Shadow Strike:Elven Arcane Archer - feedback would be helpful

[axlett]

Hey guys,
lately, I've been very interested in making an arcane archer. Likewise, I've also been very interested in making a rogue. And as you can probably already guess, I've decided to make a rogue arcane archer. I tested it out on the DDO planner page and it seemed to be fine, I just thought it would be better if I discussed it with you all an the forum before I created it.

Shadow Strike:
Chaotic Good Elf Male (17 Rogue / 2 Ranger / 1 Wizard)

Why?
-17 Rogue: Sneak Attack bonus and its the main idea for the build
-2 Ranger: Longbow proficiency, TWF(for the early levels), and bow strength
-1 Wizard: Mental Toughness


Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.34
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

Shadow Strike
Level 20 Chaotic Good Elf Male
(17 Rogue \ 2 Ranger \ 1 Wizard)
Hit Points: 244
Spell Points: 299
BAB: 14\14\19\24
Fortitude: 11
Reflex: 20
Will: 6

Starting Ending
Abilities Base Stats Base Stats
(32 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 14 14
Dexterity 16 22
Constitution 14 16
Intelligence 16 18
Wisdom 8 8
Charisma 8 8

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Dexterity used at level 3
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7

Starting Ending
Base Skills Base Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 7 27
Bluff -1 -1
Concentration 2 3
Diplomacy 3 22
Disable Device 7 27
Haggle -1 -1
Heal -1 -1
Hide 7 28
Intimidate -1 -1
Jump 6 28
Listen -1 -1
Move Silently 7 30
Open Lock 7 30
Perform n/a n/a
Repair 3 4
Search 7 24
Spot 3 22
Swim 2 2
Tumble 7 30
Use Magic Device 3 23

Level 1 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Damage I
Enhancement: Phiarlan Stealth I
Enhancement: Elven Keen Eyes I


Level 2 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Undead
Enhancement: Elven Arcanum I
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use I
Enhancement: Rogue Faster Sneaking I
Enhancement: Rogue Sneak Attack Training I


Level 3 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Finesse
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity I
Enhancement: Rogue Dexterity I


Level 4 (Wizard)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Wizard Bonus) Mental Toughness
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Attack I
Enhancement: Elven Keen Eyes II


Level 5 (Rogue)
Enhancement: Rogue Subtle Backstabbing I
Enhancement: Rogue Sneak Attack Accuracy I
Enhancement: Rogue Sneak Attack Training II


Level 6 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot
Enhancement: Rogue Skill Boost I
Enhancement: Rogue Skill Boost II
Enhancement: Rogue Improved Trap Sense I


Level 7 (Rogue)
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Damage II


Level 8 (Rogue)
Ability Raise: DEX
Enhancement: Rogue Skill Boost III
Enhancement: Elven Perception I


Level 9 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Focus: Ranged Weapons
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer I


Level 10 (Rogue)
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Force Arrows
Enhancement: Rogue Subtle Backstabbing II
Enhancement: Rogue Disable Device I


Level 11 (Rogue)
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Acid Arrows
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use II
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +2 Arrows


Level 12 (Rogue)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Selected) Manyshot
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use III
Enhancement: Rogue Spot I


Level 13 (Rogue)
Feat: (Rogue Bonus) Cripling Strike
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Attack II


Level 14 (Rogue)
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Explosive Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +3 Arrows
Enhancement: Rogue Spot II


Level 15 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Precise Shot
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use IV


Level 16 (Rogue)
Ability Raise: DEX
Feat: (Rogue Bonus) Slippery Mind
Enhancement: Rogue Skill Boost IV


Level 17 (Rogue)
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Force Burst Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Terror Arrows
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +4 Arrows


Level 18 (Rogue)
Feat: (Rogue Bonus) Improved Evasion
Feat: (Selected) Improved Precise Shot
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Ranger Jump I
Enhancement: Rogue Search I


Level 19 (Rogue)
Feat: (Rogue Bonus) Defensive Roll
Enhancement: Rogue Subtle Backstabbing III
Enhancement: Rogue Hide I


Level 20 (Rogue)
Ability Raise: DEX
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Slaying Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +5 Arrows
Enhancement: Rogue Disable Device II




This is my first major build, so feedback would be great. I would like to thank anyone who helps me now.

[KRaNiX1337]

Have you tried this out? I just today respecced my rogue to something very similar, 16 3 1 rogue paladin sorc, and to be honest, the DPS output was majorly lacking. Ill be resetting it back to normal rogue as soon as possible.

[Visty]

14 str seems low if you want to deal damage

yes, most of your damage comes from sneak attacks but only as long you dont have aggro

and a volley of 4 arrows with SAs in manyshot will garanty you aggro

[axlett]

14 str seems low if you want to deal damage

yes, most of your damage comes from sneak attacks but only as long you dont have aggro

and a volley of 4 arrows with SAs in manyshot will garanty you aggro

would weapon finesse make up for the lack of str?

[Visty]

no, as it does nothing for your damage and even less for your bows

str = damage, for any class

[axlett]

Then what stat should I dump to increase str?

[lutherl]

would weapon finesse make up for the lack of str?

Well kinda. It means you can use Power Attack without as big an ouch to your To-Hit.

However, the same could be said for just putting those extra points into STR and using PA, in fact you'd be doing better that way because of the PA damage bonus + STR damage bonus.

[Visty]

your int seems rather high

what 11 skills per level to you plan to take?

DD, OL, UMD, spot, search, balance

thats 5

not sure if there are even 11 usefull skills in this game to max out

[axlett]

Ok how about:
16 str
16 dex
14 con
14 int
8 wis
8 cha

and then power attack at lvl 1?

[Dylos_Moon]

I had a similar character once (a rogue/ranger/fighter, don't quite remember the distribution, it was probably X/2/2) but that was before arcane archer did anything special.

A good archer rarely has aggro, however, even without aggro it can be difficult to maintain sneak attack damage with a bow.

You don't need 16 intel - you are not casting offensive wizard spells and only a 14 is needed for most traps, so you can drop int down to 14 and raise strength to 16.

You are not dragonmarked, and thus cannot take the dragonmarked enhancements, even though the planner lets you take them. You need to pick a rogue prestige enhancement, either Assassin or Acrobat would probably be best, Acrobat makes an awesome archer, but Assassin gets vorpal bows (some assassin abilities will not work with ranged weapons - and the vorpal bow will require 18 levels of rogue). Assassin will also get additional sneak attack dice, and with the tower set, the ability to deal negative levels on critical hits (not sure if this works with bows).

You don't need Weapon Finesse, and you lack Imp Crit: Ranged, which is much much more important then Imp Precise Shot in my experiences. If and when you melee, you can either use a weapon that uses dexterity automatically (there are a few out there, some of them will be noticed by the prefix finesse) or you might be able to rely on flanking bonuses and sneak attack to hit bonuses to make up the difference.

Note that if the assassin tod set works with bows, a Silver Longbow, or Epic Thornlord both have critical ranges of 19-20 naturally, and 17-20 with imp crit. Every Archer needs a Silver Longbow, and Epic Thornlord is probably one of the best bows in the game currently.

[wolfy42]

If you are going to combine rogue with AA why not go all out and make an assassin III rogue AA? Might as well call it the 20/20 build heh:)

On a 20 you'd do 500 damage from your slaying arrows vs anything that is immune to crits and KILL any living creature instantly from assassin 3.

Main problem is you need DP clickies to hit 16 bab and get full manyshot.....which is almost required if you want to make this build make sense at all.

Concept would be to get close to enemies before using haste boost and manyshot (within PBS range for sneak attacks) preferably with someone who has a high intimidate (or you could max out diplomacy I guess) Then unleash manyshot on the group and try and take as much out before you get aggro.

Would be a quirky build thats for sure especially since the first 2 assissinate bonuses apply mainly to melee (although the +2 crit damage bonus (+6 with a bow) would apply...so eventually +24 damage per crit isn't too bad).

Another option would be to go with an Acrobat II/AA combination with something like 12 rogue levels/6 fighter levels/2 monk levels. It doesn't give you quite as much sneak attack damage but it gives you solid THF damage with your quarterstaff to supplement your ranged AA damage and plenty of feats along with crippling strike.