For an upcoming game, I decided to play a Magus going into Arcane Archer. So, here's the build I came up with to level 20.
21 point buy, open to all Pathfinder material, 2 traits.
Edriel Calirian, Elf Magus 10/Arcane Archer 10
Str 20 (Base 14, Belt +6)
Dex 34 (Base 16 +2 Racial + 5 level + 5 tome + 6 belt)
Con 18 (Base 14 -2 Racial +6 Belt)
Int 26 (Base 14 + 2 racial + 6 headband + 4 tome)
Wis 10
Cha 7
Traits: Heirloom Weapon, Magical Knack
Feats:
1: Point Blank Shot
3: Precise Shot
5: Rapid Shot, Deadly Aim
7: Weapon Focus (Longbow)
9: Manyshot
11: Weapon Specialization (Longbow)
13: Improved Precise Shot
15: Improved Familiar (Mephit)
17: Arcane Strike
19: Extra Arcana (Wand Mastery)
Arcana: Arcane Accuracy, Familiar, Spell Blending (Gravity Bow, Arrow Eruption)
The defensive and stat boost items would be pretty standard, so what I'll focus on here is offensive output. The base weapon would be a +1 Seeking Axiomatic Anarchic Corrosive Burst Flaming Burst Composite Longbow (+5 Strength rated)
Greater Magic Weapon would make it a +6 weapon. Arcane Pool would add Thundering and Shocking Burst. Arcane Archer would add Distance, Icy Burst, and Holy to each arrow.
You would have a BAB of 17/12/7/2. With Rapid Shot, Manyshot, and Haste you would fire off 7 shots in a round.
Each shot would do: 1d10 + 6 (enhancement) + 10 (Deadly Aim) + 5 (Arcane Strike) + 2 (Weapon specialization) + 5 (strength)+ 1 (Greater Bracers of Archery) +1d6 frost + 1d6 acid +1d6 electricity + 2d6 fire (flaming burst, Fire Arrow). Against, say, a chaotic evil enemy you would deal an extra 4d6 from alignment damage.
Average damage per shot: 61, assuming no resistance. Average damage on a critical goes up to 166, from an x3 crit weapon and all the Burst qualities.
Other fun tactics include having your familiar use UMD to cast the spell into an arrow to use Imbue Arrow, letting you fire the imbued arrow as part of a full attack.
Now, what about accuracy? Your attack bonus would be: 17 (base) + 12 (Dexterity) + 6 (Magic) + 1 (WF) +1 (Haste) + 2 Bracers of Archery - 2 (Rapid Shot) - 5 (Deadly Aim) = an attack routine of +36/+36/+36/+31/+26/+21. If fighting a tough to hit enemy, you can use your swift action for Arcane Accuracy instead of Arcane Strike, for a +9 to hit for each shot.
So an average full-round attack would be... 427 damage (assuming no resistances, no crits, and an evil-aligned enemy).
You also have the other spell options of a 17th level Magus, with a caster level of 20.
So, thoughts? I'm not sure how such a build would compare to other builds at level 20, but it seems pretty solid. And being able to get a weapon with an effective enhancement bonust of +20 is downright absurd.
It could also be made as Human, and the extra feat would allow you to use Rapid Shot by level 3 (which is quite nice)
Bump
looks pretty effective to me.
Looks pretty solid to me as well. However, what you might want to look into is the survivability of getting to level 20, unless of course you are starting at level 20 and doing a super epic game. Surviablity will also depend on your teammates and what you bring to the table as your character grows. However, you should be OK I think but you never know if there are unforeseen complications.
I'm really not sure what the point of being Magus/ arcane archer is. Why would you want only a max of 6 th level spell casting if you not gonna use spell strike and spell combat. To me there's no real synergy between 2 classes . I would think a bard /arcane archer would be a better if you want to go the 6 levels spell caster route.
Imbue Arrow states that the spell uses it's normal standard action casting time, and that the arrow can be fired as part of the casting. It also says that the arrow must be fired the round that the casting is complete. The familiar would be using its own standard action for the casting, while allowing me to fire the arrow. Since I didn't spend any of my actions for the casting, why wouldn't I be able to fire the arrow as part of a full attack?
At low levels, he'd be a pretty standard archer. While the lack of extra feats that a ranger or fighter would have delays getting Rapid Shot, the spellcasting ability would make up for it a bit.
Magic Weapon + Arcane Bond would allow them to wield a +2 weapon at first level, which helps offset the lowered accuracy from being a 3/4 BAB class. Access to the Shield spell in combination with light armor and a high Dex would give a solid AC. A magus has two good saves, with the high Dex boosting their weakest. They also have access to some of the standard useful arcane spells, like Enlarge Person, Color Spray, Glitterdust, etc.
The point of the build isn't to get 9th level spells, it's to maximize your offensive output through getting the most effects and properties on your weapon. Spell Combat and Spellstrike, while obviously a part of the class, aren't all a Magus has to offer. And with a decent strength, martial weapon proficiencies, and Arcane Pool, he could easily be a switch hitter in a pinch. Bard Arcane Duelist/Arcane Archer would give more skills, but at the expense of offensive output, which may not be worth it depending on the group.
It just seems like you are giving up being really good at something to be just OK are a few things .
You are going to lack the feats to be a really good archer .
10 magus levels only gives you +3 enhancement bonus .
You will miss out on Improved Spell Recall and heavy armor .
IMHO
It could be tweaked slightly to Magus 11/Arcane Archer 9, as the Slaying Arrow doesn't appeal to me much, considering it's Charisma-based save DC, at a level where most enemies are going to have high Fort saves. That would net an extra feat and Improved Spell Recall.
Losing any more Arcane Archer levels would mean losing out on the free alignment-based arrows, though that may be partially offset by the extra Arcane Pool options, though it'd have to get to Magus 13 to get another +1 bonus out of it, meanwhile also losing Hail of Arrows, which has the potential to be extremely potent with all the effects that a given arrow has.
What archery feats are missing? Point Blank, Precise, Rapid Shot, Deadly Aim, Manyshot, Improved Precise Shot, Weapon Specialization. They're all there.
Losing out on heavy armor isn't a big deal, as you'll end up with so much Dex that Mithril Full Plate won't cut it. Hell, you'd cap the max dex of Celestial Armor. Dervish Magus's don't use heavy armor, either.