I'm confused about the rules for the Arcane Archer's Enhance Arrows ability.
The rules state:
"every nonmagical arrow fired by an arcane archer gains...(the elemental, distance, burst or aligned) quality."
The word "non-magical" is where I'm getting confused.
Does this mean:
1) If he's using a magically enchanted bow (which automatically makes the ammunition "magic"), he can't also use his Enhance Arrows ability?
So if I have Frost Longbow and I want to imbue my arrows with fire,
would the Frost and Flaming enhancements stack (1d6 frost + 1d6 flame)?
Or would I have to choose between the two enhancements (1d6 frost OR 1d6 flame)?
2) If the Archer uses his Enhance Arrows ability to make +1 magical ammunition, he can't also enhance his arrows with another quality?
So he couldn't make +1 flaming arrows?
There's a blurb of information that seems important, but I'm not sure I fully understand it:
"The bonuses granted by a magic bow apply as normal to arrows that have been enhanced with this ability. Only the larger enhancement bonus applies. Duplicate abilities do not stack."
I read this to mean:
The bonuses from his Enchant Arrows ability and his weapon do indeed stack if they are different (i.e. frost bow, flame arrows).
If they are the same enchantment (i.e. +3 bow, +1 arrows), only use the higher enchantment.
Otherwise, the arrows must be "non-magical" before they are nocked in the bow. But he can still Enhance his arrows if even if the bow makes them magical or he gives them a +1 enhancement.
Is this correct or am I way off?
I read it the same way you do. The arrow has to be non-magical to begin with. The Arcane Archer nocks the arrow which enhances the arrow normally by the class ability. Then firing the arrow from a magical bow will further enhance it where applicable.
This means that an Arcane Archer who normally enhances an arrow as +1 Shocking, using a +3 Flaming Bow, would fire +3 Flaming Shocking Arrows. Shocking from the class, +3 and Flaming from the bow. The magical enhancement that the Arcane Archer gets doesn't stack with the bow.
Seems fairly straightforward to me.
Having just put together four different Arcane Archer builds for a friend, I had a bit of a time with those rules as well. Your final paragraph is exactly how I read the rules as well. Having a +3 flaming longbow doesn't negate being able to add frost to them from Enhance Arrows. I also assumed (maybe wrongly) that Imbue Arrow could be used on Enhance Arrows'd arrows. Now, having flaming/shocking/frost arrows in your quiver is (to me) something of a waste of cash. Getting acid arrows or holy arrows would be a better use your gold.
Also, a houserule I plan on instituting (or at least suggesting) is that arrows imbued with non-damaging spells (such as sleep or mass suggestion) can choose to not deal damage. Precedence comes from the sleep arrows found in the magic item section.
I read it the same way you do. The arrow has to be non-magical to begin with. The Arcane Archer nocks the arrow which enhances the arrow normally by the class ability. Then firing the arrow from a magical bow will further enhance it where applicable.
This means that an Arcane Archer who normally enhances an arrow as +1 Shocking, using a +3 Flaming Bow, would fire +3 Flaming Shocking Arrows. Shocking from the class, +3 and Flaming from the bow. The magical enhancement that the Arcane Archer gets doesn't stack with the bow.
Seems fairly straightforward to me.
That's what I thought, but the word "nonmagical" scared me.
I was worried that maybe it meant the bow could never be enchanted because then the arrows would become "magical" and therefore couldn't be Enhanced.I'm not very good at interpreting rules!
The last three sentences in the ability description cleans up any doubt as to what it does and doesn't stack with:
"The bonuses granted by a magic bow apply as normal to arrows that have been enhanced with this ability. Only the larger enhancement bonus applies. Duplicate abilities do not stack."
Now, having flaming/shocking/frost arrows in your quiver is (to me) something of a waste of cash. Getting acid arrows or holy arrows would be a better use your gold.
As a houserule, we added acid to the list of elements the archer can choose from. Now he's got all 4 basic elements covered. Others, like Holy, would still need to be purchased.
I'd agree that Imbue Arrow and Enhance Arrow probably stack.
One more question:
The book says "The elemental, elemental burst, and aligned qualities can be changed once per day, when the arcane archer prepares spells or, in the case of spontaneous spellcasters, after 8 hours of rest."
If I choose go with the Elemental enhancement, do I also need to specify which particular element I want to use? Or do I have the freedom to change elements "on the fly"?
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Arcane archers get the ability Enhance arrows (magic) at 1st level and (elemental) at 3rd level, Imbue arrow at 2nd level, and Seeker arrow at 4th level. Imbue arrow says: "A spell cast in this wasy uses its standard casting time and the arcane archer can fire the arrow as part of the casting." Seeker arrow says: "Using this ability is a standard action (and shooting the arrow is part of the action)." Similar language, but not the same. While it seems pretty clear that Enhance arrows and Imbue arrow abilities can both be used on the same arrow (the AA could shoot a +1 shock arrow imbued with burning hands, for instance), can the AA use both the Imbue and Seeker arrow abilities on the same arrow if the casting time of the spell chosen is a standard action or less--a +1 shock arrow imbued with burning hands that also goes around corners?