Arcane Archer Build Recommendations

[Therigar]

There is another thread up elsewhere in the forums about arcane archers and it has motivated me to want to build an arcane archer. This wasn't exactly my working plan for Therigar but I can put those on hold.

What I am looking for from the forum's readers are recommendations on arcane archers with a bit of pros and cons. This will be Therigar's 3d life so he has 36 build points to work with (past lives will be fighter and monk). I'm almost certain that those will break down as 16, 16, 18, 8, 8, 8 -- to be adjusted for race later. I'm also almost certain that the race choice will be elf or half-elf in order to pick up the PrE w/o having to select the ranger class.

As a point of reference, I've already done a fighter AA on a different character. A kensai build isn't out of the question and is one of two that I'm leaning towards. The other is favored soul.

For stockpiled weapons I have a radiance rapier, 2 turbulant epees and a min 2 dwarven axe as well as a lit 2 longbow (2 of 3 crafting steps done, just need to add tier 3). The rapiers/epees are part of the reason I'm leaning towards elf.

All suggestions are welcome. Again, my current thinking is fighter or favored soul but don't let that limit recommendations. A rogue build would also be interesting.

[Yajerman01]

Post 48 (on sig below) lines out my current build which is a double TR (36pt).

Hes fun and I can honestly say addictive. Take a look and at least you can glean something from it.

GL and Cheers

Edit - nevermind picked up the no ranger aspect, sorry.

[krackythehoodedone]

Best all round ranged build atm would have to be The Helves Angel. Needs a few Tr's to be optimum but if they ever nerf Crit Rage thats what i would rebuild my Bowbarian as.

Otherwise the 18/1/1 barb/rgr/anything with blu bar does more damage with a bow against one opponent but is feat starved..you can check out shots by Soulstabber of his hitting for 1k with one arrow

I would like to check out some of the Zen archery builds

[kernal42]

In my opinion, the bulk of what an AA brings to the party is the same as what a barbarian brings to the party: DPS. There are a few situations where ranged dps is particularly important (eDQ), but in general ranged doesn't necessarily provide significant benefits over melee. Unfortunately, ranged dps (when manyshot is unavailable) is small compared to melee dps, so an AA must have a secondary sepcialization.

Ranger allows for this quite nicely; the free TWF feats let you go melee until manyshot is off timer, then unleash some serious dps for 20 sec before going back to melee. Your average dps contribution will be fine. However, you said you don't want to go ranger.

Another option is 17fvs/2monk/1wizard (or fighter, if you have PL:Sorc). Here you are a fine main healer who can also dish out the hurt for 20s of every 2 min. Feats are tight (10), but workable. If you care, you can also melee decently: You'll have a good str, Power Attack (req for Bow Str), and divine buffs.

Cheers,
Kernal

[unbongwah]

Well, Helves Angel seems to be the "ultimate" AA these days, though I'm not sure how much DPS it loses without pally PL. You could give my Triple A build a shot (HA!) for a rogue-based AA. A caster-focused cleric or FvS AA along the lines of my Radiant Archer might also work out; the 4 extra build pts definitely help out.

[Therigar]

Thanks for the thoughts.

I have Wind Howler bracers so can pass on bow strength as a feat if needed. I expect to take power attack regardless.

I've got a favored soul running at the moment that heals and I'm not impressed. If I go fvs I'm thinking more selfishly with spells chosen to support the AA side and enough for self healing and maybe emergency spot heals -- nothing mass oriented at all. If I did look to mass it would be mass heal at L18 with either no splash or 2 monk for the feats.

What are the forum reader's thoughts on barbarian 12/fighter 6/caster 1? What caster class and where does the final level go?

[unbongwah]

I have Wind Howler bracers so can pass on bow strength as a feat if needed.

Wind Howler doesn't give free Bow STR; you're thinking of Gnollish War Bow, which is pretty meh IMHO - Bow of Sinew is much nicer.

What are the forum reader's thoughts on barbarian 12/fighter 6/caster 1?

Biggest problem is feat shortage, since barb requires 2 for FB and gives none. Best I could come up with is this:

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.9.1
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 20 Chaotic Neutral Elf Female
(2 Fighter \ 12 Barbarian \ 6 Ranger) 
Hit Points: 374
Spell Points: 175 
BAB: 20\20\25\30\30
Fortitude: 20
Reflex: 14
Will: 6

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(34 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             18                    26
Dexterity            17                    20
Constitution         14                    18
Intelligence          8                    10
Wisdom                8                    10
Charisma              8                    10

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

Level 1 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Undead
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Fighter
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot


Level 2 (Ranger)


Level 3 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Focus: Ranged Weapons


Level 4 (Ranger)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 5 (Ranger)
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Giant


Level 6 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness


Level 7 (Barbarian)


Level 8 (Barbarian)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 9 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 10 (Barbarian)


Level 11 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Precise Shot


Level 12 (Fighter)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Precise Shot


Level 13 (Barbarian)


Level 14 (Barbarian)


Level 15 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack


Level 16 (Barbarian)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 17 (Barbarian)


Level 18 (Barbarian)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave


Level 19 (Barbarian)


Level 20 (Barbarian)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Barbarian Damage Boost I
Enhancement: Barbarian Damage Boost II
Enhancement: Barbarian Damage Boost III
Enhancement: Fighter Haste Boost I
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Acid Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Explosive Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Force Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Force Burst Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Slaying Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Imbue Terror Arrows
Enhancement: Barbarian Extend Rage I
Enhancement: Barbarian Extend Rage II
Enhancement: Barbarian Extra Rage I
Enhancement: Barbarian Extra Rage II
Enhancement: Barbarian Hardy Rage I
Enhancement: Barbarian Hardy Rage II
Enhancement: Barbarian Power Attack I
Enhancement: Barbarian Power Attack II
Enhancement: Barbarian Power Attack III
Enhancement: Barbarian Power Rage I
Enhancement: Barbarian Power Rage II
Enhancement: Barbarian Frenzied Berserker I
Enhancement: Barbarian Frenzied Berserker II
Enhancement: Elven Dexterity I
Enhancement: Valenar Elf Melee Damage I
Enhancement: Valenar Elf Melee Damage II
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Damage I
Enhancement: Elven Ranged Damage II
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Attack I
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Damage I
Enhancement: Ranger Favored Damage II
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +2 Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +3 Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +4 Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer: Conjure +5 Arrows
Enhancement: Elven Arcane Archer I
Enhancement: Barbarian Constitution I
Enhancement: Barbarian Constitution II
Enhancement: Fighter Strength I
Enhancement: Barbarian Toughness I
Enhancement: Barbarian Toughness II

Could drop Toughness for Imp Crit Ranged or Slash; depends on whether you need extra HPs or DPS more.

BTW, anyone know if you can use imbues while Raged?

EDIT: belatedly occurs to me you can bump up the ftr lvls a notch (take @ lvl 10 & 11) and get either IPS or GTWF a lvl sooner.

[Yajerman01]

What caster class and where does the final level go?

I pressume you go Wizard (free meta) which allows you to place wizzy at any point in the build, preferrably when you start developing AA arrows.

Insofar as builds are concerned, unless your position is hard on not having any ranger whatsoever - 6 levels of ranger with any build will suffice in covering the ground base for AA. As stated above, Rogue are very feat strapped. Someone noted the AAA build above which is interesting. I have been stewing up my own version as a 12/6/2 Half-elf Rogue/Ranger/Monk with Cleric Dilettante. Ill explain.

First Feats of interest covered with Ranger/dilettante included are:

Dilettante: Cleric
Point Blank Shot
Toughness
FE: Elemental
WF: Ranged
Diehard
TWF
Bow Strength
Mental Toughness
FE: Evil Outsider
ITWF
Manyshot
PA
Precise Shot
GTWF
Improved Evasion
IC: Ranged
Zen Archery

(36pt build starting/ending stats with +3 tomes and enhancement lines)
16/24
15/20
14/18
14/17
14/18
8/10

With proper gear/spells/pots you can be looking at a sustained Str of 46, Dex of 30 Con 26+ and wisdom 26

Monk splash was not only for optional AC/saves but add zen archery and fire stance (+2 to STR) will keep you centered during range. Get epic Tjidz for fire stance and healing amp.

Assassin II to get back some lost SA - Cleric Dilettant opens up a wide spectrum of Divine scrolls without the worry of UMD, allowing you to free up potential UMD slots.

30 dex will cover you for the most part in Epic to-hits - get a thronlord Epicized with Silver and you will cover a ton of content monsters with a very uber weapon.

Enhancements are always by preference but Ill list what I jotted down:

Rogue Damage Boost I, II
Rogue Haste Boost I, II, III, IV
Ranger Sprint I
(All the Arcane Archer lines)
Improved Cleric Dilli I, II, III
Human Adapt - CON
Rogue Subtle Backstab I
Way of the Patient Toroise I
Racial Toughness I, II, III
Ranger Favored Attack I
Ranger Favor Damage I, II
Elvin Arcane Archer Conjure +2, +3, +4, +5
Rogue Assassin I, II
Rogue SAA I, II, III
Rogue SAT, I, II, III
Improve HIde, I, II
Improve move silently I, II
Ranger Energy I
Rogue Dex I, II
Monk Wis I

[Therigar]

Wind Howler doesn't give free Bow STR; you're thinking of Gnollish War Bow, which is pretty meh IMHO - Bow of Sinew is much nicer.

Right, thanks. I have all of them to choose from so not a problem. I guess one gives bow proficiency that I needed.

[stupid123]

Pros:nice dps during manyshot.

Cons:gimp dps for the next 1 min

[Therigar]

Best I could come up with is this:

Does the increase in crit multiplier make keen bow 18-20? (1 bow, 1 keen, 1 FB II)

[unbongwah]

Does the increase in crit multiplier make keen bow 18-20? (1 bow, 1 keen, 1 FB II)

IIUC, it does, because FB II says the crit boost applies to all weapons (not just melee); but I don't have a high-lvl barb archer at the moment to confirm that. Note that there are a couple of bows with 19-20 base crit range rather than just 20 - e.g., Silver Longbow, the aforementioned Bow of Sinew - which makes them desirable to an archer esp. if you have IC Ranged. Note also that Bow of Sinew has an extra 1x crit multiplier on a 19 or 20 (Elasticity).

[kernal42]

Right, thanks. I have all of them to choose from so not a problem. I guess one gives bow proficiency that I needed.

You need bow str.

Limiting yourself to a single bow (gnollish war bow) is a terrible idea.

-Kernal