Other than a larger Hit Die and a weaker suite of Saves, the prime difference between 3.5 and PF is the 7/10 spell levels of the PF AA. Are these too much, or are they appropriate to the power creep since 1999? Or is there something I'm not seeing?
I think the PF AA is amazing and much better than the 3.5 version. I plan on playing one sometime soon as they are actually worth the multiclassing rather than before.
The old AA had no spell progression at all. Using his abilities became difficult at best, often with trivial results, as he had fairly strict martial requirements to attain the class, which prevented the potential AA from getting into the class with any great degree of spell power. That made the class more like a slightly magical archer, not an arcane archer.
With the HD upgrade, the archer now can hit something reliably (as before) and take hits better (with d10 hp, not d8). Giving him some spellcasting power makes some of his class features usable. In 3E, many of its abilities were 1/day while being underwhelming. The saves haven't been changed much other than to bring them in line with the Paizo standard.
It's been a given that the class was pretty weak and unappealing if you ask the majority of players (well, maybe not a given, but a common viewpoint). So the class got an upgrade with Pathfinder and now does some interesting things. Though recent rulings about the imbue arrows abilities have weakened it a bit. No, it's not 'too much'. It's more like 'just right' or at least 'closer to the mark'.
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There was a comparison between the cleric archer and the 3.5 arcane archer. It demonstrated that the cleric could replicate everything the AA could do via spells and still have spells left over. PF fixed that problem.
With the Archer Fighter Sub-Class, AND the Gravity Bow spell, he simply kicks Butt...
Kudos, Paizo
-Uriel
3.5 AA was a waste of space. It was a PrC that outright punished you for taking it. It actually made your character worse.
Are any of you familiar with the 20 level conversion of the AA? Thoughts on making it into a PF, 20 level class? A friend has one that is effectively a washed out Rogue/Wizard til 8-10 then the PrC, ending with 12 casting levels and 7 SA dice.
There was a comparison between the cleric archer and the 3.5 arcane archer. It demonstrated that the cleric could replicate everything the AA could do via spells and still have spells left over. PF fixed that problem.With the Archer Fighter Sub-Class, AND the Gravity Bow spell, he simply kicks Butt...
Kudos, Paizo
-Uriel
Arrow eruption's place on the sorcerer/wizard class list strikes me as directly aimed at the arcane archer as well...