List of items that improve archery or grant archery-related bonuses / abilities?

[skunk3]

Hey gang!

I am on the lookout for a comprehensive list of items that improve archery skills and/or grant related bonuses / abilities / feats. I have a few that I've found already but I know I'm probably missing some!

Any help is appreciated!

[Telonius]

Yuukale put together an Archery Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?269705-Toxophilite-The-Archery-Handbook) a while back. Not sure how comprehensive it is, but it's a good place to start.

[Anthrowhale]

You might find the Tiefling Archer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22350680&postcount=1481) interesting.

[Darrin]

Archery tends to be pretty gear-dependent. In particular, you'll want to know if the Splitting enhancement (Champions of Ruin) is available, and get that on an Elvencraft (300 GP, Races of the Wild) Serrenwood (4000 GP, BoED) composite longbow ASAP. If you have any ranger levels, add a few wand chambers (100 GP, Dungeonscape) for instant of power (Forge of War), guided shot (Spell Compendium), hunter's eye (PHBII), etc.

Oh, almost forgot... make sure your middle name is Hank, so you can use Hank's Energy Bow (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227a). It doesn't come with Splitting, but it does do force damage, Power Shot, and never runs out of ammo. Another bow to consider would be the Bone Bow from Frostburn, but go over the description with your DM and ask him if it auto-adjusts to your Strength rating or not.

After that, equipment suggestions:

Head:

Scout's Headband (3400 GP, MIC). +2 competence bonus on Spot checks, and some charges/day abilities, including 1 minute of true seeing.

Helm of the Hunter (9000 GP, MIC). Gain the benefits of the Far Shot feat, a +5 competence bonus on Spot checks, and 4 hours of low-light vision 1/day.

Face:

Third Eye Surge (2100 GP, MIC). Charged item that provides a +2/+3/+4 insight bonus on Str/Dex-based checks and on weapon damage for 1 round. Note that the text doesn't specify "melee weapon damage", so this will also work on ranged attacks.

Goggles of Foefinding (2500 GP, MIC). Ignore your target's cover bonus to AC unless it's total cover.

Raptor's Mask (3500 GP, MIC). This mask offers a +5 *untyped* bonus rather than a competence or circumstance bonus, so it stacks with Helm of the Hunter. The immunity to blinded and dazzled effects could also be useful.

Horizon Goggles (8000 GP, MIC). As with Helm of the Hunter, grants you the benefits of the Far Shot feat, but doesn't give any bonus on Spot checks.

Throat:

Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker (500 GP, MIC). Once per day as a swift action, move up to half of your land speed. Even better, this movement does not provoke AoOs. Even if you already have a reliable method to move + full attack, having multiple methods is always a good idea. Unlike the Anklets of Translocation, there’s a 24-hour attunement period for chronocharms, so you can’t swap in a fresh one after every use. Fortunately, you can attach different types of chronocharms, such as the Celestial Wanderer, Fateweaver, and Grand Master.

Amber Amulet of Vermin: Giant Wasp (800 GP, MIC). For 10 rounds, you can ride on this mount to rain down death from above. Archery + flying vs. non-flyers = dead non-flyers.

Githborn Talisman (1800 GP, MIC). Similar to the Enemy Spirit Pouch, this talisman grants a +2 insight bonus on attacks and damage against aberrations. This might be worth it if your campaign is overflowing with aberrations or if you’re a githyanki/githzerai (in which case the bonus goes up to +4), but if not then you may want to look for some other kind of throatcandy.

Collar of Perpetual Attendance (2000 GP, Fabulous Cats! article (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c)). Essentially an extra move/standard action every round, you can tell your unseen servant to pick up arrows, drop alchemical items on the battlefield, provide cover, etc. Check this post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=8235936&postcount=8) for more ideas.

Enemy Spirit Pouch (2100 GP, MIC). This pouch gives the owner a +1 attack bonus and a +2 damage bonus against one particular creature type. While this may look like a Ranger-only item, it can be used by any character to gain the equivalent of Favored Enemy.

Shoulders:

Piercer Cloak (900 GP, MIC). Did you get some form of flying? Or can you stand on top of something? Activate 3/day to add +1d6 to all your ranged attacks.

Shadow Cloak (5500 GP, Drow of the Underdark). This cloak provides a +1 deflection bonus, but 3/day it can also be used to respond to an attack as an immediate action to gain concealment or teleport up to 10', much like that Abrupt Jaunt ACF (Complete Mage) that those specialist conjurers are always raving about. This makes it a much better upgrade to the Anklets of Translocation, but then you have to decide between this and the Transposer Cloak (see below). Wauugh... tough call!

Transposer Cloak (6000 GP, MIC). Swift-action teleport lets you swap positions with an ally up to 30' away 3/day. Very nifty way to get into (or out of) melee quickly.

Arms:

Armband of Elusive Action (800 GP, MIC). Every once in a while you'll get backed into a corner and still want to use your bow. 1/day, you can *NOPE* an attack of opportunity against you. If you need it more than 1/day, there's no attunement period so you can just buy multiple armbands and swap in a new one.

Strongarm Bracers (6000 GP, MIC). Probably not worth the price for only a +1 increase on average damage, but then again, archers need all the extra damage they can get.

Bracers of Lightning (11000 GP, MIC). This may be a somewhat expensive way to add +1d6 electricity damage to all your attacks, but it works on all of your attacks, both melee and ranged. The biggest drawback is probably the swift-action activation, which eats up your swift action for the round, and may cause complications if you need that swift action for something else.

Hands:

Gloves of Agile Striking (2200 GP, MIC). 2/day, add +1d6 damage to all your ranged attacks for a round. No attunement period either, so you can buy multiples if need be.

Novice Shadow Hands (3000 GP, Tome of Battle). Access to one 1st/2nd/3rd level maneuver per encounter, which doesn't exactly scream "Archery!", but having access to a full round of greater invisibility (Cloak of Deception) or a 50' teleport (Shadow Jaunt) can be very useful.

Glove of the Master Strategist (3600 GP, Ghostwalk). This gloves works exactly like a Glove of Storing, except it has a much more reasonable price. And yes, Ghostwalk did get a 3.5 update, so 3600 GP is the official 3.5 price. If you're doing anything that requires you to repeatedly put away or switch a weapon out of your hand, then this glove may be your only option that doesn't waste any of your actions. As an added bonus, this glove also gives you a true strike effect 1/day, presumably as a standard action. However, it doesn't specify an activation method, and it does mention "use", so if you can convince your DM that it's use-activated, so much the better.

Gauntlets of Ghostfighting (4000 GP, MIC). If you didn't get a serrenwood bow or opted for Hank's Energy Bow instead, you can add the Ghost Touch property to all your attacks with these gloves.

Rings:

Novice Diamond Mind Ring (3000 GP, Tome of Battle). Access to the Diamond Mind save counters, most notably Moment of Perfect Mind, which allows you to make a Concentration check instead of a Will save. While this may not seam like much of a benefit to classes that don't get Concentration as a class skill, even cross-class half-ranks will outpace a low Will save, and it's usually cheaper to buff your Concentration skill than your Will save. Tunic of Steady Spellcasting (2500 GP, MIC), for example, works on all Concentration checks.

Ring of Entropic Deflection (8000 GP, MIC). This ring should be standard equipment for any Scout, Swift Hunter, or Travel Devotion build. Anytime you end your turn at least 10' away from the point you started the turn, you get a 20% miss chance against all ranged attacks. If you have a magic item that increases your speed, then the miss chance goes up to 50%.

Torso:

Tunic of Steady Spellcasting (2500 GP, MIC). Despite its name, this tunic provides a +5 competence bonus to any Concentration check, not just for spellcasting. If you've got Swordsage or Warblade levels (or a Diamond Mind Ring), you can use this tunic to shore up a base class's complete failure to include Concentration as a class skill.

Rogue's Vest (18000 GP, MIC). A little on the expensive side, but this is a must-get for any build relying on skirmish, sneak attack, or sudden strike damage. If you're just looking for something to increase your sneak attack/sudden strike damage, consider the more limited but cheaper Mantle of the Predator (8000 GP, MIC).

Waist:

Novice Stone Dragon Belt (3000 GP, Tome of Battle). This doesn't really help with archery at all, but having access to Mountain Hammer whenever you like is just too darned useful.

Belt of Battle (12000 GP, MIC). OH HECK YEAH!

Feet:

Anklet of Translocation (1400 GP, MIC). This is the cheapest and most common swift-action teleport item in the game, two 10' hops per day. While not necessarily a "must have" item for an archer, it's an excellent way to get out of a grapple quickly.

Skirmisher Boots (3200 GP, MIC). Useful mostly for scouts, although the extra ranged attack 2/day is useful even for non-scouts. You have to move at least 10' first, so probably a good pick-up if you plan on using Manyshot.

Slippers of Spiderclimbing (4800 GP, DMG). There is one really unique difference between these slippers and other items that grant a spider climb effect: the slippers leave both of the wearer's hands free to attack (and thus continue to use a bow), whereas anything that duplicates the effects of spider climb also require the user to use his hands for climbing.

Boots of Speed (12000 GP, DMG). Some might say you're paying too much for only 10 rounds of haste, but you can activate them as a free action, which means you can make sure those 10 rounds really count.

[Goaty14]

Always grab splitting, if you're using a crossbow, then grab the Gnome Crossbow Sight from A&EG which allows you to shoot farther.

[skunk3]

One thing that I will note is that I am a Warlock 3 / Cleric 3 / Eldritch Disciple 3 with no archery-related feats. However, I am on the hunt for a 'codex advocare' and if I get one, I am thinking about taking "hideous shot" which will allow me to channel my eldritch blast into my bow... so that's why I'm curious. Could ramp up my damage quite a bit. Maybe.

[Thurbane]

Oh, almost forgot... make sure your middle name is Hank, so you can use Hank's Energy Bow (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227a). It doesn't come with Splitting, but it does do force damage, Power Shot, and never runs out of ammo. Another bow to consider would be the Bone Bow from Frostburn, but go over the description with your DM and ask him if it auto-adjusts to your Strength rating or not.

Just reiterating: the Energy Bow is definitely the single best item for a traditional archer build, and goes a long way to making archery (semi-) viable.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Good list by Darrin, covered most of the stuff I was going to say and beyond.
Just want to point out that Strongarm Bracers is a 2.5 point damage increase, not a 1 point increase: d8 to 2d6 is going from 4.5 to 7 average damage. Not an early item to get, but totally worth it before long. If you're using a Greatbow or larger sizes for other reasons, it becomes even better of course (enlarge person is -2 to hit but for another size increase...and +1 damage if you have an adjustable str bow.... may at times be worth it).

Other things he missed:

Bucklers: Just in general...you can have them and still shoot a bow w/o penalty, you know? It's unclear if you retain the AC when you shoot (depends on how broad the meaning of "without penalty" is), but even if you don't, it's extra AC until your first turn for low cost, and another place for a wand chamber slot, plus potential for non-AC-related special properties and augment crystals.

Bow of the Wintermoon (MIC): Even without any of the special relic bonuses, this is a cheap bow you can further upgrade that gives automatic strength adjustment.

Raptor Arrow (MIC): If you can meet the relic requirements, this is a pretty nice re-usable arrow that will give you free bane property on one target each round.

Force special property (MIC): If you can't get Hank's Bow or want Splitting and DM won't let you add it to Hank's Bow, this at least gives you the force damage arrows part of it, and most DMs should find it sufficient to break through wind wall. Costs +2, so your +1 Splitting Force bow is gonna be pretty expensive.

Seeking special property (DMG): Often overlooked, but ignoring all concealment is pretty nice and it's only a +1 cost. Those w/ sneak attack or skirmish especially value it.

Sizing property (MIC): It's a cheap flat cost, to change weapon size at will as a swift. If you plan to enlarge or shapeshift as an archer, it's essential.

Dragon Mask (MIC): 4000 gp for a 2/day swift action to see invisibility for several minutes.

Boots of Agile Leaping (MIC): It's only 600 gp, so 900 gp to tack onto other footwear. Jumping with dex may be handy, but the real draw is if you have 5 balance ranks. Standing from prone no longer provokes AoOs and you have the option to do it as a swift! You can't shoot a bow while prone and you can't rapid shot if you need a move action to stand up, do I really need to further explain how useful this is for the price?

Boots of Sidestepping (MIC): 6000 gp, they let you take 10 ft steps, basically. Lets archer scouts full attack skirmish, less useful for anyone else. Buy multiple pairs, each set works 3/day. Only item to give full attack skirmishes cheaper per use is anklets of translocation, but some DMs think teleporting shouldn't count for skirmish (I disagree). Or Horizon Walker Chronocharm, but that's only one use before you'd have to swap out.

Wand chamber suggestions: Arrow Mind (SpC; Ranger/Sorc/Wiz 1, for min/CL your archery doesn't provoke AoOs and you can take AoOs with bow shots), Hunter's Mercy (SpC; Ranger 1, cast as a standard and then your first shot that hits next round is an auto-crit)

[Bohandas]

Bracers of Archery

[Anthrowhale]

Sizing property (MIC): It's a cheap flat cost, to change weapon size at will as a swift. If you plan to enlarge or shapeshift as an archer, it's essential.


If you are using polymorph (or derivative) this article (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040525a) says you do not need the sizing property---it's implicit in the spell.