoc 07-18-06, 05:40 PM	thanks for the input
solbergb 07-18-06, 08:30 PM	The answer depends on what you want. Arcane archer style #1 - take it only for the imbue arrow ability and cripple your spellcasting to toss close/personal range area spells at arrow length. Arcane archer style #2 - take it to 10 levels (and eventually go epic) with the primary idea being a near-full-BAB archer with decent skills and a few weak magical tricks. Best in a campaign where GMW is NOT automatically assumed (your party members are unwilling or unable to cast it) or where you will go epic and not want to suddenly cough up a half million gold to raise your +1/holy/fire/frost/shock bow to +6. For the first one, the usual entry is bard8 or wiz/sor 12 For the second, the usual entry is FULLBAB6/diviner1 (these builds usually want skill points, which int provides, usually have no use for charisma at all and pearls of power can often get more out of your 3 spell slots than the 4 sorc slots - sorc also gets into multiclass issues with some FULLBAB6 choices). The most typical FULLBAB6 builds are: ranger6 (usually for the massive # of skills) ranger2/fighter4 (usually for weapon spec) ranger2/fighter2/barbarian2 (with extra rage) These approaches need books beyond the core, but can enter the class a level earlier. Downside is that their spell list is inferior to ranger or wizard list for archery. duskblade6 (PHB2) hexblade4/fighter2 (CW)