In a home game, just started up a level 1 Human Fighter with the Archer archetype. I'm not having any trouble with the build, exactly - frankly, the first several levels of an archer are not complicated business. What I'm looking for is a little originality, some quirkiness to make him a bit more interesting.
So I'm putting out a request for build ideas. Remember, I am not looking for the Most Powerful Build, but rather, something a little off-kilter from what you'd usually expect to see while still being reasonably capable.
Guidelines:
- Basic builds anywhere from 5 to 10 seem reasonable, but do what you feel like.
- Don't worry too much about magic items unless there's some effect crucial to your idea. There are no crafters in the group, so equipment is gonna be mostly what we manage to find.
- I'm vaguely intending to stick with Fighter through his entire career, but if you have a crazy multiclass plan, I'm interested.
- Stats are currently 12/19/14/14/14/12. Shouldn't matter too much, but now you know. I could probably talk the GM into letting me play with those a little bit if your idea absolutely requires something different.
- Anything officially Pathfinder is cool to play with, including modules and whatnot.
- We're starting out with Crypt of the Everflame, if this somehow matters to you - no spoilers, please!
Quirk: add little embellishments to your arrows. Maybe a fancy colour fletching, or write your name on them.
Idea: use stone-tipped arrows at 1st level. They're cheaper.
Talk to your bow like it is alive. Carry on complete conversations with the bow with a lot of arguing. It of course gets upset when you use other weapons and accuses you of being unfaithful. When you find a better bow have a formal divorce settlement before you can start using the new bow.
This of course does not work if the bow is actually intelligent.
Take the "Catch Off-Guard" feat and melee with your arrows when pressed.
"Why don't I use a normal blade? Once when attacked by a were-beast, I found myself down to my last silver arrow... I swore to Erastil (or other god of choice) right then that if I could fend the beast off that I would forsake all weapons but his own."
Well, for quirkiness?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/monkey-style-combat-style
This is a downright funny feat for archer vs. archer battles.
Take your full attack, drop prone as a free action (+4 AC vs. ranged attacks). At the start of your next turn, stand up as a swift action, repeat.
It's easier on a Zen Archer of course, and varies in usefulness depending on the amount of ranged opponents you face. But this is very much a "drunken archery" style.
You've got a decent INT score, so you might consider the Lore Warden archetype instead. You don't get the tricky stuff that the Archer archetype gets later on, but you get more skill points and class skills, so you can do a lot with Knowledge skills or Linguistics. That's what I'm using for my archer who just got to level 2; he gets 8 skill points per level, and could probably out-knowledge a bard.
There's a character I'm currently playing in Serpent's Skull; definitely not the Most Powerful Build compared to many I've seen around here, and might be considered a crazy multiclass by some.
He's currently a Fighter(Archer) 1 / Monk(Zen Archer) 2 / Ranger (Scout/Skirmisher) 5 -- yes, four archetypes. At 6'5" 320#, this half-orc looks like a classic "HULK SMASH!" bruiser, but instead he hangs back and turns enemies into pincushions while the girls -- Paladin, Rogue and Fighter(Tactician) female PCs -- handle the melee chores.
The two levels of Zen Archer gave him Flurry of Bows [sic], he got Ranger's Focus from Scout and from Skirmisher he's picking up Hunter's Tricks and selecting those that give added benefits to his bow attacks.
A combination of an adaptive +1 composite longbow, STR and DEX @ 18 with help from a magic belt, bracers of falcon's aim and the feats you'd expect a bowman to have allow him to deal 1d8+14 damage per shot; if he happens to be hasted and using Manyshot & Rapidshot, at a target he's Focused on within 30', it comes out to
+16(2 arrows) / +11 / +16 / +16 for as much as 5d8+70 DPR, threaten on 19-20 for triple damage
Anyway, he keeps his efficient quiver stocked with a variety of arrow types: blanched, poisoned, flight arrows for added range, etc. Hunter's Tricks he's picking up would be things like Distracting Attack, Hobbling Attack, Tangling Attack, Trick Shot...
I dunno about that, it'd have to be a Bard that traded out Bardic Knowledge for some other feature.
The best aspect of Lore Warden in my opinion is the bonus to manuevers, but as an archer he won't be making any unless he has Trick Shot from the archer archetype.
I think if you want to be a skills heavy archer, you might be better served by the Ranger.
Edit: Damon, mind that you can't flurry and Many/Rapid Shot. Is Scout new? All I could find was Battle Scout which doesn't seem to be what you refer to.
I dunno about that, it'd have to be a Bard that traded out Bardic Knowledge for some other feature.
I'm trained in all but 2 Knowledge skills (plus Linguistics) for a +7 in each. At level 2, bards only get an extra +1 to each from bardic knowledge, so even their trained Knowledge skills will probably be closer to +5 or 6.
The best aspect of Lore Warden in my opinion is the bonus to manuevers, but as an archer he won't be making any unless he has Trick Shot from the archer archetype.
I think if you want to be a skills heavy archer, you might be better served by the Ranger.
Maybe. But I wanted Weapon Specialization and all the extra feats to pump up my damage, not to rely on Favored Enemies. And I've still got a greatsword and 14 STR when I have to do melee, so even as a small character, I'll be able to do some decent combat maneuvers if I have to.
Damon, mind that you can't flurry and Many/Rapid Shot. Is Scout new? All I could find was Battle Scout which doesn't seem to be what you refer to.
When every single attack bonus counts, he uses flurry, which nets him an extra +1 to hit at the cost of that additional "initial" arrow from Manyshot. The flurry itself provides the additional shot that would otherwise come from Rapidshot.
When he's confident about hitting his target, he'll use Many/Rapidshot instead of flurry.
Re: Scout, that's my brain burp. Should be "Guide/Skirmisher." Scout is a Rogue archetype I was considering for a different game.
Name each of your arrows and weep or utter something as you are forced to fire each one into danger. "Juliet, fight well for me!" "Marianne, caress him!"
If you can use the Elves of the Golarion book, they have quite a nifty selection of trick arrows, including tangleshot (tanglefoot bag on an arrow), smoke arrows, grappling arrows, "raining" arrows that are filled with holy water and splash undead, etc.
I have a Zen Archer who is just waiting for the right opportunity for her to use a whistling arrow (that can be heard for 500 yards along the flight path)...
I have a Zen Archer who is just waiting for the right opportunity for her to use a whistling arrow (that can be heard for 500 yards along the flight path)...
The character I described has been carrying two of them in his quiver for months now, and hasn't found an opportunity yet. :(
Two smoke arrows as well.