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I was thinking about making an Arcane Archer Elf and was wondering what classes should I use and for how many levels. Also, are Arcance Archers good? I'm doing single player mind you and I have the platinum edition.

Arcane Archers are not bad in single player - make sure you have some tanks to soak damage before getting into combat however. There is quite a nice bow for them in HotU, too...

There are two main ways to get to Arcane Archer - either Fighter/Mage -> AA or Bard -> AA. The F/M method is a little quicker, as you can gather the required feats a lot faster, but I personally prefer the Bard method (I like playing Bards).

However, it really is up to you. You could try any combo and see how it turns out.

Cheers,
TGHO

can't you be a Ranger/Mage --> AA too??? or a Ranger/Sorc??? or Fighter/Sorc??? or are these really bad?? i don't know....

I think the reason, in general, that you take wiz over sorc is because you have higher level spells as wizard (or was it some other reason?). INT is also more beneficial to the build then CHA. Bard has song and better AB then sorc. Ranger is also fine, just a little slower then fighter in getting the AA prereqs. Considering the amout of levels involved, it doesn't really matter much in the end (especially for PvM).

I tried Arcane Archer and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Sorc 12/AA 4 was my character when I realized that the last 4 lvls were completely wasted in vain... It should've been much better to get more Sorc lvls or Red Dragon Disciple lvls - with that you get ability score bonuses and AC increase, whereas AA gives you Seeker Arrows and Imbue Arrows which won't make too much damage (the latter is not bad, but doesn't worth as much as additional Sorc spells!).

Now I'm running HoU again from the beginning to regain those 4 lvls in RDD.

[QUOTE=The Great Hairy]Arcane Archers are not bad in single player - make sure you have some tanks to soak damage before getting into combat however. There is quite a nice bow for them in HotU, too...

There are two main ways to get to Arcane Archer - either Fighter/Mage -> AA or Bard -> AA. The F/M method is a little quicker, as you can gather the required feats a lot faster, but I personally prefer the Bard method (I like playing Bards).

However, it really is up to you. You could try any combo and see how it turns out.

Cheers,
TGHO[/QUOTE]

Also, as a fighter, you can gain the weapon specialization and epic weapon specialization feats, which should give you +6 to attack rolls with the chosen weapon.

[QUOTE=Brynn]I tried Arcane Archer and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Sorc 12/AA 4 was my character when I realized that the last 4 lvls were completely wasted in vain... It should've been much better to get more Sorc lvls or Red Dragon Disciple lvls - with that you get ability score bonuses and AC increase, whereas AA gives you Seeker Arrows and Imbue Arrows which won't make too much damage (the latter is not bad, but doesn't worth as much as additional Sorc spells!).

Now I'm running HoU again from the beginning to regain those 4 lvls in RDD.[/QUOTE]

Brynn, If your going to go AA you should probably go full AA. Go say, Fighter to get your feats and AB up, then a level or so in one of the magic classes, then AA. If you level up that class high, you can do nice damage with a bow. Trying to shoot with a Sorcerers attack bonus is suicide though. You just won't hit anything.

@mbz: Weapon Specialisation only adds to damage, not attack.

The main idea behind most successful AA's is to reach the maximum possible AB in the game. The damage will not be that great, though you defense should be quite good because of high DEX, minor buffs, and maybe even Epic Dodge if you take a level of Rogue.

[QUOTE=Magrus]Brynn, If your going to go AA you should probably go full AA. Go say, Fighter to get your feats and AB up, then a level or so in one of the magic classes, then AA. If you level up that class high, you can do nice damage with a bow. Trying to shoot with a Sorcerers attack bonus is suicide though. You just won't hit anything.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. One needs to be much better at fighting than a Sorc to gain anything from AA...

Yes, it's why you only need one level of W/S/ Bard to get into the class. You can take say, 7 levels of fighter, one of those three classes and then the rest AA. You have a high attack bonus to hit with your arrows and if you follow the class past level 10, you still get your +1 enchantment bonus/ 2 levels. You can get up to +16 arrows at level 40.

Two things. One, I was wondering if it would be worth it to take like 9 or 10 levels in Arcane Archer with a Ranger for the ranged bonus? Or would you have to go all the way?

Another reason the elf is good for this class is because wizard won't count toward your multiclassing.

I was thinking of doing a Half-Elf Druid/Ranger, but I'm not sure.

I don't know, Ranger and AA both have the same AB progression, so if you stuck with those two you'd hit really well and be able to sneak around. You'd have your +5 to all arrows, and the inbue, seeker, death and hail of arrows abilities too if you went to 10th level (minus death arrow if to 9th).

Were you thinking of doing an archer character altogether, or a ranger that was more of a mix of melee capabilities and ranged, so boosting their ability to fight with bows with the AA?

I was hoping to use the ranger for melee and ranged, because I've found places for both, and it makes for a very versatile character. I would use the AA levels to make up for ranged feats I might take. That, and isn't there an AA-only bow with unlimited ammo? This way, I'd have two animal companion/familiar, magic abillities (ranger/wizard) and be able to attack with a bow quite well, (AA) along with the ranger's sizeable melee abilities.

Well, the chances of both of your familiar/animal companion being worthwhile of summoning aside from a one hit decoy at higher levels is unlikely. If your going to go for a melee/ranged build, I'd suggest pumping your ranger class, grabbing one level in an arcane class and then dropping 9 or 10 levels into the AA class. You'd have a high BAB, hit points and you'd have +5 to all arrows when you needed to pull out your bow before closing.

The question would be when to start your AA levels. You may want to start them right away, and may want to start them after you've gotten higher up as a ranger, I'm not sure which you'd prefer. I might try one myself again. I've gone fighter/w/AA, but not Ranger. I never seem to actually play the game through either. Just keep making characters. I should do that one of these days.

[QUOTE=Magrus]I don't know, Ranger and AA both have the same AB progression, so if you stuck with those two you'd hit really well and be able to sneak around. You'd have your +5 to all arrows, and the inbue, seeker, death and hail of arrows abilities too if you went to 10th level (minus death arrow if to 9th).

Were you thinking of doing an archer character altogether, or a ranger that was more of a mix of melee capabilities and ranged, so boosting their ability to fight with bows with the AA?[/QUOTE]

The seeker, death and hail of arrows all sucked in the end. They do so damage and have so little chance of success that I don't even bother to use them.

Still, if you want the higher enchanted arrow bonus, your going to end up with them. I think if you take the class to 21st level you can get up to +20 arrows with it. Not sure on the exact level though.

Not to mention the bonuses of the bow itself...I mean, who doesn't love automatic 1d6 fire damage on a bow, and then 1d6 lightning/ice from your arrows?