Fighter Build


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This worked out really well for my monk post, so I thought I give this a shot. I always hear fighters suck, everyone seems to dog on them for some reason or another. What's a good longbow fighter build that will shut people up?


Oh, and I forgot to mention my group is using Pathfinder.


Fighters "suck" because they can't do anything but fight. Most agree they can fight okay. So having a ranged fighter (of which there are a lot of) wont shut people up on having the fighter "suck"


I mean, fighters are pretty bad.

That said, you can get a bunch of damage going.

What level, what point buy, and any restrictions on material?


Level one, 10 point buy I think it was called, and nope.


Check that point buy; 10 points is laughably bad.

At level 1 as a fighter you get point blank shot and precise shot, make sure you get the deadeye bowman trait and you'll be as good at shooting as you can be. I'd recommend taking a race which can see in the dark - almost anything except human.

Note that at short ranges you may not be the most destructive ranged character around though. An alchemist or some specialised casters will deal damage faster than your level 1 fighter, there's no way around that.


Not really gonna 'shut anyone up' with this, but a start usually looks like so:

Human Fighter 1
1 - Point Blank Shot
H - Precise Shot
F - Rapid Shot

Str 14, Dex 16+2, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 7. Such is the perils of 10 point buy.

Somewhat Ironically, the 3.5e d&d archer fighter I just now put together for another guy, after spending a long time telling him how bad archery fighters are in 3.5e compared to pathfinder, is significantly more powerful than this.

Liberty's Edge

Well, if there's no restriction on material, I'd likely go with a mutation warrior for the +4 to dexterity from mutagen, plus a number of cool abilities like being able to fly, vestigial arm to hold a shield or getting greater mutagen for a boost to strength and dexterity. The weapon master archetype is also pretty good, getting earlier access to weapon training, and being able to take advanced weapon training as a feat more often.

Also, if you haven't already looked at advanced weapon training, I would do so. There's a lot of cool abilities you can trade weapon training in further groups for.


Fighters don't "suck" but they are only good at combat. Most other classes can fight as well as a fighter or close enough to it while also having either face skills or some kind of magical perks that the fighter simply cannot get access to.

Silver Crusade

Mutation Mauler as Deighton said or...

Eldritch Guardian: get a familiar who gets your [combat] feats, and also your BAB as all familiars. Pick Monkey, with the Mauler archetype.

Feats:
1 Point Blank Shot [Combat -> familiar get this]
1B Precise Shot [Combat]
3 Rapid Shot [Combat]
4 Deadly Aim [Combat]
5 Weapon Focus (Longbow) [Combat]
6 Manyshot [Combat]
7 Improved Familiar (any familiar with hands), or anything else if you like your Mauler Monkey.
8 Target of Opportunity [Teamwork, Combat]
9 Weapon Specialization (Longbow) [Combat]
10 ...
...

You are good just any other ranged Fighter, with just a couple of feat below...but you have a friend:

At 2nd level buy a nice mwk tiny bow to your Monkey. It will fire one really cute arrow per round, with +4 to hit (2 Dex + 1 PBS + 2 BAB + 2 Tiny + 1 mwk - 4 for not being proficient), for 1d4-3 damage.
At 3rd level your Monkey will learn to Battle Form, gaining a +6 bonus to strength, +1 due to level advancement, for a total of 10, but -2 to Dex. Now it will fire 2 arrows per round with +0 to hit (1 Dex + 1 PBS + 3 BAB +1 mwk - 4 not prof. - 2 Rapid Shot), for 1d8 damage each.
At 4th level apply Deadly Aim at each arrow: +0 to hit, 1d8+4 damage each.

Now you should be able to afford a nice pair of Bracers of Archery (lesser) for your animal friend. You could have just picked the Martial Weapon Prof (Longbow) feat as well if you wanted to remove the -4 malus from the beginning. Anyway, from 5th level, your monkey will deal almost the same damage as yours (aside for Weapon Training), effectively doubling your total damage.

If you pick an Improved Familiar, it can't be Mauler, so no scaling strength and a lower damage dice, but it will have an higher attack bonus (higher Dex, and probably Tiny) and a lot of special features.


Mutation warrior stacks with Eldritch guardian, and both are good archetypes, although the loss of 2 early feats is a problem for a ranged fighter imo.

Can your monkey actually use a bow? Some DMs will balk at this. Personally, I would rather choose a ranged familiar like a hawk or owl to increase your "reach", and with the Erastil trait they do not provide cover when you shoot someone.

Silver Crusade

Good catch! Mutation Warrior & Eldritch Guardian are great together! Wing Discovery asap and flying Improved Familiar: death from the sky!

Monkeys should be able to use weapons without any doubt. In fact, the Share Training paragraph says:

"For example, an eldritch guardian's pig familiar with access to Exotic Weapon Proficiency (spiked chain) would not gain the ability to use spiked chains, since it doesn't have any limbs capable of properly handling them."

So, a familiar that DOES have limbs capable of properly handling a weapon (what better than opposable thumbs?) SHOULD be able to use such weapon.

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