Powerful Archer Build - Help Needed

[Yondu]

Hello,
I would like to create a Archer based on strength :
- Race ( at max LA+1, in my mind Goliath will be an idea...)
- Class max 2 ( Full BAB) and 1 PrC max
- No Dragon Magazine or Homebrew.
- No ToB (My DM dislike it, :frown::frown::frown:
My idea is to compensate low dex with full BAB and take advantage of high STR in full attack.
I'm open at any proposal ...

[Vaz]

We have a thread for that (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284283).

[Piggy Knowles]

Pure Strength-based archery is tough - there are very few ways to get Strength to your ranged attack bonuses with pure archery. (Thrown weapons, on the other hand, are another matter.)

You can get around most of the feat-based Dexterity requirements pretty easily - a two-level dip into ranger gives you Rapid Shot without needing the pre-req, and you can get an item that will grant you the benefits of Precise Shot, so you don't even need to take Point Blank Shot. Alternatively, Shape Soulmeld (Sighting Gloves) + Open Least Chakra gives you Precise Shot and, if you've got any essentia, a nice damage bonus.

Anyhow, there are two easy ways you can go about doing this:

1. Come up with enough attack bonuses that your AB doesn't really matter, and focus on Strength for damage.


Example builds: Sniper-style archers (see the last page in the thread Vaz quoted, or ksbsnowowl's thread linked in the first page, for some examples of this), who focus on a couple of very powerful auto-critting attacks. Since they work based off of crazy damage multipliers, every point of Strength bonus results in something like 6 points of extra damage, and since they focus on one good shot, they can get away with using True Strike and similar spells to buff up their attack bonus to guarantee the hit.

My own take on the sniper archer is currently Ranger 2/Wilderness Rogue 4/Deepwood Sniper 7/Chameleon 7, with the variant rogue that learns feats instead of sneak attack dice. The basic combo is Murderous Intent (all crits against your favored enemies are automatically confirmed) + Extra Favored Enemy picked up via the floating chameleon bonus feat + Hunter's Mercy (the next successful attack you make with a bow automatically crits). Deepwood Sniper and kaorti resin boost the critical multiplier of your arrows, resulting in an automatic critical that deals x6 damage.

2. Find something other than Dexterity to drive your attack bonuses, and use size-increasing magic to boost your Strength.

Size-boosting magic (especially the Giant Size spell, if you can get your hands on it), is a great way to boost your Strength like crazy, not to mention your base weapon damage - but it usually comes with Dex penalties, which combine poorly with the fact that you're already taking size penalties to attack.

Enter feats like Zen Archery, which let you base your attack off of Wisdom instead of Dexterity, and some of the aforementioned ways of avoiding damage. This way you can benefit from the damage boosts of size-boosting magic without being too hurt by the side effects.


Example builds: I've got a few Zen Archer builds on the thread that Vaz linked. For a non-ToB example, check out the Psycarnum Archer. It's a Ranger 2/Psychic Warrior 18, with Zen Archery and some incarnum-based PP recharge and free augment tricks. Among other things, it can turn into an Arrow Demon (two full attacks each round!) and then augment itself up to gargantuan or colossal via Expansion, dealing a ton of damage with its many, many attacks.

EDIT: Just noticed that you're restricted to two base classes and one PrC. It'll be less powerful, because you won't have access to anywhere near as useful magic, but you could pull off a version of the sniper build with just Ranger/Rogue/Deepwood Sniper. You'll have to rely on ranger spells for your attack boosts, so I highly recommend getting a bow with a wand chamber (rangers don't have many spells per day), and maybe even taking Sword of the Arcane Order, which lets you prepare some wizard spells in those ranger slots. No picking up new favored enemies each day, either, but with Arcane Hunter and some decent campaign knowledge, you can probably get by.

[Emperor Tippy]

Wild Elf Druid using this variant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druid) is my preferred base for a Wis based archer.

[Darrin]

Race: Human, Azurin, Strongheart Halfling, Frostblood Orc/Half-Orc
1) Ranger 1. Feat: PB Shot. Bonus: Track. Human: Travel Devotion.
2) Ranger 2. Bonus: Rapid Shot.
3) Ranger 3. Feat: Precise Shot. Bonus: Endurance.
4) Ranger 4.
5) Sneak Attack Fighter 1.
6) Highland Stalker 1. Feat: Travel Devotion x2.
7) Highland Stalker 2.
8) Highland Stalker 3.
9) Highland Stalker 4. Feat: Swift Hunter.
10) Ranger 5.
11) Ranger 6. Bonus: Manyshot.
12) Ranger 7. Feat: Greater Manyshot.
13) Ranger 8.
14) Ranger 9.
15) Ranger 10. Feat: Improved Skirmish.
16) Ranger 11. Bonus: Improved Precise Shot.
17) Ranger 12.
18) Ranger 13. Feat: Improved Rapid Shot.
19) Ranger 14.
20) Ranger 15.

[Grayson01]

Wild Elf 5 levels of Duskblade then max out Arcane Archer. Use an Elf Crafted LongBow Composite (races of the wild) throw in all the ranged Feats you can.

[buttcyst]

scout class from complete adventurer, mix with ranger if you want, order of the bow initiate PrC, zen archery good for not using dex, other than that, composite bows with the according feats.

[Piggy Knowles]

Swift Hunter's never a bad way to go for an archer, although I don't necessarily think of them as specifically good options for dumping Dex. As highly mobile attackers who will probably be reliant on things like Tumble, they might not be my go-to in something like this.

I would definitely avoid Order of the Bow Initiate, though. It seems like it would be cool - +5d8 bonus damage! But it takes a standard action to use your ranged precision, meaning it doesn't work with full attacks, so you'll actually end up doing LESS damage than a standard archer. Even sniper-style archers have better options, and are probably dealing with longer ranges than OotBI allows.

Similarly, I wouldn't take Arcane Archer for this concept. 75% of its class features are able to be easily replicated with a single casting of greater magic weapon. And as it requires elf, it definitely doesn't fit the high-Strength style that you seem to be going for. A two level dip can be interesting in some builds, since there are some fun things you can do with Imbue Arrow, but that's about it.

[Talionis]

Take levels in Alchemical Savant (Magic of Eberon) then use Alchemical arrows. This can be like casting multiple spells per turn. Arrows aren't cheap, but can be sick Alpha Strikes.

[Yondu]

My idea was on first to have an archer with high strength, but not specialy high dex (15 to 17 for ex) relying on a big bow (great or oversized) or another to deal a lot of ranged damage...
Zen Archer seems to be a good idea with a cleric base however due to the feat requirement of the archer feat tree, I don't know think it viable, maybe it could be an interesting challenge...
Goliath scout / ranger could be also great as ranger bonus feat permit to skip the dex requirements...
Thanks to all, I will try to make it and submit it to your comments