How do you build a single-shot archer

[pabelfly]

The typical advice I see for an archery build is to concentrate on volley attacks - Rapid shot, splitting enchantment, etc, to get as many attacks per round as possible.

But how would you go about building an effective archer that just does a single shot each round to maximize damage instead?

[Doctor Despair]

Sniping. Arguably with Iaijutsu Focus (it never says the attack needs to be made with the melee weapon ;) ). Maybe Arcane Archer?

[pabelfly]

Sniping. Arguably with Iaijutsu Focus (it never says the attack needs to be made with the melee weapon ;) ). Maybe Arcane Archer?

Iaijutsu Focus isn't a bad option - not sure how high we can get the check but if we could consistently get a high check, 9d6 isn't a bad start. Presumably we can combine it with other options that work on single shots, like the Energy Bow.

Arcane Archer has an interesting second-level ability, that lets you put area spells into arrows, and you don't have to specifically put in arcane spells when using said ability. But the effort you put into making it work - three feats and two caster levels... there should be a better solution than that, I would think.

[AvatarVecna]

Rogue and/or Assassin build can try their luck at this. It's not necessarily a good strategy for most combats, but if you're mostly sniping NPCs who are politically important, rather than one-shotting tough monsters, it's not that difficult. Assassin is really easy to qualify for, the first level gives you both Death Attack, a die of SA, and access to assassin casting (which, there's a lvl 1 assassin spell that let's you SA at any range).

Elf Rogue 5/Assassin 6

Attributes (lvl 1 pre-race): 14/14/8/16/12/14
Attributes (lvl 11 pre-items): 14/16/6/16/12/14
Attributes (lvl 11, items): 14/18/6/16/12/16

Feats:
HD 1: Aereni Focus (Iaijutsu Focus)
Flaw 1: Craven
Flaw 1: Point-Blank Shot
HD 3: Far Shot
HD 6: Knowledge Devotion
HD 9: Weapon Focus (Composite Longbow)

Flaws:
Noncombatant
Vulnerable

Skills:
Bluff 14 (+17)
Disable Device 14 (+17)
Disguise 14 (+17)
Hide 14 (+18)
Iaijutsu Focus 14 (+20)
Knowledge/Local 14 (+17)
Listen 14 (+15)
Move Silently 14 (+18)
Open Lock 14 (+18)
Search 14 (+17)
Spot 14 (+15)


Items (66k max):
18000: +1 Distance Seeking Composite Longbow (Mighty +2)
?: Arrows of various materials
4000: Gloves Of Dexterity +2
4000: Cloak Of Charisma +2


Get into sniping position somewhere within 330 ft (to avoid distance penalties) that has LoS/LoE. Roll for knowledge devotion. If you don't hit the +5, just "end the combat" without any other combatants being aware it even started. Once you max out KD, it's time to "get started". Prepare for a death attack. On the last round, you'll be using a move action to draw a melee weapon for Iaijutsu Focus. If you don't nat 20 the IF check, drop the melee weapon as your standard action and don't cast any spell. Repeat until you nat 20 the IF check. Swift action cast "Sniper's Shot" and then take your one shot.

Attack +18 vs flat-footed AC, ignoring miss chance. Damage will be 1d8+13d6+18 on a hit (avg 68), or 3d8+13d6+54 on a crit (avg 113). The former has a 499/500 chance of dealing 50+ damage, and the latter is guaranteed to do so. This damage is guaranteed to bypass DR/magic and one material-based DR of your choice. The target just a ton of damage, and now has to succeed on DC 15 Fort save and DC 19 Fort save. Failing either means instant death, assuming the damage didn't do them in.

[lylsyly]

Wow Avatar, that is great. It just got added to a kingdom in my homebrewed world that has no problem doing whatever it takes to keep the kingdom secure from it's enemies. I've had assasins there but the concept of one long range shot never crossed my mind. Thank you and thank pabelfly for bring ing the subject up! ;-)

[Harrow]

Why not a compromise? The targetteer fighter variant form Dragon 310 can get access to an ability called sniper, which allows you to sacrifice attacks on a full attack. For each attack that you opt not to take, the threat range of your next attack improves by 1. With the improved critical feat, it's not too difficult to use normal volley tactics, but only take one actual attack, which ends up being "if it hits, it crits".

[Twurps]

If you don't want the Iatsu focus route:
Get as many of the following spells in your build as you can:
-Sniper's shot (lvl1 swift action: sneak attack regardless of range)
-Guided shot (lvl1 swift action: ignore distance penalties)
-Find the gap (lvl 3 standard action: resolve attacks as touch attacks)
-Hunter's mercy (lvl 1 standard action: next hit is a crit)

so without range penalty, attack from as far as you can see, ignore distance penalties and most forms of AC (all if your opponent is flat-footed), and score an auto-crit with sneak attack damage added.

Both swift action spells only last one round, so I guess Extend spell should be applied to 'guided shot' to bring all of them together at some point.
Archivist might be the best way to get all these spells on your list.
You'll be running out of lvl1 slots quickly though. So it would require some more caster dipping:
-lvl1 wizard/assassin for sniper's shot. Wizard can get you a fighter feat, which you might need depending on the rest of the build. Assassin gives SA and Death attack.
-lvl 1 cleric (Divine magician ACF) for guided shot. Make it cloistered for knowledge devotion, add the 'Devine Might' feat powered by your TU attempts for extra damage, use your remaining domain slot for Elf domain which grants point blank shot (it's really sick what one can get out of just 1 lvl of cleric)
After that: 5 levels of Archivist for lvl3 spells, with lvl1: Hunter's mercy, lvl2, extended guided shot, lvl3: find the gap.

That's 7 levels used. round the build to taste with:
-Peerless archer3 (silver Marches) for ranged power attack and ranged sneak attack. (allows you to add Craven)
-Deepwood sniper2/7 (MotW) for +1/+2 to your crit multiplier respectively. (and an increased range and generally usefull archery goodies).
-Factotum1 for INT to damage
-Sheba protector for WIS to 'to hit' and damage. (this one has a lot of pre-req's, and how MAD do you want to get? so this is probably not worth it).

You can 1-shot many an opponent from insane ranges as long as your spells last. That would be about 3x at best though. After that you've expanded a good deal of your resources for the day. You're still a decent archer though.

[Doctor Despair]

Wow Avatar, that is great. It just got added to a kingdom in my homebrewed world that has no problem doing whatever it takes to keep the kingdom secure from it's enemies. I've had assasins there but the concept of one long range shot never crossed my mind. Thank you and thank pabelfly for bring ing the subject up! ;-)


Unfortunately, Death Attack requires a melee weapon, so at first glance you'd think that rules out death attacking...

... except that thrown weapons are still melee weapons!

In that instance, the swift-action spell "Sniper's Shot" does enable a ranged Death Attack. You are still restricted to those that you can sneak attack however.

If you're interested in sniping with Death Attacks, consider Black Dog. Black Dog lets you Death Attack anyone for whom you can deny their dex bonus. You still need a thrown weapon, of course, but that lets you Death Attack things that are immune to precision damage and are not immune to death attacks.

Then you get to get into the debate over how Death Attack, despite the name, isn't actually a Death EFFECT, as it is never tagged as such anywhere. That leaves you being able to Death Attack anything -- except undead, as your attacks still don't affect objects, and allow a fort save.

[Seward]

With an orb spell?

It's actually a pretty hard optimization challenge in 3.5 The system isn't well designed for it.

Best I saw in actual play was a ranger using hide-in-plain-sight and manyshot with a quite powerful bow (it had at least 4 elements on it if memory serves). It was still a short range tactic, he did volley archery at longer ranges. He could exceed any rogue's single-attack sneak attack dice by a fair margin.

===========
Having played an arcane archer - that would be nice, they have the cool Phase Arrow and Seeking Arrow options, but sadly the class has no advantage at all in single-shot archery, so those powers only are good for a fleeing enemy you almost killed who thinks he's escaped you (not that it isn't fun to kill them in that situation using those powers).

Like all other archers, arcane archer is a volley-archer if you want to optimize per-round damage dealing. Which is too bad. If we could use manyshot with phase arrow, seeking arrow and especially hail-of-arrows those 1/day class abilities would have a lot more teeth.

As for imbued arrow -that is intended to lob area spells with no range across the battlefield and it really is not helpful for direct damage. You are better off not losing 2 caster levels and just staying primary caster if you want to be an arcane sniper. Instead go spellwarp sniper and get long range ray spells, or just be any kind of arcane and do short range orb spells, with arcane thesis and piles of metamagic on whatever your go-to spell turns out to be.

======
For a different take using TK as an assassination tool, look at the Queen of Swords. Honestly adding the IVT prestige class is overkill, any decent Master of Unseen Hand build can do the same thing and kill most anybody, and any arcanist with TK and proper supporting spells can do pretty brutal single target damage in a surprise round on anything not loaded with the right kind of DR or an incredibly high AC (and do it from long range as long as whatever you intend to toss at the victim is within 10'/level of the victim at time of casting)

https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25332066&postcount=81

[ciopo]

What if we cobble together some way to use ToB strikes with projectiles?

[AvatarVecna]

Was absolutely disbelieving when I saw somebody here somebody here say that assassin can't use death attack at ranged.. Makes 0 sense so I went to check and they're right. It. Assassins can't snipe is snipe lol rip

[MaxiDuRaritry]

There's always a locate city bomb arcane archer...

Just make sure you've got full cover, of course, or can contingent teleport out between when you fire the arrow and when it lands.

[Gorthawar]

What if we cobble together some way to use ToB strikes with projectiles?

Bloodstorm blade allows you specifically to use iron heart strikes with thrown weapons and therefore I assumed that you couldn't use it for other strikes even though they can treat their thrown attacks as melee.

It would be awesome if I'm wrong as I had spent some time messing around with a bloodstorm blade throwing insightful strikes until I realized I missed the limitation.

Edit: Just realized that bloodstorm blade should probably allow death attacks from range however.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Bloodstorm blade allows you specifically to use iron heart strikes with thrown weapons and therefore I assumed that you couldn't use it for other strikes even though they can treat their thrown attacks as melee.

It would be awesome if I'm wrong as I had spent some time messing around with a bloodstorm blade throwing insightful strikes until I realized I missed the limitation.A few stances work with ranged attacks, at the very least.

[Buufreak]

There's always a locate city bomb arcane archer...

Just make sure you've got full cover, of course, or can contingent teleport out between when you fire the arrow and when it lands.

I'll bite. What is this going to do?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I'll bite. What is this going to do?If one believes that the locate city bomb is viable in the first place, adding it to the arrow makes the landing-site of the arrow the epicenter. Put it right next to your target, preferably with a clear line of effect from the arrow, through the target, all the way to the end of the spell's AoE -- or at least, as far away as you can manage. If the target is a politician giving a speech in the center of a coliseum, you can plant the arrow right at his (or her, or its) feet, blasting him up and away, until he splatters headfirst into a building a mile away. He's rather likely to die horribly, as is most everyone else affected.

[Gorthawar]

A few stances work with ranged attacks, at the very least.

Yes, I'm a fan of giant killing style on something like a wild dwarf (small but no strenght penalty) for ranged builds. +2 to hit and +4 to damage is pretty neat but much better for volley attacks instead of a single shot.

[Akal Saris]

Another build option is to use scout (and the ranger multiclass with Swift Hunter feat). While typically scout optimization focuses on getting travel devotion or another way to get scout's damage bonuses with a full attack, it's still decent damage on a single attack.

With that said, personally I think the best option is probably going to be some type of unseen seer build. Though in that case it's hard to justify using an actual bow instead of a ranged touch attack spell.

[arkangel111]

Perhaps something with spellwarp sniper? there are some good Save or die spells, I could be wrong but pretty sure there is a way to cast a ray through your bow. I know it's not arcane archer but my google-fu is limited while at work. Spellwarp Sniper progresses sneak attack and spellcasting.

[MultitudeMan]

The Order of the Bow Initiate (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?425634-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXX) round of Iron Chef has some cool ideas with this restriction in place. I particularly liked the Fuglimancer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=19553550&postcount=248).

[ciopo]

Assumption/houserule 1 : ACF count as the original feature for the purpose of prerequisites and alternative ways of using said features.

for this stub, that's flurry of blow traded for decisive strike. If that's not okay, we would need to find an alternate source of FoB to be allowed to take flowing blade (https://web.archive.org/web/20151009115531/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20050110a)

stub is very bare and I will probably edit this tomorrow, but baseline

2 fighter levels for feats
2 monk levels for even mroe feats
2 soulknife level for prereqs
X soulbow levels (6 for collision?)

all this rigamarole for the purpose of doing decisive strikes with the mind arrow

I'm feeling like
fighter 2
monk 2
soulknife 2
soulbow 4-6
some kensai (with signature weapon mind arrow)?
maybe some talashatora psychic warrioring?


and/or
other sources of flat damage bonuses, so that it get multiplied by decisive strike
other sources of multiplier, like for example can we give valorous to our mind blade and ??? this probably doesn't work with decisive strike, but it's fun to think about, but I have to go sleep now
spellcasting/psionics for this or that power/spell that would help bulk that damage
dip into warblade for weapon aptitude if there are some weapon specific feat or features we could use
dip into rogue for craven -> doubled with decisive!

[Kitsuneymg]

If you can play with 3p pathfinder stuff, Spheres of Might has an entire sniper sphere. It allows for a number of debuffs to be applied and moderate to high optimization can make it into a one shot one kill (without the headshot sniper talent) build quite easily.

[Darg]

Then you get to get into the debate over how Death Attack, despite the name, isn't actually a Death EFFECT, as it is never tagged as such anywhere. That leaves you being able to Death Attack anything -- except undead, as your attacks still don't affect objects, and allow a fort save.

This would actually be incorrect. Death attacks (general term, not just the assassin ability) are defined in the DMG and are protected against with death ward. All 0 Con creatures are also immune to fort save effects too.

Either way, Assassin spells make for perfect avenues for increasing damage. True Strike + Arrow Split is incredibly powerful when combined with a maximize/empower rod and craven + all the SA dice you have. Crossbow sniper gives you an avenue for more damage and increases the range of your SA. Plus, you gain access to wraithstrike as a spell if it's necessary.

[Particle_Man]

Maybe some gestalt build with wizard//fighter + arcane archer?

The imbued spell seems to have more teeth if it is a 9th level spell attached to the arrow. ;)

[Doctor Despair]

This would actually be incorrect. Death attacks (general term, not just the assassin ability) are defined in the DMG and are protected against with death ward. All 0 Con creatures are also immune to fort save effects too.

Every reference to the term "Death Attack" in the DMG:


The entire Assassin ability


Any prestige class feature that calculates a save DC using the
class level (such as the assassin’s death attack) should add only
half the character’s class levels above 10th. Thus, a 24th-level
assassin’s death attack would have a save DC of 27 +
Intelligence modifier (10 + class level up to 10th + 1/2 class
levels above 10th).


Assassin’s Dagger: This wicked-looking, curved +2 dagger provides a +1 bonus to the DC of a Fortitude save forced by the death
attack of an assassin.
Moderate necromancy; CL 9th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor,
slay living; Price 18,302 gp; Cost 9,302 gp + 720 XP


Lidda, scouting ahead of her party, meets the eyes of the figure she
discovers in the shadows. It’s one of the awful undead creatures
known as bodaks. She feels a sudden vertigo, as her spark of life
itself is attacked by the bodak’s supernatural power.

The bodak’s abyssal eyes can kill with a glance. The dreaded
power word kill spell can slay without even allowing the victim a
saving throw. A single arrow of slaying can fell a dragon. Even a
fighter with 100 hit points can be killed by a single death attack.
In most cases, a death attack allows the victim a Fortitude save
to avoid the affect, but if the save fails, the character dies
instantly.

• Raise dead doesn’t work on someone killed by a death attack.
• Death attacks slay instantly. A victim cannot be made stable and
thereby kept alive.
• In case it matters, a dead character, no matter how she died, has
–10 hit points.
• The spell death ward protects a character against these attacks.


An attack that can cause instant death, such as a coup de grace,
massive damage, or an assassin’s death attack, only threatens the
creature with death if it is delivered by weapons that deal it lethal
damage.


death attacks 292

Is the assassin's Death Attack a death attack? It's literally called that, but it could just be a coincidence. Indeed, the assassin's ability doesn't necessarily fit the criteria described there very well -- if you use the paralysis mode, it doesn't fit the criteria at all. If you paralyze a creature with the death attack, are they slayed instantly, as the bullets would suggest? Does death ward have any business protecting a creature from a paralysis effect? Let's examine Death Ward.


The subject is immune to all death spells, magical death effects, energy drain, and any negative energy effects.

This spell doesn’t remove negative levels that the subject has already gained, nor does it affect the saving throw necessary 24 hours after gaining a negative level.

Death ward does not protect against other sorts of attacks even if those attacks might be lethal.

Death ward does not protect from mundane death attacks at all, if such a thing does exist, which is odd, as it contradicts the DMG. Normally, an omission wouldn't be a contradiction, except that the last line of Death Ward speaks definitively that it does NOT protect from other sorts of attacks. Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice might say. How does one resolve that disagreement? Is the actual text of Death Ward more specific than the paragraph on death attacks writ large? Or does the DMG trump because it's the DMG?

Setting that aside: let's say Death Attack is a death attack, for the sake of discussion. Is it a death EFFECT? It is never described as such in the ability, and the DMG never once describes it as such elsewhere. Constructs (the other con - creature type) have immunity to all death effects, but not death attacks. In terms of verisimilitude, it isn't that much of a stretch to imagine that an assassin could study a construct for three rounds and then attempt to sever the cables to the power supply, or something similar.

By RAW, I'm unsure if death ward protects someone from death attacks, but I'm pretty sure any other non-undead creature would be vulnerable to a Black Dog's death attack.

[Harrow]

This would actually be incorrect. Death attacks (general term, not just the assassin ability) are defined in the DMG and are protected against with death ward. All 0 Con creatures are also immune to fort save effects too.


The assassin's death attack, by the very definition you're referencing, cannot be a death attack. Death attacks, as in the general term, are all protected against by death ward. Death ward states it works against death spells and magical death effects. An assassin's death attack is nonmagical, so nothing in death ward references it, so death ward doesn't protect against it, so it's not a death attack (the general term).

Edit: Ninja'd

[Doctor Despair]

The assassin's death attack, by the very definition you're referencing, cannot be a death attack. Death attacks, as in the general term, are all protected against by death ward. Death ward states it works against death spells and magical death effects. An assassin's death attack is nonmagical, so nothing in death ward references it, so death ward doesn't protect against it, so it's not a death attack (the general term).

That's also a fair argument, but I wasn't sure I was comfortable making it until I established whether the DMG takes precedence over the spell -- which I'm not sure how to resolve.

[Darg]

You're splitting hairs where there doesn't need to be. An "effect" is the result of a spell, ability, or feat. "death effect" is left undefined. If we make the assumption that "death effect" is only that which is called out as a death effect then you have no protection against the killing effect of blasphemy/holy word.

Everything just runs smoother if a death effect is an effect that which causes the dead condition or death in layman's terms. As for the paralyze or die decision of assassin's death attack, you are choosing between conditions to inflict upon the target. Paralyze effect vs death effect. Separate effects. Spells and abilities can and do have different effects within the same spell/ability.

The "attack" in the term can simply be referring to it being an attack vs a quality. Just like how "sonic attacks" is not a specific ability.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

So, death ward protects against anything at all that could kill you. Sounds a bit overpowered, to me.

[Darg]

So, death ward protects against anything at all that could kill you. Sounds a bit overpowered, to me.

Only that which requires a save or die. Death ward can be removed so it can't really be considered overpowered.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Then it really needs to be a bit more specific than:


Everything just runs smoother if a death effect is an effect that which causes the dead condition or death in layman's terms.Because anything that can cause damage or death qualifies under that.

[Ramza00]

Ordained Champion Cleric (it does not need the prestige class)

Combined with the 5th level cleric spell "Surge of Fortune" and a Vorpal Arrow.

[Darg]

Then it really needs to be a bit more specific than:

Because anything that can cause damage or death qualifies under that.

Not true. Damage is the result of it's own effect. Damage doesn't kill on it's own without other rules to give the creature the dead condition. I don't know about you, but I would say blasphemy falls under being a death effect. A bodak's gaze or a banshee's wail should fall under the umbrella as well. There are only a handful of effects that identify themselves as death effects despite the plethora of death causing effects afterall.

The only real point of contention should be whether nonmagical death attacks are protected from by death ward. The spell itself excludes them; however the DMG doesn't specify that its specific exception applies only to magical death attacks.

[Saintheart]

I've tried building single-shot archers in the context of critfishing. It's not easy and the biggest issue with critfishing on single-shot archers is that usually the critical multiplier only gets as far as x4, and at high levels you might as well take more attacks. I'm not saying I've solved it, but here's my best crack at it:

Targetteer 2/Ranger 2/Warblade 1/Deepwood Sniper 2/Peerless Archer 3/Targetteer +10

Targetteer is a variant Fighter from Dragon 310. Deepwood Sniper is from Masters of the Wild, a 3.0 supplement. Peerless Archer is from Silver Marches.

Human, 2 flaw feats.

Feats:
1: Combat Expertise (Human), Point Blank Shot (Starting feat), Far Shot (Flaw), Weapon Focus - Composite Greatbow (Flaw). Targetteer gives us two ranged EWP proficiencies, which we put into Composite Greatbow and Harpoon just for lols. Our bonus Fighter Feat goes into Vital Aim from Targetteer.
2: Fighter Feat: Sniper, from Targetteer.
3: 3 HD feat: Precise Shot
4: Rapid Shot (Ranger Combat Style)
6: 6 HD feat: Quick Draw
9: 9 HD feat: Sense Weakness (Draconomicon)
12: 12 HD feat: Manyshot. Bonus Fighter feat: Arrow Swarm from Targetteer
14: Fighter Bonus Feat: Improved Rapid Shot
15: 15 HD feat: Weapon Specialisation
16: Bonus Fighter feat: Greater Weapon Focus
18: 18 HD feat: Ranged Weapon Mastery. Bonus Fighter Feat: Improved Precise Shot
20: Fighter Bonus Feat: Greater Weapon Specialisation.


Vital Statistics at Level 20:
Critical Threat Range: 7-20 on full attack, 19-20 all other times
Frequency: Any time a full attack action is taken
Critical Multiplier: x5
Frequency: All day long.
Riders on Critical Threats: None
Riders on Critical Hits: +1 to attack and damage (Blood in the Water)


Notes on the build
This is centred on full attack sequences, since these are the only conditions under which Sniper and Arrow Swarm from Targetteer operate. It is not designed as a sneak attack or precision damage archer since those typically require you to get within 30 feet, which isn’t the best idea. That said, it nonetheless gets better on damage at ranges less than 30 feet, for reasons set out further down.

Assume our DEX is 20 and thus a +5. Also assume our Composite Greatbow (with a threat range of 20, and a x4 multiplier thanks to the kaorti resin arrows in it) is a +5 STR rated bow, just because, with no other enchantments on it.

Either way: with Improved Rapid Shot and Arrow Swarm, we have 3 extra attacks per round on top of BAB, albeit all the attacks take a -5 to the attack roll. So at level 20, we have a total of 7 attacks, 6 of which can fuel Sniper. With those 6 sacrificed attacks, Sniper extends the threat range from 20 down to 14-20, which Keen Arrows then doubles to a threat range of 7-20.

Our attack roll with that shot is +20 -5 [Arrow Swarm] +1 [Weapon Focus] +1 [Greater Weapon Focus] +2 [Ranged Weapon Mastery] +5 [DEX] +1 [Fletching +1 or Magic Weapon] = +25, and threatens a critical on 7-20.

The damage with that shot is: 2d8+5 [DEX for STR, from Vital Aim] +1 [Fletching +1] +2 [Ranged Weapon Mastery] +2 [Weapon Specialisation] +2 [Greater Weapon Specialisation] = 2d8+12. Not much, maybe … until you remember that Kaorti Resin arrows have a x4 multiplier. (Kaorti Resin can be applied to any weapon – melee or ranged --that does piercing damage, which a composite greatbow does.) Deepwood Sniper 2 raises that multiplier to x5. As said, the critical range is 7-20, and the attack bonus at level 20 is +25. Assuming you confirm the critical hit, on that one shot that’s damage of 10d8+60.

Or say we don’t use Arrow Swarm and forego the extra two attacks it grants for a -5 on all attack rolls. At level 20, we have 5 attacks, 4 of which we sacrifice to fuel Sniper. The threat range on the Composite Greatbow becomes 16-20, Keen Arrows doubles that – and our attack bonus becomes +30, with a threat range of 10-20, i.e. flip a coin for a possible critical threat … and the damage remaining at 10d8+60 if the critical hit passes.

That’s the damage outside 30 feet range.

Within 30 feet range against a flatfooted opponent, the attack roll is +26: +20 [BAB] -5 [Arrow Swarm] +1 [Weapon Focus] +1 [Greater Weapon Focus] +2 [Ranged Weapon Mastery] +5 [DEX] +1 [Fletching +1 or Magic Weapon] +1 [Point Blank Shot] = +26. This threatens a critical on 7-20. As with above, if you forego Arrow Swarm’s two shots, it becomes an attack bonus of +31 and a threat range of 10-20.

The critical damage with that shot is 10d8+90(+1d6 sneak attack). It’s 2d8+5 [DEX to STR substituted, via Vital Aim] +1 [Fletching +1 or Magic Weapon] +2 [Ranged Weapon Mastery] +2 [Weapon Specialisation] +2 [Greater Weapon Specialisation] +1 [Point Blank Shot] +5 [DEX again, from Hit and Run Fighter, flat added] +1d6 [Sneak Attack]= 2d8+18 +1d6 sneak attack damage. Everything in that except the sneak attack is multiplied by 5 due to the critical hit.

If the opponent isn’t flatfooted but still within 30 feet, the damage is 2d8+13, or 10d8+65 on a critical hit.


And none of those calculations take into account the following additional features:


Power Shot from Peerless Archer: subtract from your attack roll, add to your damage, one for one. Take 5 off the attack roll; your attack roll becomes a +20, threatens a crit on 7-20, and on a critical hit does another 25 damage because it multiplies along with everything else.


After that first critical hit, you have +1 to attack and damage from Blood in the Water. Which, leaving aside the obvious benefits, makes critical hits more likely, and increases the damage by 5 on any other unfortunate sufferer of a critical hit. And which ramps up the more critical hits are made.


If it’s an arcanist or creature that has spell-like abilities, add +2 damage from Arcane Hunter.


DR's cut down, thanks to Sense Weakness.


Improved Precise Shot removes all but total cover or total concealment.


And by the way, its range increment is 150 feet: 130 base plus 20 from Deepwood Sniper. Not much chance you’ll be seriously fighting stuff at ranges outside that, and if you do, there are methods to spot and sight targets at that range.


The moment we start adding stuff to the bow or casting magic, it gets even better. Five basic additions:


Splitting enhancement, from Champions of Ruin. Costs a +3, but splits the arrow in flight to make a separate attack roll using the same attack bonus. This delightfully gets around the one-shot limit for Sniper, uses the same attack roll and the same critical threat range, i.e. how about 20d8+120 damage on the one target?


Wand of Hunter’s Mercy, which a ranger can cast from even if he doesn’t yet have any spellcasting ability: your next hit is automatically confirmed as a critical hit, no matter what your threat range happens to be. Ideally you can argue to your DM that the Splitting enhancement means that split-shot is a critical hit too.


Wand of Curse of Arrow Attraction: target’s AC is nerfed by 5 against ranged attacks – so an indirect +5 to our attack roll – and all critical threats are automatically confirmed.


Greater Magic Weapon: apply a +5 to attack and damage rolls. Now your attack roll is something akin to +30-35 at level 20, when the highest AC in the default Monster Manual is 40 or so.


Got a stat-enhancer? Gets even better. Another +3 to the attack rolls, +3 to damage thanks to Vital Aim, i.e. another 15 damage on a critical at a minimum.


Anybody kind enough to cast a spell that grants extra attacks -- Haste, etc -- also brings the threat range down lower, since it's more attacks available to be sacrificed. Also, shenanigans like getting a prehensile tail or similar so you've got natural attacks to give up too.


Mind you, that’s just assuming you want to take a full attack action and push out the critical range as far as it goes for that one shot. I like the feel of this, as if you’re sighting up for one brutal shot. Added to this feel is that this expanded critical range doesn’t apply on the second or subsequent shots in the full attack. That is, you can retain an extra shot or two if you’re willing to sacrifice further extensions on the critical range.

And remember, even without the Sniper shot, you have iterative attacks with a threat range of 15-20 and damage of 10d8+60 on a critical hit. Arrow Swarm can be taken on its own and adds two more attacks for a -5 to all attack rolls, which Curse of Arrow Attraction or better magic weapons can negate, directly or otherwise. Alternatively, if you have to move and shoot, Manyshot gives you 2 attacks as a standard action with all these critical threat ranges and damage still intact.

How do you prioritise your stats? DEX > CON > STR > INT > WIS > CHA. Dexterity is going to be fuelling most of your attack and damage, with STR mostly if not entirely swapped out. Wear the lightest armour you can while preserving your DEX bonus; most of your AC is going to be coming from DEX anyway if you do this right.


[B]“HaHa, YoU UseD MoRE THan 4 FIghTer LeVeLS”: Yep. For simplicity. If you want more versatility and/or less BAB, be my guest; pick up Exotic Weapon Master or similar, or just go Tome of Battle, or otherwise go find some casting classes. This is basically the lower end of what you can do with critical ranged attacks. In particular, if you really want to cheese this up, just waste a couple of feats and pick up Lightning Mace; two levels in Psychic Warrior somewhere in here will give you those feats, at the cost of a BAB that you likely don’t care about. Then make your bow an Aptitude weapon. Of course, every opponent you then encounter will have Wind Wall cast on them, but enjoy it for the remaining 20 minutes of your game.

“Okay, but how come you’ve got fighter feats in non-fighter feat slots?” Because of Targetteer, which by RAW doesn’t allow free use of those slots. On the article’s explicit wording, the bonus fighter feat slots can only be occupied by one of the feats listed in the Targetteer’s article. Things like Woodland Archer and, most significantly, Ranged Weapon Mastery are not on that list … and therefore by RAW cannot be taken in a Targetteer’s bonus fighter feat slots. And if your first instinct was to say “Well, just multiclass some default fighter levels, then” – well, the same article prohibits you from multiclassing out of or into default fighter, i.e. it’s Targetteer for all your fighter levels or none. A level or two in Psychic Warrior might allow you to alleviate this since those feat slots can explicitly be used for general or ‘bonus fighter feats’, but that’s a matter for DM interpretation – and you lose 1 BAB by that route. Maybe you could argue that the RAI was that you could take any bonus fighter feat in that slot, but I don’t like your chances.

“Can’t you get x6 in critical multipliers if you take 7 levels in Deepwood Sniper rather than all this fighter-y crap?” Sure - at the cost of five fighter levels, two bonus fighter feat slots, and therefore any capability to qualify for Greater Weapon Specialisation and Ranged Weapon Mastery (on lack of slots and the fact you haven’t got enough fighter levels). This is a bigger implication mathematically than you might think. It causes a loss of 4 points on your base damage rolls, i.e. your non-critical damage becomes 2d8+8 rather than 2d8+12. And that actually results in you doing less average damage on criticals, even with a higher critical multiplier.

Doubt me? Let’s do the math, as Jason Bourne once said. Just to restate, the comparison is x6 on 2d8+8 (= 12d8+48), versus x5 on 2d8+12 (= 10d8+60). Statistically, the expected, average result from rolling 10d8 is 45 (maximum result on a single damage dice plus one, divide by 2, multiply by the number of dice you’re rolling). At x5, then, you can expect to do 45 + 60 = 105 damage on a critical hit. The expected average result from 12d8 is 54. So at x6 you can expect to do 54 + 48 = 102 damage. Yep: on average, you’re actually doing less damage with a x6 weapon than a x5, due to the loss of flat damage bonuses … and because the more dice you roll, the more it pushes results towards the midrange of what’s possible. This is also why your 2d6 dice never seem to give you a total of 12 but your 1d12 does. This is yet another reason to add flat bonuses to your damage dice in preference to more damage dice where you can.

Do Deepwood Sniper’s other features make up for it? Not particularly, not if your priority is just amping damage. At Deepwood Sniper 5, once per day, you can reroll a failed attack roll. Critical hits by definition require two attack rolls, so a chance to reroll one is handy … but it doesn’t markedly affect the number of times you’ll get a critical hit given it’s once a day. “Oh, but I can use Power Shot from Peerless Archer to make up the difference!” Sure – but at a cost of about 4 in attack accuracy for every time you have to make the shot.

Of course, the easiest way around these problems is to just pick up Knowledge Devotion and be the Newt Scamander of the party who spams Lore of the Gods every morning and uses the Collector of Stories skill trick in every encounter for a +1 to +5 to attack and damage. And hey, if you believe that justifies less reliable accuracy and/or damage, all power to you. Not to mention that without being a Cloistered Cleric intent on taking a level in badboy once you get Divine Power, you’re likely stuck picking up Education as well, and then figuring out how to increase all those skills to get you reliably above +2 or so against the full range of creatures in the game, when most of the classes you’re taking are 2+INT skill point meatheads.

If you really want to raise your multiplier, dip Hida Defender and use Warblade weapon aptitude to boost it by 1 more. Don’t waste 3 or 4 levels on Deepwood Sniper, it’s good, but not that good.

“What, no Improved Critical?” Yep. It’s a trash feat under 3.5 RAW, for reasons I get into in the handbook. You have an (Ex) ability that makes your arrows act as if they were keen combined with a feature that allows you to add to the arrows’ base threat range. There’s no need for Improved Critical in this build, especially if it keeps your DM happier. That said, if you can convince him to make it stack with keen, then as with Arcane Duelist, you barely need to forego any attacks under Sniper and the build just gets stronger.

“Wai U nOt uSe Hank’s Energy Bow?” For a start, the Energy Bow does less damage than the Composite Greatbow, 2d6 damage dice rather than 2d8. You can still shoot regular Kaorti Resin arrows with it, but your force shots won’t get a x4 effect easily. Don’t get me wrong, the Energy Bow has a ranged Power Attack ability that obviates Peerless Archer, and which is just sheer awesome for archery. It’s also going to be handy as hell once the DM figures out your game and starts throwing opponents at you with incorporeality or Wind Wall, but for critfishing purposes it’s suboptimal.


“Can you use Hit and Run Fighter?” It’s a Drow Fighter ACF (from Drow of the Underdark), albeit I’ve commonly seen it permitted to apply to anyone. Lose heavy armour proficiency, pick up this excellent piece of work for ranged attacks. If your DM isn’t going to let that fly, either on race or because your DM says you have to be a default Fighter and not a Targetteer, then skip it.

“Ranger level, what Favored Enemy?” Arcane Hunter is a Ranger ACF from Complete Mage that allows you to choose Favored Enemy: Arcanist. Anything with arcane spellcasting or arcane spell-like abilities now draws Favored Enemy bonuses.

“Sense Weakness?” It’s a feat from Draconomicon (p. 106). You ignore DR 5 on your target, thus dealing with one of the volley archer’s royal pains in the posterior given their low-ish damage and also generally saving you from having to obtain weird and wonderful weapon materials from which to make your arrows. It requires Combat Expertise which is otherwise pretty much useless to an archer. It’s not to be confused with the Clr/Sor/Wiz 2 spell Sense Weakness which allows you to automatically confirm a single critical threat in the next 24 hours (and which is also handy in its own right, it must be said… )

“Ugh, Warblade. I hate Tome of Battle.” You’re entitled your emotions and opinions, no matter how misguided they are. Warblade is in there mainly to pick up Moment of Perfect Mind to boost the Will save, because it’s appallingly low until much later on. It also gives us Blood in the Water which is legit good for critfishing builds. Seriously, the Will save on this thing otherwise is so low I’d actually contemplate picking up Iron Will, blasphemous thought though it is. If you don’t want it, take another level in Fighter, or something that gives you a feat slot or two.

“Laaaaame, no Woodland Archeeerrrr…” Woodland Archer doesn’t terribly synergise with what’s in the build, and the only place to really put it is around the end. Improved Precise Shot has a bit of overlap with Deepwood Sniper’s outdated sharp-shooting ability that negates a certain amount of cover, but at the higher levels it’s miss chances and concealment you have to worry about more than AC.

“The heck is a Harpoon doing in there?” Yeah, this is the Stormwrack version, mostly because it's a fun backup. Hit someone with a harpoon and their movement speed is dropped by half, they can't charge or run, and they literally do as much damage pulling out the harpoon as it did on the way in. Would be fun to optimise this with critical hits, but that's not the main purpose here. Main reason it's in there is because it's an exotic ranged weapon, and a Targeteer gets two EWP (ranged only) for free at first level.

“I don’t wanna kill arcanists, I wanna kill undead. Or something else immune to critical hits.” Then pick your annoying critical-immune enemy as your first favoured enemy for Ranger, and grab the feat Supernatural Blow from Masters of the Wild (possibly replacing Sense Weakness). Now your critical shots do 2d8+12+8d6, since you get a d6 for every bonus damage dice you otherwise would have thrown on the critical hit, and we get to throw 8 bonus damage dice because our weapon does 2d8 damage and has a x5 critical multiplier. Gets even better if you pick the Elf Ranger ACF, which boosts the favoured enemy bonus to +3 instead. Otherwise, go pick up weapon crystals of Truedeath and similar out of the MIC.

“Huh, I want more Tome of Battle goodness.” Then replace the last 10 levels with Eternal Blade and be an elf. Qualifies right on schedule at level 10 without a human bonus feat, though you forego Sense Weakness. Just make sure you pick two maneuvers out of Diamond Mind at Warblade (Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Moment of Perfect Mind which you’re going to need given how bad your Will save is), Wolf Fang Strike to qualify for Blood in the Water as your stance, and you’re golden. Island in Time works appallingly well with the Targetteer’s ability to forego shots on a full attack. Eternal Blade allows you to pick from the Diamond Mind, Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, and White Raven disciplines for further maneuvers and stances; classes that aren’t Warblades, Crusaders, or Swordsages count as half initiator levels. Therefore, with five maneuvers in ten levels, on a quick glance these could be: Leading the Charge (White Raven) --> White Raven Tactics (White Raven) or Lion’s Roar (White Raven); Moment of Alacrity (Diamond Mind); and Wall of Blades (Iron Heart) --> Iron! Heart! SURGE! And the stances you can pick up aren’t bad either: Press the Advantage to take a 10 foot step, Hearing the Air to pick up Blindsense, Pearl of Black Doubt for more AC.

[pabelfly]

I've tried building single-shot archers in the context of critfishing. It's not easy and the biggest issue with critfishing on single-shot archers is that usually the critical multiplier only gets as far as x4, and at high levels you might as well take more attacks. I'm not saying I've solved it, but here's my best crack at it:

Targetteer 2/Ranger 2/Warblade 1/Deepwood Sniper 2/Peerless Archer 3/Targetteer +10

Targetteer is a variant Fighter from Dragon 310. Deepwood Sniper is from Masters of the Wild, a 3.0 supplement. Peerless Archer is from Silver Marches.

Human, 2 flaw feats.

Feats:
1: Combat Expertise (Human), Point Blank Shot (Starting feat), Far Shot (Flaw), Weapon Focus - Composite Greatbow (Flaw). Targetteer gives us two ranged EWP proficiencies, which we put into Composite Greatbow and Harpoon just for lols. Our bonus Fighter Feat goes into Vital Aim from Targetteer.
2: Fighter Feat: Sniper, from Targetteer.
3: 3 HD feat: Precise Shot
4: Rapid Shot (Ranger Combat Style)
6: 6 HD feat: Quick Draw
9: 9 HD feat: Sense Weakness (Draconomicon)
12: 12 HD feat: Manyshot. Bonus Fighter feat: Arrow Swarm from Targetteer
14: Fighter Bonus Feat: Improved Rapid Shot
15: 15 HD feat: Weapon Specialisation
16: Bonus Fighter feat: Greater Weapon Focus
18: 18 HD feat: Ranged Weapon Mastery. Bonus Fighter Feat: Improved Precise Shot
20: Fighter Bonus Feat: Greater Weapon Specialisation.


Vital Statistics at Level 20:
Critical Threat Range: 7-20 on full attack, 19-20 all other times
Frequency: Any time a full attack action is taken
Critical Multiplier: x5
Frequency: All day long.
Riders on Critical Threats: None
Riders on Critical Hits: +1 to attack and damage (Blood in the Water)


Notes on the build
This is centred on full attack sequences, since these are the only conditions under which Sniper and Arrow Swarm from Targetteer operate. It is not designed as a sneak attack or precision damage archer since those typically require you to get within 30 feet, which isn’t the best idea. That said, it nonetheless gets better on damage at ranges less than 30 feet, for reasons set out further down.

Assume our DEX is 20 and thus a +5. Also assume our Composite Greatbow (with a threat range of 20, and a x4 multiplier thanks to the kaorti resin arrows in it) is a +5 STR rated bow, just because, with no other enchantments on it.

Either way: with Improved Rapid Shot and Arrow Swarm, we have 3 extra attacks per round on top of BAB, albeit all the attacks take a -5 to the attack roll. So at level 20, we have a total of 7 attacks, 6 of which can fuel Sniper. With those 6 sacrificed attacks, Sniper extends the threat range from 20 down to 14-20, which Keen Arrows then doubles to a threat range of 7-20.

Our attack roll with that shot is +20 -5 [Arrow Swarm] +1 [Weapon Focus] +1 [Greater Weapon Focus] +2 [Ranged Weapon Mastery] +5 [DEX] +1 [Fletching +1 or Magic Weapon] = +25, and threatens a critical on 7-20.

The damage with that shot is: 2d8+5 [DEX for STR, from Vital Aim] +1 [Fletching +1] +2 [Ranged Weapon Mastery] +2 [Weapon Specialisation] +2 [Greater Weapon Specialisation] = 2d8+12. Not much, maybe … until you remember that Kaorti Resin arrows have a x4 multiplier. (Kaorti Resin can be applied to any weapon – melee or ranged --that does piercing damage, which a composite greatbow does.) Deepwood Sniper 2 raises that multiplier to x5. As said, the critical range is 7-20, and the attack bonus at level 20 is +25. Assuming you confirm the critical hit, on that one shot that’s damage of 10d8+60.

Or say we don’t use Arrow Swarm and forego the extra two attacks it grants for a -5 on all attack rolls. At level 20, we have 5 attacks, 4 of which we sacrifice to fuel Sniper. The threat range on the Composite Greatbow becomes 16-20, Keen Arrows doubles that – and our attack bonus becomes +30, with a threat range of 10-20, i.e. flip a coin for a possible critical threat … and the damage remaining at 10d8+60 if the critical hit passes.

That’s the damage outside 30 feet range.

Within 30 feet range against a flatfooted opponent, the attack roll is +26: +20 [BAB] -5 [Arrow Swarm] +1 [Weapon Focus] +1 [Greater Weapon Focus] +2 [Ranged Weapon Mastery] +5 [DEX] +1 [Fletching +1 or Magic Weapon] +1 [Point Blank Shot] = +26. This threatens a critical on 7-20. As with above, if you forego Arrow Swarm’s two shots, it becomes an attack bonus of +31 and a threat range of 10-20.

The critical damage with that shot is 10d8+90(+1d6 sneak attack). It’s 2d8+5 [DEX to STR substituted, via Vital Aim] +1 [Fletching +1 or Magic Weapon] +2 [Ranged Weapon Mastery] +2 [Weapon Specialisation] +2 [Greater Weapon Specialisation] +1 [Point Blank Shot] +5 [DEX again, from Hit and Run Fighter, flat added] +1d6 [Sneak Attack]= 2d8+18 +1d6 sneak attack damage. Everything in that except the sneak attack is multiplied by 5 due to the critical hit.

If the opponent isn’t flatfooted but still within 30 feet, the damage is 2d8+13, or 10d8+65 on a critical hit.


And none of those calculations take into account the following additional features:


Power Shot from Peerless Archer: subtract from your attack roll, add to your damage, one for one. Take 5 off the attack roll; your attack roll becomes a +20, threatens a crit on 7-20, and on a critical hit does another 25 damage because it multiplies along with everything else.


After that first critical hit, you have +1 to attack and damage from Blood in the Water. Which, leaving aside the obvious benefits, makes critical hits more likely, and increases the damage by 5 on any other unfortunate sufferer of a critical hit. And which ramps up the more critical hits are made.


If it’s an arcanist or creature that has spell-like abilities, add +2 damage from Arcane Hunter.


DR's cut down, thanks to Sense Weakness.


Improved Precise Shot removes all but total cover or total concealment.


And by the way, its range increment is 150 feet: 130 base plus 20 from Deepwood Sniper. Not much chance you’ll be seriously fighting stuff at ranges outside that, and if you do, there are methods to spot and sight targets at that range.


The moment we start adding stuff to the bow or casting magic, it gets even better. Five basic additions:


Splitting enhancement, from Champions of Ruin. Costs a +3, but splits the arrow in flight to make a separate attack roll using the same attack bonus. This delightfully gets around the one-shot limit for Sniper, uses the same attack roll and the same critical threat range, i.e. how about 20d8+120 damage on the one target?


Wand of Hunter’s Mercy, which a ranger can cast from even if he doesn’t yet have any spellcasting ability: your next hit is automatically confirmed as a critical hit, no matter what your threat range happens to be. Ideally you can argue to your DM that the Splitting enhancement means that split-shot is a critical hit too.


Wand of Curse of Arrow Attraction: target’s AC is nerfed by 5 against ranged attacks – so an indirect +5 to our attack roll – and all critical threats are automatically confirmed.


Greater Magic Weapon: apply a +5 to attack and damage rolls. Now your attack roll is something akin to +30-35 at level 20, when the highest AC in the default Monster Manual is 40 or so.


Got a stat-enhancer? Gets even better. Another +3 to the attack rolls, +3 to damage thanks to Vital Aim, i.e. another 15 damage on a critical at a minimum.

Anybody kind enough to cast a spell that grants extra attacks -- Haste, etc -- also brings the threat range down lower, since it's more attacks available to be sacrificed. Also, shenanigans like getting a prehensile tail or similar so you've got natural attacks to give up too.


Mind you, that’s just assuming you want to take a full attack action and push out the critical range as far as it goes for that one shot. I like the feel of this, as if you’re sighting up for one brutal shot. Added to this feel is that this expanded critical range doesn’t apply on the second or subsequent shots in the full attack. That is, you can retain an extra shot or two if you’re willing to sacrifice further extensions on the critical range.

And remember, even without the Sniper shot, you have iterative attacks with a threat range of 15-20 and damage of 10d8+60 on a critical hit. Arrow Swarm can be taken on its own and adds two more attacks for a -5 to all attack rolls, which Curse of Arrow Attraction or better magic weapons can negate, directly or otherwise. Alternatively, if you have to move and shoot, Manyshot gives you 2 attacks as a standard action with all these critical threat ranges and damage still intact.

How do you prioritise your stats? DEX > CON > STR > INT > WIS > CHA. Dexterity is going to be fuelling most of your attack and damage, with STR mostly if not entirely swapped out. Wear the lightest armour you can while preserving your DEX bonus; most of your AC is going to be coming from DEX anyway if you do this right.


[B]“HaHa, YoU UseD MoRE THan 4 FIghTer LeVeLS”: Yep. For simplicity. If you want more versatility and/or less BAB, be my guest; pick up Exotic Weapon Master or similar, or just go Tome of Battle, or otherwise go find some casting classes. This is basically the lower end of what you can do with critical ranged attacks. In particular, if you really want to cheese this up, just waste a couple of feats and pick up Lightning Mace; two levels in Psychic Warrior somewhere in here will give you those feats, at the cost of a BAB that you likely don’t care about. Then make your bow an Aptitude weapon. Of course, every opponent you then encounter will have Wind Wall cast on them, but enjoy it for the remaining 20 minutes of your game.

“Okay, but how come you’ve got fighter feats in non-fighter feat slots?” Because of Targetteer, which by RAW doesn’t allow free use of those slots. On the article’s explicit wording, the bonus fighter feat slots can only be occupied by one of the feats listed in the Targetteer’s article. Things like Woodland Archer and, most significantly, Ranged Weapon Mastery are not on that list … and therefore by RAW cannot be taken in a Targetteer’s bonus fighter feat slots. And if your first instinct was to say “Well, just multiclass some default fighter levels, then” – well, the same article prohibits you from multiclassing out of or into default fighter, i.e. it’s Targetteer for all your fighter levels or none. A level or two in Psychic Warrior might allow you to alleviate this since those feat slots can explicitly be used for general or ‘bonus fighter feats’, but that’s a matter for DM interpretation – and you lose 1 BAB by that route. Maybe you could argue that the RAI was that you could take any bonus fighter feat in that slot, but I don’t like your chances.

“Can’t you get x6 in critical multipliers if you take 7 levels in Deepwood Sniper rather than all this fighter-y crap?” Sure - at the cost of five fighter levels, two bonus fighter feat slots, and therefore any capability to qualify for Greater Weapon Specialisation and Ranged Weapon Mastery (on lack of slots and the fact you haven’t got enough fighter levels). This is a bigger implication mathematically than you might think. It causes a loss of 4 points on your base damage rolls, i.e. your non-critical damage becomes 2d8+8 rather than 2d8+12. And that actually results in you doing less average damage on criticals, even with a higher critical multiplier.

Doubt me? Let’s do the math, as Jason Bourne once said. Just to restate, the comparison is x6 on 2d8+8 (= 12d8+48), versus x5 on 2d8+12 (= 10d8+60). Statistically, the expected, average result from rolling 10d8 is 45 (maximum result on a single damage dice plus one, divide by 2, multiply by the number of dice you’re rolling). At x5, then, you can expect to do 45 + 60 = 105 damage on a critical hit. The expected average result from 12d8 is 54. So at x6 you can expect to do 54 + 48 = 102 damage. Yep: on average, you’re actually doing less damage with a x6 weapon than a x5, due to the loss of flat damage bonuses … and because the more dice you roll, the more it pushes results towards the midrange of what’s possible. This is also why your 2d6 dice never seem to give you a total of 12 but your 1d12 does. This is yet another reason to add flat bonuses to your damage dice in preference to more damage dice where you can.

Do Deepwood Sniper’s other features make up for it? Not particularly, not if your priority is just amping damage. At Deepwood Sniper 5, once per day, you can reroll a failed attack roll. Critical hits by definition require two attack rolls, so a chance to reroll one is handy … but it doesn’t markedly affect the number of times you’ll get a critical hit given it’s once a day. “Oh, but I can use Power Shot from Peerless Archer to make up the difference!” Sure – but at a cost of about 4 in attack accuracy for every time you have to make the shot.

Of course, the easiest way around these problems is to just pick up Knowledge Devotion and be the Newt Scamander of the party who spams Lore of the Gods every morning and uses the Collector of Stories skill trick in every encounter for a +1 to +5 to attack and damage. And hey, if you believe that justifies less reliable accuracy and/or damage, all power to you. Not to mention that without being a Cloistered Cleric intent on taking a level in badboy once you get Divine Power, you’re likely stuck picking up Education as well, and then figuring out how to increase all those skills to get you reliably above +2 or so against the full range of creatures in the game, when most of the classes you’re taking are 2+INT skill point meatheads.

If you really want to raise your multiplier, dip Hida Defender and use Warblade weapon aptitude to boost it by 1 more. Don’t waste 3 or 4 levels on Deepwood Sniper, it’s good, but not that good.

“What, no Improved Critical?” Yep. It’s a trash feat under 3.5 RAW, for reasons I get into in the handbook. You have an (Ex) ability that makes your arrows act as if they were keen combined with a feature that allows you to add to the arrows’ base threat range. There’s no need for Improved Critical in this build, especially if it keeps your DM happier. That said, if you can convince him to make it stack with keen, then as with Arcane Duelist, you barely need to forego any attacks under Sniper and the build just gets stronger.

“Wai U nOt uSe Hank’s Energy Bow?” For a start, the Energy Bow does less damage than the Composite Greatbow, 2d6 damage dice rather than 2d8. You can still shoot regular Kaorti Resin arrows with it, but your force shots won’t get a x4 effect easily. Don’t get me wrong, the Energy Bow has a ranged Power Attack ability that obviates Peerless Archer, and which is just sheer awesome for archery. It’s also going to be handy as hell once the DM figures out your game and starts throwing opponents at you with incorporeality or Wind Wall, but for critfishing purposes it’s suboptimal.


“Can you use Hit and Run Fighter?” It’s a Drow Fighter ACF (from Drow of the Underdark), albeit I’ve commonly seen it permitted to apply to anyone. Lose heavy armour proficiency, pick up this excellent piece of work for ranged attacks. If your DM isn’t going to let that fly, either on race or because your DM says you have to be a default Fighter and not a Targetteer, then skip it.

“Ranger level, what Favored Enemy?” Arcane Hunter is a Ranger ACF from Complete Mage that allows you to choose Favored Enemy: Arcanist. Anything with arcane spellcasting or arcane spell-like abilities now draws Favored Enemy bonuses.

“Sense Weakness?” It’s a feat from Draconomicon (p. 106). You ignore DR 5 on your target, thus dealing with one of the volley archer’s royal pains in the posterior given their low-ish damage and also generally saving you from having to obtain weird and wonderful weapon materials from which to make your arrows. It requires Combat Expertise which is otherwise pretty much useless to an archer. It’s not to be confused with the Clr/Sor/Wiz 2 spell Sense Weakness which allows you to automatically confirm a single critical threat in the next 24 hours (and which is also handy in its own right, it must be said… )

“Ugh, Warblade. I hate Tome of Battle.” You’re entitled your emotions and opinions, no matter how misguided they are. Warblade is in there mainly to pick up Moment of Perfect Mind to boost the Will save, because it’s appallingly low until much later on. It also gives us Blood in the Water which is legit good for critfishing builds. Seriously, the Will save on this thing otherwise is so low I’d actually contemplate picking up Iron Will, blasphemous thought though it is. If you don’t want it, take another level in Fighter, or something that gives you a feat slot or two.

“Laaaaame, no Woodland Archeeerrrr…” Woodland Archer doesn’t terribly synergise with what’s in the build, and the only place to really put it is around the end. Improved Precise Shot has a bit of overlap with Deepwood Sniper’s outdated sharp-shooting ability that negates a certain amount of cover, but at the higher levels it’s miss chances and concealment you have to worry about more than AC.

“The heck is a Harpoon doing in there?” Yeah, this is the Stormwrack version, mostly because it's a fun backup. Hit someone with a harpoon and their movement speed is dropped by half, they can't charge or run, and they literally do as much damage pulling out the harpoon as it did on the way in. Would be fun to optimise this with critical hits, but that's not the main purpose here. Main reason it's in there is because it's an exotic ranged weapon, and a Targeteer gets two EWP (ranged only) for free at first level.

“I don’t wanna kill arcanists, I wanna kill undead. Or something else immune to critical hits.” Then pick your annoying critical-immune enemy as your first favoured enemy for Ranger, and grab the feat Supernatural Blow from Masters of the Wild (possibly replacing Sense Weakness). Now your critical shots do 2d8+12+8d6, since you get a d6 for every bonus damage dice you otherwise would have thrown on the critical hit, and we get to throw 8 bonus damage dice because our weapon does 2d8 damage and has a x5 critical multiplier. Gets even better if you pick the Elf Ranger ACF, which boosts the favoured enemy bonus to +3 instead. Otherwise, go pick up weapon crystals of Truedeath and similar out of the MIC.

“Huh, I want more Tome of Battle goodness.” Then replace the last 10 levels with Eternal Blade and be an elf. Qualifies right on schedule at level 10 without a human bonus feat, though you forego Sense Weakness. Just make sure you pick two maneuvers out of Diamond Mind at Warblade (Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Moment of Perfect Mind which you’re going to need given how bad your Will save is), Wolf Fang Strike to qualify for Blood in the Water as your stance, and you’re golden. Island in Time works appallingly well with the Targetteer’s ability to forego shots on a full attack. Eternal Blade allows you to pick from the Diamond Mind, Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, and White Raven disciplines for further maneuvers and stances; classes that aren’t Warblades, Crusaders, or Swordsages count as half initiator levels. Therefore, with five maneuvers in ten levels, on a quick glance these could be: Leading the Charge (White Raven) --> White Raven Tactics (White Raven) or Lion’s Roar (White Raven); Moment of Alacrity (Diamond Mind); and Wall of Blades (Iron Heart) --> Iron! Heart! SURGE! And the stances you can pick up aren’t bad either: Press the Advantage to take a 10 foot step, Hearing the Air to pick up Blindsense, Pearl of Black Doubt for more AC.

This is impressive. Thanks for posting this.

[Saintheart]

This is impressive. Thanks for posting this.

Thanks. It's drawn from my Critical Hit Handbook, in my sig.

That said, magic makes this a lot easier. Or at least changes the focus a bit. As others have said, rightly, the easiest way to guarantee critical hits is a combination of Surge of Fortune and the Sense Weakness spell, which a 10th level cleric can pull off.

An alternative to explore is to focus on Hunter's Mercy, which turns any hit you make with a bow into a threatened critical. This is important because it spares all the running around looking for the Holy Grail of a 1-20 threat range; Hunter's Mercy just says "make the hit; if you do, it's a threatened critical". Then it's just a matter of getting the critical hit confirmed, which Curse of Arrow Attraction can achieve. These are both off the Ranger list, and since Rangers can cast from Wands without actually having spellcasting ability, all it takes is a level in Ranger to pick these up. Wand chambers can be put on bows which helps a bit.

That then frees up the rest of your build to seek high damage on your bow and try to push the critical multiplier as high as you can. This isn't easy mainly because there's no equivalent path for bows like Power Attack or mounted charging mayhem, and the hobbling is apparent from the moment you realise that Power Attack allows you to double your bonuses with a two-handed melee weapon, but bows don't. And making it worse is that it's nowhere near as easy to increase your critical hit multiplier as it is your range.

The reason volley archery is recommended is for similar reasons TWF suggests acquiring as many attacks as you can: because without it you don't "keep up" on the dishing out of damage, not even with the flatheaded martial melee types, never mind the Spellwarp Sniper with Mobile Spellcasting who can then take Scout levels just to prove a point. The single shot strike is just plain difficult to load up with massive bonuses on its own, and the other paths - sneak attack, precision damage, and critfishing - are either pretty situational or just amount to extra d6s. Even critfishing eventually loses out to volley fire, mainly because, all other things being equal, if it's a choice of 1 chance at doing 4d6 damage versus 5 chances of doing 1d6, then you're going to rationally pick option 2 most of the time. And that's assuming you can get a x4 critical multiplier, which as said isn't easy.

[Darg]

For a critical build, power critical is pretty strong if you don't otherwise have the option to auto confirm. I'd definitely recommend it over greater weapon specialization, combat expertise, and/or sense weakness (critical hits aren't separate sources of damage so it's 5 extra damage vs +4 to confirmation rolls). You can take it multiple times and it stacks with itself. One issue I see is that your keen is doubling the threat range even though keen can't stack with any effect that expands the critical threat range. The sniper special ability doesn't have an exception to this clause so it can't stack with keen.

[Saintheart]

One issue I see is that your keen is doubling the threat range even though keen can't stack with any effect that expands the critical threat range. The sniper special ability doesn't have an exception to this clause so it can't stack with keen.

I didn't use keen. I used the Keen Arrows (Ex) class feature from Deepwood Sniper. That class feature only says that Keen Arrows doesn't stack with "any other keen effect" - not the wording you're mentioning above. Sniper is not a keen effect; it expands the base threat range of the weapon 1 for 1 on attacks given up; nowhere does it double it, as keen does. Specific overrides general, and Deepwood Sniper is from a 3.0, unupdated class - operates as is unless specifically updated to 3.5. Perfectly legit stacking.


I'd definitely recommend it over greater weapon specialization, combat expertise, and/or sense weakness (critical hits aren't separate sources of damage so it's 5 extra damage vs +4 to confirmation rolls).

Combat Expertise - as I said in the notes - is useless to an archer except as a prerequisite for Sense Weakness, which in turn is probably of more application for volley fire, where the DR applies to every shot, not just once on a critfishing build.

Greater Weapon Specialization certainly is added iteratively in the event of a critical hit. The SRD's procedure for a critical hit is that you roll your damage more than once "with all your usual bonuses", you don't just multiply the damage roll you get.


Extra damage dice over and above a weapon’s normal damage is not multiplied when you score a critical hit.

The SRD’s instruction to roll damage “with all your usual bonuses” by definition means that any fixed number on the damage roll – for example, your STR bonus to damage, a bonus on damage from Power Attack, or from a weapon quality like Collision – is multiplied on a critical hit damage roll too. In general, if it’s a flat bonus, it gets multiplied on a critical hit.

This is particularly so given Weapon Specialisation grants "a +2 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon." Your damage is not multiplied, it is rolled multiple times, and therefore applies to each roll you make under the critical multiplier.

[Doctor Despair]

I didn't use keen. I used the Keen Arrows (Ex) class feature from Deepwood Sniper. That class feature only says that Keen Arrows doesn't stack with "any other keen effect" - not the wording you're mentioning above. Sniper is not a keen effect; it expands the base threat range of the weapon 1 for 1 on attacks given up; nowhere does it double it, as keen does. Specific overrides general, and Deepwood Sniper is from a 3.0, unupdated class - operates as is unless specifically updated to 3.5. Perfectly legit stacking.

That's an interesting reading; they function as if they were keen, but they are not keen. Even without dragon mag (so no Targeteer), you could do something like...

Crossbow (19-20), Deepwood Sniper [as if it were keen, but isn't] (17-20), Disciple of Dispater [as if it were keen, but isn't] (15-20), Favored Critical or Improved Critical [don't stack with each other] (13-20).

Add on Barbarian 7 for the Streetfighter ACF, and you'd end up with a threatened range 9-20.

[Soranar]

A hulking hurler can be a single shot thrower of heavy things.

the damage can become ludicrous with enough optimization

[Darg]

I didn't use keen. I used the Keen Arrows (Ex) class feature from Deepwood Sniper. That class feature only says that Keen Arrows doesn't stack with "any other keen effect" - not the wording you're mentioning above. Sniper is not a keen effect; it expands the base threat range of the weapon 1 for 1 on attacks given up; nowhere does it double it, as keen does. Specific overrides general, and Deepwood Sniper is from a 3.0, unupdated class - operates as is unless specifically updated to 3.5. Perfectly legit stacking.

The ability says the arrows " behave as if they were keen weapons." In 3.5 keen "doesn’t stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon (such as the keen edge spell or the Improved Critical feat)." The reason the Keen Arrows says that it doesn't stack with other keen effects is that in 3.0 most threat increasers stacked and they didn't want it to basically stack with itself. As the base function is that it works like a keen weapon and that was updated, it should use the updated rules.


Combat Expertise - as I said in the notes - is useless to an archer except as a prerequisite for Sense Weakness, which in turn is probably of more application for volley fire, where the DR applies to every shot, not just once on a critfishing build.

Greater Weapon Specialization certainly is added iteratively in the event of a critical hit. The SRD's procedure for a critical hit is that you roll your damage more than once "with all your usual bonuses", you don't just multiply the damage roll you get.

The SRD’s instruction to roll damage “with all your usual bonuses” by definition means that any fixed number on the damage roll – for example, your STR bonus to damage, a bonus on damage from Power Attack, or from a weapon quality like Collision – is multiplied on a critical hit damage roll too. In general, if it’s a flat bonus, it gets multiplied on a critical hit.

This is particularly so given Weapon Specialisation grants "a +2 bonus on all damage rolls you make using the selected weapon." Your damage is not multiplied, it is rolled multiple times, and therefore applies to each roll you make under the critical multiplier.

The reason I would choose power critical over specialization is that you still need to confirm the threat to benefit from the damage. If you hit on an 11, you only have a 50% chance to confirm the crit. With power critical that improves to 70%. Add another and that improves to 90%. It's even more imperative for more difficult to hit targets. If you hit and threaten on a 15, you'll want to maximize the amount of damage you could do on that roll. Power criticalx3 would confirm on a roll of 3.

If we use your threat range of 7-20 (14-20 doubled is 8-20) and the 2d8+12 you gave in the example with a multiplier of x5 and you hit on a 7, you would do an average of 55.86 damage per attack. Trade the greater weapon specialization for a single power critical and you now do 63.84 damage on average per attack even with the -10 to crit damage and -2 to normal damage. Add a second power critical even though you only benefit from one quarter the feat and you do an average of 67.49 damage per attack. Without either feat you would do an average of 50.54. GWS gives a 5.32 average damage bonus while PCx1 gives 13.3 and PCx2 gives an extra 3.65 (16.95).

Now we go down to the 10-20 range because we need to hit something with more AC where we now hit on an 8. GWS leads us to do an average of 30.975. PCx1 instead for 37.525. PCx2 for 47.025.

Let's say we don't use sniper with a threat range of 19-20 and we hit on 11 without Arrow Swarm. 5 attacks. GWS gives us 13.65 average damage per full BAB attack. PCx1 gives 14.25; PCx2 gives 16.15. You get an average total of 33.6 damage per full attack with GWS. PCx1 for 37.05. PCx2 for 44.175.

It's pretty easy to see how powerful power critical is as a feat when you don't have anything to auto-confirm.

I agree that sense weakness is strong in a multiple attack build, but for a single shot as your main shtick it isn't quite as useful.

[Fuzzy McCoy]

One option I haven’t seen mentioned is psychic warrior. The dissolving weapon power plus empower plus psionic shot and the greater variant add up to some nice single shot damage. Add in fell shot and you’ve got the capability to make touch attacks for weapon + 4d6 + 6d6*1.5 acid at around level eight is pretty damn good and it only improves as you gain levels. Make your bow out of deep crystal and you can get another 2d6 for as long as you have power points.

More realistically this combo comes online at 10 or later, since I’d want to multiclass with ranger, but even with only some of the pieces it’s still pretty potent. The only real downside is most of your damage comes from acid damage, but when each arrow is potentially carrying 19d6*1.5 I don’t find that’s much of an issue.

[Gruftzwerg]

If thrown weapon are included as "archer", I can offer some Bloodstorm Blade builds of mine:

Shivering Tornado of Death (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?528541)
Duskblade's Arcane Channeling ability for Shivering Touch + Thunderous Throw + Whirlwind

ShurikeNado (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?526875)
Ubercharger + Thunderous Throw + Whirlwind

[Crake]

Was absolutely disbelieving when I saw somebody here somebody here say that assassin can't use death attack at ranged.. Makes 0 sense so I went to check and they're right. It. Assassins can't snipe is snipe lol rip

There is a level 4 assassin's spell that allows you to make a ranged death attack though, sniper's eye, which combos well with sniper's shot, since the death attack needs to be a sneak attack. There's also a spell that allows the assassin to make the death attack without the 3 round warm up, deathsight, which can help if you're restricted to a very tight window of opportunity, just contingent cast it, set to trigger when you cast sniper's shot. Do the same with sniper's eye, and truestrike, and you can get a snipe shot from half a mile away with a fairly reasonable chance to hit. You might need to cast a scrying spell to be able to have reasonable enough vision on your target at that range to actually be allowed a sneak attack though, depending on your DM.

[Doctor Despair]

There is a level 4 assassin's spell that allows you to make a ranged death attack though, sniper's eye, which combos well with sniper's shot, since the death attack needs to be a sneak attack. There's also a spell that allows the assassin to make the death attack without the 3 round warm up, deathsight, which can help if you're restricted to a very tight window of opportunity, just contingent cast it, set to trigger when you cast sniper's shot. Do the same with sniper's eye, and truestrike, and you can get a snipe shot from half a mile away with a fairly reasonable chance to hit. You might need to cast a scrying spell to be able to have reasonable enough vision on your target at that range to actually be allowed a sneak attack though, depending on your DM.

Sniper's eye allows you to make a sneak attack at 60 feet, and a death attack with ranged weapons out to 60 feet. It does not allow you to use a 60-foot range increment. You must still be within that 60 feet, even if you true strike and scry from further away.

To death attack from further away, such as that half mile you mentioned, you must specifically be a Black Dog (which doesn't require sneak attack to death attack) using a thrown melee weapon.

Sniper's eye wouldn't help you avoid the thrown melee weapon cheese, as it caps you at 60 feet. Deathsight could help you, of course, especially when combined with some way to make multiple death attacks with one attack roll (like Master Thrower or something)