RAW in the Arcane Archer class ability description:
"The bonuses granted by a magic bow apply as normal to arrows that have been enhanced with this ability. Only the larger enhancement bonus applies. Duplicate abilities do not stack."
So if I have a +3 Bow of Flaming Burst and I'm enhancing my arrows as +1 Icy Burst, the arrow would only have a +3 enhancement bonus (the greater of the two), would deal 1d6 fire, and 1d6 cold in addition to the arrow damage and if I managed a critical, I would add both 2d10 fire and 2d10 cold to the damage dealt (since Flaming Burst and Icy Burst are not duplicate abilities)?
Yep.
Crafting some sets of Bane arrows for commonly encountered enemies in your campaign works really well in this way as the Bane just stacks up with whatever is already on your bow.
Another question regarding the Arcane Archer... I'm trying to find decent functionality for the Imbue Arrow ability quoted below. It seems as if, in most instances, the spell's range for area spells already exceeds the bow's or comes near enough to it.
Imbue Arrow
At 2nd level, an arcane archer gains the ability to place an area spell upon an arrow. When the arrow is fired, the spell's area is centered where the arrow lands, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows the archer to use the bow's range rather than the spell's range. A spell cast in this way uses its standard casting time and the arcane archer can fire the arrow as part of the casting. The arrow must be fired during the round that the casting is completed or the spell is wasted. If the arrow misses, the spell is wasted.
So I was thinking - what about Detonate? How would that spell work exactly, interacting with the descripton above? Are there any other spells anyone would reccomend using with the ability? Firesnake? Stormbolts?
