Bard Archer?

[Tibbaerrohwen]

So I'll be playing with a really REALLY large group in a few weeks. It's nice to have lots of back up, but all the roles are filled and I don't want to step on anyone's toes. All that's really left is long range combat and minor buffing. With this in mind, I'm thinking maybe Bard archer (going into Arcane Archer perhaps) but I'm not sure how well this would work.

Does anyone have any ideas for a Bard archer?

Thanks.

[dgnslyr]

My knee-jerk reaction tells me Arcane Archer is a bad class, because it doesn't advance spellcasting.

Hmm, I've never considered it before, but being a bard with a good Inspire Courage fueling Dragonfire Inspiration would put some weight behind that volley of arrows. It's less finicky than sneak attack/skirmish, too. What kind of perform skill fits an archer? Perform(Witty One-Liner)?

[gorfnab]

Bard 8/ Arcane Archer 2/ Sublime Chord 2/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Sacred Exorcist or Ruathar 3
At 20: BAB 16 and 9th level spells. Spamming Antimagic Field arrows is fun.

[Flickerdart]

Sonic Weapon is good when combined with Lyric Thaumaturge(?) and Heighten Spell, to slap a bunch of d6es on your arrows. You'll definitely want to be Fey so that you take Charming the Arrow, and Slippers of Battledancing are a must. Bow of Song is a trap, don't buy it. If you want to focus more on the Bardic side of things, bog-standard Dragonfire Inspiration op plus tons of attacks from a bow is where you want to be.

[Gwendol]

I have a bard archer: Ranger 2/Bard X.

The two levels of ranger gives you the necessary proficiencies and the rapid shot feat while not loosing out on skill points. Pump up your inspire courage as much as the games allow, pick your favorite bard spells and you're off.

Perform song or oratory is good if you have your hands occupied most of the time.

[kulosle]

I can't believe I didn't think of this build sooner. The bard archer actually sounds like it would make the best archer because it can attack from any distance and still slap on a ton of d6s onto it's attacks.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Silverbrow Human from Dragon Magic, get the Dragonblood subtype and keep the bonus feat. Not exactly necessary if you can take two flaws (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm), but still good to have.

Savage Bard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantSavageBard) is mechanically superior to PHB Bard, but completely optional. Maybe use Perform: Chant, or he could just walk around with a whistle in his mouth, which would be extremely fitting if you inspire sonic damage (see below).

The following feats are absolutely necessary: Dragonfire Inspiration (DM), Melodic Casting (CM), Song of the Heart (ECS). If you're not playing a dragonblooded race, you'll also need Dragontouched (DM), which allows you to take Draconic Heritage (RotD) to switch your Dragonfire Inspiration damage to another energy type, preferably sonic. You also need to get a Badge of Valor (MIC) and learn the spell Inspirational Boost (SC). At level 3 you'll be adding +4d6 energy damage to everyone's attacks. Words of Creation (BoED) is highly recommended if you're good aligned. You can take it at level 6, to increase the energy damage to +7d6 (the Badge of Valor gets added on after its doubled).

Archery feats like Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, etc. should fill in the rest. I'd actually go with Gorfnab's build but dip two levels of Fighter instead of taking Arcane Archer, preferably right after Bard 4, to get a few more archery feats early on. Most Inspire-focused Bard builds would do well to pick up Wild Cohort (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) and/or Obtain Familiar (CA) + Improved Familiar (CW), but in a huge party those would probably slow down combat too much. You should also take Practiced Spellcaster.

Another tactic is to get Lingering Song to have two Inspire Courage effects going simultaneously, the normal +X to attack and damage rolls, and also a +Xd6 Dragonfire Inspiration. You would start out with Inspirational Boost and Inspire Courage the first round for +X attack and damage, and on the second round you stop inspiring and use Inspirational Boost and Inspire Courage again with Dragonfire Inspiration, and activate the Badge of Valor to increase it. The +X would last ten rounds from when the +Xd6 starts, which is typically enough to last an entire encounter. If the +X runs out, you can stop your +Xd6 and start up the +X again, and the +Xd6 would last another ten rounds from when you started the fresh +X effect. You'll end up using twice as many daily uses of bardic music per encounter this way, and spending extra rounds starting your songs instead of attacking or casting spells, but the benefit to the rest of the party is well worth it. If there are multiple Bards they can stack different types of songs this way, one can just add +X to attack and damage, another can add +Xd6 fire damage, and another can add +Xd6 sonic damage, etc.

Useful spells include typical choices like Glitterdust and Haste. If you're inspiring sonic damage you should consider using Creaking Cacophony (SC), which causes creatures in its 40-ft. radius area to take +50% extra sonic damage for its duration. I'd just pick a useful combat spell at every level and fill out the rest with utility and social interaction spells.

[Optimator]

Be careful, though, with Song of the White Raven, Inspirational Boost, and the Badge of Valor. Unless you have a DM that allows you to trade down actions (like mine, and myself when I DM) you may not get to use all these to their fullest effect. It's still good to have all of them.

[kulosle]

Am I crazy or was there a way to activate bardic music as part of a spell action? I swear there was. And you can activate the badge as an immediate action which you do once your turn is over and then it uses up you next turns swift action which is worth it. I do hate when DMs don't let you trade down actions. Bards get tricky then.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Be careful, though, with Song of the White Raven, Inspirational Boost, and the Badge of Valor. Unless you have a DM that allows you to trade down actions (like mine, and myself when I DM) you may not get to use all these to their fullest effect. It's still good to have all of them.

Song of the White Raven says you can activate inspire courage as a swift action, but not that you must do so. It still works just fine, you use Inspirational Boost (swift), start inspiring (standard), use a move action for whatever, and at the beginning of the next person's turn you activate the Badge of Valor (immediate). Note that Song of the White Raven isn't even included in any build that doesn't use Crusader or Warblade, neither of which have even been mentioned in this thread.

[Piggy Knowles]

Even without Lyric Thaumaturge or Arcane Archer/Sublime Chord, a Silverbrow Human Bard 20 with Dragonfire Inspiration, bardic knack, and Knowledge Devotion is a pretty consistently excellent archer. I also like Lingering Song, if I've got the feats for it, so that I can activate Inspire Courage, stop singing, then activate DFI.

[Flickerdart]

Am I crazy or was there a way to activate bardic music as part of a spell action? I swear there was. And you can activate the badge as an immediate action which you do once your turn is over and then it uses up you next turns swift action which is worth it. I do hate when DMs don't let you trade down actions. Bards get tricky then.
There's a spell (Sonorous Hum?) that lets you activate music as a move action for its duration, if that's what you mean.

[Human Paragon 3]

Dip Marshal for +Cha to ranged attacks.

[Piggy Knowles]

Dip Marshal for +Cha to ranged attacks.

Marshal doesn't give +Cha to ranged attacks. The only aura that provides a bonus to ranged attacks is Steady Hand, which is a major aura, and only goes up by +1 every ~7ish levels.

[elvengunner69]

Bard 8/ Arcane Archer 2/ Sublime Chord 2/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Sacred Exorcist or Ruathar 3
At 20: BAB 16 and 9th level spells. Spamming Antimagic Field arrows is fun.

Does that effect other party members too or just the baddies?

[Flickerdart]

Does that effect other party members too or just the baddies?
Everyone. It's a normal AMF, except that the effect originates from the point that the arrow strikes, instead of yourself. Which means that on their turn, the enemy can just walk 10ft over and not have the AMF problem anymore, unless you stop them from doing so somehow.

[Metahuman1]

When you can afford it, invest in Hanks Bow form the stat out of the Dungeons and Dragons Animated series characters. Let's you tack on some two handed power attack damage, not have to worry about ammo, and deal a base of 2d6 force damage.


Pretty Spiffy for a ranged attacker.

[Sir_Chivalry]

DM approves this character, and as long as the rules hold out, this build is fine by me.

[Lord Ruby34]

Everyone. It's a normal AMF, except that the effect originates from the point that the arrow strikes, instead of yourself. Which means that on their turn, the enemy can just walk 10ft over and not have the AMF problem anymore, unless you stop them from doing so somehow.

Well, the arrow would probably be stuck in them, so wouldn't the antimagic field move with them?

[Flickerdart]

Well, the arrow would probably be stuck in them, so wouldn't the antimagic field move with them?
The spell is centered where the arrow lands, as per the text of Imbue Arrow. You could Sovereign Glue the arrow to the target and they could still walk a couple feet thata way and not care anymore.

[Zaq]

It has been mentioned, but I'll mention it once more: be a killoren and take Charming the Arrow, allowing you to use CHA for attack rolls. The killoren smite attack (from Aspect of the Destroyer) lets you add 2x CHA to your attack rolls. Several times per day. At level 1.

[Flickerdart]

It has been mentioned, but I'll mention it once more: be a killoren and take Charming the Arrow, allowing you to use CHA for attack rolls. The killoren smite attack (from Aspect of the Destroyer) lets you add 2x CHA to your attack rolls. Several times per day. At level 1.
The smite is limited in two ways, IIRC: once an hour, and HD times per day. So at 1st level, you're still only getting it once.

It also only works on a set of creature types. Granted, that set is a big one, but if you're planning to fight any hippies, then your smite's no good.

[Zaq]

The smite is limited in two ways, IIRC: once an hour, and HD times per day. So at 1st level, you're still only getting it once.

It also only works on a set of creature types. Granted, that set is a big one, but if you're planning to fight any hippies, then your smite's no good.

Incorrect, sir. It's 1/hour, yes, but it's CHA times per day, not HD times per day. In the long run, you're better off with HD times per day, sure, but at low levels, it's very, very nice to have more than one smite per day.

[Flickerdart]

Oh, was it CHA/day? Huh. It's been a while since I played a Killoren.

[Gandolfi Feesh]

Dude.... Grab a cannon, a floating disc wand, a portable hole and a **** load of cannon balls.

[kulosle]

sorry couldn't resist mentioning this. (http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=699&tbm=isch&tbnid=uJe__VAsmXvPPM:&imgrefurl=http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19572998/Ethics_of_Inventing_a_Superweapon&docid=z1eFdb0DBqHwgM&imgurl=http://unicorn.us.com/alex/dnd/superweapon_arrowhead.gif&w=580&h=420&ei=nvHtTuCxLsqziQKQp7z_Aw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=199&vpy=164&dur=2687&hovh=191&hovw=264&tx=141&ty=106&sig=101634289403827413631&page=1&tbnh=161&tbnw=222&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0)