Building an archer

[Qbertt5681]

I'm making a new character and I'm thinking about playing an archer type. Not sure about back story but I'm thinking something like fugitive hiding out or bounty hunter. I believe the game will be more RP heavy than In am used to with combat to serve the story. I want to optimize him but seeing as it won't be hack.and slash just 100% optimizing for combat might not be smart.

Idea 1) build your own ranger type fighter. Go rogue 1/fighter to 5 or 6, then may be rest in rogue? Dex based, stealth ect. Variant human for sharpshooter. The. Max dex. Thoughts on subclasses? Was thinking battlemaster thief, but it would be cool to have a familiar.

Idea 2) rogue 1 to ranger 5 then rogue again. Not sure hunter or gloom stalker. I think I like gloom stalker. Then not sure thief or arcane trickster for rogue. If I go gloom stalker is lvl7 more important than rogue levels?

Stats will pprobably be something like 10/16/14/10/14/10.

I will be using long bow and rapier. I know crossbow expert is optimized, but I think it's cheese and I like the imagery of bow better so that's what I'm going to go with.

Is sharpshooter important for this build? Will I be using power attack from it or is it better not too for sneak attack and hunters Mark?

Other idea I had was taking magic initiate instead at lvl1 for find familiar, and can take control flames to douse the lights on people.

Would single class fighter or ranger be better? My idea with rogue was to nab a lot of skills to be strong in the exploration tier. But I wanted to use a more martial class to give more reliable consistent combat presence. I'm not sure I want to play a single class rogue.

[Aett_Thorn]

What are you thinking on race?

I could see a High Elf Fighter (Arcane Archer)/Rogue (Scout) being a good RP-focused combo, if you have access to Xanathar's Guide.

Without Xanathar's Guide, an Eldritch Knight/Arcane Trickster combo would probably work well, though the level splits will probably be more important there to get what you want.

[Qbertt5681]

Was planning on going variant human

[A Fat Dragon]

There is a UA Fighter subclass that is all about Archery.

Might not be what you’re looking for, but it’s there.

[Vogie]

Some more ideas

Magical fugitive - Arcane Trickster Rogue 3 / Brute Fighter 5, then increase whichever you'd like for either Brute Bonus Damage, or Sneak Attack Damage
Bounty Hunter - Gloom Stalker Ranger 3 / EK Fighter X, mostly combat focused with a ton of spell & other utility built in
Catch me If You Can - Battlemaster Fighter 3 / Thief Rogue X
Indiana Jones - Hunter Ranger 3 / Inquisitive Rogue X, Archaeologist background - finding weak points, getting the drop on his enemies, and getting them off-balance... heck, the Colossus Slayer description, "Your tenacity can wear down the most potent foes", is basically his fighting style

[CTurbo]

I made an excellent archer but I had the advantage of having high rolled stats so I wasn't concerned with ASIs at all.

I was Wood Elf Fighter 5 for Archery Fighting Style, Sharpshooter, and extra attack. Then Ranger 3 for Defense Fighting Style, Hunter, Horde Breaker, Hunter's Mark, then Rogue 5 Assassin with the Mobile Feat.

If I were you starting with point but or Standard array, I'd go Ranger 5, then Rogue from there.

Vhuman with Sharpshooter at 1. Ranger Archery Fighting Style, Hunter, Horde Breaker, +2 Dex at level 4, extra attack at level 5.
Then go Rogue Arcane Trickster for Booming Blade, Find Familiar, etc... take +2 Dex at Rogue 4. You may want to pick up Mobile and Alert down the line.

Alternatively, you could go Gloom Stalker Ranger 5, then Rogue Assassin from there for a completely ridiculous first turn every combat. You'd definitely want Alert here.


Fighters are mechanically strong, but if you think it's going to be RP heavy, Fighters offer little outside of combat so I think Ranger/Rogue would be best.

[Qbertt5681]

I made an excellent archer but I had the advantage of having high rolled stats so I wasn't concerned with ASIs at all.

I was Wood Elf Fighter 5 for Archery Fighting Style, Sharpshooter, and extra attack. Then Ranger 3 for Defense Fighting Style, Hunter, Horde Breaker, Hunter's Mark, then Rogue 5 Assassin with the Mobile Feat.

If I were you starting with point but or Standard array, I'd go Ranger 5, then Rogue from there.

Vhuman with Sharpshooter at 1. Ranger Archery Fighting Style, Hunter, Horde Breaker, +2 Dex at level 4, extra attack at level 5.
Then go Rogue Arcane Trickster for Booming Blade, Find Familiar, etc... take +2 Dex at Rogue 4. You may want to pick up Mobile and Alert down the line.

Alternatively, you could go Gloom Stalker Ranger 5, then Rogue Assassin from there for a completely ridiculous first turn every combat. You'd definitely want Alert here.


Fighters are mechanically strong, but if you think it's going to be RP heavy, Fighters offer little outside of combat so I think Ranger/Rogue would be best.

This may be exactly what I do, and for those reasons. Was thinking gloom stalker trickster. So you like hunter better than gloom stalker?

I like the assassin idea, it's just very conditional i don't know how often I'll get surprise.

[CTurbo]

I think I do prefer Hunter over Gloom Stalker for an archer because the Gloom's features are for first turn only aside from the extended darkvision. The Hunter's Colossus Slayer or Horde Breaker could be potentially used every round. I particularly like Horde Breaker for archers especially with sharpshooter allowing you to shoot from so far away.

I think I'd only go Gloom Stalker if paired with Assassin. That first round nova is just too good. I think you'd get more surprise rounds than you think out of that combo plus Sharpshooter. Especially in dark places or at night. Even without surprise rounds, you still get advantage on every attack against enemies who have not gone yet, and you get advantage on Initiative too. Grab the Alert feat and you'll probably be going first every encounter. 4d8+Dex(x3)+30+sneak attack+6 if it's your favored enemy is a pretty good first round even without crits. Obviously, the "problem" with this setup is after the first round, you've blown your wad, but you'd still be a formidable archer with sharpshooter that could still use sneak attack every round and have two full attacks. You're still at the top of the initiative order so you'll get a 2nd turn before the enemy gets a 2nd turn, etc...

I don't care for the Assassin's features after 3 though until the 17th level Death Strike so if Infiltration Expertise and Impostor don't appeal to you, then you should make look elsewhere like Scout or Arcane Trickster. Or just dip Rogue Assassin for 3-7 levels for Assassinate, Uncanny Dodge, and Evasion, and then hop back over to Ranger. The only reason to go mostly Rogue is for all the extra yummy sneak attack d6s lol.

I do like Arcane Trickster but mainly for Find Familiar and Booming Blade. Having an Owl Familiar guarantees you have advantage on at least one of your attacks pretty much every round. Booming Blade is a get out of jail free card if the enemy closes in on you in melee. You hit the with Booming Blade and then disengage and run away. If they chase you, they take extra damage. Perfect for an archer. Arcane Trickster works well with Hunter or Gloom.

Scout Rogue meshes really well with an Archer Ranger too. You get to move up to have of your speed if an enemy ends it's turn next to you without provoking an AoO? Perfect for an Archer. The Mobile feat is a must here. My only concern here is how often would you go without using this feature. It's sure nice to have when/if you need it though.

So really it's all about what you want you character to be able to do. Do you prefer a huge first round nova and still be solid after that, or would you prefer to be more consistent throughout each encounter? Gloom = first round nova, Hunter = more consistent.

As far as the Rogue Archetypes, well they're all different enough that you just need to figure out which one suits how you envision your character the most.

As lastly, decide whether you want to be a mostly a Ranger with a few levels or Rogue or mostly a Rogue with a few levels of Ranger. Both Gloom and Hunter offer really good features at levels 7 and 11. Also keep in mind that at levels 9 and 13, the Ranger gets it best Archery spells like Conjure Barrage, Flame Arrows, Lightning Arrow, Conjure Volley, and of course Swift Quiver which is bonkers. That'll be 5 attacks per round with Horde Breaker. Of course that would pretty much be your capstone lol

[Gilrad]

Vhuman straight fighter with "ribbon feats" (e.g. non-combat focused stuff like Alert) prioritized over SS? You've got lots of feat choices, if you're not dumping them all on combat optimization that's a lot of out-of-combat flexibility. The fighter's core class can handle what combat does crop up.