Arcane Archer Question

Arwendel · Post by **Arwendel** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 7:01 am

Hi,

I have a lvl 8 elven ranger that I want to multiclass into an arcane archer. I have a base attack bonus of 8, the weapon focus on longbow and the point blank feat. As far as I understand there is no other possibility for me to cast arcane spells than to take at least 1 lvl wizard or sorcerer to become an arcane archer. Is that so? Or is there any other possibility so I can avoid to multiclass into 2 classes?

The other question is .. if I take that lvl wizard, which is a favoured class of Elves and therefore doesn't suffer an xp penalty, will I get this penalty when I then multiclass into arcane archer?

Thanks for any replies

Arwendel

Shadowwarrior · Post by **Shadowwarrior** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 8:51 am

Elves favor wizards, so try multiclass to that.

Arwendel · Post by **Arwendel** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 9:54 am

Well, I already have a lvl 32 sorcerer/red dragon disciple so I am not interested in making a ranger/wizard char

Basically I wanted to know if I can somehow avoid taking 1 lvl of wizard to get the possibility to make my ranger an arcane archer.

But thx for the reply

Arwendel

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Fri Jan 02, 2004 5:39 am

If the prestige class requieres arcane spell casting ability, you need to multiclass.

Otherwise you'd have to find some cheating program that enables you to give an ability to your character (haven't seen this possible with the console commands).

So if you wanna have such an archer - take a level as wizard.

Arwendel · Post by **Arwendel** » Fri Jan 02, 2004 9:38 am

Thx for the reply

I took the lvl wizard (which is a lost lvl in my opinion) to get my ranger the arcane archer prestige class. It worked out fine and so far I am quite happy with it. Though I never will understand what that lvl wizard will add to my bow abilities

smass · Post by **smass** » Fri Jan 02, 2004 9:59 am

It is kind of a silly requirement. The thought is that you have to have a level of wizard or sorcerer so that you know how to cast spells - the arcane archer imbues his arrows with spells - so you have to be able to cast them.

Again - kind of stupid - one level of wizard - but then D&D rules are not exactly logical in many cases....

Ares2382 · Post by **Ares2382** » Fri Jan 02, 2004 3:07 pm

I think best class that goes along very nicely with AA is bard, but I doubt you wanna restart your game just to try that combo.

Arwendel · Post by **Arwendel** » Fri Jan 02, 2004 8:34 pm

... hehe ... that's true .. my char reached lvl 28 now and I definitely don't start all over again.

But maybe one of you can answer a question: Do the feats overwhelming and devastating crits with longbow really require str + 23/25 or is it for AAs set to the dex stat?

Arwendel

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 1:22 am

I have an arcane archer and I was also wondering about that? Also is there a way to get the keen ability on the arrows?

Noober · Post by **Noober** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 3:17 am

[QUOTE=Ares2382]I think best class that goes along very nicely with AA is bard, but I doubt you wanna restart your game just to try that combo.[/QUOTE]

Wizard is preferred because of its better long range spells and the fact that since elf is the preferred archer class (+ to dex) and wiz is a favored class.

[QUOTE=Arwendel]But maybe one of you can answer a question: Do the feats overwhelming and devastating crits with longbow really require str + 23/25 or is it for AAs set to the dex stat?.[/QUOTE]

Yes, they will require this amount of strength (though by this time maybe Bard/RDD/AA builds will become popular), however as of 1.62 Dev Crit does not work with arrows.

[QUOTE=Bruce Lee]\Also is there a way to get the keen ability on the arrows?[/QUOTE]

No.

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 8:43 am

What about a cleric or druid, there is that zen archery feat that allows wisdom to determine to hit bonus with ranged weapons. To bad you cannot fit a monk into the build aswell.

Volk · Post by **Volk** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:16 pm

There has been talk of Monk/Wizard/AA with zen archery but as far as i know it didnt work in 1.62 neither did devastating critical or overwhelming critical work with ranged weapons so that kinda killed archer builds, i am not sure on the 1.64 fixes but they might make for better archer classes.

Raumoheru · Post by **Raumoheru** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:43 pm

I took the lvl wizard (which is a lost lvl in my opinion) to get my ranger the arcane archer prestige class. It worked out fine and so far I am quite happy with it. Though I never will understand what that lvl wizard will add to my bow abilities

ARCANE archer...ya get that???
ARCANE

u need to know the basics of magic to enchant your weapons as an ARCANE archer

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:58 pm

No need for being (that) sarcastic when explaining the mechanics of the game.... please play nice

Noober · Post by **Noober** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:42 am

[QUOTE=Volk]There has been talk of Monk/Wizard/AA with zen archery but as far as i know it didnt work in 1.62 neither did devastating critical or overwhelming critical work with ranged weapons so that kinda killed archer builds, i am not sure on the 1.64 fixes but they might make for better archer classes.[/QUOTE]

IIRC there was once an attempt by Torias to create a Monk/AA but the resulting build did not become popular. I would guess that it was because taking Monk levels did not add much bonus (after all you already get an AC bonus from DEX, plus elves give +2 DEX). The main reason a person would choose to take AA (besides it being the best pure ranged class) it that it is the single most consistant build (it has the highest AB). To achive such an AB would require taking close to the maximum amount of AA levels, so you would not gain any decent spellcasting abilities. The AA has remained somewhat popular from the beginning even without access to Dev. Crit (which may in fact turn out to be a negative due to its huge STR costs (though once again Bard/RDD/AA may prove best)).

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:29 am

Hello,

I hope this thread is "young" enough so that my posting here doesn't count as "bumping old threads"

I just didn't want to start a new one with the same title...

So. I have an Arcane Archer/Fighter1/Wizard6. And she keeps dying. In the prison

Therefore, I decided to recreate her.

How do you suggest to create this character? I'm not after spellcasting (it prevents me from using good armour, so I decided to take only one level of Wizard and focus on fighting skills, Archer's special skills and HP instead. Shall I take many fighter levels, or Archer levels only? I think I need a certain base attack score or sg to specialize in Arcane Archery, so I think I'll need some fighter (ranger, perhaps?) levels anyway.

What would you recommend?

Noober · Post by **Noober** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:37 am

The most basic build would be Fighter/Wiz 1/AA using the fighter feats for archery feats.

Dragonosopher · Post by **Dragonosopher** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:34 am

My arcane archer started as a bard, and i stuck with that til i me the requirements. its the best single class way to meet the prereqs that i've found.

RenigadeRhino · Post by **RenigadeRhino** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:08 pm

i also started out at a bard untill i reached the reqs, then after working AA up a bit for some strange reason i started beefing up RDD... cant remember why.