Mounted Archery

[MeklorIlavator]

Well, I'm making a character for a one shot on the boards, and I decided to make a mounted skirmisher. So far, the character is here, and his mount is here here. Now, I know this isn't anything like a optimized character(a tank with 12 Con?!?), but the idea intrigues me. in essence, I want to make something along the lines of a Mongol Calvaryman, though the actual impetus for the build stemmed from reading about the Sothoii in David Weber's War God Series. The real problem is that I'm not really sure what to do with this guy after a couple of levels, so how would you finish(or rebuild him). I do want to stick with the paladin for this game, but it's necessary if you have a better idea.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Fighter actually makes a spectacular mounted archer. You don't need levels in the Paladin class to play a holy warrior, after all. Here's what feats to get:

H: Point Blank Shot
1: Rapid Shot
F1: Weapon Focus: Longbow
F2: Mounted Combat
3: Mounted Archery
F4: Weapon Specialization: Longbow
6: Manyshot
F6: Improved Rapid Shot (CW)
F8: Ranged Weapon Mastery (PH2)
9: Greater Weapon Focus: Longbow
F10: Penetrating Shot (PH2)
12: Precise Shot
F12: Greater Specialization: Longbow
F14: Improved Precise Shot

There aren't many games that go past that point, and I'm actually not sure what to get after that. The good archery feats are starting to run out, but you should get the idea. If your mount only single-moves each round you don't take any attack penalty, or if you need it to go faster your penalty will be relatively small. Rapid Shot when its single-moving, or if it has to double move don't use Rapid Shot unless you're confident that you'll still hit. Manyshot is only there to qualify for Improved Rapid Shot, which you should use every time you full attack since there's no longer a drawback. Weapon Specialization and Ranged Weapon Mastery will end up contributing a significant amount of damage in the long run.

[MeklorIlavator]

Yeah, this is largely because I want some of the specific abilities of a Paladin. If the build continued I would likely end up splitting the levels between Paladin and Fighter.

[Triaxx]

If Paladin Flavor is what you want but with archery, try this on for size:

Spoiler

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Cavalier

Alignment: Any Lawful.

Hit Die: d10

Class Skills: The Cavalier's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (religion) (Int) Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex).

Skill Points at 1st level: (2 + Int Modifier) x4
Skill Points at Each additional Level: 2 + Int Modifier

{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|

+1

|

+1

|

+0

|

+0

|Lay on Hands, Aura of Law 1/day
2nd|

+2

|

+2

|

+0

|

+0

|Knightly Grace, Bonus Feat
3rd|

+3

|

+3

|

+1

|

+1

|Smite Foe 1/day
4th|

+4

|

+4

|

+1

|

+1

|Improved Shield Bash
5th|

+5

|

+4

|

+1

|

+1

|Dodge
6th|

+6/+1

|

+5

|

+1

|

+1

|Bonus Feat, Smite Foe 2/day
7th|

+7/+2

|

+5

|

+2

|

+2

|Aura of Law 2/day
8th|

+8/+3

|

+6

|

+2

|

+2

|Noble Mount 1st-Tier
9th|

+9/+4

|

+7

|

+2

|

+2

|Smite Foe 3/day
10th|

+10/+5

|

+7

|

+2

|

+2

|Bonus Feat
11th|

+11/+6/+1

|

+8

|

+3

|

+3

|Ride-by Attack
12th|

+12/+7/+2

|

+8

|

+3

|

+3

|Smite Foe 4/day
13th|

+13/+8/+3

|

+9

|

+3

|

+3

|Cleric Domain-1st, Lance Knight
14th|

+14/+9/+4

|

+9

|

+3

|

+3

|Bonus Feat, Noble Mount 2nd-Tier, Aura of Law 3/day
15th|

+15/+10/+5

|

+10

|

+4

|

+4

|Smite Foe 5/day
16th|

+16/+11/+6/+1

|

+10

|

+4

|

+4

|Combat Reflexes
17th|

+17/+12/+7/+2

|

+11

|

+4

|

+4

|Cleric Domain-2nd
18th|

+18/+13/+8/+3

|

+11

|

+4

|

+4

|Bonus Feat, Smite Foe 6/day
19th|

+19/+14/+9/+4

|

+12

|

+5

|

+5

|Cleric Domain-3rd
20th|

+20/+15/+10/+5

|

+13

|

+5

|

+5

|Bonus Feat, Noble Mount 3rd-Tier[/table]

Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Cavaliers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).

Lay on Hands: As per the Paladin ability.

Aura of Law: Aura of Law is a Cavalier's final defense. Used when foes close in around him the Cavalier summons his knowledge of right and law, and projects a feeling of defenslessness and clumsiness against neutral and chaotic foes. Neutral foes take a -1 penalty to AC and BAB, while Chaotic Foes take a -2 penalty to AC and BAB. This effect lasts for 1 round per Cavalier level. The aura can be resisted by a (DC10 + Cavalier level + Cavalier's CHA mod) Will save. A Cavalier may use Aura of Law once per day at first level, and gains additional uses every seven levels.

Mounted Combat: The Cavalier is treated as always having the mounted combat feat.

Smite Foe: As per the Smite Evil ability, but only against Chaotic or Neutral Foes. A Cavalier gains one use at third level, and an additional use every three levels there after.

Knightly Grace: At 2nd level, a Cavalier has been trained to fight on horseback, and when mounted on a horse or pony gains a +2 competence bonus when attempting to control an untrained animal. When mounted on a warhorse, or warpony, the Cavalier gains a +1 bonus to mounted melee attacks.

Bonus Feat: A Cavalier is granted bonus feat in addition to those she normally receives. Bonus feats may be selected from the fighter bonus feat list.

Improved Shield Bash: At 4th level Cavalier is treated as having the Improved Shield Bash feat while mounted, even if he or she does not meet the requirements.

Dodge: From 5th level on, when mounted a Cavalier is treated as having the dodge feat even if he or she does not meet the requirements for it.

Cleric Domain: A Cavalier, while not necessarily a religious warrior is looked upon with favor by his or her god. At 13th level, a Cavalier may choose one of his or her gods domain's, and use the first level domain power as a Cleric of one quarter the Cavalier's level. At 17th level, the Cavalier gains the second level domain power, as a cleric of one quarter Cavalier level, and at 1th, gains a third level domain power, as a cleric one-quarter of the Cavalier's level. Cavaliers cast based on CHA as Sorcerors, Bards, and Paladins.

Ride-by Attack: At 11th level, if not taken before the Cavalier gains Ride-by Attack while mounted, even he or she does not otherwise qualify.

Combat Reflexes: If he has not taken it at an earlier level, at 16th level, the Cavalier is treated as having Combat Reflexes.

Lance Knight: At 13th level, the Cavalier has become a master of mounted combat, and as such is able to deal double damage when charging mounted wielding with a Sword, or Axe and Shield. Charging with a lance deals triple damage instead. The Cavalier's BAB, and chance to hit rolls are unaffected. The Cavalier also is able to disregard the -2 AC penalty while charging mounted.

Noble Steed: At 8th Level, a Cavalier may spend 1d4 days familiarizing himself with a particular mount, and bind himself to it. In doing so, it becomes a first tier mount. At level 14, it becomes a second tier mount, and at level 20, it becomes a third tier mount. While mounted on his Noble Mount, the Cavalier gains a +1 to his Reflex and Will saves.

If the Cavalier's Noble Steed is killed, it takes a year and a day to become familiar enough with another mount to replace it. Upon the steeds death, the Cavalier loses 200xp per level, with a fort save for half. In addition, the Cavalier must make a fort save, or be treated as having one half his total ride skill until he gains another Steed. Making the fort save reduces the penalty to three-quarters his ride skill. If the Cavalier's Steed is resurrected, the penalty to his ride skill is negated.


Noble Steed
{table=head]Tier|HD|Natural <br> Armor|Str. Adj.|Special
1st|

+2

|

+2

|

+1

|Improved Mounted Combat, DR5/Silver
2nd|

+4

|

+4

|

+2

|Shield Mount
3rd|

+6

|

+6

|

+4

|Mounted Archery, DR10/Silver[/table]


Shield Mount:While mounted on his Noble Steed, the steed gains the Cavalier's Shield Bonus to it's AC against melee attacks.

[Keld Denar]

Paladin actually makes a decent archer, especially if you use the Elf Paladin ACF from Races of the Wild. That lets you smite with a bow. Great on your last iterative, since the attack bonus boost generally gets it up in range with your 2nd to last iterative, and the bonus damage is sweet.

Another trick is Divine Might. While Divine Might requires Power Attack, no part of Divine Might requires you to make a melee attack. This allows you to add your +cha mod to damage with your bow at the cost of 1 turn undead attempt per round, and its not capped by the pull of your composite bow.

[TempusCCK]

Mm, paladin has an added bonus, it's the only class that can get into Kensai at level 6. Kensai has been thrown around alot on the boards recently, but damn would it be good for an archer, because most of your damage is going to come from bow-enhancements or skirmish/sneak attack damage.