Does an Eldritch Archer gain Spell Combat at 8th level?

[WombattheDaniel]

Exactly the subject.

We know that an Eldritch Archer has to give up (melee) Spell Combat for Ranged Spell Combat at 1st level. But it says nothing about Improved or Greater Spell Combat.

The SRD says this:

Archetype "Stacking" wrote:

If an archetype replaces a class feature that is part of a series of improvements or additions to a base ability (such as a fighter's weapon training or a ranger's favored enemy), the next time the character would gain that ability, it counts as the lower-level ability that was replaced by the archetype.

Emphasis Mine.

This is in a similar vein to this, which was exclusively deemed a yes.

Based on that, I would rule that an Eldritch Archer would, in fact, get (melee) Spell Combat at level 8, and then (melee) Improved Spell Combat at Level 14, and would never benefit from (ranged) Improved and/or (ranged) Greater SC.

However, I am constantly being burned by erratas, so I don't know if there has been an official ruling on this before.

Thanks, guys.

[Gisher]

Ranged Spell Combat doesn't actually replace Spell Combat. It modifies it. So the rule that you are citing doesn't apply.

Heroes of the Streets wrote:

Ranged Spell Combat (Ex): Instead of a light or one- handed melee weapon, an eldritch archer must use a ranged weapon for spell combat. She doesn’t need a free hand for ranged spell combat. The eldritch archer cannot accept an attack penalty to gain a bonus on concentration checks to cast a spell defensively. This ability modifies spell combat.

[WombattheDaniel]

Thank you. So does that mean that the Eldritch Archer gets (ranged) Improved and (ranged) Greater SC at the appropriate levels?

[Avoron]

Yep, looks like it.

[WombattheDaniel]

Awesome, thanks guys.

[Gisher]

I don't think so. Ranged Spell Combat only says that it alters Spell Combat, not the others. So I think you still get the standard Improved Spell Combat and Greater Spell Combat, but you can't use them. Keeping them as is does enable you to stack it with Myrmidarch if you wanted. But the Myrmidarch by itself get a better combination of melee and ranged options.

[Avoron]

Yeah, the later abilities are unaltered - they don't suddenly become limited to ranged weapons or anything. But they are still active whenever you use spell combat, and ranged spell combat is just a modification of spell combat. When you use ranged spell combat, you get a bonus on concentration checks from improved spell combat. Note that greater spell combat does nothing, as it doubles a bonus you are now explicitly prohibited from obtaining.