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It really depends on what you want out of your archer.
A fighter is going to have the best possible raw physical damage output, while a wizard/AA/EK gish is going to have a lot more magical options and a ranger is going to have a lot more utility through skills and spells.
Edit: Zen Archers are pretty good too. Ultimately they don't have as much freedom to take non-combat feats and their AC compared to a fighter is worse, but they get some neat tricks. Reflexive shot is kind've a wasted trade with evasion though, since Snap Shot and Greater Snap Shot are significantly better, and you'll want them anyway.
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Monk (Zen Archer followed by Sohei).
You can read why the Zen Archer Monk his head & shoulders above the rest of the class in this guide by Porpentine.
It really depends on what you want out of your archer.
A fighter is going to have the best possible raw physical damage output, while a wizard/AA/EK gish is going to have a lot more magical options and a ranger is going to have a lot more utility through skills and spells.
This. For a pure Archer with maximized benefits early on go Fighter (Archer), for a really versatile and powerful ranged character with better high-end effectiveness go the gish.
For an upcoming RotRL campaign, one of our characters is going to be experimenting a little bit. Levels 3-20 will be Fighter (Archer), but the first two levels he's taking Urban Barbarian/Invulnerable Rager. His traits will be Aupicious Tattoo and Berserker of the Society, his first feat will be Extra Rage and his Rage Power will be Auspicious Mark. That will give him 15-17 rounds of Rage a day where he can boost his Dexterity only by +4 with no AC penalty. That should be good for 3 combat encounters a day if used judiciously... moreover, for when he really needs it, he'll be able to boost his Strength, Dexterity or Constitution with a round of Rage and then activate Auspicious Tattoo for a +1d6+2 bonus to a crucial save or skill check.
We've used that 2 level Urban Barbarian dip with melee types before, but never with a ranged character.
If you don't want to do the same thing every round, you absolutely do not want to play an archer. They pretty much just stand there and do full attacks and then the fight is over, because of all those attacks.
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If you don't want to do the same thing every round, you absolutely do not want to play an archer. They pretty much just stand there and do full attacks and then the fight is over, because of all those attacks.
What he said.
I am playing a Zen Archer, and I can dish out huge amounts of damage, especially against undead (Undead Bane bow).
The Zen Archer is a one-trick pony It's a good trick, but he's a one-trick pony.
That's archers in general. I played one for about 6 months and finally decided I was bored.
The DM later told me he preferred my new character, a Sorc/Barbarian/Rage Mage who eventually started using Maximized spells instead of my archer because I "actually did less damage". I also seemed to have ruined the concept of composite bows for him. This was 3.5 btw, last game we had before going Pathfinder.
A ranger is best for archery when you want not only buffs for yourself, but also for out of combat utility/skill/usefulness. They have a lot of skill points, abilities that enhance in certain areas, an with certain creatures ( vs. lets say a paladin-divine hunter which their smite will only be useful vs. evil enemies).
zen archers get a lot of utility, but only for their offense/defense for combat, some of it out of combat. Ki pool is nice, especially for flurry of bows. But certain feats, like clustered shots, pin down, weapon specialization an the such, cant be used by a zen archer, either b/c their not a fighter, or b/c their flurry isn't considered a full-attack. So feats/abilities that work off a full attack don't work on the flurry.
Sohei (monk) is more mounted style, but still effective as an archer. They get the benefits of fighter like levels and feat access. AS well as access to gloves of dueling, which for any archer is amazing (+4 vs. disarm & sunder, grease wont work, any spell/ability that makes me try to drop bow, doesn't work).
Fighter/ or fighter (archer archetype)- is a good pick if combat is the only thing you want to focus on. they have poor skills, 2 bad saves, but very high DPR, and damage overall. The good thing about the fighters numbers for fighting is they never change.
That is, there are no contingency's or conditions to meet. The moment he picks up the bow to fire at the dragon in the afternoon, is the same numbers for him vs. the dryer in the evening, and the same numbers vs. that ghoul at night.
Ranger/Rogue crossovers are really good as well. Look at the Creating NPCs guide in the back of the CRB. It shows a good example of a Ranger/Rogue.
You have a 6 man party of which 4 are casters and you need more ranged damage?
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something but one lonely melee will most likely not be able to keep the enemies away from 5 others.
Even if you are one of those 4 casters and you have 2 melee guys I'd guess you'd best take a ranger and go switch hitter.
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If you don't want to do the same thing every round, you absolutely do not want to play an archer. They pretty much just stand there and do full attacks and then the fight is over, because of all those attacks.What he said.
I am playing a Zen Archer, and I can dish out huge amounts of damage, especially against undead (Undead Bane bow).
The Zen Archer is a one-trick pony It's a good trick, but he's a one-trick pony.
The best thing about playing a zen archer is all the feats you need except deadly aim, precise shot and point blank shot (the last two you take at 1st level) are built into your class. This means ALL your other feats can be used for utility, survival, building up a second area of strength, etc. That plus the fact that pretty much if you have your bow and arrows, thats all the equipment that is must have, so its great for low magic or "escape from the slave pens with nothing" games.
Monk (Zen Archer followed by Sohei).
You can read why the Zen Archer Monk his head & shoulders above the rest of the class in this guide by Porpentine.
Actually I did the DPR by level some time ago and found the ZAM suffers from a DPR dropoff at around level 9 (and onward) that the fighter/ranger/paladin (and even urban barbarian) all rocket past.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the ZAM, but he's not head and shoulders above any of the full BAB guys.
But certain feats, like clustered shots, pin down, weapon specialization an the such, cant be used by a zen archer cant be used by a zen archer, either b/c their not a fighter, or b/c their flurry isn't considered a full-attack. So feats/abilities that work off a full attack don't work on the flurry.
Clustered shots can't be used in a flurry? Is this true?
1. Paladin (For evil boss monsters)
2. Inquisitor (For everything else)
3. Fighter
Clustered shots can't be used in a flurry? Is this true?But certain feats, like clustered shots, pin down, weapon specialization an the such, cant be used by a zen archer cant be used by a zen archer, either b/c their not a fighter, or b/c their flurry isn't considered a full-attack. So feats/abilities that work off a full attack don't work on the flurry.
No it's not. You can't flurry unless you take a full attack action to do it. Anything that triggers off a full attack action should trigger when a monk flurries.
Starting at 1st level, a monk can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action
When you use a full-attack action to make multiple ranged weapon attacks against the same opponent, total the damage from all hits before applying that opponent’s damage reduction.
Notice the difference in wording. One is adding an option to the full attack combat option. The other is simple a condition that triggers when a full attack is made.
I'm gonna pitch my hat in for ranger. It's got lots of utility both in and out of combat, can get an animal companion for a mount if you expect to be spending at least a decent amount of time fighting outdoors, and worst comes to worst, can still just whip out a greatsword and hack and slash if needed.
Asta
PSY
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Fighters are good for pure damage.
Paladins are good for damage, healing, and negative status removal. Also mobility if they take the mount.
Rangers are good for damage, maintaining a great attack bonus (due to much earlier Improved Precise Shot), good ranger tasks (survival skills, tracking enemies, more utility skills, able to calm down animals).
Zen archer monks are good for pure damage.
I prefer rangers or paladins as an archer over fighters. Rangers also make excellent switch hitters. Fighters tend to make better tank type characters with their various abilities, although they certainly have enough feats to be a switch hitter as well.
I like the Zen Archer, but the thing that has kept me from playing one is that it seems a little MAD. Especially at low levels. The monk can already be a bit stretched in the point buy. In order, you are probably looking at points toward Dexterity, Strength, Wisdom and Constitution with the positions of Dexterity and Wisdom interchangeable.
If you are starting at level one, you have to decide if you are going to put points in Dexterity or hold out for level three when you can use Wisdom for ranged attacks. I would personally call the Zen Archery ability a loss and short Wisdom myself. That is going to hurt the Ki pool which sucks since Zen Archer's get so many other things to spend Ki on. The alternative is being unable to hit for two levels as you wait for Zen Archery, so consider it carefully. Those two levels are going to make you wish you had rolled something else.
Finally, you don't get Ki Focus Bow until level seventeen. At this point, you have had Quivering Palm for two levels and Ki Strike for thirteen! By the time you get this power, you are probably already compensating for Ki Strike with equipment, so all it does is give you Quivering Palm... two levels after a normal Monk would have gotten it. Hopefully, you can find a GM that will ignore the "Melee Only" text and just let you buy a Ki Focus bow, but that just makes this ability more useless.
I would probably go Ranger myself. I wouldn't say the Zen Archer couldn't be fun, but those wasted abilities just seem really sad.
I like the ranger (guide) a lot. You always have something to do (you can even get social if you invest in sense motive, I play this as sniffing emotion due to scent always on, and intimidate is a class skill). Inquisitor is great for the same reason but you have to manage more resources, you may find yourself unable to fight effectively.
Monk and Fighter are good at dealing damage but that's about it, especially monk.
Paladin are great but archery requires a lot of feats and they don't get many of them. Also, unless punishing you are not as effective as the rest (divine power helps a lot, so does your bonded weapon, but you need to use std actions to get them on).
I suppose ranger, archer fighter or zen archer monk would be the obvious martial ranged classes, but don't overlook that spellcasters can also be ranged threats. Depending on how you define "ranged" a blaster sorcerer can be a deadly threat at range and can cast area of effect spells as well as direct damage spells.
Since you are new, I'll tell you the options I would pick.
1) If you are experienced with other tabletops or simply a fast learner, then I would recommend picking a class that can do more than JUST archery (but definitely keep it your focus, since you've said you want that).
This means fighters and zen archers, mostly. They are arguably the best in pure Damage Per Round, but rangers get animal companions and a number of unique abilities, inquisitors get some incredibly useful things and are filled with flavor, archer paladins are just ridiculous when smiting and they get access to cheap healing.
The game rewards specialization, and DPR can be important later, but unless you have a particularly fierce GM, you won't need it when you are just starting off. You're better off having other options within your character than JUST doing damage while you learn the game.
2) If, though, you are a completely new to tabletop, and you feel the learning curve for this game is a bit sharp, then I would just go fighter or monk and call it a day. They are great archers, and they're overall pretty simple and easy to play. Some of the most experienced players will swear by them, and they might be right to.
Rangers aren't bad for a focused ranged support, group guide, and light melee characters. Of course they can also be built the otherway.
Fighters are good in a balanced build, but shine in a build focused on either Melee or Ranged combat.
Zen Archer Monk is one I haven't really had a chance to deal with. Neither any of my players nor me have experimented with this yet.
Divine Hunter Paladins are wonderful in a high evil/undead campaign.
Gunslingers can be absolutely amazing but based on the firearm availability their power is weaker or stronger. Strangely the more available guns become the weaker a Slinger becomes.
As all ways good luck and YMMV.
I'm actually retiring my Zen Archer monk because he was doing too much damage, with more skills and mobility than a Fighter would have. At lvl6 we fought a monster with 300+ hp, and thanks to Haste and Bard Song, I was doing an average 60 damage a turn.
So, I'm tossing my hat in for Zen Archer.
I like this post: http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz503i?Ultimate-Archer#34
Someone else also presents an example of what a Zen Archer can do at 20 (though he uses custom items made by the rules, but not actually in books).
Archery DOES get boring though.
Design Manager
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I like the Sohei with weapon training in the bow at level6. Unfortunately, he lags behind the other ranged classes until then, but all of a sudden you've got a master of Mounted Combat with weapon training in the bow and no restriction against using Rapid Shot and Manyshot in conjunction with your Flurry of Blows, boosting him up to being capable of the highest number of attacks a two-armed creature can get. Haste and a ki point and your level 7 Sohei gets 7 attacks per round, with the ability to make full attacks on the move with a mount that'll outlast any other non-Animal Companion mount.
The Zen Archer is overall the best archer class. It has saves, ac, mobility, skills, and damage.
Druids can also make for a good ranged class, but better bet says to stay with an archer.
Either Zen archer for more utility combat wise/ ranger- more utility overall less damage than other two, unless you know what you fight/ fighter(archer)- high damage and attack, loads of feat utility, archer archetype allows for voley burst and cmb's within 30'.
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I like the Zen Archer, but the thing that has kept me from playing one is that it seems a little MAD. Especially at low levels. The monk can already be a bit stretched in the point buy. In order, you are probably looking at points toward Dexterity, Strength, Wisdom and Constitution with the positions of Dexterity and Wisdom interchangeable.
If you are starting at level one, you have to decide if you are going to put points in Dexterity or hold out for level three when you can use Wisdom for ranged attacks. I would personally call the Zen Archery ability a loss and short Wisdom myself. That is going to hurt the Ki pool which sucks since Zen Archer's get so many other things to spend Ki on. The alternative is being unable to hit for two levels as you wait for Zen Archery, so consider it carefully. Those two levels are going to make you wish you had rolled something else.
Finally, you don't get Ki Focus Bow until level seventeen. At this point, you have had Quivering Palm for two levels and Ki Strike for thirteen! By the time you get this power, you are probably already compensating for Ki Strike with equipment, so all it does is give you Quivering Palm... two levels after a normal Monk would have gotten it. Hopefully, you can find a GM that will ignore the "Melee Only" text and just let you buy a Ki Focus bow, but that just makes this ability more useless.
I would probably go Ranger myself. I wouldn't say the Zen Archer couldn't be fun, but those wasted abilities just seem really sad.
Zen archer is less MAD than a monk. You do need a 13 dex for deadly aim, but otherwise you pump everything into wisdom first and strength second. You get to use your wisdom as your dex score for archery at 3rd level. Perfect strike, which you get at 1st level, covers for your lower dex until you get to 3rd level fairly effectively, at least it did for me.
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I am sure that this has been covered before but I cannot find it. What is the best ranged class in combat? I have been looking at the Wizard and Archer classes but since I am new to the game I cannot tell what is better at lvl 7, 10, 15, or 20.
Any tips or ideas are welcome!
the best ranged class in the game is a sorcerer/wizard
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Monk (Zen Archer followed by Sohei).
You can read why the Zen Archer Monk his head & shoulders above the rest of the class in this guide by Porpentine.
Actually I did the DPR by level some time ago and found the ZAM suffers from a DPR dropoff at around level 9 (and onward) that the fighter/ranger/paladin (and even urban barbarian) all rocket past.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the ZAM, but he's not head and shoulders above any of the full BAB guys.
DPR won't help you make that crucial will save. I'd love to see a full-bab archer that can challenge Beastmass.