OK I know this build has been done to death as well...but I really like playing it. I made a module full of lots of different kinds of fighting, eg. some were crowds, some really hard individuals, some magic users, meleers, sneaky types, etc etc. This build got through it only having to respawn once. With only a +5 bow, +1 robes and +2 Magical damage arrows to boot.
Stats: Str 12 Dex 18 Con 10 Int 14 Wis 8 Cha 14 Boosting Dex at every opportunity.
Feats 1 - Dodge 3 - Mobility 6 - Weapon Focus: longbow 9 - Point Blank Shot 12 - Rapid Shot 15 - Improved Critical: longbow 18 - a free feat, do what you will (I took Called Shot) 21 - Great Dex 1 (making it 24 Dex at this point) 24 - Great Dex 2 (-> 26 Dex) 27 - (Arcane Archer level 11) Epic Dodge 30 - Great Dex 3, Great Dex 4** (-> 29 Dex) 33 - Self Concealment 10% 34 - Epic Weapon Focus: longbow** 36 - Self Concealment 20% 38 - Another free feat** (I took Epic Prowess) 39 - Self Concealment 30%
where ** denotes the Arcane Archer epic bonus feats.
Skills: I took 14 Int specifically to get a reasonable number of skills; and because this build HAS to take Hide, Move Silently and Tumble to high levels.
For the first 7 Bard levels I took Discipline, Spellcraft and Perform, along with the 3 required skills. I think I took Persuade, Hide, Move Silently and Tumble for Shadowdancer levels, saving the rest. The AA levels only let me take Hide and Move Silently as useful skills; I never found Listen or Spot to be much good. The final Bard level gives Improved Invisibility, War Cry, a better Bard Song....and the opportunity to dump all those saved points into Spellcraft, Discipline, Tumble, Perform and whatever else you want. Cheesy I know, but hey, everyone does it.
Basically this build is FUN FUN FUN. I like the sneakier characters in general and this one sneaks at such a high standard it went off the scale of my Super Secret Sneak-O-Meter. The basic premise of the build is so easy to accomplish (hide, fire arrows, hide, fire arrows, ad infinitum) I tried my hardest to fit in as many defensive feats as I could to make it quite well-rounded. Hence the 10 levels of Shadowdancer, Epic Dodge, Self-Concealment, etc.
It still sucks against mages, especially True Seeing mages, but the Spellcraft ranks offer some (scant) protection, Improved Evasion helps a lot and Defensive Roll is a much underrated feat in my opinion. Drawbacks: well yes'm, there's a few. One of the biggest I haven't mentioned is it only gets Improved Invisibility at 40th level; a little late if you're levelling up normally on a PW. Bard Song sucks too , but hey, singing only draws attention to yourself anyway.
Any possible improvements anyone would like to make are welcome, as always.