Most of the time when you see an arcane archer, you see a build that is mostly archer with very few caster levels. Seldom do you see a build which takes enough casting levels to be an effective caster. Personally, I find the archers who do take enough caster levels to be full wizards/sorcerers to be the most powerful of the arcane archers.
The AB is lower that you would expect to see from a "warrior" arcane archer, but still higher than most melee characters. Throw in level 9 arcane spells and you have a character that can nuke you while turning you into a pin cushion. Unlike most archers it doesn't even have to run if it is surrounded by enemies, just toss up epic warding and the damage shields and plink away with your bow (or shapechange into an iron golem if critical hits are an issue). With the addition of rogue levels, the build has evasion, ranged sneak attacks and the ability to set and recover epic traps. The main problems with this build are that arcane buffs do not work with bows, you have pretty low hitpoints and your bow damage is a little low without sneak attacks. I see this as more of a PVM build, but any build with over 20 levels of wizard or sorcerer should be okay in PvP. I recommend this character for low to mid magic settings, where devastasting critical is banned and you can get some good bows and arrows.
Advantages
-Good AB with a bow. A little low for an AA, but a 46 AB is still pretty high. -Level 9 illusionist spells. I went for an illusion specialization for the extra spell per level and because the DCs are 15+spell level. This isn't really a problem because there are many spells that don't have DCs like the infamous IGMS and Bigby's hand spells. -Epic Warding. 50 points of DR coupled with reciprocal damage spells make hitting this character a painful experience. This can be coupled with a shapeshift to iron golem form to add in immunity to critical hits. -5D6 of sneak attack damage. Getting ranged sneak attacks with a wizard build is a breeze, he can cast: invisibility spells, darkness and ultravision, knockdown spells, summoned creatures/familiar or a myriad of paralysis spells. -Good rogue skill set. This character has a ton of skillpoints and has a maxed out hide and move silently, good enough trap setting and detection skills to handle epic traps and a pretty good open lock. With the ability to cast true seeing he can detect hidden enemies as well, making this an efficient scouting character. -Evasion and a reflex save of 42 vs. spells. He isn't going to be taking a good deal of damage from spells with reflex saves. -Good initiative. He should be able to get a spell off before his opponent can.
Disadvantages
-Low fortitude and will saves. The ability to cast mind blank covers the will save and shadow shield covers the fortitude save pretty well too. Still this character has to look out for implosions and petrification attacks. -Low Hit points. Can't really do much about that. Epic warding, evasion and a fair AC help out with avoiding damage. Against a tough melee monster he can cast true strike and spam called shot leg to create some breathing room for spell casting. -Low spell DCs and spell penetration. Most of the spells he uses should not have DCs also with a mordenkainen's disjunction he can handle item based SR. This is still a bit of a weak point. His caster level is high enough that he should not have to worry too much about being dispelled.
Furtive Spellbow
Race Elf
Alignment Any
Base Attributes STR 12 DEX 18 CON 12 INT 16 WIS 8 CHA 8
Attribute Bonuses Level 4 and 8 go to Intelligence Level 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 Attribute Bonuses go to dexterity
Final Level Distribution Arcane Archer 10 Rogue 9 Illusionist 21
(as above with rapid shot and haste) 55/50/45/40/55/55 6+1D8 (19-20 x3) +5D6 sneak attack
Max AB: 72 (73 at point blank range)
AC 28 (Nothing) 47 (+6 to DEX, Mage Armor, Shield, Shadow Shield, Haste) 57 (+12 to DEX, +5 Robes, +5 amulet of natural armor, +5 ring of protection, Mage Armor, Boots of Hardiness +3, Haste)
Hit Points 288 (Max Every Level)
Final Saves (Vs. Spells) Fortitude 20 (29) Reflex 33 (42) Will 17 (26)
Skillpoint Distribution Level 1: D 4, H 4, M 4, O 4, S 4, ST 4, T 4, Save 16 Level 2: D 1, H 1, M 1, O 1, S 1, ST 1, T 1, Save 20 Level 3: D 1, H 1, O 1, M 1, S 1, ST 1, T 1, Save 24 Level 4: D 1, H 1, O 1, M 1, S 1, ST 1, T 1, Save 28 Level 5: C 8, Sp 8, Save 17 Level 6: C 1, Sp 1, Save 20 Level 7: D 3, H 3, M 3, O 3, S 3, ST 3, T 3, Save 10 Level 8: D 1, H 1, M 1, O 1, S 1, ST 1, T 1, Save 15 Level 9: D 1, H 1, M 1, O 1, S 1, ST 1, T 1, Save 20 Level 10: H 1, M 1, Save 26 Level 11: H 1, M 1, Save 32 Level 12: H 1, M 1, Save 38 Level 13: H 1, M 1, Save 44 Level 14: H 1, M 1, Save 50 Level 15: H 1, M 1, Save 56 Level 16: H 1, M 1, Save 62 Level 17: H 1, M 1, Save 68 Level 18: H 1, M 1, Save 74 Level 19: H 1, M 1, Save 80 Level 20: D 11, H 1, M 1, O 11, S 11, ST 11, T 11, Save 35 Level 21: C 15, Sp 15, Save 11 Level 22: C 1, Sp 1, Save 15 Level 23: C 1, Sp 1, Save 19 Level 24: C 1, Sp 1, Save 23 Level 25: C 1, Sp 1, Save 27 Level 26: C 1, Sp 1, Save 31 Level 27: C 1, Sp 1, Save 35 Level 28: C 1, Sp 1, Save 39 Level 29: C 1, Sp 1, Save 44 Level 30: C 1, Sp 1, Save 49 Level 31: C 1, Sp 1, Save 54 Level 32: C 1, Sp 1, Save 59 Level 33: C 1, Sp 1, Save 64 Level 34: C 1, Sp 1, Save 69 Level 35: C 1, Sp 1, Save 74 Level 36: C 1, Sp 1, Save 79 Level 37: C 1, Sp 1, Save 84 Level 38: C 1, Save 90 Level 39: C 1, Save 96 Level 40: D 18, H 20, M 20, O 4, S 20, ST 10, T 17 _________________ Two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do.
I'd drop AA to 9 levels and raise Rogue to 10, to gain a Rogue bonus feat in place of Arrow of Death which is quite worthless. _________________
Quote: Posted 04/26/06 12:05:52 (GMT) -- Ithacan
[...]Harper Scout, the only class so powerful it's capped at five. [...]
Dont you get Imbue Arrow V at lvl 10 AA?? I'd say its worth it in the long run...its fine as is Mith!
Dont you get Imbue Arrow V at lvl 10 AA?? I'd say its worth it in the long run...its fine as is Mith!
Imbue Arrow V comes in at level 9, not 10. Imbue Arrow always appears on odd-numbered levels. _________________ CATS!
He'd lose an AB, but since that's not his primary concern, it would be better taking another rogue level. _________________ I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide. I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.
I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience.
Where is UMD? In my experience, elves don't need nearly that many ranks in search. _________________ CATS!
First off some good suggestions.
As Grimnir pointed out I would lose 1 point of AB by losing an AA level, which was the basis of my decision to take 10 AA levels. I literally changed between the 10/9/21 and 9/10/21 distributions 20 times before deciding on this distribution. If you prefered you could take another rogue level and pick up crippling strike (I think that would be the best of the rogue bonus feats for this character.)
I didn't take UMD because, unless there is some really good monk only equipment around, this character doesn't need it. Wizards, sorcerers and even bards do not really get much out of the skill, anything they would want to UMD they could use already. If there is really good monk equipment on the server, some skill points could be taken from search (as suggested by Avarielo) and/or open lock to bump it up. _________________ Two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do.
Unless it's been fixed recently, Crippling Strike doesn't work on ranged attacks.
Other than that, what exactly makes you think you don't have to worry much about dispels? If I understand the spell correctly, Mord's rolls 1d20+caster level (max 20) against a DC of the 11+caster level of the spell being dispelled. This means that anyone with 20 or more (most spellswords) will have a very reasonable chance of dispelling some of your buffs. I'd be worried.
I like the build, though. You're right, not many people make AA builds with archery as the secondary focus.
Mord's rolls 1d20+caster level (max 20) against a DC of the 11+caster level of the spell being dispelled.
...
Mords are actually uncapped.
Cheers, Kail _________________ To hear the sound of Freedom, many gave their lives They fought for you and me Those memories will always live inside us, and now it's our time to be free
A nifty idea Mith, and very similar to one I've been toying with. You beat me to it on this one. Nice.
Unless it's been fixed recently, Crippling Strike doesn't work on ranged attacks.
Other than that, what exactly makes you think you don't have to worry much about dispels? If I understand the spell correctly, Mord's rolls 1d20+caster level (max 20) against a DC of the 11+caster level of the spell being dispelled. This means that anyone with 20 or more (most spellswords) will have a very reasonable chance of dispelling some of your buffs. I'd be worried.
I like the build, though. You're right, not many people make AA builds with archery as the secondary focus.
I think by stating Dispels, he means the actual Dispel line, not including Mord's. Everyone has to worry about Mord's, since (as Kail pointed out), it's uncapped. However, the best Dispel is 1d20 +15 for a max of 35 vs this character's 11 + 21 for 32. Thus, not too much to worry about.
I should have been more specific, when I said it doesn't have to worry much about being dispelled I was refering to lesser and greater dispel (which are the only dispells non wizards/sorcerers have available to them). Mordenkainen's disjunction was uncapped in 1.64 or 1.65. At the time when the dispels were fixed. A level 40 wizard still has to be worried about Mordenkainen's Disjunction. Not only does it dispel, it also breaches (removing 6 combat protections automatically) and lowers SR by 10 (only item/skin based, doesn't affect feat based). It is truly worthy of being a level 9 spell.
If crippling strike doesn't work ranged, then I don't think taking a 10th rogue level is better than the 10th AA level. _________________ Two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do.
They didn't fix the in-game description <_< .
Improved Evasion could also be an optional feat, but for me, it's ok as it is, I always tell people leave wizard to epics to save AB, you already have that, high AB is important.
Imbue Arrow V? cool trick, I thought there was just one type of Imbue Arrow (without the PrC) and Enchant Arrow I-XV
I've toyed with Rogue / Arcane Archers (although mainly all AA with ISA), and I found annoying that you can't sneak ranged as good as melee, in melee you can sneak a guy when he's occupied with someone else, but that doesn't works in ranged (I think you have to be completely on his back)... so sneaking in ranged is relatively difficult (or at least annoying) without HiPS, but you can't make a Rogue/SD/AA.
Good thing is that you get Uncanny, as regularly an archer will have a low effective AC even if his DEX is high.
Dont you get Imbue Arrow V at lvl 10 AA?? I'd say its worth it in the long run...its fine as is Mith! 