Arcane Archer build advice wanted

[Ammon Knight of Ragathiel]

So to start i'm building an Arcane archer using the Prestige class specifically.

Mostly for Imbue arrows and Antimagic field, and just general magicky arrow stuff

as the moment it's not for any game, it's just am idea i'm working on. I tend operate on a 20 point buy, that seems to be a standard.

Race is undecided

My class levels i'm thinking this is what seems good, but i'm open to changing them around.

1 fighter / 17 wizard / 2 Arcane Archer

My idea is to use the Teleportation school, and have conjuration as a secondary section of things

I haven't look at Archetypes for either yet

[Temperans]

Well Fighter 1/Wizard X is the standard entry into the PRC so there is no problem there.

But something I like to say is that people shouldn't worry so much about getting 9th level spells if they are getting something else. So think carefully if you want more archery (BAB) or more magic.

For Fighter archetypes my go to recommendation is Spear Fighter, which gives dodge as an extra feat at lv1.

As for Wizard it really depends on your preferences and goals. There is generally no right answer, but things like siege, bomb, and gun Wizards would be bad.

Arcane Archer builds are very flexible so more specifics are needed for more detailed help.

[Ammon Knight of Ragathiel]

Well... In general the idea of the character is that he's someone who studies and uses magic to counter mages, magic and magical beings.

what kind of specifics are needed?

[VoodistMonk]

I would probably go with 10 levels of Eldritch Archer Magus and then all 10 levels of the Arcane Archer prestige class.

At 20 you have:
BAB +17/+12/+7/+2
Base saves of +12,+8,+10
Casting as a 17th level Magus

[EldonGuyre]

Ammon Knight of Ragathiel wrote:

So to start i'm building an Arcane archer using the Prestige class specifically.

Mostly for Imbue arrows and Antimagic field, and just general magicky arrow stuff

as the moment it's not for any game, it's just am idea i'm working on. I tend operate on a 20 point buy, that seems to be a standard.

Race is undecided

My class levels i'm thinking this is what seems good, but i'm open to changing them around.

1 fighter / 17 wizard / 2 Arcane Archer

My idea is to use the Teleportation school, and have conjuration as a secondary section of things

I haven't look at Archetypes for either yet

So I'm guessing Imbue Arrow is really the only thing you want from Arcane Archer, for the Antimagic Field trick?

You're basically building a debuffer?

What levels are you considering for the AA levels?

[Ammon Knight of Ragathiel]

mainly Imbue arrows yeah, i didn't really see much in Arcane archer that warranted having more levels. but if there are i'm happy to listen

I suppose debuffing and summoning or something yeah

[EldonGuyre]

Ammon Knight of Ragathiel wrote:

mainly Imbue arrows yeah, i didn't really see much in Arcane archer that warranted having more levels. but if there are i'm happy to listen

I suppose debuffing and summoning or something yeah

It wasn't long ago that I had a very effective little halfling Arcane Archer in my campaign, but he was the opposite of what you want, primarily being an archer who hardly ever even looked at his spells. It depends on what you want. Two levels may be perfect for you, all ten was excellent for him.

I'd probably go elf - you could even hold off getting the level of Ftr, if you wanted, as they get free longbow proficiency, their stats are excellent for it, and there's elven magic. Still, you might take Ftr first, for the HP.

[Dasrak]

If you only care about the Imbue Arrows feature, I don't see the reason to dip Fighter at all. Just go 18 Wizard / 2 Arcane Archer, being an Elf for free weapon proficiency. You can take the Prestigious Spellcaster feat to buy back the lost caster level and have full spellcasting progression.

[avr]

If you've got arcane archer 2 there's not much reason not to take 3 & 4, especially if you're taking the prestigious spellcaster feat and its prereq favored prestige class. Extra hit points and base attack bonus, essentially for free.

[Temperans]

If you are going for an anti-mage, than going with Arcanist is a much better option due to having better counter spell options. Not to mention you can basically get all the benefits of Wizard via School Savant, and still be able to have flexible use of imbue arrow.

Also I agree that unless you want to go for a more martial focus, more than 2 levels isn't really that useful.

[Scott Wilhelm]

The fastest way to start getting levels in Arcane Archer is to start full BAB with 6 levels in Fighter, Ranger, Paladin, or Barbarian, then take a level in Wizard, then take your levels in Arcane Archer.

1Fighter1
2F2
3F3
4F4
5F5
6F6
7F6Wizard1
8F6W11Arcane Archer1

This character will be a Fighter who gives his arrows a bit of a magic boost. Antimagic Field will be a long way off at this point.

An even faster route to Arcane Archer would be 6 levels in Bloodrager, then you can take a level in Arcane Archer at level 7.

A simpler approach might be to just take levels in Magus. Magi get a BAB of +6 at level 8, so your first level in Arcane Archer comes at level 9, and you start off as the magic fighter you want to be, but why even bother with levels in Arcane Archer if you already are a level 8 Magus? Imbue Arrows is a fairly unique ability, though, so it might be worth it. But Magi don't get Antimagic Field. A similar choice to this would be Alchemist with the Grenadier Archetype.

I like the idea of starting as a Half Elf and taking the Ancestral Arms Alternate Racial Trait and use an Orc Hornbow.

I like Precise Shot a lot. If I have any kind of shooter character, I just have to have Precise Shot at level 1, so

1Fighter1: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, BAB+1

I think a good compromise between early access to Arcane Archer and higher Caster level might be Eldritch Knight.

2F1Wizard1: Level 1 Spells
3F1W2: Weapon Focus Orc Hornbow, BAB+2
4F1W3: Level 2 Spells
5F1W4: BAB+3
6F1W5: Level 3 Spells
7F1W5Eldritch Knight1: BAB+4
8F1W5E2: CL6, BAB+5
9F1W5E3: CL7, Weapon Specialization, BAB+6
10F1W5E3Arcane Archer1: BAB+8
11F1W5E3A2: Imbue Arrows, BAB+9 CL8

Here you start off as a Wizard with a few extra hp that lost a CL, and becoming a balanced gish at level 10. You'll need to be a level 7 Arcane Archer to get to CL 12 or 5 more levels in Eldritch Knight if Imbue Arrows is the only Arcane Archer ability you care about.

Dasrak wrote:

If you only care about the Imbue Arrows feature, I don't see the reason to dip Fighter at all. Just go 18 Wizard / 2 Arcane Archer, being an Elf for free weapon proficiency. You can take the Prestigious Spellcaster feat to buy back the lost caster level and have full spellcasting progression.

Wizards get a BAB of +6 at level 12, the same level as they get Antimagic Field, so that would be 12 levels in Wizard, 2 levels in Arcane Archer, then at level 14, they can shoot Arrows imbued with Antimagic Field. Then take 2 levels in Arcane Archer, and the OP has a character that shoots Arrows imbued with Antimagic Field at level 14.

My Eldritch Knight route puts the OP there at level 16, so if shooting arrows imbued with Antimagic Field is the most important thing the OP wants, yours is the way to go.

[Dragonchess Player]

Seriously, [fighter or ranger] 1/wizard 6/eldritch knight 2/arcane archer 3/eldritch knight +8: +17 BAB and spells as a 17th level wizard, plus an extra 1d6 elemental energy damage (that you can switch between cold, fire, or electricity at the start of each day) on all "normal" arrows.

Fighter for the bonus feat or ranger for Favored Enemy (Humanoid [Human] or whatever the campaign focus is) and the ability to use wands of cure light wounds, barkskin, and other ranger spells without Use Magic Device checks.

Bonded wizard might make an interesting character. Exploiter wizard to pick up the School Understanding (Conjuration/Teleportation, Shift) and Dimensional Slide exploits may make an OK replacement for the Conjuration/Teleportation school, although you lose the bonus spells. Most of the rest of the archetypes give up too much (IMO) or don't gain enough benefits over the first 6 levels.

The Conjuration school has many of the good area effect battlefield control spells to use with Imbue Arrow. The Evocation/Admixture school is a great choice if you want to focus on damage (mainly for changing the energy type on the fly).