Looking for an Archer build (DPR/Battle field utility / skills) low to Mid level game

[Nosta]

I've been posting a lot lately (sorry )
I come from 3.5 /pf and everything feels weird to me in 5e

I am looking for a Bow user who has Decent Damage , has more than just pure damage for battle field and has a few skills off the battle field so i don't sit have nothing to do after the battle field

Muti-classing and feats are ok

Assume the game may get to level 10
and will start around level 3 to 5

stats are point buy (27)

[Man_Over_Game]

You're probably going to want to look into some kind of Rogue/Battlemaster Fighter hybrid.

I'd start with 2 levels into Rogue. This makes sure that your early game isn't slow as molasses. Then level into Fighter for 5 levels to get Extra Attack. From there, you can focus on your Rogue skills (to be a better sharpshooter and thief) or your Fighter abilities (if you want to be a better controller and combatant).

It's a very popular build, and it has a lot of versatility to it.

If you think it won't take you very long to get to level 6, you can start one level into Rogue in order to get the Extra Attack from Fighter a level earlier. I find that the second level into Rogue adds enough diversity that it's worth it, though.


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You could also ditch that concept in favor of a pure Ranger. Rangers have a decent amount of battlefield control and utility. Throw in a level or two of Druid to add in some spell slots and you'll find your utility and battlefield control grows tremendously.

[NaughtyTiger]

Warlock, (fiend or ug hexblade), pact of tome.

eldritch blast
choose invocations for damage/push
tome for say thorn whip (personal fave)

you create a bow of pure force....
your force arrows knockback enemy,
your barbed arrows can pull em back
your flame arrows uh, flame them?

plus warlock spells.

i dislike warlock as a caster, but as an arcane archer, they are hard to beat.

[Nosta]

You're probably going to want to look into some kind of Rogue/Battlemaster Fighter hybrid.

I'd start with 2 levels into Rogue. This makes sure that your early game isn't slow as molasses. Then level into Fighter for 5 levels to get Extra Attack. From there, you can focus on your Rogue skills (to be a better sharpshooter and thief) or your Fighter abilities (if you want to be a better controller and combatant).

It's a very popular build, and it has a lot of versatility to it.

If you think it won't take you very long to get to level 6, you can start one level into Rogue in order to get the Extra Attack from Fighter a level earlier. I find that the second level into Rogue adds enough diversity that it's worth it, though.


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You could also ditch that concept in favor of a pure Ranger. Rangers have a decent amount of battlefield control and utility. Throw in a level or two of Druid to add in some spell slots and you'll find your utility and battlefield control grows tremendously.

With the Rogue /Battle Master what Race and what Archetype for the Rogue when i Hit third level with my rouge class?

[Man_Over_Game]

With the Rogue /Battle Master what Race and what Archetype for the Rogue when i Hit third level with my rouge class?

Honestly, it's hard to go wrong. Being at range means that you aren't going to need your Cunning Actions very often, and the Battlemaster's maneuvers don't usually use a Bonus Action when using range. As a result...your Bonus Action is basically free to be used for whatever.

Inquisitive Rogue is a sniper.
Thief, when combined with the Healer feat, becomes a mobile combat medic.
Scout, when combined with something like Crossbow Expert, becomes a mid-range skirmisher that can never be pinned down.
Arcane Trickster for someone who wants to manipulate both combat and social environments.
Mastermind makes a good support while adding a lot of non-combat elements.

As long as you don't go swashbuckler (which requires melee attacks), it's really hard to go wrong here. Just determine how you want to improve, based on this:


COMBAT
Scout
Mastermind
Inquisitive
Thief
Arcane Trickster
NONCOMBAT




SHORT RANGE
Scout
Mastermind
Thief
Arcane Trickster
Inquisitive
LONG RANGE


Race won't matter much. Wood Elf is the go-to for any ranged stealth character.

[sophontteks]

You could just go straight rogue and be perfectly happy. Reliable talent comes pretty late at 11, but its pretty big. Taking 10 on skill checks means you can reliably pull off the impossible.

Rogues get most of their juice from the base class. Arcane tricksters give the class much more to work with. I'd take that just because having magic is fun.

[2D8HP]

With the Rogue /Battle Master what Race and what Archetype for the Rogue when i Hit third level with my rouge class?


For mechanics Wood Elf is hard to beat, you have proficiency with Long Bows, even as a single class Rogue, plus the Hide ability, the extra movement speed, and +2 to DEX.

The extra Feat with Variant Human would allow you to have Sharpshooter, but I find extra DEX better most of the time, as you level up and gain in proficiency bonus Sharpshooter gets better - but if the Foes have high AC's you may want to forego the damage boost in order to be more likely to hit.

[Rukelnikov]

Pure ranger sounds like a pretty good fit. Otherwise as MoG said, some MC of rogue, ftr, or ranger works pretty well too.

[MeeposFire]

You're probably going to want to look into some kind of Rogue/Battlemaster Fighter hybrid.

I'd start with 2 levels into Rogue. This makes sure that your early game isn't slow as molasses. Then level into Fighter for 5 levels to get Extra Attack. From there, you can focus on your Rogue skills (to be a better sharpshooter and thief) or your Fighter abilities (if you want to be a better controller and combatant).

It's a very popular build, and it has a lot of versatility to it.

If you think it won't take you very long to get to level 6, you can start one level into Rogue in order to get the Extra Attack from Fighter a level earlier. I find that the second level into Rogue adds enough diversity that it's worth it, though.


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You could also ditch that concept in favor of a pure Ranger. Rangers have a decent amount of battlefield control and utility. Throw in a level or two of Druid to add in some spell slots and you'll find your utility and battlefield control grows tremendously.

I agree with these though I tend to like getting to level 5 in fighter first. Ranger is also very good but tends to not get as much love.

[Nosta]

Well I am considering doing a Ranger
but I am unsure of my Race
and my 4th level ASI/Feat
and of course my Sub-class

[KorvinStarmast]

Gloom Stalker Ranger
I did that with a Criminal background.
Very versatile.
Archery fighting style. That +2 to attack is very handy.
I went with Medium Armor master for the feat so he could mix it up OK in melee. It has worked out well.

[Talionis]

Fighter1/ Hexblade 5/ Hunter Ranger 3.

Fighter take Fighting Style Archery and Constitution saves.
Hexblade get Thirsting Blade for Extra Attacks. You may want another Warlock other than Hexblade because you can get away with 13 Charisma and Dex is a stronger Stat. But you’ll also want the Smiting Invocation. Hexblade can also pick up Paladin spell Branding Smite but it allows you to throw a spell into an attack that hits for more damage.

Ranger 3 allows you some Archery spells from Ranger that can be cast through Warlock spell slots. Both Gloomstalker and Hunter get an Additional Extra Attack at level 3.

At level 10, Fighter 2 grants Action Surge which goes nicely with Gloomstalkers Extra Attack or an additional level of Warlock. Either choice keeping going Warlock till level 11 Warlock.

[strangebloke]

I've been posting a lot lately (sorry )
I come from 3.5 /pf and everything feels weird to me in 5e

I am looking for a Bow user who has Decent Damage , has more than just pure damage for battle field and has a few skills off the battle field so i don't sit have nothing to do after the battle field

Muti-classing and feats are ok

Assume the game may get to level 10
and will start around level 3 to 5

stats are point buy (27)

So, lets break down how to think about this.

For DPR, you are going to want the Sharpshooter feat, the archery fighting style, and the extra attack feature. These three build characteristics all synergize strongly with each other. Sharpshooter trades accuracy on attack for a large flat damage increase on attack. Archery style compensates for 2/5 of the accuracy penalty. The extra attack feature multiplies the flat damage bonus of sharpshooter.

Every class has access to sharpshooter, since its a feat/ASI.

Fighter can get archery style at level 1. Rangers can get archery style at level 2. No one else gets archery style. Therefore, you're either playing a straight fighter, straight ranger, or Fighter 1/SomeOtherClass X.

Lots of classes can get the extra attack feature, so "SomeOtherClass" can pretty much be anything that isn't a druid, cleric, wizard, or sorcerer.

This leaves us with the following:

Fighter X: Simple, powerful. Use the extra ASIs to take feats that grant you out-of-combat utility. Healer Feat, Inspiring Leader, Ritual Caster, Magic Initiate, Prodigy, Skulker, and Wood Elf Magic are my favorites. Elven Accuracy and Crossbow Expert push your damage through the roof. Battlemaster and Samurai subclasses offer the best ranged support, Eldritch Knight offers the best defense and utility options. *Sweet Spot is level 6, level 3 if you're an Eldritch Knight.
Ranger X:For the first five levels you'll be a better fighter. Lots of utility magic, as well as some (admittedly niche) skill boosts. For Subclasses, the Gloomstalker is a beastly stealth machine, the Hunter is a Devasting DPR machine, and the Monster Slayer is the best all-rounder. Sweet spot is level 3.
Fighter 1/Valor Bard X: Armor, full casting, and you get extra attack by level 7! What's not to love! The cool part comes in at level 11 when you get your magical secrets. Magical secrets are spells that can be taken from any class list, and you can use it here to steal a capstone ranger spell, swift quiver. This will net you four attacks a round. Sweet Spot is level 7.
Fighter 1/Hexblade X: Honestly, not a fan. But it does work. You'll get extra attack by level 6 via the 'thirsting blade' invocation and you'll be a (sorta) full caster. All your attacks are charisma based, which lets you play more of a 'face' than most other builds. Eh. Sweet Spot is level 6.
Fighter 1/Kensei Monk X: Kick ass and shoot bows. For this build you basically need to start as a vHuman and take sharpshooter right away, since you'll be starved for ASIs. Your damage won't every be phenomenal but you'll be crazy mobile and flexible. Run in and beat 'em up? You're good at that. Run in and tank like a hoss? You can do that too! Destroy them from afar? No problem! Control the boss monster with stunning strikes! Also not a problem. Sweet Spot is level 6.
Rogue X: You don't have extra attack, or archery style, and sharpshooter is kind of meh for you. But you have good DPR anyway because of sneak attack and obviously your skill usage is out of this world.




*The 'Sweet Spot' is the point at which the build starts to come together, not the best level for the build overall.

[Nosta]

Hmm in my 8 years of playing Dice game I never touched bard
But DO like the Idea of Fighter (1) / Valor Bard X

can I get some Feat and ASI / Feat Advice?

[strangebloke]

Hmm in my 8 years of playing Dice game I never touched bard
But DO like the Idea of Fighter (1) / Valor Bard X

can I get some Feat and ASI / Feat Advice?

Level 4 feat needs to be Sharpshooter otherwise the fighter dip at level 7 won't be worth it. You probably do want to get to level 6 with bard first, and you may skip the level of fighter depending on how you're feeling.

After that it all depends on your interest and race. An elf might go for elven accuracy, so that they can cast a spell to give themselves advantage and then be super accurate even with the Sharpshooter penalty.

A human will have a little more breathing room and might go for something like inspiring leader.

But generally everyone will want to be buffing their stats after level 5. Dex or charisma is the name of the game there. For races I would look at the Variant human, the half elf (and it's variants), drow, and Lightfoot halflings.

[SVamp]

I wanted to recommend a gloomstalker ranger 5 / rogue x, where rogue can be assassin or arcane trickster.

Wood elf, elven accuracy at lvl 4, sharp shooter at lvl 9(rogue 4)

You get 3 shots on your first round, which benefit from hunters mark, bonus to initiative from wisdom, and you will have a very easy time hiding, and thus getting 3x advantage. You are invisible in low light so all your attacks keep advantage if you’re skulking a bit behind the party.

You have lots of skills, spells, options, etc. Should be fun.

But for bard I’d say half elf, same feats though, elven accuracy and sharpshooter. Human with crossbow expert and a hand crossbow is a possibility too. (You get one extra attack with a hand crossbow, useful for sharp shooter, but humans don’t get elven accuracy so it’s a trade off)

Wood elves get bonuses to walking speed and hiding in forests. Gloomstalker hides anywhere in low light. You should be able to hide a lot, lol.

[Citadel97501]

Bard of the College of Swords should also be thought about, as it strangely is a pretty solid archer.

[Nosta]

Need a good feat for a Fighter 1 / Valor Bard 4
Variant Human

[strangebloke]

Bard of the College of Swords should also be thought about, as it strangely is a pretty solid archer.
It does work but the valor bard is mostly just better.

Need a good feat for a Fighter 1 / Valor Bard 4
Variant Human

Healing/utility:

Inspiring leader: at low levels this is a crazy healing effect. High levels its still good.
Healer: way to get out of spending spell slots on cure wounds. Comparable to inspiring leader.
Ritual caster: get yourself a familiar, a home alarm system, and lots of other goodies.
Magic initiate, cleric: get bless and guidance to boost all the d20 rolls.
Skulker: if you want to sneak well.



Dpr/defense:

crossbow expert: better than Sharpshooter at low levels. Combos with SS.
Magic initiate, wizard: mage armor for an ac boost.
Medium armor master: normally bad, but this is one of the niche builds it works for. Effectively a +2 to ac.
Resilient, Constitution: nice stat bump and helps with concentration saves.



All of the above are solid. Personally I like the idea of medium armor master, inspiring leader, or resilient the best.

[trollballz]

It does work but the valor bard is mostly just better.


For a lot of builds thats true, melee in particular because valor gets shield. I disagree with crossbow mastery builds though, Swords is actually better at range than it is in melee.

College of Swords Blade Flourish is done as part of an attack unlike the Valor feature which takes a bonus action. So Valor bards have competition between Xbow Mastery/Swift quiver and actually using their bardic inspiration. Besides that, the level 1 proficiencies for the colleges are effectively the same for a ranged build, level 6 is exactly the same, and the OP doesnt sound like he's going to reach 14.

Tldr; I think ranged builds get more mileage out of defensive flourish.

EDIT: note that level 14 feature for valor flips this, but OP isnt getting to 14.

[LudicSavant]

If DPR is what you want, Fighters are going to top most things. And of them, Samurai, Battle Master, and Eldritch Knight will produce the finest archers.

Note that being a Fighter doesn't mean you have to forego utility; the fact that you're SAD and have extra ASIs means you have space to spare for picking up great utility feats like Wood Elf Magic, Prodigy, Ritual Caster, or the like. Samurai is even more ASI-free than most Fighters (since they don't need Resilient: Wis) and will get you extra social skills. Eldritch Knight grabs you some utility magic.

If you'd rather be a Rogue, Arcane Trickster is the generally the one you want for optimization potential.