Change the Nature Bond to an animal companion (A horse, or if you want to take Boon Companion, a wolf). Ride the companion in and out of cover. I believe attack rolls are made at the halfway point of your movement, so you could move out of cover, shoot, and then move back behind a wall each turn. Much better at negating attacks than deflect arrows.
For more damage you should probably have her using gravity bow. I'd swap it for speak with animals. You also meet all of the prereqs for manyshot, which could replace heritage. Or if you feel like mucking about the stats a bit and raising Int you could take focused shot and not be quite so gross about the damage dice. And I like the idea of ducking in and out of cover, which could be acheived via dodge, mobility, point blank shot, shot on the run.
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I would also suggest the feats of Hammer the Gap and Cluster Shots from the UC if damage reduction rules are in play. Yes, I know Hammer the Gap is a monk feat but according to the boards it can apply to arrows as well. You didn't post equipment so I would suggest something to raise your dex if you go with Hammer the Gap to make sure you hit with each arrow. Manyshot, Rapid Shot and two attacks if they all hit with Hammer the Gap you would add another 6 points of damage which only goes up as you add more attacks. Don't for get to put an element on the bow for some extra dice when doing damage.
With a +1 bow with +1 str, gravity bow, add in many shots alone you should be doing 8d6+28 if everything hits against favored enemy. Add element and Hammer the Gap and you add 4d6+6 for a total of 12d6+34. That's a lot of damage per round.
Edit: should have double checked my math.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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If you know you are dealing with another archer you might consider taking deflect arrows. At 8th level it cuts his damage by a pretty significant chunk. If you can dodge behind objects and make him use standard actions to attack you even if you are limited to standards then it's even better. (doh reread the top post, obviously you know all about deflect arrows :D )
Also filed under weird stuff you can do to mess with archers, take dodge and wind stance and move a lot.
In general defensive abilities aren't great compared to offensive ones, but if you *know* you are going against one specific type of enemy it might be worthwhile.
If you take manyshot you may want mroe than 20 arrows as they may not last long enough espicailly with rapid shot as then you most likely will not even last a minute. Anyway then the archer character can be happy and maybe replenish some of his ammonuition. Also maybe ahve this encounter be in favored terrain. Also gravity bow actually makes the bow deal 2d6 for weapons.
Favored Enemy applies to attack rolls as well, giving an extra +4 to hit.
Get a scroll of Fickle Winds and ruin enemy archers' days. Take manyshot instead of jackal heritage, and get the animal companion horse instead of bond(companions). Then you can single move around at 50ft. a round and still full attack without penalty.
If you have some Zen Archer, you can probably take Monkey Style. That means each turn after shooting, your archer can drop prone (+4 AC versus ranged attacks) as a free, then pop back up as a free action at the start of your next turn (with an appropriate acrobatics check) to take your full attack. Rinse and repeat.
Shooting and taking advantage of prone in a ranged fight: It's not just for crossbow and gun users anymore.
And after the PC wins, as a full Zen Archer, he could steal the tactic if he wishes to.
Swap CON for STR and get Might Bow +2
Swap Entangle for Aspect of the Falcon
Aspect of the Falcon
School transmutation (polymorph); Level druid 1, ranger 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 minute/level
You take on an aspect of a falcon. Your eyes become wide and raptor-like, and you grow feathers on the sides of your head. You gain a +3 competence bonus on Perception checks, a +1 competence bonus on ranged attacks, and the critical multiplier for your bows and crossbows becomes 19–20/×3. This effect does not stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon, such as the Improved Critical feat or a keen weapon.
Just a quick thought with no time to explore/develop - can you set up this archer to Sunder the other archer's bow from 200'?
Just a quick thought with no time to explore/develop - can you set up this archer to Sunder the other archer's bow from 200'?
I think you need archer fighter to do that is the only way I know of.
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Everyone seems to be covering feats, I'll tackle spells.
First some spells that could buff her. She could get these from scrolls, potions (if they qualify,) or wands.
Ranger Spells nobody seems to be suggesting. Keep in mind no UMD checks would be needed for scrolls or wands of these spells.
- Cloak of Winds: A 3rd level ranger spell that will give a -4 to ranged attacks against her. Her own ranged attacks don't seem to be affected.
-Aspect of the Falcon: 1st level ranger spell that grants a +4 to perception, +1 to ranged attacks, and bow attacks have a 19-20/x3 multiplier.
-Hunter's Eye: level 2 spell. You target a creature. You see them as if you were using the see invisibility spell. You gain a +20 bonus to perception to spot them. You can ignore concealment provided by fog or mist, invisibility, blur, displacement or other effects, but not darkness. Use this on your monk and then throw down an obscuring mist or two. Seriously... this spell could really make your fight challenging, and memorable.
Potion Possible Spells:
-Protection from Arrows: DR 10/magic vs. ranged attacks. Ends when 100 points of damage has been reduced.
-Weapon of Awe: +2 sacred bonus to attack and damage and creatures you deal a critical hit to become shaken for a round.
-Protection from Good: +2 Deflection to AC and +2 to all saves.
-Blur: 20% miss chance
-Heroism: +2 morale bonus to attacks, saves, and skill checks.
-Invisibility: Becomes invisible. Good opener or escape spell.
-Burrow: gains 15 feet Burrow speed. Not sure how well is would work, but Shot On The Run and this might make an interesting fight.
-Fly: 60 ft. fly speed. Attacking from the air is a great opener, and it would prevent the rest of your party from interfering. Additionally, it is a great way to put some big distance between your ranger and the Monk. If the ranger has Far Shot and the Monk does not, there is a slight advantage to your ranger if she is attacking just outside of the first range increment. The one disadvantage is your monk may be able to find cover easier, and the ranger won't be able to find any.
-Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, other ability spells: +4 to ability.
Scroll or Wand Spells:
-Longshot: +10 to the range increment. Not sure if this would really help you. If you were to use this with the fly spell idea, the ranger would have to be straight up above the monk to keep the monk in their second range increment and the ranger in her first.
-Moment of Greatness: double on morale bonus once. Good to use with heroism.
-Ray of Enfeeblement: 1d6+1 STR damage. Monks have good saves, so you might not get a full effect. However, if the Monk is using a composite bow, a reduction in STR could mess them up should they find their new STR is below the strength rating.
-Shield: +4 shield bonus.
-True Strike: +20 to hit. Great opener spell. You won't really be able to use it once the fight has begun.
-Haste: Good stuff happens. Only lasts for 2 round if you use a scroll or wand, so I suggest boots of speed or have a mook cast it on the ranger.
-Mirror Image: good defense spell. Scroll or Wand use only, no mooks can cast it on the ranger.
-Wind Wall: creates a wall of wind that can prevent ranged attacks. Good escape spell.
I only went to level 2, with a couple level 3 spells. I did this because items start becoming expensive once you get past level 2 spells. If you really wanted to, you could have a couple companions to the ranger casting spells to buff her, but it doesn't sound like this would be the case.
Taking this list of spells into account, I would try and buff the ranger out with the three ranger spells i suggested, as well as Gravity Bow. Protection from Good (use Law if they are not good,) Blur, Heroism, and shield are all good buffs, but you probably will only need Heroism. Weapon of Awe is another good option, but I will leave it up to you if you want to use a potion of it. Throw down some obscuring mist, using the Hunter's Eye spell on the Monk so the ranger is not disadvantaged by the fog.
Result: Monk can't effectively return fire, but isn't going to be able to use the concealment provided by the fog obscuring mist provides. If the PCs have a way of defeating the Obscuring Mist, consider using an Ever Smoking Bottle. A ranger who would easily use the Fog + Hunter's Eye combo would certainly make the investment.
I would probably take improved disarm feats and choose a fighter archer, using ranged disarms on the other archer.
Just because it would be fun... and I would do normal attacks with my other attacks.
The spells suggested by other people seem pretty solid choices, I would definitely take the oathbow as a weapon, +5 enhancement bonus to a single target with 2d6 extra damage per arrow and x4 on a crit.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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@Caleb "-Haste: Good stuff happens. Only lasts for 2 round if you use a scroll or wand, so I suggest boots of speed or have a mook cast it on the ranger."
Only 2 rounds from a scroll or wand? How do you figure?
It does seem to be wrong on that. Haste is Rounds/Level, so it would short lived. Wands and Scrolls rely on the crafter's level, and always use the minimum level needed for the spell on such items. Thus, Haste would be... 5 rounds? I think that should be right.
A little in need of sleep. Forgive me if I made an incorrect assumption.
5 rounds would make it a more viable buff spell to use.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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If the party does have a wand of wind wall, and they use it, the monk wouldn't be able to fire upon the evil party anyway. They probably will remember they have it (It's a rule of gaming: Players always remember every piece of loot, especially when you want them to forget about it.) They probably won't use it if they want to be able to engage her. The Monk would have to be on the same side as her if he wanted to fire at her.
Aspect of the falcon gives you a 19-20/X3. Note the x3. I just wanted to be sure you caught that.
It sounds like you are considering making this a recurring villain. If you do, you can have them carry any gear you like. As for escape, have a conditional event in mind, like she loses two party members or she drops below 65% health, and when that event or events happen initiate her escape plan. There are plenty of ways for her to escape. Dimension Door is a great escape spell, for example, and there are a couple items that would give her that. The ever smoking bottle provides concealment for an escape as well, so if things are going bad the evil party could quickly regroup and have someone cast dimension door.
Or the Fly spell could be used. Potions of it would last five minutes, enough time to get to safety. If you could throw on some invisibility, even better.
If you want her to be killed, then that is cool too. Just be sure she put up a memorable fight.
You suggest an Ever Smoking Bottle, but I'm not sure I want the PCs to get their hands on that. Hm.
Glad you thought of that, I'm sure most of GMs have made the mistake of equipping an NPC with gear you regret when the PCs get their hands on it.
OK, so I've not read through all the posts above on this thread, which I normally would, so forgive me if I've missed something in one of your replies that might affect this build. But what It seems like you have to work with here is an 8th lvl half elf ranger with BAB of 8, Str 13, Dex 16, which gives you 4 general feats and 2 combat style feats specializing with a composite longbow.
To avoid attacks taking the Dodge, Mobility, Shot on the Run, and Wind stance feats would be good, though you could easily do without spring attack if you'd like. The benefit of SotR would be if you were in a terrain with plenty of cover to slow down your opponent you could use Woodland stride to dash out, hit your opponent, and hide behind cover where he couldn't hit you. Beware readied actions though, as they could target you when you come out (Which is what Wind Stance would be for, 20% miss chance).
If you are going to be using that tactic you will need to take Point Blank Shot as one of your combat style feats to meet it's prerequisite and likely either Far Shot or Improved Precise Shot as the other. (Many Shot and Rapid Shot will not help you if you are not taking a full attack, and Precise Shot only gives you a bonus to hit your target if they are in melee with someone else, whereas the Imp. PS will allow you to ignore any concealment factors from the terrain you've chosen to fight in.)
With this build you will only attack once per round (for 1d8+1, no enhancements or buffs), but will rarely be hit and will be able to move faster than your opponent through the selected terrain.
If you will not be fighting in thick terrain I would select Dodge and Wind Stance (sadly lightning Stance is just out of your reach) as your primary defensive abilities but only use them if you are bing outclassed. This will free up feats to take Rapid Shot and Deadly Aim (for a -3 atk, +6 dmg). You will need to take Point Blank Shot as one of you combat style feats to meet the prerequisite for Rapid Shot, and I would take Many Shot as the other feat.
With this build you will hit more often (for 1d8+7, again no enhancements or buffs) and will be able to pummel your opponent, hopefully faster than he can pummel you. You will also have a decent retreat tactic. Furthermore if you can acquire a short wall or boulder to hide behind while attacking you can take advantage of that cover as well (select the % miss chance instead of the AC bonus unless your opponent is barely hitting anyway).
Spells such as Haste (or Expeditious Retreat for the 1st build), Blur, and Gravity Bow will also help increase the effectiveness of both these builds, though except for Gravity Bow I think you will have to find a spell caster or item to grant those buffs. Windwall is another good defensive spell against ranged attacks (30% miss chance) that you might be able to cast.