Arcane Archer =/= Ranger Capstone?

[Ngorongoro]

Hello,


I apologize if this has already been covered (or possibly beaten to death) in another thread, but my preliminary searches didn't show much.

I've been thinking about rolling an arcane archer, just for flavor. I've been using some of the character planners to map out my build. As I was fitting in all the Prestige Class Enhancements, it started dawning on me that I could not get all the Enhancements as a pure Ranger. This, of course, means I will lose out on the Ranger Capstone, which might be the best thing going for ranged builds.

So, am I reading all the requirements correctly? Is it in fact impossible to have both the Arcane Archer line and the Ranger Capstone? If it is impossible currently, does anyone know if there has been mention of any plans to alter the Arcane Archer pre-reqs?

I'm just looking for some clarification, and not really saying it should be one way or another. In fact, I concede that it does make some sense to have to give up the Capstone to get the benefits of an Arcane Archer.

EDIT: Just a follow-up question: if Arcane Archer and the Ranger Capstone are mutually exclusive, then which option in your opinions would make for a stronger ranged build?


Thanks very much in advance,
Ngorongoro

[oberon131313]

Hello,


I apologize if this has already been covered (or possibly beaten to death) in another thread, but my preliminary searches didn't show much.

I've been thinking about rolling an arcane archer, just for flavor. I've been using some of the character planners to map out my build. As I was fitting in all the Prestige Class Enhancements, it started dawning on me that I could not get all the Enhancements as a pure Ranger. This, of course, means I will lose out on the Ranger Capstone, which might be the best thing going for ranged builds.

So, am I reading all the requirements correctly? Is it in fact impossible to have both the Arcane Archer line and the Ranger Capstone? If it is impossible currently, does anyone know if there has been mention of any plans to alter the Arcane Archer pre-reqs?

I'm just looking for some clarification, and not really saying it should be one way or another. In fact, I concede that it does make some sense to have to give up the Capstone to get the benefits of an Arcane Archer.

EDIT: Just a follow-up question: if Arcane Archer and the Ranger Capstone are mutually exclusive, then which option in your opinions would make for a stronger ranged build?


Thanks very much in advance,
Ngorongoro
You can have both if you burn a feat on Mental Toughness (which bypasses the need to multiclass)

[Ngorongoro]

Thanks for the clarification!

Yep, I definitely misread that one.:D

Well, I am glad that I can have both. Now just gotta figure out if it's worth it, or if it's better to, say, multi-class as Wizard and get some free Metamagics and spells.

Any thoughts on that?

[oberon131313]

Thanks for the clarification!

Yep, I definitely misread that one.:D

Well, I am glad that I can have both. Now just gotta figure out if it's worth it, or if it's better to, say, multi-class as Wizard and get some free Metamagics and spells.

Any thoughts on that?

well, the tradeoffs for losing the 25% firing speed is something only you can really decide. As posted a few threads down, I've got an arcane archer/warchanter build that I'm leveling right now, and for what I want to do with him, I'm ok with losing out on that. If you are looking for a pure DPS type thing, it's very much not worth losing. If you want someone that can buff and be usefull, you might want to think about making an elf and forgoing ranger altogether, or at most go to level 11 for the ranged feats that it gives you (improved precise shot, multishot at earlier levels), and use wizard or sorc levels from there.

[AussieEngineer]

Hey man,

I wrestled with the same concerns when I was rolling my Arcane Archer.
I ended up going pure ranger, with the thought that if I ever really wanted to, I could take a wizard level later.
So far I haven't regretted the choice (well, my Archer has stalled at level 12 while I run another character :) ).

The reason I was mainly considering the Wizzy splash was for metamagics, but also the flavour.. (where according to D&D, you need to be able to cast spells).

I would suggest just going pure ranger. I have spoken to a few other people who leveled an Arcane Archer with a Wizard splash, and most of them regret it.

:)

[oberon131313]

Hey man,

I wrestled with the same concerns when I was rolling my Arcane Archer.
I ended up going pure ranger, with the thought that if I ever really wanted to, I could take a wizard level later.
So far I haven't regretted the choice (well, my Archer has stalled at level 12 while I run another character :) ).

The reason I was mainly considering the Wizzy splash was for metamagics, but also the flavour.. (where according to D&D, you need to be able to cast spells).

I would suggest just going pure ranger. I have spoken to a few other people who leveled an Arcane Archer with a Wizard splash, and most of them regret it.

:)
If you are going to splash another class and therefore lose out on the capstone, why would you want to go more than 11 levels of ranger? Just curious. The only real reason I can think of is for the spells like FoM.

[WeiQuinn]

If you are going to splash another class and therefore lose out on the capstone, why would you want to go more than 11 levels of ranger? Just curious. The only real reason I can think of is for the spells like FoM.

Depending on what you're looking for from Ranger will deceide how deeply you want to multi-class.

Level 11 Ranger gives you Improved Precise Shot, Precise Shot and Greater Two Weapon Fighting.

Level 12 Ranger gives you +5 Barkskin and the Second Tier of Tempest or Deepwoods Sniper (eventually).

Level 14 Ranger gives you 4th level spells (Freedom of Movement!).

Level 15 Ranger grants you a 4th Favored Enemy.

Level 18 Ranger grants you the Third Tier of Tempest or Deepwoods Sniper (eventually) and the Fifth Tier of Ranger Arcane Archer.

Level 20 Ranger grants you a 5th Favored Enemy and Master of Archery.

[oberon131313]

Depending on what you're looking for from Ranger will deceide how deeply you want to multi-class.

Level 11 Ranger gives you Improved Precise Shot, Precise Shot and Greater Two Weapon Fighting.

Level 12 Ranger gives you +5 Barkskin and the Second Tier of Tempest or Deepwoods Sniper (eventually).

Level 14 Ranger gives you 4th level spells (Freedom of Movement!).

Level 15 Ranger grants you a 4th Favored Enemy.

Level 18 Ranger grants you the Third Tier of Tempest or Deepwoods Sniper (eventually) and the Fifth Tier of Ranger Arcane Archer.

Level 20 Ranger grants you a 5th Favored Enemy and Master of Archery.

Ha, I'm aware of all of those, I was referring to this particular situation (arcane archer) so tempest and deepwoods don't apply. Favored enemy is decent, but tbh those levels from 12-15 can be better used with a mutliclass if you are multiclassing anyway, unless you are pumping in the damage enhacements. 12 ranger for the +5 bark and 14 ranger for FoM are really the only reasons IMO to go above 11 ranger if multiclassing. Level 20 doesn't apply because of multiclassing :P