Archers are very strong, and the ability to go Magus nova from range is very powerful.
I highly suggest skipping Deadly Aim and getting Precise Shot earlier. Deadly Aim and Power Attack lose a lot of their oomph with 3/4 BAB classes, who often need every bonus to hit they can get. For an Eldritch Archer, this is even more critical, as you do not want the arrow carrying a spell to miss.
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Here's the thing with Eldritch Archer. The archetype is great... the ranged spellstrike ability is decidedly not. And that is because you can only attach ranged spells to arrows, and there's not usually a point in doing so (at least until level 9, when you get reach spellstrike). So make a full attack and cast the spell in the normal way.
You should of course take precise shot as early as possible, a permanent -4 from cover hurts. As Saethori says, Deadly Aim is not a good deal on a Magus.
Finally, bear in mind that the Magus has numerous buff spells that will boost your to-hit. More info here!
Arcane Pool = +1/4 levels (rounding up).
TRUE STRIKE with spell combat when you REALLY need to hit something = +20
Also you don't really need Deadly Aim if you're using Spellstrike to damage (Or Rapid shot for that matter). You can still use them on rounds where you don't want to use a spell, but you don't HAVE to use them every round.
ARCANE ACCURACY helps (note that ACCURATE STRIKE doesn't seem to work with this archetype, but you can use guns & target touch AC if you wish).
Also at levels 5, 11 & 17 you get a bonus feat (combat/metamagic/item-creation).
And lastly:
- If you have one attack & need an 11 to hit you have a 50% chance of hitting that round.
- If you use spell-combat/spellstrike that means you have two attacks each at a 40% chance to hit, but that gives you a total of a 64% chance to land at least one attack for the round. Sometimes taking the penalty is worth it.
(From memory it's only worth NOT using spell combat/strike if you need an 18 to hit & spell combat takes you to needing a natrural 20. Once you get your second iterative attack those numbers change though, and I don't know how much)
Well, if there was some way you could pick up the Cleric spell "Channel Vigor" there would be another +4, but i am not sure if its worth the trouble getting divine spells unless you "research" a arcane variant.
- If you use spell-combat/spellstrike that means you have two attacks each at a 40% chance to hit, but that gives you a total of a 64% chance to land at least one attack for the round.That only works in melee though. Ranged spellstrike doesn't let you hold the charge.
Sorry I wasn't clear. What I meant was that the chance of lading one of your weapon attacks goes up. Not the chance of landing the spell.
Eg. Use RAY OF FROST to get an extra attack (similar to a regular magus using Arcane Mark shenanigans).
The point I was trying to make is that having more attacks inherently increases your accuracy for the round.
Well, if there was some way you could pick up the Cleric spell "Channel Vigor" there would be another +4, but i am not sure if its worth the trouble getting divine spells unless you "research" a arcane variant.It's on the magus spell list
i'll be damned...
Can you use Rapid Shot with Spell Combat? Rapid shot requires a full-attack action, and Spell Combat is a full-round action.
Rapid shot: "When making a full-attack action with a ranged weapon..."
Spell Combat FAQ: "You can make as many weapon attacks as you would normally be able to make if you were making a full attack with that weapon." And "This is a revised ruling about how haste interacts with effects that are essentially a full attack, even though the creature isn't specifically using the full attack action (as required by haste)."
The implication that things that function when doing full attack actions work when doing something that is effectively a full attack, even if not literally so.