I've always wondered what archery build is the best in the game. So who can tell me?
Let us assume that damage output from a full round attack is the main focus but not to the exclusion of everything else so no glass cannons with nothing left for defence. As a guide, let's look at what you can get by 12th level, any combination of classes with a 20 point build and typical wealth for that level which is 108,000gp. Let's also assume no 3rd party products, just any Paizo source.
No doubt the ranger, fighter, arcane archer or zen archer will be up there but which is the best of the best?
I've always wondered what archery build is the best in the game. So who can tell me?
Let us assume that damage output from a full round attack is the main focus but not to the exclusion of everything else so no glass cannons with nothing left for defence. As a guide, let's look at what you can get by 12th level, any combination of classes with a 20 point build and typical wealth for that level which is 108,000gp. Let's also assume no 3rd party products, just any Paizo source.
No doubt the ranger, fighter, arcane archer or zen archer will be up there but which is the best of the best?
well in my opinion your next question is what is a "archer" to me archers are direct support so to me the best archer is a pally, divine hunter only makes this better. my party dmpc is a divine hunter and i find my self having to back off on some enemies because my damage is huge before i use smight, as well i handle almost all the party healing needs with very little optimization.
so in that sens my vote is to the divine hunter with some lay on hands feats
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There is no such thing as "The One Best Build" for "Archers." There are a good amount of great builds that are very good at the job.
To be honest, you are going to hear a great many opinions but your play experience may differ then the people who post in this forum.
That said, you are looking for just DPR with a full attack? I will have to throw a build together, but I am certain that a fighter (with or without the archer archetype) would be in the top three. The archer archetype doesn't seem to take or give anything that affects damage.
Just about any other archer build is going to have lots of neat tricks but not as much damage as the fighter builds. One reason is that Fighters have the ability to take the Weapon Focus/Specialization feat tree. A few classes can access them, but not at full level.
All of the builds are going to have lots of neat tricks unique to that build. The fighter, due to the amount of feats they can take, is able to take just about every useful ranged attack feat by level 12. That means they can threaten out to 15 ft. and can do AoO with their bows (thanks to Ultimate Combat,) they don't provoke AoO when using bows, and they can still do the standard Many Shot and Rapid Shot attacks.
The Sniper Rogue is able to pull of sneak attacks from father distances than normal. In fact, they suffer the lowest penalties due to distance then any other build.
Rangers have spells that help them do cool things with ranged attacks like dealing damage as if the bow was two sizes larger.
The archer archetype lets people do combat maneuvers from a distance.
The Zen Archer is able to do things like roll three times and take the better result for an attack or do a flurry of blows with the bow.
Arcane Archers enchant arrows and can use arrows to deliver spells for them.
Like I said, I don't think there is one best build overall. I think it is a matter of opinion, and if all you are looking for is DPR the Fighter is a safe bet for the top of that list. Narrow down what you want and then ask for builds.
Archer rangers are really powerful to get improved precise shot at level 6 earlier than other archers save some zen archers.
Actually if you wanted to move sometimes you could make a mobile fighter archer and still get two attacks at base attack bonus -2 with manyshot and rapid shot.
I prefer Fighter 1/Wizard 5/Eldritch Knight 6.
It is lower on damage (but still does a ton) while having 10 levels of Wizard spell progression (Caster Level is still 12 with magical knack trait).
It's usually a pretty Glass Cannon build, but at this level you're flying all day with Overland Flight, not to mention you can drop Greater Invisibility/mirror image/displacement/whatever you really want if you absolutely have to.
Really, you're trading PURE offensive output for a HUGE amount of versatility (plus you can craft and such, which is a big benefit to the entire group). All that said, with Arcane Strike and wizard buffs and the ability to create your weapon at half price, this character still stacks up pretty well on the damage front even with pure fighter archers.
well in my opinion your next question is what is a "archer" to me archers are direct support so to me the best archer is a pally, divine hunter only makes this better. my party dmpc is a divine hunter and i find my self having to back off on some enemies because my damage is huge before i use smight, as well i handle almost all the party healing needs with very little optimization.
so in that sens my vote is to the divine hunter with some lay on hands feats
Paladins certainly get some useful abilities such as lay on hands. The big question is does it do close to comparable DPR to the top damage builds such as fighter or ranger?
I prefer Fighter 1/Wizard 5/Eldritch Knight 6.
It is lower on damage (but still does a ton) while having 10 levels of Wizard spell progression (Caster Level is still 12 with magical knack trait).
It's usually a pretty Glass Cannon build, but at this level you're flying all day with Overland Flight, not to mention you can drop Greater Invisibility/mirror image/displacement/whatever you really want if you absolutely have to.
Really, you're trading PURE offensive output for a HUGE amount of versatility (plus you can craft and such, which is a big benefit to the entire group). All that said, with Arcane Strike and wizard buffs and the ability to create your weapon at half price, this character still stacks up pretty well on the damage front even with pure fighter archers.
Mirror image and overland flight are great spells for anybody, not just for archers. As I mentioned in another post, how much DPR do you lose to gain these abilities/spells etc? The real question comes down to the trade off. I wonder if there's any quantifiable way of measuring it?
Inquisitor archers stack way up there. Their bane and, eventually, greater bane abilities stack up the damage fast, plus they have their judgments and spellcasting to augment their damage.
Inquisitors are also not squishy- high HD, medium armor proficiency, judgments to improve defenses eventually.
The very best archers are probably fighters though. Full BAB + weapon training + Weapon Focus/Spec feat chain is damned hard to beat.
How does your damage output stack up to the DPR of Farshot Fallon? Need to look at both with bane and without bane.