Making the best fighter archer

[PoeticDwarf]

I have one simple question.
Is there a nice idea for a good fighter archer.
Multiclass isn't a problem, something like assassin 3 with expertise in stealth is very nice of course.

[DethBySquirl]

Crossbow Expert shenanigans seems to be popular for ranged sorts around here, usually involving either dual wielding hand crossbows or using a hand crossbow and a shield. 2x attacks a round (potentially at level 1 for a Variant Human) is nice.

Personally, I'm a fan of Ranger over Fighter for archery builds, because Rangers get a bunch of spells and class features that increase your damage and make you good at taking out a bunch of dudes.

Fighter/Rogue is decent if you want to be really good at murdering one dude in particular. Using Action Surge during the Assassinate autocrit window is solid nova, especially when you add Battlemaster maneuvers on top of it (since the Superiority Dice damage is also multiplied on a crit). If you're fighting something with low enough AC and/or you're getting a bunch of pre-initiative buffs from party members, the Sharpshooter damage on top of that is pretty great. You could drop a BBEG in a round if you roll well enough.

[TheOOB]

usually involving either dual wielding hand crossbows or using a hand crossbow and a shield

There is literally no benefit to dual wielding hand crossbows with crossbow expert. You just fire the same one multiple times.

[CyberThread]

There is literally no benefit to dual wielding hand crossbows with crossbow expert. You just fire the same one multiple times.



heh you must be new to this rule set. You can fire the same one within one attack string. That is why you have two, you can make two attacks in one round.

[SharkForce]

heh you must be new to this rule set. You can fire the same one within one attack string. That is why you have two, you can make two attacks in one round.

no, you don't need two. it's official now. it is also official that you can't use a shield with them.

which doesn't stop anyone from houseruling however they want, of course, but the default assumption should pretty much always be that official is what is being discussed unless otherwise mentioned (that being the only common basis for discussion that we have by default).

[Ardantis]

There is literally no benefit to dual wielding hand crossbows with crossbow expert. You just fire the same one multiple times.

That was in a Sage Advice recently. You basically only get extra attacks by wielding a single crossbow.

[Steampunkette]

I understand that's the decision. But as it's a stupid*** decision I've chosen to ignore it!

:P

More seriously: Battlemaster Fighters make excellent archers.

[Naanomi]

Valor bards as well, when they poach a few ranger archery spells.

[CNagy]

Variant Human Battle Master Fighter with 4 levels of Hunter Ranger is my immediate thought. Use a long bow for distance engagements and a hand crossbow for when things get more close combat. Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert for feats. Despite needing Wisdom to multiclass, you can ignore it once it is at 13 and just use your spell slots for Hunter's Mark.

--Battle Master has maneuvers that can be applied to your ranged attacks.
--Horde Breaker will give you an extra free attack once per turn so long as two of your enemies are side-by-side. It makes a half-decent substitute for the extra attack you are delaying between 5th and 11th level Fighter. Edit: You can use the Battle Master's Pushing Attack to help create a situation where you can use Horde Breaker.
--Crossbow Expert will give you the bonus action attack with the Hand Crossbow. You don't have a whole lot of other uses for your bonus action anyway. This should probably be your level 1 feat.
--Sharpshooter is a good source of damage and will let you use your hand crossbow out to its full 120 range without penalty.

Attacks@1st: 2 (action + bonus action)
@5: 3 (Extra Attack action + bonus action)
@8: 4* (Horde Breaker + Extra Attack action + bonus action)
@14: 5* (Extra Attack(2) + Horde Breaker + bonus)

The last 6 levels are pretty much free. If you take Fighter all the way to 16, you end up with 7 ASIs on what is essentially a character that only cares about Dex. If you take Rogue 4 levels, you end up with 6 ASIs, 2d6 sneak attack damage, some expertise, Cunning Action, and either Assassinate or another effective level of spellcasting (2nd level slots). Seems like a good trade, actually, and you can probably weave them in earlier at the expense of delaying your 5th attack.

[djreynolds]

How good is volley? It sounds like Legolas going to town on some orcs. I just don't see taking fighter if you don't go to level 11 for that 3rd attack. And I think ranger 11 for volley or fighter 11 for that 3rd attack seems to be best. Adding the skulker feat, sharpshooter, alert and mobile feats seem a must along with maxing dexterity. Assassin is next for stealth, auto crit sneak attacks and expertise in stealth and perception. I would love the idea of warlock or bard but I'm unsure of how to get the above feats and max dexterity score without dumping charisma and even strength to some degree.

[Easy_Lee]

I agree that ranger would be the ideal choice because of the wide variety of options. Lightning arrow, volley, fog cloud, a lot of what rangers can do is difficult to replicate on a fighter.

[djreynolds]

Say that again. A ranger with bow just feels right. A hunter. A fighter with a bow is the guy up on the parapet wall or in the back ranks in formation. Guard duty sucks.

[Slipperychicken]

I'd take a battlemaster crossbow-user, then use precision attack with the sharpshooter ability. Whenever you miss by 5 or less as a result of sharpshooter, throw +1d8 onto the attack roll and most likely hit.

[AvatarVecna]

1. Valor Bard. Poach spells from the ranger list (especially Swift Quiver), take War Caster, and proceed to dominate the battlefield while playing your one-stringed harp.

2. Champion Fighter, for a DPR machine.

3. Battlemaster Fighter. Choose your maneuvers right, and you have a quiver full of tricks you can pull. It also helps to have a quiver full of actual trick arrows, but YMMV there.

4. Hunter Ranger. There's lots of spells you can attach to your arrows, and lots of spells to enhance your archery. Become the bow-wielding badass you know you're supposed to be.

5. Hunter Ranger/Assassin Rogue. Because you can never have enough snipers. For an alternative with a similar feel, go Battlemaster Fighter/Assassin Rogue. Or, you know, you could just dump the baggage and go straight Assassin Rogue, but then you miss out on the fighting style (and potentially the spellcasting).

[coredump]

Hunter5/Rogue5 (whatever order you want, but try to get to ranger 5 quickly)
Battlemaster 3-4 (depending on if you want/need the ASI)
Rest Rogue