Best bow class from PHB

[Sigmar1]

so i want to make a bow user but only from PHB and PHB2 (i can possibly take a feat or two from an other book but not too many)
and also no crossclass is allowed

so what the best bow class? Ranger/Warrior/ Cleric/ whatever

i thought that a Cleric would be the best with Travel and Trickery domain. What your thoughts?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Cleric is good if you can get feats from Complete Divine, namely Persistent Spell and Divine Metamagic, and items from other books such as Nightsticks in Libris Mortis. Additionally you'll want the Spell domain and the Outsider creature type (Otherworldly feat, Savage Progression Aasimar, etc.) to use Greater Anyspell to prepare Draconic Polymorph, and Divine Metamagic: Persist it to become an Arrow Demon in MM3 for 24 hours at a time. You would also want Knowledge Devotion and many other non-PHB/PH2 feats, plus prestige classes like Divine Oracle, Seeker of the Misty Isle, and Contemplative.

Fighter is actually a decent choice with those limitations, as long as you can get ideal enchantments on your bow and/or a method of upgrading your own magical bow with necessary abilities. Between (Greater) Weapon Focus/Specialization, Ranged Weapon Mastery in PH2, and having enough bonus feats for all the good archery feats (Improved Rapid Shot in CW, Woodland Archer in RotW), it's usually better at archery than any other core class besides a Cleric with persistent buffs. I would use the Thug variant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#fighterVariantThug) in UA if possible, trade Ride for Tumble as a class skill (archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a) if you can, and always get the Dead Levels (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20061013a) class features whenever they're available. For upgrading your own bow, you can either take Ancestral Relic in BoED, or get Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm) and have a spellcaster in the party assist you in meeting the crafting prerequisites.

Try to eventually get an Elvencraft (RotW) Energy Bow (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227a) with the Speed and Splitting (Champions of Ruin) properties added, and check out the Archery Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=642.0) for more information.

[Telok]

Elf: wizard 12 / arcane archer 2

Alternately if you can snag the Elf and War cleric domains a pure cleric does just fine even without Complete Divine. Get up to Multishot and take Craft Wand to make divine wand of True Strike. With that, a good bow, and your spells you're a reasonably dangerous archer with full cleric casting.

Both of these are PH & DMG only at the base level except for the Elf domain which is from FR.

[Sigmar1]

Cleric is good if you can get feats from Complete Divine, namely Persistent Spell and Divine Metamagic, and items from other books such as Nightsticks in Libris Mortis. Additionally you'll want the Spell domain and the Outsider creature type (Otherworldly feat, Savage Progression Aasimar, etc.) to use Greater Anyspell to prepare Draconic Polymorph, and Divine Metamagic: Persist it to become an Arrow Demon in MM3 for 24 hours at a time. You would also want Knowledge Devotion and many other non-PHB/PH2 feats, plus prestige classes like Divine Oracle, Seeker of the Misty Isle, and Contemplative.



well i said i want one from Phb and PHB2 only and maybe 1-2 from an other book. Thanks for answering but that was almost 80% off the basic books :p . So you say that the fighter is the best bow user in these limitations? what about the ranger/barbarian/paladin class using bows? i forgot to mention that i want him for pure damage, not supporting or buffing (if there are any it would be great but not as a priority)

[StreamOfTheSky]

None of the PHB2 classes provide anything useful to an archer, unless your DM makes a variant duskblade that can arcane channel with a bow. The feats you want are mostly in core anyway (any build will want PBS, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, and later on Imp. Precise Shot). It's spells and magic items that you'd want to swipe from other books. Anyway, the best options:

Rogue: Requires a ring of blinking before it's really viable (and that the DM understands that once an arrow leaves your person, it ceases blinking and returns to the material plane b/c it's a mundane arrow again, so you don't suffer the miss chance), but after you get that, Rogue archer can do a lot of damage w/ sneak attack, though only from 30 ft away. Best non-core feat for rogue is Crossbow Sniper (PHB2) to get half dex to damage and double the sneak attack range. But then you need that plus Weapon Focus and Rapid Reload, another 3 feats on top of the ones I listed above. That's rough. You can take a shortcut w/ Hand Crossbow Focus (Drow of the Underdark), which gives Weapon Focus & Rapid Reload in a single feat, but for hand crossbow only (which is a pretty terrible weapon otherwise). If you can get the Sniper's Shot spell (Spell Compendium; Ranger 1, Sorc/Wiz 1, Spellthief 1), that is handy.... swift action to get sneak attack at any distance for 1 round. With some way to free up a hand for reloading (glove of storing or the much cheaper glove of the master strategist from Ghostwalk are good ways), you could even dual wield light or hand crossbows for more dakka...but also some more attack penalties.

Barbarian: If you can use the Whirling Frenzy variant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) of rage, this is good for a volley archer. That's really the only thing of note, though it's better than most other PHB 1/2 classes have to offer. You could take Extra Rage feat and drop out of Barb after 1, 2, or 4 levels (best breakpoints). The strength boost from rage will be useless unless you can get a bow that matches your strength modifier (Hank's Energy Bow from WotC online articles, or Bow of the Wintermoon, a fairly cheap relic from MIC).

Fighter 1 or Ranger 2 dip with Wizard into Eldritch Knight (eventually 10 levels) and Arcane Archer 2 (as soon as you can enter it): If this is even allowed with your "no crossclass" stipulation...
Does less damage than other builds (being able to cast haste and polymorph into a form with better str/dex helps, though), but gives all the utility of spellcasting. Arcane Archer 2 is just enough for their only class feature of note, Imbue Arrow (AA doesn't advance casting, so leave it after 2 levels). Since Imbue Arrow is always a standard action regardless of the area spell's casting time, it's a great way to quickly fire off spells w/ normally huge casting times, like Guards and Wards. It also offers a legit way for you to put an Antimagic Field on your arrow and hit someone else with it! :smallbiggrin:
You'd want Practiced Spellcaster feat if you can get it. If you're still playing after maxing out Eldritch Knight levels, go into Archmage if you can. Mastery of Shaping is nice w/ Imbue Arrow and Spell Power and Spell-like Ability are always good.

Fighter is only relevant for getting the needed feats faster and the +2 damage of Specialization. Ranger is a very mediocre archer w/ nothing much of benefit w/o non-core spell access and the Scout class with Swift Hunter feat.

Other magic weapon properties not mentioned above you'd want: Force (+2 cost; all arrows shot are now made of force and thus ignore damage reduction and wind walls; MIC) and Splitting (+3 cost; each arrow fired splits into two and you double your attacks...it's an incredible damage boost; Champions of Ruin)

Other spells of note besides Sniper's Eye:
Arrowmind - SpC; Ranger 1, Sorc/Wiz 1, Spellthief 1; immediate action and lasts min/level; lets you shoot w/o provoking AoOs and also threaten your natural reach with bow shots yourself.
Guided Shot - SpC; Ranger 1, Sorc/Wiz 1, Spellthief 1; swift action; you ignore all range increment penalties and anything less than total cover and total concealment for 1 round.
Hunter's Mercy - SpC; Ranger 1; Standard action; your first hit with a bow on your next turn is a critical hit regardless of the attack roll.
Hunter's Eye - PHB2; Ranger 1; swift action; gain +1d6 sneak attack per 3 caster levels for 1 round, stacks w/ any SA you have already.
Arrow Storm - SpC; Ranger 3; swift action; if you use a full round action after casting this, you can make one attack against every foe within the first range increment of your bow, up to a max number of targets equal to your character (not caster!) level. It's like Whirlwind Attack for bows.