Advice: Eldritch Archer with Firearms

[moosher12]

So to preface, yes, I know that Beast Gunner is a thing. Do not bring up the Beast Gunner as an alternative. This is not the point of the thread.

So, I've been mulling over the thought of allowing the Eldritch Archer to use firearms, with the regards that it can use crossbows, including automatic ones. Three attachment points to the thought was that 1E had an eldritch archer that could use firearms, that a crossbow gunslinger can be an eldritch archer, and that I simply thought it would be interesting to have mystical shooters that experimented with Divine and Occult spells as well as Arcane and Primal.

So, the question is this: has anyone experimented or done much theory craft with Eldritch Archers using normal firearms? Are there any pitfalls where it would be overwhelmingly powerful to add firearm functionality in addition to bows and crossbows? Or is it simply a thematic thing. I want to add firearms to the eldritch archer, but I don't necessarily want to do it if it would create an imbalance of power.

[Teridax]

There are basically two mechanical points of consideration for a gun-based Eldritch Archer:

Many guns have the fatal trait, which will cause your crits to be extra-explosive compared to your typical bow or crossbow Eldritch Archer.

Most guns will need to be reloaded in-between each shot, such that fitting that and Eldritch Shot would cause you to have off-turns where you'd reload and do other stuff in-between turns where you'd make an Eldritch Shot, at least up until level 10 when you'd pick Eldritch Reload. By contrast, bow Eldritch Archers can just make Eldritch Shots every round if not pressed to do anything else.

All of which is to say: in balance terms, using firearms is likely to be fine, because firearms are weaker than bows and much more cumbersome in a way that makes a big impact at earlier levels. Even after you get Eldritch Reload, your average Eldritch Shot is likely to be less powerful than that for a bow, even if your crits would deal more damage due to the fatal trait. I would be prepared for the possibility of a gun-based Eldritch Archer vaporizing a boss enemy with a lucky crit at low level, but after that the build should probably stabilize, and overall this doesn't look stronger to me than a crossbow Eldritch Archer, so I'd be fine with allowing a thematic expansion to the archetype for firearms.