Advice for Human Arcane Archer level 6

[Nosta]

Going Variant human Arcane Archer level 6

I want to max Dex as soon as I can
and im not sure what to take for my Human feat?

Advice on most useful Arcane Shot over all.

The game is a homebrew mega-dungeon

Any advice on this subclass?

[J-H]

Are you going longbow or crossbow?
Sharpshooter is probably a best first choice, as it eliminates problems with cover & range, and lets you get a lot of extra damage against easy-to-hit targets.

[Abracadangit]

If you're starting at level 6, Sharpshooter is even more tempting, since you're just 1 level away from the Curving Shot ability, which lets you turn missed attacks into do-overs against another nearby enemy, making the Sharpshooter super-shot-penalty less scary.

Best Arcane Shot probably depends on the situation, but I'm partial to Grasping Arrow. The effect sticks with no chance to roll a saving throw, and then either that enemy or someone nearby has to waste their action in order to get the brambles off.

[meandean]

Are you committed to Arcane Archer? Because it's far from the best archery option, mechanically. (But of course, if you know that and want to play it anyway, then it's the best for you.)

[Gignere]

Are you committed to Arcane Archer? Because it's far from the best archery option, mechanically. (But of course, if you know that and want to play it anyway, then it's the best for you.)

I agree if your concept is not tied specifically to AA and more of a trick shot or doing special stuff with your shooting a battle master does it better.

[Sherlockpwns]

Gosh the poor Arcane Archer. Yeah it basically mechanically is at or near the bottom of all subclasses. I'd rank it below the original beastmaster. But, if that is what you want to play then lets get the most out of it!

There's no doubt that Sharp Shooter should be your bonus feat. It's simply too good, and as others stated in one level it becomes basically your primary attack option even against moderately armored foes because if you miss you can just redirect it at something easier to hit.



This ties into the one thing that makes Arcane Archer kinda... interesting? So grasping arrow is good for a single target CC, but I think the money is on Piercing Arrow.

The best thing about Piercing Arrow is, as far as I know, you can apply Sharpshooter to it. The save is the same, meaning you're guaranteed +5 damage from Sharpshooter alone and can hit multiple targets. Your "big move" basically is to find a situation where 3+ enemies can be hit in a line and put two Piercing Arrows through all of them. Assuming a +5 from dex, that's 1d8+1d6+15 x2 (if needed) for a single round average damage of 23 per hit per target (So 46 damage if you use both shots) if they fail the dex save. More if you can stack any other damage bonuses on (magic weapons, spells, etc). On a save the damage is only 1d8+15 / 2, which is a less exciting 9 damage.

To put it in perspective, a lightning bolt (the closest analogy to this) does 27 damage on average (with a much wider range of course) when cast at 3rd level. So in essence this is granting you two 3rd level short range lightning bolts, which will almost certainly have a lower DC than an actual lightning bolt. That said, it can pass through objects, so you can blast people in full cover and unlike L-bolt, you can fire two of them in a single turn without action surging, giving you a pretty decent multi-target burst.

Is that... good? Well, it's about the only trick I can think of for an Arcane Archer.

Outside that once you max your dex and have Sharp Shooter, it is worth considering either a feat that lets you cast hex or hunter's mark for bonus damage or something simple like Mobility, which ensures you won't be stuck in melee.

Mostly though this whole subclass needs a full rework to give it some actual interesting and scaling opportunities. Every time I look at this darn subclass I think fondly of the 3rd edition AA and lament. At the very least maybe you and your DM can rework the abilities to scale a bit better.

Here's my 5 minute rework:

Banishing shot banishes for 1 minute like the spell
Burst does an attack (as if you fired that many arrows) in a 10ft radius instead of just the 2d6 damage
Beguile causes the creature to spend its next action attacking an ally (if able)
Enfeeble change from a con save to maybe an INT save (Some kind of mental attack), because landing on con save on something that is doing melee damage is unlikely, but half damage is a big ability.
Grasping I'd make effect all of your shots in a round, giving you a lot more CC.
Seeking I'd make auto-hit like magic missile (I'd actually even include the weakness to the shield spell).
Shadow I'd make blind on hit instead of this weird 5ft thing for 1 minute, no saves if the shot hits.

And yeah all those would be HUGE increases to the power of the subclass, maybe even too much, but keep in mind you've only got TWO shots per short rest, so I really feel like they should do something MASSIVE. Compared to a Rune Knight that lets you force a hit onto someone else AFTER you see the roll one time per short rest, it doesn't seem too insane. Maybe drop the extra damage. Those are just off the top of my head, I am sure your you and your DM can come up with something; or just play as is a bit and adjust after a few sessions. At the very least I'd see if your DM would move the number of uses to your Prof Bonus, which is what most of the new subclasses do. This would give you 3 uses instead of 2 and give another small power bump at 9.

Anyway, that's my thoughts. Arcane Archer is "fine" only because the fighter class on the whole is very good. You could take no subclass at all and feel very fightery. Your default 1d8+15 is solid damage for an attack and with re-rolls once per turn, you'll be hitting a lot of shots.

[quindraco]

Going Variant human Arcane Archer level 6

I want to max Dex as soon as I can
and im not sure what to take for my Human feat?

Advice on most useful Arcane Shot over all.

The game is a homebrew mega-dungeon

Any advice on this subclass?

1) The two you should learn are grasping and seeking (even if the target makes its save, and it will, Seeking Arrow's arrow always flies in the right direction, so you always learn the direction of your quarry, even on a passed save).
2) Advice: Prepare for boredom. 2 arrows per short rest and never any more under any circumstances means your subclass will spend most of your playtime being irrelevant to gameplay and your life. It's a deeply unentertaining subclass to play.
3) Feats: As others have said, Sharpshooter.