I'm thinking of creating an Arcane Archer build -- as a thought exercize for now, perhaps to play somewhere down the road. It's a PC that has always fascinated, but never fit any of thecharacter concepts I've played. So I got to fiddling around in HeroLab, and came up with the following build, which allows for AA at level 9. I know there are a couple of ways to get there by level 8, but they all involve fewer caster levels and more levels in fighter, and this build is designed with a specific casting level in mind:
Half-Elf
Level 1: Fighter, Archer build. Trick shot:Feint Bonus Feat:Point Blank Shot
Levels 2-8:
1 more level fighter Bonus Feat: Rapid Shot
6 levels sorceror, Arcane bloodline, Bonded Item: Longbow
Spells known: I don't often play arcane casters, so I'm not real good at choosing these, but for an Arcane Archer, these seemed obvious: Gravity Bow; Cat's Grace; Haste. Spells that seemed a good idea but not so obvious were: Expeditious retreat; invisibility; mage armor;protection from arrows
Feats: Manyshot; Deadly Aim; Precise Shot; Weapon Focus: Longbow.
Level 9: Arcane Archer
Feat: Quicken Spell
I went with more arcane levels than fighter levels to get to the Haste spell as... hastily (rim shot)... as possible. I picked Quicken Spell because it seems that not picking up at least one metamagic feat is underutilizing the bloodline features.
Am I doing it right? Any suggestions for minor tweaks? Other spells/future spells? Different metamagic feat?
Thanks in advance for input.
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Some reccomended spells I came up with for a similar build a while back. These leave aside direct damage spells you can add to arrows via Arcane Archer:
Gravity Bow's an obvious one. I'd also grab Mage Armor, personally, since a Wand version won't last you all day. Expeditious Retreat is also cool (for mobility), as is Vanish (for escaping melee).
Glitterdust is of course, always nice, as are Blur and Mirror Image. Arrow Eruption is hilariously awesome.
Heroism is very good, as are Haste, and Displacement, and Fly. Flame Arrow is also very appropriate.
In terms of 4th levels, Greater Invisibility and Fire Shield are both excellent for preventing or punishing hand-to-hand fights.
You've already noted some of these, but you really need to think on armor: Would you rather get Arcane Armor Training, waste a Swift avction every turn you cast, and wear a Mithril Chain Shirt, or use one 1st level spell a day on Mage Armor? Because eventually you should be doing one or the other.
And honestly, the big thing I'd do differently is grab another Bloodline. Bonded Items aren't that good as a Sorcerer. I don't know what else I'd take though...maybe Draconic.
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I'm thinking of creating an Arcane Archer build -- as a thought exercize for now, perhaps to play somewhere down the road. It's a PC that has always fascinated, but never fit any of thecharacter concepts I've played. So I got to fiddling around in HeroLab, and came up with the following build, which allows for AA at level 9. I know there are a couple of ways to get there by level 8, but they all involve fewer caster levels and more levels in fighter, and this build is designed with a specific casting level in mind:
Half-Elf
Level 1: Fighter, Archer build. Trick shot:Feint Bonus Feat:Point Blank Shot
Levels 2-8:
1 more level fighter Bonus Feat: Rapid Shot
6 levels sorceror, Arcane bloodline, Bonded Item: Longbow
Spells known: I don't often play arcane casters, so I'm not real good at choosing these, but for an Arcane Archer, these seemed obvious: Gravity Bow; Cat's Grace; Haste. Spells that seemed a good idea but not so obvious were: Expeditious retreat; invisibility; mage armor;protection from arrows
Feats: Manyshot; Deadly Aim; Precise Shot; Weapon Focus: Longbow.
Level 9: Arcane Archer
Feat: Quicken SpellI went with more arcane levels than fighter levels to get to the Haste spell as... hastily (rim shot)... as possible. I picked Quicken Spell because it seems that not picking up at least one metamagic feat is underutilizing the bloodline features.
Am I doing it right? Any suggestions for minor tweaks? Other spells/future spells? Different metamagic feat?
Thanks in advance for input.
My 1st PF character was an Elven Bard/Fighter/AA. I great fun with him and did some decent damage/board control/group buffage IMO. The classes I dont think matter as long as you meet the requirements. I cant remember him exactly since I dont have the sheet infront of me, but feats that helped:
Point Blank, Precise Shot, Many Shot and Arcane Strike for Magic hurt before AA levels....
Some reccomended spells I came up with for a similar build a while back. These leave aside direct damage spells you can add to arrows via Arcane Archer:
You've already noted some of these, but you really need to think on armor: Would you rather get Arcane Armor Training, waste a Swift avction every turn you cast, and wear a Mithril Chain Shirt, or use one 1st level spell a day on Mage Armor? Because eventually you should be doing one or the other.Gravity Bow's an obvious one. I'd also grab Mage Armor, personally, since a Wand version won't last you all day. Expeditious Retreat is also cool (for mobility), as is Vanish (for escaping melee).
Glitterdust is of course, always nice, as are Blur and Mirror Image. Arrow Eruption is hilariously awesome.
Heroism is very good, as are Haste, and Displacement, and Fly. Flame Arrow is also very appropriate.
In terms of 4th levels, Greater Invisibility and Fire Shield are both excellent for preventing or punishing hand-to-hand fights.
Funny, I'd already decided on Mirror Image, but I might wait and go with Arrow Eruption first, then pick up Mirror Image later.
Hmmm.... The Arcane Armor Training is a good idea, hadn't thought of that. I could wait till level 11 to take a metamagic feat, since it really doesn't do me much good until I've got some higher level slots to burn. As for WHICH metamagic feat, I'm VERY open to suggestions. Also, if I go with your Arcane Armor Training/Mithril chain shirt idea, do I completely forego having Mage Armor in my repertoir? If so, with what do I replace it? Vanish?
You might want to either want to re-think the bow arcane bond or tell your DM to make a small house rule.
Here is the problem:
When a non-arcane duelist bard has a two-handed arcane bond weapon, he can't cast spells very well because if you don't went to take the (somewhat) difficult concentration check, you can't make somatic componenets, and that's because having an arcane bonded weapon requires you to weild it and just hold it, and in order to weild a two-handed weapon you need both hands and ergo you can't make somatic components.
Arcane armor training might be worth it but i personally think that the best way to go is to buy a mithrill chain shirt and accept the 10% arcane spell failure.
You might want to either want to re-think the bow arcane bond or tell your DM to make a small house rule.
Here is the problem:
When a non-arcane duelist bard has a two-handed arcane bond weapon, he can't cast spells very well because if you don't went to take the (somewhat) difficult concentration check, you can't make somatic componenets, and that's because having an arcane bonded weapon requires you to weild it and just hold it, and in order to weild a two-handed weapon you need both hands and ergo you can't make somatic components.
Arcane armor training might be worth it but i personally think that the best way to go is to buy a mithrill chain shirt and accept the 10% arcane spell failure.
Yes, I was already rethinking the arcane bond. What I'm trying to decide now is whether to go with a familiar, or change his bloodline altogether.
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Funny, I'd already decided on Mirror Image, but I might wait and go with Arrow Eruption first, then pick up Mirror Image later.Hmmm.... The Arcane Armor Training is a good idea, hadn't thought of that. I could wait till level 11 to take a metamagic feat, since it really doesn't do me much good until I've got some higher level slots to burn. As for WHICH metamagic feat, I'm VERY open to suggestions. Also, if I go with your Arcane Armor Training/Mithril chain shirt idea, do I completely forego having Mage Armor in my repertoir? If so, with what do I replace it? Vanish?
Probably. Bear in mind if you do this, that your AC will probably be somewhat better than someone going the Mage Armor route, but Arcane Strike (otherwise a great Feat choice) will be somewhat restricted (as it takes a Swift action), as will Quickened spells.
Probably. Bear in mind if you do this, that your AC will probably be somewhat better than someone going the Mage Armor route, but Arcane Strike (otherwise a great Feat choice) will be somewhat restricted (as it takes a Swift action), as will Quickened spells.
Funny, I'd already decided on Mirror Image, but I might wait and go with Arrow Eruption first, then pick up Mirror Image later.Hmmm.... The Arcane Armor Training is a good idea, hadn't thought of that. I could wait till level 11 to take a metamagic feat, since it really doesn't do me much good until I've got some higher level slots to burn. As for WHICH metamagic feat, I'm VERY open to suggestions. Also, if I go with your Arcane Armor Training/Mithril chain shirt idea, do I completely forego having Mage Armor in my repertoir? If so, with what do I replace it? Vanish?
*shrug* If I do go that route, I can always just eat the 10% spell failure on turns when I want to use those other feats.
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Arcane is good, but if you want other choices for the Arcane Archer, take a look at:
Destined for the extra protection
Fey, less for the powers, more for the spells and feats (Entangle + Archer!)
Boreal for the Cold Steel power
Stormborn has Thunderstaff and archery feats, and you can resist wind effects (although I don't know what that means for your arrows)
Arcane is good, but if you want other choices for the Arcane Archer, take a look at:
Destined for the extra protection
Fey, less for the powers, more for the spells and feats (Entangle + Archer!)
Boreal for the Cold Steel power
Stormborn has Thunderstaff and archery feats, and you can resist wind effects (although I don't know what that means for your arrows)
Both interesting ideas. Invisibility as a bonus spell makes staing with Arcane Bloodline tempting.
Regarding Arcane Strike: Do Arcane Archer levels count as caster levels for determining the bonus? And does it stack with the Arcan Archer's Enhance Arrows? It wouldn't seem that way, since both are Magic bonuses.
I'd looked into a half-elf Zen Archer 8/Witch 1 (or Sorcerer 1 or Wizard 1) as possibly being a good fit. The problem is, despite (or maybe because of) the Zen Archer's concentration on bows, there's absolutely no synergy between the two classes and the AA. Which is a shame, since I think it has a lot of flavor synergy.
Arcane is good, but if you want other choices for the Arcane Archer, take a look at:
Destined for the extra protection
Fey, less for the powers, more for the spells and feats (Entangle + Archer!)
Boreal for the Cold Steel power
Stormborn has Thunderstaff and archery feats, and you can resist wind effects (although I don't know what that means for your arrows)Both interesting ideas. Invisibility as a bonus spell makes staing with Arcane Bloodline tempting.
Regarding Arcane Strike: Do Arcane Archer levels count as caster levels for determining the bonus? And does it stack with the Arcan Archer's Enhance Arrows? It wouldn't seem that way, since both are Magic bonuses.
1)7/10 arcane archer level count for caster level.
2)don't mix apples and oranges, Enhance Arrows and arcane strike are doing two completely different things3)arcane strike's damage bonus is untyped.
1)7/10 arcane archer level count for caster level.
2)don't mix apples and oranges, Enhance Arrows and arcane strike are doing two completely different things
3)arcane strike's damage bonus is untyped.
1) So with, say, 7 total levels of Sorceror, Arcane Strike wouldn't go up to +2 until AA Level 4?
2) I think I see your point -- Enhance Arrows makes the ARROW magical and gives it a +1 enhancement, whereas Arcane Strike applies to the WEAPON.3) Is it? That's interesting, considering the Feat's description and effects. I wonder if that's an oversight.
Oops. I should correct myself, it's 3 levels of Fighter, and 6 of Sorceror, not 2 and 6.
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Both interesting ideas. Invisibility as a bonus spell makes staing with Arcane Bloodline tempting.
Invisibility is less tempting to me because I could choose it myself, no matter which kind of sorcerer I am. I would prefer Fey's Entangle spell or Stormborn's Thunderstaff power (for example) because I wouldn't be able to choose them independently of the bloodline.