Battle Master (Archer) Maneuver Choices

[Nosta]

For the first seven levels what would be in order of priority what Maneuvers should my Battle Master (Archer) Take?

[CTurbo]

Trip Attack, Disarming Attack, Goading Attack, and Distracting Strike

[Misterwhisper]

Precision should always be first. It is top choice for all builds.

Menacing is also solid gold on an archer, because if they are frightened they can’t close on you. That has shut down quite a few fights.



Past that, lots of options.

Trip or disarm are great depending on your initiative order.
If you have a teammate on them your last shot to prone the. Is great, if the enemy is right after you not so much. Also great against fliers.

Disarm is good against people who are weapon based but useless against beasts and things.

Others are better or worse depending on party makeup.

You can honestly just take precision and menacing and nothing else.

If you miss by only 2 or 3 precision is likely to turn a miss to a hit and nothing beats that.

[Shadhael]

It depends on a lot of things to be honest. Party composition, foes your DM likes to throw at you (mobs, small groups, one or two toughs), what feats/stats you have etc...

I'm currently playing a BM archer in a game. I took Trip (give my Paladin and Champion advantage), Precision (land my questionable sharpshooter shots), and Parry to mitigate a hidden/mobile martial enemy closing the distance on me.

Disarming the big tough is clutch, Commander's can allow a rogue another chance to proc Sneak Attack, Goading a melee greatly reduces their ability to damage the rest of your team when you are out of their range.

[DeAnno]

Precision + Sharpshooter is very strong, the cornerstone of Archer Fighter really.

[cZak]

I'm doing this same build
Vhum w XbowExpt Standard array

Plan on Precise shot (Taking Sharpshooter @4th)
Menacing
Considering Knockback; get that mook away from finger wigglers or Goading; target has DisAdv on attacks other than me, which might be nice for the melee types next to it.

+2 Dex for level 6 ASI for an 18 stat

[LudicSavant]

So there are 3 main "lock'em'up" types: Goading, Menacing, Trip. You generally want at least one of these as your first priority.

Menacing is basically a better version of Goading, UNLESS enemies are resistant to fear (which quite a few are) or can block LOS to you (diminishing the effects of their fear), or you actually want them to bait them into chasing you. Which is ultimately more useful will thus be something of a judgment call.
Trip Attack's value is more party/build dependent. In order to benefit from the Advantage yourself you need to have Crossbow Expert and be within 5 feet. Allies who tend to fight in close will get Advantage, while those farther away will get Disadvantage.

Precision Attack gives you a chance to recover a miss, which is a big deal. Do note that it is one of the few maneuvers that has a chance to do nothing, though.

Pushing Attack gets more and more useful the more interesting the terrain you fight in is, and the better your allies are at either kiting, setting hazards, or unleashing powerful AoEs. It also works automatically on enemies who are Stunned, Paralyzed, or the like. Somewhat limited by the fact that it only targets Large types.

These are generally my higher priorities, though as always things like party composition, race, build order, campaign type, etc will influence my decisions.

Some comments on other maneuvers:

Rally: The thing about Rally is that the temporary hit points don't expire until a long rest. So for example, you can give everyone temporary hit points, short rest, and get your maneuvers back. The fact that it's a bonus action is also useful.

Maneuvering Attack / Distracting Attack Value is strongly dependent on party composition.

Disarming Attack is rather situational, because it requires an enemy to 1) Use a weapon, 2) have that weapon be much better than their backup weapon, 3) Fail a strength save, and things that are real threats with weapons often have high Strength, 4) do something to prevent them from picking the weapon up again for basically free with their object interaction, and 5) have the benefit of removing their weapon be greater than the benefit of landing a Menacing Attack or the like.

Commander's Strike is, in most parties, a good way to screw over your own action economy. It takes one of your attacks (which should be good, valuable attacks), AND your bonus action, AND your ally's reaction, AND your superiority die, to give your ally one attack, which has a chance of missing. In order for this to be worth it that character's single attack has to be better than yours+some other maneuver+your bonus action+their normal reaction. That's no small ask even for many Rogues. For most party compositions, avoid this maneuver.

Parry: Only works against melee attacks, and only one, and only reduces the damage a bit (potentially less than using your Superiorty Die on something like Menacing). On the other hand, it gives you something to do with your reaction if you weren't already using it for something important (which you might be, depending on build/party comp).

Evasive Footwork: Makes your disengages safer, but has spend the superiority die before you even know if an attack would hit you, and might do nothing. Not one of my favorite ways to deal with enemies closing on me.

Riposte / Lunging / Sweeping: All this stuff requires you to have a melee weapon.

[Zuras]

Your first pick should be Precision Attack. Turning a miss into a hit is one of the strongest uses of your superiority dice.

Your second pick should be something that adds your SD to the damage total. I personally like Trip, Menacing or Goading, but the main idea is don’t leave 3rd level without something that does damage and can disadvantage your opponent if they fail the save.

Your best 3rd pick is very party dependent. Commander’s Strike is by far the best option if you have a Rogue in the party, but parry can be good if your tank is doing a bad job of keeping enemies at range, Manuvering is surprisingly good if you have lots of tactical effects, etc.

I personally advise taking a maneuver similar to your second pick but with a different saving throw to target, unless you see a clear tactical combination with your party for another maneuver.

TLDR: Precision, Menacing, Trip are my favorite starting 3. They need very little setup to be effective. Something different can work, but have a clear vision of how you will use one of the more specialized manuvers if you pick them.

[djreynolds]

TLDR: Precision, Menacing, Trip are my favorite starting 3. They need very little setup to be effective. Something different can work, but have a clear vision of how you will use one of the more specialized manuvers if you pick them.

100%

Menacing is almost like a concentration free fear spell at 3rd level

precision, archery style, someone spamming bless, and sharpshooter will enable you to land +10 almost every hit

trip used on your last arrow

Also consider magic initiate, you have nothing to concentrate on. Hex from warlock lasts 1 hour.

Your bow coupled with sharpshooter will end most engagements before they become a problem. Your job is to never miss.

[NaughtyTiger]

Goading - helps your allies and doesn't hurt you since you are at range
precision strike - helpful for sharpshooter, but not required
Trip - knock prone when you are done.

Commander's strike - if you have a rogue or a smiter in the party
Manuevering - helps that party member on her last hit point escape death

i downgrade meancing, cuz ranged guys are already hard to hit (being at range and all).

but i tend to play party oriented not solo, so i focus on helping vs hurting...