Returning player build questions Pale Master

[ixnay86]

Hello there people. Long time since I played this game (about three years ago) and I have questions regarding build.

I am gonna play casually with friends. No high competitive gaming. I do still wish to reach epic levels (If I last that long).

And so my question is this: I have been looking around at several builds, and I've decided that Pale Master is my thing. I have access to Drow and 32 pt builds, which makes this more viable. But I want to be able to do something else in addition to Wizarding, and so I've been thinking about Arcane Archer.

Is it possible to make Pale Master Arcane Archer drow who focuses on Necromancy but uses AA ranged combat abilities as a secondary way of dealing damage?

Mainly what I am thinking about is having summons (or single, if max 1 at a time), use necromancy for debuffs and damage, and use archery as a backup method.

Is this possible to achieve with a good build? I am not sure wether I can get into Arcane Archer with only wizard / Drow. if I need something else, I was thinking maybe 2 levels of ranger to up the BAB just a teeeensy bit (irrelevant at higher levels, I assume) and get those free feats from ranger.

Any comments/suggestions/links to builds would be greatly appreciated.

I started a rogue/wiz yesterday, but I fear I might have to re-roll the character in order to get my wishes.

[Lanhelin]

I am not sure wether I can get into Arcane Archer with only wizard / Drow. if I need something else, I was thinking maybe 2 levels of ranger to up the BAB just a teeeensy bit (irrelevant at higher levels, I assume) and get those free feats from ranger.

You can reach the AA tree by either taking Ranger (note that T5 AA Ranger Enhancements require a Level 5 Ranger and the Core Enhancements require far more Ranger Levels) or playing Elf or Half-Elf or Morninglord (requires at least 14 points spent in the racial tree and AA Cores require up to Character level 25, not specific Class level). Drow don't have access to AA except they get Ranger levels.

Ranger AA (http://ddowiki.com/page/Arcane_Archer_enhancements) - Elven AA (http://ddowiki.com/page/Elven_Arcane_Archer_enhancements)

You already mentioned to take two Ranger Levels, then you will have access to Ranger AA T2 enhancements. Regarding the build itself I cannot say anything else than I'm excited to read more about it :)

[Satyriasys]

It is impossible to achieve useful archery damage without heavy investment. A Palemaster already needs to use their feats to increase their DCs and metamagics. If you want to do something other than Wizarding I would suggest taking your first 2 levels in Rogue and getting the trapping skills, you will also get evasion. You can then dedicate the rest of your build to your spellcasting. It's a very fun and powerful build.