Archer Help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Archer Help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Soranos
04-27-05, 05:14 PM Does anyone know where I could find some 20th lvl archer builds? I gotta find one for a BBEG for my game. My players are quite frankly twinky *****s and I need something ridiculous to **** with em.
solbergb
04-27-05, 08:19 PM Hm. 5 levels of occult slayer for sure or they'll just rape your archer with will save spells. It also gives you auravision and +1d6/shot vs most high level PC's (almost all have either spells or spell-like class abilities). And big save bonuses, plus immunity to mind-affecting spells.

Make sure you have all of:

point blank shot
precise shot
rapid shot
woodland archer
multishot
improved rapid shot
improved precise shot

and on the spell front (have a wiz, bard and cleric minion or burn expensive oils and potions and maybe scrolls via UMD if you must :))

Haste (boots work fine)
GMW+5 (or oil)
Keen arrows (or bow)
Flame arrow (lets you put some other nasty thing on the bow without going epic)
Inspire Courage+5 (use inspirational boost if you need to)
prayer
A way to see invisible (preferably the spell...your auravision is good for close stuff, but see invis is line of sight...UMD would qualify if you don't want a wiz level)
Spell resistance
Rings of counterspells perhaps to avoid getting dispelled.

minimum 16 BAB and no saving throw weaknesses, with +6 attribute items in health and dex and a +5 cloak of protection. Don't forget the AC items too. Inherent bonuses from books are good too, focusing on saves (other than will saves if you go occult slayer) and dexterity. Occult slayer will help with this a lot.

A very expensive bow with lots of +d6 add-ons that is difficult or impossible to sunder. If you allow bows above +4 strength, make both him and the bow as strong as possible. And a locking gauntlet for the bow hand, to make it harder to disarm. Make it an evil artifact so they won't disjunct you as casually and so they can't use it after the battle :)

Defensive miss chance buffs like displacement, mirror image, etc.

Bane arrows to everything the party has.

Do your best to have sufficient attack value to hit on every shot, or at least all but one shots (woodland archer adds +4 to hit if you miss.

And most importantly....

A place to stand that is as far as possible from the PC's with no cover or concealment and is as difficult for the PC's to approach as possible :)
DM Denubis
04-27-05, 08:25 PM Meh, hold on.

*Edit.* Okay, got on my good PC. ^^

Okay, we're going to use an elven fighter for this. You can use any subrace that you like, but I'm going with the high elf.

Fighter 1/Wizard 6/Eldritch Knight 10/Spellsword 1/Arcane Archer 2

1 Fighter 1 (Weapon Focus Longbow, Point Blank Shot)
2 Wizard 1
3 Wizard 2 (Precise Shot)
4 Wizard 3
5 Wizard 4
6 Wizard 5 (Rapid Shot)
7 Eldritch Knight 1 (Manyshot)
8 Eldritch Knight 2
9 Spellsword 1 (Improved Rapid Shot)
10 Arcane Archer 1
11 Arcance Archer 2
12 Eldritch Knight 3 (Ranged Disarm)
13 Eldritch Knight 4
14 Eldritch Knight 5
15 Eldritch Knight 6 (Practiced Spellcaster)
16 Eldritch Knight 7
17 Eldritch Knight 8
18 Eldritch Knight 9 (I don't even know anymore. Take what you want.)
19 Eldritch Knight 10
20 Wizard 6

BAB +17.
CL 16. (20 with Practiced Spellcaster)
Ignore Spell Failure 10%. (Make sure your armor is mithril.)

Tactics - Drop area effect spells, such as Cloudkill, Fireball, Cone of Cold, so on and so forth, through your bow. Alternatively, rapid shot for no penalties.

For your bow, I suggest a +1 flaming frost shocking screaming corrosive bow of force and sure striking.

Indeed, this bow overcomes any damage reduction that isn't a specific material. It also adds 6d6 damage onto every attack. And sick you should be getting six attacks in a round, that adds up very quickly. Remember, if you imbue a spell, you should also add this 6d6 damage to snyone who gets hit with it. Also, should someone have a force effect up, you can dispell that with your arrows, with a lucky shot. This includes Bracers of Armor.

Screaming, corrosive, force, and sure strikeing can all be found in the Arms and Equipment Guide.

Spellsword can be found in the Complete Warrior.

Improved Rapid Shot and Ranged Disarm can be found in the Complete Warrior. Practiced Spellcaster is from Complete Arcane.
happymoocow
04-27-05, 09:08 PM If divine metamagic (persistent spell) is banned would it be wise to go cleric 20

point blank shot
precise shot
rapid shot
woodland archer
multishot
improved rapid shot
improved precise shot
Mr. Dog
04-27-05, 09:38 PM I have a few builds, good and evil.

cragtop archer is good for far-far-off death from above, Old or new order of the bow initiate (2 levels) for in-close archery.

For a decent "I can survive that" prefix, try:

hexblade/paladin of tyranny/monk

Evasion, mettle, charisma to saves, charisma to saves again vs spells and spell like abilities, and wis+dex to AC.

1 monk - feat, bonus feat, flurry, unarmed, wis to ac
2 monk - bonus feat, evasion
3 hexblade - Curse, Feat
4 hexblade - Cha to saves vs spells/spell-like
5 Paladin of tyranny - Detect good, etc.
6 Paladin of tyranny - Divine Grace
7 hexblade - Mettle

Cobra Strike Monk variant from Dragon or UA is best, as it gives dodge and mobility instead of the normal monk jazz at 1 and 2.

BAB, 6, level 7. Now just start taking archer PRCs and/or Occult Slayer. Perhaps a mix of Shadowdancer 1 or 2, Peerless Archer 3, OoBI 2 (Or Exotic Weapon Master 1), Occult Slayer 5, Deepwood Sniper 2... Some mix of these.

Deepwood sniper gives keen arrows and ups the critical multiplier.
Shadowdancer 1 is hide in plain sight. 2 would add Uncanny dodge and darkvision (since you already have evasion)
Peerless Archer 3 adds power shot, which is like power attack for ranged weapons.
Order of the bow initate or Exotic Weapon master can offer close combat shot, preventing AoO's when you fire while threatened.
Occult Slayer offers cool anti-spellcaster bonuses.

For gear, look at a Starmantle cloak, bracers of armor, slotless bracers of archery, a Quiver of Anariel (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/lonedrowstats) (Scroll down toward the bottom of the page), a vest of resistance 5, and a really good bow.

Bow suggestions: Unholy if the party's good, etc. Bane if they're mostly human or whatever, Magebane (complete arcane) to smack down arcane spellcasters, wounding, sure striking if they have alignment-based DR, seeking (no concealment, DMG) or ghost touch (no incorp. miss chance, use serren for the bow's construction, BoExDeeds) to prevent miss chances.

Anything else you need?
Mr. Dog
04-27-05, 09:57 PM Ranger 3, fighter 2.
R1: Fav En., Wild Empathy, Track, PBS, EWP: Greatbow
R2: Ranged Style: Rapid Shot
F1: Precise Shot, Far Shot
F2: WFoc: Greatbow
R3: Endurance

Then take Deepwood sniper 1 and 2.
DS1: Keen Arrows, Range bonus +10 ft/level, Mountain Warrior (Feat)
DS2: Concealment Reduction 10%, Magic Weapon, Crit Mult +1

Then Cragtop Archer 1-4.
CA1: Adept Climber, Farsight
CA2: Strike From Above, Quick Draw
CA3: Arcing Shot
CA4: Horizon Shot

Then Peerless Archer 1-3, Exotic Weapon Master 1, And finish out with 5 more Deepwood sniper by 20th.
PA1: Ranged Sneak +1d6, Expert Bowyer, Feat of choice
PA2: Sharp Shooting 1, Fletching +1
PA3: Power Shot
EWM1: Close-Quarters Ranged Combat, Improved Rapid Shot
DS3: Safe Poison Use
DS4: Take Aim +2
DS5: Consistent Aim 1/day, Imp. Critical: Greatbow (if keen/imp crit stack. if not, pick a different feat)
DS6: Concealment Reduction 20%
DS7: Consistent Aim 2/day, Crit Mult +2

20 BAB at 20th. Keen bow with a x5 crit. Etc.

This is the build that uses longe range arrow attacks and then hides. If the party is a mile away and on lower elevation, they're going to have a heck of a time spotting this guy. Make sure he has a mind blank spell/item.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Soranos 04-27-05, 05:14 PM	Does anyone know where I could find some 20th lvl archer builds? I gotta find one for a BBEG for my game. My players are quite frankly twinky ***s and I need something ridiculous to ** with em.
solbergb 04-27-05, 08:19 PM	Hm. 5 levels of occult slayer for sure or they'll just rape your archer with will save spells. It also gives you auravision and +1d6/shot vs most high level PC's (almost all have either spells or spell-like class abilities). And big save bonuses, plus immunity to mind-affecting spells. Make sure you have all of: point blank shot precise shot rapid shot woodland archer multishot improved rapid shot improved precise shot and on the spell front (have a wiz, bard and cleric minion or burn expensive oils and potions and maybe scrolls via UMD if you must :)) Haste (boots work fine) GMW+5 (or oil) Keen arrows (or bow) Flame arrow (lets you put some other nasty thing on the bow without going epic) Inspire Courage+5 (use inspirational boost if you need to) prayer A way to see invisible (preferably the spell...your auravision is good for close stuff, but see invis is line of sight...UMD would qualify if you don't want a wiz level) Spell resistance Rings of counterspells perhaps to avoid getting dispelled. minimum 16 BAB and no saving throw weaknesses, with +6 attribute items in health and dex and a +5 cloak of protection. Don't forget the AC items too. Inherent bonuses from books are good too, focusing on saves (other than will saves if you go occult slayer) and dexterity. Occult slayer will help with this a lot. A very expensive bow with lots of +d6 add-ons that is difficult or impossible to sunder. If you allow bows above +4 strength, make both him and the bow as strong as possible. And a locking gauntlet for the bow hand, to make it harder to disarm. Make it an evil artifact so they won't disjunct you as casually and so they can't use it after the battle :) Defensive miss chance buffs like displacement, mirror image, etc. Bane arrows to everything the party has. Do your best to have sufficient attack value to hit on every shot, or at least all but one shots (woodland archer adds +4 to hit if you miss. And most importantly.... A place to stand that is as far as possible from the PC's with no cover or concealment and is as difficult for the PC's to approach as possible :)
DM Denubis 04-27-05, 08:25 PM	Meh, hold on. Edit. Okay, got on my good PC. ^^ Okay, we're going to use an elven fighter for this. You can use any subrace that you like, but I'm going with the high elf. Fighter 1/Wizard 6/Eldritch Knight 10/Spellsword 1/Arcane Archer 2 1 Fighter 1 (Weapon Focus Longbow, Point Blank Shot) 2 Wizard 1 3 Wizard 2 (Precise Shot) 4 Wizard 3 5 Wizard 4 6 Wizard 5 (Rapid Shot) 7 Eldritch Knight 1 (Manyshot) 8 Eldritch Knight 2 9 Spellsword 1 (Improved Rapid Shot) 10 Arcane Archer 1 11 Arcance Archer 2 12 Eldritch Knight 3 (Ranged Disarm) 13 Eldritch Knight 4 14 Eldritch Knight 5 15 Eldritch Knight 6 (Practiced Spellcaster) 16 Eldritch Knight 7 17 Eldritch Knight 8 18 Eldritch Knight 9 (I don't even know anymore. Take what you want.) 19 Eldritch Knight 10 20 Wizard 6 BAB +17. CL 16. (20 with Practiced Spellcaster) Ignore Spell Failure 10%. (Make sure your armor is mithril.) Tactics - Drop area effect spells, such as Cloudkill, Fireball, Cone of Cold, so on and so forth, through your bow. Alternatively, rapid shot for no penalties. For your bow, I suggest a +1 flaming frost shocking screaming corrosive bow of force and sure striking. Indeed, this bow overcomes any damage reduction that isn't a specific material. It also adds 6d6 damage onto every attack. And sick you should be getting six attacks in a round, that adds up very quickly. Remember, if you imbue a spell, you should also add this 6d6 damage to snyone who gets hit with it. Also, should someone have a force effect up, you can dispell that with your arrows, with a lucky shot. This includes Bracers of Armor. Screaming, corrosive, force, and sure strikeing can all be found in the Arms and Equipment Guide. Spellsword can be found in the Complete Warrior. Improved Rapid Shot and Ranged Disarm can be found in the Complete Warrior. Practiced Spellcaster is from Complete Arcane.
happymoocow 04-27-05, 09:08 PM	If divine metamagic (persistent spell) is banned would it be wise to go cleric 20 point blank shot precise shot rapid shot woodland archer multishot improved rapid shot improved precise shot
Mr. Dog 04-27-05, 09:38 PM	I have a few builds, good and evil. cragtop archer is good for far-far-off death from above, Old or new order of the bow initiate (2 levels) for in-close archery. For a decent "I can survive that" prefix, try: hexblade/paladin of tyranny/monk Evasion, mettle, charisma to saves, charisma to saves again vs spells and spell like abilities, and wis+dex to AC. 1 monk - feat, bonus feat, flurry, unarmed, wis to ac 2 monk - bonus feat, evasion 3 hexblade - Curse, Feat 4 hexblade - Cha to saves vs spells/spell-like 5 Paladin of tyranny - Detect good, etc. 6 Paladin of tyranny - Divine Grace 7 hexblade - Mettle Cobra Strike Monk variant from Dragon or UA is best, as it gives dodge and mobility instead of the normal monk jazz at 1 and 2. BAB, 6, level 7. Now just start taking archer PRCs and/or Occult Slayer. Perhaps a mix of Shadowdancer 1 or 2, Peerless Archer 3, OoBI 2 (Or Exotic Weapon Master 1), Occult Slayer 5, Deepwood Sniper 2... Some mix of these. Deepwood sniper gives keen arrows and ups the critical multiplier. Shadowdancer 1 is hide in plain sight. 2 would add Uncanny dodge and darkvision (since you already have evasion) Peerless Archer 3 adds power shot, which is like power attack for ranged weapons. Order of the bow initate or Exotic Weapon master can offer close combat shot, preventing AoO's when you fire while threatened. Occult Slayer offers cool anti-spellcaster bonuses. For gear, look at a Starmantle cloak, bracers of armor, slotless bracers of archery, a Quiver of Anariel (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/lonedrowstats) (Scroll down toward the bottom of the page), a vest of resistance 5, and a really good bow. Bow suggestions: Unholy if the party's good, etc. Bane if they're mostly human or whatever, Magebane (complete arcane) to smack down arcane spellcasters, wounding, sure striking if they have alignment-based DR, seeking (no concealment, DMG) or ghost touch (no incorp. miss chance, use serren for the bow's construction, BoExDeeds) to prevent miss chances. Anything else you need?
Mr. Dog 04-27-05, 09:57 PM	Ranger 3, fighter 2. R1: Fav En., Wild Empathy, Track, PBS, EWP: Greatbow R2: Ranged Style: Rapid Shot F1: Precise Shot, Far Shot F2: WFoc: Greatbow R3: Endurance Then take Deepwood sniper 1 and 2. DS1: Keen Arrows, Range bonus +10 ft/level, Mountain Warrior (Feat) DS2: Concealment Reduction 10%, Magic Weapon, Crit Mult +1 Then Cragtop Archer 1-4. CA1: Adept Climber, Farsight CA2: Strike From Above, Quick Draw CA3: Arcing Shot CA4: Horizon Shot Then Peerless Archer 1-3, Exotic Weapon Master 1, And finish out with 5 more Deepwood sniper by 20th. PA1: Ranged Sneak +1d6, Expert Bowyer, Feat of choice PA2: Sharp Shooting 1, Fletching +1 PA3: Power Shot EWM1: Close-Quarters Ranged Combat, Improved Rapid Shot DS3: Safe Poison Use DS4: Take Aim +2 DS5: Consistent Aim 1/day, Imp. Critical: Greatbow (if keen/imp crit stack. if not, pick a different feat) DS6: Concealment Reduction 20% DS7: Consistent Aim 2/day, Crit Mult +2 20 BAB at 20th. Keen bow with a x5 crit. Etc. This is the build that uses longe range arrow attacks and then hides. If the party is a mile away and on lower elevation, they're going to have a heck of a time spotting this guy. Make sure he has a mind blank spell/item.