Glass Cannon Archer

[Vogar Eol]

Just a random idea, but Barbarian's rage ability could be used to mee mighty properties on bows.

Yes, I was actually thinking about that last night. I was brainstorming more of an Axe thrower, however. Throwing axes could take Brutal Throw, and dump into Str/Int. Something like a 20 Barbarian / 10 Assassin.

[Sun Wukong]

And well, if you are going for 'very high' strength, getting Northlander Hewing costs just one feat - so you should be able to get Manyshot and some Extend Rage feats to make most out of your Rage and Brutal throw. Not sure if NH works with Brutal Throw - I don't think it does, but it is handy for melee whenever you run out stacks... or are short of cash. Or the party needs a tank.

[Vogar Eol]

I did some playing around with combinations including 3 levels of Ranger. It worked out best for total AB if I dropped one level of Assassin, kept all 9 levels of AA, and then lost 2 levels of Fighter. This lost 1d6 Death Attack, 2 damage, and drops to DC 28. It maintains the same AB, however, and gains more hitpoints.

I've been bouncing back and forth between which kind of elf to use. Honestly, Drow seems to work best... but with half-elf, I can lose some of the elven RP and a lot of the horse-face look.

Below is the 3 Ranger version, using Half-elf.
http://nwn2db.com/build/?261047

[Vogar Eol]

Too bad I can't take 3 levels of Hunter yet.

[Vogar Eol]

Thoughts on a 3 level dip into Rogue instead of Ranger? 2d6 sneak helps counter some damage lost, and Evasion...

...I promise I won't take EW, or use fullplate.

[chad878262]

Thoughts on a 3 level dip into Rogue instead of Ranger? 2d6 sneak helps counter some damage lost, and Evasion...

...I promise I won't take EW, or use fullplate.

Loses 1 BAB and a couple HP, as well as a free bow feat. Evasion may very well be worth it anyway.

[Vogar Eol]

That bow Feat can easily take the place of Able Learner. Removing Able Learn loses a lot of skill points, but it really doesn't mechanically hurt the build. This thing gets plenty of extra skill points to counter.

[metaquad4]

Something along this line is best:

http://nwn2db.com/build/?208350

You can play around with the stats. Taking dex to 28 and lowering STR to 16 nets you 51 raw AB, if you want more AB. And you can fiddle with dex and STR to go anywhere in between. I would bear in mind that you'll want to reserve all your gear for sneak gear, save the bow. So, don't anticipate on any STR boosting items. I wouldn't take strength more than what I put in the build above either. At minimum, you want upper 40s in AB in order to sustain manyshot. 50+ AB is fairly golden, but you can sustain 48.

Another route to take, is warsling sniper (which can do some intense damage as well).

I might build it later, but I'm visioning something around this:

12 Fighter/6 Warsling Sniper/4 Elemental Archer/8 Assassin.

[Vogar Eol]

Nice use of Elemental Archer there. I hadn't realized their requirements were as simple as that. Always assumed they had a spellcasting requirement.

Why does everyone assume 44 AB is low? I've seen plenty of melee builds here that end at 44 AB before you look at their weapons. Add a +4 bow, and it's 48. Cat's Grace, 50. Wands? Even higher. Manyshot, like the Power Attack line, can be used or not used.

Edit: Example of these kinds of melee builds that end at 44 AB. Granted, they get Expose Weakness....

http://nwn2db.com/build/?215982

[chad878262]

Yes and no... Even without IPA melee builds are doing some damage. Without manyshot your archer only gets two sneak attacks and without the sneak damage and manyshot your damage output stuffs dramatically.

And not to sound like a broken record, but expose weakness...

[Vogar Eol]

The damage per hit isn't terrible. Using my last build with Ranger in it and best obtainable gear... before sneak attacks:

1d8 (19-20/x3)
+6 dmg (Mighty)
+4 dmg (Enhancement)
+2 dmg (Specialization)
+2 dmg (Mastery)
+5 dmg (AA Feats)
+1d6 dmg (Arrow)

Total: 1d8 (19-20/x3) +19 +1d6
Range of 21 - 99 (max crit, physical arrow)

Average Sneak: +14 dmg
Average Hit: 27 dmg (41 dmg Sneak)
Average Crit: 81 dmg (95 dmg Sneak)

That's better than a lot of people I see running around barely hitting 20 dmg ever. The Elemental Archer version would do even better.

[Sun Wukong]

My archer at level 30, perhaps on some far distant day:

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1d8  (Longbow with unlimited mundane arrow...)
+3   (Mighty)
+4   (Enchantment Bonus)
= 11,5~

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1d6  (Shortbow of Magic, Epic)
+5   (Mighty)
+4   (Enchantment Bonus)
+1d4 (Arrows of Fire)
= 15~

Yes, going past 20~ points of damage with a bow is something of a struggle.

But if the right conditions are met, either of the two could be boosted by:

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+4   (Combat Strike, every 5 minutes for around 13 rounds.)
+7   (Favored Enemy)
+2d6 (Bane of Enemies)

So the longbow damage could be at:

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29,5~ (Both)
25,5~ (Favored Enemy only)
15,5~ (Combat Strike only)
11,5~ (With nothing to boost)

And the shortbow damage could be at:

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33~   (Both)
29,5~ (Favored Enemy only)
19~   (Combat Strike only)
15~   (With nothing to boost)

[Vogar Eol]

I do like Ranger, but I prefer to play with Favored Power Attack when going the distance with Ranger Levels. Otherwise, I mostly use them for dips for archery/two-weapon without the abilities to back them.

[metaquad4]

Having HiPs does mean you need less AB, but, I would never be comfortable on an archer with less than 47 AB, raw. Your damage comes from both manyshot, and the fact that you have the capacity on a bow to hit with many more attacks than most melee. Having lower AB just means lowering your damage potential. There is no real reason to do so, and more effective builds will have higher AB.

[chad878262]

1d8 (19-20/x3)
+6 dmg (Mighty)
+4 dmg (Enhancement)
+2 dmg (Specialization)
+2 dmg (Mastery)
+5 dmg (AA Feats)
+1d6 dmg (Arrow)

I don't think this is accurate (at least not entirely.

You are giving yourself +4 EB damage, does this stack with the +5 Imbue from AA (I don't think it does since both would be EB, but even if it did, are you going to find a steady supply of +4 EB, +1-6 Piercing arrows?) Assuming this, your damage, without considering crits is:

1-8+6+2+2+5+1-6 = 17-29 - any DR the enemy has. Average is ~23 damage per hit. Still not terrible, actually pretty solid with Manyshot. However, using manyshot in conjunction with your extra sneak damage makes that number look way prettier.