Ultimate archer

[AmbientRaven]

Hey folks,

I'm helping a friend make an archer for a long running campaign, and I thought i would come here for some advice
At present I have 3 ideas in mind

17 Valor Bard/3 Fighter
Swift Quiver + Banishing smite, coupled with general spell nukes. 3 Dip into fighter for archery style, maneuvers (Push, Disarm, Trip)

17 Bard/3 Ranger (Halfling)
less damage output, but if you can ride your animal companion, could lead to some hilarity

20 Fighter
Seems sub par compared to Bard/Fighter hybrid, though at 20 doesn't require concentration

10 Valor Bard 10 Arcane Trickster
Burst damage all the way. 5D6 Sneak attack + Banishing smite for 5D10 next turn. Then swift quiver if the fight continues. Going AT means you keep spell levels as well. Resulting in a 15th level spell caster

Are there any i have missed?

Thanks for your time!

[BRKNdevil]

Why is it when we make all these threads about Ultimate X we always make it a 20 level build? How come we don't come up with a more realistic 10 to 15 Level build? Anyways, at level 20 i think all of those builds are sufficiently strong. Though a straight 20 fighter after level 11 would probably have 20 Dex and sharpshooter so i dunno. Getting a background with stealth would probably be a good idea, but the valor bard would be more able to do a lot of different things as well.

[AmbientRaven]

Why is it when we make all these threads about Ultimate X we always make it a 20 level build? How come we don't come up with a more realistic 10 to 15 Level build? Anyways, at level 20 i think all of those builds are sufficiently strong. Though a straight 20 fighter after level 11 would probably have 20 Dex and sharpshooter so i dunno. Getting a background with stealth would probably be a good idea, but the valor bard would be more able to do a lot of different things as well.

Because the campaign starts at level 7 and will run until level 20, so building for the future

[Rfkannen]

Well it depends what you mean by ultimate archer.

Personaly I love bards so I am biased towards them but here is my perspective.

17 Valor Bard/3 Fighter
Now this gives you a good combanination of damage and crowd control. I mean with this build you could manage a total of 6 atacks in a round, and add on to that archery fighting style that is quite a lot of damage. Of course maneuvers are great for controlling the enemy and overall that just makes this build great for doing a lot of things in an encounter. But of course you have the problem that you only have 1 action surge, 3 manuevers. and only 1 9th level spell. This leaves you with a lot of burst in a couple turns, but after that you are probably weaker at archery than a figher 20. But of course you do still have spells which let you do all kinds of stuff.


17 Bard/3 Ranger (Halfling)
This is a pretty good one if your set on a 3 level dip. Ride a ranged companion and your almost always out of reach. Now the major streangth of this one would be that while it still a good archer it also servs the roll of makeing your party live in the woods, as well as always finding your enemy. Generally a very strong choice, as it does give you a lot of cool flavorfull abilites as well as damage. However if your just going for in combat damage/cc you will be slightly weaker. YOu are pretty consistant though which was a weakness in the fighter dip.

20 Fighter
Just generally good, better archer probably but you do lose a lot of not archery things. Also not haveing swift quiver is pretty sad :(


10 Valor Bard 10 Arcane Trickster
Same idea as fighter but a little better i would say. You are completly awesome at archery, but I feel that loseing your level 9s arent worth it.

[AmbientRaven]

Thanks for the run down Rfkannen
I'll show my friend the builds + your run down and see what they decide to go with

Thanks heaps!

Edit: how do you get to 6 attacks a round? I thought 2 from basics and 2 from swift quiver

[BRKNdevil]

Thanks for the run down Rfkannen
I'll show my friend the builds + your run down and see what they decide to go with

Thanks heaps!

Edit: how do you get to 6 attacks a round? I thought 2 from basics and 2 from swift quiver

And another 2 from action surge, honestly though if you get an attack cantrip like Eldritch Blast you would then have 4 from that, and since i think you can only do 1 cantrip a round (I'm not sure) 2 from ranged and 2 more from swift quiver a total of 8 and if you do get more than that, i suggest going 2 attack cantrips for 8 plus bonus action gravy

[Bakakiba]

10 Valor Bard 10 Arcane Trickster
Burst damage all the way. 5D6 Sneak attack + Banishing smite for 5D10 next turn. Then swift quiver if the fight continues. Going AT means you keep spell levels as well. Resulting in a 15th level spell caster

Are there any i have missed?

Thanks for your time!

You would have the slots of a level 13 caster, as arcane trickster is a 1/3 caster, not 1/2.

[Theodoxus]

Kinda depends on party makeup. I know in my last game, the archer rogue out damaged the archer ranger because I was playing a defensive fighter and the rogue nearly always had sneak attack going. The archer could get close, between hunter's mark and colossus slayer, but... I'd still say the rogue is going to win out.

That said, I'd do one of two things. Fighter 6/Rogue 14 - 2 feats from fighter, 4 from rogue, Archery combat style, 7d6 sneak. Maneuvers or crit range - guess it depends on how often you roll a 19 ;) 2 attacks a round to generate sneak chances is nice! Other bennies, of course.

Or, Ranger 3/Rogue 17 - Archery Style, Hunter Archetype for Colossus Slayer, three spells (hunter's mark 3/day isn't horrible) and 9d6 sneak... Only 1 attack (unless you go Thief, at 17 you can go twice during your first round...) So, less damage potential with only one attack (though you could go Ranger 5/Rogue 15 for the extra attack, loss of 1 die of sneak and you 17th level archetype ability...)

So, more options, if you have reliable sneak partner to stand toe to toe with badguys...

[Ramshack]

Been really enjoying my 3 Fighter/17 Rogue Build.

Second Wind
Archery Fighting Style
Action Surge
Battle Master
-Precision Strike
-Trip Attack
-Evasive Footwork

Assassin Sub Class for Rogue

Feats:
Alert
Sharpshooter
Skulker

With the Rogues Cunning Action You really get a lot of tactical play, to set up your sneak attacks especially combined with the Halflings ability to hide behind Larger Creatures and Skulkers ability to hide when lightly obscured. I normally find a way to hide between each turn and set up a new sneak attack (and more importantly those auto crits) about 90% of the time which is huge for both offense and defense. When you do get caught you can you use a reaction to half incoming damage, and cunning action to take the disengage action, move then use your action to hide and set up for next round.

You can also use your battle maneuvers to create distance, escape foes or increase accuracy. A favorite combo of mine is surprise round you use your trip attack, knock them prone, get auto crit + sneak attack, then action surge and get sneak attack again. (My DM ruled I get sneak attack again on action surge, if a fighter can get another 4 attacks I can get another Sneak attack lol)

[Bakakiba]

You can also use your battle maneuvers to create distance, escape foes or increase accuracy. A favorite combo of mine is surprise round you use your trip attack, knock them prone, get auto crit + sneak attack, then action surge and get sneak attack again. (My DM ruled I get sneak attack again on action surge, if a fighter can get another 4 attacks I can get another Sneak attack lol)

Isn't there a penalty for attacking a prone target with a ranged attack?

[Ramshack]

Isn't there a penalty for attacking a prone target with a ranged attack?

Yes you get disadvantage when attacking a prone target from range, but my DM ruled that the sharpshooter feat removes the penalty in the spirit of ignoring 1/2 and 3/4 cover.

[SliceandDiceKid]

I feel like light foot halfling champion fighter 5/15 assassin rogue is the way to go. Archery style, Crit on a 19-20, reroll on 1, two attacks per action. So long as you have a melee buddy granting you sneak damage.

If anyone has the swift quiver spell, you're practically golden.