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Is this a good idea? I'm thinking about rolling a Gunslinger 1/ Spellslinger 2/Arcane Archer 2/??? 15. The general concept is that my character makes use of guns, bows and more guns to assist his friends from the shadows.
When the fighting starts, the character searches a vantage point and sets himself up with a telescope and/or scrying spells. Whenever the party needs support, from a distance the character delivers what is needed by whatever weapon is most opportune; a preloaded gun if the distance is relatively short and he needs to increase his attack roll and/or saves. A composite bow if he needs to stay away from the action. A pair of pistols if he needs versatility.
For example, imagine that he sees a werewolf; he decides to use an alchemical cartridge for his musket. Then he sees the alpha hiding just behind a rock, so he swaps to his bow so it can travel in an arc. Then he swaps to his pistol as he notices that his position has been compromised to cast a Cone of Cold and then grappling-gun out of there to the next vantage point.
The familiar isn't essential, of course. I took it because it's nice flavour and it would explain how and when the character knows something is up with the rest of his party. Not to mention that the familiar can warn the party if the opposite is true and the sniper needs rescue. Might even get telepathic bond eventually.
But does this work? I'm going for Arcane Archer purely for the "Imbue Arrow" feature. I take the Siege Gunner archetype to get the most of my intelligence. Weapons include; A pistol, a musket, a longbow, throwing arrow cord and an arrow shooter tube. All with their own respective ammunitions and variations of ammunition, such as saltshot, lodestone arrowheads, etc.
My question is; is it viable? Am I covering my bases or am I in master-of-none territory? Is there a way to use "Imbue Arrow" on different projectiles in a way I haven't heard of yet?
And can I branch off into Oracle with a Metal mystery and go into Mystic Theurge to increase the overal number of spells I have to imbue? And take Savior's Arrow to be able to heal from a distance as well? Or should I cut my losses and be happy with the fact that I can get away with this much already?
You should chooose either guns or bows. Not both.
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Keep in mind that early firearms are loud and fairly short ranged so you'll not really be a stealthy sniper from the shadows.
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All snipers IRL are loud, though not so much short ranged. The trick for a sniper is to stay moving between shots; he's silent until he fires and before people have traced back the sound of the shot, he's already setting up a new ambush deeper into the forest. The point isn't so much that he is silent, more so that he is either out of sight or out of reach of enemies, like up a tree or on top of a building. I guess that is what I meant by shooting out of the shadows.
The short range is a complete valid point, which is in fact why I decided to look into arcane archer, since bows have a much higher range increment. Was that the wrong decision?
LazarX, can you explain where each path deviates? For example, I get it for feats like Rapid Reload. Then again, feats like Rapid Shot cover all ranged weapons, it seems.
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For one thing rapid reload is weapon specific not general. Maybe there is a good way to get what you are after with 5 levels of Bolt Ace and a heavy xbow.
If its a home game you should be able to get your GM to approve the bolt is acceptable to replace the Arrow in the AA abilities. Remember too that you will need +6 BAB for the AA prereq.