Arcane Archer build

[Shadowscale]

So, using the fighter archer archetype and and say some levels of magus, what would be the best way to build a damage specialization build of this class while taking all the levels of it, would order of the bow initiate help?

Any good feats or anything for it? Worth taking elf as a race?

[Psyren]

I honestly don't think Archer is worthwhile for this - ideally you only want a single level of Fighter (see below for build) so you won't get any benefits, and even if you had more than one, there just isn't much there to recommend. Hawkeye's bonus is tiny, and the maneuvers you get to do at range with Trick Shot are all pretty weak. Worst of all, Archer is not compatible with the far superior Lore Warden because both replace Bravery. A single level in Lore Warden meanwhile gets you more skill points and all knowledges, and the proficiency changes won't matter because you'll be using light armor and ignoring shields anyway. Once you get a Mithral Shirt + Arcane Armor Training, you will have great AC and no spell failure.

The Arcane Archer build I recommend is Lore Warden Fighter 1/Wizard 5/Eldritch Knight 3 for entry. This will get you to the 6 BAB you need for Arcane Archer with only two CL lost, which you can make up via Magical Knack. From there, take only 4 levels of Arcane Archer - that way you get to Imbue Arrow, the meat of the AA build, as well as Seeker Arrows and elemental Enhanced Arrows, all while still getting access to 9th-level spells by 20.

The final build would be LW Fighter 1/Wiz 5/EK 3/AA 4/EK+7. (9th level spells, BAB 17.)


As for Magus, I can't recommend that either - the only Magus that really interacts with archery is the Myrmidarch, which is very weak. If you're going to go ranged magus, you may want to just go straight Myrmidarch instead, but even then I would recommend a one-handed ranged weapon (e.g. throwing knives) so you can use ranged spellstrike with your spell combat. As there aren't any one-handed bows, you won't get a lot out of mixing this in with AA.

EDIT: You might be able to pull off Myrmidarch + AA using a race with more than 2 hands though, e.g. Kasatha. Unfortunately, spell combat specifies a weapon held in one hand even then.