Advice Needed-Drow Fighter (Wielding two Hand Crossbows)

[Krell44]

Hello, I am interested in building a Drow Fighter for a new players character concept where they will attack using two Hand Crossbows. We chose Fighter due to the more simplistic nature of its mechanics and the abundance of feats. We are building it for 8th level for a campaign I am running.

SO, for the concept it must be a Drow, and it must be a Fighter, and it must wield two Hand Crossbows.

I have a fairly good idea of the feats needed but I was hoping for some yips on some that might now be obvious.

Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload, Weapon Focus Hand Crossbow, Two Weapon Fighting.....what else would be needed?

Also, is there any way to increase the damage on a hand crossbow? I am betting the answer to that is no.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Snow_Tiger]

Generally using crossbows is considered quite suboptimal. Generally I think they are there mostly for npc's and 1st level wizards who are out of spells.

mechanical issues:
The main issue with using hand and light crossbows, is although they can be shot one-handed, they have to be reloaded two handed (which makes TWF difficult). So either you carry a bunch of pre loaded crossbows and quickdraw them, or you pick up repeating light crossbow proficiency, which makes it somewhat better.

Adding extra damage/other to your crossbows.
The only way to really make good use of crossbows (and these are still suboptimal and would be better done with just a bow and arrow include: using an alchemist archetype and/or discovery that might be named "grenadier" which allows you to attach bombs and other alchemical weapons to your arrow/bolt. Another one is using poisons. There are a few good threads out there on how to best do a poisoner, but I think its generally melee or bow that works best, but still not awesome because poisons are so expensive.

Also I believe there are some crossbow related archetypes, like fighter's crossbowman and the fighter cavern sniper(specific to Drow, in advanced race guide)

If you don't like any of these options, what might be a good idea, is use the mechanics for a bow and arrow, build up a proper archer, and then pretend that your character is using hand crossbows for flavor purposes.

[Avoron]

I really want to recommend the Cavern Sniper along with the Drow Nobility line, because it seems to fit the concept perfectly and you can perform some wonderful deeper darkness shenanigans. But it consumes so many feats that I can't see how you could pull it off.

[Snow_Tiger]

by the way, I recommend that the player use the bow option (and just pretend its the hand crossbow), assuming you will allow this sort of (quite honestly harmless) re-skinning.

[Imbicatus]

I highly recommend switching to the bolt ace gunslinger archetype instead of sticking to fighter. It is the only way to make crossbows work.

You should also look into picking up the Weapon Masters Handbook, and looking at the Empty Quiver Style, and possibly some of the ranged mastery feats.

[Brew Bird]

I second the bolt ace, or at least enough of a dip to get Dex to damage.

[Snow_Tiger]

Yes, I forgot about that, I agree with Imbicatus. If you are going to stick with crossbows, I recommend you use bolt ace gunslinger. It would also probably be a good idea of making use of your repeating crossbow profciciency and pick up two light ones as I discussed earlier

[Charon's Little Helper]

Even in the fluff - hand-crossbows aren't actually intended to be primary weaponry.

What they're designed for (both fluff and mechanics) is for a TWF melee rogue to have a pair of them out as he adventures. Then that first round of combat he gets the ability to use his hand-crossbows to get multiple SA against targets whose initiative he beats instead of hitting only once with a melee weapon. Then they drop the crossbows, pull out their blades, and the rest of the fight goes per standard for melee rogues. (also keeps them from getting mobbed when they're the first into the fray)

You can do the same with throwing weapons, but hand crossbows have much better range increments.

[Snow_Tiger]

Oh, I see how that makes sense.

They are a little expensive though.

[Backlash3906]

Two levels of Juggler (Bard) will give you the ability to reload while dual-wielding. Just make sure you have Cha 11 so you can use some utility cantrips and 1st level spells. You'll also gain Evasion as the rogue feature, and Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat.

For Bolt Ace, you'll want to keep up your Wisdom so you can target touch when necessary, or keep a feat slot open for Extra Grit. 11th level is only worth it for Inexplicable Reload and MAYBE Bleeding Wound, BUT... if you want to pursue the Snap Shot feat tree, it's a big payoff.
Otherwise, drop out at 5th level when you get Crossbow Training, or 7th level when you get Targeting.

If you don't want to go Snap Shot, but still hold your own in melee range, fighter levels will speed up getting feats for Empty Quiver Style and TWF support. Weapon Finesse + Crossbow Training + 2nd feat in EQ path will get you Dex for ATK and DMG.