So, I know prestige classes in pathfinder are generally a no no, but Im not a fan of magus and I'd like to build an arcane archer and have no clue on how to begin or go about this. Race and such is still up for determination.
BumpBump
There are a bunch of ways to enter. More or less in my order of preference:
Fighter 1/(wizard, arcanist or sorcerer) 6/eldritch knight 2
Bloodrager 6
Bard 8
(paladin or bloodrager) 4/Draconic Sorcerer 1/Dragon Disciple 4
Fighter 6/(wizard, arcanist or sorcerer) 1
(wizard, arcanist or sorcerer) 12
How much archer and how much arcane do you want in your arcane archer? And what level range are you looking to play the character in?
BTW, bumping after less than an hour of inactivity is excessive.
It'll be more arcane focused , the level range is unknown at this point starting point level one.
From level 1, more arcane focused to me means either the eldritch knight plan or the bard one. The bard starts a lot easier, the eldritch knight will ultimately have more arcane ability.
As of right now I have given up on no myrmidarch magus, so my current level build is 8 magus myrmidarch, 2 arcane archer, and lastly 10 hellknight signifier cause its cool and seems effective.
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The magus and bows weren't ever really meant to mix well. Myrimdarch is a good bet, but you'd need 11 levels to be able to full attack and cast spells at the same time, and even that is debateable due to the class feature's wording.
So, seemlessly using a bow and casting spells is out, but most of the abilities of the Arcane Archer are standard actions anyways, so it wouldn't be too much of a bother.
The magus and bows weren't ever really meant to mix well. Myrimdarch is a good bet, but you'd need 11 levels to be able to full attack and cast spells at the same time, and even that is debateable due to the class feature's wording.
So, seemlessly using a bow and casting spells is out, but most of the abilities of the Arcane Archer are standard actions anyways, so it wouldn't be too much of a bother.
my gm and I house ruled that the myrmidarch works as it should bow and all,
Okay so at this point I'm a bit more open, discounting the original idea for arcane archer the prestige class and opening it up to the concept of an arcane archer are myrmidarch and arcane archer the class my only options for blending magic with bow? Oh and as an addendum to my earlier statement about having not picked a race, that has changed to I am currently a Vanara
There's several divine classes which can buff themselves and use a bow; vanara can make excellent cleric, warpriest or inquisitor archers. A dervish dancer bard or an arcane duelist bard can be a good archer (you don't need that much charisma as a buff-oriented bard) and either can lead into arcane archer.
since you're sort of stuck with an elf/half elf to req for that prestige class, you're going to hurt for feats. I'd take at least two levels of fighter just to wrap up weapon focus/P.B. shot/ Precise shot by level 2. Then you can take wizard levels till 10, and still have access to level 4 spells when you start into your AA. That leaves 4 feats open and 1 bonus wizzy feat, to either get some metamagic or fill out the other useful ranged feats like deadly aim, rapid fire, and maybe the snap shots(manyshot, unfortunately, also takes 6 bab, so you're stuck until your first level of AA at 11. (or, you could start into the vital strike feats instead: more on that later)
I'd almost advise against going deep into wizard territory, in favor of 1 wiz, 6 slayer/ranger, so that you can slap on some sneak attack or favored enemy bonuses (or if you prefer some versatility to your targets, the Guide archetype for Ranger Focus) as the flat bonuses to attack/damage from studied target/favored enemy/ranger focus will really help once you start spamming arrows with manyshot/rapidshot. Additionally, you can have manyshot at level 7, and start into Arcane archer as early as level 8.
If you're starting out at advanced levels though, stick with plan A: 2 levels of fighter, 8 levels wizard, ten levels of AA. At level 20, you'll *just* be able to cast level 8 wizard spells.
The only real problem I see with AA's is that by level 15 or so, you may find yourself wishing you'd just focused on casting, as that's around when your magic starts getting out of control: Your AA is able to cast level 6 spells, while a pure caster could be casting level 8's. Casters are so much more powerful on the high end, but as your AA you'll end up spending all your actions on blasting hordes of enemies for 21d6 damage rather than pew-pewing your bow for similar or less damage against one target. Or just avoiding damage completely in favor of some "save or die" types of spells. The AA, however, can't quite pull it all off as well. Since most spells are standard action at least, and you can't really get away with quickened spells, you end up sacrificing your bow attacks to cast and vice-versa - barring your imbue arrow ability, of course. Don't miss! You may consider forgoing all of the usual archer-fare (rapid/manyshot, concentrated fire) in lieu of taking the whole Vital strike chain, if you plan on making a lot of use of the imbue arrow ability; tripling weapon damage on one shot that you use often will get you slightly more mileage than wasting 3 or four feats on multiple shots you never use.
More often than not, people go into AA planning on beefing up their ranged attacks with enchanted arrows, and using magic for some minor utilities, rather than the other way around. That's not to say you can't be a self-buffing nightmare archer: by level 15 you'll have access to level 6 spells like true seeing, greater heroism, or battlemind link. Another bonus is that you'll have the full 4 attacks (+16 BAB) at level 20 - though at level 16 you could also forgo casting for the rest of an engagement, casting transformation, to get your BAB up for that last iterative attack.
Last note: I'd advise you to take an admixture wizard (evocation specialist subschool) and to buy the selective spell metamagic feat as soon as possible: your allies will thank you for excluding them from your AOEs, and you'll also be able to change the elements of your spells to suit the situation (or if your allies have specific immunities, to blast open whole areas of the battlefield without harming your pals).
P.S. also, having taken 8 levels of wizard, you'd get access to the second admixture ability; the ability to exude an aura that alters elemental effects like evocation spells/breath weapons etc. Have cold resistance? turn that red dragon's breath to ice (within 30' of you, at least)
Anyway good luck.
The recent FAQ on spell-like abilities not allowing for early entry into PrC's hurt the Arcane Archer a lot.
However, I've always thought this was a really cool class and it would be a lot of fun to play. Whereas the base Magus does a better job of being a melee-oriented gish class than the Eldritch Knight, I don't think the Myrmidarch archetype does the same for a ranged-oriented one (read: Arcane Archer).
Imbue Arrow is an awesome ability and not something the Myrmidarch allows you to do. The 7/10 spell progression isn't great, but you can cover that up somewhat with Magical Knack.
I've played with optimizing this build before and I think the following build is the best for a PC focused on casting that doesn't suck with his bow:
Fighter 1/Wizard (Transmuter) 5/EK 3/AA X
Transmuter let's you put a 17 after racials into your DEX and get a free bump for that +4 bonus. EK lets you advance your caster level along with your BAB, so you the 'valley of suck' isn't so unbearable when you finally get to Arcane Archer.
You aren't going to be the strongest character in the party with this type of character, but he should still be fun to play. Good luck!
I do really want to use this but I have my concerns about the base attack bonus
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I do really want to use this but I have my concerns about the base attack bonus
The build I outlined above would have a BAB of +17 at Level 20 assuming you carried AA out to its extent (incidentally, I contend it's probably not worth taking past level 8 or perhaps even 4 depending on what class features are important to you). You would get your third iterative attack at level 18, 3 behind a full martial.
It's tough to cram that much BAB in along with a decent Caster Level (18 @ level 20 for 9th level spells). The above build does a pretty good job, however.
I do really want to use this but I have my concerns about the base attack bonusThe build I outlined above would have a BAB of +17 at Level 20 assuming you carried AA out to its extent (incidentally, I contend it's probably not worth taking past level 8 or perhaps even 4 depending on what class features are important to you). You would get your third iterative attack at level 18, 3 behind a full martial.
It's tough to cram that much BAB in along with a decent Caster Level (18 @ level 20 for 9th level spells). The above build does a pretty good job, however.
at absolute most I plan to take AA to level 3 to gain the elemental arrows thing. I probably will end up using the extra levels to advance the other parts of the build.
You could make a good archer out of a Witch.
Elves have stats in all the right places (although that Con penalty hurts on a d6 HD class), and get free longbow proficiency. Take the Strength patron to get divine favor (and later divine power) on your spell list, and combo it with the Fate's Favored trait. Between that, heroism, greater magic weapon, and Arcane Strike, you can keep your attack and damage bonuses at respectable levels, while keeping full 9-level spellcasting AND whatever hexes you want without multiclassing.
at absolute most I plan to take AA to level 3 to gain the elemental arrows thing. I probably will end up using the extra levels to advance the other parts of the build.
So are you primarily interested in the actual Arcane Archer PrC? Or just for an Arcane Archer flavored character?
at absolute most I plan to take AA to level 3 to gain the elemental arrows thing. I probably will end up using the extra levels to advance the other parts of the build.So are you primarily interested in the actual Arcane Archer PrC? Or just for an Arcane Archer flavored character?
the class mainly, but its a little of both. I just don't see any point
In investing beyond 3. Mainly its the imbued arrows ability
Just note that a Transmuter Wizard's ability buff is an enhancement, so it becomes useless for a primary stat once you can afford a belt of X. On the up-side, you can always use it to bump a secondary stat, like if you want an Elf to easily have 14CON...
Just note that a Transmuter Wizard's ability buff is an enhancement, so it becomes useless for a primary stat once you can afford a belt of X. On the up-side, you can always use it to bump a secondary stat, like if you want an Elf to easily have 14CON...
it saves money and an equipment slot so it isn't useless
it saves money and an equipment slot so it isn't useless
Fair enough, but by the time a +4, does an Arcane Archer really want to be sitting on a +2 because it was free? Anyhow, my post was in large part a response to the post that suggested lower starting stats were somehow 'made up' with the transmuter bonus.
It's a nice little feature, but it's not the 'your physical stats are actually better!' feature that would make it really good. Alternate options are well worth at least considering - like Evocation:Admixture to throw Rime Fireballs with Imbue Arrow.
See this guide, if you can get past the stupid Google Docs "File will be deleted soon" error message (it didn't used to do this; I posted in the Discussion thread about this problem).
You don't need Imbue Arrow for spells like Fireball, which have most of the maximum useful range of your arrows (yes, the outer increments go beyond Long spell range until you get to really high levels, but you aren't going to be hitting much out there). You want Imbue Arrow for spells that DON'T have much (if any range) of their own, like the brokenly powerful Anti-Magic Field. True Strike (preferably cast in the beginning of the same round with Quicken Spell) and use Imbue Arrow with Anti-Magic Field, and you've got a good chance of totally hosing the enemy spellcaster you just shot, while leaving yourself free of the effects of the Anti-Magic Field (normally, it can only be centered on you).
Take 12 levels of Wizard (and nothing before) and pick up the prerequisites to Arcane Archer (and Half-Elf or Elf helps with this by getting you the bow proficiency for free, and Elf also gives you the Ability Score boosts you need). This is the point at which even a 1/2 BAB class gets you the required +6 BAB, and is conveniently just 1 level after you can cast Anti-Magic Field. If you went Aeromancer Wizard, this is conveniently just 2 levels after {cue Ride of the Valkyrie theme} the point at which you become able to fly at will. Anyway, take 4 levels of Arcane Archer, which means that while you miss out on just 1 level of spell/caster level progression, you get 4 levels of full BAB and slightly better hit points (even if you were using your FCB for HP), more skill ranks, martial weapon proficiency, and even armor proficiency (that you aren't going to use unless you're specializing in Still Spell, since you need to save your Swift Actions). And the second level of Arcane Archer enables you to do the horrifically stinky cheese described above against enemy spellcasters. After 4 levels of Arcane Archer, go right back to Wizard to avoid any further delays in spellcasting/caster level progression. Admittedly, levels 5 and 9 do give you some nice extra bonuses in exchange for the further delays in spellcasting/caster level progression, so they're not totally unworthy of consideration (although if you actually get all the way to Arcane Archer 10 this way, it means that you got total character level 22, which means that you are just 1 level short of maximum Wizard spellcasting progression).
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See this guide, if you can get past the stupid Google Docs "File will be deleted soon" error message (it didn't used to do this; I posted in the Discussion thread about this problem).
You don't need Imbue Arrow for spells like Fireball, which have most of the maximum useful range of your arrows (yes, the outer increments go beyond Long spell range until you get to really high levels, but you aren't going to be hitting much out there). You want Imbue Arrow for spells that DON'T have much (if any range) of their own, like the brokenly powerful Anti-Magic Field. True Strike (preferably cast in the beginning of the same round with Quicken Spell) and use Imbue Arrow with Anti-Magic Field, and you've got a good chance of totally hosing the enemy spellcaster you just shot, while leaving yourself free of the effects of the Anti-Magic Field (normally, it can only be centered on you).
Take 12 levels of Wizard (and nothing before) and pick up the prerequisites to Arcane Archer (and Half-Elf or Elf helps with this by getting you the bow proficiency for free, and Elf also gives you the Ability Score boosts you need). This is the point at which even a 1/2 BAB class gets you the required +6 BAB, and is conveniently just 1 level after you can cast Anti-Magic Field. If you went Aeromancer Wizard, this is conveniently just 2 levels after {cue Ride of the Valkyrie theme} the point at which you become able to fly at will. Anyway, take 4 levels of Arcane Archer, which means that while you miss out on just 1 level of spell/caster level progression, you get 4 levels of full BAB and slightly better hit points (even if you were using your FCB for HP), more skill ranks, martial weapon proficiency, and even armor proficiency (that you aren't going to use unless you're specializing in Still Spell, since you need to save your Swift Actions). And...
I actually wrote that guide, and I can tell you from experience the build is exceptionally powerful at shutting down single bad guys that rely on magic as well as dishing out lots of damage at range.
I originally came up with the character concept for my Grey Elf Wizard in Living Greyhawk, and ended up with Wizard 6, Loremaster 4, Divine Oracle 2, Arcane Archer 2. 3.5 had spells called "fireburst" and "greater fireburst" which 2nd and 4th level arcane spells doing d8 and d10 points of damage in a 10' burst centered on the caster, so you can see why those were a standard in the spellbook. Anything that you hesitate to cast because they bring you toward melee or because your allies might be in the way are a great spell to cast as a caster-centric AA.
^You're here! Sorry I missed your post above. Do you know of anything that can be done about the Google Docs error on this guide?
^I guess putting the guide somewhere other than Google Docs is one way to fix the problem. (Also see comment about Dwarves in the accompanying Discussion thread.)
EDIT: Reading to the end of the new link to the guide, I see that Zenith Games took it upon themselves to provide a workaround.
^You need something else before you start Arcane Archer, because the prestige class requires BAB +6. The effective BAB boost of Monk for Flurry doesn't count as BAB for this purpose, because the Monk's Flurry of Blows text says "For all other purposes, such as qualifying for a feat or a prestige class, the monk uses his normal base attack bonus."
^Would be more efficient to use 1 level of some martial (full BAB) class instead of 2 levels of Monk, UNLESS the 2 more levels of Monk give you something you really want anyway.