Author Topic: Level 10 Archer gear  (Read 2419 times)

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Kerrus

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Level 10 Archer gear
« on: April 30, 2009, 02:08:28 AM »
Over the past couple days I've been putting together a ECL 10 archer character for a martial campaign that my DM plans to run sometime during the next month- spellcasters are limited to core material, but martial characters have access to most splatbooks (we've got a fairly good selection, but not everything under the sun)

But while PC spellcasters only have access to core material, magical items will be around and characters will be equipped normally. However, that said, this is the first time I've designed an archer, and I'd like some suggestions on good weapon properties and other items I should put on the 'buy at character creation' list.

The basic focus of the archer build is a mid-long range sniper, so I'm looking for ways to increase damage, range, and accuracy at distance primarily.

Help greatly appreciated.

I'd prefer material from the core books, the MIC, and the completes, as those are the main books we're using for this campaign.

Lycanthromancer

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2009, 02:14:03 AM »
Depends partly on your build. Class? Feats? Skills?

Are you going to be mundane, or a gish?

Psychic warriors can make great archers, don'tchaknow. And they can craft their own gear, as well, which will save you a LOT of money (though you'll likely have to sacrifice a level for it - not that big of a deal with the XP gravy-train).
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Kerrus

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2009, 02:37:06 AM »
Mundane. The whole -low magic campaign- thing, and all. We've some 3.0 material. Build looks like this:

Ranger (CChamp variant) 4/Fighter 1/Deepwood Sniper 2/Templar (3.0) 1/Shadowdancer 2

Related feats are:

Point Blank Shot, Far Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus [longbow], Weapon Specialization [longbow]

Eldariel

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2009, 02:56:13 AM »
Rational options for you seem to be:
Cleric, Arcane Gish, Psionic Gish (Psy War or Psion/Illithid Slayer), Sublime Way Adept and some crazy multiclass Ranger-based build (or final option being something with 3.0 prestige classes; the last one sounds most like what you want, but is hard to pull off within the books you outlined)

Damage is hard. Range is easy. Accuracy comes along. Range, you get a Dragonbone Bow. Adds 20' to your reach. Then you can get Swiftwing Arrows [Races of the Wild] for further increases. Additionally, you can pick Ranged Weapon Mastery for extra 20' and you can get a Distance Bow for some rather epic reach. Then, if this is really a key point, you can dip a level in Cragtop Archer [Races of the Wilds] to halve the range increment penalties.

Damage mostly comes from:
Spells
Weapon Enhancements
Rage-like class features
Str
Feats


Unfortunately the magical means of boosting archer damage are vastly superior to the mundane options. Out of mundane, Rage-abilities tend to work the best; of note being Whirling Frenzy (extra attack, +4 Str) [UA Barbarian ACF] and Wildrunner [RoTW]. Out of feats, especially Ranged Weapon Mastery [PHBII] and Knowledge Devotion [CChamp] are worth noting. This is all if you're going mundane, of course. As you notice, the better options are unfortunately outside the Core+MiC+Completes pool.

If I were to build a long-range archer out of just those books, it'd be something like:
Ranger/Barbarian/Pious Templar/whatever (of course you have to worship Ehlonna, but she's a fine lady anyways) - maybe feat dips or some such in the end, it's all pretty weak. You'll probably want to dip Exotic Weapon Master or Order of the Bow Initiate for Close-Combat Shot at some point, but beyond that it's all meh.


EDIT: Ahh, awesome. Deepwood Sniper. I'd definitely take a look at Peerless Archer [Silver Marches] if I were you. 3 levels for Power Shot is just huge. Also, Ranged Weapon Mastery from PHBII would really make the Weapon Specialization-line pay off. I wouldn't bother with Shadowdancer (although since you got into it without prerequisites, I guess you might as well pick up the free Hide in Plain Sight), and I'd probably take the one-two Barbarian-levels at some point along with Extra Rage. Then just continue Deepwood Sniper/Peerless Archer and you're golden.

Gear should be obvious. As many damage enhancements on your bow as possible (Force from MIC is gold also), whatever gear that enables your feats and a bunch of Bane X arrows where X is a Generic Dangerous Common Creature Type such as Undead or Evil Outsider. Stuff that helps hiding, probably some teleportation (Boots of Big Stepping, for example) and that's about it.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2009, 03:01:23 AM by Eldariel »

Kerrus

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2009, 04:33:27 AM »
The reason for the book restriction is that we're limited to books we actually have physical copies of. So no silver marshes, or Races, unfortunately.

As for shadowdancer, I in fact did go into it with the prerequisites- while the build lends itself to a character with high intelligence, it technically can get by without any bonus skill points.

Shadowdancer is for evasion, darkvision and hide in plain sight, while Templar (3.0 Pious Templar) gets Weapon Specialization and Mettle at 1st level. True Believer is for Raptor Arrows. They're Bane=Everything, so that's got that covered. Ranged Weapon Mastery I'll work into the build- I'd forgotten about it, and every little bit helps.

But otherwise, yeah, all mundane. The setting is basically two nations at war, and the PCs are part of a mobile battalion skirmishing along one front. If we run into any spellcasters, they'll be Core only. Though magical beasts and the like are a relatively expected thing. Evasion and Mettle, coupled with good saves will help out there.

The original plan for continued progression was six levels in Horizon Walker, for the Shifting ability. There's really no magic item option that duplicates it, and the other terrain bonuses are handy. And while yes, I'm sure using the material I have access to I could come up with a decent arcane archer dip gish, it's really not the sort of thing I'm aiming for with this build. Something I didn't mention is that I was inspired to this type of character by one of the other players in my group who always runs an archer, and is always complaining about how I never run ranged characters or the like. So I decided to attempt to come up with something to out do him.

But he's all extreme close range type of character- if bows were shotguns, and all that. I'm aiming for mid-long range. I'll see about weapon enhancements for extra damage and the like- I just wanted to see if anyone had any specific suggestions for said enhancements- though personally I think Transmuting looks to be a fantastic one.

I'll take a look at some other archer classes though, see if the options are better then the level six bonus of Horizon Walker- Dimension Door as a caster of your character level every 1d4 rounds is pretty advantageous- especially in a low magic setting.

Rebel7284

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2009, 01:45:09 PM »
Swift hunters are pretty nice as far as archers go.  Lots and lots of Skirmish damage event to things normally immune to it? :)  Try to get a splitting bow as soon as possible.
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Kerrus

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2009, 02:04:44 PM »
Aye, they're pretty nice. Unfortunately nobody has a copy of CompAdventurer. If we did, I'd totally have one of those.

PhaedrusXY

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2009, 04:16:36 PM »
I've been working on an ECL 12 archer for a new PbP starting here, and I've been pouring over things for good gear ideas, too. I'm going with an Ardent gish with one level of ranger (wands, Track for Slayer PrC, skills), and here is what I have down for equipment so far:

Items: Gloves of Dex +2 and Str +2 (8,000), Periapt of Wis +2 (4,000), +1 Deepcrystal Composite Longbow w/Wand Chamber (+4 Str)(3,900), Cloak of Resistance +3 (9,000), Amulet of Health +2 (4,000), Ring of Evasion (20,000), Eternal Wand of Heroics (?), Boots of Speed (10,000), Healing Belt (750 gp), Monk's Belt (13,000), Oil of Bless Weapon x5 (250 gp), Efficient Quiver (1800), MW tools (+2 circ.): Concentration, Psicraft, MS, Spot, Listen, Concentration, Tumble, Sense Motive, Autohypnosis (450 gp), Lesser Metapsionic Rod of Extend (3000)

other eternal wands I'm considering: Sign (+4 ini, cleric), Nerveskitter (+5 ini, wiz)

Wands (8250 gp total):
[spoiler]1st: Camouflage (+10 circ. hide, 10 min), Delay Poison (1 hr), Resist Energy (10 min, resist 10), Embrace the Wild (low-light vision, blindsense 30' or scent, +2 unnamed listen and spot, 10 min), Eyes of the Avoral (+8 racial Spot, 10 min), Guided Shot (normally in Wand Chamber)(ignore range, concealment, cover, for 1 round, swift action), Hawkeye (+50% range, +5 comp. Spot, 10 min), Omen of Peril (divination), Surefoot (+10 comp. to Balance, Climb, Jump, Tumble, don't lose Dex to AC when climbing, 10 min), Hunter's Mercy (swift action, next shot autohits and threatens a crit), Lesser Vigor (not a ranger spell)
[/spoiler]

Psionic Tattoos (assuming James allows the Getting Wired stuff for permanent ones): Keen Edge, Touchsight


I'm still debating what exactly to put on the bow. I know everyone raves about Splitting, but I'm still waffling on whether to get it because a) it is cheesy and overpowered, b) there are lots of other cool abilities I'd like to get, like Smoking, Eager, etc; and c) I'm a bit wary of putting most of my money into one item. He'll also have Greater Psionic Shot, a Deep Crystal Weapon, and a wand of Hunter's Mercy, meaning he can dish out the pain fairly hard with just one shot, so I might get things that add to that capacity.

I think I might start my own thread for suggestions, also.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2009, 04:22:01 PM by PhaedrusXY »
[spoiler]
A couple of water benders, a dike, a flaming arrow, and a few barrels of blasting jelly?

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[/spoiler]

Operation Shoestring

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2009, 04:34:10 PM »
What book is sign from?

PhaedrusXY

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2009, 04:44:47 PM »
[spoiler]
A couple of water benders, a dike, a flaming arrow, and a few barrels of blasting jelly?

Sounds like the makings of a gay porn film.
...thanks
[/spoiler]

ksbsnowowl

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #10 on: May 03, 2009, 08:51:58 PM »
I never did fix the formatting after porting it over here from 339, but check out the Archer Build Thread linked in my sig.  That might give you a few ideas of handy things.  If you have access to any 3.5 material, Splitting, from Champions of Ruin, is awesome (though may yet be out of your wealth abilities at 10th level).

Edit: here is the link

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=194.0
« Last Edit: May 03, 2009, 08:56:48 PM by ksbsnowowl »
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KSB Snow Owl's Archer Build thread

The_Mad_Linguist

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #11 on: May 04, 2009, 01:34:55 AM »
If at all possible, snag Hank's Energy Bow.  (I love web content, it's so easy to access)


Composite for any strength, arrows with 2d6 force damage, plus you automatically get to use power attack with it.


Oh, and if you get your UMD high enough (emulating a cleric sacrificing a spell slot, which is just as legit as the given example of emulating turn undead to create holy water) you don't need true believer.  Given how ridiculously useful UMD is, consider it.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2009, 06:18:03 AM by The_Mad_Linguist »
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Vinom

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #12 on: May 04, 2009, 01:46:59 AM »
I'd try and snag a magical returning arrow, I forget how high the equivalate returning is, and I know it usually doesn't work on arrows... but it's still a fun little cheese.

A player once asked me if there was any way to make a Tarrasque more evil... 3 sessions later he was stoned with D20s as the PC led an exidus out of the path of a Dire Tarrasque of Legendary Wonder.

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #13 on: May 06, 2009, 12:44:39 AM »
I'd try and snag a magical returning arrow, I forget how high the equivalate returning is, and I know it usually doesn't work on arrows... but it's still a fun little cheese.
Raptor Arrow - 6,006 gp.
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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #14 on: May 06, 2009, 01:45:25 AM »
Yup, and add in a wand chamber...
A player once asked me if there was any way to make a Tarrasque more evil... 3 sessions later he was stoned with D20s as the PC led an exidus out of the path of a Dire Tarrasque of Legendary Wonder.

Quote from:  Sarda the Sage
You're a quick thinker and spiteful, I can respect that. You won't be killed, Bikke

Never trust a smiling laughing chuckling grinning emotionless drunk, you know what Never Trust a DM!

78% of DM's started their first campaign in a tavern. If you're one of the 22% that didn't, copy and paste this into your signature

Pulling off Pun-pun in 26 rounds

N00bs, because all gamers have to start somewhere

"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from Science!"

Remember, Mobs are at least as stupid as their dumbest member.

Lycanthromancer

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Re: Level 10 Archer gear
« Reply #15 on: May 07, 2009, 01:18:10 PM »
"Bow of the Wintermoon" (3400 gp; in the MIC) is a composite longbow that auto-adjusts to your Strength rating. Add strength of my enemy to it, and your damage will scale the more hits you get in (also a nice debuff).

You could also make it a deep crystal bow (1000 gp), elvencraft (which, for 300 gp, will allow you to use it as a quarterstaff, from RotW), and nab the Item Familiar or Ancestral Weapon feats, which should allow you to augment the bow without an XP cost, and you won't have to rely on crafters.

Also, check the Magic Item Compendium. There are a number of items in there you might be interested in which will allow you to deal additional damage to your foes. A piercer cloak (900 gp, adds +1d6 dmg when you're on higher ground than your enemies; add it to a cloak of resistance without the +50% gp penalty and great for flying archers), greater weapon augmentation crystal of energy assault (6000 gp; acid or electricity, for preference; adds +1d6 dmg, and penalizes those stricken), or gauntlets of giantfelling (2000 gp, which deals additional damage (+1, 2, or 3d6) depending on the side difference between you and your foe).

There are others, but those are the cheapest ones I can think of off-hand.

Also, check out the chronocharms.

(Also, Greater/Psionic Shot.)
« Last Edit: May 07, 2009, 01:20:24 PM by Lycanthromancer »
[spoiler]Masculine men like masculine things. Masculine men are masculine. Therefore, liking masculine men is masculine.

I dare anyone to find a hole in that logic.
______________________________________
[/spoiler]I'm a writer. These are my stories. Some are even SFW! (Warning: Mostly Gay.)
My awesome poster collection. (Warning, some are NSFW.)
Agita's awesome poster collection.
[spoiler]
+1 Lycanthromancer
Which book is Lycanthromancer in?
Lyca ... is in the book. Yes he is.
 :D
shit.. concerning psionics optimization, lycan IS the book
[/spoiler]